A Letter from Russia: “They have deprived me not only of the future, but also of the present, and of the past.”

During our tours in Russia, we have encountered countless actors, directors, artists. Their repression is increasing, the virus of the totalitarian system is crushing an entire people. We share a letter from Olga Karlova, an actress at theatre X in X, which we have received in these days.

The Sublimation of War

by Olga Karlova1, translated from Russian by Yelena Kuznetsova

Dear Markus! I thank you immensely for your message and thought: it is a lifebuoy in the surrounding swamp.

Absolute isolation? No. There remain two or three friends with whom to vent bitterness and hatred, but unfortunately, the despair remains. It is now clear that the malady has struck not merely many individuals but an entire nation.

Photograph: Markus Zohner / PRO LITTERIS

As our writer Dovlatov said: „We curse indefinitely comrade Stalin and, obviously, with all good reason. Yet, I want to ask: who wrote four million reports? „