WEBVTT

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♪

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♪

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♪

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(wind blowing)

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Throughout
the twentieth century,

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the Soviet powers attempted--

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without ever truly succeeding--

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to resolve
one particular problem:

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that of feeding the people.

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The lands of Russia and Ukraine
have always been fertile.

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They were known as
\"the breadbasket of Europe.\"

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Yet the people living there
have always known hunger.

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(wind blowing)

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Following the October
Revolution,

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the new Soviet power structure

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was keen
to reorganize agriculture,

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introducing the latest
scientific advances.

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From the scientists
they expected miracles.

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Among the men tasked
with accomplishing

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these prodigies of progress,

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there were two in particular.

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One, Nikolai Vavilov,
was a botanist.

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♪

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The other, Trofim Lysenko,
was an agronomist.

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♪

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The clash between these two men

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is the story of
the most dramatic failure

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in the history of the USSR:

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the inability of the Soviet
regime to feed its people.

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♪

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In 1917, with the country
already devastated

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by the First World War,

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Russia was plunged
into revolutionary chaos.

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♪

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Russian soldiers returned
from the front,

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not to peace but to
another conflict: a civil war.

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♪

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(crowd noise)

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(wind blowing)

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The country was in ruins
and the people were starving.

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♪

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(group singing in Russian)

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Lenin\'s first priority
was to supply the Red Army

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and the cities.

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He decreed \"war communism\",

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one of the first measures
of which

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was the requisition
of agricultural produce.

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Army detachments scoured
the countryside,

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violently appropriating produce

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from any who refused
to hand over their harvests.

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♪

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The peasants who had for years
been suffering

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the disastrous consequences
of wars,

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revolutions, and bad weather

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were now left in
even greater penury than ever.

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♪

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In 1921,
famine gripped the country.

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Forty million people
did not have enough to eat.

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It was the first great famine

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to affect the territory
of Soviet Russia,

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and five million died
as a result.

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♪

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This tragedy forced
the country\'s new leaders

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to look for solutions.

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They needed to get agriculture
back on its feet,

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the peasants working
the fields again,

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and production
to increase rapidly.

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♪

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Lenin ordered the Soviet
deputies to act without delay.

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♪

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At their congress
in December 1922,

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they decided to create
a state institute in Petrograd,

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which would focus on
scientific research

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aimed at improving
agricultural practices.

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(typewriter clicking)

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At the time, the one scientist
capable of making a success

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of this gigantic project

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was the botanist and geneticist
Nikolai Vavilov.

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♪

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The son of
a rich Moscow entrepreneur,

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Nikolai Vavilov had had
a dazzling academic career,

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graduating from the Agronomic
Institute of Moscow.

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♪

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Before the outset
of the First World War,

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at the age of 26,

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he spent two years travelling
around Western Europe.

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(train horn)

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♪

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He met the greatest names
in biology and botany,

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did intern work in
the most renowned laboratories,

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and learnt English,
German, and French.

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♪

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Vavilov had a prodigious memory

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and a huge capacity
for hard work.

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He slept little and devoted
all his time to his research.

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♪

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His dream was to travel
the whole world

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and study its plants.

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It was at this time
that he developed

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his all-consuming interest

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in selecting
and improving seed strains.

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♪

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The young researcher\'s stubborn
determination produced results.

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In 1916, Vavilov managed
to secure a grant

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to undertake his first
scientific expedition,

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to Iran and the Pamir Mountains
in Central Asia.

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♪

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It was an expedition
full of dangers,

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from menacing glaciers
to narrow mountain footpaths,

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but nothing stopped Vavilov.

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♪

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At an altitude of 2,000 meters,

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he discovered a valley
abundant in grain.

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♪

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\"This grain exceeds
even our wildest hopes.

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There\'s a gigantic rye plant
over a meter high

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with thick stems
and fat ears and grains.

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This extraordinary rye is
a plant endemic to the region.\"

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♪

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This expedition was the start
of the great project

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which would keep Vavilov busy
his whole life:

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the creation of
a world seed bank.

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♪

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Vavilov travelled
the five continents,

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from the Caribbean to Abyssinia,

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from China to North Africa

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by way of Arabia
and Afghanistan.

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♪

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Everywhere, his interest was
in understanding the history

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of the plants grown there

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and discovering
their ancestral forms.

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♪

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Vavilov was a visionary,

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one of the first people
to realize the importance

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of biological
and botanical diversity

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in ensuring the future food
security of humanity.

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♪

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From all around the world

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he sent dozens of parcels
back to Russia,

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parcels containing
seeds and plants

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from wild uncultivated zones
as well as farmland.

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♪

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Vavilov\'s collection--

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his \"world collection\"
as he called it--

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consisted of
tens of thousands of specimens,

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stored in his institute
in Petrograd

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as well as
in his experimental stations

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scattered throughout
the country.

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♪

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(birds chirping)

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With this multitude of seed
varieties at their disposal,

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Soviet scientists had the means

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to experiment with the creation
of new plant species.

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But such research
needs a lot of time,

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and time was something
those in power didn\'t have.

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(street noise)

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♪

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Farming in the country
was in a disastrous state.

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Real measures were needed
without delay

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to put the country
back on its feet.

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In 1921 Lenin was forced
to accept the failure

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of his \"war communism.\"

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He launched
his New Economic Policy, or NEP.

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There was to be
no more requisitioning,

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land was privatized,

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and peasants were
once more allowed

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to sell their produce at market.

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The result was
an immediate increase

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in agricultural production.

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(man singing in Russian)

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♪

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But Russia still had an urgent
need of seed for sowing.

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♪

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(boat horn)

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The government sent Nikolai
Vavilov to the United States

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to buy several tons of seed
from American companies,

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paying in gold
taken from the reserves

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of the young Soviet state.

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(seagulls cawing)

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♪

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On this trip,
Vavilov visited the laboratory

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of the famous
American geneticist

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Thomas Hunt Morgan.

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♪

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Morgan\'s work on chromosomes

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and the transmission
of genetic inheritance

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had been exciting Vavilov
for several years.

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As for Morgan,
he considered Vavilov

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a brilliant young scientist.

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♪

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At this time, the worldwide
scientific community

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was undergoing
a veritable revolution

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with the emergence of genetics.

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♪

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Vavilov was enthusiastic about
this new branch of science,

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convinced that it would lead
to advances in agriculture.

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♪

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His plan was to import the
geneticists\' latest discoveries

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into Russia and apply them

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in the Research Institute
of Plant Industry,

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which he ran in Petrograd.

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♪

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♪

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In 1925, the new regime
celebrated, with great pomp,

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the Russian Academy of Sciences\'
200th anniversary.

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Contact with
foreign scientists,

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which had broken down
during the revolution,

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was now re-established.

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Once again,
Russian science was in evidence

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at international conferences.

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Nikolai Vavilov, the leading
light of Soviet biology,

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was over the moon.

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He firmly believed in one
unique international science.

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He saw the scientific revolution

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as part of
the communist revolution,

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with which it went hand-in-hand.

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\"Without science,
we cannot construct socialism.

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The work of the large-scale
selection of plants

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begins with revolution.\"

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(murmur of conversation)

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♪

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Vavilov was now the emblematic
figure of Soviet science,

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a figure of international renown

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in the domain of genetic
and botanical research,

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his work recognized by his peers
throughout the world.

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♪

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On the 7th of August, 1927,

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the newspaperPravda
published an article

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about a certain
Trofim Lysenko.

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This young agricultural
researcher, aged just 29,

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was working in one of
the experimental stations

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of the huge institute
run by Vavilov.

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The interesting results
of his experiments

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were getting him noticed.

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♪

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Pravda\'sjournalist described
an eccentric character

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who liked to walk around
his plantations barefoot.

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♪

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\"Lysenko gives one
the feeling of a toothache.

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God give him health,
he has a dejected mien.

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Stingy of words
and insignificant of face is he.

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All one remembers is his sullen
look creeping along the earth

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as if he were ready
to do someone in.\"

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♪

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Pravda\'sjournalist
was intrigued

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and, despite his less than
flattering description,

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he praised this son
of a peasant,

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whom he nicknamed
\"the barefoot professor\".

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♪

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In the Soviet Union,

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just the mention of
someone\'s name inPravda

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could change their destiny.

