Efrosinya Ivanovna

Memories begin in 1948. They are written in a fictionalized form. Their heroine is bred under the name Maria Petrovna Mikhailova.
A beautiful January day in Chisinau, when nothing foreshadows the beginning of the tragedy. Strange, restless dog behavior. Arrest of the author in the presence of attesting witnesses: the wife of a university professor and her friend (the reason for the arrest was the author's application for a visa to travel to Romania in connection with the upcoming operation of his stepfather. (He is a member of the German Communist Party, who moved to Romania from Germany in connection with Hitler's rise to power).
Jail. Description of the camera. First night interrogation. Accusation of espionage. Refutation by the author of the accusation. Punishment by humiliating standing in the corner, during which “the investigator ate sandwiches, washed down with tea, and, chuckling maliciously, talked to the others about me.” Return to the cell in the morning. Harassment with "love speeches" of a criminal cellmate. "From malnutrition and mental anguish" disease. Prison hospital. Humane attitude of doctors. Improved nutrition. Relative recovery. Return to the camera. Transfer from friends. Another interrogation. The accusation of espionage is replaced by an accusation of preparing for an illegal move to Romania. Call to the commandant of the prison. Sentence - 8 years in special regime labor camps.
"Stolypin" car. Odessa prison. Again the "Stolypin" car. Transit prison in Kharkov. Another stage - in the city of Gorky. The path to prison, accompanied by shepherds. A cell with political prisoners who survived various tortures (including the "electric chair"). The last stage is to Ukhta. Jail. Meeting with political prisoners convicted in 1937-38.
Prison hospital. Operation. Selling half a ration of bread within a few days in order to save up money to send a telegram to a father who does not know about his daughter's imprisonment. After the operation (with a wound that has not yet healed) a working hut. Cutting out wooden spoons. Reducing the ration of bread due to non-fulfillment of the norm.
Proposal of one of the prisoners to be transferred to work in a pharmacy. Work in a pharmacy. The demand of the prisoner who helped her to give him 80 tablets of codeine. Author's rejection. Inmate threats. Harassment of the head of the pharmacy. The resistance of the author, pleas for mercy. Lack of physical strength to fight back. After some time, out of desperation, taking Luminal tablets. Hospital. Pharmacy withdrawal. Lesbianism in the camp, explained by the author's longing for affection, love. Corrupting influence of criminals.
Field work. An offer to become a snitch. Refusal. Work as a nurse in a hospital on the recommendation of an older sister. Then work as a nanny in the children's building, where there were 20 three-month-old babies. Nursing Exam. Loving attitude towards children. Attachment to one of the babies. Transferring him, eight-month-old, to another OLP (that was the rule!). Death of a child. Author's grief. Composition of verses. Transfer to logging. Cold, bad clothes. Unbearable work for the author - cutting branches. Transfer to peat works as easier at the request of mothers, grateful to the author for conscientiousness in caring for their children.
Again a serious illness. After a relative recovery, a temporary job as a nurse in a psychiatric ward. Obtaining the 3rd group of disability. Lumberjacking again. Cutting blanks for mittens from old pea jackets. From work, purulent wounds on the hands.
1953 - the news of the death of Stalin. Gradual release of criminals. 1955 - the beginning of the release of political prisoners.
Liberation. Passport with a mark of residence at the 101st kilometer. The choice of Luga, because in Leningrad the father, who, under the influence of his wife, refuses to help the author. Inability to get a job. Making an appointment with the head of the MGB. His sympathy and assignment to work in a rural school as a teacher of a foreign language. School. The wary attitude of colleagues, which later changes to benevolent. The reluctance of students to study French. The author's passion for her work is passed on to her students. The emergence of interest in life. Visiting theaters, museums, philharmonic. A letter to I. Ehrenburg with a request to help in rehabilitation (according to the Prosecutor General, Ehrenburg asked for this). The new test is retinal disease. Despair. Visual disability. Joining the Society of the Blind. Work in the editorial board of the society. Resurrection to life. Employment at a plant for the blind. The feeling of being needed. At times, bitter memories of the experience.

The annotation was compiled by Zhidkova T.G.