Deportation – the journey

“They slaughtered the cattle, took the cow away.

We had half a sack of flour.

They took us to the station in a cart.

They put us in a goods wagon.

We were 20 families.

We slept on and under the bed frames.

There was a small stove.

When the train stopped, one of us would get out to fetch boiling water.

Once a day, they threw in a salted fish to be shared among us all.

They took us to Irkutsk and unloaded the wagons. It was in April.

From there they sent us out all over the region.

And that is how we got to Zhigalovo.”