Stepin Vasily Ivanovich Rank: Captain Type of troops:Artillery My grandfather went through the war from Pulkov Heights in Leningrad to Seelow Heights in Berlin, and entered Berlin on May 2,1945. He didn't take pictures of the fighting during the war, there was no time, but after the capitulation of Berlin, he started taking pictures. The picture I am holding in my hands is fuzzy, The photo was taken when the war had just finished, and in the picture my father was wearing a raincoat. Accidentally, I have come across a photo of the same site by an American life correspondent. It was easier for him to take pictures with an expensive camera rather than for Konev's soldiers, who were used to shooting real guns more than snapping. And this American photo turned out to be brighter and better quality. However, the first photo is incomparably more dear to me… So my grandfather celebrated the Victory, crossed in the Danube (Vienna) and met his family in Berlin... It was very easy then to get abroad, one had to receive just 1 piece of paper, an NKVD visa. However, it was surprisingly difficult to return to St. Petersburg from evacuation. Without a personal signature of Marshall Voroshilov, my grandmother with my mom would not had been allowed back from the evacuation. After a business trip to Vienna, he was appointed Commandant in the small town of Jutebog, known for Luther's sermons and to be the largest military base in the former GDR. As soon as the family had moved there, the car accident happened. My grandfather loaned a car to a friend-pilot, the Hero of the USSR, who was drunk driving and hit a German woman. My grandfather was fired in 24 hours from the commandants and from the army:) He came back to Leningrad with his family, and even managed to get to the Victory parade. There is an interesting detail in the next photo, where he is with his wife and military friends. My grandmother has a white round brooch on her dress, a sign of Leningrad Siege. It was made of plastic, similar to bone and covered with something phosphorescent. For a long time it had glowed in the darkness of the night. Under the Siege almost everyone on the street had one of this kind… Grandfather died from the effects of severe wounds, before I was born, thу legends were circulating in the family about his interesting life. … When in September the Germans approached the Pulkovo heights near his battery, where he served as a Starshina and there were no commanders left in the regiment, either all were killed or escaped in the night. It was on the night when Zhukov replaced Voroshilov I his commanding position. My grandfather went on foot to Smolny, reported about the military situation. He was received by Zhukov himself, who ordered to organize defense and appointed him a commander. Nearby there was the destroyed factory of oil fats, where one of the relatives worked. She went with for this oil meal, half of which was taken away on the way back through the city by the guards, but this helped to survive the first winter of the Leningrad Siege for the rest of the family. My grandfather bravely fought for the Pulkovo heights on the Leningrad front and was awarded the medal «For Defense of Leningrad». Part of the staff was transferred to the North-Western front, then he was transferred to the Steppe front, in the division artillery of the regional command of the Voronezh front. During the war he served at the headquarters for providing troops with fuel. During tank combat at Kursk grandfather with soldiers repulsed fuel storage and ammunition of the tanks of the 3rd SS division "Totenkopf", This action had greatly helped the advance of our troops for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star. As part of the front under the command of Marshal Konev, he entered Berlin, where he was awarded the order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree.