Solidarité Ukraine
INED Éditions. Sound Archives, European Memories of the Gulag

BioGraphy

12
×

Juozas  MILIAUSKAS


Juozas Miliauskas was born near Kaunas, Lithuania, in 1934. He lived in the country with his parents, his father, a workman, and his mother, a housewife.

After 1947, the family feared arrest. One of his father’s brothers had joined the “Brothers of the Forest”. Several times they hid with friends or neighbours, in 1947 and 1948. But on 17 March 1949, four NKVD soldiers, speaking Lithuanian among themselves, came for them. They were taken to the station in a cart and then locked in a goods wagon. They had only half a sack of flour with them.

The train went to the Irkutsk region. From there they were taken by lorry and then sleigh to the village of Chichek in the back of beyond. There they worked the land and were paid by the collective farm in trudodni (labour days). His parents reported to the commandant once a month. Their neighbours helped them out with a few potatoes or other useful things. They spoke Lithuanian among themselves but Juozas learnt Russian from the local young people.

He became a tractor mechanic, then a driver, a step up that made his life more comfortable.

In 1956, he was released from his status as a “special resettler” and in 1957 he returned to Lithuania with his parents. But by now he was a Siberian. “There was nowhere to live”, “We didn’t belong”. Six months later he decided to go back where he came from, Siberia, took up agricultural work again and then moved to Bratsk, a village that had become an industrial city. He still lives there today.

The interview with Juozas Miliauskas was conducted in 2009 by Emilia Koustova and Larissa Salakhova.

PDF (73.98 KB) See MEDIA
Fermer

Juozas Miliautskas

Detailed biography of Juozas Miliautskas

 

Juozas Miliautskas was born in Vyčius near Kaunas in 1934. At that time Kaunas had been the capital of independent Lithuania for some fifteen years. He lived in the country with his parents — his father a workman, his mother a housewife. He saw the war pass through his village. His elder brother was killed on the front while serving in the Red Army. He remembers incessant bombing near his home. He also remembers the Jews being rounded up by the Germans to work in the forest. Then they were taken by lorry to Kaunas and shot in trenches. Then those who had dug the trenches were shot in the forest in turn and burnt.

By 1947 the family feared arrest. His father’s brother had joined the “Brothers of the Forest”, a group of Lithuanians resisting the Soviet authorities. The family hid with friends and neighbours several times in 1947 and 1948. Finally, on 17 March 1949, four NKVD soldiers, speaking Lithuanian among themselves, arrived. His father was beaten and injured. They were taken by cart to the station, taking half a sack of flour with them. There they were put into a goods wagon, he, his parents and his younger brother. They found twenty other families, on bed frames, with a stove, a little coal for the journey, hot water given when the train stopped and a salted fish for all of them.

The train took them to the Irkutsk region where lorries came from all around to disperse them. They were taken by lorry to the village of Zhigalovo and then in a sleigh to Chichek, 16km further, in the back of beyond. They worked the land and were paid by the collective farm in trudodni (labour days). His parents reported to the commandant once a month. They lived in the house of farmers who had been purged some years earlier and arrested as kulaks. Their neighbours helped them out with a few potatoes or other useful things. They spoke Lithuanian among themselves but Juozas learnt Russian from the local young people.

Juozas became a tractor mechanic, then a driver, a major step up that made his life more comfortable.

In 1956, he was released from his status as a “special resettler” and in 1957 he returned to Lithuania with his parents. But by now he was a Siberian. “There was nowhere to live”, “We didn’t belong”. Six months later he decided to go back where he came from, Siberia, and took up agricultural work again.

In 1970, he moved to Bratsk, a village that had become an industrial city when a vast hydroelectric power station was sited there that was the pride of the Soviet Union and thousands of Soviet citizens came to build it. He still lives there today.

 

Fermer

Deportation – the journey

Fermer

It was good to have power, it was good…

Fermer

Deportation – the journey

 

“They slaughtered the cattle, took the cow away.

We had half a sack of flour.

They took us to the station in a cart.

They put us in a goods wagon.

We were 20 families.

We slept on and under the bed frames.

There was a small stove.

When the train stopped, one of us would get out to fetch boiling water.

Once a day, they threw in a salted fish to be shared among us all.

They took us to Irkutsk and unloaded the wagons. It was in April.

From there they sent us out all over the region.

And that is how we got to Zhigalovo.”

