As an adult, Lena married a Kyrgyz man and changed her name to Guliya. She quickly mastered the Kyrgyz language, forgetting her native one, and even began interpreting dreams.
Her daughter, Raida Minkejeva, met with a correspondent from Turmush to share her mother's story:
“My mom was Russian by nationality. When the Great Patriotic War began, she was only eight years old and lost her parents. Before the war, they lived in Leningrad. When the city was besieged, thousands of children, including my mom, became orphans. Her father went to the front and did not return, while her mother died at a factory. My mom and her younger brother Kostya were put on an evacuation train, but in different cars. She cried and begged not to be separated from her brother. Later it turned out that the train carrying Kostya was bombed. My mom recalled this tragedy with bitterness,” Raida said.
Along with 150 other orphaned children, she ended up in Kyrgyzstan. She never saw her brother again. She was placed in an orphanage on the outskirts of the village of Saruu, where local residents cared for the children who had lost their parents and found themselves far from home.
After that, little Lena went to school and began studying in Kyrgyz. The kolkhoz manager, Amantur Baidildaev, and his wife Maaniy adopted her.
“My mom grew up as a daughter in a Kyrgyz family. A friend of her adoptive father, K. Bayalinov, gave her the name ‘Guliya’ and even wrote: ‘Сен жетим эмессиң’ (You are not an orphan). Thus, the Russian girl became known as the Kyrgyz woman named Guliya. Mom hardly remembered the Russian language; her primary language became Kyrgyz, which she mastered perfectly. Her adoptive parents taught her local traditions, and she embraced Islam,” her daughter added.
After finishing her studies, Guliya married Tologon Minkejev and graduated from a medical school in Przhevalsk. She worked as a nurse in Saruu, assisted women in childbirth, and became a “kindik ene” (the one who cuts the umbilical cord) for their children. Together with her husband, she raised six daughters and five sons.
Throughout her life, Guliya Minkejeva searched for her brother but was never able to find him.
In 1978, a film titled “Guliya” was made in Russian, and in 1979, director Mikhail Yakovlev created a film called “I Want to Live,” dedicated to Guliya's fate, which was shown in Russia. Former neighbors of Elena from Leningrad saw the film and told its content to her relatives. They thought that little Lena had died, but, not believing it, they attended a repeat screening and confirmed that she was alive. After that, her relatives came to visit Elena in Saruu.
“This was a complete surprise for mom. Later, she and dad visited Leningrad. Until the end of her life, she continued to receive letters from her relatives and dreamed of returning to her homeland. Mom passed away at the age of 67,” Raida noted.
Elena Osipova, who became known as Guliya Minkejeva, is remembered as an exemplary daughter-in-law and mother. She left behind six daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, although five of her sons have passed away.
Zamira Kozhokmatova, Guliya Minkejeva's second daughter-in-law, noted that when she got married, her mother-in-law was 60 years old.
“My mother-in-law had 11 children: daughters Roza, Raida, Rashida, Nadira, Zukhra, Jyrgalbubu, and sons Ikhsan, Davlet, Rashid, and Agzam. Every year we gather and remember our Guliya apa,” Zamira shared.
