A Leningrad survivor who ate her father’s leather belts to stay alive during the siege has died aged 98.
Galina Borisovna Matskina passed away in Cyprus on Monday (6 Apr).
Her death was announced by the Russian Embassy, which described her as “a person of extraordinary strength of spirit”.
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Galina was 14 when the war reached Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, as reported by Need To Know.
In a recording of her memories made for her grandchildren and shared with local media, she recalled: “The winter was extremely harsh – there was no firewood and no food.
“There was no electricity, and the water supply and sewage systems were not working. We kept our coats on indoors.
“There were constant shellings, bombing raids, and constant stress.”
Living in unsanitary conditions and unable to wash or change clothes, Galina later learned that her father had gone missing at the front.
“We found carpenter’s glue and dry mustard in a storage cupboard and ate them, trying to make them last until the next day,” she said.
“We even ate all of my father’s trouser belts.
“They were made of leather.
“We cut them into small pieces, poured boiling water over them, drank the water, and chewed the leather itself.”
Suffering from scurvy and dystrophy, Galina, her mother and younger sister were eventually evacuated via the “Road of Life” across Lake Ladoga to Kyrgyzstan.
There, she worked on a farm attached to a children’s home, tending vegetables, while her mother worked as a nanny at the same institution.
In 1996, Galina moved to Germany, where she lived for more than 20 years before relocating to the Paphos area of Cyprus to be closer to her children and grandchildren.
The Russian Embassy in Cyprus said: “Despite all the hardships she endured, she maintained a bright outlook on life and remained a person of remarkable optimism.
“Decades later, she continued to preserve the memory of the wartime years, passing it on to the younger generation.”
