ABSTRACT
We had to conduct a two-day march from Biisk to the village of StaroAzhinka (Old Azhinka) in the Solton District. The village’s name came from the river Azha – a small stream originating somewhere in the Altai Mountains. Apparently, there was a Novo-Azhinka (New Azhinka) somewhere. The local residents pronounced it in one word – “Starozhinka” – which reminded us of the verb “storozhit” [to guard]. In general, we had to immediately get used to the peculiarities of the local Siberian pronunciation, and even to new words, which we had never heard before, with the exception of our father, who chuckled at our ignorance of the native Russian language. But it was even harder to get used to the country lifestyle. I cannot say that it was completely unfamiliar to us – we used to spend every summer before the war in the villages near Leningrad, and were accustomed to drawing water from a well, walking barefoot, etc. We were familiar with cutting firewood as well – our apartment had a furnace, we had to chop and cut firewood, and then carry it up to the fifth floor. But our physical weakness made walking any great distance difficult. Unfortunately, Staro-Azhinka itself, as well as all the places where we could work, was strewn over an immense area. The village was located on the right bank of the river on a truly Siberian scale, so that houses were 100-200 meters distant from each other, in a free and picturesque manner, not forming a street, but instead separate estates. Collective farm fields and maintenance services were located out in the steppe. You had to climb a rather steep road in order to get there.
