[Radio] Today, at 4 o'clock in the morning...
[Radio] Germany's armed forces...
attacked the borders of the Soviet Union
[Vitaly Kolesov] Of course, we'd dreamed of a higher education, but war broke out
[Vitaly] All the boys went to sign up
[Nikolay Teplotanskikh] I said, 'I must go to the front. I have three brothers there'
[Nikolay] They had already died
[Valentina Minaeva] We didn't treat so many wounds, mostly frostbite
[Valentina] They amputated arms and legs
[Vitaly] I got to the other bank, and they suddenly shouted, 'Get down!
[Vitaly] You're on a minefield!'
[Nikolay] The radio op was killed
[Nikolay] The loader was killed too
[Nikolay] Then, bang! That was it. I blacked out
[Valentina] They'd ask: 'Sister...
give me an injection so that I'll die'
[Valentina] You try to calm them down, 'Your family's waiting for you...'
[Nikolay] 'Kolya, but you're gone!
[Nikolay] You were killed at the front!' I said, 'Mum!
[Nikolay] It's me, Kolya, your son
I'm alive!'
ETERNAL HEROES
VALENTINA MINAEVA 103 YEARS OLD
[Valentina] I worked as a midwife
[Valentina] I delivered 15 babies on my own in the village of Yuryevo
[Valentina] I made house calls in the villages, mostly at night
[Valentina] I travelled by sleigh and cart
[Valentina] I was posted there during the Finnish War
[Valentina] I worked at Petrozavodsk Hospital at the time, as a surgical nurse
SOVIET-FINISH WAR NOVEMBER 1939 - MARCH 1940
[Valentina] We hardly had time to be afraid
[Valentina] We barely even slept for three hours a day
[Valentina] In 1939,
we didn't treat many wounds, mostly frostbite
[Valentina] It was -60°C
[Valentina] They amputated arms and legs,
and we nurses took care of them
[Valentina] They'd ask: 'Sister...
give me an injection so that I'll die...'
[Valentina] You try to calm them down,
you stroke their heads
[Valentina] 'Your family's waiting for you, don't worry
[Valentina] They'll make good prostheses for you
[Valentina] You'll be whole again...
as a person
[Valentina] And you'll be whole again as a man'
[Valentina] Something like that. We said whatever we could
VITALY KOLESOV 100 YEARS OLD
[Valentina] That war ended...
and another one began...
[Vitaly] Father and Mother
[Vitaly] I'm two or three years old there
[Vitaly] These are my favourite photos
[Vitaly] Here...
my graduation class
[Vitaly] Out of them...
two of these guys...
2 tank crewmen, died in the Stalingrad operation
[Vitaly] We were brought up with the traditions of the Civil War
[Vitaly] We were always committed
to defending our homeland
Today, at 4 o'clock in the morning
without a declaration of war...
Germany's armed forces...
attacked the borders of the Soviet Union
[Radio] It's begun, a great patriotic war...
for the Soviet people...
against the German fascist invaders
[Vitaly] Of course, we'd dreamed of a higher education, but war broke out
[Vitaly] All of us immediately went to sign up
[Valentina] In the first few days, I received a draft notice
to report to the city garden
[Valentina] Everyone went there, and we weren't allowed to leave
[Valentina] I saw some of my acquaintances through the fence:
'Tell my mum that, tomorrow, we'll be dispatched by train
and ask her to bring some things for me'
[Valentina] On the second day, we...
were put on a train and sent to Transbaikalia
NIKOLAY TEPLOTANSKIKH 98 YEARS OLD
[Nikolay] I was born in Nikolskoe village in the Urals
[Nikolay] There were 4 kids in the family
[Nikolay] We were country farmers. The war began...
[Nikolay] Us boys...
the majority, 90%,
dropped out of school,
and went to a collective farm. Why? Most of the men were at the front
[Nikolay] So, somebody had to work
[Nikolay] I was a tractor driver. Tractor drivers and teachers
were exempt from serving
[Nikolay] There was this Colonel Myshkin,
the enlistment office commander
[Nikolay] I said, 'I must go to the front. I have three brothers there'
[Nikolay] They had already died
[Nikolay] We'd been notified and they'd stopped writing
[Nikolay] Anyway, I did my best to get drafted
[Vitaly] I was sent to the Smolensk Artillery School
[Nikolay] We studied for 12 to 15 hours a day
[Vitaly] I finished the course with the rank of lieutenant
[Vitaly] My subordinates were in their 40s
[Vitaly] They were World War I and Civil War veterans
[Vitaly] I was 18
[Radio] German troops, fighting on the Western Front
deployed 13 tank, 33 infantry, and five motorised infantry divisions
[Radio] Our troops have waged fierce defensive battles
[Nikolay] Resistance was severe. We fought day and night
[Nikolay] Wearing a tank helmet, I hear...
