Norilsk

Victor Gryaznov                February 7, 2016.

                "NORILSK"

   I was born in the city of Norilsk in the middle of the XX century. Business was in the middle of September. As mother told, there was a dry warm sunny weather, and in a week when we were discharged from maternity hospital, piled snow knee-deep. Yes, Norilsk to you it not Sochi, and even not Siberia. It is Far North, the 69th parallel. Behind the Polar circle.
    The absolute minimum of temperature is registered here in February, 1967 - minus 64 degrees Celsius. But Far North not only by hard frosts and furious "black" snowstorm, but also shortage of oxygen in the atmosphere, magnetic storms and a lack of a sunlight in winter time is dangerous. At polar night the period when the Sun more than days don't appear over the horizon is called. In Norilsk it proceeds 45 days. When the sun appears in the middle of for January about 3 of minute, all very much rejoice. And natives celebrate a festival of the sun – "хейро".
    Separately I want to tell about the Polar lights, this very beautiful show. Happens seldom. I remember once appeared directly over the city and it is very low. On snow multi-colored patches of light flashed. And we boys ran behind them, trying to catch. It was very cheerful … 
The polar lights over the tundra.
    About Norilsk it is mountain - iron and steel works, it is much written, it is much removed movies. He is a leader of nonferrous metallurgy in Russia and around the world.
   I as the radical resident of Norilsk, will tell about history of his formation, having collected materials from various sources: from books, the museums and first of all from stories of eyewitnesses - people who built combine …


 
The Dudinsky merchant A. K. Sotnikov with a family.
At the beginning of the last century the successful merchant Alexander Kipryanovich Sotnikov melted the first 200 poods of copper. To bake he constructed of a stone, the become useless church in the item Dudinka. The furnace too collapsed, without having sustained artful influence of permafrost, but as they say precedent was received. Revolution and Civil war, didn't allow this talented person to realize the plans. About it there was a memory - the rivulet on the suburb of Norilsk - the Merchant is called

 
    Admiral A. V. Kolchak. Supreme Governor and Supreme Commander of Russia.
   In 1919 expedition led by N. N. Urvantsev was organized to Taimyr. The admiral A. Kolchak financed it. He wasn't interested during that time copper and nickel. The task urgently to find coalfields was set. Coal was necessary for construction of Ust - Port on Yenisei and for advance of troops of the Entente through the Northern Sea Route to the Central Siberia. Urvantsev excellent coped with the task - coal was found. In 1920 White troops suffered defeat, A. Kolchak shot, and N. Urvantsev continued the research on Taimyr already under a red flag. In 1922 expedition finished the work. Collected materials confirmed industrial reserves of copper and nickel in a Norilsk promregion.
   In 1935 the government of the USSR issued the Decree on construction of the Norilsk is mountain - a metallurgical complex. And the first group of builders in number of 1800 people the most part from which - prisoners, I went to Taimyr where in the hardest climatic conditions the combine was constructed. The first nickel was received in 1942.
 
The railway station in Krasnoyarsk


 
Pamyatnik-stella to politkatorzhana. The imperial government transported under guard them a pedestrian order from the Central Russia on the island of Sakhalin.

     About N. N. Urvantsev's destiny. In 1938 it works in Leningrad as the deputy director of institute of the Arctic. Defends the doctoral dissertation. To it suggest to head geological service of Norilsk combine, but he refuses, motivating it with that is occupied in other project. For disobedience he is arrested, incriminating communication with Kolchak. And here it already works in geological service in Norilsk, but in the status of the prisoner. This "business trip" will last without quitting the place for it 19 years. After the termination of the Great Patriotic War, it works in the uranium project, is secret. Looks for uranium on Taimyr. It will return to Leningrad in 1958. According to the will its ashes are buried on a Norilsk cemetery.
 
