In the Shadow of Revolution 0 Life Stories of Russian Women FROM 1917 TO THE SECOND WORLD WAR EDITED BY Sheila Fitzpatrick anv Yuri Slezkine ‘TRANSLATED BY YURI SLEZKINE Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey48 EKATERINA OLITSKAIA land hacked the inmates to pieces, The news spread quickly, and many people hhurrying home, afraid to think what the Whites might have done to her family. 1 if by the dining room window. Suddenly I saw my sister. She was Hh coat and a sheepskin hat, and I did not recognize her a firs. 1 shouted and ran to open the door. ‘any way connected with the Whites had left with them. But they suspected each and every one of us. There seemed to be no end to the searches and arrests. Anotiter May Day was approaching. Once again the city was preparing for the celebration. I stayed away from all public life in those days. I felt sad, depressed, and jealous, but I could not go against my conscience. In the popular festival had been replaced by offi My younger brother's student mittee on Popular Enlightenment had s ts of the slogans that they 'were supposed to write on their banners. ‘dat least offered to et us choose which banner we wanted to carry—if only for the sake of appearances! Not to ‘under threat of being fired. In those days, ind demonstrations were compulsory. young people agreed among themselves? Who had given them the {dea? In any case, every student had a narrow strip of red cloth in his pocket. On the square, when their column reached the tribune where the city authorities were standing, the students threw down the official banners, tied their mouths shut with the strips of red cloth, and passed by the tribune in total silence. 20 AnwaLitverKo In 1917 J Anna Osipovna Litveiko was bom in 1899 (the same year as 8 she fought with sen by the Komso- Wun tur February Revolution began, I was eighteen years old. My friend, Nadia, was nineteen, and Tania was seventeen. We nigh -ks were feared because they beat people with their whips. I also remembered how my father, in 1905, had retuned home from the last barricade, all beaten up, his clothes torn and his pockets full of cartridges. We had buried the cartridges and then waited for the searches to begin and for the arrival ofthe Cossacks. But now the Cossacks were riding around «J ribbons and fraternizing with the people. The people ‘would shout, * " and the Cossacks would smile and ride on, ‘We kept rushing around town as if carried by the wind. Once we heard someone say: “Let's liberate the soldiers from the Spasskie Barracks!” We ran straight there. In front of the huge barracks gates stood an ‘enormous crowd. A sentry with a rifle warmed: "Don't come any closer, or I'll shoot!” The crowd kept pushing forward until the sentry was pressed right up against the gate, but he never fired a shot. We tried to edge our way into the middle of the crowd, while shouting to the soldiers who were hanging out of the barracks windows: “Long live the revolu- tion! Soldiers, come out!" At first Nadia, Tania, and I were holding hands, but then Nadia was pulled off in another direction. As we got closer to the barracks, the crowd grew thicker, ‘Those in the back kept pushing forward. The crowd pressed against the gates until the gates finally gave way. There was nota single officer in the yard. They had all ‘rom Ana Litveko,*V semnadtatom.” June, 3 (1987): 317 " Krasaia Presnian industri dit of Moscow,50 ANNA LITVEIKO, But how could we wait? How could we miss something like ‘We ran clear across town to the Kremlin. Red Square was full of people. In waded eagles, symbols of Russian autocracy, hung ov ‘wenty—probal ssly scaled the sm down. The eagles must have been all rusted would knock them loose. “They're rounding up through: a single blow with a ebody nearby was already report through leading a policeman, His hands were fa dress, Some woman Was ex et he was a lot braver when he was beating other people! she was pulled away, wid-us: one had been the Bolshoi She loved every- ia had always dreamed of seeing a teal wved music and dancing. the parterre of the Bolshoi right next to the friends, We did not think about what we would do .eemed to us that all our dreams were already coming true. of us would often ask each other as we walked home from ‘at the Elek- W917 sh would argue over boys and so by it all and decided to leave the factory, become nurses, and “go to the people. really mattered was our di My father used to drink he would chase my mother around with a forgiveness and feel sorry for himself, My 1 took in washing from the neighbors, cleaned people's apar wood. Mother had eight children. Almost every year or two another would c One New Year's Eve my father got drunk and cut Mother on the shoulder and breast with a razor. When he had sobered up, my sister and I kicked him She was quict and never talked about her feelings, but had never stopped loving my father. ‘Our tenants were always arguing about politics. When they were out, we would sneak into their room and look at their books. Tused to read a lot. Nadia, Ta Thad been reading: Gogol, Korolenko, Turgenev, Gorky, as weiss Cave? and Nat Pinkerton.