Heroes and feats

BACKGROUND: Rank: Senior Sergeant Troops: Military Medicine Valentina Ivanovna Zhuravleva (Vladislava Ivanovna Labunskaya) was born on December 21, 1922 in Ukraine in Kamenets-Podolsk region. (now Khmelnitsky region) Starokonstantinovsky district, village Maly Chernyatin. In the family of a mid-range peasant. By nationality, Polish. She entered the Maly Chernyatinskaya elementary school in 1930. After completing four years, she studied at a secondary school in the village of Bolshoi Chernyatin. In 1938, her father - Ivan Pavlovich Labunsky was repressed (rehabilitated in 1956 by a decree of the Supreme Court of the Ukrainian SSR). In 1939, after finishing 8th grade of school, entered the Staro-Konstantinovsky 2-year College of nurses. On June 22, 1941 a disaster came - fascists attacked our country. On June 30, 1941 all examinations had to be passed in one day. A young girl volunteered to join the ranks of the Red Army. She began her service in 4 separate construction railway brigade, in 69th railway construction track battalion. From the very first days she found herself in the thick of the events of the beginning of the war, heavy defensive battles in Ukraine, retreats, breakthroughs from the surroundings, on the fragile shoulders of the girl immediately fell the hardships of war and hard work to help the wounded, saving the lives of our soldiers. As part of the sanitary platoon of the 69th Railway Construction Track Battalion, she took part in the defensive battles for Ukraine, in the north - in the battle for Karelia, in the battles near Moscow, Kalinin Front, Western Front, Smolensk, Belarus. In 1943, during the organization of the Polish divisions by nationality was seconded from the unit, but due to the fact that she did not know Polish, was not drafted into the Polish army and was sent to the 202 reserve regiment, from which she was sent to the 3rd Assault Engineering and Spatial Order of Kutuzov 2nd degree Neman brigade of the Reserve of the Supreme Command (3 SHISB RVGK), as a nurse of a separate medical sanitary platoon. On June 28, due to the dissolution of the platoon's medical staff, was transferred to the 15th Independent Kovnoe Mechanical Engineer Battalion (oshisb)3 SHISB RVGK. As part of the brigade, she fought first on the 3rdBelarusian front, and later on the 2ndBelarusian front. She fought in Lithuania, Poland and Germany. There she met her future husband Boris Semionovich Zhuravlev. Valentina Ivanovna marched a fighting way from Starokonstantinov almost to Berlin the town of Templin. Was awarded fighting awards "For military merits", the Order of the Red star. In her presentation to the medal “For Military Merits” was noted that she, as a devoted nurse, gives all her efforts and experience to restore the health of wounded and sick soldiers and officers. Up to 3,000 wounded and sick people passed through her hands, all of whom received proper help and care. In addition to her basic work, she also had to work in a dressing room where she provided direct care for the wounded. She was awarded the Order of the Red Star for her sacrifice, energy and initiative in saving the life of Brigade Commander Colonel Nemirovsky. After the war, she became an officer's wife and lived with her husband in Kaliningrad (formerly Koenigsberg), Tver, Moscow and Katava-Ivanovs in the Chelyabinsk region. She worked in the Katava-Ivanovo Medical Association. Raised two sons. For many years she regularly came to Moscow to meet her frontline friends at the Bolshoi Theater. She died on 9.06.1989. She was awarded: Medal "For Combat Services", Order of the Red Star, Order of the Great Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, Medal "For the Defense of Kiev", Medal "For the seizure of Koenigsberg", Medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945", Medal "Twenty years of victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945", a sign" 25 years of a victory in the Great Patriotic War ", a medal" 50 years of armed forces of the USSR ", a sign" the Veteran of Karelian front 1941-1945 ", an anniversary medal" for conscientious work in commemoration of the 100 anniversary of V.I.Lenin's birth. Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945", Medal "Veteran of Labor", Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945", Medal "60 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR", Medal "70 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR". Memories: When Germany attacked our country, I was 18 years old. I was finishing medical school in Starokonstantinov. Four girls were studying from our village Maly Chernyatin. We had a therapy exam scheduled for June 22, but since the teacher was a military doctor, he was urgently called on alarm and our exam failed. The next day other doctors were already taking exams. In one day we passed three exams without preparation. The first time our city was bombed on June 22 at night. They bombed us very badly, and on the ninth day the Germans were already at the approaches to the city, twelve kilometers away, just where my homeland is. Everything burned everywhere. We, four girls: Anya, Lida, Lena and I, decided that we have no way home, voluntarily went to the military committee and said: "Send us to the front, we are nurses.” The city was evacuated, the military registration and enlistment office was already on wheels ... documents were loaded into cars, the telephone connection was not working. The military officer looked at us with pity, said with a sigh: "Go to the station and ask the commandant of the station. Pass the word about your enrollment in the part. Say that I sent you, and act there.” At the station by the railway part evacuation work was carried out. The 69th Independent Railway Construction Battalion, arriving from the Far East during the first days of the war, was performing a mission in the West, when our troops were retreating, the battalion was blowing up the railway, bridges and preventing the enemy from advancing. We came to the commandant, Captain Georgy Mikhailovich Molozhavy, who was also commander of the 4th Company, 69th Battalion. The commandant handed us over to the paramedic: "Here, take the replenishment... give them everything they need for work and set the task. Get down to the task.” This is how we joined the ranks of defenders of the Motherland. Our combat weapons - medical bags with a red cross, in the bag "ammunition": bandages, cotton, hems, harnesses and other necessary things to provide first aid in case of injury and bandages. After a short briefing, we began to work independently to help the wounded soldiers and officers. There were a lot of wounded at the station. Everyone was waiting for help and sending to the rear hospital. All you could hear was: "Sis, bandage me, put the dressing on". I answer: "Now, dear, now dear, be patient a little...". And my hands trembled with fear, bandages without a habit flew off, and there is no one to tell me how to do it right. The first day of our "battles". From somewhere, both ingenuity and courage came. And the Germans hit with long-range guns, every three or four hours planes came and bombed. The wounded are arriving and arriving, if possible, they come by themselves, are dragged - just have the time to bandage. But we coped with our work. All the wounded were bandaged, loaded into the echelon and sent. There was a lot of work to do, it was difficult, no time to ask, and there was no one to tell, the conditions were terrible. I remember one of my first bandages. The soldier was shot in the head with a shrapnel. He was a pretty boy, a curly blond. I cut the hair on the wound, put pillows from the bag and started bandaging. I finish, and the bandage slips off, three times bandaged him with shaking hands, and it still falls off. This is all because - I was thinking - his hair is golden and soft ... And the soldier calms me down: - Do not worry sister. Everything is fine. Once a soldier came to the medical station - the commissar's contact was just scratched a little, we need to urgently apply a bandage. I come - the commissioner seems to be forty years old, on the loops there were two sticks, the finger is broken and dangling on the bandage (some kind of bandage), the wound is fresh - blood oozes through a bandage. At first, I was