On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, humanity once again turns to its lessons, to the experience of cooperation within the framework of the anti-Hitler coalition, and seeks to understand the origins of Nazi aggression. That is why it is very important to know and protect the truth about the most terrible war in history and to suppress any attempts to distort or falsify it.
An honest and objective position is especially important today, when the world is faced with the threat of terrorism, the propaganda of violence, and interethnic and interreligious intolerance.
We are decades away from that war. But debates about its causes, winners and consequences are still raging. Why is so much importance attached to the vicissitudes of World War II? Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Sergei MIRONOV talks about this.
Was war inevitable? Although history does not have a subjunctive mood, most experts agree that there was no fatal inevitability of the most tragic battle of the 20th century. As W. Churchill wrote in his famous book “The Second World War”: “It was not difficult to keep Germany disarmed for 30 years, and the victors properly armed...”
The policy of “appeasement” of Nazi Germany pursued by the European powers, ignoring its rapid militarization, other violations of the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919, and most importantly, the desire of the Nazis to strangle the hated Soviet Union with the help of the Nazis - these are the fundamental reasons that led to the Second World War.
Hitler skillfully took advantage of the favorable political situation, especially since it corresponded to his strategic plans to gain “living space in the East.” But first, contrary to the hopes of his connivers, he turned against them - to the West - and occupied almost all of Europe.
It was a lightning-fast blitzkrieg of the aggressor, which met practically no serious resistance: the Nazi war against Poland lasted 4 weeks, against Norway - 8, Holland was taken in 5 days, Belgium - in 17. France fell into the hands of Hitler in 6 weeks, Yugoslavia - in 11 days, Greece - 3 weeks.
Of course, there may be different approaches to historical events. As the famous French writer G. Flaubert correctly noted: “We would have a different idea of Caesar if the history of the Gallic War had been written by Vercingetoris” (Caesar’s main opponent in this war).
Unfortunately, along with objective scientific research, outright falsifications of the history of the Second World War have recently become widespread. Under the slogan of restoring historical justice, baseless, false myths about it are created.
The war claimed millions of human lives. I consider it extremely immoral to manipulate the events of 70 years ago for the sake of political expediency.
Today we often hear that the USSR is guilty of starting the war along with Nazi Germany. The focus of criticism is mainly directed at the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the USSR of 1939 and the secret protocol to it, which is often called the “Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.”
The truth is that the signing of these documents was a forced step for the Soviet Union. It was preceded by the Munich Agreement on the division of Czechoslovakia in 1938 (“Munich Agreement”), the failure of negotiations between the USSR with England and France on allied actions against Germany due to the fault of the West. Offers from the Soviet Union to come to the aid of Czechoslovakia, including with the use of armed forces, were ignored. 
By that time, the Anglo-German and German-French declarations of non-aggression had already been concluded. Almost all leading European states tried, first of all, to protect themselves at the expense of others. In the end, everyone lost.
Poland was no exception. She seriously considered the possibility of an alliance with Hitler against the USSR in 1934, and considered herself “the guardian of the West against the penetration of communism from the East.” In 1938, Poland took a direct part in the division of Czechoslovakia, receiving the Cieszyn region. But she herself became the first victim of fascist aggression.
By the time the treaty between Germany and the USSR was signed, the threat of a major war was clearly brewing in the world. This was clear from the military-political plans and specific actions of the Nazis. In addition, at that time the USSR, faithful to its allied obligations to Mongolia, was conducting military operations against Japan in the area of the Khalkhin Gol River. The Soviet state was faced with a dilemma: to remain alone with Germany and the prospect of a war on two fronts, or to try to delay the inevitable invasion.
Another thing is that Stalin did not expect such a quick outcome of events.
Much is said today about the so-called “occupation” of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union.
But in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, throughout the entire period of their stay in the Soviet Union, with the exception of the true occupation of Germany during the Great Patriotic War, national authorities acted.
As for the procedure for the Baltic states to join the USSR in 1940, it can be treated differently. But the decisions of the highest legislative bodies of the Baltic states, which received significant support from voters in the elections, complied with the norms of international law of that time.
Yes, having joined the USSR, Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians experienced the consequences of political repression carried out throughout the Soviet state. But what fate would await them if Hitler won the war? I will cite excerpts from a memorandum dated April 2, 1941, by the “plenipotentiary for the centralized solution of problems of the Eastern European space” Rosenberg regarding the residents of the Reichskommissariat “Ostland”, which was supposed to include Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia: “It will be necessary to ensure the outflow of significant layers of the intelligentsia.. ... to the central Russian regions, then begin to populate the Baltic states with large masses of German peasants... It is possible that Danes, Norwegians, Dutch, and, after the victorious end of the war, the British would also move to these areas, in order to annex this region in one or two generations, already completely Germanized, to the indigenous lands of Germany...".
Note that these plans were hatched even before the attack on the USSR.
People who are “not friends” with history also claim that the Second World War was won by Great Britain and the United States, and the contribution of the Soviet Union to the victory over Germany was insignificant.
Let me make a reservation right away: we pay deep tribute to all veterans of the Second World War and mourn its many victims. We bow to the feat of the Soviet people, who endured the unbearable hardships and deprivations of that war. The aggression against the Soviet Union that began on June 22, 1941 was, in fact, the crown of Hitler’s plans for aggression. Our army stopped and destroyed the military machine of the Third Reich.
Paying tribute to the role of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, I want to emphasize that the battles on the fields of the Great Patriotic War were the main events of the Second World War. From 190 to 270 combat-ready divisions were simultaneously operating against the Soviet troops, that is, more than 75% of their total number. It was in the battles of Moscow and Stalingrad, on the Kursk Bulge, during the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad and the defense of Sevastopol, during the Dnieper-Carpathian and Belarusian operations, and other major battles that the fate of the world and humanity was decided. The German army suffered 82% of all its losses here.
“The Second World War is truly the main lesson of the 20th century.”
President of Russia
Dmitry Medvedev.
Therefore, I want to repeat once again: we will not allow the memory of the fallen heroes of the Great Patriotic War to be consigned to oblivion and our living victors to be discredited. We will not allow the role of the Soviet soldier in the victory over fascism to be belittled. For anyone who is even slightly familiar with authentic documents and eyewitness accounts, the truth is so indisputable that it does not require additional evidence.
The assertion that the agreements on the post-war reconstruction of the world, reached at the meeting of the heads of state of the anti-Hitler coalition - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain - in February 1945 in Yalta, marked the beginning of the Cold War, is untenable. 
