Sizo. (a manual for young lovers of thieves' romance)
What is a rack? This question is asked by many law-abiding citizens who at least once in their lives have heard such a term from the conversations of other people. So, the "bunker" is just a sleeping place, or bed, in places of deprivation of liberty. Former convicts quite often associate their most vivid memories with this term. After all, a cabinet and a bedside table for a prisoner is like a part of an apartment or a house in a colony, a place where during the hours of the end you can read, write a letter to relatives and friends and just relax. This concept will be discussed in more detail in this article.
A little about the main
Criminal concepts can often be heard not only on television or on the radio, but also from other people who, by the will of fate, once served a sentence for committing criminal acts in a colony. Thus, many words from the thieves' jargon entered the everyday life of the citizens of our state. Nevertheless, not everyone knows the decoding of criminal terminology. For example, what is a rack? Only a person who leads a law-abiding lifestyle can be interested in such a question, if he has not only not been in a zone or in a pre-trial detention center, but has never even crossed the threshold of a temporary detention center, where ordinary citizens often serve administrative punishment in the form of arrest (without a criminal record). ). So, a shkonka is usually called a bed in correctional institutions. In many colonies, this is the only name given to the place where the convict sleeps during the lights out.
What is
So, what is a rack, it has already become a little clear. In simple terms, this is a bed, or bed, which should be used only for its intended purpose - for sleeping. As a rule, in many correctional institutions, the administration does not allow convicts to sit or lie on bunk during the daytime. For those who do not work, but are in a barracks or in a hostel (the latter is in the settlement), there is a bedside table and a chair that you can sit on.
But what is a rack in a colony? As a rule, in correctional facilities there are only metal and bunk beds. In other words, each convicted person has his own "shelf", or place. As a rule, younger and healthier people occupy the upper place, and older citizens occupy the lower one.
After serving his sentence, every former convict knows what a rack is and what it is intended for. Moreover, people with a criminal past often call this a home sofa or bed, on which they sleep in the wild after serving their sentence.
In military units, the same metal bunk beds are installed as in colonies and in pre-trial detention centers. Therefore, quite often, many soldiers call their sleeping place a shkonka, which, undoubtedly, offends senior persons. The latter, in turn, refer to the beds in the barracks only as beds. In addition, many officers of military units categorically disagree with citizens calling the sleeping places of soldiers shkonks. Because this term is not applicable to the service and defense of the Motherland.
A small comparison
Despite the fact that in some sources the rack is called bunks, these two concepts are slightly different from each other. In addition, as many citizens who have served an administrative, daily sentence in a temporary detention center know, there are no metal bunk beds there. In the temporary detention center there is only "bunks" - this is a sleeping place knocked together from boards (most often without a mattress). Usually it is attached to the wall and rises slightly above the floor.
What is a rack in this case? This is also a sleeping place, only a bed, usually metal and in two tiers (places) for prisoners who are in a pre-trial detention center or in a zone. The bunk is designed for good sleep and rest, it is always covered with a mattress.
Existing Orders
Each correctional institution has its own charter. Accordingly, for violation of a certain order or rules of conduct established by criminal prisoners, the guilty person may be punished.
In criminal jargon, there is such a thing as "drive under the bunk." What this phrase means, not everyone knows. In simple words, a guilty convict is subjected to forced sexual intercourse, after which he is assigned a place under the bed, or under the shkonka. You can leave from there only strictly with the permission of the elder or the overseer of the barracks. Often there were such cases that the "lowered" convicts were under the bunk for a whole day.
A small characteristic
So, what does the rack mean, it became clear. This term is understood as a sleeping place in places of isolation from society. Usually in a pre-trial detention center and in colonies. As a rule, many convicts remember life in the zone most of all. After all, it is there that the convict has his own small corner - this is a rack where he sleeps, a chair and a bedside table where he keeps a mug, spoon and writing materials. Many prisoners who did not want to work spent almost the whole day in their bunk.
Therefore, when answering the question of what a bunk in the zone is, we can safely say that this is the bed of the convict, a place where he can gather his thoughts and relax.
I hope the tips below never come in handy for you. Although, as folk wisdom says: "Do not renounce the bag and the prison."
