BTT. This really should get a sticky. This is some really good info and insight.

Mods? Whut j00 think?

Would you mind sharing what you like about this thread and what you think needs to be changed or improved? Like I mentioned before, writing expository essays is not one of my skills to brag about. Please don't hold it against me.
What else would you like to see covered? I always assumed that USSR collapse was thoroughly covered in History books and the news back in the days,here is the US. Of course, sharing a first hand experience may be be more interesting to read about.

Actually it was not covered much just as the Venezuelan collapse is not
being publicized in the mainstream media today. It conflicts with the liberal
establishment's agenda.

THIS. This right here. I was 9-10 when the collapse happened, and even with having siblings and parents VERY tuned into world events,very little was mentioned of most of it.

Under the modern cirriculum, American history isn't really taught anymore yet alone the implosion of the former Soviet Union.  It's as if children are not being taught of their national identity both here and abroad.  With respects to the Soviet Union's demise, we knew it was happening when it did, we knew the Russian people were f*cked when the ruble collapsed and that savings and pensions vanished.  But apart from that, we really didn't know much of what was going on.

Western media is agenda driven and to keep people in the dark it pushes garbage like who is dating whom, sports, and other nonsense that isn't crucial to the nation; remember the trannies in the bathroom while TPP or TIPP were being pushed?  There was very little coverage of the sale of this nation's uranium to the Canadian firm that was Russian owned, UraninumOne.  

You can pattern your book somewhat along the lines of FerFal308's book, Surviving the Economic Collapse.  Discuss the qualities of those who survived and those who didn't.  I know from Dmitri Orlov's books many Russian men couldn't cope with the situation and drank themselves to death.  Discuss how to get things done with the Soviet and then post-Soviet bureaucracy.  

Why did the bread trucks still deliver?  How were they (and the bakeries) paid?  How did they pay for fuel?

Discuss looting, crime, gangs that surfaced during the post-Soviet era.  

How did people distract themselves?  Museums (were they free), parks, sports (both spectator and others), concerts, clubs, chess?

"Just say, "I really need this done. Maybe I can pay an additional fee to have it expedited?"Again, don't try to do this here in the US and don't teach you kids to give bribes. This was a part of life in another country with different cultural and a political system. It is also very common in many other countries nowdays" This works in the US... Look at the passport application, "Would you like to pay an extra 200 bucks for "expedited service" ?" (Takes turn around from 6 months to a week), Look at TSA Pre check(pay 200 bucks for NOT getting frisked and head of line privelages, SENTRI pass(expedited border crossing at land borders)... We are ON that slope..

(kinda off topic)

Nat ionization of 401k cant happen, who would the market be? Currently we are buying from one another and driving the price up, once .gov OWNS all of them then who is going to buy them, price will tank(particularly since stock in a company = ownership, would YOU want to own a government owned business?? .gov couldn't run a whore house outside las vegas at a profit (true story)). basically the same as suddenly ALL gold is owned by the government you cant own it (kind of like gold in the 30's, except stocks can be held in multiple currencies, and are not arbitrarily valued by .gov), sure there is an international market but with the market flooded the price plummets, and a HUGE hit to both the overall money obtained, AND the corresponding PLUMMET in the stock market would start a recession that we wouldn't recover from in my lifetime.

There is already talk of nationalizing IRAs for your safety.  Laws are changing and if the new standard of care isn't met, then the account manager can be pushed aside and Uncle Sugar take over.   Remember, what happens elsewhere can happen here.

Most people would be shocked to learn the real truth about WW2, the commies, and history in general. Shocked.

FYI spinoff thread is up for anyone interested.  Was there a word count limit?

First of all, please allow me to say; you are my new favorite poster.

This kind of first hand information is invaluable to us, and you are a very good writer.   Clear, concise, and with excellent English.  Better than most of our willfully ignorant native born.  

The USSR collapse was covered of course, but none of the specifics.  For example, I didn't know anything about the hyperinflation, and the revaluation, even though it's a personal interest of mine.  

Most Americans simply don't care about economics or history.  We take it for granted.  

