Tag #144356 - Interview #78096 (samuel sukhenko)

In 1936, something terrible was going on in Leningrad - the destruction of people. When Kirov was killed in 1934, all Leningrad knew that Stalin had killed him. You can't imagine what was going there. All the students came out to see how Kirov's body was carried to Moscow on a carriage, and Stalin himself was standing behind it. Then the Stalinist terror started. Today you could meet your friend, but tomorrow he could be arrested and executed. I wanted to get as far away from that place as possible. My manager at work was a Swedish man named Vigman. He understood what was going on. He sent me on a business trip to the Far East for one year. I had planned to join the Communist Party, but on his advice, I cancelled my registration with the Party in Leningrad. I did not register in the Far East either.