Yanks for Stalin
Interview Transcript

Sergei Dyakonov,  (cont)

Q.  Why did they take the pictures?

A.  I don't know.

Q.  Were the charges against your father listed in the case file?

A.  The fact is that my father, after his arrest, went before a three-judge commission, which was chaired by a man named Ulrich.  The commission was presented with documents from my father's case file, most of them typed.  No photographs or any solid proof was presented to the commission.

Q.  Stop.  No, I want him to tell about…

Q.  Ready?  When he was arrested, did his friendships with foreigners serve to incriminate him?

A.  Yes.  Without question.  These associations were presented as incriminating evidence against him.  My father, in fact, was arrested on the street.  While he was walking back from the Ministry, an Emochka pulled to the curb, and two NKVD operatives got out.  They suggested that he get in the car.  That was the last time anyone saw him.  My father was charged with creating and heading a right-wing, Trotskyite movement whose goal was to topple the Soviet government.  In addition, he was accused of spying for foreign governments such as Germany, Italy, Japan and the US.  I think that the photographs may have helped to support the charge of spying for the US, but I do not know how they were used against him.

Q.  What else did he bring you from America?  What else can you remember?

A.  If we are talking about Ford, then he brought back a few souvenirs, having to do with automobiles, if you will.  The first was a piston and rod assembly from a Ford, chosen as a gift to Dyakonov.

Q.  A piston?

A.  Yes, a piston and connecting rod assembly, you know what I mean, right?  I don't remember anything else.

Q.  What impressed your father about America?

A.  Well, these are all memories from my childhood.  My father liked American society because Americans are very communicative.  They make friends quickly, smile a lot, rather social.  For example, it was common for Americans to slap one another on the back--

Q.  --could you repeat that, but this time without the pause?

A.  Okay.  My father liked American society because Americans are communicative people.  They make friends quickly, have good senses of humor, smile often, appreciate a sense of humor in others.  My father liked these qualities.  He liked talking to plant workers, he liked working with the engineering personnel.  Of course, he often talked about the fact that Americans drive very fast.  For Americans, to drive with 10 to 15 centimeters between cars is normal.  They drive around at high speeds with only this small amount of space separating their cars.  And if a minor accident should occur, no one calls the police to decide who's guilty.  They merely look at the cars, slap one another on the back, and drive away.

Q.  Do you remember how the Americans arrived here, how they established themselves?

A.  Of course.  Perhaps not too much, but I do remember some things.  First of all, why did Americans come to the Gorkovskiy Automotive Plant?  Since the plant was designed by Ford, and equipped with foreign machinery, we needed, of course, not only engineers, but also highly-skilled workers who knew how to work with this machinery.  Our Russian workers needed to learn how to use these machines.  You know that the Gorkovskiy plant was built near three villages: Malikovka, Karpovka, and… I've forgotten the last one.  Anyway, it was located only 17 kilometers from Gorky, which is now called Nizhniy Novgorod.  Not only engineers came to our plant, but highly-skilled workers, as well.  They lived in the American settlement.  The entire plant management team lived in this American settlement.  The head engineer, the production manager, the plant electrician and the shop managers all lived there.  One and two-story cottages were built for the American workers and engineers.  The engineers lived in the one- and two-story cottages, in separate, individual apartments, while the workers, that is, American, German and Finnish workers lived in communal apartments, with a central corridor and rooms to either side.  That's where the foreign workers lived.

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