The following is an English translation of an article from the journal ‘The Armenian Female Worker’ [Hayastani Ashkhatavoruhi], published in 1930:
‘ONLY AFTER ARRIVING IN THE SOVIET UNION DID I FEEL FREE’
(A Letter from an Austrian Worker)
I will never forget the emotions I experienced while I was in Soviet Russia. I felt like I was in a truly liberated country, warmly surrounded by thousands of brothers and sisters.
Now, I will tell you about my return.
After leaving the border of the Soviet Union, we made several long stops in capitalist countries, at the stations of Warsaw, Petrovich, and Lundenburgs. As soon as we got off the train, the police immediately surrounded us, as if we were criminals. Our friends met us at the station, but we couldn’t talk to them, as the police immediately drove them away. One of us loudly declared that we needed to organise a protest. Upon hearing this, the police angrily threatened us, saying, ‘If you want to taste the sweetness of rubber whips, come out and demonstrate...’ And indeed, I was taken home under the blows of whips. Our police are not embarrassed to bring out their rubber whips. Revolutionary workers are deprived of any opportunity to initiate anything. They cannot freely participate in meetings or demonstrations. Often, many of our comrades are arrested without any reason and later disappear.
You’ve probably already read about the success of the demonstration of the unemployed. Despite the threats of the gendarmerie, we organised a protest of 740 people in our village. We were greatly pleased by the terrified faces of the capitalists, who trembled at the presence of the working masses, even when the police were protecting them from the workers' anger. I must say that the capitalists were even more furious when looking at the delegates who had returned from the Soviet Union. With our speech, we were able to turn many workers into friends of Soviet Russia. Despite strict control, we were able to organise protests in all provincial towns and district centres. During the demonstrations, we spoke about the Soviet Union. We, the unemployed, do not back down from our demands. I am a member of the unemployed committee myself. On the occasion of the birth of a child, we made our demands known, and we did not back down until we secured 600 schillings for 160 unemployed people (a schilling is about 28 kopecks) and one litre of milk per child. We are currently demanding winter fuel as well.
They are obligated to meet our needs; otherwise, we will go out and protest again. And they fear our protests because employed workers are also joining us, and that greatly affects the fascists.
One third of the population is unemployed—you cannot imagine our economic situation. We receive only 40 schillings for 14 days. What can one do with that miserable amount? After all, families need to live, clothing and fuel are required. We do not have the favourable conditions your workers have—there is no cheap dining, no tax or rent exemptions, we can't even dream of going to theatres or cinemas for free, or studying. A widowed worker receives 16 schillings a month, which is barely enough to buy bread, sugar, potatoes, and half a litre of milk for children. In these conditions, we barely manage to survive, but can you imagine the situation of those workers, whose factory owner has closed the factory and left them hungry for their daily bread?
“Միայն Խորհրդային Միություն գալուցս հետո ինձ ազատ զգացի“, in: Հայաստանի աշխատավորուհի, 6, 65 (1930), 11, https://tert.nla.am/archive/NLA%20AMSAGIR/
Hayastaniashxatavoruhi/1930/6_ocr.pdf, last accessed 26 November 2024.