Tag #147764 - Interview #78520 (Sophia Noginskaya)

During the war mother’s elder brother Evsei worked near Leningrad, digging trenches. During the siege the youngest children stayed in town – my mother and Grisha. Evsei knew that they were hungry. At one point, in February 1942, having collected some food, he set off for town from his work to visit Mom and died somehow en route. He didn’t reach Mom, nor did he return to where he worked. They found out about it later.  I know about this because mother wrote it under his photo. Evsei was the most handsome of all his brothers and sisters. Mom was left only with Grisha, who was 18 in 1942. He died in March 1942 of starvation. He kept telling Mom that he was very hungry, and she, taking all the ration cards, set off to get some bread. When she returned, he was still alive, trying to tell her something, but his speech was incomprehensible. Most likely, he was taken to Piskarevsky cemetery [the mass burial place of Leningraders who died during the siege]. Mother transported his body with the help of an acquaintance…