She could see the back of his head above the sinewy neck. I heard a hated Georgian accent. He spoke on the phone with one of his subordinate executioners. The woman carefully opened her purse and with her fingers recognized the pleasant coldness of the pistol. The man stood half-turned, she saw how his gray mustache trembled. "Vera, are you really going to kill a man?" an inner voice asked. But this man destroyed her adored brothers! Smart, young, beautiful. He hid his beloved sister Tanechka in a dungeon. The woman pulls the trigger, and Stalin's body sinks to the floor ...

The Stalin Prize laureate's badge is awarded to the actress Vera Maretskaya, says a voice from another world.

The woman opens her eyes, smiles as usual at the audience and goes for a government award.

The great actress Maretskaya had four badges of the Stalin Prize laureate. How many times she played in her head the scene of the massacre of the father of all nations, no one knows.

Vera was born in Barvikha, near Moscow, exactly 100 years ago. The only connection between the Maretskys and the art world was that the head of the family, Pyotr Grigorievich, had rented a buffet in the Nikitins circus since 1912, and after the revolution remained there as a seller. The children regularly helped their father. Especially Vera. After all, the intermission is not long, and the rest of the time you can stand behind the curtains and watch the performance. Vera closed her eyes and saw herself either as a fearless horsewoman or as a graceful aerial gymnast. - Vera, intermission!

She opened her eyes and ran after the tray of sweets. Parents insisted on a serious profession. The daughter passed the entrance exams to the philosophy department of the university. And then on the sly from my dad I entered the studio of the Maly Theater - they did not accept it. But the philosopher was not born anyway. Evgeny Vakhtangov discerned a rare dramatic talent in the circus barmaid, and the happy Vera in the blink of an eye “ran over” to his studio.

In cinema, Maretskaya makes her debut at the age of 19 in the ideological film "His Call", dedicated to the anniversary of Lenin's death. The release company on the reel was the funny word MEZHRABPOM-RUS. How many more of the same hysterical-communist works she will have ... To this day, she is considered a “Stalinist actress”. She was a regular guest at Kremlin banquets and the same embodiment of the image of a happy Soviet woman like Lyubov Orlova.

I think the most terrible time in the fate of our country is Stalin's time, - says the theater historian, TV presenter and writer Vitaly Wolf. - There is nothing worse than him. I remember how, being very young (I was in my 2nd year), I went with my parents to Baku on vacation. Once another train stopped next to our train, consisting of prison cars. And in the narrow little windows I saw faces that were saying something, but I could not hear what it was. We were driven away from the windows. I remember how one woman from that train managed to throw a note down ... Our train started, and I could not come to my senses for a long time. But under the conditions of the most brutal dictatorship, theater and cinema were at the highest level. And this is a paradox. In a bloody era, when millions of people were in prisons, the great Alla Tarasova played on the stage of the Art Theater, Stepanova, Gribov, Livanov, Katchalov and the amazing Olga Knipper-Chekhova shone. Ulanova danced at the Bolshoi Theater, and no one can be compared with her. In Stalin's time, she played, as Ranevskaya called her, “the greatest actress on the entire planet Earth,” Maria Babanova. And when you watch the film "Wedding", where Maretskaya fantastically and bewitchingly plays the role of Zmeyukina, it is impossible not to admire. Capricious, charming and seductive! And you can't believe that the picture was filmed in a single room in Likhov Lane during the war.

Vitaly Yakovlevich, what does the name Maretskaya mean in cinema?

This is a brilliant page in the history of Russian cinema. Just remember the fake and ideological film "Member of the Government". But it doesn't matter when you see Maretskaya, a peasant woman, standing on the podium, making a speech. You can watch it endlessly, because her heroine has the wisdom and life of the people.

In “The Rural Teacher” (which I watched seven times) she played three ages: a girl, a woman, and an old woman. This is skill beyond the bounds. Vera Petrovna was a great film actress of enormous talent.

Secret life

A nudist corner of a Soviet resort. Imagine, there were such. True, divided by gender. Only the ladies were sunbathing on this. And now, among the mass of naked bodies, a single woman lies on the trestle bed, not even in a swimsuit, but in a dress. This is Maretskaya. The poet's wife Dudin breaks down and asks her about the reason for the strange beach dress.

