Research: Memories of Central Asia
Publication: "Shukrullo: Die ohne Leichentuch Begrabenen - Erinnerungen und Gedanken eines verfolgten Dichters"
Reichert Verlag Wiesbaden 2005After the arrival of perestroika in Uzbekistan the famous writer Shukrullo published his memories of the 1950s, when he was arrested, prosecuted as "public enemy" and released from labour camp just after the death of Stalin. In times of democratic awakening and national constitution the book evoked huge domestic interest in Uzbekistan. Especially for young readers the book is still the only attempt of coming to terms with the soviet history of Uzbekistan.
In comparison to other memories from labour camps the book "Die ohne Leichentuch Begrabenen" (Tashkent 1991) is an individual, consciously personalized report - it does not describe neither the "Gulag Archipelago", nor the inmates "buried without shroud", but the poet and human Shukrullo as a victim of political oppression. The title, anyway, points at the direction of the book: one of the big fears, which accompany Shukrullo, is to die an unworthy death far away from home.
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In relation to the project "Die ohne Leichentuch Begrabenen - politische Verfolgung an der sowjetischen Peripherie, erzählt und erinnert durch den uzbekischen Dichter Shukrullo" the book was translated into German in 1999. After the translation the author has commented and complemented the book in many discussions with the editor Ingeborg Baldauf. He relativized, but also put parts of the text in a stronger connection to the present, always supported by his wife, who was prosecuted in the Stalin era, too. From these conversations arose a comment which will be published together with the German translation.
last update : 05 December 2011