confused at the sight of such a large boss, but quickly coped with the excitement .I do not know how, but in my hands I had “zelyonka”. I quickly applied it on the wounded finger, bandaged it, and put a splint on it. That was it. On the next bandage, he went to the chief of the sanitary service. Then the doctor told me that I should not use herbs with such wounds on Commissioner. There many wounded. And bandages had to be applied after the bombings. We were bombed very often, several times a day. The bombing lasted eight to nine hours, a moment of silence, and then we started bandaging. We start in the first light and end in the dark; we had to bandage almost all night until morning. At the station, there were trains with ammunition going to the front, trains with the wounded and equipment for evacuation. And daily bombing for many hours. The horror was what was happening. Our Railway Battalion was on a mission to destroy or restore railway tracks and railway bridges to provide a way to advance trains and block the way to prevent the movement of enemy trains. Our squadron was not large - 8 cars. The cars had everything necessary to carry out the work. Day and night we had to restore and destroy the tracks. FASHISTIC PLANES - SPIES flew in all the time. After them, the bombers arrived. We would go 1 km away. Stopped. Soldiers of the subversive team blew up the station and the railway track. We moved on. And the Germans were right behind us. We blew up the stations and the tracks, prevented the Germans to move on. So kilometer by kilometer we drove them a hundred fifty - a hundred sixty. On the fifth day of our trip near the station Monastery - Christinovka, the Germans cut our way, our train began to be bombarded... We are on a hill, and the Germans were in a hollow, not letting us move on. Our train - eight cars and three locomotives, two in front and one in the tail. The cars had equipment for railroads and bridges, food... The moment we went to the crossing, the Germans would start firing at the train... We went back. At this crossing we fought for two days and could not pass. We lost two front locomotives. On the third day at five o'clock in the morning we decided to slip through this unfortunate crossing. We could not. The last steam locomotive failed. Our echelon remained standing, on fire. Two steam locomotives were out of order. We were cut off the way to retreat. It was a group of fascist parachutists. We were ordered to go to the left side into a hollow, to the nearest forest by ditches and take up defense. And in this forest we fought for two days without food, without a piece of bread - everything remained in the burnt-out echelon. These days, we lost three fighters and a driver, who was heavily scalded. There were twelve wounded, including our company commander Captain Molozhavy and my friend Lida. By the end of the day, another group of our soldiers joined our group and we captured almost all of this German landing party. Only then we got out of this trap. We got out on a freeway somewhere else. The seriously wounded and some of the wounded, including Captain Molozhavy, were sent to hospital in trains to the rear. They were accompanied by one of my friends, Lida. And so just three of us girls, were left. We, the girls, were sent to the forest. There were two trains with wounded people who could not be sent to the rear, because the road was cut off by the Germans. Some of our soldiers made their way as far forward as they could into their units. We stayed here with three nurses, one doctor and two paramedics and with wounded in the echelon. From morning till night we walked along the wagons providing first aid. But the trains here in the woods stood for three days without hot meals, the soldiers were fed with dry rations of crackers and canned food, many wounded people needed a bandage, garter. On the third day in the afternoon, there was a way for the train with the wounded to be sent to the next station only by car. The way was forty kilometers long. My friends and I agreed to meet at the destination station. With the first portion of the wounded Lena went, with the other - Anya, I went with the third part only at the end of the day. . I came with the wounded already in the evening, after dark. While the wounded were being unloaded, it became completely dark. Of course, I walked along the station, along the echelons, went to the commandant, asked "did the girls come" ... That's how we lost each other. This day there was a raid of German bombers three times. A train with ammunition stood at the station and was bombed. There was a strong explosion and fire at the station. In the afternoon, I went to the military commandant to be assigned to some unit. Fortunately, I met the commander of one of the platoons of the unit where the girls and I were in the first days, Lieutenant Kovalev with a group of eight soldiers. They were also braking through to their unit, but they could not find its location. They gave us an order – get to the battalion any way you can, its somewhere ahead. The Komendant explained to us that we have to go to Poltava, to the Zolotonosha station, where our unit is being formed. We got a dry ration of food and went on our way. Somewhere we drove by car, somewhere by train, somewhere we walked. So on the third day of the way we arrived to Zolotonosha in our part. . At Zolotonosha station our battalion was preparing to move to the North. Again the train consisting of 8 cars. We moved to the North. The squadron was bombed every day, several times at each crossing. In August, they stood on the Dnieper. Guards of the famous Kanevsky bridge, where every minute, every hour they were subjected to artillery fire and bombing. Many people were injured and killed. We had to work day and night. Under the pressure of enemy power, we had to retreat. At that time one of my colleagues was wounded in the chest, forty minutes later she died. We stood on this bridge for a long time, but we also had to blow up this bridge. Finally, we arrived in Petrozavodsk (Karelian front), then Medvezhegorsk, Belomorsk, Kandalaksha. Battalion began its duties .Again every day… bombing. I was a sanitary instructor in late December 1941. We were transferred from the North to Moscow - Volokolamsk direction – here for the first time I saw several people who were tortured by fascists. We were looking, looking to remember it. I saw the stone faces of Soviet soldiers, saying only one word: "revenge". Then there were the Kalinin Front, the Western Front ... In February 1942 I took the oath of allegiance before the formation, before the banner of the unit. In August in the forest in a dugout in a combat situation, I was given a Komsomol ticket. .The head of the political department said: - You are not only a soldier, you are a Komsomol. I swore an oath to my Homeland. We didn’t of becoming heroes, but the circumstances forced us. One day, a soldier blew up on a mine and needed urgent medical aid. And I ran, forgetting about any danger. There were shout behind me: Where are you running? There are mines! " But then I forgot about the fear and ran to help a man. I remember: 4th Railway Brigade, 69th Battalion. The battalion's commander, Major Markov; the chief of staff, Captain Alexandrovsky; later, Captain Letyagin; Commissar Major Maksimov; Company commander, Captain Shlokhin; Company commander, 4th Company, Senior Leutenant Zukerman (from Leningrad); and Lt Serbo. My girlfriend, the dentist of the battalion Efimova Ekaterina Sergeyevna (from Karelia), now lives in the village of Shunga, Medvezhegorskiy district. ABOUT FRIENDS I met my friends after the war, when I was on vacation in my homeland. We shared our impressions and remembered our adventures during the first days of the war. Our frontline biographies differed from one another. One of my friends was wounded and sent to hospital, where she worked until the end of the war, which she welcomed in Estonia. The other one was taken to the evacuation hospital in Uralsk, where she worked during the war. The third girlfriend ended up in a partisan detachment in Belorussia. I fought in the combat unit of the Railway Troops in the 69th Battalion platoon, and then from the end of 1943, in the Assault Engineering-Demining unit, as a company sanitary technician...

