ONEGIN

“KOMUNALKAS” - SPLENDOR AND POVERTY

It would be difficult to find another phenomenon that encapsulates the Soviet way of life as accurately as the komunalka. This Bolshevik invention was perfectly designed for the ambitious project of creating a “new kind of person” - someone who organizes their daily routines and their very being according to the principles of collectivity and equality. How else could several families live together under a single roof, forced to share a communal kitchen, bath, toilet, corridor, or phone? After all, a single apartment could accommodate a remarkable assortment of people - of different education, ages, perspectives, ethnicities, and habits.

STUCK FOR DECADES

In the 1960s, the majority of Soviet families lived in komunalkas. This was because the government encouraged people to move from villages into the cities and distributed rooms in nationalized apartments free of charge. Often, new tenants stayed there for decades - a desirable flat was a privilege for the select few. If each person had only about four and a half square meters of space, their family was not eligible for a better home. The residents of komunalkas used their imagination to protect their autonomy, manage their routines in shared spaces, fairly split expenses, and keep a vigilant eye on their neighbors.

CONFLICTS OF EQUALITY

One citizen’s complaint to state institutions is a case in point - after a divorce, his ex-wife forbade him from partitioning a corner of their communal room. Such comic disputes were a constant feature in komunalkas. Often, there were arguments over communal bills. The neighbor whose phone “code” was composed of several rings, for instance, used more electricity than the rest - just like the one with an electric iron. Should there be a quota for ironing? The komunalka’s activists solved these problems - not for the money, but for the principle of fairness, to make sure nobody lived at someone else's expense.

Meanwhile, utility payments were mere kopecks. The state covered komunalka expenses and was responsible for its upkeep. So when the ceiling fell in, komunalka’s tenants would grit their teeth instead of dipping into their savings for repairs. Leaking taps, rotting pipes, peeling wallpaper, worn floors - these were typical sights in a komunalka. All its occupants belonged to a team that kept it clean, and a cleaning schedule was always displayed in the most busy room - the kitchen.

A LIFE WITHOUT SECRETS

Not a thing escaped the komunalka’s watchful community - not a word about their collective duties, not a bit about who was buying what, what they were cooking, who was visiting, where someone had gone, or whether they'd come back. Even their laundry was not a secret! One komunalka resident admits that after moving in from a private flat, at first, she was ashamed to hang her laundry openly - but not for long. A delicate two-layer method to conceal intimate details was soon met by a chorus of neighbors’ advice to hang laundry more efficiently in order for it to dry faster.

Transplanting komunalka life to another context would be nearly impossible. Where else at night would you bump into a half-dressed neighbor in the corridor, or a woman coloring her hair in the kitchen? Here, people casually walked around in bathrobes or sweats, with towels on their heads, without cosmetics or a care for their appearance. If someone stayed in the bath or restroom for too long, they’d soon hear a knock; if someone lingered on the phone, a neighbor would appear. Sexual relationships were a matter for the community, too - a couple could be together only with their relatives’ permission, while the rest kept track of the minutes in the kitchen or “killed time” with their neighbors.

RAPIDLY EFFICIENT TELEPHONE OF GOSSIP

A komunalka’s resident is a silent detective just outside your door, relayed through their extensive social network. A typical story from a komunalka: a longstanding tenant asked a neighbor to speak to her ex-daughter-in-law’s boss about securing a driver’s job for her son. The elderly woman knew, for instance, that the ex-daughter-in-law was on very good terms with her supervisor! Soviet reality forced people to care not only about their nearest neighbors, but also their relatives’ and friends’ professional and family situations, preferences, and routines - social capital was a perfect substitute for cash. Anything you needed could be gotten through a network of relationships. There was no free market for goods or services. The builders of communism scorned bourgeois comforts and luxury.

ISLANDS OF THE PAST

Today, islands of communal living still remain in stylish districts of Russian cities - resisting generous offers from real estate developers. Some pensioners and solitary individuals even appreciate life there. Here, not only duties but also leisure, birthday parties, and other celebrations are shared. The crumbling walls, worn floors, rotting pipes, and debris-littered hallways do not undermine the komunalka’s residents’ ability to appreciate their buildings’ architectural value and desirable city location.