Jelena Posnik: The cries of half-dead horses wake me up at night to this day
- Keywords: Bolshevik revolution / World War II / Russians in the Gulag / uranium mining / relationships in the Gulag / Kolyma / frost / banishment
Her dad sang her merry songs about Trotsky, Lenin and the proletariat. He was one of those who proudly built the Soviet Union – the state that later dragged her through camps for years only because she had learned German from her mum.
Alexandr Snovskij: He wanted to become a vet but went to the Gulag instead
- Keywords: Interrogation / torture / Russians in the Gulag / Igarka / railway / the Dead Road / work in the Gulag / death in the Gulag
A young student desired one thing only – to become a veterinarian and work with animals. Instead, his journey from university auditoriums and classrooms took him to interrogation cellars and then labour camps in the Far North.
He did not allow the Gulag to quench his love for animals. Eventually, he completed his violently interrupted studies and became a zoological engineer. Once released, he dedicated his life to educating others on the horrors of Stalin’s repressions and writing memoirs of his years spent in labour camps.