American researchers even went so far as to accuse their own president, F. Roosevelt, of “mental disability,” explaining it as a progressive illness during the Big Three meeting. Let it remain on their conscience. In fact, the final communiqué, which provided for the division of Europe into zones of influence, was an American project to which the Soviet leadership did not make a single amendment, and the British side limited themselves to only insignificant stylistic comments.
For some reason, critics of the Yalta Conference are silent about one of its main results - the agreement on the creation of the United Nations, an international organization to prevent war. Only in the wake of the suffering suffered was the world able to find a format for countering military aggression that suited everyone.
The harbingers of the Cold War were not the actions of the USSR. It began with secret separate negotiations between Great Britain and the United States with the highest fascist military leaders about the surrender of Germany, the maintenance by the Anglo-American command of captured SS divisions and captured weapons in combat readiness for their possible use against the Soviet Union.
The full philosophy of the “Iron Curtain” took shape in the speeches of W. Churchill to students at Westminster College in Fulton and G. Truman to the American Congress. Their essence was that the main threat to peace now is the increased power of the USSR, which must be countered with adequate armed force. That's how things were back then.
Today we are witnessing another attempt to escalate tensions in the world and militarize international relations. Evidence of this is the expansion of NATO to the East, the actual torpedoing of this CFE Treaty alliance by a number of countries, and plans to deploy missile defense elements in Europe. In the recent past - massive NATO missile and bomb attacks on Yugoslavia, political and military support for the barbaric aggression of Georgia against the people of South Ossetia.
As the Roman philosopher Seneca said: “There is no safe time. In times of peace, war begins."
With this development of events, the world may again, like 70 years ago, face serious challenges. That is why Russia, remembering the lessons of the past, advocates strengthening collective European security and calls for the conclusion of a new legally binding document that meets modern realities.
This is the result of World War II for the aggressor.
In memory of the difficult years of war childhood and the post-war period, the Vologda regional public organization “Children of War” held a ten-day event “Our War Childhood” in early September.
“Children of War,” as in the song, brought the great victory as close as they could. Exactly 70 years ago the Second World War ended, and this is not a coincidence. And in this decade we need to visit schools as much as possible, hold open lessons and meetings with young people.
2015 is the year of the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. We know that much has already been said and done, but we also understand something else: nothing can fully convey what the Soviet people experienced then. Therefore, events held in honor of this memorable date will never become redundant or unnecessary. In memory of the difficult years of wartime childhood and the post-war period, the Vologda regional public organization “Children of War” held a ten-day event “Our Wartime Childhood” in early September. Yes, the names speak for themselves - the decade is dedicated to those who were still very young in the 40s. It’s just a pity that age did not protect them from the horrors of war.
“The Great Patriotic War was a difficult test that befell the Russian people. Its severity and bloodshed left a huge imprint on people’s minds and had dire consequences for the lives of an entire generation. The war claimed millions of lives, destroyed millions of talents, and destroyed millions of human destinies. The war is remembered and known not only by those who defended the fatherland with arms in their hands, but also by those who did not receive summons to the military registration and enlistment office - children. "Children of War" survived all the horrors of those years. The war left unhealed wounds. “Children of War” are the great sufferers and its last witnesses. Not all children of the forties had to go to school on time. There was a war going on. Schools were destroyed, some burned down, and some were converted into hospitals. And the graduates who dreamed of becoming engineers, doctors, geologists, and pilots said goodbye to their dreams. The war changed everything. Young guys volunteered to go to the front, many of them did not return. The post-war years also placed a heavy burden on the “children of war.” They built cities, erected factories, factories, schools,” - with these words, the chairman of the Vologda regional public organization “Children of War” Margarita Shadrina opened the decade.
A decade passed from the second to the tenth of September. The series of events opened with a festive concert and rally on Kremlin Square.
“Children of War,” as in the song, brought the great victory as close as they could. Exactly 70 years ago the Second World War ended, and this is not a coincidence. And in this decade we need to visit schools as much as possible, hold open lessons and meetings with young people. Because you are the last witnesses of the war. And you can tell young people first-hand about the horrors of war. This is the biggest contribution that can be made,” Igor Stepanov, Chairman of the Public Chamber of the Vologda Region, addressed the “children of war.”
“Children of War” and modern children
During the decade, the “children of war” visited five educational institutions, or more precisely, five schools in our city. But this, of course, is not the limit: throughout the entire school year, “children of war” will attend classes with schoolchildren. As members of the organization say, the stories simply captivate children, because it is so difficult to believe in the cruel reality, even though it is already a thing of the past.
“When we come, the children respond to us very well. They listen very carefully and cannot believe that this really happened. Younger children simply absorb our stories, but older children often cannot accept that people really lived like this and ate like this,” shared Margarita Shadrina.
In addition to the meetings at school, another big event took place - the so-called meeting of three generations. It took place on September 4th at the City Palace of Culture. The name is not accidental: war veterans, “children of war” and schoolchildren gathered here.
Cultural recreation
In addition to the educational part, the decade also included cultural events. For example, all the “children of war” visited the Vologda Local History Museum. Visitors say that the guide talked about military Vologda and Vologda residents - heroes of the Great Patriotic War. We can highlight many feats of our fellow countrymen, for example, the bold step of Alexander Pankratov.
On August 24, 1941, in the battles near Novgorod, a company of the 125th dismounted tank regiment was blocked by enemy machine gun fire. And then the political instructor of the company, a former turner at the Vologda Locomotive Repair Plant, Alexander Pankratov, closed the embrasure with his body. In the history of the Great Patriotic War, this was the first example of such self-sacrifice. We can rightfully be proud of our fellow countryman.
There are mass graves in which our fellow countrymen were buried near Smolensk and Moscow, in Ukraine and Belarus, in Latvia and Estonia, Czechoslovakia and Germany, in almost every point of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, out of 340 thousand Vologda residents who went to the front, more than 178 thousand people did not return home. Their names are immortalized in thirty-five volumes of the “Book of Memory of the Vologda Region”.
Another entertaining event during the ten-day period is watching a movie together.
We watched the old Soviet movie “Spring on Zarechnaya Street.” Despite the rainy weather, there were a lot of people who wanted to watch - about forty people.
“Spring on Zarechnaya Street” was filmed in 1956 by directors Felix Mironer and Marlen Khutsiev. This is one of the most popular paintings of the Thaw. The film is based on love affairs, the courtship of a young metallurgical plant worker with a Russian language teacher. The film reflects the traditions, life, work, and behavior of post-war youth.
“We did not plan to show war childhood; at the request of the veterans, we watched a light film that did not relate to the war. After the film, everyone agreed that our youth should be taught with films like these. This is an instructive, good film for young people,” says Margarita Shadrina.
The ten-day period at the Children's Musical Theater has ended. In addition to the ceremonial closing itself, guests were treated to a performance about “children of war.” After such an eventful ten days, the participants want to relax a little and again actively participate in the public life of the city.
“Children of war” are active not only in Vologda, but also in the Vologda region. Residents of the villages of Ogarkovo, Maisky, Sosnovka, the cities of Totma, Gryazovets came to the events of the decade. And in Vytegra they even opened a monument to the “children of war.” The authorities of this city invited creative residents to develop a sketch for a granite slab of a memorial sign. Two Vytegorsk artists responded to this proposal: Olga Yushkova and Vera Abramova. Experts preferred the work of Olga Yushkova, and in August her idea was brought to life by local craftsmen. This is how the memorial sign “Dedicated to the children of war” appeared.
Young at heart
Nowadays, older people seem to be making up for their youth - they meet, communicate, and share their achievements. They really love handicraft exhibitions. Many people know how to knit, embroider, and draw. Now exhibitions are held in zones - in the eastern, western and central regions of the region. Representatives from different zones get together and show their successes. Everyone in their districts knows each other, and it’s interesting to look at the crafts of people from another district, the participants say. “Children of war” receive diplomas and prizes for their work. “This generation doesn’t know how to sit at home doing nothing. They have been trained this way since childhood. While still small, they learned to help their parents: knit mittens and socks for the front, embroider pouches. And then the housekeeping was entirely their responsibility. It’s a habit from early childhood to constantly do something. And although they are now well over seventy, they have time to look after the house, go to the dacha, and do handicrafts. They are now instilling this in their grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” says Margarita Shadrina.
One of these active participants is Velikonida Mikhailovna Povarova. Velya went to first grade in September 1942. It was very cold at school - even the ink froze. From the second grade, the children studied military affairs. Little children crawled on their bellies, disguised themselves, wore gas masks, and learned to throw a grenade. Soon the notebooks disappeared, I had to write on newspapers between the lines, fortunately a lot of them remained from my father. Father Veli himself went to the front at the beginning of the war. In the first months, the girl did not feel the war, she was only really looking forward to her father with gifts. I got used to the fact that he always brought toys, bagels, and candies from a business trip. But dad never returned to the family. Several times, upon request, notifications came from the military registration and enlistment office that he was not listed on the lists of those killed, those who died from wounds, or those missing in action. And at the beginning of June 1945, the family received a government document on which they read the following: “Your husband, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Babushkin, went missing during the Great Patriotic War.” Mother was 30 years old at the time. The children grew up orphans.
Another “child of war” is Alevtina Pavlovna Zhukova. The war in her memory is inextricably linked with famine. For example, there was such a case. One day bread was delivered to the store. Mom worked from morning until late at night. She gave the children money and told them to go buy bread. Early in the morning, Alevtina and her sister ran to the store. We had to stand in a long line several times because they only gave one loaf to one person. On the way home we decided to stop at the park and eat ice cream. The sister ran away, and Alevtina remained waiting for her with bread on the bench. Then a tall man in military uniform approached her and asked her to go get him some ice cream and handed her three rubles. And he himself offered to watch the bread for now. Alevtina quickly ran away, but when she returned, she found only her sister on an empty bench. Together they spent the whole day hiccupping for the man around the city, but in vain. I had to return home empty-handed. By that time it was already late evening, the mother was waiting for her daughters at home. She was so worried about them that when she found out everything, she didn’t scold them, but only said: “It’s good that they’re at least alive.”
Book of Memory
The stories of these and other people who survived the war as children are published in the collection “Childhood, Scorched by War.”
Two parts of the collection have already been published last year and the year before. In total, they included memories and poems of 240 war and labor veterans. The first book turned out to be so popular and in demand among fellow countrymen that they immediately decided to continue the collection. Preserving evidence and memories of that heroic and tragic time is now the task of those who live in the present.
The authors describe ordinary days lived during the Great Patriotic War, endured hunger, cold, poverty, tears of relatives, neighbors who received news of the death of husbands, sons, brothers. Children of the war worked equally with adults, fulfilling and exceeding the norm, bringing Victory closer. The titles of the memories are similar to each other - simple, but scary: “The bread was from grass”, “There was only one letter from my father”, “My grandmother brought bread crumbs”, “I worked on a collective farm from the age of six”, “I had no childhood ", "Happiness is an extra little piece of bread."
The third volume of the collection is now being prepared for release. There is no exact release date yet. “Even though 70 years have passed since the victory, people remember a lot and can tell a lot. But they still can’t speak calmly. This is the most painful place. It’s hard to remember this, even after 70 years...”, says Margarita Shadrina with sadness.
The Great Patriotic War will never cease to worry people, tormenting old wounds. We don’t want war, but neither did those who died then, not thinking that they would never see the sun, their children, or their home again.
There is not a single family in our country that has not been affected by the war. My family is no exception. My great-grandfather went through the entire war. He fought for the Motherland, for us, for us all to live in peace, for a calm road to school, for my friends and the joy of communicating with loved ones. Unfortunately, my great-grandfather has been dead for a long time. Our family rarely talked about the war, probably because the memories of it were too painful. But I am eternally grateful to my great-grandfather and all the defenders of our Motherland.
Thanks to them for not sparing their lives while fighting the Nazis. Thanks to the women, old people and children who stood at the machine and repeated the immortal phrase: “Everything for the front, everything for Victory!” Thanks to those who, having gone through the terrible ordeal of captivity, went to liberate the captured cities. Thank you for not giving up and not giving up when losing loved ones; for the fact that in your eyes the fire burned, is burning and will continue to burn, the fire of hope.
We, the younger generation, must learn to value peaceful life, because it was for this that our grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought in the war. The eternal flame of Victory must not go out in our hearts!
Our land suffered a lot from foreigners. Whoever attacked her: the Tatar-Mongols, the Swedes, the French. But our people survived!
Tears and grief came to every home, a difficult war time began. The fight against the Nazis went on everywhere: in the sky, on the ground, at sea. What torment our people had to endure: cold, hunger, torture, bullying! But people, performing their daily feats, survived! They went their way from life to death and to immortality.
