“So This Is What One of These Looks Like”

On the morning of April 23, 1977, Mykola Matusevych and I were at his sister's apartment in Kyiv, where we had spent the night. At 6:30 a.m. we heard the doorbell. Tamila got up, went to the door, and asked, “Who's there?” On the other side of the door, a woman's voice answered: “Telegram.” When Tamila opened the door, the room was instantly filled with KGB officials, all dressed in black. Again, we heard the standard: “Quiet, quiet!” Mykola's voice was not easy to quiet down, however.

This had been one of the KGB's typical tricks. On December 28, 1976, Mykola Rudenko had written of a similar incident in his appeal to the Moscow procurator: “Those who were conducting the search tore into the apartment under false pretenses: the civilian witness Prykhodko knocked on the door, claiming she was delivering a telegram. This was a lie that attests to the collusion between the witnesses and those who were conducting the search.”

Interestingly enough, many years later when I was in the Netherlands, I heard that one of the markers of a democracy is that when someone knocks on your door, you think it's the post. I liked this because in my case that's about how it was, except with opposite results.

We were informed that the apartment would be searched, as would we, but at a different location. We got ready, though Mykola made them wait until we had our breakfast. After we finished our coffee, they escorted us out to their car. As the lady of the house, Tamila remained in the apartment while they conducted their search. We were taken to the Kyiv city branch of the KGB and each placed in a separate room so we could cool off.

Then Oleksandr Fedorovych Bereza walked in. From that moment on, he would be the investigating officer in charge of my case, #51, in which Mykola Matusevych was my codefendant. Bereza presented me with a warrant for my arrest, issued by the procurator, dated April 22. Two thoughts raced through my head: “So this is what one of these looks like” and “How will my mother and my sister Nadiika deal with this?”