| Andrei Sakharov was the inspiration for the | | | | the murder of innocent people. By the end of |
| democratic movement that polished off the | | | | 1962, he realized that freedom, compassion, and |
| Russian empire. Andrei Sakharov was also the | | | | truth could not coexist with a nuclear arms race |
| USSR's leading physicist and the father of the | | | | and state communism. He risked everything to |
| Soviet hydrogen bomb. Andrei Sakharov was a | | | | start campaigning for disarmament, and he |
| bona fide paradox if ever there was one. | | | | denounced the Soviet system's intolerance of |
| Sakharov was born on May 21, 1921. His father | | | | dissent. And his voice did have an effect, such as |
| was a private school physics teacher, and devout | | | | the Soviets signing the first Partial Test Ban |
| atheist. His mother was a pious Christian. Both | | | | Treaty in 1963. |
| parents raised Sakharov to value human decency, | | | | Then in 1968 Sakharov wrote Reflections on |
| mutual respect, and hard work. | | | | Progress, Peaceful Coexistence, and Intellectual |
| After primary school, he entered Moscow | | | | Freedom. In part, the essay reads: |
| University, where he quickly impressed his | | | | Intellectual freedom is essential to human society |
| professor, Igor Tamm--winner of the 1958 Nobel | | | | -- freedom to obtain and distribute information, |
| Prize in physics. | | | | freedom for open-minded and unfearing debate |
| Tabbed as one of his country's brightest young | | | | and freedom from pressure by officialdom and |
| minds, he was exempted from military service | | | | prejudices. Such a trinity of freedom of thought is |
| during World War II. Instead, he went to work at | | | | the only guarantee against an infection of people |
| a munitions factory. | | | | by mass myths, which, in the hands of |
| Hydrogen Bomb Dreams | | | | treacherous hypocrites and demagogues, can be |
| In June 1948, after Sakharov earned his | | | | transformed into bloody dictatorship. Freedom of |
| doctorate, Igor Tamm recruited him to spearhead | | | | thought is the only guarantee of the feasibility of |
| the development of the hydrogen bomb. Only | | | | a scientific democratic approach to politics, |
| months after going to work at a top-secret | | | | economics and culture. |
| installation, Sakharov dreamed up a new hydrogen | | | | A copy of the essay was smuggled out from |
| bomb design. | | | | behind the Iron Curtain and published in the New |
| But, following a test of one of his bombs in 1955, | | | | York Times. Following the publication, Sakharov |
| Sakharov began to be disturbed by his own | | | | was fired from the Soviet weapons program and |
| creation: | | | | found himself in the international human rights |
| When you see the burned birds who are withering | | | | spotlight. |
| on the scorched steppe, when you see how the | | | | Hard-boiled Gorky Exile |
| shock wave blows away buildings like houses of | | | | Sakharov's wife of twenty years died in 1969, |
| cards, when you feel the reek of splintered | | | | but he remarried in October 1971. His new bride |
| bricks, when you sense melted glass, you | | | | was fellow human rights activist, Yelena Bonner. |
| immediately think of times of war... All of this | | | | With her help, Sakharov became a figurehead in |
| triggers an irrational yet very strong emotional | | | | the Soviet dissident movement, and in 1975 he |
| impact. How not to start thinking of one's | | | | was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his |
| responsibility at this point? | | | | efforts. Although Sakharov wasn't allowed to go |
| Sakharov began sending letters to Soviet Premier | | | | to Norway, Bonner, who was out of the country |
| Nikita Khrushchev, and writing articles about the | | | | for an eye operation, accepted the prize for him |
| biological hazards of radiation. He explained how | | | | and read his acceptance speech. |
| halting nuclear tests would directly save hundreds | | | | Then, in 1979, Sakharov denounced the Soviet |
| of thousands of lives. | | | | invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet authorities had |
| Despite his efforts, on October 30, 1961, the | | | | had enough, and were quick to exile Sakharov to |
| largest bomb ever made was tested over the | | | | Gorky, a small city 250 miles east of Moscow. |
| Arctic Sea. | | | | There, for seven years, he was cut off from |
| Tsar Bomba | | | | friends and colleagues, and constantly harassed by |
| Codenamed Ivan by its developers, the Soviet | | | | the KGB. |
| hydrogen bomb was known as Tsar Bomba in | | | | Finally, in December 1986 under the new policies |
| the West. | | | | of perestroika and glasnost, Soviet leader Mikhail |
| The 50 megaton bomb was so big, a parachute | | | | Gorbachev invited Sakharov to return to Moscow. |
| had to be attached to make the bomb drop slow | | | | For the next three years, Sakharov got to travel |
| enough for the release and observation planes to | | | | the world. He died of a heart attack in his home in |
| escape the range of the eventual 25-mile-wide | | | | 1989. |
| mushroom cloud. | | | | Dissident Hero |
| Blast damage reached 600 miles away. The | | | | Sakharov's crusade for human rights and his |
| seismic shock was measured circling the earth | | | | refusal to be silenced have made him a hero to |
| three times. The energy produced was 1% of the | | | | common citizens around the world. And his fight |
| power output of the sun. | | | | to protect freedom of thought and expression |
| Sakharov Turns World Dissident | | | | from overwhelming intolerance and fanaticism has |
| After failing to prevent further nuclear tests, | | | | made him one of my favorite dissidents who |
| Sakharov decided he could no longer participate in | | | | changed the world. |