Author: Olga Klyuchareva
Sergei Klyucharev's Story
Part 1
Life and Arrest
Hello. What is your last name? Just a moment, let me find the case. Yes. Klyucharev Sergei Apollinarievich, born in 1901. Alright. Would you like to come and review the case? Yes, everything is in order, a letter has been sent to you, the case is with us. I will schedule a date and time now. Would you like to make copies? Relationship needs to be confirmed. Sergei Apollinarievich is not listed in your mother's birth certificate as her father? Olga Moiseevna - his wife - is mentioned in the case. That should be sufficient. Please bring copies of your birth certificate and your mother's. With that, the relationship will be confirmed. Please, if you cannot come on June 7th at 2:00 PM, - please inform us in advance. Have a good day, we are waiting for you.
The phone conversation with the FSB archive employee was brief and to the point. The employee was tactful and polite. The same atmosphere prevailed in the reading room when they brought me a small folder. He sat next to me, opened it, and took out separately stored documents. "These are his personal belongings. You can take them now. Here, you see, his work record (yes, that's what they called it back then), party membership card, diploma. Interesting. 1926. No, almost no one has touched this since the 30s, only in '56, during the rehabilitation, and now, when they declassified several documents. See, these three documents have been declassified. What's in the green folders cannot be opened, it's classified information. And this is a photo taken at the time of arrest. Would you like to have it? I'll take it, we'll make a high-quality copy. Copies of documents? Of course. Write down the list on paper — the list of pages — we'll take care of everything. Alright. I'll leave you to it."
The case was compact. Three interrogation protocols, among them one dated August 9, 1938, and, as I understand it, the main one - in two versions: handwritten and typed. This protocol in the case - right in the middle of it all, and it's clear throughout: this is what skilled operators used to build those "cases". The red pencil marks are still clearly visible - highlighting "important details", "evidence", "confessions" of the accused. My grandfather's fate was underscored. The photocopy turned the red pencil lines into gray.
He was the son of a priest, born and raised in a large family and his own ancestral home in Penza, where he also graduated from a forestry technical school. He met my grandmother. They visited each other. Then he moved to Vladimir and sent her his photograph and money for the journey - so she could come to him. The money came in handy - life was tough, and they used it to buy groceries. Sergei was persistent and sent money a second time. It was inconvenient, but she had to go. Olga spent three months there, practically in the impenetrable forests of Vladimir, while Sergei worked on expeditions, and then she left. But he didn't let go. In '30 or '31, they finally decided to live together. They lived together for 7-8 years. Sergei graduated from the Leningrad Forestry Academy by correspondence (although the arrest case mentions unfinished higher education). Education was valued, he needed to study and build a life. A young and capable forester, distinguished by his good grip and sociability, soon moved with his wife to Moscow. They stayed with his brother, on Novaya Bozhedomka, 11. They were waiting for an apartment that Sergei was about to receive through the Ministry of Forestry. Everything was going very well. An interesting and promising career was on the horizon. Sergei wasn't idle; he constantly went on expeditions. That's when their program on finding the optimal type and age of tree for making rifle stocks began. They were getting ready for the war.
On June 24th, most likely at night, it all ended. My grandmother's life and the life of the newborn daughter were practically on the brink. No apartment. A wooden barracks on 4th Samotyok Street. (Now on the wall of the neighboring house, just from the side where their new home stood, which by that time had already marked its not first anniversary, they began to paste wallpaper, and the last layer of newspaper from 1905 was discovered, but even this does not indicate the year of construction - a well-known portrait of Shalamov and a quote. I consider this fact extremely symbolic for our family).
The barracks had a habit of presenting surprises. One evening, everyone - my grandmother, her little daughter Zoya (my mother), grandmother's mother, who by then had moved from Penza to help, were sitting in the room. Someone from the adults went into the adjacent room. For kerosene. They came back. After the person closed the door behind them, the ceiling in that neighboring room collapsed. After that, it was propped up, but no one risked going there anymore. There were two fires in that barracks. Yet, it was only demolished in the late 60s. All this time, people continued to live there. By then, my mother had already graduated from the University, buried her mother, worked, and waited for me. I was brought from the maternity hospital named after M. Gorky to Novogireyevo in 1971.
I open my grandfather's case. Relatively small. My neighbors in the reading room (a cozy room equipped with convenient tables and chairs, and next to the window - an aquarium with fish and some other creatures) - a very young girl and an elderly man. Each of them holds two hefty volumes. Copies in such volume are not made, so they have to make extracts. The main cover of Sergei Klyucharev's case - thick and solid. This is 1956. Rehabilitation. I didn't ask them to copy it. Following that cover is a thin, bluish-gray one, the size of a standard sheet. NKVD. 1938. The first page - the arrest warrant. After the main protocol - the most terrifying document. Everything is clear, as they say, without translation or explanation.
Among other confiscated items were a rifle and a camera, as well as films and photographs. Most likely, these cannot be found anymore.
During the search, there is a presence of the janitor, Makova. He is the last of the "living" and "free" people who saw my grandfather.
After Sergei's arrest, a month passed. Then another. My grandmother managed to secure a meeting, either at the Prosecutor's Office or at the Lubyanka (it's difficult to determine exactly). Either at the meeting or somewhere in the corridors, she was told the following: "You know... You shouldn't pursue this anymore. You won't achieve anything. We understand and see that something terrible is happening. But no one can do anything. In the case - there are only a few papers... There's an anonymous denunciation. This often becomes the basis for charges. That's it. He won't come back. I can't say anything more. Please, go. Forget. Don't come again. Accept it."
Two letters came from Sergei. Two notes. One - from the Butyrskaya prison. "Olya. They beat us, but we don't understand why. Help if you can." This was precisely, as I now understand, during the period when confessions were being extracted during interrogation. And the second paper came from the camp: "If you can, help. I don't meet the quota. Those who don't meet the quota get only bread and water."
