Selected text
I remember Stalin's death in March 1953 very well. Everybody around me and I grieved after him. We were religious people. Our religion was Communism and Stalin was our God. We believed in his infallibility and justice. During the period of persecutions of doctors I was sure that this happened without his awareness, otherwise he would have stopped this disgrace. Even my mother and her friends whispered about the illegal proceedings in the country, arrests of their friends and acquaintances adding with confidence, 'But Stalin doesn't know, to be sure.'
My wife and I went to Stalin's funeral. People were gathering on Sadovoye Koltso. We joined the column that slowly started moving. It stopped and then moved on again. There were people crowding around us. We moved for three or four hours, when we heard rumors that nobody would let us come to the Column Hall and that our procession was moving in a circle. We looked around and saw that the Column Hall was in a different direction. Zoria and I got out of the crowd and went home.
My wife and I went to Stalin's funeral. People were gathering on Sadovoye Koltso. We joined the column that slowly started moving. It stopped and then moved on again. There were people crowding around us. We moved for three or four hours, when we heard rumors that nobody would let us come to the Column Hall and that our procession was moving in a circle. We looked around and saw that the Column Hall was in a different direction. Zoria and I got out of the crowd and went home.
Period
Year
1953
Location
Moscow
Russia
Interview
Osip Hotinskiy