The Great Patriotic War

Rank: Red Army Soldier. Branch of Service: Armored and Mechanized Troops._x000D_ Pavel Taranenko was my grandfather. He was born in the village of Lenin's Way of Nikolaevskiy District, the Volgograd Region. Graduated from 4 classes School and courses of tractor drivers, worked for a collective farm._x000D_ In the second half of the 1930th, he served in the Red Army, took an active part in the liberation of Western Belarusians and Ukrainians from the Polish landlords, and in 1940 he fought with the white Finns._x000D_ In 1941, while defending Moscow, he was wounded in both hands and was treated in a hospital. After that - again on the front line. In one of the battles, he was seriously wounded and captured, ad got in a POW camp located in Belarus, in the village of Fanipol. On November 6, 1943, he and his comrades escaped from the camp, taking a machine gun along the way. Then he was fighting for his Homeland in the partisan detachment named after the 25th Anniversary of the October revolution, showing himself to be a fearless and courageous fighter._x000D_ In the detachment, he was a machine gunner. More than once he went out with the partisans in ambushes, on sabotage, took part in battles. Not far from the location of the detachment was a road. The command decided to make an ambush to destroy an entire column of enemy vehicles. In this operation, the partisans destroyed 54 trucks, 2 armored cars and more than 200 fascist soldiers and officers. In the last battle, covering the retreat of the partisans and protecting the vital cargo for the detachment, he was left alone, fighting to the last cartridge. Pretending to give up, he let the Nazis get closer and detonated an anti-tank grenade, destroying more than 20 Germans and policemen. It was on May 4, 1944._x000D_ My grandfather was considered missing, and we only learned about his fate in 1971, thanks to the work of Belarusian pathfinders and his fellow soldier V. Morozov. There is a mass grave at the place where Pavel Taranenko died, in the village of Sloboda in the Uzden District of the Minsk Region. My grandfather's self-sacrifice saved the lives of 13 of his comrades. His feat was not awarded. The memory of him is in our hearts.

Date of birth: 11.10.1901_x000D_ Date of death: 27.12.1941_x000D_ History:_x000D_ Mikhail Malykh was born on October 11, 1901 in the village of Karinsky Perevoz, Slobodskiy District, Kirov Region._x000D_ He was drafted into the Red Army in September 1941 by the Slobodskiy District Military Commissariat, and was trained in the city of Rybinsk, Yaroslavl Region, until December 6, 1941._x000D_ He went to the front immediately after training in the Kalinin region of the Torzhok District (now Tver Region) as a Rifleman of the 1186th Regiment of the 355th Rifle Division. That fight was his first and last one._x000D_ In the twenties of December, the 355th Rifle Division arrived at the Kalinin front. By December 25, the division arrived by forced March through Torzhok and concentrated in the forest in the area of Ryabinikha. The village of Riabiniha was a heavily fortified region. The Germans fortified the settlement for 3 months and built 40 bunkers and 30 dugouts. In addition, the houses were adapted for long-term defense; the approaches were mined and covered by mortar fire._x000D_ At dawn on December 26, interacting with other parts of the army, the division took its first battle at the village of Ryabinikha in the Torzhovsky District. The breakthrough of this fortified region was extremely important. By the evening of December 27, 1941, the village of Ryabinikha was taken, all enemy bunkers were suppressed, the defense was broken, the enemy fled in panic, throwing machine guns and cannons. In total, up to 2 companies of enemy infantry were destroyed near the village, and trophies were captured: 35 machine guns, 40 submachine guns, 4 cannons, and a lot of ammunition._x000D_ At that time, there were severe frosts. Uniforms did not match the weather conditions._x000D_ Mikhail, judging by the injuries found during the excavation of his remains in a mass grave, most likely died on December 27, as a result of close combat with the enemy, when they reached the German trenches. After the battle, the bodies of the dead were simply carried to one place. They were not buried in the ground, as it was supposed to be._x000D_ Then there was a real meat grinder, and therefore information about the dead soldiers was very scarce. Therefore, Mikhail, as well as many soldiers from this regiment, was considered missing.

