Selected text
After the October Revolution of 1917 father was deprived of his plants. Father remained a chief engineer at one plant. There were several turpentine plants in Belarus, but Father had the best ones. They supplied these goods to Mogilev and Mogilev region, and from there it was supplied further – to Moscow, Leningrad. After the [October] Revolution, a former shoemaker became the director of the plant. We had ordered shoes from him before the Revolution, had given him the opportunity to earn money. When the shoemaker became the director, he sometimes mocked at my father being so mild, delicate and polite. Father got very upset because of his boorishness.
After the [October] Revolution, in the lean years, when I was already a kid, we saw people starving. Father would come home, cut half a loaf of bread and carry it to the starving. He would tell Mother, ‘You have half the loaf left, and tomorrow you bake skovorodniki. I will bring you flour.’ Mother baked skovorodniki, mixing dough and water like the one for pancakes, only thicker, as a skovorodnik was very thick. People respected Father so much that they always gave him flour, even on credit. Mother did not scold him very much for giving away bread to the starving, but still she got upset.
After the [October] Revolution, in the lean years, when I was already a kid, we saw people starving. Father would come home, cut half a loaf of bread and carry it to the starving. He would tell Mother, ‘You have half the loaf left, and tomorrow you bake skovorodniki. I will bring you flour.’ Mother baked skovorodniki, mixing dough and water like the one for pancakes, only thicker, as a skovorodnik was very thick. People respected Father so much that they always gave him flour, even on credit. Mother did not scold him very much for giving away bread to the starving, but still she got upset.
Period
Year
1915
Location
Bykhov
Belarus
Interview
Maria Lipovskaya