Podcast # 022: Surviving Soviet Army
Warning: this issue of Socialism Survival Podcast contains some descriptions of adult relationships and violence which may not be proper for minors, therefore listener’s and reader’s discretion is strongly advised.
Lets talk now about Soviet Army. I already mentioned it in some of my previous podcasts. Here is a quote from podcast # 13: “Military service was mandatory for every Soviet man who reached his 18th birthday. Therefore every boy was seen as potential motherland defender, except those disabled or seriously ill. Every school had military preparedness class where, besides disassembling and assembling AK 47 and putting on gas mask we were indoctrinated into our future roles as defenders of socialist motherland. And February 23rd holiday served that purpose. Before end of WWII it was Red Army Day. In spite of its military origins, many former Soviet citizens still celebrate this day simply as Men’s Day. Among all former Soviet republics I know for sure that Russia renamed it into Defender of Fatherland Day, while keeping the same date. Ukraine has such holiday on January 29th.” (End of quote) Military service terms in USSR were 2 years for army and 3 years for navy. In spite of many changes, like Soviet Union’s collapse and restoration of 15 independent states with their own militaries, many problems that existed in Soviet Army are still alive and well today. Remember America, I warned you now, once you allow socialists in power to impose their changes and have it cemented it will be very hard to get rid of it. As an example, you have Social Security here in America.
The most brutal, violent, inhuman thing that existed in Soviet Army and still haunts former Soviet republics today was and is “dedovshchina”. The closest word in English is hazing. Although its hard to find analogy to such senseless behavior. Many good boys are maimed physically, mentally and emotionally, many are dead just because some older soldiers had to show their status as “dedy” which literally means “grandfathers”. There are many YouTube videos showing what is going on in Russian Army, you can watch and see this as continued tradition from Soviet Army. What seniors or “dedy” are doing has nothing to do with teaching freshmen army order, but to humiliate others. They do it because one year before they were also beaten and humiliated. Humiliation part included also performing some services for senior soldiers, like washing their socks, polishing boots, cleaning floor with toothbrush, forced dancing or exercise in the middle of the night, etc. Such practice was in Soviet Army since it was called Red Army, but significantly increased and became extremely brutal after 1967 when service term was reduced from 3 to 2 years and to maintain high number of soldiers former soviet criminals were allowed to serve in Army after finishing their prison term; they brought their soviet prison violence with them. Most of these criminals were allowed only in construction battalion. And that’s where I was sent also. But for me as believer all harassment, emotional and physical abuse was set on a different level. While for all other soldiers it was exactly just as I described earlier, they simply were abused because of superiority demonstration by older servicemen, for someone like me, because of my affiliation with underground persecuted congregation of believers, the humiliation was performed under the direction from senior officers, who also were instructed by KGB. In spite of all brutality and torture I was lucky to survive. I consider it God’s mercy. Many others, like young Christian Ivan Moiseyev, whose fatal army story I shortly described in podcast #11, didn’t survive but paid their debt to Motherland with their lives. Yes, that’s what we were told and that’s how that part of socialistic system functioned. Every boy born in Soviet Union was already in debt to Soviet Motherland which he had to pay after turning 18 with 2 or 3 years of military service. Why? Nobody really could explain it using common sense. Because there wasn’t common sense in Soviet socialism. Don’t look for common sense in Carl Marx’s or Lenin’s books, better read “The Common Sense” of Thomas Payne, its healthier. Everything associated with socialism is incurably sick. Did we have that debt because Soviet Motherland gave us free healthcare, free education? It wasn’t free! We were overtaxed by Soviet government who spent our money to buy that freebees. Well, here’s the common sense: we paid for the promise of our future utopian paradise called communism. It reminds me old gypsy story.
Old gypsy spanks little gypsy boy’s naked butt with a leather belt. Boy cries loudly. Passerby asks old gypsy: – What wrong he did that you spank him? - Nothing yet, – old gypsy replied. – But I’m sending him to the well to bring a bucket of water and of course he will spill while carrying it back. That’s what I spank him for.”
