Interesting account of a family's deportation to Kazakhstan

[Larry1]

I came across an interesting account of a Moldovan mother and her two daughters' exile to Kazakhstan during the stalin era.  Eventually they made their way back home to Moldova.

The sisters kept silence for decades, but were interviewed for this article and described their deportation and life in Kazakhstan. Their life there was very hard. Here's one snippet:

“My mother would work the pigs; [she would cook food] in huge pots, she would clean, and do everything that the big bosses told her to. They wouldn’t give us much food. Poor mother would place some of the pigs’ food at the bottom of the pot and would cover it up with a layer of weeds and horse dung so that no one would catch on [that we were hiding] extra food. She’d tell them that the dung was for the walls. She would visit our house and set the dung and weeds aside so that we could eat to our heart’s content.

http://narrative.ly/stalin-exiled-these-two-sisters-to-kazakhstan-a-lifetime-later-theyre-finally-breaking-their-silence

The sisters didn't reveal that they had been deported because they feared being known as enemies of the state would keep them from getting jobs.

It's hard to believe that so many Russians have a favorable opinion of stalin now.

[Slumba]

Very interesting find, Larry.

It matches in general, with what I know of others who were deported to Kazakhstan or other places. I know that in some cases, they would be sent to do dirty or dangerous work, such as in a chemical factory, without the proper safety equipment or clothing.

I helped my Russian teacher clean up the Russian--> English translation of such a story from a Crimean Tatar.  His passport was marked as being "Russian" nationality, which was very important, as it avoided discrimination.

[Larry1]

Thanks slumba.

A former member of RWD was from a Volga German (ethnic Germans who moved to Russia long ago) family deported to Kazakhstan during that period.  she related stories her mother and grandmother told her about the deportation and introduction to life in Kazakhstan.

[mendeleyev]

I visited Stalin's burial spot recently and could only shake my head in amazement that the Kremlin budget includes laying fresh flowers every morning for each memorial along the Kremlin walls, including the one marking that hideous bastard.

In consistent and significant ways, Stalin is for all intents and purposes being rehabilitated. Why? Perhaps because someone wishes to follow in his footsteps.