(Total 6 photos)
Expert: Vitaly Lozovsky, a specialist in the field of criminal subculture. Served 3 years on an economic article
DO NOT BE AFRAID
“Your first task after the metal door of the cell slams behind you is not to faint,” Vitaly Lozovsky smiles. - You will remember the picture unfolding before you for the rest of your life. Several times more people can be kept here than should be according to the layout of the pre-trial detention center. The stench emitted by sweaty bodies and the prison latrine located in the corner mixes with tobacco smoke, which, out of habit, eats the eyes. But do not panic - and here people survive.
BE POLITE
Having entered the “hut” - this is how the cell is called in the prison jargon (hair dryer), - you must first of all say hello and introduce yourself. In prison (or, as the prisoners say, “in prison”) it is not customary to shake hands - experienced prisoners will take this with hostility, and you will be terribly lucky if the prisoners just look at you with bewilderment. “It will be enough just to say “Hello, my name is so-and-so,” advises Lozovsky.
FIND THE MAIN
Find out who is watching in the cell, and immediately go to him. The watcher is responsible for order, the elimination of conflict situations and the observance of numerous prison concepts. He will show you the place where you will sleep (your “shkonka”), and also explain (or instruct someone to do this) the rules of behavior in the “hut”. It is better to observe them strictly, even if some of them seem ridiculous to you. The beholder will tell you exactly what duties you will perform to maintain the chamber life and who here belongs to the “lowered” caste - you cannot communicate with them. Also, you can’t touch their things and utensils - usually a hole is punched in a bowl “lowered” with a nail, to distinguish it from the rest. Therefore, be especially careful.
DO NOT CHAT
Try to ask as few questions as possible to others and even less to talk about yourself. “It is very likely that there is a snitch (“chicken”, “hen”) who will pass on everything that he heard from you to the investigator,” Vitaly explains. - If someone starts asking you about the details of your case, ask in response: “For what purpose are you interested?” After that, all questions should disappear by themselves. Your attempt to call your neighbor to frankness - just for the sake of talking - can cause the prisoners to suspect that the "chicken" is you. And the reprisal against such characters is as cruel as possible.
DO NOT PLAY
Beware of card games, even if they offer to play "for free." If you lose - and it is inevitable if you are not a professional cheater - the winner can claim that by "just because" he meant, for example, $1000. And non-payment of card debt in prison is clearly punishable, if not by death, then by falling “under the bunk”. If for some reason you can’t get out, you must declare: “I play without interest!” So you stipulate the conditions: no matter how the party ends, you peacefully disperse.
DON'T STINK
Take good care of your hygiene and keep your clothes clean. Having launched yourself, you run the risk of falling into the “devils” category, sleeping under the “shkonka” and doing the hardest and dirtiest work. Before you go to the toilet in a big way (“to a long distance”), make sure that none of the cellmates eat or drink tea. Climbing into the bucket at this time is considered a grave insult to the entire "hut". Wash your hands after any toilet needs, even if there is a queue in front of the washbasin. “Dirty” after touching the penis with your hands, you “finish”, that is, you taboo for use everything that you touch, including cellmates.
FILTER THE MARKET
Watch what you say. “This is highly valued in ordinary life, but in a cell it is simply necessary,” Lozovsky explains. Any spoken word can masterfully be turned against you. For example: “Lemons have much more vitamin C than apples, and I will prove it to you now!” - “Prove the prosecutors. Are you also one of their kind?” And it was only necessary to replace “I will prove” with “justified”. “A categorical taboo has been imposed on the word “offend” and all its derivatives,” says Vitaly. - Do not try to sympathetically ask a prisoner who is upset about something: “Did someone offend you?” Thus, you directly hint at his belonging to the caste of the “lowered”. You can pay dearly for such hints.”
SHARE
Having received a transfer from the outside, it is imperative to “pay attention to the lads”, that is, to allocate part of the package “to the common fund”. Who keeps the obshchak - ask the beholder. If you do not do this, no one will take anything away from you - this is strictly prohibited by prison concepts as "lawlessness" - however, you are unlikely to enjoy respect and sympathy among prisoners in the future. And never take anything without asking. Even a seemingly ownerless cigarette taken from the table can be equated with "rat-mongering" - theft of the property of cellmates.
HOLD ON
“Try to forget about free life as soon as possible and tune in for the worst,” advises Vitaly Lozovsky. - The cold confidence that you have to spend several years behind bars is much more useful for your psyche than the daily expectation of a miracle and release. Take your imprisonment as another life test that you, like a real man, must endure with honor. And remember that physical strength plays almost no role in prison. But the strength of character and spiritual qualities are decisive. Different pre-trial detention centers may have their own nuances, maybe somewhere the procedures are not so regulated, but the main rules put in the subheadings of each section of this article apply everywhere.
