Mavriks Vulfsons has witnessed and been a part of many of
the events that shaped the Baltic states in the 20th century. The 81-year-old retired
university professor spent his young adulthood in Latvia, fought on the Soviet side during
World War II, joined the Communist Party and then, in the 1980s, became one of the first
to publicly condemn the fifty year Soviet occupation and to demand the restoration of
Latvia’s independence. During the independence movement in the early 1990s, he was
one of Latvia's main envoys to the East and West. While he is praised—even by his
political opponents—for his intelligence and integrity, Vulfsons has also been
criticized by some for his life-long leftist leanings.
CITY PAPER: Overall, how would you characterize the 20th century?
It was an extremely tragic century, mainly because of the two world wars. So many people
lost their lives, and so many people lost their belief in something. I have lived through
it all. A recent headline in an article about me read, “He Cheated Death Three
Times.” In truth, it was many more times. There were many times, not only in war,
when I was close to being shot.
Unlike so many of my
colleagues, however, I do not deny my past. It was very full of mistakes, including me
being in the Communist Party. But it is my past, and I don't reject it. And yes, I fought
on the Soviet side during the war, but for me, especially as a Jew, this was the right
side.
CITY PAPER: You have said it’s important for a nation to look at the past
honestly.
It is very important for Latvia to look back honestly. Latvians should know precisely what
has happened. The Communist period was everyday life for some, but a tragedy for others.
And Nazi rule was also not the worst of times for some, but it was a tragedy for Jews, of
course. This must be understood. You can’t just put a line under all this and say,
okay, now this can all be forgotten.
CITY PAPER: When you look back on your life this century, what are some of the
happiest moments in your life, and what are some of the saddest?
The happiest moment of my life was the final victory over the Nazis. The saddest was the
moment I understood 
that there was as much terror bound up in the Soviet
regime as in the Nazi one. There was more or less terror in some regards, but on balance
it was much the same. For me, as an early believer in socialism, I was very sorry when I
realized this. It was very difficult for me.
Another happy moment, of
course, was Latvia regaining independence. I fought for it, and it was a wonderful moment
to see it happen. Freedom is very good, of course, but it must also be used in better ways
than it is being used now. For example, the level of poverty and the disparities between
the very rich and poor is much too high.
CITY PAPER: During Latvia’s drive for independence, you met Soviet President
Gorbachev on many occasions, and you tried to talk him in to accepting Baltic
independence, is that right?
Yes. But he clearly wanted to stop independence from happening. His view was that Baltic
independence would spell the end of the Soviet Union.
I often told him that he should
think of the three Baltics as three little boats and just let us go. 
But
he’d just shake his head and insist that this would mean the end of the USSR. And he
did turn out to be right. In a way, he had more foresight than I.
In a sense, we must thank
Gorbachev. He is a man who tried to deny us independence, but without him, there is no way
we would have had the opportunity to grab it. We wouldn’t have had the chance to
fight for this high ideal and to have such a wonderful time of our lives doing it.
He made mistakes, including
ones I cannot forget. I called him during the crackdown in the Baltic states (in 1991) to
plead with him to stop the bloodshed, but he refused to take my call. Still, he will have
a special place in history for centuries to come.
—CITY
PAPER-The Baltic States
To see an excerpt of Vulfons’ memoirs, Cards on the Table, see 20th Century Snapshots
on this site. Cards on the Table (1998) was published in Riga by Jumava;
the above photo is from the cover of the book.
