A 'Minor Planet' Called Vertynsky and Other Stories: Thirteen Contemporary Stories

By Artur Friedberg

This bundle of stories describes about events often placed at tumultuous times of the twenties century. The plots of the stories are skillfully skimmed throughout different, well known places and times, and at which the people involved had been struggling with the adversities of their fate.
… returning home by long distance train, old and tired Alexander Vertynsky, a well known singer, is recalling different periods of his life, full of dramatic events and artistic travels around the world, and people he met... Back in Soviet Union, and giving hundreds of concerts in the whole country, he never got recognition of his effort by the official media (press, radio). All that, on high orders from the ‘top,’…
… the beginning of the World War II (1939), in the Polish city of Vilno, was presented from a perspective of a child. The story is followed by reminiscences of an old man, who visited the same city in 2004, and found it under the Lithuanian name Vilnius. He was trying to restore his memory about some places and events from the past. Meanwhile he also touches upon the very tragic and not always too well known lot of the people living in the city, and of that whole part of Eastern Europe, under the occupation of Hitler’s Germany during the 1940s.
…when the members of the White Russian’s military unit called ‘Black Battalion’ (in service of Hitler’s Germany) killed in July 1941 his wife and small daughter in front of their home in L,(Vilno district), JS escaped to the forest and joined the partisans fighting against the Germans and Black Battalions alike.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483541242

Book preview

story...

A ‘minor planet’ called Vertynsky

.*)

*) A small planet No 3669 discovered by Soviet astronomer L.Karachkina in 1982 has been named Vertynsky Ref.: Schmadel, Lutz.D (2003); Dictionary of minor Planet Names (5th. Ed.) N.Y., Springer Verlag, pp.308. – Footnote.

*

The night train relation Riga – Moscow was finally assembled and although with a delay, but was eventually announced through the speakers, and then shortly after, quietly arrived at the platform number 1. All the travelers, patiently waiting on the platform, started entering the train. After a while, two men surrounded by a group of somewhat noisily, younger men, came out of the station’s restaurant. Those two - stopped in front of the train, while the younger men ran along the train, and at the moment they found the right sleeping carriage, they called those two to come, while they were still standing uncertain about the direction to go, and were looking around. Eventually, they went towards the direction of the carriage the younger men stopped at, and were intensely calling them to come. They saw that the door of the sleeping carriage was already opened, and the conductor in a uniform was standing on the upper step awaiting passengers to enter. When the two men approached the sleeping carriage, the older one took off his hat and turning to the young men surrounding them, said in a low voice:

‘Dear friends, thank you for your help and a very pleasant evening we spent in your company.’

The man who spoke had a high forehead and rather thin, black (perhaps dyed) hair; his face and particularly eyes looked tired and were revealing his age – well above sixty. One of the younger men replied:

‘Alexander Nikolayevich, it was a great honor meeting you tonight; please let us take your luggage and bring it inside the carriage.’

The older man just nodded and his serious face broke for a moment into a grin. The young men took the luggage still standing in front of the sleeping carriage, and they immediately brought it inside. Meanwhile, the man called by the others Alexander Nikolayevich gave the conductor two tickets and both the men shook hands with everyone of the group of young men seeing them off, and then, those two stepped inside the carriage, passing by the conductor. The conductor locked the door, mentioning on the way the number of their compartment and asked:

‘Would you wish some tea or coffee?’

‘Yes, two cups of tea please, with slices of lemon, and don’t forget the sugar,’ the younger man said.

The night train started moving and slowly left the station.

*

Alexander Nikolayevich accompanied by his pianist MB had been returning home to Moscow from a rather tiring artistic tour, in which Riga was the last performance places. Before Riga, they were visiting Briansk, Smolensk and Vitebsk. The latter cities were rather small provincial places, and they had to perform there in rather small concert halls or theaters although, there were a lot of people willing to attend their performances and to fill in even a large concert hall, as well. In Riga too, his two performances took place in the well known Russian Theater, but in a small hall. Alexander Nikolayevich knew well that such were the ‘instructions’ from Moscow and no deviation from the ordered ‘instructions’ was allowed.

