It is sad but true that even in an apparently democratic time there are quite a lot of citizens who do not only tend to justify Stalin’s terror, but who are even longing back with nostalgia to a time, when the country was governed by a “strict, but just ruler”. And when talking about all the victims of repressions, one can often hear a very unhuman phrase: “There will be wood cuttings whenever someone is planing” (“One cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs”).
However, there are hundreds of thousands of “wood cuttings” in the country – and
a particularly great number of them can be found in our region. Even nowadays,
seventy years after the Great Terror, more than 25000 people , who were affected
by repressions, still live in the Krasnoyarsk terrirtory. n the occasion of the
Day in commemoration of the victims of political repressions observed on the 30
October, we request our readers to give their comments on the following question:
Does the State render enough support to the victims of repressions and their
family members? The telephone did not stop ringing …
- We have privileges, but can these poor privileges be copmpared to all the privations we had to suffer from?! Yelena Andreevna Yushkova began her monologue in quite an upset voice. She lives in October District, one of the districts of our regional town. – I lost my dad when I was five years old – they arrested him on 23 August 1937 and shot him on 18 January 1938. Mum was rescued by the fact that she had to go to hospital one week after his arrest; afterwards friends hid her. Father was rehabilitated in the 1950s. The issued a certificate saying that he died from gangrenous pneumonia in 1942. I only learned about his execution in the 1990s. They have been lying to us all our life! And all our life we have been living in fear and at the cost of great privations. When talking about privileges today, I would like to express my wish for one thing: that we at least receive some of the urgently necessary remedies free of charge. And it would not be a bad idea, if they would remember us on this sad day, and it would also be very nice, if we would receive a postcard or a little tin of sweets!
For the sake of justice it has to be mentioned that the social welfare offices in the district are organizing commemoration evenings for the victims of repressions these days and even hand over gifts to them (small, very modest ones, of course). In Central District the actors of the Theater of Musical and Comedy performed the comedy “Juno and Avos” (unfortunately, they could not invite all, who would have liked to go there – for several thousand victims of repressions are residents of the district). Henceforth, they will have to make an effort to guarantee that the kindness of the state reaches all of them without exception.
Another caller, Vera Parfentevna Danilova, who has been a subcriber of the “Krasnoyarsk Worker” for many years, reprimanded the journalists for only rarely writing about people like her, i.e. victims of the Stalinist repressions:
- My parents were affected by compulsory expropriation in the Chita Region, Nerchinsk District; from there they were deported to Igarka, where I was later born. My elder sister, Maria Polupoltynnykh died en route. She was buried together with many other unfortunate creatures like her in the village of Nikulino, on the banks of the Yenisey. Early in the 1970s they erected a memorial stone in this place, dedicated to the victims of repressions. At that time our family was a very big one; we were cossacks, twenty people, who used to live in clans. My uncle was a clergyman; late in the 1930s he was executed. In Igarka I finished the seven-year school. However, I did not have the opportunity to continue learning. Our parents were so intimidated that even we, the children, were afraid to talk about all this. We have been spending our whole life in this terrible fright. They won’t think much of us these days, and the state is not in a hurry to pay back its debths; and you, the journalists, hardly ever report about our needs, the miserable extra pay on our pension, the scanty privileges…
Stanislava Stanislavovna Tsaryuk who lives in the Avenue of the Krasnoyarsk Worker, named after the newspaper, and has been taking our newspaper for more than forty years, first came to the banks of the river Yenisey after the war – she did not come by her own free will:
- We were deported from the Baltic States in 1949, after they had expropriated my dad. Yes, he was a wealthy farmer; we had hired workers, but they used to take all meals with us at one and the same table. Many sad to dad: “See that you become a member of the party, as long as it is not too late!” But he refused – and then … I was 9 years old at that time, my sister was 4. They took us to Siberia in freight cars and delivered us to the village of Vagino, Bogotolsk District. It was a wonderful village! I finished the ten-year school and afterwards went to the technical school.
