Sasha's Interview (Life in USSR)
My mom, Fatima Sabanova was born in Soviet Union, and was 9-19 from 1970 to 1979. My mom grew up in a small town in the Caucasus region of Russia. At that time Soviet Union seemed to be at its height of power. All the families were more or less equal. That means all the families were getting the same income. So Fatima and her relatives were a typical family like any other family in the whole country. Food was really cheap. For one ruble (today one US dollar is equal to 29 rubles) you could buy five loafs of bread, or one pound of meat. Groceries didn't come in variety. For a delicacy like sausages or fruits one should stay in a long line to buy it, and there was no guarantee that you will get it.
Grocery stores were combined with clothes shops quite often. People in Soviet Union had a poor wardrobe. Shoes were the biggest concern. In the winter it was tough to find warm shoes. Good clothes were challenging to get. One should be very lucky to encounter some good clothes in the store. For example, Fatima had her school uniform and only one other outfit. Fatima remembers that shopping was like hunting.
The entertainment at the time was quite limited in Soviet Union. There was only one TV channel which worked form 6-10 PM. There was only one cartoon each day which lasted 3-4 minutes. The TV channel only talked about Soviet accomplishments and none of the failures or even natural disasters were broadcasted. The life abroad was shown only from a negative side. Fatima remembers reports about people in the US living under the bridge or waiting in a huge line for a bowl of soup. In general people were very scared of United States. They thought that Americans hate Soviet people and are going to drop an Atomic bomb on them. The biggest events in Soviet Union were the flights to space, and the ballet performances. There was even a popular proverb "In the ballet and in the space, we are the first in the world." From world events broadcasted Fatima remembers the Chilean Coup d'etat. In Russia they called it the Military Coup. She also remembers how they were signing the letter to free Angela Davis, an American communist who was arrested. Information form the outer world was filtered.
The movie theaters mostly showed Soviet propaganda films and films made in Bollywood, which didn't appeal to her very much. Unfortunately there was no other choice. In music the youth liked disco groups such as ABBA and Boney M. They were extremely popular. People were exchanging records because it was almost impossible to buy them.
In the 70s nobody could guess that in the next decade the Soviet Union will collapse. Fatima said that if somebody told her about that in the 70s, she would think he was crazy.
Grocery stores were combined with clothes shops quite often. People in Soviet Union had a poor wardrobe. Shoes were the biggest concern. In the winter it was tough to find warm shoes. Good clothes were challenging to get. One should be very lucky to encounter some good clothes in the store. For example, Fatima had her school uniform and only one other outfit. Fatima remembers that shopping was like hunting.
The entertainment at the time was quite limited in Soviet Union. There was only one TV channel which worked form 6-10 PM. There was only one cartoon each day which lasted 3-4 minutes. The TV channel only talked about Soviet accomplishments and none of the failures or even natural disasters were broadcasted. The life abroad was shown only from a negative side. Fatima remembers reports about people in the US living under the bridge or waiting in a huge line for a bowl of soup. In general people were very scared of United States. They thought that Americans hate Soviet people and are going to drop an Atomic bomb on them. The biggest events in Soviet Union were the flights to space, and the ballet performances. There was even a popular proverb "In the ballet and in the space, we are the first in the world." From world events broadcasted Fatima remembers the Chilean Coup d'etat. In Russia they called it the Military Coup. She also remembers how they were signing the letter to free Angela Davis, an American communist who was arrested. Information form the outer world was filtered.
The movie theaters mostly showed Soviet propaganda films and films made in Bollywood, which didn't appeal to her very much. Unfortunately there was no other choice. In music the youth liked disco groups such as ABBA and Boney M. They were extremely popular. People were exchanging records because it was almost impossible to buy them.
In the 70s nobody could guess that in the next decade the Soviet Union will collapse. Fatima said that if somebody told her about that in the 70s, she would think he was crazy.
