The Settlement of Khenikandzha. 1960 From the Safonov family archive.

Khenikandzha (also spelled Hinikendzha, Hinikendzhinsky; formerly the Otechestvenny Mine)

A settlement on the banks of the Khenikandzha River emerged in the early 1940s. The first free and unfree residents settled here after the discovery, in 1941, of a tin ore deposit and the opening of the Otechestvenny Mine in the middle reaches of the Khenikandzha River. The first official mention of the new settlement appears in a Dalstroy order dated October 1, 1942, when the Kuliynsky Integrated Exploration District was divided into two parts: the Arga-Yuryakh District, responsible for placer deposits, and the Kuliynsky District, focused on ore exploration. The base settlement of the Kuliynsky exploration district was established on the banks of the Khenikandzha River. Thus, the future settlement of Khenikandzha received its first name, the Settlement of the Kuliynsky Exploration District. At that time, the settlement consisted of an ore exploration camp, a stable, and several houses built for geologists. The exploration camp was located near the entrance to the Bushuy stream ravine. Another part of the settlement is the stable, where the geological party’s horses were kept during winter, and several residential houses, stood on the opposite bank of the river near the bridge. This area became known as Konbaza, a name that remained in use until the settlement’s closure.

Names of the Settlement

Over the course of its existence, the settlement changed several names. For a period of time it was known as Otechestvenny, after the mine. On a 1955 map, the settlement appears as Khenikandzhinsky, while a 1958 map marks it as Khenikandzha. Other spelling variants - Hinikendzha, Hinikendzhinsky are also found in various sources. Until its closure, the official name remained Khenikandzha.

The History of the Settlement of Khenikandzha

In the autumn of 1942, the population of the settlement increased with the arrival of Germans from the Labour Front, who were engaged in the construction of an ore-processing plant. They can be regarded as free residents only conditionally: although they lived outside barbed wire and without constant escort, they were not fully free. That same autumn, the mine was put into operation. The main workforce consisted of prisoners from the Sevvostlag labour camp system. The settlement’s population also grew through the arrival of civilian specialists working at the mine, as well as military personnel - more precisely, members of the camp guard. They settled near the entrance to the ravine of Bushuy Creek, where they were based until approximately 1953–1954. The area where the barracks and the guards’ houses were located became known as Garnizon (Garrison). This name later became firmly associated with that part of the settlement of Khenikandzha which developed there after the labour camps were closed and the military personnel left the banks of the Khenikandzha River.

Until 1953, the free population of Khenikandzha grew mainly through former prisoners who had been released from labour camps but were prohibited from leaving for the mainland. The settlement’s population resembled a small international community: it included Germans from the Labour Front; Ukrainians, Poles, and Latvians from Berlag; Chechens and Crimean Tatars deported in 1944; and many, many others. After the formation of the Tenkinsky District in 1953, by Decree No. 732/27 of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated December 22, 1953, “On assigning certain settlements to the category of workers’ settlements and establishing rural councils within Magadan Oblast,” the Khenikandzhinsky Rural Council was established as part of the Tenkinsky District. From 1953 onward, the settlement’s population began to grow due to contract workers who signed agreements with Dalstroy and gradually replaced prisoners in the workforce. The transition of the mine to free labour was completed in 1955. By 1954, the settlement’s population had already reached 887 people. Considering that many former prisoners were still prohibited from leaving for the mainland and remained in the same place where they had served their sentences, in Khenikandzha and the population grew rapidly. In 1956, the settlement reached its peak population of approximately 1,500 residents. These were the years of Khenikandzha’s greatest prosperity. Despite its remote location, the settlement fully possessed all the social and cultural facilities necessary for everyday life: a club, library, canteen, shop, bathhouse, post office, primary school, and kindergarten.

Layout of the Settlement of Khenikandzha

The settlement was located on both sides of the Khenikandzha River and was conventionally divided into several areas: Konbaza, Garnizon, the substation area, the central (factory) area, and the construction workshop. Konbaza was situated before the bridge across the Khenikandzha River (when travelling from the Neryuchinsk power station), slightly aside and upstream. During the years when the settlement existed, this area housed the mine’s stable, which held three horses, as well as a large cowshed designed for fifty cows.

The Settlement of Khenikandzha. During Haymaking.

Hay for the livestock was harvested along the banks of the Kulu River by workers of the Khenikandzha Mine. In addition to the facilities mentioned above, Konbaza contained six or seven residential houses. This area was inhabited mainly by people who had come from Ukraine. When Khenikandzha was being closed, Konbaza was among the first parts of the settlement to be dismantled. The houses were taken apart and relocated to the settlement named after Marina Raskova.

