"Keep the Peace!" Stories of a 100-year-old veteran, blockade survivors and former prisoners of camps

The Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Almaty organised the wonderful event dedicated to the International Women's Day, El.kz reports.

The festive event began with a welcoming speech by the Consul General of the Russian Federation in the southern capital, D.A. Turaev. He congratulated women on the holiday, for whom the Great Patriotic War was the most difficult test of strength. Survivors of the siege, former prisoners of camps and deported to forced labor in Germany overcame many trials, but did not lose heart, and survived against all odds.

Many of them found their homeland in Kazakhstan. On the Kazakh hospitable land, they got married, created families, gave birth to children and worked. Today, they are upbringing grandchildren and great-grandchildren - already native Kazakhstanis.

"I am originally from Belarus. I was three years old when the war began. I remember how, during the bombing, the four of us as children hid in the cellar and we were covered with earth. The younger Vitya and Raya died, my mother and neighbors managed to dig me and my older brother Sasha," Maria Shadova shares her memories.

Maria Shadova is 87 years old, and she is surprised herself at how deeply the events of childhood remained in her memory. Her native village was occupied by the Germans, who took away cattle, chickens and all food supplies from the local residents. The fascist invaders stormed into Maria's father's house,  threatened to shoot the children and their mother, because their father served in the Red Army. From the age of four, Maria worked, fed geese and did housework. Hungry and always frightened, she never dreamed of returning home. The girl had no doubt that the evil people who forced her to work from early morning till night would one day kill her. After her release, she finally returned to Belarus, received a higher education, and got married. Maria came to Kazakhstan with her husband to raise virgin lands. They really liked the new place, and they decided to stay here. For 38 years, Maria Alekseevna was engaged in pedagogical activities, taught drawing at a technical school.  In 2014, she and her students made a documentary film "Juvenile Prisoners".

Talented artists of the cultural space "TheatRon" presented to the public an incredibly performance about the children of besieged Leningrad. Almost all the spectators could not hold back their tears, imbued with the courageous spirit of the young residents of the city, taken into the blockade, but unbroken and undefeated. Adults and children were dying of hunger, but their faith in victory over the enemy remained.

"Dad served at a military airfield, mom dug trenches, grandmother and older brother worked at a factory, sister was on duty on the roof during enemy air attacks. And I was only five years old... What could I do to win? Only survive! On 125 grams of bread per day. I did not complain, did not cry. Then I learned forever not to feel sorry for myself," Sofia Martyanova told the journalist of the El.kz news agency.

Sofia arrived in Kazakhstan as a geologist. She worked at Volkovgeologia, has letters of appreciation from the national company Kazatomprom. Sofia Martyanova looks much younger than her age and the secret of her charm is that she never loses heart and is optimistic about the future.

Valentina Medvedeva was two-year-old when she had been sent to a concentration camp. At the age of 4, she was secretly taken out of there in a bag.

“I don't know the name of my savior, but I am still grateful to him!" Valentina Medvedeva said in an interview with the El.kz news agency.

Valentina 's parents built a railway in Karaganda. A family friend asked them to leave the child with her for the time being. Who knew that a young woman and a baby would end up in a concentration camp. Surprisingly,  Valentina did not forget that her father left for the construction of the railway. She told about it, and Valya's parents were found.

Vasily Zinchenko celebrated his 101st birthday on March 26. Despite his age,Vasily Zinchenko does not complain about the memory, feels good and talks about his exploits. He was trained at the intelligence school and confronted the enemy until the very end of the war. Together with his unit, he went to the rear of the enemy behind the front line, obtained important information, and captured German soldiers and officers. In 1943, Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrendered to the soldiers of the 64th Army under the command of General Shumilov. Scouts from the capture group took weapons from the Germans who refused to continue participating in the battles. Among the scouts at that moment was Vasily Zinchenko. Vasily proved to be an outstanding intelligence officer, a brave warrior and a reliable comrade. The war ended for him in 1945, in Poland he was wounded and shell-shocked, he was treated for a long time in a field hospital.

Then he lived in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan at different times, by the will of fate he remained in Alma-Ata, where he met his love, created a family. Vasily has four children, seven grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. A friendly family is proud of their father and grandfather. The holder of the Orders of the Red Star and the Great Patriotic War considers Victory Day to be the most important holiday.

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