Frida Zimanene with her friends

This picture was taken during our vacation in the sanatorium ‘Belarus’ in Sochi in the 1960s. I am dressed in a gown with a white hem. A couple from Minsk is next to me. I don’t remember their names.

My husband was a true Communist, loyal, an ardent believer in ideals of Communism. There was no nationality factor for him. He thought all nationalities to be equal. He was an internationalist. Of course, belonging to the high party elite, Genrich and I enjoyed all kinds of benefits. First of all, we had a wonderful large five-room apartment. A house-keeper took care of the chores. When our children were small, there was a nanny. The whole support staff was provided by the general service department of the Central Committee. Then the children went to a very good elite kindergarten, which was open only to the children of party activists. The house-keeper took them to and from the kindergarten.

We had a very comfortable life-style. We didn’t have any problems with living conditions either. I know what it was to be the wife of a Soviet leader. I was dressed to the nines. There were special stores, ateliers, where ‘the servants’ of the peoples were dressed. There were special grocery stores, where any products could be purchased, even those the aroma of which was well forgotten by common people in the USSR. We were invited to governmental receptions. My husband and I went to Moscow. We stayed in de luxe suites in the hotels. My husband was a real workaholic. He didn’t like hunting, which was a clan activity for Soviet activists. In general, he didn’t like recreation. During all those years we went to the governmental sanatorium in Gagry in the Caucasus.