Security Concerns Trumping Korenizatsiia 123quota,” which allowed them to keep their home and remain a part of the
Korean kolkhoz. Em’s mother was in bad health, and his older sister did not
or could not use a hoe correctly. The family’s production towards the “plan” or
quota was low. Even on a Korean collective farm, families who did not meet
their quotas were thrown out of the collective.^41 This added pressure on
Iliaron to compensate for the lower productivity of his family. Most nights
he ate dinner in the fields so that he could continue working. He also carried
his hoe to school every day. Iliaron envied other children who could go to
school, study, play, and relax. His mother pushed him very hard to study and
continue his education, so after his work in the fields he often studied late
into the night. Thus, Iliaron Em hardly slept until he began his university
studies.^42
Oral history also helped uncover many interrelationships between the
vari ous nationalities and or religious groups in the RFE. This is one aspect
of Soviet life that is remarkably absent from some of the lit er a tures, and
particularly the archives. Maria Pak and Gum Soi Kim both stated that
Koreans hated the Chinese because the only Chinese they saw were bandits.
En Nok Kim affirmed that, in his Korean village, Chinese men came
often as doctors (herbalists and acupuncturists) and as artisans. They would
often fix cooking pots and pans. Some Koreans were very poor, as they paid
up to 70 percent of their harvest to Rus sian landowners. The large Korean
families sometimes owed money to the Chinese that they could not pay. In
order to cancel the debt, some Koreans gave their daughters as wives to the
Chinese.^43 Gum Soi Kim also confirmed that this practice occurred, although
rarely.^44 Raisa Nigai knew five young Korean women who grew up without
parents. They lived in the village right outside of Shkotovo. All five had lost
both parents due to diseases or drowning (as fishermen). In the case of these
orphans (besprizorniki— orphans and homeless), all five had married Chinese
men. She asked one of the Koreans, “Why did you marry a Chinese?” The
woman replied: “I was hungry. I don’t have parents and I didn’t want to die.
I married him so that I could have food and so that I could live.” Raisa noted
that the Korean women generally seemed happy with their husbands and
that these Chinese men had stated that they preferred Koreans to Rus sian
wives. All five had children and came to her store often to buy candies or
toys. The average age of the women was eigh teen years old, while their hus-
bands w ere between twenty- two and twenty- five years old.^45
Elena Kan had lost both of her parents by the age of five. She said:
“My older b rother and older sister raised me, but they had their own children
and they gave me what ever scraps and leftovers of food there were. I often
received spoiled food. Then later, even more distant relatives raised me, but