[This interview was taken in 2008 by Aigine Research Center during the research on famine. It is being published for the first time]
Kojogeldiez Shaiymbet, 80 years old, Talas region
Our childhood was full of difficulties. I was born in 1928. I do not know what happened before 1933. Starting from 1933 there was great famine both in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. All Kazakh people came to Kyrgyzstan. Even when Kyrgyz people were living a poor life, we did not refuse and helped our Kazakh relatives. I experienced the famine which was between 1933 and 1936. In 1936 Stalin’s constitution was formulated. It was not like nowadays where there are 200-300 government people involved in it; it was Stalin alone who sat and created laws. We used those laws till the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1938 election was held. After the election finished a war started between Russians and Finnish people. My father and his brother’s only son went to that war and did not return. After that war when it started to get better the Second World War started on the 21st of June 1941. I was 12 years old. From 12 until 20 I did not see any good life: there was famine, no clothes, no food, everything was so expensive.
In spring all young men were taken to plow the land. We plowed with bare feet. The grass used to be not like we have today- in that time when you stepped on the land the huge roots of grass hurt your feet badly. In the early morning when there was still frost it was so cold to work with bare feet. After plowing was over, we had to water the land. When we came home in the evening it was great when our mothers served us cream collected from the surface of milk. But mostly there was nothing waiting at home when we came from work. There was no flour in kolkhoz. There was millet. One bucket of millet was brought from the center of the region and we had to use that for a week. That bucket was divided between two brigades. So we had to plow the land while having one bucket of millet as our food. One put one cut of millet to a big bowl of water. We could not afford to have millet everyday. Sometimes we had to have just plain water without salt. One cup of groats was 300 soms at the bazaar, which only rich people could afford. Many people got swollen up. Old people and those who could not do any physical work sat by the shed the whole day. They wanted to eat something, but there was nothing to eat. We used to collect sheaves of wheat in the field. Old men sat and when the sun was shining they showed us a place where the snow was gone, by calling it it Chatak and asked us to go there. How could we go with bare feet? So they took their horses and went by themselves. They would tell us that some places were accessible and one could find something there. Those could be places after the previous year’s harvest. One could find some wheat if s/he was lucky. Even when we collected one cup of wheat, the kolkhoz took half of it. One couldn’t help giving. They had to use it as a seed to plant. Half of it we used the same day, as our mothers would wait for us with boiling water to cook. When we came our findings were divided into two; one part was ground immediately and put in boiling water.
There was nothing to wear in order to go to that place called it Chatak. We usually went there in a group of 7-8 boys. We went there with bare feet. We had to walk on the snow and got frozen. In order to get warmer we peed on each other’s feet. In this way we reached those places. So after collecting some wheat from those places with such difficulties we had to give half of it to kolkhoz. The kolkhoz planted it. We did not get a good harvest, because some of the seeds were frozen or rotten, and some of them were not full grain. We wore the same clothes the whole year. Chalap (Kyrgyz national drink, made of thick yogurt mixed with water) was our food to eat and drink. When we were 15 years old we became komsomols. Now nobody takes komsomols seriously. In those days even old people at the age of 80 would run when they were told that komsomol committee was inviting. First a person was taken to komsomol. After s/he got experience s/he was taken to the party.