Khoshun-Bator talks about his native village and why Kalmyks gave their children foreign names:I am from the village of Kerdata. My aimag (tribe) is Budermus. My yasn (clan) is Gurvn. People of this yasn also live in Western Mongolia. My clan has three colours: red, white, and green. Our stamp is a trident. My father, Adolf Shurganovich Chudutov, was a teacher of mathematics and physics. He fought in the war and was wounded. Because of his name, he had to constantly defend himself. He was told by the NKVD to change his name. But he refused to do so. Why was he named Adolph? Because the Germans lived near Kerdata. In Kerdata there were 3 or 4 men who were called Adolf. There were also a Heinrich, a Karl, and a Johann. Kalmyks gave their children all sorts of names, including German, Russian, Finnish, and Estonian. Many farmers of German, Ukrainian, Estonian and other backgrounds settled in the Bolshederbetovsky ulus because the land there was fertile. We all lived as neighbors. In the past Kerdata was larger than Bashanta. Houses were scattered all over the place. When Prince Gakhaev began to build schools in his ulus, two schools were built in Kerdata, because the village was large and populous. Many villagers received higher education. After the war however, the population decreased. When we returned from Siberia(n exile), old people wore Kalmyk traditional clothes during holidays. I remember we had horse races in the summer. Although religious services had stopped, people read prayers in Kalmyk. My grandmother read prayers, but as I was small then I do not remember any of them now.