Spokojna Odessa

Abstract

Spokojna Odessa (Peaceful Odessa) is a typical novel promoting the Cheka. The world created by Lukin and Polanowski is Manichean, it is black and white. There is the evil "counterrevolution" and the chekists – giants of spirit performing extremely difficult tasks burdening the body and the psyche, who do not break down under the weight of these challenges. Indeed, they lose their illusions, escape from bourgeois humanism, but deep inside they retain a deep human sensitivity. The novel is also a short explanation of the official history of the revolution and the birth of the Soviet system. The authors do not ask questions, they do not provoke discussion, do not seek the truth because they know it – revolution is the inevitable future, it leads to a better life, the monstrosity of war is the result of counterrevolutionary plots, national issues are properly elucidated, while love and care for the youngest find they right place. Peaceful Odessa is an example of a Soviet understanding of literature as an expression of class needs.