Heroes and feats

Rank: Sergeant Type of troops: Ground Forces, Air Force (except for naval aviation), coastal service, NKVD troops, border troops Fedor Viktorovich Efrosinin was born in 1923 in the Akbulak region in the village. Karpovka. Before the war he studied at the Akbulak railway school number 37. In 1941 he finished 8 classes and had to go to the 9th, but after learning about the war, Fedor Viktorovich and his comrades went to the military registration and enlistment office to volunteer for the front. But the military commissar was a serious man and sent the young guys with the words: "Your time will come - we will call!" But, thanks to the stubbornness of the young men, they were nevertheless assigned to the Stalinist training courses for fighters. There was a parade ground at the military registration and enlistment office, where old commanders, from the time of the civil war, taught young guys to dig a trench, taught the basics of bayonet fighting, showed how to properly throw anti-tank grenades, etc. Preparation went on until 1942, and then the young soldiers were called up to the front. “At the age of 19,” recalls Fyodor Viktorovich, “we were ready soldiers. We were loaded onto a train - full wagons of 35-40 people each, and taken in the direction of Moscow. But the capital was surrounded and the train failed. Then we were taken to the city of Gorky, where the military camps were located. A unit was formed there, where the so-called. an officer, a commander — Leningrad needed replenishment. I got into this group. We drove off. At Volkhov they started bombing. We were worried, there was not enough food - a tin can for 10 people ... The bombing scared us very much, they fired continuously, we felt incredible fear .. I held myself back, but many could not stand it - they jumped off and ran somewhere and, creating panic, We got directly under the bullets and died. Our train made its way towards Leningrad, when it became impossible to go, we went on foot at night, since the places there were open, and enemy aircraft flew and followed. When we approached Lake Ladoga, they made a temporary berth for ships, they began to heavily bomb us there. Two ships left loaded, and I got on the third. The day was approaching night, but it was still light, then low clouds approached and it began to drizzle, taking advantage of this moment, we swam across Ladoga calmly, and in the morning they raised us on alarm - a passenger train was already waiting for us in the forest. This train was bombed by German planes all the way to Leningrad. It was only 65 kilometers to the "distribution", but we drove all day: as soon as we start driving, there was a raid! We are commanded: “Unload! Take cover! " And so incessantly. Several wagons were smashed, the lines were bombed ... We arrived at our destination late in the evening. Soon a battalion was formed from us. There were artillery and mortar batteries, an armored personnel carrier company, anti-tank rifles and machine gunners - about 1000 people. And all of us were thrown into defense along the shores of Lake Ladoga, where the road of life is, near the village of Tokarevo to Shlisseltburg itself, to the sources of the river. Neva, to the Oreshek fortress. This was our base here we stood for the whole of 1942. I ended up in the signalmen, in the 177th division of the artillery regiment, where I served as a senior sergeant, then we were trained to connect as wires and so on ... On January 12, 1943, after a powerful artillery preparation, our battalions were thrown to break the blockade against Shlisselburg. It seemed that the city had been demolished by artillery barrage - everything was burning and smoking. On the outskirts of the city there was a plain, 350 meters it was necessary to walk through the open space to get to the coast. The coast was not high, but steep. In addition, the Germans doused him with water so that we could not climb. In general, we were targets. The Germans opened fire and bombed directly at us, there were very heavy losses, they did not have time to take out the wounded. The Leningrad and Volkhov fronts took part in the operation. ”After lifting the blockade, Fyodor Viktorovich served in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. The 177th division was preparing to destroy the enemy enemy grouping in the Baltic. The Nazis paid increased attention to the retention of the Baltic states. On May 9, 1945, the 177th division was supposed to go on the offensive, there was no news of the end of the war. “Then we learned the news that the Germans must surrender,” recalls V. V. Efrosinin, “everyone was waiting for news from the headquarters, and by phone they said: “Keep vigilant surveillance. Do not react to provocations of the enemy. " The news of the end of the war came unexpectedly - from the enemy side. It was late afternoon, the sun had not yet set, suddenly the Germans jumped out and wave white rags, throw their submachine guns and shout: "Ivan, war is kaput!" Our people also started shouting and ran towards the Germans. Fraternization began, everyone was happy - both we and they. " The way home turned out to be difficult for Fyodor Viktorovich - front-line wounds haunted him. It happened so that the dream of a young guy to become Karl Bryullov did not come true ... War, hardships and hardships of the war and post-war times interfered. But Fyodor Viktorovich is not discouraged and even in old age finds time for his favorite hobby - he draws pictures, communicates with schoolchildren, comes to school for the holidays. This is his heroism, his unshakable desire to be useful to people and society.