The best way to prepare for the future, is to understand the past.    The similarities are remarkable, but the cultural differences are still very important.     If you haven't already read it, download the free PDF of "Blockade- the diary of an Austrian Middle class woman 1914-1924" I think you'll enjoy it, and you'll see some parallels.     (It's a pretty good read, a lot better than it sounds).     It's especially interesting because WWI lead directly to the Communist takeover in Russia, and to WWII (which was really just a continuation of the First World War).  

Anyway, thanks for the stories, I look forward to reading more.  Regards, Bill

OP, thank you for taking the time.

As perspective many of my in-laws grew up in the east (Germany) during this period. Also have relatives, through marriage, that grew up in Poland. The stories they tell mirror yours....I see great irony in those people today that clamor for Communism. They have no idea what it really means to have an all powerful central state government.

Concur.  Was talking with a stranger today who warned the next four years are going to be tumultuous with Don as Prez.  I concured, but cautioned that it didn't matter who was elected.  Stranger replied that the economy was strong, that employment was up, housing sales are strong.    My response was, "You really believe the propaganda pushed by the media?  The Baltic Dry Index is down, Xmas sales are down and big stores like Sears, KMart and Macy's are closing outlets.  The employment figures are lies are if there were jobs created, they were part time burger flippers instead of middle class production jobs and finally, with respects to housing, everyone seems to have forgotten that the banks don't put all the foreclosed properties on the market.


Concur that Anna Eisenmenger's book is an excellent look into hyper-inflation post WW I Austria.  She had a chance to convert her krone into Swiss Francs but declined.  Big mistake.  

Benjamin Roth's book, The Great Depression; A Diary is also an excellent read and gives you insights into that American tragedy.  Property values took decades to recover.

troubled times ahead, for sure.

look at the carnage, just look at it:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-holidayshopping-amazon-com-idUSKBN14G1B1
and even more with third parties:
http://fortune.com/2017/01/04/amazon-marketplace-sales/

but certainly the fact that Sears is closing stores has to be the most telling barometer of the economy -- as if that iota is news to anyone since, well, the advent of the internet.

now i have to go check on my American Motors, Control Data Corp, Polaroid, Bethlehem Steel, and Pan Am Airlines stocks and see if we are really in that much trouble.

Baltic Dry Index.  lol.

ar-jedi

It was covered, and is still mentioned or written about from time to time.  But nothing beats first hand accounts of " this is way it was".

And this goes for any world changing event.  To me, personal accounts carry far more impact than events that are filtered through whatever media lens is telling the story.

More on gardening in Russia:

http://naturalhomes.org/naturalliving/russian-dacha.htm

https://thebovine.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/in-1999-35-million-small-family-plots-produced-90-of-russias-potatoes-77-of-vegetables-87-of-fruits-59-of-meat-49-of-milk-way-to-go-people/

Gardening is not an overnight skill.  Learn now when you can and not when you have to.

Originally I was going to post this in the Depression Era reading thread, but I can't find it.  

Recently I spoke with an older gentleman and gained these insights from him:

Russia about to pay off the last of the Soviet debt.  Sh*t, from that perspective they're better off than us.  We're 20 trillion and it's mathematically impossible to repay that much.  Thanks Dubya and 0.

Link to article that Russia is paying off the Soviet Union's debt:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2945924/Reborn-Russia-clears-Soviet-debt.html

Gyprat,

Did you have any insight in Dacha's in the time of the collapse?


( I know this isn't a typical one, but pics are hard to find.)

From what I have read, these small homes were primary used for growing food during the time of the Soviets.

How big was the plot of land? How much did people really grow on them?

Just enough to have a little more to eat or enough to make a big difference?

How did Russians put up their food? Canning or drying? Root Cellars?

Thanks!

tag

Awesome thread. First hand accounts are invaluable.


Bump for more info.

