The faces of WWII Heroes

Branch of troops: Military Medical Personnel. Subdivision: 8th Guards Rifle Rezhitskaya Order of Lenin Red Banner Order of Suvorov I. V. Panfilov Division. Valentina Ivanovna Panfilova, the eldest daughter of General Ivan Vasilyevich, was a front-line medic._x000D_ “I went to the front with my father,” said Valentina Ivanovna. - He did not resist for long. Mom did not, as well. I was already 18! There was only one agreement to follow: not to show any family connection. I didn’t show. Thanks to this, I learned a lot about my dad from a side._x000D_ I served in the Medical Battalion, and the wounded, without hesitation, discussed their Division Commander, at my presence. He was appreciated and called «Pop”. On November 16, 1941, the Germans launched a second general offensive against Moscow. And on the morning of November 17, medical officers were providing assistance to the wounded soldiers of the mortar troops. The path ran through the Division command post. Taking the opportunity, in a hurry, I went to see my father. _x000D_ Oh, he was so happy to see me! Asking about the letters from home, the general immediately began to praise the soldiers of his Division: “Imagine: fifty steel monsters go to the trenches, and a handful of our brave men enter into single combat with them. And they win! ” There was so much sparkle in my father's eyes. I could hardly assumed that this was our last meeting. By the morning of the next day, the number of wounded increased by the hour. Combat injuries, blood, groans echoed from all sides of the dressing station. I had to work tirelessly. During the next dressing, calming the seriously wounded soldier who was sobbing loudly, I suddenly learned about the death of my father. But the soldier was crying not from battle wounds, but from the fact that Pop was killed! They buried my father in Moscow. I was the only one of our large family at the funeral. _x000D_ After I immediately returned to my unit to fight until Victory. And on December 6, at dawn, a deafening cannonade began. At times, it seemed that the whole earth was turned inside out. We jumped out into the street and the first thing we saw was a large batch of our fierce bombers, accompanied by “hawks,” flying towards the enemy positions. Equipment is pulling up along the roads, troops are marching. Why, this is an offensive! The heart beats with joy. We rip off our hats and throw them up: “Hurray! We are advancing! " _x000D_ On that memorable day, the Kryukovo station passed from hand to hand several times, the enemy fiercely resisted. We have many wounded, but no one wanted to be evacuated. During the bombardment, I was wounded by small fragments in the face and my head. But after putting on a bandage, I continue to work. Finally a breakthrough! And our units rushed forward, liberating the Moscow Region, Tula, Ryazan regions. Disfigured fascist equipment is lying on the side of the road, corpses in mouse-gray greatcoats lie. A column of Nazi prisoners is moving towards us. They whine dejectedly, distorting Russian words: "We are leaving... General Panfilov ... Your Division is wild …". Even after his death, the father was terrible to the Nazis!

Plotnikov Anatoly Vasilievich, was born in 1924. At the beginning of the Second World War, he studied at the School of FZU (Vocational School for workers). At that time he already had a complete education, which in those years was a rarity for people from the countryside. At the beginning of the war, he had a an exemption from military service, and he had not yet come out of age. The patriotism of that generation was such that, together with a friend, he fled to the war at the age of 17. He had not reached Berlin, in 1944 he was badly wounded. A shell exploded nearby, shrapnel hit his arm, his head and also shattered the kneecap. Doctors decided to leave the splinter out of head, it then overgrown with a capsule. So he lived with this capsule, but when the pressure rose, there were severe pains from the splinter. He never complained, he knew how to endure. He passed away in 1997 with a splinter in his head. In the war he was a Sergeant, the Commander of the anti-tank squad. He knocked out German tanks. There are many awards, orders, medals, including “For Courage”. _x000D_ He did not wear medals on his chest, only medal ribbons. The only time he put his medals was for a photo. He did not like to talk about the war. Many people died in front of him in the infantry. _x000D_ Once he mentioned that a German sniper took off his friend when he leaned out of the trench a little. He had never been drinking People's Commissars 100 grams of vodka before the attack even once during the whole war, he had never smoked. He was demobilized as a disabled person to his native village. _x000D_ He had built the big house where I grew up. He worked in kolkhoz, then in sovkhoz, at a radio center, was a housekeeping manager at school. _x000D_ As I remember now, he did not know how to relax, he was constantly doing something. He was a Jack of All Trades._x000D_ All the men of the village came to him to have their hair cut. He sewed clothes, was handy with a needle, played Russian harmonica, button accordion, dancing by his feet. _x000D_ The Russian harmonica was made at the Ganinsky Harmonic Factory personally by his order, it is still kept in our family. Holidays, weddings in the village could not do without him. The parents had a large farm, my mother, (now she is 91) was a feldsher and midwife in the local hospital. Parents worked from sun to sun, lived rather well-to-do. They kept all kinds of cattle, bees, even once there was a horse. My father was very fond of horses, knew how to ride. Somehow I won a bet in a horse-race. At that time, all kolkhozes had their own horses and stables, and very few tractors after the war. He loved to talk about horses, and I shared this love for horses later. _x000D_ In addition, he also made unique wagons and sleighs for winter for the horses with his own hands. This was taught by his father, my grandfather. My grandfather went through the First World War, lost one eye there and received the St. George's Cross. _x000D_ The people of that time period were pure and unique. _x000D_ Thinking about my father, I can't help but tell about my mother. At the beginning of the war, she was already 18 years old. As she said, everything went for the front, people were starving in the villages. There were six of them in the family, one brother went missing in the war. They ate grass, potato peelings, but nevertheless, only mother from the family received a medical education. It was worthy a military order. My mother has dozens of letters and eternal gratitude from fellow villagers. _x000D_ In 1996, my parents celebrated a golden wedding, my dad lived for another year. He knew he was passing away. _x000D_ I realized that my father had passed away into a new state where there was no place for earthly suffering. And there is no need to be sad about him, only a fond memory. Bright eternal memory to all the soldiers who died in that war, who left early as a result of wounds.

Perminov Vasilii Fedorovich

Kamyzyak, Astrakhan Region_x000D_ 10.07.1916 - 01.01.1974_x000D_ Rank: Lieutenant State Securety._x000D_ Branch of Service: NKVD and NKGB troops (except for Border Guard)._x000D_ Unit: 99th Rifle Division (1st formation)._x000D_ Here is a yellowed, well-rumpled, black-and-white photo of a young Red Army soldier looking at me. This is my grandfather, Vladimir Plotnikov. Young, fit, in a pressed uniform, boots polished to a shine, he stands at the wooden fence. This photo he sent to his parents before the start of the Great Patriotic War in March 1941. Could he imagine what awaited him, his family and his country? How much grief and difficulties has he experienced in his life?! The next photo is from the front. And my grandfather is already an infantry Lieutenant. This is indicated by the buttonholes of the tunic, which distinguished officers by military branches and rank._x000D_ Vladimir Plotnikov was born on July 10, 1916 in Kamyzyak. Finished 7 classes. He worked for the Chapaev Fish Factory since 1933. He was drafted into the army in October 1937, and served in the NKVD. He served in the city of Astrakhan in March 1941._x000D_ Lieutenant V. Plotnikov, was on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, as a member of the 197th Rifle Regiment, 99th Rifle Division from July 1941 as a Deputy Platoon Commander for Political Affairs of the foot intelligence unit. He took an active part in the defense of the Motherland. Intelligence is the eyes and ears of a regiment, division, or battalion. Intelligence gets information about the enemy, reduces the effectiveness of its attacks, and creates favorable conditions for a successful battle with the enemy. My grandfather was sent to Stalingrad in December 1941,. During the defense of the city of Stalingrad, he was seriously wounded in the left leg by a mine, followed by amputation of the lower leg. He was a disabled veteran of the Great Patriotic War. He was seriously wounded and discharged from the front. My grandfather returned home and continued to work at the military enlistment office in Kamyzyak. Despite the incessant pain from a serious injury and a prosthetic leg, my grandfather after work helped other families around the house: sawed wood, carried water from the river, mowed hay, fished._x000D_ He created a family in 1944, with home front worker Antonina Shashina, had 2 sons and a daughter, 3 grandchildren, 4 great-grandchildren. And after the war, the front-line soldier continued to perform labor feat, restoring the destroyed economy, creating conditions for a happy peaceful life for their descendants._x000D_ My grandfather died in 1974.

