Alexandra Sanzheeva, About Myself and My Family

Duration: 15 mins 40 secs

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Alexandra Sanzheeva, About Myself and My Family's image

Description:	Alexandra talks about her life and her family.


Created:	2018-11-11 17:18
Collection:	Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (AUTOBIOGRAPHIES AND FAMILY TREES)
Publisher:	University of Cambridge
Copyright:	University of Cambridge
Language:	xal (Kalmyk; Oirat)


Abstract:	In 1943, when the Kalmyks were deported, both my parents were single and both were sent to the Altai region. My father had only his older sister left with him. My mother was with her elderly father and little brother, while her four other older brothers were fighting at the front. My father’s sister was sent to prison for 7 years. In 1949, my parents met each other and got married. I was born in 1950. At home I was called Shura because I was born during a blizzard. In Kalmyk shuurgn means a blizzard. My mother was illiterate, she did not even know how to count money. I was half a year old when my father lost his eyesight. At that time he worked in a stable, and when everyone had left, he stayed on to guard the horses. When he saw a guy, German by nationality, trying to steal hay by wrapping it on his whip, my father shouted at him and began to quarrel with that guy. Angry, the guy whipped my father in his face, damaging his eyes. My father fell, with his eyesight going blurry. But since he could not leave the workplace, he just sat there until the morning, with his eyes bleeding. In the morning, he went to see a medical assistant who told him to go to the district center. He had no money, could not speak Russian and so decided to stay at home as a result of which he went blind. My mother worked in the slaughterhouse, and brought us pig intestines. That is how we survived. There is a saying that ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’. When Sandzhi Alekseevich Kenzeev came to our village he saw how we lived and demanded that our father be granted a disability allowance. Until his death, my parents thanked Sandzhi Alekseevich Kenzeev for that. By the end of the exile, there were already three children in our family. All the Kalmyks had returned to Kalmykia, but we were still in Altai. We returned to the homeland with the last 10 families. I remember it very well. It was April and the steppe was in mud. We settled in the farm Sharnut whose chairman was the Hero of Socialist Labour, Ivan Ivanovich Litvinov. I graduated from Kanukovskiy high school and decided to enroll at the Pedagogical Institute, which later became a university. However, I did not pass the exams and had to return home. My mother was a seasonal worker and my father was disabled. After a while, the director of my school who knew me since my childhood called me to her office and said that it was necessary for me to work and help my family. She found me a job at the school canteen. I made sandwiches, sold candies and food. One summer, I was called to the district centre where the head of the centre asked me if I wanted to teach in a primary school, for there was a shortage of teachers. I agreed. Then he asked me where I wanted to work, in Dogzmakin or in the Krasnoselskiy state farm. I chose Dogzmakin and moved there in 1965. I worked at the local school for 2 years, and later I entered the Pedagogical College in Elista. After my studies I returned home to the Kanukovskiy state farm. Since there were few teachers of Kalmyk language and no textbooks at all, I prepared my lessons myself. After three years, I had my wedding in Dogzmakin, where I began to work as a teacher. My husband was a driver. We had four children. I worked in the local school for 35 years, became an honorary educator of Russia and a labor veteran of Russia and Kalmykia. I have a younger sister who was born in 1952. After graduating from university, she became an agronomist and worked in Kanukovskiy for many years. I also have a brother, Boris Mamuevich Mankhaev, a veterinarian who also worked for many years in Kanukovskiy and now lives in Elista. Our youngest sister studied accounting, worked for many years at the Kanukovskiy state farm, and now also lives in Elista. In conclusion, I want to say that there is a Kalmyk proverb ‘From the bad comes good’ (‘Muugas mongl gardg’). Although our parents were illiterate, we all received a good education and today we live no worse than other people.

Abstract:

In 1943, when the Kalmyks were deported, both my parents were single and both were sent to the Altai region. My father had only his older sister left with him. My mother was with her elderly father and little brother, while her four other older brothers were fighting at the front. My father’s sister was sent to prison for 7 years. In 1949, my parents met each other and got married. I was born in 1950. At home I was called Shura because I was born during a blizzard. In Kalmyk shuurgn means a blizzard. My mother was illiterate, she did not even know how to count money.
I was half a year old when my father lost his eyesight. At that time he worked in a stable, and when everyone had left, he stayed on to guard the horses. When he saw a guy, German by nationality, trying to steal hay by wrapping it on his whip, my father shouted at him and began to quarrel with that guy. Angry, the guy whipped my father in his face, damaging his eyes. My father fell, with his eyesight going blurry. But since he could not leave the workplace, he just sat there until the morning, with his eyes bleeding. In the morning, he went to see a medical assistant who told him to go to the district center. He had no money, could not speak Russian and so decided to stay at home as a result of which he went blind.
My mother worked in the slaughterhouse, and brought us pig intestines. That is how we survived. There is a saying that ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’. When Sandzhi Alekseevich Kenzeev came to our village he saw how we lived and demanded that our father be granted a disability allowance. Until his death, my parents thanked Sandzhi Alekseevich Kenzeev for that.
By the end of the exile, there were already three children in our family. All the Kalmyks had returned to Kalmykia, but we were still in Altai. We returned to the homeland with the last 10 families. I remember it very well. It was April and the steppe was in mud. We settled in the farm Sharnut whose chairman was the Hero of Socialist Labour, Ivan Ivanovich Litvinov.
I graduated from Kanukovskiy high school and decided to enroll at the Pedagogical Institute, which later became a university. However, I did not pass the exams and had to return home. My mother was a seasonal worker and my father was disabled. After a while, the director of my school who knew me since my childhood called me to her office and said that it was necessary for me to work and help my family. She found me a job at the school canteen. I made sandwiches, sold candies and food.
One summer, I was called to the district centre where the head of the centre asked me if I wanted to teach in a primary school, for there was a shortage of teachers. I agreed. Then he asked me where I wanted to work, in Dogzmakin or in the Krasnoselskiy state farm. I chose Dogzmakin and moved there in 1965. I worked at the local school for 2 years, and later I entered the Pedagogical College in Elista. After my studies I returned home to the Kanukovskiy state farm. Since there were few teachers of Kalmyk language and no textbooks at all, I prepared my lessons myself. After three years, I had my wedding in Dogzmakin, where I began to work as a teacher. My husband was a driver. We had four children. I worked in the local school for 35 years, became an honorary educator of Russia and a labor veteran of Russia and Kalmykia.
I have a younger sister who was born in 1952. After graduating from university, she became an agronomist and worked in Kanukovskiy for many years. I also have a brother, Boris Mamuevich Mankhaev, a veterinarian who also worked for many years in Kanukovskiy and now lives in Elista. Our youngest sister studied accounting, worked for many years at the Kanukovskiy state farm, and now also lives in Elista.
In conclusion, I want to say that there is a Kalmyk proverb ‘From the bad comes good’ (‘Muugas mongl gardg’). Although our parents were illiterate, we all received a good education and today we live no worse than other people.

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