Chapter 6. Life in the USSR before the WWII
Here I will introduce more of my relatives and their stories. I begin with my wife Natalie’s ancestors.
Her father Pavel Shakhov was born in 1913 in a village Mikhailovka on the south-east of Ukraine, which always had a big Russian population. In 1930 after high school graduation Pavel went to Leningrad and lived together with his older cousin, who was recruited to the Naval academy. Pavel started his higher education in one of the Institute, but after a few months he received an offer to join the new State Diplomatic Academy in Moscow. That was the most crucial turn in his life that determined the next 50 years of Pavel's career. After a couple years at the office of Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a one of the most perspective young diplomat Pavel was assigned to continue his education at the Columbia University at New York. The beginning of WWII started while he was a student of CUNY. He enjoyed his living in the USA, despite constant lack of money and carrying on a very Puritan way of life. He absorbed the new for him American life, learned fluent English, made friends with fellow students, during University classes breaks looked for the various odd jobs around the country, which gave him opportunity to travel.
In 1940 Pavel returned back to Moscow, worked in the Ministry, got married pretty girl, who gave him a daughter. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in 1941 he was assigned to work with the Department dealing with the Great Britain. He was transferred to the USSR Embassy in London in 1943, his wife and daughter stayed in Moscow. There, in London Pavel met a young, bright secretary Inna Domov (she was 18 at that time), eventually she became his wife for the rest of his life.
In the beginning of 1945 Pavel was sent to the USA as a member of international team preparing the first meeting of the new organization, United Nations. He was delighted to come to the USA again, especially the opportunity to work in International organization. As usual Pavel work hard, forgetting about his personal life, leaving his family back in Moscow. He was one of the key administrator at the first organizing meeting of major UN members at Dumbarton Oaks in 1945. Since that time Pavel worked in several UN departments (most of his time in Department for Africa Liberation and Department for Mutual Disarmament). In 1946 Pavel brought his new wife Inna to New York, where they lived most of each year till 1975, doing just short visits to Moscow. There in New York Inna gave birth to her two daughters, Natalie in 1948 and Olga in 1953.
Evdokia Dvoryakovskaya, 1915
Inna was from the family of the Military Prosecutor General of Belarus, Nikolai Domov. Her mother, Ducia, was born in 1898 in aristocratic Dvoryakovsky family. Soviet regime destroyed the lives of many previously respected people, made them hide among “simple” working population. Since the age of 18 Ducia had to earn her bread and shelter by herself. Fortunately, she met young commander of the Red Army, whom she loved very much. They married, lived happily together with their son Nikolai and daughter Inna (born in 1926). In the middle of 1930’s Nikolai was promoted to the Military Prosecutor General. That was a wrong time to get such title, Stalin's repressions were in the peak, innocent people everywhere in the huge country were killed, thrown to the Gulag – system of the forced labor mainly in remote areas, practically to their complete extinction. Stalin constantly rotated the most important and close to the Soviet government people, that “rotation” meant death execution without formal criminal charges. Nikolai in his high position recognized the danger for his life very fast, all he could do was to find a way to safe his family, because he, maybe better than anyone, knew that his bad fate was immediately the end of the normal life for his wife, son and daughter, maybe even their conviction as collaborates of anti-soviet element. So, he told Ducia that in order to save their lives (for himself he didn’t see a way out) they must divorce as soon as possible.
This story of self-sacrifice was one of the most incredible in my mind. Just the very thought of person life, when one began to feel love and hope for the better future, being broken without any sensible reason and she must to find that slim chance to survive – always gave me a big hit, demanding never quit my efforts to leave that evil mechanism, comfortably residing in the vast Russian land.
Ducia divorced Nikolai and two weeks later he was arrested and nothing was known about him since then. She must start her life from the beginning, find job, raise her daughter, Nikolai Jr. was carrying his own life by then. And she did, devoted to only one goal – make her daughter happy, she was an amazing example of human strength. I met her after I married Natalie, her beloved granddaughter, we lived in the same apartment in Moscow for several years, where she told her stories, even then trying to avoid the words somehow judging the people at power. Add to this that her son was missed in action during the war, and it became obvious how much of strength and determination to survive was inside that woman.
