Interview with my Grandfather – Abraham Abraamyan

Having lived under a communist dictatorship, Abraham Abraamyan now lives happily with his son’s family enjoying the freedom of America. Born and raised in Baghdad, he moved to his motherland seeking anything other than an oppressive government - which is what he got. The Soviet Union eventually let him free but the “cage” will never be forgotten.

I was born in the year 1937 in Baghdad and at 11 years of age I immigrated to Armenia, which was under soviet control. At that time Stalin was the dictator of the Soviet Union. The S.U. was not capitalist it was a communist world. Stalin was very strict. Only Cuba and China were not against the S.U. Besides them, everyone was. Europe was very against it and so was America.

At that time there was no freedom. You could not speak your mind freely. If you tried you would be taken to jail. Many Armenians were jailed under Stalin. One man that lived near us was jailed for criticizing the government in flyers that he posted. He was jailed then released after the neighborhood raised money to bail him out.

You could not publish negative newspapers about the government because the government published the newspapers and they would jail you.

The S.U. had only one political party the communists.  Stalin was in charge of the sixteen countries in the S.U.  People couldn’t disobey him. Armenia was not ruled directly from Stalin. Armenia’s ruler took orders from Stalin and could not do anything without Stalin’s permission.

Stalin was very strict he gave his people little freedom. People could not go outside the Soviet’s borders and people could not enter it as well. For example there was no tourism. After Stalin’s death people could travel more freely.

In 1920 1921 Russia came to power. In Armenia there was a war between two political parties and the communists won and Armenia became part of the S.U.

Gabecheuof was the last ruler of the S.U. and under his rule communism receded, people gained more freedoms and life became easier.

The government owned and controlled all the business. You couldn’t sell anything, it was illegal and they would catch you.

In the S.U. schooling was good and kids were very disciplined but people could not have their own business. Everyone had jobs. The government gave everyone their jobs. People always had something to do. There were a lot of factories and many worked there. But the pay was very low. In America the boss receives more pay than the employees but in the Soviet Union the employer received less than the employee and that caused a lot of corruption. . I was a manager and I received 130 rubles a month. Employees got 320 rubles a month.

There was a lot of corruption for example I was a manager, I could pay a worker 50 extra rubles and keep 20 of it to myself. The manager would collect money from the workers and the boss would collect it from the manager. I worked in a electric generating factory and managed the employees.

 There were no laws tied with business management and that’s why there was a lot of corruption. If you wanted to do something u had to pay money to do it and it had to be done secretly.

For example, the tests to enter the universities. If you had a lot of money you could pay the school and enter the university if you could not get into it normally. Your Dad was smart so he passed the test and didn’t have to pay to get in.

You could not do everything with money because rarely people had money, only the high people like the heads of the police would have that kind of money, they would collect money illegally. The pay was very low and even if you were a scientist doctor etc. you would still get little around 400 rubles a month.

If you tried to buy something from a store and sell it and you were caught they would take everything from you and throw you in jail. If you had a lot of money you could pay the jail and get out. They would name a price and if you could pay it you would not be jailed; if you couldn’t then you would have to serve time.

Whatever your boss said you had to do it, for example the journalists. They could not write what they wanted. They could only write in the newspapers what their bosses told them to write. The journalists that had interviews with people could not ask anything they wanted as well. Their boss would give them the questions and they would have to ask them. You could never speak your mind.

There were many good things. The schooling was good. The culture was good. There were good writers, great theaters, and good medicine and doctors. It was good because nothing was about business. Everything was free. The hospitals were free and never charged. Transportation was very cheap. You could travel anywhere inside the 16 countries in the Soviet Union freely. Everything was cost very little.

You could not go outside the S.U.

Every year I would take the family on a one-month vacation at a beach. We would rent a home. Renting homes were very cheap.

The S.U. was a little easier because there were a lot of things here that are not there. There were no taxes, no fear of getting fired or getting kicked out of your house. The houses were government owned.

Houses were assigned by the government and the houses were free. If you wanted you could build your own house.

There were no homeless. Everyone was equal. When Armenia gained its independence then there was rich and poor.

The government would question you where you got the money to buy extra land if they you tried to buy it. The government gave out land to every one and you could rebuild the house you lived in.

You wouldn’t keep the little money you had in a bank. Here you pay taxes every year over there you did not. The bad thing about the Soviet Union was the regime it gave people no freedom of speech, press and the little money they gave.

You lived your life without interfering with the government but there were poor people also. The poorest people would live in cramped horrible conditions, were there would be only one toilet per level of the building. They labored and got little pay and could only afford to eat cabbage and potatoes.

Then there was a revolution. The Soviet Union was no more. The borders to the world opened. Gabecheuof the Soviet Union’s last ruler ended it and gave freedom to the people. People were beginning to stand up to the government and Garbachov listened. There was a written law saying the people could demolish the government they lived in but you could not do that.

In the 40’s Germany attacked the Soviet Union in the war. Stalin would not leave Moscow even though it was soon to be attacked. The Germans reached the mountains separating Asia and Europe but they never reached Moscow. Stalin sat in his seat in Moscow and gave orders of war. The Germans could not enter Moscow. The [Russian] people defeated the Germans. They fought strong. America joined forces with the Soviet Union along with England and they won because they were strong. If Hitler took control over Russia he probably would take control over the whole world. At that time Roosevelt was President. Stalin and Roosevelt came to an agreement and defeated the Germans.

They [the Germans] kept attacking Stalingrad with lots of force but they could not pass it for the Russians were too strong. Many Russians died there. The Soviet Union did not let Germany take over Stalingrad because the city was Stalin’s name.

The soldiers were not allowed to retreat or get back. Always forward-Always forward.  You couldn’t run back if you did you would get shot. Always forward.

The Soviet was in war for 4-5 years. The Soviet was in a financial crisis. There was no food. There would be long lines to get bread from the store. America, England and France helped Russia financially and it gradually went back to normal.

The country is not communist [now] but there are still people who support communism. Back then there was only one communist party not like America.

Q. How did Stalin come to power?

In 1917 there was a revolution. At that time Lenin was the ruler. Lenin was killed in 1921 and Stalin took his place. Stalin was in charge of the jails [before being dictator].

No there was no voting. He replaced Lenin and was in charge of the Soviet Union until he died in 1953. People were scared of him. When Armenia got its independence in 1988 the country was in a crisis. There was no food, water or light. Many people left Armenia like us. Little by little Armenia’s condition got better.

There were people that would gather and talk about Stalin privately but you could not publicly. If someone reported you, you would be jailed immediately. People hated him but when he first ruled the Soviet Union people liked him for he wasn’t strict. Then he took away freedoms so he was hated.

You could get out of the Soviet. You could not write letter and send them out of the soviet. The letters would never pass the borders. The letters would be collected and trashed. There were no telephones. After Stalin’s death then you could send letters.

There were many spies. People would come to you and get you talking about Stalin. And if you said anything bad he would report you and you would be jailed.

People had to keep their mouths shut otherwise they could be jailed.

There were people that secretly smuggling information. But as the Soviet ended Russia created ties with different countries and embassies were exchanged in countries. In Armenia there is an American Embassy and there is also and Armenian embassy in America. They did business with other countries.

Stalin did not give any freedom to his people. They called the Soviet Union a cage.

Interviewed by Torgom Abraamyan