TRANSlATED EXCERPI'S PAGE 6: KHRUSHa!

EVS SECOND SECREI' SPEECH

didn't deny it in the past. and we deny it now. Therefore, on this, Stalin was a Marxist. and he
served, and used all the methods available. He used them so that in this struggle to affirm [the new], he
destroyed his own people. His own people were destroyed (svoikh unichtozhal). Of course it's possible.
This was in every party. There were always cases where someone was under the suspicion of being an
agent provocateur. Sometimes investigations and courts were used, but it later turned out that they had
been honest people. Were there cases Wee these? Of course there were. And it was the same in the
Polish party. It was everywhere. If there's an underground, if there's a struggle, then always possible.
And the fact that the enemy sends its agents is !mown to everybody, comrades. Its all a question of
intelligence, methods, and abilities. Stalin had such views, he understood it well, and tried to protect
himself. And in protecting the revolution, he got to the point where, as they say, the artillery fired on its
own army.
Well, my dear friend, I say anything else. I would be dishonorable, if after his death, everything
was blamed on him. That be very smart. We would then not have been Marxists, or we would
not have understood it and explained it correctly. Stalin in particularly was a Marxist. A Marxist. We
think so. The question of his mistakes on the questions of theory, and in other instances, is not being
discussed right now, comrades. This was a man who devoted his body and soul to the working class.
There a single doubt about it.
But... ... always, so to speak, humans are fallible. Something unpleasant is omitted, something pleasant
is exaggerated. So this kind of lesson is not accepted as a valid source of history. I don't want to insult
our elders, I myself am not young, but I !mow that sometimes ...... [about events] forty to fifty years ago,
everyone tells his own [version]
... Stalin valued every revolutionary. It had to be seen. We saw it. We're now talking about the negative
[side of] history. But, Stalin, comrades, if I could talk about the good times, [Stalin's] attention and
caring. 1bis was a revolutionary. He lived life, but he had a persecution mania (marilla presledovaniia)
about somebody pursuing him ...... And, because of it, he would never stop ...... He, even his own
relatives ...... He shot them. Because, he thought that the brother of his first wife-a Georgian woman, she
died a long time ago. (From the audience: Alilueva. No, Alilueva's the last wife.) Svanidze. Svanidze. Her
brother. This was a friend of Stalin's. This was already an old man. He was a Menshevik, then he joined
the party, and we often saw him with Stalin. And, evidently, Beria suggested that this Svanidze was an
agent, that he was an enemy, and that he had a directive to kill Stalin. Stalin, of course, said listen, he
sleeps over at my place, he dines with me, he's often been with me. So, why is he not doing what he's
supposed to? He could have poisoned me a long time ago. But, Beria tells him: ''No. You !mow there are
different agents. Some get the assignment immediately. Some agents are kept near you, behave
normally, then the time comes, he gets the signal, and then he'll do it!" Stalin believed him. Svanidze
was arrested. He was interrogated by all methods [i.e., torture]. He was sentenced to execution by
shooting. Stalin lived with Svanidze for so many years; something human [remained]; so he still had
doubts. Then, he orders Beria: When Svanidze is about to be shot, tell him that if he admits his guilt-
Stalin was already sure that Svanidze was an enemy-and asks for forgiveness, we will forgive him. We
will forgive him. Before Svanidze was shot, we are told, he was told Stalin's words, and he said: "Exactly
what am I guilty of? Why should I ask for forgiveness. rm not a criminal. I'm a member of the party. rm
an honest person. I commit any crimes before Stalin, and before the party and country. I
ask." And he was shot. That's what was happening. So, why did Stalin destroy [Svanidze]? He
destroyed him simply so (prosto tak) ...... He believed he was an enemy. We have to rack our brains to
explain things that are not so easy. You have to complicate this question a little bit. Only then will you
nnderstand correctly, and correctly give an explanation. This is a complicated question. The beginning
of the war and Stalin. Comrades, here, it was said that maybe we could have used it to our advantage,
when he turned out to be ...... This was impossible, comrades. The war began ...... the enemy
45

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TRANSLATED EXCERPIS PAGE 4: KHRUSHCHEV'S SECOND SECRET SPEECH
collectively find the correct solution. Stalin was telling us that the capitalist world will fool us, that we're like
blind kittens. But, if Stalin came back now; we would show him what we've done after him, and how we've
cleaned up the atmosphere. I think that Stalin couldn't have done it, and in ten years. And if he had lived a
little bit longer, then he possibly would have started another waL
listen! When Stalin died, l 09 people were killed. l 09 people died because everyone moved like a mob and
smothered them. This is just such a psychosis (psikhos). Some people, when they were in the hall near the
casket, started crying-What are we going to do now? Comrades, common people is one thing, but how
many party members and Komsomol members thought when Stalin died, what will happen after hin1? Is it
proper? Is it appropriate to imagine a hero, and make everything dependent on him? Comrades, do we
then need the party? What is it? It means not believing in human judgment, not believing in the force of
not believing in collective leadership. Comrades, then let's choose a king. The monarchists say
their system is better, because all your elections depend on your voters, and they adapt [to each other), but
our monarch, he was given the power to rule and manage by God. Then we must agree with even such an
absurdity. And now; we're trying to break this myth of power and infallibility. Some say; what would you
have done during the war, if you didn't have Stalin? Defeated the Germans. Defeated them-and defeated
them sooner, with less blood [lost]. I'm sure of it. And maybe we could have avoided the waL Maybe, if our
policy was a little smarter, maybe, we could have avoided the waL Nobody knows. That is how I and my
friends in our collective see these things.
