Cancer Ward

The story "Cancer Ward" was conceived by Solzhenitsyn in the summer of 1954 in Tashkent, where he was being treated for cancer in an oncological dispensary after his exile. Memories of this formed the basis of the story.

Its heroes are patients of the "cancer ward." Among them are people from all social strata, ages from all corners of the vast country. Their fates reflected the state of Soviet society, which, afflicted by the lawlessness of power as a terrible disease, received hope for healing.

The author's position in the work sharply diverged from the official ideology, so he could only publish it abroad. Back home, the story was first published in 1990.