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An Essay “A Word about the Motherland” was Published 65 Years Ago

On January, 23–24, 1948, the newspaper “Pravda” published the first postwar essay of M.A.Sholokhov. It is an intimate talk of the author with the reader about the fate of the Motherland, the heroism of the Soviet people and the sacrifices made for the future.

“Stay a little in silence and solitude, my dear compatriot and friend, close your eyes, remember he recent past…”, – so confidently and easily the story begins about all that the people had to experience in the years of the Great Patriotic War, and how important it is now not to forget those terrible days.

The writer seems to take the huge country in at a glance: pitted with trenches forests of Belarus, Smolensk and Moscow regions, shell plowed fields of Ukraine, Kursk, Orel, Voronezh and Tula, boundless steppes of Stalingrad full of deadly metal, the Crimea and the foothills of the Caucasus with lots of trenches and craters… And though the time heals the wounds of the earth, the grief of the orphaned people remains inescapable, tears of the widows are bitter, a sigh of a child, who lost his father, is painful, the old age in its inconsolable distress is tragic.

And only belief in the future of the native land, only fortitude of the people will help to stand up and revive the country. “…The sacrifices made in the name of saving the country, – the author says, – did not lessen our strength, and the bitterness of the unforgettable losses did not belittle our spirit…”

The author and the reader see how the land is reviving, blooming with fantastic speed after the war: the fields overgrown with wild grass until recently are covered with gold grain stubble, where there was wilderness and desolation, there are reconstructed plants working. “Virtually, great and invincible are the people who could not only defend their independence and defeat all the enemies, but also become a beacon of hope for the workers all over the world!”,– the writer exclaims with pride.

M.A.Sholokhov ends his essay with warm moving words: “My dear sweet Motherland! I give all my boundless love of a son to you; all my thoughts are with you!” This sincere declaration of a filial devotion and fidelity for the home country excites us today as well. We understand and share the feelings of the writer who could express so clearly and simply what millions of people thought about and felt.

Galina Smirnova