PRISON COLOR
Despite the fact that a pronounced division into suits occurs in the zone, it is necessary to know their differences already at the initial stage.
"Thieves", "barefoot", "brotherhood" are professional criminals for whom prison is a natural stage in their life path. They form the prison elite.
"Guys" - people who committed a crime unintentionally, on domestic grounds, in a state of passion or intoxication.
"Devil", or "pigs" - degraded and not looking after themselves prisoners, who completely lost their willpower and resigned to their fate. They do the dirtiest work, but are not sexually abused.
"Offended", "lowered" - prisoners whom other prisoners incline to sodomy. You can fall into this caste by accident or as a result of "lawlessness" - prison lawlessness. “In any case, there is no way back,” Vitaly Lozovsky comments. - Prisoners can only express sympathy and “lower” or kill the one who illegally deprived you of honor, but you will remain in an unenviable position.” Be careful.
WHAT TO BRING WITH YOU TO THE CAMERA
Let's say you have an hour to get ready before your arrest. Be sure to bring with you:
1. Large sports bag
You will put in it and you will store your things in it in the future - there are no bedside tables and wardrobes in the chamber.
2. Cigarettes and cigarettes
Even if you do not smoke, they will help you establish relationships with prisoners or pay for any services that smoking inmates can provide you.
3. Tea
The bigger, the better. “Tea in prison is both an object of worship and a monetary unit, just like cigarettes,” explains Vitaly Lozovsky. Keep in mind that frequent use of chifir quickly causes addiction.
4. Clothes
Sweatpants, plain and woolen socks, slippers, a pair of T-shirts, a hoodie or a warm knitted vest - but not a single item should be red, it is considered in prison a symbol of cooperation with the guards. It is better to leave your favorite woolen sweater at home - then they will immediately dissolve it into threads in order to weave the so-called. "road" - a system of external communication between cameras. Notes (“babies”), cigarettes or “clouds” of tea travel along the threads.
5. Two bars of soap
Usual (best for children) for washing and household for washing.
6. Shaving accessories
Everything except cologne (after all, it contains alcohol), a toothbrush and paste.
7. Handkerchiefs, a sheet, a couple of pillowcases
And, if it fits, take a blanket - it's tight with bed linen in prisons.
8. Spoon
They won’t let you pass a piercing-cutting fork, but also take a metal bowl and mug, a boiler.
9. Needle and thread, nail clippers
Manicure scissors will not miss for obvious reasons. Also grab a couple of notebooks, envelopes, a few fountain pens with spare refills.
10. Products
Onions and garlic, bacon, bouillon cubes, instant noodles, sugar, salt, crackers. Do not take canned food - they will be seized, since the sharp edges of an open can can be used as a melee weapon
it all started rather banally. I went to work in high spirits ... the night before I had a drink and had sex with a girlfriend. everything was fine until I saw them: three of a specific appearance but clearly not bandits. I heard: yes it is! there is an earring and a tattoo ... they tied me up as soon as they came up quickly and professionally. and now my hands are handcuffed behind my back and a bag is thrown into my pocket. and all this in the street in front of people. put in the car and drove off.
... in the car I offered money - it's useless. brought to the department brought two disabled witnesses. this is not a joke: one could not write and the other was almost blind. took the bag out of his pocket. I say not mine. but everything was done right. then there was an examination for drugs, by the way, she also gave nothing. I sat in the car for two hours, I don't know why. then I was taken to the KPZ (pre-trial detention cells). there they put twenty people in a cell three meters by four, in which there were already. periodically someone was taken away. it was my turn and it began: fingerprinting, undressing, checking things. Finally, I am in the hut (cell). at first in a small one where there were only 3 of us. one suspiciously persistently tried to find out where I buy drugs. In short, he turned out to be a mother hen. you can buy everything in the bullpen: from chifir and drugs to girls. We also indulged in vodka and chifire.