My great-grandfather, Trofimov Vasily Grigorievich, went to the front in 1941. From Ryazan the echelons went straight into battle. My great-grandfather fought in tank forces and reached Königsberg. He was fired upon, burned in a tank, received a concussion, and was treated in the hospital for a long time. After the war he returned to his native village - and again to the war, with the Japanese. This is how my great-grandfather was! And if I meet a war veteran, I will definitely tell him: “Thank you for the clear sky above your head! If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t exist in the world!”
The Great Patriotic War left its mark on every family. Stories about her are passed down from elders to younger ones living now, in our time of peace.
I know about the war from films, books, stories of veterans. We are taught that the Motherland is a sacred word for every person. In difficult times for our country, the entire Soviet people united and defended their Motherland to the last drop of blood.
My great-grandfather went to the front in early September 1941. His name was Murodov Mamasharif. He was 17 years old at the time. He fought at Stalingrad, liberated Belarus, Ukraine and Poland. I celebrated Victory Day in Berlin. My great-grandfather went through the entire war and returned home without a leg.
Unfortunately, I never saw him, but it seems to me that he was very kind and strong.
Dear veterans, thank you for fearlessly fighting for the Motherland, loved ones, for our future. The peaceful sky above your head is your merit. You deserve the highest words and good wishes. I wish you health, happiness and longevity!
I will also serve in the army and try to become a good soldier, a real defender of my Motherland!
72 years have passed since the day when the whole world heard the long-awaited word “Victory!”
May 9th. Good ninth day of May. At this time, when all nature comes to life, we feel how beautiful life is. How dear she is to us! And along with this feeling comes the understanding that we owe our lives to all those who fought, died and survived in those hellish conditions. To those who, without sparing themselves, worked in the rear, to those who died during the bombing of cities and villages, to those whose lives were painfully cut short in fascist concentration camps.
On Victory Day we will gather at the eternal flame, lay flowers, and remember thanks to whom we live. Let’s keep quiet and once again tell them “Thank you!” Thank you for our peaceful life!
And in the eyes of those whose wrinkles preserve the horrors of war, remember fragments and wounds, the question is read: “Will you preserve what we shed blood for in those terrible years, will you remember the real price of Victory?”
Our generation has less opportunity to see living combatants and hear their stories about that difficult time. That’s why meetings with veterans are so dear to me. When you, war heroes, remember how you defended your Motherland, your every word is imprinted on my heart. In order to convey to the future generation what they heard, to preserve the grateful memory of the great feat of the victorious people, so that no matter how many years have passed since the end of the war, they will remember and honor those who conquered the world for us.
We have no right to forget the horrors of this war so that they do not happen again. We have no right to forget those soldiers who died so that we could live now. We must remember everything...
I see my duty to the eternally living soldiers of the Great Patriotic War, to you, veterans, to the blessed memory of the fallen, in living my life honestly and with dignity, in order to strengthen the power of the Motherland through my deeds.
The whole country is preparing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory. Our school is also preparing. In a literature lesson, we were asked to write an essay on the topic: “What would I say to the hero-liberator.”
I know about the war only from books, from films, from history. But I am sure that no works of art can convey everything that the soldiers experienced during those distant years of war for the sake of our future. On May 9, the Victory Parade has been taking place for many years now, where you can see the greatly thinned ranks of veterans.
I was born under a peaceful sky, I never heard the howl of bombs or the roar of cannonade. The Great Patriotic War... What do I know about this terrible war? I know that it was very long and difficult, that many people died. More than 20 million! Our soldiers were brave and very often acted like real heroes.
Listening to the stories of veterans, I could not remain indifferent to the feat of ordinary soldiers who went through this terrible war, whom nothing could break, nothing made them falter, betray, or retreat.
Now is a completely different time compared to the times of the Great Patriotic War. My generation is growing up late, but it knows and remembers at what price happiness is won. To forget the past means to betray the memory of those who gave their lives and fought for our future.
Dear soldier! I really want to tell you about how good it is to live peacefully in a world without war. A world without war is my mother, brothers, sister, friends, relatives. A world without war is the joyful trill of a school bell, this is tomorrow and my future. A world without war is beautiful. It is all in flowers - pink, heavenly, yellow, green. I will rejoice at the first snowdrop, the rainbow after the rain, the chirping birds and the bright green leaves of the trees.
Thank you, soldier, for a world without war! Thank you for defending our land! Low bow to you, soldier!
In 2015 we celebrate a great holiday - the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. From generation to generation, the memory of courage, the feat of our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers, pride in the great victory and the pain of irreparable losses is passed on.
This war has claimed millions of human lives, and we must always remember those who are not with us. Every family in Russia, in one way or another, was touched by the war: someone’s grandfather died in it, someone’s great-grandfather died, but thanks to their feat, we all got the opportunity to live happily and freely.
Our victorious warriors went into battle at the call of their hearts to defend the independence of our Fatherland, so that we could live freely under a peaceful sky. And today we all offer our most sincere words of gratitude to our dear veterans, those who took part in the battles, who worked for the front, who walked the partisan paths. We remember our peers who distinguished themselves during the Great Patriotic War. Four of them were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - Valya Kotik, Marat Kazei, Zina Portnova and Lenya Golikov.
It's spring 2015 now. Soon May 9th. The whole country will celebrate this Great Holiday, Victory Day. I will go to the parade dedicated to Victory Day with pleasure and great pride. I don't want there to be war on earth. After all, it is better to live in peace and harmony.
We remember your great feat, appreciate it, and we will carry this respect for the victorious soldiers through time. We must be worthy of the memory of victorious warriors and pass it on from generation to generation. Eternal memory to those who did not return from the battlefields, low bow and gratitude to all veterans! Glory to the victorious soldiers for the Victory, for May 1945!
70 years separate us from the times of the Great Patriotic War, from Victory. There are fewer and fewer veterans left who can, as eyewitnesses and participants, talk about what the war was for our country. Perhaps many years from now people will hardly remember this war, but how can we forget the horror that our loved ones experienced?
My great-grandfather is a war veteran. Being young, he experienced all the horrors of the Great Patriotic War. He was young, he was afraid to die, but he was able to survive and convey the truth of this war.
