Here is a video taken in the ghost town of Pripyat. This was the industrial city created in the Ukraine to house workers attached to the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
This was a model Soviet industrial city. It is hauntingly interesting to see the skeleton of a modern city that has been evacuated in a hurry.
Mikes Vacation has extreme sympathy for those that lost their lives and their homes during this disaster.
However, there is something more than grim sadness that can be gleaned from the following video. There is a small amount of hope, and some happiness that can be seen here.
Pripyat was a very credible attempt by the Soviet Union to build a HAPPY, FUNCTIONAL , MODERN industrial city for its citizens. This city was not designed as a "showplace". There was no propaganda value to this city. It was simply a good place to live.
The people that lived there had GOOD lives. They were obviously happy. The Chernobyl disaster occurred because of innocent human error, and a nuclear powerplant design that was inherently flawed. This was not the fault of communism.
As all of you remember we had a little problem called 3-mile island that could very easily have been a giant disaster on American soil. We have been very lucky in America.
When you look at the following video, please be reverent for the lives that were destroyed, and lost. But it is also ok to have some happy feelings for the sweetness of the same lives before they were lost.
The ending for Pripyat was sad and tragic, that isn't all of the story. People lived and loved here. They raised kids there, fell in love, had dreams and adventures. And the city that all of these lives unfolded in was engeneered to help them have good lives. The Soviets were obviously attempting to spend some of their wealth and resources towards giving some of their workers a great opportunity for health and happiness.
Please view this video with revernce, sadness, but also some respectful happiness, for obviously life was good in Pripyat before the disaster.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gpoVzAArUN0&feature=related
Michael Miller
Indiana,
2007
Dear Readers, please see the attached page for photo artistic work done by our new friend markr. His comments can be seen below also.
http://www.nikongear.com/Chernobyl/Chernobyl_1.php
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2 comments:
Hi Mike,
Pripyat was definitely not the typical Soviet town. Unlike other cities, there were no lines at stores to buy bread or any other goods.
I happen to be friends with several former Pripyat residents, and they all really loved their city.
I personally visited the Chernobyl area for two days in June 2006 with a friend and former resident of Pripyat. Even though the buildings are now in disrepair, you can still see the city's former beauty.
During my trip, we toured the Chernobyl Plant (including the Reactor 4 control room), several of the abandoned villages, and Pripyat. I have posted a photo journal of my trip at:
My Journey to Chernobyl: 20 Years After the Disaster
Thank you for that link Mark. The photography and the story are great! Mike
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