Hieromartyr Alexander Vershinsky, martyrs Pavel Kuzovkov and Nikolai Kopninsky

Holy-but-mu-che-nickname Alexander was born on March 6, 1873 in the village of Kun-ga-no-vo of Starits-ko-uezd of Tver province in the family of dia-ko- on Andrey Vershin-skogo. Deacon An-drey was the great-chi-ta-te-lem of father John of Kronstadt. On February 22, 1906, Father John served in the church of Upi-ro-vi-chi No-vo-torzh-sko-go yes, and Deacon Andrey spe-ci-al-but came there to serve with the right-led-no-one. In 1907, Deacon Andrey left the state due to his health.
In 1897, Alexander graduated from the Tver Spiritual School and in the same year he entered Bo-ri. So-Gleb-sky cathedral in the city of Sta-ri-tse. Married to the daughter of the holy Eli-in Church in the city of Torzh-ka Mi-ha-i-la Nikol-skogo Eli-ko - no way. The priest Mi-ha-i-la Fe-do-ro-vi-cha Nikol-skogo and his wife Ev-ge-nia Mi-hai-lov-ny ro- There were three-twenty children, only six remained alive. The eldest daughter Eli-ko-ni-da was born in 1878, the youngest son Ar-ka-diy - in 1900. The family was blessed, Ev-ge-nia Mi-hai-lov-na was kind-hearted, honest and fair -li-vo-styu. After her husband’s death, she became the oldest St. Elias Church.
On January 30, 1900, the dog-breaker Alexander was married in dia-co-na to Bo-ri-so-Gleb-so-bo- ru in the city of Stari-tse. On February 6 of the same year he was married to the church of Ar-hi-stra-ti-ga Mi-ha-i -la in the village of Mi-khailovsky Tver district. From August 20 to December 1901, Father Alexander was a teacher at the Yako-Vlevsky Zemstvo School of Tversko -th departure-yes.
On December 3, 1901, Father Alexander's father-in-law, priest Mikhail Nikolsky, died, and Father Alexander died on December 10 of the same year -yes, he was transferred to the Ilyinskaya Church in the city of Torzh-ka, in which he served until the day of its closure for military service- I stuv-yu-schi-mi without-god-ni-ka-mi in 1927. From 1902 to 1917 he was in Torzh-ka for teaching at the school of the Ministry of Education.
Father Alexander and Eli-ko-ni-da Mi-khai-lov-ny had three children - two children, in 1912 and 1914, and a son No-bark in 1918. No-barking during God's services to help his father in the al-ta-re; with the beginning of the Fatherland War, he was called to the front as part of the 325th rifle regiment of the 14th rifle division. vision and during the last hundred battles on September 11, 1944, he went missing.
After the death of his father-in-law, everyone laid down on the shoulder of the young saint for his many-families , despite the fact that some of the children were still small. In 1920, Father Alexander was awarded the cross, and in 1922 he was elevated to the rank of pro-to-e-rei.
During the attack on the Russian Orthodox Church, Father Alexander did not doubt at all the path he had chosen -that service to God and, having gained great power among the In 1923, he was elected by them as the first nobleman of the 1st district of Tver Uezd and was then confirmed in this position by the Diocesan. al-nym ar-hi-ere-em. In the same year, he was appointed as the Blessed Bo-ri-so-Gleb-monastery in Torzh-ka. In 1924, Father Alexander was a citizen of the Lyceum, in 1925, on the 25th anniversary of his service to the Holy Church -vi - a golden cross on the front with a decorated cross.
After the closure of the authorities in 1927, the Ilyinskaya Church of the Archbishop of Tver, Thaddeus (Uspensky), blessedly spoke about -shchi-well, go to the Spa-so-pre-ob-ra-women’s cathedral in the city of Torzh-ka and named father Alexander for a hundred -I-te-lem. Here he served until the closure of the church in 1931, and then was transferred to the Niko-lo-Pustyn-skaya church. cove. In 1932, pro-i-e-rey Alexander was awarded a citizenship. In March 1937, the temple, with the active support of the authorities, was seized by the newly-len-ts-mi and pro-to-e-rey Alek- Sandr was left without a place.
Everywhere the flames of more and more merciless persecution, this was clearly seen by Father Alexander, one he is not one minute in his decision to continue serving the Church. Bu-duchi ho-ro-sho from the-ve-walls of the sacred-on-cha-liu, he was invited in March 1937 to the Smo-lensk temple in the the village of Ivan-te-ev-ke Push-kin-rai-o-of-Moscow region, where he served until the day of his arrest.
On October 24, one of the co-workers of the administration of the school in Ivan-te-ev-ka gave a blow to the se-re-ta-ryu par-tiy- but the ko-mi-te-ta, who once was and sec-re-ta-rem sat down with the co-ve-ta in Ivan -ev-ke. So-sta-vi-tel do-no-sa called dia-ko-na Alek-sandra Yaki-man-sko-go to the school, some of the children studied in this school, and, having spoken with him, co-settled the following to-not-se-nie: “Citizen Alexander Pav-lovich Yaki-man-sky (dia-kon of the church in the village of Ivan-te-ev-ka) translates as follows: priest of the church in in the village Ivan-te-ev-ka Aleksandr An-dre-evich Vershinsky speaks about holidays. These pro-po-ve-di no-syat mo-nar-hi-che-sky ha-rak-ter. He was more than once a pre-pre-waiting citizen of Yaki-mansky and a priest of Uspensky, so as not to talk about -yes, but Vershinsky does not pay attention to the pre-expectations and continues to talk about -po-ve-di.
“We have a thought - for what purpose did he, Vershinsky, come here, when he was blessed in the city of Torzh- go-chin-nym, used-to-ri-te-tom, had a two-story own house,” says Yaki-mansky. For example, he spoke about the Voz-movement from the Cross of the State, on Rozh-de- the state of Bo-go-ro-di-tsy, where he spoke about the Biblical is-to-ria of King Da-vid-da, King Kon-stan-ti-na (Vi- Zan-Ti-skaya im-per-ria). Before Easter he spoke about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Who was crucified by the authorities. There are celebrations that were not held in the church before, for example, on the third day of the Dormition. -ga-ni-zo-val you-carrying the cloak and burying God Ma-te-ri and walking through the church. There is an opinion, dea-con Yaki-mansky thinks, that the priest Vershinsky is part of some party.”
On November 10, Deacon Alexander was summoned for pre-questioning to the NKVD, where, from the question of the follow-up, he gave a trace -said: “I know that Vershinsky uses a big car. I pre-guess that he has become an av-to-ri-tet among women with his own he often puts forth a lot of effort in the church; If we talk about his church service, then he serves unimportantly. By-the-cha-lu, when Vershinsky had just arrived in Ivan-te-ev-ku, he spoke in the church about-ve-di purely re-li-gi-oz-nye. Subsequently, he began to shuffle mo-nar-hi-che ideas in his stories, while praising the former royal family and separate kings. On all former religious holidays that had their significance in the Church in pre-lu-tsi-on time , Vershinsky arranges a solemn divine service, and on some such holidays he celebrates Rit pro-po-ve-di, in which he throws his mo-nar-hi-che-che-ideas; so, in particular, on one of the holidays in the spring of 1937, he praised certain kings, somehow: king Yes-vi-da and others. In the fall of 1937, in his pro-ve-di, he spoke about Tsar Constantine and his de-i-tel-no-sti, while I'm listening to everything in the best colors. In the spring of 1937, in one of the pro-ve-days, Vershinsky, linking his pro-po-y with the revival after the winter of the Doy, he said: “When it blossomed... we must look for a better life, before life was better.”
On November 21, 1937, co-labor-ki of the NKVD are-sto-va-li about-and-e-rey Aleksandr, and a day later - before-se-da-te- for the church-of-the-co-ve-ta Pav-la Va-si-lie-vi-cha Ku-zov-ko-va and a member of the church-of-the-co-ve-ta Ni- ko-laya Iva-no-vi-cha Kop-nin-sko-go. All of them were imprisoned in the Ta-gan prison in Moscow.
On November 25, Deacon Alexander Yakimansky was again summoned for a pre-request to the investigator. In response to questions, he said: “I know Kop-nin-sko-go and Ku-zov-ko-va from the moment of my-e-th- I stepped into the position of dia-ko-na in the village of Ivan-te-ev-ku, that is, from February 18, 1937, and I know Vershin-sky from March 1937. Until recently, my relationship with them was normal, but about half-way around. Since then they have intensified on the basis of do-ho-dov. The connection between Vershin-sko-go, Ku-zov-ko-va and Kop-nin-sko-go was very close and concluded in the fact that they, being at the head of the church with a co-ve-ta, jointly re-solving all the questions, ka-sa-yu-schi-e-sya church, and in general, they had personal, friendly relations. I can declare that Vershinsky, Kop-ninsky and Ku-zov-kov were on-line with the an-ti-so-vet-ski. Inspired by the anti-Soviet attitudes and discontent, Vershinsky appears, and he actually Ski is the inspiration of this group. Vershinsky, in his pro-vehicles, expressed purely mo-nar-hi-che-che-views; so, for example, on the holidays of the Ascension and the Birth of God, he praised the ancient kings of Da- vi-da, Kon-stan-ti-na and others. In private times, Vershinsky said: “At the present time, life is hard and it’s impossible to live, vi- but this is Soviet power.” Sitting at the table in the presence of others, Vershinsky, turning to the others, said: “ Celebration of participation and co-lead of the cross of the ho-da-mi, with this we are more attracted to our side -ru-yu-shih.”
Then the deacon gave a statement against Pav-la Ku-zov-ko-va and Niko-laya Kop-nin-skogo, finishing with them -in general terms: “Meetings of the churches of the co-ve-ta met about two times a month and in different places: sometimes in a church, sometimes in a Ku-zov-ko-va apartment, sometimes at other private individuals’ houses. And since there have already been so many facts about counter-re-vo-lu-tsi-on-times and all these times are connected in one degree or another with the church council, then, in my opinion, the meetings of the church co-ve-ta-appeared at the house for counter-re-in-lu-tsi-on-times and these times-go-ry in a very hidden the form has been re-surrounded in the village.”
On the same day, the priest of the Smo-lensk temple in Ivan-te-ev-ka, Niko-lay Mi-khai-lovich Uspen-sky, was asked to -the-ry-show-hall: “Vershin-sky, Ku-zov-kov and Kop-nin-sky got into a good fight with each other.” -mo-from-but-she-ni-yah, the apartments often communicate with each other and esp. -me Ku-zov-ko-va, where si-ste-ma-ti-che-ski times between each other counter-re-vo-lu-tsi-on-views- yes. Ver-shin-sky, Ku-zov-kov and Kop-nin-sky are clearly hostile to the existing system in the USSR. Ru-ko-vo-di-te-lem and inhaled-but-vi-te-lem of the given counter-re-in-lu-tsi-on group, as in church-de- lah, and in the counter-re-in-lu-tsi-on-the-said-zy-va-ni-yah, there was Vershin-sky. In March 1937, Vershinsky talked about his work in Torzhka and said that he arranged a cross there a move that some com-so-mol-tsy wanted to thwart, but he was well acquainted with the members of the party and they for-ra- more information than his-for-mi-ro-va-li, which gave him the opportunity to fore-warn the believers and give the over-lying repulse com-so-plea-tsam. In March 1937, after the end of the service in the Vershinsky church about the admission of the re-press to the clergy si-yah said: “Du-ho-ven-stvo for small crimes, for the word spoken, he suffers five years -a link or something else; in general, crimes do not correspond to the law.” After this time, he began to express his counter-re-views on the issue of choice. rah to the Supreme Council. After Vershinsky's arrest, the next day Ku-zov-kov came to my house and asked me to write a report All-Russian Central Executive Committee on the issue of closing the church. I am writing a statement from the hall. After this, Ku-zov-ko-vy and I went to Kop-nin-sky, and Kop-nin-sky said that the re-li-gy was going on -some gov-not from the government, and Ku-zov-kov said: “The constitution is on-pi-sa-na only for for-foreigners, and not for the USSR.”
In prison, from ve-tea to vo-pro-sy following-to-va-te-la, Father Alexander said:
- In the village of Ivan-te-ev-ka, I lived in a good relationship with the pre-se-da- that church with Pav-lom Va-si-lie-vi-than Ku-zov-ko-vym, who would have had it in his house . I also know Nikolay Iva-no-vi-chem Kop-ninsky, who even gave a statement about you -from the church council, but still the church council continued to meet. I don’t have any other people I know in Ivan-te-ev-ka. I don’t know how many times the church council met during my absence. But I was present at four meetings. At the first meeting before Easter, the question of payment for singers for singing on Easter was discussed. At the second meeting, at the end of May, the issue of finance was discussed. For the third time, in June, in the church building, we discussed issues regarding the renovation of the church. And for the fourth time, in church, we discussed the process of re-mont-ta, that is, we talk about re-mon-those, up-to-go-va-ri-va-ya about the price.
- The consequence of the ras-po-la-ga-et is the fact that in the village of Ivan-te-ev-ka there is a counter-re-vo-lu- ci-on-naya group of churches, which includes Pa-vel Va-si-lie-vich Ku-zov-kov and Niko-lay Iva- but-vich Kop-nin-sky, inspired by the sight of you. The consequence is pre-la-ga-et to tell you in detail, for what purpose are you counter-re-in-lu-tsi-on work, and name other persons who were included in your group, - the follower demanded.
- In the village of Ivan-te-ev-ka, among the churches, there was no counter-re-vo-lu-tsi-on group, Of the named persons, none of the counter-re-in-lu-tsi-on-ag-ta-tsi-is not for-small-xia and their dissatisfaction with- “I didn’t tell you about the veterinary authorities,” the priest replied.
- In July, you are in the church among the believers who say that the Soviet government is striving for sacred servants and for each mistaken word he gives them five years. By this you tried to evoke pity for the priests and hatred for the Soviet authorities among those present. sti. Then and there you said that the clergy do not have the opportunity to participate in the election campaign, since they will all the same be thrown out of the authorities of the top, although they will be from behind no one. These times you tried to dis-or-ga-niz-to-create a selection campaign among the believers. Tell the investigation, for what purpose did you counter-re-in-li-tsi-on-now-again .
- I have never held such a conversation after the end of a church service.
- When you chi-ta-li pro-po-ve-di in the church, you are in these pro-ve-dy pro-ta-ki-va-li counter-re-vo-lu-ci -on-ny mo-nar-hi-che-skie ideas. In particular, on the holiday of the Resurrection, praise is given to the blessing of the kings of Kon-stan-ti-na, Da-vi-da and tsa -rits, my goal is to make believers understand about the existence of the good kings, good-ro- sho from-but-siv-shih-to-the-nation.
- Indeed, on the holiday of the Resurrection, I talked about the meaning of this holiday. In the pro-po-ve-di I spoke about Tsar Elena, since she is associated with the holiday, but about Tsars Da-vi-de and Kon- I didn’t speak to Stan-tin with praise for their goodness.
- Since when and on what basis have you developed counter-views?
- I didn’t have any counter-re-views.
- The investigation presents you with the following fact of your counter-re-re-action. You said that in order to increase the number of believers, you went to deceive the authorities and do-bi- The relics of Prince Iuli-a-nii were discovered in the city of Torzh-ka. Then and there, pro-ka-tsi-on rumors were spread with the aim of com-pro-me-ta-tion of the com-party, -rying present, that supposedly many com-mu-ni-sty were with you in the deal and pre-pre-waited for you about the -sto-i-shchih de-mon-stra-tsi-yah com-so-mo-la against the cross-processions.
- Maybe I was talking about the transfer of relics from the under-wall to the temple, and such a transfer can- With the resolution of the church and civil authorities there was. In relation to the com-so-mol-tsev and com-mu-sts, I didn’t say anything.
The investigator continued to ask, bringing up more and more “facts” about the supposedly counter-re-re-in-love. He's de-de-tel-no-sti-ly, but Father Alexander responded to all the questions:
- No, I don’t admit that I’m guilty of this.