On October 24, 1940, Sergei died in the Sevvostlag. Nagaevo Bay.
The war ended. My mother was in school. Perhaps second or third grade (which means the year 1947-1948). She had just come home, placed her school bag down. The sun was shining through all the windows. A very tall man in military uniform appeared at the doorstep. He placed a large box on a chair. "This is for you." And he left. For two days, my grandmother was afraid to approach that box. They finally opened it. Neatly, parcel by parcel, pack by pack - food items were packaged inside. Canned meat, pasta, candies, and something else. They lived on these provisions for two or three months. Who sent this? Who was this military man? It's still unknown.
PART 2.
THE CASE. INTERROGATIONS AND PROTOCOLS OF SUMMER 1938.
I am posting here almost everything I received from the FSB archive regarding this case. There is definitely something else in the bright green folders labeled "Do Not Open!" What? According to the archive employee, "nothing special, just internal correspondence between departments when the case was sent for further investigation, and during declassification." But despite all this - no anonymous letters, no documents that would serve as the basis for arrest, no protocols and documents related to the people mentioned in Sergei's interrogations. They are either in the green folders or were confiscated. By whom and when - nothing is known.
Immediately after the search protocol in the case, there is a form called "Questionnaire of the Arrested," which includes, among other things, the family composition, but not all are mentioned - perhaps because there was not enough space, or perhaps Sergei was just interrupted mid-sentence. Overall, all of this, apparently, looks like a misunderstanding and absurdity for the arrested person so far. Let's pay attention to his signature on the document.
The arrest took place on June 24th. Three resolutions on the imposition of preventive measures - dated July 10, November 1, and December 13 - are the next papers stitched into the case.
The resolution of July 10, 1938, on the imposition of preventive measures and bringing charges.
"Klyucharev S.A. <...> is sufficiently incriminated in being a participant in an anti-Soviet underground organization within the forestry industry system, and, upon the organization's instructions, conducted anti-Soviet underground work."
Articles: 58-6; 7; 10; 11 and 17-58-8.
He is detained in Butyrskaya prison.
I will post the other two resolutions later, as the case progresses. For now, observe how Sergei's signature changes on them. The man spent almost half a year in Butyrskaya prison.
Interrogation protocol dated July 8, 1938. Questionnaire. It is worth noting separately that in the column "Social Background," it is indicated that Sergei is the son of a priest who died in 1924 and that the family had their own house in Penza. The family composition is described here in more detail. Furthermore, Sergei had an incomplete higher education, was not a party member, was not affiliated with any party, was not subjected to any disciplinary measures, and did not have any. He was conscripted. He was registered in Berezniki, but did not register upon arrival in Moscow. He served as a private. He did not serve in the White or other counter-revolutionary armies, did not participate in gangs, counter-revolutionary organizations, or uprisings. There is no information about his socio-political activities.
After the blank interrogation protocol form, there is a strange piece of lined paper where handwritten testimonies are recorded. Most likely, this is what was extracted from him using ordinary and routine methods typical for that time. At the very beginning, Sergei writes that during previous interrogations, he provided false testimony and now he will tell the whole truth. However, there are no previous interrogation protocols preceding these handwritten pages from July 8, 1938, in the case file, or they are hidden.
Here are the 11 pages of the interrogation protocol (first, a transcription made by me, then all pages - photocopies).
INTERROGATION PROTOCOL
Defendant: KLÛCHARËV Sergei Apolinarievich
Born in 1901, in the city of Penza, citizen of the USSR, non-party member, with incomplete higher education, from a family of a religious cult servant.
Before the arrest - acting head of the survey party of Verkhne-Kamless at "Glavvostles".
dated August 9, 1938
Question: You are accused of engaging in counter-revolutionary activities before your arrest. Do you admit your guilt in the charges brought against you?
Answer: No, I do not admit it. I have never engaged in any counter-revolutionary activities.
Question: You come from a family of a religious cult servant, and in the questionnaires filled out by you when entering Soviet institutions, you concealed this fact. Do you deny this?
Answer: No, I do not deny it. I did indeed conceal my origin from Soviet institutions.
Question: Why did you do this?
Answer: I concealed my origin from Soviet institutions in order to gain trust in the institutions where I worked.
Question: Thus, can it be considered established that you entered Soviet institutions by deceitful means?
Answer: Yes, that's correct. I confirm this.
Question: You entered institutions by deceitful means not only to gain trust but also to use Soviet institutions for the purpose of engaging in counter-revolutionary work. Stop dodging and start giving testimony.
Answer: I have already confessed to concealing my origin when joining the service.
Question: If you are reluctant to tell the truth, then we will remind you of something. Did you not tell anyone that you were a member of an organization, did you not praise fascism and Hitler to anyone, did you not talk about your espionage activities?
Answer: I see that the investigation knows about my criminal activities, and further denial of my guilt is pointless. I will tell the truth.
Question: Speak.
Answer: Being brought up in a family of a religious cult servant, from a young age, I was hostile towards Soviet authorities. All the measures of Soviet authorities and the party evoked strong resentment and hatred in me. I expressed these hostile views to my colleagues and did not miss an opportunity to express my irreconcilability when traveling on business to rural areas. In 1929, when the liquidation of the kulaks began on the basis of complete collectivization of agriculture, I was particularly resentful and hostile towards this measure of the CPSU (b) and Soviet authorities, and it was then that I finally decided that my life's path was an irreconcilable struggle against the Soviet authorities. During this period, I was in Vladimir, where I worked in the regional forestry department. It was clear to me even then that it was impossible to conduct a struggle alone, and I was looking for like-minded people to organize the struggle. In 1931, I moved to Moscow and joined the service at "Khimles". In this system, I stayed until 1936. At "Khimles", I became close to a group of employees from the forestry survey sector: GLAZOV - senior technician, DLUZSKY - technician, KEDROVSKY - senior technician, to whom I openly expressed my hostility to the existing system, conducting active fascist-style anti-Soviet agitation among them.
