This year Russia is celebrating its 75 anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War, this is a huge event. Some 27 million people from the Soviet Union were killed at the battles plus another 15 millions of civilians died from the hardships of War. Terrible times, unthinkable cruelty to the human race. I was born after the war ended, “baby boomer”. People wanted forget the horror of their survival and start new happy life, filled with love, kids, confidence in their future. Here are the stories I heard from them, how they got through those years of unimaginable living conditions.
In June of 1941 Nadia and Sasha completed their second year course in the Moscow Chemical Machinery Institute and were ready to continue learning more specialized disciplines. Nadia wanted to learn more about new plastic industry, and Sasha was interested in engineering and applied chemistry.
The War interrupted the quiet life of young couple, as well as the whole country. German troops moved towards Moscow with frightening pace. Soviet government with Stalin at its top was not efficient in building a formidable defense, a lot of lives, soldiers and peaceful civilians, were lost. By October 1941 Germans came to the major railroad between Moscow and Leningrad at the Bologoe station. Nadia’s father Fedor was sent in an emergency to fix the bottleneck on the train transportation of munitions. Lena was with him. She remembered how close to the station enemies came, but Fedor insisted to stay even if it takes to get in the fight themselves. With huge heroic resistance of Russian defenders the enemy was stopped and pushed back. Right after that attack Germans made their major advance on Moscow directly. Their armed motorcyclists already reached the outskirts of Moscow, when Fedor and Lena tried to return there. Fortunately, the Leningrad prospect was cleared just an hour before. Lena remembered that Moscow in October was in total panic, factories, hospitals, institutes, were hastily evacuated, along with Moscow civil population. Nobody knew about Stalin location or his leadership role during that period. There was a total mobilization of general population, young and old men and even women became so called “opolchenets army” , armed with old rifles and immediately sent to the front to at least slow down the German offense just 50 miles away from Moscow. Chemical Machinery students of third and higher grades already were assigned to the various munition plants and evacuated before October, so Nadia and Sasha were on their way to Tadjikistan, I guess, were lucky. But practically all their younger fellow students were ruthlessly killed alongside the many other citizens of Moscow.
The life of evacuated Nadia and Sasha was not easy. I found a “letter to home”, Nadia wrote, and I think it is a genuine piece of history, speaking for itself.
1942 began with Red Army advance on Moscow front, enemy was thrown back West to Smolensk region. That meant that previously evacuated professionals started return back to work in Moscow. Sasha was among them, he was reassigned to the military research facility, designing new shell charges and testing and implementing them at plants for mass production. One of the most successful design of that Special Designing Bureau (called KB-6) was cumulative charge with ability to explode in predetermined direction. Sasha became a test associate in that particular division. He learned a basic course how to handle high explosives, how to make measurements at test site and how to safe deliver test articles to the site using public transportation, because no other way was available. They worked extremely long hours, sometimes spending several days without seeing home and loved ones. Sasha was physically strong and could perform more tests than others. His efforts were noticed by the director of the KB, who had a rank of colonel. One time director even saved Sasha from the drafting convoy that arrived to the Sasha’s home, because he didn’t respond to the drafting order. They waited for Sasha early in the morning, but they didn’t expect that he would return from the successful test on the director's car together with director. They saw the uniformed commander and instead of arresting Sasha for avoiding the military service had to listen and obey the order of director. Later director applied and received the official excuse for Sasha. Eventually, Sasha became one of the best associates in KB, his cumulative charge was used in 1943 in Kursk battle, the biggest tank battle in the history, when Germans were taken by surprise of new Russian shells penetrating the armor of the most advanced German tanks, Tiger.
Return to Moscow for Nadia was marked with her second pregnancy. She was happy and frightened at the same time. Memory of the first unsuccessful birth plus extreme hardship they had with food rations, constant fear of enemy bombardment, her husband long hours at dangerous work, - there were quite enough reasons to be scary. Finally, in March 1943, she gave a birth to her son, and she was happiest mother. She remembered the night before labor, something we cannot imagine for real today. They lived then in the old part of Moscow with the small streets and dead ends. With the date of birth coming Sasha set a route to the hospital to be prepared for emergency birth, since he can’t rely on the transport service in the city. And that day came at the most unwanted moment – it was night, which meant curfew and complete darkness on streets due to the war order. The young soon to be parents holding hands walked to the hospital down the unwelcoming Moscow streets and found themselves lost. Many years later Nadia remembered those moments and she said that she was extremely frightened that she could lose her second baby. Sasha was frightened too, he knew that hospital was not far, but he could not recognize the street in the dark. Finally, in total despair he began to knock on the windows hoping that someone would be brave enough to unlock the door and show them the way. After a dozen of attempts one sleepy guy opened the door, just a little bit, and kindly gave Sasha the directions, he needed desperately. Luckily, they were really close to their destination. Nadia was immediately admitted to the maternity ward and gave birth in couple hours. It was a son, she was so happy to have him, after all those days of fear that something would go wrong.
Vlad was born during a wartime, he weighed only 6 pounds and was pretty short, making it relatively easy labor to his slim and short mom. I think, even being in the womb he unconsciously prepared himself to the difficult existence among people. Garik, the second son of Nadia born five years later, found his big brother as an easy-going, but quite selfish and even cruel at times, he knew about Nadia’s unconditional enormous love to him and used to it already from the very young age.
Anyway Nadia and Sasha were very happy at that time, their children meant so much for both of them as a family, they lived 49 years together and all those years their kids (and grandkids too) were a big part of their lives.