Alexandr Nikolaevich Pilar was born in Sevastopol’, the son of an officer in the Imperial Black Sea Fleet. The family had noble roots of Germanic origin extending back to the heirs of the Pilar von Pilchau. Alexsandr Pilar was educated at various schools due to his father’s military postings. In 1930, he initiated the study of art at Anatoli Kaigorodov's painting studio in Tallinn. Pilar later studied at the Estonian SSR State School of Art and Design. In 1941, he was drafted into service in the Red Army. From 1942 to 1944, he was the administrator of the Estonian SSR State Art Ensemble in Yaroslavl’, RSFSR.

Political Literature Publishing was formed in Tallinn, the capital of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. Political Literature was also part of the state-controlled publishing monopoly developed by the Soviet Union in September 1940 in order to reorganize publishing via the Estonian State Publishing Center, which combined five publishing entities. Political Literature chiefly produced socio-political material in addition to the magazines "Bolshevik" and "Young Lenin".