The Prosecutor [antikvár]

Introduction I cannot write this book without first explaining how. on two occasions. Vyshinsky came to my aid. Twice he came to my rescue, without knowing anything about me. Both times it had to do with my studies at the Institute of Foreign Trade. There were two prestigious institutions of higher education in Moscow, the doors of which were practically barred to ordinary mortals - the institutes of International Relations and Foreign Trade. There was no way I could get into the first: the likes of me were just not accepted there. The other, though, remained more democratic for a while. Soon this tiny crack was to be sealed up as well, but not before I had gained top marks in all the entrance examinations and won a place. I was then sixteen. Young people matured earlier in my youth. I was no exception -and not just in the social sense. Independence, an ability to take decisions - these aspects of social maturity were possessed by many of my peers. But in one respect I was very different from them: my mother had not instilled in me suspicion and fear - the two distinctive elements of the period, and its permanent psychological backcloth. Having suffered the loss of loved ones. Mother shouldered all our anxieties alone - I grew up in an atmosphere in which I could exclaim with absolute sincerity: 'Thank you. Comrade Stalin, for our happy childhood!' This is how I came to be. so defenceless and downright foolish once I had got into the Institute, where completely different ground-rules applied. It was a launching pad for one's career, and many students started immediately to work on theirs. Many but not, of course, all: among the students in my year were some very talented and very decent people who went on to become Academicians and distinguished scholars, professors, ambassadors and prominent figures in the arts and sciences. But the place was also teeming with obvious careerists, schemers and trouble-makers. This, however, only became apparent to me much later on: at the time they were simply students who