Famous life · 1965
Solzhenitsyn's secret winters near Vasula
Arnold Susi, once Estonia's education minister, shared a cell in Moscow's Lubyanka prison with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in 1945. After both had returned from the camps, Susi's family lived at Kopli-Märdi farm near Vasula, north of Tartu. In September 1965 the KGB seized much of Solzhenitsyn's archive, and the unfinished manuscript of The Gulag Archipelago was secretly given to Susi. Over two winters, from 1965 to 1967, Solzhenitsyn finished the book here. The neighbours were told he was a Moscow professor writing a dissertation. Susi's daughter Heli hid the manuscripts on the banks of the Ahja River, in a friend's linen closet and in a Tartu basement.
Open it on the map See the spot on the old maps and as it is today
Eesti keeles
Eesti endine haridusminister Arnold Susi istus 1945. aastal Moskvas Lubjankas ühes kongis Aleksandr Solženitsõniga. Kui mõlemad olid laagritest naasnud, elas Susi pere Tartust põhja pool Vasula lähedal Kopli-Märdi talus. 1965. aasta septembris konfiskeeris KGB suure osa Solženitsõni arhiivist ning „Gulagi arhipelaagi” lõpetamata käsikiri anti salaja Susile. Kahe talve jooksul, aastatel 1965–1967, kirjutas Solženitsõn raamatu siin lõpuni. Naabritele öeldi, et ta on Moskva professor, kes kirjutab väitekirja. Susi tütar Heli peitis käsikirju Ahja jõe kaldale, sõbra pesukappi ja ühe Tartu maja keldrisse.