A Day at the Museums

Grey skies and snow, what could be more Russian! Today is a day in Moscow, a cultural day if you will, where the objective is to visit two of Moscow's lesser known museums. The first the Gulag Museum and then onto the Bulgakov Museum..  

Both of these museums are within walking disrance of the Kremlin so we alight at Teatralana, meet Dave at McDonalds, consume a Big Mac and large fries and then head to the Gulag Museum.

The Gulag Museum is situated in very fashionable and expensive area of Moscow, on Petrovka Street, "Excuse me, could you tell me where the Gulag is?"

"Yes surely, it's just on the right past Louis Vitton!"
And indeed this is where the Gulag Museum is situated, tucked back a little way off the road, if you were not aware that it was there you would almost certainly miss it. The entrance is constructed as a Gulag camp entrance would have been, a sentry box on the left and barbed wire and lights lining the entranceway. Inside you climb a short flight of stairs and turn left to the ticket office. We paid our 100 rubles each and then were a little confused as to where to go. Ahead of us was a large room with a video playing and to the left was a set of stairs leading God knows where. However all was not lost for at exactly the right moment as if out of nowhere appeared an old lady who was ready to take us a around the place. First stop a reconstructed camp barracks with beds and stove. Certainly spartan! At least two people slept on each bunk and according to many accounts up to four people, pretty cozy.

I had just completed Anne Applebaum's "Gulag" which is an expertly researched and intelligently written account of the Gulag system from 1917 to its closure in the 1980's. At least 28.7 million people went through the Gulag system; and millions died. How many died is a matter of debate among scholars as records are hard to find relating to death and killings. Although the Gulag can be compared to Hitler's concentration camps there are some marked differences. the primary one being that no one was actually sent to the camps to die. In the 20's and 30' they were part of the economic machine that created wealth for the Soviet Union, mining, forestry, agriculture etc. The first camps were established in the time of the Czar's to imprison dissidents, after the Revolution dissidents constinued to be imprisoned at Solevky, a monastry complex on the White Sea. It was here that an enterprising individual named Frinkle, started the work system, this met with much enthusiasm from the leaders and soon become the basis on which camp life was established, with bread as the reward for work. The camp system expanded as the Soviet Union started to tap its enormous resources particularly in Siberia and the far North. At some points quotas wrere even issued for prisoners to fuel the camps! Anyone could get sent to the Gulag, and, unlike Hitler's system, was not targeted at any particular groups of people. The organization was profoundly inefficient and it was this inefficeinecy, particularly in food supply that led to the deaths of so many people. But, like I say this was not the main reason for the camps, it was a work machine, the "meat grinder" as Solzhenitsyn called iit.

After the barracks we made our way upstairs and were met by the English speaking museum guide, a young girl who looked like she had just lost a fight with her biro, she had a large smudge of blue ink below her lip and two more on her forehead, but it did not seem to demotivate her as she pointed to various maps and charts showing the locations and the size of the Gulags. She spoke incredibly fast, I wondered if there was a time limit, and if we were running short of time, I could see no other visitors that needed her attention, so concluded it was her style. We saw various exhibits, paintings, and home made items from the camps.

The museum is young, it was only established six years ago, and is State funded, it is the result of the endeavours of a camp survivor who is now in his 90's, and there is one wall of pictures and information dedicated to him. As our young guide pointed out, those who survived the camps have generally lived to a ripe old age, interesting we thought; some sort of scheme was starting to work its way into my head that should not have done and I pushed my thoughts aside. 

Soon we had seen all there was to see and after a few concluding questions we were finsihed. 

OK. here is the deal, this museum is dissappointing. Having been to the Holocaust museums in London and Washington it is really dissapointing and the reaon is that it lacks the human element, it is difficult to identify with the inmates, to feel what it was really like to be there, to feel that for a short poeriod of time you had been with them. and could see life from their perspective. The pile of shoes and suitcases in the Washington Holocaust museum, the names, the passport type document you are given when you enter with the details of one prisoner, make you feel like you know the individuals involved.

However it is more difficult for the Gulag history, there was no "liberation" of the camps, there is very little filmed detail of the camps, no one has made it a cause to track down psychotic camp gaurds or governors. Very sad. But hopefully over time they will gain more exhibiits more artifacts, more documentation and make this a real memorialof what was truly one of the most forgotten and ill comveived diasaters of the 20th century, and to the 28.7 million people and countless additional family and friends who all suffered as a result.