Mu-che-nick Pa-vel born on June 15, 1875 in the village of Ivan-te-ev-ka, Moscow province, in the family of worker Va-si-lia Ku- call-to-va. Graduated from a rural school. In 1887, he went to the factory and worked on his own jobs, and then, becoming a qua-li-fi-ci-ro- van-nym ra-bo-chim, pro-ra-bo-tal at the factory until 1904. From 1904 to 1906 he worked at the Va-go-no-re-mont-nom plant. From 1907 to 1932, Pa-vel Va-si-lie-vich worked as a suk-no-va-lom at the Ly-zhi-na factory. From 1932 until the day of his arrest, he worked as a de-zhur at the water-station. On January 1, 1937, Pa-vel Va-si-lie-vich was elected pres- er of the church of the Smo-ta temple. Len-skaya icon of God Ma-te-ri and for this he was arrested.
- The Soviet society knows from the teachings of Le-ni-na that re-li-gia is a dope for the people. How can one explain the fact that you are an ardent supporter and defender of religion and the Church?
- I’m not an ardent defender of religion and the Church, I was just chosen by the people before the church. kov-noy twenty-ki.
- I know that in the spring of last year you went to Moscow to the diocesan administration for co-operation That's what you need to do so that the church doesn't close, and in November you go to the Pushkinsky paradise of the full com at a time to resolve the meeting of believers on this issue. Why are you saying something wrong?
- I went to the diocesan administration. And in the paradise-is-pol-kom I went to take permission for a meeting in order to notify the believers about the closure of the church .
- The consequence is that the counter-re-vo-lu-tsi-on-naya group of churches in the composition of the Ver-shin-sko- go, Kop-nin-sko-go and you often met in your apartment, and sometimes in the church, where counter-re-re-vo-s were carried out lu-tsi-on-nye raz-go-vor-ry, directed-against the measures of the Soviet government. Why are you hiding this from the investigation?
- Members of the church of the council met several times in my apartment, but they counter-re-vo-lu-tsi-on There weren't many times there.