Branch of Service: Artillery._x000D_ The military history of my father, Oleg Smirnov, begins in 1940. After completing the 10th grade of Irbit High School, he was called up to the Pacific Fleet for active military service. From the training unit on the island of Russian father was assigned to the submarine in the position of helmsman. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, my father was eager to go to the front in the area of military actions. After repeatedly submitting reports, he was seconded as a volunteer to the marine brigade._x000D_ In the winter of 1941-42, as member of brigade, my father took part in the offensive near Moscow, on the Kalinin front. In 1942, my father was sent to the 2nd Guards Omsk Artillery and Mortar School, and graduated with the rank of Lieutenant in March 1943._x000D_ From the spring of 1943 to the beginning of 1945, he fought on the Leningrad Front in a rank of Lieutenant and First Lieutenant, commanded the installation of Guards mortars (the famous "Katyusha"), and later commanded a battery of such mortars. Soldiers and officers of the front gave half of their meager food rations to be sent along the "Road of life" to those residents of Leningrad who remained in the city. Until the end of his life, my father could not calmly watch if food was thrown away, and even more so bread._x000D_ After the siege of Leningrad was lifted, the 2nd Guards Mortar Brigade of the 5th Artillery Division of RSC, which included my father's battery, participated in the liberation of the Baltic States from the Nazis, in particular Estonia and Tallinn. With the 1st Belorussian Front, he took part in the liberation of Warsaw from the Nazis._x000D_ My father, Oleg Smirnov, Guards First Lieutenant, commander of the Katyush battery, took part in the battle of Berlin, and then the exit to the Oder-spree canal, where his unit was stationed until 1947._x000D_ My father was wounded in battle. He was discharged in March 1947._x000D_ Awarded Orders of the Red Star, Patriotic War, medals For the Defense of Moscow, For the Defense of Leningrad, and the Liberation of Warsaw, For Capture of Berlin, For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic war 1941-1945, various jubilee medals and awards._x000D_ After returning from the front, he graduated from the Moscow Plekhanov Institute of People’s Economy. Worked for GOSPLAN of USSR and GOSPLAN of RSFSR. After retiring in 1982, he took an active part in the work of the Council of veterans of the Great Patriotic War._x000D_ He died in July 1986. He was buried at the Vagankovo cemetery.

Rank: Military Paramedic. Branch of Service: Military Medical Staff._x000D_ My mother, Stanislava Saprykina (Byaletskaya) was born on August 3, 1921 in the city of Astrakhan in the family of an office worker. Father Byaletskiy Antonin - an accountant by profession, a mother ¬- Byaletskaya Elizaveta - a housewife._x000D_ In 1938, after graduating with a certificate of merit from the school, she entered and in August 1940 graduated with honors from the two-year "School of Nurses" at the 2nd Clinical Hospital in Astrakhan. On assignment, she went to work in the Chechen ASSR in the village of Vedeno as surgical nurse. The war found her there._x000D_ On July 4, 1941, Stanislava was transferred to the city of Grozny to hospital #1622, where she worked until the end of 1941. And on January 1, 1942, she was called up to the active service in the ranks of the Red Army (as it was written in the work book) as a military paramedic, as evidenced by the well-preserved commander's Duffel book (a military paramedic at that time was an officer level position)._x000D_ I don't know much about my mother's military service. Because my mother couldn't talk about the war - she started crying. It is clear that what she had to go through, it is impossible to tell without tears. I only know that she participated in the battles of the Ukrainian front. Was surrounded, was in captivity, escaped from captivity, local Ukrainian residents helped. They gave her civilian clothes. Then she joined partisans, and then returned to her unit._x000D_ She was in the army for 2 years and 3 months, and on April 12, 1944, by the decision of the Garrison military medical Commission, she was discharged from the ranks of the Red Army under article 98 because of "High degree of myopia", as stated in a medical certificate which has been preserved._x000D_ Upon return to Astrakhan she went through the medical treatment. Then my mother entered in October 1944 and in June 1946 graduated with honors from the Obstetric and Paramedic School at the Regional Clinical Hospital, receiving the title of "Paramedic-obstetrician". She combined her studies with her work._x000D_ At that time, there were many wounded soldiers, and after treatment in hospitals, they were visited at home by so-called "nursing sisters". They gave injections, bandaged and washed the wounds, etc. This is how my mother met my father, Konstantin Saprykin, a disabled soldier, who lived with his brother's family in Astrakhan after being wounded and hospitalized. My mother treated him, took care of him, and then they got married. After the birth of their son, they decided to move to live in the village where the father was from. The decision to move matured in that hard hungry post-war time to survive (it was better with food in the village)._x000D_ So on April 20, 1948 they moved to a small village Trehizbenka of Kamyzyakskiy District of the Astrakhan Region, where Stanislava was appointed a head of a medical and obstetric office, where she worked until September 1975. Over the years, three children were born and raised (a son and two daughters). In the village my mother Stanislava aSaprykin (Bialetskaya) enjoyed great prestige and respect among the villagers._x000D_ For many years, she was a permanent Deputy of the village Council (as evidenced by the preserved certificate). And in this small village for many years of her life and dedicated work, people were born on her hands. She was the most honored guest at weddings and christenings. In family quarrels, she, as a Deputy, divorced and divided property or reconciled and united families. When people were sick, she treated them, and if they died, it was also on her hands._x000D_ For 28 years, the Saprykin family lived in this village, leaving a good memory among the villagers. And when, in 1975, my father, as a disabled soldier, was given an apartment with in Kamyzyak, they were seen off by the whole village and the whole village cried, and Stanislava herself cried the most._x000D_ Upon arrival in Kamyzyak, she was transferred to work in the sanitary-epidemiological Station, where she worked as a medical assistant until 1986. The most sacred holiday with my parents was a Day of Victory! And we, the children and grandchildren of front-line soldiers, will never forget what great sacrifices our people made to win the World for us!_x000D_ My mother Saprykina (Byaletskaya) Stanislava had awards: 1973 "Drummer of Communist Labor", 1985 Medal "Veteran of Labor", 1995 jubilee medal "50 years of the Victory in the Second World War", 1996 Zhukov medal._x000D_ Stanislava Saprykina died on March 23, 1998 and was buried in the Kamyzyak cemetery.