Saratov Region, village of Jeskova_x000D_ 01.01.1899 - 22.04.1945_x000D_ Rank: Red Army Soldier_x000D_ Unit: 74th Guards Rifle Regiment, 27th Guards Rifle Division._x000D_ Date and place of conscription: 1943, Dukhovnitsky District Military Commissariat,_x000D_ Saratov region, Dukhovnitsky district_x000D_ Last Duty Station: 8 Guards Army, 74th Guards Rifle Regiment_x000D_ From the story of the grandson Alexey Ponurtsev:_x000D_ "I've never seen my grandfather Alexey Ponurtsev, a participant of the Great Patriotic War. He died of his wounds on April 22, 1945 near Berlin and was buried in a mass grave at the Brandenburg Gate. Due to circumstances, his documents were lost. In the parish register of the Orthodox Church of the village of Telikovka in the Dukhovnitsky District of the Saratov Region (before the revolution, Nikolaevsky Uyezd of the Samara Region) for 1899, it appears: "...on this day, February 25, the servant of God Alexey was born, the son of the blacksmith Philip Ponurtsev, a Cossack of the Don Army, who arrived from near Voronezh..."_x000D_ In my family they said that my grandfather Alexey was left an orphan at the age of two. There were epidemics in the villages at that time - most often typhoid fever. He was brought up in the family of his uncle until the age of 17. The uncle’s family began to live in the good house of Alexey's deceased parents. The house had its own forge with two anvils. The village of Telikovka was a very large vone - more than 7,000 people lived there. And my grandfather helped my uncle in the forge from a young age, inquisitively comprehending the secrets of blacksmithing. It was said that by the age of thirty, he was so well off that he had a German Sauer 2 ring hunting rifle. And, being a noble hunter, he forged an exact copy of the original - so high was his skills._x000D_ The revolutionary turning point of the entire life of people in 1917 accelerated the socio-psychological maturation of the young man. He wanted to meet the turbulent, unpredictable times as a family man. And here fate brought him together with a girl who was also orphaned early and therefore was experienced in a household chores - Maria, my grandmother. They built their family nest in 1918 in the house of a young blacksmith. Very difficult, and often tragic, but in General, the creative years of Soviet-collective farm construction in the village of Telikovka, of course, were not without the active participation of the master of iron affairs. By virtue of his profession, my kind, hardworking grandfather Alexey was involved in any field of activity of a rural worker. Together with his beloved, energetic Maria, they raised seven children. The eldest of them, Alexander, managed to fight the Nazis and returned home alive._x000D_ My grandfather's blacksmithing skills were known far beyond the district. When in 1943 a cavalry division was being formed on the territory of Dukhovnitsky, Balakovsky and Pugachevsky Districts, it needed an experienced blacksmith. A good rumor about the skilled blacksmith reached the General of this division. So it turned out that the war linked his fate with his profession. The time was hard, there was no time to write letters from the front, especially during the fighting. But whenever there was a free moment, my grandfather always tried to write a few lines home. My grandmother showed me these "triangles" - frontline letters that she carefully kept all her life._x000D_ Grandfather Alexey did not have a chance to hear the victory salute that announced "the defeat of the enemy in his own lair", on April 22, 1945, my grandfather, Alexey Ponurtsev died of wounds on Berlin soil and was buried at the Brandenburg Gate._x000D_ I never saw my grandfather, but always with warmth remembered and knew my grandfather, Alexey Ponurtsev, was a heroic soldier. This is indicated by the main soldier's order - the Medal For Bravery. And I owe my happiness to live and work under a free, peaceful sky to him and his fellow guards privates of the Great Patriotic War."_x000D_ Eldest grandson, A. Anufriev, First Lieutenant of reserve, Veteran of Labor of the Russian Federation.

24.07.1923 - 15.05.2015_x000D_ My father Leonid Poshisholin was born in Tula on July 24, 1923 in the district of Zarechye. He went to the front as an ordinary soldier from the Krasnodar Military School at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. At that time he was already 18 years old... Fought at Stalingrad! He was seriously wounded on August 2, 1942, received a through bullet wound to the left thigh, lower leg, right thigh in the middle third - so it was written in the certificate of injury in the battles for the Soviet Homeland, provided by the head of hospital #1250, Captain of medical unit, Doctor of Medical Science Asaturov... He was wounded like this: they were in a ravine, and they were trying to crawl up, so he made another push and crawled higher and was immediately wounded. If he had not taken this last step, the Nazis would have shot him with machine-gun fire right in the area of the heart... Next to him was a boy of the same age, shot in the stomach... And so the two of them tried to crawl, saying to each other "Don't leave me".... Stalingrad... Everyone knows what fierce battles were fought there...These are the pictures my daddy saw when he was there: sitting in a truck they saw absolutely burned women, almost firebrands.... Or on the battlefield, there was a lull, there were about twenty five of them, young guys, standing, talking, remembering their homes, my dad decided to go away in need... He went about fifty meters away, suddenly there was a fire, an explosion... when he turned around, where his companions had been standing a moment ago, boys just like him - there was only a giant funnel and... no one... Well, such a small sketch from the life of an ordinary soldier, veteran and disabled veteran of the Great Patriotic War... His leg was amputated, and he spent his entire life walking on a prosthetic leg, and he skied so much that he won prizes while working at a machine-building plant in Tula... "Where I was born, I fit in," was what he liked to say.... My beloved daddy, I love, I remember, I will never forget... _x000D_ P.S._x000D_ My mother told me on May 9, 1945 in Tula... What she saw: people in the streets running towards each other, shouting, crying, kissing... My dad was in the hospital that day... and he and my mom did not know each other yet, even though the hospital was a five-minute walk away.. He was 22, a boy... After learning about the Victory Day, he and his comrades lying in the hospital found the nurse and persuaded her to bring their clothes... They returned to the hospital by midnight, after celebration of this this day, Victory Day! It was HAPPINESS!_x000D_ He died on May 15, 2009 at the age of almost 86.