Geologist N. N. Urvantsev
   The brigade commander of People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs V.Z.Matveev was appointed the first head of construction. Unfortunately, he didn't cope with a plan target and its fate is sad. He was repressed and sank into oblivion …
  To replace it there arrived Avraamy Pavlovich Zavenyagin. Its energy and organizing abilities allowed to receive in 1938 - feinstein, in 1939 matte, and in 1942 cathodic nickel
 
Avraamy Pavlovich Zavenyagin. First director of Norilsk combine
   

 
The legendary average tank T - 34
It is necessary to tell about nickel separately. Without it the armor is inconceivable. And during war it is necessary, as air. We will remember fight under the Kursk arch. The German industry, lacking nickel, I went to a thickening of armor of the tanks. "Tigers" and "Panthers". Therefore they lost maneuverability, and our average tanks T - 34 got huge advantage on tactics - to technical characteristics.
   About Japanese. In Krasnoyarsk in 2010 the forum "Dialogue of Cultures" was organized. Organizers society "Russia — Japan", Embassy of Japan in Moscow. The program of a forum was saturated. In its framework Japanese movies were shown, masters saw off the master – classes on different types of arts. The Minusinsk dramatic theater showed the performance "Oriental cherry", the spectator hall, it is necessary to tell, was hammered to the full, there were no empty seats.
   Krasnoyarsk citizens were adjusted to guests friendly, there was no intensity in the relations. The truth in Culturally – historic center one woman tried to get to the bottom of Japanese. From its attacks it was possible to understand that she once lived on Sakhalin and remembers Japanese of those times. Whether I drank superfluous, whether still that, but she didn't manage to spoil a holiday. Nobody reacted to its provocations …
   There I got acquainted with professor - the linguist Nakamoto Nabuyuki and Mrs. Seyko Vatanebe. I discussed the projects concerning Japan with professor. Seyko through the translator told that her father was lost in Norillage.
   Surname of Vatanebe in Japan the very widespread. In one of mine work, the minister, the personal friend of the emperor famous for that conspirators in 1932 hard wounded him is mentioned, having shot heart, but it by miracle remained is live.
    To find out exact number of Japanese prisoners in Norillage, didn't include in my plans. From different sources from several hundred to several thousand people. Many of them were lost. It is necessary to tell, that Japanese didn't stand on ceremony with the Soviet prisoners of war. Cases when dumped living people in mines are described …
     Many prisoners and Japanese including worked on the device of mine wells, holes for an explosive put. Before use of boring equipment, all works were carried out manually. One miner was lowered on a badeyka where he by means of scrap, a wedge and a sledge hammer hollowed rocky soil, and two by means of a collar understood it upward. A mine well dimensions meter on meter and 15 - 20 meters in depth. (For a sravneiiya of 15 meters is the height of the five-floor house). In it damp, doesn't gasp.
 the most awful that lift the sweaty person upward. It is still tolerant in the summer, and here in the winter harmful – on cold, on the penetrating wind. At such work long didn't maintain 2 - 3 months, and then in infirmary. On a slang of prisoners in DTDM (department of training of dead men). It is impossible to tell that the administration of camps didn't care of prisoners. In a barrack there were tanks with needles broth. Prisoners laughed: "Drink needles – save the life"
 
Prisoners of war Japanese in a camp barrack
    My main character across Norillagu the colonel of investigation Yuji Yamagutchi. He didn't make to himself a hara-kiri as 500 highest officers after capitulation, and gave up in captivity. Probably for the scout captivity is too work. According to secretly existing solidarity, security officers kept to it life. Therefore it worked in heat, in crew on cleaning of production rooms.
   Yuji is always stood, is tightened, polite. I carried out any order of the foreman with a smile. In private conversation the colonel spoke: "We there is nothing wouldn't capitulate. Badly our investigation worked. The emperor had no full information, and was afraid that Americans will send the third atomic bomb to Tokyo. Though as then it became clear - the third bomb then wasn't available yet".
   After the termination of the conclusion, in 1948 Yuji Yamagutchi returned to prefecture of Hokkaido. I long collected materials about it and wrote the scenario of the feature film. Where the main character the Japanese scout working against Russia.
 