… I was transferred to different cells almost every day. food always and everywhere in bulk. only sleeping on the bunk is not very good. bunks are like two large wooden benches. you can live. Eleven days later they took me to the pre-trial detention center. here is the process! put in a paddy wagon (a closed truck for twenty people, the body of which is divided in half). they took us to all the cops collecting the persons under investigation. in the end, there were about forty people, it was even uncomfortable to stand. At the gates of the pre-trial detention center they waited another hour and a half. are imported. with stiff legs we try to crawl out under the blows of rather strong clubs. driven into a large room with a tiled floor. on knees. hands behind head. you can't move. recalculation is in progress. called the surname - you go to another cell. in a toilet that does not work, you can only urinate, and then if you feel like it. who for the first time - trying to find out what awaits them next. who is not not the first - do not answer. as long as everyone is equal. in a few hours we are taken for a medical examination and for the rolling of fingers. a medical examination is a blood test from a vein, but since half of the drug addicts, the job of a nurse is fun. people darkness process is delayed. then everyone is taken to huts (cells). I got into transit. they usually don’t stay here for a long time and there are their own rules: the first one who enters is called to the “Kremlin” - the place where the beholder and the servants are located. they explain the rules of behavior in the hut: do not swear, do not fight, do not take someone else's, do not litter, and so on. after that, they can ask you for some joint (gross mistake). the transit is designed for seventy people, and there were about a hundred and twenty of us. half of the seats were occupied by bribes and considering themselves as such. there were ten beds for thirty new ones, so there were those who slept in turns and those who did not wait in line, but simply tried to take the bunk as quickly as possible. checks were three times a day and sometimes more often. checks are something. the crowd is led out into the corridor and placed along the wall with their hands behind their heads. guards (guards) have clubs and large wooden mallets (as for cricket) in their hands. they are often very diligent and checked. only the beholder and the thieves are standing straight, they are not supposed to have their hands behind their heads and no one touches them on all fours. so every day.
... the whole hut is in cabins (holes in the walls, floor and ceiling) for communication with other cameras. such a connection is laid throughout the pre-trial detention center. by sending a baby (note) you can find a sidekick or find out how accomplices behave. this is convenient since accomplices are put in different huts. you can also transfer tea and anything you like to any cigarette hut. Such a connection is called a "road" and several people work on it. you approach them and give them what to convey and the “address”. working on the "road" is considered prestigious (for a man), but the responsibility is huge. in the case of a shmona, through the hutch, strems (forbidden things) must be transferred to another hut: scissors, card blades, and so on. after the transfer of the cabura, it is quickly sealed with prepared plugs to match the color of concrete. the cops know about all this and sometimes even force them to close up and plaster these very cabins (but such a repair lasts for five hours). You can find anyone by email. for this, on a pack of cigarettes (so that it does not break quickly), it is written who you are looking for - and this little guy goes around all the huts. and in them, the one who stands on the “road” will find out if there is a desired person in the hut. after that the answer goes back.
… back to my person. after I didn’t sleep for almost three days, the boys offered me a place and a job as an ear (take turns standing at the door and when something happens, give everyone a “beacon”). it's not considered badass. so I got a bed, although we slept according to the schedule: one stands on the armor (doors), two sleep. "Beacon" had to be given if the armor opens. then everyone should block the way to the “Kremlin” as long as possible (so that everyone could hide there) they also “loomed” when the peephole moved away and when the door opened.
… I’ll tell you about food separately. borsch from sauerkraut, even with hunger, it is impossible to smell not only what it is. porridge is occasionally possible, but only so as not to die. mostly ate bread a little more than half a loaf. in such a hut, even if a parcel comes to you for more than a day, it will not be enough. that's for sure.
... in a pre-trial detention center they usually don’t cock (this is waiting in the zone). there were chuhans in the pre-trial detention center. they sleep under a shkonka next to the bucket, wash someone else's linen and do not have rights. There was one in transit. he was in the "Kremlin" telling how he did cunnilingus to his wife. for this, he was immediately slapped on the lips with a penis and he became a chukhan (although they also kick him in the zone). such rules. you can give something to a chukhan, but you can’t take anything from him, and you will find yourself next to him.
... there was a case: two bribed gamblers decided that one chukhan was not enough and left bread on the table. the one who took presented. I don't know how it ended. thanks to the efforts of my relatives, I was transferred to a sound hut (with acceptable concepts), but I will immediately make a reservation that this is a big exception. I said hello to everyone, fell on the bunk and slept for two days. then questions began: the article this and that. with the beholder I talked only on the sixth day. a normal adult kid understood my topic and we didn’t return to it anymore. the people were very diverse: from robbery to rape, there were hijackers, drug addicts and stealers, still swindlers. under the shkonka, near the bucket, lived two chukhans. both girls were framed for rape (in their words). here I stood on the ear and at night blackened (made a rosary from the blade of a pen). then they drove me and several others under batons for a medical examination. back to the camera again with batons. there is also a punishment cell in the pre-trial detention center where you can get into for no particular reason. punishment cell - these are cells in the basements where there are iron two-tier racks without mattresses and linen. in the chamber itself, knee-deep water. the bucket usually does not work and sit here for ten days. so it's quieter in your house.