Villadge of Popovo, Smolensk Region._x000D_ 25.08.1918 - 06.04.1998_x000D_ Vladimir Pavlov - commander of the transport squadron of the special purpose Aviation group (18th Air Army), Lieutenant. Born on August 25, 1918 in the village of Popovo, now Kardymovsky District, Smolensk Region, in a peasant family. Russian. Member of the CPSU (b)/CPSU since 1947. He completed three courses of the Smolensk Financial and Economic Technical School in 1938. In the same year, on Komsomol recruitment, he was sent to the Tambov Flight School of the Civil Air Fleet. He graduated in 1940 and worked as an instructor pilot for a training squadron in Penza. In the Red Army since January 1942. Appointed commander of a plane in the transport aviation of the Western Front._x000D_ He flew combat missions on a heavy transport plane over the front line to the deep rear of the enemy to the partisans of Smolensk, Belarus, Ukraine, and Crimea. He dropped troops, delivered weapons and ammunition, and took out the wounded. It was necessary to fly in any weather, day or night, under anti-aircraft fire, repelling the attacks of enemy fighters. Vladimir was awarded the Medal For Bravery in December 1943, and in July 1944 - the Medal Partisan of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.He especially distinguished himself in providing for combat operations of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. The special purpose aviation group, which included Pavlov, was based at Bari airfield in Italy and was equipped with American Douglas C-47 transport aircraft. Pavlov's crew spent 177 hours in the sky over the Balkans, delivered over 61 tons of ammunition, food and weapons to the Yugoslav partisans, took out 224 wounded, and transferred 213 soldiers and officers across the front line. In one of the sorties, he took 32 pilots from downed American planes from a partisan detachment to Italy, and this was when the aircraft capacity was just 21 people. In total, by May 1945, Lieutenant Pavlov had made 350 sorties across the front line, 80 of them landing behind enemy lines to deliver supplies to the partisans, evacuate the wounded, and drop off troops. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 29, 1945 Lieutenant Vladimir Pavlov was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal (#7987) for heroism, perseverance and high flying skills in performing particularly important tasks of the cCommand of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. First Lieutenant V. Pavlov - in the reserve since 1946. He worked as a civil aviation pilot until 1977. He flew as the commander of the IL-18 on international airlines, the total flight distance was more than 4 million kilometers. Lived in Moscow. Awarded the Order of Lenin, the Red Banner, the Patriotic War, 1st degree, the Red Banner of Labor, medals, foreign orders and medals. The crew of Vladimir Pavlov in May 1944, flying through Iran, Syria and Egypt, arrived at the Anglo-American military airfield of Bari, in southern Italy. He was assigned to a special air group that supplied the partisans of the Balkan Peninsula. In an extremely difficult situation in high-altitude areas, without fighter cover until October 1944, Pavlov made 37 sorties to the rear of the enemy and 24 times made landings on mountain partisan airfields. Each such landing was fraught with a huge risk. After all, the airfields were small, located among high mountains, and it was not easy to find them. However, the crew of Vladimir Pavlov successfully completed all the tasks of the command. One of the air group's planes was damaged on September 2, 1944, when landing in the mountains. In this area, the Nazis were attacking, and there was a threat that the plane, crew and wounded partisans might die. Enemy fighters discovered the partisan airfield and continuously patrolled over it. Vladimir Pavlov flew to the rescue of his comrades. The weather was non-flying. Along the entire route, thunderstorms raged over the sea and in the mountains, solid clouds dropped to 600 meters, and the height of the surrounding mountains exceeded 800 meters. Every second the plane could crash into the ground, but Pavlov managed to bring it to the destination, landed, and delivered spare parts and a repair and technical crew to the damaged plane. On the same night, he made another sortie, delivered weapons to the partisans and took out the wounded. The next day, the damaged aircraft was repaired and returned safely to its base. Pavlov, along with his countryman Lieutenant Mikhailov, received a particularly important task on September 18, 1944. They had to transfer a group of senior officers of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia from the island of Vis on the Adriatic sea to the partisan formations fighting behind enemy lines. Performing this flight, the Soviet planes crossed the entire territory of Yugoslavia occupied by the enemy, and safely returned to their airfield. Guards Lieutenant Pavlov was assigned to perform a through flight from Bari airfield to the command of the Soviet troops in Romania on the night of October 4 to 5, 1944. Vladimir landed at night on a tiny mountain airfield in the rear of the Nazis, picked up a group of Soviet and Yugoslav officers and brought them across the front line. After filling up the plane with fuel, he returned to the partisans, took the wounded and brought them to Bari. In total, that night Pavlov flew more than 2,500 kilometers over enemy territory and made two landings at the mountain partisan airfield._x000D_ He died on April 6, 1998. He was buried in Moscow at the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery.

Bryansk Region, Karachevsky District, village of Maslovka_x000D_ 15.07.1922 - 23.02.2006_x000D_ Rank: Colonel_x000D_ Branch of Service: Artillery_x000D_ To my dear father, a participant of the Great Patriotic War, as a sign of the deepest respect and memory dedicated to… We owe you a debt is not paid, your feat is immeasurable!_x000D_ My father, Fedor Pervushov, was born in the village of Maslovka, Karachevsky District, Bryansk Region on 15.07.1922. His parents – father Grigory and mother Tatyana worked for the collective farm at various jobs. Fedor was the fifth child in a large peasant family. He always wanted to be a soldier._x000D_ After graduating from Karachevsky School, he voluntarily joined the military service in the Karachevsky District Military Commissariat, Bryansk Region and from 20.03.1940 became a Cadet of the Ordzhonikidzegrad Automobile Motorcycle School in Minusinsk. He completed his training on 07.05.1942. The war was already underway._x000D_ After graduation, he was sent to the front, where he served at first in the 515th Guards Mortar Detachment of the Don Front, then in the 17th Guards Mortar Brigade of the 2nd division of the Don Front as a commander of a platoon of ammunition, and from December 1942 as a platoon commander of the detachment servicing “Katyusha” rocket mortars. In the battles near Stalingrad, where he participated, they smashed the Germans mercilessly with “Katyushas”, not allowing them to break through or retreat anywhere. Fedor was wounded on October 20, 1942, but refused to be evacuated to the hospital. The defenders of Stalingrad were able to hold their city, which was a serious moral and political shock for Nazi Germany. The 17th Guards Mortar Brigade was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on March 15, 1943, for the distinction and heroism shown by the soldiers and commanders in the battle of Stalingrad. In this award there was also a part of the effot of Fedor, and he was also awarded the Medal For the Defense of Stalingrad"_x000D_ Fedor oined the ranks of the Communists in May 1943,. After the defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad, the brigade as part of the 2nd Guards Mortar Division was transferred to the Bryansk Front and became part of the 61st Army of General P. Belov. In the heavy battles in July, during the Oryol-Kursk operation, it took part in the liberation of the city of Bolkhov. There the Germans long and hard, for a year and a half, were building a powerful fortified region, but the 17th Guards Mortar brigade, under the command of the Guards Colonel N. Zhezheruk, with volleys of "Katyushas" broke it very quickly._x000D_ Then again, the offensive and the battle of Prokhorovka on the Kursk bulge, where fierce and bloody battles took place. The battle of the Orel-Kursk bulge ended, the city of Orel was taken, and Soviet troops rushed to Bryansk. Fedor became a participant of the liberation of his native city of Karachev, Bryansk Region. Here is a detailed account of this, from the words and notes of my father. On August 12, 1943, parts of the Bryansk Front, including the guards mortar brigade, in which my father served as a battery commander, began fighting for the capture of the city of Karachev with a blow from the North and South-East. The fascist command attached special importance to the defense of the city. It was an important strategic point in the entire system of German defense on the outskirts of the city of Bryansk. Karachev was an important communications hub. Here cross the roads at Bryansk, Orel, Voronezh, Sevsk. Persistent battles were fought for the height of 246.1 on the Karachev-Orel Highway. This height dominated the entire area within a radius of 10-15 kilometers. The Nazis turned it into a strong point, encircling trenches, wire fences. Tanks and Ferdinand self-propelled guns were buried in the ground, and the approaches to Karachev and nearby settlements - Maslovka, Baranovka, Vishnevka, and Glybochka - were mined. But nothing could resist the onslaught of Soviet soldiers. On August 15, at 4 am, the commander of the Guards brigade, Colonel N. Zhezheruk, ordered the “Katyushas” batteries to fire a salvo at the enemy defenses. After a volley of Guards mortars, the assault began. Soon the German defense was broken and the advanced units broke into the city. Capturing block after block, by 7 am on August 15, Soviet soldiers completely liberated the city of Karachev from the enemy. A red banner flew over the building that now houses the Department store._x000D_ When my father and a group of guards rode into Karachev, they saw a terrible sight: the city was shrouded in clouds of black smoke, flames rose to the sky. Of the 1,859 houses, no more than 50 remained, and those were half destroyed. After a brief meeting with relatives and fellow countrymen, my father, with the rank of Lieutenant, returned to his unit._x000D_ Then there were the battles in Belarus and the liberation in December 1943 as part of the 11th Guards Army of the 1st Baltic Front of the city of Gorodok, Vitebsk Region, for which the division and brigade were awarded the honorary names of Gorodok. In addition, the second Order of the Red Banner shone on the brigade's battle banner._x000D_ One of the episodes of the war was the battles on the outskirts of Konigsberg, in which Fedor participated. The Germans were actively preparing for defense, and three defensive positions were prepared. Konigsberg had entire underground factories, warehouses, and arsenals. But the Soviet troops completely surrounded the city, the 11th Guards Army stopped on the banks of the Frisches Haff Bay, which made it possible to cut off the fortress from the field troops of the German army and block the main supply routes. In April 1945 the 17th Guards Mortar Brigade as part of the 2nd Guards Mortar Division is transferred to the 1st Belorussian Front - to the Kyustrin bridgehead, where, together with other units and formations of the 8th Guards Army, it took an active part in the assault on the Seelow Heights and the offensive on Berlin. When Seelow Heights were taken at night, searchlights of strong power were used, the enemy was stunned, but offered fierce resistance. Depending on the tasks set, volleys were given by the full brigade, and divisions, and individual batteries. It was hard to imagine a force that could resist this offensive. The domination was complete, but the resistance was fierce. The losses were very high. The commander of the glorious 17th Guards Double Red Banner Gorodok-Berlin Mortar Brigade, Colonel N. Zhezheruk, was killed on April 22._x000D_ Then there was the capture of Berlin, the stronghold of Nazi Germany. At the capture of Berlin, as Fedor himself said, the “Katyusha” volleys on the city and on the Reichstag Building played a significant role in the Victory. The 17th Guards Mortar Brigade as the best one was entrusted to fire a salvo at the Reichstag on April 27, 1945. And it did it brilliantly with all 36 guns!_x000D_ But the war for Fedor did not end there. The 17th Guards Mortar Brigade was transferred by rail to the Far East, where it became part of the 1st Far Eastern Front, in the 5th Army. The brigade took part in the defeat of the Kwantung Army of Japan in August 1945 as part of the 1st Far Eastern front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union K. Meretskov. They began to smash the Japanese, liberate China and Korea. The 5th Army was to break through the strongest border fortified area located in the mountainous taiga area, and on the eighteenth day of the operation capture the city of Mudanjiang. The offensive began on the morning of August 9, 1945. There were fierce battles. The Japanese defended themselves fiercely, stood to death, and practiced special suicide bombers. The enemy repeatedly launched counterattacks. But the resistance of the Japanese was overcome quickly, despite the fact that the samurai built their defenses and fortified areas for years, burying themselves deep in the ground and concreting everything they could. This defense of theirs was smashed by our troops in a matter of hours. Mudanjiang was taken on the seventh day of the operation, on August 16. Soon, the more than one million-strong Kwantung army surrendered. The war for Fedor ended with the last volley at the city of Mukden. For a long time, the Japanese will remember the fire raids of Guards mortars near Mulino and Mudanjiang._x000D_ The Motherland adequately appreciated the feat of its sons. Fedor Pervushov was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 2 degree, medals for military distinctions: For Military Merit, For Defense of Stalingrad, For Capture of Berlin, For Capture of Konigsberg, For the Victory over Germany, For the Victory over Japan, For the Liberation of Korea. In subsequent years, for years of service, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the Medal for Military Merit, and other commemorative badges and medals._x000D_ After the end of the war, Fedor served for another seven years, until December 1952, first in Korea, and then in China. There, after the war, it was still restless. He got married in November 1946. His chosen one was the girl named Lyubov, who worked in a military unit. They had a son, Alexander, and a daughter, Lyudmila, in China. Fedor was lucky to meet his brother Semyon in February 1952, who served on a ship in Port Arthur._x000D_ Captain Fedor was transferred to the Primorsky Region in the city of Ussuriysk, in the 3rd Guards Mechanized Division of the Primorsky Military District at the end of December 1952, where he served in various positions. Later, he was transferred to the Far Eastern Military District and was appointed a chief of staff of the battalion.

