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“I picked a random note to start with and created the alphabet from there. Once you know it, it becomes pretty easy to use. I also taught the code to my friends who were traveling with me – Goldberg says -. We used it to mark people’s addresses and other information we would need to find them. We have coded the data of many on the spot, so that we have the information necessary to make them emigrate, as well as details that we hoped could help other people with the same intentions.“.
The stages and the expulsion
The US musicians had made a stop in Moscow before heading to Tbilisi. In the capital of Georgia and later in Yerevan, the capital ofArmenia, they managed to meet the members of the Phantom Orchestramany of whom spoke some English, getting to know each other, playing together and even organizing small impromptu concerts.
During the eight days of travel, the musicians were constantly stalked by Soviet agents and were repeatedly stopped for questioning. Goldberg says that members of the Phantom Orchestra, who were subjected to similar treatments on a daily basis, had given her and her colleagues advice and encouragement. When Americans expressed concern that their presence could endanger activists, orchestra members resolutely stressed the importance of spending time together. Some of the activists, Goldberg adds, however, they paid with arrest and beatings those interactions.
“On the second night, while we were playing together, the KGB arrived and closed everything. They turned off the power. The situation was appalling – Goldberg says -. When we play, however, no one can take away the sense of freedom and power. Playing and communicating with people through music is unparalleled. I was amazed by the power generated by the music; it can be very comforting, but it also conveys a sense of power“.
After staying in Yerevan, the American musicians had planned to go to Riga, the capital of Latvia, and then to Leningrad, the current Russian city of St. Petersburg. Finally, they should have stopped in Paris before returning to the United States. Instead, they were stopped and questioned again. The musicians were supposed to end up under house arrest in Yerevan, but Goldberg reports that Armenian officials had been opposed to the intrusion of the Kgb, preferring to let them continue the journey. In the end, however, the musicians were picked up and escorted to Moscow, where Soviet agents confiscated their passports. Goldberg says the group was taken around Moscow for several hours, perhaps as a scare tactic, before finally being allowed to stay in a dormitory guarded by young soldiers armed with machine guns.
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