Introduction to this Translation

1 Introduction to this Translation Two Hundred Years Together is a two-volume historical essay by Nobel Price winning author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn dealing with the Russian-Jewish relations from 1795, leading up to the Communist revolution (Vol. 1) and then through to 1995 (Vol. 2). The original Russian volumes were first published in 2001 and 2002 respectively. French (Fayard, 2002) and German (HERBIG, 2003) translations were published soon after, but until now only a partial English Translation of this remarkable work was available in The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New and Essential Writings (Lanham, 2006). The importance of a complete English Translation has been discussed online ever since the books were first published, and in October 2010 the first chapters were posted online on a wordpress site called Adam's Blog, however the owner of that site received a warning by the copyright-holders in August 2011 and the Translation process stopped in its tracks.

2 It wasn't until January 2017 that voices showing the public interest in a full English Translation became loud enough that pseudonymous people took it upon themselves to finish what had been started nearly a decade earlier. This Translation has been a combined effort by several people. Chapters 4 and 5 from Volume 1, as well as Chapters 13, 14 and 16-27 were translated pseudonymously by multiple people and posted online in 2010 at Some of these chapters did not have English footnotes. Chapters 2,3 and 6 through 12, as well as Chapter 15 have been translated between February and March of the year 2017. They were made available pseudonymously by David and Davina Davison at These chapters were translated from French. Chapter 1 is of unknown origin, it was posted on 8chan in pdf format. Some footnotes from the French edition have been edited in.

3 The Translation for this chapter is not complete and a better version will likely be made and included in future editions of this work. Other translations of some of these chapters can be found online. There exists an alternative partial Translation of chapters 2,3 and 6 from the original Russian. I decided to use the one made by the Davisons because the writing was of superior quality and no difference in the content was found. If you find any errors in this publication, look for my contact details at The Incorrect Library. Shadilay, March 2017. Introduction to the Material Having worked with the history of the Russian revolution for fifty years, I have encountered many times the problems between the Russians and the Jews. Again and again they worked themselves into the happenings, drove a wedge into the human psyche and whipped up passions.

4 I did not lose hope that an author would beat me to the punch and bring forth, with the necessary amplitude and equilibrium, this bright spear. But we are dealing more often with one-sided reproaches: either the Russians are guilty against the Jews, worse, guilty of perpetual depravity, and rightly so; or, on the other hand, the Russians who have treated this problem rationally have done so for the most part excessively harsh, without giving the other party even the slightest merit. It cannot be said that there is a lack of publishers; notably among the Russian Jewry, there they are far more numerous than amongst the Russians. Nevertheless, despite the abudance of brilliant minds and decorated pens, we still have not had a up-to-date analysis of our mutual history that can satisfy both parties. We must learn not to tighten the rope when it is already so tense.

5 I would have liked to apply my efforts to a subject less thorny. But I believe this history or at least the effort to penetrate it should not remain forbidden'. The history of the Jewish Problem' in Russia (and Russia only?) is above all else exceptionally rich. Talking about it means listening to new voices and passing them on to the reader. (In this book, the Jewish voices will be heard more often than those of the Russians.). But the whirlwinds of the social climate force us towards the razor's edge. You can feel the weight of both sides, all the grievances and accusations, plausible as well as improbably, which grow as they go. The purpose that guides me throughout this work on the life common the Russians and the Jews consists of looking for all the points necessary for a mutual understanding, all the possible voices which, once we get rid of the bitterness of the past, can lead us towards the future.

6 Like all other people, like all of us, the Jewish people is at the same time an active and passive element of History; more than once they have accomplished, be it unconsciously, important works that History has offered them. The Jewish Problem' has been observed from diverse angles, but always with passion and often in self-delusion. Yet the events which have affected this or that people in the course of History have not always, far from, been determined by this one people, but by all those who surrounded it. An attitude that is too passionately for one party or the other is humiliating to them. Nevertheless, there cannot be problems that man can't approach with reason. Speaking openly, amply, is more honest, and, in our case precise, speaking about it is essential. Alas, mutual wounds have piled up in popular memory. But if we look at the past, when will the memory heal?

7 As long as popular opinion does not find a pen to shed light thereupon, it will stay a vague rumour, worse: menacing. We cannot cut ourselves off from the past centuries permanently. Our world has shrunk, and, whatever are the dividing lines, we find ourselves neighbours again. For many years I have delayed writing this book; I would've been glad not to take this burden upon me, but the delays of my life have neared exhaustion, and here I am. I have never been able to acknowledge anyone's right to conceal any of what has been. Neither can I accept any agreement founded on bringing false light on the past. I call both parties Russian and Jewish to look for mutual understanding, to recognize each others' share of the sin, because it is easy to look away: surely this is not us I sincerely strive to comprehend the two parties in the presence of this long historical conflict.

8 I plunge myself into the events, not the polemics. I want to show. I won't enter into the discussions except for those extreme cases where fairness is covered by layers upon layers of lies. I dare hope that this book will not be received by the extremists and the fanatics, that, on the contrary, it will favour mutual understanding. I hope to find caring people amongst the Jews as well as the Russians. Here is how the author envisaged his task and ultimate goal: to try and foresee, in the future of Russo-Jewish relations, accessible ways that could lead to the good of all. 1995. I wrote this book by bending myself only on what the historical materials told and looking for charitable issues for the future. But let's face it: in recent years the situation in Russia has evolved in such a drastic fashion that the problems studied herein have found themselves relegated to the background and don't have the acuteness today of Russias other problem's.

9 2000. On the perimeter of this study What could be the limits of this book? I am fully aware of the complexity and breadth of the subject matter. I. understand that it also has a metphysical aspect. It is even said that the Jewish Problem can be rigorously understood only from a mystical and religious point of view. Of course I recognize the reality from this point of view, but, although many books have already touched the subject, I think it remains inaccessible to men, that it is by nature out of scope, even for the experts. Yet all the important purposes of human history contain mystical influences, this does not prevent us from examining them on a concrete historical plane. I doubt whether we should necessarily call upon superiour considerations to analyze phenomena which our within our immediate reach. Within the limits of our earthly existence, we can make judgments on the Russians, as well as on the Jews, starting from lowly criteria.

10 As for those above, let's leave them to God! I want to clarify this problem only in the categories of History, politics and everyday life and culture, and almost exclusively within the limits of the two centuries of Russians and Jews living together in one state. Never would I have dared to approach the depths of the Jewish History, tri- or quadri-millenniar, sufficiently represented in numerous works and in meticulous encyclopedias. Neither do I intend to examine the History of the Jews in the countries nearest to us: Poland, Germany, Astria-Hungary. I concentrate myself on Russian- Jewish relations, insisting on the twentieth century, so crucial and so catastrophic in the destiny of our two peoples. Based on the hard experience of our coexistence, I try to dispel the misunderstandings, false accusations, while recalling the legitimate grievances.