Vsevolod Višnevski ja Eesti. Kaks episoodi
Vsevolod Vishnevsky and Estonia. Two episodes

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses two episodes related to the name and appearance of a famous Soviet writer and a fierce apologist of the Soviet regime Vsevolod Vishnevsky (1900–1951), who stayed in Tallinn in the first months of the war between Hitler’s Germany and the USSR, as a war correspondent of the Baltic Fleet. In the first episode, we consider an attempt to instal a memorial plaque to Vsevolod Vishnevsky in Tallinn in 1987. This intention rallied the Estonian intellectuals to seriously oppose the Soviet ideological doctrines and pressure from the centre. Some of them found a euphemistic countermove, arguing the impossibility of perpetuating the memory of Vishnevsky as he had been the organizer of the persecution of Mikhail Bulgakov. The present article deconstructs some relevant texts published in the Estonian and central Soviet press, demonstrating the transit of the polemics from the “field of literature” to the national and social level. The second episode presents Vishnevsky as the creator of a potent myth about the death of sailor Yevgeny Nikonov, who was allegedly captured by German troops, tortured and burned alive. More than 15 years later, in 1957, Nikonov was post­humously awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Also, a monument to him was erected in Tallinn, Tallinn School No. 17 and Kohtla-Järve Boarding School were named after him, as well as the pioneer squad of Tallinn Secondary School No. 1, etc. The article deals with the mechanism of creating a myth typical of the dominant political discourse.

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