[ad_1]
From left to right: Justinas Marcinkevičius, Algimantas Baltakis, Antanas Venclova, Ipolitas Cieška in A. Venclova’s office, 1953. Photo of Venclova House-Museum
“For example, he was allowed to go to Iceland to meet Iceland’s only Nobel Prize winner, the country’s most famous writer, Halldor Laxness, who was considered a ‘sympathizer’ of the USSR. A.Venclova contacted him, corresponded with him, “says Justina Juozėnaitė.
A. Venclova also saw with the German literary classic Thomas Mann and arranged for the reconstruction of his house in Nida.
Until the end of his life, A. Venclova devoted himself mainly to writing, translating and editing. He retired from politics. According to Egle, he mentioned in his diaries that he liked cultural activities more than political duties and with the bureaucracy inherent in them.
However, according to E. Vilčiauskaitė, A. Venclova’s diaries reveal that he believed in the ideals of communism until the last days of his life.
“When reading the blogs, nowhere does he seem to hesitate. He sees social ills: alcoholism, deprivation and the like, but he does not question the justice of the Soviet government. Suppose that now that the Baltušis diaries have come out, it is as if they reveal another Baltušis, who despises certain things of the system. This is not the case with Venclovas ”, says E. Vilčiauskaitė.