Zhikhar Vladimir Vasilyevich was born on January 10, 1922 in the village of Badeni, Myadelsky district in a family of peasants. He received his primary education at the Polish elementary school in the village of Badeni, where he finished 4th grade. In 1939, when the western territories of Belarus were returned to the Soviet Union, he finished the 4th-5th grade of the Russian school in the village of Badeni. The war started and at the age of 19 he became a partisan of the Kirov detachment of the Korotkin brigade (commander Kuznetsov, commissar Kozlov) on the eastern territory of Belarus (Ushachsky district). The guerrillas' main task was to investigate the exact location of the enemy's troops and headquarters. The Germans in appointed a Soltus (headman) in each village, his duties were to provide nearby garrisons of the occupiers with food. In one of the days when the soltus had to deliver food to the garrison of Meadel, to him in the "assistants" was appointed a partisan scout Zhihar VV. His task was to: visually remember the location of troops in the garrison, warehouses and fortifications. During the reconnaissance he was spotted by the enemy patrol and sent to the Gestapo. After long torture, he did not give out any information about anyone. But the German officer, suspecting Vladimir Vasilyevich in connection with the guerrillas, ordered to whip him with twenty blows of shompole. After the execution of the sentence, they threw him out, bleeding, to die. He was brought to the village headman by cart. According to witnesses - "back and legs cut open to meat" - there was no untouched place. By a miracle, he was still alive. In 1944, not far from the village of Danilovichi, three soldiers, including Zhihar V.V., were returning from reconnaissance. On the forest road, they met a huge solid column of German units and military equipment. They spent about two hours in ambush and after waiting for the end of the convoy, having a machine gun and two automatic rifles, they destroyed three cars with fascists. Our hero destroyed one enemy car and killed 17 Germans. For this operation Vladimir Vasilyevich was awarded the medal "Partisan of the Great Patriotic War 1st degree" (at that time the medal was equal to the medal "Hero of the Soviet Union", but the partisan was not give the title "hero"). In May 1944, the fascists removed 7 divisions from the frontline and surrounded the guerrilla brigades, with a total of 180,000 men (including carts with women and children). There was nowhere to retreat – there was an impassable swamp behind them. The Command (Labanok, Rodionov and others) decided to suddenly attack the enemy and break out of the encirclement ring. On a dark, rainy night, before the morning punitive operation, the volunteers (including V.V. Zhikhar) snuck through the enemy's trenches, went around the rear of the surrounding partisan detachment of fascists, and at the appointed hour simultaneously with the partisans' attack hit the enemies with machine guns. They broke through the enemy ring, came out of the encirclement and took many prisoners. During interrogation the prisoners said: the attack was very prompt and sudden, and the blow from the rear seemed to them as if the partisan reinforcements from the neighboring detachment came, which was difficult to resist. For this operation, Vladimir Vasilyevich received two memorable gifts for the rest of his life: the Order of the Red Star and shrapnel wounds (in combat, he was seriously wounded in the arm and shoulder). As a result, the Korotkin brigade made its way to the Braslav region. The garrison in Braslav was blocked before the Soviet troops arrived. After his wound, Vladimir Vasilyevich was assigned to the reserve regiment and then was taken to the emergency infirmary where the wounded horses were treated. He was also responsible for removing wounded horses from the front line, and returning the healthy ones back to the front line. After that he served in the headquarters of one of the regiments of the 6th Guards Army, under the command of Govorov - as a liaison. He got this position unexpectedly, but deservedly: the whole unit was preparing for the general's arrival, and with his arrival everyone stood at the stand "still", and Vladimir Vasilyevich was treating the wounded horse's leg without raising his head. Thinking that such impudent behavior would be punished, he appeared by order to the general, but the general noted his dedication, caring attitude to the animals, independence and courage. After that, he ordered the cooks to feed the soldier and appoint him a liaison staff. In the summer of 1945, as part of a group of Soviet troops Zhihar was sent to the Far East, but was not involved in combat operations in the war with Japan, due to the fact that the Americans dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And Zhihar V.V. as part of NKVD units was sent to Lithuania to destroy the remains of bandits. In January 1946 he was demobilized.

Rank: Major Troops: Armored and Mechanized Troops Division: 210th Infantry Khingan Division. Arsalan Zhambalovich Zhambalov (Zhambalon) 28.05.1924 - 17.02.2011. A veteran of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Honored Worker of Culture of the RSFSR Honorary Citizen of Chita region, People's Poet of the Republic of Buryatia. In 1941, Arsalan Zhambalov, as the winner of the regional competition of young artists (paintings "At the harvest" and "Landscape" took first place), was enrolled in the Moscow secondary art school. But the war with Hitler's Germany began... As he had not reached the draft age, he, together with his peers, was sent on the line of the military commissariat for accelerated service in Chita school of factory - factory training (FZO). In August 1942, Arsalan Zhambalov left the town of Shilka for service in the army. The first months of army service were spent in the training mortar battalion at Malta station in Irkutsk region. Six months later, in February 1943, the battalion was alerted, the soldiers were put in freight cars and brought to the south-eastern border of the Homeland. The youth did not sulk in the face of difficulties. Arsalan Zhambalov, having a minute free of combat and political training, took notes in his small notebook, which he always carried in the breast pocket of a shirt. As a result, during 1944-1945 he managed to write more than ten stories and two dozen poems on military theme. He sent them to the editorial offices of the newspapers “Agyn Nen” and “Buryad-Mongoloy Nen”, which published the soldier's works and sent him newspaper issues with them. All of his division's fellow countrymen gathered in free hours and organized collective readings of Buryat newspapers. In addition, Arsalan Zhambalov was a war correspondent for the editorial office of the Transbaikal Military District 'At Combat Post' and wrote notes on the combat and political training of soldiers and sergeants. In early August 1945, the Red Army had to eliminate the threat from the east - to defeat the Kwantung Army of Japan in Manchuria. At that time, Arsalan Zhambalov was studying at the Transbaikal Military and Infantry School of Junior Commanders and was recalled to his unit. The 210th Infantry Division was given the name "Khinganskaya" for successfully overcoming the Great Khingan. All personnel were given a commendation. So, the war with Japan began with lightning speed and ended in a short time. By coordinated in time, place and target troops strikes of The Zabaikalsky, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, the Pacific Fleet and the Amur military flotilla the Kwantung Army was completely defeated , which decided the fate of that terrible war. Arsalan Zhambalovich Zhambalov (Zhambalon) was awarded many government awards for his military and valorous work: the Order of Great Patriotic War II degree and the Order of Friendship of Peoples, 4 badges of honor, 16 medals for victory in the Great Patriotic War and labor services, as well as many certificates of honor. Arsalan Zhambalovich (Zhambalon) was awarded the titles "Veteran of Labor", "Honored Pensioner", "Honored Cultural Worker of the RSFSR", "Honorary Citizen of Chita region", "People's Poet of the Republic of Buryatia".

