Letters to the Editor

Russian-American Adoptions

To The Editors:

As the mother of two Russian children, I find I must respond to the critics of international adoption, in particular Dr. Smith in your June/July issue and reader Peter Dodds in the Aug./Sept. issue.

Dr. Smith erred when he said Americans “shop” for children. Wrong. Our children were chosen for us, as is typical in these adoptions. Therefore, we also did not pick a child with “the gold coin of beauty.” We did not even see a photo of our daughter before we met her in Russia. Does Smith really think any parent would turn down a child because she’s too plain in his view?

Mr. Dodds stated that Americans should adopt American children. Easier said than done. He mentions homeless children. They’re homeless, not parentless. They are not available for adoption.

Most children in U.S. foster care have not been available for adoption. Only recently did the U.S. Congress drastically change adoption policy in the U.S., telling the states that reunification of birth families is no longer to be the priority, but rather permanency for children is the goal. Jeff Katz, director of Adoption Rhode Island, wrote earlier this year that, “There are many reasons that children wait in this country. But don’t ever, ever let anyone tell you that these children wait because no one wants to adopt them.” He has waiting lists of families wanting to adopt disabled children. He may now get to place more. But until this recent change in law, our country has considered children to be the property of their birth parents no matter how severely neglected or abused a child might be.

In Russia, some people, such as the Duma member you cited, still consider children the property of the state. Apparently Smith and Dodds agree. But any psychologist or child care expert will tell you that a family is a more basic need for a child than a country! Yet these children have a family and two countries, as parents are now very open with their children about their country of origin. Also, as these men should know, the future is bleak for the children who “graduate” from orphanages at age sixteen. Many end up as suicides or prostitutes.

Only monumental economic and social changes in Russia will vastly improve the facts of orphanage life. Smith’s efforts will produce no more remedy for that than the adoptions. But in the meantime, we all do what we can to make a difference. And adoptive parents are among the most concerned and active in assisting “the children left behind.”

Like thousands of other former orphanage children, my children have a wonderful home, a mama and a papa, and a large and loving extended family. Our family and many others across this nation have a gratitude and affection for the Russian people that will last our lifetimes. Critics should know; these are the results of the adoptions.

Deborah Schroeder

Chair, Orphanage Support Program

Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption, Wisconsin Chapter

Celebrating Chkalov

To the Editors:

I read with delight “The Russian Lindbergh” (Dec/Jan 1999), as a resident and historian of Vancouver, WA, and a relatively frequent visitor to Chkalovsk, originally named Vasilova Sloboda, birthplace of Valery Chkalov (the village name is misspelled in the article). Vancouver has enjoyed a very long and memorable relationship with Moscow since this aviation feat in 1937, followed in 1975 by the placement of a monument to the world’s first transpolar flight at Pearson Air Field. Numerous Russian delegations have visited the monument, and in 1987 and 1997 we celebrated the fiftieth and then the sixtieth anniversaries of the flight with the families of the three fliers and Russian government officials, diplomats and cosmonauts.

It is true that the soldiers and the citizens of Vancouver asked for souvenirs, but unlike your story told, there was very little the pilots could give them. They had exhausted and discarded most of their supplies to lighten the aircraft. Fuel ran short due to the unexpected length of the flight when they veered off course in the stormy weather over Alaska. Much to everyone’s surprise however, they had carried $100 US bills and flung these from the windows of their host’s home before their departure. Citizens had refused payment for items requested during their stay in Vancouver.

General George C. Marshall, commander of the military department headquartered at Vancouver and personal host to the Russian fliers, quartered the three men in his home, with security guards to protect them from the throngs of persistent reporters and curious citizens. They spent several nights at Vancouver with Marshall while the General and Ambassador Troyanovsky coordinated plans for the aviation tour of the nation. They were feted in Portland—just across the Columbia River—before their departure for San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New York. General Marshall accompanied them on this entire trip.

Chkalov noted many similarities between the landscapes of the Columbia River and the Volga communities he had known as a child. Art exchanges with Chkalovsk, Russia, remind us of those similarities. The world’s first transpolar flight initiated lasting historical ties for Vancouver, WA. Ironically today, nearly 14,000 Russian-speaking people live in this American community, over one-tenth of its population. Most have moved here within the last eight years.

