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My older sister Lubov met a girl that was taken by the ‘Road of life’ from Leningrad. My sister was a very determined girl. She convinced her friend to volunteer to the front. They were both 18. I was 15. They decided to go to the Navy for good food and warm clothing. They didn’t share this idea with their household and walked 10 km to the military registry office where they said they wanted to serve in the Navy. They were sent to Leningrad with other recruits. When my mother heard about it she almost fainted. In Leningrad the girls studied at an artillery school. After finishing school my sister and few others were sent to an island in the Finnish Bay. They were the first to meet German planes that headed to Leningrad. They shot at them. They slept in holes that they made in the layer of snow. Once a week a small boat delivered food to this island. We occasionally received letters from my sister.
In winter 1941 many people in Malotrifonnoye village began to die from hunger. My mother got ill. She couldn’t walk and had her legs swollen from hunger. Genia and her daughter went to our relatives in Sverdlovsk in 150 km from the village. My sister Elena lived there since 1938. My mother told me to go to Elena to save my life. I was afraid of leaving my mother. Actually, I had to go there. We received a telegram from our relatives saying that Elena had a tram accident. My mother cried and asked me to go to my sister. We had Elena’s address and knew that worked at the plant of plastic. I went to Sverdlovsk.
I went from one hospital to another until I found my sister. She had broken collarbone, head injury and concussion. Elena gave me the key to her room in the basement in the center of the town. There was a stove with a stack and a steel bed in her room. The next day I went to the plant where she worked as an accountant and found a friend of hers that helped me to get a job. I worked in a hazardous place at the plant. This was a military plant. My task was to test parts of planes with an indicator tool. I worked in the upper tier where poisonous gases were accumulating. When my sister returned from the hospital she went with her friend to take our mother to Sverdlovsk. They almost carried her in their arms.
In winter 1941 many people in Malotrifonnoye village began to die from hunger. My mother got ill. She couldn’t walk and had her legs swollen from hunger. Genia and her daughter went to our relatives in Sverdlovsk in 150 km from the village. My sister Elena lived there since 1938. My mother told me to go to Elena to save my life. I was afraid of leaving my mother. Actually, I had to go there. We received a telegram from our relatives saying that Elena had a tram accident. My mother cried and asked me to go to my sister. We had Elena’s address and knew that worked at the plant of plastic. I went to Sverdlovsk.
I went from one hospital to another until I found my sister. She had broken collarbone, head injury and concussion. Elena gave me the key to her room in the basement in the center of the town. There was a stove with a stack and a steel bed in her room. The next day I went to the plant where she worked as an accountant and found a friend of hers that helped me to get a job. I worked in a hazardous place at the plant. This was a military plant. My task was to test parts of planes with an indicator tool. I worked in the upper tier where poisonous gases were accumulating. When my sister returned from the hospital she went with her friend to take our mother to Sverdlovsk. They almost carried her in their arms.
Period
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Evgenia Gendler