Darling ... - Vera Petrovna slyly squints her eyes. - I sunbathe for my viewers. I will go on stage, and thousands of fans will admire my tanned legs and arms ... And everything else except my husband will be seen only by 5-6 people. It would be because of what to try.

This is how the most popular theatrical story about Vera Maretskaya sounds.

She gave the impression of an incredibly well-arranged and spoiled woman. The government loved her. The people adored her. She seemed to everyone her own. “In my profession, I am a marshal,” Maretskaya smiled condescendingly.

Vera Petrovna is a woman who has never revealed herself, ”says Wulf sadly. - There was a terrible tragedy in her life. Her talented brothers Dmitry and Grigory graduated from the Institute of Red Professors in their time. They were party leaders close to Bukharin. Dmitry was arrested in the early 30s, Gregory a little later. They were shot.

Then there was the war.

On the second day, June 23, 1941, the younger sister Tanechka disappeared. As they say in the reports, she left home and did not return. Vera called all her acquaintances, hospitals, morgues, and only then did the knife of premonition stab her heart. With a cold hand, she dialed the number of those who took the lives of Dmitry and Gregory. “Yes, we have,” replied the faceless voice of the authorities.

Neither popularity, nor the favor of the father of all nations, nor “the creation of the image of a Soviet woman” helped Maretskaya to get her younger sister out of prison. Tanya will be released only two years later.

After the premiere of the film "She Defends the Motherland" with Vera in the title role, Tatiana was summoned to the prison authorities.

And you and your sister are alike ... Go home.

"Mommy" Ve Pe

Personal life was strange. An early marriage with a teacher, beloved master, director (who really discovered the actress Maretskaya) Yuri Zavadsky did not last long. Son Zhenya was only four years old when Zavadsky fell in love with a young actress, packed a suitcase and left.

Everyone was waiting for a reciprocal step - Vera was invited to many theaters in the capital.

But it seems to her that it did not even occur to her to leave the studio on Sretenka (the progenitor of the Mossovet Theater), the owner and ruler of which was her ex-husband.

Zavadsky was hounded - how can you leave? Zavadsky is sick - how can you? .. He is a lump, he is a continuous creative explosion, he ... In fact, he had a rare gift to bind a person for life. Although it is not entirely clear who chained whom forever.

The child needs a mommy, - as usual, the brilliant Faina Ranevskaya snapped, when Yuri Alexandrovich had a headache and heart-rending to the whole theater called Vera Petrovna. “Mommy” (12 years younger than her ex-spouse) rushed through two steps.

Zavadsky idolized her, - Vitaly Wulf continues the story. - She always called him Yu.A., and he called her V.P. Although her stage fate was strange. Vera Petrovna has always been considered the first person in the theater. First of all, because she created this theater and was devoted to it. But in this situation, she had to play many bad, mediocre plays - Sofronov, Virta and Surov. Sofronov's monstrous play "A Million for a Smile" could not have been pulled out by anyone's ingenious game. And Maretskaya had much fewer serious roles. Although, they say, before the war, she brilliantly played Betty Dorlange in Verneuil's "School of Defaulters". She approached the proscenium and said: “Gentlemen, there is absolutely no one to live with,” and the audience lay there.

Zavadsky soon married the brilliant Galina Ulanova, and Maretskaya was married to the mediocre actor Georgy Troitsky.

Trosha, as she called him, got the difficult role of a good guy who provided the prima donna with life, looked after the just-born baby Mashenka and never climbed into the theatrical sphere of the life of his star wife.

Everything that concerned creativity, Ve Pe discussed only with Yu.A. Trosh volunteered for the front. He died at Orel in 1943.

Maretskaya never married again. Although, they say, her romance with Rostislav Plyatt lasted for many years and had every chance of developing into a marriage. Once they fell through the ground. They were looking for them all over the country for a month. Yu.A. angry. It turned out that the lovers lived in a hotel in Moscow.

“Plyatt was married to an older woman. Once she worked in the Korsh theater and was very effective - a redhead with blue eyes. Over time, she turned into a lame old woman and regularly threatened him: “If you go to Verka, I will hang myself. So you should know! " And Rostislav Yanovich could not leave, no matter how he wanted to, apparently, he felt that this was not an empty threat, ”wrote Georgy Bakhtarov, who was friends with Plyatt, in his memoirs.