‘ In other words, [sed to read whatever I c get my hands on [also used to tell my friends about our tenants: what they were like and what they talked about. Actually, I was in love with one of ‘most important, kind eyes. He was very He had big, dark, and, "This bestseling popular novel ofthe pew peri by V. A. Rede festred a wel-born outlaw who defended the por52 ANNA LITVEIKO ced him because he was so different from “Arent fist evolutionary ays a passed the factory stated operating again Far he fis ne we were supposed lect factory commie, m9 ee Sure why, but somehow got ested Tn those days als were Beng eld everywhere onthe shop for in the factory yard nea the 70. The workers fro Tekhgorka, Elektrolanpa, nd Ti Iman’ uted to walk byte 200 afer tee shi, Tete wa kindof gure thee, td rlics tated up spontaneously and raged day an ih, fom oe shi next People simply couldnt go home. There were rallies bythe City Duma 0, ere te ein Muse Speers used the revoition ragged down and somebody ina I ave you ever been inthe tenches? Have you ever tated sl led trench coat would climb up s Rs. Our tenants were always one +. Only Donat had been neither. He used to say he was his own person. and w to go somewhere and do myself: "What do I need land for? What id: “The Provisional Government is continuing the war and had thought the revolution was over, and ginning. he Provisional Government was created by the revo- upport the revolution ...” That also 0 tables would usually be set up. At one you could other, with the Mensheviks. ‘Where did I belong? The Provisional Goverment form euled Russia fom the collapse ofthe ol regime in tho February Revlon to the Bolshevik seizure of power ia October. an 1917 33 ss completely confused, while he same thing over and over (o get tired of rallies: to a dance for a change?” I was dying to sign up with somebody, ‘name of Chatsky often spoke in our factory yard. He spoke but for some reason the workers called him Chattersky. ‘There were two Bolsheviks on our factory committee, Natasha Bogacheva and Fadeev. Natasha was known as a tough customer. She was already over thirty, a mother and a soldier's wife, acted as if she had nothing to Jose: a “no big deal, I'm not afraid of anything” kind of thing. I liked that. She was Wud woman, When words and ideas failed her, she would per- by screaming, putting on pressure, or through the sheer force of her indomitable and courageous personality. Nor was she averse to using strong language. Fade was quieter, more thoughtful, and probably more serious. I liked ccame to talk to us tended to be intellect tomy own kind. But then I was told that the Menshevik could I figure Once after a the difference betws how he explained burzhuis® have stayed and grabbed al Who want to fight the bourgeoi thing nor another.” ‘made sense to stick the tsar has been kicked out, but the the power. The Bolsheviks are the ones to the end. The Mensheviks are neither one fer one thing nor another” did not appeal to as to the end, then I was going to sign up with the Bolsheviks. Was not sure; she preferred to wait. Tania was slow; ld never make up her mind. Nadia told me: “There’s more to life than just ‘meetings ...” T got offended. I was cert hhow we used to say: “We' After the shop floor ‘Natasha Bogacheva ‘There were no written recommendations in those days. Natasha simply said that she would vouch for me, and Fadeev said that I would not let them down, So they accepted me and I became a Bolshevik. That was in Maret ng to foree anyone. Had they forgotten ways be together"? Now, as soon as work was over, I always ran straig Everything was very informal, After work, rank- come to the district committee. file party members would the committee, talk about the mood at their factories, and receive * Burzhut— Exfurt Progam —1891 Program of the German Social Democratic Paty, coauthored by Kal Kaursky and Friedrich Engels isi a Finally we, too, had to it that there was not much sense in these studies. At ‘Why have you been misleading us and yourselves?” rary evenings for the young people of the district. We read Gorky's Song of the Stormy Petrel and Mother. as well as Nekrason? At these evenings we also talked about what the new Provisional Govemment was like, ‘and why the Mensheviks and the SRs wanted to continue the war about fifty people would come, but I still felt bad because Nadia was us. We had to make it fun. We had to attract all the young people, ‘We started going on long walks in the country on Sundays. I remember sitting ‘on the edge of the bank high over the Moscow