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Abstract:

The theme of the confrontation with fascism still dominates the society. All attempts in the 20th century to distort the meaning, results and heritage of the great victory of the Russian people are debunked by the creative heritage of M. Gorky. The writer was one of the first to oppose the emerging “brown plague” in Europe. The clash of the concepts of fascism and anti-fascism in the 1930s suggests seeing the events of the turbulent twentieth century in the dialectical development of the struggle of various ideologies, understanding the deeper confrontation between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. On this line of confrontation, Gorky became a figure who, linking the worlds of different ideologies, turned out to be a person whose voice was heard on this and on that side. The proposed analysis of the position of the country and the artist in the time frame, when the war has not yet come, allows us to realize the deep forerunners and the origins of those terrible events that will unfold after the death of the writer. His artistic flair and intuition, excellent human knowledge and understanding of the internal currents of political games of States, in this case, can be considered as the Providence of the terrible events of the future. His journalistic articles, in particular “Who are you with, ʻmasters of cultureʼ? (The answer to the American correspondent” (1932), testifies to it fully. M. Gorky’s journalism, his speeches at conferences testified to the danger of strengthening fascism in Europe. In particular, the writer spoke about this in his address to “Delegates of the anti-war Congress: a Speech that was not made” (1932) and participants оf the international Congress of writers in defense of culture in 1935. The stated topic is relevant not only because it is a stage in the history of the writer’s creative biography, but also because so many years after the victory over fascism, attempts are made to revive this inhuman system of destruction of the world.

Keywords: M. Gorky, creative biography, anti-fascist position, I. Becher, E. Telman, anti-fascist journalism, epistolary.