My own family's experience:  I asked my aunts and uncles about the Great Depression in San Francisco.  My aunts didn't remember anything (hobos, tramps, soup kitchens) because they weren't allowed outside of the home.  As children my uncles used to go to the produce market in the morning and picked up the discarded vegetable scraps to bring home.  They also went to the fish market at closing time (end of day) to scoop up the discarded fish.  Fresh fish and crab was caught at Fisherman's Wharf or Muni Pier.  Despite all this, almost all of them remember being hungry.

No problem. I'll try share some insights with you. See my post below.

Guys, thanks for reading this. I honestly did not expect this thread to get over 10,000 views. I will try to answer any questions you have.

Russian Dachas (summer cabin with a garden).

Like many Russian families, my family had a Dacha. My parents purchased it in the late 70s. The purchase included a small cabin on a relatively small piece of land that was used for gardening.
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the Dacha from the late 80s to early 90s, when the collapse happened and life was very tough. It took me several hours but I found some pictures of the dacha and the garden that were taken about 7 years ago, when I visited my parents. Not a whole a lot has changed, except the cabin getting older and the garden not being used to 100% capacity, like it was used back in the days, before and after the USSR collapse.
My parents have not spent a lot of time and money to renovate the cabin. It looks about the same as it did 25 years ago. My mom still does some gardening but not as much she used to. Some people still keep nice gardens but many just use the cabins to get away for a weekend.

Back in the days, before and after the collapse, dachas were like a "life straw" for many families. Contrary to popular beliefs of many Russians of a younger age and the modern Russian propaganda machine, life was tough during the Soviet times. Like I mentioned in my previous posts, we never starved but I do remember being hungry when I was growing up. I remember dreaming about a nice piece of meat but all we had for dinner was potatoes or macaroni. I also remember dreaming about a glass of real fresh juice but all we had was black tea with sugar, made with crappy water that had to be boiled twice and allowed to settle to make it potable.
Life sucked during Soviet times. I don't care what anyone else thinks. I've been there and experienced it first hand. I would not call Soviet Union - a third world country. It was a unique country, very isolated from the rest of the world. People were highly educated. I would say, a lot more educated than an average American. USSR led the world in space exploration, aviation and many leading edge technologies, yet it failed to provide the basic needs of it's citizens.
Our family was not poor by Soviet standards but we would probably be considered "dirt poor" by western standards.

During the Soviet times, there was a shortage on just about everything. Most families spent majority of their incomes on food. When I was a kid, I had two pairs of pants, several shirts, several pairs of socks, summer and winter shoes and one winter jacket alone with a winter hat made of rabbit fur. I had to be very careful not to get dirty while playing outside. We did not have a washing machine. All laundry was done by hand, in a bath tub. We could not afford a luxury of wearing a freshly washed shirt every day.
All schools required a standard uniform for boys and girls, no exceptions. I also had to bring indoor shoes to school. They would not let me enter the school building without a uniform and a pair of clean indoors shoes. We could only afford one uniform so I had to be very careful not to get it dirty or torn up. I once got in a fight with a bully and tore up my uniform's jacket badly. My grandma yelled at me and spend half the night trying to fix it. I felt pretty bad and never let it happen again.
This is how I remember it. You are the ones to judge whether it was good or bad.

Was food available during Soviet times? Yes but the choice was very limited. You'd go to a grocery store and they may have some macaroni, canned fish, margarine, some sugar (not always available), chicory coffee substitute, some pastries and maybe some mineral water. Meat products were always hard to get but frozen fish was often available at dirt cheap prices. We ate a lot of fish.
Fresh produce was sold in specialized, produce only stores. Some carrots and maybe red beets and potatoes were sometimes available during late summer. No fresh produce or fruits was available during winter months.
Storing potatoes, apples, beets, turnips for the winter months was essential to every family.