River, listening to Kolachev's Stories about the underground work ofthe Bolsheviks that was being carried out during the period of reaction The things we talked about on those hikes! For example, what life would be Uke after the Bolsheviks took over. We thought that communism would begin as oon as the soviets assumed power, Money was not even mentioned; it was clear ‘o.us that money would disappear right away, ‘What would it be like to live under communism? Anatoly Popov imagined enormous public buildings that would include huge cafeterias, landromats, day care centers, and kindergartens, that would free fan, ilies from all household chores. The only kind of property we would allow would be books and clothes. On clothing, however, our opinions were divided: some of us rejected this form of broperty as well. And, anyway, how were the members ofthe new society supposed to dress? Final t under communism everything was going to be beauti- would be no more greed or envy) and externally (all clothing would be light—in weight and color). But what should a Bolshevik look like inthe meantime, before the final victory had been won? In those days I was nicknamed the -yminasium student.” I did dress like one: in my hair. T made my own clothes— is from imitation satin but usually from printed cotton fabrie—-which I tried to make as In the Gorodskoi where the headquarters of all the district unions of Working youth were located, there was a girl whose name I would rather not tramzion. She was totally devoted to the cause and never thought about any- thing but the cause. She did not care at all about her appearance. Her skirt wee held together by a safety pin, her stockings were always twisted, and her hair wasEi ANNA LITVEIKO, short and unkempt. She did not care about anything as long as the soviets achieved power. respected her, I could Twas not atrue Bolshe- victory of the revolution, We felt the same way during the Civil War. After a states.” as we called them, started appearing in our midst, but nd kept their marriages ‘out of the question!) seeret as long as they could. (Weddings were c EvERyrHING changed the day we found out about the massacre of the July dem- “onstrators in Petrograd." The district committee doors were no longer open to everybody. During our meetings the doors were closed, and not everybody was ‘admitted, Lists of names and other committee documents were hidden in workers’ apartments Not so long ago we had spent a merry February running around town and ‘welcoming the revolution. Now we learned that the right-wing parties were back in government and that Lenin had gone underground. ‘Two or three weeks later we were siting on the steps of the district committee ng dark, Kolachev was standing in front of us with a notebook {shed its work, that there was no longer any point in talking with the Provisional Government, that power would have to be taken by force, and that we needed 10 prepare ourselves for military ins Because of the need for secrecy, report on the party congress. "That night [ had a feeling that something very big was about to happen, that things were changii ryself... Thad ‘a certain sense of foreboding and apprehension, but atthe same time T knew for sure that this was the only way. There was no alternative. Everything about that night seemed solemn and momentous: the day of reckoning was approaching. Kolachev told us: “There are people we need to take power now, who think we should understand, What was there to be unsure about? We knew the uprising was coming and that there would be fighting. One would hhave thought that everything else could wait. And yet Tania and I enrolled in the Prechistenka workers’ education course. In fact, not just Tania and 1, but also asia Ustinov, Serezha Takovlev, Sasha Sokolov, and Fedia Kuchert explain why we did this at such a strange time. It was like a kind of thirst; we felt ‘we simply could not put off anything. Refers to the killing of several hundred Bolshevik protesters by army units loyal tothe Provisional Goverment on Tuy 3-5, 1917 IN 917 39 Every night, as we walked home to Presnia from Prechistenka, we would ex- change a dozen French words and try to remember the tributaries of the Volga and Enisei rivers. As if that were not enough, we would usually take the long route through Red Square, stopping by the old Execution Block and the Minin and Pozharsky monument, to test one another: Who were Minin and Pozharsky? ‘When did they live? Who was executed on the ‘What would Red Square look like after ou Execution Block or keep ish it and then forget abo ‘would say. Although we had not conquered it yet, we already considered it pletely our own, FivaLty the day we had been waiting for arrived, In m October battles felt like one ‘That momning as I was wal streetcars. The night before grad. Now it was our turn! I started running