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For better or worse.

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♪

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Trofim Lysenko\'s star
was on the rise.

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(group singing in Russian)

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♪

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Trofim Lysenko
was born in Ukraine

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to a family of poor peasants.

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He was the eldest son
and, as tradition demanded,

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he spent his childhood helping
his father in the fields.

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At the age of 13
he went to the village school,

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where he learnt
to read and write.

00:13:57.800 --> 00:13:58.720
♪

00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:01.120
While still young,
Lysenko\'s dream

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was to become an agronomist.

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He pursued his studies
by studying horticulture,

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and then attending
the Kiev Agricultural Institute.

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♪

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The article inPravda

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strengthened
Lysenko\'s confidence

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in his own abilities
as an agricultural researcher.

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That same year, Lysenko
announced his first discovery:

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\"vernalization.\"

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♪

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This was a method
which consisted of

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planting winter crops in spring.

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To spur the seeds to germinate,

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they were wettened and submitted
to a cooling treatment.

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♪

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Lysenko claimed that
vernalization would bring about

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a threefold increase
in harvests.

00:14:44.920 --> 00:14:46.480
♪

00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:49.120
Just as Lysenko was
starting to be talked about,

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Soviet agricultural policy was
undergoing a major change.

00:14:53.640 --> 00:14:59.280
In 1929, Stalin called an end
to Lenin\'s New Economic Policy

00:14:59.280 --> 00:15:01.960
and proclaimed
\"the Great Turn.\"

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♪

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In fact, the New Economic Policy
launched by Lenin

00:15:06.400 --> 00:15:08.960
was severely frowned on
by the left-wingers

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in the Communist Party.

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It was said that Stalin\'s sleep
was disturbed

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by thinking about peasants
getting rich

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from their privatized land.

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♪

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He therefore launched a total
forced collectivization

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of agriculture,

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with the creation
of kolkhozes and sovkhozes,

00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:28.760
enormous state farms
intended to replace

00:15:28.760 --> 00:15:31.000
individual exploitations.

00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:32.680
♪

00:15:32.680 --> 00:15:36.320
Nikolai Vavilov, from his
position in his institute,

00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:38.840
was enthusiastic about
this development.

00:15:38.840 --> 00:15:41.400
He thought this new way of
organizing agriculture

00:15:41.400 --> 00:15:45.680
would give the Russian peasants
access to scientific advances.

00:15:45.680 --> 00:15:47.560
-He wrote:
-\"Science,

00:15:47.560 --> 00:15:48.920
that\'s the driving force!

00:15:48.920 --> 00:15:51.800
Sovkhozes, kolkhozes,
or whatever...

00:15:51.800 --> 00:15:56.080
Our new peasants have
to work the land with science.\"

00:15:56.080 --> 00:16:01.960
♪

00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:04.320
The politicians were putting
more and more pressure

00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:07.560
on the agricultural selectors
and researchers,

00:16:07.560 --> 00:16:10.960
demanding rapid results
to increase yields.

00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:15.040
♪

00:16:15.040 --> 00:16:17.120
In this context,
Trofim Lysenko

00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:18.960
was just the right sort
of character

00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:20.680
to win over the party leaders,

00:16:20.680 --> 00:16:23.800
a real prodigy who promised
to multiply the harvests

00:16:23.800 --> 00:16:28.240
by means of his famous
discovery: vernalization.

00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:29.320
♪

00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:31.560
\"The implementation
of this discovery

00:16:31.560 --> 00:16:33.600
will play a crucial role
in our development,\"

00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:38.320
announced a communiqué from
the Department of Agriculture.

00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:44.560
♪

00:16:44.560 --> 00:16:47.440
Nikolai Vavilov
was interested in Lysenko,

00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:50.160
as he was interested
in any kind of experiment

00:16:50.160 --> 00:16:53.200
that could further
scientific research.

00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:55.080
♪

00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:57.800
The young researcher
impressed the academic

00:16:57.800 --> 00:17:00.000
with his energy and daring.

00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:01.800
♪

00:17:01.800 --> 00:17:04.120
Vavilov invited Lysenko
to give a presentation

00:17:04.120 --> 00:17:07.360
at the Pan-Soviet Congress
of Geneticists and Selectors

00:17:07.360 --> 00:17:12.600
in Leningrad, attended by
several foreign scientists.

00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:18.920
Lysenko\'s talk was not very
enthusiastically received.

00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:21.040
The geneticists present
pointed out

00:17:21.040 --> 00:17:23.160
that there was nothing
particularly new

00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:24.640
about vernalization.

00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:27.120
They even considered it
a bit of a folk remedy,

00:17:27.120 --> 00:17:31.200
unlikely to produce results
in the long term.

00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:33.040
The peasants\' son
felt henceforth

00:17:33.040 --> 00:17:37.640
that he wasn\'t welcome
in the world of scientists.

00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:47.360
♪

00:17:47.520 --> 00:17:49.480
In the countryside
the first effects

00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:53.920
of forced collectivization
were starting to be felt.

00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:56.360
And they were catastrophic.

00:17:56.360 --> 00:17:58.720
The kulaks,
the peasants who had grown rich

00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:01.040
as a result of
the New Economic Policy,

00:18:01.040 --> 00:18:02.600
disagreed with this new drive

00:18:02.600 --> 00:18:05.640
and refused to join
the kolkhozes.

00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:06.200
♪

00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:08.560
Stalin ordered
their elimination.

00:18:08.560 --> 00:18:12.120
Thus began the \"dekulakization\"
of the countryside.

00:18:12.120 --> 00:18:15.400
With the help of the Red Army
and the political police,

00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:18.400
the land of any who grumbled
about collectivization

00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:21.880
was confiscated,
their property was seized,

00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:24.680
and they were either
executed on the spot

00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:28.040
or deported
to forced-labor camps.

00:18:34.360 --> 00:18:39.320
In 1932, the dreaded famine
made another appearance.

00:18:39.320 --> 00:18:44.120
Ukraine, Byelorussia,
the North Caucasus, Kazakhstan,

00:18:44.120 --> 00:18:46.320
the Urals, and West Siberia...

00:18:46.320 --> 00:18:50.480
Every part of the USSR
was affected.

00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:53.120
This time,
over 60 million people

00:18:53.120 --> 00:18:54.080
didn\'t have enough to eat,

00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:58.560
and the famine killed
from six to eight million.

00:18:58.560 --> 00:19:01.760
A direct consequence
of forced collectivization,

00:19:01.760 --> 00:19:07.000
this disaster was completely
covered up by the regime.

00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:09.920
♪

00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:12.720
Stalin needed culprits to blame.

00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:14.080
♪

00:19:14.080 --> 00:19:16.280
Who failed to create
seed strains

00:19:16.280 --> 00:19:18.040
resistant to bad weather?

00:19:18.040 --> 00:19:18.560
♪

00:19:18.560 --> 00:19:22.280
Who was unable
to increase yields?

00:19:22.280 --> 00:19:23.640
As far as he was concerned,

00:19:23.640 --> 00:19:25.960
it was the fault
of the scientists.

00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:30.640
A wave of arrests of biologists
and agronomists followed.

00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:36.200
♪

00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:38.320
Vavilov was spared.

00:19:38.320 --> 00:19:40.760
For the moment
he was untouchable.

00:19:40.760 --> 00:19:44.080
As president of the Academy
of Agricultural Science,

00:19:44.080 --> 00:19:46.560
he enjoyed
great international prestige

00:19:46.560 --> 00:19:50.160
and was considered
a top-class researcher.

00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:53.440
This was guaranteed
to incite Stalin\'s ire.

00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:56.480
Vavilov embodied everything
that Stalin hated:

00:19:56.480 --> 00:20:00.120
he was an independent scientist
from a bourgeois background

00:20:00.120 --> 00:20:02.720
with friends
all over the world.

00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:06.280
♪

00:20:06.280 --> 00:20:08.840
Lysenko had none
of these failings.

00:20:08.840 --> 00:20:12.720
He represented everything
that Stalin appreciated.

00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:16.000
He was a peasant, a true member
of the proletariat,

00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:18.680
a man of simple words
and accessible ideas,

00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:23.360
who, unlike the scientists,
promised immediate results.

