Tag #146409 - Interview #95374 (Mark Kabakov)

Then we left Moscow, when everybody was escaping. It happened on the 16th of October 1941, when Germans stood by the border of the city. The whole city was imbibed with the smell of ashes as the documents were being burnt in all institutions, including regional party committee. It was the only day when the metro was closed down. All specialized schools –artillery, aviation and our marine left Moscow. We were evacuated in the East. The schools got off the transport gradually upon arrival. We were traveling in the locomotives. The first stop was in Achinsk, [about 2900 km. to the east from Moscow] , wherefrom we had to take a walk to the village Bolshoy Chul, Novosibirsk oblast.