Mu-che-nick Ni-ko-bark born on November 20, 1876 in the village of Ivan-te-ev-ka, Moscow province, in the family of the worker Ivan Kop-nin-sko-go. In 1888, I graduated from a rural school and went to work at the factory at Lyzhi-nu, where the plant -bo-tal until 1899, when he was drafted into the army. He served in the army for four years, sleep-cha-la for a number of years, and then pi-sa-rem on the 13th infantry Be -lo-zer-sko-go-pol-ka, kvar-ti-ro-vav-she-go in the Polish city of Lom-zha. In 1903, he returned to the Lyzhi-na factory and began to work as a clerk, and then from 1908 to 1914 - as a clerk - cabbage soup in the Moscow United Exchange ar-te-li. In 1914, Niko-lai was drafted into the army and served until 1918 in the engineering department in Moscow; then he returned to Ivan-te-ev-ka and took over the peasant farm. From 1921 to 1930, Niko-lay Iva-no-vich worked as a clerk at various factories in Ivan-te-ev-ka. In 1930, he ended up in a railway prison and, as a result of severe injuries, we received in-va-lid -ness.
Since 1935, he was a sek-re-ta-rem of the re-vi-zi-on-noy commission at the church council and for this he was arrested in 1937 hundred-van.
- What kind of mutual relations did you have with the pre-se-church of your co-ve-ta? Ku-zov-ko-you and po-po-Vershinsky? - the investigator asked.
- I met Ku-zov-ko-va, and so did he-me, only because he was in front of the church. so-ve-ta, and until March 17, 1937, I was a sec-re-ta-rem of the re-vi-zi-on-noy commission at the church so-ve-te . In Vershinsky’s opinion, just like he and I never visited him.
- In February 1937, a meeting of the church was held; after the end of the meeting, among those present, you clearly counter-re-vo-lu-tsi-on- views against the Soviet government.
- There was a meeting of the church council in February 1937, but I countered the views I didn’t say it and I don’t admit it to myself.
On December 1, 1937, the NKVD troika met with pro-i-e-rey Aleksandr Vershinsky and before -for the church-of-the-co-ve-ta Pav-la Ku-zov-ko-va to the shoot-out, and a member of the parish-co-ve-to-ve-ta Ni-ko -laya Kop-nin-sko-go - for eight years of imprisonment in the penitentiary.
Pro-to-e-rey Alexander Vershinsky and Mi-rya-nin Pa-vel Ku-zov-kov were shot on December 8, 1937 and in the unknown common mo-gi-le on the Bu-to-vo polygon near Moscow. Mi-rya-nin Niko-lay Kop-nin-sky was imprisoned in the Ma-ri-in-skie la-ge-rya in the Ke-merovo region and here 15 died on March 1938.

Igu-men Da-mas-kin (Or-lov-sky)

“The life of no-vo-mu-che-ni-kov and is-po-ved-nikov of the Russian twentieth century of the Moscow diocese. November". Tver, 2003, pp. 217-229.

Sergey Aslanyan: Today is the greatest day in the history of the Crew program. Because my guest is Alexander Nikolaevich Vershinsky. This is a person whose personal acquaintance leaves a mark in his biography that is probably equal to the Hero of Socialist Labor. A person who personally knows Vershinsky in life can allow himself only worthy actions and generally lives with wings and in a different way. This is the man who, under Soviet rule, allowed himself to behave in completely anti-Soviet ways. He, being a scientist, and not Brezhnev’s daughter or Kosygin’s son, drove foreign cars. In Soviet reality, no one drove foreign cars. It was necessary to achieve this “badge of valor”, to gain rank, to succeed, and so that some Alexander Nikolaevich Vershinsky would allow himself a foreign car, you know. For this, Alexander Nikolaevich had a multi-volume file filed with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the reason why Alexander Nikolaevich was not imprisoned is still unknown to him.

Born in Moscow in 1947. Graduated from the Moscow Energy Institute. He fluctuated along with the party line. Work: Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, research fellow, graduate student in an attempt to apply the methods of cybernetics (“the corrupt girl of imperialism”) to the problem of fish schooling. Plant "Yantar", engineer. Diplomas, VDNKh medal, endless improvement proposals. Institute of Applied Geophysics. Development of instruments for studying the distribution of freons in the atmosphere (freon “eats” the ozone layer). The first Soviet-American explorations and expeditions around the world. And then Perestroika! Saved the “piano in the bushes” - a craft, because practically since school I was always making something: water skis, boats, surfing, hang gliders, radio equipment.. And, finally, since 1970, I started restoring and repairing foreign cars - the transport of the elite those times. As a result, he became the technical director of the first 4x4 club in Russia in 1991 for 10 years. Nowadays I create useless things, sculptures - a multiple winner of exhibitions. And he fell in love with motorcycles again: he crossed America on Route 66, traveled around Europe, went to Valaam, traveled through the Caucasus and Crimea. I wish the same for you!

Alexander Vershinsky: Lucky.

Sergey Aslanyan: Alexander Nikolaevich graduated from the Energy Institute, did not have thieves' parents and did not have any starting conditions that would allow our Soviet man to be behind the wheel of a car, for example, a Datsun. Datsuns at that time were even more decent than they are now. Or Porsche. And this is all in the biography of one person. And Chevrolet in 1970 in the USSR, in Moscow, on a street as long as an Ikarus. It doesn't happen that way. Despite the fact that this is just a consequence of interest and skill in working with his hands (don’t think that he was a pickpocket in the subway), he simply knew how to fix everything. Alexander Nikolaevich, how did this happen? How did the Soviet government forgive you everything? And how did it all happen?

Alexander Vershinsky: I was forced to do this. By class origin, I am the shit of the nation, an intellectual, you understand. And we couldn’t buy a car as such. There was no queue for the car among us. They were in factories, but not in institutes. The only thing I could do was, through great effort, to get a queue for a written-off car - taxis, disabled cars. That's all I could do.

S. Aslanyan: Is this at the Institute of Oceanology of the Academy of Sciences?

A. Vershinsky: Yes. At any institute.

S. Aslanyan: Well, yes, academician, he is obviously a lousy person, why would he drive a new car.

A. Vershinsky: Therefore, after standing in line for several years, you received a postcard for a decommissioned Volga. And there was the South Port site, Boloto. But this is junk, you can imagine cars that served in taxis for 7-10 years, these are documents at best. There was no body, interiors, etc. But everyone dreamed, and this was the way to acquire a car. And you were given this postcard for several days. And sometimes these most unpleasant handsome men stood nearby in the Swamp.

S. Aslanyan: UpDKashnye?

A. Vershinsky: Yes. No one had the right to buy them. Only by special letters, by special papers, a separate public. This is a separate issue; it did not concern us, ordinary Soviet people. But. There weren't many of them, crazy Russians. Who wanted to buy this. They were. And they selected the best cars. And there were those that no one needed. A Datsun rotten to the core, without headlights and with a torn interior, or a Volvo. Well, who needs it? And it cost a lot of money. That's how this foreign junk fell into my hands.

