S. L. Frank's Reflections on Russia, Germany and Europe on the Pages of the Catholic Journal 'Hochland' and Russian Emigre Journals
On November 16, 2021, at the joint seminar of the International Laboratory for the Study of Russian and European Intellectual Dialogue and the Master's educational program 'Philosophical Anthropology', the academic supervisor of the Laboratory Professor Leonid M. Luks made a presentation
Russian emigrants who left Russia after the victory of the Bolsheviks witnessed the first attempt in history to turn a totalitarian utopia into reality. Many of them realized that the events of 1917 were only the first act of a pan-European tragedy and tried to warn the public of their host countries about the impending catastrophe, but did not find a wide response. The West was much more interested in the winners in the internal Russian struggle than the losers. However, there were also people in the West who tried to swim against the current: they were ready to listen to Russian emigrant thinkers. The publishers of the German Catholic magazine Hochland also belonged to their circle, which in the 1920s and 1930s was a kind of forum for Russian authors in exile, especially those who ended up in Germany after their expulsion from Soviet Russia. First of all, this concerned S. L. Frank and F. A. Stepun, who especially often appeared on the pages of the magazine.
The report examined Frank's texts in this journal, as well as in some émigré publications. All of them were devoted to the Russian theme, however, as a rule, in a general European context. Frank pays special attention to the work of Russian thinkers who predicted the events of 1917 and other catastrophes of the 20th century.
Watch the video on YouTube.
Leonid Luks
Academic Supervisor