listen, such absurdity. When Lenin died, no busts. Stalin died, there wasn't a single town or city where a
monument to him was not placed. We, when he died, we couldn't imagine what to name after him, to
immortalize him the day he died, because whatever we did would have been sigrillicantly worse than what
he had done during his lifetime. Can this be correct? Can this be correct upbringing? There was no
modesty; although he talked a lot about modesty. There were many; many shortcomings, which,
unfortunately; we could not... ... We ourselves suffered from it. I vacationed with him one yeaL I lived next
[door]. I told my friends and they understood it. They said that if you're still alive after this vacation, say
"Thank God." Why? Because I had to dine with him every day. It means I had to be drunk every day. I beg
your pardon. Am I saying it too frankly; yes? (Voices from the audience [in Russian]: You're saying the truth.
Say it. Say it.) You just can't do this. We had foreigners arriving and coming over sometimes. We were
ashamed when we came for dinner, because there was a battery of mortars (batareia minometov) [Eel.. note:
hard liquor] on the table. There's a limit to everything ..... .It was like this, comrades. It was. But, if one doesn't
drink and eat with him, you're his enemy. You're his enemy. This kind of absurdity; why did it happen? If he
was not protected by the cult of personality; he would have been kicked out, and told: Listen, dear, drinking
so heavily isn't allowed. You have to work We're responsible for the work done. He [Stalin] hin1self once told
us in the heat of conversation: 'Go on talking. Once, Lenin called me [to him] and tells me: Why; my dear
(baten'ka), are you drinking so heavily? You're buying champagne by the case, getting people drunk. And
he wanted to put me on trial." He [Stalin] told us this .. .... We couldn't tell him that it would have been for the
best if Lenin had done it, because if you said it, you wouldn't be going home anymore. You're not children,
comrades. You should understand. I have a lot of Fblish friends. And [Stalin] made me a Fble. Stalin asked
me: 'What's your last name?'' I said: ''Khrushchev.""Your last name ends
like a Fblish one with [one line black out in text] ski." I said: "Who knows. I lived for a long time as
Khrushchev. and now its-ski." Comrades, I was standing near Yezhov, and Stalin said: "Yezhov said it."
Yezhov replied: '1 didnt" 'How is it you didn't say it? When you were drunk, you said it to Ma.lenkov."
Ma.lenkov passes by. Stalin says: "Did Yezhov tell you that Khrushchev's Fblish?" He says: "No." You see,
they'll say; why is Khrushchev denying. Frrst of all, I'm a Russian, I'm not denying. Second, what kind of
crime is it if I had been Fblish? What kind of crime? Look comrades, when Stalin died, Beria took his post.
And he was then the most influential man among us. Beria and Ma.lenkov. He took the post of internal
43

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communications] bad. Here he gave such a report, he talked for three hours, really talked for three
hours, tha.t such questions were presented, that such questions were really presented, and that after that.
they won ...... so to speak. To each other.. .... there's such a situation among the diplomats, that Kluushchev
flew to Warsaw, Ma.lenkov to London, Mikoian to Karachi, during a bad state in the [Soviet] Fblitburo they're
not going to fly all over the world ...... checking themselves. Because, really, let them ma.ke some noise;
ma.ke some noise and then they'll be left with nothing (na bobakh). But, we will only win from this, because
now we have a colossal growth of party solidarity around the Central Committee, and firmness among
party ranks, and only natural that the party receive satisfaction, tha.t we, so to speak, the Central
Committee .. .... under the party. ..... He made the report to the party, because ...... the reasons ...... and we're
saying how to cure why this could have happen ..... ( .. . )
After reading this, you'd probably be indignant and probably say, this is really an enemy of the people.
