Heroes and feats

Raisa Feodorovna Nesterova (worker in the rear) was born on June 1, 1929 in the city of Barnaul, Altai Territory. The family was large. And as soon as the war began, father and elder brother were taken to the front. All household chores fell on women's shoulders. I had to work hard. Since the bread was given out in a small portion, the vegetable garden was very helpful. In 1945, Raisa Feodorovna entered the technical school in Semipalatinsk. She studied away from home, missed her relatives very much. “It was difficult to study, it was even harder to live on a scholarship of 75 roubles. For comparison, the cost of a loaf of bread on the market at that time was 300 roubles. The situation improved when the director of the technical school managed to arrange for the students to be fed in the cafeteria. The frontline guys were neighbours in the hostel, they persuaded me to go home and bring potatoes. When I came back, the guys helped me with the bags and ran to cook potatoes. It was one of the few moments when I managed to eat enough” - Raisa Feodorovna recalls her youth. After the end of the war, Raisa Feodorovna was sent to Vladivostok according to the distribution. She worked as a district technologist, then as an expert merchandiser. “Through our organization, all Kamchatka and Chukotka were supplied with goods”- recalls Raisa Feodorovna.

Stepanova Vera Grigorievna (war participant) was born in 1925. At the age of sixteen, hiding her real year of birth, Vera Grigorievna volunteered for the front. She took part in the battles for Voronezh. Then, after graduating from the school of Senior Sergeants, she became a signalman of the 761st Guards Fighter Polotsk, Vitebsk Aviation Regiment. In protracted battles on the fiery Kursk, the young girl brilliantly completed the combat mission from the regiment command, showing real valour and courage. For her heroism and fearlessness Vera Grigorievna was awarded the medal "For Courage" and was honourably accepted into the ranks of the Communist Party. During the liberation of Belarus, the unit in which the girl served, was surrounded. The commander gave her the task to get to the "friends". Vera Grigorievna complied with the order and delivered the report to its destination. Subsequently, for her courage, she was awarded the Medal for “Military Merit”. Then Lithuania was liberated with battles. Just before the Victory, they entered enemy territory - East Prussia. The air unit in which Vera Grigorievna served was located near the town of Labiau. Here she and her fellow soldiers met the long-awaited Victory. Returning home, Vera Grigorievna entered a cook course, and later worked as a catering director.

Rusanova Lydia Semyonovna (worker in the rear) was born on May 15, 1929 in the village of Sytinka, Pavlovsky district, Kuibyshev region. The family consisted of three people: a mother and two daughters. According to the words of Lydia Semyonovna, the adults did not tell the children about the war until the military arrived at the collective farm and were transported from there to the front. At this moment, the carefree childhood ended for her. The teenagers worked all day on the collective farm: they worked in the fields and nursed little lambs. The war years were remembered by her hard work, hunger and cold. “It was very difficult, in the forty-degree frost we walked on half-bare feet, carried straw and hay to the sheep”- says the veteran. Lydia Semyonovna met the news of the victory with all the villagers at the building of the administration. “People did not hide their tears, they cried with joy and grief of irreparable losses and lives taken away forever”- the woman recalls. After the war, the girl went to work as an assistant cook in the collective farm canteen. She got married, gave birth to a son, and remained to live in her native village.

Reshetnyak Nina Petrovna (worker in the rear) was born on March 11, 1931 in the city of Atkarsk, Saratov region. Nina Petrovna's family lived at the Koppela station. After graduating from 6 classes, the girl went to work on the railway as a railroad worker. “Once crossing the railway tracks, I saw broken rails, to which a military train was approaching. I started swinging my briefcase, drawing attention to myself to avoid the train going off the tracks. The driver stopped the train came out to me and thanked for the lives saved ”- recalls Nina Petrovna. With the outbreak of the war, there was a shortage of food. They lived very poorly, ate cakes made of "grey" flour and orach. According to the veteran's memories, it was seen how the besieged city was burning 300 kilometres away during the days of the Battle of Stalingrad. There was very little left to Saratov. But there were also joyful moments. Nina Petrovna recalls with particular warmth the letters from her uncle, who served at the front. He often wrote about how he managed to liberate a village in some area or even an entire city. “At such moments I was very proud of our family, our heroic people, who beat the fascists and drove them from their native land” -recalls Nina Petrovna. The woman worked as a railroad worker until her retirement, ensuring the smooth movement of trains. In this craft she was the best.

