Stalingrad - Destiny Of A Novel [Grossman's War]

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

To Comrade Stalin

20191202

At the end of 1950 a desperate Vasily Grossman wrote to Stalin pleading for assistance in bringing his great post war novel STALINGRAD to print. No answer was ever forthcoming-it would be another two years before anyone could read it. Historian Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous passage to publication of Grossman's novel ,dramatized this week on Radio 4, to reveal the insane complexities of Soviet censorship and the grim, even murderous, politics of a post war Soviet Union almost destroyed by war.

For Grossman, a hugely popular chronicler of the Soviet peoples struggle against the Nazis, the war had robbed him of his mother, brought mass murder to his fellow Soviet Jews and carried the promise of new freedoms once victory was secured. There would be no such outcome.

In the last year of the war it was announced Vasily Grossman's new project was to be a novel about the defining battle against fascism-Stalingrad. Grossman dedicated it to the 'nameless heroes who must not be forgotten'. He had already been at work on his novel for some 18 months. The next 8 years would see an increasingly maddening struggle to have his novel published. His efforts to see STALINGRAD to print coincided with the last great Stalinist purge and campaign of terror directed against Stalin's own Jewish population. The novel underwent endless revision, censorship and criticism before first seeing print in 1952.

Through Grossman's own tormented journey Catherine Merridale explores both the conception of a classic work of fiction, translated for the first time into English and now broadcast on Radio 4, and the turbulent, savage post war years of late Stalinism.

Reader: Anton Lesser
Producer: Mark Burman

Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad.

Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.

To Comrade Stalin

20191202

20191203 (R4)

Reader: Anton Lesser
Producer: Mark Burman

Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad.

Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.

The Black Book

20191203

20191204 (R4)

Historian Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous passage of Vasily Grossman's novel STALINGRAD to print.

Even before Grossman began to prepare his novel STALINGRAD for publication it became clear that victory over the Nazi's would not bring any hard won freedoms or historical truth. Grossman, in his role as a front line Soviet journalist, had documented Nazi atrocities including the workings of the death camp of Treblinka. His mother had been murdered in his Ukrainian home town of Berdichev.

As the war had progressed he had assumed editorship of The Black Book-a vast and harrowing collection of first hand accounts of Nazi genocide on Soviet soil. Grossman himself wrote the stark chapter on the murder of the Jews of Berdichev. It would never see publication until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Closed down on Stalin's orders it was the first intimation of a new campaign of repression & terror

Reader: Anton Lesser

Producer: Mark Burman

Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad.

Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.

Historian Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous passage of Vasily Grossman's novel STALINGRAD to print.

Reader: Anton Lesser

Producer: Mark Burman

Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad.

Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.

The Progress of a Manuscript

20191204

Historian Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous journey of Vasily Grossman's novel STALINGRAD to print. In 1945 there was a need & eager anticipation for a literary treatment of the Soviet people's experience of a terrible war. A book that was the Red equal to Tolstoy's War & Peace. By 1949 Grossman was ready, poised to deliver his epic version which he then called STALINGRAD.

He had produced a text of which he was justly proud. A book that was necessary and just. Despite signs of increasing censorship and repression he still believed his novel would find acceptance and a receptive audience. Yet he was canny enough to keep a personal diary of the process of submitting his manuscript-translated into English for the first time it reveals the beginnings of a maddening journey that became an epic battle of wills.

Reader: Anton Lesser
Producer: Mark Burman

Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad.

Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.

The Progress of a Manuscript

20191204

20191205 (R4)

Reader: Anton Lesser
Producer: Mark Burman

Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad.

Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.

'Pull Yourself Together-Do Not Worry\u2019

20191205

Historian Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous passage of Vasily Grossman's novel STALINGRAD to print. By 1951 the voluminous corrections, alterations & revisions ran into thousands of pages. The demands of anxious editors, who both wanted to see the novel in print but always worried about the reaction from above had made Grossman begin to despair. His stubborn refusal to eradicate key passages, entire characters, or themes had resulted in a kind of stalemate. His insistence on progress and completion was met with long silences, evasion or frequent absences by editors so drunk they were checking into clinics. Just another normal day in late Stalinist Russia. But perhaps there was hope after all

Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad.

Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.

'Pull Yourself Together-Do Not Worry\u2019

20191205

20191206 (R4)

Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad.

Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.

In a Crooked Mirror

20191206

Historian Catherine Merridale concludes her chronicle of the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman's novel STALINGRAD to print.
Early 1953. Vasily Grossman's epic, Tolstoyan, novel of what most Russian's still call The Great Patriotic War had appeared to general acclaim. At the same time Stalin'se state sponsored anti-Semitic campaign of terror was culminating in the infamous Doctor's Plot'. Then Comrade Stalin died without Comrade Stalin's permission' Millions of Soviet citizens were stunned, distraught.
What could it all mean?
It was then that the most vicious and terrifying attacks on Grossman's novel began.

