Russian emigre recounts life under iron rule of Stalin

3 WORLDS OF LARISSA: A Story of Survival, by Larissa Koteyva, Biddle Publishing, P.O. Box 1305, Brunswick, 287 pages, $16.50.

Larissa Koteyva, now a resident of Brunswick, was born in Russia in 1922 just after the Bolsheviks had seized power. Because Larissa’s family included former Tsarist loyalists, they were considered “enemies of the people” and became victims of Stalin’s persecutions.

As a child, Larissa was abandoned by her father and grew up under the worst of circumstances. To force the collectivization of farms, Stalin ordered the dispossession and arrest of rebellious peasants. Koteyva describes the unforgettable sight of whole families being transported to Siberia. “A convoy of armed soldiers on horseback guarded the transport of prisoners. The wagons were packed with men, women and children. The children huddled against their mothers, but not one of them cried. Their faces were devoid of any expression, except for their eyes which were open wide and full of fear. The crowds of townspeople on the sidewalks were very quiet. Only the clattering of horses’ hoofs on the cobblestones on the road and the creaking of the wagon wheels broke the stillness that filled the air. These sounds were louder than any screams or wailings. The kulaks were on their way to `gulags.’ ”

When this did not advance Stalin’s plans, he decided to let the peasants starve to death unless they gave in. Food was exported out of Ukraine, warehouses were emptied, harvests were hauled away.

Koteyva remembers the winter and spring of 1932-33 as the most frightening period of her life. An estimated 10 million to 12 million people starved to death during Stalin’s artificially created famine.

When Hitler’s armies attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, Koteyva’s family decided to stay in Proskurov and take their chances with the Germans. “… We hoped that, since Hitler proclaimed his intent to fight Stalin and the Communists, he would treat us, who were victims of Stalin’s terror, better than Stalin had. We witnessed the duplicity of Stalin’s policies, and how quickly he altered them to suit his plans. For years, the Germans had been labeled as `cruel and barbaric’ people. Later, they were described to us as an `intelligent nation’ which would be quite friendly and agreeable. Then suddenly, they were `Fascists’ and `mad dogs.’ We were thoroughly acquainted with Stalin’s propaganda and, therefore, could not trust his accusations. The Soviet Motherland was cruel to us. Under normal circumstances, in peace time, we could never escape from her. Perhaps now it would be possible.”

As the tide turned from the German army, Koteyva, her mother and grandmother fled to Austria and the hardships of life in Hitler’s labor camps. As Russians they were despised by the Germans, and were given the hardest tasks and worst living situation. They carried on, ever hopeful that they might find a way to emigrate to the United States. The final obstacle to their freedom was the Yalta Agreement, signed in secret by Stalin and American and British heads of state. Through it, Stalin demanded the return of all Soviet citizens who had left the Soviet Union during the war. For Koteyva and her family, this would mean certain death. That these three women were able to avoid this catastrophe is testimony to their courageous determination to survive. This book bears witness to that spirit.

As a history of the oppression of the Russian people during the 1930s and 1940s, this book is far-reaching, putting a human face to the suffering Stalin caused.

Koteyva is unflinching in her assessment of the tragedies which resulted from Churchill and Roosevelt’s acquiescence to Stalin’s demand for Soviet repatriation.

Her account of the difficulties and prejudices which immigrants faced in this country provide an interesting ending to the tale. Koteyva’s compellingly written story sheds new light on this dark period in Russian history.

Judy Eyerer is a free-lance writer who lives in Bangor.