The Washington times., 1935-11-09
KITCHIN TURNS
DOWN 0GPU
:. J0B0FFER
By GEORGE KITCHIN
Chapter XLVI

received the flatterlng ofter 70
remain in the free employ of
the penal camp.
I'VE shall give you an apart
ment with heat and light, the
rations of a Red commander,
and 800 roubles q month. Make
up your mind"
To remain working for the
oGPU? They certainly were
on the wrong tack.
mo, thank you very much. but
this does not suit me-" an
Swered.
but why notP How about
400 or 500 roubles :"
Not even for 10000 q day
would work for you," said.
looking him squarely in the face.
] was free now and di not have
to mince words, within certain
limits Of discretion, Of course.
"Ah, I unde; nd what you
mean. Wen then, good bye, but
you may keep in mind that it
win not take much to bring you
back here, what with your ideas"
I closed the door behind me
and regretted that 7 could not
have spoken my mind freely.
Prince OukhtomSky would have
done It. But not being
OukhtomSky. I could not.
No TranspOrtaEiOn
The grateful penal camp was
not generous enough even to pro-
vide means Of transportation for
me to the railroad station. Ac-
cording to the regulations, 7
should have been furnished a
horse to KotlaS and q railroad
ticket from there to my home
town. They gave me the railroad
ticket, but as to the horse they
said: I'VE are sorry, but you will
have to wait q week or SO for
the regular teams to leave; they
may take your things and you
can walk alongside"
rented a room In a peasants
house and on the of my de-
parture my friends gave me q
farewell supper there, not wish
ing to see me go without due
honors. In spite Of the
abundance Of vodka and beer,
there was little cause for cheer
fulness, but the situation was
saved Ey the unex, ted arrival
of my friend Of the Kotlas
Transfer Station days, Prince
Karamanov, who had befriended
the TtlrcomanS.
He had obtained his release six
weeks before and was now en-
route for KotlaS. He had frost
bitten cheeks and nose. but had
not lost his courage and his sense
Of humor. Like all released priS-
oners, he was left to his own re-
sources to reach the railroad. And
he did it. During the six weeks
he had covered 1.10O kilometers.
Sometimes he got Q lift by rein
deer teams going his way, but
mostly he walked. He could not
hire q horse for money and had
no tobacco or food to offer In
exchange for such services. The
government did not permit the
purchase Of a horse, so the only
thing left was to walk. And so
he journeyed as best he could.
A Free Man Again
Karamanov brought cheer into
our sad gathering, told q few
newest" stories which had q pre-
war flavor and made us drink q
great number Of toaSting cups.
As q result our Zyryan host did
. Jig, guitar was produced and
engineer A. sang some gypsy songs:
It all ended with a general
chorus of "Our last Jolly day to-
gether," and then the prisoners
one by one left me and returned
to the camp, while I laid myself
down to sleep-a free man for the
first time in four years.
On the following day we sue
ceeded in making arrangements
for transportation with o Kolkhoz
caravan that was taking eight
bales Of rabbitrSkinS to Kotlas.
The caravan consisted Of five
Sleighs. We asked why so many
sleighS were needed for the trans
portation Of eight bales Of furS
and were told that some Of the
sleighs were loaded with oats and
hay for the horses, as no feed
could be had anywhere for q dis
tance of 400 kilometers.
In former days two Sleighs
would have been ample. but since
the advent Of collective farming.
two sleighs could never have
reached their destination. Col
lective farming did have some
curious results.
We sat on the hay and were
warm and comfortable. The
Zyryan system Of transportation
was that thirty-five kilometers Of
travel were followed by five hours
of rest, irrespective of the time
Of day. The Northern day was
so short that we mostly travelled
in the dark. The journey was
pleasant but fatiguing.
Four Zyryan teamSters dressed
in large reindeer coats and nit
tens, fur outside. either ran along
side their sleighs or climbed on
top of the hay for a snooze or a
smoke. The head-team was
driven by a middle-aged Zyryan
woman dressed in several coats
and skirts. her head covered by a
multitude Of kerchiefS She was
SO round on all sides that it
was hard to tell which way she