such that no one knew about it My father could have been arrested for this and sent to Siberia. We were hungry almost all the time, but we shared all our food with them to help them survive the famine.

The hungry and the swollen wandered from house to house, from place to place, begging for bread. Veiy often, when somebody rang at our door, we would open it only to find the person already dead, with their hand outstretched for help.

The residents of the city stood in bread lines, sometimes all night, hoping to get even one kilogram of bread. Lines were very long, sometimes five or seven hundred people. They were divided into groups of hundreds and tens, and each group had their own ‘brigadier’ who watched to make sure that no one sneaked into the long queues out of turn. Sometimes ruffians would jump the ones who had just come out of the store with their bread. They would often create disturbances among the people near the entrance doors; then they themselves would go in out of turn and buy up all the bread. Many of the people who stood in line were left empty-handed; some of those who did get some bread ate it up on the spot, because they were so unbelievably hungry.

In Kiev there was a rumor that at the bazaars there was a black market in human meat. Many people, especially children, disappeared without a trace from the streets of the city. On the streets of Kiev there were no cats or dogs to be seen.

Only my aunt somehow managed to travel beyond the Ukrainian border into the Russian S.F.S.R., and she brought back flour for bread. She was really very lucky, be¬cause there were police agents on all the railroads who searched passengers and took all their provisions, those passengers who travelled to and from Russia.

Poorly dressed people were not allowed into downtown Kiev. There, whenever any¬thing appeared in a store (be it bread, potatoes, barley or beans, or perhaps some sort of meat or fish; stockings, trousers, hats, shoes or little shawls), people immediately formed a line, without even asking, “What’s for sale?” and bought up everything. Everything was in short supply—not only was there insufficient food, but also other staple goods, including fuel.

The secret police and the city police conducted intensive searches for valuable items. They confiscated copper and valuables from people by force. They ‘pumped out’ the gold and silver, arresting the owner, especially the men. One of my uncles was subjected to great torture for gold. There were many similar episodes.

Senator DeCONCINI: Thank you for your testimony.
Let me address the question to you regarding the schools. Were you witness to the closing of schools, and what kind of propaganda or reason was given for the closing of schools, if they did close them?
Ms. S.: Yes. I was a witness, because I was in school. Our school was closed, and I know the other schools in the city were closed. Remember, at that time we had not had any—like you have in the United States of America—twelve grades. The seventh grade was the highest. There was elementary school from which we got a diploma and then some could go to the Technicum and others to university. The schools were closed, and I remember the reason given to us children: that we have epidemic of dysentery and typhoid fever, therefore, the schools will be closed. Of course, with