The Time Of Women

Before the decree came out, you weren’t even allowed to think about an abortion. If you get knocked up, you have the baby. But no one could keep the girls from doing it. At the first alarm, they’d get rid of it in secret. One, they say, really took to it. The guys joked that she tired out a whole team of workers, bitch. Well, she wasn’t bothered – she lies in bed for a little while, gives it a rest and she’s at it again. Two girls died, though, they say. From blood poisoning, it seems. Now the decree came out, you can do it every year if you must. It’s still scary, of course: they make it hurt as much as possible. But there wasn’t much to be done. So I made up my mind.

Families could apply (get in the queue) for additional space when existing space was less than 4.5 meters per person. For example, if a room in a communal apartment consisted of 30 meters and a family of 6 was registered and living in it, this counted as 5 meters per person, and they were not eligible to apply for additional space. Two meters per person were allotted for graves.

26During the Soviet era, it was a common move among communal apartment dwellers to turn on the tap when they wanted the sound of running water to mask their words.

27According to the Communist Manifesto written by Marx and Engels, the establishment of a dictatorship by the proletariat would eventually lead to true communism. Therefore, in spite of being considered a communist country, by its own internal logic the Soviet Union spoke of itself as moving toward communism.

28Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin (1875-1946) was a Soviet government and party statesman, named “All-Russian Elder” by Trotsky in 1919. After 1935 he was called “All-Union Elder.” In Soviet mythology he was considered the kindest and most responsive member of the upper echelons of power. People would write letters to him with various requests and complaints, certain that he would inter-cede and help.

29A sazhen is an old Russian unit of length equal to approximately 7 feet.

rooms dedicated to various clubs, such as crafts or sports.

17“Pryazhka madhouse” refers to a psychiatric hospital on the banks of the Pryazhka River in St. Petersburg/Leningrad that housed many political prisoners during the Soviet days.

18“Suzon” is a nickname for Suzanna.

19“Tsarevich” refers to the son of a Tsar and may be thought of as something akin to “Prince”.

20The Russian witch, Baba Yaga, lives in a doorless, windowless hut that stands on chicken legs and can turn about.

21The First of May, or International Workers’ Day, is celebrated today in over 80 countries. It was celebrated in the USSR, and continues to be celebrated in the Russian Federation. The US Labor Day holiday was set in September at least in part to remove it from associations with International Workers’ Day.

22The surname “Rucheinikov” is based on the word “ruchei,” or “brook.”

23Kulaks were prosperous peasants in Tsarist Russia, later characterized as exploiters by the Communists when they took power.

24Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennykh Del (People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs).