Nobody is forgotten! Nothing is forgotten! The Sattarov brothersOrkhan Sattarov, head of the European bureau of Vestnik KavkazaToday 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 are 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 on the home front during the war. People who led the country to the Victory were interviewed by Vestnik Kavkaza. The world is celebrating the anniversary of the Victory over fascism. This significant event is also being celebrated in Azerbaijan, which took a specific place during the Second World War. It was written in history books, films, documentaries, and voluminous scientific research: the capture of Azerbaijan with its oil fields, which provided in those years, according to various estimates, between 80% and 90% of the needs of the Soviet Union of oil and oil products. It was the unique strategic position of one of the main aims of Hitler's plan Barbarossa, the main aim of which was to capture and break the South Caucasus. The plan was prepared carefully. The day of the capture of Baku was appointed in Hitler's headquarters on the 25th of September 1942. German official newsreel footage has been saved in which Hitler was presented a cake with the symbol of the Maiden's Tower on it. But many people were ironic, as this piece of the cake stuck in Hitler’s throat. They did not manage to capture Azerbaijan. The Germans were stopped near Mozdok, on the River Terek.But that would be later. And in the first days of the war in Azerbaijan were a lot of people who intended to become volunteers and go to the front. It was created by destroying battalions and militia. Then, after the victory, the figures would be named: more than 600 thousand citizens of Azerbaijan went to the front. Every second one did not come back. Azerbaijanis joined the Red Army, which later became the Soviet Army, as part of partisan groups in Crimea, Belarus, in the countries of Western Europe...Hundreds of thousands of people are tied with each of these historical facts. Every one with his own biography: military and post-war.We can only wonder how often historical storms can influence the history of one single family.This year, in 2015, the scientific community of Azerbaijan is marking the 90th anniversary of Magsad Magomedali Sattarov-oglu, corresponding member of ANAS, doctor of sciences, professor, prominent scientist and organizer of science. His writings devoted to atheism and religion, the role of Islam in the culture and outlook of the Azerbaijani people, the formation and changes of the fine matter that is habitually called public opinion laid the foundation of the modern philosophical schools of Azerbaijan. A lot of information is contained in the Azerbaijani Wikipedia pages about him, but at the same time sparingly. He was born in 1925 in the village of Poylu. In 1945 he entered the Azgosuniversitet, nowadays it is Baku State University, and graduated from it in 1950. It is stated that in 1989 Magsad Magomadalievich became a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, he headed one of the first departments of the Institute of Philosophy and Law, then headed the Department of Philosophy of ANAS, played a prominent role in the formation of the scientific and human resource capacity of the Department of History and Philosophy of the Azerbaijan University of Technology.But beyond this narrative is another page of biography of Professor Magsad Sattarov at the time of the Great Patriotic War.In 1941 the future philosopher did not go to the front, as he had not come of age. Already in the midst of the war, after 10th grade, Magsad Sattarov entered the officers' school in Tbilisi. And after a short training he went to the front in the summer of 1942, where by that time the Soviet army suppressed the attach of the armed forces of the Nazi Germany, Romania and Slovakia in the battle for the Caucasus.Magsad Sattarov spent a little over six months on the front line, as the counting of time here on the newly-created Transcaucasian front was quite different. Sattorov was a member of the Mozdok-Malgobek operation that foiled the plans of the Nazis to capture the Grozny and Baku oil regions. Then, after being seriously wounded during the counteroffensive of the Red Army, he was sent to the rear.My sister went to look for him in Mozdok, nearly the front-line, and learned thathad Magsad had been sent for treatment to Tbilisi – the same city where he learned the basics of military science, and which he left for the reserves.After the hospital, Magsad Sattarov did not return to the army. The wound was very serious. The family was waiting for some news from the two older brothers of Magsad Sattarov – Gafar and Sattar.The oldest of them, Gafar Sattarov was born in 1918. In 1938 he joined the army, and a year later took part in the so-called Winter War with Finland, the breakthrough of the famous Mannergeyma line. In 1941 Gafar Sattarov decided to take