Tag #113179 - Interview #92510 (Anatoly Lifshits)

At last Stalin died. In prison father of my wife was told that they would discharge him in a few days. They asked him whether he had a wish. He said he wanted to know about the destiny of his relatives. He got the following answer: ‘Don’t worry about your wife: she is WITH US, and we will find out about your daughter.’ We got to know about it much later. And when Stalin died, my wife cried: she was sure that execution of her father would take place very soon. My director told me ‘Do you remember that we have to fulfill our condition? Yesterday I was asked about you by NKVD [23] representatives. Please bring your resignation.’ I did it, but unexpectedly our trade union did not agree with my discharge. By the way, when they expelled me from the Party I appealed to the Party superiors against their decision and later forgot about it. After Stalin's death, they invited me to Moscow and informed that my appeal had been considered and my position in the Party was redeemed. Next day I was appointed a deputy chief of staff, squadron in Tallinn. The post was the most enviable, but at that time I warmed to my work at the Academy and wanted to return there. But the Academy chief said ‘So many people danced on your bones, it will be difficult for you to work together. Come back a year later.