Born 1951.
Grandfather: Fedor Petrovich Bertsch, born 1895.
Grandmother: Maria Filippovna Bertsch,born 1904.
Mother: Sofia Fedorovna Resun (maiden name Bertsch), born 1926.
The family lived in Leningrad; they owned a house (probably on the outskirts).
Upon the decision of the Military Council of the Leningrad front dated March 9,
1942, they were deported from their home on the 17 March 1942. They received
their rehabilitation on the 16 August 1994.
In Leningrad everybody received 129 grams of bread; the people were queuing for bread and fainted in series, because they were so hungry. At that time they used to cook potatoe peals to fill their empty stomachs.
They left their homes in the clothes they had put on in the morning, without having the chance to change them. At first they went on horseback, then by train. Many people died during the train ride, as well. They were thrown out of the waggons on the way or at the next train station. There were special burial commandos.
The inhabitants of Momotovo met them in an unfriendly way – they were hostile to the resettlers, called them fascists. They were accomodated in barracks. Much later they built their own house.
Interviewed by Svetlana Mironova, Marina Lapteva
(AB – comments by Aleksei Babiy, Krasnojarsk „Memorial“)
Sixth expedition of history and human rights, Momotovo 2009
