The story of a man who was not worthy to die for his homeland. The story of yesterday's landing in Crimea. As always, many experts have spoken about why and why nationalities are mentioned. It may cut someone’s ears and ears, but in a country of internationalism promoted by national character, a lot of trouble could have been struck.
It was in the mid-1970s. Then there was such an installation - pioneers for the perpetuation of war veterans (or as it was called there) crooked on the door of the apartment or house where the veteran lived red fan stars. This was done with the permission of the owner. Such a star appeared on the door of my classmate, his grandfather fought. But now I remember with certainty that with any requests – tell us we did not stick to him.
The fact is that the classmate had his father's surname, the usual Russian surname, and his grandfather was a German. Without any impurities. Native of the German Republic of the Volga. In the 40s he was called to service in the RKKA. He was on the front from 22 June 1941 to November 1941. He won two combat awards. Somewhere from August 41, the deportation of the Germans began, and not only from the Volga, but from the territories of the front strip, but this strip moved east with a furious speed and the zone of deportation expanded. Deported the population, and the soldiers were not leisure, or as yet, but were late.
In November, preparations for the counter-offensive under Moscow, the secrecy regime, etc. began. Part of the classmate's grandfather was just supplemented with this case. Immediately thinking - well, as the tankist Günter, who did not surrender in June 1941 to the compatriots at the retreat, awarded twice by the decrees of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, will take the squad and run with secrets to the enemy. From the part of Günter sent like all the men of the Germans to the Labour Army, the forest to shave. Then until the 54th status of a special displaced person, noted in the command, I do not remember the periodicity. It appears once a week to check whether he escaped from Siberia. Then with this fig tie, live as you want and where you want. Only such institutions were accepted in a limited way. Well there in agriculture, for example, and what would an engineer to teach. Suddenly, by anger, the secret factory will ruin. Then they started teaching engineers. But again selectively - engineering can be, aircraft construction - none. In general, this grandfather lived with an insult in his heart - veteranship was given, nobody took away the prizes neither during deportation nor after, and what was taken from the part with shame before the offensive was not forgotten.
My heart was shaken, I wanted to see one of them. Learned through the commissariat where and when their regiment gathered. Then we read his story and learned. When he returned, he said, “I will never go there again. I don’t know anyone there.” The fact is that all who came to the meeting were tankers of the call 43-44gg, from the call 41 years no one survived. He dreamed of meeting his boys, and by the end of the 42nd they were all dead. He was looked at as a dinosaur - a tank car that did not burn for the first two years of the war - a miracle. To explain why it did not burn, of course, was unpleasant.
I don't know what he felt in the end, we guys then on the faces of people could not very well figure out the inner emotions, and it was uncomfortable to ask, neither his grandson, nor even my outsider. I remembered only one of his phrases, apparently something after this trip changed for him in the worldview: " They offended me, they saved me from death. I didn’t burn with everyone, I stayed alive.”