Title: Red Army soldier Type of troops: Ground Forces, Air Force (except naval aviation), coastal service, NKVD troops, border troops Grigory Matveyevich Yelchev, my great-grandfather, was born on 23.12.1921 in the village. Pushkino, Lada region of the Mordovian ASSR. In November 1940, he was called up for military service in the Red Army in the city of Chisinau, Republic of Moldova (training platoon of the regimental school of a rifle company). The service took place in peacetime, but cadets were actively trained for military operations. From the first hours of the war, Chisinau became a front-line city. At dawn on June 22, 1941, it was bombarded by enemy aircraft, and battles unfolded in the Chisinau direction. The cadets of the school were transferred to the rank and file of the rifle regiment of the 12th Army of the Southwestern Front under the command of Lieutenant General Fyodor Yakovlevich Kostenko. The 12th Army of the 1st formation was formed in the Kiev Special Military District in 1940. In the second half of July 1941, the army as part of the Southern Front (since July 25) fought defensive battles in the Uman direction. After the enemy inflicted deep flank attacks, a significant part of the troops of the 12th Army was surrounded and fought heavy battles for 5 days. 10 August 1941, after leaving the encirclement of the army, its field administration was disbanded, and units and subunits were transferred to staffing others front connections. Only by creating a large numerical advantage, the enemies managed to capture the city on July 16. From July 20 to August 12, 1941, the 12th Army was surrounded and defeated. The 3-year period of the occupation of Chisinau has come - one of the darkest in the history of the city. The invaders declared Chisinau the center of the governorship of Bessarabia they had created, established a regime of terror and military-police arbitrariness, outrage and robbery. Mass executions were carried out on the outskirts of Chisinau. Grigory Matveyevich dropped out of the army - was taken prisoner - 08/08/1941 Soviet soldiers and officers who were captured were of no interest to the German command. The prisoners were placed in camps built on the territory of occupied Ukraine, and were used as labor for logging and other work. In 1942 they began to be exported to Germany, as workers were needed there. From 1942 to 1943, Grigory Matveyevich worked in a mine, mined coal. Working and living conditions were very harsh. When his legs hurt and he was unable to work at the mine, he was transferred to agricultural work for German families. Here Grigory Matveyevich was before the arrival of the Soviet Army. At the end of May 1945, all the prisoners were returned to their homeland. The attitude towards the former prisoners of war was not the same as towards all the soldiers who fought. Only in 1954 Yelchev Grigory Matveyevich, together with other prisoners of war, was rehabilitated and equated to the number of participants in the Second World War. All subsequent years he enjoyed the benefits of a participant in the Second World War and received awards (Order of the Patriotic War, II degree). Grigory Matveevich died on September 25, 1999.

Rank: Red Army. Epifanov Kirill Afanasyevich was born in 1906 in the village of Tambovka, Fedorovsky district, in the family of a farm laborer. Here he met his fate, Ekaterina Lavrentiev, a beautiful stately girl born in 1904 from a family of wealthy peasants (kulaks). It is absolutely incredible that the parents gave Ekaterina for the barefoot laborer. Three children appeared in the Epifanov family one after the other: Nikolai (1926), Vasily (1928), Anna (1930). At this time, dispossession of kulaks began - the forcible seizure of property, land and livestock from the rich and middle peasants who had the strongest farms. Millions of peasants, along with their families, were repressed, forcibly deported to uninhabited regions of Siberia. This was also taken into account by Catherine's family. Her parents and two sisters, Yenya and Lyuba, were exiled to the Komi Republic for felling, Ekaterina was saved from dispossession by her marriage to a farm laborer. Total collectivization began in the country. In 1931, my great-grandfather Kirill, in search of work, got a job as a carpenter in a newly formed state farm in the village of Eruslan, Fedorovsky district, Saratov region, and then transported his family. Kirill Afanasevich built housing, farms, striving with all his heart for a new life. In the Epifanov family, two more daughters, Antonina and Maria, were born. What else does a person need to be happy ?! But all this was destroyed in one word - WAR. The summons was brought to the house in August 1941. The wife began to cry, the children began to cry. "Don't worry, I'll be back!" - My great-grandfather Kirill promised them. And he himself lamented: and how can mother alone with the horde, and the house did not have time to be completed, and the field is full of work. Many fellow villagers left their homes with the same thoughts. Great-grandfather fought in the engineer troops. His duties included the preparation of boats, the construction of blown up bridges, during the offensive, he directed the crossings across the Don, Dnieper, Danube, crossed the Oder. The successful outcome of combat operations sometimes depended largely on the skillful actions of the sappers. And they more than once worked under the deadly fire of the enemy, but the task was completed on time. It was in Belarus, when the bridge on one river was almost ready, suddenly Nazi planes flew in and bombed everything. However, the sappers did not give up. All forces were thrown into the restoration of the bridge, and by the appointed hour they managed to complete the work. And near Warsaw it was necessary to make not only boats, but also to urgently build dugouts for the wounded. For completing this task K.A. Epifanov and his comrades received gratitude from the command. He took part in the defense of Moscow, liberated Kiev, Minsk, Warsaw, took part in the capture of Berlin. Then everything was really common: suffering and grief, hopes and joys, and most importantly - faith in victory. And I think that my great-grandfather did everything in his power to bring this Victory closer. And at home my wife lived as best she could, took care of the children, from morning till night worked on the farm at various jobs and kept waiting and waiting for news from the front. Following his father, the eldest son Nikolai Kirillovich, born in 1926, went to the front, he was barely 17 years old. Letters came rarely and not for long - the funeral was brought in 1944 with a short note "Died of wounds." All that remains of my grandfather Vasily's older brother is an old photograph and a Book of Memory (volume 6), in which the Fedorovsky District Department has the following entry: “Nikolai Kirillovich Epifanov, was born in 1926, in Eruslan. Drafted into the army in 1943. Chief of the first class, sniper. He died of his wounds on November 30, 1944. Buried in Dvinsk, Latvia. " My grandfather remained the only man, he was already 15 years old, and he sat down at the tractor levers. Throughout the war he worked in the field, spent the night in the steppe during sowing and harvesting, and on short family visits he took care of his sisters, re-read his father's letters, waited and hoped for his return. Now grandfather Vasily has awards as a home front worker, but then he just earned a piece of bread to feed his family. Great-grandfather Kirill Afanasevich, after the festive fireworks died down, remained to restore the destroyed bridges, dams, houses. He returned home in 1947. Soon, daughter Anna dies from a serious illness. Forever in the hearts of parents there will be longing for children who have passed away, with the only difference that you can come to the grave of your daughter in a moment of severe mental pain, and the grave of your son is on the wrong side. After the war, great-grandfather built his own small (only two rooms) house, in which there were always many guests, and planted a huge garden - the pride of Kirill Afanasyevich. He was respected by his fellow villagers, he was a kind and worthy person. His wife always called him affectionately Kiryusha. Victory Day became a special holiday for the Epifanov family, on this day the whole family gathered at the monument to the victims - children, grandchildren - and then they laid the table in the garden and enjoyed the warm sun and the peaceful sky. Soon life got better, went on as usual. The number of grandchildren increased (there are seven of them), great-grandchildren (there are sixteen of them) appeared, however, not all of them were seen by the great-grandfather. With their great-grandmother, they lived together a long, difficult, but happy life.Celebrated their 80th birthday and 60 years of marriage. Great-grandfather died on December 28, 1986. After his death, his great-grandmother gave all his awards to the museum of the secondary school in Eruslan. Great-grandmother Ekaterina herself did not live without her beloved Kiryusha for a year - she died on October 7, 1987.

