Tag #150488 - Interview #78242 (Ruvin Gitman)

In 1932-33 there was a terrible famine in Ukraine [6]. Our cow saved us from starving to death. There were only three cows left in the whole village, and ours was one of them. During collectivization, only cows and chickens were left with their owners. Everything else was made public property. We didn't let our cow go to pasture. It would have been slaughtered by starving people. My father mowed grass and fed the cow in our yard. The cow stayed overnight in the anteroom of our house. My father slept beside it at night with an ax in his hands to defend himself from thieves if they came at night. In the morning my mother milked the cow. This bucket of milk was for our family, my grandfather and my father's brothers. During the afternoon milking hungry people came to our yard, and my mother poured each of them a cup of milk until it was finished. My mother never took any money for the milk. During the evening milking she also gave milk to people. We also ate corn that had been stored in our attic for a few years. We dried and ground the corn manually and boiled it. Milk and corn was our only food for two years. Our large family survived, but many other people didn't. Many people were dying; there were often no survivors in a family.