The service had to be performed flawlessly. Trained to supervise prisoners, they could kill on orders. They paid for the slightest mistake with death. Georgy Vladimov writes about the fate of dog guards in labor camps in the novel "Faithful Ruslan". His book is a shocking metaphor for dehumanization and enslavement in a totalitarian world.
The Lord held out his collar towards him. Ruslan eagerly cocked his head and prickled his ears at the touch of his master's hands. These hands fastened the buckle, checked that it was not too tight, and hooked the carabiner into the ring. Then the gentleman wound up a little leash on his hand and fastened the end to his belt. In this way, they were tied together throughout the entire ministry and could not get lost.
With his free hand, the gentleman tossed the machine, grabbed it by the belt and threw it over his shoulder with the sweaty barrel down. Ruslan, as usual, took his place at his master's left leg. They both walked down a dark corridor onto which stall doors, upholstered in a strong mesh, emerged. Damp eyes flashed from behind her; the unfeeded dogs whimpered and stabbed the net with their sharply cut heads, and at the far end someone choked on an envious, hysterical bark - and Ruslan was proud that his first was taken out on duty today.
But as the front door swung open and a blinding bright white splash into his eyes, he narrowed it, jumped back, and growled. (...) He knew that gentlemen call it "snow", but he would probably not agree to name it himself. For Ruslan it was just white. And it made everything lose its name, everything that the eyesight and the smell were used to changing.
"Where have they gone?"
The world has become empty and deaf. Traces are hidden. Only the clearly trampled chain of the master's tracks ran from the kitchen to the threshold. And after a while the white hit his nose and filled him with excitement (...). The Lord did not hold him down, he let him go along the entire length of the leash, so Ruslan, with a white beard and eyelashes, stayed behind, ran ahead and still couldn't calm down, breathe or smell.
And of all this, he allowed himself a slight overlook. Didn't look around to do this when you're off duty . But something disturbed him; he pricked his ears and froze. A vague fear seized him.
Dogs acted as guards in labor camps. After the service ended, they would die
To the right rose rows of frayed pillars with barbed wire. Further there was an empty field and a dark, jagged wall of the forest, and on the left the same poles and wire, and a large field, but with barracks, low as basements, made of logs blackened with age, scattered over it. And the barracks looked at Ruslan through frosted, whitewashed windows as always.
(...) they seemed strangely flat, as if painted white, and did not make any sounds. As if all those who lived in them were making noise and stinking overnight. . But if they died out, he would feel it! And if not him, then another dog. Someone would dream it, and someone would wake them up with a howl. They are not there, thought Ruslan. - So where are they? And he felt ashamed of his own ineffectiveness.
True Service
The others didn't die, they just fled. He shuddered with tension and began to pant hot and loudly. He wanted to tighten the leash and drag his master with him, as was the case on those rare and unusual days, when the two of them sometimes ran several versts. And they were catching up! - never once was it that they would not catch up. And the best of what Ruslan could experience was beginning - the real Service.
But no, nothing was wrong with these rare occasions either. Ruslan knew the word escape. He even distinguished between "individual escape" from "collective" but in such cases there was always a lot of noise and nervous running, the gentlemen yelled at each other, dogs also got hit for nothing and started to bite upset. It wasn't until the pursuit began that everything calmed down.
The text is an excerpt from the book "Wierny Ruslan" by Gieorgi Władimow, which has just been published by the Rebis publishing house. Buy now
And Ruslan had never heard such silence once, and it made him suspect the worst. It seemed that all the inhabitants of the barracks had fled, and the gentlemen rushed after them, so quickly that they did not even have time to take their dogs with them, and what a pursuit without dogs can be!And now only the two of them, Mr. and Ruslan, should find everyone and bring all that smelly, screaming, stupid stupid flock back.
The Great Escape
(...) Suddenly he saw something like that, that the hair on his neck bristled and a dull growl came out of his throat. His eyesight was not very good, and knowing it he made up for his lack of zeal and smell. Therefore, he saw the main camp gate only when he and the master had both gone out through the gate in front of the camp.
