Kudra, Maria

Description

Creators

Maria Kudra (b. 1905-1906), Author

Volodymyr Maniak

, Recipient

Media Type

Text

Item Types

Correspondence

Envelopes

Description

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

Notes

Author's gender: Female
Author's name in Ukrainian: Марія Євдокимівна Кудра; Марія Кудра
Category: Hospital; Doctor

Maria Kudra used to work as a young doctor at a sugar refinery in Yahotyn. The local ambulatory served the needs of the workers and staff of the sugar refinery, and the residents of adjacent villages.

The legs of most people coming to the ambulatory were swollen and oozed liquid. They were diagnosed with hypoproteinemia, meaning a severely low level of proteins that causes edema. Such patients were prescribed Adonis Kernabis (likely some strain of cannabis) instead of food, because the hospital did not have any food to offer.

Kudra mentions a woman who drowned her 3 year-old daughter because she had no food for her. Peasants were trading their valuables—golden earrings, woven skirts and kilims—for bread. Those who managed to leave for Russia by train were likely to survive.

Some who were very swollen died after suddenly eating bread after a long while. Her 3 uncles died but her aunt was fed some milk and semolina with a teaspoon and survived.

Note: The letter was first written in Ukrainian, and then repeated in greater detail in Ukrainian, and then again in Russian.

Date of Original