Ok back to my story. Long before being forced into Soviet Army, our family got involved in emigration movement. On the grounds that Soviet regime didn’t allow us to worship our God freely, we applied to emigrate to any non-communist country that was willing to accept us. For years I dreamed of a new land to call it “home” where other people around me would respect my faith and I would use my talents and skills for prosperity of that land. But I didn’t have any desire to serve that evil, murderous socialistic regime that emptied people’s souls with atheism and like their father Satan continued to steal, kill and destroy. By the time when I was called to Army service, some of my Christian friends served prison terms for involvement in emigration movement. How could I want to serve their butcher, their persecutor? How could I serve the regime that had sent my father and grandfather to GULAG camps for years? How could I want to serve the regime that killed my mom and unborn sister? Do you understand the state of my heart and mind before I ended up in Soviet Army? Additionally, I had some health problems that normally would excuse anyone from military, but not me, I wasn’t normal in the eyes of military commission who thought army could separate me from my religion and break my will of being involved in emigration. Along with others drafted in I was transported to Severomorsk in Kolsky peninsula which is above the Northern polar circle. From there I was transferred to nearby Murmansk city. (If you remember Russian submarine accident, it happened also in that area). Because of my obvious refusal to swear the oath of faithfulness to Soviet Motherland I was sent to the only place I would fit – the construction battalion, or simply “stroybat” in Russian. It wasn’t easy for my ill body to adopt to the extreme frost and eye-poking darkness of polar winter. After only few days in Army I was taken to military hospital for intestinal surgery. That was the only good thing Army did for me, as successful surgery removed the problem I suffered for many years. While recovering I was brought to local KGB office where I was questioned and had to listen to their sugarcoated assurances of how much they really cared for me. Using my physical condition they were building the environment for my expected cooperation with them. Of course, they never achieved expected results, but they tried. Nobody ever mentioned the oath taking ceremony that I missed while in hospital. Who cared?! They knew I wouldn’t bend to any pressure and used different approach. It was lollipop game, when somebody puts lollipop in you mouth, then pulls it out and asks: “Do you want to keep this lollipop? Then do what we want and you’ll have endless lollipop for the whole Army term. As the part of recovery program I was assigned to the light duty in …military kindergarten! Well, that would be a paradise for any soldier! I would eat the same food that officer’s kids were eating. And that was the place of temptations. Many officers wives worked there too. And it looked like they all were sexually hungry! I’ve heard that another soldier who was there before me had most of them and they wanted to keep him there, but unfortunately he committed suicide right there after received letter that his girlfriend married another man. Of course all that ladies wanted me to be his replacement in that part of their lives too. What disappointment I was for them! I think they didn’t know that I was watched by KGB. Actually, another officer’s wife who lived right in front of kindergarten tried to find keys whether to my heart, or something below that. She invited me few times for nice meal, but instead of seducing me she had to listen to my preaching and after she prayed with me, she admitted that KGB wanted her to seduce me so that they could catch me doing sin and my faith would be discredited. When my sister and brother visited me there they brought with them my guitar and for few months I gathered local youth and sang to them about God’s love. When that was discovered the lollipop suddenly disappeared, I was removed from kindergarten and returned to barracks. Senior commanders would call me to headquarters where they threatened me with making my life unbearable if I refuse to cooperate with KGB. Older soldiers were instructed to bully me not just because I was younger in service term, but for my faith in God. KGB an d commanders most likely knew that I had connection to local believers so they didn’t want for me to be tortured and seriously injured under their watch. Therefore they decided to send me out to the remote location where huge hangars were built for Soviet nukes. Before I left for that place, chief commander of our military unit angrily told me one on one: “Alex, I promise, you won’t return from there alive!” At the remote location, called High settlement in addition to hard construction work hazing, bullying were out of control. The acts of severe violence usually occurred at night after so called grandfathers had saturated themselves with alcohol, drugs and after breathing toxic hallucinogenic paint. After such intoxication no one could sleep at night, violent orgies continued till the morning. Many were beaten, humiliated in different ways. My circumstances were getting worse and worse. With all existing dangers more was added when I refused to take part in construction of hideouts for nuclear missiles. When asked “WHY?” I explained, that on the other end of the world, in America, are also my brothers and sisters in the Lord and I will not do anything that has intent to harm them. Of course such explanation didn’t satisfy anyone. I didn’t sound for them like a patriot of the Union of Soviet Socialistic Republic. And if I was not willing to become one, they were willing to use anything to transform me, or see me dead. One night I just fell asleep when suddenly I woke up with hellish noise and demonic laughter around me and with burning pain in my head. I tried to escape, but something heavy was hitting my head. I pretended that I passed out and maybe only that saved me. They got scared and stopped hitting me. Later I found out that intoxicated dedy approached me at night holding heavy soldier’s boots in their hands and began hitting me. Life became very scary and fragile for me. Many mysterious deaths happened in that area and most of them were never investigated. One soldier who didn’t obey grandfathers was not allowed to eat and he died right there from food deprivation. Another story happened while I was there. One officer and two soldiers took many bottles of alcohol, took military automobile and went to lapps village; lapps is the name of local population, they are also called Sami. The territorial name Lapland comes from lapps. These guys found native woman there; after drinking a lot and having group sex they took her naked in the car where they mutilated her vagina with a wrench and then threw her out of the car while driving. The women died and her family wanted to revenge for her death therefore no one was allowed to leave barracks. It was deep polar winter, when there is a polar night all 24 hours. The military compound was heavily guarded with many military patrols around settlement. While at construction location someone who cared told me that I shouldn’t return to barracks, because something awful was planned against me. I ran away from construction site and hid in the basement of nearby building. I prayed to God for His protection and His solution for my terrible situation. I knew that soon everyone will be searching for me. From there I got to another place where I could see only bus stop in settlement. The bus would come there only twice a day: in the morning – to bring there some workers and in the evening – to take them back. I got there right on time: the evening bus was about to leave! I took a deep breath, silently cried out to the Lord and went quickly straight to the bus. I got in, I sat in the back; no one ever asked me to pay or to show a document allowing me to leave. No one paid attention to me as if I was invisible. The bus brought me to train station where I gave train attendant my broken watch for the ride to Murmansk. In the Murmansk city I had civil clothes hidden in my friend’s home. Things seemed hopeful for me. I hoped to escape as far as possible from there and then maybe either to cross the border to Finland, Sweden or Norway and ask political asylum at American embassy. Another plan was to get somehow to Asia where I could buy fake Soviet passport and live somewhere under assumed name. As I was leaving the apartment complex where my friends lived while exiting elevator I got face to face with one of my commanders who also lived there and who also came from same High Settlement to spend New Year with his family. He recognized me and having another man with him they apprehended me and brought me to headquarters. All commander were shocked to see me fully dressed like civilian. And mad too! They ordered me to change back to military clothes. While changing I managed to hide some cash I had in my underwear. After unloading on me their rage, they took me for a night to military jail where I’ve spent following night sleeping on a very cold cement floor alongside very drunk naval officer. Next day I was brought to the headquarters again. It was relatively small, one story building. In the middle was main entrance with a guard booth in front so he could see everyone who entered and exited building. To the right and to the left from guard was long corridor with offices. The office of head commander was to the left and the office of his political deputy – to the right. First they took me to the head commander’s office, Mayor Dragonfly. They informed me there that they prepare my case for military tribunal and that most likely I’ll get 2 years of disciplinary battalion. After that they locked me alone in political deputy’s office and went back to their meeting in commander’s office, discussing my fate. When I was left alone, I could feel something special going both inside and outside. Without hesitation I pushed the door and, oh miracle, it opened! I looked into corridor and it was empty! I slowly walked towards guard’s booth – and … another miracle! He just wasn’t there! I could feel every cell of my body and my hair moving. Although I was dressed only in light tunic and nothing covered my head, although it was close to minus -20 outside, I could feel that supernatural power surrounding me and pushing me towards the exit. Without hesitation I opened the door, walked fast to the nearest dark corner, then – to the hidden hole under the brick wall and then as if I’ve got a pair of mighty wings: I crossed the field of 2-3 feet deep snow in seconds with confidence that I’ve seen that place for the last time.
It was just the beginning of my journey towards freedom. What happened after? Keep listening to the future podcasts and you’ll find the answer. Still my way was through many obstacles and thorns. Still I had to finish my run through the valley of the shadow of death. Here in America, I thought I could relax and rest in the shadow of Liberty. But now, when I can feel liberty, freedom departing from us, I know it’s the time to rise up and become freedom chasers. I’m talking about you, me, her, and him: all of us! And I want to bless true defenders of freedom, American soldiers who took their responsibility voluntarily to defend their loved ones, not somebody’s socialistic agenda. This great country still needs true heroes who know what they are standing for!
To listen to podcast # 22 click here.
Click the link below to watch video of “dedovshchina” (hazing) in Russian Army.