... life in the pre-trial detention center goes on mainly at night. they cook chifir with home-made boilers on electricity, they even cook food, weave from threads of long “horses” (ropes). they are needed for mail through the windows, as well as in the hut for domestic needs. weave at night, since at night there are fewer guards (guards) and shmon is unlikely. “Horses” are constantly taken away, therefore they are always weaved.
... there is also such an event as a bath (washing). locked in a locker room - everyone undresses in the shower they give water. you need to wash quickly - there is not enough time. Yes, and a bath once or twice a month more often than one.
… dating is a separate conversation. you are called out of the hut and taken to the visiting room. this is a long room divided into two by plastic and right there is a window where guards and cops are located. what you are talking about is tapped (selectively) and you talk on the phone through plastic glass. basically everyone talks only about personal things. and they either do not talk about the matter at all, or with hints and gestures.
... from the time when you are "closed" you begin to think about a lot and understand a lot. and when the term also shines, then the outlook on life changes in general. and if someone says that this is not so, then this is a direct deception. many outsiders consider themselves very cool, like I'm not afraid of prison, but the zone is home! but that is until they are closed. I'm not talking about those who walk this path in life, but about those who want to be like them. I saw a lot of broken people in jail who would give everything in order to return everything and not repeat the mistake. I saw young boys with an article for murder (there was an ordinary village fight) - a term of 20 years. I saw real thieves who live here like at home. I saw those caught by mistake I saw the cops set up by the cops lowered (some not for the cause even according to the concepts) I saw drug addicts who are in prison for short terms (six months - a year) but once in five or six. sit swindlers hijackers rapists.
... I will tell about the letters separately. there are those who write template letters to girls for dating (very tender and touching letters written by those who can write well). uses templates any. letters to relatives are separate. even if a person has never written letters, then from here letters are written by themselves with feelings and experiences. to receive a letter here is an indescribable feeling, believe me.
… that's probably all I wanted to tell you briefly about this place.
What is a bunker in a prison? Many law-abiding citizens, having heard this word, are lost, because they do not know its meaning.
Quite often, the most vivid memories of former convicts are associated with this concept.
We will discuss this term in more detail later.
Words from the prison jargon can often be heard not only on radio, television, but also from other people who once had to serve their sentences for committed offenses in places not so remote.
Thus, many criminal concepts have firmly entered everyday life. One of these words is "shock". It happened a long time ago and for the current 2020 does not lose its relevance.
Shkonka - this is the name of any sleeping place or bed in the zone (it doesn’t matter - with or without a mattress). They are bunk beds, which are welded from metal parts, and with a mesh instead of uncomfortable rods. By the way, they are very comfortable.
Many people think that bunk is synonymous with the word "bunk", but these are different concepts. Bunks are just boards on supports, a mattress is placed on them. Usually bunks are attached to the wall so that it rises slightly above the floor.
After serving his sentence, every prisoner knows what a rack is and what it is for.. Moreover, even after serving the term, they continue to call the bed or sofa that way.
After all, warm memories are associated with the shkonka in former prisoners. This is a small, but its own corner where you can spend time and sleep.
Next to the shkonka there is a bedside table and a chair where you can store writing materials, a plate, a spoon and a mug.. Many prisoners who do not want to work spend almost the whole day on their bunk.
Existing Orders
Each correctional institution has its own unspoken charter. These are certain rules of conduct, which are followed by everyone who rushes, that is, is serving a sentence. Accordingly, for their violation, the perpetrator will be punished.
In thieves' jargon there is an expression "to drive under the shkonka". What it means, not everyone knows. In simple words, this is rape.
A delinquent prisoner is subjected to forced sexual intercourse, after which a place is determined for him under the bed, that is, a shkonka.
From there you can go out strictly with the permission of the beholder or the elder. It is not uncommon that the guilty could be under the shkonka for days on end.
It will also be interesting to find out who sleeps on the top bunk and who sleeps on the bottom. Each convict has his own place, or, as they say, “shelf”.
