Pechkovsky Nikolai Konstantinovich

Baturin Grigory, Vent-Pichugina Margarita, Gavronsky Alexander Osipovich, Gernet Nina Vladimirovna, Erukhimovich Solomon Vulfovich, Karayanidi Dmitry, Mitskevich Vanda Kazimirovna, Obraztsova I., Petkevich Vladislav Iosifovich (Osipovich), Petkevich Tamara Vladislavovna, Pechkovsky Nikolai Konstantinovich, Pologonkin R., Teslik Nikolay Danilovich, Khrustalev Igor, Tsulukidze Tamara Grigorievna, Cherkasov Nikolai Konstantinovich

The author was arrested in 1937 and sentenced to 10 years in the camps as a Japanese spy because he was born in Harbin and lived there for 21 years.
The memoirs are a story about the organization in the Gulag of concert and theater groups in which he worked.
The beginning of the memories is reflections on whether the author and his friends, actors and musicians, had the right to engage in art, while other prisoners were engaged in slave labor, lived in monstrous barracks, starved. Realizing that the system used these groups for its "savage" purposes, the author hopes that with their performances they brightened up the terrible life of the camps. A story about two episodes - blaming and justifying the actors: a concert in a sangorodok where prisoners with pellagra were gathered (they did not react to the performances, meekly and indifferently sitting in the hall), and a concert in front of prisoners women who cried, remembering their past life, and were grateful to the speakers.
The following is a description of the cell in the Big House, where he ended up immediately after his arrest. Assignment of the in-cell number - 221, although the cell was designed for 23 people. “Cultural enlightenment work” in the cell: a retelling of the content of films by a famous screenwriter (after he left the cell, he retold the films he saw in Harbin, the author), the performance of Vertinsky by the songwriter, reading poems, stories by him and other prisoners.
In February, sending to the camp. During the stages, the author "squeezed" the novels. An episode when the criminals, after such a story, returned the bread taken from them to the politicians.
Return to the topic - propaganda teams, concert and theater groups. Their saving role in the lives of professional actors and musicians, and sometimes just prisoners who attracted the attention of their superiors with their talent. These collectives were “the only source of entertainment for the camp management, civilian workers, guards, as well as residents of those abandoned taiga villages, regional centers where the camps were located. An interesting detail: if in addition to the “freemen” there were prisoners in the hall, then the first ones “sat with stone faces”; if there were no prisoners in the hall, they reacted to what was happening on the stage, like an ordinary audience.
Engagement of actors is usually only for easy work and release from it on the days of the performance.
In 1940, the transfer of the author from Ivdellag to Sevzheldorlag for the construction of the Kotlas-Pechora railway. Continuation of work in the concert brigade, which was soon turned into a "liberated" propaganda team of the Kovno branch due to the fact that the boss liked the performance of the artists at the concert where he was present. The unification of two propaganda teams, one of which included the author, into the Central, where he was appointed head of the literary department.
Since the summer of 1940, the author has been the head of theater groups. The general management of the work of the brigade was carried out by the head of the department. Attracting professional actors and musicians to the propaganda team. (There was competition between the heads of the GULAG departments, whose acting group was stronger.) Trips to camps.
The beginning of the war. The restructuring of the repertoire in connection with this: the performance of military songs, the compilation of literary and musical montages on military topics.
Transfer to Knyazh-Pogost, where the brigade lived and rehearsed in a separate hut. Story about the organization of concerts, the choice of programs, the relationship of the collective with the camp authorities. The appearance in the brigade of positions: administrator, head of the musical part, dresser, props, hairdresser.
The author's confession is that he is ashamed to cite poems, lyrics, lyrics of montages (they are given) because of their pathos and mediocrity. But without them, no concert numbers would have been missed.
A brilliant staging of Chekhov's "Jubilee" and other performances in which excellent professional actors played. Rich musical repertoire.
After the end of the war, a decrease in morale, as it became clear that the imprisonment of innocent people in the camp, which they had previously justified by a military threat, has another reason - this is the ideology of power.
The appearance after the war of a new contingent of prisoners: captured, found themselves in the occupied territories, as well as Vlasov, Bandera, policemen, who were considered political, which caused indignation among the latter.
In 1945, the release of the author, as he was "thrown off" two years for "good behavior and success in the construction of the railway." Continuation of work as a director and artistic director in the same theater group is already free-lance.
In April 1950, a second arrest "in the old case" and after a short investigation in the city of Syktyvkar, he was exiled to the Novosibirsk region, to the village of Severnoye, where he was already at general work.
After Stalin's death, release without personal consideration of the case and rehabilitation in 1956. Intentions to enter the Leningrad Theater Institute, but the refusal to accept documents, since the author was already 40 years old, and the institute was accepted up to 35.

The annotation was compiled by Zhidkova T.G.