00:20:23.360 --> 00:20:27.560
♪

00:20:27.560 --> 00:20:28.640
Throughout the country,

00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:29.920
they were starting to implement

00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:31.960
Lysenko\'s vernalization methods,

00:20:31.960 --> 00:20:35.320
which he showed a certain genius
in promoting.

00:20:35.320 --> 00:20:38.120
♪

00:20:38.120 --> 00:20:40.840
He sent regular reports
to the newspapers

00:20:40.840 --> 00:20:42.000
and the political authorities

00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:45.680
to keep them updated
about the results of his work.

00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:46.160
♪

00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:48.880
But what no one knew
was that the method used

00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:52.320
for evaluating the results
was worthless.

00:20:52.320 --> 00:20:54.200
This took the form
of a simple questionnaire

00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:58.360
to be filled in by
the kolkhoz workers themselves.

00:20:58.360 --> 00:20:59.560
And they, fearing punishment,

00:20:59.560 --> 00:21:02.800
gave incorrect figures
which no one checked.

00:21:02.800 --> 00:21:06.000
As for Lysenko,
he kept upping the ante.

00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:07.600
Each overblown promise he made

00:21:07.600 --> 00:21:10.520
merely served
to reinforce his position.

00:21:10.520 --> 00:21:13.520
He was, in fact,
quite an expert at bluffing,

00:21:13.520 --> 00:21:16.160
an inherent part of
the Stalinist system.

00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:19.120
The bigger the lie,
the better it was received.

00:21:19.120 --> 00:21:22.200
All economic figures
and statistics were fiddled

00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:24.160
to meet Stalin\'s expectations.

00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:28.080
Forecasts for the five-year
plans were overestimated

00:21:28.080 --> 00:21:29.640
and totally unrealistic.

00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:33.760
This was the same era which
created such heroic mythologies

00:21:33.760 --> 00:21:35.920
as the famous
Stakhanovite movement,

00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:39.560
named after the miner Stakhanov,
who, legend had it,

00:21:39.560 --> 00:21:42.800
increased the quantity
of coal mined in a day

00:21:42.800 --> 00:21:44.640
by a factor of 14.

00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:46.400
♪

00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:35.760
(group singing in Russian)

00:22:35.760 --> 00:22:42.600
♪

00:22:42.600 --> 00:22:44.280
(train horn)

00:22:46.520 --> 00:22:47.880
In August 1932,

00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:49.840
Nikolai Vavilov
was getting ready

00:22:49.840 --> 00:22:52.160
for a trip to the United States.

00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:53.840
He was going
to Ithaca, New York,

00:22:53.840 --> 00:22:56.040
for the Sixth
International Congress

00:22:56.040 --> 00:22:57.520
of Genetics and Selection,

00:22:57.520 --> 00:23:00.200
of which he was
the vice-president.

00:23:00.200 --> 00:23:03.320
Vavilov thought it would provide
an excellent opportunity

00:23:03.320 --> 00:23:05.680
to promote Lysenko\'s work
abroad.

00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:08.680
With the approval of
the Department of Agriculture,

00:23:08.680 --> 00:23:10.400
he therefore invited
the agronomist

00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:13.680
to be part of
the Soviet delegation.

00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:15.160
But Lysenko refused.

00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:16.920
He didn\'t speak
any foreign languages

00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:21.160
and didn\'t feel at ease
in an academic environment.

00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:22.440
At the congress,
in his speech

00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:25.560
about the successes
of Soviet biology,

00:23:25.560 --> 00:23:26.880
Vavilov declared that:

00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:29.040
\"Trofim Lysenko\'s
extraordinary discovery

00:23:29.040 --> 00:23:31.440
opens up huge
and unexpected possibilities

00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:35.040
for farmers and geneticists
around the world.\"

00:23:35.040 --> 00:23:38.760
♪

00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:40.280
♪

00:23:40.280 --> 00:23:41.640
Why, despite the reticence

00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:44.240
and incredulity
of foreign scientists,

00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:48.160
did Vavilov go on
supporting Lysenko?

00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:50.800
Why did he continue
to admire his work

00:23:50.800 --> 00:23:53.200
and encourage his experiments?

00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:55.120
♪

00:23:55.120 --> 00:23:57.280
The treatments
promoted by Lysenko

00:23:57.280 --> 00:23:59.680
changed the characteristics
of seeds,

00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:01.920
making them more resistant
to frost.

00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:04.560
But the grain varieties
in the institute\'s collection

00:24:04.560 --> 00:24:07.760
which Vavilov had brought back
from warmer countries

00:24:07.760 --> 00:24:10.800
were very sensitive
to low temperatures.

00:24:10.800 --> 00:24:14.000
They didn\'t grow
in Russia\'s cold regions.

00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:16.080
♪

00:24:16.080 --> 00:24:18.520
Still, Vavilov thought
that by applying

00:24:18.520 --> 00:24:20.280
Lysenko\'s methods to them,

00:24:20.280 --> 00:24:21.800
they might create new varieties

00:24:21.800 --> 00:24:24.760
which were resistant
to sub-zero temperatures,

00:24:24.760 --> 00:24:28.200
thereby obtaining
abundant harvests.

00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:30.320
And so Vavilov
mobilized his teams,

00:24:30.320 --> 00:24:33.280
making his world collection
of seeds available

00:24:33.280 --> 00:24:35.640
for Lysenko\'s experiments.

00:24:35.640 --> 00:24:42.320
♪

00:24:42.320 --> 00:24:44.440
(street noise)

00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:48.600
♪

00:24:48.600 --> 00:24:53.400
One man would propel Lysenko\'s
career towards new heights.

00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:56.480
His name was Isaak Prezent.

00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:58.200
Having originally studied law,

00:24:58.200 --> 00:25:00.800
Prezent now chose biology
as the field

00:25:00.800 --> 00:25:03.200
in which to exercise his skills.

00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:04.840
When he met Lysenko,
he realized

00:25:04.840 --> 00:25:07.920
how beneficial this man
could be to his own career,

00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:11.720
and he became both his mentor
and spokesperson.

00:25:11.720 --> 00:25:14.600
Isaak Prezent knew
that Lysenko wouldn\'t go far

00:25:14.600 --> 00:25:17.040
without a solid
ideological base,

00:25:17.040 --> 00:25:20.760
so he set himself the task
of providing this.

00:25:20.760 --> 00:25:23.320
For Lysenko\'s career
to stay on course,

00:25:23.320 --> 00:25:25.400
his theories
had to conform strictly

00:25:25.400 --> 00:25:28.120
to Marxist-Leninist ideology.

00:25:28.120 --> 00:25:32.560
♪

00:25:32.560 --> 00:25:33.400
At the same time,

00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:36.440
Stalin received a report
from the secret services

00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:40.800
about several Soviet biologists
and agronomists.

00:25:40.800 --> 00:25:42.720
\"The political stance
of Nikolai Vavilov

00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:47.600
is hostile to the Communist
Party and the Supreme Soviet,\"

00:25:47.600 --> 00:25:49.440
the report said.

00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:50.360
\"Within a small group,

00:25:50.360 --> 00:25:52.120
Vavilov criticizes the methods

00:25:52.120 --> 00:25:53.600
of the Soviet government,

00:25:53.600 --> 00:25:55.800
blaming it for the famines.\"

00:25:55.800 --> 00:25:57.240
This was one of
the first reports

00:25:57.240 --> 00:26:00.720
in the secret services\' dossier
on Nikolai Vavilov,

00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:04.800
a dossier which was
to grow bigger over time.

00:26:04.800 --> 00:26:11.280
♪

00:26:11.280 --> 00:26:14.040
The Second Congress of
Outstanding Kolkhozniks

00:26:14.040 --> 00:26:19.320
took place in Moscow
on the 15th of February, 1935.

00:26:19.320 --> 00:26:22.480
Lysenko had been invited
to speak.

00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:25.920
He stepped up to the tribune
and looked at the audience.

00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:29.480
Behind him sat all the bigwigs
of the Soviet regime,

00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:32.320
with Stalin in pride of place.

00:26:32.320 --> 00:26:34.160
♪

00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:37.800
His speech was supposed to be
about vernalization,

00:26:37.800 --> 00:26:40.400
but, directly inspired
by Isaac Prezent,

00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:44.080
it went off on an entirely
different tangent.