Rank: Red Army. Branch of the service: Ground Forces, Air Force (except naval aviation), coastal service, NKVD troops, border troops. Subdivision: 79th Guards Rifle Zaporozhye Order of Lenin Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Division. Eremkin Alexander Grigorievich was born on 07.11.1923. Drafted to the front by the Kochkar district military registration and enlistment office of the Chelyabinsk region on April 23, 1942. Red Army soldier, shooter of the 284th Infantry Division of the 62nd Army of the Stalingrad Front since September 20, 1942. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR No. 223/163 of November 6, 1947, for the courage and bravery shown in the battles with the German invaders in the Great Patriotic War, he was nominated for the medal "For Military Merit". From the memoirs: “The registration for the front went on all day, at night a detachment of conscripts from the military registration and enlistment office marched towards the Nizhne-Uvelskaya railway station, which is 45 km from the town of Plast (Chelyabinsk region), where the conscription was. With rare rest on foot, arrived at the station in the morning. There was nowhere for an apple to fall on the station square - detachments from the Urals arrived from all the surrounding areas. They loaded everyone into boxcars, distributed simple rations. It was rumored that they were being taken to a military school to train as gunners of attack aircraft for six months, but they studied for 5 months as sappers and - to the front, to Stalingrad. There were fierce battles. It was November 1942. The shelling was continuous - you couldn't raise your head, besides, German snipers were vigilantly watching their unit, they were without water and food for several days, it was impossible to even crawl to the stream, and there was no way to deliver food, because there they were being watched by German bullets. In order to somehow get to the water, a kind of protective parapet was built from the frozen corpses of the dead comrades, hiding behind which, at night it was possible to get water. At night, they also cleared the battlefield in order to move forward with attacks during the day, but the Nazis, firing, vigilantly guarded the front line. But under the cover of the night our sappers were doing their job. On such a cold snowy night, Alexander was wounded. Lying on his back, losing consciousness, he gazed into the starry sky and glowing shells beautifully and continuously tracing towards each other ... ”His comrade and childhood friend Mishka (they were called together, grew up on the same street, unfortunately we don't know their last names), died from a sniper bullet to the head in front of him. He also buried him in a railway embankment located nearby. Alexander himself was wounded on November 5, 1942, two days before his birthday, in the shin of the leg by a bullet and shrapnel all over his body, from a mine explosion - a concussion of the head, from which his hearing decreased and until the end of his life he did not hear birds singing. Commissioned for injury on 12/28/1943. The wounded were transported for a long time in carriages under shelling and long parking, without food, water and medical assistance. The wounds were rotting without dressing. Those who were lying were looked after by those who could barely walk, the dead were put at the end of the carriage. After the hospital they brought home with crutches, then he could not walk. When the mother undid the wounds, worms began to form in them. By some miracle, she took out a small jar of sour cream and lubricated her wounds, and Serko's dog licked the sour cream and so the wounds gradually healed. But life went on as usual, and youth took its toll, familiar girls from the neighborhood put him on a sled, tk. he still did not walk well, and they took him to the local club so that he could play the button accordion for him, arrange dances! Then Alexander married a beautiful girl Zoya, studied to be a mining engineer, first at a technical school, then at an institute. They gave birth to three daughters, then raised their grandchildren and lived together a long and happy life, although the wounds often made themselves felt. We very rarely heard these short periods of his military life, he did not like to remember the war ...