We leave the Gulag Museum and head across town to Teverskaya Street, it's cold, snowing and wet underfoot, perfect Moscow weather! We head North on Tverskaya until we reach Mocovskaya Metro and then take a left. In less than 200 meters we are at the entrance to the coutryard containing the Bulgakov museum, awesome! Bulgakov was a writer and playwright who lived in Moscow in the 30's and 40's. he was originally trained as a doctor but gave that up to pursue his literary carrer, He wrote during a time of great censorship and lived in fear of getting arrested and sent to the Gulag. He wrote his masterpiece "Master and Margarita" in the 30's. He then hid it and it was not published until 1966, 26 years after his death, by his wife. "Master and Margarita" is one of the great novles of the 20th century, if not the greatest, masterfully written it is fantastical, ironic, satirical and in a word brilliant!! A large part of the story centers around Apartment 50, in Moscow, this is where Bulgakov lived for 3 years and has now been turned into a visitor center, for Bulgakov enthusiasts.. Immediately on your left, as you enter the courtyard, is the Bulgakov Museum, this is not in Apartment 50 but in the partment block next to it. The museum is on the first floor. This is a bustling active place, people everywhere, lots of arty farty types; there is a music recital going on behind some closed doors, and old ladies are bustling round organizing God knows what! In a number of rooms you can see Bulgakov related stuff, typewriters, clothes, pictures etc etc. All excellent and exhibited in a relaxed atmosphere that gives a genuine insight into the lifestyle and the times in which he lived.

Howver I was keen to get to Apartment 50 and we hotfooted it down the courtyard to the entrance to the apartment. On enetering the door you have to proceed up 4 flights of stairs, the stairwells are lined with graffiti, brilliant!! It is just as it should be slightly chaotic, and mysterious, the graffiti adds to, not detracts from the experience; there are passges written from the book, drawings, messages and some great art work all done on the walls. Apparently they painted over it all about 5 years ago, but it all came back, good! The doors to Apartment 50 are tall, on openeing them you enter a long passageway with doors on either side. The first door on the left is the cloakroom where you just sort of put your coat where you can, very un Russian this, as ususally they check everything in meticulously, but here there is a feeling you are amongst friends and so no need, nice touch. I am starting to think, "he lived in some style this Bulagakov, very large apartment for the times, very nice crib", it was then pointed out to me that this was a communal aprtment in which 9 families lived with one toilet and one kitchen, not so good. Communal aprtments were dreadful, and have been a feature of Russian life, in cities for a long time. Ayn Rand describes it brilliantly in her book "We The Living" as does Dostoevsky in "Crime and

Punishment" It was tough living, fights would frequently break out in the kitchen, and in Soviet times people had to cook on primus stoves. The kitchen in Apartment 50 is just as it would have been back then, complete with primus stoves and all the paraphenalia of 9 familes trying to seperate their stuff from each other. Bulgakovs room, where he lived with is wife, is quite small, it has his writing desk, his miror, and the bed frame. According to a very earnest young man who looked at us from under his eyebrows and was incredibly serious, it was still the original door to the rooom! The remaining rooms conatin exhibits and pieces from life in those times. The aprtment is also the home to a Theatre Group and there was no end of people coming and going to a meeting in one of the rooms. Photos of the Thetare Group were on display which gave it a great "lived in feel". As I walked round, I could imagine the events that unfolded here in "Master and Margarita" and enjoyed every minute of it. It is just right, everything about it, and on top of that you know that everyone who visits is a Bulgakov fan, older people, younger people, kids even, all enjoying the ambience that has been created in this historic place. We asked our earnest friend if "Patriach's Pond" was nearby, seven minutes walk he said. Next stop "Patriach's Pond"! This is where the opening scene of the book takes place on a warm spring evening. We made our way there under slightly different weather conditions, but neverthless it was a joy to walk round and again imagine the scenes unfolding as in the book. It is exactly as described, totally unspoilt, and a must see for Bulgakov fans.

It was getting dusky by now, so we hopped on the metro to Arbat, a short stroll to the John Donne for a couple of Greene Kings and a meal and then back to Konakovo. An interesting day, a visit to the Gulag, and a visit to the home of a genius who was broken by the thought of going to the Gulag.