Kravtsova Antonina Stepanovna (worker in the rear) was born on July 19, 1929 in the village of Alekseevka, Samoilovsky district, Saratov region. The family consisted of three people - a mother and two children. The younger brother of Antonina Stepanovna soon died of hunger. From the age of five, the girl helped her mother with the housework, looked after the cattle, helped to heat the stove. Later when she grew up a bit, like many of her peers, she went to work on a collective farm. “When I was 12 years old, the foreman gathered all the people at work, at that time I took care of cattle, and announced that the war had begun” - Antonina Stepanovna recalls. During the war, the girl worked a lot in the fields, sowed and prepared hay, made bricks, from which they later built cowsheds and stables. “There was nothing to eat at that time of hunger. We picked up unripe oats, boiled it and ate it, but I really wanted at least a piece of bread ”- the veteran shares her memories. Antonina Stepanovna learned that the war was over from the radio messages. In her recollections, everyone around was crying with happiness, sang songs and rejoiced at the Victory. After the war, Antonina Stepanovna remained to live in her native village. In 1946, she married a soldier. Together they built a big house, started a farm. The husband worked as a driver, and the veteran continued to work on the collective farm until her retirement.

Butuzova Raisa Andreevna (worker in the rear) was born on May 30, 1918 in the village of Ilyushino, Pavlovsky district, Saratov region, in the family of the carpenter Andrei Alekseevich and housewife Anastasia Feodorovna Gordeeva. There were three more brothers in the family - Alexander, Matvey and Stepan. They lived modestly, but did not starve. Everyone worked in the family, at a small farm. The brothers of Raisa Andreevna quickly learned the carpentry and from an early age worked with their father. Twice the local authorities dispossessed the Gordeevs' savings. The head of the family was forced to join the collective farm in order to protect loved ones from reprisals. Raisa Andreevna studied for only two years of elementary school. The children wore clothes one by one to go to school, usually borrowing everything after adults. In 1939, the girl married the teacher of the local school, Stepan Fyodorovich Butuzov. And in 1940 their son Grisha was born. When the news about the beginning of the war thundered, Raisa Andreevna, together with her father, began to work in the forestry enterprise. “The work was not easy, but we understood that the preparation of firewood for our army and the rear was vital” -says Raisa Andreevna. In 1945, a daughter, Zina, appeared in the Butuzov;s family. The news of the Victory and the birth of a daughter were two joyful and unforgettable moments in their life. Later the Butuzovs moved to the village of Alekseevka. Here Raisa Andreevna had been working in a kindergarten for 16 years, first as a nanny, and then as a cook.

Elena Pavlovna Sidorshina (worker in the rear) was born on July 26, 1930 in the village of Bolshoy Krasny Yar, Balakovo region, in the family of a carpenter and housewife. In 1938, the girl went to first grade. As soon as the war began, together with classmates they went out to work - to plant gardens outside the village, but they did not stop studying. “It was difficult, but still we lived steadily and worked hard”- recalls Elena Pavlovna. The joyful event about the end of the war came when Elena drove out the herd in the morning and the neighbour's wife, Olga Mikhailovna, came out onto the front porch and loudly said: “The war is over! The war is over! " In 1948, Elena Pavlovna graduated from the 10th grade and entered the Saratov Pedagogical Institute, the Faculty of Mathematics. Soon, due to the lack of an opportunity to rent a flat, the student was transferred to the Volsky Pedagogical Institute. In 1950, on assignment, Elena was sent to Belarus, to the Kaptsevichi station of the Brest region. There she works as a teacher for a short time, then returned to her homeland due to the illness of her parents - the difficult war years affected. Elena Pavlovna did not give up her studies even in difficult years of her life - first she entered the remote course in Saratov, and then to the Kuibyshev Aviation College, where she remained to work as a teacher.