Rank: Corporal. Branch of the service: Ground Forces, Air Force (except naval aviation), coastal service, NKVD troops, border troops. Subdivision: 66th Guards Rifle Poltava Red Banner Division. Ermakov Yegor Petrovich-guard corporal, front-line driver of the 66th Guards Rifle Poltava Red Banner Division of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, 649th Squad Authors of the delivery. The division records its history from the 293rd Infantry Division. 01/21/1943 was transformed into the 66th Guards Rifle Division, was awarded the honorary title of Poltava after the capture of Poltava and the liberation of the Ukrainian lands on September 23, 1943. Later, the 66th Guards Poltava Rifle Division liberated Western Ukraine from the Germans and crossed Carpathians. The capture of Budapest is a dash in the battles for the liberation of Europe, then battles in the area of ​​the beautiful Lake Balaton. On the banner of the division, the Order of the Red Banner. At the end of March 1945, the division entered Austria, fought stubborn battles in the Alps, occupied the cities of Linz, St. Anton and others. On May 9, 1945, the long-awaited Victory Day came, which the 66th Guards Rifle Poltava Red Banner Division met in Austria, in Vienna. Ermakov Yegor Petrovich was drafted into the Red Army on October 19, 1941 by the Pokrovsky Military Commissariat of the Chkalovsk region. The division was formed in Buzuluk. He began his service in the construction battalion of the Southwestern Front. In the autorot since September 9, 1942, as a car mechanic-diesel operator, he took part in the defense of Stalingrad and the completion of the liquidation of the enemy's Stalingrad grouping and in the end of the summer German offensive of 1943. He took part in the battles for the liberation of the cities of Poltava, Boguslav and Kanev. He crossed the Carpathians with battles, took part in the battles for the liberation of Uzhgorod in 1944. Yegor Petrovich took part in the Battle of Budapest in February 1945, fought in battles in the area of ​​Lake Balaton, liberated the cities of Linz, St. Anton, etc. He met Victory Day in Austria and ended the war in October 1945. Ermakov Yegor Petrovich had military awards: a medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad", a medal "For Military Merit" from 11/08/1944, a medal "For Courage" from 05/17/1945, a medal "For the capture of Budapest" A No. 484009 from 9 June 1945, medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945." of May 9, 1945 Commander of the 649th squad, Captain Bezuevsky, the commander of the 649th squad, presenting corporal Yermakov EP for the awards, noted: “He performs combat missions for car repair with honor. During the period of battles of the division in the Dubna area, he restored two captured vehicles, which immediately entered service. As a driver, he has been participating in battles since September 1942. Repeatedly falling under enemy fire while delivering ammunition to the front line, he performs the task with honor, taking the car out of the fire, showing courage and courage. The car is kept in excellent technical condition, as a specialist-diesel engineer participated in the assembly of captured diesel vehicles, showing excellent knowledge of technology and high discipline. " Yegor Petrovich returned from the front in October 1945, worked as a driver on a collective farm, enjoyed indisputable prestige as a highly skilled auto mechanic.

Rank: Sergeant. Type of troops: Artillery. My grandfather did not like to talk about the war especially. Sometimes I recalled some isolated moments. Here are the ones that I can tell you: - After the attack - the next artillery shelling from Katyusha, when the soldiers were returning to their positions, all measures were to be taken to clean the guns and prepare them for further service, for the next trip to the firing point. And only after the completion of the work was it possible to go on vacation. The battery commander was very fond of playing chess, he found out that grandfather also played and in the evenings called him to fight with him. Grandfather played several times and won everything (since grandfather was fond of chess), which upset the commander very much. The evening games took up time for my grandfather to rest, he did not get enough sleep. And then one of his colleagues advised his grandfather to give in to serve the commander, which grandfather did. After that, the commander ordered that Private Efremov not take part in cleaning the gun, but instead went to rest, and then, when everyone was asleep, grandfather continued to play chess with him. - Grandfather graduated from the war in Czechoslovakia near Bratislava. There were just the last hostilities. On the way back, they stood in Romania for three months. We sat in the swamps for several days, after which we had problems with our legs for the rest of our lives. Grandpa was shell-shocked. Then they stayed in the same family, and at their grandmother and grandfather, who do not speak Russian, there is an Austrian machine gun against the bandits on the table in the middle of the room. During the entire war, no one thought to take it away. This time I was very thirsty, because the wells were all poisoned, they drank the same wine. There was a lot of wine - barrels, and so I wanted to drink some water. If it rained, they put everything that was possible right there, they opened their mouths just to quench their thirst. Sometimes they brought water, once a week, and so - only wine was.

