Konstantin Shakryl and Issues of the National Liberation Movement of the Abkhaz People, by Aslan Avidzba

Aslan F. Avidzba
Doctor of Historical Sciences,
Deputy Director,
D. I. Gulia Abkhazian Institute of Humanitarian Researchstitute of Humanitarian Research,
Sukhum, Abkhazia

Translated by AbkhazWorld

Abstract

The article explores issues connected with the national liberation movement of the Abkhaz people. The author discusses the cultural and linguistic transformations in Abkhazia which led to catastrophic consequences for the Abkhaz people, particularly in the sphere of school instruction, as well as the resulting obstacles to the development of an Abkhaz intelligentsia and the loss of national and cultural identity among young people. The study also addresses the resettlement of Greeks, Turks and other populations, and the settlement of Georgians in their place, as well as the repressions directed against peoples living on the territory of Abkhazia.

The article examines the notion of “Abkhaz letters” as an integral element of the national liberation movement of the Abkhaz people in the twentieth century. Special attention is devoted to the first letter, written by K[onstantin]. Shakryl, B[agrat]. Shinkuba and G[eorgy]. Dzidzaria. When they sent it in 1947 to Moscow, to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), setting out the oppression suffered by the Abkhaz people, they understood that they were in effect signing their own sentence and condemning themselves to repression; nevertheless, they took this step. The article describes their subsequent fate and the hardships they were compelled to face.

Keywords: Abkhazia; national liberation movement; “Abkhaz letters”; repression; K. Shakryl; B. Shinkuba; G. Dzidzaria; language reform.

For citation: Avidzba A. F. K. S. Shakryl and issues of the national liberation movement of the Abkhaz people // Caucasian Science Bridge. 2020. Vol. 3. No. 3 (9). Pp. 18–28.

In Abkhaz historiography of recent decades the term “Abkhaz letters” has become established. These letters constitute a component part of the national liberation movement of the Abkhaz people in the twentieth century. The demands expressed in the “Abkhaz letters” varied depending on historical context and the time of their writing, yet they were united by concerns relating to the preservation of national identity and Abkhaz statehood.

In his speech at the First Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR on 2 June 1989, V. Ardzinba emphasised: “In the history of the Abkhaz people, the years 1937–1953 became a period when the very question of the liquidation of the people as such was at stake” (The Ardzinba Epoch, 2009). In this connection, the opinion of the Georgian historian G. Lezhava is of interest. He writes: “The linguistic and cultural transformations in Abkhazia carried out from 1937 to 1953 were based on the theoretical constructs of the Stalinist school of linguistics, whereas critics of these transformations, by contrast, appealed to Marr’s ‘New Doctrine of Language’” (Lezhava, 1997).

However, the issue at the time concerned not only cultural and linguistic changes in Abkhazia. In the same speech, V. Ardzinba continued:

“The nation was decapitated: all the most prominent state and party leaders of Abkhazia, and almost the entire intelligentsia, were destroyed. The peasantry suffered mass repressions. From 1940 the Abkhaz people were no longer referred to as the ‘Abkhaz people’. From 1941 radio broadcasts in the Abkhaz language ceased. In 1945–46 the Abkhaz schools were closed, and the teachers left without work. Abkhaz were practically absent in the leading party and Soviet organs. Mass forced resettlement into Abkhazia was initiated. Enormous funds were spent on this resettlement; it did not cease even during the difficult years of 1941–42. Greeks, Turks and other peoples were deported from Abkhazia, and their homes were transferred to settlers from various regions of Georgia. Owing to this artificial growth, the Abkhaz became a minority in their ancient homeland. Original place-names in Abkhazia were altered. Grave violations of nationalities policy toward the Abkhaz people were described in collective and personal letters addressed to central party and Soviet organs by representatives of different strata of Abkhaz society – the intelligentsia, the working class and the peasantry – in 1947, 1957, 1967, 1978, and 1988” (The Ardzinba Epoch, 2009).

Indeed, the history of the “Abkhaz letters” begins with 1947, when members of the Abkhaz intelligentsia – K. Shakryl, B. Shinkuba and G. Dzidzaria – prepared and sent to Moscow, to the highest party organs, a letter setting out facts of discrimination and oppression against the Abkhaz people.

1. Shakryl characterised the situation preceding the appearance of the 1947 “Abkhaz letter” as a national-cultural genocide carried out by Georgia against the Abkhaz people (Shakryl, 1991).
2. Shakryl recounts in his memoirs how the idea for the letter arose and was brought to life. He, B. Shinkuba, and G. Dzidzaria were close friends and colleagues. They frequently discussed the systematic violations of nationalities policy in Abkhazia and were convinced that the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was unaware of these distortions. After consulting together, they decided to write to the Central Committee about all that was occurring. Given the regime in Abkhazia at that time, this decision amounted to self-sacrifice; as Shakryl concluded, they could certainly have been shot for it (Shakryl, 1991). But they were not deterred.

Shakryl was a close friend of the well-known Soviet linguist, Professor G. P. Serdyuchenko. By coincidence, Konstantin Semenovich was on a work trip to Moscow at that time, where he met his friend and told him about the letter to the Central Committee. The Moscow linguist supported the idea but did not conceal the danger associated with such a step. Serdyuchenko, who was well acquainted with the Secretary of the Central Committee A. Kuznetsov, advised that the “Abkhaz letter” be addressed to him.

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