"Малая Литва" посреди больших тюменских болот: репрезентации, память, наследие

ENFor much of the Baltic population, Siberia is primarily associated with tragic historic experiences, such as the exile of participants in the anti-tsarist uprisings of 1831 and 1863–1864, and the Stalinist deportations. More positive images of this part of Russia are left on the sidelines of historic consciousness, or are lacking altogether. In this way, there is no room for a more neutral analysis of the processes underway in the post-Stalinist period in narratives where “struggle and suffering” motives dominate, not to mention any considerations of the experience of cooperation, mu tual assistance and basic human friendliness. Labour migration in the Soviet period remains rather overlooked even in the latest historiography coming from the Baltic countries, and in contemporary Russian offerings. If in the latter the theme of Siberian urbanization determined by oil and natural gas extraction had been rather thoroughly examined, then the ethnic aspect of this process still remains a tabula rasa to researchers. Taking this into account, the aim of our research is to try to reconstruct the historic events related to representatives from the Baltic republics, mostly Lithuanians, specifically, their participation in creating the West Siberian oil-natural gas complex and constructing Kogalym city in the 1980s and 1990s. The paper is based on various written and visual, archival and published material, mostly related to the Baltic-built labourers' settlements built near the city of Kogalym, in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (Yugra), urban and social history, and on the activities of two Lithuanian companies – No. 12 of the Road Construction Board (Lith: KSV-12, Russ: ДСУ-12), which was especially founded under the Car and Road Transport Ministry to extend the road infrastructure in West Siberia, and Construction Installation Platform no. 1 (Lith: SMA-1, Russ: СМП-1) of the Kaunas Residential Construction Manufacturer.The Baltic workers who participated in creating the Tyumen oil and natural gas extraction complex sought to reconstruct unique “models” of their faraway homelands within their board territories, which the locals most likely felt as “different” and “European”. Lithuanian specialists in Siberia successfully created an autonomous oasis of Lithuanian life and activity, which they not only nurtured but also tried to pass on (through common work and life, by maintaining regular contact with Lithuania, raising their children at their own kindergarten and primary school, marking traditional celebrations, etc.). For other residents of Kogalym, the “Balts” looked “different”, not like the rest of the people. Ultimately, it was a specific experience of living in the North that formed the collective “Siberian” identity among the Balts, which remained even once they had returned to their homelands. Key words: Labor migration, communicative and cultural memory, urban studies, Lithuania, Tyumen North. [From the publication]

• Baltic modernism : architecture and housing in Soviet Lithuania / Marija Drėmaitė. Berlin : DOM Publishers, 2017. 319 p.
• Organizuota Lietuvos gyventojų darbo migracija į Sovietų Sąjungą : XX a. šeštasis-devintasis dešimtmečiai / Vitalija Stravinskienė. Genocidas ir rezistencija. 2017, 2 (42), p. 69-85.
• Pirmtako šešėlyje : biografinė apybraiža apie Sovietų Lietuvos vadovą Petrą Griškevičių (1924-1987) / Vytautas Tininis. Vilnius : Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras, 2017. 247 p.
• Прибалтика и Кремль, 1940-1953 / Елена Зубкова. Москва : Российская политическая энциклопедия (РОССПЭН) ; 2008. 349 p.