Practically everyone who lived in the 80s of the twentieth century knows the name of Samantha Smith from Maine (USA). A girl who, with her bold act, was able to attract the attention of a huge number of people to the issue of maintaining peace on Earth. But over time, her name was forgotten, and modern youth, probably, will no longer be able to answer the question of who Samantha Smith is. Why does her name often appear in various children's political and diplomatic forums? And some may have heard of Samantha Smith's Truth - the 2015 film - and are wondering who the work is about. In order to lift the veil of secrecy over Samantha's story, this material was written.
Samantha Smith. Who is this girl?
Born in June 1972 in an ordinary American family, Samantha Smith was a bright and inquisitive American girl from Maine (USA). Like every child, she asked various questions about the world around her and the events that took place. Probably, some natural courage of Samantha prompted her to write a letter to the leader of the USSR, which turned her whole life upside down.
Letter from Samantha Smith
The story of how a little girl decided on such an unexpected act for a child of 10 years old seems common for our time, butfor the eighties of the twentieth century, this was a rather extraordinary step. The period of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain left its mark on the views of people and their actions. The people behind the curtain seemed different, vicious and full of deceit. Ideological machines on both sides worked to vilify each other and justify a military buildup.
Once, seeing in The Magazine a photograph of the new leader of the USSR, Yuri Andropov, with material about his danger to the United States and the whole world, Samantha wondered why he wants to destroy her country. In search of an answer, she turned to her mother, but she could not resolve her daughter's complex request and suggested that she independently find out the answer directly from Andropov. Perhaps Samantha's mother did not expect that her attempt to leave her daughter's question unanswered would become a stimulus to action.
The girl wrote a letter to Yury Andropov, who had just been elected to the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, with a simple, but at the same time complex question. She asked why Andropov wants to take over the world and whether he will start a nuclear war against the United States. If not for the will of fate, then perhaps this letter would have remained gathering dust in the endless archives of the KGB. But some far-sighted and wise official found him. This man figured out how to use the message of an American schoolgirl in an ideologically correct way.
The cold war was on, and both sides tried their best to debunk and convict each other, every chance to prove the erroneous actions of the opponent was important. It was to achieve this goal that the decision was made to use the letter of Samantha Smith. It was published on the pages of the all-Union newspaper "Pravda" and showed all the duplicity of the United States.
Andropov's invitation
Probably, the Politburo workers did not plan to give an answer to the letter of the young American, but Samantha turned out to be persistent. She sent another message, but this time to the USSR Ambassador to America, in which she decided to clarify whether she would receive an answer from the Secretary General. Most likely, this persistence forced Yuri Andropov to write a reply and invite Samantha to visit the USSR to make sure of the good intentions of the Land of Soviets.
The visit of Samantha Smith to the USSR that followed was one of those moments in history when a seemingly insignificant event changes the idea of established concepts. Thus, the irreconcilable enmity of the USSR and the USA resulted in an unfriendly attitude between the population of these countries. The Soviet people did not understand the Americans, and the Americans were afraid and considered the inhabitants of the Soviet Union strange. And the arrival of one girl, who was able to see the USSR through the eyes of an ordinary person, made many think about a possible thaw in relations. Many even believe that it was the arrival of Samantha Smith in the USSR that marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
Samantha's visit to the USSR
Of course, Andropov's invitation to visit the Soviet Union was a chance for Samantha to find answers to her questions. And she gladly took advantage of the opportunity presented, and already in the summer of 1983 visited the USSR. She visited Moscow and Leningrad, spent three days in the all-Union he alth resort "Artek". Samantha's entire visit to the USSR was carefully planned and ideologically verified. The busy program included visits to the main symbols of the Soviet Union and meetings with prominent people. So, for example, Samantha and her parents visited the Lenin Mausoleum and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A separate meeting was held with Valentina Tereshkova.
