Yanks for Stalin
Interview Transcript

Feodor Chinchenko  (cont)

Q.  Where could people meet, get together after work?

A.  First of all, there was a recreation center with volleyball courts and soccer fields, and everything you need.  There was a club built, too, called the Sotsgorod Club.  There was the Shutkoviy Theater, built out of wood, a big theater.

Q.  What would go on there?

A.  There were dances, and stage shows, and films.  Everything that could be shown in a club was shown there.  We had local artists, and we had touring shows from Moscow and Leningrad.

Q.  Is it true that the Americans just drank beer and stayed at home?

A.  Some of the younger people went to these clubs.  There were two clubs, Shutkoviy and the Sotsgorod, which is now under renovation.

Q.  Did you fight with the Americans over women?

A.  No.  I think that there were enough Russian women to not get in fights.  And there were beautiful women.

Q.  In your opinion, why did they leave?

A.  Living conditions here did not satisfy them.  They were used to life in America, to the food and living conditions.

Q.  What about socialism?  After all, they came to build socialism.

A.  Yes.  But when they saw the food and the living conditions they said that they didn't need that kind of socialism.

Q.  So they came in and threw away their Party cards?

A.  No, they didn't throw them away.  When they left in 1936, they turned in their cards, saying "We don't need them.  We'll join trade unions back home."

Q.  Wait a minute.  Okay.  Go ahead.

A.  I just wanted to say that, although the majority of Americans went home, some stayed, and they worked for the rest of their days.  At our factory, there were many other nationalities besides Americans--

Q.  That's okay.  We're interested in Americans.

A.  Okay.

Q.  Were Americans arrested?

A.  It happened.  If someone was very active, it was considered that they were spreading propaganda, and they were arrested.

Q.  Do you know anyone?

A.  No.

Q.  You said earlier that the factory had been built practically without Ford's help.  Is that true?

A.  No.  Without Ford we would not have built it, at all.  Because all the documentation belonged to Ford.  The drawings were done by Ford, although with the participation of our engineers.  We would have taken much, much longer.  But as it was, we reached projected production capacity in only two years.  That was very important.

Q.  Thanks to whom?

A.  Thanks to the expertise of the Americans and their specialists.

Q.  Is it true that Ford was idealized at that time?

A.  Henry Ford was idealized here for his intelligent production methods and organization.  His production system was exceptionally well-organized, and we know that the author of this organizational system is Henry Ford.

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