History:_x000D_ Graduated with honors first from the teachers' and then from the pedagogical Institute. Worked for the education system. Before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he was sent to the Stanislavskiy, now Ivano-Frankivskiy Region of Ukraine to organize secondary and incomplete secondary schools. He was the Director of a School in Western Ukraine. From the very first day of the war, a purely civilian person found himself in its maelstrom._x000D_ He got under the first bombardment, was fighting as a volunteer with German paratroopers. Then, during the retreat in the difficult year of 1941, he was sent to Dnepropetrovsk, where his mother lived. There he was assigned to evacuate collective farms from Ukraine to Kazakhstan. He reached the evacuation center. In conditions of withdrawal and confusion, he was found by his older sister, whose husband was killed. The meeting was short-lived, and Andrey was soon conscripted into the army. He got to Baku with the evacuees, and then ended up in Derbent in Azerbaijan. Doctors at first recognized him as unfit for military service, so he worked as the School Director until December 1942. However, after a personal statement, Andrey was sent as a volunteer to the courses of political instructors, at the end of which he was appointed Deputy Company Commander for the Political Affairs. Repeatedly during the beginning of the offensive, Andrey was the first to rise to the attack, inspiring other soldiers. He was wounded twice, but remained in the ranks._x000D_ Then he was sent to Baku for retraining of commanders. From the cadets of the school, a brigade was formed that participated in fierce battles in the area of Mozdok and Vladikavkaz and suffered heavy losses. Andrey received his first award, the Medal For Military Merit, while commanding a machine-gun company. Personally killed and captured several Germans in battle, was surrounded and fought his way out of it. Then the unit was transferred to the Crimea, where after being wounded, he ended up in a hospital, and then in the reserve, from which he got to the Baltic front as an artillery commander at the head of an anti-tank battery in the Konigsberg area. The next assignment was to the Minsk Military District in the Guards detachment._x000D_ At the end of the war, Andrey, who was seriously wounded three times, was sent to work for the police of the Lvov Region. He was in charge of a children's colony and a men's Dragobych colony with 3,000 inmates, then worked in Siberia, Uzbekistan, and taught "special pedagogy" at the police school in Tashkent as a senior teacher. At the age of 50, he was demobilized, remained working in Uzbekistan as a Deputy Director, and then as a High School Director._x000D_ Here Andrey decided to do scientific work, worked with students and applicants. Heavy illnesses, a long treatment in the Caucasus fell on him. Then he continued to work in Bashkortostan. He was the Director of the Ufa City Park of Culture and Recreation, an instructor of the DOSAAF Republican Committee, engaged in pedagogical work with offenders, and was elected a people's assessor in court. Restlessness and indefatigability, an active life position, love for people and pedagogical talent made Andrey the soul of every team where he worked. He was also a freelance correspondent for the newspaper Vechernyaya Ufa and other papers, where he showed outstanding abilities._x000D_ The Guard Lieutenant Colonel was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Patriotic War and 18 medals.

