Whats it like being a Russian woman living among Chechens?
Like a Czech woman among Germans. I was born in Chechnya in 1935. My mother gave birth to me in Grozny in what was known as the 47th district, in a little house with the number 010/7. That’s where my sisters and brother were born, too. One of my sisters died in 1941. So that left me, my sister, who was two years older, and my brother, who was the eldest. I have spent my whole life in the Caucasus and I can’t say that anyone ever did me any wrong. It’s only these past few years. What made your parents come to Chechnya? They found themselves here in 1928. As far as I know, they were simply sent here, the way it happened in those days. So that Russians should settle in backward areas and Russify the local wild tribes. Except that the Chechens weren’t a wild tribe. Did your parents ever complain about being in the Caucasus? Never. I think they liked it here. In 1941, my father was called up. He died in 1943. From then on it was nothing but funerals here. . . My Mum worked in the refinery a