Title: Senior Lieutenant. Troops: Artillery. Konstantin Alexeevich in 1949 was drafted into the Soviet Army, entered the Tomsk anti-aircraft artillery school, is a veteran of the Great Patriotic War and was awarded: Medal "For Valorous Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”. During the war years, he worked at a collective farm, drove hay on a horse, delivered seeds to the fields and sowed them. From 1951 to 1956 Konstantin Alexeevich served in the group of Soviet troops in Germany. In 1956 he resigned in the rank of senior lieutenant. In 1960, he graduated from the Sverdlovsk Law Institute. In 1960, he graduated from the Vyshinsky Sverdlovsk Law Institute with a degree in jurisprudence and was awarded the qualification of lawyer. By the order of the Kemerovo regional court of August 2, 1960 as a young specialist who arrived at the judicial work to the Ministry of Justice of the RSFSR, Zhurikh K.A. was enrolled as an intern in the People's Court of the 1st section of the Central District of Kemerovo. Since October 1, 1960 Zhurikh K.A. was sent for an internship in the People's Court of 2 sections of the Anzhero-Sudzhensky area. In December 1960 Zhurikh K.A. was elected the people's judge of Anzhero-Sudzhensky district people's court of Kemerovo region. In December, 1965 Zhurikh K.A. was elected a member of the Kemerovo regional court where he worked in the judicial board on criminal cases. During his career in the Kemerovo Regional Court, Konstantin Alekseevich proved to be a well-prepared lawyer, was involved in the consideration of cases under the jurisdiction of the regional court of first instance, as well as the consideration of criminal cases on cassation and supervisory appeals and protests, constantly and actively provided assistance to people's judges of the courts assigned to him for the correct application of the law, took an active part in public life. He was a political propagandist of the seminar, was elected as a deputy chairman of the audit commission of the regional board of the "Znanie" company, was the chairman of the tourist council at the place of the regional court profiling, actively participated in legal propaganda, lectured on legislation, on religious cults, was repeatedly elected a member of the party organization of the regional court, was elected editor of the wall newspaper, was one of the best lecturers of the regional court. For his honest work, participation in public life and participation in the lecture work, K.A. Zhurikh was repeatedly awarded with honorary certificates and encouraged. By the decision of the Higher Qualification Board of Judges of the Russian Federation of March 23, 1994 he was awarded the first qualification class. In July 1994, K.A. Zhurikh was relieved of his duties as a member of the Kemerovo Regional Court, due to his written resignation.

Title: Lieutenant. Troops: Ground Forces, Air Force (except marine aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD, Border Guard. Division: 155th Infantry Division (1st Formation). Our father and grandfather, Zhigalin Fyodor Afanasievich, met the war very young. He was drafted into the Red Army on January 13, 1943, when he was only 17 years old. He underwent pre-war training and was sent to the front. In October 1944, when commanding a rifle platoon, he was wounded in both legs during the battle at the crossing of the border with Czechoslovakia when taking the height of 1161 on the Russian Pass, and was treated in hospital. For this battle he was awarded the Medal of Courage. He welcomed Victory Day in Poland. After the war, in 1947, our father married our mother, Maria Ivanovna Petrakowa. Both of them came to Krivolutskaya school of Shatsk district of Ryazan region after graduating from pedagogical school by distribution and lived and worked there all their lives. Dad was a high school teacher and then combined teaching with the position of school director. Mom was a constant primary school teacher. We were brought up and put on our feet - three children - and helped us to bring up our children – their grandchildren. Dad didn't tell us anything about the war; it was very hard for him. And we didn't insist much, because he was near, we have enough time! But we did not have time to, and did not learn anything at first hand! Probably, we are not the only ones. It's a shame! Dad was a comprehensively developed man. Probably, there was nothing he did not know! At school he, being a historian by education, taught both physics, algebra and geometry (these subjects he studied on his own, which later became his strong suit), drafting, drawing (he drew perfectly), even had to teach Russian, literature and foreign (German) language due to lack of teachers. He was on good terms with his technique - he always had motorcycles. At leisure, he was a craftsman, a carpenter, a gardener, a fisherman, and played musical instruments: trophy bayan and mandolin. As they say: a seamstress, a reaper, and a dude-player. At the same time, he managed to participate in the public life of Krivolutsk Village Council and the collective farm 'Motherland', was a local deputy. In 1965, he was called up for a military training camp in Lviv, where he was promoted to captain, but this information was given by his eldest daughter, no documents have been preserved. After reaching retirement age, he still worked at school for some time until he was hit by a serious illness. In May 1992 he passed away. We are grieving. But we are very proud of our heroic father and grandfather!