This is where out dacha literally saved our arse. We grew lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, raspberries, onions, garlic and apples.
Our garden was relatively small and we could not grow enough potatoes to last through the winter. My mom had planted some potatoes but only enough to eat during late summer through early fall. We had to purchase about 500 lbs of potatoes when potatoes were harvested on early September. My dad and I removed rear seat from out Lada car and drove to some remote villages where we always found country folks willing to sell potatoes.
Usually one trip got us enough potatoes to last through the winter. Needless to say, our Lada's rear suspension had to be reinforced to carry heavy loads. LOL.
Except potatoes, everything else came from our dacha's small garden. I'll attach some pictures in my next post.
We canned a lot of cucumbers and tomatoes. We also made jams from apples, strawberries, raspberries and canned it as well. Also, my mom made juices from the fruits and canned it too. Every year, during late summer, we did a lot of canning into 3 liter (about 3/4 gallon) glass jars. All canning was done with hot water bath. We never owned or used a pressure canner.
We lived in a large apartment building, like most other city residents. Each building had a basement partitioned with 8' x 10' storage rooms. Each apartment owned one. The basement always stayed cool during summer and never got below freezing in winter time. This is where we stored all canned goods and some produce.
Potatoes can be stored in a cool, dry and dark place for a long time. Turnips and carrots can be stored in sand too. One side of the cellar room was packed full, top to bottom, with canned fruits and veggies. The other side was filled with potatoes and some turnips with carrots. Sometimes we stored fresh apples too if the apple trees produced well during that year. No all apples varieties can be stored for a long time.
The cellar had good locks and I made an alarm system. Our cellar was never broken into. Some neighbors who failed to reinforce the doors and locks, had everything stolen.

Now, as far as gardening goes, it's not easy. I laugh when I read about preppers who buy $100 worth in seeds thinking they can grow food in their backyard if life gets tough. It does not work that way. Gardening is an art and takes a lot of dedication and experience to be successful.
Every year, in March, my mom put large boxes full of small cups with seeds and dirt, next to each window, to get the tomato and many other plants started. They get tall and ready to plant by around mid-May.
I built several green houses at the garden, from some scrape metal that I traded for some Vodka. The greenhouses are still standing and being used every year. Tula's latitude was like about mid-Canada. Growing season is relatively short. Having greenhouses was essential for a good harvest. We had to water the plants inside the greenhouses. It was a chore, since we could not be there all the time.
Weed control was important. Obviously, we were not dumb enough to use any chemicals to control weeds and bugs. Everything was 100% organic. Yes it took a lot of work but at the end we had fruits and vegetables that tasted like they should and were free of pesticides and other chemicals.
The only fertilizer we used was 100% cow manure a.k.a. - black gold. LOL. Once every couple of years, we bought a truck load of cow manure. It really "smelled like money" but it's the best fertilizer you can get. Forget about the nasty chemical fertilizer crap if you want good results.
Our family also collected egg shells that we crushed and put into the garden soil to add some calcium and to regulate pH.
The garden had several water tanks for non-potable water, to water the plants. The tanks was filled from a pond nearby. They had a large pumphouse that pumped water to all gardens, about once or twice a week, when the guy in charge was sober enough to run it. LOL. We also collected some rain water.
Some of our neighbors raised rabbits for meat and fur. Rabbits are very easy to raise. They are low maintenance and can multiply very quickly. My neighbor said that rabbits were much easier to raise than chickens. I have no personal experience in this area.
Dachas and gardens were essential to survival of many families, before and after the USSR collapse. Besides providing nutrition, we had clean, non GMO and 100% organic food. This is how food should be. I was literally shocked how tasteless fruits and vegetables were here in the US. I remember buying some tomatoes and cucumbers in a store here. They tasted like grass and did not smell right. Same thing with many other fruits and vegetables. Maybe it's just me but food was not meant to be that way. On the other hand, it's probably impossible to feed the growing population, without relying on GMO products, pestisides etc.

It's getting late. I'll add some pictures tomorrow if anyone is interested. I hope I answered some of your questions. I usually try to proof read at least once but will let it skip this time.

Absolutely interested. Thank you for sharing. I am currently reading Dmitri Orlovs Reinventing Collapse. Despite his predictions about skyrocketing oil prices not bearing fruit I generally agree with his premise about out parallels with the Soviets and the likelihood of a collapse of our own. I am planning accordingly.....

