Interview with Yan Zheni

Yan Zheni (b.1939) is a resident of Daguo Village, Daguo Xiang, Linying County, Luohe City, Henan Province. When people ate at the eating halls, they could only have porridge like noodle soup without noodles. If the porridge was spilled, people would lie on the ground to lick it. People also had various kinds of famine foods. Every family needed to work for credits, so Yan worked in the field at night, leaving her little daughter at home. She could not come back to her except to feed her breastmilk. Dozens of people died every day and villagers did not have time to bury them. Yan’s parents also died then. Yan’s first husband was from a family of rich peasant, and three people died in their family. She only survived the hunger because she was later married to her second husband, a cadre.

闫这妮(1939年生)是河南省漯河市临颍县大郭乡大郭村村民。村民集体在食堂吃饭时，每天喝的粥和煮面条的汤水一样，但洒在地上都有人趴着舔。人们只能吃苇根、茨茭芽、豆糁儿等充饥。家家户户都得干活换工分，闫老人当时晚上去田里干活，只能把小女儿留在家中，除非喂奶不能回去。当时一天可以死几十人，来不及被埋葬，老人的父母也是那时候饿死的。她的第一任丈夫家是富农，当时死了三口人，她跟着当干部的第二任丈夫，才没有被饿死。

Transcripts for this interview and more may be available under the ‘Documents’ link above. 采访抄录和相关内容，请点击查看上面的’Documents’链接。