Two Hundred Years Together by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Summary

Two Hundred Years Together is a comprehensive two-volume historical work examining the relationship between Russians and Jews from 1772 to 1995. The first volume covers the period from the First Partition of Poland through the Russian Revolution, while the second volume addresses the post-revolutionary era until the 1970s Jewish emigration. Solzhenitsyn explores pogroms, civil liberties restrictions, revolutionary participation, and Soviet-era dynamics, advocating for mutual understanding and historical reconciliation between Russians and Jews.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize-winning author of The Gulag Archipelago, wrote Two Hundred Years Together to examine the intertwined destinies of Russians and Jews throughout modern history. Solzhenitsyn aimed to promote understanding and reconciliation by addressing controversial questions about shared responsibility in revolutionary violence and Soviet repression. He emphasized that both Russians and Jews must acknowledge their historical roles without resorting to collective guilt, seeking "to extend a handshake of understanding – for all our future".

Two Hundred Years Together is worth reading for those seeking a complex, albeit controversial, perspective on Russian-Jewish history from a significant 20th-century writer. The book provides detailed chronological coverage of the Pale of Settlement, pogroms, and revolutionary dynamics with extensive primary source citations. However, readers should approach it critically, as historians have accused Solzhenitsyn of selective quotations, factual errors, and antisemitic rhetoric. The work has never been officially translated into English, limiting accessibility.

Two Hundred Years Together suits advanced readers interested in Russian history, Jewish diaspora studies, and the complex dynamics of ethnic relations in imperial and Soviet Russia. This book is particularly valuable for historians, scholars, and those familiar with Solzhenitsyn's other works who can critically evaluate his controversial claims. Readers should have strong historical background knowledge and the ability to cross-reference sources, as critics have identified numerous methodological concerns including biased exposition and manipulated quotations.

Two Hundred Years Together has received overwhelmingly negative reception from historians and literary scholars. Critics accuse Solzhenitsyn of antisemitism, selective quotations, factual errors, and relying on discredited antisemitic pseudo-historians for statistical data about Jewish participation in Soviet government. Historians challenge his claims about Jewish wartime cowardice, which contradict documented frontline casualties and bravery decorations. Cultural historian Elisa Kriza argues that Solzhenitsyn's treatment of Russian Jews as perpetual foreigners demonstrates antisemitic rhetoric throughout the work.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn emphatically denies that Jews were responsible for the 1905 and 1917 revolutions in Two Hundred Years Together. He explicitly rejects conspiracy theories and mocks those who believe Russia's decline resulted from a "malicious Jewish plot," stating that "Russian failings" determined the nation's historical decline. However, Solzhenitsyn does argue that all parties, including Jews, must acknowledge their "renegades" who collaborated with the totalitarian Soviet regime, emphasizing collective responsibility rather than collective guilt.

Two Hundred Years Together argues that anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire were spontaneous acts of violence organized "from below" rather than government-sponsored events, with limited government culpability in the Pale of Settlement. Solzhenitsyn criticizes the "scandalous weakness" and "unpardonable inaction" of Tsarist authorities for failing to protect Jewish lives and property. He acknowledges that post-revolutionary pogroms by Red Army elements killed up to 200,000 Jews, inflicting devastating spiritual and psychological damage on survivors.

Solzhenitsyn distinguishes between collective responsibility and collective guilt throughout Two Hundred Years Together. He argues that both Russians and Jews must acknowledge their historical roles without blaming entire ethnic groups for the actions of individuals. Solzhenitsyn emphasizes responsibility "to oneself, to one's conscience, and before God" rather than answering before other peoples. His approach renews his philosophy of "repentance and self-limitation" in national life, calling for mutual empathy and understanding between Russians and Jews.

In Two Hundred Years Together, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn refuses to privilege one form of suffering over another or set Russian and Jewish experiences against each other. He acknowledges the Holocaust's singularity on Soviet territory while comparing it to the comparable evils of the gulag and collectivization. Solzhenitsyn argues that the "totality of suffering" experienced by both groups under Nazi and Communist regimes is so immense that it must produce mutual empathy and reflection rather than bitter competition over victimhood.

Two Hundred Years Together asserts that life for Russian Jews was difficult but comparable to conditions faced by Russian peasants during the Imperial period. Solzhenitsyn criticizes the "vexing," "scandalous," and "distressing" restrictions on Jewish civil liberties during the Empire's final decades. He expresses admiration for Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin's efforts (1906-1911) to eliminate legal disabilities against Jews. The book details how 100,000 Jews first entered Russian control after the 1772 First Partition of Poland.

Two Hundred Years Together has never received an official English translation, though unauthorized versions circulate online. The controversial reception and accusations of antisemitism likely contributed to major publishers' reluctance to translate Solzhenitsyn's work. Some copies were reportedly removed from Amazon product pages, with limited availability through Barnes & Noble. This lack of mainstream translation has made the book difficult to access for English-speaking audiences while simultaneously contributing to its controversial mystique and speculation about its contents.

Historians Geoffrey Hosking and Robert Service defended Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn against accusations of antisemitism regarding Two Hundred Years Together. Robert Service argued that Solzhenitsyn remains "very far from the antisemitism of the extreme Russian Right" and addresses Jewish-Russian relations "in a moderate and responsible manner". These defenders contrast sharply with critics like Northwestern University historian Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, who published a refutation accusing Solzhenitsyn of outright antisemitism. This scholarly divide reflects the book's polarizing impact on academic discourse.