I am the staunchest supporter of the USSR: neither a communist nor a Bolshevik—just someone genuine who carries a heart beating fiercely for the motherland.

 I am the staunchest supporter of the USSR: neither a communist nor a Bolshevik—just someone genuine who carries a heart beating fiercely for the motherland. On this matter, I believe I am not alone. Many people can, and do, share this feeling. There is also a culture that has formed around this feeling, and I am always aware of it; I prevent it from entering my mind in order to stay outside of it. Because none of those people ever share the feeling that I feel. For mine is a very particular bond—pure and sincere, cleansed of all culture and influence. People learn about states from the outside, while I rewrite them from within, without corrupting their roots, and thus they cease to be themselves and become an archetype in my inner world. I believe that the USSR—even though I have never been there—is something that only I truly know. I feel as though there is a dark, empty room, and in it, I’m alone with the Soviets. In that room, I see the soft, fearful, and innocent face it shows to no one else. Meanwhile, those outside keep thinking of me as “red,” just as they keep dismissing the Soviet Union with the cheap label of “totalitarian.”