Zverev Vladimir A.,
doctor of historical sciences, professor, Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University (NSPU), chief researcher, Institute of History of the Siberian Branch of RAS. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
“Thrown out of Society”: a Soviet Man about Surviving in Stalin's “Purgatory”
DOI:10.31518/2618-9100-2018-1-9
The published fragment of autobiographical reminiscences of Vasiliy Ivanovich Ermolenko (1893-1970) combines the features of personal source and ego-document. The author worked in statistical department in Altai region during 1920s–1950s, and wrote his memoirs in the late 1960s, when he was enjoying his retirement in Novosibirsk. The published fragment refers to 1933, when the Biysk district inspector of economic accounting was arrested on false charges of anti-Soviet activities and was kept in custody for more than four months. The article describes circumstances of this arrest, interrogations conducted for the purposes of inducing self-incrimination, as well as prisoner’s behavior in extreme conditions. The most important part is the author's explication of his thoughts and emotions experienced on the verge of death. The text of the memoirs was given for publication by its author’s great-granddaughter Daria Ermolenko.
How to cite: Zverev V.A. “Thrown out of Society”: a Soviet Man about Surviving in Stalin's “Purgatory” // Historical Courier. 2018. № 1. URL: http://istkurier.ru/data/2018/ISTKURIER-2018-1-09.pdf
Links: Issue 1 2018
Keywords: 1930-s; Barnaul; Biysk; memories; ego-document; Joint State Political Directorate; repressive system; a pre-trial investigation