samizdat

Samizdat is a Russian word that does not have a precise meaning, but its etymology implies a translation of "self published"

Samizdat were used in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s as a method of civil disobedience, and used by people to share any and all forms of literature that would ordinarily have been censored by the Soviet rule.

they looked pretty much like every other DIY magazine, like Kultura over on the right

"Samizdat: I write myself, I edit myself, I censor myself, I publish myself, I distribute myself and I am serving a sentence myself." Vladimir Bukovsky, 1978

Vladimir Bukovsky was a prominent human rights activist.

but what is tamizdat?

tamizdat were the books and manuscripts that were published in the West through incredible effort, again, by circumventing Soviet censorship

watch an explanation below  ⬇