Question: And what happened next?
Answer: I must confess the most serious part of my criminal activity, which I conducted against the Soviet government. In the middle of 1932, I became a spy and a traitor to my country.
Question: How did this happen?
Answer: Working at Khimles since 1931, I became close to KVACHKO Alexander Georgievich - the head of the forestry survey sector. Often attending his briefings on work matters, KVACHKO felt out my mood and, without hesitation, criticized the leaders of the CPSU(b) and the government in harsh and resentful tones. At first, I remained silent, but as we became closer, my timidity disappeared, and I myself began openly expressing my resentment against the Soviet government. This went on for almost a year. I would casually visit KVACHKO, and he considered me completely his man. In the middle of 1932, during one of our conversations, KVACHKO revealed to me that he was an agent of Polish intelligence and that he was conducting extensive espionage work. At that moment, KVACHKO offered me to become an agent of Polish intelligence as well and supply him with espionage materials. I accepted KVACHKO's offer and became a spy.
Question: What tasks did you receive from KVACHKO for your espionage work?
Answer: KVACHKO said that Polish intelligence was interested in information about the preparation of "gun blanks" - timber used for making rifle stocks, and he suggested that I, as a representative of the central apparatus, who regularly went on business trips to forestry enterprises, collect this information needed by Polish intelligence agencies. I carried out these instructions from KVACHKO. Visiting forestry enterprises within the "Soyuzlesprom" association, which included "Khimles", I, as a representative of the central apparatus, freely obtained the required espionage information about the availability of timber used for making rifle stocks, i.e., about gun blanks. I then passed this collected espionage information to KVACHKO.
Question: Couldn't KVACHKO, as the head of the forestry survey sector, obtain the required information about gun blanks through official channels?
Answer: No, this information in the central apparatus was strictly classified, and in the reports received by KVACHKO, there was no mention of information about gun blanks, as KVACHKO was not involved in this matter in the course of his work.
Question: However, the information you collected did not provide a complete picture of the preparation of "gun blanks" on the scale of the entire "Soyuzlesprom." You are definitely not telling everything here.
Answer: KVACHKO told me that besides me, he had several other individuals recruited by him for espionage work in favor of Poland, but he never mentioned anyone by name to me.
Question: Didn't KVACHKO trust you?
Answer: KVACHKO fully trusted me, but whenever I asked him about others who were involved with him in espionage, KVACHKO always replied, "None of us should know more than is necessary." KVACHKO said that just as I didn't know the surnames of his other people, others didn't know about me either.
Question: Until what time were you involved with KVACHKO in espionage work?
Answer: I was involved with KVACHKO in espionage work until the winter of 1937 when I last passed him espionage information. He no longer worked in the Narkomles system but, having been expelled from the party, moved to another institution on Rybny Lane, where he was a storekeeper. I can't even remember the name of the institution now.
Question: So, it can be considered established that you were involved with KVACHKO in espionage work from 1932 to 1937, i.e., for 5 years.
Answer: Yes, that's absolutely correct. I provided espionage information to KVACHKO for 5 years from 1932 to 1937.
Question: Did you only provide KVACHKO with espionage information about gun blanks?
Answer: Yes, mainly about gun blanks.
Question: And besides that?
Answer: In addition, I systematically provided him with information about the condition of forestry enterprises, the availability of labor and machinery, the state of nutrition, housing, problems, and moods of workers engaged in the forestry industry. In the espionage materials I provided to KVACHKO, I portrayed all these issues in the darkest colors and guided him on how to recruit the necessary anti-Soviet rebel cadres among the loggers in the event of war.
Question: Did you receive compensation for your espionage work in favor of Polish intelligence from KVACHKO?
Answer: Yes, I received one-time rewards of 100-200 rubles each time from KVACHKO.
Question: No more than that?
Answer: I received higher rewards as well when I needed money; KVACHKO never refused me.
Question: Describe what anti-Soviet activities you carried out after moving from Giproleskhem to Narkomles.
Answer: After leaving Giproleskhem, I moved to work at Glavzapsevles, where I took up a position as an economist. It was in the autumn of 1936. Soon after joining this institution, I was summoned by CHESNYESHIN (the surname in the protocols - here and below - is recorded in different variants - O.K.) - the former head of the planning department, to whom I was subordinated, and he informed me that KVACHKO was aware of my anti-Soviet activities. I was stunned and thought that I had been exposed and would be immediately arrested, but the conversation with CHESNYESHIN took a different turn. CHESNYESHIN (CHESNYESHIY - ?) said that I had nothing to fear from him, that he had no intention of betraying me. Furthermore, he - CHESNYESHIN - said that there was an anti-Soviet underground organization of the right-wing in the headquarters, which was actively fighting against the CPSU(b) and the Soviet government. CHESNYESHIN spoke openly, without any preliminary approaches, and offered me to become a member of the organization he mentioned. He warned me that if I told anyone about this, he would eliminate me as a spy. I assured him that I would carry out all his tasks and that I would unquestionably keep our conversation secret.
Question: Did you accept CHESNYESHIN's offer to become a member of the anti-Soviet organization of the right-wing within the Narkomles system?
Answer: Yes, I accepted it.
Question: What did you practically do as a member of the right-wing organization within the Narkomles system?
Answer: At Glavsevzaples, where I worked for about a year, following CHESNYESHIN's instructions as one of the leaders of the anti-Soviet underground organization of the right-wing, I deliberately lowered labor productivity in 1937 at the trusts: "Karalles" and "Lenles" for subversive purposes and increased wages disproportionately. As a result of this subversive act carried out by me, there was an artificial overspending of funds due to the failure to fulfill the logging program.
Question: Whom did CHESNYESHIN name as members of the organization to you?