Zinaida Yakovlevna Solyukova (worker in the rear) was born on October 12, 1926 in the village of Pavlovka, Ulyanovsk region, in a large family. Mother, Alexandra Ivanovna, had poor health, so the entire household was on the eldest daughter, Zinaida. The head of the family, Yakov Andreevich, worked as a shoemaker. As soon as the news of the beginning of the war came, he went to the front to defend his family and Fatherland. Zinaida Yakovlevna graduated from the 7th grade of secondary school and got a job as a cutter at a local shoe factory. The girl was sure it was necessary for everyone to defend the Motherland, and she underwent military training at the end of 1944 but, did not go to the front. Zinaida Yakovlevna remained in the rear, with her sick mother, younger brothers and sister. The girl works in a factory, receiving 500 grams of bread per day. In 1947, when life began to improve slowly, Zinaida Yakovlevna left for the city of Nizhny Tagil, where she married a front-line soldier, Georgy Sidorovich Solyukov.

Yevdokia Alekseevna Ruleva Ruleva Evdokiya Alekseevna (home front worker) Evdokiya Alekseevna was born on 1 March 1923 in the village of Bykov Otrog, Balakovsky district, and grew up in a large friendly family, together with her sister and three brothers. When the war broke out, Evdokiya was eighteen years old. She had already finished 10th grade of secondary school and entered the Balakovo Teachers' Training College. She went to the front in the first hours of the war at the call of the military committee. There, together with the soldiers, for 18 months the young girl dug trenches, anti-tank ditches, dug trenches in the territory from Saratov to Stalingrad, bringing the great victory closer. "It was especially hard in winter. Men dug the ditches with tractors, while we girls, yesterday's schoolgirls, threw tons of frozen land up with shovels, from dawn to dusk," recalls Yevdokia Alexeevna. At the end of the hostilities, she returns to her native Balakovo district and receives a primary school teacher's diploma. By distribution, the girl goes to Siberia, to the city of Taishet, where she has been working in the field of pedagogy for a long time. Evdokia Alexeevna has a daughter, Elena, who continues the family tradition of working as a teacher at school.

Malysheva Alexandra Petrovna Malysheva Alexandra Petrovna (rear worker) Alexandra Petrovna was born on May 3, 1929 in the village Lipovka Dukhovnitsky district. The head of the family was a collective farm chairman and a hero of World War I and the Civil War. At a young age Alexandra Petrovna lost her twin brother, who was weak from birth. Two children were left in the family. During the Great Patriotic War, she and her peers worked in the fields, ploughed the land, harvested crops, bringing the Victory closer. During the harsh war years, Alexandra Petrovna did not abandon her studies, finishing 10th grade at the local school, then at the Volsky Pedagogical Institute. After receiving a profession and a teacher's diploma, she goes to the village of Bartinevka in Ivanteevsky district. Here, Alexandra works at the local school and teaches history. Here she also met her fate, got married and gave birth to two children. After that, the family moved to the then promising and actively developing Khvalynsk city.

Mikhail Ivanovich Proskuryakov Mikhail Ivanovich Proskuryakov (home front worker) Mikhail Ivanovich Proskuryakov was born on 3 November 1931 in the village of Treschevka, Voronezh Region. He graduated from 10th grade, then studied to be a locksmith. Mikhail was the youngest of four sons in the family. During the war, the Proskuryakovs' family lived in the occupied territory for a long seven months. On the orders of German officers, they had to leave their home and share shelter with other families. But the hardest thing to do was to accept the ferocity of the "Vlasovites" (members of the Russian Liberation Army who fought on the side of the Third Reich against the USSR) who were in the Voronezh region at the time. Children worked in the fields on a par with adults from dawn to dusk in order not to starve. "There was no equipment. They ploughed on cows. They came home late at night, very tired, they wanted to lie down and fall asleep tightly," Mikhail recalls. During the war Mikhail and his family experienced the bitterness of losing one of his brothers. In the post-war period, Mikhail Ivanovich worked as a baker and a ploughman. He always treated his work diligently and carefully. Repeatedly he was rewarded for his work. In 1960, Mikhail Ivanovich got a family, moved to the town of Balakovo in the Saratov region. He lived with his wife Anna Andreyevna for over 30 years and brought up his son.