S. Aslanyan: You turned out to be the person who got into this queue.

A. Vershinsky: No, I received a postcard that gives me the right to buy a decommissioned Volga

S. Aslanyan: And here, next to it, stood foreign junk, which, everyone understood, could not be raised for any money, there would be no prestige. And then Alexander Nikolaevich Vershinsky, like a man from oceanology, that is, not so much walking on the earth as living in a different environment, sneaked in and...

A. Vershinsky: Yes, and it was necessary to choose and decide. At risk, of course. This is not a start, nothing. I'll take this one. He grabbed him on a rope and dragged him home.

S. Aslanyan: Which was the first?

A. Vershinsky: I don’t remember here anymore. Teeth fall out, memory fails.

S. Aslanyan: But do you remember Lenin alive? This is a joke. I saw Lenin alive. And I'm in a coffin.

A. Vershinsky: Yes, yes. I think it was a Chevrolet Bel Air, it was around 1970.

S. Aslanyan: In 1970, Alexander Nikolaevich Vershinsky bought himself a Chevrolet Bel Air. How old was she? She was no longer young, she had time to run around embassies?

A. Vershinsky: Yes. In addition, her engine knocked when we started her. Each purchase was a research institute: how to remove this knock, how to revive it. We came up with new technologies. Spare parts were not sold, as you understand.

S. Aslanyan: It didn’t exist.

A. Vershinsky: No. Therefore, you become surrounded by some acquaintances, craftsmen who could make a new camshaft from a rusty piece of iron. The problems started from the first day.

S. Aslanyan: Employees of academic institutes, having mastered the strength of materials, painted, welded, tinned, and soldered very well. Well, academics, what can we take from them?

A. Vershinsky: Yes, there were many of them.

S. Aslanyan: Many had training in the Gulag, when the academic perspective was combined with the ability to fell wood, so the people were very handy. Sometimes they even bequeathed it to their children. Why did Vasily Aksenov become a doctor? Mom said that only a doctor has a chance of survival in the camp. The combination of professions and the readiness to always respond to the challenges of the time in academic circles was combined with very good plumbing skills.

A. Vershinsky: For me, this is even deeper than your superficial penetration into the topic. Remember, as Vysotsky said, he is finishing the war. He wrote about the war all the time, although he himself did not fight. And I didn't fight. But I also felled wood for many years. I was like a king and did a little sewing. I was a junior researcher, and in the summer I went to the forest to earn money. And on long winter evenings after work, he repaired cars.

S. Aslanyan: In the meantime, they were also building hang gliders.

A. Vershinsky: These were the first attempts to fly.

S. Aslanyan: As you know, the first hang glider launched in our country in 1952 from the construction site of the university, when the prisoners simply staged an escape. They didn’t count on it: people who had previously built airplanes were brought out for general construction work. And on sheets of plywood, one was shot down, and the rest flew away.

A. Vershinsky: Solzhenitsyn described this story.

S. Aslanyan: Well, where did the hang glider come from in our country? Yes, as always, the academicians didn’t look after you. But let's return to Chevrolet. Do you remember how much it cost then?

A. Vershinsky: All the foreign cars that I got were junk. And all of them were no less than the price of a new Lada.

S. Aslanyan: 5-6 thousand rubles?

A. Vershinsky: Yes. When I dragged another car into the yard, the local people, who were nobly drinking port wine or playing dominoes, said that the fool drove it again, instead of taking a new one. Usually it took me a year and a half to roll out the car in finished form, it was a lot of work. And then these noble people sat down to write a denunciation against me. The bastard, completely insolent, bought a new car again, a beauty, and will say that this is the one... This was the norm. And this was repeated regularly.

S. Aslanyan: Chevrolet Bel Air cannot be forgiven. And when you drove this car out after repairs, Moscow shuddered? After all, the passage of such a car means that the police are scattering. This is Brezhnev or his daughter coming.

A. Vershinsky: You have no idea how much this was stopped. This made me smile and never leave my face, because the policeman was blocking all traffic on the street. If I was driving along Rublyovka, and we had beautiful places there before, I had to go there, then everything would freeze.

S. Aslanyan: Did you salute? At the reflex level.

A. Vershinsky: Yes. It was very funny.

S. Aslanyan: Taxi drivers, they were the fastest guys at that time, they also quietly crawled to the side of the road. It was a completely different ride.

A. Vershinsky: Yes. Or they pretended you weren't there. You don't exist, you are transparent. Or all the conditions are for you. It was luxurious. I was like a king.

S. Aslanyan: Yes, now even in three yellow Kalinas, in order to drive safely, you need to drag a division of internal troops with you on your tail. It was easier for you.

A. Vershinsky: And times were calmer.

S. Aslanyan: But you had to drive this car to a gas station and go to the store. There is no gas at the gas station. And then you arrive. AND?..

A. Vershinsky: This is a sore subject, it concerned any foreign car, there was no high-octane gasoline. And these cars, running on our gasoline, detonated, overheated and got sick. And this required engineering. We injected water into the motor through an adjustable needle.

S. Aslanyan: Up to the steam level.

A. Vershinsky: Yes. You need to calculate, no more than 10%. This is an old topic; it was used on aircraft engines. And then it was possible to drive on gasoline. It was torture. In winter everything had to be heated. And then. Still, our society did not stand still; for owners of foreign cars in Medvedkovo, you had the right to buy a ton of luxury gasoline, which smelled like cologne and was sold on Kropotkinskaya.

S. Aslanyan: This is a famous gas station, where there have never been queues and no cars. The government's Seagulls also refueled there.

A. Vershinsky: And me.

S. Aslanyan: And after that the police finally understood: God forbid he just looks in my direction.

A. Vershinsky: Can you imagine how he smelled? The gasoline smelled so bad that instead of French perfume, which was not available, you could scent yourself with it.

S. Aslanyan: But this machine didn’t change you, but it changed the world around you. Driving a Chevrolet Bel Air in Moscow in 1971 meant that space was breaking down and the political system was shaking. Have any speculators approached you with offers to sell jeans? Or buy some chewing gum?

A. Vershinsky: Then a public appeared that thought that this was where they belonged. But I never came into contact with anyone, I was not interested in it. Probably, owning such a car should have changed my brain, made me turn my nose up, but somehow I managed without it.

S. Aslanyan: In what first car did the police understand that they needed to work closely with you? Or did they wait a little?

A. Vershinsky: No, I used it for a long time. Until the Olympics in 1980. That’s when they stopped it. And they looked closely for so long.

S. Aslanyan: It’s on the street. What about the Ministry of Internal Affairs? When did the conversation take place with the person who was supposed to meet personally with the anti-Soviet Vershinsky?

A. Vershinsky: Around 1982.

S. Aslanyan: The system approached systematically. They stopped me on the street and then called me in for a conversation. And what was the conversation about?

A. Vershinsky: It was October Square. It was frankly stated: we know what you do, and you fall under the heading of unearned income. I choked and asked: how? I work in a factory all day, and spend weekends in the garage. After work I run and sharpen something. But the title of the article was unambiguous.

S. Aslanyan: And why was it not presented?

A. Vershinsky: I think perestroika has come, it’s just time that saved it.

S. Aslanyan: By 1982, when the conversation took place, what kind of foreign car did you have?

S. Aslanyan: There were already so many that you weren’t even classified as dissidents? It was already necessary to do something economic.

A. Vershinsky: Fifth somewhere. Five foreign cars in 10 years. But I repaired each one.

S. Aslanyan: Nobody cares about this in their personal file. But it does mean. That you bought a car, conditionally for 5 thousand, revived it for 1.5 years, and then have to sell it for 5 thousand rubles. Because it's unearned income?

A. Vershinsky: No, fortunately everything is not so sad. Having brought the car to a luxury state, I polished every nut there, after my hands it came out completely different from what drove into the garage. I could officially hand it over to a consignment store and set any price. There was demand, it didn’t last long. Either there was mine standing nearby, which you could sit on and drive, or it was rusty and dead.

S. Aslanyan: But as I understand it, the material component did not play a special role in this process? Was it engineering curiosity? Or what stopped you from repairing your car and driving it for the rest of your life.