Now I am on pension. I suffer from festering skin eruptions, I have many of them, - Stanislava Stanislavovna continues. – I am not going to complain, but life is hard, very hard. In actual fact I receive an extra pay on my pension in the amount of 90 rubels (a ridiculous sum, isn’t it?) and once a year a free ticket to go by train. Apart from this, the usual privileges: a 50% grant on housing, gas, electricity and remedies – just like any other recipient of welfare payments. By the way, draw your attention to the list of subsidized remidies: it is getting shorter and shorter. Just to give you an example: I regularly need ointments against deforming osteoporosis, but you will not find them on the list at all – so I need to pay 90-170 rubels for each of these little tubes. Moreover, foodstuffs have become very expensive recently. I understand: there is democracy in our country, free economy – but is it not possible to put the prices in some reasonable order? Or is our state to go from one extreme to another – sometimes despotism, sometimes total anarchy, sometimes no order at all?!
Nikolai Andreevich Kirillov who lives in the Leninsk District, recommended me with some slight sarkasm “to have a look into my newspaper, read the articles about the 70 years’ retrospective” and characterize today’s position with regard to Stalin’s terror in a more distinct way:
- It was not just a question of surveillance and mere extremes, - he remarked quite reasonably, it was the well-planned policy of a criminal state being entirely hostile to the people. I am from a cossack’s family; they dispropriated us all and in 1931 deported us from the Baikal Region. I was born after we had been resettled by force – in the settlement of Tatarka on the river Angara. Father was no kulak, he was just a wealthy farmer who made a good profit by transporting foodstuffs to the gold mines. And when the wave of represions set in in 1937, the local NKVD workers claimed “the return of the hidden gold”. They beat him, poured cold water on him and kept him standing in icy cold. Thus, he perished. And my uncle was executed. You can find all their names in the “Book in Commemoration of the victims of political repressions”. From Chita they sent me a rehabilitation certificate issued in my father’s name, but in Krasnoyarsk neither UVD nor KGB authorities were keeping any documents about him, no mention of him at all. I have written to them several times, but you may have written to a wall, as well!
On the whole, our state does not care much about us nowadays. What are 90 rubels good for, after all! And these few pennies only receive those, who were rehabilitated before 1997.
We asked the chairman of the Krasnoarsk human rights’ organization “Memorial”, Aleksei Babiy, to comment on the present situation:
- The biggest problem, which is common to all welfare recipients, is, of course, the remedies, said Aleksei Andreevich. –The people are looking for remedies which are subject to subsidies, but such remedies simply do not exist. According to the opinion of the victims of repression this is a means to compel them to give their consent to the social services as they ar. Subsidized remedies are to go to the welfare recipients, but now, as a matter of fact, the pharmacies receive mone from the budget – but they dod not give out the corresponding remedies to the sick persons. For what reason? The system is either unaffective or criminal. It needs serious controlling measures and improvements.
Moreover, many did not yet suceed in making use of another privilege – a free train ticket once a year. This problem could be solved, if people would receive a special voucher from the social institutions, against which they could obtain a train ticket, which they then give back to the respective social institution. At present, the money often remains unused “due to the budget”.
Many difficulties can be explained by the fact that, not long ago, the Federal Law N° 122 came into force, according to which any social support of rehabilitated persons was transferred to regional level. This is bad and not just for two reasons. First of all people were not reprsed by the regions, but by the state; hence, the state has to bear the responsibility. Secondly, the financial situation of the regions in our country is entirely different – there are poor and rich ones. Our region, for example, was able to maintain all social welfare payments and privileges, the poorer regions, however, do not grant any such support. According to some recent research done by the “Memorial” organization, the Krasnoyarsk Territory is one of the five best regions in country, which were able to maintain all social pivileges.
In case of questions and problems our readers may contact the following institutions:
Rehabilitation: GUVD of the Krasnoyarsk Territory (ul. Diktatury Proletariata, 23), Daily opening hours: 11-13 h. Excess to the files of citizens sentenced on Section 58: regional FSB department (ul. Dzerzhinskogo, 18). Social welfare and privileges: Social Welfare Office of the district. “Memorial” Organization: ul. Uritskogo, 61, Romm 4-27, Tel. 65-13-85.
Eduard RUSAKOV
“Krasnoyarsk Worker”, 01.11.2007
PHOTO: The Yenisey recalls a lot
Photo by Ilya Naimushin (Reiter)