Answer: CHESNYESHIN named to me as a participant of the right-wing organization, Ivan Petrovich NIKOLAEV from Glavsevles and SIVOKHA - the head of the local committee. CHESNYESHIN mentioned these names to me for a specific reason when questions of our organization needed to be addressed through them. I don't remember now what the matter was when, at the request of CHESNYESHIN, I went to NIKOLAEV and SIVOKHA.
Question: You haven't revealed everything about your criminal activities against the Soviet government and are concealing your accomplices.
Answer: I have shown everything I knew and all the crimes I committed. I have nothing more to add to this.
The protocol is recorded accurately from my words and read by me. KLЮCHAREV
INTERROGATED:
HEAD OF THE 7TH DEPARTMENT OF THE 8TH DEPARTMENT I ADMINISTRATION
STATE LIEUTENANT OF STATE SECURITY
OPERATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF THE 7TH DEPARTMENT OF THE 8TH DEPARTMENT
CORRECT
(signature)
If we assume and believe that no materials were removed from the case, then after this interrogation date - August 9, 1938 - the investigation will only resume in December. There are no resolutions or conclusions based on the results of this interrogation in the case.
PART 3.
CASE. INTERROGATIONS, PROTOCOLS, RESOLUTIONS OF WINTER 1938.
If we go by the dates of the documents, it appears that there was nothing between the interrogation on August 9 and the Resolution dated November 1, 1938, which I have below. We can assume that from the moment of the August 9 interrogation until November, which is almost three months, Sergey was held in Butyrskaya prison with no decisions or developments regarding his case. The November resolution states that Klyucharev "sufficiently incriminates himself as a participant in an anti-Soviet underground organization of the right-wing in the forestry industry and engaged in espionage in favor of foreign states." Article 58-1-a. Detention in Butyrskaya prison is a precautionary measure.
Five hours. That's what happens during these five hours. On three pages, compressed and concise, Sergey's responses are recorded. He completely denies his previous statements. Let's read.
Question: In the interrogation of August 9, 1938, you stated that you were involved in espionage activities with Alexander Georgievich Kvachko. Please explain when and where you first met him?
Answer: I first met Alexander Georgievich Kvachko in 1931 when I started working in the forest survey sector "Khimles," knowing him as the head of this sector until 1932. I was never involved in espionage activities with Kvachko.
Question: In the same interrogation, you said that you were recruited by Kvachko for espionage work in favor of Polish intelligence. How do you interpret your current statement that you had no connection with Kvachko in terms of espionage activities?
Answer: The statements about my espionage activities in favor of Polish intelligence and about my connections with Kvachko, given by me during the investigation on August 9, are false. I slandered myself.
Question: If you were not recruited by Kvachko for espionage activities in favor of Polish intelligence, then who recruited you?
Answer: I have never been recruited for espionage work in favor of Polish intelligence by anyone.
Question: But in your previous statements, you listed several pieces of information that you allegedly passed on to Polish intelligence. How do you explain this?
Answer: I did not pass any espionage materials to Polish intelligence. The statements I made about passing espionage materials to Polish intelligence regarding weapon blanks and the labor force in forestry were slanderous, as I had no involvement with weapon blanks or the labor force.
Question: Do you affirm that you were not involved with Kvachko in espionage activities in favor of Polish intelligence and that you never engaged in espionage yourself?
Answer: Yes, I categorically deny my affiliation with Polish intelligence and strongly affirm that I was not involved with Kvachko in espionage activities.
Question: In your previous statements, you indicated that, besides espionage activities in favor of Polish intelligence, you were also involved in subversive anti-Soviet activities as a member of an underground anti-Soviet organization in the forestry industry recruited by Chesney. Provide testimony about when and under what circumstances you were recruited by Chesney.
Answer: While working at "Glavsevzapples" of the People's Commissariat of Forestry as a planning department economist, I knew Chesney from late 1936 to 1937. After transferring to work at "Glavvostles," I did not see Chesney anymore.
My statements of August 9, 1938, about being recruited by Chesney into an underground anti-Soviet organization are fabricated and false due to my cowardice and instability, stemming from my weakness. I have never engaged in counter-revolutionary activities.
Question: Therefore, are your statements, provided to the investigation regarding your involvement in an anti-Soviet organization within the forestry industry, false?
Answer: Yes, my statements are fabricated and false.
Question: What prompted you to provide the investigation, as you now claim, with "false" statements about your espionage activities and participation in the anti-Soviet organization of the right-wing in the forestry industry?
Answer: During the interrogation on August 9, 1938, I decided to give slanderous statements against myself due to my cowardice and instability, disregarding the consequences, thereby misleading the investigation.
The protocol is recorded from my words and read by me.
Interrogated by: Operational officer of the 7th department of the 8th division of the 1st administration.
11 декабря, despite Sergey's denial of the validity of his previous statements, the accusation and investigation of Kvakho (or Kvochko), whom Sergey mentioned earlier in his testimony, proceed. It would be interesting to know how this turned out!
Three more people who were implicated by Sergey's testimony seem to have avoided arrest...
So, Sergey did not confirm his previous testimony regarding espionage, which, of course, had been extracted from him. Another charge remains — counter-revolutionary agitation. The interrogation on December 13th was appointed to confirm his testimony in this regard. But here as well — a complete and unequivocal denial of the previous statements.
Here is the protocol from December 13, 1938.
Start of the interrogation — 19:45. End — unknown.
Question: You are accused of conducting anti-Soviet counter-revolutionary agitation over a number of years. Do you acknowledge this?
Answer: I deny the accusation brought against me. I declare to the investigation that I never conducted any anti-Soviet agitation, as I had no grounds for it. Besides leading a good life, I saw and received nothing negative from the Soviet authorities.
Question: You are lying. The investigation knows that you conducted anti-Soviet agitation. We suggest you start giving truthful testimony on this matter.
Answer: I categorically deny my involvement in anti-Soviet agitation.
Question: The investigation also knows that, being hostile to the Soviet government, you spread malicious slander against the leaders of the CPSU and the Soviet government.