(Voice from the audience [in Russian] No.) No? Comrades, comrades, you're saying no. I'm not upset with
you. Yes, Comrades. But. you're saying this in 1956, after my presentation. Now; even a fool can be smart,
as they say. But. you have to make the decision when the question is being discussed. Here, before you,
sits your wonderful fellow-countryman, and our friend, Rokossowski. He spent two years in jail. (Question
from the audience: ...... Berezhkov) There is. Yes, there is. Here, in my report, I was talking about Meretskov:
Meretskov; I know if he sat for two years or not but not for a long time. But now he's a complete
invalid. He was interrogated by Rados. This big man was interrogated by Rados. They had very smart
techniqUes. The doctors' case. I was sick, before my trip to Warsaw. The professor, Vinogradov came, who
was one of the saboteurs and had been in jail. And then he was freed. I ask: 'So, what do you think
Vladimir Nikitovich, can I fly to Warsaw?'' He says: "You can. Breathe carefully; through the nose. Dont make
speeches outdoors. Do not take off your hat." A doctor says that to a person who's not yet completely well.
He was in jail. After jail he examined us. But I read his testimony myself. that he was a German spy. It so
happened that this doctor; Vmogradov; attended to me, and was at my place practically a day before his
arrest. After my presentation to the 19th congress, I fell ill. And I was laying in bed, for three day. And he
was taking care of me, and I was already reading the protocols on his statements. The other doctors were
saying this ...... What could I do? What could I do, when a doctor who works with him says: I say such-and-
such, I did such-and-such things, I poisoned this one, I strangled tha.t one. I had the help of such-and-such.
What could I say to myself. Til go and say to Stalin that this true. But, he'll say: 'What are you doing,
these people are admittillg it." In any case, I wouldnt be allowed. The investigator should have been called,
then the doctors, and questioned. But these conditions werent available. These conditions-this is the cult of
personality. ( ... )
Well, you have read everything in the report. This is, so to say; fresh news. The situation in the agricultural
field is difficult. Once I said to Stalin: 'Comrade Stalin, we have a crisis in agriculture." He says: 'What do
you mean, crisis?" I reply: "A crisis: no milk ...... no meat, no milk. What's happening?" "This is not correct,"
he says, and immediately became defensive because of this word. 'Stalin's age," 'Stalin's leadership," and
here is a crisis ...... Only enemies say this word. Malenkov was asked: "Do we procure more meat now or
less?""More." I said: 'Tm saying more too." ''More milk?" ''More." 'Well, the population has increased too."
Wages have risen. The purchasing ability has increased too. Then, if that's so, talk like this. We couldnt tell
him these things. Well, what kind of socialism is it when a person drink an extra cup of milk. I. at the
time of capitalism, drank as much miik as I wanted, being a miner during capitalism. And now, I have to, I
should be thankful, that now, I can buy a cup of milk for my child. But, such is the situation. This means
that this is our fault; we're discrediting socialism. The workers and employees, and all the people-a
socialist system, capitalist system, he doesnt choose by himself. But, he chooses a system which will
provide a better lifestyle for him. This system for him, the socialist system, this is a social system where
the tools of production are located in the hands of society. Therefore, the society itself, in its
41
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434 EKATERINA OLITSKAIA
From the next bunk R. glanced over at me. She had an intelligent face and
bright, mocking eyes. I could hear her whisper to Zina: "It would be sad if it were
not so funny."
On the top bunk somebody was having a hysterical fit. I hated hysterics. but at
least this time it put an end to the song.
Who was I s urrounded by? Who were these unfortunate women? Were they the
best daughters of the party or the refuse, the ballast? Why were they here 0 Who
had prepared this fate for them, and for what reason?
GLOSSARY
Black ravens- colloquial tenn for vans used by the secret poli ce.
