The second war during my lifetime

The second war during my lifetime

When World War II had started, I was 6 years old. My father joined the fighting in the early first days of the war. We were living in Kozatskoye, Kherson region, and I remember how frightened we were when the Germans showed up in our village. It was very hard: they were arresting the activists, destroying the monuments, looting.

I remember the bomb blasts and how we used to hide in the basement. It was terrifying. And when they crossed the Dnipro, the Germans began transporting women and children to a safer place. They said – take the essentials with you. My mother was 40 years old. She took food, warm clothes and water. I remember there was a big line of horse-drawn wagons and we walked for a long time. We would spend nights in the stables or sheds. Mother would wrap us in warm clothes and feed us “economically”. But we felt reassured because our mother was there.

Some people took only valuables with them and died of hunger or cold. My mother was a young but wise woman, she took with her things vital to our survival and the rest was buried or hidden away for when we returned.

Now is a different time, the world is different and no one could imagine that such things could happen again. When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began to gain ground, we were warned to pack the essentials: dry food, warm clothes, medicine and papers.

God willing, we will survive and prevail. I am 87 years old. I’m not afraid for my life. But I weep for the children who must now endure the horrors of war, the women, the mothers. It’s so hard leaving your home, being afraid for your children’s lives.

I have a bag packed, I look at it and think you can’t pack your whole life into a suitcase, no matter how much you try, and it’s so sad and frustrating that the people we fought the Nazis with have now become our enemies. The enemy is always cruel, immoral and inhuman.

Glory to Ukraine!

Story donated to the Museum of Abandonment by Raisa Slusarenco, as part of the Suitcases of Abandonment campaign. Project funded by CARE through the Sera Foundation, Care France and FONPC.

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