Tag #149793 - Interview #96998 (Irina Doroshkova )

In 1937 when I turned 7 I went to a Russian school near our house in the center of the town. I remember an event at school when I was in the first form. We had portraits of Yakir [7], Kossior [8] and other military commanders and Party activists. Once our teacher told us that they were ‘enemies of the people’ and we painted them over with ink [9]. I don’t remember any details, but I remember that my mother was called to some office and I heard some big shot yelling at her ‘Which enemy has worked on you?’ My mother stood in his office and then she grabbed an inkpot and threw it at him. Thank God she wasn't arrested but they were trying to get a confession from her – I don’t know about what. I remember a terrible tension at home – my parents hardly spoke a word.