Victor Kravchenko (defector)

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Viktor Andreevich Kravchenko (1905–1966) was a Ukrainian-born Soviet official who defected to the United States during World War II. He is best known for his best-selling memoir I Chose Freedom (1946), which describes life in the Soviet Union and exposes the realities of collectivization, the prison camp system, and forced labor. His book helped shape Western views of the USSR in the early Cold War.

Born October 11, 1905, in Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine), Kravchenko trained as a metallurgical engineer and joined the Communist Party in 1929. He grew disillusioned after witnessing the harsh effects of collectivization and the Great Purge. He served as a captain in the Soviet Army during World War II and was posted to the Soviet Purchasing Commission in Washington, D.C.

On April 4, 1944, Kravchenko defected and sought political asylum in the United States. The Soviet Union demanded extradition, but he was granted asylum and lived in the U.S. under a pseudonym.

In addition to I Chose Freedom, Kravchenko wrote I Chose Justice (1950) about his libel lawsuit in France against the weekly Les Lettres Françaises. The trial, known as the “Trial of the Century,” drew many witnesses and ended with symbolic damages.

Kravchenko spent his later years in Peru and New York City. He had a complex family life: his wife, Zinaida Gorlova, stayed in the Soviet Union with their son Valentin; Kravchenko later had a relationship with Cynthia Kuser-Earle in the United States, and they had two sons, Anthony and Andrew.

Viktor Kravchenko died on February 25, 1966, in Manhattan. His death was ruled a suicide, though some have questioned the verdict. His life and writings continued to influence views of the Soviet Union for years.