Reader: Anton Lesser
Producer: Mark Burman

Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad.

Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.

In a Crooked Mirror

20191206

20191207 (R4)

Reader: Anton Lesser
Producer: Mark Burman

Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad.

Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
01	To Comrade Stalin	20191202		At the end of 1950 a desperate Vasily Grossman wrote to Stalin pleading for assistance in bringing his great post war novel STALINGRAD to print. No answer was ever forthcoming-it would be another two years before anyone could read it. Historian Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous passage to publication of Grossman's novel ,dramatized this week on Radio 4, to reveal the insane complexities of Soviet censorship and the grim, even murderous, politics of a post war Soviet Union almost destroyed by war. For Grossman, a hugely popular chronicler of the Soviet peoples struggle against the Nazis, the war had robbed him of his mother, brought mass murder to his fellow Soviet Jews and carried the promise of new freedoms once victory was secured. There would be no such outcome. In the last year of the war it was announced Vasily Grossman's new project was to be a novel about the defining battle against fascism-Stalingrad. Grossman dedicated it to the 'nameless heroes who must not be forgotten'. He had already been at work on his novel for some 18 months. The next 8 years would see an increasingly maddening struggle to have his novel published. His efforts to see STALINGRAD to print coincided with the last great Stalinist purge and campaign of terror directed against Stalin's own Jewish population. The novel underwent endless revision, censorship and criticism before first seeing print in 1952. Through Grossman's own tormented journey Catherine Merridale explores both the conception of a classic work of fiction, translated for the first time into English and now broadcast on Radio 4, and the turbulent, savage post war years of late Stalinism. Reader: Anton Lesser Producer: Mark Burman Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad. Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.
01	To Comrade Stalin	20191202	20191203 (R4)	At the end of 1950 a desperate Vasily Grossman wrote to Stalin pleading for assistance in bringing his great post war novel STALINGRAD to print. No answer was ever forthcoming-it would be another two years before anyone could read it. Historian Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous passage to publication of Grossman's novel ,dramatized this week on Radio 4, to reveal the insane complexities of Soviet censorship and the grim, even murderous, politics of a post war Soviet Union almost destroyed by war. For Grossman, a hugely popular chronicler of the Soviet peoples struggle against the Nazis, the war had robbed him of his mother, brought mass murder to his fellow Soviet Jews and carried the promise of new freedoms once victory was secured. There would be no such outcome. In the last year of the war it was announced Vasily Grossman's new project was to be a novel about the defining battle against fascism-Stalingrad. Grossman dedicated it to the 'nameless heroes who must not be forgotten'. He had already been at work on his novel for some 18 months. The next 8 years would see an increasingly maddening struggle to have his novel published. His efforts to see STALINGRAD to print coincided with the last great Stalinist purge and campaign of terror directed against Stalin's own Jewish population. The novel underwent endless revision, censorship and criticism before first seeing print in 1952. Through Grossman's own tormented journey Catherine Merridale explores both the conception of a classic work of fiction, translated for the first time into English and now broadcast on Radio 4, and the turbulent, savage post war years of late Stalinism. Reader: Anton Lesser Producer: Mark Burman Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad. Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.
02	The Black Book	20191203	20191204 (R4)	Historian Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous passage of Vasily Grossman's novel STALINGRAD to print. Even before Grossman began to prepare his novel STALINGRAD for publication it became clear that victory over the Nazi's would not bring any hard won freedoms or historical truth. Grossman, in his role as a front line Soviet journalist, had documented Nazi atrocities including the workings of the death camp of Treblinka. His mother had been murdered in his Ukrainian home town of Berdichev. As the war had progressed he had assumed editorship of The Black Book-a vast and harrowing collection of first hand accounts of Nazi genocide on Soviet soil. Grossman himself wrote the stark chapter on the murder of the Jews of Berdichev. It would never see publication until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Closed down on Stalin's orders it was the first intimation of a new campaign of repression & terror Reader: Anton Lesser Producer: Mark Burman Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad. Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels. Historian Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous passage of Vasily Grossman's novel STALINGRAD to print. Even before Grossman began to prepare his novel STALINGRAD for publication it became clear that victory over the Nazi's would not bring any hard won freedoms or historical truth. Grossman, in his role as a front line Soviet journalist, had documented Nazi atrocities including the workings of the death camp of Treblinka. His mother had been murdered in his Ukrainian home town of Berdichev. As the war had progressed he had assumed editorship of The Black Book-a vast and harrowing collection of first hand accounts of Nazi genocide on Soviet soil. Grossman himself wrote the stark chapter on the murder of the Jews of Berdichev. It would never see publication until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Closed down on Stalin's orders it was the first intimation of a new campaign of repression & terror Reader: Anton Lesser Producer: Mark Burman Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad. Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.