00:26:44.080 --> 00:26:45.600
♪

00:26:45.600 --> 00:26:49.120
\"There are parasitic kulaks
in the kolkhozes.

00:26:49.120 --> 00:26:50.320
But not only there.

00:26:50.320 --> 00:26:52.600
You kolkhozniks know how
to recognize them.

00:26:52.600 --> 00:26:56.920
But in the scientific community
there are also parasite kulaks,

00:26:56.920 --> 00:26:58.880
and they are just as dangerous.

00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:02.640
In order to defend vernalization
from these pseudo-scientists,

00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:06.800
we mustn\'t be afraid to shed
blood and come to blows.

00:27:06.800 --> 00:27:08.720
A class enemy is always
an enemy,

00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:11.120
whether he\'s a scientist
or not.\"

00:27:23.040 --> 00:27:25.360
At this point his speech
was interrupted.

00:27:25.360 --> 00:27:28.600
Someone shouted:
\"Bravo, Comrade Lysenko!

00:27:28.600 --> 00:27:29.720
Bravo!\"

00:27:29.720 --> 00:27:31.280
♪

00:27:31.280 --> 00:27:35.240
It was Stalin, who had stood up
and started applauding.

00:27:35.240 --> 00:27:36.280
(applause)

00:27:36.280 --> 00:27:39.040
A moment later,
the palace of the Kremlin

00:27:39.040 --> 00:27:41.480
erupted in thundering applause.

00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:43.600
(applause)

00:27:43.600 --> 00:27:47.280
Lysenko\'s speech conformed
to party lines.

00:27:47.280 --> 00:27:48.240
♪

00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:52.640
At that time in the USSR,
every single human activity,

00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:55.120
of whatever kind,
had to be undertaken

00:27:55.120 --> 00:27:57.560
according to
the communist ideal.

00:27:57.560 --> 00:27:59.520
♪

00:27:59.520 --> 00:28:04.480
Sculpting, playing chess,
drawing...

00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:06.360
Everything.

00:28:06.360 --> 00:28:07.280
♪

00:28:07.280 --> 00:28:10.120
(woman singing in Russian)

00:28:10.120 --> 00:28:13.120
♪

00:28:13.120 --> 00:28:15.560
And biology was no exception.

00:28:15.560 --> 00:28:19.840
The scientific debate
had become a political debate.

00:28:19.840 --> 00:28:24.280
And at the heart of this debate
was the theory of heredity.

00:28:24.280 --> 00:28:28.240
How do living organisms--
human beings, animals, plants--

00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:32.120
transmit their characteristics
to their descendants?

00:28:32.120 --> 00:28:36.000
Is it possible to transform an
individual during its lifetime,

00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:39.800
making it better,
more attractive, more resistant,

00:28:39.800 --> 00:28:41.040
more obedient?

00:28:41.040 --> 00:28:42.840
And if so, how?

00:28:42.840 --> 00:28:44.160
♪

00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:45.480
The scholastic geneticists--

00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:49.440
the adversaries of Trofim
Lysenko and Isaak Prezent--

00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:52.880
were categorical that
organisms\' characteristics

00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:55.240
are transmitted
through their genes,

00:28:55.240 --> 00:28:56.160
and that it is chromosomes

00:28:56.160 --> 00:28:59.600
which provide the physical
support for heredity.

00:28:59.600 --> 00:29:03.080
The genes of living organisms
are stable, and do not change

00:29:03.080 --> 00:29:07.320
because of a modification
in their environment.

00:29:07.320 --> 00:29:09.400
Lysenko and his followers,
however,

00:29:09.400 --> 00:29:12.360
rejected the existence
of chromosomes.

00:29:12.360 --> 00:29:14.280
They claimed that
the characteristics

00:29:14.280 --> 00:29:15.720
of living organisms change

00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:17.960
according to their
environmental context,

00:29:17.960 --> 00:29:22.360
and that they transmit these
changes to their descendants.

00:29:22.520 --> 00:29:25.720
This theory had
no scientific basis.

00:29:25.720 --> 00:29:28.480
It was nothing more than
a forced transposition

00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:30.400
of a political ideology:

00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:32.920
the advancement of a species
is driven

00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:35.920
by the effort of individuals.

00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:37.120
Using this as his basis,

00:29:37.120 --> 00:29:40.640
Lysenko dismissed genetics
as a bourgeois science

00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:43.040
incompatible with
Marxism-Leninism.

00:29:43.040 --> 00:29:48.520
He was defending the only true
science: proletarian science.

00:29:48.520 --> 00:29:49.160
♪

00:29:49.160 --> 00:29:52.080
This vision of science
suited Stalin perfectly.

00:29:52.080 --> 00:29:55.920
It suited his contention that
the favorable environment

00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:57.680
developed in a communist society

00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:00.720
could modify the characteristics
of individuals

00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:03.480
and give rise to a \"new man.\"

00:30:03.480 --> 00:30:05.560
♪

00:30:05.560 --> 00:30:08.640
But the theories of
the scholastic geneticists

00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:11.120
stood in the way of
this grandiose project,

00:30:11.120 --> 00:30:15.200
and genetics was thus deemed
a reactionary discipline.

00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:16.680
♪

00:30:16.680 --> 00:30:19.520
From that moment on,
Lysenko and his friends

00:30:19.520 --> 00:30:22.000
would do all they could
to crush it.

00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:22.920
♪

00:30:22.920 --> 00:30:24.600
Vavilov tried to resist.

00:30:24.600 --> 00:30:28.280
Yet he refused to enter into
an ideological debate,

00:30:28.280 --> 00:30:30.640
which held no interest for him.

00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:31.880
As far as he was concerned,

00:30:31.880 --> 00:30:33.440
all that mattered
was the science,

00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:37.120
and it would eventually triumph
over all this nonsense.

00:30:37.120 --> 00:30:41.560
But the gulf between Vavilov and
Lysenko had now grown too wide.

00:30:41.560 --> 00:30:45.800
Collaboration of any kind was
henceforth out of the question.

00:30:45.800 --> 00:30:50.120
Vavilov\'s friends were arrested
or relieved of their positions.

00:30:50.120 --> 00:30:52.200
Vavilov knew
he was under threat,

00:30:52.200 --> 00:30:55.280
yet still he made
a public announcement:

00:30:55.280 --> 00:30:58.120
\"I believe the edifice
of genetics is immovable

00:30:58.120 --> 00:30:59.560
because it stands on
a foundation

00:30:59.560 --> 00:31:02.920
of a huge amount
of precise experimentation.

00:31:02.920 --> 00:31:04.840
The only way to refute
the edifice of genetics

00:31:04.840 --> 00:31:08.240
would be to oppose it with
the same number of experiments

00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:09.600
of equal precision.

00:31:09.600 --> 00:31:12.760
In their absence,
genetics remains.

00:31:12.760 --> 00:31:14.880
We shall go to the pyre,
we shall burn,

00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:18.360
but we shall not retreat
from our convictions.\"

00:31:18.360 --> 00:31:22.320
♪

00:31:31.160 --> 00:31:34.600
It was now, in the years just
before the Second World War,

00:31:34.600 --> 00:31:37.280
that Stalin\'s \"Great Terror\"
began.

00:31:37.280 --> 00:31:41.160
Huge show trials against
\"the enemies of the people\"

00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:43.920
were held in Moscow.

00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:45.760
(applause)

00:31:45.760 --> 00:31:46.560
Throughout the USSR,

00:31:46.560 --> 00:31:49.920
massive demonstrations were
organized to convince the people

00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:52.680
of a vast
anti-Soviet conspiracy.

00:31:52.680 --> 00:31:56.040
(speaking Russian)

00:32:13.240 --> 00:32:16.160
♪

00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:22.920
Between 1936 and 1938 there were
some 700,000 executions,

00:32:22.920 --> 00:32:26.400
while two million
were deported to gulags.

00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:29.000
All of society was affected
by these purges,

00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:33.560
and the scientific community
was by no means safe.

00:32:33.560 --> 00:32:34.840
♪

00:32:34.840 --> 00:32:36.440
Among the hundreds
of biologists,

00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:39.960
botanists, and agronomists
who were persecuted

00:32:39.960 --> 00:32:41.280
were those
who had taken a stance

00:32:41.280 --> 00:32:45.200
against the theory of
\"proletarian science.\"

00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:54.240
♪

00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:57.760
While Vavilov was now
increasingly isolated,

00:32:57.760 --> 00:33:00.360
Lysenko\'s star
continued to rise.