Nevertheless, the enthusiasm of the audience attending his concerts pleased him very much, particularly that the massive appearance of the audience was in such a complete contradiction to the attitude of the officials organizing his concerts: polite but faint-hearted; as well as to the always present representatives of the local censorship office. Those latter on the other hand, were people with strangely unquiet faces and restless eyes, as he once described them to his wife Lidia. There were unfortunately also others, too: surveying carefully the audience. In time, Alexander Nikolayevich learned how to recognize the latter group of the so-called attendants, who were representing an institution, which name one should pronounce rather in a low voice and preferentially only in presence of close relatives. Although, the best solution was not to name them at all, and simply keep ignoring them, pretending they didn’t exist...The censors on the other hand, have always appeared with a list of songs he had been allowed to perform, and they were in a way reminding him the reason for their presence there; bastards...!

Usually, Alexander Nikolayevich was very pleased with the enthusiastic reception of people he met, wherever he had his concerts; nevertheless, reaching those small places by means of general transportation (often moving directly from one such a place to another), used to be torturing exercises, which have been exhausting the rests of his physical strength.

*

When Alexander Nikolayevich entered the Soviet Russia end of 1943, he had in his repertoire more than one hundred poetic songs, as he called them, and was willing to perform all of them, but they allowed him to perform only about thirty, selected by them...At that time, he understood the situation well and without any protests accepted it; he even wrote additionally new songs with so-called patriotic appeal and performed them frequently; and he did it at so many places like hospitals, military training places often located somewhere just behind the first line of the front, or in large agglomerations of evacuees from big western Russian cities, often somewhere in Siberia, as well; and he never complained about the abbreviation of his repertoire.

In the time of war that precisely what was needed, he thought.

He was a Russian and a patriot and when his country was in need, he was ready to sacrifice his personal wishes and ambitions for the good of his homeland:

There was a desperate need to invigorate the moral of the nation, as he was told; and he did his best as much as he could. After all, he did the same in 1914 when the First World War broke out: still as a young man, he volunteered to serve as a nurse at the 68th hospital train that shuttled between the front line and Moscow. And he served there until he was wounded, in1915.

But now, in 1956, eleven years after the World War II was ended, and still not being allowed to sing his whole repertoire – it sounded strange, if not to say terrifying. Besides, he couldn’t find a single article in any newspaper, or on the radio about his concerts; while he already did about three thousand concerts, touring the country for the fourth time – and still: it was just like he had never returned to Russia... Journalists in private conversations were saying:

‘Alexander Nikolayevich, we would with pleasure give a great publicity to your concerts, but what could we do? There is no clear signal from the top to talk and write about you, don’t you understand it?’

I think, ‘they’ simply still don’t trust me and could never forgive me singing such songs as ‘I don’t know why ‘(1) or a ‘Grey-eyed King’(2), as well as the fact that I for almost two years till 1920, had been performing in the south of the country during the Civil War. By the way, why did I go to the south? Well, it is a good question... Probably because they looked more cultivated and civilized however, that wasn’t always true. But still..., nobody interrogated me asking why I sang this or that song, like the CZK* did... (* abbreviation of the name of the first Soviet security police after the revolution; footnote) in the north of the country, and nobody threatened me by saying that my ‘breathing’ depends on their good will... I also remember that after the memorable encounter with CZK, I became deeply disillusioned with them and said to myself: I have no truck with them (3), and then quit.

At that time, the southern part of Russia was under control of the so-called ‘Whites,’ who opposed militarily the Bolsheviks, when those latter took over power in the country by a coup d’état in October 1917, called by them a ‘socialist revolution.’

Years later, in 1945, they either suspected that my poetic song called ‘Strange cities’ (4) is about the Soviet cities, or that I still regret leaving those ‘Strange cities;’ and my explanation that I wrote that song in 1937, bearing in mind the American cities after returning from a visit to the USA, in 1934/5, still didn’t entirely convince them. Finally, I was allowed to perform it; nevertheless, ‘they’ were always suspecting me of smuggling the song into my repertoire with anti-Soviet intentions. In retrospect, quietly analyzing the text of the latter song, written and indeed, first time performed in Shanghai, I must admit that after a reflection and comparing most of the Soviet cities of today with Paris, London, New York, or San Francisco, one may well regret leaving the latter behind... he thought with a bitter smile on his face.

