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Dima Kholodov's mother - about 30 years without her son
Zoya Alexandrovna is as kind as always. On the eve of the tragic date, we look through newspaper clippings and family photos on the large dining table ... Most of these postcards have repeatedly appeared in the press over 30 years, but there are some that I have saved. visible. Look at them for the first time. In particular, this is a funny blond with a thick fringe, a concentrated first-year marine with a visor pulled down over his forehead, and a year later the same child: a self-confident sailor in bell-bottoms, a visor behind his head, his hands behind his back many moods ... and stacks of newspapers. Most often there is a mourning border. Among them are colorful photographs of "MK" on October 17, a black river of people on Komsomolsky Prospekt on the day of Dima's funeral, and large photographs of deceased "MK" correspondents, who were given the front pages of many Russian newspapers. .. Without exaggeration, Dima's death was a shock to society.
And we are talking about the living Dima. About his childhood, his work at Moskovsky Komsomolets, and what happened after October 17. This conversation is not woven chronologically, but into a tangle of memories that seem to tear the curtain on the past 30 years without Dima. What did they say?
About school. “First, Dima went to school #4 near our house. He was given a residential address there. “But he studied there because there were only 54 students in the class. And although there were about a dozen people standing around Dima and taking their places at his desk, we decided to transfer him to the school where his older brother Ilya was already studying,” recalls Zoya Alexandrovna. And indeed, Dima graduated from school with honors, not with a medal, but with a majority of A’s. “I only got B’s in two subjects.” This is the same school #5, which now bears the name of Dmitry Kholodov. Every year after October 17, an event dedicated to Dima is held at his alma mater. Zoya Alexandrovna was also invited. Children read poems, sing songs and talk about the famous student Kholodov. And no one remembers Dima himself for a long time, and his first teacher has already died. But others picked up the baton and continue to carry it.
About the military. Dima was drafted into the army after his first year at MEPhI. The institute granted a deferment, but there weren’t many children born in 1967 that year, so there was an acute shortage of conscription. A decree was issued and the whole process moved into the military sphere. “Something could have been done to achieve acting skills, but Dima said that, in his opinion, ‘everyone should serve in the army’, and he went to serve,” says his mother, “in the Black Sea Fleet. He served. As a marine for two years. We visited him twice a year, mostly in the summer. Before his demobilization, we saw the sea.” But even in the heat, Dima regularly wrote letters to his family, and Zoya Alexandrovna shows us a bag full of tightly packed envelopes. “He wrote us this letter two years ago,” she says quietly, “and then I tried to read it again, but I couldn’t… it just came to me.
About work. After MEPhI, Dima could have become a scientist or an engineer. But it was not like that then. “There was such chaos in the country. Business collapsed. Dima was sent to a design bureau, but from there they wrote to the institute that they could not hire anyone because they were bankrupt and would soon cease to exist,” says Zoya Aleksandrovna. “We got Dima a job in our company, but a small company began to form there, hiring only its own employees. And no one needed young specialists. And at that time they announced that they were recruiting people for a local radio station, which broadcast only 15 minutes a day. And Dima was taken there. He reported from city hospitals, libraries, archives and post offices. He visited many enterprises in the city and was well-known in Klimovsk. Dima knew how to win people over and people willingly communicated with him. And at the end of August I saw an ad in Moskovsky Komsomolets... I also remember the ad: "Everyone is being fired, but we are hiring." Dima came to the editorial office after receiving this call. The end...
