Living book: Maria Leluțiu, teacher
(fragments)
"I am from Sibiu area. I was not at war, but my father was.
I was born in 1940, so I am turning 79 this year. I was six months old when my father went to war. I do not know if you have learned about that in History classes, Stalingrad was the milestone for Allied armies which returned and were crushed by the Soviet army. Then the whole Soviet army came this way to Germany, and to the Tatra Mountains in Czechoslovakia, and so the Second World War ended.
In Stalingrad, at Cotul Donului there was a large massacre in which my father also disappeared. We didn't know anything about him, they didn't tell us. After 56 years, I managed to go to the Pitești archives of the army to find out that he had disappeared. I have the document that proves this. The slaughter was so large that the soldiers could not be identified. It was probably known that he was part of that regiment, and that is how it was testified that he had died.
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As an adult, when I was over 50, I submitted a request to the military archives in Argeș to find out whether my father had died or not. And I was told that on November 20, 1942 he was declared missing on the front line. I was notified of this in 1996. Until 1996 I had no reliable news about what had happened to my father.
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The Russians were devastating everything no matter where they went. They came in several series. My grandfather had a lot of forest, a lot of land, a lot of sheep, a lot of animals, like all the people of Sibiu. From the main road we could see a building of his on a hill called Grui.
When the people saw that the troops were coming - there were not means of communication as nowadays, but people were communicating orally - they let all those big barrels of wine and other alcoholic beverages that my grandfather had go down the hill... They were thrown from the hill. That's why I remember, you realize that I was five then and I remember that image, but also the joy I felt seeing the barrels breaking... It was important for us that the Russians did not have any drink left because if they got drunk, they killed people.
I also remember - because they came in successive waves - that there were some people who came carrying a gun and my grandfather had a dog who was barking. I remember that grandfather kept the dog - he had many dogs, but this one was chained and was barking wildly. And the Russian with the gun threatened that if the dog didn't stop barking then he would shoot my grandfather. We were afraid that he might have shot my grandfather. I remember exactly what the soldier was like with his rifle aimed at the dog.
My mother, grandmother and I went home. We had a beautiful orchard with lots of trees on the edge of the forest. It was like Heaven, it was very beautiful there... We ran into the woods so that the Russians wouldn't find us because, if they found us, if they found women, they raped them. "Zhenshchina, they said, where is zhenshchina?" Zhenshchina means woman. I remember walking very fast through the woods so they wouldn’t find us, so they would only find men at home... That reminds me of the age of five…"
Maria Leluțiu
"I am from Sibiu area. I was not at war, but my father was.
I was born in 1940, so I am turning 79 this year. I was six months old when my father went to war. I do not know if you have learned about that in History classes, Stalingrad was the milestone for Allied armies which returned and were crushed by the Soviet army. Then the whole Soviet army came this way to Germany, and to the Tatra Mountains in Czechoslovakia, and so the Second World War ended.
In Stalingrad, at Cotul Donului there was a large massacre in which my father also disappeared. We didn't know anything about him, they didn't tell us. After 56 years, I managed to go to the Pitești archives of the army to find out that he had disappeared. I have the document that proves this. The slaughter was so large that the soldiers could not be identified. It was probably known that he was part of that regiment, and that is how it was testified that he had died.
……………………………………………………………………………………
As an adult, when I was over 50, I submitted a request to the military archives in Argeș to find out whether my father had died or not. And I was told that on November 20, 1942 he was declared missing on the front line. I was notified of this in 1996. Until 1996 I had no reliable news about what had happened to my father.
…………………………………………………………………………………..
The Russians were devastating everything no matter where they went. They came in several series. My grandfather had a lot of forest, a lot of land, a lot of sheep, a lot of animals, like all the people of Sibiu. From the main road we could see a building of his on a hill called Grui.
When the people saw that the troops were coming - there were not means of communication as nowadays, but people were communicating orally - they let all those big barrels of wine and other alcoholic beverages that my grandfather had go down the hill... They were thrown from the hill. That's why I remember, you realize that I was five then and I remember that image, but also the joy I felt seeing the barrels breaking... It was important for us that the Russians did not have any drink left because if they got drunk, they killed people.
I also remember - because they came in successive waves - that there were some people who came carrying a gun and my grandfather had a dog who was barking. I remember that grandfather kept the dog - he had many dogs, but this one was chained and was barking wildly. And the Russian with the gun threatened that if the dog didn't stop barking then he would shoot my grandfather. We were afraid that he might have shot my grandfather. I remember exactly what the soldier was like with his rifle aimed at the dog.
My mother, grandmother and I went home. We had a beautiful orchard with lots of trees on the edge of the forest. It was like Heaven, it was very beautiful there... We ran into the woods so that the Russians wouldn't find us because, if they found us, if they found women, they raped them. "Zhenshchina, they said, where is zhenshchina?" Zhenshchina means woman. I remember walking very fast through the woods so they wouldn’t find us, so they would only find men at home... That reminds me of the age of five…"
Maria Leluțiu