Famine My aunt Tilta survived the famine. She was 10 then. She told me her story.
My father and mother had a field and worked on it. There were 9 children in the family and all of them worked too. I was the youngest and stayed home with my grandmother and my grandfather. The grandmother cooked the food for the family. The yard was rather big and there was a big stove at the corner. On the stove, there were many pots made of cast iron, they were called “kazan”. The grandfather brought some straw and I put the straw into the stove, sat near it and watched the red and blue flame. I liked the smell of smoke from the stove. My grandmother was a very good cook, she tried to please her family. We were rather well-to-do, we had practically everything. We had 20 cows, 50 sheep, 20 horses, 40 pigs, 10 bulls, 25 calves, 50 geese, 50 ducks, 100 hens.
The father worked very hard. It was not easy to feed a big family and keep the farm. He hired five workers who helped him. We had enough sausages, fat and ham which were kept in the garret. We could go and take the food any time we needed it. As the youngest in the family I had to help in the yard. I was often sent to the garret but it was rather scary, I do not know why. We were religious people and believed that demons lived in the garrets. So, when I was sent to the garret again I pretended that I had a pain in my foot and could not climb the ladder. Then my grandfather had to do it. Lunch was ready at 2 o’clock. The family and the workers came home from the field. There was a big table in the middle of the yard with big soup bowls on it. There was also bread, cold mild, cabbage pies, pies stuffed with cottage cheese, sour cream. We had much wine in the cellar, and dry white or red wine was served too. Everybody had a glass of cold wine before lunch. We prayed before eating and after. Then all the people thanked my granny for food. I do not know but I wanted somebody to say thank you to me too, but nobody did.
The next day Granny and I prepared everything for lunch. The workers came from the field and sat down at the table. The table was laid but I did not put a plate with bread. It was in big bowl. Everybody asked for bread and I came up to everybody with a bowl and gave them a piece of bread. Everybody said “thank you”. So, that day I had many “thank you” and I was happy. Another day I did not put a spoon, or a fork, or a saucer, or a glass or another something on the table and I had my “thank you” when I brought them. Finally, they saw my trick and understood that I wanted badly to be appreciated. And since then, after having finished the lunch people had said “thank you” to me. I was very pleased. Not only my brothers and sisters worked but I worked too. I was 13 when one day two strangers on a cart came to our house. They said something to my grandfather and my grandfather left with them. We have not seen him since then. In a couple of days some other people came and took our livestock. They took everything the saw in the yard.We all cried desperately but nobody paid attention to us. They emptied the cellar, the garret, the pantry and left us nothing. It took them three days to do that. We had no bread, no grains, no flour, no vegetables – nothing. It was scary. There were some potatoes left in the field, and my brothers and sisters went there to pick them up. We baked them in the fire and ate. In spring we picked wild sorrel and ate different grasses, acacia flowers and plants. The spring of 1933 was beautiful, the birds were singing, we wanted to enjoy life. But it was tragic. Many people died of famine. My brothers, my sisters, my grandmother died one after another. Some time later the father died too. Only my mother and I had left of the whole big family. But the Mother was very weak. The people who transported the dead to the cemetery came to our house and wanted to put the mother onto the cart and take her to the cemetery. I said that she was alive. Mother lifted her hand and moved her fingers but she could not talk. “Leave her alone, don’t take her! “ I cried. But they said that the next day they would be gathering the dead in another street and would not come here. I ran after the cart to the cemetery, I cried and was exhausted. My mom was lying on the top of the dead bodies, she heard me cry but could not say anything. She was thrown into the grave and I saw her lifted hand and moving fingers. She was still alive.I was left alone of the family of 14. I was sent to the orphanage. We were given a piece of bread and soup. I was glad that I would not die of hunger. I grew up and got married. I had my own family, my children. Every spring I went to the cemetery, to that grave where so many people and my family were buried. I brought a loaf of bread, cut it into 13 pieces and left them on the grave. I mentioned the name of every member of the family and talked to them. Aunt Tilta did it every year until her death. Now her son and her daughter do the same. They know the story of their mother and how hard her life was. She survived the famine, while 12 million people died in Ukraine. And German people suffered more than any other nation.
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