Berezutsky

The author, who was arrested in Leningrad in January 1942, signed the charges against him and apparently escaped torture, does not say what exactly he was accused of.
At the beginning of his memoirs, he depicts the work of the repressive apparatus in Leningrad, which acquired especially menacing proportions after the death of S.M. Kirov. Author's letter to I.V. Stalin in 1937 with a question about the reasons for "the murder of the best communists, Bolsheviks, Komsomol members." A story about a Leningrad apartment on Nevsky Prospekt, where there was a hangout for the NKVD. About the famine of 1932, about the very difficult situation of his brothers, about his trip to Rostov in connection with this, where he saw "a terrible tragedy of the people." To save relatives, a device in Maikop in the laboratory of a flour mill. Description of terrible pictures in the besieged Leningrad. Shortly after the arrest, the sentence was 10 years in prison. Prison "Crosses". The cell, where there are about a hundred prisoners. According to the author, "there were 15-20 cannibals in it." (Was there really such a thing, or is there some exaggeration or even gloomy fantasy in some of the facts cited? Like, for example, the mention that the cells were not locked and the prisoners could walk freely along the corridors, and some went up to the dome and threw themselves down, committing suicide. - Ed.)
Memories are interrupted by 11 counts of accusation of I.V. Stalin for the crimes he committed.
In June 1942, a stage in the city of Solikamsk. Monstrous pictures of what is happening in the zone. Arrival at the camp "Berezovo", and then - to "Bulatovo". Of the 200 people who arrived in Solikamsk, about a third remained. In 1943, a stage in the Kushpeli camp [so to the text. – Ed.], according to the author “death camp”. Search and inspection of naked people in forty degrees of frost. Famine in the camp, where up to 100 people per day died. Bullying of prisoners by the head of the camp, Mikhalchenko, who was appointed head of the department of the Nyrob camps “for excellent work”. The appointment of new authorities to the Kushpeli camp, which took care of improving the lot of prisoners (the head of the camp - Makarenko, the head of the medical unit - Kogan). Transfer to the camp "SIM" [so the text - ed.], where, according to the author, 800 people died per month. Work 12 hours in the forest. The norm of stew is 25 grams for each cut cube of wood. Exhausted, the author cuts off his fingers on his left hand. Transfer to the Nyrob camps, which were run by the same Mikhalchenko. Description of the appalling situation of the prisoners. Mention that in the forest, outside the zone, those who ended up in the occupied territories during the war, including women and children, lived in the open air. A story about the head of the security guard of the detention center, who came to the detention center three times a day and shot one prisoner at a time. Transfer to camp "Vankino". Vlasov guards, distinguished by particular cruelty. Escape in 1946 of 18 former prisoners of war, who, after being caught, were hunted down by Vlasov dog breeders. Harassment with the support of the authorities by the thieves in law of the prisoners, who attacked their barracks at night and killed 36 people. In connection with this, the transfer of political prisoners, according to the author, up to 500 people, to the Novoe camp. Work as a baker. Six months later, the camp "Head". The stage to the camp "Glubokovskaya", because, while working in a construction team to repair the office of the secretary of the party committee, he tore off the portrait of L.P. Beria from the wall. and threw it on the floor. Prisoners are mostly Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians. A visit to the camp by the head of Mikhalchenko, who, remembering Voloshin, sends him to the isolation ward of the Vankino camp, while the guard drives the author there, barefoot in underwear, through the snow for six kilometers. Stage on the "New" thanks to the director of the Stalingrad plant released from prison.
Liberation after Stalin's death. Issuance of a “wolf passport” in Leningrad, sending 101 km with threats of re-arrest when trying to return to the city. Inability to get a job. Appearance at the NKVD in the city of Bataysk, Rostov Region, with a request to be sent back to the camp. Registration in Bataysk and work there at the Krasny Molot plant. A call to the "Big House" in Leningrad, a certificate of rehabilitation. Return in 1955 to Leningrad and work for 30 years [sic in the text - ed.]. Shop manager at the Gosmetr plant.
At the end of the memoirs, there is a report of data received, according to the author, from the head of personnel Nyroblag: in 1949, there were 525 camp administrations under the Gulag, 25 thousand camps, 25 million prisoners.
The appendix is ​​an appeal to the deputies of the Leningrad City Council with a call to create a memorial museum “in the gray house” on Liteiny Prospekt to remind of the crimes committed and to “cleanse the conscience” of those responsible for them.

The annotation was compiled by Zhidkova T.G.

Belikh, Berezutsky, Beria Lavrenty Pavlovich, Buzulukov Ilya, Voloshin Sylvester Ivanovich, Voloshina Varvara Dmitrievna, Ivanchenko Ivan, Karpov, Kirov Sergey Mironovich, Koop Alexander Feliksovich, Makarenko, Mikhalchenko Timofey, Sapozhnikov, Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich, Tolstoukhov Alexander Petrovich, Tyagoev, Khabarov