Farewell (3 page)

USSR junior division champion, Vladimir was considered so technically correct that he was the reference in training other athletes.

A good student in school, a national champion, admitted to the MTVU—Volodia’s parents were always very proud of their only son. To let him know how impressed she was by his intellectual abilities, his mother gave him, as a term of endearment, the nickname “Lenin’s forehead.” To them, their dear Volodia accomplished everything parents wish for their children; he flew higher than they did, and he built for himself a life better than theirs.
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Vladimir could not be happier to have been admitted, without any connections or protection, into the elite circle of the builders of the future. He liked everything technical, he was very good at mathematics, and he was about to study in a brand-new department where the faculty was teaching electronic device design. Thus he would be among the first students to graduate as high-tech specialists. They were destined to design what was called at the time, before the shorter term “computer” was adopted, “machines and devices for mathematical computations.” Getting admitted to that prestigious institution was one thing—graduating from it was another. In order to remain a good student, Vladimir had to give up athletics.

Vladimir (right) with a teammate. Serious and persistent, he was considered an Olympic hopeful of his athletics team.

Vetrov’s parents after they retired…

Here again, Vetrov was faced with the reality of Soviet society where some were more equal than others. In his group, for instance, there was Oleg Golosov. He was a nice guy who liked to party, with no aptitude for such difficult studies. But he happened to be the grandson of one of the last Mensheviks who jumped on the bandwagon of bolshevism as it was on the fast track to power. Teachers were instructed to do everything possible to ensure Golosov received his diploma. He barely made it. Although Vladimir would gladly help his classmate write his term papers and his finals—Oleg was not a bad guy, after all—he could not observe with indifference the staggering career of this perpetual dunce. The string-pulling Oleg benefited from all of his life would propel him all the way to the top of the Central Statistical Administration, where he had the rank of a federal minister.

The degree plan at MVTU took five and a half years to complete. In the winter of 1957, Vladimir presented his work in front of a State commission and passed the comprehensive exams. By the end of February, he received his diploma of higher education with a degree in mechanical engineering (
see Figure 1
). He may have been a good student, but he had no patronage, nobody to pull strings for him. So he got a modest engineering job in a secret plant, the SAM plant, manufacturing calculating machines.

…and their pride and joy. Here, a Bauman Institute student.

As mentioned, Volodia was fortunate to have grown up in a loving, tight-knit family. He had a talent for both intellectual and physical activities, and he had enough will and determination to be successful in his studies and in athletic competitions. However, from the very start, he struggled with the inner conflict that would play a fatal role in his life. The feeling of being a victim of social injustice and his aversion toward string-pulling would be the thread of his life story, typical for a Soviet-style self-made man. Many of his peers put up with this basic fact of social life under communism. For others, this conflict grew out of proportion. Vetrov never accepted the fact that people born with a silver spoon in their mouth, or who benefited from the right connections, were promoted to a better life, while brilliant individuals without connections, like himself, were not. The deep wound he received in school would be slow to heal and quick to reopen.

Figure 1. Vetrov’s higher education diploma, a necessary but insufficient key to starting a successful professional life; one also needs to know the right people.

In the spring of 1957, life was good, though, and the future looked promising. After the Twentieth Congress of the USSR Communist Party and the condemnation of Stalinism, the social climate improved rapidly, reviving the most unreasonable hopes. Khrushchev opened the gates of the Gulag and launched a campaign for democratic reforms. In the summer of 1957, there was the first significant breach in the iron curtain; Moscow was about to welcome the International Youth and Students Festival.

Vetrov’s personal life also promised a “radiant future.” After studying so hard for his diploma, he was about to enjoy a two-month vacation. He wanted to use this opportunity to play sports again. Friends of his managed to convince him to join the Dynamo Club. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and KGB sports society was happy to reinforce its athletics team with a former junior USSR champion, especially in a year expected to be full of prestigious competitions. First, there was the traditional relay race on May 2 for the prize sponsored by the
Vechernyaya Moskva
journal, and then, more importantly, the sporting events which were part of the International Youth and Students Festival.