Bolsheviks- the radical wing of the Russian Social Democratic Part y. Under V!. Lenin 's
leadership, the Bolsheviks took power in the name of the soviets in the October I') 17
Revolution; renamed the Communist Party in 19 19.
Central Committee- nominally the mai n governi ng b(>dy of thL Communist Pany,
elected at party congresses. In fact , all important political decisions were made by the
Central Committee' s Politburo.
Central Executive Committee - the legislature of the Soviet Union from 1924 to \93rJ.
Cheka- the Extraordinary Commi ssion for Combating Counterrevolution. Sabotage, cmd
Speculation; the name of the Soviet secret police from 191 8 tu 1922.
Constituent Assembly- the body that was to determine the constitutional future of Russ ia
after the February Revolution; elected in November 191 7. it was di ssohcd hy the
Bolsheviks on its first meeting (i n January 1918).
Cossacks- armed farmers organized into autonomous "armies'' (eleven in all at the time
of the revolution) that recei ved grams of hmd in the imperial borderlands in exchcUJge
for military service; in the last decades of the Russian Empire Cossack units were
often used to suppress slrikes and demonstrat ions.
Decembrists- military officers who staged an unsuccessful liberal-constitutionali st .:oup
against autocracy in December 1825, during a succession crisis fo ll owing the death of
Alexander I. Five coup leaders were executed. and more than a hundred were ban-
ished to Siberia.
Desiatina- Russian measurement equivalent to 2.7 acres.
Duma- Russian word for parliament : the State Duma was cr.:ated by Tsar :\i chol:ts II
following the 1905 revolution.
February Revolution- the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II in Fehruarv I <J 17 and his re-
placement by the Provisional Government.
GPU- State Political Directorate, the name for the Soviet secret p,1\ icc frL>IIl 1922 Ill
1923 (renamed OGPU, 1923-34).
Gymnasium- elite high school with emphasis on classical studies :UJJ the hum:mities.
Kadets- the Constitutional Democrati c Parry. the main liberal party in Russi:t before the
October Revolution.
Kolkhoz- collective fann ; kolkhoznik--<:ollective farm member 1 peasant).
Kolkhoz Charter ( 1935)- an official document regulating .:onditi ons of kolkhoz work
and making some concessions to peasant s, such as pri,ate pint> and maternity kaYe.
Komsomol- the Communi st Youth League.
Kulak- in official Soviet temunology. a rich peasant: ultimately a term of polit ical op-
probrium rather than an economic category.
Mensheviks- the moderate wing of the Russian Social Democrati c Pcuty that su bscribed
to the "orthodox" Marxi st view that Russia must pass th rough the capitalist stage of
development before reaching sociali sm.
NEP- the New Econonuc Poli cy ( 1921-28) that permined small -scale pnvate trade and
manufacturing as well as some forei gn economic investmelll .
NKVD- the name of the Soviet secret police (fom1erl y Cheka, GPL'. OGPU) from 1934
to the Second World War.
430 EKATERINA OLJTSKAI A
As 1 was distributing the onions, 1 heard some grumbling: first in a whisper, and
then louder and louder. I had acted incorrectly, I was told. I should have divided
the onions according to the size of the contribution, not into equal parts. Why
were the onions being distributed among those who had not paid anything (to
those, in other words, who did not have any money)?
"1 am not going home. I have got to save money ... "
"I am not in a position to feed the poor ... "
"These are our last crumbs; we can't afford to give them away .
At first I did not understand. Then I felt lost. I had known that I could expect
almost anything from these women, but this was a shock. They were supposed to
be Communists, after all' I think I even had tears in my eyes.
Prison had taken its toll on me as well. I was angry at myself for crying over
those miserable onions. If only to fight back the tears, 1 started telling them about
the way imprisoned socialists used to live: how they would share their last crumb,
how they would not care who had contributed what, and how they would protect
the sick and the weak. I do not remember what else 1 said, but the car grew silent.
The onion issue was never raised again. I noticed, however, that the majority were
not happy with me. Many of those who had wanted me to be their representative
were now avoiding me. But some expressed their support for me. Tonia was one
of them.
Tonia Bukina was my age. At the time of the 1917 revolution she had been a
worker in a Leningrad factory. Her wages had barely been enough to get by on.