At the factory committee Natasha Bogacheva and Fadeev were reading ap- One was from the Bolshevik Military Revolutionary Committee, urgin people to take part in the uprising: the oth bie Safety.!? appealed for calm and the ‘Natasha came to a quick decision litle pieces so that nobody else has to read such carefully folded the appeal from the Committee of Public Safety, and desk drawer: Having done that, he went to the factory gates to post from the Military Revolutionary Committe. ceauecr i, the week of the ‘rupted day—the happiest day of my li 0 work I saw crowds of people and abandoned heard about some important events in Petro- ple.” She was in a hurry: “I've got to sound the Yon as you hear it, make sure every single person in your shop leaves ty Was shut down. There was a rally in the yard, People were saying that the Provisional Government had been deposed; that in Petrograd the soviets had seized power and the Bolsheviks had issued a deeree on land and peace; here in Moscow the Bolsheviks had already taken the Kremlin, the telephone telegraph exchange, and the governor’s residence; and that all the Presnia fac- tories had gone out on strike. also spoke: “We must rise up! Ther After the rally we went down to the district committee. Inthe courtyard Fedia Shinogin vas forming a Which included squads from dif- ferent factories. There were not enough arms. Petia Vorobiev demanded a rife. 10—and can be no—other way!" ° Kuzma Minin ard Ish occupation during the "The Commitee of Publ Revolanary Commit. Rassian resistance to Polish and Swed by opponents of the So60 ANNA LITVEIKO Kolachey. Misha Dugachev, Anatol get more arms. The soldiers there were sympathetic to the Complaining bitterly, he went in to Popov, and Zharov went to the Kreml Fifly-sixth Regiment who were quar tion and had promised to give the di ‘Natasha Bogacheva and I wer soviet stamp away from the chairman, a Menshe thus, Everything went a Jot more smoothly than we had expected. Natasha went the point; “The Bolsheviks have taken power.” (This was an exagger- in the case of Moscow, but Natasha had warmed us on the way: “Don’t lay with the Menshevik, or he'll drown us in words.") “Hand over the stamp, Citizen Chairman” ‘The chairman of the soviet was a lawyer, so he started “Who are you? Who gave you this po We realized right away that have known about the events ct soviet and take the ‘Another worker came sre were still more SRs and Mensheviks could not only take away their ng me. He was talking about . ink you have the right to do cretary has it.” And with that he left diately, Natasha Bogacheva and the other worker stayed in the soviet building while 1 committee officers left for the Trekhgorka cafe- tee of the Presnia district inov, Shura juard the com- teria, saying that the ‘would be located there. We young people were left behind: Sokolov, Serezha lakovley, Fedia Kucherov, Tania, and myself. ‘mittee and be prepared,” they told us. ‘What were we supposed to be prepared for? And how could we be prepared? had only two rifles, and only one of those was working. So we just sat there, tening. The sound of gunfire was coming from somewhere, probably down- Some people were already involved in action, and here we were, on the So we decided there was no point in waiting and that we should go get arms for ourselves, We did not have any instructions, but not far away, at the end of the Prediechensky Alley, was a dist ia post, We gave the rifles 10 Vasia Usti- nov and Shura Sokolov, who went on ahead while the rest of us followed. ing around a table, armed. There were more of them they had already been scared by something before ‘The militia men were than us, but they looked as we even arrived. ‘Vasia Ustinov began in the same way Natasha had in the soviet: “The Bolshe- viks have taken power. Surrender your weapons.” IN 1917 61 We surrounded the table where they were sitting. They were armed and we “Put all your weapons on the table, or you'll be searched!” ordered Vasi. ‘They put their revolvers down: “That's fine with us. We were just told we had to sit here.” We let them go home and divided their weapons among us. ‘We went back feeling like heroes. If we could pull this off, we could do any- thing. Back in the district committee, we spent the whole night taking our ‘weapons apart and teaching each other how to use them. In the morning we went (o the Trekingorka cafeteria, to the No one showered us with praise: done. People were saying that the district did not have enough weapons; that Zharov, Dugachev, and Popov had not returned from the Kremlin and that some- ‘thing funny was going on there—the cadets had surrounded the Kremlin and were not letting anybody that Shinogin had taker In the center, fig trict committee and said that cadet detachments had been seen in our other words, everything turned out to be a lot more difficult than we had imagined the night before, after our first victory. soldiers into taking part in the uprising. Before leaving with the delegation, Kola- ‘chev said that somebody must be sent to the Moscow Soviet to get in touch with the Shinogin detachment and ask them to come back if they could. fend Rybakova and me. We look so ‘We walked across Kudrinskaia Square, down streets. Cadets were standing on street corners an were armed soldiers. The shooting had already started. Somebody yelled from behind a door: “Girls, have you lost your minds? Take cover quickly! Can’t you hear the shooting?” You should have seen my Tania! She just kept on walking as if nothing were happening. How could I be afraid if Tania was not? At cadet checkpoints we Would say something about our sick mother and a doctor. They just shrugged: “Go on through, girls, but make it snappy. You're underfoot here!" The Soviet was in the same place that itis now, on Skobelev Square, Some cadets had surrounded the square; others were hiding on the top floors of the nearby buildings and shooting at the soviet building. The Red guardsmen were firing back with rifles and machine guns. and then through side ays. Across the streetes ANNA LITVEIKO Iding was filled with detachments of workers; from here they were sent to guard the post office and the telegraph exchange. Communications people were running up and down the corridors. The Military Revolutionary ‘Committee continued working right there, too. ‘We Kept asking: "Have you seen the Presnia detachment?” Some answered: “They're down in the alley.” while others said: “They're up on the roof!” ‘Someone with a red armband called us over and led us up to the second- floor hall, where wounded Red guardsmen were lying on the floor. “Give us a ‘The Soviet Finally we felt needed. A young nurse gave us some rolls of bandage and told ‘us what to do, Tania and I started bandaging the wounded. For the life I saw wounds and blood. We could not leave the wounded, but I kept worrying: after all we had been ziven a different assignment! We had to find Shinogin, All of a sudden there was a loud noise. Shattered glass ‘and someone started moaning. Someone else shouted: “We' n armored car!” jeryone rushed down to the street, We did, too. Outside, everybody was shooting at an armored car that was standing right in front of the building. There ‘was so much shooting that I was totally confused. I had my Smith & Wesson in my hand. I was dying to shoot atthe armored car, but what should I aim at? I was not going to shoot just for the sake of shooting. I wanted todo itright. While T was ‘ying to decide where to aim, the armored car fired one last round and quickly disappeared. ight in front of us, a man was lying on the ground, Tania and [ran to him and tried to help him get up. He was not We started dragging him. I had not heavy. The two of us could barely move him. asked him: “Did you get to shoot?” He looked surprised: “Of course.” ized that wounded people were so ‘man. He might never be able to walk again, but he ‘not gotten confused and his chance, ted to him. he smiled, doing here?” [turned around and there was Fedia Shinogin, witha rifle slung over his shoul- er and a revolver resting on his hip. Behind him I could see Vasia Ustinov and ‘other familiar faces from Tilman's, Trekhgorka, and Elektrolampa. | had thought, that they were Presnia's best hope, but here they were while the district was left defenseless, just come back from guard duty. Some of them had, in been down in the alley while others were up on the roof. Fedia told us to wait while he went to the Military Revolutionary Committee to find out what we should do. wir 8 The nurse managed to get some ho wate, mst ga helped her feed the wounded and ive them fea, et ind bea We The wounded semed to me to bem spel bread of pope, If you were ode, ou wee her ty ad set Ted tn Fetia ume. The embers ofthe Rev to bck tothe dit and bed promined We headed tack before dawn walking sity oin pis. Only w Presia i Shinogin onder so walkin formation MRD WE OH The Tekgorta ceria was scthing ih exciement. A wih excitement. A large crowd was there Weapons were Being handed out You could ere cietsn nt fer Mee ld hear the clicking of rile jonary Committee had told us to ‘Tut next day a Bolshevik officer named Zlatoverov came over from the Military Revolutionary Comite ae change ae chrge of military operation inthe dk commie had kept promis) His fst onder was mune er oteg tthe action: rom Tektgerke to Kudinlats Soe We chose the fie station next th i xt the square and moved over thee ning. We walked down Bolshaia Pr Msctte from he sides mot of he 8s, cars, a logs build bards The next moming two cantons wer on were brought ve fom Khedyk nt placed sins ence ote 20. They were ase fon te enero te cy eg one of them was moved to Kudnnshan Square Tre susan aot