G. Antonik
Once there will be a moment of impartial investigation of Russian history and the world will not believe its eyes when the real number of destroyed, convicted, banished and deported people clear up. [4]
« … but the reader is wrong if he thinks that it is much better for deportees to be in sovkhoz than in kolkhoz. There is a sovkhoz in Suhobuzimsky district, a village Minderla. There are a lot of barracks in it. But it is not a prison but a kind of camp for unconvoyed. And it is supposed to give nine roubles (Stalin’s roubels) daily per person. And they hold back money for food, for wadded jacket, for dwelling. And when it’s time to get wages they find out that deportee earned nothing, but then he owes sovkhoz. Stotik remembered that two of deportees hung themselves because of despair.
Stotik himself was a visionary and he didn’t adopt his ill-fated experience of studing English language in Stepag. In this exile he decided to excercie the constitutional right of citizen of USSR to ... education! And he put in an application to send him in Krasnoyarsk for studing! The director of sovkhoz (the former secretary of district committee) adopted even not a negative but a declarative resolution on this cheeky application: “Nobody never let him (Stotik) study”.
However the case helped: Krasnoyarsk transfer took on carpenters form deportees and Stotik offered himself (although he wasn’t a carpenter) and went to Krasnoyarsk. He lived in hostel among drunkards and thiefs and began to prepare for the competitive examinations into the medical institute. He passed it with the good marks. Nobody looked into his documents before the credentials committee. But then... «I was at the front. Then I came back...» - the throat became dry. «And then?» - «And then I ... was put into prison ...» - pronounced Stotik. The comission became terrible. «But I served the term! I’m dissmissed! I got a good marks!» -insisted Stotik but all in vain. And that was already the year of Beriya’s fall! [1]
Prisoner-of-war camp was situated not far from the front. There was no time and no means of transportation to take captives to depth of the Reich. Three lines of barbed wire and not very deep ditch along the fence. Every day captives dig trenches and fosses and build pillboxes and blindages.[2] Partisans released them from capture and most of people ran violently, oriented themselves to the East. But when they reached the Soviet troops’ location they were taken “prisoners” again. Representatives of SMERSh carried on the interrogation. Stotik could’t return an answer why he survived while all regimental headquarters and divisional printing-works, in which Stotik worked as a military correspondent, were killed. He was unconscious for a long time, and when he came to his senses, he was in prisoner-of-war camp already, with blood-stained leg and sheep dogs were everywhere.
The “three” judged, but every man in it tried to demonstrate his anabating zeal at struggle with spies and life of such man like Stotik costed nothing. But all was useless, neither all his justifications, nor arguments of his loyalty to Bolshevists and to Comrade Stalin. Members of SMERSh are used to hear such excuses. Now they struggle with spies – it means they (spies) exsist. And the sentence was horrible - to shoot. [2] Stotik became grey-headed just for one night.
At dawn they gave him a pen, an ink-pot and some sheets of paper. They permited him to write a solicitation to protest the sentence. In a month they announced Stotik that the capital punishment would be replaced by ten years in prison according to clause 58, point “A” and five years of suppression of civic rights. He did his strech in mines in Karaganda where he learned how to “do a poppycock”, to form an order. He knew when the revision should be and for whom he must keep a spare portion and so all ten years. [1]
A new 1953 year has come. Camp direction doesn’t forget its main educational work – to rehabilitate convicts. The whole camp is going to meet the International women’s day – the 8’th of March. All barracks and zone are decorated with posters glorifying women: “Woman - Mother”, “Woman - Worker”, “Woman – Builder of communism”! [2]
But on the 6th of March during the breakdown and morning check, convicts saw a lot of flags flown at half-mast with black mourning ribbons. On the main building there was a big leader’s portrait in black frame and with black bow. The chief of the camp announced about the death of the leader of Soviet people and the world proletariat, the Secretary general of Central Committee of the CPSU, comrade Stalin. There was a minute of silence and then non-working day was announced. Everybody secretly hoped for changes, for their better future. Approximately in a month a lot of announcements were put up in the camp: workers of different professions are required to the national economy buildings and free life is guaranteed. All volunteers should put in an application addressed to the chief of the camp. Stotik was among such people. [3]
With the group of former convicts Stotik came to Krasnoyarsk region. As he wasn’t a carpenter he became an “accounting clerk of cattle breeding” in sovkhoz of Minderla in Krasnoyarsk region. [3] After regular amnesty he was consented to live everywhere but within the Krasnoyarsk region. Stotik asked the district commandant to give him pass to the city and tried to enter the institute. He was thirty years old but he had neither profession nor education, except spending two years in journalistic faculty of Moscow State University, then as press-photographer on front and as foreman in camp.
«Firstly in the unknown city he spent nights at the stations. Here he earned for his life by unloading barges and coaches. At the first opportunity he rented a room at suburban street: there he felt himself more comfortable». [2] He passed all exams with excellent marks and he studied well without absence. He was an honour of the institute! But in the end of the second term he was called into the special institute department where they announced him he wasn’t a student anymore. They said there is no place for people’s enemy in the institute and he was sent down.
He went out the institute without pain or despair or anger. He replied to friends’ greetings absentmindedly thinking about suicide. His mind was filled with gloomy thoughts: how to live? What for? The lawyer explained that the head of this department is “overcautious person” and that Stotik could appeal his actions. But Stotik decided not to waste his time and instead of this he entered another institute: Krasnoyarsk Agricultural Institute which was set up one year ago. They accepted his documents and allowed him for summer examinations. It was a year 1954.
