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Expedition Siberia: The son of two murdered Gulag prisoners tells his story
Apr 14, 2005 14: 09 EST
The guys have less than 2 weeks left on their long Siberian winter trek. Currently waiting for a new film camera in Chersky, they continue to capture the local's amazing stories. A few days back, we learned from a reindeer herders couple how to stay married for 50 years. Today, another life destiny of far Siberia - a chat with the son of two killed Gulag prisoners. Here's Stanislaw's story:
Chersky - a distinct smell of oil and gas
14 Apr, 05 - 17:43 GPS-pos: N68°47' | E161°22' | Alt: 23 M
Thursday, April 14 and today we were set to leave Chersky for our last stretch to Ambarchik Bay - roughly 8 days of skiing over the windswept tundra. But, as you know, our film camera was trashed in Kolymskaya, and the new one will not arrive from Moscow until tomorrow. We hope. If all goes well, we're off on Saturday.
We're still in the Siljone Mys (Green Bay) suburb, 5 km north of Chersky. There's a distinct smell of oil and gas, which penetrates every corner of the settlement. Temperature is 5°F, but there's a freezing northerly making life outdoors miserable.
Polish blue blood enough of a crime
"Both my parents died in the camp here in Chersky", Stanislaw tells us, as we sit in a jeep overlooking a magnificent blood red sunset over the Kolyma river, "My mother was polish and came from an aristocratic family. That was enough to be considered an enemy of the Communist State and they were therefore taken prisoners during the Second World War and eventually ended up here in Chersky."
"The lady and the pig farmer met in the camp, that's how I was born"
"What about your father?" I ask, once again surprised over the fact that people just open up the door to their inner thoughts to a stranger, always unexpectedly.
"He owned a pig farm in Western Siberia" Stanislaw answers almost in a whisper, "and that was obviously enough to be considered as an enemy of the State. He also ended up here in Chersky, where he met my mother in the camp. That's were I was born."
A face void of feelings
Today, Stanislaw works as a driver for the local administration here in Chersky and he has fascinated me since we arrived here. Almost bald, his face is hard and rough almost as if chiseled out of granite - a face totally void of feelings. He's always smoking. He always has a scornful and challenging gaze. He's one of those guys you don't want to run into in a dark corner of a street.
"I was strong. You had to be."
"Both my parents perished in the camp, well, yes, my whole family on my mothers side disappeared and were murdered in Stalin's camps and that name doesn't exist anymore" , Stanislaw explains soberly, "as a result I ended up as an orphan at a local orphanage. A very difficult time of my life. A place were only the strongest and fittest survived. And I was strong. You had to be. That's why I also survived my years in the military service. I was used to the hard life in the orphanage and knew how to take care of myself. My whole life as a youngster was one long slog to survive and be stronger then the rest."
Siberian bounty hunters
It is considered that the worst of all Stalin's Gulags were to be found in this region, in Chersky and Ambarchik. Local people we've come across who actively support these insane measures taken by Stalin, and there's plenty of them along the Kolyma, say that the worst and most dangerous of all criminals, ended up in these two camps.
The fact is, that these camps even had special death squadrons, so called bounty hunters, who were sent out to find and kill all prisoners who managed to escape. For proof that the hunters had tracked down and killed the escapees, they brought back the cut off hand of the unfortunate, which had their prisoner number tattooed, to the prison administration.
Friends were informers
"It wasn't easy being an orphan and the son of camp prisoners," Stanislaw continues his sad account, "KGB kept an eye on you all the time, well, all the time until the time of perestroika. And I never knew who actually were an KGB-agent or an informer. Half of all your friends and acquaintances was one or the other. There's no doubt I enjoy life much more now. I can say whatever I like to anyone. But I did that already during the Communist times, for I knew that even if they didn't like what I said, where would they send me? I would just come back here!"
"Things are the way they are. The past cannot be undone."
"But, how do feel about this today?" I ask, "don't you feel a lot of hatred over the Soviets, the communists and all those which made you an orphan?"
"No, not at all" , Stanislaw answers not too surprisingly, "things are the way they are. The past cannot be undone. These were measures which had to be taken at the time, to construct the land we have today. Our Motherland. I understand it fully and agree. I am not doing too bad today. I have a Chukchi wife and two children. And I have a job, which most people don't have right now in Chersky. I shouldn't complain."
It's a Russian thing
His answer didn't surprise me. It is pretty much the same I've received from all people who's got similar experiences along the Kolyma. For me, it is impossible to understand this forgiving and understanding way to judge the mad dictator Stalin and the Gulag history. If I take into account all the unfortunate people I've come across all over the world during my 25 years of exploring, people with similar experiences, I believe this particular way to see things is very Russian.
Still profoundly indoctrinated
Indeed. And I have to add, that I feel the uttermost admiration for how thorough the Soviet indoctrination worked it's way into all Russians along the Kolyma. Because there's no doubt that most Russians who remember and lived through the Soviet Era along the Kolyma, are still profoundly indoctrinated and they have often an extremely narrow and inaccurate picture of the existing global political situation. And they're very proud over the Motherland. Whether they're Caucasian Russians or northern natives. Nothing wrong with that, just a fact.
Silence
"What's the reaction of your children when you tell them of your exceedingly hard upbringing?" I finally ask Stanislaw, but as usual I get a surprising answer: "I haven't told them. One cannot change the past, but we have to look ahead and forget. Their lives doesn't get any better just by knowing this."
"But," I exclaim, "if nobody tells about this inhumane and horrendous time, then the knowledge gets lost with your generation and what do we humans then learn from it? If it gets forgotten, it can happen again!"
"I don't care" ,Stanislaw replies at the same time he's squeezing my hand hard, but with warmth and ends our conversation with these words: "I have to thank you intensely for having spared the time and energy to listen to my complaints."
"This part of the world is one of the few remaining places on earth that is virgin territory. This is a genuine journey of discovery. We believe that it is in this untouched area that the answers to many of the questions asked by modern men are to be found: Why are we here? How do we find harmony and satisfaction in our lives?"
This was the introduction that Micke and Johan presented ExWeb when they announced their expedition. Using Contact 3.0. they have documented their expedition in words and pictures to make a record of this unknown part of our world along the Kolyma River, enigmatic even to many Russians and Siberians.
Embarking upon an epic journey through Siberia stretching over 3500km, they would face among the lowest temperatures on Earth, headed to a very isolated research station: the Northeast Siberian Research Station in Cherskii, near Ambarchik Bay. This is where Expedition Siberia 2004 will end.
Live image of Stanislaw over Contact 3.0, courtesy of the team.
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2004
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