“What do you think we should do?” Galina asked Nikolai when she broke the news to him.
For Nikolai, this was an unexpected turn of events—and not welcome news. “We must do something about it,” he told her. “I don’t know what, but something needs to be done. I cannot tell my parents that soon I will be a father. They’ll kill me.”
Galina told Nikolai that she had given the matter much thought and wanted to have the baby.
Stunned, Nikolai couldn’t give her an answer. The seventeen-year-old boy realized he had made a big mistake. “We shouldn’t see each other anymore,” he finally said.
His response was a real blow to Galina. She needed support from the person she loved, and he betrayed her. Without another word to him, she turned away and went home. Galina decided she didn’t want to see him again.
She didn’t know what to do and was scared to tell her parents about her situation. She was afraid her parents would be furious with her. But quite the opposite—they gave her unconditional love and solid support. Galina gave a birth to a baby girl and named her Lyudmila, after the famous Pushkin fairy tale in which Lyudmila was the princess saved from enemies by the prince.
Galina never saw Nikolai again. It was 1942. Soon after she broke the news of her pregnancy to him, Nikolai volunteered for the army. German troops were near Moscow, and a year later he was killed in battle defending his city. He never met their child.
Her parents’ support would play both a negative and positive role in Galina’s life. Her parents understood that their daughter was too young and inexperienced to take on the entire burden of unexpected motherhood. As her parents took good care of her daughter, she could finish growing up with her friends. Galina recognized and appreciated their love and support for both her and Lyudmila and was grateful for the return of her freedom. They treated Lyudmila as their own daughter. When Lyudmila was two years old, she thought Galina was her older sister and she called her grandmother “Mom.”
Galina’s brother, Vladimir joined the army in 1944, when he was sixteen. World War II was still going on and the Germans were strong. The Russian troops needed more volunteers. He was a big guy—about six foot two inches tall and physically fit, as he was playing soccer at nearly a professional level. He wanted to be with his dad, Vasilii, who had been fighting against the Nazis since the first days of the war. At the military office he lied about his age and told the clerks that he was eighteen, that he had lost his birth certificate. He was allowed to enlist in the army and continued to serve after the war.
* * *
After the war ended, the economy and life itself in Russia were gloomy. People stood in long lines to get bread. Drunken citizens littered the places where Galina used to walk before the war. She became very confused about life. She knew that millions of people were being sent to concentration camps—some of them for nothing, some of them for refusing to accept the existing regime. Camps were situated in Siberia where severe cold lasted almost the whole year. People died slowly of hunger and various diseases. But she also understood that she was lucky—her dad was a KGB officer and that somehow gave her the feeling that she was safe. But for how long she did not even want to guess. She pushed the unsettling thoughts from her mind.
When she graduated from school at the age of eighteen, Galina started working at the clothing factory. For eight hours a day, she sewed clothes for the military. It was hard labor and she was still a teenager. Even though her daughter, Lyudmila was well cared for by her parents, her life had become too routine. She worried that she would never have the opportunity to meet the wonderful prince from her favorite fairy tale to share her future with. Her prince charming would be attractive, funny and enjoy all her favorite things like dancing, museums, music, theatre, and hiking. She also speculated that he would not be Russian. All the eligible young Russian men she knew were drunks and only wanted one thing from a girl.
Her chance to meet someone different came quite unexpectedly. In 1946, she happened to see her high school friend Nina while walking home after work. She was nicely dressed and was wearing a perfume with a wonderful scent.
“Where are you going?” Galina asked her.
“Actually, I’m not supposed to tell anybody,” Nina said. “But since you’re my best friend I’ll tell you. There is a club in downtown Moscow called American House. American soldiers who are serving in the American embassy live there. Every Friday and Saturday night they have dancing parties. Don’t ask me how I found out about it, but today is Friday and I am going there. If you want to, you can join me tomorrow. But don’t tell anybody about this. The music is loud and the guys don’t speak Russian but they’re very respectful. But at the end of the party almost all of them are drunk, but they are differently drunk compared to Russian guys. They start to be funny. I like to be there.”
Galina was very intrigued. She loved to dance. At the end of each day, Galina hugged and danced with Lyudmila for half an hour or more before putting her little daughter to bed. She didn’t want to drink but she desperately wanted to have some fun.
She was excited by Nina’s invitation and decided join her at American House. She had uneasy feelings at first but the desire to have fun soon took the upper hand. It didn’t even occur to Galina that the KGB were all over that place.
Saturday night she met Nina near the subway station and together they went to American House. It was situated on the bank of Moscow River near the biggest grocery store in Moscow. When they arrived at six o’clock in the evening, the grey building of American House was surrounded by a unique aura. Maybe it was Galina’s imagination, but she felt that something really unusual would happen that night. Outside it was quiet, but Galina was pretty sure that inside was music, and it would be loud.
They went inside the building without any problems. Galina assumed the American security men would recognize Nina and let them in without asking any questions. Inside, everything was almost exactly how Galina pictured it in her mind— the fast rhythm of the music made her quiver inside with excitement. The room was smoky and the lights were turned low. Somebody came to her, introduced himself and said something in English. Galina realized that she was in trouble. The only English words she knew were hello and good-bye. She found Nina, rushed to her, grabbed her hand, and almost yelled, “What should I do? I don’t understand a word they’re saying.”
Nina calmed her down. “You don’t have to,” she said. “Everything will be clear without words.”
Another tune hit the big hall and Galina saw many dancing couples around her. At that moment she realized that all the girls here were Russians and they had learned to speak English well enough to communicate with the Americans. Suddenly a young man in uniform came to her and invited her for a dance. It was a slow tune, and Galina felt very comfortable in his hands as he led her on the dance floor.
The next tune was fast and Galina went to the corner to watch how other people were dancing to this fast music. She was a quick learner, and by the end of the dance she knew all the jumping and jiving moves.
While watching the dance floor, Galina didn’t notice that the same guy that invited her to her first dance in American House was approaching her again with a glass of wine. He said pointing a finger to himself, “John.” Then he pointed a finger to her, and she said “Galya.” Both of them were smiling, happy that they understood each other. That was Galina’s first communication with an American. She drank the glass of wine that John gave her and started to feel great. Several times in a row she danced with John, then with another guys. At the end of the party she realized that she was happy. She felt like a young woman again! She completely forgot her responsibilities at home and at her workplace. She wanted to stay, but it was time to leave. Several drunken American soldiers tried to talk to her, but she dismissed them.
During the whole evening she had been watching this new (for her) crowd of young Americans that surrounded her. Most of them were holding glasses or even bottles full of whiskey or vodka. They were laughing and she realized that they seemed really happy.
Only one fellow out of the lot of Americans looked pretty serious. He also was holding a bottle in his hand,