Mary Rose

Past Chair

International Affairs Commission

Vancouver, WA

Reader Corrections

To the Editors:

In the February issue of Russian Life I was surprised to read (on page 11) of the fate of the famous Russian theater director Vsevolod Meyerhold. It is well known from recently released KGB files that Meyerhold was arrested in 1939 and shot in February 1940, after having endured torture at the hand of the Soviet Secret Police. His wife, the actress Zinaida Raikh, also met with a gruesome end. She was found dead in their apartment a week after he was arrested. The cause of her death was multiple stab wounds all over her body and face. Again the work of the KGB? So you can understand my surprise when I read that, quote, “Two years later, Vsevolod Meyerhold died – he simply couldn’t live without theater.” It sounds as if he had died of a broken heart. I have always liked your magazine for its interesting and at times very graphic, but true, articles. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Sincerely,

Marina Robinson

Chapel Hill, NC

Marina:

You are absolutely right. And thank you for catching, and correcting, our poorly phrased, inaccurate portrayal of Meyerhold’s tragic end.

– The Editors

To the Editors:

I’ve been subscribing to Russian Life for many years and thoroughly enjoy your magazine. Considering the professionalism of your articles, I was surprised when I came across the following in your February/March edition:

In the unsigned Prokofiev museum brief on Page 6, your writer states that Prokofiev is perhaps best known in the West “for his symphony Peter and the Wolf.” “Symphony?” Peter and the Wolf is not a symphony. It is the narration of a tale for children that matches some charming themes with the animals featured in the piece. Peter and the Wolf may be Prokofiev’s most popular piece in the West but it is certainly no symphony.

I feel, incidentally, that Prokofiev’s most popular symphonies in the West are the Classical Symphony and the Fifth Symphony.

What they are in the East I have no idea.

Sincerely,

Douglas Freelander

Houston, TX

Douglas:

You are, of course, correct. We seem to have made a simple error in translation. The subtitle of the piece in Russian is actually “Symfonicheskaya skazka,” or “A Symphonic Fairytale.”

– The Editors

Russia’s Stance on Iraq

To the Editors:

In response to Mikhail Ivanov’s article in the Feb/Mar issue of Russian Life, I must get something off my chest.

There is nothing wrong with nationalistic pride, depending upon what that pride is based.

Americans fly their flags out of gratitude for a system of government that puts the well being of their people first above international image and prestige.

Mr. Ivanov says, “something should be done about Iraq,” but doesn’t give any alternative suggestions, and neither did the Russian government. We were in a situation where the worst thing that could be done was nothing. Russia is only one nation among many in the United Nations. They were simply outvoted. There was no intentional humiliation. No one could humiliate Russia more than their own leaders have, case in point, the hundreds of billions of dollars in aid that was simply stolen.

Russia does have much to be proud of. I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit Russia on three occasions since 1994 and I have found that with all the vastness, beauty, and natural resources Russia has, its greatest treasure lies within the heart and soul of Its people. I have enjoyed the company of these lovely people from Moscow and St. Petersburg to Tula, Kaluga, and Shchekinov, to small villages in Siberia, and have found that they are the most beautiful people on earth. But as I have studied Russian History it appears that Russia’s leaders have always prided themselves in the beauty, splendor, and grandeur of their palaces, cities, statues, military power, and international image at the expense of those who paid for it all with their blood, sweat, and tears, and who have, throughout Russia’s history, been repaid by being ignored neglected, and enslaved. From those who were forced to build St. Petersburg, the “city built on bones,” to forced labor camps throughout the communist era.

This is one thing that has never changed throughout Russia’s history, and the same attitude remains today.

My heart breaks because of Russia’s situation. Unfortunately, individual people as well as nations, when in seemingly hopeless situations, tend to lash out at others including those who have done nothing but try to help them.

I believe Mr. Ivanov speaks out of the same misplaced pride that has for centuries kept Russia the giant tragedy that it is.

When Russia’s leaders begin to respect the common people of Russia, and allow them the basic God given rights that they deserve, such as freedom of religion, a respected voice in government, and the opportunity to use their ingenuity and skills to raise their standard of living, and show pride in their people above everything else, then Russia will earn the right to be a major player in world affairs.

In the meantime Mr. Ivanov, stop your whining.

Doug Boling

Inola, OK

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