Savrigul M.

Savrigul M.

The family in Central Asia has lived through the collapse and breakup of the Soviet Union.

Savrigul M.

Savrigul
The collapse of the Soviet Union, Civil War and 9/11 attack were the major
events that happened during and since WWII. WW II was one of the deadliest military
conflict in the history that effected the whole world.
I am from Tajikistan which used to be part of the Soviet Union and researches
show that the estimated death during that war just for Tajik people is close to 70,000
people. My grandfather M* (whose name I carry as my last name) was a soldier in War
War II, who lost his leg and never was able to walk after that. The war ended more than
fifty years ago and the world has faced to many changes both positive and negative.
One of the biggest and most important even that happened in the world since the
WW2 is the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since Tajikistan was part of the Soviet Union,
my family and I faced tremendous changes, again both negative and positive. Positive
part of it was that Tajikistan was an independent country with its own rules and currency
and free under the Soviets control. On the other hand, it was not ready to be all on its
own. Once Tajikistan got its independence, people started suffering. Hunger,
unemployment and facing the new rules and control lead to civil war which started 1991.
Thousands and thousands of people were killed, children were left orphans and everyone
tried to get out of Tajikistan as soon as they could. My family itself suffered from every
side. We didn’t have any food, my father couldn’t find a job, we used to go to school
with no books or even proper clothes. My uncle died during that period of the time,
which is still the most unforgettable even in my family’s history.
A new president was elected and things started to get better. Yes, things are still
hard, but with the help of all the international organizations like Red Cross and the UN,

life is getting easier back home. Tajikistan is a Muslim country and on the map it is very
close to Afghanistan. After the 9/11 horrible event, non-Muslim people around the world
stereotypically started to think that every Muslim person is a terrorist. When the 9/11
event happened, Tajikistan just started to have internet in the country, so we had no
access to up to date information unless the Russian television informed us. When we
finally heard it, I remember looking at my mother like I was expecting some explanation.
We were raised as true Muslims that would never heard another human being with guns
or words. And when we heard that the terrorists were Muslims and were from our very
close neighbor Afghanistan, we were completely shocked. My family and I till this day
don’t understand why those people are doing what they are doing and their actions are
very ugly to us.
Those are the three big events happened after WW2 and as you can see , we can
find negative and positive part on all those changes and we can only hope for the positive
from now on.