Mi-4 Helicopter on the Football Field. Khenikandzha, 1958 From the Safonov family archive.

Beyond the bridge, on the opposite bank of the Khenikandzha River, there was a fork in the road. One road went straight toward the former Vostochny site and further on to the Kostyor site, while the other turned to the right and ran along a ridge of hills through the Khenikandzha River valley. Along the road, on the left side, there was a football field which was occasionally used as a helicopter landing site; beyond it stood a petrol station. Continuing further, past the petrol station, on the right side of the road, was the Garnizon area. The settlement bakery was located there, where residents could buy fresh bread. Mikhail Godach worked at the bakery. Long-time residents still recall with warmth the taste of Khenikandzha bread. In addition to the bakery, there were about ten residential houses in the Garnizon area.

Substation

The settlement and mine substation building still stands today at the entrance to the ravine of Bushuy Creek. During the years when Khenikandzha existed, about six residential houses were located between the road and the substation, the nearest of them approximately 50 meters away. Families such as the Kuznetsovs, Stukovs, and others lived in these houses. Opposite the substation, on the other side of the road (to the right), there was another part of the settlement. It housed the mine garage, a forge, a large bathhouse, a boiler house, a kindergarten, and an outpatient clinic. A volleyball court was located near the bathhouse. The settlement garage consisted of two large bays. The first bay, positioned parallel to the road, contained a dispatch office and a repair workshop. Passenger cars and the mine’s RAF vehicles were based there. The second bay, located near the club and positioned perpendicular to the road, was used by logging trucks that transported timber from the upper reaches of the Kulu River. The forge was located behind this bay.

At the Bus Stop. The Settlement of Khenikandzha. November 1960 From the Safonov family archive.

A scheduled bus stop was located next to the settlement club. This part of the settlement was divided into two halves by an old settling pond with low embankments. It began at the road and extended almost to the Khenikandzha River, running perpendicular to the valley.

Club

The settlement club was located almost directly opposite the substation, across the road, near the bridge over the creek. It was designed to accommodate 80–100 people and served as the cultural center of the settlement. The club building was single-storey, wooden, and L-shaped. Inside the club there was a library and a large room equipped with a billiard table and table tennis. Further along the building was the trade union room, where residents could borrow checkers, chess sets, fencing foils, and other equipment for sports and leisure activities. At the end of the building was an auditorium where film screenings were held. Films were shown daily, with the screening starting at 7:00 p.m. A child’s ticket cost 5 kopecks, and an adult ticket cost 20 kopecks. The same hall was also used for celebrations and all major events — New Year festivities, concerts, elections, and other gatherings. In winter, an ice rink for children was flooded near the club. The club building was not dismantled after the closure of Khenikandzha and remained standing for a long time. In 1988, it housed the Kisel (Kiselev) cooperative.

Kindergarten

A kindergarten was available for the young residents of Khenikandzha. It was located in a large barracks-type building, which it shared with the medical point. The kindergarten had several groups, including a nursery. Children were accepted into the nursery from the age of six months.

Khenikandzha. In the Kindergarten Yard

Adjacent to the kindergarten building was a fenced playground with swings and other simple play equipment for the children. Meals for the children were prepared on site, as the kindergarten had its own kitchen. In the late 1950s, according to Sergey Golubev, there were about 50 children attending the kindergarten. For many years, Dina Alekseevna Tubanova worked at the kindergarten as a teacher, and Potapova served as a nanny.

The Settlement of Khenikandzha. New Year’s Celebration at the Kindergarten. 1964

Medical Post

The medical post (outpatient clinic) was located in the same building as the kindergarten, with a separate entrance at the end of the building. The medical facility consisted of two rooms. It should be noted that the organization of medical care for the residents of the settlement had been problematic since the Dalstroy period. The medical point constantly suffered from a lack of staff and equipment. For example, Order No. 103 of the TGPU medical department dated May 10, 1946, stated: “Due to the absence of staff positions for the medical point at the Khenikandzhinsky Mining and Processing Combine (KGRK), it is to be considered liquidated as of May 10, 1946. Medical services for civilian employees, in accordance with the order of GUSDS, are to be transferred to the medical unit of the KGRK camp.” As a result, the free residents of the settlement were forced to receive medical care at the camp hospital. Problems in the provision of medical care in Khenikandzha were also described in an article published in Magadanskaya Pravda on September 14, 1956: “Residents of the settlement of Khenikandzha are forced to travel 150 kilometers to purchase streptocide or other medicines. There is a pharmacy in the settlement, but as a rule it has no medications. There are other shortcomings in medical care for the settlement’s workers. A feldsher-midwife substitutes for a doctor. Naturally, her knowledge is far from sufficient to assist everyone in need. Specialists visit the settlement rarely. The X-ray room operates only from time to time. A dental technician was sent, but for some reason he does not have everything necessary for his work.” For many years, Valentina Karpets worked as a nurse at the outpatient clinic. After the medical point was closed, she worked as a teacher at the kindergarten.

