Diary of a Prophet?

Can a person look into the future? The answer to this question will probably be yes—if we take into account the diary of a Moscow schoolboy, Lyova Fedotov, who, 17 days before the war, predicted quite accurately not only the date of its beginning, but even the character of the fighting.

Based on this document and its analysis, the reader can learn about the era and a number of documents that far from everyone knows about—provided in the context of the ominous war years.

This historical sensation was discovered in ordinary school notebooks. There were fifteen notebooks in cardboard covers made at a prewar factory called “Svetoch.” Of course, it wasn’t the notebooks themselves that were astonishing, but what had been written in them. On the first pages of each notebook, there was a heading: “The Diary of Lev Fedotov.” The period when the diaries were kept was the mid-1930s through the first half of 1941. And what’s remarkable: always open to friends, Lev never mentioned his diaries in a single word. Evidently, understanding that what was written was clear heresy—punishable, and for which he could suffer, since his visions contradicted the Party’s general line for a swift and victorious war.

But here’s the question: foreseeing the future of the country, did Lev Fedotov know his own future? Then his act is doubly great: because, having the lawful white ticket (like all scholarly geniuses, he was extremely nearsighted and also had poor hearing), Lev Fedotov went to war as a volunteer. Only he didn’t have to fight: a bomb hit the truck that was taking him to the front near Tula. Lev Fedotov died on June 25, 1943. Of course, there are other versions…