Maxim Gorky wrote this letter during the Russian Civil War when the forces of the Red Army and the Baltic Fleet opposed the White Movement. The White Guardsmen had 14 world powers as allies, but the preponderance was on the side of the Bolsheviks. The front was moving toward Petrograd, which was under siege.

The citizens suffered from famine, the communications were down, and the supplies were almost cut off. There were rumors of evacuation circulating in the city. Two weeks after the displayed letter had been written, the defense of Petrograd began, which lasted six months and ended in the complete victory of the Red Army and the defeat of the Whites.

Maxim Gorky was always acutely affected by people’s misfortunes, sincerely empathized with them, and often interceded for someone. He helped acquaintances and even strangers with advice and medicine, arranged trips abroad for treatment, wrote to the authorities about illegal confiscations, and sought the release of arrestees.

When Gorky learned about the misfortunes of Sophia Dmitriyevna Tolstaya and her sick daughter Maria, he could not help interceding. The writer wrote a letter to Grigory Lvovich Shklovsky, a Soviet diplomat and employee of the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (Narkomindel), asking him to help the Tolstoys to leave for Finland:

The letter also bears Shklovsky’s negative reply:

Maria Tolstaya was already seriously ill and died that same year. Sophia Dmitriyevna Tolstaya was able to leave Russia only 14 years later. As for Grigory Shklovsky, he was arrested and shot in November 1937.