Illarion Fedorovich Tychinin was born in the Voronezh region, district of Zemliansk, i the vollage of Dolgoye, in 1906. Education – he attended and completed 4 grades altogether. He came from a farmer’s family; he was a Russian.
In December 1925 he became a member of the Komsomol (Communist Youth Organization; translator’s note). In 1927 he was elected chairman of the Committee of Mutual Aid for impoverished Farmers. Later he left the village to attend the factory-and-workshop school – he intended to become a joiner. He served his apprenticeship for a certain time only; then, however, they ordered him back to the village of Dolgoye, since he was a member of the Komsomol, who knew his fellow-villagers very well; he was elected secretary of the village Soviet. He was not elected full-time secretary of the Komsomol cell, but party candidate of the VKPb (All-Russian Communist Party of the Bolsheviks; translator’s note).
In May 1937 I read the „Voronezh Commune“; it said that Ian Borisovich Gamarnik, who had got himself much talked about as a member of the Polit Bureau of the Central Committee of the VKPb, head of the political administration of the Workers’ and Farmers’ Army, had already become embroiled in anti-Soviet crimes and that he had committed suicide fearing that everything would soon become known. While reading this in the newspaper, I mentioned that I was unable to believe that this old bolshevik, who had taken such an amount of responsibility for his work, really was an anti-Soviet criminal – he merely did not danse to the tune of Stalin, I added. At that time they had just arrested: Tukhachevskiy, Ubarevich, Blücher and others – and this was known to everybody. I had uttered my thoughts in the presence of two men. One of them was a Communist, the other found himself under judicial inquiry for some missing sum. And it was he, who informed the NKVD about what I had said.
On the 26th of July 1937 I dropped in on the village Soviet, where I was immediately arrested and taken to the Voronezh prison. I spent there ten months and was then sentenced by a Special Board on section 58-10 (agitation): 8 years deprivation of liberty in a camp and of civil rights. They were completely convinced that I had insulted the Leader. And then I was transported to various forced labor camp sub-sectors in the Krasnoyarsk region. The last sub-sector I have been to was situated in the Sayan district, in the settlement of Tugach. In July 1945 I had served my time, but was not allowed to depart to any other place.
During the time when I was detained in the prison of Voronezh (cell No. 32), there were 55 inmates altogether, which had all been arrested and sentenced on section 58. They were mainly deputy heads f the regional services and party men.
After my release I was not allowed to leave the place, but I got a job. In 1948 I got married to Maria Pavlovna here in Tugach. We have been staying together for all our life.
In 1949 I returned to my hometown Voronezh. I wanted to try finding a job, but my wife wrote me from Tugach that they had started to arrest people again, to be more precise, they came for those, who had already served a sentence before. I went to the public prosecutor’s to seek his advice. He recommended to me to go back to Tugach, where I had served my time; there they would know me, after all, and I would find a job. In fact, I started working for the book-keeping department of the depot. Thus, I stayed here for the rest of ma life.
I was rehabilitated; it turned out that I was completely innocent.
In the environs of Tugach there were lots of forced labor camp sub-sectors; the zones were surrounded by barbed-wire fences. Several thousands of prisoners! And further into the taiga, in the swamps, there were camp sub-sectors,too. I do not want to recall all this to my mind.
My address is:
Krasnoyarsk region
Sayan district
settlement of Tugach
Illarion Fedorovich Tychinin
I wrote down everything in my own words; everything I called back to my mind is true and correct, this is what I herewith certify. In case somebody would like to publish this, I will not object to it.
The memoirs of Illarion Fedorovich Tychinin were recorded by Irina Vassilevna Liutova, member of the Coordination Council of the Novosibirsk „Memorial“ organization.
29.08.1989
Settlement of Tugach - Novosibirsk