Rank: Sergeant_x000D_ Military branch: Land Forces, Air Force (except Naval Aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD troops, Border Guards_x000D_ Duty station: 1st Moscow Rifle Division_x000D_ Mairbek Totrov was born in 1919 in the village of Dzuarikau. Here he grew up, studied, and graduated from High School. When the war began, Mairbek was one of the first volunteers who went to defend their Homeland. For three long years of the war, he served in a construction battalion. Under German fire, he built airfields in Stavropol, Astrakhan, Rovno, Moscow and other cities, thus providing invaluable assistance to the red Army Air Forces._x000D_ In 1944, the 360th Rifle Division was formed in Moscow, with 1,700 volunteers. From here, the division was transferred to Belarus. Mairbek Totrov was assigned to divisional intelligence along with Ukrainian Sergey Berezin and Siberian Zverkov._x000D_ Once, during a hand-to-hand battle, the Germans decided to take Totrov alive, but he desperately broke through to the Bank of the Dvina and threw himself into the river. The Germans fired at him for a long time, but Mairbek managed to swim to the other side. For this battle he was awarded the Order of the Red Star, by the regiment commander Kruglov._x000D_ On August 16, 1944, Mairbek was seriously wounded in the fierce battles for Latvia. He was hospitalized for 4 months, but the doctors failed to save his hand, his right arm was amputated below the elbow. Victory day caught Mairbek Totrova in the military hospital of the city of Ordzhonikidze._x000D_ In peacetime, Mairbek worked at various facilities: as a Manager of a farm, barns, and caretaker at the Krasny Gorets collective farm. Then he worked for more than 14 years for the hunting inspection of the RSFSR. Mairbek loved his native village very much. For better or worse, he always stayed with his fellow villagers. Together with his wife Aza Sokayeva, he raised four children.

History:_x000D_ Hello there!_x000D_ It's been 75 years, and the memory of you lives in our family. Nathan Milman, born in 1907 - war correspondent, Captain of the Red Army. For me, your great-grandson, you are unknown, because I have never seen you, talked to you, walked with you on the street, or heard your stories. But the memory of you is stored in old photos and letters._x000D_ These letters are yellow, frayed leaves in a check or in a ruler, in an envelope with a small state emblem and the inscription: "Verified by military censorship 386". All the letters under the numbers - #1, 2, and so on. Only 15. All are addressed to your wife - Anna (Tarasova) born in 1909._x000D_ Your first letters arrived in July 1941. They have constant questions about family, health, and children._x000D_ "...How do you live? It's good that you're working. Take care of the kids. How is Eddie (son-8 years old)? Bring him up, find time every day to read him poems, tell him stories. Buy for ”Chicken – Idochka” (daughter-3 years old) a doll with closed eyes. Treat the guys calmly, don't be nervous. Take care of yourself... "(August 29, 1941)._x000D_ " ... haw is Eddie, does he go to kindergarten? How's my chicken? Was she sitting at home alone? Why don't you write enough about them? Kiss them for me a lot and hard. "(September 19, 1941)._x000D_ Each letter begins with tender words to his wife. Probably the only way a professional military man, a correspondent of the newspaper "For the Honor of the Motherland" of the 24th Army could write in those difficult days of the war, when the troops fought off the Nazis. All photocopies of newspaper articles written by you are carefully stored in the family archive. The names are simple - "Anti-aircraft Gunners", "Courage", "Red Army Bayonet", "Ninth Flight", " Details of the Capture of Yelnya»,… The articles simply and matter-of-factly describe the exploits of soldiers performed on a daily basis._x000D_ In your letters you wrote: "...Always on the front lines. Already shelled. I come to the editorial office for a day or two, hand over the material, get a task, and go back to the front. Our guys fight great. They already know that the Siberians mercilessly smash the fascist pack. Almost every day I send a correspondence to the paper. From "Komsomolskaya Pravda" they ask to give them articles... "(August 18, 1941)._x000D_ "...today I have to go to the front line, but the departure was postponed. I'm going tomorrow. So today I will be indoors, get some sleep, write something in my diary. "(September 19, 1941)._x000D_ "...We live in a "chicken" hut. I came from the front line and got to "Paradise". In honor of my arrival, we had a world dinner and drank hot milk. The guys are good, caring, we live together. Early in the morning I managed to write a sketch about a friend from Voronezh. I think to send the article to Voronezh, print it in the local newspaper or broadcast it on the radio" (September 25, 1941)._x000D_ Autumn of 1941 came._x000D_ "...Dear! I am writing my fifteenth letter. Alive and well. Autumn days came. A lot of work… I looked at the photos for a long time last night. Remember when we were in the Park, behind the tram line. Idochka was still bitten by mosquitoes. And Eddie was standing on the crossbar. Write in detail about yourself and our children. I want you to pay a lot of attention to them. Eddie is big, it is at that age that character is developed. Just don't be nervous and don't worry about me… Kiss the children for me. I hold you tight, tight. I kiss you the way you like it. Goodbye. Your Nathan" (September 28, 1941)._x000D_ Last letter…_x000D_ A month later, the 24th army was surrounded at Vyazma. The soldiers fought to the last bullet, to the last drop of blood. Many died. Many are missing._x000D_ You also went missing…_x000D_ P.S. From the notes of my great – aunt – your daughter- Iraida Volotskova (written in 2015):_x000D_ "...I don't remember my dad, I don't remember his face, voice, but I remember his big hands that threw me up, making my heart stop and rejoice at the height… Why do I only remember this? Nothing more, everything else from words and letters... "_x000D_ Your great-grandson Maxim Baidin.