On February 23 she and her fellow workers had attended a demonstration. There
was no going back for her: the revolutionary wave had turned her whole life
around. Tonia had begun to devote most of her time to volunteer work and soon
afterward joined the Bolshevik Party. She had worked and gone to school at the
same time. As an activist, she had been sent to a special training course. Then she
had become a women's organizer. She fell in love with one of her party comrades,
but she had no time to spend at home, no time to raise her son. She spent all her
time traveling on party business. The year 1937 found her in Donetsk Province.
I asked Tonia about the show trials-she was still on the outside at the time.
Tonia said:
''I can only tell you how they appeared to me. The first tri al took place in 1936.
I remember hating the enemies of the people and the party who had betrayed their
motherland and the revolution and sold themselves to the capitalists. I had total
trust in the Central Committee and the organs of state security. The arrests of
more and more people both scared and pleased me. We were unmasking our
enemies. But when our own provincial officials-our immediate bosses-were
arrested, we became confused. How could it be that none of us had sensed or
noticed this treason in our midst? Along with all the others, I demanded the death
sentence. I spoke to factory women. explaining to them the desperate need for a
ruthless struggle. But before we knew it, our comrades from the regional part y
headquarters had also been arrested. They were people who had worked by my
side. I had close friends among them. We had been through the revolution to-
gether. We had been through the first trial s together. I thought I was losing my
MY REMINISCENCES (3)
.J.\1
mind. Everyone was turning out to have been a traitor ... I did not know what or
whom to believe. I could not go on living. I would have gone mad, but , fortu-
nately, I was arrested.
At first I thought I had been slandered by traitors and was certain that the
investigation would establish my innocence. But the investigator did not want to
establish anything. He was not interested in anything. He just wanted me to sign
some testimony that did not contain a single word of truth. He demanded that !lie
about myself and others. I don't want to talk about the actual interrogation. I was
treated the same way everyone else was treated. But in the end I was sa\ed by the
ordeal-saved because I understood that my friends were not traitors. Because I
knew the truth about myself. I knew that in my own work I had always folkmed
Central Committee guidelines."
"Did you sign the confession?" I asked.
"No," she shook her head.
"Did they beat you?"
"I don't want to talk about it. I do not understand how it could haw happened.
what all those horrors could possibly mean. And what could be more lwrrible th:m
what I went through?!! The investigator told me that I a Communi st and that
the party required my signature on the confession. I did not sign. i\1y son, my
family, and my friends consider me an enemy of the people . That is exactly what
I used to think about others before I was arrested."
THE train moved slowly along. Every evening the guards would do roll call . They
would warn us by banging on the door with a wooden hammer. Swearing. th.: y
would herd us all to one side of the car and then push us. one by one. into the
other half.
Nobody ever told us where we were being taken. but we knew that the train 11a ,
heading east. Once a day we would be given a revolting gruel. The door \l"ll nld
open, and a vat filled with liquid that looked and smelled like slops would be
brought in. In addition, each inmate would receive three hundred grams of bread .
A water tank--enough for about half a liter per person- would al so be brought in .
We would be told to drink it or wash with it , whatever Wt' prt'ferred. To the
time, the women would start reciting poetry. Zhenia Ginzburg' turned out to be
a wonderful performer. A young, dark-haired woman who. I believe . had been :1
teacher at the University of Kazan, she possessed :m amazing memory. With great
skill, she recited all of Eugene One gin, Polral'a, The Bron;: c Horsclllan," and
from Wit
7
When the guard heard her reading, he climbed into the c.u ami de-
manded that we surrender our books immediately. He absolutel y refused to be-
lieve that there were no books there . Cursing furiou sly, he searched the whole car.
but found nothing, of course.
Most of the women in our car were high-r:mk.ing Communi sts. Not a single
one considered herself guilty, and not one ever protested or expressed an y
' Evgenia Ginzburg (1 900--1977)-authur oi the famous camp menwir Into th, \Vhi ri Hind.
Poems by A. S. Pushk.in.
7
Play by A. S. Griboedov ( 1822-2-l ).
426 EKATERINA OLITSKAIA
survive a trip like that. She started suffocating on the very first day. She told me
that she had suffered from astluna ever since she had done hard labor time before
the revolution, when she was an SR. After 1917 she had become a Communist
and eventually had ended up in the Iaroslavl prison. Our train proved to be the end
of her life' s journey.
The other two were quite young. Prison life had destroyed their health. After
one week on the train, their organisms could no longer tolerate the food we were
being given.
It was on that train that I first got to know many of the women who had filled
the Iaroslavl Special Prison. Liusia Orandzhanian and I were the only socialists.
