Valentin Michailowitsch Bereschkow

Valentin Michailowitsch Bereschkow ( Russian Валентин Михайлович Бережков , scientific transliteration Valentin Michajlovič Berežkov , German alternatively also Valentin Michailowitsch Bereshkow ; * July 2, 1916 in Petrograd ; † November 21, 1998 in a Soviet diplomat and interpreter in Claremont, journalist California ) During the Second World War he was Josef Stalin's personal interpreter .

Life

Early years

The Bereschkow family belonged to the upper middle class. During the Russian Revolution , the family went through difficult times, characterized by poverty, hunger and a long-term illness of the father. In 1920, Berezhkov's parents decided to leave Saint Petersburg and move to Ukraine , the father's homeland.

Valentin Berezhkov's interest in foreign languages ​​was aroused at an early age by the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and the novels by Karl May and Sir Walter Scott . By 1930 he attended a German school in Kiev and improved his language skills to such an extent that, according to his own statements, he felt German as a second mother tongue. After graduating from school, Berezhkov worked as an electrician in the “Bolshevik” factory in Kiev. On the side, he attended evening courses to perfect his language skills and then completed an interpreting diploma for the working languages ​​Russian, German and English. After a brief activity as a tour guide and interpreter for the company "Intourist", Bereschkow completed a technical degree and in 1938 obtained his degree as an engineer.

After the conclusion of the German-Soviet trade agreement on August 20, 1939 and the subsequent signing of the non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Hitler's Germany on August 23, 1939, Bereschkow was assigned to the Supreme Naval Staff as an operative because of his knowledge of German. This marked the beginning of his interpreting career.

Interpreter and diplomat

In August 1940, Bereschkow was appointed advisor to the People's Commissariat for Foreign Trade and was responsible for German-Soviet economic relations. A few months later he was transferred to the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, which marked the beginning of Berezhkov's diplomatic career.

On trips to Germany and during his later service as First Secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Berlin, Bereschkow acted as interpreter of Vyacheslav Molotov and Josef Stalin in conversations with Joachim von Ribbentrop and Adolf Hitler . An anecdote described by Bereschkow himself in his book I Was Stalin's Interpreter shows how surprised and astonished Hitler was at Bereschkov's knowledge of German:

“When I began to interpret Molotov's words, [...] Hitler looked at me attentively, apparently surprised by my Berlin accent, and suddenly asked:
'What are you, a German?'
'No', I replied [...] but the 'Führer' persevered:
'Are you an ethnic German?'
'No, I'm Russian.'
'Impossible,' said Hitler in amazement. "

After Hitler's Germany attacked the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, despite the conclusion of the non-aggression pact , Bereschkow was appointed liaison man for the Soviet embassy in Berlin and from then on conducted negotiations with the German government about the emigration of Soviet embassy staff. On July 2, 1941, the embassy staff, including Bereschkow, managed to leave Germany.

After his return to Moscow , Bereshkov was unexpectedly appointed personal interpreter for Stalin during a visit by the Anglo-American delegation. He describes this event in his book I was Stalin's interpreter as follows:

“The conversation was interpreted initially by Pavlov on the Soviet side and by Charles Bohlen, the third US Embassy Secretary in the USSR, on the American side. At one point Pavlov had certain difficulties with the translation, and Bohlen had to come to his aid. Stalin didn't like that, and he turned to Molotov with the question: 'Why does an American improve my interpreter? That's not right. Where is the young man who translated during the talks with Hitler? Let him come and help us. '"

As a result, Berezhkov took part as an interpreter in numerous international meetings during the war. For example, he interpreted at the Moscow Foreign Ministers ' Conference ( October 19-30, 1943), the Tehran Conference (November 28th to December 1, 1943), the Dumbarton Oaks Conference (August 21st to October 7th, 1944) as well at the Yalta Conference (February 4-11, 1945). A few months after the Yalta Conference, Bereshkov was denounced by the head of the intelligence service Lavrenti Beria , on suspicion that Berezhkov's parents had fled to the West after their unexplained disappearance from Ukraine during the German occupation. Berezhkov fell out of favor with Stalin and was relieved of his post.

In his book I Was Stalin's Interpreter , Berezhkov sums up the role of a language mediator in the following words:

“Without the translator, the conversations are practically deaf and mute. He is indispensable and indispensable. But as I now saw, I was only needed as a professional, not as a personality. The person disappears, but the specialist remains in the form of another person. "

Journalist and writer

Thanks to the positive intercession of Molotov, after leaving the diplomatic service, Bereschkow found a job as a journalist in the editorial team of the Moscow magazine War and Working Class , later Neue Zeit , where he was responsible for the translation of German and English texts. In addition to his journalistic activities, Bereschkow also devoted himself to writing and in the following decades published several books on political topics as well as on his time as an interpreter for Stalin.

After Stalin's death in 1953, Molotov offered Berezhkov to return to his old profession as an interpreter. However, this refused.

During his activity as a journalist, Berezhkov participated as a special correspondent at the most important conferences of the post-war period. These include B. The Geneva Indochina Conference (1954), the Warsaw Meeting (1954) and the Geneva Summit Conference (1955).