American guests were placed in the best rooms for foreign tourists, and even the selection of the menu was under control. Perhaps the only insurmountable circumstance to make Samantha's visit to Russia complete was that Yuri Andropov himself was seriously ill.
Book about visiting the USSR
As a result of this trip, Samantha Smith was able to find answers to many questions about how people live in the USSR, and learn about their thoughts and feelings. She discovered that they were not much different from the Americans. She designed her observations and conclusions in the form of a book "Journey to the Soviet Union". The openness with which Samantha reacted to a new country for her, her desire to understand and prevent a possible war became a symbol of peace, and Samantha herself began to be called the smallest Goodwill Ambassador.
Samantha's life after returning home
Samantha Smith's visit to the Soviet Union was a high point for her, and her life changed dramatically. After the girl had been under the scrutiny of hundreds of videos for two weeks,and photojournalists from all over the world, she began to be recognized and invited to various popular shows. Offers began to appear in the series. Samantha was offered to interview top officials and stars. Hundreds of film companies tried to get their hands on the recognizable girl, and Samantha's parents were able to successfully monetize her popularity using the opportunities that opened up.
Plane crash
But it so happened that, one day returning home, young Samantha died in a plane crash. By chance or so, someone needed it, but on that day in 1985, Samantha was returning from the filming of the series Lime street. Circumstances were not in favor of the Smiths. The weather was terrible with terrible visibility, and the landing was forced to be moved to another airport. The place where the plane was supposed to arrive was unknown to the pilots. Complicating the situation and the dark time of the day. A whole range of reasons led to the fact that as a result, the plane on which Samantha Smith flew with her father crashed into a tree, overshooting the runway. As a result, all six passengers and two pilots died. And taking into account the fact that there were no "black" boxes on board small aircraft, it became unrealistic to establish the exact cause of the fall. Of course, this state of affairs gave rise to questions that for Samantha Smith, the secret work of the special services was the cause of death. Many people wondered why this happened.
Causes of death of Samantha Smith and versions
The death of the world-famous youngperson, of course, caused a large number of versions of what happened. Moreover, she became famous in the rather complex and unsafe sphere of political games. Even before the end of her young mind without understanding, Samantha crossed the road to many influential people. The whole world was tuned to the cold war. The two countries made great efforts to surpass their rival, increased their military and intelligence potential, and carried out ideological developments. But in the end, it turned out that thanks to one American schoolgirl, a lot of the work done came to naught, military programs were cut, the budget and personnel working on the development of the Cold War were cut. As a result of all this and the impossibility of ignoring Samantha's frank call to follow the path of peace, versions were popular about the non-randomness of the tragedy and the involvement of one of the special services - the United States or the USSR.
Of course, the idea that for Samantha Smith the cause of death was her activities, and not pilot error, is very attractive. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that the plane crashed on a small aircraft that was ideal for sabotage.
An investigation was conducted, and all commissions recognized the incident as the result of incorrect actions by the aircraft crew, but to this day this disaster raises many questions and versions. Probably, these questions will always be, because I don’t want to believe that the life of the youngest Goodwill Ambassador could be cut short due to a combination of circumstances, and Samantha Smith’s causes of death lie somewhere else, and not in a simple mistake.
Memory
Immediately after the death of Samantha's motherthe girls filed a lawsuit against the airline and won compensation, the amount of which is still a mystery. These funds were used to create the Samantha Smith Foundation to organize trips for Soviet and later Russian schoolchildren to the United States. This fund ceased operations in 1995
Paying tribute to young Samantha, her home state has proclaimed an official Samantha Smith Memorial Day, which takes place annually on the first Monday in June. Monuments and sculptures were erected in the USA and the USSR, alleys and parks were named. The contribution of a small man to the great cause of peace on earth has been noted by many prominent figures in politics and culture.
If you are interested in the story of this girl, then you might be interested in watching "The Truth of Samantha Smith" - a 2015 film that will not only tell, but also show her story.
