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I understood that there was nothing for me to hope for and I decided to run away from exile. In late October 1946 I went to Kazan on foot, as I was afraid to get on the train in the vicinity of our settlement. I had to walk for 150 kilometers. On the holiday of 7th November [33] 1946 I bought a ticket for Kazan-Leningrad. I hoped that on holidays the documents wouldn't be checked on the train. Of course, I didn't have documents. I purchased the ticket for that day, hoping that there would be less suspicion. I was the only passenger in the compartment and maybe in the entire car.
I reached Leningrad, wherefrom I went to Tallinn. In Leningrad, at the market, I had bought a passport with a different name and I felt safe. I didn't stay in Tallinn for a long time. I was subject of an all-union search. It was pretty expensive. At that time a search cost 25,000 rubles. I was arrested in Tallinn on 9th May 1947. First I was incarcerated in Tallinn for two weeks. Then I was sent to Leningrad. I stayed in the receiving prison for a month while my fate was being decided on. Of course, I could have been imprisoned or sent to Gulag. I was saved by a formality. When we arrived in Malmyzh, everybody was to sign a paper stating that he would be obliged not to leave the area of exile. For some reason I wasn't given that paper to sign. Since my signature on the resolution on the area of exile was missing, I could not be charged with an escape from exile. It saved me. Such punctiliousness was strange in the environment of total arbitrariness reigning in the USSR. Owing to that I was supposed to come back to the area of exile.
I reached Leningrad, wherefrom I went to Tallinn. In Leningrad, at the market, I had bought a passport with a different name and I felt safe. I didn't stay in Tallinn for a long time. I was subject of an all-union search. It was pretty expensive. At that time a search cost 25,000 rubles. I was arrested in Tallinn on 9th May 1947. First I was incarcerated in Tallinn for two weeks. Then I was sent to Leningrad. I stayed in the receiving prison for a month while my fate was being decided on. Of course, I could have been imprisoned or sent to Gulag. I was saved by a formality. When we arrived in Malmyzh, everybody was to sign a paper stating that he would be obliged not to leave the area of exile. For some reason I wasn't given that paper to sign. Since my signature on the resolution on the area of exile was missing, I could not be charged with an escape from exile. It saved me. Such punctiliousness was strange in the environment of total arbitrariness reigning in the USSR. Owing to that I was supposed to come back to the area of exile.
Year
1946
Location
Russia
Interview
simon rapoport