#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Iossif Shamis was an engineer in the capital construction department. In the city, he was remembered for compiling a card index of Norilsk residents, conducting extensive correspondence with many of them, and recording memories. Here is one of his short stories – The First Greens.
“…At the turn of the first construction period of Norilsk – and this period, according to the most accurate classification, covers the years 1939-1955 – at one of the construction sites near the central hospital, near the Kuropatochny creek, a young-looking man, who held the modest position of foreman of a repair and construction site, worked among others (in fact, he was the hospital caretaker). An outsider would not have noticed his work. In fact, he had a visible and invisible amount of work and worries. He was tireless and loved his work. But the main feature of his character was that he was constantly looking for opportunities to do something new and useful for the hospital.
It was June. It was a polar day, the sun was in no hurry to go below the horizon. That day, the walking patients were allowed to leave the wards for an hour, go out into the courtyard – breathe fresh air, look at the sky. The yard was small, with a platform on the left, slightly rising above the rest. On this platform there are two benches. The patients flocked there. When they approached, they gasped and couldn’t believe their eyes – the area was covered with grass! Yes, they saw real, green, lush, albeit short grass!
They froze in place, amazed by this miracle carpet. It’s not that they haven’t seen grass for a whole year. At the construction sites where they spent most of their time, and even in the village of Norilsk itself, there was no time for improvement then. So even in the midst of a short summer, when all sorts of greenery were blooming in the tundra and flowers were pleasing to the eye, here, at the construction site, in the village and its environs, not a single blade of grass, not a single heat could break through.
And suddenly here, on a hillock, in the courtyard of a three-story hospital building – grass, bright spring grass! What admiration, what delight these people experienced at that moment, many of whom for many years had only known construction, pits, snowstorms, rain, planning meetings, the rattling of compressors and trucks.
How many conversations there were in the wards afterwards! It seemed that even illnesses subsided during those hours. Who performed this holiday? How did this happen? – asked people who were happy on that day.
And it worked out that way. One sunny evening, our friend, the hospital caretaker, took a pick, loosened the earth that had been compacted with stones for centuries, then worked each lump with a shovel and a rake, discarding the stones. After letting the earth warm up and breathe the spring air, he threw oat seeds into its lush bed. And looked day after day to see if it would sprout or not? After all, no one had ever tried this there before. Perhaps there were attempts to sow oats on the Norilsk state farm, but the young man we are talking about knew nothing about it.
Meanwhile, the rain watered the loosened soil, sometimes snow fell on it again, and the June frost squeezed it. But the life embedded in the pores of the earth broke through. Green shoots sprouted and reached for the sun. What joy he felt when he saw them! And soon this joy of his was shared by others, those for whom it was intended.
And imagine – it took root! A couple of years later, in early June, they began to sow oats and grass seeds along Ordzhonikidze street, then around the Lenin monument erected at the entrance to the new part of the city. Yes, although the truth is trivial, I would like to repeat: there are no small positions, just as there are no small deeds, if there are people with a kind heart and a living soul.
This could be the end of our little story. But what about that hero’s name? There is no need to name him. But since the story is not fictional, the hero should have a specific name. That person was the first in many other good deeds in Norilsk. Veteran of Norilsk, head of the local building materials production in the early years, Honored Builder of the RSFSR Abram Vaishenker. Yes, it was he who sowed the first greenery on the banks of Kuropatochny creek”.
In the History Spot photo project’s previous publication, we told you what the central press wrote about Norilsk in the late 1950s.
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Text: Svetlana Ferapontova, Photo: Norilsk residents and the Nornickel Polar Branch’s archives