00:33:00.360 --> 00:33:04.160
He was made president of the
Academy of Agricultural Science

00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:07.080
and enjoyed privileged access
to the Kremlin.

00:33:07.080 --> 00:33:10.320
He convinced Stalin
that Vavilov was a hindrance

00:33:10.320 --> 00:33:12.880
to socialist agriculture.

00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:18.880
♪

00:33:18.880 --> 00:33:21.360
On the 20th of November, 1939,

00:33:21.360 --> 00:33:24.440
Stalin summoned Nikolai Vavilov
to the Kremlin

00:33:24.440 --> 00:33:26.360
at ten o\'clock in the evening.

00:33:26.360 --> 00:33:29.000
(clock ticking)

00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:33.960
♪

00:33:33.960 --> 00:33:38.280
He finally received him
in his office at midnight.

00:33:38.280 --> 00:33:39.200
♪

00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:41.880
He did not offer Vavilov a seat.

00:33:41.880 --> 00:33:44.520
♪

00:33:44.520 --> 00:33:47.240
\"Comrade Vavilov,
how much longer will you go on

00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:50.280
fiddling with your little
flowers and such nonsense?

00:33:50.280 --> 00:33:53.720
Who is going to increase
our agricultural output?\"

00:33:53.720 --> 00:33:54.960
Stalin asked.

00:33:54.960 --> 00:33:56.200
♪

00:33:56.200 --> 00:33:57.560
(pacing footsteps)

00:33:57.560 --> 00:33:59.040
Vavilov tried
to justify himself

00:33:59.040 --> 00:34:03.720
by explaining the huge work
his institute was undertaking.

00:34:03.720 --> 00:34:07.400
Stalin paced up and down,
his pipe in his hand.

00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:09.320
He interrupted Vavilov.

00:34:09.320 --> 00:34:12.400
\"Is that all you have to say?

00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:14.040
You can go!\"

00:34:14.040 --> 00:34:15.760
♪

00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:16.680
(door slams)

00:34:16.680 --> 00:34:19.640
It was the last time
the two men met.

00:34:19.640 --> 00:34:26.240
♪

00:34:26.240 --> 00:34:30.320
1939 was the year of
the German-Soviet pact.

00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:33.280
Ribbentrop, the Reich\'s minister
of foreign affairs,

00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:36.920
travelled to Moscow to sign
this non-aggression pact

00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:38.920
between the two powers.

00:34:38.920 --> 00:34:42.040
♪

00:34:42.040 --> 00:34:43.760
The treaty
effectively divided up

00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:45.880
a sizeable part
of Western Europe

00:34:45.880 --> 00:34:48.400
between the USSR
and Nazi Germany,

00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:52.760
allowing the Soviet Union
to annex several territories,

00:34:52.760 --> 00:34:54.800
including that of West Ukraine.

00:34:54.800 --> 00:35:00.360
(women singing in Russian)

00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:03.880
The region was renowned
for its fertility,

00:35:03.880 --> 00:35:07.080
and in 1940
the Department of Agriculture

00:35:07.080 --> 00:35:08.760
started sending scientists there

00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:13.840
to assess the new land
and plan how best to exploit it.

00:35:14.040 --> 00:35:17.480
Nikolai Vavilov was appointed
expedition leader

00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:19.480
for West Ukraine.

00:35:19.480 --> 00:35:24.000
He was happy to be back out
again, doing what he liked best.

00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:25.120
(group singing in Russian)

00:35:25.120 --> 00:35:27.920
On his arrival
he admired the fields of wheat

00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:31.280
stretching
as far as the eye could see.

00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:33.040
He was totally captivated.

00:35:33.040 --> 00:35:36.280
Every five kilometers
he\'d tell his driver to stop,

00:35:36.280 --> 00:35:38.240
and before the car
had even come to a halt

00:35:38.240 --> 00:35:40.320
he\'d be out
running through the fields,

00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:43.680
filling little cloth bags
with samples of wheat,

00:35:43.680 --> 00:35:46.520
barley, and oats.

00:35:46.520 --> 00:35:47.000
♪

00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:50.880
On the 6th of August, 1940,
late in the evening,

00:35:50.880 --> 00:35:52.320
a black car pulled up
at the hostel

00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:55.440
where the members of
the expedition were staying.

00:35:55.440 --> 00:35:58.080
♪

00:35:58.080 --> 00:36:01.680
Two men got out,
went up to Vavilov

00:36:01.680 --> 00:36:03.240
and informed him
that he was wanted

00:36:03.240 --> 00:36:06.440
on an urgent matter
back in Moscow.

00:36:06.440 --> 00:36:11.000
Vavilov got into the car
and it drove off.

00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:13.560
He was never to be free again.

00:36:13.560 --> 00:36:17.760
♪

00:36:17.760 --> 00:36:19.240
\"You have been arrested
as an active member

00:36:19.240 --> 00:36:22.720
of an organization committed
to sabotaging Soviet agriculture

00:36:22.720 --> 00:36:26.880
and as a spy in the service of
foreign intelligence services.

00:36:26.880 --> 00:36:28.560
Do you admit your guilt?\"

00:36:28.560 --> 00:36:30.520
♪

00:36:30.520 --> 00:36:33.800
Such were the words of
Lieutenant Aleksandr Khvat,

00:36:33.800 --> 00:36:36.520
a man whose efficacy was
particularly appreciated

00:36:36.520 --> 00:36:40.120
by Beria,
head of the secret police.

00:36:40.120 --> 00:36:42.920
♪

00:36:42.920 --> 00:36:45.840
Khvat was entrusted
with the Vavilov case,

00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:48.360
and questioned him
for almost a year.

00:36:48.360 --> 00:36:53.600
Every interrogation began
with the same question:

00:36:53.600 --> 00:36:55.240
\"Who are you?\"

00:36:55.240 --> 00:36:58.160
\"I am the academic Vavilov.\"

00:36:58.160 --> 00:37:01.760
\"You\'re not an academic,
you\'re a piece of shit!\"

00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:03.920
the lieutenant would reply.

00:37:03.920 --> 00:37:04.760
♪

00:37:04.760 --> 00:37:05.880
After eleven months,

00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:08.680
Vavilov finally cracked
and confessed.

00:37:08.680 --> 00:37:12.920
The confession was, of course,
total make-believe.

00:37:12.920 --> 00:37:14.280
\"I admit that since 1930

00:37:14.280 --> 00:37:17.160
I have been a member of
an anti-Soviet organization

00:37:17.160 --> 00:37:21.760
at the heart of the USSR\'s
Department of Agriculture...\"

00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:26.080
♪

00:37:26.080 --> 00:37:27.760
On the 9th of July, 1941,

00:37:27.760 --> 00:37:31.880
17 days after Hitler\'s armies
invaded the Soviet Union,

00:37:31.880 --> 00:37:33.880
the Military College
of the Supreme Court

00:37:33.880 --> 00:37:38.760
sentenced Nikolai Vavilov
to death by firing squad.

00:37:38.760 --> 00:37:49.080
♪

00:37:53.360 --> 00:37:54.920
On the 14th of October,

00:37:54.920 --> 00:37:57.800
the Germans were
at the gates of Moscow.

00:37:57.800 --> 00:38:00.560
♪

00:38:00.560 --> 00:38:03.760
The government decided on
an emergency evacuation

00:38:03.760 --> 00:38:05.720
of all important prisoners.

00:38:05.720 --> 00:38:08.640
Among them was Nikolai Vavilov.

00:38:08.640 --> 00:38:12.200
He was moved 700 kilometers
from Moscow,

00:38:12.200 --> 00:38:14.240
to the town of Saratov.

00:38:14.240 --> 00:38:15.720
♪

00:38:15.720 --> 00:38:20.560
Vavilov spent the next two years
in a cell on death row.

00:38:20.560 --> 00:38:24.040
♪

00:38:24.040 --> 00:38:27.560
On the 23rd of January, 1943,

00:38:27.560 --> 00:38:29.440
aged 56,

00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:30.320
Nikolai Vavilov,

00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:33.600
the man who wanted
to feed all of humankind,

00:38:33.600 --> 00:38:39.400
died of hunger and exhaustion
in Saratov prison.

