Selected text
We got on a train. We were on our way for two or three months. The train often stopped, we changed trains and often spent a few days at different stations. We were starving. We ran out of food and didn't have anything to exchange for food. My brother was crying from hunger, but I kept silent. We arrived at Sovkhozchi Papskiy kolkhoz, in Namangan region in Uzbekistan [3,200 km from Chernigov]. We suffered from cold and hunger. It was winter. We were accommodated in a clay wall hut. There was no work. This kolkhoz grew cotton and in winter there was no work to do. Shortly after we arrived, my aunt Basia drank water from an aryk [an artificial water canal]. She contracted typhoid and died. Her children, Felix and Betia, stayed with us for some time and then they left for Kuibyshev to stay with my father's sister Eva. Felix lives in Ufa now and Betia in Gomel. They have no children, probably because their parents were cousins. They send me greetings on my birthday and on New Year's.
Grandfather Ghil got ill. He missed his older daughter Basia very much. He was also worried about my father, who was at the front. We had no information about him. Grandfather Ghil died about two months after Basia passed away. As for us, I cannot understand how we survived this horrific winter. I can still see a shelf high up on the wall with nice-looking flat cookies on it. We, children, weren't allowed to eat them since they were made of very low quality millet and we could have fallen ill from them. Adults chewed on them and we, kids, only looked at them on that shelf. My grandmother added a small cup of flour to boiling water in a huge bowl to make food for us - it was called 'zatirukha'. In spring the situation improved a little. I picked goosefoot grass - I still hate it - to make soup. Aunt Sarra left for Kuibyshev with Fania's children Inna and Evgeni. Life was easier there since they worked at the aviation plant and received food packages. Sarra, Inna and Felix stayed in Kuibyshev after the war. In early 1960 we took Sarra to live with us in Chernigov. Sarra died in 1967. Inna has also passed away by now. Evgeni and his family live in Kiev.
In spring we moved to Gulbach, a settlement in Papskiy district, where we got a plot of land. We tried to grow vegetables there. Cabbage and potatoes didn't grow in this area. Local residents grew wheat or barley. Aunt Genia planted rice, but it didn't grow because there wasn't enough water. My cousin and I picked mulberries from a tree near an aryk. Uzbeks suspected that we were stealing water, which was as precious as gold. One of them ran after my cousin and me with a whip and threatened that he would kill us if he saw us again. We grew millet that summer and were happy to have it. I went to pick brushwood in the fields. I made huge bundles of it and dragged them home. We grew corn and roasted it on the fire: this was incredibly delicious. I also went to gather salt at a swamp with adults. It had a bitter taste and we had to wash it many times before we could use it. I had numerous wounds on my legs that didn't heal from standing in salty water.
Grandfather Ghil got ill. He missed his older daughter Basia very much. He was also worried about my father, who was at the front. We had no information about him. Grandfather Ghil died about two months after Basia passed away. As for us, I cannot understand how we survived this horrific winter. I can still see a shelf high up on the wall with nice-looking flat cookies on it. We, children, weren't allowed to eat them since they were made of very low quality millet and we could have fallen ill from them. Adults chewed on them and we, kids, only looked at them on that shelf. My grandmother added a small cup of flour to boiling water in a huge bowl to make food for us - it was called 'zatirukha'. In spring the situation improved a little. I picked goosefoot grass - I still hate it - to make soup. Aunt Sarra left for Kuibyshev with Fania's children Inna and Evgeni. Life was easier there since they worked at the aviation plant and received food packages. Sarra, Inna and Felix stayed in Kuibyshev after the war. In early 1960 we took Sarra to live with us in Chernigov. Sarra died in 1967. Inna has also passed away by now. Evgeni and his family live in Kiev.
In spring we moved to Gulbach, a settlement in Papskiy district, where we got a plot of land. We tried to grow vegetables there. Cabbage and potatoes didn't grow in this area. Local residents grew wheat or barley. Aunt Genia planted rice, but it didn't grow because there wasn't enough water. My cousin and I picked mulberries from a tree near an aryk. Uzbeks suspected that we were stealing water, which was as precious as gold. One of them ran after my cousin and me with a whip and threatened that he would kill us if he saw us again. We grew millet that summer and were happy to have it. I went to pick brushwood in the fields. I made huge bundles of it and dragged them home. We grew corn and roasted it on the fire: this was incredibly delicious. I also went to gather salt at a swamp with adults. It had a bitter taste and we had to wash it many times before we could use it. I had numerous wounds on my legs that didn't heal from standing in salty water.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
lina mukhamedjanova