Vasina Maria Yakovlevna_x000D_ _x000D_ Type of troops: Land forces, air force (except naval aviation), coast service, NKVD troops, border guard. My mother Vasina Maria Yakovlevna (29.12.1925 – 10.11.2011) went through the entire war. She was called up when she was 15 years old. First, as a Komsomol member, to the hospital as a nurse. The hospital was located in a school (she no longer remembered the number) in Smolensk. She was born in the village of Volkovo, Yelninsky district, Smolensk region. According to my mother's stories, it was even worse than at the front later. They brought wounded soldiers: almost her age, the same age as her older brothers, the same age as her father, and the same age as her grandfather from a neighbouring farm. All the time: blood, parts of human bodies, the agony, the cries, dressings, basins, bandages. In addition, the smell of trouble that haunted her for so long... and the echo, the eerie echo, under the high ceilings in the hallways and classrooms. In moments of rest - reading, writing letters, amateur concerts. From fatigue, the girls did not even go home after duty; they slept in free utility rooms. In less than 18 years, she was already at the front. First in frontline intelligence. Since she knew German and Polish perfectly, "Vasya" made the transition with the reconnaissance group across the front line more than once. But after the liberation of Smolensk, she received a letter from her family … The news of the execution of her older brother Alexander, a partisan, and the attempt to steal her very young brother Mikhail and sister Zinaida to Germany, aroused in her only one indomitable desire to KILL FASCISTS. Which completely deprived her of caution, discretion. And ... they transferred her to a front-line bakery. There she received her third military specialty - a baker. Heavy cast-iron moulds, oven, wagon train, shelling, bombing-these are the "charms" of the front-line bakery. However, my mother didn't give up… She ended the war in 1945 in the city of Kaliningrad. She had many awards: medals, orders. Nevertheless, there is one special "For bravery". I would like to tell you more about this award. I read a lot about the war, about the exploits of Soviet soldiers in that war, but for some reason, they don't really try to talk about this episode - they observe political correctness! When the Soviet troops entered the city of Konigsberg (Kaliningrad), it was surprising to see such a detail – there were almost no people on the streets and in the houses. It was only a few days later that everything became clear. Women, the elderly, children were hiding in the city cemeteries to the tombs, among the graves. They were used as a human shield to hide the Nazis. (They were hiding behind peaceful German old men, women and children, not Russians, not Ukrainians, not Belarusians-as it used to be). They assured that the Red Army would shoot them, torture them, and rape them… Persuasion over the loudspeakers did not bring results. Then girls (including my mother) from intelligence, front-line hospitals, front-line bakeries, signalmen-who spoke languages-went to these city cemeteries. Personally, she led people out of the cemetery near some old Church of the 17th-18th century. There were large family vaults… Without weapons, with a smile, with a pure heart. As my mother told me, several girls were killed (unfortunately, she no longer remembered the exact number) by the Nazis hiding there. Every time she saw her older brother shot, and her younger siblings who had been given kerosene in the camp... There were tears in his eyes. Still, time after time, she went to talk, convince, save, bring out, take out... 70 years have passed. I really hope that someone else remembers this quiet feat of our young mothers-who saved hundreds of lives of Konigsberg citizens at the cost of their lives. To my great regret, I have no way to access the archives. Maybe someone is still alive. And I would love to see those for whom they sacrificed their lives! I hope that this information will be interesting in the overall picture of our VICTORY!