America lost one of its best friends late last month when Soviet-era dissident Vladimir Bukovsky died at 76 in Cambridge, England. The notoriously stubborn writer and non-violent activist inspired other dissidents by example, enduring a total of 12 years in phony psychiatric hospitals, prison and labor camps in the 1960’s and 70’s for speaking out against the tyrannical state. In spite of the harsh punishment he endured, Bukovsky successfully leaked secret documents to the West that exposed the Soviet practice of falsely declaring dissidents to be mentally ill—including himself.
Bukovksy made history upon his release to the UK in 1976, meeting with President Carter (who banned photographs to avoid outraging the Kremlin) and writing his masterful memoir "To Build a Castle", which landed him on Good Morning America and other national media. Beyond his warnings of Soviet treachery, he inspired others with his integrity. “We didn't arise as a political movement,” he said in 2014. “We were a moral movement. Our basic impulse was not to transform Russia, but simply not to be a participant in crime.”
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