Stotik Alexander was born on 14th of March 1923 in Orenburg. His father was a book-keeper, his mother was a housewife. He graduated a school in Moscow and entered the Moscow State University on Literary faculty, but the war prevented his study. Since the first war days his father, professional soldier and reserve captain, was on front. And in September the family was informed that his father was missing (or killed?) [3].
Numbering the 56th Guard rifle regiment as volunteer he got to headquarters of the 18th Guard Krasnoznamennaya Siberian rifle division and as photographer at Kursk arch. Stotik got a medal “For services in battle” and strong handshake of marshal Zhukov for combined actions with partisans during the preparation to the Kursk battle and for the valuable information.
One day the division printing-house, where Stotik prepared the article about the first battle day, was wrecked by direct hit of shell. Nobody survived except him, but he was wounded and unconscious for a long time, until he was taken by Germans and sent to the prisoner-of-war camp. «The luck has turned out of Stotik. He wasn’t a witness of the largest battle near the village Prohorovka, where more than one thousand of tanks met together and turned the battlefield into the graveyard and the pile of metal, into the death and hell at the same time...» [2]
…«At the end of the week everybody were sent to harvesting in Krasnokutsky region by the order of Regional committee of party. The paddle-boat “Sergo Ordzhonikidze” swallowed the crowd, hooted and went down the mighty river. The nomadic life has began [2].
The day before the thirty seventh anniversary of Great October on the public student meeting they reckoned up the harvesting campaign. All students, including Stotik, were rewarded with diploma for the progress in the socialistic competition and for the high labour figures» [3].
Alexander Stotik was an excellent student. He got a high scholarship. Usually he sat at last rows and in the end of the lessons affected teachers with knowledge of Gegel’s, Marx’s works and with the knowledge of English, French and Spanish languages. Once according to his advice, after the lecture of Vladimir Logvinov, students studied books about socialist-revolutionary (S.R.) Kaplan for a long time in the regional library. A month later “Muscovite” (he got this nickname during the harvesting in kolkhoz) got a book of P. Malkov “Notes of the Kremlin commandant”. They expressed him a thankfulness and presented him a prize for the active participation in scientific student association and for the interesting, experimental and theoretical reports, presented at conference [3].
Afterwards everybody knew that their respected groupmate was repressed. After the N. Khrushev’s report on the 20th conference of C.P.S.U., Stotik was summoned to committee of State security. An official gave out all necessary documents and present their apologies for superfluous eagerness of their colleagues from People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, Ministry of State security and SMERSh. They announced him he was illegally convicted and his convictions is lifted and he bore all miseries and to suffer privations as innocent.
Overjoyed he decided to go to Moscow on the spot. It required only one day for him to pass all examinations without attending lectures before the appointed time for the 4th year. He was so in hurry that he left Krasnoyarsk without saying goodbye to many people. G. Lisovsky, prorector of academic deals of the institute, was engaged in registration and sending the documents for entering the Moscow academy of Timiryazev, as well as Stotik’s characteristics, all his extracts and certificates.
Stotik’s mother was waiting for him in Moscow; she was an invalid of second group and had very bad health. And for many years he connected with Krasnoyarsk and his former groupmates only with the help of correspondence. In a couple of months after his leaving he informed that he studies in Timiryazevskaya Agricultural academy on zootechnik faculty by correspondence and also works in it as foreign literature interpreter in library, where he chooses necessary articles for the soviet science [3]. After the institute he worked in famous State Lenin library.
In 1978 his groupmates went to visit him. There were no letters from him for a long time. And then with the sorrow they knew he died a year ago.
“Stand up, our huge country! Stand up for mortal fight...” Even now, sixty five years after that June day of 1941st, tears appear in an eyes of many people when they hear first words of that song to the sounds of which a lot of boys and girls went to the front although they were of the same age as today’s graduates.
Many of them didn’t come back from this dusty front roads. But we should try to keep the memory of people who left on battlefields forever. We should keep the memory of that cruel but fair war of Russian people for future generations.
It is hard to believe that seventeen-year-old boys could commit feats. Although they were the same age as our today’s first-year students. They dreamt about peaceful life, about bouquet of downy snowdrops. They dreamt about soft snowflakes and about extremely sweet native regions.
It is desirable to bow them for their eternal feats they performed everyday. They protected our Motherland and didn’t suspect we called them heroes after years, and we called their reckless desire to live and to win as heroism. Our undying respect and recognition to all fallen and to all who got to the desired Victory Day.
We are profoundly grateful to them for our country and our descendant protection, for the growing up children and grandchildren and for giving the lessons of courage and to the glory of people who became the embodiment of Russian patriotism.
«And everyone listened and kept silent about something valuable. And everyone thought about his own... and remembered that spring...».
1. A. Solzhenitsin Arhipelag Gulag. // Noviy mir. 1989, ¹11, page 160.
2. Avdeev A.A. Thirst for a life. The manuscript. GAAK. Materials to performance
on scientific conferences «Krasnoyarsk region: a history in documents », 27th
October 2004.
3. Current archives of Krasnoyarsk State Agricultural Academy (Krasnoyarsk
Agricultural Institute). Private affair of Alexander Stotik: ¹54027 – 1063.
4. The book of political reprisals victims memory of Krasnoyarsk region: vol.
1.-Krasnoyarsk: Publishing projects, 2004. – 512 p.