Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s Hiding Place Tour in Switzerland

You will see Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s hiding place in the enchanting Zürcher Oberland region (Zurich highlands) where the Nobel Laureate lived in concealment in Switzerland, having been expelled from the Soviet Union in 1974.

During his sojourn in the stunning hilly landscape, Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote the book Lenin in Switzerland.

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This tour is very close to my heart, being dedicated both to the Russian Nobel Laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn, as well as to my deceased stepfather.

On inspection of the manuscript of The Gulag Archipelago, the KGB arrested the author in February 1974, before expelling him from the Soviet Union.

On his arrival in Switzerland, he met with a great deal of media interest in Zurich. Journalists and photographers besieged the Zurich house where Solzhenitsyn stayed. The author was able to retire for a while in the holiday home of the then Mayor of Zurich, in the idyllic hills of the Zürcher Oberland.

On a beautiful summer day in 1974 my stepfather went on a short hike not far from our home, where he came across a man sitting under a tree. The man sat with his collars turned up so he would not be recognised while writing in his chair.

When my father spoke to this unknown man, he came to see Aleksander Solzhenitsyn in him. The author was very frightened when my stepfather approached, as he still felt persecuted by the KGB and the multitudes of journalists.

My stepfather, who had just read The Gulag Archipelago, asked the author if he would sign his book. Solzhenitsyn agreed, but only to the signing of one book, as he desperately needed to maintain his concealment.

A few months before the death of my stepfather, in September 2012, he recounted to me his encounter with a legend in a tight spot; he really conveyed the sense of his fears regarding the Russian Secret Service.

Following my stepfather’s sad death, I would like to share our secret with you. With great respect I will show you the beautiful rolling countryside of the Zürcher Oberland and visit with you around the house in which the great author lived.