—Were the people who did not join the kolhosp evicted and deported?
Maria Oleksandrivna: Yes, they were, and no one had a single letter from them, and their relatives didn’t know where they were sent. Our father had a neighbor who worked for him as a servant, so he was labeled a kurkul. He wasn’t rich; he just had two cellars and paid the hired worker what he could. He was poorer than his relatives who lived nearby, but he was evicted and deported, and his house went to that hired worker. His relatives were old and without children. They returned from exile and built a house here; other people looked after them, and then they died. God knows what happened to those who didn’t have a family.
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Maria Oleksandrivna: My father was disabled (first category). He worked in a saw cutting mill for four and a half years in the Mykhailivsky forestry. He had a disability allowance for his children. It was meant for his wife to support the children, but they didn’t give it to him because he was an indus.
—What does indus mean?
Maria Oleksandrivna: It meant that he didn’t join the kolhosp. My mother had a large family. They didn’t give her the allowance. Now they say, “Go and get it.” My father worked in a saw cutting mill for four and a half years, and they didn’t give him the certificate of disability of the first category. They wanted to exile us to Siberia, but we stayed because we had a large family and were seredniaky.
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—Did people come to your house to invite your parents to vote?
Maria Oleksandrivna: Yes, but my parents didn’t go. When those people used to come to our house, my parents were away. I remember when my mother came to Troiakovychi, she was asked why she came there. “Because my child is here,” she said. He said, “It’s the zbory/election day; you must go there.” His name was Yakovych, and he was a teacher. My mother was poor; all people were going from place to place at the time.
—Did people in the village support or condemn your mother?
Maria Oleksandrivna: There was no support at all! They all shouted and offended her; they had councils that sent her away.
