HU OSA 331-0-2 Interviews with Chernobyl Survivors

Identity Statement

Reference Code
HU OSA 331-0-2
Title
Interviews with Chernobyl Survivors
Date(s)
1996
Description Level
Series
Extent and medium (processed)
14 VHS PAL, 0.35 linear meters

Content and Structure

Scope and Content (Abstract)
44 hours of video interviews entitled the “Living Voices of Chernobyl" were conducted by journalists Svetlana Alexievich and Tatiana Loginova.
Among interviewees are local scientists, engineers, Communist Party officials, priests, politicians, mothers of children with leukemia, medical radiologists, immigrants, and others from the "zone."
Of particular value are the interviews with Vasilii Nesterneko, former director of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Belarus Academy of Sciences, who describes the impotence and hypocrisy of the Soviet authorities following the Chernobyl explosion. Also important are interviews with leading Belarus scientists about the dangers of Chernobyl and the strategies for confronting the various effects of the disaster. Doctors’ accounts are likewise informative. The interviews also document the nature of the decontamination work, peoples’ ignorance about radiation, and daily life after the explosion when people remained uninformed about the events at Chernobyl.
Accruals

Not Expected

Conditions of Access and Use

Conditions governing access
Open to the public.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright held by the interviewers.
Languages
Belarusian, Russian

