Tag #142884 - Interview #78247 (Adolf Landsman)

Peoples' discontent was growing and it caused the breakup of the USSR [in 1991]. It was a shock for me. There were many reasons for the breakup and the main one was written in the constitution: the USSR is the union of the independent republics, which could become separate states. I think it was a tragedy for such a large and powerful country, but it couldn't have been prevented. The republics realized their constitutional rights. As an engineer I was interested in the technical issues as well, like the electric energy supply, transport network and others, as all those branches were interlaced and interdependent between all Republics of the USSR. There were certain every- day issues that worried me. I feared that I wouldn't be able to visit my friends in the other republics.