03	The Progress of a Manuscript	20191204		Historian Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous journey of Vasily Grossman's novel STALINGRAD to print. In 1945 there was a need & eager anticipation for a literary treatment of the Soviet people's experience of a terrible war. A book that was the Red equal to Tolstoy's War & Peace. By 1949 Grossman was ready, poised to deliver his epic version which he then called STALINGRAD. He had produced a text of which he was justly proud. A book that was necessary and just. Despite signs of increasing censorship and repression he still believed his novel would find acceptance and a receptive audience. Yet he was canny enough to keep a personal diary of the process of submitting his manuscript-translated into English for the first time it reveals the beginnings of a maddening journey that became an epic battle of wills. Reader: Anton Lesser Producer: Mark Burman Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad. Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.
03	The Progress of a Manuscript	20191204	20191205 (R4)	Historian Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous journey of Vasily Grossman's novel STALINGRAD to print. In 1945 there was a need & eager anticipation for a literary treatment of the Soviet people's experience of a terrible war. A book that was the Red equal to Tolstoy's War & Peace. By 1949 Grossman was ready, poised to deliver his epic version which he then called STALINGRAD. He had produced a text of which he was justly proud. A book that was necessary and just. Despite signs of increasing censorship and repression he still believed his novel would find acceptance and a receptive audience. Yet he was canny enough to keep a personal diary of the process of submitting his manuscript-translated into English for the first time it reveals the beginnings of a maddening journey that became an epic battle of wills. Reader: Anton Lesser Producer: Mark Burman Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad. Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.
04	'Pull Yourself Together-Do Not Worry\u2019	20191205		Historian Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous passage of Vasily Grossman's novel STALINGRAD to print. By 1951 the voluminous corrections, alterations & revisions ran into thousands of pages. The demands of anxious editors, who both wanted to see the novel in print but always worried about the reaction from above had made Grossman begin to despair. His stubborn refusal to eradicate key passages, entire characters, or themes had resulted in a kind of stalemate. His insistence on progress and completion was met with long silences, evasion or frequent absences by editors so drunk they were checking into clinics. Just another normal day in late Stalinist Russia. But perhaps there was hope after all Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad. Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.
04	'Pull Yourself Together-Do Not Worry\u2019	20191205	20191206 (R4)	Historian Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous passage of Vasily Grossman's novel STALINGRAD to print. By 1951 the voluminous corrections, alterations & revisions ran into thousands of pages. The demands of anxious editors, who both wanted to see the novel in print but always worried about the reaction from above had made Grossman begin to despair. His stubborn refusal to eradicate key passages, entire characters, or themes had resulted in a kind of stalemate. His insistence on progress and completion was met with long silences, evasion or frequent absences by editors so drunk they were checking into clinics. Just another normal day in late Stalinist Russia. But perhaps there was hope after all Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad. Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.
05	In a Crooked Mirror	20191206		Historian Catherine Merridale concludes her chronicle of the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman's novel STALINGRAD to print. Early 1953. Vasily Grossman's epic, Tolstoyan, novel of what most Russian's still call The Great Patriotic War had appeared to general acclaim. At the same time Stalin'se state sponsored anti-Semitic campaign of terror was culminating in the infamous Doctor's Plot'. Then Comrade Stalin died without Comrade Stalin's permission' Millions of Soviet citizens were stunned, distraught. What could it all mean? It was then that the most vicious and terrifying attacks on Grossman's novel began. Reader: Anton Lesser Producer: Mark Burman Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad. Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.
05	In a Crooked Mirror	20191206	20191207 (R4)	Historian Catherine Merridale concludes her chronicle of the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman's novel STALINGRAD to print. Early 1953. Vasily Grossman's epic, Tolstoyan, novel of what most Russian's still call The Great Patriotic War had appeared to general acclaim. At the same time Stalin'se state sponsored anti-Semitic campaign of terror was culminating in the infamous Doctor's Plot'. Then Comrade Stalin died without Comrade Stalin's permission' Millions of Soviet citizens were stunned, distraught. What could it all mean? It was then that the most vicious and terrifying attacks on Grossman's novel began. Reader: Anton Lesser Producer: Mark Burman Catherine Merridale chronicles the tortuous gestation of Vasily Grossman\u2019s Stalingrad. Programmes around Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman's two epic wartime novels.