A. Vershinsky: What do I need to live on?

S. Aslanyan: For an academic salary. Was it 90 rubles?

A. Vershinsky: Plus or minus.

A. Vershinsky: This didn’t happen in the Academy of Sciences, it was only in factories.

S. Aslanyan: Then it was necessary to somehow turn around. And what car was it after?

A. Vershinsky: I’m not sure I remember exactly. Let there be a Dodge Dart. The same huge American, with a hood you can dance on.

S. Aslanyan: V8. It’s not clear what kind of gearbox it is, because it’s an automatic?

A. Vershinsky: In principle, there was nothing to treat her with, the closest analogue was LiAZ. They were all junk, but each time they required some new ideas and restoration. Which was not always possible when I was sober. The Dodge was so rotten that everything it took off went into the trash. The first thing you need to do is take everything apart and weld it up. As a result, on the second day I realized that there was nothing. Returned to the trash heap. Fortunately, nothing was stolen. Where can I get the uniform to restore it? On what lines? Where can I get iron? You can't buy anything. And this is the special material from which the wings of the car were made. As always, God helps the lost. The light bulbs in our house were changed; they were covered with a reflector. So all this metal went for restoration. But it was a lot of work.

S. Aslanyan: As a tinsmith, you sat with metal scissors, cutting everything, making some blanks?

A. Vershinsky: Without end. It turned out that he had a very good construction boot on his foot. It has a metal toe, any shape around it could be bent very easily.

S. Aslanyan: It’s so good that our science is ready to reflect the imperialist...

A. Vershinsky: I offered to supply Moskvich to America for free, I don’t know why they didn’t listen to me. Residents would have been repairing them from morning to night, and that’s all - imperialism would have completely collapsed. We would defeat them in no time.

S. Aslanyan: I would start with vodka. There are, however, a number of other ideas.

A. Vershinsky: No, they have more of a national craving for cars than for vodka. They go to work. And then it won't start. And Khan.

S. Aslanyan: So, you started bending iron, walking along the entrance and collecting discarded cans. What about the plastic and headlights?

A. Vershinsky: Two technologies. The simplest one is to go shopping and buy all the lanterns that are on sale. From “Volga”, “Moskvich”... And from them you approximate piece by piece, glue them together and create a new form.

S. Aslanyan: You approximate - this, as I understand it, is synonymous with mosaic?

A. Vershinsky: This is very painstaking work, but it brought success. If glued well and polished, it will look intact.

S. Aslanyan: The 35th brake light in the biography: brings Faberge to the jewelry craftsmanship. This is the first technology. And the second?

A. Vershinsky: It is more complicated. This requires making a preform and extruding a new flashlight. And that's what we did.

S. Aslanyan: At home in the kitchen?

A. Vershinsky: In the garage. You usually can’t guess the first mold, the dimensions are wrong. Everything needs to be heated, pressed, and I started to burn. The first thing I did was rush to save the car, of course, because it was on fire. But this is a normal process. And after 3 or 4 times you guess, you screw it up.

S. Aslanyan: And you get a chic American.

A. Vershinsky: I did this with a German.

S. Aslanyan: But Dodge, for example, has an automatic transmission - were there any questions? What about the engine? Bel Air knocked?

A. Vershinsky: The camshafts were knocking. How we found out. The cover was removed, the valve was examined, it was worn out. Well, he had a run. There were an insane amount of cars in those years. 400 thousand km is what I got. But they came up with an idea. We welded the drill. In the garage. This steel turned out to be the most necessary. The shape of the cam was sharpened, and the car went whistling. And I went for years.

S. Aslanyan: Steel on a drill, yes. Did you cook it at home?

A. Vershinsky: Yes, right here on the floor.

S. Aslanyan: Some kind of argon?

A. Vershinsky: None. I lit a cigarette, lit it, burner number 3 and that’s it. What argon.

S. Aslanyan: I can imagine how many people are hiccupping right now, standing on the side of the road. What about the interior?

A. Vershinsky: It’s not that difficult to sew. But it's money. The most ingenious solution was found with the interior in the summer, the car was all disassembled... Well, the interior is completely useless. I poured in some nitro paint using a spray bottle from a vacuum cleaner and painted it. In! Some door panels had to be fabricated. You make a template out of cardboard, cover it, etc. This is just simpler.

S. Aslanyan: Did cars of that time already have power steering? And they also leaked, because oil seals do not last forever, and it was necessary to get out?

A. Vershinsky: There were problems with the liquid. Where can I get it? We had no idea what was in there. I poured the spindle, which was quite satisfactory. It has a wide temperature range. It worked.

S. Aslanyan: And then these masterpieces, were they used year-round? Did you sit down and go? Or just in the summer, save?

A. Vershinsky: Well, you must agree, if you spent a year or two restoring the car to the condition of Lenin’s Rolls-Royce, where all the little handles and nuts were shining, then in winter, with the salt that was poured in, my heart would bleed. Especially with that icy conditions. Do you remember those streets? It was 30 seconds to fly into somewhere.

S. Aslanyan: What about tires? The sizes were non-standard; the Americans had huge wheels.

A. Vershinsky: The mileage of those tires was very high. It was almost enough for a lifetime.

S. Aslanyan: Can you imagine learning how to boil rubber by hand in the garage, then cutting the tread with a chisel...

A. Vershinsky: Yes, there were such cases. When she became indecently bald, and the police could stop her, this method was invented: you take off the wheel, hold it between your legs, draw diagonal stripes with chalk, and cut it with a hacksaw. Then you turn the wheel over, using chalk to turn it the other way, that is, you make the appearance of a drawing. Well, by a millimeter. And there was still enough for the season.

S. Aslanyan: What was the most original problem that could not be solved head-on, but was later solved to the applause of those who understand?

A. Vershinsky: Each time you had to die, but solve the problem. You lost money, otherwise why did you buy it?

S. Aslanyan: Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Energy Institute behind us. Garage in the yard. And combine all this with an engineering masterpiece, which will then travel around Moscow.

A. Vershinsky: And that’s where all the interest lies. If I solved one problem today, let’s say there is no door handle. I have to cook it, fillet it. It took a month or two to work on the handle, and it was already screwed on. But I don't have a bumper! But there were factories, ZIL nearby. I found masters - absolutely brilliant people. I brought them a piece from the bumper, and we met at the factory. He smoked and said, come back in a month. A new one has been made! When I saw him, it was a complete attack! It's 30 centimeters high and 2 meters long, nickel-plated crap. I like it on myself! They made it in a way they didn't do at the factory. Imagine, this was made from iron, then it is depleted, copper is applied. Then it is polished using sandpaper, then dipped into a galvanic bath and repeatedly brought to perfect condition by layering. I cried. But if only this were the end. But the cars that I got were of advanced technology, and this bumper had a rubber-coated second half. And this is where I became sad. How to make it? Of what?! With a cross section of 10-15 centimeters and the same length. Of what? It has a complex shape, it fits the entire car... As always, chance helped. At that moment, they began a major renovation of the house where I lived. And they smeared some kind of smelly crap on the seams. I asked them for a jar and then bought a box from them. And using the build-up method I made better rubber than new ones. I did it for a month, of course.

S. Aslanyan: And the color?

A. Vershinsky: Then I painted it on the outside. But unique cases like this always helped. He's hanging on a cradle, painting the house, I say, let me see, what is this?

S. Aslanyan: It’s so good that houses around you were being renovated all the time.

A. Vershinsky: Of course, they threw away pipes and lamps. We used a lot of everything. In Soviet times, a garbage dump is generally a house. Now there are no such dumps anymore. They are all closed and inaccessible. There was a garbage dump in Maryina Roshcha, where I went every week, it was just a palace. There you could collect so much brass and copper that you could use it to make anything you wanted. And there was also a lot of what the artists used, there was a lot of non-ferrous metal waste.

S. Aslanyan: That is, it is not at all surprising that at the end of your biography you are already an artist.

A. Vershinsky: I would ask. I'm a sculptor.

S. Aslanyan: Is brass no longer applicable?

A. Vershinsky: Applicable. I'll show you how, you'll see.

S. Aslanyan: And what truck are the brake pads from?

A. Vershinsky: Eh, you can’t use obscenities. I forgot this topic, taking a piece of iron, attaching a piece of ferodo to it, or using a grinder to cut it out of a large truck is not a problem. An absolutely unsolvable problem is the quality of the ferodo itself. She is floating. I've been in an accident more than once. I take the block from the Niva. I cut a shape out of it and put it on a foreign car. But you have to drive fast. And she warmed up and swam. This is an unsolvable problem. And I took off. I made the pads myself and the springs. But this was the effect. Repeatedly. And it comes exactly at the moment when you need to turn. And they were already warmed up, they were red, and so I left between the trees. But it was always with humor, I flew out of the car, smoke coming out of it. I stopped everyone, get me out. They pulled me out and laughed.