But be that as it may, life is going well. Theater named after Mossovet at the height of its glory. The roles of Maretskaya are known and loved in Europe. Vera represents the Soviet Union at the anti-fascist forum in Paris. Daughter Mashenka successfully marries a promising young scientist Dima. The young people settled with Vera Petrovna. And then Dimochka unexpectedly took and hanged himself. The daughter ended up in a neurological clinic. Maretskaya herself is in a borderline state. The head hurts terribly. But we have to work.

Yu.A. and Plyatt is simply driving her to the Kremlin hospital for examination.

There Maretskaya is diagnosed with a murderous brain cancer.

Strange Mrs. Savage

Three blocks gathered at the Zavadsky Theater - Faina Ranevskaya, Lyubov Orlova and Vera Maretskaya. Sometimes this resulted in strange turns of events.

On the one hand, Zavadsky was madly in love with Maretskaya, on the other ... She was in Paris when she was offered the play “Dear Liar”. Vera Petrovna then had a severe sore throat (she underwent several operations on the ligaments. - Author), and Zavadsky said: “You won't learn this gigantic text, it will be hard for you to speak”. As a result, the play “went away”. Then “Dear Liar” still went to the Mossovet Theater, but with Lyubov Orlova in the title role. Lyubov Petrovna was a movie star, but she was never a terrific dramatic actress.

Further more. In the role of one Mrs. Savage, all three national favorites came together. The explosion was inevitable. Ranevskaya, who was the first to play this heroine, begged Zavadsky to release her due to her terrible fatigue and poor health. He went to meet and offered the main role in the play "Strange Mrs. Savage" by Lyubov Orlova.

And she agreed? - then Faina Georgievna thundered. - I don't even know what to call Orlov now. She's worse than Hitler!

Lyubov Orlova played this role with talent, subtly, - says Wolfe. - And at that moment there was a tour of the Mossovet Theater in Paris, and Maretskaya had nothing to go with. And Zavadsky urgently introduced her to the role of Mrs. Savage.

Probably, it was not only about the tour. Orlova did not know that Maretskaya was dying, but Zavadsky knew.

Exhausted by chemotherapy, Vera Petrovna goes on stage and does Mrs. Savage so that later they will say: she played on her nerves, like a violin. Old theatergoers remember how at one of the performances Maretskaya burst into tears, her partner (in the theater they already knew about cancer) Konstantin Mikhailov bowed lower than usual. The audience also cried. They said goodbye to each other. Yu.A. was crying behind the scenes.

Lyubov Orlova reached the very top in attempts to take her Mrs. Savage back. And it is difficult to blame her for this - for the eternal beauty of Soviet cinema, this was also the last role.

But for radio and television, the performance was recorded by Maretskaya, although initially the recording was offered to Ranevskaya.

Pushhok called (as she called Zavadsky. - Author). Said: Faina, Vera is very bad, she has little left. Help her, let him write "Savage", refuse. I refused, - Faina Georgievna admitted later.

They were dying in the same Kuntsevo hospital.

The first (she was always the first) to leave was Lyubov Orlova. Maretskaya found the strength to go to a civil funeral service.

Yu.A. also lay in Kuntsevo. Out of old habit, they exchanged drawings and greetings with Vera Petrovna. Now between the hospital wards. Already exhausted by her terrible illness, Maretskaya did not stop working. She read poems by Russian poets, and her son recorded her on a tape recorder.

Sometimes the eyes failed and closed by themselves. And then…

The woman was again standing in the large office. A hand opened a handbag, and a man with a Georgian accent and a quivering gray mustache spoke on the phone again. Trigger release. Red blood like a river ...

Vera Petrovna, Zavadsky is dead, - the nurse's voice trembled, as if from another world.

They divorced 40 years ago, but his death was reported to her. But what's so strange about that?

Vera Maretskaya will leave in a year. And her brilliant chairpersons, teachers and collective farmers will forever remain on the screen. They are not at all ideological and monumental, but, as her heroine said, “simple Russian women, beaten by their husbands, scared by priests, shot by enemies” - that is, tenacious, no matter what ...

Maria Shtaborova: Zhonka and cow as two sources of "achievements of socialism"

"Here I stand in front of you, a simple Russian woman, beaten by her husband, scared by priests, shot by enemies, tenacious ... And they raised us here, here I am, here on this tribune, the party and our Soviet government." Alexandra Sokolova, film "Member of the Government", 1939.