As a rule, younger people sleep on the upper racks, and older citizens sleep on the lower ones. Interestingly, in the lower tier, almost all prisoners sleep facing the wall.
This is probably due to the fact that subconsciously every prisoner, at least in this way, wants to fence himself off from all other cell neighbors.
In military units, exactly the same bunk metal beds are installed as in prisons and other correctional institutions. Because of this, many soldiers call their bed a shkonka.
Also, shkonka is often called a sleeping place on a ship.. However, naval etiquette also does not accept the use of this word. If the captain had heard that the sailor was saying “bay” instead of “berth”, then, for sure, the latter would have been punished.
When answering the question of what a rack is, we can safely say that this is a sleeping place where a prisoner can spend time.
Young prisoners usually sleep on the top bunk of the bed, while older people sleep on the bottom bunk.
I have already sat down several times to write the "specifics", but still could not state everything the way I would like. Because partly a few went into abstract topics.
Several times my friends asked me - how is it there? Usually you start talking, look at the interlocutor and see a lack of understanding - the person listens, but does not perceive. It just doesn't fit in his head. As if we are talking about integral calculus. All the words seem to be clear - but the picture does not add up.
It’s hard to understand that right here, nearby, in the same city where you live, where ordinary people walk at a distance of some 10 meters, it’s a completely different world. Some of the prisoners called it "The Lost World". Rotting bodies, stench, lice, bedbugs, scabies, tuberculosis, "roosters" under the racks, stinking gruel with worms, "concepts", cops and thieves' lawlessness.
Once, seeing a lack of understanding, I took a friend into the bathroom - an ordinary average bathroom in an ordinary apartment. Imagine, I say, that in this bath we put three bunk racks, a table, a toilet bowl (more precisely, just a point - “dalnyak” - like in public toilets).
And now we settle here 7 - 8, and maybe 10 - 12 people. What is it like? - the man looks at me with disbelief, - here you simply won’t become ten, even if you throw everything away and leave bare walls, and not just three racks ...
Well, of course, there is nowhere to stay - but you can live. A year, two, three - going out only once a day for an incomplete hour for a walk.
This is exactly the picture I saw when I crossed the threshold of hut number 105 of the Kaliningrad prison.
Shkonari welded from pipes and strips of metal. Mattresses, at first glance, are there - but later it turned out that they were almost empty - this is a luxury item in prison. A very limited number of them are passed "by inheritance" to their family members, relatives. The rest is just camouflage with a few wads of cotton. Therefore, many have to sleep almost on metal.
But this is already a common thing - ten days before that there weren’t even such quarantines - they just sleep on iron, without mattresses, blankets, beds. October in the Baltics is already very cold and damp, especially at night. It was impossible to sleep for more than an hour and a half - I had to get up and move, drink tea (if any). And you don’t have more than 8 hours, since there are 30 people in a hut for 10 people. So now on this mattress and even under the covers you can sleep off. How little a person needs to be happy.
Dalnyak is fenced off with a screen. A water faucet comes out above it and water flows directly into the point. This must always be remembered, since getting up after a great need, you can stumble on him with your back. But forgetting about it is not so easy - it leaks, and when you sit on a long distance, cold water drips onto your back. So that the drops of water do not irritate their own sound, a strip of matter is tied to the tap, along which the water flows down.
Next to the table is a “common fund”, firmly concreted into the floor. No more than two people can sit behind it - one on a nearby bunk, the other on a stool. Above it is a "TV" - a metal box for dishes and products.
Stool - "stool" is not attached to the floor. In general, this is a violation - everything must be firmly welded to the floor. But in this kennel it is simply impossible - nowhere.
The passage between the shkonari is exactly for one person, and even then - not very broad-shouldered. Two, even sideways, can not pass. In total, there are four steps from the doors (“brakes”) to the far shutter. Sometimes I even managed to take a walk - three steps, at the fourth turn, three again ... and so on for an hour. But this is rare - in short intervals of an unfilled (this is when ONLY 7 people) hut.
The upper shkonar at the tails is a worker. They do not sleep on it, there is the workplace of the road builder - responsible for the roads, i.e. connection between houses. They do not sleep there for another reason - there are no windows and in cold weather it is simply impossible to be there. There are piles of trunks. And plus, a few strips were torn out of the shkar - someone needed a “saber” at one time, most likely to push the button accordion furs a little apart.