When I was little, I really loved the day before May 9th. That evening, the great-grandfather was very worried, and the great-grandmother was carefully preparing her great-grandfather’s ceremonial jacket for the upcoming holiday. There was an upbeat, joyful atmosphere in the house expecting a holiday. One day, late in the evening, when we all could not fall asleep, I came to my great-grandfather and saw that he was thoughtfully looking at his military orders. I knew that he had been on many fronts, and I decided to ask him: “Grandfather, were you scared?” My great-grandfather thought about it and answered: “I could say no, but believe me, I didn’t want to die young. I wanted to live to see the Victory, to see the defeated enemy, whom no one invited to our land.”
Many of my great-grandfather’s comrades were not destined to return. One day he almost died himself.
In one of the battles, my great-grandfather was shell-shocked. When he woke up, his dead comrades lay nearby on the ground torn apart by the blow. A German stood above him, legs spread wide and looking intently into his face. He considered that everyone had already died and decided to make sure of this. A corner of the photograph was visible from the breast pocket of my great-grandfather’s tunic. The fascist bent down, holding his pistol at the ready, picked up the photograph and froze, amazed at the beauty of the girl depicted in the photograph. It was a photograph of the bride of my great-grandfather, my future great-grandmother. These minutes, during which the fascist was distracted by looking at the photograph, were enough for the great-grandfather to jump to his feet and engage in battle with the enemy. This is how photography saved my great-grandfather’s life. He met the end of the war in Berlin, looking death into the eyes more than once.
Returning from the front, he married my great-grandmother, and they lived a long life together. They are long gone, but I remember that it was my relatives who went through the hell of war who retained kindness, compassion and mercy until the end of their days.
For many years now, on the eve of May 9, I have been looking at photographs of my great-grandfather and great-grandmother and mentally telling them: “Thank you, my family! Thank you for the fact that I exist, that I can breathe, live, make friends, grieve and rejoice. Thanks to all veterans! And even though there are very few of you left, I want to say again: “We remember and love you!”
The Great Patriotic War for me, as for many young people, is an echo of something terrible, something sad, something that I would never want to happen again. You would never wish on anyone for this grief to happen again. How many tears, how many troubles this evil thing brought, this war, and how long did people move away from it and whether it was forgotten, and it is even possible to assume that it will be forgotten someday.
Films, books, stories of our grandfathers and grandmothers, all this will forever remain in our memory.
The war broke out unexpectedly, uninvited, on the warm day of June 22 in the morning of 1941, when all the civilians were sleeping peacefully and thinking about tomorrow as if it were an ordinary day. Everyone had their own plans, their own thoughts for this “tomorrow” and no one thought that for many this day would never come. War broke out...
She, tough and insidious, took away millions of lives, and those who remained suffered a lot of grief, fear and horror. For many years people could not move away from her. Many villages were burned, many fields and pastures were trampled...
And although many years have passed, more than seventy years, the imprints of that terrible time remain in the memory of the war soldiers forever. Thanks to them, how many villages and cities were liberated, how many people they were able to save. And the tears of mothers? Those who were waiting for their children from the war? And those who did not wait, went crazy with grief, and those who saw and could contemplate their child, albeit wounded, even without limbs, but their own, beloved child. These feelings cannot be described in words, they cannot be conveyed on paper, these are the feelings of a mother’s tears.
There is no family that the war has not touched them in one way or another. Many men went to the front, many to work in factories, in hospitals, to do everything to somehow bring the end of this vile, cruel war closer.
And my grandfather participated in military affairs. In 1941 he served in Belarus. There was only nothing left before demobilization - 2 months and the war began. Grandfather served on the front line, a German bomb exploded near him, which stunned him and he lost consciousness. I woke up in captivity. The winter of 1941-1942 was cold. Grandfather, in order to warm his feet, decided to tear the footcloths a little away from the blanket... In the morning, one of his people reported that someone had torn the blanket at night. The Germans began checking everyone’s blankets. They saw that he. As punishment, so that others would be disgraced, my grandfather was to be hanged. On the gallows, the grandfather lost consciousness and woke up in the car. The Germans, in order not to take him back, transported him to the other end of the camp. Where behind the fence there was a camp with Poles. Grandfather knew that Polish Germans were given cigarettes and began to walk along the fence and speak Polish. One of the Poles responded. They began to communicate and in the evening he, at his own risk, threw a carton of cigarettes to his grandfather. The next morning our grandfather made an appointment with a doctor; he was very afraid that the doctor would be a German. But for his benefit, the doctor was Russian. Grandfather quietly put 50 cigarettes in his pocket. The doctor said that the grandfather was seriously ill and needed to be seen by his owner. The Germans recorded it. With the remaining 50 cigarettes, my grandfather was able to buy a sweatshirt and shoes for himself. When he left the camp, he was afraid that the Germans would find shoes and a sweatshirt during the inspection... But for his benefit, the Germans at the moment when he left were called somewhere and he was examined by a Russian, who released him. After a certain number of meters, the grandfather changed his shoes - the accompanying Germans were surprised by his clothes and praised the grandfather. The owner had the opportunity to walk some distance unaccompanied, and the grandfather, having accumulated food, ran away from them. He ended up in a Russian detachment. And finding himself not far from the owner in the lull between battles, he went to the owner to thank him for his good treatment. The owner was at first frightened by the arrival of his grandfather. But then we drank tea together.
Now all this seems like interesting, exciting stories, but I remember my grandfather’s face when he told them, and what was happening to his soul...
For many years now we have been waking up and seeing the bright sun, a peaceful sky, and not hearing the explosions of bombs or the whistling of bullets. For this we have to thank our grandparents and great-grandparents.
War...What a merciless and difficult time that takes the lives of many innocent people. Seventy years have passed since the last explosions were heard.
The war has caused enormous pain: there is not a single family that has not been touched by the war. With great pain in our souls, we remember those who bravely went to war, defending not only their homeland, but also their family. It is precisely because of the need to protect the home, family and friends that fortitude is born. Only a person with such strength and resilience is able to overcome the fear of death in the name of victory.
When I try to imagine myself in the place of the young people who survived those trials, I am amazed: after all, these were completely ordinary people, they did not want to die, they lacked warmth, food, and often just human strength! They were just like us! And they survived! Therefore, I believe that we must collect bit by bit all the information about our grandfathers, so that the Book of the History of the Great Patriotic War is complete, so that no one ever dares to distort the truth about the victory over fascism, so that we, our children and grandchildren never forget who we owe freedom and our Motherland preserved from barbarians!
