A visit to the birthplace of Warlam Schalamov

The birthplace of Warlam Schalamov, a writer from the former Soviet period, is only a few hundred meters away from our hotel. This man spent 30 years in captivity during the Stalin era. His life was marked by various camps. Betrayed by his own brother-in-law...

Today, we visited the house where this writer was born. His father and uncle were clergymen, and the family had a difficult time in society after the 1918 revolution, not least because the church was stripped of power by the ruling communists. Clergymen were disempowered and humiliated.

Warlam Shalamov moved to Moscow at a young age of 17 to pursue his studies. He was first imprisoned in 1929. As a writer, he always wrote and put his words on paper. In the 1930s, he was briefly free until he was arrested again in 1938 and punished with exile to a camp. Until Stalin's death, he suffered, imprisoned in the labor camp in Kolyma. Located in the far north of Russia, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Several thousand prisoners were forced to work under inhuman conditions, primarily mining for gold. It was only after Stalin's death in 1953 that Shalamov was released. These camps existed until 1987.

With his notes and their publications, Shalamov was able to contribute to ensuring that these times of horror are not forgotten. He was considered an important witness of this time and sparked a great debate, particularly within the framework of memory culture, with the publication of his memories.

The exhibition about his life path impressed us greatly and confirmed how important it is that the stories of individuals, in particular, must be remembered...

Upstairs in the house is a collection of well-known Russian artists. The colors and brilliance of the paintings have planted lightness in our hearts again, and we were able to gain an impression of the greatness of Russian artists from the classics and realism.

This afternoon, we allowed ourselves to let the experiences sink in so far and sat by the Vologda River, in the sun, for a long time. Both of us with our noses in our books. Papa immersed himself in a book by a former prisoner of war who was also in the hospital in Voshega. And I was captivated by the classics - Dostoevsky.

A piece of history, art, and culture in a Russian atmosphere. Today is the midpoint of our trip, and we can say that this journey has not only taken us far away to other places but also brought us closer to our history and ourselves. We are already grateful for this and look forward to many more special experiences and memories that we can never erase from our hearts!

Sun and greetings from us...