te er. ther one bythe Inthe mid fhe day he solders rom Khoa aived, Be the bards had een manned by armed workers ns DY came, the sets nizea medial post. We didnt know mich abou commie had sent sare Shea wha toe Te o was oobi cot, anaes. and secs Hie ‘Were we to accomplish that? We did os oe Keeping tothe mid ofthe stet, away ane from doorways. People were using Phamacits would bing fave them cps, even hough them ea mint ne Fe et up ou pos inthe commits building ad also demanded room for our wounded at the local hospital. We did not ‘the hosy tal doctors and nurses, so we sent my eee tation to working athe mel pot Tins ad aasance work, WE wuld wa down Riki ote Mage te we ~adet units were being assembled, and then walk back to the Military enn and then walk back othe Miltary Revolution We st Fea Shinogin’s mit by the Niktskie Cat 1 ikishe Gates: thy were builing a barca. Fein was surounded by bos, who were dragging ows sod nk- ANNA LITVEIKO, scouting the nearby alleys, and waiting for more orders. Whenever shooting ‘where our men were holed up. Bottles of alcohol caught fire. The cadets sur rounded the burning building and would not let anyone leave. A lot of our men died in there. The battles around the Nikitskie Gates and Novinsky Boulevard were the last ‘ones in our district. On Novinsky Boulevard there were no barricades. People ‘were shooting from behind trees, hitching posts, and benches, running from one ‘ree tothe next. I remember seeing a file of cadets among the trees. Our guys shot em with the cannon that stood on Kudrinskaia Square. The cadets scattered, He was heavy, and the shooting would not stop. [was taking to him, but he did not respond, I bent down and tured his head face up: his eyes were immobile and seemed to be made of very pale blue glass. He had a reddish mustache stained ‘with tobacco and a simple peasant face, not very young (in those days people thirty years old seemed old to me). He probably had a wife and children in a village somewhere, They must still be there, living their lives, never knowing. what happened, Thad never seen a dead person up close before. | felt terrible because there was nothing T could do. ‘Afterward, when the fighting had ended, we b tion. The coffins draped in red cloth were carried from Presnia to Red Squi ‘There was no band and no flowers, 've Sactificed Yourselv‘ [Enormous mass graves were dug by the Kremlin Wall and the coffins were putin ‘one after anothe kept seeing the face of that man as I walked in our column the martyrs of the revolu- FINALzy the Committee of Public Safety capitulated. We had seized power! But there was none of the pure devil-may-care joy of the kind we had felt after, the February Revolution. Then we had had nothing to worry about. The revolus tion had taken place, and everything Was Wonderful. But now we were in power, and we were responsible for everything. There was a lot of concern. We were in charge now, but life was getting worse, not better. The shopkeepers were conspi ing against us: closing down their shops and kiosks and hiding their merchandise. It was late fall, but you could buy neither food nor fuel. ‘Tania and I were told to go to the lumber yard and could find among the popt was the very first from the Soviet government, We glanced at each other: ‘government representatives?” ce wisi 6s In the yard we found an old bool i Hepler ikkeeper and told him: “Open up right away. We dl, The owner disappeared, but the old bookkeeper {pid ws that he needed to fill out receipts to Keep his records straight. We wily that was okay. ‘The wood was being ven away for free, Tania ar te baas y for free. Tania and I supervised the proceed. Jown th fine listening to what ‘was a lot of discontent, People were cursin; vd fe oa were curing the Bolshevik fo a shops We explained to them: “I's the owners who ae ching ee See, the Bolsheviks want the people to have everything.” eae Ove next assignment was to chensky Alley and vacate to lage residential buidngs in Pree workers move in The gan nas "Bene fore h ‘as import o demonstrate toe would bring to the huts, ee buiings amupeed to the same owner, probably a very rich man—the fone. We never saw the owner. The renters were pretty Teh too, We would enter i apartments and say This bi You ine twen-four ous fo move ou” Sone ea en aan ethers cued sth Bolsovits in gna ee ox bot shy yore We did not ned 10 oak atsachaohe uly look like government entatives?” ee representatives?” There was reassurance: “Do we no time for doubt or Shonkecpers were fred to : pen thei shops, but the shops we tie stockpiles of ood bg enough o fed ome fanily errors oe ey in their homes. Tania and I had to £0 on searches , ana the stat. bandits were claiming to be for what they did. The anar- [Ri bods from our Union were being made guards or mi ieving revolutionary order was now the most important task