Answer: I did not spread any slander against the leaders of the CPSU and the Soviet government, as I was never opposed to the Soviet authorities.
Question: While spreading slander against the leaders of the CPSU and the Soviet government, you also expressed terrorist sentiments against the leaders of the CPSU.
Answer: Respecting the leaders of the CPSU, I never expressed any terrorist sentiments, which I ask the investigation to believe.
Question: Once again, the investigation insists on giving truthful testimony about your anti-Soviet activities.
Answer: I have already given truthful testimony that I never engaged in anti-Soviet activities anywhere, which I ask the investigation to believe.
The protocol is recorded from my words and read by me.
Interrogated by the operative of the 7th department of the 8th division of the 1st administration of the NKVD.
The decision to extend the period of detention is due to the need for additional investigation in the case. It is difficult to say whether this document preceded the protocol of the previous interrogation.
Protocol of the announcement of the completion of the investigation and the presentation of the case materials to the accused Sergey Apollinarievich Klyucharev.
Question: You are informed about the completion of the investigation into your case.
Answer: On December 13, 1938, I was informed that the investigation into my case was completed, and I have acquainted myself with the investigation materials.
Question: What can you add to the testimony you previously provided?
Answer: The testimony I provided on August 9, 1938, and the self-incriminating statements are false. I slandered myself due to cowardice, instability, and other abnormalities.
The investigation demanded truthful testimony, but since I had no crimes to confess, I was forced to give false testimony, which I did.
The protocol is recorded from my words and read by me.
Questioned by: the operative of the 7th department, 8th division, 1st department of the NKVD.
Decree of December 13th
"Engaged in anti-Soviet agitation against the actions of the party and government for several years, spreading malicious slander against the leaders of the VKP/b."
It appears that a new operative conducted the interrogations on December 10th and 13th, replacing the one who had been handling the interrogations and whose signature had appeared on previous decrees. Under the signature of this new operative, both the protocol announcing the end of the investigation and the decree of December 13th were issued, which could be crucial. The charge of espionage disappears, leaving only agitation. However, as will be seen later, this does not change anything. But what is this? A simple coincidence or did someone intervene in Sergey's case and fate, someone who decided to help at least a little?
Coincidence or not, around this time, there was a change of power in the key sector of the NKVD. Yezhov was replaced by Beria. By winter, rumors were gaining momentum that the leadership felt things had gone too far and that stricter measures would be taken.
Part 4.
CASE. CHARGES, VERDICT, REFERENCES
December 17, 1938, Sergey Klyucharev, who had been in prison and under investigation for almost half a year, heard the indictment in his case.
So, where does this thread originate? What prompted the arrest? Who implicated Grandfather and how was Sergey himself brought to testify against Kvachko, who of course also became a victim? Where did this version about searching for blanks for the Polish intelligence come from in the first place? I think this story was fabricated against a fairly large group of employees of the Forestry, and among others, Grandfather was arrested. An anonymous denunciation, just a mention of his name during interrogations conducted in a certain way—what's the difference, really? Or rather, there might not be a big difference already for this specific case. The essence lies elsewhere.
Indictment of December 17, 1938.
In the investigative case No. 19889 (previously the case was numbered 19884—O.K.)
According to the indictment of Sergey Apollinarievich Klyucharev, the 8th Department of the 1st Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR received information that Sergey Apollinarievich Klyucharev is hostile to the Soviet government and systematically conducts anti-Soviet agitation. During the investigation, Klyucharev showed that, being from a family of a religious cult servant (son of a priest), since the October Revolution, he has been an enemy of the Soviet government, hiding his alien origin, deceitfully infiltrated into service in Soviet institutions, conducted anti-Soviet agitation, praised fascism and Hitler (pp.18-21). Klyucharev showed that since 1932 he has been an agent of Polish intelligence and conducted espionage until the moment of his arrest (pp.23-27). Klyucharev also showed that he was a member of an anti-Soviet organization in the forestry industry and conducted subversive activities. Based on the above, Sergey Apollinarievich Klyucharev, born in 1901, a native of the city of Penza, a citizen of the USSR, Russian, from a family of a religious cult servant (son of a priest), a civil servant, non-party member, until his arrest—performing the duties of the head of the exploration party of the Upper Kama Expedition of the Main Forestry Administration of the People's Commissariat of Forestry of the USSR, is accused of systematically conducting anti-Soviet agitation against the measures of the party and the Soviet government, praising fascism and Hitler.
DECIDED:
To refer the case against Sergey Apollinarievich Klyucharev for consideration by the Special Council of the NKVD of the USSR.
OPERATIVE AUTHORIZED OFFICER OF THE 7TH DEPARTMENT.
8TH DEPARTMENT OF THE 1ST DIRECTORATE OF THE NKVD
"AGREED" DEPUTY HEAD OF THE 7TH DEPARTMENT OF THE 8TH DEPARTMENT
JUNIOR LIEUTENANT STATE SECURITY
REFERENCE
Klyucharev is arrested and held in Butyrskaya Prison.
Documents, items, and money belonging to Klyucharev were confiscated upon arrest and handed over to the reception department of the prison department according to receipts No. 2533, 2534, 2535, and 16900.
The next REFERENCE is essentially a repetition of the document above. I am just publishing it without decoding. Different people are signing it now. The case is entering its final stage. Everything is clear.
The January CONCLUSION of some crossed-out "DEP. HEAD PROSECUTOR OF M.-D. TRANSPORT" states that this same comrade "WOULD SUGGEST: The case against KLYUCHAREV S.A. to be transferred for consideration to the Special Meeting at the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR."
February 1939.
EXCERPT FROM PROTOCOL No. 3
Special Meeting at the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR
February 14, 1939
Counterrevolutionary agitation and espionage. 5 years.
In red - the word "KOLYMA".
Certificate for the person deprived of freedom from February 1939.
