Zhivtsov Ivan Dorofeyevich was born in 1911, in the village of Knyazhiy (now Mirzachul district of Djizzak region of Uzbekistan). He was called to the front by Kansk RVC of Krasnoyarsk region. Lieutenant of the Guards, served as a platoon commander in the 87th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 29th Guards Rifle Division, after being wounded and treated in hospital, he was appointed company commander of the 656th Rifle Regiment of the 116th Rifle Division. He was killed in action on August 15, 1942, near the village of Afanasyevka, Gzhatsky (now Gagarinsky) District, Smolenskaya Oblast. He was buried in the Memorial Mass Grave № 2 on the eastern outskirts of the city of Gagarin, Smolensk region (according to other data - in the mass grave at 136th kilometer of the highway Moscow-Minsk, in Mozhaisk district, Moscow region). ------------------------------------------------ My father, Ivan Dorofeyevich Zhivtsov was born on December 26, 1911 in the village of Knyazhiy (now Mirzachulsky District, Dzhizak Region, Republic of Uzbekistan). In 1930 he was voluntarily conscripted to the Red Army by Mirzachul District Military Committee and was sent to service in Transbaikalia. In the rank of lieutenant, he commanded a platoon in the military unit 4027-p/-21. On June 22, 1941 the Great Patriotic War began. They were not sent to the front as they had a reserve in case of Japanese attack. In autumn 1941, a difficult situation developed near Moscow, the Germans came to Moscow. Dad wrote a report about his transfer to the army. The report was satisfied, and Daddy was sent to the front office of the Kansk District Military Committee in Krasnoyarsk region. On the front line, he was appointed commander of the rifle company. In the battles for the approach to Moscow, his company destroyed more than a dozen Germans and various military equipment. In January 1942, my father was seriously injured and treated in a hospital in Mytischi, Moscow region. From the hospital he sent his mother a photo, where my mother was photographed with my older brother. On the back side of the photo he wrote: "My dear wife and friend Dusichka and my favorite sons Zhenechka and Tolechka. If I die in the battle, then only with honor for your Motherland, for your present and future happy life. I will fight with the damned fascists as long as I have enough strength. This record of me will be a memento for you. Ivan Dorofeyevich Zhivtsov. The city of Mytischi, hospital, July 24, 1942". After the hospital he went again to the front line, where he died. My mother received a notice: "Your husband, Lieutenant Commander of the Rifle Company of the 656th Rifle Regiment of the 116th Rifle Division, I. D. Zhivtsov, in the battle for the Socialist Motherland, faithful to his oath, showing heroism and courage, was killed on August 15, 1942 near the village of Afanasyevka, Gzhatsky district, Smolensk region (in 1968 the city of Gzhatsk was renamed Gagarin). His surname is recorded in a memorable album under serial number 5589. My family regularly visits the mass grave in the town of Gagarin. In memory of our dear and beloved frontliner we lay flowers, light a memory candle. On one of the plates it is written: "Red Army Guards, the third in order Zhivtsov I. D.". Mom kept the name of her father until the last days of her life. After Dad's death, Mom and her children moved to the city of Serdobsk, Penza region, where she worked as a nurse in the evacuation hospital № 1690. From mom's memories: "A surgeon approached me, saying that a soldier was dying and he urgently needed donor blood. My mother's blood type was the same and she agreed to a direct transfusion. This is how she saved a soldier's life. My mother regularly received commemorative medals in honor of the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, and greeting cards from the Russian president and the governor of the region. I was proud of my victorious soldiers, I am and will be proud of them! (The author of the essay is A. I. Zhivtsov, the son of a front-line soldier, the veteran of labor, the master of sports of the USSR, the holder of the medal "Children of War". Penza region, the city of Serdobsk).