Title: Red Army man. Troops: Ground Forces, Air Force (except marine aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD, Border Guard. Division: 160th Rifle Division of the Brest Red Banner Division. My grandfather, Alexey Ivanovich Zhukov, was born on August 18 (5th in old style), 1911 in the village of Pereborovo, Suzdal district, Vladimir province. His father - Ivan Nikiforovich Zhukov - died in World War I. His mother, left with two young children in her arms, got married a second time. The family moved to Moscow in the early 20s (1922?), where in 1923 the twins were born - my grandfather's brother and sister, and in 1925 - one more sister. My grandfather, as the eldest child in the family, from an early age helped my stepdad to make furniture. His hands were golden; besides, my grandfather painted very well. After graduating from school, my grandfather went to work at the Electrical Plant in 1929 - first as a worker, but soon became an artist. He joined VKP(b). In 1933 he got married, in 1934 my mother was born, and my grandfather was taken to the army for 3 years - he served in Manchuria. In 1937, my mother had a sister. When the war broke out, the next day, 23.06.1941, my grandfather voluntarily went to the military committee - then almost everyone did so. Where he served for the first months - now there is no one to ask, somewhere near Moscow, and in the autumn he was surrounded. One or two people came out of the entourage at a time, otherwise there was no way out. Grandfather was saved by the fact that some peasant gave him his clothes. Grandfather got to Moscow, came home to see his relatives for a short while, and again went to the military committee. But having seen for these months how things really were at the front, he said that he was unlikely to return, and asked his younger sister, who was then 18 years old, not to leave his children, because my grandmother, his wife, was ill, on disability. My grandfather went missing. The last letter from my grandfather was in January 1942. According to the PPS 1469 and the 1297th JV, it can be understood that at that time he served in the 160-2nd SD (the 33rd Army of the FJ). 33rd Army that was betrayed - so they say! During that period between January and March 1942, during the Rzhevsko-Vyazemskaya operation, the 33rd Army was almost completely killed. Only a few managed to get out of the encirclement. They did not surrender to the last. When the disparate groups lost hope of getting out and the commander shot himself, soldiers immediately hung themselves on their waist straps. And the commander Yefremov, leaving the entourage, was seriously wounded in the battle (having received three wounds) and, not wanting to be captured, shot himself. I read that even the Germans buried him with honors, paying tribute to his courage! I can only assume that if my grandfather died at this time, being a member of the 1297th Rifle Regiment, it was somewhere near the village of Izoski, or the nearest villages. Of course, all our life we wanted to know something... But for now - alas.

Title: Senior Sergeant Troops: Artillery Division: 365 Rifle Red Banner Division. I, like all citizens of our country, have many relatives who fought. I want to tell a little about my grandfather, whose courage I am amazed with. Ivan Vasilievich Zheltov was called to defend his Homeland in September 1941, when he was 19 years old. He began serving in the rank of junior sergeant, went through the entire war, received the post of commander of the intelligence department of the 38th Guards Cannon Artillery Brigade. On June 22, 1942, near Sevastopol, he received a shrapnel wound to the chest, but stayed in the ranks and for three days continued to destroy the enemy with a cannon and mortar and commanded the gun. From July 3, 1942, he was reported missing, but at that time Ivan Vasilyevich was in hospital with a shrapnel wound. Found him! He is alive! During the war he participated in the Battle of Sevastopol (1942), in the liberation of the Brest Fortress (1944), in the breakthrough of the fortified enemy defense on the bank of the Oder River in the Neu-Hlitzen area (April, 1945, Germany). "'Just before the offensive in Crimea, we were suddenly taken off and thrown to Western Ukraine (Gomel, Kovel) for Kiev. We were transferred from Western Ukraine to Belarus. Before Pinsk, June 18, 1944 68th Guards Cannon Artillery Regiment merged with 67th Guards Cannon Artillery Regiment, and formed a 38th Guards Cannon Artillery Brigade. The brigade participated in the operation to liberate Belarus (Pinsk and Brest) from German invaders. We were sent from Brest by rail to the north. For what purpose? Where to? And only when everyone was given the finkas (a Finnish knife), we realized that we were going to Finland. At the station Bologoye the train was driven to a dead end. Day, second, third. Silence. On the fourth day, the news that Finland had surrendered". After that news, the 38th Guards Cannon Artillery Brigade was transferred to the west, and was involved in the liberation of the Baltic States (Riga, Vilnius). To the west of Vilnius, it was surrounded by the Kurland German group. Its fate was decided. Even before its complete destruction, the 38th Guards Cannon Artillery Brigade was removed and moved to the southwest, to Warsaw. The operation to take Warsaw was planned at the Sandomierz bridgehead (an operational bridgehead for Soviet troops on the left bank of the Vistula River). Warsaw was taken on January 17, 1945. Then, on the way of 38th Guards Kalinkovichi, twice Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov II degree cannon artillery brigade were Stuttgart, Stecken. The glorious city of Altengrabs has no less glorious suburb of Rosenkrug, where, apart from TP, Rembat, etc., the honored 38th Guards Cannon Artillery Brigade was stationed, and then it was renamed the 303rd Guards Kalinkovich Double Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov and the 2nd Class Kutuzov Self-Propelled Cannon Artillery Brigade (50432) 34 Artillery Division (Potsdam). The 38th Guards Cannon Artillery Brigade participated in the battles to capture the northern outskirts of Berlin. Victory was welcomed on the east coast of the Elbe near the city of Gleben. The 38th Guards Cannon Artillery Brigade, part of the Soviet occupation forces, remained in Germany. Retained archival documents on Ivan's awards - these are award lists with descriptions of his feats, orders and decrees of awards. Grandfather was assigned to many awards, has numerous Orders - the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of Patriotic War II degree, the Order of Lenin, Medals "For Military Merit" and many others: January 20, 1944 Order of the Red Banner August 13, 1944 2 Medals "For Military Merit. Dates of heroic deeds: July 4, 1944, July 26, 1944 August 29, 1944 Medal "For the Defense of Moscow" November 21, 1944 Medal "For the Defense of Sevastopol" April 28, 1945 Order of Patriotic War, II degree Date of feat: March 15, 1945 May 16, 1945 Medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus" May 31, 1945 Order of Lenin. Date of heroic deed: April 16, 1945.

Title: Red Army man. Troops: Ground Forces, Air Force (except marine aviation), Coast Guard, NKVD, Border Guard. 2 The Ukrainian Front, whose combat path is very interesting. In late 1943, the territory of Soviet Russia was almost liberated from the invaders. That's why many of the troops that took part in the liberation of the Russian regions continued to fight the enemy and moved to the territory of modern Ukraine. That made it advisable to create a new front. The Commander-in-Chief's decree of October 16, 1943, established 2 Ukrainian Front, the combat path of which lasted until 1945. From October 20 of the same year the order came into force. It was not difficult to form an effective combat unit, because the backbone of the group consisted of parts of the former Steppe Front that already had experience of interaction between each other. Immediately after its creation, the front was tasked to liberate the central region of Ukraine as soon as possible. At the end of September, troops on the then Steppe Front forced the Dnieper River near Kremenchug. Despite the fact that the front did not have enough strength to fight seriously, the commander decided to continue the offensive. The main task at that time was to prevent the enemy army from attacking Dnipropetrovsk, so the front's military council decided to advance along the Pyatikhatka-Apostolovo line. This operation would later be called Pyatikhatskaya. The offensive after the concentration of forces began on October 15, 1943 and gradually brought its results. After the battles became long, the command changed its strategy. The offensive on Znamenka and Kirovograd. When the army got stuck in battles in Dnepropetrovsk region, it was necessary to change the direction and emphasis of the fighting. A reconnaissance mission was carried out for that. According to the information available to the army, it became clear that little enemy forces were concentrated in the Znamenka area. To effectively resist the enemy, they would have to move their forces, which would take some time. From the side of Znamenka, our army, namely the 2nd Ukrainian Front, which had a long combat path in Ukraine, dealt the first blow on November 14, 1943. Until November 25, there was no special dynamics in the actions of the troops. But the success in these battles was ensured by the strong 2nd Ukrainian Front! The chronicle of the fighting was as follows: - From December 3 to 5, the battles for the liberation of the city of Alexandria. It was an important point for the Nazis, because even now there are large deposits of brown coal, which was used as fuel. - On December 6, the battles for liberation of a large railway junction - Znamenka city - began. The city was liberated in a few days.