I would really like to talk about my great-grandfather, who took part in the Great Patriotic War. I often ask my grandmother about her father, about how he fought. But in reality she has little to say. Remembering, the grandmother says that at one time she almost didn’t ask him about this, and today she really regrets it.
Moreover, my great-grandfather did not like to talk about the war: the memories were too painful. The grandmother recalls: “Grandfather began to talk, and his eyes filled with tears, his whole body shrank, and it seemed that he was again experiencing the pain that the war had once brought him.” I think it is impossible to convey in words the emotions, feelings and sensations that people experienced during the war. Any normal person, finding himself in a war, is forever left with mental trauma. When he finds himself in a war, he is forced to kill a person, because he is your enemy, he came with weapons to your land, to your home, he came to rob, rape and kill. And it’s scary to imagine what was going on in the human soul then.
Today we remember and talk a lot about the events of the war, but in fact we will never understand or feel what it is like to find ourselves on the brink of life and death.
My great-grandfather, born on March 11, 1924 in the village of Borozdinka, Chelyabinsk region. His family was large, he had 4 brothers and a sister, he was the youngest. In 1932, their family was repressed (dispossessed), because they lived prosperously because they worked as a family. The older brothers were already married and had families. They were exiled to Siberia. My great-grandfather was left alone at the age of 6; he was not sent with his family. He wandered for several years, begging to survive.
It is difficult for me to imagine and feel like a six-year-old child, left without parents and deprived of love and childhood. After all, childhood is the happiest time. When you don't care about anything, you know that mom and dad love you, they are there, they will always help. And my great-grandfather had to become an adult from the age of six in order to survive. He had no one left: no mother, no father, no brothers. He was left alone. The whole world, which was mysterious for a child, suddenly became complex, alien and even scary. Apparently, from that moment on, the soul of the little child suffered and experienced terrible pain. But I think it helped my great-grandfather survive the war. It was that hardened character that helped him cope with the difficult everyday life of war. After some time, my great-grandfather’s elder brother was allowed to return back to the village of Borozdinka, and then he lived with them.
My great-grandfather was a first-year student at a railway technical school when the war began. Almost immediately he went to the front. He was 17 years old at the time. He was called up to the Almenevsky RVK, this is in the Kurgan region, Almenevsky district. Before sending unexamined boys to the front, they were trained for six months to become artillerymen. My great-grandfather served in the Red Army on August 20, 1942. In 1944, my great-grandfather took part in the liberation of Pskov. On April 3, when rifle battalions were crossing the river near the city of Pskov, as commander of a seventy-six-millimeter gun, supporting the infantry with fire, he was wounded by an explosive bullet in the left arm with a broken bone. The hand was bandaged, and the great-grandfather continued to remain in service. And only a few months later he was able to get to the hospital, where he was provided with qualified medical care.
Just imagine how much willpower it takes to continue fighting at the front with a serious wound. My great-grandfather said that there were no good hospitals then. The hospital was a simple tent in which the wounded lay on branches. There were not enough doctors, there were no medicines, many died, the wounds festered, worms appeared in them. But the great-grandfather recovered and returned to duty again, continuing to fight along with his fellow soldiers. Later, the great-grandfather was wounded in the leg and chest. During his stay in the unit, he proved himself to be a courageous, disciplined and responsible fighter. He became not only an excellent artilleryman, but also in a short time mastered the specialty of a lineman. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star. Anything has happened over the years.
One day my great-grandfather told an amazing story. They were assigned a commander who did not know how to treat soldiers and did not value their lives, was ready to throw the guys under any fire to certain death, and he himself died from his own carelessness. Anything can happen in war, because in the face of death everything is revealed: both the best sides of people and the darkest. The victory was not easy! My grandfather ended the war in Prague, this is about people like it is sung in the famous song: “Half of Europe has walked”….
All wounded, he returns to peaceful life, but again does not sit on the sidelines. In 1956 he left to raise virgin soil in Kazakhstan. He got married and raised four children. Because of the war, he did not receive an education; he worked as a tractor driver in Kazakhstan until retirement. Died in 1988. War is not only the insane killing of people and the manifestation of cruelty. In war, you also need to be a professional in order to take care of the lives of your soldiers, to make informed decisions, because the price is too high - someone's human lives, freedom.
I cannot imagine the courage each of the soldiers had when they were one step away from death. War heroes...We are so used to these words...But when you understand that these heroes are someone’s grandmothers, grandfathers, that they are just people, you begin to understand the meaning of the word “hero” differently. They saw death, blood... A lot of blood... They had to kill themselves and this hurts the soul of anyone. Moreover, the memory of the war will forever live in the hearts of those who were there, in the trenches, on the battlefield, on the front line. That’s why they have amazing eyes: it’s as if the fire of war has frozen in them, even when they smile, some kind of pain is felt. But there were those who did not return from the battlefield?! There were mothers, wives and children who were waiting for soldiers from the war. Every soul was shocked.
I am very proud of my great-grandfather. And I think that it was precisely the strength of spirit that was in him that helped him overcome that fear of death in the name of victory. We should be proud of everyone who defended our country, and everyone deserves the title of Hero. Every year we celebrate Victory Day, lay flowers at monuments, and honor the memory of the departed with a minute of silence. It is with a special sense of pride that I take part in keeping the Memory Watch in honor of the Victory Day celebrations.
Municipal autonomous educational institution of the Beloyarsky district "Secondary school No. 1 of Beloyarsky"
The war was exceptionally cruel, the scale of this cruelty surpassed anything that history had known before. The death toll among those who fought with weapons in their hands is a smaller part; for every one who fought at the front, several civilians died. In our country, this is due to the fact that the occupation army (I specifically use this term because it was not only the Germans) launched a terrible genocide against the civilian population.
Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko
Recently I was in Belarus, which suffered terribly during the Great Patriotic War; every fourth Belarusian died. The population of Belarus has still not reached its pre-war level. I was in Khatyn, this is one of hundreds of villages completely destroyed by the Germans along with their inhabitants.
In the place where each house stood there is a stele listing the names of those who lived there: old people, children, including infants, two-three-year-olds, judging by the names - Belarusians, Poles, Jews. People were different by nationality, by faith, by culture, but they lived peacefully with each other until the invaders came and brought a new world order.
Destruction of Dresden
In Germany, too, many civilians died because the Allies covered it with a carpet of bombs. The so-called strategic bombings pursued the same goal that was pursued, for example, by Tamerlane, who cut off the heads of his enemies and made mounds from the severed heads - so that even distant descendants would not dare to think about fighting such a cruel winner.