00:38:40.080 --> 00:38:43.280
♪

00:38:43.280 --> 00:38:47.080
The war had pushed scientific
debate to the background.

00:38:47.080 --> 00:38:50.720
All energy was concentrated
on defending the country.

00:38:50.720 --> 00:38:54.320
The German occupation of a vast
expanse of fertile farmland

00:38:54.320 --> 00:38:58.320
made the already disastrous
state of Soviet agriculture

00:38:58.320 --> 00:38:59.960
even worse.

00:38:59.960 --> 00:39:02.240
While the men were fighting
at the front,

00:39:02.240 --> 00:39:03.920
women, children,
and old people

00:39:03.920 --> 00:39:06.920
tried to survive
on the blighted land.

00:39:06.920 --> 00:39:07.400
♪

00:39:07.400 --> 00:39:09.560
Resources were lacking
everywhere,

00:39:09.560 --> 00:39:12.080
and famine made
its reappearance,

00:39:12.080 --> 00:39:14.440
especially in the countryside.

00:39:14.440 --> 00:39:16.880
♪

00:39:17.040 --> 00:39:19.640
In the towns,
they decided to create

00:39:19.640 --> 00:39:21.200
small private vegetable gardens,

00:39:21.200 --> 00:39:25.680
workers\' allotments to
compensate for the shortages.

00:39:25.680 --> 00:39:26.560
♪

00:39:26.560 --> 00:39:29.120
They mainly grew potatoes.

00:39:29.120 --> 00:39:30.760
♪

00:39:30.760 --> 00:39:31.840
It was in such a situation

00:39:31.840 --> 00:39:34.960
that Lysenko\'s talents
came into their own.

00:39:34.960 --> 00:39:35.960
♪

00:39:35.960 --> 00:39:36.880
The agronomist revived

00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:39.240
an age-old method
for growing potatoes,

00:39:39.240 --> 00:39:43.880
which consisted of replanting
only the part that had chitted.

00:39:43.880 --> 00:39:46.560
In other words, the people
could plant the sprout

00:39:46.560 --> 00:39:49.600
while still eating
most of the potato.

00:39:49.600 --> 00:39:50.560
The method was well adapted

00:39:50.560 --> 00:39:53.600
to working small private plots
of land.

00:39:53.600 --> 00:39:54.120
♪

00:39:54.120 --> 00:39:57.720
Lysenko had his farming advice
published in the newspapers.

00:39:57.720 --> 00:40:00.480
It was a positive measure
for fighting famine,

00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:03.400
and Lysenko\'s popularity
grew once again.

00:40:03.400 --> 00:40:07.200
He was awarded a \"Hero of
the Soviet Union\" medal.

00:40:07.200 --> 00:40:10.160
One more decoration
for his chest.

00:40:10.160 --> 00:40:13.880
♪

00:40:14.560 --> 00:40:15.360
♪

00:40:15.360 --> 00:40:16.720
The victory in 1945,

00:40:16.720 --> 00:40:19.720
bringing the end of
\"the Great Patriotic War,\"

00:40:19.720 --> 00:40:21.240
as it was called in the USSR,

00:40:21.240 --> 00:40:26.200
was but a brief pause in the
long, dark night of Stalinism.

00:40:26.200 --> 00:40:27.960
The Allies were
talking to each other,

00:40:27.960 --> 00:40:29.800
and from both sides
of the Iron Curtain

00:40:29.800 --> 00:40:34.240
scientists were communicating
and exchanging once again.

00:40:34.240 --> 00:40:35.880
♪

00:40:35.880 --> 00:40:39.240
But the foreign scientists
visiting the Soviet Union

00:40:39.240 --> 00:40:40.880
started asking questions:

00:40:40.880 --> 00:40:44.400
what had happened to
the great Nikolai Vavilov?

00:40:44.400 --> 00:40:46.360
No one was able to answer them.

00:40:46.360 --> 00:40:49.880
But Stalin had an idea about how
to stop the Western scientists

00:40:49.880 --> 00:40:53.160
being too insistent
with their enquiries.

00:40:53.160 --> 00:40:55.920
At the time,
he was looking for a personality

00:40:55.920 --> 00:40:57.760
on whom he could confer
the presidency

00:40:57.760 --> 00:41:00.560
of the Soviet Academy
of Sciences.

00:41:00.560 --> 00:41:03.920
He decided to offer this very
prestigious post to a scientist

00:41:03.920 --> 00:41:08.880
of the highest caliber,
the physicist Sergey Vavilov,

00:41:08.880 --> 00:41:11.360
who was none other than
the younger brother

00:41:11.360 --> 00:41:13.120
of Nikolai Vavilov.

00:41:13.120 --> 00:41:14.160
♪

00:41:14.160 --> 00:41:16.640
Stalin summoned him
to the Kremlin.

00:41:16.640 --> 00:41:19.520
After a short preamble
about his merits,

00:41:19.520 --> 00:41:21.280
he made the announcement:

00:41:21.280 --> 00:41:24.160
\"Comrade Vavilov,
for political reasons

00:41:24.160 --> 00:41:25.760
the Politburo
has decided to offer you

00:41:25.760 --> 00:41:29.400
the post of President of
the Academy of Sciences.\"

00:41:29.400 --> 00:41:31.840
Sergey Vavilov
was caught unawares.

00:41:31.840 --> 00:41:34.720
Stalin didn\'t wait for an answer
before going on:

00:41:34.720 --> 00:41:38.000
\"Do you have any request to make
to the Soviet government?\"

00:41:38.000 --> 00:41:42.360
Sergey Vavilov hesitated,
but then took the plunge:

00:41:42.360 --> 00:41:45.400
\"Comrade Stalin,
I would like some news

00:41:45.400 --> 00:41:47.960
of my brother Nikolai.\"

00:41:49.560 --> 00:41:50.960
Stalin picked up his telephone

00:41:50.960 --> 00:41:54.120
and, after a short conversation,
spoke the following few words

00:41:54.120 --> 00:41:57.960
as he looked Sergey Vavilov
directly in the eye:

00:41:57.960 --> 00:42:01.080
♪

00:42:01.080 --> 00:42:04.320
\"To think they did away
with such a man!\"

00:42:04.320 --> 00:42:08.600
♪

00:42:09.120 --> 00:42:12.200
In one short phrase,
Stalin unburdened himself

00:42:12.200 --> 00:42:15.200
of any responsibility
for the tragic fate

00:42:15.200 --> 00:42:18.800
of the greatest man
of Soviet science.

00:42:21.320 --> 00:42:26.240
Between 1946 and 1948,
famine returned,

00:42:26.240 --> 00:42:28.240
claiming over a million victims.

00:42:28.240 --> 00:42:32.720
Once again, the Kremlin\'s
policies were largely to blame.

00:42:32.720 --> 00:42:33.760
♪

00:42:33.760 --> 00:42:37.680
Rather than distributing
its harvests to the people,

00:42:37.680 --> 00:42:40.760
the USSR exported
millions of tons of wheat

00:42:40.760 --> 00:42:43.560
in exchange for
the industrial material needed

00:42:43.560 --> 00:42:45.320
to reconstruct the country.

00:42:45.320 --> 00:42:47.120
♪

00:42:47.120 --> 00:42:49.720
To bolster the Soviet Union\'s
image in France,

00:42:49.720 --> 00:42:52.800
at a time when the communists
were in government there,

00:42:52.800 --> 00:42:58.360
the USSR supplied the country
with 500,000 tons of wheat.

00:42:58.360 --> 00:43:00.720
♪

00:43:00.720 --> 00:43:04.200
Also, as the Soviet Union
settled into the Cold War,

00:43:04.200 --> 00:43:06.760
with the constant fear
of another armed conflict,

00:43:06.760 --> 00:43:11.280
it stockpiled millions of tons
of wheat for that eventuality.

00:43:11.280 --> 00:43:15.160
A major part of these strategic
reserves rotted in warehouses

00:43:15.160 --> 00:43:17.520
and was never consumed
by the people,

00:43:17.520 --> 00:43:18.560
who were dying of hunger,

00:43:18.560 --> 00:43:22.040
a fact completely covered up
by the regime.

