[This interview was taken in 2008 during the research on famine conducted by Aigine Research Center . It is being published for the first time]
Jumadylova Aitbosun, 74 years old, Talas region.
It was in 1916 when the Russian king came after us, Kyrgyz people, and we fled to China. We came back from China in 1917. During that time there were cases when people sold their daughters for one cup of groats. People’s cattle died on the way to China, or were eaten by wolves. It is said that where the Kiyrmayk starts there is a place called Koltor, one would see piles of bodies of dead people at that time. People experienced famine in those times. As for during the war, there was also hunger. Everything was taken for people in the war. 10-year old children sat on oxen and plowed the land. Only old people were left behind. All healthy and strong people were taken to the war. In those times we had to eat rotten potatoes. There were many Russian and Uzbek people who settled among us. We had 0.5 hectares of land. We used to use that land friendly. There was not enough wheat, so we had to pick the remains after the wheat crops were harvested. First that land was burnt then we collected the remains of wheat, which was used to prepare jarma (Kyrgyz national drink). That was famine. The famine during the second World War was more severe than the famine in 1916-1917. Some people did not have even one cup of groats. There were no matches. There was no log or coal to burn. Our life started to improve little by little only after the war. That time people did not get salaries, they got loans. That was a piece of paper we used that to live on.