Saint Doctor Award for Merit in Strengthening Relations between Russia and Germany

BERLIN. The writer Daniil Granin was declared the winner of the Friedrich-Joseph Haaz Prize.

The winners of the prize established by the German-Russian Forum 22 years ago, before Daniil Granin became Voinovich, Luzhkov, Gorbachev. The name of Mikhail Sergeyevich, fiercely criticized in Russia, in the West is associated with the era of glasnost, the bloodless fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of the two Germanys, the end of the war in Afghanistan, and the abandonment of nuclear confrontation. The attitude to the personality and work of Daniel Granin was also not always unambiguous.

The essay “Fear”, which was published in 1997, is a sentence to Stalinism and a warning about the danger of its metastasis. The writer bitterly said that neither Stalin nor Zhdanov had ever sought to get to the forefront, on which others were called for heroism and courage. He talked about the resilience of the inhabitants of Leningrad, that by substituting a shoulder for others and not “becoming human”, people also got a chance for their own salvation. The “Siege Book”, written together with Ales Adamovich, was banned for a long time because of the inconvenient, according to the then party leadership, truth about the tragedy of Leningrad. It was about the blockade that Granin spoke from the rostrum of the Bundestag in January 2014. The deputies of the German parliament applauded the speeches of the 95-year-old writer, many with tears in their eyes.

Fyodor (Friedrich-Joseph) Haase (Friedrich-Joseph Haass) was called the "holy doctor" for selflessness and mercy to the fallen and disenfranchised. The son of a German priest, who received an excellent education in his homeland, found his vocation in medicine. Arriving in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, he built a brilliant career. Personal doctor of the imperial family, chief doctor of all prisons in Moscow, a great humanist.

All the fees received from wealthy patients were spent by them for selfless help to the poor, purchase of medicines, warm clothes, products for prisoners and their families. Thanks to his efforts, instead of the barbaric “Dibich rod”, lightweight shackles began to be used, and women prisoners were no longer shaved half-heads. All his personal funds, including those received from the sale of real estate, were spent on the construction and equipment of medical institutions for the disadvantaged, schools for children of convicts. Thanks to his research, it became known about the healing power of mineral springs in Kislovodsk, Zheleznovodsk, Essentuki.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru