By Vestnik Kavkaza
Today in Russia and the world the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War is being celebrated. The importance of this historical event is increasing every year. The memories of the people of the former Soviet Union about the war is supported by mutual values. The Victory Day was procured by our unity. It is an opportunity to pay tribute to all those who fought and worked in the home front during the wartime. People, who led the country to the Victory, were interviewed by Vestnik Kavkaza. Baibosyn Shermuhamabet, a veteran of World War II, shared his memories of the war:
That time we did not fight with the Germans, we fought against the Nazis. We fought under the leadership of Stalin. We had been fighting for four years, and we won. The price of the victory was very high. It didn't last two months or three. During four years of the war we did not have a rest at all. We had dinner on the steppes and in the trenches.
We got through this. But our people were the most important for us. They were very friendly, very friendly people. We did not attach importance to the nationality of our people: Russian or Kazakh. The main aim was to defeat the enemy. I was called up for military service in November of 1944. I graduated seven grades and passed through western Ukraine, Poland and Germany. When I was near the city of Frankfurt in 1945, the war ended. No war without losses. When somebody ask me about the war, it is hard to remember for me, because I and those people who called up for military service, stumbled upon a mine. It’s too hard for me to remember about this. Seventy years have passed, but people in Moscow and other republics still remember. They invite us and ask about the war. It is very interesting. At that period I was an assistant on the 3rd Belorussian Front, 262nd Division, in the company of submachine gunners. Then the war was over, but we were delayed a little bit in the Western Ukraine. Then I was transferred.
I graduated from short courses at the military academy and served until the end of 1948.
It has already passed seventy years ago. Our time is running out. When you invited us, it is not necessary to present us something, we do not need anything. Your invitation is enough for us. We remember the war, our friends who also were fighting. The cases when they came under fire. A little bit about injuries. It's all over. In recent years, for example, Kazakhstan, is taking care of us. They support us: give pensions and extra compensations. We do not pay for electricity and apartments. But each year the number of veterans are becoming fewer and fewer.