They are paranoiac suspicion about everyone who deviates from their formula of a ‘loyal citizen.’ Once being for a concert in Siberia, I met an ex colonel who in 1941 due to bad quality of communication equipment found himself together with his unit encircled by Germans, somewhere close to the city of Smolensk, but after few weeks found the way to break out of it by taking a dangerous route through treacherous marchland. Afterwards, he and his officers were for weeks interrogated and in spite of the fact that they all (independently) showed on the map precisely their escape route and told their story; they were all sent to Siberia instead of being rewarded and allowed to join their comrades at the front line. When I naively asked him why did ‘they’ do it? He replied, smiling ironically:

They simply call it vigilance (5), and I found nothing to add to his statement...and I understood my lot, too."

*

Nevertheless, Alexander Nikolayevich naively hoped that after the end of the war, the situation in the country would change and become more normal and free; however, nothing like that took place. At certain moment, one of the so-called good friends advised him to write a song about Stalin, telling him that it could mean a breakthrough in his carrier in Soviet Union. After a short consideration but also hesitation, he finally wrote such a song, and often performed it in public. He never expected any particular privileges because of the song and rather wrote it in self-defense, instinctively feeling a change of sentiments at the top of the party towards people like him...having long Western exposure and therefore, a different touch towards Soviet realities.

Regardless of the song about Stalin, at the time of another nationwide ideological cleaning operation in Soviet Russia, which took place in the 1948/49, his name was on the subscription list of Zhdanov, the executer of the operation ordered by the same Stalin. Last minute, Stalin took his name off the list – just as a whim of a dictator: first convicting and then sparing his life... Alexander Nikolayevich had been discretely and in private told about the incident some years later, after Stalin’s death.

In order not to repeat still the same strongly limited by the censors’ repertoire, he meanwhile wrote other texts, and often used texts of Soviet’s poets, and composed new songs additionally to those already accepted; all together about twenty. Those new songs, were rather sad and bitter, and quite often full of self irony, which he so frequently presented in his poetic songs. He always shared with the audience his feelings, and actual state of mind as well as personal successes and defeats, and never hide them, and therefore, many thought they were simply invented gestures meant to impress upon the audience. But there was nothing of that kind...he was always very honest and sincere with his audience.

He was indeed consciously singing away his own biography and giving it to his audience as a gift of a poet. That sort of manner, which suited him well, he accommodated from Alexander Blok, a great Russian poet, a symbolist, whose influence he remained under, since the very early stage of his artistic carrier - at the beginning of twenties century.

*

Some years after the end of the World War II, his financial situation became somewhat better. Alexander Nikolayevich was invited to act as an actor in several Soviet movies and even had been rewarded with a Stalin’s price in 1951 for a role in one of the movies, where he was playing a Church personality - a bishop with an aristocratic background, who was an opponent to the Bolsheviks. In the other roles he had been given; he also played rather negative characters with a clear, anti Soviet background. In the Soviet cinema of that time, they used his personal, somewhat haughty manners and French like pronunciation of the letter R, as a pattern of an aristocratic character and a supporter of the tsar’s regime defeated by the ‘Great Bolshevik Revolution.’

Alexander Nikolayevich knew that some people, even among those he liked and respected, objected to those cinema roles regarding them as being strongly exaggerated and created by the cineastes deliberately for the propaganda purpose, and therefore untrue. Inwardly, he agreed with them but always replied that he just played definite characters with the best of his ability and that’s it. What else could he say? In time, he learned that in Soviet Russia it could be bloody dangerous to speak out your mind honestly, so he adapted himself to the circumstances and controlled well what he was saying in public. Often, in private conversations with the so-called friends, he used to make in self defense remark as follows: ‘You know, I left the Soviet Russia years ago, as a young man, and I did it just for desire of adventure and not at all with any political agenda in mind...’

*

"Years ago, in 1913, the ‘wrong’ pronunciation of the letter ‘R’ shut the door to my dreamed theatre carrier at the Stanislavsky’s Moscow Art Theater, while years later the same quality gave me three appearances in the Soviet cinema productions, which to me sounds like an ironic joke, but also helped financially," he thought.