Here this was done not with a sword or saber, but with a modern weapon - an aerial bomb. To set the city on fire, incendiary bombs were used, which weighed only a few kilograms, but there were many of them. And hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people died in the fires.
It is obvious that our former Western allies do not want their activities to be perceived as merciless, to put it mildly, so they sharply underestimate civilian casualties among German residents.
Generally accepted statistics claim that 600 thousand people died from bombing in Germany, while in Dresden the deaths were reported by some as 50 thousand, by others as 120, by others as 150, and the widely accepted figure is 135 thousand. As far as I understand, they simply took the arithmetic average between 120 and 150 and got 135 thousand, such a balanced average figure.
But in recent years, a book was published by a general who was responsible for civil defense in Germany. He writes that in Dresden, before the entry of Soviet troops, they managed to count 220-240 thousand corpses, and these are not final estimates. Unfortunately, we can only guess.
In order to imagine the scale of what could have actually happened, I propose to do some basic calculations: there were more than a million people in Dresden; The population of the city doubled due to the fact that refugees arrived in it, they were placed in schools, in theaters, in cinemas so that people had a roof over their heads.
As a result of the bombing, more than 60 percent of the buildings were completely destroyed. This means that we can assume that 60 percent of the total number of people died. That is, we can talk about 600 thousand victims, among whom were Americans, British, and Russians - prisoners of war.
One of the main symbols of Dresden - the Frauenkirche - was literally destroyed during the bombing
In Dresden, the British caused a firestorm to occur; the temperature in the center was more than 2000 degrees - the bricks crumbled. And it is quite possible that there is simply nothing left of the people, and since there were unaccounted refugees there, then go ahead and count them.
But the bombing itself was calculated with fantastic cruelty and precision. A huge number of bombs were dropped on the city, the city was on fire, there was destruction, but the residents were informed in a timely manner and were able to hide in bomb shelters. The planes took off, people began to come out of shelters to put out fires, help the wounded, and dig out those trapped under the rubble.
At the headquarters of the Royal Air Force it was quite correctly calculated that in three hours people would come out of the air-raid shelters, return, if the houses remained intact, to their homes, someone would work on the street, and help would just approach them from nearby towns. So, three hours later, when help had already arrived and everyone had left their shelters, the second wave of bombers flew in, and the warning system no longer worked because it was destroyed. And then a firestorm broke out in the city.
The center of Dresden burned with such intensity that people were torn apart by the hurricane and thrown into the fire. Streams of already hot air were rapidly coming from the outskirts, because first the outskirts were set on fire, and then the center was set on fire. Everything was calculated.
And during the day, the remnants of those who survived this nightmare were bombed again, this time by the Americans. They flew during the day, accompanied by fighters, which, when the bombers bombed, descended at low level and shot everyone they saw. On our website “” there are memories of those who survived these terrible bombings.
If not 100 thousand, or 150 thousand, or even 200, but more than half a million people died in Dresden, then it turns out that strategic bombing in Germany took the lives of more than a million people.
But what’s interesting is that half of the bomb tonnage was dropped not on Germany, but on France and Belgium; the cities were bombed because there were Germans there. Moreover, English reports are now published in the open press: so many bombs were dropped on cities, so many bombs were dropped on industrial facilities, so many bombs were dropped on other targets.
Now the question is, what are other goals? After all, the British bombed at night, and in the dark they missed. The English’s ability to wage information warfare is simply amazing - they work smartly on wording to confuse people.
And I would also like to add that the entire West criticizes Stalin and the Stalinist era, but before the war no one criticized like that, before the war they wrote praises for Comrade Stalin. England signed trade treaties with the Soviet Union, knowing that prisoners were working here, they knew it very well. And after the war, when Russia showed itself as a mighty superpower, then they were afraid of the extraordinary strength of our people, and then the era was declared Stalinist. This is like a kind of screen, because they are afraid not of Stalin, but of the Russian nation, because it was not Stalin who won the war, but the Russian people.
It was not Stalin who nominated the commanders Zhukov, Rokossovsky, Konev, amazing scientists, engineers, aircraft builders, military officers - it was the Russian people who nominated them. Stalin simply realized that he was on the same path as the people, that if the war was lost, then it would be a question of his life and death. The fact that an era is named after him is also to some extent a propaganda move, because an era is created not only by dictators and their henchmen, but by great people: Kurchatov, Korolev, Tupolev.
"Brilliant performance" in Asia
We must remember that during World War II, more than half of the total civilian population died in Asia. There were no particularly fierce, stubborn battles on land, because when the Japanese advanced and captured Singapore and Burma, the British army offered virtually no resistance: the troops either left or surrendered. As it turned out, the British did not want to fight a trained strong army, why should they shed their blood?
In one photo album dedicated to the war, I saw a photograph - it was so blurry, you had to look closely to understand: human bodies were lying and it was written that these were the result of a bombing. If you look closely, you can see that there is no destruction, and you can see that a woman is lying on her stomach in a pool of blood, her skirt is pulled up. This is not a bombing, but the monstrous cruelty of the Japanese - most likely, they abused her and then killed her. They buried the Chinese up to their necks in the ground, cut off their heads, and starved them, but we know practically nothing about this. Why, it's hard to say.
The British worked extremely subtly and competently in the information space and presented their failures as their victories. In 1956, the book “History of the World War” was translated into Russian, which contained articles by major German generals.
The chief of staff of Rundstedt's army in the West, Walter Warlimont, writes about the evacuation of the British from Dunkirk. The fact is that the Germans struck at the junction between the British army and the French, the English were deployed from the coast, and the French further. And although the British army was fully prepared for combat - equipped with the latest weapons, it had hundreds of tanks, aircraft, artillery - it was sitting in the trenches, but, as it turned out, it was absolutely unable to resist.
Instead of pitting their tanks, artillery, and aviation against the German tank divisions, they simply fled the battlefield, betraying and abandoning their allies. Not only from the battlefield, but also from the mainland, here they must be given their due, they were able to evacuate almost all of their soldiers with the exception of those whom they call deserters. They appeared on the seashore in the very last days, and before that they were hiding in basements and other secluded places. But they did not evacuate them, but left them on the shore.
Now let’s ask ourselves a question: after all, the entire army is retreating, and everyone is trying to get on the ship as quickly as possible, why waste time and hide somewhere? The last to arrive were only those who held the defense around Dunkirk. These are not deserters, but defenders, but they were betrayed twice, abandoned on the shore, condemned to captivity, and, in addition, labeled deserters.