Zhuldybina Elena Fedorovna was born in 1922 in Kirov region, Uninsky district. She participated in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the title - Red Army soldier. She was conscripted to the Red Army from the RVC of Yashkinsky District. A telephonist from the communications platoon of the brigade, she was seriously injured at the crossing of the Neman River. Information about Yelena Zhuldybina was obtained from Uraniy Ivanovich Zenkovich's book "From the Dnieper to the Neman" - "Notes of the Front Operator on the Strategic Offensive Operation “Bagration” to Free Belarus". "I was ordered to keep in constant contact with the crossing, although telephone operators Vasya Sokovets, Misha Timokhin and Sasha Kadeikin had already stretched a telephone cable from the brigade's headquarters and simultaneously connected two devices. One of them had a Siberian woman on duty from the village, Lena Zhuldybina, and the other had a Don Cossack Degtyaryov.... "Building a bridge across the Neman River at Druskenikov's was the number one task for the Brigade that day. The army command was rushing to Pronevich's brigade, and he ordered the brigade's chief of staff, Alexei Tikhomirov, to take charge of the construction. Although a telephone connection was established at the command post of the bridge under construction, and the radio station of Perenkov and Zayakin worked on the bridge itself, Tikhomirov decided to have his own radio station at hand and ordered me to go with him. Five or seven minutes later we left “villis” on the bank of the Neman River. Tikhomirov and his orderly went down to the trench prepared for them, where Lena Zhuldybina was already on duty on her phone. Tikhomirov ordered me to dig a hole near the trench: "It is possible to bomb the trench, but God is careful, Mother Earth has saved many lives. I will negotiate on the phone, and you keep the radio on alert, son. In case of break of Zhuldybina’s communication, you will replace it with radio communication. My RB-M was a duplicate communication..." "Suddenly, a terrible rumble was heard nearby, some weight fell on me, for a while I lost consciousness, and when I woke up, I realized that the blast wave moved the mass of sand, and I was covered with it up to my chest. There was a pine that had been damaged by the blast. I started to turn and move my arms and dug out my stomach, legs and radio. There was a splinter sticking out in the bend of my right hand, I was bleeding. I bandaged my hand with a bandage and started to check the radio station. It worked in the reception mode. I switched it to the transmission and told Vanya Litovchenko about the bombing of the crossing - I did not know more ...". "And the reality turned out to be unpleasant: a stretcher carried unconscious, with the dead and pale face, Colonel Tikhomirov - he was wounded in the stomach. The Siberian telephone operator Lena Zhuldybina was carried on the next stretcher. Her left mammary gland was cut by a shard, and the second shard perforated her buttock. Returning from the hospital, Lena joked: "I will be proud of the wound to the chest all my life, but how to explain the wound to the buttock? Unfortunately, Lena's life was short - she died at the age of 36. The war still caught up with her. Although she left four children in the world..." On the photo: Zhuldybina Elena with her son and brother Pavel - an engineer of Yurginskiy Machine Building Plant.

On January 12, 1942 Klavdia Ivanovna volunteered for the front and was assigned to the 89th Rifle Division of Yerevan, which in 1943 was awarded the honorary title "Tamanskaya" for its successful fighting on the Taman Peninsula. The battle way of Klavdia Ivanovna passed through Essentuki, Temryuk. In autumn 1943, the division in which she fought, conducts fierce battles on the Taman Peninsula, and in December of the same year, it was already fighting on the Crimean Peninsula - in Kerch. Klavdiya Ivanovna recalled: 'In one of the battles, when I crawled after wounded fighter, German tank started to iron us, and I managed to hide in the funnel. The tankers perfectly saw that there was a girl with a red cross on the bag in front of them, but still they continued to press and spin the tank on this funnel. My fellow fighters saw me ironed by the tank and did not hope to see me alive. The commander could not stand and gave the order to counterattack to repel this piece of the earth and to bury me humanly, with soldier's honors. When they excavated the funnel, I was alive, but was unconscious, I miraculously survived, and was urgently sent to the medical officer. After a while, the front again. I was seriously wounded in the left shoulder. As a result of this wound - a huge lacerated scar, until the end of her life she was never able to wear sleeveless dresses. Having recovered from the wound, she caught up with her division already in Berlin, signed on the Reichstag wall and returned home. It is worth noting Klavdia Ivanovna's kindness and incredible readiness for sacrifice. She exchanged her alcohol and swag, which were given to all fighters, for stew, condensed milk, soap and sent parcels to Tikhoretsk to her younger brother. Then he told her: "You saved my life with your parcels.” For Taman, for Crimea and for many fights Klavdia Antonenko was awarded with the Order of the Red Star; the Order of Glory III degree; medals "For bravery"; "For the defense of the Caucasus", "For combat services". On August 23, 1945, she was awarded the Medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus" by Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin in the Kremlin.

There are no military documents left from Zinaida Alekseevna Zhirova, my mother, except a photo and her stories. Before the war, my mother lived in the village of Begeevo, Penza region. The war began in the morning after graduation party at school. The whole class immediately went to the military recruitment office to go to the front. Mom was assigned to a radio communications course. After the course, she was sent to work in Moscow at the Stalin (USSR leader) communications center with the fronts. Communication center was located in underground bunker near Kirovskaya metro station. The entrance to the bunker was located in the tunnel, where metro trains passed. She reached it by walking down a long escalator and walked straight on rails. When the train approached, she ran to special niches and pressed tight against the wall. The trains at the station did not stop and flew past un-lit platforms with great speed. The Kirovskaya station and the entrance to the bunker were guarded by the military. Mom worked as a communications officer in the bunker during the entire war. The work was secret; it was forbidden to tell where and who you worked as. Sometimes they would be given chocolates in rations (a ration - a set of products designed to feed the soldiers); mom would not eat them - she would put them in a suitcase to bring to her younger sisters and brother, who had been starving in the village during the entire war. During the war, Moscow was all dark, the lights in the streets were not switched on at night, and all windows were tightly curtained so that the bombers could not see the city. Air balloons were raised above the city, to protect against attack by diving and low-flying aircraft. At the beginning of the war, the city was bombed almost every night. As the planes approached, an air siren sounded and women, old people and children descended to the bomb shelter, while those on duty rose to the roofs and put out the incendiary bombs dropped from the planes. After the victory during the parade of our troops, all the enemy flags were thrown into a pile on Red Square near the Mausoleum and Nazi captives were carried through the city. After the war, my mother graduated from medical school and worked as a dentist all her life. Location: Begeevo village, Penza region. The village of Neverkino, Penza region, Moscow, Sursk, Penza obl., Maykop, Tuapse, Moscow.