Here are some pictures of our Dacha and the garden from my trip to Tula, about 7 years ago. The cabin and the garden look almost the same as 25-30 years ago. Currently and when the pictures were taken, the garden has not been used to it's full capacity, like it did 25-30 years ago.

Some strawberries, potatoes and a bunch of other goodies:


Some red beets, herbs and something else (can't remember what it was). You can see an outhouse in the back right corner. There are also apple trees in the back and some gooseberry bushes:



Cucumbers:



Greenhouse with tomatoes and green peppers. They were at the end of it's harvest:



Apples. The green ones store very well for a long time in the root cellar:



My dad picking raspberries:



Another greenhouse with clear plastic removed. You can see more cucumbers, garlic, lettuce, more herbs and even some flowers:



The cabin has not changed much in the last 30 years. There is a water tank next to it and a bunch of salad herbs:



Living room inside the cabin. It has not changed much since the 80's. The COLOR! TV and the radio still work. My parents never throw anything away. I'm the same way too.



I remember bringing this gas stove. My dad converted it to run on propane:


This was my Welcome Home party with our next door neighbors. Food is plentiful nowadays. This table would cost several monthly wages, 30 years ago.
 




Cooking shishcabob, the russian style, with marinated pork meat. Yammy:

Again thank you for your time to write in this thread!

As I read this it got me wondering how you would've handled a prolonged drought or pest attack. The garden seems so critical to getting flavor and substance in your meals. I bet you could have survived one drought summer but what if you had two or more? Did you rely on the garden for flavor and rounded nutrition or was it a vital source of food? Did you use heirloom seeds from one crop to the next?

How if at all are the greenhouses heated? Little wood burners or just solar radiation?

A prolonged drought was not an issue because we had a source of non-potable water for irrigation. Water came from a nearby pond that was fed by multiple springs and rivulets. There was a large pumphouse that pumped water through a central delivery pipe, every other day or at least once or twice per week. We also collected some rain water for irrigation.
Potable water came from several springs nearby. We carried it by hand, in buckets and canisters. This was my job when we were there.
As far as I know, all seeds were heirloom. My mom saved some seeds for a garden in the following year. Cross pollination was not an issue either because everyone used heirloom seeds back then.
Some of our neighbors had beehives. This helped a lot with pollination.
Bug infestation was not a major issue. We inspected all plants for bug infestations periodically and removed the bugs manually. Sometimes my mom used powdered tobacco to sprinkle some plants to remove bugs.
Pest infestations can also be controlled by planting certain plants near each other. Early in the spring, we also painted a bottom of each fruit tree trunk with lime dissolved in water, to keep tree pests away.
There were not as many bugs in Russia as there are here in the Carolinas. I think it was mostly due to cold winters in Russia. Currently we live on several acres of land here in south carolina, out in the country. We have a small garden. It's a different ball game. It took us several years to produce anything worth all the work we put in. All of my gardening knowledge was nearly worthless in this climate. Bugs are real nasty here and very hard to control without pesticides. Summers are brutal here in the Carolinas. We lost a lot of plants due to heat, even with proper irrigation.

Back in Russia, out little garden was a vital source of food. It provided fresh, great tasting fruits and vegetables for consumption during the summer months. It was a vital source of food during winter months (mid-October through early May). The garden was a vital source of food for our survival when things got really bad, right around the late 80's through early 90's.
As far as I remember, 1989 through 1991 were the worst years. We would not have died without the garden. Many families had no gardens and they survived. Malnutrition was a serious issue for many, especially during winter months.
The government was still supplying the absolute minimum. Food rationing was implemented, like during the World War 2. Each citizen got food ration cards that allowed them to purchase the basic food items like grains, meat, sugar and maybe some sweets. It was not enough but was better than nothing. This is what kept many older people who had no families, from literally dying like flies. A lot of older people were dying like flies anyway, due to lost or stolen rations or lack of basic medical care.
Collective farms were a perfect example of a socialist system of central government and planned economy. They were extremely inefficient and not profitable. Most of the population lived in the cities. Those who lived out in the country and worked at collective farms, were extremely lazy and drunk most of the time. Nobody cared about anything anymore.
The government mandated that all city residents must spend several months every year, working at a collective farm. Engineers were digging up potatoes, rocket scientists were sent to pick up apples.
The government even offered some land for city residents, to raise potatoes or anything they wanted. Some residents took advantage of it. Many were sitting on their butt, complaining about everything and waiting for someone to come over and save them.