00:43:22.040 --> 00:43:27.880
♪

00:43:27.880 --> 00:43:30.120
Stalin summoned Lysenko
to the Kremlin

00:43:30.120 --> 00:43:33.360
to talk about
the agricultural situation.

00:43:33.360 --> 00:43:34.200
♪

00:43:34.200 --> 00:43:37.200
\"Comrade Lysenko,
I defeated fascism.

00:43:37.200 --> 00:43:41.360
It\'s up to you to defeat nature
and feed our people.\"

00:43:41.360 --> 00:43:43.120
♪

00:43:43.120 --> 00:43:46.320
Lysenko replied that he could
solve all the problems

00:43:46.320 --> 00:43:47.280
in record time,

00:43:47.280 --> 00:43:51.040
as long as he were rid,
he added, of these geneticists

00:43:51.040 --> 00:43:54.480
who were constantly groveling
to the West.

00:43:54.480 --> 00:43:57.800
\"Comrade Stalin,
genes don\'t exist.

00:43:57.800 --> 00:44:01.280
They\'re a myth invented
by idealists.

00:44:01.280 --> 00:44:02.160
What exactly is a gene?

00:44:02.160 --> 00:44:06.400
Who\'s ever seen one
or touched one or tasted one?\"

00:44:06.400 --> 00:44:07.280
♪

00:44:07.280 --> 00:44:09.880
Stalin knew that Lysenko
was being challenged

00:44:09.880 --> 00:44:12.160
by the defenders of genetics.

00:44:12.160 --> 00:44:15.800
He gave him the opportunity
to reaffirm his authority

00:44:15.800 --> 00:44:16.760
at an extraordinary session

00:44:16.760 --> 00:44:19.960
of the Academy of
Agricultural Science.

00:44:19.960 --> 00:44:21.320
♪

00:44:21.320 --> 00:44:22.720
On the eve of his appearance,

00:44:22.720 --> 00:44:26.960
Stalin requested to see the text
of Lysenko\'s speech.

00:44:26.960 --> 00:44:28.560
He reread and corrected it,

00:44:28.560 --> 00:44:31.160
adding a few wordings
of his own.

00:44:31.160 --> 00:44:32.160
Where Lysenko, for example,

00:44:32.160 --> 00:44:34.680
had written
\"bourgeois genetics,\"

00:44:34.680 --> 00:44:36.440
Stalin crossed out \"bourgeois\"

00:44:36.440 --> 00:44:39.320
and replaced it
with \"reactionary.\"

00:44:39.320 --> 00:44:42.120
♪

00:44:42.120 --> 00:44:44.480
On the 31st of July, 1948,

00:44:44.480 --> 00:44:47.160
Lysenko, like the good
and zealous servant

00:44:47.160 --> 00:44:49.080
of the party that he was,

00:44:49.080 --> 00:44:50.200
presented his speech,

00:44:50.200 --> 00:44:52.720
complete
with Stalin\'s amendments,

00:44:52.720 --> 00:44:53.920
to the academy.

00:44:53.920 --> 00:44:59.080
♪

00:44:59.080 --> 00:45:01.440
On that day,
the science of genetics

00:45:01.440 --> 00:45:04.120
ceased to exist in the USSR

00:45:04.120 --> 00:45:06.080
and Trofim Lysenko
was confirmed

00:45:06.080 --> 00:45:09.680
the uncontested master
of Soviet agronomy.

00:45:09.680 --> 00:45:11.120
(applause)

00:45:11.120 --> 00:45:13.720
♪

00:45:13.720 --> 00:45:14.360
One month later,

00:45:14.360 --> 00:45:15.960
he was awarded
the Order of Lenin

00:45:15.960 --> 00:45:20.120
and his 50th birthday was
celebrated with great pomp.

00:45:20.120 --> 00:45:20.760
♪

00:45:20.760 --> 00:45:25.440
Ironically, it was Sergey
Vavilov, Nikolai\'s brother,

00:45:25.440 --> 00:45:27.880
who gave the speech
honoring Lysenko

00:45:27.880 --> 00:45:30.240
as a scientist without equal.

00:45:30.240 --> 00:45:37.320
♪

00:45:37.320 --> 00:45:40.400
But flattering speeches were
not going to solve the problem

00:45:40.400 --> 00:45:43.520
which remained
as crucial as ever:

00:45:43.520 --> 00:45:46.160
\"How do we feed the people?\"

00:45:46.160 --> 00:45:48.600
♪

00:45:48.600 --> 00:45:52.720
Drought was a major problem
for farming in the Soviet Union.

00:45:52.720 --> 00:45:55.560
Stalin, who considered himself
quite the scientist,

00:45:55.560 --> 00:45:58.480
was convinced that if they could
just solve this problem

00:45:58.480 --> 00:46:01.840
they could finally fill
all the country\'s grain stores.

00:46:01.840 --> 00:46:03.520
He dreamt up a project
which he named

00:46:03.520 --> 00:46:07.440
\"the Great Plan for
the Transformation of Nature.\"

00:46:07.600 --> 00:46:10.240
The idea was to create
huge tracts of woodland

00:46:10.240 --> 00:46:14.560
to shield the steppes from
the winds which dried them out.

00:46:24.480 --> 00:46:25.640
(singing in Russian)

00:46:25.640 --> 00:46:27.320
It was an immense project.

00:46:27.320 --> 00:46:32.240
120 million hectares of land
were planted with trees.

00:46:32.240 --> 00:46:34.960
And tens of millions
of people were mobilized

00:46:34.960 --> 00:46:37.240
to carry out Stalin\'s plan.

00:46:37.240 --> 00:46:39.200
♪

00:46:39.200 --> 00:46:41.320
(woman singing in Russian)

00:46:41.320 --> 00:46:46.480
♪

00:46:46.480 --> 00:46:50.960
And in this Stalin of course
had an ally: Lysenko.

00:46:50.960 --> 00:46:54.160
The agronomist plucked a method
of his own devising

00:46:54.160 --> 00:46:54.800
out of the hat,

00:46:54.800 --> 00:46:56.920
a method which consisted
of planting the trees

00:46:56.920 --> 00:47:00.120
very close together
in tight groupings

00:47:00.120 --> 00:47:02.280
as a way of accelerating growth.

00:47:02.280 --> 00:47:06.440
This went completely against
the kolkhozniks\' ancestral ways

00:47:06.440 --> 00:47:07.320
of doing things.

00:47:07.320 --> 00:47:10.480
(group singing in Russian)

00:47:10.480 --> 00:47:18.120
♪

00:47:18.120 --> 00:47:21.240
And it led to
a total catastrophe.

00:47:21.240 --> 00:47:25.280
Hundreds of millions of trees
simply died.

00:47:25.280 --> 00:47:27.520
Between 1948 and 1953,

00:47:27.520 --> 00:47:29.400
two and a half times
more trees were planted

00:47:29.400 --> 00:47:33.120
than during the 250 years
that went before,

00:47:33.120 --> 00:47:36.600
but only four percent
reached maturity,

00:47:36.600 --> 00:47:38.760
these being the ones
which the kolkhozniks,

00:47:38.760 --> 00:47:44.240
ignoring Lysenko\'s orders,
planted and tended the old way.

00:47:46.200 --> 00:47:48.160
(wind blowing)

00:47:48.160 --> 00:47:51.320
(bells ringing)

00:47:59.720 --> 00:48:04.040
On the 5th of March, 1953,
Stalin died.

00:48:04.040 --> 00:48:07.120
(man speaking Russian)

00:48:08.160 --> 00:48:11.560
Barely had he been placed
in the mausoleum next to Lenin

00:48:11.560 --> 00:48:13.240
than the new masters
in the Kremlin

00:48:13.240 --> 00:48:17.080
started questioning
his agricultural policies.

00:48:17.080 --> 00:48:19.920
(applause)

00:48:20.600 --> 00:48:21.880
Less than two years later,

00:48:21.880 --> 00:48:24.440
when Nikita Khrushchev
took sole leadership

00:48:24.440 --> 00:48:25.840
of the party and the country,

00:48:25.840 --> 00:48:27.000
there was,
for the first time,

00:48:27.000 --> 00:48:30.840
public acknowledgment of famine
in the post-war years,

00:48:30.840 --> 00:48:31.960
of the cases of cannibalism,

00:48:31.960 --> 00:48:36.960
of the shortage of cereal
and the inadequate harvests...

