A century-long road: how Donetsk veterans live
59 veterans of the Great Patriotic War remained alive in the Donetsk People's Republic. Two people in Gorlovka, one in Yasinovataya, one in Volnovakha, five in Mariupol, two in Debaltseve, most in Donetsk. Twenty have crossed the centenary. The fates of these people are similar: conscription into the Red Army, liberation of their native land and Europe, most often — injuries, return to a peaceful life, a lot of work, children, grandchildren. A new test is 2014, when cannons and shells began to roar over their cities again. A special correspondent of Izvestia met with 97-year-old Vasily Omelchenko and 100-year-old Vasily Udod, as well as their children, and learned what a century-long road is.
The machine gunner and the railroad man
A green, quiet area of Donetsk city. Above the entrance to the building I need, there is an inscription with a red star: "A veteran of the Great Patriotic War lives here." The door is opened by Vasily Polikarpovich Hoopoe's daughter Valentina. The veteran himself, dressed in a green woolen tank top (a gift for a recent anniversary), is dozing on the couch. He turned 100 on February 10.
On the shelf is a letter with congratulatory words, the sender's address is "Moscow, Kremlin". Next to it is an award badge — "Honorary Citizen of Donetsk", awarded this year (17 Donetsk veterans were awarded it). And medals — "For Courage", "Order of Glory II degree", "Order of the Patriotic War". Vasily Polikarpovich's left hand is missing, the result of a long—standing injury at work. His right arm is intact, but in recent years it has weakened, almost does not move: he was wounded in it, as well as in his thigh, in 1944.
While the veteran is napping, Valentine's daughter introduces the main milestones of his life. He was born in 1925 in the village of Otradovka, Kherson region. There were centenarians in the family — for example, our hero's grandfather lived for the same 100 years. During the German occupation in 1941, young Vasya and other peers were taken to a metallurgical plant in Zaporizhia to load pig iron. But soon the guy ran away, returned to his native village. It was impossible to stay at home, and he was sent by relatives to neighboring villages, where he lived until our arrival in 1943.
— In the same year, he was drafted into the army, — the daughter continues. "They were drafted with their cousins and brought to a training center. And there someone reported: "He worked for the Germans!" Dad was taken away for trial. And the rest of the recruits were urgently transferred to the breakthrough, and there they all died as one. After returning home, the father, according to him, was never able to enter the courtyard of his uncle, whose son had died — they were called together.
Vasily Polikarpovich Hoopoe celebrated his 100th birthday this year.
After a short trial, the young soldier was released. He served as a commander of a machine gun company. He fought on the 1st Belorussian Front. During the liberation of Poland in the summer of 1944, during the crossing of the Vistula, he managed to cross with a detachment and gain a foothold on the other bank. He repelled four enemy counterattacks, destroyed up to 25 fascists with his machine gun (according to an extract from the award document). He was also wounded there. At the end of the year, the 19-year-old fighter was discharged on disability.
Congratulatory letter from the President
Vasily returned to his native village and completed accounting courses. He married a fellow countryman. In 1950, together with his wife, he moved to Stalino, now Donetsk: there are more opportunities in the city. He got a job on the railroad, where he later suffered a serious injury. Two daughters were born. I built a house with one hand. This house became a center for family and relatives, where everyone gathered around a large table. Only last year, Valya's daughter decided to move into an apartment and leave her native nest: care and repairs became impossible.
— For the first time we will celebrate May 9th in a new place, — says Valentina. — Well, never mind, let's get out into the courtyard. They also promise to arrange a personal parade for each veteran at home. If so, Grandpa will be pleased.
Vasily Polikarpovich while working on the railway
Vasily Polikarpovich never talked much about what was happening after 2014. Worried. And I couldn't figure out what was going on, and most importantly, why? A year ago, I stopped reading and watching the news and forbade myself to tell anything: it hurts too much.
About the recipe for longevity, his daughter says: nature, your home, constant movement and work. And then there's the other half, Mom (she passed away in 2021). "I was lucky to have her. This is my greatest success," Vasily Polikarpovich said about her.
Sniper and gunner
97-year-old Vasily Grigoryevich Omelchenko lives in the very center of Donetsk, near the embankment of the Kalmius River. It's quiet and peaceful here now. And two or three years ago, only a few hundred meters from the house, the shells of the Ukrainian Armed Forces exploded: the frames of the veteran's balcony are still split. He and his wife Lydia Vasilyevna had to escape in the corridor, between the load—bearing walls, where the bed stood: they sat on it together and waited for silence.
Veteran's son Yuri Omelchenko with a photo of his parents
Today Vasily Grigorievich is lying down more and more: he has no physical strength left. And the departure of my dear wife also had an impact — she died just over a month ago, on April 3. Today, the veteran is being cared for by his eldest son, 74-year-old Yuri.
The history of the Omelchenko family is, without exaggeration, the history of military service to the Motherland. The veteran himself is a colonel in the artillery and missile forces. Yuri is a retired lieutenant colonel. The youngest son, Alexander, is a major, an Afghan veteran, and an order bearer. Both, like my father, are gunners.
Vasily Omelchenko, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, with his wife Lydia and eldest son
— Dad was born in 1927 in the village of Bishkin, Sumy region, — says Yuri. — His father, my grandfather, was a veteran of the First World War, was wounded. The second grandfather, according to his mother, worked as a miner, and during the war he fought in a partisan detachment, after that in the Red Army. My father survived the German occupation. In 1944, he was drafted into the army.
Vasily Grigorievich did not talk much about the war. He was a sniper. He liberated Eastern Europe. He suffered a serious injury, which still bothers him. After the victory, he got married. He graduated from the Dnepropetrovsk Artillery College, linking his subsequent service with this branch of the armed forces. He served as the head of physical training at Sumy Art School, commanded a battery. He was an excellent shot, had the skills of bayonet fighting, played basketball and volleyball, and did gymnastics. He received a higher military education at the Leningrad Academy. In the 1970s, he was chief of staff of the missile brigade in Czechoslovakia.
The uniform of Colonel Vasily Grigoryevich Omelchenko
In 1978, after retiring, he came to quiet, green Donetsk. He started a cottage in the village of Peski, grew grapes (today there is a burnt field on the site of the cottage village). He nursed his grandchildren—he has three of them—and already has eight great-grandchildren.
On the table in Omelchenko's apartment there is a "Book of memory" of the participants of the Great Patriotic War, in which there is also the name of Vasily Grigoryevich. There is also the collection "Native Poets", a tabletop volume by a veteran: until recently, he read and memorized poems by Pushkin, Lermontov, Yesenin. On Victory Day, the colonel always watched war films: somewhere he nodded approvingly, somewhere he shook his head (if he saw an inaccuracy). For many years he attended the Donetsk parade. Recently, on May 9th, I just went outside with Lidia Vasilyevna to sit on a bench. My son says he doesn't know if he has the strength to get up this year.
— And you could learn to fight from this generation, — says Yuri. — And appreciate each other, and love each other. She and her mother had spent their entire lives hand in hand, supporting and caring for each other. For more than seven decades.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