A lot of older people were dying from malnutrition and lack of medical care. Pensions were often delayed and the older people who had no families to take care of them, simply died.
My grandma lived through the WW2. She said 1989-1991 were much worse than the 1941-1945 war time she remembered. Cemeteries were digging long trenched with a tractor and were burying people in the trench and covered the up with dirt. It was cheaper and more efficient this way for those who had no families or money to cover funeral costs.

World War 2 veterans always received a lot of additional benefits, including more ration cards and additional food they could purchase. My grandpa was  WWII veteran and he helped us a lot. He also made and sold moonshine. It was illegal but he never got caught. He could barter a lot of food for his moonshine. I still remember most of his "secret" moonshine recipes. LOL.
My automotive repair business was doing very well too. One of my customers was a lady who was a grocery store manager. He store shelves were nearly empty but there was a lot more in the back room. I literally bought a trunk full of food from her every now and then, at very low government set prices.

The greenhouses were heated by solar radiation only. This helped to raise an average temperature by several degrees. It made a huge difference in that climate.

Cool pics. We are so fortunate here in the U.S (for now). I was going to ask about pest control but you answered it.

Did  you have property taxes? How did you pay them?

Gyprat, THANK YOU!

I have always been fascinated with Russian Dachas.

I always thought that they would be a good survivalist "Starter" retreat.

One question I have about canning in Russia. I have seen many pics of people with canned food. I remember a big fire somewhere in Russia and some women were pulling out jars of what looked like cucumbers. But I never seen jars that look like canning jars in the US. I see large jars like large pickle jars with the same type of twist on lids.

Are those the kind you used?

Thanks again for the great thread!

Most of the time we used 3 liter glass jars with disposable (single use) lids. The lids required a tool to make a good seal. Once opened, the lids could not be reused. Some people used reusable lids but we preferred the disposable ones, if we could obtain them. There was a shortage on the lids too.
Here is a link to a video that shows the canning process. Sorry, I could not find a video with English subtitles. Maybe Google can automatically translate the subtitles. The canning process in the video is self explanatory. I can translate the recipe for you, if you are interested.

Forgot to mention. The juice from the pickled cucumbers jar is the best medicine for a hangover.




Marinated tomatoes. If done right, they taste amazingly good. This makes me hungry. I think I will go and open a can of marinated tomatoes from last summer. We can here too. All tomatoes are from our garden. Store bought tomatoes taste like grass.

Anyway, here is another video showing how to marinate tomatoes so they can be stored for the winter:

I can't remember all the details about taxes. If we did pay any, it was very little. I think there was some kind of an income tax. Single people who had no children, paid a 25% or 30% tax. They called it - "Childless tax". Or neighbor was single and had no children. He had about 50 rubles withheld every month. I believe an average wage was at around 160-180 rubles.
We never had to fill out any income tax forms.
I mentioned my automotive business in the beginning of this thread. Back then, I did not pay any taxes at all. Everything was - "cash on the barrel".
Currently Russians pay a fixed 13% income tax. It's simple and effective. No deductions, no special interest deductions. Income tax is automatically taken by employers. No one has to fill out any income tax forms every year. No one gets any money back.
When someone is hired for a job, their wages are always negotiated based on how much money the employee will take home. The employer pays the 13% tax.
I wish they'd go with a fixed flat federal tax here in the US.

I was in Helsinki in 1991, my friend was in Moscow and locked in his apartment as tanks rumbled down the street.

He called me and held the phone out the window where I could hear the motors running and the shouting.

He was locked in his apartment for a week and they moved him to Ukraine for a while after that

Bump.

Question:

I find it interesting that the Soviet doctrine seemed to place most everybody in to large high rise apartment buildings.... yet your family was able to own a dacha.  A dacha seems somewhat against communist ideals.  Private land ownership, private food production, not under the central control of the city.  

