History 19/03/20 LiveJournal”the girl in the red bikini”: how the Soviet waitress escaped from the USSR
“the girl in the red bikini” – the so-called foreign press Liliana Gusinsky. 18-year-old Ukrainian decided on a daring escape behind the iron curtain and succeeded.
Way to dream
Liliana was born in the steppe industrial town of Alchevsk in the Luhansk region. Parents always tried to give her the best of everything – fashionably dressed, gave the only good English school.
fourteen girl wished to leave the USSR. Good knowledge of foreign languages gave her the opportunity to get a job abroad. After school many of her classmates planned arrival in Gorlovka state pedagogical Institute of foreign languages or in more prestigious schools. But Lily didn’t want to wait that long. After graduating from eighth grade, she went to Odessa and went there in vocational schools that train young specialists for the passenger fleet. College graduates got a chance to work on international ships. Lily had a great student, and after graduation, passed a rigorous selection and got a job as a waitress at the international cruise ship “Leonid Sobinov”.
Despite her young age, she calculated. Her first trip as ship’s waitress was a cruise in Polynesia and Australia. 14 January 1979, the ship anchored in the Bay of Sydney. In the darkness and Lily in a bikini squeezed out through a porthole and swam to shore. 40 minutes later, once out on the land in one of the suburbs of Sydney, Pyrmont, she saw a man walking his dog, and in broken English asked him for help.
a Fugitive from the “evil Empire,”
Custody of Lily was taken by the journalists of a popular newspaper Daily Mirror. They hid the fugitive sought from its employees of the Soviet Embassy in exchange for agreeing to do a photo shoot and give an exclusive interview. Soon “the girl in the red bIceni” as it was called, became a celebrity. Her name did not descend from the front pages.
Lily told reporters that she hates the Soviet system, “based on lies and propaganda.” However, it upset the Soviet Union was nothing to buy in the shops.
Gasinska said it plans to become an actress or a model. Soon she signed a contract for 15 thousand dollars with the magazine Penthouse. In the Australian edition of the magazine appeared a picture of her in the style of “Nude”. The caption read: “the girl in the red bikini – without bikini”. Later Lily entered the school of models. But the refugee status she got, not without difficulty: the Australian authorities could not believe that the Soviet Union pursued for political reasons. There were those who proposed to deport the girl home, as usually received in this country with illegal refugees. The results of the runaways insisted, and the Soviet Embassy in Australia. However, Leela was lucky – she was allowed to stay.
Life on the other side
Gasinski Have struck up a romance with a photographer for the Daily Mirror Graham Fletcher, who had thrown for her wife and three children. Thanks to him, she made a career as a professional dancer and DJ. She even managed to star in two series of the TV show – “arcade” and “Young doctors.”
In 1981 on Liliana again began to write Newspapers. The Minister for immigration, Ian McPhee said that the status Gasinski may be revised, as, according to rumors, she applied for the restoration of Soviet citizenship. However, the very Gasinska denied this information.
Fletcher Gasinska broke up. In 1984, after receiving Australian citizenship, she married a wealthy businessman Ian Mate and became engaged in cosmetic business. Liliana actively helped his family in Alchevsk was constantly sent them money and gifts, but also pictures, which showed their happy life in exile.
In the mid-80s Gasinska still visited the Soviet Union and visited the wedding of his sisters in St. Petersburg. As a gift to the bride, she brought a gorgeous wedding dress.
meanwhile, the personal life and career Gasinski in Australia developed not too successfully. Her business did not bring profit, and relationship with her husband gradually began to deteriorate. In 1990, a divorce followed, after which the object was moved to London.
last name Liliana Gusinsky appeared on the society pages in 1991 when she took part in a London art exhibitions. Say a former fugitive from the Soviet Union lives modestly, not giving any interviews and does not like to talk about your past.
Russian Seven
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© Russian Seven
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