Vera Figner’s Trial Testimony
·
“The vague
idea that I belonged to the cultured minority, aroused in me the thought of the
obligations which my position imposed upon me with respect to the remaining
uneducated masses” (159).
·
Decides to
become a physician to “satisfy my philanthropic aspirations” (160)
·
Sacrifices her
degree to go back to Russia. “[T]he
conferring of the title of doctor of medicine and surgery upon me would satisfy
only my vanity” (161).
·
Blocked from
doing good by local elites. “Thus not vacillation but bitter necessity forced
me to give up my original views and to set out on another course” (163).
·
Did not want
to become a physician for wealthy people (164).
·
“The only
escape from the position in which we found ourselves lay in militant resistance”
(164).
·
“It seemed to
me that if I admitted theoretically that only through violence could we
accomplish anything, I was in duty bound to take active part in whatever programme of violence might be undertaken by the organisation” (164).
·
“I consider it
most important, most essential, that such conditions should be established as
will allow the individual to develop his abilities to the fullest extent, and
to devote them wholeheartedly to the good of society. And it seems to me that under our present order,
such conditions do not exist” (165).