In Texas an armadillo withstood the attempts of a man trying to shoot it at three in the morning. The shot was redirected to his face and his jaw had to be wired while his wife was watching in disbelief.
The whereabouts of the armadillo?
Unknown.
“We shall dig up all the dead, we’ll find their boss Adam, set him on his feet and ask: Where did you come from, either God or Marx – tell me, old man! If he speaks the truth, we’ll resurrect Eve.”
Andrei Platonov, The Foundation Pit
The Bolsheviks executed more people in their first four years than the Romanovs in their reign of 300 years.
After 1918 Russia lost an eighth of its territory and a sixth of its people.
While most other countries sighed relief, the Russians torments just began. Skinning, mutilation and the ever classic execution – men would not just be shot, but made a public statement. Then it makes sense that half of them were innocent.
In near reproach of this history lesson, it talked about the embalming of Lenin’s body and the importance of the octagon (…and cubists).
Whereas the Germans honoured loyalty to the system* – unless you betrayed the codex, you were safe – the Russians network was almost mechanical, even their own officers died under mysterious circumstances, by secret agents.
Being so automatic in action and re-action, it is hardly a surprise that the Russians were so sure of the future resurrection of their leaders.
Though just imagine, if it was truly possible to bring back anyone who ever died (or lived): would this not throw up a usual moral dilemma? And would we need a new planet for the resurrected (bet everyone’s thinking of Pluto now – just for the sake of giving it the means to exist) because we could not house all of them, in our midst, in-between life.
*System ranges under the 1000 frequently used words in the Oxford English Dictionary