Serlin

Memories cover the life of the author until 1980. Born in 1897 in a poor Jewish family in a town (Brest region). Description of the difficult life of the family. Forced departure of the father abroad in the hope of finding a job there. Information that, while in London, he became seriously ill. Trip to his mother. Her absence for three years. Life with grandma and grandpa. Upon his return - with his mother, who married a widower, burdened with children, in the town of Shereshevo (Belarus). Terrible poverty, bullying of the boy by the children of his stepfather. Inability to pay for his education in the cheder. Mastering tailoring. Family departure. Work for different owners in Bialystok. Too much work for a boy.
In 1913, the intention of the holiday to go to his mother. Purchasing a ticket to Brest via Belovezh. The arrival of Nicholas II in this city, in connection with which the expulsion of the Jews. Lack of money to buy another ticket. On the advice of familiar cab drivers, he rides the train under a bench, and then jumps out to a stop. Arrest. Suspicion of terrorism. Short visit to mother. Return to Bialystok on the same train with Sholom Aleichem, who was expected by a solemn meeting at the station.
Working in a sewing workshop from morning to late evening. A great desire to learn to read in Russian and German. Night classes based on the books of the owner's daughter.
World War I. The arrival of the Germans in Bialystok. Mobilization for forced labor (Jews were not taken into the army). Construction of a narrow gauge railway, then a bakery. After trying to escape, for which he was beaten. After the departure of the Germans, the Haidamaks. Interest in politics. Election of the executive secretary of the union of garment workers. In 1919, the White Poles came to the city. Shootings. The work of the Union of Garment Workers in the underground. Elected Chairman of the Committee for the Distribution of American Aid. The arrival of the Red Army, which was greeted with joy and enthusiasm. Participation of the author in the organization of a hospital, a workers' club, a canteen. Rumors about the approach of the White Poles, the hasty departure of the Revolutionary Committee from Bialystok with a group of 15 people (including the future wife of the author). Arrival in Minsk. Direction to the city of Nevel. Work at a garment factory, where overcoats were sewn, and during the Kronstadt uprising - white coats. Definition in CHON (Special Purpose Parts). Election of a political commissar of the company. Marriage arrangement. In 1921, joining the party. Appointment as secretary of the Jewish section at the Uyezd Committee of the Party in Velezha. Teaching social science in Velezh secondary school. Deterioration of health, nervous exhaustion. Referral for treatment to Leningrad. Bekhterevskaya hospital. The third group of disability. Work in Vitebsk at a garment factory. Election to the party bureau of Agitprop, and then the secretary of the party committee. Nervous responsible work, with which many troubles were associated. Failure of the factory to fulfill production plans threatens with exclusion from the party. Transfer to another factory to avoid trouble, but here, too, participation in party work. Appointment to the post of director of the factory dispensary. Absentee exclusion from the party.
At the beginning of 1938 - arrest. In his memoirs, he confessed that he was ready to die for the party, but did not understand what he and other party members were to blame for.
Cell in the basement of the prison. Stories of cellmates about ridiculous accusations. Hope for release. Heavy thoughts about the fate of his wife and children. Summons to the investigator. Demand to confess to spying for Poland. The author's refusal to sign the accusation. Beating. Interrogation by a half-drunk investigator. Again beating. Transfer to solitary confinement, and then to general. The advice of one of the cellmates, who later committed suicide, to confess everything, because. resistance is futile. The author's confession, after many interrogations and beatings, of what he did not do (allegedly he told the enemy of the people about a sluggish subscription to a loan, and he passed it on to Poland). But still refusing to confess to espionage. Rumors that with the removal of Yezhov will gradually release. Recruitment by superiors of people who, before being called to the investigator, must ensure that one or another cellmate confesses his guilt. The stories are already later, in the camp, that one such recruit was thrown out of the train car on the move. For refusing to confess to espionage, transfer alone to death row.
In December 1938, the announcement of the verdict - a sentence of 10 years. Stage assignment. Meeting at the station with his wife and daughter. Kargopollag. Unfinished barracks. Criminals. The assistant chief is a criminal who committed 15 murders. Due to poor health, he was sent to the central workshops, where quilted jackets were sewn. The author's complaints to the NKVD and the prosecutor's office about unjustified arrest. Appointment as a foreman and at the same time a teacher of adolescents. In his barracks there are only sewers and shoemakers: Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Latvians, Czechs, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Chinese. Separation of criminals from political. Severe nervous exhaustion. Transfer of earned money to the family. Duodenal ulcer. Appointment as head of the sewing workshop. Hospital. During the day, work in the workshop, at night - unloading and loading wagons. The approach of the Germans to the camp. General panic. Finally the end of the war. Universal rejoicing. Hope for a change of fate. Liberation of the Poles. Waiting for the end of the term. The author's fear that something would happen and he would not be released was confirmed - a directive came: "not to release anyone until further notice." Despair. Again, vain expectations of release. Transit prisons. Mocking prisoners (naked squats). The village of Igarka. By boat to Yeniseisk. Appointment as the head and cutter of the sewing workshop. Compared to the ordeals experienced, “tolerable life”, relative freedom (without armed guards). Description of Yeniseisk. Financial assistance to the son-student. The arrival of the son to the camp to his father, who did not recognize him and was upset to tears by this. The arrival of his wife, which the author was afraid of, because. I knew she couldn't live here. The fears were confirmed. Communication in the summer of 1954 about rehabilitation. Instead of joy, disappointing thoughts that there is nowhere to go. At the insistence of his wife, moving to Krasnoye Selo, Leningrad Region. Trouble about pensions and registration. Restoration in the party only in 1962. A personal pension has not been assigned, because years of prison, camps, exile were not included in the party experience. Old man's illnesses of both him and his wife. For two years, "chained" to the bed. Complete helplessness. Loss of the wife's mind. The memoir ends with the announcement of her death.

The annotation was compiled by Zhidkova T.G.