watched. Flowers were strewn on the mound. Larisa placedna white pine cross at the head. With a ballpoint pen sheninscribed the name and dates.nReturning to Moscow from the funeral, she wrote:nAnatoly Marchenko died in battle. . . . This battlenbegan for him a quarter century ago, and never, notnonce, did he throw out the white flag ofnsurrender. … I ask everyone—both near andnfar — not to forget: The “Marchenko Case” is notnclosed. A universal political amnesty, freedom for allnpolitical prisoners — for this sacred cause Anatolyngave his life. . . .nOutside the USSR, Marchenko’s death provoked a storm ofnarticles, letters, protests. Clearly it was a liability to Sovietnpublic relations. Something had to be done to squelch thenstory. A remarkably daring, yet effective ruse was found. Itnwas to create a bigger, better story.nThat story was the release of Andrei Sakharov from hisnexile in Gorky. On December 10, he had been officiallyndenounced, but on December 15, a telephone was installednin his apartment. The next day the first caller was MikhailnGorbachev, enjoining him to return “to patriotic work.”nSakharov responded: “I am feeling very sad due to thenmurder of my friend Anatoly Marchenko in a prisonnhospital.” Gorbachev elected not to debate the wordn”murder,” but replied politely that he had studiednSakharov’s February appeal and had freed some of thenprisoners on the list. But others, he said, were “special kindsnof people.” By this admission, Gorbachev revealed thatnthought had indeed been given to Marchenko, and thumbsnturned down.nSakharov’s triumphant return to Moscow gave glasnost anboost at the end of the year and, despite his own reminders,nserved to eclipse the case of Marchenko. We can now seenthat all responsible officials, from Gorbachev to the jailer innChistopol, knew perfectly well about Marchenko and determinednto punish him. Without question, he was singled outnfor “special” treatment.nwhy Marchenko? What made him stand out? Isn’t itnpossible he was simply passed over for more famousndissidents? After all, Shcharansky had the unstinting supportnof Jewish communities in Israel and the United States,nRatushinskaya captured world attention with her sad beautynand persecuted poetry, and the ailing David Goldfarb wasnspoken for by Lenin’s old buddy, Armand Hammer. Whatnmade Marchenko special?nMarchenko was an iron man. He wouldn’t give an inch.nWhen confronted with the fake legality and brute force ofnthe Gulag system, he took the position of refusal toncooperate. “Why should I make it easy for them?” he wrote.nThe obvious answer, which all other zeks understood atnonce — “because they will take it out on your hide” —napparently failed to persuade him. When a guard said, “Getnover there!” Marchenko would reply, “I refuse to cooperate.”nWhen a state interrogator asked, “Answer the questions;nwhy do you make things difficult for us?” Marchenkonwould answer: “You already have all the answers.” Whennthe prison doctor ordered him to open his mouth, “You’vengot to eat sooner or later,” Marchenko clamped his jaw andnturned down his head.nAnd so, since he wouldn’t budge, they pushed him andnshoved him, beat him, worked him, starved him, froze him,nconfined him, isolated him, deprived him of letters and visitsnfrom his wife, ignored his protests, denied him propernmedical care, force-fed him through the nose, kicked him,ncontrolled his access to the toilet, cursed him, threatenednhim, tempted him with sweets, sent him into exile, spied onnhim, harassed him, searched his house, burned it down, beatnhim on the street, rearrested him, gave him a new term andnbegan all over again, and again, six times. After more thann20 years of this, his iron constitution was broken: concussions,near infections, deafness, blindness, meningitis, heartntrouble, malnutrition, gastric inflammations, rotten teeth,nchills, and fevers had taken their toll. All these he regarded asndocumentary proof, facts to be reported as testimony. Thisntestimony, of course, would be labeled “anti-Soviet propaganda.”nThus Marchenko entered a vicious circle: they beatnhim, he wrote about it, they beat him for this, he wrotenabout it . . .nThe only escape was a compromise. In 1974 they offerednto send him to Israel as part of the Jewish emigration. Othersnreadily accept such an offer, then travel to the country ofnGreat Topics, Great Issues!nCatch up on the CHRONICLESnyou’ve missed by orderingnfrom the following collectionnof recent back issues.nTitlenn Freedom of Religion September’88—Wayne Lutton looks at AIDS—then”only politically protected disease in history.” Peter Laurie discoversnT. S. Eliot’s Oriental inspirations; while Nicholas Davidson exposesnacademic mumbo-jumbo Editor, Thomas Fleming argues for separation ofnchurch from politics: and Jocelyn Tomkin leads us into Time—the space ofnthe spirit. $2.50nD Victims of Government August ’88—Dan McMurry moves in with thenhomeless: “Hard Living on Easy Street”: Allan Carlson examines the mushynmentality of the welfare state in his “Charity Begins at Home”: Harold Brownnon anti-white racism; and IMichael Warder probes the depravity of privilegednWesterners who work for the Soviets in “Why Spy?” $2.50nO Masculine Feminine Neuter July ’88—Retired Vice Admiral JamesnStockdale writes of personal experiences in Hanoi; feminists’ hate of successfulnwomen is rivaled only by their love of power, writes Janet Barlow in “Still CrazynAfter All These Years”; Allan Carlson on AIDS and civil defense; plus: gaynscience, feminist bishops, women novehsts. $2.50nD Etlinic Conflict May ’88—Harold O.J. Brown tells why Swiss ethnicnpluralism works; Erik von Kuehneh-Leddihn stresses the historical reasons fornSouth Africa’s state of affairs; and Samuel Francis looks at Martin LuthernKing, Jr and the civil rights movement. $2.50 .n• Homage to T. S. Eliot April ’88—Octavio Paz, Josef Pieper, James Hittleton,nThomas Molnar, Fred Chappell, and Thomas Fleming pay their respects to thengreat modern poet. $2.50nD Who’s in Charge? March ’88—Editor Thomas Fleming discusses the privatendiplomats’ and public scoundrels’ fight over the corpse of the Americannempire: Samuel Francis asks, “If Presidents have a free hand in foreign policynwho needs a Constitution?”; and Jack Douglas wonders if it may be time to electnfederaljudges. $2.50n^Postage and handhng included in issue price. Total amount duenName AddressnCity_ . State. .Zip_nnnQty. Amt.nChronicles • 934 North Main Street • Rockford, IL • 61103 CBI588nOCTOBER 1988121n