Rank: Petty Officer._x000D_ Branch of Service: Ground Forces, Air Force (except Naval Aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD troops, Border Guard._x000D_ Duty station: 171st Rifle Division (1st formation)._x000D_ Sobolev Vasiliy Vasilyevich, 21.07.1918 - date of birth._x000D_ Called up to the Red Army 24.09.1938 Kologriv and District Military Commissariat of Gorky Region. He took the military oath on 01.03.1939._x000D_ 18.01.1941 year - North-Western Front._x000D_ 19.12.1943 year - Baltic Front._x000D_ From 23.07.1943 to 26.10.1943 - Petty Officer of the 4th Machine-gun company, 525th Rifle Regiment, 171th Rifle Division, later the 10th Flamethrower Battalion of the same regiment._x000D_ In the Red Army book entry "for exemplary performance of the task of the front command was awarded the medal "For Bravery", number 3006 order for part 140 ZSP #0521 from 07.07.1943._x000D_ During the war, he was wounded 7 times (three times in the neck)._x000D_ Injuries, the North-Western Front:_x000D_ - 15.02.1942_x000D_ - 20.04.1942_x000D_ - 19.08.1943_x000D_ - 26.12.1943_x000D_ Demobilized on the basis of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 25.09.1945, as a non-combat Sergeant 2B group. Order for for the unit #77 D from 22.11.1945 - Commander of the Artillery detachment Captain Kuskov._x000D_ 27.12.1945 year arrived on demobilization, issued a military ID._x000D_ He didn't like to talk._x000D_ Just before the Victory, he was seriously wounded._x000D_ After being discharged, he immediately got married. Wife - Valentina Soboleva (Smirnova), 02.02.1921 -date of birth._x000D_ He worked in the timber industry._x000D_ Until 1974, they lived in the village of Azhuga, Kologrivskiy District, Kostroma Region._x000D_ In 1974, together with his wife, he moved to the village of Bolshoe-Kuzminskoye, Kolchuginskiy District, Vladimir Region.

