(c) Daria Prokofyeva
Gabdrahman Akhmetovitch Mustafin (born 1908, Bashkiria), was a math and physics teacher. In 1948 he was arrested and sent to the Inta GULAG prison camp (Komi Republic, USSR), where he spent the following eight years. In 1950-1953 Mustafin G.A. [as a civil engineer] took part in the construction of the Inta water tower.
One autumn morning in 195* a group of comrade prisoners, including Mustafin G. A.1, wrote a message on a narrow piece of paper. They put the message inside a capsule and hid it in a metal tulip, a decorating element that was to be fixed at the top of the steeple crowning the water tower. The guard didn't notice them.
In 1957 the decision was made to replace the metal tulip by a five-pointed star. The metal tulip was dismantled, although the capsule with the message was not found. The capsule was taken by Holostov B.R.(born 1926, Estonia), a prisoner in Inta GULAG, a friend of Mustafin G.A. Holostov B.R. kept the capsule for several decades. In 1991 the message was given to Inta Regional Studies Museum. It has become a part of the museum's collection and is displayed in one of its rooms.
The events described above come from memories of Mustafin Gabdrahman Ahmetovich, who wrote them down as they came back to him.
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With the kind cooperation and support of Museum of Regional Studies, Inta, Russia; Research and Information Center ‘Memorial’, St-Petersburg, Russia.