Abu transmission

Author: (English) Dominic Mitchel, Chris Hitchins
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Leib had the privilege of receiving food and clothing first, as the state allocated these items to Leib's department, which then resold them to local employees. For example, Leib obtained 10 sheepskins from the state, and the transaction records showed that all the sheepskins had been sold to employees. However, in reality, they were all sent to the black market and sold at prices higher than the state standard. Therefore, anyone who could obtain these items enjoyed status and power. Lyudmila Lagoda referred to Leib and people like him as "the oligarchs of that time." Lyudmila and her husband were very lucky to have a powerful neighbor, and both sides had something to trade. Leib's daughter Natasha was a student of Lyudmila, and Leib asked Lyudmila to "say some good things" about his daughter—apart from that, he had no other requests to Lyudmila. This clearly implied that if Lyudmila did so, she would benefit in some way. In fact, Natasha was an excellent student, and Lyudmila had no need to exaggerate her praise. Nevertheless, she was rewarded. In the Soviet Union at that time, cars were in extremely short supply, and the only way for ordinary people to buy a car was to wait in long lines patiently for an application opportunity. Leib used his connections to expedite the processing of the Lagoda family's car purchase application, and soon, the Lagodas bought a Lada car, which made the whole family very proud. Although the family members were increasing, Leib could not get a larger apartment for himself, which was the only thing he could not decide. Housing supply was extremely tight in the Soviet Union at that time, so the regulations on housing allocation were implemented very strictly. The Lagodas successfully tricked their way into getting a three-bedroom apartment by forging documents stating that Lyudmila's father was living with them, but Leib found that he could not get a larger apartment. Besides housing, Ab had very good living conditions in every other aspect. Ab not only had decent shoes but was also the only child in the city who owned a Western-style cassette player, while other children could only use bulky reel-to-reel players—all thanks to his uncle Leib's work: exchanging Russian timber for daily consumer goods from countries like Bulgaria and Japan. The relatively affluent life of the Leib family drew the resentment of others, and the apartment where Ab lived was robbed at least twice.