Case #02890 finalized

Victims of political repressions. Exterminated during the Great Terror period, prior to it, and afterwards - their precise number is still unknown even to date. For a long while the very issue of mass repressions was suppressed to silence. According to nothing but official lawsuit data for years 1930-1953, Cheka – OGPU - NKVD - MVD* in consistence have convicted 3.8 mln people. Years 1923-1953: shot dead 800 000 persons. But historians claim these numbers drastically underestimated.

Founded in 1989 “Memorial” Historic-Educational and Human Rights Society has tackled to investigating political repressions during Soviet ruling, and retrieving from oblivion the names of the executed, belaboured, and vanished into thin air our innocent fellow citizens. “Memorial” created a 3-mln personal data base of political repression victims. The fates of numerous victims are still in store for the caring investigators. Their defamed names start being regained bit by bit from oblivion.

It took seven years from 1997 through 2005 for the “Odessa Martirology” 4-volume historic memorial edition to be published, comprising information on the repression victims of Odessa and Odessa Region during Soviet ruling. The editorial board of this thorough publication included Yevgeniy Golubovsky, a journalist and a vice-president of the World-Wide Club of Odessites. The register of those wrecked by the totalitarian Soviet system is very long. But still far from complete.

At present this work is undertaken by the “Odessa Memorial” public oorganization as a constituent part of the “International Memorial”. It has been a long time since the victims vanished, mostly in their unmarked graves. But those purposeless past events still stir our memory. A while ago Chairman of the Board of the “Odessa Memorial” public organization, a member of the World-Wide Club of Odessites Igor Komarovsky has brought to a close his forth Club investigation of which we shall narrate further on.

During his long 10-year work Igor Komarovsky engaged himself in the attempt to rehabilitate a known Odessite – a seaman, deep-sea master Nikolay Balashov. Initial start was given by an essay from “The 20th Century Requiem” book by Vladimir Smirnov. It contained also a photo of the captain Nikolay Balashov at the “Lenin” ship captain’s bridge, with a subscript stating that the captain was not rehabilitated yet. Thus started the long-term process of accumulating scanty information on the Odessa captain’s fate, bit by bit disclosing details, along with archival researches, letters of inquiry to the most diverse authorities. Step by step information started filling the voids, black spots on his record were brought to light at last. The events of 75-year standing became more and more clear, and the portrait of the man’s tragic fate started acquiring shape.

Nikolay Balashov was born into a sailor’s family in 1872 in Aleshki village, Tauride province, Russian Empire. His maritime education he received in nautical classes. And in 1900 passed the skipper's exam and put out to his first deep-sea navigation. Nikolay Balashov was actively involved in establishing the pioneering trade union of seafarers in Russia. However, that partaking resulted in the Odessa General Governor’s decision to suspend Balashov from duty in the Odessa port Pilot Partnership which was initiated by him.

The young captain excelled also during the Odessa pogrom when he saved a group of Jewish citizens taking them aboard and putting out to sea. In the WW1 years Balashov was appointed a Black Sea transport flotilla Chief of Staff. In 1918 he was entrusted with Odessa harbour pilotage of English squadron.

By 1920 the Bolsheviks have taken over in Odessa for good and all. And they also were in want of the expert personnel. In 1920-1922 Nikolay Balashov was an authorized representative, and after that – the Head of Ship-Raising in the Black and Azov Seas Basins. He was also highly positioned as the Chief Maritime Inspector. In 1920-1930 the deep-sea master Nikolay Balashov navigated the Lenin major steamship and other vessels. While asea he met one day a passenger who was a representative of a German company.

In 1941, by the beginning of WWII Balashov has already reached 69 years. The poor health of this veteran seaman hindered him from evacuation, and he stayed through occupation in Odessa. In 1942 Balashov was visited by German officers among whom was that very former representative of a German company whom he had met before the war. The man made an offer to superintend clearing of the berths from the machinery scuttled by the Red Army during its retreat, emphasizing that it was a matter of the utmost concern for occupation authorities. Nikolay Balashov declined the offer alluding to health reasons. Nevertheless, in February 1942 he received the same offer for the second time when he was forestalled about possible troubles if he refuses.