Decrepit, teeth fell out, Scroll of years on the horns.
Beat her rude expeller On the distillation fields.
It is pitiful, sad and lean The horns are screaming into the ground ...
She dreams of a white grove And grass meadows.
S. Yesenin "Cow"

The terrible image created by Sergei Yesenin presciently depicts the fate of a dying Russian village. By and large, Russia also ends with the village - this bitter truth in practice is easily confirmed by the fact that the current generation - the heirs of Nekrasov women, stopping a horse at a gallop and entering a burning hut, not only will not be able to milk a cow, but also from which side to they do not know to approach her. The consequences of the great Russian tragedy were painted back in the Soviet years by talented, brilliant writers - "village people". But how right is Sergei Dovlatov, who noted that the basis of their work is an evasive sluggish motive. “Where are you, Rus? Where are the ditties, towels, kokoshniks? Where is the hospitality, prowess and scope? Where are samovars, icons, devotees, holy fools? Where is the sterlet, carps, honey, granular caviar? Where are the ordinary horses, damn it ?! Where is the chaste modesty of feelings? " The writers are racking their brains: “Where are you, Rus? Where did it go? Who ruined you? "... Who, who ... Yes, any seventh grader knows - who! However, this tragic truth is not for Soviet writers. " Confidence in the hard life of the Russian peasantry under the "tsarist regime" is an integral part of the intellectual mythology of "love for the people." They say that our peasants have always been the poorest and most oppressed in Europe, and only the Bolsheviks finally brought them prosperity ... At the same time, the Europeans themselves, who have lived in Russia for a long time and had the opportunity to compare the standard of living, give completely different information. As Pushkin, who knew (as a landowner) the Russian countryside well, wrote about this: “Having a cow everywhere in Europe is a sign of luxury; not having a cow is a sign of poverty. " On the eve of the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in Russia, according to the zemstvo statistics, peasants owned 90% of arable land and 97% of livestock. In 1915, when the heroine of our story, Maria Shtaborova, was born in the village of Zapolye of the Kholmogorsk district of the Arkhangelsk province, there were 58 million cows in the country, i.e. approximately 3 cows per 10 head of the population.

The irony of history lies in the fact that it was after the victory of the "most advanced teaching" that Russian peasants were forcibly driven into collective farms, through which the state mercilessly exploited their labor, making virtually all the peasants farm laborers. After all, the peasant, being financially independent, due to his peculiar attitude to life, could not become an obedient "cog" of an international socialist society with a planned distribution economy. He would not have meekly and for nothing to work in the interests of the "world revolution." Consequently, he was subject either to transformation into a serf attached to the land, or to destruction.

Only three winters already under the most popular Soviet rule Maria Shtaborova was able to go to school. Further teach her according to her father, he "did not have enough gunpowder." I had to go "to nanny". And already at the age of 15, she came to work at a dairy farm created in Matigory; she was attracted to cows since childhood. Praskovya Abramovna Spiridonova became Masha's first mentor: “For a cow, girl, weasel is the first thing! And leaving by itself. The mistress loves her cow, cares for her - and she will always get more milk than a slob, ”the Pomor lady, who knew what it meant to be a mistress of cows, taught.

By the end of 1931, 27 collective farms were operating in the Kholmogorsk region, which included 86% of peasant farms. Moreover, "complete" collectivization was carried out in less than a month. “At the moment, the collective farms of the district have united 86% of the poor and middle peasants, with the same amount of land. The public sector in animal husbandry accounts for up to 70%. All this means that we have basically completed continuous collectivization, completed the first stage of the struggle to organize large collective farms, that our task today is to turn collective farms into models of large socialist economy ... " Comrade Budrina at a district meeting of collective farmers on January 4, 1932.

Almost 40 years of her life will be given to the collective farm by Maria Shtaborova. The centuries-old experience of her ancestors allowed her to achieve high results. After all, caring for livestock in the village has traditionally been on the shoulders of women. In the summer, the hostess got up a little light, milked the cows and drove them out for the whole day in the field to gain weight under the supervision of children or a shepherd. In the evening, the cattle were driven back, fed, watered, milked. In winter, the hassle was added. It was necessary to get up before light - feeding, milking, cleaning the barn. Only one cow a day eats a pound of hay and drinks several buckets of water. The water must be warmed so that, God forbid, the cattle does not get sick. If this happened, the cow was taken to a warm hut and looked after, as a nurse, like a small child: sprinkled with holy water, fed with bread, flour swill. When it was time for calving, the owners were deprived of their rest day and night, fearing to miss the moment of the appearance of the calf. He was brought to the hut, heated, sealed, fed.

