DETROIT

Former Emigre Returns Home To Political Tension

AMY J. MEHLER

Staff Writer

lien Press tried to con-
ceal her anxiety as her
train passed the dain-
ty, sleepy villages of the
Finnish countryside and
rolled through the rough
heartland of Soviet Russia.
Her heart beat uncon-
trollably as she waited in
her compartment for the
Soviet border police and
customs officials to come
back with her American
passport and exit visa, con-
vinced she'd never see either
ever again.
The guards, all dressed
somberly, in dark, green
uniforms, were not smiling
as they counted up the 11 or
12 pieces of luggage she and
her family brought with
them.
For the last 13 years, Mrs.
Press, who was born in Len-
ingrad, put off returning to
the Soviet Union. She left
Russia soon after she fin-
ished her master's degree in
mechanical engineering.
She was 26 years old and
said she never thought seri-
ously about returning — un-
til now.
"When I was a young girl,
I read about the Russian
Revolution in a book called,

"Leningraders
were completely
obsessed by the
election."

Ellen Press

Ten Days That Shook the
World, said Mrs. Press, who
now lives in Farmington
Hills. "Now, events in
Russia are again shaking
the world. I felt that now
was the right time to go
back."
Mrs. Press, who spent the
last four weeks in Russia,
couldn't believe the amount
of political fervor she saw
surrounding the Russian re-
public's recent election.
"When I lived in Len-
ingrad, we all voted, or else
the election officials would
come to your house and ask
you why you didn't vote,"
Mrs. Press said. "But it was
never something we cared
about. I mean what was
there to care about when
there was only one can-
didate?"
Radical leader Boris
Yeltsin claimed victory last
week in the Russian repub-
lic's first direct presidential
election. The election,

14

which took place June 12,
was the republic's first dem-
ocratic election since the
Communist revolution of
1917.
"You just couldn't escape
it," Mrs. Press said.
"Everyone was obsessed.
"We listened to the can-
didates on TV, we listened to
people's opinions of them in
the street and in the
markets. It was everywhere.
Candidates seemed more in-
telligent, they spoke without
prepared speeches, not like
the old Communists. Even
my aunts, who never in their
lives cared or talked about
politics, wouldn't stop talk-
ing about it and arguing
with their husbands."
Mr. Yeltsin, who is now
president of the largest re-
public in the Soviet Union,
beat out five other can-
didates including his con-
servative rival, former
Soviet Prime Minister
Nikolai Ryzhkov.
Mr. Ryzhkov, who cam-
paigned for gradual,
cautious reform, said the
Yeltsin camp would lead to
chaos and social breakdown.
"Boris Yeltsin is the hope
of the Russian republic,"
Mrs. Press said. "All our life,
we pretended we were work-
ing for the government and
the government pretended
they were working for us.
We got nothing from it, so
nobody worked too hard.
"Yeltsin wants to give the
land back to the farmer, not
just to the cooperatives who
do nothing with it," she said.
"He wants to give the com-
panies back to the people,
and there are plenty of
young, smart men and wo-
me n waiting for this
chance."
"I even heard Yeltsin say
on TV that he thought it was
too bad that the conditions
in the Soviet Union were
driving the best and
brightest of Soviet Jews out
of the country;' she said.
Mrs. Press said he said the
Soviets have been treated
like feudal slaves for almost
75 years.
"We have to break this
chain," she said. "The Soviet
people have been indifferent
to their lot in life for so long.
Freedom is a wonderful
thing, but it's useless unless
you know or are taught how
to use it.
Much of Mrs. Press' young
adult life was an indoctrina-
tion of Communist ideals
that cast legendary czars as
petty, ruthless dictators that
ruined Russian society.
"I turned on the TV one

day, and heard a program
commemorating Czar
Nicholas II's birthday," she
said. "All my life, I learned
in school how terrible he was
for Russia, and the
moderator was saying how

much more he did for Russia
than Lenin or Stalin. This
feeling is responsible for a
movement now under way to
change Leningrad back to its
original name, St. Petersburg.
Over the past three years, a

dozen or more cities and hun-
dreds of streets have been
returned to their czarist
names.
St. Petersburg, which was
once the capital of Russia,
was built on the banks of the

A City Of Two Tales?

AMY J. MEHLER

Staff Writer

I

n the minds of mill-
ions of Soviets, the
memory of great Rus-
sian poets and legendary
czars who strolled the
elegant boulevards of St.
Petersburg compete with
the Soviet workers and
soldiers of World War II
who held out heroically
against the Nazis's siege
of Leningrad.
In Leningrad last week,
by decision of the year-
old, radical city council,
voters were asked to
decide whether Len-
ingrad will remain Len-
ingrad or return to its
original name, bestowed
by Peter the Great when
he built his capital
against the backdrop of
the Neva River.
Here's what some
Soviet Jews from Len-
ingrad had to say:
Bella Astrakhan, a
historian, was a tour
guide in Leningrad. She
has been in Detroit for six
months.
"It's like a game. I sup-
port the names of old
streets, buildings and
landmarks. I believe a
record of what has been
should be left. The name
of Leningrad refers to an
important period of histo-
ry people from Leningrad
should never forget."

Marina, 20, and Sveta
Potashinsky, 23, are
sisters and students from

Bella Astrakhan

Marina and Sveta Potashinsky, above; and Tanya Vorobyeva and
Vladimir Vorobeychik.

Leningrad. They have
been in Detroit for two
months.
"Changing the name of
Leningrad back to St.
Petersburg won't change
the poverty of people in
Leningrad. It's not worth
all the money it will take
to change the names on
buildings, in books, on
globes and on maps."

Yeltsin Fever

Boris Yeltsin claimed
an overwhelming victory
last week in the Russian
republic's first direct
presidential election.
Electoral officials said 75
percent of the 105 million
people eligible took part
in the vote, the first direct
election of a top official
since the Bolshevik Revo-
lution of 1917.
Here's how some other
Soviets feel:
Igor Shaposhnik, 18,
of Kishinev, has been in
Detroit for three months.
"Boris Yeltsin has

helped to promote
change. It's now becom-
ing fashionable for top
Communist Party leaders
in the Republic of
Moldavia who want to
remain on top to leave the
central committee of the
Communist Party.
Vladimir Vorobeychik,
41, an engineer from
Moscow, came to Detroit
one month ago.
"I am personally
against Yeltsin, but I
support his team. I'm still
afraid of Yeltsin. I think
it's possible he will one
day dismiss them and
become a dictator."
Tanya Vorobyeva, 23,
an interpreter from
Moscow, has been in
Detroit one week.
"I support Gorbachev
and his reforms. Because
of perestroika I've been
able to travel outside the
Soviet Union for work. I
don't think I would have
received permission to do
that a few years ago." ❑