How were dachas viewed by the government?

Were they readily available to the average worker?  Or were they more or less reserved for the privileged? Or something else?

I think I've read most of the top government officials had dachas down around the Black Sea.

Awesome thread, have read it all with great interest.

Not Gyprat but I can maybe answer some of that. While the Communists were all about ideology, they were also not stupid. At some point when you realize that the only thing keeping your people from starving to death, when you are locked in a serious struggle for ideological world domination with another Super Power....you leave well the Hell enough alone! And of course, during the 90's there was Glasnost etc....and things began to open up a bit anyway.

There was no doctrine to place everyone in apartment buildings. USSR had a plan to provide each family with their own  place to live. Apartment buildings were the most economically sound solutions. They were also practical and provided all conveniences like water, sanitation and heat during winters.

Living in an apartment was a lot more prestigious than living in a house outside of the city limits. Most houses had no water plumbing nor sewer. Many people sold their houses in order to move into an apartment in a city. This is what happened to my father's side of the family.

Obviously, the government could not provide each family with an apartment. Yes, most government officials lived in luxury apartment buildings with all modern conveniences. Majority of the "little critters" who could not receive a free apartment, lived with their parents or shared "communal apartments" with other families.

People were allowed to own things like apartments, cars and dachas. My family owned the apartment we lived in. My parents and grandparents combined their resources and purchased an apartment from a cooperative building. Coops were very common for those two saved enough money to be able to purchase an apartment. Same thing with dachas. My parents went 50/50 with my moms side of the family and purchased the dacha and a small piece of land it came with.

Under the communist regime, private individuals could not own farms, commercial buildings or any manufacturing facilities. All of that belonged to the collective. Dachas were not considered as farms. The small garden was not enough to mass produce anything but it was enough to feed a small family. Some people did sell excess produce but it was not considered as private enterprise. I know families who made good money by having beehives on their dacha's property and selling honey. Most of the time the government looked the other way.

Believe it or not, some families managed to raise livestock in their small apartments. One family in out apartment building raised a pig on heated balcony. Others had chickens on their balconies. The balconies were not huge, maybe 3 1/2 ft. by 8 ft. long.
There was one family who made a lot of money by raising flowers inside their apartment during winter months. They sold the flowers on March 8th (International Women's Day). They made several years worth in wages in just several winter months.

Of course government officials had huge luxurious dachas as well as apartments. Those were the elite, the
"untouchables". Common folks lived in tiny apartments, often shared with parents and grandparents. Some families did receive free apartments from the government. Those were important specialists or those who had "connections" in the government.

Military officers always had nice dachas. Their dachas were built and maintained by soldiers, a.k.a. - free slaves. All males had to serve in the military at the age of 18. Most served 2 years. Navy service was 3 years. Soldiers also built government buildings, worked at collective farms or did anything that their commanding officers needed done, including building dachas, remodeling apartments etc.  Some soldiers only fired AKM ( commonly known as AK-47 here in the US) rifles several times a year, or maybe half a dozen times during their entire 2 year mandatory service.

This is what it was like before the collapse. Things changed a lot during and after the collapse. Some people got very rich when privatization program allowed private individuals to purchase and own farmland, factories and commercial buildings. Crime skyrocketed. People did not know what to believe in anymore. All the morals went down the drain. There were homeless older people and homeless and parentless kids on the streets. Porn was on TV, day and night. Kids were dreaming about becoming killers because this is what heroes on TV did for a living and had everything they wanted. It was a mess. I sure would not want to live thorough this again.

Great thread & good read.  Thank you Gyprat and the others who have contributed.

Awesome thread. Thank you Gyprat.

After the collapse, was there any payback/retribution toward those that did the people wrong?

Sounds like a good environment for raising rabbits.