There are practically no windows - i.e. it is, under the ceiling, but you can’t see anything through it - metal blinds, called button accordion (or cilia), are installed so as to only allow air to pass through. The light practically does not pass - in the cells day and night - around the clock - a light bulb is on (it was only then that the words of the famous song reached me - “Taganka, all nights are full of fire ...”). There are two more lattices - tails. One forged, still German, with large cells - 20 centimeters, the other small - minced meat - from reinforcement, with a cell size smaller than a matchbox - is already ours.
The walls are an incredibly dirty brown. Looks like they were once white. They say that major repairs have not been done here since the days of Germany - more precisely, the end of the war. Very similar to that. This is one of the few buildings that survived from the old Koenigsberg. Under the Germans, in such huts, they say, there were two people each. Yes, together it would be more or less tolerable.
The dimensions of the chamber are 3.60 by 1.70, the height is about 2.50. For 10 people. Now even toilets sometimes do more.
In the corners there are huge ancient cobwebs and equally huge spiders. The spider and the web is one of the main thieves' symbols and therefore is very common on. According to zek beliefs, you can’t touch a spider - something like a sacred animal. It can be relocated as a last resort. But in hut 105 they were especially respected and not touched at all. But at least there were no flies.
Taxied in the hut Sanek. He was then 35 years old. 35 minus 13 equals 22. Started sitting at 17. Total 5 at large - 13 in prison. Previously, he kicked in terms of concepts, but he was not torn into authorities. Now tired, began to think about life. The face is surprisingly kind and even childlike. No one from the first time gave Sanka either his 35 or the fifth walker. For a cunning, gloomy prisoner, everyone who entered the hut took me - and made round eyes when they found out how it really was.
After a short calm conversation (who, where, article) he determined for me the upper bunk (“palm tree”) above me. I brewed a chifirka. When I soon fell asleep (after sleepless nights of quarantine), already through a dream I felt how he threw his blanket over me. And even what I learned about him later did not dull the feeling of gratitude for that sympathy shown.
But this moment was preceded by one incident. The two of us were thrown into hut 105 from quarantine - there was another guy about 27 years old. When we entered, one of the prisoners, sleeping on the top bunk, raised his head, uttered an exclamation of surprise and turned to the one who came in after me:
“You have a choice - either you are now breaking out of the hut or I present it to you.”
He replied that he did not feel anything and would remain in the hut.
“Then stand by the brakes and don't move. You pound in the ass and take it in your mouth.
He refused - nothing like that, you will answer for the market and all that.
Sanyok enters the conversation and turns to Seryoga (that was the name of the accuser) - “Are you sure? Do you know him?" - “Yes, this is Vokha, besides, she suffered in my first case, a fellow countryman from Baltiysk. I heard about him from the right people that he foolishly took his cheek and asked him to be kicked in the ass when they dragged some heifers.
Sanya turns to Vokha - "Is this true?" - "Not. The fact that he was patient, I admit, he testified at the trial, and everything else is rubbish. "Are you answering?" - "I answer." "Can you confirm?" - "I can." "Sat?" - "Half a year in a pre-trial detention center, now I went under conditional terms." "Why did you take it?" - "Cops, bastards, framed, gop-stop hang."
“Then this will be the solution,” says Sanek, “you guys know the concept - each of you must substantiate your words. You have 10 days. Unsubscribe to prison, to freedom - as you wish. I give you more than enough time. There is a suspicion on you, Seryoga, that you want to slander the guy in retaliation for the past. Patience is not respected in our country, but they don’t drive you under the bunk for it either - this is your business. You have a serious accusation - you know what will happen if it is confirmed. Until then, you're under suspicion. Do not touch dishes and food, do not drink tea from common mugs. Your shkonar is still under the window (in the cold this is the worst place in the hut - a draft and a oak tree is the same as on the street - it is difficult to lie down even for an hour). If someone wants to share a place with you - while you are under suspicion - no problem.
No one shared his shkonar with Vokha like that. Serega found more witnesses (eyewitnesses, as they say in prison - they don’t like witnesses there), who confirmed his words. But Vokha was not looking for anyone. He sat and doomedly waited for his fate, which, as he understood, he could not avoid.
Seeing this alignment, Sanya did not even wait for the time allotted by him and demanded an explanation, during which he put his foot on Vokha's face (after carefully removing his slippers). He still refused. Then Sanya still waited until the deadline and declared Vokha a rooster. With further kicking - it turns out that it is impossible to beat roosters with your hands - you can “finish out”.
