 Seven-year-old Viktor found himself in the house of Yekaterina Petrovna and Ilya Yevgrafovich Potylitsyns, his mother’s parents who gave the boy all their love and care.In 1932 he joined a local primary school.His life in the early 1930s Astafyev later described in his book of short stories "The Last Respect" (Posledny Poklon, 1968).