Khrystus, Hryhorii

Description

Creators

Hryhorii Khrystus (b. 1922), Author

Volodymyr Maniak

, Recipient

Media Type

Text

Item Types

Correspondence

Envelopes

Description

Letter sent from: Yevhenivka, Snihurivka raion, Mykolaiv oblast
Letter describes events in 1932-1933 in: Yevhenivka, Snihurivka raion, Odesa oblast
Current location name: Yevhenivka, Bashtanka raion, Mykolaiv oblast

The author, Hryhorii Khrystus, was 11 in 1933.
He reports that 350 people died of starvation in his village.
At school, pupils were given 0.3 liter of watery soup a day.
Khrystus's father was reportedly coerced into joining a search brigade but then, under the pressure of the mother, he left the brigade.
This story highlights the coming of Iona Yakir and Kliment Voroshilov to the village for an inspection of some kind. Yakir did not believe that the villagers were eating nothing but pancakes made of weeds and birch seeds. He even examined the villagers' excrement behind one home to make sure that they were not eating real bread. Voroshilov appeared to be more sympathetic.
Khrystus's father and uncle spoke up, criticizing the village authorities for "distorting Party policies" and asking for help with food.
Their complaints evidently worked and the villagers were allowed to have some grain from the local elevator.

Pencil marks on the letter likely reflect the edits made by an editor of "33ii: Holod. Narodna knyha-memorial," edited by Volodymyr Maniak and Lidiia Kovalenko (Kyiv, 1991).

Notes