My Disillusionment in Russia · Chapter
XIX: In Kharkov explained
The narrator arrives in Kharkov, meets anarchist friends from America, and explores the city's educational system and industrial conditions.
What happens
The narrator arrives in Kharkov, meets anarchist friends from America, and explores the city's educational system and industrial conditions. Encounters bureaucratic inefficiency, deception by Communist officials, and the harsh realities of centralized state control. Witnesses the suffering of workers and prisoners, and faces the threat of losing collected materials, leading to a hasty departure.
Themes in this chapter
State Power vs. Individual Freedom
The centralized control from Moscow stifles local initiative, as seen with the ploughs and fuel distribution, and the suppression of independent Ukrainian museum plans.
Suffering of the People
Workers in the Donetz Basin are herded like cattle, miners work in water with poor rations, and prisoners face brutal conditions and wrongful convictions.
Betrayal of Revolutionary Ideals
The narrator questions the purpose of the Revolution when it supports brutality and crime; the engineer and Soviet employee lament that the masses remain in hovels while the bourgeoisie lose possessions.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
Visits Kharkov, meets friends, investigates education and industry, confronts bureaucratic deceit and state brutality.
- Fanya Baron
Met at the Anarchist bookstore; an American friend who returned to Russia after the Revolution.
- Alexandra Kollontai
Mentioned by Dibenko as his wife; the narrator is known to her.
- Zinoviev
His signature on credentials is noted; his earlier remark about centralized control is recalled.
- Karl Radek
Not directly present but referenced in the context of the Nabat Federation discussion.
- Volin
Mentioned in connection with the Nabat Federation.
Key passages
“Nothing could justify such brutality, I thought. But the chairman of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspection remained unmoved. “We are living in a revolutionary period,” she replied; “these matters cannot be helped.””
The narrator believes no brutality is justified, but the official dismisses concerns as unavoidable in revolutionary times.
Highlights the theme of state power vs. individual freedom and the betrayal of revolutionary ideals.
“The supremacy of the State was the cornerstone of Marxism.”
The narrator concludes that Marxist ideology prioritizes state control above all else.
Reflects the theme of state power vs. individual freedom.
“It was not true that the workers have gotten into the palaces. They were only made to believe that that is the function of a revolution. In reality, the masses remained where they had been before.”
A Soviet employee argues that the revolution has not improved workers' living conditions; they only think it has.
Illustrates the theme of betrayal of revolutionary ideals.