Villadge of Chistoozernoe, Barabinsk District, Novosibirsk Region_x000D_ 10.10.1924 - 09.05.2013_x000D_ Rank: Sergeant Major_x000D_ Branch of Service: Signal Troops_x000D_ Leonid Potemkin was born on 10.10.1924 near the city of Barabinsk in the village of Chistoozerny. After finishing a rural four-year school, he was forced to continue his studies in another place – in the village of Novonikolaevka, which was located 12 kilometers from his home. After graduating from the 7th grade, despite everyday difficulties, he tried to continue his studies in every possible way. Rural teenagers who had barely completed their seven-year studies were eager to go to the city, to factory schools, to acquire a profession and earn their own bread. So in the city of Barabinsk, Novosibirsk Region, Railway School #1 was opened, where many people wanted to study, because the school gave out uniforms and provided free food. The selection was strict, but the one who chose this school never regretted his choice.So Leonid entered the Barabinsk Railway School, which trained assistant locomotive operators, where there were wonderful teachers and masters. In addition to learning the profession, they were full participants in the production process. So, by order of the Ministry of defense, they made in workshops vices, wrenches and other tools for completing tank and aircraft repair kits. On weekends and holidays, cadets of the school went to the parade ground and marched to the brass band, like real soldiers. But the most interesting thing for them was, of course, the practice in the locomotive depot, since much attention was paid to practice during their studies. The students helped to repair the injectors to wash out locomotive boilers. The workers tried to pass on their experience to them, who were still very young. And everything would have gone on as usual, if not for the war. Men went to the front, they were replaced by women and teenagers. They immediately grew up, and the staff workers asked them as adults. Leonid told how they dressed the "Company" in armor (as they called the locomotive). He had to stand at the head of the armored train and they when installing guns and machine guns, performed any tasks. The work was still in full swing, and the armored train had already received a name. It was a "Siberian-Barabinets"! More than once he told how he heard that this armored train fought near Moscow and on the Karelian Front and fulfilled its purpose with honor. Even where tanks could not pass, it delivered ammunition and food along hastily abandoned rails, and took out the wounded. The school's students were assigned to locomotive crews in the spring of 1942. They had to manage with steam locomotives SO ("Sergo Ordzhonikidze”) with the condensation of steam. Therefore, in the cold, it was covered with an ice coat, for which it received the nickname "samovar". It was very difficult to work on a steam locomotive. The train shoulder of 150 kilometers was overcome in two or even more days, they stood for hours at semaphores, holding the machine under steam. But they didn't waste time: they cleaned the chrome parts of the locomotive to a high gloss, even the tender was cleaned. On the way, they watched as trains of tanks and planes covered with tarpaulins, with new recruits in new uniforms, kept going west along the "green street", and to the East stretched freight cars with mangled equipment and ambulance trains that carried the wounded to the evacuation hospitals. They worked during the war, not knowing how tired they were. Oil dirt, coal dust were their constant companions, which were so ingrained in the skin that it was impossible to wash without kerosene. During the short smoke breaks at the depot, they talked about the war. Very young guys wanted to go where the fate of the country was decided. They were afraid to be late for the front! In June 1942, his peers began being called up. Now it was his turn to stand up for the Motherland! Leonid was not yet eighteen when the summons was brought. There were only a few days left before the shipment. He had to say goodbye to his family. Mother with the younger brothers lived in Chistoozernoe, a hundred kilometers from Barabinsk. There was only one kinf of "transport" one own feet. He told us children and grandchildren how he got to his family and two days later, on passing carts, went to the recruiting station. A whole train was with the conscripts of their district moved to the West. When it started to move, women and children ran after it for a long time, crying and shouting. _x000D_ He was moved with other guys from Inskaya station to the Novosibirsk Region to the regimental school of front-line signalers. They were trained there for six months. After that in March 1943, they received new uniforms, small arms and were sent to the West with a marching company. He got to the Bryansk Front, where offensive battles were then taking place. After that, he was on the Kalinin, Leningrad, and 2nd Baltic Fronts. So began the front-line roads through the fire and smoke, the loss of friends and comrades. He fought on the Bryansk, Kalinin, 2nd Baltic and Leningrad Fronts. Drowned in swamps, the Vadakste River, and Lake Idria. He suffered a concussion and a traumatic brain injury, was stunned by gunfire, and survived the explosion of an anti-personnel mine. Much had to be experienced and endured during the 700 days and nights of wartime, as well as by any other front-line soldier. He was able to liberate Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia. After liberating Novosokolniki, they launched an offensive on the city of Idritsa, where there was a huge lake – Idria, in which he drowned when setting up communications and was saved by one of the officers. He was a good athlete, and he didn't hesitate to rush to his aid… Idritsa was liberated on July 12, 1944. Their detachment became known as “Idritskaya”. They liberated the cities of Latvia: Rezekne, Daugavpils on July 17, 1944. At that time, some "good fellows" began to rob the civilian population, the Government was forced to organize counterintelligence "SMERSH" (death to spies), in one of the groups of 4 people, Leonid was also the senior operative of the mobile group, saving the civilian population. In battles and campaigns, he received a traumatic brain injury._x000D_ The Soviet Army expelled the fascist invaders from the Belarusian land in July 1944 as a result of the brilliantly planned operation Bagration and began the liberation of the peoples of Europe. During the operation, 17 enemy divisions were destroyed, and 50 divisions lost more than half of their strength. He was discharged in March 1946.