On the back of this certificate is the date of arrival at the camp - October 7, 1939.
From February to October 1939, Sergey was likely in transit to the labor camp. On average, it took about a month for convicts to reach the labor camps.
So, let's list the composition of the "crimes":
- Son of a clergyman, which he did not declare on relevant forms when entering university and employment.
- He was not particularly sympathetic to the authorities, especially during the period of dekulakization and collectivization. He didn't even join the party.
- Somewhere in the forests, during expeditions and trips, he probably discussed, in not very flattering terms, the Soviet authority with lumberjacks and immediate superiors.
- Finally, the main accusation. Rifle blanks. Secrets of selection of wood for making rifle stocks - blanks! In our family, everyone knew what my grandfather was doing: his wife Olga, my mother, and myself. From childhood, I heard that my grandfather was looking for wood for rifle stocks. And here it is, apparently! Secret information. Espionage activity in transmitting the names of these types of wood to Polish intelligence... So, if I know that a rifle stock is made of walnut (for example), I shouldn't tell anyone! Otherwise, Polish intelligence will be waiting for just that information...
Part 5.
Rehabilitation.
In 1956, after 18 years of absolute obscurity and being kept in the dark about where exactly the person went, where his traces were, this sheet came. It's a piece of paper - a quarter of an A4 sheet. In my grandfather's case, everything is succinct, without unnecessary explanations. But even for that, thank you.
TO THE MILITARY COLLEGE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE USSR
PROTEST
(in the order of supervision)
In the case of KLJUCHAREV S.A.
By the decision of the Special Meeting at the NKVD of the USSR dated February 14, 1939, for counter-revolutionary agitation and espionage, he was sentenced to 5 years in a corrective labor camp -
KLJUCHAREV Sergey Apollinaryevich, born in 1901, native of the city of Penza, Russian, citizen of the USSR, employee, non-party, before his arrest the head of the exploration party of the Upper Kama Expedition of Glavvostles of the People's Commissariat of Forestry of the USSR.
He died on October 24, 1940, in Sevvostlag of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.
He was arrested on June 24, 1938, based on the information from the GUGB of the NKVD, which stated that KLJUCHAREV was a member of an anti-Soviet organization, expressed terrorist sentiments, and was suspected of espionage in favor of Germany. Based on what evidence this report was compiled, it is not evident from the case materials. On July 10, 1938, KLJUCHAREV was charged with being "a member of an anti-Soviet underground organization in the forestry industry, carrying out anti-Soviet subversive work on the organization's orders." His actions were qualified under articles 58-6, 58-7, 58-10, 58-11, and 17-58-8 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. On November 1, 1938, KLJUCHAREV's charges were reclassified from the specified articles of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR to article 58-1-a of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. And finally, on December 13, 1938, KLJUCHAREV's charges under article 58-1-a of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR were excluded, and he was found guilty of "conducting anti-Soviet agitation against the party and government measures for several years, spreading malicious slander against the leaders of the CPSU/b/ (Article 58-10 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR)." According to the indictment, KLJUCHAREV was found guilty of "systematically conducting anti-Soviet agitation against the party and the Soviet government, praising fascism and Hitler." During the consideration of the case at the Special Meeting, KLJUCHAREV was convicted not only of conducting anti-Soviet agitation but also of espionage, in violation of Articles 312-313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR. The said decision of the Special Meeting regarding KLJUCHAREV is subject to cancellation, and the case is subject to termination on the following grounds:
None of the charges consistently presented to KLJUCHAREV during the investigation are confirmed by the case materials.
In his own handwritten testimony on July 8, 1938, and during the interrogation on August 9, 1938, KLJUCHAREV confessed to being a member of an anti-Soviet organization and engaging in espionage for Polish intelligence (not for German intelligence, as indicated in the arrest report).
During subsequent interrogations and familiarization with the case in accordance with Article 206 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR, as well as in his complaints after the conviction, KLJUCHAREV refused his initial statements and stated that he had never engaged in anti-Soviet activities and incriminated himself during the investigation due to his weakness and instability under the influence of the investigator.
Witnesses in the case were not interrogated. According to the card file of the 8th department of the GUGB of the NKVD, there was no information on KLJUCHAREV at the time of his arrest.
There is no evidence of KLJUCHAREV's anti-Soviet agitation or any other counter-revolutionary crime in the case.
He was unjustly convicted in 1939. Based on the above and guided by Article 25 of the "Regulations on Prosecutorial Supervision in the USSR" -
I kindly request:
To repeal the decision of the Special Meeting at the NKVD of the USSR dated February 14, 1939, regarding KLJUCHAREV Sergey Apollinaryevich, and to terminate the criminal case against him due to the absence of elements of the crime in his actions.
Attachment: Archival investigation file No. 620068 in volume 1 from incoming No. 0139852 - to the addressee.
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE USSR
MAJOR GENERAL OF JUSTICE
E. VARSKOY
May 16, 1956.
In August '56, my mother, who had just graduated from school with a silver medal, was walking home when she met the postman, signed for a letter, and opened the envelope. She immediately rushed to call her mother at work. Olga listened to her, asked her to read the text, and said, "Why are you crying? You should be happy."
More papers are available in the case regarding this matter. Determination. Briefly - the essence of the accusation, conclusion, period.
By the way, between the Protest and the creation of the Report you see above, quite some time has passed as well - three months. No one was in a hurry anywhere.
PART 6.
MAGADAN. And a little more about our family...
Getting a copy of my grandfather's Magadan case turned out to be not too difficult, although it came with some amusing (which might not seem strange in this story) details. The thing is, the Magadan authority initially requested confirmation from my local district police department. Supposedly, only upon their request, they would be able to provide me with the documents. The officers at the Moscow police department were extremely surprised and agreed to accept all requests and start the process, but they warned that they had never encountered anything like this before. It was decided jointly to make a new request and explain the whole situation. Notarized copies of documents proving kinship, all papers related to the case and rehabilitation were needed. A substantial package was sent to Magadan, and after some time, I received a copy of this thin case by mail. Here's what was in it.
