“Hurry up. It’s already midnight, and you know it’s against the rules.”
“But if something happens to him, they’ll blame us and that’ll be worse.”
“You’ve become very smart lately. Are you aiming at my position, by any chance? Want to be the boss, boy?”
The guard laughed at the quip, but not as heartily as his superior, and continued on his way. He reached the end of the passage and went up the stairs to the upper floor. Then he turned left and began to count the cells. He stopped at the seventh on the right, looked back first, into the half-lit passage, then knocked on the door with the key. He didn’t wait for the answer, unlocked and unbolted the door. Gega was standing in the cell.
“Come out, quick,” the guard whispered.
“What’s going on?”
“I am doing a favour for the monk. His last request.”
Gega and the guard quickly passed the corridor, turned right and ascended the stairs. The upper floor security, utterly amazed, asked where he was taking the prisoner at such late hour.
“His wife’s in number 19. Only five minutes and I’ll take him back again.”
“You realize what punishment you’re going to get for this?”
“If they don’t see each other now, they never will. He got a death sentence today and is being transferred to death row.”
“If he is, you might get his cell starting tomorrow.”
“You refused to give me the key and I took it by force. That’s what you can report if they ask for an explanation.”
He snatched the cell key from the guard on duty and went down the corridor with Gega. Gega was more surprised than the guard on duty.
“You know, I didn’t go to see the monk, even once,” he whispered.
“When?”
“Before I was arrested. He kept waiting for me…”
“It’s here,” said the guard, stopping at cell 19. He knocked quietly, turned the key, opened the door and let Gega inside.
Tina was sitting on the bed, barefoot, wearing a white chemise. The bed was at the wall facing the door. The cell had a small, heavily barred window with another, faded brick wall beyond it.
Tina sat on the bed without saying anything. She only listened to Gega as he sat next to her. He carefully, very carefully, stroked Tina’s fingers.
“Don’t worry about it… My granddad was also sentenced to death, but he survived. My other granddad, who I’m named after, was also 23 when he was sentenced to death, and he told Lavrentiy Beria while speaking Mingrelian: “I’m not afraid of death, you’ll follow me there and we can talk then.” They brought him out of the Metekhi prison, at night, made him stand with his back to the river. My granddad asked them not to shoot him in the back, as he preferred to look death into the eyes. And so they aimed at him directly, shot and missed on purpose, because they had Beria’s had orders to do so. As I was told, my granddad used to say afterwards that Beria did something much worse to him than death by keeping him alive… He’s still alive, you probably remember him—at our wedding he was kissing you on the forehead all the time and crying… They won’t shoot me either, don’t worry, something will finally happen and they won’t shoot me…”
There was a timid knock on the door and Gega stood up.
“I’m coming,” he said in a very low voice.
He sat down again, strongly clasped Tina’s fingers, which he had missed so much, with his right hand. Then he started to cry.
Then, before the guard locked the door, Gega threw a final glance at Tina still sitting on the bed. Her face seemed to glow and that was how Gega would remembered her forever– sitting on the cell bed, barefoot with wet eyes…
The Flight
Despite everything, a majority of the public refused to believe the men on death row would be executed. Such wishful thinking caused some to invent various alternative scenarios and the most widespread one involved Siberia. It was said, that as a rule, death row convicts were not executed but sent to secret Siberian work camps instead. It was believed the same fate awaited the airplane hijackers. In reality, the authorities followed through with the execution. However, it did take some time after the verdict, as they had to wait for approval from Moscow to proceed. The procedure was customarily delayed for as long as several years. In this case, they were executed a month and a half after the sentence was passed, on October 3rd.
There was no official announcement, and no notification to the parents and families, at the time or afterwards. Information about Gega and his friends’ execution still managed to spread across the country. It’s worth remembering that western radio channels were the only source of alternative information under the Soviet regime. Many Georgians found out the news and heard about everything the Soviet authorities thoroughly concealed only by means of these enemy voices, as they were referred to in the official media. The distressing information about the plane hijackers was broadcast by Voice Of America the very day they were executed, but most people refused to believe that it was true and held out hope.
As if to further add to the misery, Gega’s grandfather, who had miraculously escaped death in the 1930s at the same age as Gega, died on the exact same day…
The cells of the death row convicts were in the dungeons of the Ortachala prison, on the very last underground level. The prisoners were taken to be shot into a special room, on the same floor. However, it was not only the death row convicts on this floor. Other inmates were on this level, and knew very well who was in which cell and who was transferred where and when. Needless to say, some inmates had more info than the others. Dima Lortkipanidze, one of the notorious criminals, was kept one level above. He was born in Paris, in the family of Georgian political emigrants, so his anti-Soviet views were not fleeting. Several women prisoners arrested for illegal trade were kept next to Dima’s cell, waiting to be transferred to the women’s penitentiary. They used to hum and sing, which roused Dima’s interest, so once he questioned the warden about the humming inmates. The warden complained about their singing as he was severely reprimanded for the poor discipline on his floor. He was also surprised that these women, mainly shop assistants and accountants, were so good at singing. Dima motioned the warden to come closer and asked him in a lower voice:
“If they sing loudly, will they be heard down there?”
“Down where?”
“On death row.”
“With cells locked, how will they?”
“But they can be heard in the corridor?”
“Well, if they sing at the top of their voices, they’ll probably be heard.”
“Probably or for sure?”
“Probably.”
“So listen. Do me a small favour and you’ll be rewarded.”
“Just don’t make me lose my job…”
“Yeah, you’ve really got a job that would be a shame to lose. So listen carefully.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Down there, on the death row, there’s a guy, Gega, an actor.”
“Yes, I know, that airplane business. The others are down there too.”
“We can’t help the others, but Gega needs help. He’s quite young.”
“I know, I’ve seen him in the movies, but…”
“So, you like movies too. Now tell me, when will Gega be taken to be executed? How soon will you know about it?”
“Right away, the warden on that floor is my cousin.”
“The moment they take him out, I need to know straight-away.”
“Please don’t make me lose my job, I’ve got two small children. If I could at least know what you’re going to do…”
“Nothing special. When Gega’s taken to be executed, you must tell the women to start singing, as loud as possible. Tell them it’s my request to hearten Gega. Tell them he’s taken to be shot.”