Bathhouse (Banya)

The settlement bathhouse was spacious, and no one could recall exactly when it had been built. According to one long-time resident, the bathhouse may have been inherited by Khenikandzha from the former labour camps. Inside, the bathhouse was divided into two sections — the left for women and the right for men — with the steam room located in the centre of the building. The bathhouse was heated by its own coal-fired boiler house; later this boiler house was closed, and heating was supplied from the central boiler. The bathhouse operated on Saturdays. On that day, a hairdresser would arrive in Khenikandzha from Ust-Omchug. From the recollections of a resident of Khenikandzha: “I remember the long bathhouse building very well. Inside, a portrait was hanging, and those eyes seemed to follow you from anywhere. I was given a haircut and photographed there before starting school.”

The Central Settlement (the Area Near the Processing Plant)

From the ravine of Bushuy Creek almost all the way to the processing plant stretched a settling pond with high embankments — approximately six to seven meters tall — lying between the foot of the hillside and the road. The road reached the plant grounds, then turned to the right and continued toward the Khenikandzha River.

The Processing Plant of the Khenikandzha Mine. 1950s

In practical terms, the Central Settlement began at the plant’s grounds. This area contained warehouses, the mine administration office, a two-storey shop, a fire station, and several other buildings. Beyond that, residential houses and other structures were located along the road from the plant toward the bank of the Khenikandzha River.

Shop

The shop was located in the settlement’s only two-storey building. The grocery department occupied the ground floor, while the second floor was devoted to industrial goods. Most of the grocery assortment consisted of canned food, dried potatoes, and onions. Fresh vegetables and fruit were not available to the residents — a consequence of the settlement’s remoteness from the regional centre and the general supply difficulties in Magadan Oblast at the time. Although, to be fair, agricultural centres of the Tenkinsky District, such as Ust-Omchug, Chalbukhan, Kulu, and others, were located not far from the settlement. Credit must be given where it is due: meat and butter were always available for sale. A cold storage facility for food and meat was arranged in one of the mine tunnels deep in the ravine of Bushuy Creek. In winter, frozen milk was delivered to the settlement in large basins in which it had been frozen at the farms. Near the entrance to the shop stood a barrel of red caviar, which was sold as a compulsory add-on to other goods. In the industrial goods section, fishing tackle, gunpowder, and shot were available for hunters and fishermen. When the settlement began to be closed, the shop was moved from the two-storey building into the former club library premises, where it continued operating until the liquidation of Khenikandzha. In the Central Settlement there was also a canteen, where workers from the processing plant and the mine took their meals, as well as a primary school. Behind the school were located the post office and the building of the settlement council.

The Settlement of Khenikandzha. Near the Processing Plant. Lukyanov in a Sailor’s Vest

In the photograph, behind the residents of the settlement, stands the building of the primary school; beyond it is the canteen, and in the background are the mining sections of the mine. The settlement canteen was among the first buildings to be dismantled in Khenikandzha, in 1962–1963, and was relocated to the settlement of Kulu. Near the primary school, across the road, was a pumping station that supplied water to the residents of the settlement.

Khenikandzha. The Settlement Near the Processing Plant From the Safonov family archive.

The distant building in the centre is the primary school. On the left side is the pumping station. To the right of the school are the canteen and the mine’s accounting office. (The house on the right, with handwriting visible on the roof, is my childhood home — I was born here and lived in this house until the age of four.)

Primary School

After kindergarten, the children of Khenikandzha attended the settlement’s primary school up to the 4th grade. Classes were held in a single morning shift.

The Settlement of Khenikandzha. Primary School From the Safonov family archive.

The school was a long barracks-type building with a stove located in the centre. To the left was a classroom for the 1st and 3rd grades, and to the right, a classroom for the 2nd and 4th grades. In 1951, Semyonova served as the head of the school and as a teacher. In the 1960s, approximately 30–40 children studied at the school. Two teachers worked at the school. For many years, Nina Ivanovna Kuznetsova taught there, and Tatyana Maksimovna Belysheva was also a teacher at the school.

Young Pioneers of Khenikandzha near the primary school with their teacher, Tatyana Maksimovna Belysheva (members of the Soviet youth organization) From the Safonov family archive.

Top row, left to right: Aleksey Safonov, Aleksandr Svintsov, Anatoly Karev, Aleksandr Boyko, our teacher — Tatyana Maksimovna Belysheva. Bottom row, left to right: Natalya Vidisheva, Larisa Fyodorova, Raisa Fyodorova, Tatyana Sokolova (in front of her is the daughter of T. M. Belysheva), Tatyana Golovicher. After completing primary school, pupils continued their education and lived at the boarding school in the settlement of Ust-Omchug. Before the closure of the settlement, due to the small number of pupils, the school was moved into the kindergarten building. There it occupied a single room, with all grades taught together. For example, in the second grade there was only one pupil. Over the decades, the Khenikandzha River significantly changed its course. It now flows through the areas where the primary school and the post office once stood.

Construction Workshop (Stroytcekh)

The road reached the bank of the Khenikandzha River, and beyond the bridge there was another fork. The branch to the left led toward the upper reaches of the Kulu River, where a logging site and a landing pier were located. The other branch led to the construction workshop, which was surrounded by a wire fence, fragments of which can still be found today. Near the construction workshop there was also a small settlement consisting of no more than ten residential houses.

Cemetery

If one continued upward through the ravine from the construction workshop, after approximately one kilometre the road led to the settlement cemetery. During the Dalstroy period, prisoners were buried in this cemetery; however, very few of those graves have survived. According to former prisoners, the deceased were buried at shallow depth, and bears often visited the burial sites. An interesting detail is that the deceased — including prisoners — were buried in coffins that were made at the local construction workshop. According to a long-time resident of the settlement, there were also many children’s graves in this cemetery. It is worth recalling that during the Dalstroy period there was a women’s OLP of Tenlag and a women’s OLP of Berlag in Khenikandzha, and a children’s home also existed — hence the children’s burials. After the labour camps in Khenikandzha were closed, residents of the settlement were also buried in this cemetery.

Residential Sector

The settlement’s residential houses were wooden and were built on site using local materials — primarily larch timber. The houses were clad with wooden lath, plastered, and whitewashed both inside and out. Among the residential buildings in Khenikandzha were single-family and two-family houses, as well as barracks-type buildings.

The Settlement of Khenikandzha. Residential Building From the Safonov family archive.

This was one of the few barracks buildings that existed in Khenikandzha. It can be assumed that the barracks was inherited by the settlement from the Tenlag OLP — in other words, it was originally a camp barracks. After the camp was disbanded, the building was repaired and reconstructed, resulting in small but separate apartments connected by a shared corridor. Another indication of the building’s camp past was its roof, covered with so-called Finnish wooden shingles. During the Dalstroy period, roofing felt was extremely scarce, while wooden shingles were produced at local sawmills.

Heating

For the most part, the majority of Khenikandzha was heated locally. Houses were equipped with brick stoves as well as metal Dutch-type stoves lined with brick. Heating was provided by firewood or coal, which was sometimes obtained from the boiler house. Central heating in residential and public buildings existed only in one part of the settlement — opposite the substation, where Khenikandzha’s central boiler house was located. The boiler house was housed in a wooden building and operated two hot-water boilers. It supplied heat to the club, the garage, the kindergarten, and several nearby residential houses. The settlement’s boiler house ran on coal delivered from Arkagala.

Communications

The post office building housed a public telephone exchange, where the telephone switchboard was also located. There were no telephones in private homes; telephone sets were installed in the club and in the mine garage.

Water Supply

Drinking water and water for technical needs was distributed throughout the settlement from the pumping station (located near the primary school) by a ZIS-150 water truck. For many years, the vehicle was driven by Chirkov.

Subsistence Activities

Only a few residents maintained vegetable gardens in Khenikandzha, as the local climatic conditions were poorly suited to agriculture.

The Settlement of Khenikandzha From the Safonov family archive.

As a rule, residents grew greens in the small front gardens near their homes — radishes, onions, and dill. Even at that time, there were people with an entrepreneurial spirit who knew how to manage their own small хозяйство. From the recollections of a settlement resident: “There was a woman from Western Ukraine living in the settlement. She had the first greenhouse in Khenikandzha and was the first to keep chickens. She sold eggs at three roubles per dozen, and people signed up in advance — there was a queue. For comparison, my mother’s salary at the time was 65 roubles.”