00:48:36.960 --> 00:48:40.440
♪

00:48:40.440 --> 00:48:43.680
So Khrushchev, just as Stalin
had done before him,

00:48:43.680 --> 00:48:45.880
dreamt up his own
massive programs,

00:48:45.880 --> 00:48:48.640
attacking the vast stretches
of virgin land

00:48:48.640 --> 00:48:50.920
in Kazakhstan and Siberia

00:48:50.920 --> 00:48:51.880
and announcing that the country

00:48:51.880 --> 00:48:55.520
would now be putting
all its effort into corn.

00:48:55.520 --> 00:48:57.080
♪

00:48:57.080 --> 00:48:57.920
\"I am Mr. Corn,\"

00:48:57.920 --> 00:49:01.280
he was fond of telling anyone
willing to listen.

00:49:01.280 --> 00:49:02.280
♪

00:49:02.280 --> 00:49:04.040
But this was easier said
than done,

00:49:04.040 --> 00:49:06.640
for there was a cruel lack
of hybrid seeds.

00:49:06.640 --> 00:49:09.640
And now that the science
of genetics had been crushed,

00:49:09.640 --> 00:49:13.760
there was no one left
with the necessary expertise.

00:49:17.840 --> 00:49:18.960
♪

00:49:18.960 --> 00:49:20.880
Nikita Khrushchev
accused the heads

00:49:20.880 --> 00:49:24.240
of the Academy
of Agricultural Science.

00:49:24.240 --> 00:49:26.560
♪

00:49:26.560 --> 00:49:30.640
Trofim Lysenko was starting
to look a little unsteady

00:49:30.640 --> 00:49:32.280
on his pedestal.

00:49:32.280 --> 00:49:36.880
In April 1956 he was officially
relieved of his functions

00:49:36.880 --> 00:49:39.120
as president of the academy.

00:49:39.120 --> 00:49:43.080
♪

00:49:43.080 --> 00:49:45.520
As for Khrushchev,
he sought salvation

00:49:45.520 --> 00:49:50.240
for Soviet agriculture
from the enemy, America.

00:49:50.240 --> 00:49:57.200
♪

00:49:57.200 --> 00:49:59.120
In fact,
Khrushchev was fascinated

00:49:59.120 --> 00:50:03.040
by the results obtained
by a certain American farmer

00:50:03.040 --> 00:50:05.360
named Roswell Garst.

00:50:05.360 --> 00:50:09.280
On Khrushchev\'s famous 1959 trip
across America,

00:50:09.280 --> 00:50:11.800
he stopped off at Garst\'s farm.

00:50:11.800 --> 00:50:16.760
♪

00:50:16.760 --> 00:50:19.160
Watched by cameras
from all over the world,

00:50:19.160 --> 00:50:22.040
he went into raptures
about the impressive crops

00:50:22.040 --> 00:50:24.040
of the Iowan farmer, exclaiming:

00:50:24.040 --> 00:50:27.960
\"Why shouldn\'t we be able to do
the same back home?\"

00:50:27.960 --> 00:50:31.360
(cameras snapping)

00:50:31.360 --> 00:50:34.400
♪

00:50:34.400 --> 00:50:38.880
Yet Khrushchev\'s ambitious
programs for intensive farming

00:50:38.880 --> 00:50:40.800
came to nothing.

00:50:40.800 --> 00:50:42.280
♪

00:50:42.280 --> 00:50:43.360
In the years that followed,

00:50:43.360 --> 00:50:47.200
the USSR had to buy huge
quantities of wheat and corn

00:50:47.200 --> 00:50:50.120
from the Americans
and Canadians.

00:50:50.120 --> 00:50:57.680
♪

00:50:59.040 --> 00:51:00.000
♪

00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:02.960
It was then that
the hard-headed Trofim Lysenko,

00:51:02.960 --> 00:51:04.960
striving by any means
to get back into

00:51:04.960 --> 00:51:08.520
the new regime\'s good books,
resurfaced.

00:51:08.520 --> 00:51:09.840
♪

00:51:09.840 --> 00:51:13.160
He invited Khrushchev
to his experimental station

00:51:13.160 --> 00:51:16.240
to show him the results
of his latest discovery,

00:51:16.240 --> 00:51:19.800
a miraculous fertilizer
of a totally new kind

00:51:19.800 --> 00:51:22.800
which vastly increased
cereal yield.

00:51:22.800 --> 00:51:24.520
The head of the Kremlin
was impressed.

00:51:24.520 --> 00:51:29.120
Lysenko was once again in favor
in the eyes of the party.

00:51:29.120 --> 00:51:30.400
♪

00:51:30.400 --> 00:51:31.240
But Soviet agriculture

00:51:31.240 --> 00:51:34.400
would never get back
on the road to success.

00:51:34.400 --> 00:51:35.280
♪

00:51:35.280 --> 00:51:37.720
Having been held back by
Lysenko\'s stranglehold

00:51:37.720 --> 00:51:42.200
for so many years,
it could not now catch up.

00:51:42.200 --> 00:51:43.520
♪

00:51:43.520 --> 00:51:46.240
(group singing in Russian)

00:51:46.240 --> 00:51:48.160
(applause)

00:51:48.160 --> 00:51:49.800
In October 1964,

00:51:49.800 --> 00:51:52.560
the Central Committee
of the Communist Party

00:51:52.560 --> 00:51:55.360
ousted Nikita Khrushchev
from power.

00:51:55.360 --> 00:51:59.000
In his fall, Khrushchev
dragged his allies with him,

00:51:59.000 --> 00:52:02.280
one of them being
Trofim Lysenko.

00:52:02.280 --> 00:52:04.360
(applause)

00:52:04.360 --> 00:52:06.320
(clock ticking)

00:52:06.320 --> 00:52:10.800
Right up until 1976,
the year of his death,

00:52:10.800 --> 00:52:11.720
\"the barefoot professor,\"

00:52:11.720 --> 00:52:14.240
secluded in
his experimental farm

00:52:14.240 --> 00:52:15.480
on the outskirts of Moscow,

00:52:15.480 --> 00:52:19.920
continued his experiments
amidst general indifference.

00:52:19.920 --> 00:52:27.120
♪

00:52:30.920 --> 00:52:34.320
♪

00:52:34.320 --> 00:52:35.280
During the Second World War,

00:52:35.280 --> 00:52:39.560
as Nikolai Vavilov was dying
of hunger in Saratov prison,

00:52:39.560 --> 00:52:43.800
the city of Leningrad
underwent a terrible siege.

00:52:43.800 --> 00:52:49.360
♪

00:52:49.360 --> 00:52:52.760
This siege lasted 872 days

00:52:52.760 --> 00:52:55.600
and killed
around a million people.

00:52:55.600 --> 00:52:59.760
♪

00:52:59.760 --> 00:53:04.440
In Saint Isaac\'s Square,
the Institute of Plant Industry,

00:53:04.440 --> 00:53:05.360
created by Vavilov,

00:53:05.360 --> 00:53:09.560
stored several tons
of seeds, nuts, and tubers

00:53:09.560 --> 00:53:10.600
which the botanist had gathered

00:53:10.600 --> 00:53:13.480
on his expeditions
around the world.

00:53:13.480 --> 00:53:18.040
♪

00:53:18.040 --> 00:53:21.120
Thirteen scientists
at the institute

00:53:21.120 --> 00:53:22.640
preferred to starve to death

00:53:22.640 --> 00:53:26.320
rather than touch
Vavilov\'s world collection.

00:53:26.320 --> 00:53:29.080
♪

00:53:29.080 --> 00:53:32.560
Today,
this magnificent seed bank

00:53:32.560 --> 00:53:37.160
numbers more than
325,000 plant specimens.

00:53:37.160 --> 00:53:37.720
♪

00:53:37.720 --> 00:53:40.800
It\'s a treasure trove
of biodiversity,

00:53:40.800 --> 00:53:43.400
with which
Nikolai Vavilov dreamt

00:53:43.400 --> 00:53:46.840
of one day feeding humankind.

00:53:46.840 --> 00:53:50.480
♪

00:53:51.160 --> 00:54:01.480
♪