“Attention must be devoted principally to raising the workers to the level of revolutionaries; it is not at all our task to descend to the level of the “working masses.” —Vladimir Lenin, 1901 (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Internet Archives, 2022)

The name “Vladimir” means “The glory of princes,” highly ironic for leaders in a movement devoted to the abolition of the bourgeoisie/ruling classes. Russian babies, though, have been named after the great Kyivan Rus’ prince, ever since Vladimir of Kyiv converted to Christianity in 987 CE. It is a very common name; and it has been carried by some formidable “princes” of Communist Russia—Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, for one. Lenin was head of Soviet Russia from the 1917 revolution until his death in 1924, as well as head of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1922 until his death. The man had serious power at his command.

Ukrainians have cause to remember Vladimir Lenin. The memories are very dark. We must traverse those terrible days in this chapter.