Tag #147281 - Interview #78416 (Meyer Markhasin)

The most interesting thing in my school history happened in 1936 when Stalin declared the former “nepmen” [businessmen in the time of NEP] deprived of electoral rights. These people – “lishentsy” - were ordered to leave Leningrad under the decree of the Central Committee of the Communist party. [People undesirable for authorities were not allowed to live closer than 100 kilometers to large cities, that’s how the well-known expression “101st kilometer appeared”]. When I was in the 9th form, I had to pass examinations. It was the final class, it was a 9-year education then. And my parents were forced to leave Pushkin for "the 101st kilometer". I didn’t go with them, I stayed to prepare for examinations, and when I came in the morning, my parents had already left. That same morning I went to see my sister, and she said that a little earlier the militia came to arrest me for not leaving with my parents. I was not even allowed to finish school, I had not passed examinations for the 9th grade and was compelled to join my parents at "the 101st kilometer".