In June 1941, he was drafted into the Red Army in Voronezh Region in 61th separate Motto Ponto-Bridge Battalion. In the rank of petty officer, he overestimated his age by 5 years and took command of the unit. His battalion was building bridges across rivers. He participated in the defense of Moscow, from October 28, 1941 to January 25, 1942, as the commander of the branch. He was awarded the Medal for the Defense of Moscow (31.10.1944.) In February 1943, Ivan Moiseevich and his detachment were building a high water bridge, despite the artillery fire, and the bridge being destroyed twice. Thanks to this, the tanks crossed to the opposite shore and repulsed the territory from the enemy. Ivan Moiseevich received the first medal "For Combat Merit" (22.02.1941.) 17.09.1943. Battalion carried out the task of building a bridge across the Desna River, near Ordzhenikidze. Our troops, having taken the opposite bank, could not move forward due to the lack of division and corps artillery. The speed with which the bridge was built was crucial for the development of the offensive. Thanks to its commander, who stood in cold water and did his work quickly and clearly, the squadron, following the example of its commander, unloaded pontoon vehicles approaching the bridge and built the bridge, while at the same time helping other squads. The department's dedicated work ensured that the work was completed ahead of schedule. The artillery and ammunition vehicles were transported to the other side of the bridge across the Desna River without delay. Ivan Moiseevich and his department also ensured the early construction of the pier. In addition, he scouted and marked the ford for heavy tanks. Tanks having crossed on the opposite coast, went straight into battle. He was awarded the Order of the "Red Star". (02.10.1943). The construction of the bridge over the Druta River, under heavy artillery fire, was also completed ahead of schedule. Ivan Moiseevich, while building a road across the floodplain of the river Droots, acted for the platoon commander. His platoon perfectly coped with the task. In the conditions of enemy art.gunfire they built a bridge within 5 hours, while the platoon ensured the passage of cargo on its section. While performing combat missions, Ivan Moiseevich acted with courage and selflessness. He was awarded the Order of "Patriotic War" of the 2nd degree (11.07.1944). Ivan Moiseevich was a very courageous and brave man! Also participated in the Soviet-Finnish War! I WILL REMEMBER! I AM PROUD!

The long and eventful life was lived by the veteran of war and labor Leonid Mikhailovich Zhuravlev (1.06.1913 - 21.09.2008). From his rich biography we can judge about the history of our country over the past 90 years. That's how much the warrior and worker experienced in battles and peaceful construction. Leonid Mikhailovich was born in 1913, on the eve of World War I, in a peasant family in the village Dmitrovsky Likhoslavlsky district, Tver province. He graduated from 5th grade in his native village, another 3 - in Tver. Fifteen-year-old boy entered the labor life in Donetsk, worked as a hammerheader. After learning to be a locksmith in the factory, was sent to Yuzovka mechanical plant, then to the Donetsk Metallurgical Plant. After a hard working day he went to evening training courses for admission to the Institute. After becoming a student of mechanical faculty of the Institute of silicates, the young worker moved to Kiev. After graduating from the Institute he was sent to the Urals to the trust "Soyuzasbest", where he worked until he was drafted into the Red Army in December 1940. Leonid Mikhailovich's army service began in the Far East. He served first in the cavalry, then in the motorized infantry. He became platoon commander of a motorized regiment in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, trained military drivers. Then he was transferred to the Khabarovsk Infantry School, at the end of which he became a junior lieutenant. He was trained at the border guard. Then he became platoon commander with anti-tank rifles. By that time, the war with the Germans was over, and troops from the Western fronts were moving eastwards. As part of the 211th rifle regiment Zhuravlev crossed the border and smashed, along with all, the Kwantung Army. In two battles on the way to Harbin many of our soldiers died. Nevertheless, the spirit of the army, which defeated Hitler, turned out to be much stronger than the Samurai one. Soon, the enemy surrendered. From Harbin, some of them were moved first to Vladivostok, and then sent by ships to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Leonid Mikhailovich served there for a year, he was demobilized in 1946. On advice of the Ministry he was sent to Syzran to the locomotive plant. Designer L.M. Zhuravlov plunged into peaceful work. He had to design all types of products during his 40-year activity at the plant. He started with locomotives and corn combines, worked on hydraulic turbines, developed ball and drum mills. The glorious labor milestones in the biography of the veteran are evidenced by numerous (more than 40) records of gratitude in the labor book, Certificates of Honor and Diplomas. To the front awards - the Order of the Red Star, the Great Patriotic War and the medal "For the victory over Japan" - added and awards for peaceful work: an anniversary medal to the 100th anniversary of Lenin, signs "Kamskaya Hydroelectric Power Station" and "Excellent social competition MTE and TM", as well as "Winner of social competition in 1973" and "Winner of social competition in 1979. Leonid Mikhailovich was also noted as a mentor to young people, and as an active innovator, a member of the VDNKh, a voluntary national squad, as well as for active participation in the development of the first Cat hydro turbine (1953), and in the construction of the Volga hydroelectric power plant (1958). Since December 1960, Zhuravlyov worked as the head of the Design Bureau, since 1976 - as the head of the OGK group, since 1977 - as the head of the group of the dust preparation equipment department. He went on a well-deserved retirement in June 1986.

