Robert Robinson lived in the Soviet Union from
1930 to1974, and spent the latter 27 years of
that time trying to get out.
1930-3:
During his first year in Stalingrad Robinson became an international celebrity. Although there was little overt friction between American and Russian workers, some of the White American workers objected to associating with Black American workers. Two White Americans set on Robinson and tried to throw him out of the mess hall. As a result of this incident he was viewed as a ‘hero’ by his fellow workers, the authorities, and the press, though he was very uncomfortable with that title. There was a big demonstration at the factory, and both Russian and American workers denounced racism, and called for punishment of the offenders.
The two Americans were put on trial before a judge, and one of them ended up being deported. Robinson collaborated with the authorities with some reluctance, fearing being shipped back to America. He continued to be considered a hero and the authorities continued to use him to exemplify the Soviet attitude against racism.
At the end of his first year in Russia Robinson renewed his contract. The Soviet authorities were eager to retain the Americans and integrate them further into the Soviet system. After his second year he intended to return to the USA, but was persuaded to sign a year’s contract with the First State Ball Bearing Plant. Before starting that contract he took a vacation with his mother and noted the continuation of the Depression. He was, however, also concerned at something that was happening in Russia; fellow workers were suddenly leaving the factory without any warning or explanation. The era of the great purges was starting.
1934-45:
On the December
10th1934, Robinson, who
had put forward 50 proposals to rationalise tool production in the ball bearing
plant,
went to a factory meeting which had to elect a representative to the Moscow
Soviet. Speeches were made in support of various nominees and then a man stood up and nominated Robinson. The
crowd roared with enthusiasm and he was elected to a 4-year term on the council. The completely astounded
Robinson said shortly afterwards 'I
am not a member of the Communist Party. I am not interested in politics. In
fact I have no idea what my duties will be as a Delegate in the Moscow
Soviet.'
This election had serious consequences. It opened him to accusations of being a Communist, and the U S State Department required him to return to America. Robinson wanted to complete his contract, in spite of the increasing incidence of ‘disappearances’, and to attend courses at the Moscow Evening Institute of Mechanical Engineering where he had recently been accepted. He therefore made arrangements with the authorities to receive a sort of temporary Soviet citizenship, while still being considered a U S citizen; in effect though he gave up his U S citizenship. This all happened at a most inauspicious time; the assassination of Kirov, an important Soviet leader, had unleashed the full fury of Stalin’s purges of his perceived enemies. One who was purged was Lovett Fort-Whiteman, a prominent Black American Communist, who had also gone to live in Russia in 1930. The favoured status of foreign workers rapidly melted away; by 1937 Robinson found himself the only Black American worker still at liberty. As he later said he asked himself ‘what kind of hell I had gotten into.’ He recounted how, during those years, he hardly dared to undress and go to sleep at night, as he waited for the dreaded knock on the door which he assumed would surely come.
The onset of war with Germany changed circumstances radically. The purges ended, though Robinson observed that he and a Hungarian were by then the only surviving foreign workers, the rest having gone to the Gulag. The regime then encouraged patriotism over party loyalty, and the people flocked to the churches seeking God’s forgiveness and aid. Conditions in Russia became desperate and Robinson records being virtually saved from starvation by his woman doctor who invited him to dinner with her family every Sunday.
As soon as the war ended Robinson applied for permission to visit his mother, who was ill. This permission was refused, and every year from 1946 to 1973 he renewed his application for permission to travel out of the U S S R. From the start there had been problems in sending money back to his mother. He felt that the Soviet authorities would never let him go because he knew too much about the real conditions in the country.