"Son of a clergyman"...
Language proficiency. Russian. German, French (writes, translates).
Daughter Natalya. My mother was already born and was initially named Natasha. Whether my grandfather knew and from where is hard to say, but there is a document. Here is a list of his life... Dependent on parents, work at the wholesale base, service in the ranks of the Red Army, forestry college, work in Vladimir as a forest engineer and People's Commissar of Forestry.
He was supposed to be released in 1943. In our family, among numerous relatives from Penza, with whom I don't communicate and have never seen, there is a beautiful legend. Allegedly, when the war began, my grandfather volunteered to go to the front. Allegedly, he was sent there. To the front. Allegedly, he heroically died. No. Mistake. However, it is mentioned in a local history book. An excerpt from it is just below.
Yes, here is our family legend about the war hero. In the photo, my grandfather is the one on the far left.
This is my great-grandfather - Father Apollinary Klyucharev. One of the most respected people in the city at his time. The family had their own house near the church. They even had an estate. A local historian, with whom I have been corresponding, promised to help me find out more. But I need to go to Penza.
An earlier photo of my great-grandfather.
This is how the church where A.V. Klyucharev served looked like. I was sent extracts from the church books containing information about the priest's entire family, among other things.
And we return to the Magadan case. Well, this is indeed the verdict. I hope it's not necessary to repeat that these verdicts were slapped and announced to the convicts within about three minutes? Then he signed - and, as they say, he was free!
The working weekdays of my grandfather in Magadan, at the Maldyak mine, begin. "He performs his job well."
It will take a lot of space to explain what this work entailed. More on this in the next part.
Handle the tool with care.
Everything is fine :) He behaves well in everyday life, handles everything carefully, undergoes sanitary treatment in a timely manner, and has no administrative penalties.
Work record.
Easy work!
Here, what does HEART PARALYSIS have to do with it?
Oh dear, what a disappointment...
Yes, yes, a decline in heart function. Sudden, unexpected decline...
He was 39 years old.
PART 7.
WHY DO WE NEED ALL THIS?
I look through the photos dozens of times. This one is from three years before the arrest, and this one is from six. I look at Sergey's things, which have been stored at our home for many years and have long become familiar elements of our life and household. A watch, a mug, dishes. Before me are papers from the archive of the case and a photograph. The last one. How he looked afterwards—during the investigation, during the imprisonment, and during the transfer to the camp, where, apparently, they drove them for more than one month, how he looked there—I don't know yet. I sent a request to the Information Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Magadan to retrieve the case that should be kept at the place of detention. I received a response. "You must provide certified copies of documents proving kinship, rehabilitation certificates, make a request through the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the place of residence, and upon their request, we will be able to issue the case, and you will be able to familiarize yourself with it." Again, after 79 years, we have to prove kinship. To go through third parties (third government agencies), to wait. To probably receive a small card—on a sheet one-third the size of A4 format—about arrival. And about death in 1940. If he had served there all these five years, even taking into account six months in prison, the end of the term would have been in 1943. According to some information, these were the most terrifying years in the Magadan camps.
How could he have looked in the last months of his life? Perhaps like this.
This is pellagra, a disease characterized by severe vitamin deficiency. Sergey, who by that time perhaps could no longer think clearly and might have been prompted to write this note (who knows, maybe they'll send some food out of kindness), wrote to Olga: "If you can, help. I'm not meeting the quota. Those who don't meet it get bread and water." ("Failing to meet the quota threatened with punitive punishment. Three hundred grams of bread a day and no balanda..." - Shalamov). But even parcels for those who did not meet this quota - 150 carts a day - were confiscated.
Here's a short film: https://youtu.be/Aze179o0REM
If you don't have time to watch, here's the main point. In the center of the film is a person who turned 95 in 2006. This means he was born around 1911. He arrived at the Sevvostlag in October 1938 and could have possibly met my grandfather. A combination of circumstances—possibly stronger health than my grandfather's, possibly a stronger will, a shorter investigation period than my grandfather's, the same tricks that are still used in the camps, and, at some point, adaptation—all of this together helped him survive. In that year - in that very 1938 - when he arrived there, this person recalls, there were only canvas tents, bunks in the tents, and two stoves in the corridors. He went to sleep on the first night wearing his hat. He woke up—the hat was frozen to the bunk. Winter in Magadan is minus 60, summer is up to plus 30. My grandfather lasted just over a year there. He couldn't take it anymore.
What was he thinking about there? About nothing. ("Did he think about his family then? No. About freedom? No. Did he recite poetry from memory? No. Did he reminisce about the past? No. He lived only with indifferent malice." V.T. Shalamov "Typhoid Quarantine"). I am sure that by that time, his entire previous history—his childhood and youth in his own house in Penza, in a loving large family of a clergyman and a housewife, all his interesting work, the forest, expeditions, the search for wood for rifle bullets (which turned out to be "secret espionage information"), Vladimir, Moscow, Bozhedomka, his wife Olga, who, to his great joy, was expecting a child (and he wrote to her: "Lelya! How wonderful it is. How good it will be to bathe him. Little, pink, chubby...")—all of this merged in his consciousness, which was already fading, into one bright, but abstract, fantastical, ever-receding light. Like a snowball. It rolled and rolled away from him. And before his eyes—Nagaev Bay. Absolute and inevitable infinity. There were no fences there. Only watchtowers. Where to run?...
Good movie: https://youtu.be/DSlpiBc9ENc
(Full immersion. But I couldn't watch it to the end).
I can say from my own experience. At some point, you—who want to know what happened—will stop consoling yourself with thoughts of time. Of how, "well, what can you do, so many years have passed, time heals everything." It doesn't heal a damn thing! Your heart will be torn into small pieces.