Village of Nizhniy Myval_x000D_ 15.01.1915 - 01.06.2008_x000D_ Rank: Red Army Soldier_x000D_ The historical memory has a great power. The current generation of Russian people should accept and continue the wonderful tradition of respect for our history, our past, and keep a grateful memory of those who valiantly defended and saved our Homeland from enslavement. I want to tell you a story about my grandfather Ivan Prokaev. Ivan was born in 1915. He grew up a strong boy, early joined the working life of his family. This was the only way a peasant family could survive. Early hard work was the law of survival. He received his primary education at a local school. The arrest and execution of his father changed his whole way of life. A 14-year-old boy found himself in a very difficult psychological situation, having lost a sense of security and confidence in the future. From fragmentary memoirs of grandchildren, it became known that at the end of 1929, Tatyana secretly took the family out of the village at night, and they for a long time, bypassing large localities, reached Siberia, where their relatives lived. This was the decision of the mother, who feared for the lives of her children. Upon reaching the age of 17, Ivan went to work. There is information that for some time, namely, in 1933-1935, he worked for the Tatarskaya Station of the West Siberian (former Omsk) Railway. He returned to his homeland in 1936, and worked for the cloth factory "Tvorets Rabochiy" in Sosnovoborsk, Penza Region until 1939. By the beginning of the war, he lived with his wife Matrena on 14 Rabochaya Street in the village of Bogatoe. Mobilized in the Red Rrmy by the Bogatovsky District Military Commissariat in 1941 at the age of 26. On the OBD-Memorial website, there are several documents relating to Ivan Prokaev, the second of the sons in the Prokaev family. It was not possible to establish the date and month of mobilization, there is no information about movements and injuries, but it is known for sure that by the summer of 1942, he was serving in the 676th Rifle Regiment of the 15th Rifle Division. The 15th Rifle Division was stationed in Bendery and Tiraspol on 22.06.1941. Took the first battle in the area of Skulyan on 24.06.1941, and then moved beyond the Dniester. The division was encircled near Uman in July 1941, and was virtually destroyed. Individual soldiers were leaving the encirclement until the end of September 1941. The exit from the boiler ended unsuccessfully for the division. Its entire command was captured. But the division was not disbanded and continued to fight under its own banners. The 676th Regiment was part of the 15th Division from pre-war times. In the first military episodes mentioned above, most likely, Ivan has not yet participated. He could join the regiment when it was re-formed in September-October 1941. I found an interesting page on the Internet dedicated to the Hero of the Soviet Union Andrey Varyukhin. He at the final stage of the war, Commander of the 47th Rifle Regiment of the 15th Rifle Division, Colonel, participant of all the battles of the division. Before us are lines from the Internet page: "after recovering in October 1941, Varyukhin returned to his division and, having received the rank of Major, was appointed a Chief of Staff of the 676th Rifle Regiment. At this time, the troops of the Southern Front, having suffered another defeat in the area of Melitopol, retreated to the East. Varyukhin's regiment participated in defensive battles in the Donbass and Voroshilovgrad Regions, fought for the cities of Konstantinovka, Artemovsk, Popasnaya. North of the city of Kadiyevka at the end of November 1941, the enemy was finally stopped. After the liberation of Rostov, having joined the 37th Army of the Southern Front, Varyukhin's division held the defense in this sector of the front throughout the winter and part of the spring of 1942. "In April-may 1942, the 15th Rifle Division was withdrawn to the rear in the city of Bobrov, Voronezh Region, for rest and re-formation. During such periods, as a rule, the division's regiments were replenished. But in June 1942, it was transferred to the 13th Army of the Bryansk Front, and it took up defense at the turn of the Tim River in the Kursk Region North of the Cheremisinovo station. Information from another source varies somewhat, but the fact of the division's arrival is confirmed. "Meanwhile, reinforcements, artillery, tanks, vehicles, and weapons began to arrive in the formations. In May, the regiments of the famous 15th Siwash Rifle Division under the command of Colonel A. Slyshkin were unloaded at Studenyi station. Now the army has five rifle divisions and one tank brigade." (From the Livenskaya Oborona website). The general situation on the Soviet-German front suggested that, after the greatest defeats in the winter of 1941/42, the German-fascist command will undoubtedly try to take revenge in the summer. At the same time, it was clear that he would not be able to advance on the entire front, and it would choose to strike in only one direction. It was not excluded that such a direction could be Voronezh, allowing, if successful, to reach the deep rear of the Moscow group of the Red Army. Large enemy forces were deployed in front of the defense front of the 13th and 40th Armies. Army scouts were assigned an important task - by capturing prisoners to establish reliably the intentions and composition of the enemy group. As you know, in such situations, along with the capture of the "language", special operations were also organized in the regiments by forces up to the battalion in order to identify the enemy's capabilities, their number and composition of troops. This tactic was called "combat reconnaissance". A large group from the 676th Regiment of the 15th Division on June 9, 1942, went to the rear of the enemy at night to perform a combat mission. In the report of the division headquarters dated July 31, 1942, #0865, it is recorded that 33 soldiers were missing during this battle. Most likely, there were more losses, the missing officers were accounted for in another report. Some of the soldiers were killed, and the survivors were captured. As time has shown, Ivan Prokaev was captured on June 9 during a night raid behind enemy lines. This day divided a person's life into parts "before" and "after". The brutal war continued. As confirmed by intelligence, the main blow was inflicted by the Nazis in the defense zone of the 15th Division next to positions of the 40th Army. Here a shock group of three infantry and one tank divisions was advancing. Two infantry divisions and an SS brigade carried out an auxiliary attack on Livni. This group was supported from the North by another infantry division. Under the cover of artillery and air force at 5 o'clock, the advanced battalions of infantry divisions began to cross the Tim in the Zibrovo and Pyatina districts. Tanks came to the river bank and also opened fire on the 676th Rifle Regiment of the 15th Division. It was here that on June 28, 1942, Hitler's troops began their Grand summer offensive. "Major Varyukhin's regiment and other regiments of the division could not hold back the tank Armada of the Weihs group and began to retreat first to the border of the Kshen river, and then in early July 1942, to the area of the village of Terbuny in the Lipetsk Region. Here, the units of the 676th Regiment despite the strong attacks of the enemy did not let it through. For the rest of the summer and fall of 1942, Varyukhin's regiment held the defense at Terbuny. The land in the area of this village, as well as at Stalingrad, was thickly stuffed with iron-shrapnel, bullets, mines, stained with the blood of the fallen." But the Nazis did not manage to bypass Voronezh from the North. Between 1 June and 30 June 1942, the 15th Division lost 3,174 men from soldiers and non-commissioned officers. This is almost half of the original personell namber. I will give a short excerpt from the same above-mentioned report #0865: "at the same time I inform that for a Separate Training battalion for 116 people. no complete data because in the result of battles 28.06.1942, lost all command of the battalion documents, and data to clarify is not possible, as most of the company, platoon and squads leaders killed and missing, and with them remained, and lists of units." It was not possible to establish the numbers of the German transit camps that my grandfather Ivan Prokaev passed through. But from the fragmentary recollections of relatives, it is known that he was in the deep enemy rear in the West Germany. The prisoners were used in the grueling work of rebuilding and building Railways. Few survived by working to the limit of their physical capacity in conditions of hunger, cold, and disease. At the end of the war, the camp was liberated by American divisions. Ivan lived a long post-war life, but about this - in another story. After the end of the war, Ivan like other prisoners, waited to be taken Home. However, no one came for them, they were not needed. At the suggestion of a man who struck up a friendship while in captivity, Ivan left for Uruguay. Began to live and work there, and after a while moved to Boston (USA). Due to the repression of former prisoners of war, Ivan could not return to his family and could not even report that he was alive. He was afraid that his family would be prosecuted. My grandfather wrote a letter to his family that he was alive and well only in 1975. There was a long-awaited reunion with his family in 1995.