Description Control

Archivist's note
Processed by Marina Nistotskaya, February, 2004.
Call Number Description
VHS PAL #1
331-0-2:1/1
Roslava, Natal'ia Arsen'evna and Tolstik, Nikolai Nikolaevich (Journalist, former editor-in-chief of 'Mogilevskaia Pravda')
Interview with a chemical engineer and politician about the long-term impact of Chernobyl on individual life-styles and social development in Belarus; erosion of the Soviet way of thinking after the catastrophe; resettlement of the 30 km zone.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995,
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008565
331-0-2:1/2
Unidentified journalist; Litin, Aleksandr and Roslava, Natal'ia Arsen'evna
Interview with a former teacher, former Komsonol official, and a photographer about decontamination measures taken by the Communist authorities right after the explosion; social benefits for people affected by radiation; evacuation of the territories most affected by radiation in 1986-1990; public ignorance about the impact of radiation on health; Chernobyl and the West; diminishing of the Chernobyl theme in social discourse in Belarus.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 53 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008565
331-0-2:1/3
Nechaeva, Galina Grigor'evna and Nechaev, Ivan Ivanovich
Interview with the director of the Vetka museum of Old Believers' icons and an artist. Description of the artifacts in the museum of Old Believers' icons in Vetka; Chernobyl catastrophe through the prism of the Old Believers' worldview; rich ethnographic description of the Old Believers' culture of the region.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 1 hour 8 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008565
331-0-2:1/4
Miadelko, Mikhail
Interview with an Orthodox priest about church under the Communist rule.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 27 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008565
VHS PAL #2
331-0-2:2/1
Ivanov, Vladimir Matveevich
Interview with a former first secretary of the Slavgorod regional committee of the Communist Party of the USSR about the ambiguous impact of radiation on health; evacuation of people from the most affected areas as a major strategy of the authorities to combat the consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe; burial grounds for contaminated materials and subjects; personal history; evaluation of Chernobyl-related decisions taken by the central Soviet and regional governments.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996,
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008566
331-0-2:2/2
Litovchenko, Galina Grigor'evna
Interview with an engineer-radiologist about the Chernobyl-related activities of the radiological laboratory where she worked at the end of the 1980s; public ignorance the impact of radiation on health.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 18 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008566
331-0-2:2/3
Zhitkov, Ivan Nikolaevich
Interview with an engineer and chemist-decontaminator about the mobilization of reservists in June 1986; description and evaluation of decontamination work performed by reservists; living conditions and regime of reservists in camps; health and psychological states of reservists; behavior of reservists from different republics of the USSR.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 1 hour
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008566
331-0-2:2/4
Unidentified teacher of music; Roslava, Natal'ia Arsen'evna and Zhitkov, Ivan Nikolaevich
Interview with an engineer-chemist and a politician About individual protective measures taken by people against radiation; a discussion on what to remember Chernobyl for.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 27 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008566
331-0-2:2/5
Studnik, Gennadii Vital'evich
Interview with an editor at Mogilev TV about the coverage of Chernobyl events in the Soviet media; journalists and authorities; censorship; Chernobyl and the dissolution of the USSR; Chernobyl as a topic in contemporary journalism.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 21 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008566
331-0-2:2/6
Roslava, Natal'ia Arsen'evna
Interview with an engineer-chemist and politician about the Humanitarian aid from the West.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 7 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008566
331-0-2:2/7
Gotovchits, Anatolii [1/2] / None [1/2]
Interview with a journalist about censorship in the coverage of Chernobyl events in the Soviet media; evacuation from the 30-km zone and unwillingness of people to leave their residences; about local and regional officials who evacuated their own families and took individual protective measures against radiation while the general public remained uninformed and unprotected.
Belarusian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 28 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008566
VHS PAL #3
331-0-2:3/1
Gotovchits, Anatolii [2/2] / None [2/2]
Interview with a journalist about individual protective measures against radiation; psychological inability of people to cope with the Chernobyl-related problems; the place of Chernobyl in contemporary Belarus journalism and literature; Chernobyl and Belarus independence.
Belarusian language, Date of production: 1996,
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008567
331-0-2:3/2
Unidentified Pediatrician
Interview about the impact of radiation and ecological factors on the incidence of cancer among children; results of the treatment of leukemia; social adaptation of children with cancer.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 14 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008567
331-0-2:3/3
Lavshuk, Larisa Aleksandrovn and Egorova, Lubov' Mikhaiilovna
Interview with the mothers of children with leukemia about medical treatment of children suffering from leukemia; social problems of children with leukemia.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 14 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008567
331-0-2:3/4
Iarutskaia, Raisa Ivanovna
Interview with the Head Physician in one of the maternity homes in Mogilev and an unidentified gynecologist about the dynamics and nature of diseases among new-born children in Mogivel; diagnostics and preventive measures in pathological pregnancies; Chernobyl and the growth of genetic diseases in Belarus.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 34 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008567
331-0-2:3/5
Shepilo, Igor' Aleksandrovich and Bogaten'ko, Nina Timofeevna
Interview with a pediatrician and a doctor's assistant about the behavior of people during the first weeks after the explosion; the functioning of medical services after the explosion; cancer of the thyroid gland as the only established medical Chernobyl-related pathology in the region; problems with proper nutrition for people affected by radiation; humanitarian aid; treatment of children abroad; child mortality.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 54 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008567
VHS PAL #4
331-0-2:4/1
Goncharenko, Grigorii Grigor'evich; Podutov, Vladimir Evgen'evich
