Roza Molselevna Bershteyn

A former school teacher in Chelnochovsk-na-Dniestrye, southwestern Ukraine, Bershetyn was interviewed for Two Lines / Power by Diana Blank about a “flood that wasn’t” in her hometown. In July of 1995, the entire town was evacuated because they had received news that the dam upriver at the Novodniestrovsk hydro-electric power plant had broken. After a harrowing few hours of evacuation and waiting, the townspeople were told it had been a false alarm. Many believed that the government had tricked them in order to cover up a large-scale smuggling operation. In Bershetyn’s version of events, the lines of electrical power and political power entangle. Her tale reveals the social dimensions of this town and the power of rumors.