On the advice of zootechnician Feofila Novoselova, Maria Shtaborova introduced a daily walk in the winter for “her” cows on the farm, and for each - her own individual diet. As a result, her group began to produce 3000-4000 kg of milk per cow per year, with an average milk yield of 1500 kg. She graduated from the courses of zootechnicians. In 1948, for the first time in the most difficult conditions, with a lack of feed, she milked 4450 kg of milk from each cow. For this achievement the milkmaid from Matigor received the first Order of Lenin in 1949. Next year - a new record: 10 cows produced 5066 kg of milk each. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 30, 1950: "For the achievement of high indicators in animal husbandry in 1949 when collective farms fulfill obligatory supplies to the state, contracting, payment in kind for the work of MTS and a plan for increasing the number of livestock for each type of productive livestock and poultry," Maria Mikhailovna was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle Gold Medal. In 1951, for high milk yields, she was again awarded the Order of Lenin, becoming one of four milkmaids in the Arkhangelsk Region who became holders of three such awards. Zootechnician K. A. Derbina, according to her words, wrote down and processed the text of the brochure "My experience of increasing the milk productivity of cows", published in Arkhangelsk in the series "Library of the worker of animal husbandry". In the same year, Shtaborova became a party member, was a delegate to the 19th Congress of the CPSU (although, unlike the heroine of the film "Member of the Government" played by Vera Maretskaya, she did not speak from the Kremlin rostrum) and a member of the Arkhangelsk Regional Committee of the CPSU. After 4 years, she became a foreman of a barnyard at the collective farm named after I. Kalinin, and in 1969 she retired, since she was just introduced for the collective farmers ...

In that record for Maria Shtaborova 1950, the number of cows in the USSR amounted to 58 million heads - barely reaching the pre-revolutionary figures. She herself, a simple pomorie, with her own hands she drank more than 1 million liters of milk! Together with the Russian woman, the Russian cow pulled on herself an experiment of rebuilding society, terrible in senseless cruelty, withstood the years of the most brutal war in history, plowed millions of hectares on herself and the cows to rebuild the country.

The successes of the Matigorskaya milkmaid are also the successes of the unique and oldest Kholmogorsk breed of cows in Russia. It was bred back in the 17th century on floodplains rich in grass in the floodplain of the Northern Dvina. By order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, dairy cows from Kholmogory were purchased and driven along the winter route to the royal farm in Moscow. By order of Peter I, breeding bulls of the Holstein and Ostfriesian breeds are imported from Holland near Arkhangelsk. The rapid growth of St. Petersburg has stimulated the demand for dairy cows. In the Arkhangelsk province, they were specially grown, and then by "campaign", that is, by haul, they were delivered to the dairy farms of the new capital. By the end of the 19th century, in the Kholmogorsk and Arkhangelsk districts, the number of cattle reached 25 thousand heads, of which up to 70% were cows. It was the Kholmogory cow Malka that became the first record-breaking cow in the USSR. Even before collectivization, in 1926, she produced more than 11 640 kg of milk. So, by and large, the collective farm system has no special relationship to records. But it is still necessary to speak about the life of collective farmers in the USSR. To understand in what conditions hundreds of thousands of milkmaids, cowgirls, calves lived and worked ...