Parda Valentina Fominichna Valentina Fominichna Parada, born in 1923. My great grandmother was born in Siberia. During the difficult years of the Great Patriotic War, the general tragedy of our people did not pass the Kuban. Our region fully shared the pain, suffering and hardship with the entire country. The war caught my great-grandmother's family in the village of Kushchevskaya in the Krasnodar Region. During the war, Valentina Fominichna worked at a collective farm on field work, namely: she was a trailer on a tractor-sowing machine. Before the Germans attacked the Caucasus, she dug anti-tank trenches together with other residents of the Kubanskaya village. For her selfless work on the home front, she was awarded the status of 'Home Front Worker', and after the war she was awarded the honorary title of 'Labour Veteran' on the basis of her extensive uninterrupted experience. Valentina Fominichna's main occupation is teaching Russian language and literature. She worked continuously in the same school until her retirement. She was actively engaged in public work. Now my great-grandmother Parada Valentina Fominichna is 96 years old. I love her very much and am immensely proud of her feat in life. Her husband, my great-grandfather, was a participant in the Great Patriotic War.

Gumerova Maskhuda Arslangareevna Gumerova Maskhuda Arslangareevna was born on 23.12.1914 in the village of Kukkuyanovo, Dyurtyulinsky District, The Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. She was orphaned early and brought up by her uncle in the village of Nizhnee Atashevo. She successfully graduated from primary school in 1928. In 1929, she started working at a collective farm, entered the Bashkir Technical School in 1931 and graduated in 1934. She worked as a teacher of geography, chemistry and biology in the Burayevsky district of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. On the recommendation of the district education department, in 1935 she entered the geography department of Bashkir Pedagogical University. In 1937 she was transferred to the part-time department and temporarily worked as a primary school teacher in the Tirman secondary school of Salavat district. In 1938, she married Zamanov Khalaf Abuzarovich and in 1940 gave birth to a daughter. She worked as a headmistress of the Baynazarovsk secondary school, head of methodical cabinet of Burzyan district education department, actively participated in the elections for the All-Union census in 1939. She took part in the elimination of illiteracy among the population, taught children during the day and taught adults to write and read in the evening. During the war, when there was an acute shortage of specialists, she organised short-term teacher training courses for 8-9th grade school leavers in the Burzyan district. She supervised their further admission to extramural studies at pedagogical schools and institutes of the republic. On 20 March 1944 by decree of The Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Gumerova Maskhuda Arslangareevna was awarded the title of Honoured Teacher of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic School for her outstanding services in the field of communist education and training of children and active participation in public life. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic dated 22.03.44 Gumerova Maskhuda Arslangareevna was awarded the honorary title of the Honoured Teacher of the Republic of Belarus; by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated 29.10.54 she was awarded the medal "For Valour at Work". By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 25.03.46 she was awarded the medal "For valorous work during the Great Patriotic War" and also awarded the medal "Veteran of Labor". Widow of a war veteran she was awarded maternal fame for the birth, upbringing of 5 children. She died on 7 July 2010 at the age of 95.

Batyrova Banat Hajrullovna She was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the second, third and fourth convocations (1947-1959). She passed away on July 17, 1970. Batyrova Banat Hayrullovna - a link collective farm "Idel" of Karmaskalinsky district of The Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Born on December 16, 1904 in the village of Staromusino, Ufa District, Ufa Province, nowadays Karmaskalinsky District, Republic of Bashkortostan in the family of a forester.

Suleymanova A. G., a senior telephonist from a company post, Komsomol organiser from the 17th Department of the Russian Federation. Suleymanova A. G., a senior telephonist at a company post, and the Komsomol organiser of the 17th Separate Battalion of Air Surveillance, Alert and Communication. Tatischevo Station, Saratov Region. 25 January 1943.