In 1933 I was living in Mariupil. 

One day, as I waited in a queue in front of the store to buy bread, I saw a farm girl of about 15 years of age, in rags, and with starvation looking out of her eyes. She stretched her hand out to everyone who bought bread, asking for a few crumbs. At last she reached the storekeeper. This man must have been some newly arrived stranger who either could not, or would not speak Ukrainian. He began to berate her, said she was too lazy to work on the farm, and hit her outstretched hand with the blunt edge of a knife blade. The girl fell down and lost a crumb of bread she was holding in the other hand. Then the storekeeper stepped closer, kicked the girl and roared: 

"Get up! Go home, and get to work !" The girl groaned, stretched out and died. Some in the queue began to weep. The communist storekeeper noticed it and threatened: "Some are getting too sentimental here. It is easy to spot enemies of the people !"

Source: Pidhainy, S. O. ed. The Black Deeds of the Kremlin: A White Book. Vol I Book of Testimonies. Toronto: Ukrainian Association of Victims of Russian Communist Terror. 1953 p. 284

Illustration: Ibid, p.226

<Top> | <Memoirs Index>