Thus, in spring 1942 Balashov was compelled to head one of the divers’ group engaged in lifting the scuttled machinery in the port. And about those four months he will be reminded later on. In summer 1942 the captain quit. He upkept a billiard-hall where he worked until the liberation of the city. On April 10, 1944 Odessa was liberated from the Nazis. On May 27 Nikolay Balashov returned to work in his home port, was reinstated to his former position which was his prior to occupation – a group captain in the Black Sea Shipping Company. But he rejoiced a mere month: on June 26, 1944 he was arrested. The sentence of the military was rigorous – 10 years of the camps with confiscation of property. While in a jail, Nikolay Balashov petitioned for pardon. He was refused.

When Igor Komarovsky has hunted out Nikolay Balashov’s granddaughter, the only one still alive by that time remnant of the former large family, and informed her of his intention to attend to her grandfather’s case, she could not give credence to a successful outcome. Komarovsky ventured upon his first rehabilitation attempt as far back as 2010, but to no effect. Subsequent attempts lasted up to 2018. In accordance with the Law on Rehabilitation in effect at that time those convicted under the article “For connections with representatives of foreign states with counter-revolutionary aims in view” were not subject to rehabilitation.

A later version of the Law of Ukraine «On Rehabilitation of Repression Victims for the 1917-1991 Period” has let Komarovsky proceed with his combat. In 2019 he was selected from among other candidates to join the National Committee on Rehabilitation under the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory. As a sidenote: the Committee incorporates seven citizens from Kyiv, one from Lviv, and one from Odessa – Igor Komarovsky.

It was no sooner than September 21, 2020 that historical truth was restored to Nikolay Balashov’s benefit. He was the first from among the convicted and repressed Odessites to be rehabilitated according to the new version of the Law on Rehabilitation.

An investigation into the facts has revealed details of the last few months of the Odessa captain’s life. The custodial sentence brought him to Odessa jail which was followed by the imprisonment in Vinnitsa (Ukraine) transfer prison until May 1945. Seventy-five years the family lived without any information on the fate of the repressed captain. Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russian Federation has reacted to Igor Komarovsky’s request and issued a document stating that Nikolay Balashov died at the Kemerovo regional camp site (Kemerovo is a city in southwest Siberia). However, in reality the 73-year-old seaman has died aboard a train on his way to the camp. And his body was simply outthrown into the blue.

All this came out later on, when the Balashov family was visited once by an ex-convict who had been transported in the same carriage as Balashov. In order to validate credibility of his information he produced a piece of the familiar to the family plaid Balashov had in that carriage. The family, however, was so scared by that horrible and immediate verdict that never made an attempt to clear out when, where, and under what circumstances their father, and grandfather had perished. Igor Komarovsky is still in the process of finding answers to this challenging issue.

In this manner the story of the Odessa captain loss could have been buried in oblivion if it were not for the Odessa Memorial head Igor Komarovsky who spent a decade in efforts to restore the name of Nikolay Balashov from nonexistence. 75 years have passed in awaiting rehabilitation of her grandfather for his granddaughter – Natalya Grigor, who evidenced the arrest of her grandfather. The girl was under 12 years then.

When she got a word that her grandfather was rehabilitated at last, Natalya exclaimed that it was a miracle. Natalya Grigor herself is a descendant of a family of seamen. Her father is a known deep-sea master Mikhail Grigor (1906-1994). The World-Wide Club of Odessites in its project They Left Their Mark on History presents a vast and interesting material on Mikhail Grigor. But this is quite another story, with happy-end.

And all of us are contemporaries of the unique process of restoring justice and bringing back from obivion the names of those whose fate appeared a tragedy and who were crushed by the infernal machine of the 20th century repressions.

Natalya Brzhestovkaya

Editor World-Wide Odessa News

World-Wide Club of Odessites

* Wikipedia: