One of the key events in Kalmyk national history was the nation's deportation,
en masse, during World War II. Like a number of other groups in the Russian south, including the Chechens, the Kalmyks were accused of collaboration with the Nazis, and harshly punished. On December 28, 1943, the Kalmyks were herded into cattle cars and began the journey to Siberia and central Asia for "resettlement". There were no exception made; pregnant women, the elderly, and infants were all forced into the cars. Roughly half of those deported died en route.
Valeriy's grandmother was one of those deported, and his mother was born in Siberia, in Krasnoyarsk krai. When she was alive, his grandmother told him stories about the conditions in the cattle cars. Like those sent to concentration camps by the Nazis, next to nothing was provided for those who were deported. When people died, their bodies were simply dumped on the side of the train tracks. There was no partition for those who needed to use the bathroom; according to Valeriy, his grandmother told him a story of a woman who died because she couldn't bring herself to go in front of the other passengers.
The deportation has been commemorated with a sculpture and memorial. The sculpture is by Ernst Neizvestniy (whose name translates from Russian as 'unknown'), who has also done large-scale sculptures for the Aswan Dam in Egypt and in remembrance of those individuals who perished in the Gulag (specifically the
Mask of Sorrow in Magadan). The memorial includes a cattle car, typical of the ones that transported the Kalmyks across the steppe, and a series of 14 stones marking each of the years that the Kalmyks were exiled. After Stalin's death in 1953, Khrushchev initiated his thaw, to rehabilitate those who had suffered under Stalinism. In 1956, the Kalmyks were finally allowed to return to Kalmykia.
One of the key events in Kalmyk national history was the nation's deportation, en masse, during World War II. Like a number of other groups in the Russian south, including the Chechens, the Kalmyks were accused of collaboration with the Nazis, and harshly punished. On December 28, 1943, the Kalmyks were herded into cattle cars and began the journey to Siberia and central Asia for "resettlement". There were no exception made; pregnant women, the elderly, and infants were all forced into the cars. Roughly half of those deported died en route. 
Valeriy's grandmother was one of those deported, and his mother was born in Siberia, in Krasnoyarsk krai. When she was alive, his grandmother told him stories about the conditions in the cattle cars. Like those sent to concentration camps by the Nazis, next to nothing was provided for those who were deported. When people died, their bodies were simply dumped on the side of the train tracks. There was no partition for those who needed to use the bathroom; according to Valeriy, his grandmother told him a story of a woman who died because she couldn't bring herself to go in front of the other passengers. 
The deportation has been commemorated with a sculpture and memorial. The sculpture is by Ernst Neizvestniy (whose name translates from Russian as 'unknown'), who has also done large-scale sculptures for the Aswan Dam in Egypt and in remembrance of those individuals who perished in the Gulag (specifically the Mask of Sorrow in Magadan). The memorial includes a cattle car, typical of the ones that transported the Kalmyks across the steppe, and a series of 14 stones marking each of the years that the Kalmyks were exiled. After Stalin's death in 1953, Khrushchev initiated his thaw, to rehabilitate those who had suffered under Stalinism. In 1956, the Kalmyks were finally allowed to return to Kalmykia.
1 comment:
Very interesting post. I remember seeing that sculpture in Magadan in Long Way Round.
Post a Comment