Sangadzhi-Garya Dzhekiev, How We Built the Kizlyar-Astrakhan Railway

Sangadzhi-Garya reminisces about how in 1942 he worked on the construction of the Kizlyar-Astrakhan railway, which was regarded as a project of strategic importance by the Soviet government: There were 5 or 6 brigades. I carried water by cart which was driven by a camel. Each day I had to transport water many times. The cart carried two barrels, one could contain 40 buckets of water and the other twice as much. The water was used to sprinkle the railway before laying the rails. We lived in a dugout near the construction site. People brought us food once a week. I also transported rails from Ulan-Khol. It took 5 to 6 men to lift each rail. During the construction of the railway we were bombed by German planes. Many workers died. After the bombings started, we were not allowed to cook outside so as not to attract the enemy planes. Apart from bombing, these planes also used machine guns.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi