Why did Stalin sentence the author of the song “I Asked the Ash Tree” to death?
Most viewers do not know that the song from the legendary film “The Irony of Fate” called “I Asked the Ash Tree” was written by Vladimir Kirshon, a man who took part in the fierce persecution of writers in the 30s.
Kirshon was able to succeed in creativity not only due to the fact that he had an unsurpassed talent, but also due to his connections. He was very friendly with Genrikh Yagoda, who was delighted not so much with his works as with his life position and line of behavior: Kirshon was regularly engaged in snitching and wrote denunciations and complaints against his colleagues, as well as was directly involved in the signing of collective appeals for the execution of individual creative personalities. At the time of committing all these acts, he did not realize that one day he himself could become a “victim of the system” and fall out of favor for nothing.
Kirshon’s position changed dramatically in 1937, when Yagoda ceased to enjoy authority with the leader, and after that the “hard hand of the system” reached the writer. Despite the fact that he tried to negotiate with Stalin, wrote him letters and petitions, he was still sentenced to death in 1938. He was not yet thirty-six years old.
The song was originally written for another movie, so when filming on “The Irony of Fate” began, the melody was changed to create a new song with the same lyrics. Thus, Eldar Ryazanov allowed the revival of the work of a man with not the best moral character, who did not perform the most worthy acts, but this did not affect his work in any way.