About the business trip. In 1992, several ethnic conflicts broke out in the post-Soviet space. And the political department correspondent Dima Kholodov, who chose a military topic, immediately found himself in a tough situation of a "hot conflict". Aren't his parents afraid? "Of course, it was scary," recalls Zoya Alexandrovna. - When he first went to Abkhazia, something terrible could have happened. The place where they were given a place to stay overnight was shelled. It seems that people died there too. But Dima was lucky. He and the photographer went to spend the night in another place, where his friends invited him. And later, Abkhaz acquaintances invited them to their village, where the men defended their homes from attacks at night. Women and children slept, and the men kept watch by the fire all night... And these Abkhaz remembered Dima and helped him when he came to Abkhazia for the second time. "The battle was already in full swing." At that time, Dima disappeared. He didn’t contact me for several days. The editing room didn’t know what was wrong with him. Even his family didn’t know. He told me what happened to him when he returned. “All the journalists, including foreign ones, were locked in some ruined sanatorium. It was destroyed after the battle. There was no food there. They found a few mattresses when they lived in the basement. They blocked the passage as best they could to stop the shelling,” Zoya Aleksandrovna Dimina recalls the story. “They weren’t told to go anywhere.” One correspondent decided to leave for the city and never return. He was killed. Early in the morning, around 5 o’clock, they crawled out of the cellar, quickly washed themselves in the sea and collected everything they could find. That’s what they ate. Nevertheless, I went to Sukhumi several times to interview and take pictures. Then he brought them. In one there was an Abkhaz warrior with his son, whose son died the next day. There were also photographs. A warrior with a gun sniffs a flower. There are many photographs of children who, even in such situations, always show curiosity. "They ran and collected cartridges." And while the reporters were in the basement, no one knew anything about them. There was no communication. "And they were offered a plane to fly," Dimina's mother continues. "But while they were waiting for it at the pier, a plane with refugees was shot down right above them. People fell straight from the disintegrating liner into the water, their bodies washed up on the shore. After that, no one wanted to fly. They were pulled out by boat." Then Dima went to Transnistria, where the war with Moldova had also just died down. He interviewed General Lebed, although he did not interview anyone. Later there was an interview with Dzhokhar Dudayev. "Dima went to Chechnya twice and wrote that he was seriously preparing something in Chechnya, but it seemed incredible, and they did not really listen to him...
About fairy tales. Surprisingly, despite such a tough job, Dima did not give up his hobby. He wrote children's fairy tales. And he published them in the local newspaper "Klimov". "We had a newspaper called "Local News". He came there before MK, and he was assigned to write some political article. The editor did not like what I wrote. And Dima said: "You can write fairy tales too." The newspaper was big, there was nothing special to write in it, and they gave him the last page. He published four volumes of fairy tales there, and we published the fifth there after his death. People bought the newspaper because it had a "storyteller". There he wrote children's poems, and also prepared quizzes for children. I lived in such a fairy tale." All of Dima's stories were published after his death. And the illustrations for them were created by students from his native school and the children's art school of the city of Klimovsk.
About the trial. The trial for Kholodov's murder was another real blow for the parents after Dima's death. The suspected soldiers were tried in military courts. In this situation, the phrase "wash our hands" is most appropriate. "We and two lawyers were sitting in the courtroom. And on the other side there were two defense attorneys, a whole wall. On the first day of the trial, the judge began reading the defendants' biographies and listing all their regalia and achievements. And Dima went to school, university, worked for Moskovsky Komsomolets... That's it. The judge's attitude to the future immediately became clear. For a while, we hoped that the judge would ask the defendant a few questions and make a fair decision. No, such a thing does not exist. They put him in a car and took him to court...", recalls Zoya Aleksandrovna. After the first trial, the former soldiers who were found not guilty went to celebrate with their families and friends. Then the second trial began, and the witnesses who testified against him at the first trial suddenly said, "This didn't happen. He started denying everything, saying, "We don't know either." "Popovsky said one thing and admitted everything during interrogation, but denied it at the trial. The witnesses at the second trial even rejected the testimony given at the first trial," says Dima's mother. "And the second judge really did sit on the porch with the defendant, smoking a cigarette and laughing before the hearing. We're walking, and they're smoking together. So what's that like? It's all very disgusting. So we knew we wouldn't get a fair trial. The sight of them writhing and lying in court was disgusting, and the judge accepted it all... "
And learn more about pain. "When Dima died, Yeltsin spoke on television. And we saw it with our own eyes, and many people later said that he said it. "Well... journalist Dmitry Kholodov died. But Minister Grachev is the best Minister of Defense." And everyone heard the following: "Well, imagine that a journalist died..." It was very painful for the head of state to say such words," recalls Zoya Alexandrovna. Yeltsin said: "Well, journalist Dmitry Kholodov died. We all mourn this, of course, it is a tragedy... The death of Dmitry Kholodov and the fact that the Minister of Defense was involved in this. It is easy to do. The connection is not that serious... Perhaps that is why we have one of the most influential Ministers of Defense in the last 10 years." In essence, it was "Reflection": "And on the 40th day, this strong and healthy man came to my apartment. "Yeltsin sends you his condolences." On the 40th day, he felt he had to react somehow. What do we get from this mourning? "My son died, the murderers went unpunished, and my husband died from it." Zoya Alexandrovna, usually calm, spoke with unexpected enthusiasm.
The murder of Dima Kholodov was the first in a series of such lawsuits against journalists. In fact, Dima later became the "first patient" in an epidemic of unwanted "graffiti" problems. And now we have what we have. When the word "Press" on a vest became a target, not a talisman. And who knows what would have happened if justice had prevailed?