The Legal Heritage of the Atom 143
Ivan Pavlovich T. served as a soldier for the troops of the Ministry of the
Interior (MVD) from 1951 to 1954. In an angry letter to the Chelyabinsk
authorities in 1994, he demanded recognition as an aggrieved participant in
the cleaning work on the Techa River and the associated supply privileges. In
his letter, he described the working conditions at that time:
The place where we worked is where contaminated water was first discharged into the hot lake. We built a dam to shield the hot water from
the lake. […] The work was carried out directly from floating platforms
in the hot water of Lake Karachi, as it is called today. […] In 1951 the
military unit was stationed near the lake and the dams. […] During this
time, we lived and worked on the lake. […] There the ducks were running around without feathers, naked and blind, and we did not know
why. Now I have found out, but at that time nobody told us anything
about it being harmful. Now they still do not acknowledge that it was
harmful, and I am an invalid of the second group. Back then we were
serving and working and nobody warned us that it was dangerous here.
We knew nothing. In those days, security technology was not considered. We worked for 8 hours and even bathed in the warm water. After
that we didn’t feel like getting married, but still we thought that was all
stupid stuff. And now I have no documents at all. Now I have to go to
the hospital in Sverdlovsk because of the diseases and I can’t be treated
because I don’t have any documents. 21
The problem of proof of residence and service in the radioactively contaminated territories expressed in the letter was shared by many of those affected,
who then wrote letters to the Chelyabinsk authorities. Those who were unable to provide official proof of their service did not receive any compensation
or supply privileges at all.
Of particular interest is the letter of Avgusta Alevtina L.. She was not only
one of the few female aggrieved persons who turned to the Chelyabinsk
authorities but also a former prisoner. In the late 1940s in Chelyabinsk-40,
prisoners had been used for forced labor. Avgusta Alevtina writes that she
served a prison sentence from July 1947 to March 1948 and was used for forced
labor at Chelyabinsk-40. At the end of her prison term, she was not released
home but had to continue working in an auxiliary plant of Chelyabinsk-40 in
the heavily contaminated area, where she was deployed together with soldiers
and prisoners. In her letter, she writes about the working conditions:
In 1949 I worked with the soldiers and the prisoners. First, they put the
soldiers around the lake and there was also the camp for the prisoners.
[…] The soldiers dug trenches, then they fenced everything with barbed
wire. I supplied them with tools. I fetched water. I worked with the prisoners - they put the whole place in order. In the morning I brought them
sometimes by car, sometimes by horse, tools, fence posts and a canister
Ivan Pavlovich T. served as a soldier for the troops of the Ministry of the
Interior (MVD) from 1951 to 1954. In an angry letter to the Chelyabinsk
authorities in 1994, he demanded recognition as an aggrieved participant in
the cleaning work on the Techa River and the associated supply privileges. In
his letter, he described the working conditions at that time:
The place where we worked is where contaminated water was first discharged into the hot lake. We built a dam to shield the hot water from
the lake. […] The work was carried out directly from floating platforms
in the hot water of Lake Karachi, as it is called today. […] In 1951 the
military unit was stationed near the lake and the dams. […] During this
time, we lived and worked on the lake. […] There the ducks were running around without feathers, naked and blind, and we did not know
why. Now I have found out, but at that time nobody told us anything
about it being harmful. Now they still do not acknowledge that it was
harmful, and I am an invalid of the second group. Back then we were
serving and working and nobody warned us that it was dangerous here.
We knew nothing. In those days, security technology was not considered. We worked for 8 hours and even bathed in the warm water. After
that we didn’t feel like getting married, but still we thought that was all
stupid stuff. And now I have no documents at all. Now I have to go to
the hospital in Sverdlovsk because of the diseases and I can’t be treated
because I don’t have any documents. 21
The problem of proof of residence and service in the radioactively contaminated territories expressed in the letter was shared by many of those affected,
who then wrote letters to the Chelyabinsk authorities. Those who were unable to provide official proof of their service did not receive any compensation
or supply privileges at all.
Of particular interest is the letter of Avgusta Alevtina L.. She was not only
one of the few female aggrieved persons who turned to the Chelyabinsk
authorities but also a former prisoner. In the late 1940s in Chelyabinsk-40,
prisoners had been used for forced labor. Avgusta Alevtina writes that she
served a prison sentence from July 1947 to March 1948 and was used for forced
labor at Chelyabinsk-40. At the end of her prison term, she was not released
home but had to continue working in an auxiliary plant of Chelyabinsk-40 in
the heavily contaminated area, where she was deployed together with soldiers
and prisoners. In her letter, she writes about the working conditions:
In 1949 I worked with the soldiers and the prisoners. First, they put the
soldiers around the lake and there was also the camp for the prisoners.
[…] The soldiers dug trenches, then they fenced everything with barbed
wire. I supplied them with tools. I fetched water. I worked with the prisoners - they put the whole place in order. In the morning I brought them
sometimes by car, sometimes by horse, tools, fence posts and a canister