S. Aslanyan: Russian people are always responsive. Especially with you, with dudes in foreign cars. By the way, did you keep your membership card in your pocket?

A. Vershinsky: No. It never happened.

S. Aslanyan: A balancing act of a fantastic level. Not all masters could afford to have such a biography without a party card. And after the Americans, did you have Europe? Volvo?

A. Vershinsky: Volvo 144 is something that a Soviet man could only dream of - a van. Children could sleep there, dogs could get in there. It was rotten from the windows to the bottom.

S. Aslanyan: Although Volvos do not rust. And we remember that it has a galvanized body, or stainless steel.

A. Vershinsky: And when I brought her home, I became sad because I understood. That the amount of welding work exceeds my capabilities.

S. Aslanyan: And it is necessary that not a house, but a factory be repaired nearby.

A. Vershinsky: The eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing. I did it outside all winter, because such work is impossible in the garage. But then I saw that it was cut at an angle, its geometry was broken. The right wing is 4 centimeters shorter than the left one. So how is that? I used revolutionary technology at that time.

S. Aslanyan: Was it really tied to a tree?

A. Vershinsky: I tied up ordinary cars and pulled them out in reverse. Here it was impossible. Very severe deformation. I sculpted the shape of the entire car from plasticine, building it up. I was already a sculptor. And on top there is fiberglass.

S. Aslanyan: And epoxy resin?

A. Vershinsky: Well, of course.

S. Aslanyan: I now understand who was the first to think of this.

A. Vershinsky: No, the boats were glued before this. But I finished it off with plasticine. But who cares, she drove great.

S. Aslanyan: And this geometry allowed it to hold the road? Or does it not matter anymore, you could drive a foreign car sedately and in style?

A. Vershinsky: No, she held the road quite well. The geometry affected only the external tail.

S. Aslanyan: This is not like the French, the base was deliberately different on the Renault 16.

A. Vershinsky: And how many were there?

S. Aslanyan: They officially declared a difference of almost a couple of centimeters.

A. Vershinsky: Well, it should be noted that for most Zhiguli cars, if you measure them with a meter, centimeters count for everyone. This person feels little.

S. Aslanyan: Alexander Nikolaevich, since we have just warmed up and time has run out, next time we will talk about the rest of your foreign cars.

A foreigner in the USSR is almost a criminal and anti-Soviet. The experience of possessing forbidden capitalist fruits under socialism.

Surprisingly positive release.
Alexander Nikolaevich Vershinsky, a man who, since the 70s, allowed himself not only to have a capitalist car more than once :), but also by restoring them alone to give them a second life.
And this is with:
- the fact that he received the cars as illiquid, in a condition close to scrap
- lack of ticket desks
- in case of multi-volume cases filed against him (for unearned income)
- a total shortage of everything (from spare parts to fuel and lubricants)

ASLANYAN: Good evening.

Today is the greatest day in the history of the Crew program. Because my guest is Alexander Nikolaevich Vershinsky.

Alexander Nikolaevich Vershinsky is a person whose personal acquaintance in his biography leaves a mark, well, approximately equal, probably, to “Hero of Socialist Labor.” A person who is personally acquainted with Vershinsky in life is already a person who, as after initiation into the greatest, can only allow himself worthy actions, cannot allow himself unworthy ones. In general, he lives with wings in a different way. This is because he knows Vershinsky personally. Good evening.

VERSHINSKY: Good.

ASLANYAN: Alexander Nikolaevich Vershinsky is the person who, under Soviet rule, allowed himself to behave in completely anti-Soviet ways, being, in general, a scientist, and not even the daughter of Brezhnev or the son of Kosygin, driving foreign cars. In Soviet reality, in general, no one drove foreign cars. One had to achieve this badge of valor, achieve it, survive, and be posthumously awarded. Well, or just succeed in career growth. But so that, for example, some Alexander Nikolaevich Vershinsky would allow himself a foreign car - well, you know!..

In retaliation for this, Alexander Nikolaevich had a multi-volume file filed with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the reason why Alexander Nikolaevich was not imprisoned is not known to him even to this day. By the way, I don’t know either.

VERSHINSKY: Lucky.

ASLANYAN: Well, it happens. Moreover, Alexander Nikolaevich graduated from the Energy Institute, did not have thieves’ parents, and had absolutely no starting conditions that allow our Soviet man to find himself behind the wheel of a car, for example, a Datsun. “Datsun” at that time, you know, it was even more decent than it is now. Or Porsche. And this is all in the biography of one person. What about Chevrolet? In 1970 - in the USSR, in Moscow, a Chevrolet, on a street as long as an Ikarus? It doesn't happen that way.

Moreover, this is just a consequence of a person’s interest and skill to work not only with his head, but also with his hands. Don’t think that he was a pickpocket in the subway - no, he just knew how to fix things.

Alexander Nikolaevich, how did this happen? First of all, how did the Soviet government forgive you for this? And secondly, how did this all happen?

VERSHINSKY: Seryozha, I was forced to do this. By class origin, I am the shit of the nation - an intellectual, you understand. And we couldn’t buy a car as such. There was no queue for the car among us. It existed in factories, but not in institutes. The only thing I could do was, through great effort, I could get a queue for a written-off car. Decommissioned taxis, decommissioned disabled cars, be it a Zaporozhets or a taxi. That's all I could do.

ASLANYAN: Is this at the Institute of Oceanology of the Academy of Sciences?

VERSHINSKY: Yes. At any institute.

ASLANYAN: Well, actually, yes. He’s an academician, and he’s obviously a lousy person, so why would he suddenly drive a new car?

VERSHINSKY: No, no new ones. Therefore, after standing in line for several years, you suddenly, happily, received a postcard for a decommissioned Volga. And there was the South Port site. But it's junk. Can you imagine, cars that have served in taxis for seven to ten years are just a piece of...

ASLANYAN: These are documents.

VERSHINSKY: These are documents at best. So there was no body, interiors, and so on. Everyone dreamed of doing this, and, in general, it was a way to purchase a car. But next to this clearing in the swamp, sometimes... And you were given the same postcard for several days, you could choose within a few days. Suddenly something new will come, and so on. The postcard was valid for three to five days, and then that’s it, go away, your postcard is gone? Sometimes these most unpleasant handsome men stood there.

ASLANYAN: UPDC?

VERSHINSKY: Yes. No one had the right to buy them, only by special letters, by special papers, by a separate public. But there weren’t that many of them – crazy Russians who would like to buy such happiness on their own. They were there, and, of course, they selected the best cars. But this is a separate issue; it did not concern us, ordinary Soviet people.
But among them, as a rule, there were those that no one needed. "Datsun", rotten to the ears, without headlights and with a torn interior. Or Volvo - who needs it? This must be a man who has gone crazy, yes, and all this cost a lot of money. That’s how this foreign junk fell into my hands.

ASLANYAN: You turned out, nevertheless, to be the person who got into this line?

VERSHINSKY: Yes, yes, yes.

ASLANYAN: But still an academic institute.

VERSHINSKY: No, this is not an elite line. This is the queue...

ASLANYAN: But permission had to be obtained. Just to at least walk up to this Datsun and pick it with your fingernail...

VERSHINSKY: I received a postcard saying that it gave me the right to buy a decommissioned Volga.

ASLANYAN: And here, next to it, stood foreign junk, which everyone understood perfectly well that could not be recovered for any money...

VERSHINSKY: Yes, yes.

ASLANYAN: ...There will be no prestige, but there will be ruin immediately.

VERSHINSKY: Yes.

ASLANYAN: And here Alexander Nikolaevich Vershinsky, as a man from oceanology, not so much walks on the earth, but lives in a completely different environment...

VERSHINSKY: Yes. Right here…

ASLANYAN: Snuck up - and?

VERSHINSKY: Yes. And I had to choose and decide... Risking, of course, risking, it doesn’t get you started, nothing: “I’ll take this one,” I grabbed it on a rope and dragged it home.

ASLANYAN: Who was the first?

