Selected text
In 1936 Anatoliy Krugliak, the husband of my mother's sister Hina, was
arrested. In 1938 we received a letter from Zina Levitina, my father's
cousin. She wrote that her husband Zinoviy Levitin, the Director of a big
plant in Moscow, had been arrested. The only message from him was a pack of
Kazbek cigarettes that he threw out of the window of the barred railcar
taking him to the camp. He wrote Zina's address on the pack and a message
"Zinochka, I'm innocent". A stranger, wearing the railroad uniform put this
pack near the door to Zina's apartment, rang the doorbell, and ran away.
There were no other messages from Zinoviy - he perished in Stalin's camps.
Zina was a devoted communist and worked as director of the ch ildren's
home. It was strange, but the authorities didn't touch her. She went on
with her work and was evacuated with the children's home.
I studied at an ordinary school. The students in our school were
mainly the children of military personnel. There were children of various
nationalities in our school, including Jews. But nationality didn't matter
back then. We were just Soviet children. I had a carefree life. I went to
school, attended the young technicians' club and participated in
gymnastics. My brother Victor went to kindergarten because Mama decided to
go to work. Although she had no education, the Soviet authorities sent her
to study at the school for judges and she finished the course. However, she
could find a job, because my father started having problems.
When my father learned that Krugliak and Levitin, the husbands of his
sisters, were arrested, he, being a devoted communist, officially reported
in his office that two of his close relatives had been arrested, although
he was absolutely sure that they were innocent. There was a party meeting
where the authorities blamed him for blunting his vigilance and
excommunicated him from the party. In a few days my father was fired. I
came home from school one day and was surprised to see my father at home so
early. When we were having tea my mother said, "You know, son, your father
has been fired and we may have to leave". My father kept silently stirring
his tea in the glass. We were sitting motionless. We were struck and didn't
know what to expect. We were aware that he might be arrested, sentenced to
15 years in labor camps or even to death, and that his family might suffer
from repression. Fortunately for us, my father was only fired from work,
but we were very concerned about what was going to happen to all of us.
My father went to work as an accountant at the car maintenance shop.
In 1939 his party membership was reinstated, and his position was restored
at work. Soon my father requested to be transferred to another town. He
didn't want to stay in Novosibirsk any longer. He got a job assignment in
Ashgabad, Turkmenia (now Turkmenistan). At first we obtained accommodations
at a good hotel, and shortly before the war we received an apartment in a
new apartment building.
In 1941 my mother and I went to visit our relatives in Kharkov. On 22
June 1941 we were in Moscow, staying with Uncle Abrasha, our distant
relative. On Sunday, 22 June Uncle Abrasha took my brother and me to the
Exhibition of the Achievements of Public Economy. We heard about what had
happened when we were there (editor's note: Germany had invaded the Soviet
Union) and went directly home. At 12 o'clock Molotov made a speech and we
learned that the war had begun. We decided to go home. Mama managed to get
tickets through the frontier units' headquarters and we went to Ashgabad.
We met many acquaintances on the train who had to go back home urgently due
to the war. When we were approaching Tashkent there was a rumor in our
railcar that a train on the nearby track, carrying employees of the office
where my father was working, was to be sent to the front. We heard that my
father was there. Mama ran to look for him. She jumped onto the train after
it had started moving. She was crying because she couldn't find her
husband. We were so happy to see that my father was in Ashgabad when we
returned.
arrested. In 1938 we received a letter from Zina Levitina, my father's
cousin. She wrote that her husband Zinoviy Levitin, the Director of a big
plant in Moscow, had been arrested. The only message from him was a pack of
Kazbek cigarettes that he threw out of the window of the barred railcar
taking him to the camp. He wrote Zina's address on the pack and a message
"Zinochka, I'm innocent". A stranger, wearing the railroad uniform put this
pack near the door to Zina's apartment, rang the doorbell, and ran away.
There were no other messages from Zinoviy - he perished in Stalin's camps.
Zina was a devoted communist and worked as director of the ch ildren's
home. It was strange, but the authorities didn't touch her. She went on
with her work and was evacuated with the children's home.
I studied at an ordinary school. The students in our school were
mainly the children of military personnel. There were children of various
nationalities in our school, including Jews. But nationality didn't matter
back then. We were just Soviet children. I had a carefree life. I went to
school, attended the young technicians' club and participated in
gymnastics. My brother Victor went to kindergarten because Mama decided to
go to work. Although she had no education, the Soviet authorities sent her
to study at the school for judges and she finished the course. However, she
could find a job, because my father started having problems.
When my father learned that Krugliak and Levitin, the husbands of his
sisters, were arrested, he, being a devoted communist, officially reported
in his office that two of his close relatives had been arrested, although
he was absolutely sure that they were innocent. There was a party meeting
where the authorities blamed him for blunting his vigilance and
excommunicated him from the party. In a few days my father was fired. I
came home from school one day and was surprised to see my father at home so
early. When we were having tea my mother said, "You know, son, your father
has been fired and we may have to leave". My father kept silently stirring
his tea in the glass. We were sitting motionless. We were struck and didn't
know what to expect. We were aware that he might be arrested, sentenced to
15 years in labor camps or even to death, and that his family might suffer
from repression. Fortunately for us, my father was only fired from work,
but we were very concerned about what was going to happen to all of us.
My father went to work as an accountant at the car maintenance shop.
In 1939 his party membership was reinstated, and his position was restored
at work. Soon my father requested to be transferred to another town. He
didn't want to stay in Novosibirsk any longer. He got a job assignment in
Ashgabad, Turkmenia (now Turkmenistan). At first we obtained accommodations
at a good hotel, and shortly before the war we received an apartment in a
new apartment building.
In 1941 my mother and I went to visit our relatives in Kharkov. On 22
June 1941 we were in Moscow, staying with Uncle Abrasha, our distant
relative. On Sunday, 22 June Uncle Abrasha took my brother and me to the
Exhibition of the Achievements of Public Economy. We heard about what had
happened when we were there (editor's note: Germany had invaded the Soviet
Union) and went directly home. At 12 o'clock Molotov made a speech and we
learned that the war had begun. We decided to go home. Mama managed to get
tickets through the frontier units' headquarters and we went to Ashgabad.
We met many acquaintances on the train who had to go back home urgently due
to the war. When we were approaching Tashkent there was a rumor in our
railcar that a train on the nearby track, carrying employees of the office
where my father was working, was to be sent to the front. We heard that my
father was there. Mama ran to look for him. She jumped onto the train after
it had started moving. She was crying because she couldn't find her
husband. We were so happy to see that my father was in Ashgabad when we
returned.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Leonid Karlinsky