VIDEO
Maria Bontey, born March 1, 1923 in Yakhynky village, Poltava Oblast, describes what she ate during the Holodomor, and the harvest of 1933.
There was nothing to eat. We went around, looking for quail nests, and we took the eggs andate them. Or if there were baby quails, we would eat them. You wouldn’t see any nettle or orach in the gardens. There were no leaves on the linden trees. We ate whatever there was. In 1933, there was such a harvest. You couldn’t take a stalk of grain because if you did, you’d end up in Siberia. When the grain was thrashed, trucks would come and take it away, and they didn’t give us anything. I know this. I lived through this; I saw it. It was terrible. My aunt and uncle died. My neighbor with whom I went to school – her father and mother died. Three children were left alone ‐ their grandmother looked after them. People would die in the streets. People were dying as if they were flies. Even if someone was still breathing, they would take them away, saying they’re not going to come back tomorrow to take them. This is how it was.
