Boiko, O.Ya.

Description

Creators

O. Ya. Boyko (b. 1922), Author

Volodymyr Maniak

, Recipient

Media Type

Text

Item Types

Correspondence

Envelopes

Description

Letter sent from: Boryspil, Kyiv oblast
Letter describes events in 1932-1933 in: Boryspil and Kyiv
Current location name: Boryspil, Kyiv oblast and Kyiv

O. Boiko was around 9 at the time of the Famine. There were 5 children in the family, plus live-in grandparents.

First, the cow was taken away and children only got a ball instead. Then a search brigade came and took away everything for tax arrears. They asked for a broom to swipe the floor to make sure that they collected all grain but the grandmother had thrown the broom under the oven so that the brigade could not get it. Thanks to this, the family later collected some grain from the floor and used it to make cereal. Grandmother made pancakes with linden blossoms. She and her husband died before the new harvest. Later, the father left for Kyiv where he worked at the Darnytsia railway station and brought home 2.5 loafs of bread for every 2-3 days of work.

Notes