01.01.1901 - 08.08.1943_x000D_ Rank: Red army soldier_x000D_ In April 2015, a very significant event occurred in our family. My son and I found the burial place of our grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather - Yakov Pryakhin._x000D_ Nothing was known about him for a long time._x000D_ We didn't even know the year of his birth. The fact is that grandfather Yakov's daughter, my grandmother Anna, was a five-year-old child when she last saw her father alive. Yakov and Anastasia Pryakhin lived Prajini in the Mordovian ASSR Tengushevskiy District, the village of Shoksha. The family had three children: Ekaterina, Praskovya and the youngest – Anna (my grandmother). My great-grandfather was called to the front in 1941. The only thing my grandmother knew was that he had been in the hospital and had been killed in a bomb attack. Yakov's wife Anastasia was very worried all her life that she did not know where her husband was buried. My grandmother, too, has come to terms with the idea that she will not be able to come to her father's grave. But life decided otherwise._x000D_ I periodically looked through the memorial.ru website wth a hope to find at least one document, but there was no information for a long time. Once again on April 2, 2015, when I went to the site and made a request for the name of my grandfather, I saw the search results!_x000D_ The last place of service was specified as 957th Rifle Regiment that was a part of the 309th Rifle Division. The document stated that Yakov Pryakhin was buried in the city of Kurgan in the military cemetery in a mass grave. I found a photo of the memorial on the Internet. I used the zoom function to read my great-grandfather's name on the plaque. How exciting it was! To see the name of your loved one carved on a cast-iron plaque on a memorial almost two thousand kilometers away! I wrote an email to our friend Nina Komarskikh, who lives in this city, asked her to photograph this memorial and lay flowers on behalf of our family._x000D_ This memorial is an object of cultural heritage of regional significance. The remains of eight mass graves were reburied into one in 1975, and the monument was reconstructed. Three plates of pig iron were installed on the tombstone in 1978. They were supplemented in the 1980th and now 8 cast-iron plates with the names of buried soldiers are installed on the wall. The cemetery was named Victory Park in 1985. The center of the Park is a mass grave of soldiers who died of wounds in Kurgan hospitals in 1941-1945. The authors of the project were the sculptor S. Goloshchapov and the architect A. Yakushenko. The compositional solution of the sculptural group is an explosion and a falling soldier. The Order of Victory completes the composition._x000D_ Natalia Zakharova joined the search efforts. She, in turn, contacted the search teams of the Republic of Mordovia (since her great-great-grandfather was from Mordovia). It turns out that in the database, he was recorded as a soldier fallen in the Voronezh Region. All the documents we found and a photo of my great-great-grandfather were sent to Mordovia by email. Now they are thinking about how to correct their records._x000D_ The document shows the number of the evacuation center: #98, the city of Chelyabinsk. I searched for information about this center and found some information that I wrote about below. Local evacuation center #98 began deployment on June 25, 1941 in Chelyabinsk on the basis of evacuation hospital #1723. The Chelyabinsk medical district included the Chelyabinsk and Kurgan Regions (the latter was withdrawn from the Chelyabinsk Region in March 1943, the RSFSR, and the Kustanai Region of the Kazakh SSR). During the implementation of the mobilization plan, 10 evacuation hospitals were deployed by July 22, 1941... The evacuation was carried out from the Stalingrad front since the second half of 1942. The trains went along the Kuibyshev railway to Chelyabinsk in 1932-1943. The wounded came from different fronts since 1943. In General, the Chelyabinsk medical district received the wounded after partial unloading of other regions of the Urals. I again contacted Nina, and she, in turn, asked for help from the search teams of Kurgan, who found information that Yakov Pryakhin was in hospital #1729 in Kurgan._x000D_ It was very difficult to understand why the great-grandfathers had two dates of death: in one report on irretrievable losses, the date was on January 20, 1943, he was marked as killed; in the other - August 18, 1943, he had sepsis. My grandmother also knows from the words of her mother Anastasia that the train carrying my grandfather from the hospital was bombed. Still, I tried to put all the pieces of information together. It is quite acceptable that inaccuracies and mistakes were made in those war years. I found information about the 309th Rifle Division (which included the 957th Rifle Regiment) in order to restore some of the events that happened to my great-great-grandfather. Here is a brief history of the division:_x000D_ 03.12.1941 – Siberian Military District order #0093_x000D_ Initiated the formation of the division (originally as the 449th rifle). Commander - Colonel A. Afanasyev._x000D_ 13.04.1942 - by order of the Siberian Military District, the 449th Rifle Division was renamed the 309th Rifle Division._x000D_ 07.07.1942 G. –The division first encountered the enemy on the Don River, near the railway station Liski, Voronezh Front._x000D_ 07.07.1942- 11.08.1942 - Active defensive battles near Voronezh. Capture of the Shchuchyensky bridgehead on the west bank of the Don River._x000D_ 14.01.1943-27.01.1943 - As a part of the 18th Separate Rifle Corps participated in the Ostrogozhsk-Rossosh defensive operation._x000D_ Since the record of retirement dates back to 20.01.43, there is a reason to assume that the grandfather was a participant of the Ostrogozhsky-Rossoshansky operation (January 13-27, 1943), since he was a soldier of the 309th Rifle Division, which took an active part in the battles. There is also an entry in the document "Memory Books. Republic of Mordovia" that the burial place of Ya. Pryakhin is Ostrogozhsky District, the village of Polubyanka._x000D_ As I wrote above, the Chelyabinsk hospital received the wounded from different fronts by rail._x000D_ Judging by the fact that the name of the great-great-grandfather was in the document, which listed the wounded who died, he was wounded in the battle and was evacuated to the hospital by train with others. Next, I think the train was bombed. The fact that the train was bombed was claimed by Yakov's wife, Anastasia. To me, this information came from the mouth of his daughter Anastasia, my grandmother – Anna Cherasheva. This is how I can explain the recorded date of the leaving of Ya. Pryakhin on 20.01.43. Perhaps there was no time (or opportunity) to specify who was left alive and all were recorded as dead. The survivors were sent on by another train. And since the region and place of departure was the Voronezh Region, Ostrogozhsky District, village of Polubyanka, I assume that the bombing was in that area. I can't say what happened to my great-grandfather during the period from January to August (however, as in the previous period). Maybe he was sent to the hospital, then discharged and again took part in the fighting and was wounded a second time… Nothing is known. No documents were found. We only know the date of his death, the cause and place of burial: August 8, 1943. He died of sepsis, and was buried in a mass grave in Kurgan. There are a lot of questions and I don't know if I can find the answers… Perhaps something will become clear later._x000D_ The Gallery of memory was opened on May 9, 2015._x000D_ Photos of fallen soldiers are placed on huge stands. We managed to send a photo of my great-grandfather to Kurgan._x000D_ On the website of Kurgan there is a video about Victory Park. After watching it, I was very impressed. It turned out that people had to protect this Holy place in peacetime! Says the journalist Lyudmila Ganeeva, an eyewitness and participant of those events:_x000D_ "... the city was planning to build garages. They brought backhoes and began to open the graves. Bones and skulls everywhere… It was scary. And then we together with the Prosecutor of Kurgan Abdulin we called people to defend the Victory Park. And veterans on the eve of May 9 came here, came from different cities for a clean-up day. There were 150 people in total. We cleaned it all up. And today I am very sad. None of those who were with me at that time is around… Eternal memory to them”. Low bow to this woman and to those people who did not allow them to destroy our past, our memory!_x000D_ My great-grandmother Anna and grandmother Olga went to the city of Kurgan in June. The daughter, who has only one photo left to remember her father, had finally found her dad. Before leaving, great-grandmother Anna took earth from the grave of Anastasia Pryakhina to pour out on the grave of her husband._x000D_ Great-grandmother bravely endured the long road. The guests were met by the same Nina Komarsky who helped us in the search._x000D_ And now, June 7, 2015. an unforgettable event took place, which was later reported in the Kurgan Newspapers: the daughter and granddaughter finally found their father, grandfather…

