This time, the heroine of our #Important series is Olga Romanova, the head of the "Russia Sitting" foundation. We talked about parallels between the Gulag and the modern Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN).
— Are there any repressed individuals in your family?
Yes, of course. One branch of the family from Tambov were kulaks who participated in the Tambov uprising. Sometimes I think: where did I get my fiery temperament from? That's where. The whole family fell victim to repression.
The second branch of the family is from the Baltics, from a small farm near Sigulda – in present-day Latvia. They were also exiled to Siberia, as kulaks. And my grandmother – my mom's mom – and her brother were sent to an orphanage. There they were given communist names. Fortunately, my grandmother was very lucky. They named her Nikitina Klavdiya Petrovna – shortened to "our Communist Party". But throughout my childhood, my grandmother's classmates from the orphanage used to visit her: twins – a brother and sister. They were called Aunt Lucia and Grandpa Reva. The revolution. They were just separated like that. So, my grandmother was lucky to be Klavdiya Petrovna.
My grandfather was never officially declared dead in the war because he served in the railway troops, but in Vlasov's army. He died before Vlasov surrendered as a prisoner. Grandfather was listed as missing, and my grandmother went to the military enlistment office until the last day, trying to have him declared dead. But they never acknowledged it. I found him myself later; he died somewhere near Veliky Novgorod. My mother was secretly sent to Moscow to study because my grandmother couldn't cope with two children. A mysterious biography, a certain appearance, a husband from the "wrong army." And she later had to go work in a dental camp to somehow survive... Grandmother loved introducing me to her patients, but she didn't introduce me to former prisoners. But I understood from the tattoos that these were people from the camp life.
— How did you find information about your repressed relatives?
I turned to 'Memorial' because they have everything about the Tambov uprising there. I knew exactly what my dad's grandfather's name was — Dmitry Kuzmich Dergachev. But I don't know the patronymic of Kuzma's great-grandfather. Also, when Andrey Smirnov was filming 'Once upon a time, there was a woman.' Besides, my husband was imprisoned in Tambov at that time. I went there a lot and tried to work in the archives. I talked a lot with local historians and journalists. They even showed me the cliff on the Tsna River where everyone was shot. The house of my ancestors is still there. I managed to take my children there. I remember the address: Ostrovsky Street, 11. It's a wooden house, a sturdy log cabin with a stove, all in cherry trees. I think it made such a big impression on them.
— Why didn't you talk about this in the family?
They were afraid it might somehow affect my job. I started my internship at the Ministry of Finance in 1988. During the Soviet Union era. It seemed like perestroika was in full swing, but I remember that in the personnel department, I had to fill out a questionnaire asking if any of my relatives had been repressed or if any of my relatives had been in occupied territories. For obvious reasons, I said no.
— Now there is an official law on preserving the memory of the victims of repression, but at the same time dozens of monuments and memorials have been destroyed in the country, and many researchers of the topic are being persecuted. Why do you think this is happening?
Because mostly the executioners survived, not the victims. I know many descendants of the victims. I would say that genetic memory does not give strength. It seems like everyone knows all this. Why would anyone need to prove anything? You are constantly amazed by this. I lived in Moscow on Taganka, in Novospassky Lane in a house built in 1937. This house was built on the site of the Taganka prison - where Gumilyov was shot. Nearby is the bank of the Moskva River. And then, reading about the history of the house, about the history of Taganka, I realized that this embankment now stands on bones. And I lived in this house for quite a long time, saw a lot. Before my eyes, the old school, which stood on this cliff, was handed over to the Investigative Committee. And now there is a Cadet Corps of the Investigative Committee. They teach children there. And they are already in uniform, with bows - little prosecutors and investigators.
In my house, cars with license plates ЕКХ were constantly parked, these were not luxurious limousines, but trucks. They drove into the underground gates in my house and never came out of them. Never. Do you understand? This happened right before my eyes. And in the neighboring entrance, there were covert apartments. I knew about it, like all the residents of the house. And, it seems, we live parallel lives, but we don't live. Well, it seemed they wouldn't bother us, thank God. That was a mistake. They did intrude.
There are legends that there was an underground passage in my house to the Novospassky Monastery, because there was no bathhouse in the prison. Well, prisoners were also taken there for holidays. Such legends existed. At the same time, while we were dealing with all this, digging it all up, they were taking back power. And they started teaching children what they know themselves again. Well, of course, I'm sure they really want to repeat all this. And they do repeat.
— Almost all prisons in Russia are organized on the basis of former Gulag prisons. As the head of 'Sitting Russia,' can you draw any parallels?
You won't believe it, but the FSIN officials always have some kind of celebration. They celebrate some centenary of our prison, our pretrial detention center, our colony, something else. They have two branches of historical memory. The first branch is when they puff out their cheeks and proudly say that, in our prison, Academician Vavilov sat, and here in the Butyrka fortress, it was Savenkov. Can you imagine, they still take pride in their detainees.
And they also adore memorial stones. Here, in such-and-such year, the first stone of our camp was laid. And they don't see anything wrong with that! What's wrong with it? A glorious tradition, continuity, everything is fine. Passed down from grandfather to grandson. And nothing and nowhere touches them. And the system itself hasn't changed at all.
It must be said that the only reform in Russia's penitentiary system since the creation of the Gulag in 1930 was in 1953. When Beria transferred the department from the NKVD to the Ministry of Justice. It then went back and forth between the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internal Affairs 28 times, but it is still a power structure. Although it is part of the Ministry of Justice. Because since 2008, it has been headed alternately by an FSB officer and a police officer. And the main service there is still not the rehabilitation and probation service, not the psychological support service, and certainly not the educational or medical service. But the operational service! The first deputy head in any institution is always the deputy for security and operational work. The most important thing they do is intelligence. They are always recruiting and humiliating.
Hence, torture and rape. Because the main thing is to make a person cooperate. Even after leaving prison. And now we see the result of this human material in the war. So nothing has changed.
In 1930, such a terrible dragon was born, called the Gulag. It devoured people. It had terrible claws, terrible fangs, it breathed fire. Almost a hundred years have passed. The dragon has aged significantly, it no longer has fire, its claws and teeth have worn down. But it is still the same, the same organism, the same skeleton. It is the same dragon. It's not something else, no, it's the same old and toothless Gulag.
— At what age do you think it's appropriate to talk to children about repression? And if you can, recommend a few books that schoolchildren should read?
Tell them from the very beginning about grandmothers and grandfathers. For example, from childhood, I remember Yuri Dombrovsky and his poem "The Chekist". Actually, it's my favorite poem by Dombrovsky: "I met a Chekist. I have nothing to say about him - he was a Chekist." The poem is about the Chekists and repression. It's also youthful because it lists countries, cities, and professions. It tells about a romance with a girl who was so beautiful that "only girls on the wrappers of soap live like this". And in such rhythm, the horror is revealed. I wouldn't give Solzhenitsyn, Shalamov, and others because I think children will find them on their own.
Recently, my friends and I watched the film "For You and Me" by Andrey Smirnov and then debated for a long time. Because it seemed to me that the director shows us a good Chekist and says that there are good people among the Chekists. The main character found love. And I was offended by this interpretation. And I was offended by Smirnov for showing a good Chekist. Hell, there are no good Chekists! But we're talking about it, and some kids are nearby. Some are older, some are younger. And they hear these conversations. I think this way it can work too.
The interview was conducted by Lydia Kuzmenko.