I guess everyone has his skeletons in the closet, but with every passing day I get more and more sure, that parts of my families closets are officially registered graveyards.
I dont even know where to start, especially since there are quite some stories going on out here. I think I start with the family on my mother's side. This family tree is full of women with characters of all kind. One of my grandgrandmas had 4 daughters and her sister had also a daughter. While the grandgrandma alone deserves quite some attention, I wont focus on her in this little gibbertext.
Still some words: This particular grandgrandmother was living back then in Sibiria. Not the easiest place to live. Especially when you have 2 children (back then), german blood and your husband fighting the second world war - that's going on during that time. Neither Stalin's nor Hitler's soldiers are the friendliest fellows either, especially to a german-blooded long haired (she had incredible hair, as I was told) in russia, so they decided to move southeast, where the weather is "warmer", the distance from the frontlines higher, food (and people) raids less often. Also relatives.
So Tadjikistan it was. On the way there, during one of Russia's cold winter snow storms and one of the small girls lost her fur hat. It's hard to find a black cat in a dark room during the night, especially if it aint there. And with the wind going on, the hat wasnt there either. Sadly the temperatures during a sibirian winter are -15°c and lower, so losing your hat equals death by freezing.
The mother gave her hat to her daughter and tied her hair around her head in the attempt to keep it warm. They somehow made it. She lost all her long hair however.
In Tadjikistan life was easier. Sure, people were still starving and sovjet raids were taking people to work camps (back to sibiria mostly), because they were of questionable blood, said something wrong or simply because someone had to be taken. Stalin was releasing lists, with a certain ammount of people from each social level group, that had to be eliminated, in order to maintain full control over the country. In addition to this schizophrenic behaviour, also people of "questionable" origin were to be taken to camps (in waves) or dealt with otherwise. My grandgrandmother was german and thus of "questionable" origin and allways under such a risk.
However, first her husband returned or more like was carried back from the front. Multipple heavy wounds and Diphteria weakened this man, he could barely move and was spending most his days in bed. (I'm actually not sure if it was Diphteria or Tuberchulosis, seems like both were fairly "popular" in my family tree during those times).
One of their neighbours and friends, who had acces to higher levels, informed them, that the next wave of arrests was incoming in a few monthes. Leaving or runing would be no option, with 2 children, her incapacitated husband and famine all over the land and there very few reasons to get spared from such a arrest. One of those was pregnancy.
When then soldiers arrived and told her, that she has 5 minutes to pack her things, she allready was pregnant. She was spared. Her husband died few days later however from the severe illness and fever.
To be continued
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