Svetlana Alexievich said this quote

“ Why didn't we put Stalin on trial? I'll tell you why...In order to condemn Stalin, you'd have to condemn your friends and relatives along with him. The people closest to you...our neighbor Yuri turned out to have been the one who informed on my father. For nothing, as my mother would say...When Yeltsin came to power, I got a copy of his file, which included several informants' reports. It turned out that one of them had been written by Aunt Olga...his niece...a beautiful woman, full of joy...It's not just Stalin and Beria, it's also our neighbor Yuri and beautiful Aunt Olga... ”

Famous Quotes of Svetlana Alexievich

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Death is the fairest thing in the world. No one's ever gotten out of it. The earth takes everyone - the kind, the cruel, the sinners. Aside from that, there's no fairness on earth.

~ Svetlana Alexievich

Svetlana Alexievich Death Fairness Justice

Is there anything more frightening than people?

~ Svetlana Alexievich

Svetlana Alexievich Chernobyl Disasters Fear People

How were you taken prisoner?' The interrogator asked my father. 'The Finns pulled me out of a lake.' 'You traitor! You were saving your own skin instead of the Motherland.' My father also considered himself guilty. That's how they'd been trained.

~ Svetlana Alexievich

Svetlana Alexievich War

I'm afraid of freedom, it feels like some drunk guy could show up and burn my dacha at any moment.

~ Svetlana Alexievich

Svetlana Alexievich Freedom