Extracts from an interview with Tatiana Fedorova,
Soviet Construction Worker

Q: What did communism mean to you as a young person?
Fedorova: Something elevated, very hard to have access to; something which you had to struggle for, something which you struggled for with deeds... It was Mayakovsky who said, "Communism is the young people of the world, and it needs to be led by young people." So we wanted to do everything we could to erect this building of communism with our own hands. We lived in a very hard time. We were hungry. But when Mayakovsky said that about communism, that it was the young people of the world and it must be built by the young, we wanted to do something for our country, for our motherland. We wanted to do something with our own hands, to glorify our country -- not just with words but with deeds. And we did it. We built the metro, we built Magnetogorsk, we built the railway. We did it all with such comradeship, enthusiasm and happiness. And if today I could live again, despite all the big difficulties, I would have done the same things again.

Q: Can you describe your feelings of happiness a bit more. In what ways did you feel happy?
Fedorova: Everyone was trying to do the best for the country, to raise the heights of the motherland. Then there was what we were doing underground.with the Moscow metro. We worked in such a friendly way. It was such a good time. There wasn't so much to eat, we weren't well dressed. We were simply very happy. Happy because we were making it our personal contribution. If I come to a station that I was lucky enough to build, it's a bit like meeting my youth when I go there. I'm simply happy that in those years I chose that hard path.

Q: You led a team of Stakhanovites when you were building the metro. What did that mean?
Fedorova: There were a lot of leaders in the Stakhan movement; a movement of workers which took over the whole country. In the Moscow metro building, of course, everyone wanted to be a Stakhanovite. I led a team who worked really brilliantly under the ground.

Q: What good did the Stakhanovite movement do for the Soviet Union?
Fedorova: It was a movement that wasn't organised by anyone in particular. It was started by a working man, who I knew very well, and everyone in the country who knew him started it. He studied the very best methods of working in mines and then learned the technical side of it. Stakhanovite produced this fantastic speed record and then, literally, in all aspects of the economy and in all branches of the Moscow metro building, whether you were working with concrete or not, everyone wanted to achieve the highest speed. It was, economically and spiritually, a very big thing for the country.

Q: Wasn't it really just a method of trying to get workers to work harder?
Fedorova: No. No one forced us to do it. We didn't have to do it, but everyone wanted to... It's very hard to explain but it was the time of the enthusiasts. [Fedorova speaking as a construction worker in 1934 film:] "We live so well. Our hearts are so joyful. In no other country are there such happy young people as us. We're the happiest young people. And on behalf of all young people, I want to thank our Party and our dear Comrade Stalin for this joy that we have."
Stalin set a task: build this or build that and, thanks to the fact that people trusted him and this enthusiasm of young people, it was possible. Remember, people were illiterate, lived in virtual darkness, wore birch bark shoes. Even now I think it's like something out of a fairy tale
It was one of the most difficult times to build this country. To build these great construction sites would only be possible through unity, the unity of the people and the love of the people to their idol. Stalin for us was an idol.

Q: The mid 30's was also the time of the purges. Weren't the millions killed and sent to the gulags a blot on the record?
Fedorova: A stain. It was a dark stain. It was a dark stain, but I'll repeat once more that the country was working. All the enterprises were working. The factories were working, children were studying at schools... The fact that these political intrigues and games happened is very unfortunate. It was a very hard time but the country was growing and growing at great speed.

Q: This terrible stain did not undermine your faith in socialism at all?
Fedorova: No it didn't.

Q: What was your task as a Deputy in a one-party State?
Fedorova: I was elected by my constituency. I had to think about the people who lived in Moscow. I had to put up cinemas or hospitals, that sort of thing. In the sessions of the Supreme Soviet before the War, there are documents of my answers to a whole number of questions about what was necessary to help Moscow; in particular for my constituents.

Q: So there was freedom of expression?
Fedorova: Absolutely, absolutely. Did someone check my speech or take an interest in what I was going to say? No. I was interested in the results of the speeches, that there would be some success, some real help. You'd just get up and say what ever you think.