Alliluev Sergey Ivanovich, Barbarov, Vardiev Gleb Petrovich, Gavronsky Alexander Osipovich, Golovin Makary Danilovich, Grigory Lvovich Nevolsky., Erukhimovich Solomon Vulfovich, Kremer Romuald Apollinarievich, Kreps Vladimir Mikhailovich, Mitskevich Vanda Kazimirovna, Petkevich Tamara Vladislavovna, Pechkovsky Nikolai Konstantinovich, salin, Teslik Nikolay Danilovich, Khmiel Aleko Frantsevich, Khokhlov Vladimir, Khrustalev-Kamensky Igor Sergeevich, Members Vladimir, Shemena Semyon Ivanovich, Shtanko Nikolay Vasilievich

Memoirs are marked by a clear literary talent. Cover the entire life of the author.
Born in 1921. Childhood and youth passed (before being drafted into the army) in Leningrad. His paternal grandfather, an archpriest, organized an orphanage during the war years, was arrested four times and shot in Yaroslavl in 1937. The author's father is a doctor of technical sciences, his mother is a music teacher.
In the preface “If you’re not lucky, you won’t survive,” the idea that the author was very lucky, since he was not wounded at the front, his father was not arrested, he did not die in German captivity, was not shot by the Germans during the retreat, did not die of starvation at the stage, was not tortured during the investigation, ended up in the camp when the horrors of the Gulag had already softened, etc. The author’s genealogy.
Further memoirs are divided into chapters.
The first chapter is "Before the war." Description of childhood and school years. A detailed and very interesting story about the life of the family, its way of life, characteristic of the intelligentsia. Description of the apartment. Yard and street life. Communion in the Cathedral of the Sign. Celebration of the New Year, Easter. Fun for carnival. Family music. Visiting theaters. home performances. Teaching foreign languages ​​at home. School. School items. Memorable teachers. Seeing off by the whole class at the station classmate Lev Skachkov, the son of the "enemy of the people", expelled from Leningrad. A constant feeling of fear in the family, the destruction of grandfather's diaries, letters. Dacha on the Karelian Isthmus. Eviction in 1936 of Finnish peasants. With the exception of these fears, a description of life in bright colors.
Chapter 2 - "Estonians". Army service in Estonia for two years. The beginning of V.O. war. The advance of the Germans. Captivity. Description of life in the German camp. Set of laborers by Estonians. Farm life. Sending laborers-prisoners to Germany. Parting with the Estonians.
Chapter 3 - "The Germans". Quarantine in the Polish city of Deblin. Work as a translator. Stage to the west of Germany. Work in the mine. German miners helping Russian prisoners. Another job as a translator. Request for transfer to the electrical department. Denunciation. punishment cell. Life in the family of German peasants Lauks. Friendly relations with owners. The arrival of the Americans. Striving for Russia. An American officer's warning about the bitter fate of prisoners of war in Russia. Soviet prison in Frankfurt an der Oder.
Chapter 4 - "After the war." Interrogation. Sentence - 10 years of labor camp and 3 years of disqualification. Transit prison. Stage in freight cars. Beatings on the way. Food - 200 g of bread, salted fish, very little water. Timber processing plant near the city of Pechory. Work in the electrical shop, then at the power plant. Softer conditions in the camp than before. The production laboratory, which was led by a wonderful person - Georgy Yakovlevich Straskov. Entertainment in the camp. The system of crediting working days, in connection with which the reduction of the term for the author by 1 year 4 months. August 8, 1954 release with a 101-kilometer restriction. Six months of work at the Tesovo-Netylskoye peat enterprise in an electrical workshop. In September 1955 he returned to Leningrad. Work as an electrician and study at the evening faculty of the institute. After graduating from college teacher. Traveling with his wife in Sov. Union. Together with the society "Memorial" visiting Solovki. Journey through the Baltic States with a stop at the farm where he lived during the war and where he was accepted as a native. Late visit to host Walter's children. A trip to visit the German peasants who saved the author when the SS troops were combing the area. The author recalls the life he lived without bitterness.

The annotation was compiled by Zhidkova T.G.

Anipriev, Arvanitopulo Boris Georgievich, Baskakov, Bogdanovich Fedor, Delle Alexandra Grigorievna, Zakharov Efim Filippovich, Kavalerov Vladimir, Kokuev Erminingeld Rafailovich, Kokuev Nikita Rafailovich, Kokuev Nikolai Rafailovich, Kokuev Rafail Rafailovich, Kokueva Anna Rafailovna, Kokueva Vera Rafailovna, Kokueva Tatyana Rafailovna, Kornilova Natalya Mikhailovna, Lavrovsky Mikhail Vasilievich, Lileev Ivan Sergeevich, Lileev Nikolay Ivanovich, Lileev Nikolay Nikolaevich, Lileev Sergey Nikolaevich, Lileeva Vera Konstantinovna, Litvinenko Nikolay Grigorievich, Mitropolskaya Maria Alexandrovna, Metropolitan Konstantin, Metropolitan Roman, Mishchenko Lev Glebovich, Pechkovsky Nikolai Konstantinovich, Puhilas Foma Ivanovich, Raudsepp, Roos Walter, Rose Leida, Serova Maria Mikheevna, Skachkov Lev Petrovich, Strelkov Georgy Yakovlevich, Suslov Lazar Fedorovich, Haynman Maria Isaakovna, Chikin Victor Fedorovich, Yakhovich Stanislav Stefanovich

Snovsky Alexander Albertovich, Askarov Yusuf Alijanovich, Barabanov Vasily Arsentievich, Obolensky Leonid Leonidovich, Vorontsov, Chetyrkin, Kurtukov, Grishan, Daytime, Kudinova Sonya, Kozlova, Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich, Papanin Ivan Dmitrievich, Shtilmark Robert Alexandrovich, Alekseev Alexander A. (Alexandrovich?), Bolkhovskoy (Bolkhovsky) Boris Fedorovich, Pechkovsky Nikolai Konstantinovich, Baranovsky Leopold Antonovich, Bogdanov Vitaly Grigorievich, Mut, Shereshevsky Lazar Veniaminovich, Savnor Vanda Antonovna, Topilin Vsevolod Vladimirovich, Lominadze Sergo Vissarionovich, Pavinsky Vladimir Mikhailovich