Liusia had been arrested in exile in 1936 and taken to laroslavl. Like me, she was
desperate to see her comrades. She and I spoke the same language. But the rest?
I looked at them with curiosity and interest. Judging by their sentences, they were
all political prisoners. With very few exceptions, they had all been sentenced to
ten years under the articles 58
10
-58
11
and 58
8
: terror and complicity.
I looked at them, and could not believe my eyes or ears: it was a motley crowd
that had nothing but the prison uniform in common. Some of them were ex-
tremely agitated, others silent and submissive. Some believed that their innocence
had finally been established and that they were on their way to their place of exile;
others thought that such a transfer of the whole prison population meant that there
had been no review of the sentences and that this could only be a transfer to
another prison or to a camp. Having spent years in tiny cells with only one other
inmate or in solitary confinement, these women could not stop talking. Each one
wanted to tell the others about her case, her interrogation, her unjust sentence. The
most frightening thing was that they were all in prison for crimes they had not
committed. I was amazed at the things they seemed to take for granted. Never
before had I heard about beatings or torture during interrogations. I was al so
astonished to hear that all of them--or almost all-had signed fictitious confes-
sions incriminating themselves and others. I could hear their conversations. Some
of my bunkmates told me their own stories.
Two very young girls-Tamara and Nina-stood out in the crowd. They had
become friends in Iaroslavl and were trying to stick together. They had climbed
up onto the top bunk, from where they could look down on us. Their faces were
puffy and sallow, like all prison faces, but their eyes were young and bri ght. They
were happy to be out of solitary confinement, interested in what was going on
around them, and full of hope for the future. They had both received ten-year
sentences, but they did not believe for a moment that they would stay locked up
for that long. "We are learning about life," they used to say.
Next to them was an Uzbek woman or perhaps a Tajik--or "a national minor-
ity," as the other women used to say.
1
"Don' t you recognize her?" someone asked
me. ''Her portrait was in all the papers. She gave Stalin flowers. and he hugged
1 Natsmcn, an acronym for "national minority," was a new Soviet term th3t ori glnall y refcrrl'd to
any ethnic group residing on another ethnic group's territory but was increasingly used to tk ,cnbe
members of non-European nationalities.
MY REMI NI SCENCES (3 )
4 //
her. She was the first woman to discard her veil, the fi rst to join the Komsomol.
During her interrogation she had to stand for twenty-two hours st rai ght in a hot
room wearing her winter coat. She was not allowed to sleep for seven nights. But
she is a true believer. She still thinks that we are all enemies of the people, and
that she is the only victim of a terrible mistake."
Directly across from me, on the bottom bunk, was a huge, broad-shouldereJ
woman. Her face was bloated and flabby, ant.! her cheeks hung down like pouches.
My neighbor told me her story:
"I met her in a cell for pregnant women. Before 1937 she useJ to be a camp
commandant. A real animal , they say. She was arresteJ after lagoua= was un-
masked. She slandered everybody at her trial-she thought she woul d get off
easily that way. When she first arrived in our cell. she was as brojJ as a and
full of self-importance. "You are all enemies of the people,'' she told us. "You
should be shot." But then the beatings starteJ, and she quickly got J ctbteJ. They
kicked her and stomped all over her-so she had a mi scarriage. of course. right
there in the cell. The next day they came for her again.
"And what about your own child, where is he?" I asked
"I spent eight months in a mother 's camp with him. Then they took him
away-literally tore him right out of my arms. 1 have three in all. . .l.t two
older boys got to stay together after my arrest, but thi s one .. l don't know if J" ll
ever be able to find him again. He was such a cute, chubby li ttle thi ng. began
to cry.
"Why were you arrested?" I asked, trying to distract her.
''Both my father and brother were oppositionists
3
My fatha j oined the Bol -
sheviks before the revolution. They took him tirst, and then they arrestcJ my
brother. I kept taking parcels to them. I used to be a Komsomolmember. but 1vhen
my father was arrested, l was kicked out of the Komsomol and my husband was
expelled from the party. In 1937 we were both arrested. My father is a wonderfuL
honest person, and they wanted me to denounce him. My two older boys a.re in an
orphanage. Their teacher sent me news of them wh.i le I was st iI I 111 prison. hut the
little one ended up in a camp nursery somewhere."