He tried to break out of the hut, but the opera did not want to translate him - we, they say, do not care - there is nowhere to put him, do with him what you want. After that, he independently moved under the shkonar, although Sanya nevertheless allowed him to live on his shkonar - it was impossible, in my opinion, to stretch on a concrete floor in such a cold for at least a few hours, but he could. When the cops came to the checks, they laughed and told him - turn on the sound to know if he was alive. Once they just drove with a boot - Vokha mumbled something in pain. “Ahh, it means alive,” said the cop and went on.
With the intensification of the cold, Vokha nevertheless crawled out from under the bunk and lived quietly on his shkonar, talking about something to himself. When they drank tea in the hut, they also poured him into his mug, gave him cigarettes. He himself, without coercion, regularly swept the hut and from time to time began to prove that he was not a cock. Then he agreed again.
Later, after the New Year, he left for the investigation in his town. When he returned, they threw him into another hut. He became silent again and did not say who he was. This time he was less fortunate - they beat him for a long time, they finally broke him from the hut, they made an announcement to the whole prison. After the donkey, he was offended somewhere and was not heard from him again.
And in quarantine, he behaved quite arrogantly and even tried for no reason to show his toughness, to make a person “fall on a rag” - to clean the hut. He probably decided to act according to the old Zonov's saying - "It's better to drive than to be persecuted." But everything turned out the other way around. Received in response to the muzzle. Not according to the concepts, of course, but the conflict was resolved.
And they put Vokha, as it turned out, for a bag of potatoes. Granny was trading on the street, he came up, wanted to take the proceeds from her, but either she wasn’t there, or the granny didn’t give. Then he took a bag of potatoes that she was selling, threw it over her shoulders and tried to dump it, but a police squad was just nearby. During the investigation, he said that he was simply helping the granny carry the bag across the road. And since his conditional conviction for hooliganism had not yet ended, a bag of potatoes cost him, probably, several years.
And Sanek behaved very calmly, he liked to tell all sorts of prisoner stories about how it was before. Before the release, he had about six months. He had no relatives or friends. Some kind of cousin somewhere in the village - that's all.
He was afraid to go free. No home, no family. And waited for release with fear. It was visible to the naked eye. Yes, he himself did not particularly hide this in conversations with me. He often asked about all sorts of everyday trifles - right up to how to ride a trolleybus, buy a ticket, etc. How to get to the station - he (and his aunt) lived somewhere in a village far from the regional center. He was simply terribly afraid to go through the city, he gets into a trolley bus. He was afraid of women - he himself said that in his 35 years he had no more of them than the intervals between his terms. Yes, and then - with a stretch. Often, during long nights, he quietly asked me to tell him about life - what to do, what to do and how. He often said that he had nothing to do in freedom - I would go out, he said, I would take a little walk until I was caught once again on some petty theft - and I would sit down again.
Here he felt like a fish in water. Everything was familiar to him, he did not have to think about blood and bread. He even went for walks at least once a week. He enjoyed a certain respect - he knew how to beautifully tell young people about concepts and life. Although he treated the young people spreading their fingers with irony and could successfully laugh at their childish naivety.
Sanya, as it turned out, was a regular informer - knocked, that is. I began to guess about it after two or three months in the hut. Later, in other huts, this was confirmed.
Although he had no relatives, he regularly, about once a month, went on dates. He said that he was skating with a man alone for a year of joint imprisonment, so he comes to him. I also received packages once a month - always about the same thing - simple cigarettes, Georgian tea, a little bacon, caramel. Later I had to hear about such programs - they were used by the opera to pay off their non-staff employees. And they took them from obshchakovsky programs as a bribe for connivance. The cycle of cigarettes in nature turned out to be interesting.
Those who were of interest to them and only first-timers were thrown into his hut in order to protect Sanka from unwanted meetings.
Why so, why he was afraid to go to the zone - I don’t know. Most likely, he was simply tired of everything and he wanted some, at least temporary, peace. The opera gave him certain guarantees of a quiet life, at least in prison, in exchange for information.
It must be admitted that Sanya never questioned anyone, and did not fish out anything. Yes, on the other hand, it was not necessary - the tongue is the smallest of the members of the body, but who can curb it. Nights and days go on oh so long - and you want to talk to someone. People so perlo tell about their exploits.
But suddenly he had a goal - Sanya fell in love ...
From the book by Vitaly Lozovsky - "How to survive and spend time usefully in prison"