Rank: Lieutenant. Type of troops: armored and mechanized troops. Vasily Egubchenko was born on September 20, 1923 in the village of Mikhailovka (now - Aleksandrovsky district of Donetsk region of Ukraine). Received an incomplete secondary education. In January 1942, Yegubchenko was called up to serve in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army. Since April of the same year - on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. In 1943 he graduated from the Joint Command Tank School. By October 1944, Lieutenant Vasily Yegubchenko commanded a platoon of the 202nd tank battalion of the 89th tank brigade of the 1st tank corps of the 2nd Guards Army of the 1st Baltic Front. Participated in battles on the territory of the Lithuanian SSR. In October 1944, during the battle for the village of Verpyany, Egubchenko with his platoon broke through the enemy defenses and burst into the rear of the enemy, which caused panic in his ranks. Egubchenko's actions contributed to the successful offensive of the battalion, as a result of which 2 tanks, 1 self-propelled gun, about 50 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed. Egubchenko's tankers captured 2 German armored personnel carriers. On October 10, in the battles for the city of Shilute, Egubchenko's platoon destroyed an enemy armored train, captured an echelon, defeated a convoy of 35 vehicles, and destroyed more than 50 enemy soldiers and officers. On October 12, in a battle near the settlement of Pokamonen, Shilutsky district, Egubchenko, on his own tank, took a battle against 8 Tiger tanks, knocking out two of them, but he himself died along with the entire crew. He was buried in the Lithuanian town of Pagegiai. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 24, 1945, Lieutenant Vasily Yegubchenko was posthumously awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union for "exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and for the courage and heroism shown in this". He was also awarded the orders of "Lenin", "Patriotic War 2 nd degree", "Red Star". A school in his native village is named in honor of Egubchenko.

Ermakov Andrey Sergeevich (private guard). Veteran of the Great Patriotic War Ermakov Andrey Sergeevich, born on 25.12.1925 in the village of Voskresenka, Troitsky district, Kemerovo region. Graduated from 2nd grade. Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, he worked as a tractor driver in the village. January 8, 1943 Was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army. He fought: -01.1943 - 12.1944. - 374 rifle division of the 3rd Baltic Front - machine gunner; from 12.1944 - 08.1945. - 317th Guards Rifle Regiment 1st Ukrainian Front - scout. He was wounded twice: the first wound on August 16, 1944. in the left arm, the second wound on April 7, 1945. in the right shoulder. Among the awards: the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the medal "For Victory over Germany", the Order of the Badge of Honor, the medal "30 years of the Soviet Army and Navy", the medal "Veteran of Labor" and commemorative medals. He returned home to the village of Voskresenka, Troitsky District, Kemerovo Region only in 1949, serving until demobilization in the 427th anti-aircraft regiment (from 08.1945-11.1945), then in the 432th anti-aircraft regiment (11.1945-03.1949) - a private senior tailor's guard. In the same year he got married. In a joint marriage with Antonina Vasilievna, they had two children (Anatoly and Tatiana). In 1962. the small forest village of Komsomolsky became the homeland for the Ermakov family. He worked in the Komsomolsk Lespromkhoz at the lower warehouse as a foreman for unloading and loading timber before leaving for a well-deserved rest. Andrei Sergeevich passed away on October 22, 1992 and was buried in the old cemetery in the city of Yugorsk (Komsomolsky settlement).

