Real and Intolerable Life of Mr. Sungulian

Sitting in his apartment, a daily newspaper in his hands, Mr. Sungulian would always wait for someone to knock on his door, to come in and to have conversation about the memories and the sad stories from his past. The eighty years old man, who lost his family never complained about his lifestyle, but always agreed that in 1950s he suffered cold and hard starvation. Today he has a great compassion for other people that suffer to death. Diligent and skilled engineer from the bygone years never forgets the harsh days when he lived in Armenia, during USRR. He says that for him living in a communism country was like living in prison.

The Soviet Union was an organization for working class, but for the favor of nation, in order to improve the life of the people and get them free from wealthy people's pressure.

But people believed to the political party and followed its laws and rules. At that time the nation had many victims, a lot of people were killed, families were destroyed and ruined, those who had a chance could ran away but some of them stayed. The placement of the new regime was profitable for the majority of people that is why the regime appeared. Then they noticed that it was not humane. It did harm the people, but they had to follow it, they had no other choice and the new generation which came, preferred the communist parties, because they did not hear about any other laws.

People enjoyed their rights, but according to the Soviet Union regime, and not the way they liked. Only the party could make decisions, whatever the party wanted they had to obey. At that time people had to follow the demands that the government introduced and the decisions that it made. Not everybody could be elected, they had to be a relative or a partisan of the government, and the people who obeyed laws of the system of government were elected. On the other hand, they persecuted the population in order to gain the favor of the government. Now that regime does not exist, instead the nation is in freedom and do not forget that there were fifteen republican countries besides some 100 countries. The fifteen countries are the primary ones. Today each country lives individually, but not all the countries are in good conditions because they do not have an opportunity to improve.

The system of Soviet Union was something for example; if workers did not go to work, business owners would say that they are betrayers and by those kinds of motivations they would exile them to Siberia. I know group of my friends that were exiled to Siberia and other countries for thoughtless excuses.

Many people were pursued, they were known as children of the rich people and had anticommunist ideas; they were neither encouraged nor elected as a member of a government. The capitalism belonged to only one person; it was controlled only by the head of the Soviet Union. There was only one party. "Partya" was the only one that would control the nation. There were no other parties.

In 1918, Stalin's time period was very awful, but not as much because by the time it alleviated. From the political party, whatever they say, the writers or painters had to draw or write. Poets always had to mention Stalin's name in their poems. In his time of a period each poem had to have Stalin's name. The government would take care of everything, also would publish the books. The writers couldn't do it because there was not a personal business, it did not exist. The writer would write and give it to the government and the government would print and the bookstores would sale. He would get paid monthly, but depended on whom; the government would pay well to the writers of the communism advertisements, just to change the manner of the people. But the people knew what is right and what's not, but could not say anything. Newspaper writes would get exiled for writing bad but true stories about government. They didn't risk writing anything against their idea, because they will loose their jobs.

However the government set the laws and they had to accept it, even in the schools teachers were teaching "maxizm", "Leninism." How can I explain their prevailing ideas? The ideas that the innocent children would learn. The schools were not payable, it was free, since the year that kids were bom they would send them to school, they would send them to school that was called "mankamsur." It was beneficial for the government to take care of children, because in the future they would be their supporters. If they let them to stay with their parents for a long time it wouldn't be good for government, because parents would always complain. They did not have food and what could kids say or think about it? At school teachers would ask what did their parents talked and kids would innocently tell their parent's appeals. The next day they would not see their mom or dad anymore.

Labor class was always dissatisfied, but they could never gossip.

Government would exile the people; banish them, so they could be afraid of them. Working friends did not know each other if a person was a member of government or a sincere person; they were not allowed to share their grief with their friends.

It was prohibitive to do your own work in the period of Soviet Union and the young people went to different schools, if they were engineers they would study in the department of engineering. They would work with political party members, or as a worker like me, they would leam handicraft and art in six months sculpture, art... etc. I was working in factories, factories were public and the factories would pay less for the work that I have done. I didn't enjoy my work in factories, because they didn't pay me enough for my work. I was an engineer at that time but I didn't have the chance to work as an engineer. My job at the ""Vosku"(gold) factory was to make jewelry and some other parts of house equipments that had nothing to do with gold.

I haven't been fired from my work, but I remember how strict and rude they were with me, when I was late to my work at once. It was in winter and it was really cold. Before going to work I had to help my brother's kids to get to school. When I took them to school on my way I realized that I'll be late to work and I predicted what was going to happen to me. I didn't get fired because they knew I'm a hard working person, but they pressured me and gave me a double work to do.

Main thing is when Soviet Union collapsed; exiled people got free and came back. The situation in Armenia got better after the collapse. At the end of 1955 it Soviet Union started collapsing. Freedom started and people could breathe an air.

Interviewed by Ani Orujyan