Before the War I Had Toys
Before the War I Had Toys
Children of Grozny
Deni Kantayev (4 years old)
Used to live at: Kalinin poselok, Baumana 12/30, Grozny
(Malika’s younger brother)
“I also remember when the bomb exploded. I was out on the street; I wanted to hide in the house under our bath. But I didn’t make it. Some shrapnel hit Grandma. After that I lived in different cellars. It was scary inside. One uncle told me if I didn’t stop crying that he would pull me out and make me stay out during the bombings. The Russian soldiers in uniforms bombed us. Now, I live at my other grandma’s.
One of my biggest wishes is to have chocolate and bananas. Sometimes I go to our broken house. Once, I found one of my toy cars. The Russian soldiers took the rest. All my toy cars were taken away. Or they were burned - I don’t know.
I love my sister Marina best of all, but she does not live with us anymore. I don’t like those who have destroyed our house.When I’m an adult? … I would like to be a Podvalshchik - a person who repairs cellars. Today, cellars are very important and necessary for people because they protect them against flying shrapnel.”
Malika, Deni and their mother Tamara Kantayeva live with their neighbour. Every day they walk by their house and think how they could fix it. However, there isn’t enough money to repair it.
The children’s father has been missing for a long time; no one knows what happened to him. Deni was born on August 24th, 1996 during the first war. He was born at the same time as the Russian commanders gave the people of Grozny the ultimatum to leave town or be exterminated along with the guerrillas. That day Deni’s mother Tamara paid the last of her money to the local hospital staff to help her give birth. Both, she and the doctors were under great stress – everyone was thinking of one thing – how and when they might escape Grozny.
When Deni was 7 months old, he had his first attack. He had an attack of spasms – he kept screaming and could not sleep; he still has problems sleeping today. He never goes far from his mother and rarely lets her out of his sight. He often cries without reason, especially since a large ground-to-ground missile fell near their home on October 21st, 1999.
Other stories:
|