The person disappeared. It's been 79 years. His wife Olga died long ago, and this year his daughter will celebrate her 79th birthday. I, who have heard only a few very stingy but regularly repeated stories from my earliest childhood (because there was no other information), played with my grandfather's watch, and then, as I grew older, began to understand that people don't just disappear like that, that along with such disappearances, deep scars are etched in the family and, most importantly, in people's minds, and when I first took this small case into my hands, at first, like everyone else around, I thought in terms of time. Then it went away. I am of an atheistic disposition. But my thoughts, some invisible and inexplicable story under the conditional title "energy," something else, some chemistry—whatever it is—is not so important, contributed to establishing an instant connection with Sergey. When you, studying and flipping through the case, and then its copies, understand not only with your head, but with every cell of your body, that behind all this hell was a living and healthy, your own person, whom they searched at night, in the presence of his wife and janitor, took away forever from his home, forced to write and speak complete absurdity, then kept him in prison for six months and then shipped him to the edge of the earth, where he gradually lost his health, his sanity, and his life—then it's not enough to say something with words, believe me...
Nothing disappears anywhere. Constant fear and caution settle in such families forever. They—the abnormal fear, this uncertainty—are passed down genetically. They didn't touch the grandmother and daughter. They just resettled them in a barrack built at the beginning of the 20th century or earlier. They only allowed them to live in an 11-square-meter room. They only allowed the daughter to work as an accountant at the school and raise her child. They only allowed her to die in this barrack, which had already seen collapsed ceilings, fires, and stood, supported from the outside by logs.
They only sent a leaflet to this barrack informing about rehabilitation. And they only allowed the daughter of the repressed to live in the same barrack. Until they demolished it. And it was already 1971, and I was ready to come into the world, and my mother, with a belly that protruded, went to some official, asking for a separate apartment, not a communal one, and he said, "You have to earn it, my dear!" (Then her friends managed to reach some minister, who listened, picked up another receiver in parallel, mentioned our surname, and said "give!" and hung up both receivers). All this nastiness, this humiliation, this fear, this trampling of human dignity into the dirt... It all continues to live in the brains and cells.
No, there is another point of view: http://www.kolyma.ru/index.php?newsid=30491
("Mythified Kolyma? The camp past has grown with myths")
No, it's not all that bad, as you might think! They went there to live, to work, and even stayed. Yes, yes! Once, at the same table, after drinking quite a bit, one elderly but strong woman began to expound: "And they were rich there! With gold! They mined gold there. They earned money there. And they transported their families there, and sent money to their families!" Well, those who know me will understand that it's not surprising that not only have I never opened that door again. The table remained intact. The ears of those sitting there—are gone. My mother listened to all this throughout her life. "They didn't just imprison people, there was order under Stalin!" We know these songs...
So, finally, to the main point.
Why do we need all this? What should happen—what? For myself, I answered this question a long time ago. To come into one's own. And what, haven't we come into our own before? No, we haven't! Carrying portraits glued to cardboard, with our war-hero grandmothers and grandfathers—no, you haven't come into your own. Once, sticking portraits of your repressed grandmothers and grandfathers onto cardboard and going out with them onto the street—no, you won't come into your own. You will just swell the ranks of those "coming out." Organizing and moving. But when you make sure that there is a mass demand in society for knowledge of objective facts and the history of fates, when you talk about it with your children, give them to read scary but objectively and truthfully reflecting events and facts books, let them listen to the opinions, interviews, lectures of people who specialize in this and haven't been fired from their institutions yet—then you will start, just start, to go in the right direction. Knowledge, understanding of your tragic history, objective and authentic history—is a civilizational step. And the most difficult thing here is not to allow that naphthalene and most boring formalism, which has been present in everything related to any historical fact for decades. Whether genuine, invented, hallucinated, or fabricated. Any!
This is not something that was experienced and forgotten. I'll say it again, it hasn't disappeared anywhere. It continues to exist subconsciously within us. Along with the psychology and actions. Along with the subconscious "just not me, just not mine" mentality. And that's exactly why we live today the way we do. We allow anything to be done to us. We have such television. Such healthcare. Such living conditions. And it's not abstract fighting against corruption, not arrests of crooks and thieves, not shouts in the square about fair elections, but rather an objective reassessment of our own history—recent history that has not yet become a "Pushkin era"—an objective reassessment, understanding and re-understanding, creating honest and accessible books and films, conveying all of this to the youngest generation (not only in schools, but in families)—that's the task. Then things will start (but only start) to change. There is hope for a change through one or two generations.
Although... You know, all this already exists to some extent (books, films, lectures). But why is it that only those who already know about it seem to be interested in stirring up this wound within themselves even more? Like me. Why is that? Why is it always like this for us?!
There's no demand. No mass demand for knowledge. Employees of the FSB archive say they've never encountered any anonymous complaints in such cases, that those who come to them think they're being kept in the dark about something, but everything is completely open. And in the reading room of the archive, there are always at most two or three people. They dig into the cases, take notes, try to learn more about their relatives. It seems that it's needed only by them. Us. Statistical surveys, which, of course, aren't worth much (well, at least because it's more or less the same 1,600 people—those with the corresponding mindset, if they agree to answer all these questions), nevertheless, clearly show that there are still vampires who, in the eyes and consciousness of those surveyed, were somehow effective managers. And in bookstores, there are calendars with the mustachioed scoundrel and pseudo-research on the role of the mustachioed scoundrel in the victory.
You know, you don't have to look far... When you arrive in any provincial Russian city, you always understand what it lives on. And these cities live roughly the same: with indifferent calmness. But also with fear. "We'll survive. We've been through worse." Yes. You've been through worse. And you'll go through much more. Just not this... Just not me. All of this is alive. It hasn't gone anywhere. Magadan continues to live like this, I'm sure. A city built on bones. But no one remembers anything. They don't want to. You have to go there. You have to try to find all the pages of your grandfather's life and case.