PERVOURALSK

RUSSIA IS A VERY LARGE COUNTRY, as I am sure you will know.  It is much larger than it appears on a map, due to the convergence of the latitude lines near the pole.  Also, when you view a global representation of our planet, from the perspective of the North Pole, you will see how close are Russia and the United States, looking at Alaska.

Russia is divided into two huge regions, Europe and Asia.  Asia extends eastwards from the Urals, an area either side of the Ural Mountains; near the middle lies the 'line' that divides Asia from Europe (or vice versa, if you wish).  The city that sits, as it were, upon this line is Pervouralsk.  With a population of about 130,000, it is one tenth the size of Yekaterinburg, the major administration center of this region.  The major industry is the manufacture of steel pipes of all sizes.  In this it is like my home city, Corning, that has as its main industry the manufacture of all things glass.  Both industries are highly technical and require high levels of scientific support; over time, this has transformed the social structure of what once was a entirely rural area.

One might think of this region as the 'center of Russia' and this notion is supported by the local significance made of this.  On a main highway they have a monument marking the latitude.  It is possible to stand with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia; an Eurasian experience!

Here you see 'yours truly' doing so!  Many do likewise, as you might well imagine.  It is also a significant place for newly weds and others wishing to affirm their affinity.  A fence supports this intention, festooned with ribbons and padlocks, many of which have the partners initials or some wish for their future.  This is a common practice and bridges used by pedestrians in other cities do similarly.

A more sobering testament can be found on the road to Moscow.  During the Stalinist Terror on the 1930's, many thousands of innocent people were falsely accused of often absurd political crimes, found guilty, and summarily shot.  This aspect of the terror did not extend to this region, where none were accused and summarily shot.  These were the 'Victims of Political Repression'.  But what to do with all those bodies? 

In 1967, this mystery began to be solved when another sport stadium was planned for the Pervouralsk area.  During site preparation, workers discovered very many human remains.  Initially, law enforcement sought to quash further investigation.

This proved impossible, as local people demanded the truth; eventually witnesses to the burials came forward.  The truth was that, during the final years of the Terror, during the night hundreds of bodies were transported to this area in trucks, comprising 75 hectares.  At least 20,000 civilians are known to be buried in this place.  They are memorialized by walls on which are fastened metal plaques with their names embossed.  Walking along the walls, I felt the same emotions as I had when walking along The Wall in Washington, remembering the sacrifice of more than 60,000 US soldiers who had died during the Vietnam war  deep sorrow for the follies of humanity and admiration for those who refuse to allow the truth to remain concealed.

All this was long ago, back to the time when I was born.  How do later generations come to terms with atrocities long past?  It is surely better to know such things happened than for the knowledge to disappear for ever.

But we can reflect and learn. The past is fixed and cannot be remade.  We have only the present moment, yet somehow the future, which does not yet exist, is constructed from the present, including our imaginings