Teodor's testimony about Holodomor
Scottish writer, folklorist, ethnologist, broadcaster, and singer, Margaret Bennett, interviews Teodor Morykit (1924–2015) about his memories of Ukraine in the 1930s during the Holodomor, a terror famine perpetrated against Ukrainians. Interviewed in 2014, the year before Teodor died.
This clip was created for a concert at Boston Spa in 2022 .
A full transcript of the complete recording is below:
our village, the one… and from the East. They were red army communists.
MB: Yes.
TM: And West the bloody Germans
MB: Oh my,
TM: Yeah, and they were fighting and we were in between.
MB: And you are just children, very difficult for children to take that
TM: My cousin, his son, went you know when they move back..move out, you know the Russians, you see, and the Germans came and he said, little boy, (he must have been about eight year old probably not more, can’t remember oh).
MB: No
TM: This is so much bad time you see. In the day you know how the children are, they went, you know there was forest all around the villages, they went there, and he, stepped on a bloody mine (MB: Ah) and blew him up. (MB: Oh my) And the father went there just picked the pieces, you know,.. you’re just…
MB: Terrible, but you're just a child then, terrible….horrendous and still happening.
So I tried to escape, to run, you know what my mother said, bold woman you know, she said son don’t run…communists coming they take you, you got no chance. She said there, you might have a chance when you go west.
MB: So she knew?
TM: How did she she know?
TM: I don't know.
MB: Imagine she knew that.
TM: Yes.
MB: So you stayed there?
TM: Yeah, because the Germans they never took you to the front. They train you first. Russians no, they take you, they gave you rifle, they say go fight, no training nothing! And the Germans have bloody caught in them now.
MB: So you were in?
TM: So I was fortunate by the time they trained us, the war finished
MB: Oh well that’s good. So you were in, you were just in your teens, you were still in your teens?
TM: Yes, Yes, 17….17/18 Yeah.
MB: Terrible times, terrible
TM: We escaped, we escaped to Italy
MB: You did?
TM: We escaped to Italy, we’ve been there for two years.
MB: That was a long way. How did you do it?
TM: Walked through Yugoslavia, Trieste, you know, Trieste….
MB: Yes, you know, how did you escape?
TM: We’ve been fortunate we got a driver, Ukrainian, he had a lorry.
MB: Oh you did…how many of you?
TM: Oh about half a dozen
MB: And you just, you decided you were gonna make a run for it
TM: Yes right through Trieste…failing to eat and you know, we see the Italians were so stupid, you know, a lot of communists, honestly. (MB: Oh, yes). You know the red flag, you know that because there were half communists in Italy. They say they give them you know, communism is something wonderful, that was the trouble.
MB: Yes, yes. Well, they discovered it wasn't. (TM: Yeah) Major discovery. Gosh, so you had to leave all your family, everybody behind
TM: Everything, I had no chance to say goodbye to my father, it’s always here on my mind.
MB: Of course.
TM: And father wasn’t well, because, at first you know, when they took me, you know, I never forget, when they took me it was 17th of June 44.
You know, they, you know, they slaughtered six million, Stalin, six millions. I got some photos, I'm not quite sure I got some photos. The bodies, they just call it you know, two men (MB: Yes) just one for legs another one….throwing on the your lorry, you know?
MB: Imagine watching that….terrible
TM: People were dying on the field. They try to look for any food or anything.
MB: You are starving,
TM: They were starving, they took all everything, that was deliberate.
MB: When did this deliberate starvation policy, how did that happen?
TM: When you know when the Communists took over, you know, they won you know? Because. They were fighting the Germans you know, when they came, and they started this hunger business (MB: Just to starve you) Yeah. They took over for they used to come in the house. Steal any food. You know they even looking in the garden and if you bury anything, could you believe it? If that wasn't deliberate. They took everything. People will die in six millions. That's, that's the only cause by small. That’s all we know about 6 million. That’s all we know about 6 million…
MB: How did you survive that?
TM: Because that part……they divided, the Germans, they divided they took a little bit of Poland took that's where I come from was under Poland, and eastern Ukraine, communists, and they blocked the (border)……you couldn't get through, you know to escape. Because a lot of people try to bring their food from under Poland. No, they blocked it…nobody knew it what was happening. Some Western… you know, the British they bloody knew it.
MB: they knew it.
TM: They knew it and America knew it.
MB: Because they don't tell anything of this about Stalin
TM: No, no
MB: That’s why I think it should be told….