(FOUR YEARS AGO,
FEBRUARY 1928 IN VINNYTSIA, UKRAINE)
VINNYSTIA, AN
URBAN TOWN LOCATED IN UKRAINE AND THE MAIN INDUSTRY HERE IS FARMING AND EVERYONE
LIVED HAPPILY. MY NAME IS ANTON. I’M 15 THIS YEAR. EVERYONE IS GOING TO SCHOOL
AND I SAT UNDER A HUGE TREE A FEW METERS
AWAY FROM THE MAIN ENTRANCE LOOKING AT OTHER STUDENTS GOING TO SCHOOL. I ALWAYS
WISHED THAT I COULD GO TO SCHOOL BUT MY FINANCIAL SITUATION FORCE ME TO WORK
TOGETHER WITH MY DAD IN THE FARM. EVERY MORNING I WILL GO ON THE TREE AND WATCH
THEM ENTERING THE SCHOOL. ONE DAY, I SAW HER… ANASTASIYA, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL
GIRL I’VE EVER SEEN IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. SHE STAYS ABOUT THREE KILOMETERS
AWAY FROM THE TOWN. ONE DAY AS I WAS SITTING THERE, SHE CAME UP TO ME AND ASKED
ME, “WHY AREN’T YOU COMING TO SCHOOL”… THE NEXT THING I DID WAS, I RAN AWAY
QUICKLY. I WAS JUST SO SHY AND SCARED BECAUSE SHE IS THE GIRL WHOM I REALLY
WANT TO BE WITH. I CAME BACK THE NEXT DAY, NOT TO SEE HER GOING TO THE SCHOOL
BUT JUST TO SEE MY ANASTASIYA.
EVERY DAY I WILL
HIDE BEHIND THE TREE AND WATCH HER GOING TO SCHOOL. IT HAS BEEN A DAILY ROUTINE
FOR ME THEN. AFTER A WEEK, I DECIDED TO TRY STARTING A CONVERSATION WITH HER. I
WORE MY BEST CLOTHES AND APPROACHED HER LIKE A BOSS. I WALKED STRAIGHT AND
STOOD NEXT TO HER. AFTER TAKING A FEW GASPS OF AIR, I SAID HI AND IT ALL BEGAN…
WE STARTED TALKING EVERYDAY SINCE THEN AND SHE TAUGHT ME A LOT IN LIFE. LOVE
STARTED GROWING BETWEEN US. IT GREW EVEN MORE DAY BY DAY. IT’S THE FOURTH YEAR
BEING WITH MY ANASTASIYA. THIS FOUR YEARS WAS JUST MORE THEN PREFECT. SHE EVEN
SHIFTED CLOSER TO ME WHICH WAS LIKE FIVE HOUSES AWAY FROM MINE. THERE WAS LOTS
OF PROBLEMS IN OUR COUNTRY AND ALSO OUR TOWN. EVERYONE IN THE TOWN WAS TALKING
ABOUT ‘HOLODOMOR’. I DIDN’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT WAS IT BUT IT WAS THAT ONE THING
THAT CHANGED MY ENTIRE LIFE.