In terms of the level of economic and non-economic coercion, the 1930s-1950s were the most difficult years for Russian peasants. Almost all of them were turned into a cross between state slaves-helots, as in ancient Sparta, and late Roman columns serving countless economic, labor and other duties. The Bolsheviks stopped pumping funds from the Russian countryside only by the end of the 1960s, when the oil, gas and ore deposits of Siberia were developed. Collective farmers actually lived in conditions of state feudalism, serving corvee (regulated minimum of compulsory labor), giving quitrent (obligatory state deliveries of products), and paying taxes (monetary taxes). Each peasant was obliged to work out a certain minimum of "work days" both on the collective farm and in public works. Labor conscription also included quite a medieval "tax" for horse-drawn, construction work, logging, road repair, and so on. Since 1939, the obligatory annual minimum of workdays for women aged 16-55 and men 16-60 years old on collective farms has been set at 60-100 per year. For non-fulfillment of the norm for workdays, they were entitled to expulsion from the collective farm with the deprivation of a personal plot. During the war years, a mandatory minimum of workdays was introduced for children from 12 years of age, and those who did not work out the standard were subject to recruitment to corrective labor on the collective farm with a deduction of 25% of the payment. By the time of Stalin's death, the mandatory minimum was 150 workdays per year for women and 200 for men. At the same time, up to 50% of the payment for the workdays of collective farmers who worked, for example, as carters in logging, was taken by the collective farm. Only in the Kholmogorsk region in the winter of 1931-1932 more than 1 thousand peasants were employed in logging, who procured 440 thousand cubic meters of timber. A number of labor jobs were completely free: each collective farmer had to work 6 days a year on the construction and repair of local roads (individual farmers - 12 days). This obligation was abolished only in 1958. Such a system finally disappeared only in 1969 (just that year Maria Shtaborova retired), when collective farmers were guaranteed wages at least once a month.
The level of quitrent from collective farmers also steadily increased. In 1940, the collective farm yard was obliged to hand over 32-45 kg of meat per year (individual farmers - from 62 to 90 kg), in 1948 - already 40-60 kg. For milk, the obligatory deliveries have grown from an average of 180-200 liters to 280-300 liters per year. Since 1948, the collective farm yard was also obliged to donate from 30 to 150 chicken eggs annually. The amount of wool, potatoes, vegetables, etc. was also regulated. products from each collective farm household plot. At the same time, yards that did not have beef cattle or chickens were not exempted from mandatory deliveries, for example, for meat and eggs. Only after Stalin's death in 1953 there was a decrease in the volume of such deliveries, in connection with which the collective farmers, with joy, even composed a proverb: "Malenkov came, ate some blinks." The quitrent of the Soviet peasants was finally canceled only in 1958.

The agricultural tax on peasants was introduced by the Bolsheviks back in 1923. Since the 1930s, it has been taxed on all possible income of a peasant family in any area. Since 1939, the fixed rates have been replaced by a progressive scale, which has made it possible to constantly increase its size. On average, the tax on imputed money income was 7-11%, but the amount of agricultural products received from the farmstead and the so-called calculated rates of its profitability were established by directive. For example, in 1940, the annual profitability of a cow was set at 600 rubles. As a result, the peasant was obliged to pay the natural quitrent from it (obligatory state supplies in the form of milk and meat), to provide government purchases for meat and milk at reduced prices, and to pay up to 50-60 rubles. money. With the outbreak of war in 1941, an additional surcharge was introduced to this tax in the amount of 100% of its volume, which was replaced in 1942 by a war tax of up to 600 rubles. per year from a member of the farm. In 1942-1943, the rates of return were increased by 3-4 times, respectively, the volume of the imputed agricultural tax increased. In the 1947-1948s and in the 1950s, they were raised five times. The estimated rate of return of a cow by 1948 had grown 6 times to 3,500 rubles, pigs - five times to 1,500 rubles, a hundred square meters of a potato garden - 10 times to 120 rubles, a goat or sheep - 9 times to 350 rubles. Many peasants went over to "Stalin's cows" - goats, since the tax for them was 10 times less. In 1952, the tax was levied on chickens, newborn piglets, calves and lambs. In addition, collective farmers were obliged to pay agricultural tax on products (vegetables, potatoes), which were paid to them on the collective farm for workdays. Moreover, the collective farm also paid taxes from these payments, so double taxation was obtained for each peasant. After 1947, agricultural tax benefits for the disabled, war veterans, and the disabled for the most part were abolished. If in 1947 the average collective farm yard in the RSFSR paid up to 370 rubles a year. agricultural tax, then in 1951 - already 519 rubles. Selling any products on the collective farm market to pay tax was not easy due to low set prices, administrative difficulties, and the need to pay sales tax. Only after Stalin's death the size of the agricultural tax was significantly reduced (by 1965 by 60%), in 1953-1954 the debt on it was written off.

Collective farmers also paid tax for fishing, for bachelors and small children, for dogs, for vehicles (even for bicycles). They were also required to buy government bonds that were never actually paid back. And each collective farm family had to pay "voluntary fees" - the so-called self-taxation. Rural schools were maintained by the collective farmers themselves, paid allowances for teachers at their own expense, and also paid for textbooks and other materials. The same applied to kindergartens (if they were on the collective farm at all), hospitals and other institutions of the social sphere.