Living in the USA

In the 1970s, Berezhkov became an employee of the Soviet embassy in Washington, DC In 1983, a diplomatic scandal caused by Berezhkov's son Andrei. In a letter published by the New York Times , 16-year-old Andrei asked US President Ronald Reagan to grant him asylum in the United States. Such a request, made by the son of the first embassy secretary of the USSR, led to a diplomatic crisis, as a result of which Andrei distanced himself from the content of his letter and the Bereshkov family returned to Moscow.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union , Valentin Berezhkov returned to the United States in 1991 and taught at the Occidental College in Los Angeles , California, with a focus on Russian-American relations.

family

Valentin Berezhkov's maternal great-grandfather, Nikolai Alexejewitsch Titow , is considered the "grandfather of Russian romances". He wrote over a hundred romances , marches , quadrilles and waltzes and set poems by Alexander Pushkin to music .

In December 1940, Berezhkov married his first wife Galina, called Galja. Two years later, their son Sergei was born, who followed in his father's footsteps and worked as an interpreter for Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s and 1990s .

In 1966, Berezhkov married his second wife Valeria Mikhailovna, known as Lera. Another son, Andrei, emerged from this marriage.

Others

Berezhkov himself often emphasized that he was one of the few people who were allowed to shake hands with the most important politicians during the Second World War. According to Bereshkov, these handshakes were as different as the personalities of the men. He writes about his experiences:

“The Führer [Adolf Hitler] shook hands with everyone. The palm of the hand was cold and damp, so it felt uncomfortable like touching a reptile. The handshake was limp and expressionless. In this respect there was a resemblance to Stalin [...] Churchill had a large but soft and warm hand, which, as it were, comfortingly clasped another's hand. Roosevelt held out his hand energetically in greeting, in which a special power could be felt [...] "

Publications

• Обманутое поколение: положение трудящейся молодежи в Англии. Молодая гвардия, Москва 1952.
• On a diplomatic mission with Hitler in Berlin 1940–1941. Voice publishing house, Frankfurt am Main 1967 ( С дипломатической миссией в Берлин, 1940-1941 , 1967).
• With Stalin in Tehran. Voice publishing house, Frankfurt am Main 1968 ( Тегеран, 1943: На конф. Большой тройки и в кулуарах , 1968).
• Years in the diplomatic service. Dietz, Berlin 1975 (Годы дипломатической службы, 1972).
• Witness dramatic moments. Tehran - Yalta - Potsdam. Verlag Marxistischer Blätter, Frankfurt am Main 1985, ISBN 3-88012-712-3 ( Страницы дипломатической истории , 1984).
• Experienced history 1940–1943. Interpreter and diplomat against fascism and war. Verlag Marxistischer Blätter, Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-88012-724-7 ( Путь к Потсдаму , 1975; Рождение коалиции , 1975).
• I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-8004-1228-4 ( Как я стал переводчиком Сталина , 1991).

literature

Literature on the person

• Engel, Christine / Menzel, Birgit (ed.): Culture and / as translation. Russian-German Relations in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Frank & Timme GmbH publishing house for scientific literature, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-86596-300-0 .
• Taucova, Anna: Interpreting in the Soviet Union at the time of Stalin based on the memoirs of Valentin M. Bereschkow, Tamara W. Solonewitsch and Siegfried von Vegesack (Interpreting in the Soviet Union under Stalin on the basis of the memoirs of Valentin M. Bereshkov, Tamara W. . Solonevich and Siegfried von Vegesack). Thesis. FASK Germersheim 2009.

Literature on the subject

• Birse, AH: Memoirs of an Interpreter. Behind the Scenes with Churchill's Interpreter at the Big Three Conferences. M. Joseph, London 1967; Coward-McCann, New York 1967 (US version).
• Bohlen, Charles E .: Witness to History 1929-1969. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 1973, ISBN 0-297-76633-3 .
• Schmidt, Paul-Otto: Extra on the diplomatic stage 1923–1945. Experiences of the chief interpreter in the Foreign Office with the statesmen of Europe. From Stresemann and Briand to Hitler, Chamberlain and Molotov. Athenaeum, Bonn 1949. New edition: EVA, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-434-50591-1 .
• Schmidt, Paul-Otto: The extra at the gallery 1945-50. Experiences, comments, comparisons. Athenaeum, Bonn 1951.
• Weit, Erwin: Eastern Bloc internally. 13 years as an interpreter for the Polish party and state leadership. Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1970, ISBN 3-455-08130-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, pp. 11-16.
2. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, pp. 16-18.
3. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 28f.
4. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, pp. 70, 75.
5. ^ Andres, Dörte: Consecutive interpreting and notation. Lang, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin 2002, p. 21f.
6. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, pp. 115, 167.
7. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 183ff.
8. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 250.
9. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 263.
10. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 267.
11. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, pp. 301ff., 320.
12. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 345.
13. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: With Stalin in Tehran. Voice publishing house, Frankfurt am Main 1968, p. 133.
14. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 454.
15. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 455.
16. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 483.
17. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, pp. 456ff.
18. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 481.
19. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 493.
20. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: With Stalin in Tehran. Voice publishing house, Frankfurt am Main 1968, p. 133.
21. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, pp. 501-512.
22. ^ Pace, Eric, New York Times - Valentin M. Berezhkov, 82, Interpreter for Stalin at Talks . New York Times Web site, article November 27, 1998. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
23. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 12.
24. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 166.
25. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 450.
26. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 465.
27. ↑ Bereshkow, Valentin M .: I was Stalin's interpreter. Behind the scenes of the world political stage. Universitas, Munich 1991, p. 266.