Before the War I Had Toys
Children of Grozny
Seda Shamsadova (7 years old)
Lives at: Kalinin poselok,Baumana 53, Grozny
“We used to have two houses. Both burned. The summer kitchen (“vremyanka”) survived the bombing and we live in it. But most of the time we sleep at our neighbour’s. The “Vremyanka” is too cold and there isn’t enough room.
They say that the soldiers burned our house. They lived in it and when they left they set fire to the house. The roof fell down. The garage burned too. The soldiers stole our gas stove and now we have no stove to cook on. We would like to repair our house but we do not have enough money. My mother tries to work, it’s hard, she sells clothing in the Central Market, but it is not enough for a new roof.
We took all my toys to the village so that they would not be burned or taken by the during the mopping-up operations (zachistki) That is the check-up on civilians by armed and masked soldiers. The soldiers are looking for weapons and money.
At night they shoot, but it is hard to tell what they are shooting at.”
Seda is lucky she has both parents. However, her father is an invalid. He is 44 years old.
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