Transport Connections

A PAZ bus arrived in Khenikandzha every two days from Ust-Omchug, passing through Gvardeyets and Tokichan. It arrived in the settlement in the evening and stayed overnight; in winter, the bus was kept in the mine garage. In the morning, it departed for the settlement named after Marina Raskova and from there returned to Ust-Omchug.

The Decline of Khenikandzha

In the second half of the 1950s, the population of the settlement began to decline for several reasons. After the abolition of exile by Decree No. 134/27 of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 10, 1956, many of those who had previously been prohibited from leaving Kolyma gained the opportunity to return to the mainland. However, not all those who had passed through the Tenlag and Berlag camps left Khenikandzha. Many had started families, and there was work and housing available. For some, there was simply nowhere else to go. There were also those who left and later returned. One such example was the Loginov spouses, who had served their sentences at the Khenikandzha Mine: “In 1957 we went to his relatives — first to the Urals, then to Tula. He found a job, I was already pregnant, and I soon gave birth to our daughter there. But conflicts with relatives over housing and trivial matters began, and life became unbearable. I wrote to friends in Khenikandzha asking them to send money for the journey. They did, and we decided to return.” This was not an isolated case. Finally, there were those who sincerely came to love this harsh land. Khenikandzha was a miners’ settlement, and the Khenikandzha Mine was its town-forming enterprise. Nearly all aspects of life in the settlement were tied to it. The crisis of the tin industry in Magadan Oblast in the second half of the 1950s inevitably affected both the mine and the settlement. In the summer of 1959, the Khenikandzha Mine was liquidated. By Resolution No. 60 of the Magadan Regional Economic Council dated June 15, 1959, a separate gold-mining operation — the Dalny Mine — was established on the basis of the placer mining sections Gvardeyets and named after M. Raskova, with its base in the settlement of Khenikandzha. Personnel and production facilities of the Khenikandzha Mine were transferred to the new gold-mining operation. Nevertheless, with the closure of the mine and the processing plant, the number of jobs declined.

The Khenikandzha Mine of the Dalny Operation at the Gvardeyets Section 1962
From the Safonov family archive. From Left to Right - Chief Engineer of the operation — M. G. Zavarzin; mechanic of the production department — Mamaev; production training engineer — A. A. Safonova; occupational safety engineer — Sukhanov; chief mechanic of the operation — V. V. Gil.

The population of Khenikandzha also continued to decline, and in 1961–1962 approximately 340 people lived in the settlement. The fate of the settlement of Khenikandzha was decided in 1964. By Decision No. 323 of the Magadan Regional Executive Committee dated July 23, 1964, aimed at improving public services and taking into account the interests of the majority of residents, as well as petitions from district organizations, the administrative centre of the Khenikandzhinsky Rural Council was transferred from the settlement of Khenikandzha to the settlement of Kulu. At the same time, the Khenikandzhinsky Rural Council of Workers’ Deputies of the Tenkinsky District was renamed the Kuliynsky Rural Council of Workers’ Deputies, with its administrative centre in Kulu. Along with the administrative status, several buildings were relocated from Khenikandzha to Kulu, one of them being the canteen. In 1964, it was decided to move the office of the Dalny Mine and all major facilities located in Khenikandzha to the settlement named after Marina Raskova, closer to the mining sites. In 1965, the settlement’s primary school was transferred to the kindergarten building. The school building itself was dismantled and moved to the settlement named after Marina Raskova. In the same year, the office building, the post office, and most residential houses that were still in good condition were also relocated. From the recollections of Sergey Golubev: “We left Khenikandzha in June 1967, among the last. There was practically no one left — perhaps five people remained.” Thus, it can be said that the settlement was effectively liquidated in 1967–1968. According to Inna Gribanova, the settlement was officially closed in 1969. During resettlement, some former residents of Khenikandzha moved to the settlement named after Marina Raskova, to Gvardeyets and Tokichan, while others relocated to Ust-Omchug, and some left Kolyma forever. It should be noted that during the liquidation of Khenikandzha, everything of value that could be transported was removed from the settlement. Former residents were provided with housing and employment.

Sources and Acknowledgements
This article uses materials from the book by Inna Gribanova, “Tenka — A Turn of the Spiral.” My sincere gratitude and appreciation for their assistance in preparing this article go to Sergey Golubev, the Safonov brothers, and Sergey Avdevnin. The original Russian article by Vasiliy Obraztsov is available here. The history of Khenikandzha is closely connected with Dalstroy and the Soviet GULAG labour camp system, including special-purpose camps such as Berlag.