VERSHINSKY: What was the first car?

ASLANYAN: Yes.

VERSHINSKY: Here I am, of course, my memory is already gone... My teeth are falling out, my memory is failing.

ASLANYAN: But do you remember Lenin alive?

VERSHINSKY: Yes. With difficulty, of course.

ASLANYAN: Because I... This is the same joke: “I saw Lenin alive.” “And I’m in a coffin.”

VERSHINSKY: Yes, yes, yes, yes. I'm already confused here. I think it was a Chevrolet Bel Air.

ASLANYAN: And it’s been a year...

VERSHINSKY: Will my listeners forgive me plus or minus a year? Around 1970.

ASLANYAN: It’s in the Ministry of Internal Affairs now, when they leaf through your file, they look at how accurate you are in your testimony.

VERSHINSKY: Yes.

ASLANYAN: But we can give ourselves a year’s play back and forth.

VERSHINSKY: There is such a backlash, yes.

ASLANYAN: And in 1970, Alexander Nikolaevich Vershinsky bought himself a Chevrolet Bel Air, what year? How old was that car?

VERSHINSKY: Now you’re asking me...

ASLANYAN: But she was no longer young?

VERSHINSKY: Of course.

ASLANYAN: She should have already run around the embassies...

VERSHINSKY: Of course.

ASLANYAN: ...In our country...

VERSHINSKY: And besides, her engine knocked when we started it. And here, actually... This every purchase was the second research institute. How can I remove this knock? How to revive her? We came up with some new technologies - we didn’t sell spare parts, as you understand, yes.

ASLANYAN: It didn’t exist.

VERSHINSKY: It didn’t exist, yes. And so you become surrounded by some craftsmen, acquaintances, people who could make a new camshaft out of a rusty piece of iron. And so on. The problems started from the first day.

ASLANYAN: Listen, employees of academic institutes, having completely mastered the strength of materials, were very good at welding, painting, tinning, and soldering. Well, academics.

VERSHINSKY: In general, yes. There were many who did this, yes.

ASLANYAN: But even more so, many of them had training in the Gulag, when the academic perspective was combined with the ability, for example, to cut down wood. Therefore, people were very handy. And sometimes they even bequeathed it to their children.

Do you remember, like Vasily Aksenov, for example, why he became a doctor (before becoming a dissident)? Because his mother told him that only a doctor has a chance to survive in the camp. Everyone else doesn't. Therefore, the combination of professions and the willingness to always respond to the challenges of the time, especially in academic circles, was combined with very good plumbing skills.

VERSHINSKY: Seryozha, this matter is even deeper for me, so to speak, but you have a superficial penetration into the topic. Because, remember, as Vysotsky said, he was finishing the war, for some reason he always wrote songs about the war, although he himself did not fight. And me even more so. But I also felled wood. I felled wood for many years.

It was as if, you know, I was a king and did a little sewing. I used to be an employee, in the summer I went to cut down wood, well, to earn money, and in the winter, on long winter evenings, I repaired cars after work. I felled the forest, I have it all in my hands, here.

ASLANYAN: Qualification. But in the meantime, you also built hang gliders, which, by and large, no one has built in our country.

VERSHINSKY: No, all this was already happening then. These were the first attempts to fly up. Already done.

ASLANYAN: Well, as you know, the first hang glider launched in our country in 1952 from the construction site of the university, when the prisoners simply staged an escape. They didn’t calculate it; they brought in the people who had previously built airplanes for general work. And on sheets of plywood - one was shot down, the rest flew away. Solzhenitsyn describes this story, where the hang glider came from in our country: as always, you, academicians, were not looked after.

VERSHINSKY: Here, I must say, I have a gap, and my hang glider is the first. Are we going to talk about hang gliders or not? This is interesting.

ASLANYAN: And we are definitely talking about hang gliders, but we are still talking about Chevrolet. Do you remember the price, how much did it cost then?

VERSHINSKY: Only approximately, of course. All the foreign cars that I got were all junk. And all of them were no less, and, in general, sometimes even more than the price of new Zhiguli cars.

ASLANYAN: Somewhere around 5000-6000 rubles?

VERSHINSKY: Yes. When I dragged another car into the yard, local people, who were nobly drinking port wine or playing dominoes, said: “What a fool, I drove it again, instead of taking a new Zhiguli.” And when after a year or a year and a half...

ASLANYAN: We’ll take a break now for the news, and then we’ll find out how it all ended in a year or a year and a half.

News
ASLANYAN: Alexander Nikolaevich Vershinsky, during the Soviet period of his life, under Soviet power, allowed himself to travel around this country in a Chevrolet Bel Air, bought in 1970 in a trash heap. So you dragged this thing into the yard, the alcoholics trembled for your health, mourned the junk...

VERSHINSKY: Wait a minute, I would ask you not to insult the best part, so to speak, of our humanity, these people are not alien to me.

In a word, after a year and a half, it usually took me a year and a half, to roll out this car in this form, when these noble people immediately sat down to write a denunciation against me: “Well, has he become insolent?! I bought this beauty again. And you will say that this is the one who stood... - this is the norm, it was just the norm for me. These same Vanya and Petya, who nobly drank port with me all year, when the car came out of the garage, well, it took about a year and a half, there was a large amount of work, they immediately wrote a denunciation: “Well, the bastard, I bought a luxury car again - for what money? And this was repeated regularly.

ASLANYAN: Actually, “Chevrolet Bel Air” cannot be forgiven in any way.

VERSHINSKY: Absolutely not, you can sleep on the hood there.

ASLANYAN: And when you drove out in this car after repairs, Moscow shuddered? After all, the passage of such a car means that the police are scattering, because it is clear that it is Brezhnev himself, or his daughter, who is driving.

VERSHINSKY: You can’t even imagine how many times this all happened. In general, this made me smile and never leave my face, because the policeman was either blocking all traffic on the street...

ASLANYAN: After all, deflection is protection.

VERSHINSKY: Otherwise.

ASLANYAN: They bought it in 1970, and in 1971 Alexander Vershinsky, an oceanologist at the Academy of Sciences, calmly leaves...

VERSHINSKY: Yes, it was all very comical. If I was driving along Rublyovka, and we have beautiful places there, but we had to go there for a walk, everything would also freeze.

ASLANYAN: Did they salute, including even just people walking past on the sidewalks, at the level of a reflex?

VERSHINSKY: Yes, yes, it was very funny.

ASLANYAN: Taxi drivers, and these were the fastest guys at that time, they also quietly crawled to the side of the road.

VERSHINSKY: No, well, it was a completely different ride, of course, a completely different ride. Either they pretended that you didn’t exist, that you didn’t exist, that you were transparent, or that all the conditions were for you - it was absolutely luxurious, it was just me becoming a king.

ASLANYAN: A man who calmly bought himself the Soviet Union and is moving around it... Now, in order to drive three yellow Kalinas, you still need to drag a division of internal troops with you on your tail. It was easier for you.

VERSHINSKY: It was easier for me, yes, and most importantly, times were calm.

ASLANYAN: But you had to go to a gas station and go to the store in this car. There is no gas at the gas station, and then you pull up - and...?

VERSHINSKY: This is a sore subject, and it affected any foreign car, not to mention our simple cars: there was no high-octane gasoline. These cars, using our gasoline, detonated, overheated and were painful, to put it mildly. It was a lot of hassle at first and it also required some engineering. We injected water into the motor through an adjustable needle...

ASLANYAN: At the steam level.

VERSHINSKY: Yes, you need to calculate, approximately no more than 10%. This is an old topic; it was used on aircraft engines. You introduced a separate tank, and then you could drive on gasoline. It was torture; in winter we still had to warm it up. And then, after all, our society did not stand still, a special office was formed for owners of foreign cars in Medvedkovo, which, upon presentation of documents, gave you a ton... It didn’t, but you had the right to buy a ton of luxury gasoline, which smelled like cologne and was sold on Kropotkinskaya .

ASLANYAN: Yes, on Kropotkinskaya - this is also a completely famous gas station, where there have never been queues and no cars. The government's Seagulls also refueled there.

VERSHINSKY: And me.

ASLANYAN: And you. And after that, the police finally understood: “God forbid, he just looks in my direction.”

VERSHINSKY: Can you imagine how he smelled? The gasoline smelled so good that it could have been used instead of perfume; there were no French ones, and you could have smothered yourself with it.