Rank: Sergeant. Type of troops: Armored and mechanized troops Subdivision: 20th Panzer Division. My great-grandfather, Mikhail Semyonovich Ermolenko, was born in the Kursk province, in the village of Kamyshanovka, now the Prokhorovsky district, on September 15, 1914. He was the eldest of 3 brothers and sisters in the family. Therefore, after the death of his father in 1924 from tuberculosis, which he contracted on the fronts of the 1st World War, difficult peasant work fell on his 10-year-old shoulders. Moreover, labor had to be combined with training in a seven-year school. After graduating from school, he was drafted into the army, had to serve in the Smolensk Artillery School, where he received the specialty of a driver. After the service, he decided not to return home, as hunger reigned there, and went to the Caucasus. I stopped at my aunt, who lived in the village Vodorazdel, here I got a job as a driver at a local state farm. A year later he moved his mother, brothers and sister to the village of Krasnoyarskoye. Returning home in 1940, in a neighboring village he looked for a bride - Anna Maksimovna Khomutova, on the November holidays they got married. In 1941, the Great Patriotic War began, after the end of the harvest at the state farm on August 31, 1941, he was drafted into the army and sent to Grozny, where the regiment was being formed. The pregnant wife remained at home. Great-grandfather did not like to talk about the war. The memories were probably too hard. And for me, it was always interesting to listen to him. His tank brigade took part in the Battle of Stalingrad and fought on the Kursk Bulge. In Prokhorovka, Mikhail Semyonovich and his comrades in arms repulsed the enemy. During the battle for the Right Bank Ukraine in January-February 1944, soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian fronts surrounded over a dozen enemy divisions and defeated them ... It was then that he was wounded for the first time. My great-grandfather participated in the liberation of Romania, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia. I met victory in May 1945 in Prague. After a while, in July-August, some of them were transferred to Mongolia. He also happened to participate in the war with militarist Japan. And only on the edge of Asia in Mukden (the former famous port of Arthur) did the war end for Sergeant Mikhail Semenovich. In 1946, he returned home, where his wife Anna Maksimovna and a 5-year-old son, who was born without him, were waiting for him. For military work he was awarded two medals "For Courage" and the Order of the Red Star, as well as medals "For the Defense of Stalingrad", "For the Liberation of Prague", "For the capture of Vienna", "For the capture of Budapest", "For the victory over Germany" , "For Victory over Japan", later - the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, jubilee medals. The economy, destroyed by the war, needed male hands, but the state farm did not have cars. Therefore, Mikhail Semenovich got a job on the railroad. All his further work biography was associated with the railway. For almost 30 years he worked on it, first at the Kian station, and then, since 1964, in the village of Kursavka. For conscientious work, he repeatedly became the winner of socialist competition, was entered on the Board of Honor, was awarded with certificates of honor, valuable gifts and prizes. Mikhail Semenovich died on March 10, 2008, at the age of 93. And he did not live these years in vain. He defended his homeland, restored it after the war, built a house with his own hands in the village. Kursavka, raised four children, planted a garden. These are the values ​​for which it is worth living. Yes, he just honestly performed his duty - a man, a citizen, a person. So he fought, so worked, so he lived.

Evdokia Dmitrievna was born on March 15, 1920 in Khabarovsk in a family of doctors. In 1942 she graduated from the Khabarovsk State Medical Institute, simultaneously combining her studies with work at a distillery. During her student years she was a Stalinist scholar. At that time in the USSR there was a whole system of prestigious personal scholarships, the size of which was several times higher than the "ordinary scholarship" and was awarded for special achievements in studies and scientific work. Thanks to her strong character, which distinguished her from her peers, Evdokia Dmitrievna became one of such scholars. As a student, she met her future husband, who later became the head of the very military evacuation hospital where fate had thrown her. Evdokia Dmitrievna from August to September 1945 was a participant in the Soviet-Japanese war - an armed conflict between the USSR and Mongolia on the one hand and Japan and Manchukuo on the other. She took part in providing combat operations in 1945 on the 2nd Far Eastern Front. Evdokia Dmitrievna began her career as a surgeon in 1943, when, after graduating from a medical institute, she was seconded to the front line in the active army, where she became the chief surgeon of the 312th evacuation hospital near Khasan. Medical officer, captain of the medical service. As part of the hospital, she was a member of the team of parachutists. Evdokia Dmitrievna, who was distinguished by her short stature, was highly respected even by the captured Japanese, and when they met, they made a low bow, calling her "little doctor". After the end of the war, she also connected her life with medicine and continued to work as a neuropathologist. Evdokia Dmitrievna - Honored surgeon, worked as a doctor for 53 years, of which 25 years in military hospitals. “Hundreds of wounded were brought to the hospital every day. The nurse just ran after me and only had time to write down, but I explained as loudly as possible - there is amputation, this is on the operating table, this injection ... There was no time to hesitate. The lives of people were in my hands, and I wanted to save everyone, I was obliged to give everyone a chance for life, ”says Evdokia Dmitrievna. Despite her age, bitter memories of the front-line days and failing health, Evdokia Dmitrievna carefully looks after herself. According to her daughter, in her entire life she never went home in a dressing gown, tried to be seen by her loved ones always in a dress, jewelry and light lipstick on her lips ... What was done by Soviet military medicine during the war years, in all justice can be called a feat. The image of a military doctor will forever remain the personification of high humanism, courage and dedication. The work of medical workers in hospitals and sanitary trains during the war years is thousands of lives saved. Evdokia Dmitrievna was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, numerous jubilee medals in honor of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, a medal for the 100th anniversary of Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov and a medal "For Victory over Japan".

