Grandmother. Olga Sergeevna Gracheva.
Grandmother had this studio portrait taken as a memento before she left for Kolyma. In April of 1937, soon after she received her University diploma, grandmother offered her services as a geologist in Dalstroy, Kolyma. None of Grandmother's close relatives supported her decision to follow her husband, but in her calculations, if she did not go to Kolyma willingly with the status of the geological specialist she may have ended up there anyway as the wife of an enemy of the people.
Following his release and return to Leningrad, Grandfather was able to save up some money. He and Grandmother purchased some land and built a typical Finnish house, of which there are many in Leningrad Oblast. After 20 years with no private life, having their own home seemed like an incredible blessing.
Grandmother in front of her newly built house. Pribytkovo, 1957
Memories play strange tricks on people. When my mother and I arrived in Kolyma, her birthplace, she remembered everything about her childhood. My mother dove into debates with the locals, telling them where certain buildings once stood, what they looked like, where the Geological office was located, for example. Sometimes she was mistaken, and old photographs that we had brought with us helped settle the arguments.
Seymchan, 2012
My mother and I visited the archive in Seymchan, where the files of all former Dalstroy workers were carefully stored in boxes originally intended for transporting canned vegetables. It was there that we found documents regarding Grandfather and Grandmother. Seymchan, 2012
Mama in her hotel room in Seymchan. My Mother in I traveled back to her hometown by the same route she'd taken with her parents nearly 60 years before. Seymchan, 2012