Len's cousin

Experiencing the Communist system in Kazakhstan

Louie: Well, we used to, like, make bricks, bricks out of lime. Out of lime, yes, like a midget [phonetic]. And we used to build these huts. Father used to go, he used to go to the city, he used to bring things, and we used to go to the market. He used to bring tea, and lamps, and he used to do some hondling (Yiddish, merchandising). And they had a very poor commerce system, because everybody works for the government. No incentive to do things right.

Joe: Not only that, during the war they didn’t even pay you. So, my father said to them, “Look, I got 6 children, and they got to eat. You are not paying us. How will they eat?”

They said, “Do what everybody else does.”

So, he said, “What does everybody else do?”

“When you finish in the farm, at night, you will tie up your pants, and you fill up with wheat, and you take it home. They only thing is, remember one thing, don’t let us catch you, because if we catch you, you go to jail.”

And that was the Russian system. Everybody steals in order to live. Instead of giving it to you, they let you steal it.

Louie: Well, the village is not owned by somebody. It’s owned supposedly by all the people. All the people who live in the village own the village, so officailly you work for yourself, you see, so you are not supposed to get paid.

Joe: That’s the system.