Tag #148232 - Interview #95316 (Rahil Shabad)

In 1936-1937 repressions [Great Terror] [18] commenced. Fortunately it did not refer to my kin, but everybody understood that there was no guarantee that we would be safe from them. There was a Jew Evgeniy Katsnelson among my fellow students. He was from Voronezh. His father was the head of Voronezh military command. Evgeniy was a tall and handsome blond. At that time he was friends with the doctor of archbishop. Maybe it was the reason for his arrest. He was arrested in the middle of the lecture. He was 18 at that time. He was released in some time. My friends saw him and said that he changed a lot. He was asked what it was like in Gulag [19], and he replied: ”Those who were there, would never forget, and those who weren’t would never understand”. Children of ‘peoples’ enemies’ [Enemy of the people] [20], whose parents were arrested, studied with me. They looked worried but they did not speak of their anxieties. We did not want to hurt them and did not broach the subject about their parents. I was too young and it was hard for me to understand what was going on without knowing their parents. But at the back of my mind I did not fully believe that ‘peoples’ enemies’ were everywhere.