[PGR88]

It is with profound regret that I must note here something which I cannot pass over in silence. My predecessor in the receipt of this prize last year — in the very month that the award was made — lent public support to Communist lies by his deplorable statement that he had not noticed the persecution of religion in the USSR. Before the multitude of those who have perished and who are oppressed today, may God be his judge.

I had to look up who the winner was the year before Solzhenitsyn. It was Billy Graham (1982). Anyone know what Solzhenitsyn was talking about???

[SeekAndFind]

RE: I had to look up who the winner was the year before Solzhenitsyn. It was Billy Graham (1982). Anyone know what Solzhenitsyn was talking about???

Billy Graham was invited to speak in one of his crusades in Moscow in 1982 ( his first tour of the Soviet Union ). It was only for a week ( May 1982 ).

Of course, his movements were of course, heavily monitored an he was only shown what they wanted him to see.

In anticipation of a second Soviet tour, Billy Graham decided to make a (what to call it?) “diplomatic statement” which Solzenitsyn felt was UN-COURAGEOUS and UNFORTUNATE.