Tag #144101 - Interview #94880 (Yefim Volodarskiy)

Regarding our parents, I recall an episode. There was a kolkhoz [17] near Kuibyshev organized from the kulaks [18] deported to this area from all over the Soviet Union. All other kolkhozes around were miserably poor, but this one was outstandingly rich. There were tractors in the kolkhoz. This kolkhoz even had an aircraft manufactured for the army. Tractors needed repairs. Chairman of this kolkhoz and his board came to see director of the plant and made him an offer: you do the repairs and I shall pay in food products – beetroots, potatoes… Director said he didn’t have the authority to make such decisions since it was the aviation plant. ‘You just go to your maintenance shop where Volodarskiy is superintendent. If he agrees to do the repairs without causing delay to your plan, then let’s do it!’ Director called me to tell me this was all right with him. Chairman of the kolkhoz came to see me and we came to an agreement. I talked to my guys: ‘Guys, we shall receive food products, but we need to do it to cause no harm to the aviation!’ I entered into ‘brotherhood’ with this kolkhoz. Well, we repaired whatever they needed and chairman of the kolkhoz brought me a bag of beetroots. I took it home. My mother-in-law was a practical woman. She went to sell these beetroots at the market. She had plumbed the depths of misfortunes before. So, she was selling those 5 rubles each, I guess. My father was standing beside her. She once said: ‘You stay here and I will buy something’. When she returned there was a crowd near that bag! My father began to sell beetroots 20 kopeck each. : People began to scream that he should sell maximum 3 beetroots to one person. She saw this ‘dealing’ and shouted everybody away. Some people wanted to beat her… She said: ‘But you’ve seen me doing it!’ and he replied: ‘How can one charge so much money per each beetroot!’ That was my father.