Jesse Helms was one of the most important figures in late 20th-century political history, both in North Carolina and nationally. Alexander Solzhenitsyn was an acclaimed author and one of the most important voices speaking out against the dangers of communism. The two men shared an important bond. Stella Snyder, writer, researcher, and Helms’ editorial assistant for his memoir, delivered a 2010 lecture for the North Carolina History Project and the Jesse Helms Center titled “No One Can Bar the Road to Truth: Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Jesse Helms, Allies in the Battle for Freedom.” Snyder also discussed the topic with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio. (Click here to find a station near you or to learn about the weekly CJ Radio podcast.)
Kokai: First of all, why is this an important topic to explore — the link between Sen. Jesse Helms and Alexander Solzhenitsyn?
Snyder: For me, it was important because I think to this point, perhaps because we knew him so well, we have discounted the importance of Sen. Helms in the international stage and his singular role in helping to bring down communism in the latter part of the 20th century. One of Sen. Helms’ best qualities was his belief — along with [author] Zig Ziglar, who was a friend of his — that there’s no limit to what you can accomplish as long you don’t care who gets the credit. And so Sen. Helms worked, often behind the scenes and certainly without trying to hog the spotlight, on many things that had to do with exposing communism. It had been a concern of his — a passion of his, if you will — before he ever came to the Senate.
When the communist government and the [Soviets were] celebrating their 50th anniversary, he was in Raleigh doing [the WRAL editorial segment] “Viewpoint,” saying what a horrible thing this was and that we needed to pay attention to this. So when he went to the United States Senate, whenever he had the opportunity to speak on behalf of ending communism or warning people about the danger of the spread of communism, he did it. And when he learned about Alexander Solzhenitsyn and understood the power of Solzhenitsyn’s story — because he’d lived the tyranny, he was a victim of the tyranny for many, many years, before anyone had ever heard of him — Helms came alongside of him. He speaks at one point on the floor of the Senate, saying, “I must stand with this man. I must stand with him for freedom.”
Kokai: And he actually did have a chance to stand with him in person as well and meet him. What did you learn in studying this topic?
Snyder: I learned about their friendship before Solzhenitsyn came to America in 1975. And that’s important because, among those who discount Sen. Helms, there has been the impression [that], “Oh, gee, that was an opportunistic thing. Sen. Helms just happened along the sidewalk one day as Alexander Solzhenitsyn was arriving to visit the Congress.” And that wasn’t the case at all. Solzhenitsyn and Helms had developed a friendship through their written correspondence and their phone calls that had stretched back to the middle of 1973. Sen. Helms was one of the very first people to greet Solzhenitsyn after he arrived in the West. And so they were friends. It was not for show, was not for any kind of advantage. It was Sen. Helms responding to the power of Solzhenitsyn and his story.
Kokai: We should mention that your presentation was also tied to a paper (“Champions of Freedom”) that you’ve written that’s going to be posted with the North Carolina History Project and with the help of The Jesse Helms Center as well. In your presentation based on that paper, one of the key points you made was that both Sen. Helms and Alexander Solzhenitsyn found it important to constantly remind people about the dangers of communism. What was their message?
Snyder: Long after it was considered popular to be opposed to communism — because governments around the world were trying to make their accommodations for economic reasons — Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Jesse Helms would not shut up about the danger of communism. They believed that as long as there was communism somewhere, there could be communism everywhere, and we needed to stand for freedom. We needed to always be on the side of people who were opposing communism. And Sen. Helms even talks in his memoir about the fact that that didn’t always mean we were on the side of the saints, but at least we were on the side of those who were not communist, and that was critical because communism is a totalitarian, godless society. There is no room for freedom. Even when they talk about freedom, it’s not freedom that we would understand by our American standards. It’s freedom to do whatever the government wants you to do.
Kokai: From the standpoint of Sen. Helms, I would suspect that most people who knew him well would say he had these strong stands and principles. He was going to stick with them. But did it help him to have someone like an Alexander Solzhenitsyn who could give him some proof that “Yes, the things that I’ve been thinking are true”?
Snyder: It’s interesting in Sen. Helms’ speeches over the years, he often referred to the example of Alexander Solzhenitsyn or quoted the words of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. It was important to be able to say, “Here is somebody who’s not telling you what they think is happening. Here’s someone who knows what’s happening because they were in the prisons, they were persecuted, if you will, and prosecuted because of their opposition to communism.”
Kokai: You had an interesting anecdote as well about Alexander Solzhenitsyn. I think it was his first visit to Washington, and the first thing he wanted to do was to visit Jesse Helms?
Snyder: That’s right. When Solzhenitsyn got off the plane in New York, the first thing he wanted to do was come and see his friend Jesse Helms. So he was driven from New York to Virginia to see Sen. Helms, but Sen. Helms had no idea he was coming, so it was quite the surprise to find him at the front door.
Kokai: Now that you are publicizing this information about the links between Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Sen. Jesse Helms, what do you hope that information will do in terms of how people view the senator and his role?
Snyder: I hope that as history is recorded, as people put away their preconceived notions and look at the facts, that in time the truth about Sen. Helms will be fully realized and fully understood. That people will look back and say, “Wow, he really knew what he was talking about. I never knew he did that. I never realized he said those words.” And so I just want to contribute one more thing. And maybe after that, one more thing to set the record straight because Sen. Helms did not believe — he did not have a spin group. He didn’t care what people said because he was just busy doing what he believed was right. But now I think it’s time for those of us who have the opportunity to stand up and say: Here are the facts. Let’s get them straight.