The VISA 🛂 to USSR - Nicholas Roerich Biography (1925), Episode 40

The time to sail came on December 10. One thing Roerich did not know as he left New York was that some of his recent ac­tions—perhaps his application for a Soviet visa, perhaps his talks with Borodin—had attracted the attention of US authorities , who wondered why a self-declared White Russian suddenly seemed so eager to recon­nect with the USSR. After Roerich exited the country, the Passport Control Office of the US State Department looked into his record and concluded by May 1925 that he had associated with a number of known and suspected communist sympathizers. Clos­er supervision, but no actual sanction, was recommended. Roerich and Maurice proceeded to Berlin, which they reached on Christmas Eve. Roerich arranged to meet with Nikolai Krestinsky, the USSR’s ambassador to Germany, and Krestinsky admitted him without delay. Acting on Borodin’s advice, Roerich sold the Great Plan as a political undertaking that could hugely expand So­viet influence in Asia. He promised to share whatever intelligence he gathered during his upcoming expedition; referring to his meet­ings with Colonel Bailey, he hinted that he had already learned much about British plans for Tibet. When he spoke of spirituality, it was to remind Krestinsky how much benefit could be gotten out of even a small measure of religious toleration. Krestinsky responded politely but care­fully. On his own authority, he was unwill­ing to issue a visa to a possible provocateur or crank. But if there was any substance to what Roerich had to say, he might prove useful. Krestinsky asked Roerich to remain patient while he consulted Moscow, and sent the following memo to Chicherin on January 2,1925.
The mission of the Nicholas Roerich Museum is essentially a narrow one: to make available to the public the full range of Roerich’s accomplishments. These, however, are not narrow; they cover the realms of art, science, spirituality, peacemaking, and more. Because Roerich’s activities ranged widely, so do the Museum’s.
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