Lidia Markovna, 72 years old.

“I grew up in an orphanage.
My mother died early, and I left with my father, his name was Mark Antonovych.
Then they put my father in jail…
He had been at war, where he was wounded.
He was wounded by his fellow soldier. My father had quarrelled with a man, and then he shot him during a battle.

When the father returned from the hospital, that man was no longer there.
After the war, my father accidentally met him in Yagotin. Well, he killed him right away.
Of course, my father was imprisoned.
But then he was granted amnesty, because it turned out that the man whom my father killed was “an enemy of the people”.

He came to the orphanage to take me with him, but they did not let me go.
Soon after that, he died.

After the orphanage, I never studied anywhere, I was completely disordered.
I tried to enter Lviv Technical College of Electronics, but failed.

Thank God, I never was in prison.

I worked first in an Military training center for tank operators. My friend from the orphanage arranged that work for me.
I’ve had all kinds of jobs… I mostly worked as a cashier, selling goods at the local market “bazar”, Recently, when I was already retired, I worked as a ganitor in a WC and also at the butchery.

One day young people came to the WC, and there were syringe needles left after them.
Then they came again, and I made a remark to them: people go to the WC after you, they may prick themselves accidentally…

A few days later, the police came to the market, and arrested those addicts. When they were taken away, one of them pointed to me, saying that it was me who called the police.
I do not remember what happened that evening when I went home…

I woke up in the hospital. My legs were broken, my shoulder was damaged… I don’t know what happened.
Maybe I got hit by a car.
After this incident, I can hardly walk. I have nowhere to live.

“ I have a son – Slavka. He’s very sick. He has a rectum prolapse.
Because of this, his wife divorced him, drove him from the house. Well, he started drinking. Where he lives, I do not know…”
“Help me to find the habitat, I do not want to die on the street (cries)…”

photo credit Александр Чекменев (Alexander Chekmenev)