Interview with the director, deputy-director, and and several employees of the Gomel' laboratory of molecular genetics about the genetic school of the USSR; suppression of facts about the explosion and its impact on the efficiency of the fight against the consequences of Chernobyl; disagreements among Belarus scientists concerning strategies for combating the consequences of Chernobyl; current research into the Chernobyl-related damage in hereditary genetic material; the growth of mutations and congenital diseases.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996,
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008568
331-0-2:4/2
Firsakova, Slava Konstantinovna
Interview with the director of the Gomel' research institute of agricultural radioecology about national sanitary standards; the safety of nuclear energy; the rehabilitation of natural resources in Belarus; major dangers of Chernobyl are in the past; about the evacuation program as an exaggeration; need to combat Chernobyl psychologically; criticism of 'alarmists' scientists.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 1 hour 19 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008568
VHS PAL #5
331-0-2:5/1
Nesterenko, Vasilii Borisovich
Interview with the former director of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences, director of the non-governmental institute of radiation safety about his vain attempts to persuade the top officials of the republic to undertake preventive measures and the reaction of the authorities; Chernobyl-related activities of the Institute 1986-1987; evaluation of the current governmental strategies for combating the consequences of Chernobyl; accumulation of strontium as a main danger for health; about the institution of radiation safety.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996,
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008569
331-0-2:5/2
Rychkov, Aleksandr
Interview with a sociologist about the Chernobyl catastrophe in the context of the dissolution of the USSR; inability of society and authorities react adequately to threatened catastrophe.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 1 hour 7 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008569
VHS PAL #6
331-0-2:6/1
Kudan, Petr Mikhailovich
Interview with a representative of local authorities about how the local authorities were left uninformed about the explosion; immigration from the former USSR republics to Belarus in the 1990s; current Chernobyl-related tasks for local authorities; coordination of activities between central and local authorities in Soviet times and in Belarus in the 1990s.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995,
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008570
331-0-2:6/2
Cherkas, Nikolai Sergeevich
Interview with the director of the experimental state farm of the Belarus Academy of Sciences about cases of fraud and corruption during operations intended to clean up the consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 14 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008570
331-0-2:6/3
Sadchenko, Nikolai Ivanovich and unidentified farmers
About immediate measures taken by the local authorities; cooperation between the region and the Obninsk Institute of agricultural radiology and Minsk dispensary of radiological medicine.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 25 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008570
331-0-2:6/4
Aleshina, Valentina Pavlovna
Interveiw with the director of the cheese factory in Khoiniki about the suspension of cheese production on May 2, 1986 due to the Chernobyl accident.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 10 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008570
331-0-2:6/5
Shnarevich, Petr Sergeevich
Interview with a forest-guard about changes in flora and fauna after Chernobyl
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 4 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008570
331-0-2:6/6
Patarocha, Nina Fedorovna, Patarocha Nikolai Ivanovich and an Unidentified Official
Interview about the evacuation of the family in autumn 1986 and its voluntary return in spring 1988.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 23 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008570
331-0-2:6/7
Klavdia Vasil'evna
Interview with a former resident of the 30-km zone about the evacuation, temporary housing and final re-settlement
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 7 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008570
VHS PAL #7
331-0-2:7/1
Tsukerman, Mikhail Arkad'evich
Interview with a journalist about immigration from Kyrgyzstan to a region of Belarus affected by radiation.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995,
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008571
331-0-2:7/2
The Degovtsev Family
Interview about immigration from Kyrgyzstan to a region of Belarus affected by radiation.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 12 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008571
331-0-2:7/3
Gorlov, Dmitrii and Gorlova, Olga
Interview about international strife in Tajikistan; immigration from Tajikistan to a region of Belarus affected by radiation.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 32 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008571
331-0-2:7/4
Akhmedova
Interview about immigration from Azerbaijan to a region of Belarus affected by radiation.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 22 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008571
331-0-2:7/5
Paliashvili
Interview about immigration from Abkhazia to a region of Belarus affected by radiation.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 16 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008571
331-0-2:7/6
Unidentified Family
Interview about immigration from Tajikistan to a region of Belarus affected by radiation.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 28 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008571
331-0-2:7/7
Kovalenko, Zinaida Evdokimovna
Interview with a resident of the 30-km zone about evacuation from the worst-affected areas and voluntary return; cases of corruption and fraud during evacuation.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 19 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008571
331-0-2:7/8
Unidentified Re-settlers
Interview with the former residents of the 30-km zone about living in a village especially built for evacuees from the areas most affected by radiation.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 32 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008571
VHS PAL #8
331-0-2:8/1
Verzhbikovskii, Nikolai
Interview with a liquidator about shooting domestic animals in the 30 km zone; about cases of looting.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 32 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008572
331-0-2:8/2
Bakhtiiarov, Baurzhan
Interview with a liquidator about being forced to spend his military service for a fixed period in the Belarus in 1986.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 7 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008572
331-0-2:8/3
Avramenko, Svetlana
Interview about husband suffering from leucosis.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 18 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008572
331-0-2:8/4