Dynamo had a training camp in Leselidze, Abkhazia, by the Black Sea. Every spring, selected athletes spent five to six weeks there before the summer season. At the end of March, Vladimir was invited to the meeting preceding the departure for the camp, organized at the Dynamo stadium, in a room located under the box seats. Among some fifty future comrades who had gathered there, he soon noticed a cute little blonde with a playful expression; she looked like a kid. He did not know yet that she would become the biggest influence in his life.

Vetrov’s future wife was of humble birth, too. Her father, Pavel Nikolaevich Barashkov, was born in 1905 to a family of poor peasants in the prosperous and well known village of Krasnoe Selo (which means “beautiful village” in Russian). Located on a hill overlooking the Volga River near Kostroma, the village was famous for its handcrafted silver and gold jewelry. This land belonged to the then reigning Romanov family. The Barashkovs’ house was located next to the manor house, and Svetlana’s great-uncle looked like Nicolas II’s double. Of course, people in the village connected those two things.

In 1916, as he was cruising on the Volga River, the Emperor of All Russia was expected to visit his estate in the area. In anticipation of the event, a local revolutionary hung a red flag at the top of a long pole towering over the village. At first, the tsar thought it was the sunset that had given this color to the flag. Realizing his error, he ordered the captain of the steamboat to turn around and swore never to come back to this seditious village.

Svetlana, who had been evacuated to Krasnoe Selo with her mother and brother during the war, met an offspring of the imperial family who had remained in the village. Half crazy, he had not been recruited by the army, and he would come out of his house swearing, insistently showing the passersby his spoons adorned with the Romanov family monogram.

In the village, Svetlana’s father had received the nickname of Turgenev, because he could never be seen without a book under his arm. Drafted into the army, he chose the career of political officer, responsible for ideological propaganda and boosting the morale of the troops.

Svetlana’s mother, Anastasia Yakovlevna, was born in 1909 in the Tula region. Her parents died young. With her grandmother, she moved to Moscow in search of work. To be allowed to apply for work, she added three years to her age. She then got married to a pilot, who died soon after from measles. Their only child would die later in tragic circumstances at the age of five.

When she became Pavel Barashkov’s wife, the couple settled in Sokolniki, which in those days was on the outskirts of the capital. In 1930, their son Lev was born there, and six years later, Svetlana. Not long before World War II, Pavel was transferred to Liubertsi, near Moscow. From there, he was sent to the front. After the war, his family followed him everywhere, to territories annexed just before or after the war, such as Königsberg in the former Oriental Prussia, Jelgava in Latvia, and Mukachevo and Stry in Western Ukraine. As soon as Svetlana got used to a new city, to a new school, and made a few friends, it was time to move again.

This nomadic life ended in 1953, when Pavel Barashkov was transferred to the Military-Political Academy. The family settled in Moscow, where they were given a large room for four people in a communal apartment. Their only neighbors were another family. The building was located on Peace Avenue, near the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition, which would later become the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy, a big park with about twenty pavilions and lots of attractions. Tired of the endless moves, Barashkov agreed to stay at the academy as a teacher. He retired with the respectable rank of lieutenant colonel and went to work for an aviation club.
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After graduating from high school, Svetlana failed the competitive entrance exam to the language school of higher education (the future Maurice Thorez Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages). The next year, in 1956, she was admitted to the Lenin Teachers’ College. She was part of the first class of students to be taught an experimental program in history and philology. It was a university-level curriculum, and most courses were taught by professors from Lomonosov University. Svetlana studied English, but initially not very hard because of athletic practice.

Quick and fun-loving, Svetlana could not stay still for very long. Tired of seeing her running around in all directions, her brother Lev took her to the Dynamo athletics club. He had picked this club at random. It had a good reputation and was not far from their home. This turned out to be a smart decision. Svetlana demonstrated rapidly that she was gifted, and she was selected for the 100-and 200-meter races. This is why she attended the preparation meeting organized at Dynamo before the departure to Leselidze.