Rank: Senior Lieutenant. Type of troops: Military medical personnel. Division: 34th Reserve Rifle Division. Emtsova Natalya Ivanovna was born on August 7, 1922 in the village of Chukhonastovka, Kamyshinsky district, Volgograd region. Guard Senior Lieutenant. Komsomol member - volunteered for the front on 18.08.1941. Young Lieutenant N.I. Emtsov. assigned to the airborne brigade. The fragile, short girl did not want to lag behind the already experienced warriors and therefore took her military and medical duties very seriously. Brave, energetic, she made 15 parachute jumps! Natalya Ivanovna was appointed commander of the medical-sanitary platoon of the 34th Guards Stalingrad Division of the 62nd Army headquarters of the main command. She organized, under the aimed fire of the enemy, the dispatch of the wounded across the Volga on 2 barges, which were towed by the boat "Extinguisher". It still stands today on the banks of our great Volga in Volgograd as a monument, as a reminder of those terrible, but heroic days. It was she who saved 55 children with their teacher, she did not lose her strength and self-control when she saved the battalion commander, whom she pulled out of Pavlov's House, put in a cart, which would have gone under the ice a little more. She clung to the rim of the wheel with her hands and held on to the fragile ice until help arrived from the soldiers. Natalya Ivanovna, later will save the Banner of the 34th division, wrapping it around herself, crossing the Mius River in winter. She was exhausted, two soldiers grabbed her and helped her to the shore on their shoulders. For this act, Natalya Ivanovna received the Order of the Red Star. She went from Stalingrad to Berlin. With her division, she passed Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Germany. On the wall of the Reichstag she left an inscription: "I got from Stalingrad to Berlin." But the lieutenant did not get home to the guard immediately. For three years she served in the political department of the Central Group of Forces in Austria in Vienna. People who have heard amazing stories from the past in our time can truly be called lucky, because they found the time when they could hear from a direct participant in those tragic events. Now the echoes of the past come from the younger generation, retelling the stories of the grandmother, it is a pity that such a cheerful and cheerful person is no longer with us. But as long as the memory is alive, the person is also alive!

Enina Valentina Alekseevna went through the whole war. At twenty, she volunteered for the front in 1941. She fought in chemical defense units with the rank of "technician-lieutenant" on the 1st Ukrainian front, then there was Karelia. She ended the war in the Far East in 1946. In the post-war years, she, like many participants in the war, was declared gratitude, sent anniversary congratulations on Victory Day on behalf of the Commander-in-Chief, the leaders of the party and the government of the USSR and the Russian Federation. From the memoirs of Valentina Alekseevna: “The war found me a 4th year student at the Faculty of Chemistry of Voronezh State University. I was going to take the physical chemistry exam. But she didn't have time. From the loudspeakers sounded terrible words about the beginning of the war. The first reaction, of course, is confusion. But on the other hand - the hope that it will not be long. There was confidence in our early victory. "The armor is strong, and our tanks are fast!" - so it was sung in the song. This is how we were raised. We were all great patriots. All voluntarily rushed to the front. Continuing my studies was out of the question. The evacuation of the population began. And after being mobilized into the ranks of the Red Army, I became "an ordinary soldier of a chemical defense company." Later, I was awarded the officer rank of “technician-lieutenant.” In soldiers' boots and a gray overcoat, I walked for many kilometers in the rain and snow. Since the chemical company, like other special forces - medical, quartermaster services, etc. - this is the "second echelon", then we were on the front line only periodically, on special assignments. So, once I was sent to take a sample of snow (I am a laboratory chemist). The fact is that all the snow on the front line turned out to be bright yellow. The beginning of a chemical war? What's this in the snow? Mustard, lewisite? And so I, on my stomach, under the whistle of bullets, crawled to the front line, took a sample of snow, made an express analysis (indicators with me) and reported to the command: "No chemical warfare agents were found!" And the yellow color is from the substance Akrihin. The command awarded me a medal "For Military Merit" for the quick operational execution of the task. I have many orders and medals, but this award is the dearest for me! " After the end of the war in 1948, Valentina Alekseevna received a diploma. In those years, she fondly remembered young guys full of hope for the future, who no longer studied with her. The war took many. “We perished on the fields of war, fighting for the Motherland, for our peaceful life!”

Rank: Junior Sergeant. Type of troops: Artillery. Division: 31st Rifle Stalingrad Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Division. Epimakhov Alexander Prokopyevich after graduating from an incomplete secondary school in the Solvychegodsky district of the Arkhangelsk region in 1940 entered the Limend river school in the city of Kotlas (Arkhangelsk region) at the technological department. He graduated from two courses of the school and on January 9, 1943 he was drafted into the Red Army. After studying for 5 months at the NCO's school in Vologda, he was sent to the Voronezh front of the 60th Army. From July 18, 1943 to September 9, 1943, as part of the 1035th rifle regiment of the 380th rifle division of the 60th Army, he took part in the Battle of Kursk. He was the commander of an 82 mm mortar. Near Bakhmach on September 9, 1943, he was seriously wounded in the chest and arm. Was sent to the hospital. After treatment in the hospital, he was assigned to the 280th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Belorussian Front. From November 10 to December 30, 1943, a group of soldiers was sent to the rear of the enemy near Zhlobin. The task was to occupy a patch of defenses, create a strong point and prepare timber for the construction of bridge crossings. But Alexander Prokopyevich did not have to participate in this task. Their group came under shelling and on December 27, 1943, he was wounded. For two months he was treated in a hospital in the Slobodskoy Kirov region. Then there were courses for radio operators, as he had a clear voice. Junior sergeant - radiotelegraph operator Yepimakhov takes part in battles as part of the 32nd artillery regiment of the 31st rifle division of the 52nd Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front. Participated in the storming of the Carpathians and the liberation of Prague. Here his service intersects with Gennady Ivanovich Gorokhov, Hero of the Soviet Union. Alexander Prokopyevich was his radiotelegraph operator. Gorokhov once saved his life: a shell flew, Gorokhov pushed him into the trench in time and covered him with himself. He ended the war in Prague. In the battles for Prague he was awarded the medal "For Courage". 1945-1946 fought with Bandera. Until 1950 he served in this regiment. Then he was sent to study at the Gorky Red Banner Military-Political School. M.V. Frunze. After graduating from college he served in the group of Soviet troops of the GDR. In 1956 he was transferred to the reserve. Then he worked as the chairman of the RK Air Force and Navy Volunteer society of the Kotlas district of the Arkhangelsk region, and work at the Kotlas float.