Avramenko, Igor'
Interview about farm works in the 30km zone in summer 1986.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 17 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008572
331-0-2:8/5
Blin, Kazimir Evgen'evich and Pavlov, Oleg Leonidovich
Interview with a pilot and a helicopter mechanic about air force operations related to cleaning up the consequences of the explosion; ignorance of officers about radiation and uneven effect of radiation on pilots and liquidators; evaluation of the organization of the air force operations.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 55 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008572
331-0-2:8/6
Romanchuk, Lidiia Fedorovna
Interview about the family history; about son (liquidator) suffering from leukemia.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 27 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008572
VHS PAL #9
331-0-2:9/1
Koryt'ko, Sergeii Sergeevich and Belookaia, Tamara Vasil'evna
Interview with the director of the Institute of Radiation Medicine and a doctor-radiologist about the profile of diseases among the Belarus population; Chernobyl as a complex factor affecting health; resettlement as a risk factor for health; about difficulties in establishing direct causal relationship between radiation and diseases; inability of society successfully to combat the consequences of Chernobyl.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995,
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008573
331-0-2:9/2
Loiko, Alla Leonidovna
Interview with a doctor of the Institute of Radiation Medicine about resettlement as a major health risk factor for elderly people; difficulties with the medical treatment of the Institute's patients.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 8 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008573
331-0-2:9/3
Unidentified patients of the Institute of Radiation Medicine
Description and evaluation of decontamination work; individual protective measures; cases of looting.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 33 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008573
331-0-2:9/4
Lichkovako, Raisa Ivanovna and Belookaia, Tamara Vasil'evna
Interview with a psychiatrist of the Institute of Radiation Medicine and a radiologist about Chernobyl as a complex factor affecting health; examples of psychological disorders; ways of overcoming psychological consequences of Chernobyl.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 31 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008573
331-0-2:9/5
Belookaia, Tamara Vasil'evna
Interview with a radiologist and the president of 'Children of Chernobyl' Fund on the current Chernobyl-related government programs; ignorance of the general public and medical specialists about radiation; continuous need to explain the danger of radiation to the general public; Chernobyl and children's health.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 1 hour 11 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008573
VHS PAL #10
331-0-2:10/1
Kolesnikova, Nina Stepanovna and Panasevich, Valentina
Interviews with the liquidators's widows about their families, disease and death of husbands; social benefit for the widows of Chernobyl liquidators.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995,
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008574
331-0-2:10/2
Sobolev, Sergei Vasil'evich
Interview with a retired officer, vice-chairman of the NGO 'Shield of Chernobyl' about the organization which helps Belarus liquidators from the army and police forces; inability of the civil and military authorities to organize decontamination in such a way as to protect the liquidators; about firemen who extinguished the blaze at the reactor right after the explosion; about the Ignatenko family; continuing ignorance about radiation.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 47 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008574
VHS PAL #11
331-0-2:11/1
Sobolev, Sergei Vasil'evich
Interview with a retired officer and the vice-chairman of the NGO "Shield of Chernobyl" about low levels of individual protection provided for people doing decontamination work; inefficiency of decontamination work due to the fact that it was organized by the Communist authorities instead of professionals; chapel-museum dedicated to those involved in cleaning up after Chernobyl
Russian language, Date of production: 1995,
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008575
VHS PAL #12
331-0-2:12/1
Ignatenko, Tat'iana Pertrovna and Shur, Gertruda
Interview with the mother of fireman Ignatenko and a journalist. Vasilii Ivanovich extinguished the blaze at the reactor. His mother speaks about her son's work for fire brigade in Pripiat'; Vasilii and other firemen being treated at a Moscow hospital; firemen's funeral at Mitino cemetery; the history of the family after the evacuation of the village where they lived.
Ukrainian language, Date of production: 1996,
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008576
331-0-2:12/2
Sobolev, Sergei Vasil'evich
Interview with a retired officer, vice-chairman of the NGO 'Shield to Chernobyl' about the organization which helps Belarus liquidators from the army and police forces; inability of the civil and military authorities to organize decontamination work in a safe way; about firemen who extinguished the blaze at the reactor right after the explosion; about the Ignatenko family; continuing ignorance about radiation.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 50 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008576
VHS PAL #13
331-0-2:13/1
Ignatenko, Ludmila
Interview with the widow of fireman Ignatenko, Vasilii Ivanovich who died on May 13, 1986 about the fire at the nuclear plant; life in Pripiat' during first days after the explosion; the fate of Vasilii and five other firemen who extinguished the blaze at the reactor after the explosion up to their deaths.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 2 hours 38 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008577
VHS PAL #14
331-0-2:14/1
Afanas'ev, Ivan Mikhailovich
Interview with a philologist about Chernobyl as a worldview in contemporary Belarusian literature; why Belarusian literature lacks any worthwhile work about Chernobyl; about existential questions raised by Chernobyl and the degree to which they are understood by Belarus society.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996,
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008578
331-0-2:14/2
Gaiko, Irina L'vovna
Interview with a psychologist about the established correlation between cumulative levels of radionucleids and the psychic health of rural children of Belarus; explanation of the Chernobyl catastrophe from the point of view of bioenergetics.
Russian language, Date of production: 1996, Duration: 1 hour 3 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008578
331-0-2:14/3
Char'kov, Nikolai Prohorovich and Char'kova, Nina Konstantinovna
Interview with the teachers about the life of one of the rural schools after the explosion; about unprofessional measures taken and mistakes made by the authorities; evaluation of the national program for the improvement of children's health.
Russian language, Date of production: 1995, Duration: 48 min.
Digital version available | HU_OSA_00008578