On his return to Moscow he wrote and published a pamphlet entitled "The Solovky" (State Printing Office, Moscow, 1925), in which he stated that "complete liberty" prevailed there, that the food was "excellent," and that the treatment of the prisoners by the administration was "more than lenient."
To crown the whole performance, Smirnoff did not shrink from open mockery of the prisoners. A large number of copies of the pamphlet were sent to the Solovetsky camps and distributed to us — to us, who were tasting every minute of every day the "liberty," the "excellent food" and "more than lenient" treatment by the administration of which Smirnoff talked!
If Nogteff, Eichmans and their fellows listen to what the politicals have to say, the attitude of the lower personnel can be taken for granted. The conversations of the politicals with the commanders of the labour regiments and companies, quartermasters, and overseers of the kitchens and workshops have the tone of orders. Their headman Bogdanoff, when speaking to any subordinate in the commandant's office, always began his sentences with the words "we wish" instead of "we ask." Before rations were distributed, Bogdanoff used to go to the quartermaster and choose the best meat, white bread, and so on, for his section of the prisoners. His successor as headman, the Social Democrat Mamuloff, a lawyer from Vladikavkaz, enjoys the same rights.
The politicals, having plenty of time to themselves, are able to educate their children, and bring them up according to their own political views. One sees a ten-year-old boy, the son of a political, walking through the huts, greeting the Tchekists and sentries with abuse, and, when the prisoners ask him in fun to which party he belongs, replying proudly:
"I'm a Socialist. Down with the Communist usurpers!"
[29] Maxim Gorky's wife, see p. 92.
[30] cf. "The Tcheka," by George Popoff, pp. 257-259.
[31] Published formerly in Berlin, now in Paris, and edited by Kerensky.
CHAPTER IX
THE WOMEN'S FATE
Horrible Companionship — How Card Losses are Paid — A Tchekist's Harem — "Rouble" and "Half-rouble" Women — Venereal Diseases.