Limareva Valentina Stepanovna

Aug.10th 2010, Konstantinovka, Ukraine

Interviewers: Inna (Russia) and Sigrid (Austria)

Interview with Valentina Stepanovna Limareva in her house in Proletarskaya Street 357. We sat in her living room and were offered black tea, biscuits, chocolate, grapes and peaches. On this day our dictaphone had disappeared, so this interview was documented only by hand on paper. Occasionally her daughter-in-law Nina was in the room and listened.

Summary: 

About the time in Konstantinovka before the war

-Tell me about the time before the war?

She lived with her father, mother and her sister in Ko soldiers, men, women and children. 

-How were you captured?

German were looking for youngsters and all the young people hided. They were going around the city and were searching for them. Valentina was hiding in the attic, when a policeman wanted to know if there are any young people in this house her mother told him that her sister and her weren`t at home. The policeman said that he would then take her instead. Her mother was bursting in to tears. When Valentina heard that, she ran to their mother and the policeman saw her. After that they were taken to a school, in which 15 youngsters from Ko were kept.

About the time in Germany

-How did you come to Germany?

They were brought to the railway station, guarded by policemen. They were given no food and first the train was going to Poland. One girl was killed and another girl which was wounded because of bombardment was dismissed from the train and left to herself. She said, that she it was very humiliating.

-What was the life in Germany when you have been to the working-camp?

Valentina was working in a factory and was repairing broken German aircrafts in Erfurt. Before that there were people from other countries in another camp, e.g. France and Poland who have been gathered. She said that it was hard work, which is too hard for young girls and should be done by men. She said that she cannot compare this experience to anything else. The authorities there were yelling at them and beat them. She said that there were no rules for them. They got Kolrabi (vegetable), which she didn`t like. She was hungry and felt cold all the time. Valentina mentioned a German Women who gave them food through the fence and was crying that that young people are treated like this. They were having an Armband which said “Ost” (she cramped her hands).They weren’t` t allowed to use public transport, to go to shops, anywhere. One day she was forced to go to pharmacy and someone reported that to the Gestapo and was asked questions until the night. When she wasn’t able anymore to work in this fabric, because she was exhausted, she was working in a household of one of the heads of the fabric. She was working the whole day, it was a three floor villa but the food was better.

-Tell us about your liberation?

When the war was over, she said that the Americans treated them completely different. There was also an excursion to the Concentration- camp Buchenwald by Americans, in which Valentina took place. She mentioned rooms with bloody mirrors on the walls and there were swords which were used to injure people. This was a kind of enjoyment (she shiffers). Valentina said that there were other tools for hurting people physically and a place where the bodies were buried, a crematory.

-How was the way back?

There was no passport control on the way back. She was on a train and everything felt free for her.

Valentina Stepanovna and Inna

About the time after war and today

-How was it when you came back to Ko?

Everything was destroyed and burnt. Valentinas mother died during the war, when she was 42 years old. Her father didn`t return from the front and they had no contact with him. Her family got later the information that he was buried in Kizel (Perm Krai, Russia). 1946 there was a famine and they were giving 300g of bread per person per day.

-What do you like to tell us?

Last year Valentina went to Germany to the place in Erfurt, where she was forced to labour for Germans. It was an Invitation from an organisation of former forced labourers of a specific plant. She said that she didn`t want to go at first. But people treated her well (she was living in hotels and got a professional translator) and she liked it. She said that her opinion about Germans has changed now. Back then she said, „for them we are nothing more than animals“.

-Have you ever thought about settling in Germany?

“No. Now I know that German people can also be nice, but I want to live in the here (Ukraine). I am happy now, my children have high education. Her daughter is working in the University of Moscow.”(She is showing us pictures of her “Enkelkinder” Grandchildren in German)

What do you tell us (young people) we should do that something like the Second World War never happens again?

“To respect each other. She wishes that the things she had experienced never happened to us. And hopes that this generation and next generations should never do the mistakes that Germany had made. Every nations is good and war is an international sorrow. She tells us that we should appreciate life instead of making war.”

Additional

Valentinas daughter in law Nina talked about Nationalism in Ukraine and in general. She said, that everyone are brothers. She also raised the point that the history is often blurred and especially young people don`t know about this time and that there is the possibility that they never hear about that time and what happened then.

It was a really warm and welcoming atmosphere. Valentina told us that she was waiting for us the whole morning. That she ran out of her house when she saw three people coming up her street and flowers and asked them: “Where have you been? I was waiting for you!” She spoke a bit German, which the Austrian participant (Sigrid) liked because she could take more action in the talk. We showed her pictures of our homes, in which Valentina and her daughter were interested. Finally we wished each other good luck and health. We got hugged by her when she accompanied us to the street and our question if we may visit her again was answered with yes.