part in the war with Germany. He commanded a platoon and later was awarded two Orders of the Red Star and medals. Even in May of 1945 after the victory, the war was not over for him, as Gafar Sattarov participated in the war with Japan. He returned home in 1946.The biography of Sattar Sattarov could be probably the basis of the plot of a whole saga. Like many of his peers born in 1923, he went to the front in 1941, during the most severe fighting for the army, then they did not have time to deploy combat formations. Then – the encirclement, captive in a concentration camp ... He and many inmates were sent to France for construction works. At the time of the next air raid Sattar Sattarov and several other prisoners, also former Soviet soldiers, managed to escape and joined the French partisans.Today, Azerbaijani historians call those who escaped from the concentration camps to join the European resistance movement dozens of names. Even in Soviet times on one of the central streets of Baku there was a monument dedicated to the Hero of the Soviet Union, Mehdi Huseyn-zade, who fought in one of the partisan detachments of Yugoslavia. Today, his biography and those who fought against the Nazis in France, in Italy, in the Netherlands is slowly being restored... One of them was Sattar Sattarov, a French soldier in the the partisan groups.He returned to his native Azerbaijan after the Victory. In those times, which were not as liberal as now, he won another fight – the fight for his own good name. The authorities had a suspicious attitude towards those who during the Great Patriotic War were prisoners and who were on occupied territory… But Sattar Sattarov told a fantastic story: during the days of retreat and encirclement he managed to hide his membership card in the Belorussian forests! After the war the experienced fighter of partisans went to Belarus, found the tree where he had hidden this priceless document ... The party card was safe and sound.Meanwhile, the war was coming to an end for the country. And former soldiers were coming back to civilian life, including the three Sattarov brothers who returned from the war. Today the newspapers often write of post-traumatic stress disorder. There are pecial courses of rehabilitation, psychological work is developing... But at that time they were over 35 and they had other aims.After the victory, Magsad Sattarov entered University, he studied history and philosophy. He was one of the greatest scholars in the humanities. Sattar Sattarov became a qualified pharmacist and was the head of one of the largest networks of drugstores in the city. According to his relatives, they did not like to speak about the war. But they always remembered what they saw and experienced.And today, our great mission is to remember and not to allow a repeat of those events. This is our responsibilit
Orkhan Sattarov, head of the European bureau of 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 are 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 on the home front during the war. People who led the country to the Victory were interviewed by Vestnik Kavkaza.
The world is celebrating the anniversary of the Victory over fascism. This significant event is also being celebrated in Azerbaijan, which took a specific place during the Second World War. It was written in history books, films, documentaries, and voluminous scientific research: the capture of Azerbaijan with its oil fields, which provided in those years, according to various estimates, between 80% and 90% of the needs of the Soviet Union of oil and oil products. It was the unique strategic position of one of the main aims of Hitler's plan Barbarossa, the main aim of which was to capture and break the South Caucasus. The plan was prepared carefully. The day of the capture of Baku was appointed in Hitler's headquarters on the 25th of September 1942. German official newsreel footage has been saved in which Hitler was presented a cake with the symbol of the Maiden's Tower on it. But many people were ironic, as this piece of the cake stuck in Hitler’s throat. They did not manage to capture Azerbaijan. The Germans were stopped near Mozdok, on the River Terek.
But that would be later. And in the first days of the war in Azerbaijan were a lot of people who intended to become volunteers and go to the front. It was created by destroying battalions and militia. Then, after the victory, the figures would be named: more than 600 thousand citizens of Azerbaijan went to the front. Every second one did not come back. Azerbaijanis joined the Red Army, which later became the Soviet Army, as part of partisan groups in Crimea, Belarus, in the countries of Western Europe...
Hundreds of thousands of people are tied with each of these historical facts. Every one with his own biography: military and post-war.
We can only wonder how often historical storms can influence the history of one single family.