Some of the other prisoners heard us tal king about children. Among them was
Zinaida Tulub, a small elderl y woman with amazingly bright eyes. Tul ub did not
try to join our conversation-she simply started speaki ng aloud. We could not tell
if she was talking to herself or to everyone there.
"You may not agree with me, but I think my case is the worst. l have done
nothing against our beloved Communist Party. I have never belonged to the party,
but I have always been loyal to it. I am a loyal Soviet writer. I ha1e been working
on my book, a long historical novel. For ten years l have been living in a different
age, totally engrossed in the story I was writing. My book was approved and
accepted for publication. I'll stay in prison. if l have to. I am not complaining.
2 G. G. l agoda ( 1891-1938)-<lepuly chair of the GPU ( J 924-3-1) w1d head of I he :--JKVlJ (J '1.1-1-
36). He was removed in 1936 and shot 10 1938 aJ1cr a ,how 1rial.
3 That is, suppon ers of the internal pany oppositions 10 Stalin's general line."
Copyright 2000 hy Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press
Chichester. West Sussex
All Rights Reserl'et!
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Puhlication Data
In the shadow of revolution : life stories of Russian women
from 1917 to the second world war I edited hy Sheila Fritzpatrick
and Yuri Slezk.ine : translated by Yuri Slezk.ine.
p. em.
Includes bibliograph.icaJ references and index.
ISBN 0-691-01948-7 (cl: acid-free paper)-
ISBN 0-691-01949-5 (pb: acid-free paper)
I. Women-Soviet Union-Biography
2. Soviet Union-History-1917-1936
3. Soviet Union-History-1925-1953
I. f'itzpatrick. Sheila ll. Slezkine, Yuri , I 'l56--
DK37.:'. .15 2000
9470X-1'082-dc21 99-054904
This book has been composed in Times Roman
The paper u'ed in this puhlication
meet:-. the minimum requirements of
ANSIINISO 239.48- 1992 (R 1997)
(Permanenn u( Paper)
www.pup.princeton. edu
Printed in the United States of America
10 '! X 7 6 4
10 9 X 7 6 5 4 3
(phk.l
2
CONTENTS
PREFACE
ACKNOWLE DGME NTS
I NTRODUCTION
Sheila Fitzpatrick, Lives and Times
Yuri Slezkine, Lives as Tales
PART I. Civil War as a Way of Life ( 191 7 -1920)
I . Ekaterina Olitskaia, My Reminiscences (I)
2. Anna Litveiko, In 1917
3. P. E. Melgunova-Stepanova, Wht're Laughrcr Is Nncr Heard
4. Anna Andzhievskaia, A Mother 's Stan
5. Zinaida Zhemchuzhnaia, The Road ro Exile
6. Nadezhda Krupskaia, Autobiographv
7. Tatiana Varsher, Things Seen and Suffered
8. Zinaida Patrikeeva, Cavalry Bov
9. lrina Elenevskaia, Recollections
10. Sofia Volkonskaia, The Way of Bitrcrness
PART II. Toward "New Forms of Life'' (The llJ20s)
II . Agrippina Korevanova, My L1je
12. Anonymous, What Am I to Do ?
13. Ekaterina Olitskaia, My Remini.I'Cf'nces (2)
14. Paraskeva Ivanova, Why I Do Nor Belong in rite PartY
15. Maria Belskaia, Children
16. Antonina Solovieva, Sent by tht' Komsomol
17. Nenila Bazeleva eta!., Peasalll Narmril'l'.' ( I)
18. Anna Balashova, A Worker's Life
19. Valentina Bogdan, Studenrs in the First Fite- Year Plan
20. Alia Kiparenko, Building the Cirv rif Yowlt
21 . Anna Iankovskaia, A Belomor Conj(ssirm
22. Lidia Libedinskaia, The Grt'en Lmnp
PART Ill. "Life Has Become Merrier" (The lY30s)
23. Pasha Angelina, The Most lmprmant Thing
24. Efrosinia Ki slova et al., Peasant Narmrires (2)
25. Fruma Treivas, We Were Fighting for WI ldt'a-'
26. N. I. Slavnikova eta!. , Speeches by Staklwnmites
27. Ulianova. A Cross-Examination
\ "II
IX
'
3
18
.11
.1.3
-llJ
(16
..,,
1.1

Ill
11 3
II S
I '1
1-lll
167
16'!
207
209
2
21<!
235


252
277
2R2
:?.86
303
.105
'')')

32-l
331
3-12