Thank you so much Gyprat, just invaluable information.
I have a question. You mention the storage unit of some of your building neighbours getting broken into (makes sense) and you being spared because you reinforced the door and installed an alarm, which is great advice.
My question is, how did you secure the food growing in your Dacha? It seems it would have been extremely easy for anyone to just drive around some at night and steal a LOT of valuable produce.
Many of these are weekend ranches/gardens, yes?
Thanks
FerFAL

I had the same thought. With crime high and morals low it seems logical that a  scummy person would conclude that it is easier to take without consequences than do the work themselves. This is especially true if nobody lived at the Dacha which is what I am understanding.

double tap

Surprisingly, we never had too many issues with theft. Thieves are very lazy in general. They want to do very little work to get what they want. Our dacha was outside of the city limits. A nearest bus station was 45 minutes away, by foot. Generally those who had personal transportation, did not need to get as low as stealing produce from personal gardens.
Also, most people who had dachas, took their vacations during harvest time which was usually in August. Our neighbors kept an eye on our garden, we did the same for them. Gardens were close together and it was not hard to keep an eye on things. Many older people who were retired, spent most summers at their dachas.
Of course we had some produce stolen but it was not very common to really be concerned about it. People were not as isolated as they are these days. There was no Internet, and only 2 TV channels. People often visited each other without an invitation. It was very common and considered normal. Most evenings were spent just talking with neighbors on the porch and drinking tea. We also used to have small cook-out parties with our neighbors. We knew most of our neighbors and they knew us. If someone new showed up, we kept an eye on them and they saw us too.
I remember, one time we had issues with stolen cabbage and apples. Our neighbor was a retired military officer. He saw some strangers walking around the area. He took a large axe and kept walking around, swinging the axe and singing songs out loud, making up words as he sang -  "I'm the king of the jungle!....I rule the day.....I'm the judge and the executioner...No mercy...I chop everything I see!... ho,ho,ho! and a bottle of rum!!!" LOL  I don't know if the strangers were the ones who stole the produce but they ran away quickly and never showed up again.

The cellar in the basement of out apartment building was another story. There was a main door with a large lock. The lock was broken numerous times. People had canned supplies stolen. One guy lost about 50 gallons of homemade apple wine. He almost cried. My dad and I reinforced the door and walls with metal sheets and installed heavy duty hinges and locks. The lock wad a 5/8" diameter shank and a 4 axis key. That lock could not be picked and could not be cut with a hack saw because the shank had a 1/4", free floating hardened rod in the middle. The door had a 4" x 4" angle iron installed right behind the hinges that would prevent the door from opening if the hinges were cut. On top of that, I installed an alarm that would sound even if the signal wire was cut. We never had a break in.



Speaking of locks and doors. Most doors and locks in the city apartments were heavy duty and high security. The demand for security door upgrades and alarm systems was very high. BTW, this will be a huge business opportunity here in the US is things turn bad.

We lived on the top floor and barricaded the main access area to the floor with thick metal sheets and a heavy duty door and locks. This was a necessity. People who could not do that, chose to install thick, often double entrance doors.
The popular reinforced doors weighed bout 1000 lbs and were made of thick reinforced steel, with a layer of asbestos right behind the sheet metal to prevent it from being cut by a cut-torch. The doors were guaranteed to stop multiple rounds fired from an AKM (AK-47 type) rifle at very close range. The door came with a new frame package that included multiple thick anchors that attached the door frame to the concrete and brick walls in the building. It was basically a heady duty and high security safe door. Balconies and some window openings were also modified to keep intruders out, especially for those who lived on top and bottom floors.

Another common thing was to install a mesh cage around lights in the corridors to keep light bulbs from being stolen. Light bulb theft was very common too. Many people also connected two bulbs in series to run them at half voltage to greatly extend service life. Another trick was to connect a diode in series with a bulb, for the same reason.

The main entrance door to our section of the apartment building, had a combination lock and a 2-way audio-phone. Residents of each apartment could activate the lock remotely. This really kept bums and alcoholics from sleeping and defecating in the corridors.
Later, long after I left the country and as the technology progressed, many people installed pinhole video cameras near entrance doors. My friend had one installed. I could not find where the camera was and I looked very hard. Crime nowadays is not as bad but people take no chances.