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Irene's Talk

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Irene came in to talk to us about Russia on Thursday during global focus week. She told us a story about her grandparents. It was connected to Russian history and the Russian Revolution. It started out when the rich people would own big farms and villages. Some of the farms were bigger than Maine! The poor people would live in those villages and had no rights to go out of that village unless the owner said so. They were pretty much like slaves but better conditions than the slaves that were in this country. This is when the Russian Revolution started. The poor people got mad because nothing was theirs. Everything belonged to the richer people and the group. So the poor people complained to the csar. The rich people were mad but so were the poor people. So the Revolution started. The prince and the princess were killed and the laws were changed. Everything belonged to everyone and the rich people lost their jobs and their family artifacts that were very important. Irene’s grandfather was one of the most successful men in his business and the army specifically was looking for him. So he ran away from Russia. He traveled across Russia. That was about the distance of the size of the U.S., about 3,000 miles. He only traveled on foot and slept under the snow. We are not sure about how he got food or water but when he made it across the border he was a stick figure with white hair. His wife, Irene’s grandmother, missed him so she went to travel on a train. She had special family icons and wedding presents that she could not leave behind. So to get them into the train she had to break all the rules. She hid things in bread and inside her clothes. She wanted to keep these important things in her family. Everyone knew that once you moved away from where you lived, all your belongings got taken away. Another amazing story was about her grandmother’s son. He was old enough to be forced to go into the army. She did not want that to happen. So she hid him, made him look younger, and even stared at a soldier and scared him away. She was a brave woman to keep everyone safe, hide the artifacts, and get the family back together. Irene was an amazing storyteller. We wanted more.
by Nahum and Griffin



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