Tag #147639 - Interview #94561 (Zinoviy Rukinglaz )

We arrived at Kustanai in late September 1941. Kustanai was a small town and there were mostly private houses in it. There were aryk canals [artificial canals] in the streets. There was a bazaar with plenty of fruit, watermelons and melons in the center of the town. Even we, residents of the south of Ukraine, were amazed at this plentiful of everything. At first we were accommodated in a school building. One month later we were accommodated in two rooms in a private house. The owners of the house were Kazakh people and they were very good to us. In December we received a letter from Grisha’s wife Raisa and then she joined us with her two-year-old daughter Yeva. We didn’t have enough space, but this was a common thing with all those who was in the evacuation. Raya and my mother slept on the beds in a bigger room. Raya’s children slept on couches. In a smaller room Grunia and Sima slept on the bed and Boria and I slept on the planks supported by chairs. My father slept on the floor in the kitchen.