‘HOLODOMOR’ IT
MEANS EXTERMINATION BY HUNGER IN UKRAINIAN. IT’S A MAN-MADE FAMINE IN THE
UKRAINE SSR. ALL I KNEW WAS, JOSEPH STALIN
THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOVIET UNION, REPLACED THE
NEW ECONOMIC POLICY WITH A HIGHLY CENTRALIZED COMMAND ECONOMY AN FIVE
YEAR-PLANS, LAUNCHING A PERIOD OF INDUSTRIALIZATION IN THE COUNTRYSIDE. BASICALLY,
HE WANTED TO EMERGE AS THE WORLD’S SECOND LARGEST ECONOMY AFTER THE WORLD WAR
TWO. HOWEVER, HE SENT MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TO CORRECTIONAL LABOUR CAMPS, DEPORTED
AND EXILE TO REMOTE AREAS OS SOVIET UNION. THE INITIAL UPHEAVAL IN AGRICULTURE
WAS DISTRUPTED FOOD PRODUCTION AND IT CONTRIBUTED TO THE CATASTROPHIC SOVIET
FAMINE. IT WAS A WAR AGAINST US…
NOW, WE WERE
GIVEN DIFFERENT GRAINS TO FARM AND WE CAN’T DO IT. IT WAS NOT WORKING. THEY
HAVE STOPPED GIVING US OUR RASIONS. IT’S CHRISTMAS 1932, I’VE NEVER SEEN HER IN
A WEEK. NOW THERE IS NO FOOD. WE HAVE STOPPED FARMING BUT WHEN I SAW HER
BEAUTIFUL FACE IT WAS THE HAPPIEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE. WE HUGGED AND KISSED EACH
AND OTHER LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW. A MONTH PASSED BY WITHOUT ANY FOOD. ALL
OUR RESERVED FOOD HAS FINISHED IN JUST A WEEK. EVERYONE IN MY TOWN WAS STARVING
AND SOME EVEN DIED BECAUSE OF VARIOUS DISEASES. I ALWAYS GO TO HER HOUSE AND MEET
HER. SHE WAS BECOMING SKINNY AND SHE WAS NOT ABLE TO TALK OR EVEN SMILE. ALL I
COULD SEE IN HER EYES WAS HUNGER AND SADNESS.
TWO MONTHS HAVE PASSED;
TODAY WHEN I WOKE UP, MY MOM DIDN’T WAKE UP TOGETHER WITH US. SHE DIED! I DID
NOT CRY BECAUSE SHE WAS RELIEVED FROM THE TORTURE THAT WE WERE GOING THROUGH. I
WAS SAD; I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I FELT LIKE MEETING ANASTASIYA. I DIDN’T
HAVE THE ENERGY TO EVEN TAKE A STEP BUT I WENT TO HER HOUSE. AS I WAS WALKING
TO HER HOUSE, THE FARM WHICH USED TO BE ALL GREEN HAVE BECAME ALL DRIED UP AND
THE TOWN WHICH USED TO BUSY FILLED WITH PEOPLE WAS EMPTY.AS, I WAS WALKING I SAW A SKINNY MOM TRYING TO BREAST FEED A CHILD BUT SHE COULDN'T,SHE WAS IN PAIN.IT WAS A HORRIBLE MOMENT FOR ME. I EVEN SAW DEAD
BODIES AND CORPSES ALL OVER THE STREETS. WHEN I REACHED HER HOUSE, I HEARD
SOMEONE YELLING AND SREAMING. IT SOUNDED LIKE HER. I QUICKLY RUSHED TO THE DOOR
BUT IT WAS LOCKED. I DIDN’T HAVE TO ENERGY TO BREAK THE DOOR SO I RAN TO THE
WINDOW TO SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING.
IT WAS THE MOST
HORRIFYING THING THAT I SAW IN MY LIFE… SHE WAS TIED UP TO A TABLE AND HER LEGS
WERE CHOPPED AWAY. HER AUNT HAD CHOPPED HER LEGS TO FEED HER CHILDREN. I
SHOUTED AND SCREAMED BUT I COULDN’T DO ANYTHING. I FELT SO HELPLESS. AFTER A
FEW MINUTES SHE DIED AND BECAME A FEAST FOR HER AUNT’S FAMILY. I COULDN’T
ACCEPT THE FACT THAT SHE WAS GONE. I CRAWLED BACK HOME AND I SAW MY DAD LYING
DEAD AS WELL. EVERYONE IN THIS TOWN IS DYING AND SOME EVEN BECAME CANNIBLES……
ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS TO WRITE THIS ON MY DIARY SO MY STORY WOULD BE REMEMBERED.
HOURS LATER…….
(ANTON MADE HIS
WAY TO THE KITCHEN AND CUT HIS OWN THROAT… HUNGER COULD PUSH A MAN TO ANY
EXTREAM AND IT HAPPENED IN UKRAINE IN FEBRUARY 1933 TO JULY 1933. 1.8 TO 7.5
MILLIONS WERE KILLED IN JUST A FEW MONTHS )
No comments:
Post a Comment