The gate looked so strange it was hard to imagine. It was just wide open and squeaked in the wind with rusty wire loops. And no one ran to her, shouting and shooting to close her immediately (…).
What happened to the watchtower! She was completely blind. One spotlight, drifted in snow, hung down below, the other, grinning broken glass, hung on the wire . It disappeared from the tower and the white sheepskin coat with an earhook and a grooved machine with the muzzle facing downwards was lost somewhere (...).
Reconstruction of a typical Gulag residential barrack - Occupation Museum in Riga
The Lord was looking at him with unpleasantly twisted lips. There was no sympathy in the master's eyes - in the two lovely discs of dull blue -; just chill and mockery. Ruslan wanted to flatten himself and creep on his stomach, although he knew that the requests and complaints were in vain (…).
- Come on? Asked the gentleman. - Or maybe you prefer closer to home? He looked at the gate and slowly pulled the automaton from his shoulder. - One devil, you can also ...
Fall day
Ruslan shuddered; the sudden bout of yawning began to break his jaw. But he overcame himself and stood up. He could not otherwise. When standing, the animal meets the worst. And Ruslan already understood that this was the day that had come to him, that it had already happened a minute ago, and that what was to come could not be avoided. And there's no one to blame for it. Because who to blame if already Ruslan didn't understand what was going on?
He knew very well what happened to a dog that no longer understood what was going on. No previous merits help then. In his time, it was the first thing that happened to Reks, a very experienced and ambitious dog, the gentlemen's favorite, whom Ruslan was very envious of in his youth.
The day of Rex's fall was the most ordinary day in the world, none of the dogs sensed anything. As usual, the column from the camp guard was accepted then, as usual, it was counted and ordinary words were spoken. And right here, as they had just left the gate, one of the prisoners screamed wildly as if someone had bitten him and started running where the eyes wander.
Dogs were and are an important part of the army. It was no different in the Soviet Union (illustrative photo)
(...) his cry had not yet faded, and automatic machines rattled into three or four barrels, and the machine gunner from the tower also added his own. Surprisingly, bipeds are sometimes capable of such nonsense! But with this folly the prisoner hurt Reks, who was walking next to him, and he should have been on his guard and sensing everything in advance, and since he had gotten his head and made an omission - rush after the fugitive and immediately knock him off his feet.
Meanwhile, Reks, carried away by the spectacle, sat down with his tongue hanging out and let the three more prisoners break in order and, waving their arms, shouted at the gentlemen. They were quickly dragged to their places with their butts, the dogs also helped, and Reks didn't even take part!
For the wires
(...) Mr. Reksa pulled him away and in the presence of everyone he gave him a good kick in the stomach. That day, Reks was allowed to escort, but all the dogs realized that the matter was settled. And Reks understood it best of all.
After serving, he experienced his disgrace all evening. He lay dead with his nose stuck in the corner of the stall, he did not touch the food, and at night he howled so that the dogs could not squint their eyes and they had a terrible feeling. In the morning Mr. Reksa came to him and although Reks whined and licked his shoes, it was to no avail.
The text is an excerpt from the book "Wierny Ruslan" by Gieorgi Władimow, which has just been published by the Rebis publishing house. Buy now
He was led into the field, behind the wires, everyone heard a short burst and never came back. Not that he completely disappeared immediately:for a few more days in the camp, his presence was felt, and nearby the dogs saw his bloated side, on which crows were walking . They recalled Reks's terrible mistake then.And then there was no trace of it. His stall was washed with water and soap, the bowl and bedding were changed, another sign was hung on the door, and the newly arrived Amur, who still had everything in front of him, lived there.
Sooner or later, it happened to everyone.
Source:
The text is an excerpt from the book "Wierny Ruslan" by Georgi Vladimov, which has just been published by the Rebis publishing house.