English subtitles (video transcript)

- Grandma, please tell me how it happened that you became a prisoner?
- You know that from 1941 to 1945 there was the Great Patriotic War. We were living in Latvia at the time, and in 1943, in August, the Germans arrested my mother (she was the director of a Russian school). And together with her, I was arrested (I was 4 years old) and my sister, who was 2 years old. We were sent to the German death camp "Salaspils", which was located near Riga.
- Please tell me, in what conditions did people survive there?
- It was a terrible camp. There were 23 camps in Latvia, but the Salaspils camp was the most terrible in terms of prisoners and the civilian population. In this camp, the civilian population, along with children, and prisoners of war were kept. The conditions were terrible. People lived in barracks, which had 4-5-storey bunks. The food was terrible. 150 grams of bread and liquid soup of rotten vegetables – it was a diet for the whole day. And the bread was mostly sawdust. Therefore, the population of the camp, of course, was very hungry. A lot of people died. While I had the strength, I tried to crawl up to the fifth floor on the bunks, but then, of course, these forces disappeared, and we were in a very serious condition with my sister.
- Was there any leniency towards you as children?
- No... the only thing is that we were not forced to work, but German doctors put all kinds of experiments on children. Older children were given blood for German soldiers. They took blood from me twice, according to my mother, of course, I don't remember that. In general, until 1943, all the children who arrived at the camp were taken from their mothers and kept in a separate children's barrack, where, basically, they all died. These are children from 2 months to 12 years old. Very few survived, because there was no care, and they were torn away from their parents. But since we got to the camp in August 1943, and there was already some progress in the war, we were not taken away from our mother. Thanks to this, we remained alive.
- Please tell me, do you remember how you were released from the camp?
- No, of course, I don't remember how we were released, but, in fact, the camp was released in the autumn of 1944. The Russian troops released him. We ended up in Riga, we were very ill after the camp. In general, they were in a serious condition, especially my sister. She can`t walk anymore, and I was just very ill, which then affected my later life.
- What is the most memorable moment of this life for you?
- To be honest, I was 4 years old, so, of course, I can't remember much, but some moments stuck in my memory and remained. Moments like our arrest. I remember that there was a huge (by my standards) fascist who arrested my mother, and my mother begged and asked that they leave the children with their grandmother, not take them to the camp. "No, only with children." I remember this moment. I remember being transported in freight cars. I remember five-story bunks. As I mentioned, I crawled on them while I had the strength. And I remember such a moment ... it was remembered for a lifetime. A military man wove me a ring from a straw. I kept wearing it on my finger. Even now, this ring is in front of my eyes. Mom confirmed that this was an element in my life. Later I told about it at a meeting with writers, and one poetess, Valentina Petrovna Polyanina, wrote a poem for this episode of mine. If you want, I'll read it to you now. It's small, but very cute, and it says how hard it was after all. /the text of the poem "Ringlet"/ (see additional materials) Bread was the main thing that made it possible to live. But, as I said, even the crusts were half with sawdust. This episode was remembered for a lifetime. And so, of course, it wasn't enough for me. Mom told me a lot…It was very hard for people to live, I'll just repeat. For disobedience, adults were driven to work in the swamps. They harvested peat there. Those who did not obey were shot. There was a gallows in the middle of the camp, the disobedient were hanged. In general, of course, I don't remember this, not everything was clear for the children, but according to relatives, the memories of prisoners, two books were published. Of course, it was bad there. It was very hard for the prisoners, the soldiers. They were kept outside the camp, in pits. Every single root was eaten, the earth in these pits. And, of course, they mostly died there. 100,000 people died in the camp (in Salaspils). If you are interested, I can read how many died in the main camps. In general, 20,000,000 people were driven into the camps. Of these, 12,000,000 died, including 2,000,000 children. And if we take other terrible camps ... /information about those who died in death camps/ (see additional materials) I managed to visit Germany on an excursion to Buchenwald. This is a camp where mainly German anti-fascists were kept. Ernst Telman was burned in the furnaces there. I hope you've heard that name. Cities are named after him. And there were stoves where people were burned, and a room where memorabilia from different camps were hung. And when I saw a beaded towel with the inscription "Salaspils", I could not hold back either tears or pain. I even shouted to the Germans: "How could you!?" Well, there were young Germans with me who did not know the war. And they said that in Germany itself they did not know about the camps. Well... it's hard to believe, but that's what it was said. That's how many people died. A monument was built in memory of the camp in Latvia during the Soviet era. A huge field with figures. (see additional materials) Now this monument is preserved, the metronome beats, people meet there. Despite all the situation in Latvia, the monument was preserved. And I think this is right, because the new generation should know, remember, believe that we have won. Any other questions?
- Are you somehow marked by the state as a prisoner, do they send you letters reminding you of this war, perhaps some bonuses?
- So, every year I receive a letter from our president. Congratulatory, very sincere. The medal I have is "the unconquered." (see additional materials) We also receive medals every anniversary big holiday. It's true that I have labor medals here, but there is, for example, a medal in honor of the 75th anniversary of victory. On anniversaries, we are not forgotten. As a prisoner, I have great benefits for medicines, sanatoriums, pension supplements. It's a sin to be offended.
- Thank you!