Investor Presentaiton
peasants and landless families. 45 An additional five to ten wealthy families (which Kaganovich
calls "kulaks" in his memoir) and around 30 richer peasant families comprised the rest of the
population. 46 As Kaganovich wrote the first sections of his memoir in the 1960s, his work clearly
expresses his ideological views at the time – views he held until he died in 1991.47 Despite the
ideologically charged description of the "kulaks” in his village, Kaganovich recalls his time in
Kabany with clear nostalgia as he describes the landscape and population of his hometown.
Located amidst numerous forests of pine, spruce, and oak trees with a large road running through
it, Kabany was home to many animals, such as moose, badgers, otters, wild boars, and in lesser
numbers, foxes, minks, stoats, and beavers. 48 Kaganovich recalls how peasant hunters especially
sought the minks, ferrets, and ermine, as well as fish which they would eat or sell frozen. 49
Inside the village, where the trees were largely removed due to deforestation, one willow
remained, as well as a river which was occasionally dry from the removal of the trees. 50 There
was also a smaller forest of trees on the village outskirts which, according to Kaganovich,
belonged to the kids. It was there that they would both play and host festivities, as well as pick
berries, wild apples, and pears, and make birch brooms for the baths. 51 Kaganovich also describes
the harsh living conditions of the poorer peasants – clay floors and small huts shared by
numerous family members were common; literacy, lamps, and kerosene to light the lamps, were
45 Kaganovich, Pamiatnye zapiski, 19-20.
46 Ibid.
47
Ibid, 13.
48
Ibid, 19-20.
49
Ibid.
50 Ibid, 20.
51 Ibid.
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