19.08.1907 - 07.04.1944_x000D_ Rank: Specialist_x000D_ Branch of service: Artillery_x000D_ Unit: 332nd Ivanovo-Polotsk Double Red Banner Order of Suvorov Volunteer Rifle Divigion_x000D_ Alexander Trofimovich Pensky was born on August 19, 1907 in a poor family with Polish roots. Place of birth and residence village of Oleynikov (Ukrainian immigrants) Ust-Medveditsky District of the All-Great Don Army. Now: Danilovsky District of the Volgograd Region. The few documents preserved in the family archive report that in 1930 A. Pensky worked as a tractor driver for the Belye Prudy State Farm, and in particular, he was "awarded the sum of 10 rubles" on November 6, 1930. "In 1932," as stated in the Description signed by the Secretary of the collective farm candidate group of the CPSU(b) Davidenko on October 14, 1933, "he arrived in the Oleynik cell of the CPSU(b) as a candidate, good worker, tractor driver from the state farm " Belye Prudy ". During his time in team #4 as book keeper, showed himself to be an exemplary organizer capable and persistent in the field of labor accounting, and in mass work. In 1933, he worked at the collective farm "Moguchaya Sola" in the brigade #4 met and exceeded production standards. He conducted exemplary party mass work in the team. He is a member of the Village Council, leads a fierce struggle with the kulak element, exposes idlers and hooligans." In 1933, he married a young childless widow Ioshchenko (Sidenko) Olga, born in 1909. They bought a plot of land with a large garden and an old log barn from which they made a hut. His daughter, Elena, was born in in 1934, son Peter (soon died) – in 1936, son Vladimir - in 1940.( Both the daughter and second son are alive.) In the first months of the war (August 1941), he was called to the front. Leaving for the war, Alexander terminated his membership in the party and burned all documents in the family archive that could harm a poorly educated spouse with two small children in an unfavorable development of events. According to the certificate of December 11, 1941, "was on active military service" in the 268th Separate Artillery DEtachment of the fortified region. Since his wife Olga was illiterate, her daughter Elena, who had just become a first-grader in September 1941, wrote letters to her father at the front. "Sergeant Alexander Pensky for exemplary performance of command assignments at the front against the German invaders and displaying valor and courage she was awarded the Order of the Red Star by order of division #039 of 22 October 1943"(From the Reference of November 20, 1943, unit #43881 commander Lieutenant Colonel Kramarenko). He was killed as a result of a direct hit in the trench of a German shell on April 7, 1944. He was buried in the cemetery 800 meters North-East of the village of Kolotovka, Polotsk District, Vitebsk Region of Belarus. About how this happened, told the family a front-line friend and countryman with whom they fought together for two years Nikolay Kamanov in a letter dated April 11, 1944. The commander of the howitzer Alexey Lyashkov in a letter to the widow reported: "Specialist Alexander Pensky died while on duty. I will write that his death is very easy, as it is called "instant", once and for all. He didn't take any pains. He was buried with honor and glory. As it should be. The grave is made as it should be. And recently, about five days ago, I went with my friends to the grave. Corrected, covered with turf, made a wreath as for the best comrade. Olga, here's another part of the order, I can't write anything in this letter, I'll find out, and then I'll let you know." The last letter of Alexander sent on April 3, 1944, came to his home after the funeral and became a kind of his will. Here is its content: "April 3, 44. Hello dear wife Olga. I inform you that I am currently alive and well, and I wish you all the same: to be alive and well. I also send you my heartfelt greetings and a warm kiss. I also send my daughter Elena and my son Vladimir a low bow, and I kiss them many, many times. Olga, the day before yesterday I received a letter from Elena, from which I learned your life and circumstances for later life. And I found out that my brother-in-law Ivan was already at home. I received a letter from Ilya Lebidinsky. I found out that my sister Vera died and was buried on March 9. These are the responses I received. Now He writes that they have received my card (It has not been preserved). Of course, it is not taken well. They were just taking picture during the fight. I was firing and shells were exploding near me. My face was covered in dust and dirt, but still I decided to have it for memory and did it. I know you'd kiss a dirty one now. But the time has not yet come. I know what you're waiting for, Olga. You're waiting for me to text you when I get home. Expect it soon. In the meantime, keep house by yourself. I'll manage it when I get home. I won't pass by the house, but I'll come straight home. And when? Just when I get there. That's it, my dear. And now I'll write down how I live so far. I live in the old way. Yesterday again broke the German dugout and destroyed 15 Germans. That's how I live now. She writes that they received 200 rubles of money and still have to get 100 rubles. And recently sent another 120 rubles. Like this. In the meantime, that's it. I shake your hand hard and kiss it. And with that, goodbye. Your husband Alexander Pensky."