At the same time, it was not collective farms at all, but the personal farmsteads of peasants, which were constantly being cut back, that were the most effective supplier of products in the USSR. Occupying no more than 5-7% in the general fund of agricultural land, they gave up to 30% of all potatoes in the country under compulsory state supplies in 1940, for cattle and poultry meat - 25%, eggs - 100%, milk - 26%, wool - 22%.

By the way, the indulgences to collective farmers from the mid-1950s were reflected in the name of the collective farm where Maria Shtaborova worked. Since 1961, in his name, "All-Union Headman" Kalinin was replaced by the XXII Congress of the CPSU - the same one at which it was decided to remove Stalin from the mausoleum. True, by that time there were only 19 collective farms left in the Kholmogorsk region, and the result of the next experiment of the Soviet government on their "enlargement" will be the rapid extinction of "unpromising" villages. And our heroine passed away on January 3, 1987, on the eve of another era, not seeing the results of the disastrous reforms for the country, initiated by the unlucky Stavropol combine operator.

The famous Arkhangelsk journalist and necropolis Aleksey Morozov found the grave of Maria Shtaborova at the Matigorsk churchyard. He was told that the husband, son, daughter-in-law and one of the grandchildren of the legendary milkmaid had died long ago. Another granddaughter sold her parents' house and left for Yemetsk. The only heir, the grandson, practically drank himself to death and lost his home, and now he “lives in people”, doing rough work. Morozov persuaded him to show him the abandoned grave, on which he later installed a new plaque. And I reflected in a subsequent publication on the topic of "Ivanov who do not remember kinship." I was struck by the comment left to it by one of the readers: “The village and envy are sisters. Envy splashes across the village - from outskirts to outskirts! This is not so noticeable when you live there for a short time and temporarily, but try, live permanently! You are afraid to say too much! A simple example, since here about milkmaids - just ask in the village, who keeps - how much milk does his cow give per day? No one in life will tell the truth, or even more often - laugh it off, keep silent, or send it to hell, and it will be right - they will jinx the nurse with envy! People, including - and left the village to get out of this circle of envy! They could hardly feed themselves! Rather, he who worked was fed! And there were only a few of them in the whole village! We tried to get into the post office, foresters, buoy keepers, fish inspectors, timber industry enterprises at the lower warehouse. The Soviet power is over - the village is over! " As they say - do not add, do not add ...

An appeal to voters appeared on the official page of Svetlana Orlova on VKontakte, in which the head of the region admitted that the second round of the elections came as a surprise to her and she was worried about her result on September 9.

“To be honest, I didn't expect the first round to go the way it went. And, of course, I am worried, ”said the head of the region.

Svetlana Orlova also said words about admitting her mistakes, although she did not specify which ones. The Governor noted that she is ready to work with everyone who is interested in the development of the region.

“A strong person should not only admit his mistakes, he should be able to correct them. I see it as my duty. And for this I will work with everyone who is interested in the development of the region. And this is all of you, residents, ”the appeal says.

The incumbent governor also expressed her gratitude to those who criticize the authorities and speak about painful issues. This is, perhaps, the first such appeal by a governor with an admission of mistakes and a declaration of readiness to work with those who have a different opinion.

The video was recorded in Svetlana Orlova's office in the White House. The video was filmed on several cameras, the governor read the text from prompters. In some places, the head of the region speaks in a monotonous and unemotional manner, which is uncharacteristic for her. On the whole, one cannot but admit the touchingness of the resulting appeal.

Recall that according to the results of the first round of gubernatorial elections in the Vladimir region, Svetlana Orlova won 36.42% of the vote. Her closest rival, Vladimir Sipyagin, received 31.19% of the vote.

Full text of the appeal:

“Dear residents of the Vladimir region!

I want to address you not as a governor, but simply as a person. To be honest, I didn't expect the first round to go the way it went. And, of course, I am worried.

In recent days, I have been constantly asking myself the question: I seem to have tried - and there are results. So why didn't you manage to reach out to many of you? And you know what I answer to myself: it means that I did something wrong myself. Somewhere overlooked. I was sure that I was doing the right thing. But now I understand that financial, economic, production changes, even the most positive ones, are not enough. If people do not feel that all this is ultimately done for their sake, then any results, achievements are simply devalued.