Svetlana noticed Vladimir right away, as he was not the type to go unnoticed. Tall, muscular, and physically attractive with his straight nose, attentive eyes, and sensuous lower lip, he was very popular with girls. They got acquainted later, in Abkhazia. The other athletes, quick to notice the attraction between the two, teased them.

The dandy with his cigar…

…and the pretty young girl. Vladimir and Svetlana shortly before they met.

It was a good season for Svetlana. After the relay race of May 2, she was selected to be part of the USSR national team. During the Youth Festival, the selected athletes were housed in the dormitories of the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI), on Leningrad Avenue. Vladimir, who had started working at the SAM plant on May 14,
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came to see her almost every evening. To escape her curious teammates, Svetlana left by the window to go to her rendezvous with Vladimir.

Vladimir with his arm around his loved one’s shoulders, but they are both still very shy about showing their love. Their first stay together at the Dynamo training camp in Leselidze.

The festival was only a brief intermezzo, a demonstration of what life could be in a democratic society. Young people from all over the world could communicate freely. It was also a big party. People sang and danced in the streets. After the festival, the party was not over for the young couple in love. They met most often in Svetlana’s neighborhood. They would walk through the exposition park, which was immense and had a lot to offer, with its many attractions, canoeing facility, coffee shops, and its many private benches away from nosy passersby.

Volodia would rarely show up without flowers for Svetlana. One evening, he made his bouquet straight from a flowerbed in the park. But the police were patrolling nearby and chased the couple down and caught them. Svetlana had just enough time to hide the roses under her jacket, keeping only a few phlox flowers in her hand. Yet, the officers were not amused and looked at them sternly. Apologetic, the young people showed their Dynamo membership card, Dynamo being also the police sports society. The policemen lectured them for good measure and let them go.

On rainy days, Svetlana took her boyfriend to antique shops. At the time, those stores were well stocked with antique furniture, fine art paintings, and jewelry. Visiting those places was like going to a museum, except that everything was for sale. Prices were reasonable but way above what the young couple could afford. Volodia compensated by presenting Svetlana a nice scarf one day, another day a sweater, while Svetlana would enviously look at a painting or a pedestal table. He was a lavish spender, and Svetlana appreciated his generosity.

In August, Vladimir and Svetlana decided to get married. They first broke the news to the Vetrovs. Vladimir’s parents had guessed that their son, who came home only to sleep, was in love. Vladimir, who would turn twenty-five soon, had graduated and was earning a living. There was, therefore, no opposition on their part to the wedding.

With the Barashkovs, things were different. Svetlana was adored by her father, who still saw her as a little girl. If she was not back home by ten p.m., he would wait for her in the street. He was very strict, and at the news of their engagement, he stiffened. He did not even want to talk about it. He was angry because he thought his daughter was too young to get married, and he was expecting better for her. He had nothing personal against Volodia, whom he knew, but he would have preferred the son of a prominent family, like the son of a general who sometimes would be there when Svetlana came back from college. “What is he doing here?” she asked. “He repairs the TV,” answered her dad. Two days later, the young man was at their house again. “Hum, so the TV failed again, eh?” she said, faking ignorance.

Vladimir decided to resolve the situation in a manly fashion. He went to the Barashkovs’ apartment and asked formally for Svetlana’s hand in marriage.

“She is too young,” pleaded Pavel Barashkov. “Why such a hurry? She must graduate first!”

Svetlana refused to obey her father.

“At least test your feelings for one another, wait a year or two. Unless…well, I mean…are you sleeping together?”

“Absolutely not!”

The more the father insisted, the more the daughter resisted, just to contradict him at first, but also because getting married would free her from her father’s authority, which was a bit too strict for her taste. The formal meeting failed to yield any results.

Svetlana with her father. Pavel Barashkov opposed her marriage with Vetrov, but he resigned himself to it several months after they got married.

She dreamt of being a ballerina or a spy. Two portraits of Svetlana out of the dozens Vladimir shot and printed.