Inessa Vitkina’s cousin Ida’s family

The family of our cousin Ida, the daughter of Mama's brother Haim. From left to right: our cousin Ida Vitkina, Mogilkina after her husband, her daughter Rimma, son Yuri and her husband Gennadiy Mogilkin.
Ida studied at the Pedagogical Institute in Leningrad before the war. During the war she was in the blockade and in 1942 she was taken out of Leningrad. She joined us in Grozny and we all evacuated from there together.

In 1942 our cousin Ida, Haim's daughter arrived from Leningrad. She survived the blockade - the horrible famine. And the first thing she did after she escaped was buying about half a bag of black flour that she brought with her. When I opened the door I didn't recognize her and ran to Mama to tell her that some gipsy with a sack was asking for her. Ida visited us before - a beautiful woman with long hair. After the blockade she looked terrible - black and thin. Ida still never throws bread away; she either finishes it or makes crusts. I believe all survivors of the blockade do the same. The five of us - three of us, my aunt and Ida - went to the evacuation.