A strong person should not only admit his mistakes, he should be able to correct them. I see it as my duty. And for this I will work with everyone who is interested in the development of the region. And this is all you residents.

I am grateful to my supporters and those who gave their votes to my rivals. I am grateful to those who talk about our painful issues: the lack of places in kindergartens, that it is difficult to get an appointment with a doctor, that salaries are low, and about other problems and concerns that the residents of our cities and villages face. We are all worried about the future of our beloved Vladimir land.

Dear residents of the Vladimir region! If you support me, then from now on we will take all significant steps only together. I propose to launch a new project "People's Decision". Its meaning is for people to take a direct part in the management of the region, in the life of each village, small or large city. We will work in a new way, and for this it is necessary that new people come to our team. And there are a lot of such worthy, honest, professional people in our area.

Dear ones! I want you to hear me. And I will tell you straight: today I am asking for your support. Because people's trust is the main thing. And I understood this very clearly. Thank you!"

“Here I stand in front of you, a simple Russian woman” - these are the words from the monologue of Alexandra Sokolova, brilliantly played by Vera Maretskaya. "Tenacious!" - says the heroine of the film "Member of the Government" to herself. The same can be said for the actress herself. More than once she had to fight not only for herself, but also for her relatives. And never once did Maretskaya give slack, and did not disown anyone.

Brilliant career and cheating husband

Vera Maretskaya was born in 1906 in Barvikha near Moscow. Her father was in charge of a buffet at the circus, so Vera often attended performances. Even then, she began to dream of a theatrical stage. But the parents were in a different mood. They hoped that their daughter would choose a more serious profession. Vera did not want to upset them, so she passed all the exams at the Faculty of Philosophy perfectly, but at the same time she secretly entered the studio school at the Yevgeny Vakhtangov Theater. Then, of course, everything was revealed, but, firstly, it was already too late, and secondly, she was accompanied by success in the acting field. Having barely finished her studies in the studio, Maretskaya shone on the screen.

Everything went well with the young actress in her personal life. She married Yuri Zavadsky, who had previously been her teacher, and then directed the theater in which she worked. The newlyweds had a son, who was named after Vakhtangov Eugene.

But the happiness was short-lived. Zavadsky became interested in the famous ballerina Galina Ulanova and left Maretskaya. Although at the same time the former spouses have maintained warm friendly relations.

Public Enemies

Meanwhile, Maretskaya continued to play on stage and in films. She was popular with the public, received promotions, awards and titles from the authorities. The latter is surprising, the more you learn about the fate of people close to the actress. So, both of Vera Petrovna's siblings Dmitry and Grigory in the 1930s, during the most terrible repressions, ended up behind bars, and then were shot. Maretskaya could not help them in any way.

Almost the same thing happened to Vera's sister Tanya, who ended up in the camp. The actress fussed for her, but to no avail. Maretskaya hoped that at least Tatyana, unlike her brothers, she would see someday. And it really happened. But only after 20 long years, when the 1960s were already in the yard.

Vera Maretskaya did not refuse any of her relatives, although she very much risked falling into disgrace with the label of a relative of enemies of the people.

Short-lived happiness

Despite such an "anti-Soviet" environment of convicted relatives, the actress herself was spared the troubles. They say that all thanks to the film "Member of the Government": Stalin really admired Maretskaya's performance in this film. In 1935 Vera Petrovna received the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR, in 1940 she was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor. And then the war began.

By that time, Vera Petrovna entered into a second marriage. Her chosen one was Georgy Troitsky, also an actor. He was not as famous as Zavadsky, but he became a caring and attentive husband. They had a daughter, who was named Maria. However, his father did not see how his Masha was growing. He went to the front and died in 1943.

Terrible diagnosis

Maria Troitskaya grew up and got married too. And after a while, Maretskaya's son-in-law committed suicide. Masha was so worried about her husband's death that her psyche cracked and she ended up in a neurological hospital.

Vera Petrovna was in despair. And then headaches began to torment her. Forced relatives managed to persuade the actress to undergo a medical examination. The diagnosis was disappointing - brain cancer.

Maretskaya died in 1978. Almost until the last days, she courageously went on stage.

Her daughter Maria recovered from the stroke and now lives in the United States.