I, Zhilyakov Fedor Mikhailovich, was born on December 16, 1919 in Totskoe village, Totsky district, Orenburg region in the family of a poor peasant. My father, Zhilyakov Mikhail Borisovich, remained an orphan from childhood and until 1905 lived and was brought up by strangers. My mother, after my father's death, was engaged in agriculture; the farm was poor. In 1929, she joined a collective farm. In 1959, she died. In 1929 I went to school. In 1939 I finished 10th grade of Totsk secondary school and worked as a lit.worker in the newspaper "Sovkhozny Clich" at the political department of the grain farm named after "Izvestiy VTSIK". In September 1939, I was enrolled in the Military and Political School (Leningrad), which I graduated from in 1941. I was awarded the military rank of junior political worker and I was appointed political worker of the 2nd junior company of the Leningrad Navy. In July 1941, I was sent as a political officer of the batteries of the 2nd Marine Brigade, where I stayed until June 1943, always taking part in battles against the Nazi invaders. In June 1943, I was appointed Battery Commander of the Independent Antitank 48th Division of the Marine Brigade, which I commanded until February 1944. In February 1944, during the Narva assault, I was wounded, was treated in one of the hospitals of Leningrad until April. In April 1944, I was sent to the U.O. KBF, where I worked as a weapons school commissor until June 1944. In June 1944 I was appointed a senior instructor for Komsomol work in the Political Department of the Brigade of River Ships. Here I had to repeatedly participate in the landing of landing troops on the coast occupied by the enemy. I was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for the distinction in the performance of my task by the command. In October 1944, the Brigade of River Ships was disbanded and I was assigned to the Political Department of the Brigade of Torpedo Boats as a senior instructor for Komsomol work. In February 1945, I was appointed Deputy Commander of the Political Department "Vladimir Polukhin," where I was until May 9, 1945. In May, I was seconded by the KBF Military Council to the Victory Parade battalion, where I acted as deputy commander of the company. I returned from Bornholm (Denmark) as deputy commander of the coastal company. Here I was assigned as a propagandist of the Political Department of the detachment of submarines of the KBF. After fulfillment of the government task, the detachment was disbanded and I was appointed as a propagandist of the Political Department of the Naval Base 4 of the Navy, and then as a senior instructor on propaganda and agitation of the same Political Department. I had worked in that Political Department until I entered the Lenin Military and Political Academy. In September 1948, by order of the Minister of Defense, I was enrolled in the Lenin Military and Political Academy, which I graduated from in 1952. I was awarded the qualification of political worker with higher military education. After graduating from the military and political academy, I was appointed deputy commander of the Kamchatka Navy squadron destroyer, and in May 1955 - deputy commander of the political part of the 174th squadron destroyer brigade. In February 1956, by order of the Minister of Defense was appointed chief of political department of the Pacific Fleet squadron of ships, and in May 1956, by order of the Minister of Defense was appointed chief of political department of the cruiser division. In this position I worked for five years. At the end of April 1961, by the order of the Minister of Defense, in accordance with the law on new significant reduction of the armed forces, I was dismissed from the Navy. The Ministry of Defense provided me with an apartment in Ryazan. I was awarded four orders and six medals for combat excellence and unlimited service in the Navy. I was repeatedly awarded valuable gifts in orders for my successes in combat and political training. I was awarded the Order of the Navy Commander and the Order of the Squadron Commander. For active participation in educational work among the workers, the Soviet Hill Party awarded me a certificate of honor. I was a member of the Komsomol from 1936 to 1939. In April 1939, by Totsky RK VKP(b) I was accepted as a candidate to the Party, and in June 1940, by the party organization of the first year of the VMPU I was accepted as a member of the VKP(b). In 1944 I got married. At present I have a dependent wife, daughter Larisa, born in 1946, daughter Tatiana, born in 1949 and son Mikhail, born in 1956. My relatives and I, as well as my wife and her relatives, have not been subjected to repression by the Soviet authorities, have not been sued, have not been in the occupied territory. Autobtography was written on November 21, 1961.

Klavdia Dmitrievna was born in the village of Kluchiki, Sychevsky District, Smolensk Region. When the war started, Klavdia was 15 years old and graduated from the 7th grade of school. All men went to the front, there were women, old men and teenagers left. All the work went to them, because young women had small children. It was time to harvest and it was hard: there were no equipment and the army took almost all horses. Everyone harvested grain the way they could, grinded grain on millstones and baked cakes. The summer passed like this, and the Germans were walking without a stop. The German also stepped on their land: on October 13, 1941, they entered the village on motorcycles with their fascist flags. The Germans went to every house and took everything: warm clothes, food, all livestock, even it was immediately killed and taken away with them. Once, fascists saw a village boy wearing a helmet with a star on his head, so they pulled the helmet off his head with bayonets and pulled the whole thing apart into small pieces, and the boy was grabbed by the collar and was to be drowned in a well. But his mother was crawling on her knees and asked for mercy. And, a crowd of women defended him. The fact that the Germans had an interpreter helped and let the boy go. And then, for another week the Germans went, drove, carried all sorts of guns, placed defense near Sychyivka. It was their district town, about twenty kilometers from the village. Then battles began, the Germans began to attack and take the nearest cities. Villagers were digging trenches, because the shootings began. During the day they sat in the trenches, and spent the night at home. Frosts began. One night our guerrillas came to the village Klyuchiki, and the Germans had already made an ambush in the church, five kilometers from the village. When the Germans learned that the partisans had come to the village, they began to bomb around the village. Young people and those who could work at night were digging trenches. When they were bombed, they sat in trenches. But still many people were killed. So they lived till spring,until our army came. Everyone was asked to be evacuated, but there was nowhere to go. There were fights, everything burned: Smolensk, Vyazma, Rzhev. And on May 15 all people went into the depths of the forest with babies and small children. They built huts in the woods from fir trees, ate clover porridge and linden buds. And by May 20 Klyuchiki village was burnt almost completely. Nobody had hope to return home anymore. Everybody appeared to be surrounded, but soon soldiers came and told that they broke through the ring and there is an exit to Kalininskaya region. Klavdia Dmitrievna, together with her mother, brother, he was 10 years old and a seven-year-old sister, moved on her way to the Beloe junction station. At the station, they were to board a freight train and leave for Bologoye. But it didn’t happen - suddenly, planes flew in and the bombing started. They were hiding under the carriages, thank God, and survived. The whole railway was broken. Then, they walked for a long time, and then they got to Bologoye in our military car - the driver stopped and offered to help. They drove for a long time, because there were air raids, they had to leave the car and take cover. However, Klavdia Dmitrievna's family got to Bologoye and went to the people where there was a distribution of refugees. At first, they were sent to the south, but they asked to go to Yaroslavl region, as all their collective cattle was moved there, before the Germans came. In Yaroslavl, the district executive committee told them that their cattle was in Danilovsky Raion and they went there. They started to work at a collective farm and their life slowly began to get better. Klavdiya's father returned after the war on crutches, as his legs were broken. In 1951, Klavdiya Dmitrievna.