No one could have foreseen Valentin Berezhkov’s rise to prominence as Stalin’s professional interpreter. Born in 1916 to an aristocratic family, Berezhkov began his life on the periphery of the newly-founded Soviet Union in Kiev, Ukraine. Turmoil defined the region during this period. During the early 1930s, Stalin introduced a policy of forced agricultural collectivization, which required Ukrainian farmers to work on collective farms under penalty of death. When Ukrainian peasants resisted, Stalin cut off food supplies to the region, resulting in a famine that killed over 4 million people. Despite the scope of Stalin’s brutality, as the son of wealthy Ukrainian parents, Berezhkov grew up relatively insulated from the events of the day. Thanks to his privileged background, he was able to receive language training in German and English, and eventually went on to serve in Soviet Navy. However, fate had bigger plans for Berezhkov. In 1940, recognizing Berezhkov’s talent for languages, the Kremlin hired him to become the first secretary to the Soviet ambassador in Berlin. This was an event which would forever change his life.
Career Origins
The hiring of Berezhkov was a necessity for the Soviet regime. Following Stalin’s purging of top officials in the mid-1930s, the Kremlin needed to rebuild its core staff with young professionals who were skilled in foreign languages. The developing political situation in Europe during the early 1940s forced Berezhkov to learn at an exceedingly fast pace. During his time in this position, Berezhkov learned the critical skill of stenography (a fundamental skill for conference interpreting) and made an effort to improve his diplomatic vocabulary. These skills quickly came in handy. On June 22, 1941, Germany declared war on the Soviet Union. As first secretary to the Soviet ambassador in Berlin, Berezkhov sat in on meetings with German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, who openly admitted his displeasure with Hitler’s decision to invade and, according to Berezhkov, appeared distraught and defeated. Despite the fact that diplomatic relations between the two nations soured, this episode proved to be a formative experience for Berezhkov, as it represented his first foray into the world of conference interpretation services.
Professional Interpreter to Stalin
The outbreak of war forced Berezhkov’s return to Moscow, where he eventually became an assistant to Vyacheslav Molotov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Being part of Molotov’s staff afforded Berezhkov many career advancement opportunities. Over the course of World War II, Berezhkov served as Stalin’s interpreter for meetings, such as the Tehran and Yalta Conferences. These conferences served as key opportunities for Allied leaders to articulate and reconcile their respective visions of the postwar world, requiring effective interpretation services. In a memoir describing his experiences, Berezhkov noted Stalin’s nervousness during the Tehran Conference and described how Stalin would often act as if he wasn’t in the room. Despite Stalin’s eccentricities and temperamental behavior, Berezhkov maintained his faith in the Soviet leader and served admirably over the course of the meetings, even playing a key role in determining the location of Tehran Conference.
Life After Stalin
Unfortunately, Berezkhov’s career as an interpreter for conference meetings was cut short when an allegation of espionage forced him to step down as a member of Molotov’s staff. Following his career as Stalin’s interpreter, Berezkhov worked in Washington, D.C. at the Soviet Embassy during the 1970s and later published his memoirs recounting his experiences. Berezkhov also taught extensively within the California higher education system. In spite of his death in 1998, Berezkhov lives on as a key witness to some of the most important events of the 20th century.
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