This year, in 2015, the scientific community of Azerbaijan is marking the 90th anniversary of Magsad Magomedali Sattarov-oglu, corresponding member of ANAS, doctor of sciences, professor, prominent scientist and organizer of science. His writings devoted to atheism and religion, the role of Islam in the culture and outlook of the Azerbaijani people, the formation and changes of the fine matter that is habitually called public opinion laid the foundation of the modern philosophical schools of Azerbaijan. A lot of information is contained in the Azerbaijani Wikipedia pages about him, but at the same time sparingly. He was born in 1925 in the village of Poylu. In 1945 he entered the Azgosuniversitet, nowadays it is Baku State University, and graduated from it in 1950. It is stated that in 1989 Magsad Magomadalievich became a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, he headed one of the first departments of the Institute of Philosophy and Law, then headed the Department of Philosophy of ANAS, played a prominent role in the formation of the scientific and human resource capacity of the Department of History and Philosophy of the Azerbaijan University of Technology.
But beyond this narrative is another page of biography of Professor Magsad Sattarov at the time of the Great Patriotic War. In 1941 the future philosopher did not go to the front, as he had not come of age. Already in the midst of the war, after 10th grade, Magsad Sattarov entered the officers' school in Tbilisi. And after a short training he went to the front in the summer of 1942, where by that time the Soviet army suppressed the attach of the armed forces of the Nazi Germany, Romania and Slovakia in the battle for the Caucasus.
Magsad Sattarov spent a little over six months on the front line, as the counting of time here on the newly-created Transcaucasian front was quite different. Sattorov was a member of the Mozdok-Malgobek operation that foiled the plans of the Nazis to capture the Grozny and Baku oil regions. Then, after being seriously wounded during the counteroffensive of the Red Army, he was sent to the rear.
My sister went to look for him in Mozdok, nearly the front-line, and learned thathad Magsad had been sent for treatment to Tbilisi – the same city where he learned the basics of military science, and which he left for the reserves.
After the hospital, Magsad Sattarov did not return to the army. The wound was very serious. The family was waiting for some news from the two older brothers of Magsad Sattarov – Gafar and Sattar.
The oldest of them, Gafar Sattarov was born in 1918. In 1938 he joined the army, and a year later took part in the so-called Winter War with Finland, the breakthrough of the famous Mannergeyma line. In 1941 Gafar Sattarov decided to take part in the war with Germany. He commanded a platoon and later was awarded two Orders of the Red Star and medals. Even in May of 1945 after the victory, the war was not over for him, as Gafar Sattarov participated in the war with Japan. He returned home in 1946.
The biography of Sattar Sattarov could be probably the basis of the plot of a whole saga. Like many of his peers born in 1923, he went to the front in 1941, during the most severe fighting for the army, then they did not have time to deploy combat formations. Then – the encirclement, captive in a concentration camp ... He and many inmates were sent to France for construction works. At the time of the next air raid Sattar Sattarov and several other prisoners, also former Soviet soldiers, managed to escape and joined the French partisans.
Today, Azerbaijani historians call those who escaped from the concentration camps to join the European resistance movement dozens of names. Even in Soviet times on one of the central streets of Baku there was a monument dedicated to the Hero of the Soviet Union, Mehdi Huseyn-zade, who fought in one of the partisan detachments of Yugoslavia. Today, his biography and those who fought against the Nazis in France, in Italy, in the Netherlands is slowly being restored... One of them was Sattar Sattarov, a French soldier in the the partisan groups.
He returned to his native Azerbaijan after the Victory. In those times, which were not as liberal as now, he won another fight – the fight for his own good name. The authorities had a suspicious attitude towards those who during the Great Patriotic War were prisoners and who were on occupied territory… But Sattar Sattarov told a fantastic story: during the days of retreat and encirclement he managed to hide his membership card in the Belorussian forests! After the war the experienced fighter of partisans went to Belarus, found the tree where he had hidden this priceless document ... The party card was safe and sound.
Meanwhile, the war was coming to an end for the country. And former soldiers were coming back to civilian life, including the three Sattarov brothers who returned from the war. Today the newspapers often write of post-traumatic stress disorder. There are pecial courses of rehabilitation, psychological work is developing... But at that time they were over 35 and they had other aims.
After the victory, Magsad Sattarov entered University, he studied history and philosophy. He was one of the greatest scholars in the humanities. Sattar Sattarov became a qualified pharmacist and was the head of one of the largest networks of drugstores in the city. According to his relatives, they did not like to speak about the war. But they always remembered what they saw and experienced.
And today, our great mission is to remember and not to allow a repeat of those events. This is our responsibility.