10.04.1918 - 23.02.2009_x000D_ Rank: Marshal of Air Force (introduced in January 1943)_x000D_ Branch of service: Air Force_x000D_ Biography Marshal of Air Force (April 29, 1975)._x000D_ Hero of the Soviet Union._x000D_ Born on April 10, 1918 in the village of Sukhopol, Inzerskiy Villadge Council, Arkhangelsk District of Bashkortostan. Belarusian.He studied at the school of peasant youth, and after moving to the capital of Bashkiria - the city of Ufa - in Ufa Secondary School # 3. In the Red Army since 1936. He graduated from the Engels Military Aviation School of Pilots in 1940, and was assigned to the 211st Bomber Aviation Regiment of the air force of the Odessa Military District. Lieutenant Ivan Pstygo met the beginning of the Great Patriotic war at the field airfield near the Dniester River as a flight commander. He flew his first combat mission on June 22, 1941, as part of a group of SU-2 bombers of the 211st Aviation Regiment. In total, he made 21 sorties on SU-2. After the fall of Kiev and Kharkov, when only 11 planes remained in the 211st Bomber Regiment, Lieutenant Ivan Pstygo, among other pilots, was sent to retrain in the city of Balashov at the aviation school, where they had to master the new IL-2 attack aircraft. In the following years, attack pilot Ivan Pstygo fought on the South-Western, Stalingrad, Bryansk, 1st and 2nd Baltic, 3rd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts as a squadron commander, chief of the air rifle service of the assault aviation division and the aviation corps. He met Victory Day with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as a Commander of the 893rd Assault Vitebsk Red Banner Aviation Regiment, who was finishing off the demoralized remnants of German troops from the air. In total, during the war, I. Pstygo made 96 sorties, personally shot down 2 enemy fighters in air battles (one of them in a frontal attack). After the war, he was sent to the higher officer courses of the air force in Lipetsk. And after their successful completion, he served in the Far East. Then he studied at the General Staff Academy, after which in 1957 he was appointed Deputy Commander of the air force of the Leningrad Military District. From 1958 – first Deputy, and a year later – Commander of the air force of the group of Soviet troops in Germany. Colonel-General I. Pstygo - Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet air force for combat training since 1967. He was awarded the highest military rank of Marshal of Air Force in 1975. Ivan Pstygo was assigned to form the Central aviation safety Inspectorate of the Armed Forces of the USSR in 1977, which he later headed. Then he introduced the "formula of safety" as a sum of terms of the qualities of personall, rules of flight service, regularity, guidance, and flight control, reliability of aviation equipment. This "safety formula", built on experience of his entire life, is still effective. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 7, 1978 "for personal courage and bravery shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders during the Great Patriotic War, a great contribution to the training and improving the combat readiness of troops in the post-war period, the development of complex military equipment", Marshal of Air Force Ivan Pstygo was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal (#11300). Pstygo - in the Group of the General Inspection of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. Mastered 52 types of aircraft, 42 years of flight experience. The Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 hosted a round table "The Battle of Kursk: a look through six decades" on July 25, 2003, where Marshal of Air Force, participant of the Battle of Kursk, Hero of the Soviet Union I. Pstygo made a report "In the Sky over the Kursk Bulge". On the same day, he was awarded the commemorative medal "60 years of the Battle of Kursk". Lived in the hero-city of Moscow. He worked as a consultant at the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. He died on February 23, 2009, at the age of 91. He was buried on February 26, 2009 at the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery in Moscow. Gold Star Medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union #11300 (April 7, 1978), two Orders of Lenin (1955, 1978), Order of The October Revolution (1974), seven Orders of the Red Banner (August 1942, October 1942, 1945, 1953, 1956, 1968, 1969), Order oOf Alexander Nevsky (1944), two Orders of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (1943, 1985), two Orders of the Red Star (1951), Order For Service to the Motherland In the Armed Forces of the USSR 3rd degree (1988), 14 battle medals, russian Order For services to the Fatherland 4th degree (2008), medal - winning military pilot of the USSR (1967), Honorary citizen of Volgograd (May 29, 2003)

Village of Verkh-Kamyshenka, Sorokinsky District, Altay Region_x000D_ Branch of service: Army, Air Force (except for Naval Aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD troops, Border Guards._x000D_ My great-grandfather, Alexey lotnikov was born on March 28, 1910 in the village of Verkh-Kamyshenka in the Sorokinsky District of the Altai Region. He went to primary school and worked for a collective farm. He went to the front in September 1941, after completing a driver's course in Barnaul. He got to the 1st Baltic Front._x000D_ On the site" Feat of the people" I found the order #18/n from: 01.11.1944 Medal For Courage “to award the rifleman of the 5th Rifle Company Guards Private Plotnikov Alexey for the fact that in the battles near the village of Morphogtay 12.10.44, weth the fire of his sub-machine gun, showing courage and bravery, destroyed 7 German soldiers and officers."_x000D_ My grandfather was seriously wounded in October 1944, and spent a long time in a hospital. It was not until January 1945 that he returned home. At home, he worked honestly for the collective farm all his life. He was awarded the medal Veteran of Labor, that was probably not easier than to get any military award._x000D_ There is only one of his front-line photos is kept in the family. One where the great-grandfather is a rifleman of the 33rd Regiment of the 84th Guards Division of the 1st Baltic Front (in the center). Perhaps someone would recognize their relatives from the photos in the album?_x000D_ Unfortunately, I didn't know my grandfather personally - he died when my mother was 11 years old. My mother remembers him talking about the war. How terrible it was at Stalingrad - the water in the Volga River was red with blood, how they dragged guns on themselves, how they fell under German bullets and under their own. And my grandmother remembers his stories about the liberation of Sevastopol - all night the soldiers stood in the waters of Sivash under the bursts of enemy bullets and shells. It's a pity that I don't know much about his battle path. Only a few documents tell us where he shed his blood - Stalingrad, Sevastopol, Leningrad._x000D_ And in the family album with black-and-white photos, grandfather Alexey looks tired, kind and definitely our own, although familiar only from stories. It is terrible to imagine what he saw at that time. Thank you for the clear sky above, grandpa. Thank you for life. We know, we remember, we are proud!

01.01.1913 - 01.01.1996_x000D_ Rank: Red Army Soldier_x000D_ Branch of Service: Land Forces, Air Force (except for Naval Aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD troops, Border Guard._x000D_ Unit: 32nd Red Banner Rifle Division._x000D_ My grandmother's older brother, Alexey Polyakov was born in 1913 in the village of Pogorelovka, Volchkovsky Volost, Kozlovsky Uyezd, Tambov Province (today - Petrovsky, during the war - Volchkovsky District, Tambov Region), the 1st child in a large peasant family (eight children, two of whom died in infancy) of Kozma and Polyakov._x000D_ Education - primary, 4 classes. Mechanic. Son of an "enemy of the people" (father shot in 1938, posthumously rehabilitated). Passed active service in the period from 1933 to 1935, then worked on the construction of the Moscow metro. He was married, and his son Vladimir was born in 1941. (during the war). Called up by the Volchkovsky District Militart Commissariate of the Tambov Region on August 26, 1941 in the 113th Rifle Rediment of the 32nd Rifle Division. He fought as an ordinary rifleman in the infantry. Participated of the defense of Moscow. He was captured by Germans on January 5, 1942._x000D_ During this period, 32nd Rifle Division launched an offensive Northwest of the Naro-Fominsk District near the village of Obukhovo. According to his stories, everything happened as follows: "the German got into another counterattack. The fire was just a hurricane. Despite this, the officers persistently demanded to advance. But as soon as the soldiers got up from the trenches, we were literally "mowed down" by a hail of bullets and shrapnel. By chance, only a few people were left alive, including me. So he was captured... " As a prisoner of war, he worked for the burgher in what is now Poland. During the entire war, there was no news from him - in the winter of 1942, the family was handed a state notice of "missing persons". Released on May 3, 1945. Then he served in 218 AZSP as a tractor driver,-restored the city of Breslau (now Polish Wroclaw). Demobilized on December 12, 1945._x000D_ His sister, my grandmother, described return home in this way: "it was a common winter day. My mother went to a meeting of the village Council, only Shura (my sister) and I were at home. First they heard a knock, then Shura saw Alexey's silhouette through the window and screamed. There was so much joy! But time passes – and the mother is still not there. Alexey himself went to the village Council. It turned out that the mother could not pay some tax on time and boldly replied: "Where will I get the money? If someone had lost it, I would have found it and paid." The Chairman got angry with her and, along with a group of other defaulters (about 6 women), locked them in a back room after the meeting. When my brother found out about this, he went straight to the Chairman, took him by the breast and said, “While we were fighting there, you bullied our mothers here!” and made him let all the prisoners out of the back room."_x000D_ After the war, he was a construction worker._x000D_ Most of his life he lived in his native village, and in his old age he and his wife moved to Domodedovo, Moscow Region._x000D_ He didn't like to talk about the war. I remember him as a silent, modest and reserved person.