"It finally allowed Lidia to buy some new cloths to everyone in the family and not always being forced to alter the already used one and making them still looking presentable..."

By the way, talking about cinema, he could proudly state that he wasn’t a beginner in that business at all. However, the film productions he knew so well from the past, were of the silence movies, and he already took part in several of those movies since 1912. There, at the Khanzhonkov’s film production studio he met his long standing friend Andrey Mozzhukhin who could be regarded as a leading actor of Russian and then French silence movies.’ And there, he also met Vierochka* (*Viera Kholodnaya, first Russian female movie star-footnote). She was a talented actress and a wonderful girl...He even wrote a script for a movie, in which they supposed to play together, just in order to be close to her... Pity the film was never finished, so wasn’t our romance, too ...and quite soon ... she died so young and unnecessary...* (*Viera Kholodnaya died at the age of 25, in 1918, in Odessa). The circumstances of her death were unclear and to certain degree controversial, but it was the time of the terrible Spanish influenza, so who knows, perhaps the unclear circumstances were just an aura of an actress, who also was a beautiful young woman... So, feeling romantically involved with her; and after her death, he wrote a song about her called ‘Your fingers smell of church’s incense’ (6); the song he often performed in her memory and all around the world...’

" Andrey* (*Andrey Mozzhukhin) was a good friend; he helped me entering into the circles of actors, poets, writers, musicians and important people in entertainment business, when I arrived to Paris in...1925, I think," he just reflected over the past, trying to fix the year he arrived to Paris after the somewhat adventurous tours through Poland... and then Berlin... The time of a crazy and short lived first marriage, of which the only trace left was a song called ‘Pani Irena’...(Miss Irene), surprisingly still so popular among the audience... and that woman, whom I incidentally met again in Shanghai...after so many years. "

*

Nowhere except for Russia has he felt so much at home as in France, and particularly in Paris; the city, at the time regarded as the world’s most important cultural center. At the time, he used to be on the top of his vitality and artistic creativity both as an author and performer. Most of his best poetic songs were written there; songs that made his name so famous all around the world. He knew French well and that of course, made it additionally easy to move around in France. During his nine years long stay in France, he mainly performed in Russian and only occasionally in French, nevertheless, he was popular among the Russian emigrants and the French audience, alike. In Paris he earned well but also spent a lot, mainly on lavish lifestyle, expensive restaurants inviting often his artistic friends, elite guests, and... on women...So, overall, in Paris he had been popular and highly regarded performer but hardly could be called a reach man...

His appearance on stage was not just singing, but even more consisted of acting: he would use his hands, expression of his face, his whole posture and... lights that he used so inventively, while performing. In his early years as a performer, still in Russia, he wore a dress of a white Pierrot and with white face makeup. Later he changed it to a black Pierrot: dressed black and with only white elements in his dress, and dark face makeup. Those elements and changes in colors were both fashionable and decadent already at the time of before the World War I, and often used on purpose, just to shock the audience. All those effects could be associated with futurism and symbolism as the contemporary artistic movements at the time, but also helped him to become popular and acceptable among certain artistic elites and wide public alike.

Since his emigration from Russia end of 1920, he drastically changed the style again: just a dress of a gentleman (tailcoat) with or without a top hat, and only very discreet makeup of his face, and specially arranged lights during performance and that’s all. He kept that style till the end of his life. Outside Russia, Alexander Nikolayevich continued singing mainly in Russian, predominantly counting on public of Russian decent, or at least understanding Russian. For communication, he mainly used French, or if absolutely needed his bad German or very much Russian sounding English...

*

Let say honestly, his English sounded terrible and he knew that well. He could never proper master the English pronunciation and however, he tried to perform some of his songs in English, too, but very quickly gave up those attempts. His songs sung by him in English simply sounded far below their qualities performed in Russian. The obvious struggle with lingual, phonetic difficulties distorted the interpretation of those songs. Nevertheless, his American tour in 1934 was a great success: he gave several performances (all in Russian) in major American cities and in Hollywood, but an attempt of getting enrolled for a movie