I want to tell you about my great-grandmother - Efremova Margarita Vasilievna. She was a brave, courageous and hardworking woman who proved this by her actions during the difficult years of the Great Patriotic War. Now my great-grandmother is dead, but the memory of her will remain in my family and in the hearts of other people. During her lifetime, she gave an interview to the newspaper "Zhigulevsky Rabochy", where she talked about how she, being still quite a girl, went to the front to look for her father. In the 41st year she turned 18 years old. And before the start of the war, having seen enough with her friend "The Light Path" with Lyubov Orlova, she went to the capital to study as a weaver. But it was not possible to finish the Factory andworkshop education: the enemy attacked the country. When she returned home and went to the recruiting office to ask to go to the front, she was refused. And after they received a funeral for one brother, a notification “missing” for another, anger appeared, a desire to take revenge. My great-grandmother began to "prepare" - she went to the courses of tractor drivers to be taken as a tank driver, entered a pedagogical school - they taught elementary medicine. In 1943 I went to my brother in Shuya. When I was about to go back home, I came to the station, and the girls were sitting there - they were crying, so instead of one she went to the front. She found her father a little later, and at first she got into a battery that guarded the Moscow sky. She became a signalman. A year later, she said to the commander, "I'm tired of sitting here in the rear, I want to escape to the front." "Come on!" - not believing, he grinned. And she, having thrown a civilian jacket over her tunic, taking with her a ration, and really set off. On the way, frightened by the patrol, she jumped off the train and went to Smolensk, where, according to her calculations, her father should fight, she got on the checkpoints. Somehow the officer caught the eye: - Who is she? - I am a deserter, - answered the lively girl. - So deserters run in the other direction, and you are in the thick of it.

Efimov Alexander Matveyevich was born in 1918 into a peasant family. In addition to Sasha, the family also had two children: a younger brother and sister who died during the famine that began in the USSR in 1929, after which the Efimov family moved to Siberia, to the Omsk region, and then, when Sasha was 14 years old, to Moscow where they lived on Poltava street. Alexander had only 4 classes of education. Before being drafted into the Red Army, he worked first as a carpenter's apprentice, and then as a carpenter at a military factory near the Savyolovsky railway station. In 1939, Alexander Matveyevich was called up for military service in the Red Army in the artillery, where he served in the Leningrad Military District, first as a cook, and then, after the outbreak of the Soviet-Finnish War at the end of 1939, as an anti-aircraft gunner. After the end of the Soviet-Finnish War, Alexander continued his military service in the Red Army until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. With the beginning of the blockade of Leningrad, Alexander Matveyevich defended the sky of the city from the German fascist invaders. In 1942 he was first wounded and was sent to the hospital, but escaped from the hospital to his unit while on his way to the bathhouse. After the hospital, when young anti-aircraft gunners from Moscow arrived in the regiment, Sasha was transferred to the infantry as a machine gunner. During the Soviet offensive in August 1943, he was wounded by fragments of an enemy mine. From the memoirs of Alexander Matveyevich: "We were running to the attack and then suddenly, as if with something heavy, they hit on the head. I woke up - there was no left foot, blood was gushing, my right leg was cut by shrapnel. I took off my trouser belt, pulled my leg over." It was picked up by our intelligence officers who were returning from a mission. For almost a day he lay near a burning tank, to which he crawled to warm up, because he had lost a lot of blood. He was sent to a hospital in Novosibirsk, where he remained until May 1945. The left leg was amputated up to the knee, and the right was saved. For that battle, corporal Efimov was presented for an award, but the award documents were lost. But later he was awarded the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad", and after the war the medal "For Victory over Germany" and the orders of the "Patriotic War" II and I degree. After the hospital, Alexander Matveyevich returned to Moscow and lived with his mother. Sasha's father died in 1942. After the war he worked in an artel of disabled people in the archive and as a homeworker, and after that as a junior salesman in a manufactured goods store. He got married in 1948. His wife was an amazingly kind person and her name was Alexandra or Shura, as Sasha called her. She died early, although she lived in perfect harmony for more than 30 years. Alexander Matveyevich died in 1993, after waiting for the birth of his great-granddaughter (this was his dream). Buried at the Friday cemetery in Moscow. His descendants - son, grandson, great-granddaughter and great-grandson - live in Moscow.