Interviewers: Natascha (Ukraine), Tim (Germany)
At her home in a shadowy place in the garden, August 12th 2010
Life before World War 2
Vera Iwanovna was born in 1926 in Kharkov region, four years after the birth of her older sister. Her mother died during an accident when she was 6 month old. Her aunts and other people cared for her as it took some time for the father to get married again. He married in his home region before moving to Konstantinovka with his family in 1935. Vera’s step mother was a kind person. In Konstatninovka her father was given a piece of land where he built his first house in Slitkava Street. Vera Iwanovna finished 7 years of education in secondary school. She participated in the socialist youth organisation pioneer. She has never studied Ukraine at school. Thus, she only speaks Russian.
In the mid of the 1920’s, kolkhoz were established. Before, her father had had cows, horses, pigs. But only one horse left to the family in the course of collectivisation of farms. When the famine started in 1933, there was only one horse left. Local authorities would visit them to take anything they still possessed in terms of agricultural products. In order to save some corn, her father kept corn in bags and put it into wooden boxes that were used for clothes. Then he sat children on it so it would look like a chair. Unfortunately the secret was discovered although one kolkhoz felt pity with them and hid some corn again under the bed that finally could be saved. During famine, they were very hungry, but they were not starving to death. Her father worked in some organisation which transported agricultural products in big amounts. If something fell apart, the father’s boss allowed him to take it for private consuming.
Konstatninovka was an industrial region, where for example schamotte, a brick stone of high quality, was produced which was sold in the whole USSR. The biggest factory was “Frunse”, producing metal. Frunse had a big palace of culture and a theatre where many cultural events took place though the air on the area of the factory was terrible. There were many more factories, mainly working in the chemical sector.
There was an aero club near her house. The members of the club would fly with simple air plane starting from the hills nearby. Many of the boys that joined the club became later pilots during the war although they have never received any military education.
Beginning of World War 2
On Friday June 20th, she had a graduation party from her school. Two days later, on June 22nd, 20 of the best students, principal teachers and the director of the school left with a tractor to visit the salt mines in Artemovsk, having lemon and confects with them. On their way people were yelling that the war had begun. The excursion ended up and the whole group went back to Konstatninovka.
When war started, high positioned communists and highly responsible persons in Frunse or other factories were evacuated, that wants to say, that they were brought further east to protect them. Germans entered Konstatninovka from the side of Kramatorsk. As long as the Germans resided in her district, it was not bombed. However the industrial part was heavily bombed.
During the winter 1941/42, which was a severe one (-30°C) with a lot of snow, she and her family lived together with German soldiers in a kind of kitchen or summer house that was small. At the entrance of the house there were tabloids with the names of the officers living there on it. The German officers were mainly o.k., one of them was nasty. As they were short of food, they would give the bread and a note for the army kitchen for which they got grain and saccharin. They had to do it secretly from the other officers. They communicated via gesture language.
During the war mainly Jews and maybe some Komsomolsk in the centre of the city were killed. Many wealthy Jews who were doctors, lawyers etc., so all in all educated persons, lived there. They were lined up, shot in a mass shooting and buried in a dug whole. There has been no synagogue in Konstantinovka.
Vera as Ostarbeiter in Germany
When war came to Konstantinovka, Vera worked on a Sawchose (state-owned farm), she gathered the harvest like beans and corn. She did not know that some of these farm workers would be taken to Germany. Then, one day in autumn 1942, a truck with Germans and dogs came and she was taken away.
On 24.10.1942, she was put into a simple wagon for animal transportation moving slowly forwards. After 21 days of travelling, she arrived in Brest. The toilet was a can that could be reused after throwing the content out of the window. There were bad nutritional conditions, the wagon was crowded with 80 people and it was cold in late October. They got half a cup of water and a piece of bred with jam per day. In the middle of the track, out of town, where they would not escape, the prisoners were let out for some toilet needs. Having arrived in Brest, Vera felt dizzy, her head was spinning. After her hair had been cut, she was forced with other Prisoners to enter naked a narrow and dark tunnel with high temperature, a surrounding where any insects they could have brought with them would die. She had difficulties to breath. Her clothes were disinfected in the same way in another tunnel. Then, they were led to a place that looked like a bazaar for farmers. In two days they would have all been given away to farmers. That is why, there were no possibilities to sleep, but they got some food there. Farmers would only choose the strongest. She was not chosen. The weakest ones were sent to factories.
So, Vera and, her best friend from Konstantinovka, Anna, were sent to “Mausewerke”. This was a factory located in the outskirts of Berlin (Berlin – Tegel) producing cutlery before the Second World War and bombs during the war. Vera and Anna were transported by cars from Brest to Berlin. From 28.11.1942 on she started working in the factory.
Life in the camp and at the work
They camped in a one storeyed building made of pressed thin wood. It was not as extremely cold as in Russia. They were given a coal briquette to heat. Furthermore they got some wooden shoes and in winter additionally socks. As for food, they received soup (green tomatoes blue cabbage and unfortunately some worms), 160 g of bread, boiled water and salt. The cooking was getting better during her stay in Germany. For Christmas she once received sun flower seeds in small bags. Especially Russian and Ukrainians would love it.
Daily Timetable
The day started at 4 a.m. with the breakfast. The camp was located not far from the factory but the direct way would have let them through the city. As they were not allowed to cross the city, they had to walk around this area. So, the way to work took them 2 hours. She work 12 hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In addition to that, she had to walk two hours back to the camp.
The first nine month she was only working and not let out.
The camp was a multiethnic one with Ukrainians, Russians, Dutch, French and Polish. The worst attitude by the Germans in the camps was shown towards Russian prisoners. Polish prisoners instead were allowed to go out of the camp without guarding but they had to put on the “OST”- patch. After 9 month, Vera and other Ukrainians were also allowed to go out in a group of 10 persons. A German and his dog were with them.
Her boss was named Kurt. She cries while talking of him because he had helped her and friends of her so much. Vera received 20-30 Marks per month but there was no shop where she could or was allowed to spend it. So Kurt bought them on his way to work Butterbrot, sandwiches. He brought it in his bag to the factory and would leave it next to their equipment. Then Kurt told them that they could go to the toilet. Instead of really going there, they ate what Kurt had brought. Once per month, Kurt invited her and others to his place where Vera could wash properly. With the help of Kurt she could manage to send a letter to her family and receive one from them. Once, her finger was wounded in such a way that it was almost necessary to amputate it. But Kurt prevented her from that by taking her to a hospital where her finger recovered well. She grew bigger as she received much more to eat than usual. Furthermore she got lighter work afterwards.
End of World War 2 and life afterwards
Until autumn 1944 she had thought that Germany would not participate in any war. But then she heard the first severe bombings. They were brought to an 8 storeyed building with thick walls that would protect them from bombs. On August 20th, they were sent to a hospital, where they could recover. The doctor advised them not to eat too much at once. Some prisoners died of eating too fast too much. Their stomach was not used to it. After a 2 days trip to Warszawa and then to Kiev and Konstantinovka, she arrived there on August 25th. She was not welcomed friendly by the people because of her working stay with the enemy.
In 1948 Vera got married and she got a daughter and a son. Little time later, Vera started to deliver telegraphs, a job that she has kept for 38 years. Today she lives together with her grand-son.
No comments:
Post a Comment