Letter sent from: Village of Biliaky, Semenivka raion, Poltava oblast
Letter describes events in 1932-1933 in: Village of Biliaky and Semenivka, both Semenivka raion, Kharkiv oblast
Current location name: Village of Biliaky, Semenivka raion, now Poltava oblast
Ivan Kravchenko wrote in response to Yevhen Hutsalo’s appeal in Literaturna Ukraina (№45, 1988) to send testimonies about the Holodomor. He writes on the last page that he recorded this documentary account from his fellow villager Hryhorii Andriiovych Musiienko, who had passed away.
Musiienko was apparently a bookkeeper. He attempted to get to Crimea to exchange things for food. He said it was still possible in 1932 but not by 1933. But he was stopped on the way, then tried to travel to Belarus, but had to turn back from the Kremenchuk station because he caught typhoid. He had to stay in his village, work for the village council and receive some meager ration. To survive, he decided to travel to the raion center, Semenivka, where he got a job in the raion government as a bookkeeper. Now he was entitled to two meals in a special cafeteria and some salary. He eventually returned to Biliaky, to his wife and daughter, just in time for the harvest. By then, people were being given a better ration, better pay, and even some medical care. The conscientious head of the collective farm was clashing with the requisitioning commissar about feeding people properly during the harvest. Interesting description of survival strategies and measures taken at the collective farm to help people survive.
Kravchenko wrote a number of other documentary stories about people and events in Biliaky and is mentioned in Wikipedia.
https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0
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Ukrainian transcription and English translation available.