Fermer

They unloaded us from the wagons

 

“They took us to Irkutsk and unloaded us from the wagons. It was in April. From there they sent us out to villages all over the region. And that is how we got to Zhigalovo.

They allocated us to empty houses with no doors or windows. We first used paper to fill the openings. Then, when winter arrived, we tried to fix things better. And then… we got used to that life.

First of all they forced us to dig the fields. You know, there weren’t many tractors after the war. Anyway, we had to meet our daily labour quota.”

Fermer

They unloaded us from the wagons (VE)

 

“They took us to Irkutsk and unloaded us from the wagons. It was in April. From there they sent us out to villages all over the region. And that is how we got to Zhigalovo.

They allocated us to empty houses with no doors or windows. We first used paper to fill the openings. Then, when winter arrived, we tried to fix things better. And then… we got used to that life.

First of all they forced us to dig the fields. You know, there weren’t many tractors after the war. Anyway, we had to meet our daily labour quota.”

Fermer

Earning a living (trudodni)

 

“Say you did your five days. Then you went to the storeman. You brought your little canvas bag. For five days’ work you were allowed 200g of oatmeal. The storeman said, “Here’s your quota for five days. Here, this is for you.” He’d put two scoops of flour on the scales. And it was like that every five days.

I’d go back home with this milled oatmeal. There was bran in it. Mother would sieve it and boil up the bran. And she made a drink with it. It was good; I really liked it! She would mash the beetroot and potatoes and make potato cakes. That was our bread.”

 

Fermer

Earning a living (trudodni) (VE)

“Say you did your five days. Then you went to the storeman. You brought your little canvas bag. For five days’ work you were allowed 200g of oatmeal. The storeman said, “Here’s your quota for five days. Here, this is for you.” He’d put two scoops of flour on the scales. And it was like that every five days.

I’d go back home with this milled oatmeal. There was bran in it. Mother would sieve it and boil up the bran. And she made a drink with it. It was good; I really liked it! She would mash the beetroot and potatoes and make potato cakes. That was our bread.”

 

Fermer

That’s when we started living (VE)

 

“Two years later we had 70kg of wheat. For the whole year. In those days we were paid 10 kopecks for a day’s work.

When I became a tractor mechanic, and then a combine harvester driver, we started to earn eight, ten centners of wheat. One tonne, then one and a half tonnes. So we were able to have livestock, pigs, cows, and geese. We had our own mill and we could mill our flour. That’s when we started living.”

 

Fermer

That’s when we started living

 

“Two years later we had 70kg of wheat. For the whole year. In those days we were paid 10 kopecks for a day’s work.

When I became a tractor mechanic, and then a combine harvester driver, we started to earn eight, ten centners of wheat. One tonne, then one and a half tonnes. So we were able to have livestock, pigs, cows, and geese. We had our own mill and we could mill our flour. That’s when we started living.”

 

Fermer

Tractor mechanic!

 

“I worked on tractors and my brother worked with our team accountant.

I was about 19. In those days, all the tractors belonged to the local agricultural equipment station. The people would cry, “A tractor mechanic!” And they would stop to watch us. It was certainly a lot better than digging with a spade!”

 

Fermer

Tractor mechanic! (English version)

 

“I worked on tractors and my brother worked with our team accountant.

I was about 19. In those days, all the tractors belonged to the local agricultural equipment station. The people would cry, “A tractor mechanic!” And they would stop to watch us. It was certainly a lot better than digging with a spade!”

 

Fermer

Driver – technical progress

“My brother went to school here. He was a very good pupil. Then he worked on the tractor trailer. It wasn’t until he got back to Lithuania that he learnt to drive the tractor.

Then there was diesel… After the war there were ‘Natik’ tractors with iron cabins! Those diesel tractors were unbelievable.

I drove those tractors, and the combine harvesters! I was a driver. I even went to fetch combine harvesters from Irkutsk. That was 500km away. You had to cross the river on the rocks. The combine harvesters often toppled over. But I had no trouble!”

Fermer

Driver – technical progress (VE)

“My brother went to school here. He was a very good pupil. Then he worked on the tractor trailer. It wasn’t until he got back to Lithuania that he learnt to drive the tractor.

Then there was diesel… After the war there were ‘Natik’ tractors with iron cabins! Those diesel tractors were unbelievable.

I drove those tractors, and the combine harvesters! I was a driver. I even went to fetch combine harvesters from Irkutsk. That was 500km away. You had to cross the river on the rocks. The combine harvesters often toppled over. But I had no trouble!”