Monument to Japanese on Nikolaevsk a cemetery in Krasnoyarsk
 
Monument to Japanese on Nikolaevsk a cemetery in Krasnoyarsk in Japanese.
As for ideology, Japanese of don't consider prisoners of war as laid down arms by order of the emperor. Aggressors also
themselves not considered, for their reasons, they exempted the countries from colonialists. This war became their history under the name Great war of East Asia
 
Norilsk. View of Oktyabrskaya Square.




 
Such Norilsk saw, the artist unknown to me

 
Mine of open works "Bear stream"
On Bear Stream mine works after profitability of underground minings significantly decreased are resumed.
 
N. N. Urvantsev and E.I.Urvantsevoy's grave on a Norilsk cemetery


After Avraamiya Pavlovich Zavenyagin Norilsk combine many different directors directed. But I want to stop on Vladimir Ivanovich Dolgikh. He was born in Ilansk of Krasnoyarsk region. In 17 years I left the volunteer on the front. I was the political leader of a company of anti-tank guns. Speaking language of an agit.plakat I passed a nice way from the political leader to the Secretary of CPSU. In 1944 after a severe wound it was transfered to the reserve from army and I entered the metallurgical institute. In 1958-1962 the chief engineer, and in 1962-1969 the director of Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant of A.P.Zavenyagina (nowadays – JSC Norilsk Nickel MMC). For directorship V.I.Dolgikh was necessary a rebirth of the city of Norilsk and combine as exactly V.I.Dolgikh took the responsibility, risking the career, without waiting for result of examination of the State commission, to throw builders into break on the uninhabited river bank of Norilk. At it it was created and the industrial region began to develop quickly (hydropower, gas production, transport knots, extension of sea navigation, the construction industry, cultural institutions). During this time on industrial "cards" appeared Talnakh, Messoyakh, Salty and Tukhard. As a result of development of the richest Talnakhsky field the Norilsk combine repeatedly increased smelting of nickel and copper.


 
V.I.Dolgikh on reception at the president of Russia D. A. Medvedev

Then he heads three years Krasnoyarsk regional committee of CPSU, then is elected the Secretary of the Central Committee of CPSU. He supervises all industry of the USSR. When M. Gorbachev began so-called reorganization, V.I.Dolgikh tried to resist to his destructive activity, in many respects didn't agree.
For it M. Gorbachev sent it to pension at the age of 63 years. Now V.I.Dolgikh 92 years. He still works. Heads the Moscow city council of veterans. I managed to meet it twice. I presented it the movies about the North, about Norilsk combine. He highly appreciated my director's work and gave the letter of recommendation of which I very much am proud. As the praise of such remarkable person costs very much.
   Still I want to add about children school students, radical residents of Norilsk 60 - x years of the last century. When frosts passed 40 degrees for minus, occupations for younger school students at schools stopped, and children stayed at home for 2 - 3 months. Computers then weren't, on TV one channel with 19  to 23  o'clock in the evening. At first news, then the announcer Eduard Tarakanov told by the velvet voice the fairy tale to kids and bye – bye. Then adults already watched the feature film. When on grew warm, all poured out on the street. Soccer, hockey, skied and on a sledge. It is necessary to tell that in a frost minus 30 degrees, were full of children on the street. Such frost, for a frost didn't consider. Boys constantly burned down fires. In the summer if parents according to the schedule couldn't go on leave, children were sent to all summer to the south in pioneer camp. By motor ships down Yenisei. The combine gave permits to parents free of charge. All came back suntanned, got stronger. At schools and the House of pioneers there were amateur performances, different circles. Generally the younger generation was surrounded with care and attention.

Krasnoyarsk - Norilsk