So, General Warlimont writes: “Even Goebbels’s victorious fanfare could not cast a shadow on this brilliant performance.” Military terminology knows advance and retreat, but does not know “action.” Apparently the translator has found a perfect equivalent to the English original. And the escape cannot possibly be brilliant. That is, if you carefully read this phrase, it is clear that the German general could not have written like that, this is the hand of an English editor.
As I understand it, German generals in the West were allowed to publish their memoirs on the condition that they fulfill certain demands of the British intelligence services. So, there cannot be a “brilliant performance,” translated into Russian it is called “shameful flight.” But those who are waging the information war in England, of course, must be given their due, they are simply well done. Unfortunately, we can't do that. They win lost battles in the information space, and we lose won ones.
They say that in Germany they already write in school textbooks that America won the war, it’s simply amazing! But as far as defeating Japan is concerned, the priority here, of course, really belongs to America. Throughout 1942-44, the war was fought at sea, and the war at sea, like it or not, is fought according to some rules: after all, the enemies do not see each other in person, there are no local residents, there is no unjustified merciless evil.
But when the war approached the borders of Japan, the Americans used the same method as in Europe: huge air armadas dropped bomb loads on peaceful Japanese cities, on civilians. For example, in Tokyo they created the same firestorm as in Dresden. It is estimated that about 100 thousand people died, more than in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, such a massive bombing is more effective and efficient than the atomic bombings.
Information warfare: are all methods good?
The Americans used atomic bombs, this is a manifestation of scientific and technical power, on the one hand, but from a military point of view, it is a demonstration of their own cowardice and the lack of an elementary tactical and strategic level, because, in fact, they were not fighting with an army capable of responding blow to blow , but with civilians who cannot resist.
When I started collecting memories of people who survived the atomic bombings on the Internet, to my surprise, there were very few of them, about a dozen and a half at most. They don't publish. And they all end with a call for peace.
But along with the memories of bombing survivors, the names of feature films emerge, for example, “London after the Soviet nuclear bombing” and several other films where the Russians bomb someone. The information war is being waged brilliantly, simply brilliantly. Of course, illegal methods are used, but there is no need to demand permitted methods. If atomic bombs were used against civilians, why should historical truth be observed? And so the unprepared reader gets the impression of aggression and monstrous cruelty of the Soviet Union.
I have a video disc “Battle for the Island of Guam”, there are two amazing things there. The first is that the American command decided to seize the island, and it is clear that they need to land troops. And so the marines from the landing ships disembark and go on the attack, but, as the announcer says, it turned out that they were landing at low tide, when the sea recedes several kilometers from the coast. This means that some staff official mixed up the time of high and low tide, he doesn’t care, he’s sitting at headquarters and nothing will happen to him.
“Heroic Marines, overcoming difficulties, go to the bottom, well done,” but this is horror. An order is an order, an order is not discussed, and thousands of young guys die under the bullets of Japanese machine guns. And if they had approached at high tide, then the naval artillery could have been more effective. This is one moment.
And the second point: the announcer says that the Japanese treated the local population terribly, this is apparently correct, but “these Japanese said that the Americans treat the civilian population terribly and scared the poor people so much that they simply run away.”
The announcer's voice comments on the documentary footage: “Do you see a woman running?” Indeed, the camera holds a running woman: “she is running from an American soldier who wants to catch up with her, to say that he doesn’t mean anything bad, and she runs, you see, runs up to a cliff and jumps off the cliff.” She really jumps and crashes. “But look, there’s a child standing, and he’s shaking violently: that’s how the Japanese scared the local civilians.” Then an American soldier with a rifle accidentally appears in the frame and immediately disappears.
The valor of Russian soldiers
And in contrast to this, on our website “Uninvented Stories about War” there is a memoir of a unique person - Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov. Marine, officer, twice hero of the Soviet Union - an epic personality of epic proportions. Twice heroes are pilots, twice heroes are generals, but twice heroes are infantrymen, I don’t know how many such heroes there were who were on the front line, because they quickly died there.
“One of the most high-profile cases of the Leonov detachment is the capture of 3.5 thousand Japanese soldiers and officers in the Korean port of Wonsan.
“We were 140 fighters,” says Leonov. “We unexpectedly landed on a Japanese airfield for the enemy and entered into negotiations. After that, ten of us representatives were taken to the headquarters of the colonel, the commander of the aviation unit, who wanted to make hostages out of us.
I joined the conversation when I felt that the representative of the command, Captain 3rd Rank Kulebyakin, who was with us, was, as they say, pushed against the wall...
Looking into the eyes of the Japanese, I said that we had fought the war in the west and had enough experience to assess the situation, that we would not be hostages, but rather die, but we would die together with everyone who was at headquarters. The difference is, I added, that you will die like rats, and we will try to escape from here...
Hero of the Soviet Union Mitya Sokolov immediately stood behind the Japanese colonel, the rest also knew their job. Andrei Pshenichnykh locked the door, put the key in his pocket and sat down on a chair, and the hero Volodya Olyashev (after the war - Honored Master of Sports, repeated champion of the Union in cross-country skiing) lifted Andrei along with the chair and placed him directly in front of the Japanese commander. Ivan Guznenkov went to the window and reported that we were not high, and Hero of the Soviet Union Semyon Agafonov, standing at the door, began throwing an anti-tank grenade. The Japanese, however, did not know that there was no fuse in it. The colonel, forgetting about the handkerchief, began to wipe the sweat from his forehead with his hand and after some time signed the act of surrender of the entire garrison.
Three and a half thousand prisoners were lined up in a column of eight people. They carried out all my commands at a run. We had no one to escort such a convoy, so I put the commander and chief of staff in the car with me. If even one, I say, runs away, blame yourself... While they were leading the column, there were already up to five thousand Japanese in it..."
And on the second of September 1945, the result of this monstrous bloodshed was finally summed up, a manifestation of the most extreme limits of the human spirit - from the lowest, which can include gas chambers, strategic bombings, medical experiments on living people, to the extraordinary heights of generosity and valor . And we are grateful to those who fell on the fields of this bloody war, fighting not for some class, political, national interests, but for the truth of God.
The Soviet Union and the Russian soldier turned out to be worthy in a spiritual sense, and the Lord granted the Great Victory to our Fatherland.
Prepared by Tamara Amelina