ASLANYAN: If you spilled it on your pants, then, in general, there’s nothing wrong with it.

VERSHINSKY: No, it just smelled better than before.

ASLANYAN: But this car didn’t change you, but the world around me, in general. Driving a Chevrolet Bel Air in Moscow in 1971 still meant that space was breaking down and the political system was shaking. Have any speculators approached you with an offer to sell you jeans or buy chewing gum from you?

VERSHINSKY: You know, then, I’ve been doing this for many years, this kind of public appeared who seemed to think that this was where they belonged. But I never came into contact with anyone, I was not interested in it. And besides, probably, owning such a car should have generally made me, so to speak, turn up my nose a little. Somehow I managed without it.

ASLANYAN: When did the police realize that they still needed to work closely with you? How quickly did they show interest in which car, the first one? Or did they wait a little?

VERSHINSKY: No, I used it for a long time. Well, what are you talking about, we have the Olympics...

ASLANYAN: 1980.

VERSHINSKY: 80s. Even before 1980. In 1980, they looked at me for a long time and finally stopped me, thinking that I was a visitor to the games, I arrived in this car.

ASLANYAN: But it was when on the street, and in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where your personal business accompanied all purchases and sales, when you finally had a conversation with the person who was supposed to meet personally with the anti-Soviet Vershinsky?

VERSHINSKY: Well, it was around 1982, something like that.

ASLANYAN: The system approached you systematically, from all sides: they stopped you on the street once, and then they still called you to the ministry for a conversation?

VERSHINSKY: Yes.

ASLANYAN: And what was the conversation at the ministry about?

VERSHINSKY: It was on Oktyabrskaya Square.

ASLANYAN: Main Directorate?

VERSHINSKY: Yes, yes, it was very interesting there. In general, frankly, completely frankly, it was said: “We know what you are doing, you fall under the article “Unearned income.” I choked a little and asked: “How? I work all day at the factory, spend all weekends in the garage, after work I run, sharpen something...” - and so on. But the article was called unambiguously - “Unearned income”.

ASLANYAN: And why was it not presented?

VERSHINSKY: I think because Perestroika is approaching.

ASLANYAN: Was it just time that saved you?

VERSHINSKY: Yes, I think so.

ASLANYAN: Because, basically, by 1982, when the conversation took place, what kind of foreign car did you have?

ASLANYAN: There were already so many that you weren’t even classified as dissidents, was it already necessary to simply shut you down with something economic?

VERSHINSKY: Yes, and I repaired each of them, approximately...

ASLANYAN: It doesn’t matter, in the personal file this didn’t bother anyone at all.

VERSHINSKY: Yes, no one cares, yes.

ASLANYAN: But this means that you bought a car, relatively speaking, for 5,000, revived it for a year and a half, and then were forced to sell it for the same 5,000, because otherwise it is unearned income if you received at least one ruble.

VERSHINSKY: No, fortunately, everything was not so sad. Having repaired the car and brought it to luxury condition, I polished every nut there. After my hands, she came out completely different from what came into the garage. I could officially hand it over to a consignment store and set any price.

ASLANYAN: And this, one way or another, after some time found the next buyer.

VERSHINSKY: Yes, yes, because there was demand, it didn’t last long. Because either mine was standing next to it, which you get in and drive, or it was rusty, rotten and broken...

ASLANYAN: The next one is yours.

VERSHINSKY: Yes, the next one is mine. Therefore, in general, everything was quite resourceful.

ASLANYAN: As I understand it, the material component in this process did not play a special role, it was engineering curiosity? Or what stopped you from fixing up that Bel Air and driving it for the rest of your life?

VERSHINSKY: You are some kind of strange person, but what do I need to live on?

ASLANYAN: For an academic salary. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, there were 90 rubles, give or take.

VERSHINSKY: Yes, yes, it was, of course.

VERSHINSKY: This was not the case at the Academy of Sciences.

ASLANYAN: Only tea with an elephant?

VERSHINSKY: No, it was only like that in factories; there were no rations at the Academy of Sciences.

VERSHINSKY: Nothing.

ASLANYAN: Even coupons for a shirt?

VERSHINSKY: There was nothing.

ASLANYAN: Yes, then you really had to spin somehow. And after the Chevrolet Bel Air, what was the next car?

VERSHINSKY: Yes, if you had warned me that it was necessary to draw up such a register, I, of course, don’t remember...

ASLANYAN: But this is not the last time.

VERSHINSKY: Let's hope. Yes, Seryozha, let’s call it “Dodge”. "Dodge" is about the same class, "Dodge Dart", in my opinion, it was a "Dodge Dart". The same American with a huge hood on which you can dance.

ASLANYAN: V8?

VERSHINSKY: Of course.

ASLANYAN: It’s not clear what kind of gearbox it is, because it’s an automatic.

VERSHINSKY: Well, the main thing is that she goes.

ASLANYAN: Yes, but there was simply nothing to treat her, in principle, because the closest analogue was LiAZ.

VERSHINSKY: You know, we were lucky, although no, there was also a problem with the boxes, once we touched the box. But let's get back to this Dodge.

ASLANYAN: After the news, we’ll just continue.

Alexander Nikolaevich Vershinsky about... fuel gluttony

It’s your choice, but something is wrong with this mechanism if a month’s pension, poured into the gas tank of a car in the morning, completely disappears after one day of fidgeting around the city. You can't live like this anymore! It is necessary to resolutely look for the cause of this absurdity. Well, let's try...

To eat - to eat greedily
From the “Dictionary of the Russian Language” by S.I. Ozhegova

Underfilled at the gas station? But not by the same amount! Although who knows... I remember, back in the years of developed socialism, one of my acquaintances calculated how much he personally was underfilled with gasoline at the same gas station over the course of a year. He calculated and envied other people’s incomes, and, being envious, made a slander to a higher organization, whose address was kindly decorated with the gas station. A month later, his (the slanderer’s) personal matter was considered at a party meeting, provoked by a response letter printed on the stamp paper of the Ministry of the Oil Refining Industry. That's it... One "trouble" is that underfilling is not in fashion these days (see numerous reports in the press).

So, what follows? Easily. For example, through the “left” fuel filter or loose injectors. Another option is that music aesthetes could screw the subwoofer to the floor of the luggage compartment without calculating the length of the screw, and they did it so cleverly that they even drilled through the gas tank. Would you say it's unrealistic? I saw it myself! Another option is that the car stood for many years in a damp garage awaiting customs or some other clearance, which is why the gas pipes, gas tank and injector seals rotted...

Okay, we’re going to the car service center, and there are all sorts of cars there, all with our diagnosis of “gluttony,” and from each one they’re yelling: “Give me the details!” In the sense that they should have it explained to them what the matter is. And this is what nonsense is most often hung on the ears of clients... The first shift foreman confidently says that an “increased duration of injector opening” has been detected, that is, this is a reason for the engine to “eat” beyond measure. So for now we’ll figure it out... The second contact person of the car service “loads” as follows: in his words, the “disease” of the engine is low compression! As a result, the spark plugs are thrown and the catalyst is clogged. We estimate the amount of expenses, call later... The next foreman also doesn’t have time to talk with his colleagues in the workshop. The car's EGR valve is stuck - that's it. Two high-voltage wires are faulty. And the MAP sensor readings are not normal. Let's find out, wait...

The fourth automobile doctor unexpectedly cheerfully declares that the car is ready! “How, why suddenly?” - you ask and hear in response non-literary things about gasoline, injectors clogged with slag, dead oxygen sensors, etc. In general, take it, don’t show off! Well, the above-cooked portion of “noodles” is quite edible (that is, plausible), but other reasons for increased fuel consumption cannot be ruled out:
– the engine is in good working order, and abnormal gas consumption is caused by a defective automatic transmission;
– fuel consumption only seems to be too high due to faulty instruments or wheels of abnormal diameter;
– consumption is too high due to braked wheels;
– the car’s odometer is digitized in miles, so the amount of gasoline consumed must be divided by the distance in km, which is already 1.6 times greater;
– if you remove the “brick” from the gas pedal, then fuel consumption will certainly drop.

And one more thing: trusting the consumption rates declared in the instructions should be a stretch...

P.S. About the title of this article. For those who do not speak French, let me explain: spring Paris in 1973 was surrounded by queues of people wanting to see the film “La grande bouffe”, which translated sounds like “The Big Grub”...