History:_x000D_ Memories of Valentina Moscova (Prikhodko). Born on April 9, 1931, in Stalingrad. Lived at Railway Street, #5. Our street was not far from the crossing station Elshanka._x000D_ It was August 1942. Books and a briefcase were already bought (brand new). I had to go to study in the 4th grade. But more and more often the air-raid sirens were blaring. And in September, we didn't get out of the bomb shelter. The Germans bombed every day. The Kuibyshev plant was on fire. At the Yelshanka station, trucks with grain and refugees were on fire. The smoke made it dark and smelled of burnt grain and corpses._x000D_ One day our military came to our street in trucks with guns behind them. They put them along the houses and masked them with branches. On this day, it was quiet and it was no bombing. But the whole evening the plane, which was called a "frame" was flying overhead. It photographed everything. And early in the morning they began to bomb so that nothing remained of this artillery battery._x000D_ The soldiers were either wounded or killed. The houses of our street were on fire. It was very scary. We run across the railway track of the Kuibyshev factory, whose territory was pitted with trenches that connected one bomb shelter to another. We jumped into these trenches, and there were our signalmen. They jumped out to meet us with machine guns, they thought we were Germans. They asked us: "Are there any Germans on the streets?" We said no, but our houses are on fire and we are running from the fire._x000D_ When all was quiet, we returned to our trench. And in the morning, the Germans were riding motorcycles through the Yelshansky crossing, there were a lot of them, and there was a strong crash. I saw it for the first time. Although the autumn of 1942 was warm, it was cold to stay in the trench, so we went to my grandmother's house on 13 Armyanskaya Street. We were thinking of spending the winter there. But the Germans drove us out of the house, and everyone, including us, was driven to Kalach._x000D_ We reached Tishanka (the village of Maxim Gorky), went to a house that was empty, and stayed there for the winter. The winter was very cold. We almost never left the house, it was good that there was a pond nearby, from which we carried water, and in the attic we found dung, which was used to heat the stove. At night, you could hear "Hooray!" And we were waiting for our soldiers to come. The front line was getting closer and closer every day. Already it was scary to be in the house, and we went down to the basement._x000D_ Ours, advancing, fired from "Katyusha". This is a very scary sight when flying fire horns over their heads. And once there was such a strong battle, right in the village itself. The wall of our hut had been torn away by the explosions of shells, and we were afraid it would block us in a basement. Then all was quiet, and we crawled out from under the floor. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and the Germans, who were in the hut and locked the door, suddenly rushed to the basement. And my mother and aunt Anya rushed to open the door. We hear them scream: "Dear ones, we have finally waited for You..."_x000D_ Then we, all who were in the hut, ran out into the street. The Germans were captured and taken away. It was night, but the rockets made it light outside. People from all over the village hugged each other with tears in their eyes that they had lived to be released._x000D_ Siberians liberated us. Such strong guys, real heroes! Dressed in white fur coats, with earflaps and felt boots. The battalion commander ordered the soldiers to feed us, first of all children. They brought from the kitchen a bucket of dumplings with meat and potatoes, four loaves of white bread, and gave the children a large lump of sugar. The next day we returned to my grandmother's house on Armenian Street._x000D_ This is how the unforgettable day of liberation came for us – February 2, 1943._x000D_ I do not specify the dates or days of the week, as I did not keep a diary, I did not know at the time that this was necessary. We looked death in the eye every day. I can't believe we're still alive. And while I was writing these memoirs, I stirred up my memory, so I don't sleep for a week and take blood pressure pills to calm my nerves._x000D_ 18.02. 2002, V. Moskova

Nikolai Stepanovich Markelov (1900-1945) Hero of the Soviet Union. Born in the village of Maximovka of Volsky uyezd (now Bazarno Karabulak district).

Rank: Captain_x000D_ Branch of Service: Air Force_x000D_ Ivan Seredin was born in 1919 in the village of Zinaidino, Rakityansky District, Kursk Region. His family was poor, and his father died very young. Ivan always aspired to knowledge and at the end of the 8th grade, he built a wooden suitcase for himself and went to study. He graduated from the Kharkov Flight School and became a pilot. As he finished school, the war started and he was immediately taken away. He was in the Red Army from 1940._x000D_ This is the feat for which he received the Order of the Red Star! In the fight against the German-fascist invaders, Lieutenant Ivan Seredin had been participating since August 1944 on the section of the 2nd Belorussian Front. During this period of time, he proved himself in combat work as a disciplined and courageous pilot. During his stay in the regiment, he made 35 sorties to escort attack aircraft IL-2, of which: 13 with a bomb load with simultaneous attack of enemy personnel and equipment. Bomb and assault attacks destroyed and disabled: 3 trucks, 5 carts with cargo, one artillery battery and up to 30 enemy soldiers and officers. All completed 35 sorties were sent to escort the IL-2 attack aircraft. During the entire period of combat work, he did not have a single case of loss of attack aircraft from enemy fighters. As a wingman, the pilot ensured the victory of the leader at the right moment. Feeling responsible for saving the life of his commander, he always noticed the enemy in time and repelled his attacks, for example: when accompanied by attack aircraft IL-2 four LA-5, which included the wingman Second Lieutenant Seredin suddenly were attacked by 6 FV-190, Second Lieutenant Seredin, seeing that two FV-190 attacked the leading LA-5 fighters, quickly reacting to what was happening, repelled the attack, thereby saving the leader and himself engaged in battle with one FV-190, as a result of an air battle the FV-190 was hit. For this feat, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star. During the period of fierce battles with German fascism, when a wounded animal crawls away to its lair, the Second Lieutenant gave all his strength and knowledge to inflict the greatest losses to the enemy in manpower and equipment. He never was in captivity or encirclement. He was also awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd degree. Retired with the rank of a Captain. Ivan Seredin ended the war in Germany._x000D_ After the war, my great-grandfather lived with his family in Belgorod. He died in the late 80's, and was buried in Belgorod at the Yachnevo cemetery, together with his wife Alexandra. For our family, Ivan Seredin will always be a Hero!