Remember Maria, my grandmother? She had an older, kind brother Tomash. At age of 25 he became the assistant of train engineer. His major duties were to shovel the coal into the locomotive furnace. He was glad that finally he could provide for himself enough for a decent life. But 1937 destroyed his life along with thousands peaceful Poles happened to be in the USSR. By the order of Stalin’s NKVD (predecessor to KGB) more than several 100,000 quiet living people of Polish nationality were pronounced to be spies and enemies of the Soviet State. Therefore, all of them were convicted without court sentencing to execution or labor camp imprisonment. Tomash disappeared and nobody heard of him since, most likely he was shot by the KGB firing squad in 1940 during mass Polish execution, called Katyn massacre. In 1956 Maria received a Reabilitation letter from the Khrushchev's government, stating
Tomash Kowalski Reabilitation letter of July 5, 1956
that Tomash Kowalski was innocent, unfortunately, his fate was unknown, when and where he died, the letter didn’t say.
Fedor, my brave grandfather, became a Red Army general and had a position of a director of Military School for munition supply and troops transportation. Together with his beloved wife Lena they lived comfortably in one of the Moscow apartment. Many years later Lena told me a story, humorous and terrible at the same time, that happened with Fedor in the 1938.
Fedor in 1930s as Red Army officer and as an elite general in late 1940s
One day he told Lena that his deputy was taken by NKVD, no explanation was given to Fedor, which meant only one thing - the School was under close surveillance and he must expect bad news for himself any time. He was right, new deputy, who was sent to the School, didn’t do much for the School, but spent most of his time for watching the students and teachers, writing something in his closed office. Obviously, Fedor didn’t like such behavior and when he demanded from the deputy explanations, no reasonable answer was given. Then Fedor, brave and direct person, decided to act, to go to the bold attack on the NKVD, no matter how ridiculous it might looked.
That day Fedor didn’t go to his work. He put on his parade military suit with all his distinguished orders and medals. He embraced and kissed Lena, clearly understanding that he might never return and see her again. And he went directly to the NKVD headquarters on Lubyanka square. He came to the entrance guard and required to convey him to the officer who prepares his file. After some time, needed to accommodate such an unusual request, he met with one of “investigators”. Fedor didn’t waste time and avoiding any pleasantness demanded: “If you have something bad on me arrest me now, I am here for you. I fought for the Communism future in this country and ready to be punished, if I am a traitor. But there is nothing bad against me, stop watching my every move and take away your “writer” from my School”.
He bluffed of course, he hoped to get some information on what stage was the case against him. He saw many brave commanders of the Civil War were arrested for the treason or even espionage and killed by NKVD monstrous evil device. The investigator wasn’t prepare for such a turn and actually disclosed that the case was not in the final stage, ready for arrest order, but really close to that point. Obviously, he was shocked and frightened in front the superior ranked commander. He asked Fedor if he had someone in close circles to Stalin, who could vouch for him, so the case would be closed immediately.
Without any hesitation Fedor answered: “Clement Voroshilov is my good friend since the Civil War, we used to drink vodka together”. Voroshilov, the Supreme Commander of Red Army, was a second after Stalin in the USSR ranking table at that time. Fedor didn’t lie about drinking vodka with Voroshilov, it actually happened at the front camp in 1920, when Voroshilov arrived to inspect the situation. Early in the morning Voroshilov ordered to check the commanding staff, he stopped before them and asked “Who of you, son-of-bitches, drink vodka in the morning?” Everyone was expecting the punishment, because all of them drank and did that independent of day time. Fedor was quick, “I do!”- he shouted. Voroshilov looked at brave young Red commander and said: “Let’s get some to cure my hangover, don’t like to be alone”.
Fedor reaction was so genuine that his investigator relaxed, took his pen and made a note in the file. Politely, he told Fedor that there were no further inquiries, case would be closed. Couple weeks Lena and Fedor lived in constant fear that they would come for him, but nothing happened, they probably decided to not ask Voroshilov to remember with whom he drank 18 years ago.