An Unsent Letter
Viktor Kazakov was born in 1954 in Novouralsk. Starting from the 1940s, the Soviet Union’s top scientists were sent into numerous closed towns all over the country and were forced to conduct their research under strict supervision from the KGB and police. Kazakov’s parents hailed from different parts of the Soviet Union and met each other in Novouralsk. Galina, Kazakov’s mother, was born in Dnipro, modern-day Ukraine, and used to be a straight-A school student. She graduated the Moscow State University, the Soviet Union’s most prestigious educational institution at that time, and was “distributed” to a closed city — just like many other graduates of her time. After arriving in Novouralsk, she started her job in a local research facility. Vladimir Kazakov, Viktor’s father, graduated college in Gorky, modern-day Nizhny Novgorod in Central Russia, and was also sent to Novouralsk. Viktor Kazakov’s parents worked together for the Soviet Union’s nuclear project.
“I became an anti-Soviet person in 1980,” Viktor says. “I really loved Vladimir Vysotsky, so I decided to collect his aftermath to save it for the future generations. I started to write down his lyrics on paper, and, in a year’s time, I had a three-volume collection of 400 poems by Vysotsky. I also became friends with some other fans of Vysotsky from other parts of the Soviet Union, and I learned that I wasn’t alone. It was at that time that I realised I couldn’t stand the Soviet regime with all its lies. I was 26 years old at the time.”
Viktor was not accepted as member of the Komsomol, Soviet Union’s youth organisation, because of his long hair and love for Vladimir Vysotsky and The Beatles. His parents were called to see the school principal numerous times as Viktor used to share his liberal opinions with his peers and teachers. “My father would often tell me: think what you say in public. So, I was allowed to say what I think at home, but not at school.”