Title: Red Army Soldier._x000D_ Branch of service: Army, Air Force (except Marine Aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD troops, Border Troops._x000D_ Duty station: G. Kotovsky 5th Guards Cavalry Bessarabian-Tannenberg Order of Lenin Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division._x000D_ Danil Sinyavtsev (1897-1989). From the memoirs of Sinyavtsev Nikolay._x000D_ "I'll start with the story about my father Danil Sinyavtsev. He was born in the XIX century on the farm Ermilov of Nikolaevskiy District of the Azov-Black Sea Region (the so-called territory that united the current Krasnodar territory, Rostov region, the Republic of Adygea and the former Northern region with the center in the city of Millerovo). Danil Sinyavtsev was a native don Cossack, a direct descendant of the first settlers who developed the land of the free don. Our family lived on the farm Belyansky, from there Danil went to war in 1941. My father was already 44 years old. Previously, he had participated in the Civil War. Taking into account the available combat experience, the Cossack was called up to the active army, because in the most difficult period of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, hardened, shelled soldiers were needed at the front like air. Danil Sinyavtsev was sent to the famous 5th Guards Cossack Red Banner Order of Lenin Cavalry Division named after G. Kotovskiy. Later, my father told me that the military unit in which he served was moved to Kharkov, where at that time fierce battles took place. Under the onslaught of the Nazis, our troops were forced to leave their positions. Retreating, they went through the endless steppes. It was a hot summer, and there was almost no water. The soldiers miraculously survived, sweltering with thirst… The front was rolling back to Stalingrad, and the combat Cossack Sinyavtsev, along with his comrades, fell to the lot to participate in the great Battle of the Volga. When the enemy was defeated at Stalingrad, one group of our troops was sent to Millerovo, and the other – towards Rostov-on-Don. In the battles for the liberation of Rostov region from the Nazis participated and Danil Sinyavtsev. Then, it was planned to transfer the cavalry unit to the Donbass, and on the eve of that my father was given a one day vacation. I remember well that snowy winter day when my father appeared on a horse under the Windows of our house. Smelling of gunpowder smoke, dressed in a cap and a Cossack burka - this is how I remember the closest and dearest person to me. We all ran out to meet him, and I, who was only a boy at that time, ran out into the yard shouting: "Dad, put me on a horse!” My father lifted me up in his strong arms and lifted me into the saddle… Those days passed like a flash, and my father again left for his military unit. His front way run through the Donbass and Belarus. Later, at the end of the war, the Cossack Sinyavtsev, taking into account his advanced age, was appointed a clerk (by the way, my father's handwriting was calligraphic). However, he did not stay too long at headquarters, and more than once he had to put down his fountain pen and take up arms again. This is confirmed by an extract from the award list, which we found recently. It became known that in the offensive battles for the liberation of Belarus, Danil Sinyavtsev, along with two fellow soldiers, engaged 15 Nazis and destroyed three enemy soldiers with targeted fire from a sniper rifle. Four more fascists were captured by the Cossacks and taken to the headquarters. The courage shown by my father in that battle was awarded with the Medal For Military Merit. Danil Sinyavtsev met the victory in Konigsberg (now the city of Kaliningrad). By the time the shirt of Cossack cavalry in addition to the mentioned awards was decorated with Orders of the Red Star and Patriotic War of 2nd degrees and medals For the Defense of Stalingrad, For the Capture of Konigsberg and For the Victory over Germany. After demobilization Daniel Sinyavtsev returned home to Rostov REgion. He worked restoring his native collective farm. Danil lived for 92 years”.

History:_x000D_ Iustin Makarishin - a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, a participant of the the Iassy-Kishinev operation. Awarded with commendations from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Marshal of the Soviet Union, comrade Stalin, for the liberation of the capital of Moldova, the city of Chisinau, the cities of Iassy, Vienna and Budapest. Awarded the medals For the Capture of Vienna, For the Victory over Germany, Order of the Patriotic War 2nd degree._x000D_ My grandfather Justin was born on 10.06.1923 (there is a second date of his birth, dating back to 1922) in a large family with five children, four sons and one daughter. He was the youngest. He was born in the village of Bolshoy Molokish, Rybnitsa District, now Transnistria, where he lived all his life, and was buried here. Education - 7 classes._x000D_ Since the beginning of the war, he lived under occupation, drafted into the Red Army on 14.04.1944. He took the military oath on 20.05.1944 and was assigned to the 368th Kutuzov and Suvorov Guards Division, to the rifle company, as a sniper. He went to war with his fellow-villagers Dorganich Feodosiy, Dorganich Ananiy. They served and returned together. Of the four brothers only the oldest one was killedr. After the war, all lived in the village of Bolshoy Molokish close to each other._x000D_ Justin fought on the 2nd Ukrainian Front from 22.08.1944 to 30.09.1944, later on the 3rd Ukrainian front from 20.12.1944 to 25.12.1945._x000D_ The Red Army guardsman Iustin Makarishin was wounded in Hungary, on 28.03.1945 at 6 o'clock in the morning, and was taken to hospital #2888 in the Hungarian city of Veszprem with “a shrapnel wound to the back of the left foot”. Then he served in the military unit Field Mail #23841. He met a Great Victory in Austria, another year served in the Alps, Austria, demobilized on 22.10.1946._x000D_ Makarishin Iustin and Mariya all their life until death lived in their native village, worked in the collective farm Red October. My grandfather worked as a viticulturist, gardener, was a member of the audit Commission, my grandmother was a supervisor, awarded the Order of the Red banner of Labor. They were respected people. Justin died in 1987 from heart disease, and my grandmother passed away in 2005. They were married for 45 years.

