June 12th

The stories you are about to read are true; the names have been change to protect the innocent in case the KGB is looking. (Just Kidding the names are real.)

Peter's Story

(Peter's sitting next to me now, ssshhhh I have to type quietly.)

You gotta love this guy - he reminds me of the absent-minded professor. He’s in his mid fifties and from Magadan. His clothes are disheveled, although I’m not sure these aren’t his good clothes. His stocking cap is on crooked; his pants hang as if he needs another notch punched in his belt, and he hasn’t shaved in several days. He smokes the Russian cigarette down to the filter and when he’s done pulls the filter apart to inspect it with curiosity in his eyes. He speaks enough English for us to communicate, although he sounds like Arty Johnson from "Laugh In".

He lives and breathes concrete and is a specialist in Artic/Tundra concrete. I suppose that’s why we get along. But that isn’t the story. This is:

During WWII his parents and grandparents were banished to Northern Siberia by Stalin for their religious beliefs. He asked me if I was a Christian and made the sign of the cross with his two fingers and when I answered yes it was as if he found a friend. The people here are very religious yet he is still afraid because of what happened to his family.

Peter said they were put on a train and sent to work in the mines to pan/dig for gold. It was required that each man turn in 2 grams of gold each day even when the weather was minus 50 Celsius. They would heat the water with the fuel intended for cooking, and home use, so their hands would not freeze. If you did not find the 2 grams of gold you remained on the job until you found the gold. He said many men died panning for gold. He was born in Northern Siberia and after the war they found their way to Magadan which was still a prison at that time. There was a prison with walls but the city itself is blocked by water on one side and mountains on the other. He said there was no place to go.
The amazing thing is that a generation later, the lasting impression is still there. I find it hard when talking to people like Peter and Erica that humans can do this to each other, and that it still goes on in 2005.

P.S. He showed us a picture of his lab in Magadan, in the worst place that I have worked I had more than he has. It makes me want to ship equipment to him.