Olga Stepchenkova was born on June 11, 1923 in the Urals city of Alapaevsk. From the age of 18, she worked as an assistant accountant on a collective farm. In 1942, she received a summons to the front. But the Chairman of the collective farm did not let her go. In 1943, a second summons came, and Olga voluntarily went to the front._x000D_ All conscripts from Alapaevsk were brought by freight train to Leningrad. There, a young girl Olya became a minesweeper. The first time she was doing all the work that had accumulated in the city. Later, on assignment, she went closer to the shores of the Gulf of Finland and was engaged in bomb clearance there. It was a very dangerous business, and the Chief of the unit forbade doing it manually._x000D_ Olga together with other girls had to sort out the destroyed houses, any buildings. One of the important tasks was to destroy the documents of the destroyed enterprises._x000D_ After the end of the war in 1945, she returned to her native Alapaevsk with awards. She started to work there as a senior accountant. Here Olga met her future husband. He was also a military man, three years older than Olga. After living together for 20 years, they had to move because of their husband's health condition_x000D_ They moved to the village Chernoerkovskoye in Kuban Region to their relatives. Later, they bought an apartment in Slavyansk-on-Kuban with their earned money and moved there. By that time, Olga's husband was already retired, and she still worked for three years as a chief accountant_x000D_ From the "Book of Memory" collected by students of the Lyceum #4 in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, as part of the "Blue handkerchief", "My countrymen – heroes of the Russian Land" campaigns for the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory.

History:_x000D_ My great-grandfather Shavkat Maskaev was a participant of the Great Patriotic War. I do not know all the details of his biography, and I wrote the essay based on my grandfather's memoirs._x000D_ About the Great Patriotic War great-grandfather spoke rarely and reluctantly, never mentioning details. Shavkat was born on February 10, 1924 in the village of Orde (Urde) in the West Kazakhstan Region. A difficult childhood fell to his lot. After finishing eight classes in a rural school in 1938, the fourteen-year-old went to work on a collective farm. He was known as a hardworking and trouble-free person._x000D_ The Great Patriotic War began for my great-grandfather on September 15, 1942, when he was called to the front by order of the District Military Commissariat of the Ordinskiy District of the West Kazakhstan Region. Shavkat was the Commander of a Machine-gun Platoon of the 2nd Rifle Battalion, 1311th Rifle Regiment, 337th Rifle Division from 5.6.1943._x000D_ More than once fate tested my great-grandfather: he was wounded twice, on 10.08.1943 lightly and heavily on 01.10.43 (sent to a hospital located in the city of Tashkent)._x000D_ His award list includes many medals, for example: the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd degree, the Medal For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the Medal For the Capture of Berlin._x000D_ The unit in which Shavkat served remained in Germany until 1947, and it was there that their son, Valery Mulyakaev, was born on 8.04.1947 in the city of Halle._x000D_ On April 17, 1948, Shavkat was dismissed to the reserve, and together with his family returned to the village of Urdu (Ordu) in the West Kazakhstan Region. He lived quietly a short time, on 01.01.1957 he died, the last years of his life, diseases received due to injuries, tormented him._x000D_ Everything written above is the little that in such a short story could convey about the heroic exploits of Shavkat Mulyakaev._x000D_ We can't bring back the past, but it remains in our memory, on our lips, in our photographs. It is the memories and the memory can bring us all together for real. Being able to feel the connection between generations is the main feature of a happy, great country. The heart of each of us is filled with love and respect for veterans, when the memory of them continues to live.