'Charge!' with some swearing, 'Charge!'
[Nikolay] So, we were off! All seemed well. Then, my tank sank
[Nikolay] There was a swamp
[Nikolay] But I just kept going in first gear,
without shifting, I kept going and going…
[Nikolay] I could feel we were just scraping along the bottom
[Nikolay] But we kept going forward slowly
[Nikolay] And then, bam! We'd reached a solid surface
[Nikolay] And that's when they hit us hard
[Nikolay] Apparently, we'd flanked them
[Nikolay] We came under a barrage of fire, and then boom!
[Nikolay] It all went black in my tank
[Nikolay] The tank was burning. Suffocating, I tried to open the hatch
[Nikolay] It was jammed
[Nikolay] I went through the stowage area
[Nikolay] And then I saw there was a man lying there
[Nikolay] It was dark. I tried to pull him out,
but couldn't. Sasha was quite heavy and he was badly hurt
[Nikolay] I saw a head peeking into the commander's hatch!
[Nikolay] The radio op had come round after a stomach wound
[Nikolay] I nudged him with my foot, 'Vanya, help!' And together...
we tumbled down. I grabbed him and ran about 10 metres
[Nikolay] Just a second later, I can say...
[Nikolay] My tank exploded, and the battle raged on
[Nikolay] So, I lay like this...
[Nikolay] I saw a German with a bayonet coming at me
[Nikolay] It's good I had a pistol
[Nikolay] So, I grabbed it and fired
[Nikolay] Wounded or killed, he fell
[Nikolay] My head buzzed
[Nikolay] But I heard voices...
[Nikolay] 'What is that?
[Nikolay] Ours, or Germans?'
[Nikolay] Then I heard they were ours
[Nikolay] I crawled over to them. They were lying in a ditch
[Nikolay] They said, 'You're hurt... bleeding!'
[Nikolay] I said I wasn't hurt. I was carrying Sasha
[Nikolay] They cut my sleeve, and I had a hole here
[Nikolay] I don't know how I survived. Anyway, they bandaged me
[Nikolay] Vanya, my radio operator, was bandaged. He had a stomach wound
[Nikolay] Sasha too! We dragged those two out. And at about 10 or 11 pm,
a medic ran to us, saying, 'You're moving towards the Germans!'
[Nikolay] What do you mean? - Germans are all over the place!
[Nikolay] Oh boy! 'Let's go this way!' We turned to the right through the bushes,
swamps, mud, and we...
found a way out
[Valentina] There was no hospital at the frontline
[Valentina] We set up the barracks ourselves, with hammers etc.
[Valentina] We did what we could: gave it a lick of paint
[Valentina] Then they began to bring us the wounded from the Western Front
for further treatment
[Valentina] People were starving. At that time, we also had dystrophy
[Valentina] They brought young men - 18-year-olds mostly. Young boys!
[Valentina] They were trained to march and engage the enemy:
to use their bayonets and hold the line
[Valentina] One said, 'Comrade Sergeant, I can't walk. My legs have packed in!'
[Valentina] He told him to see the medic who measured his temperature
[Valentina] He saw that it wasn't high, felt his forehead and said:
'Go back to the unit'
[Valentina] He came back and collapsed. They dragged him to us,
holding him up under his arms, but he collapsed again and died
[Valentina] 25 people died every day
[Valentina] And we girls carried the dead away on stretchers
to get them out of sight so that the other soldiers didn't see them
[Valentina] Many soldiers died. I felt very sorry for the young men
[Radio] Fierce fighting continues around Stalingrad. Our troops are repelling
numerous attacks by enemy tanks and infantry
IN OCTOBER 1942, VITALY KOLESOV WAS SENT TO STALINGRAD
[Vitaly] There were a lot of soldiers around:
tankmen, infantry, and other troops were rallying
[Vitaly] We realised that a big operation was being planned
[Vitaly] The Supreme High Command General Headquarters
decided to encircle and destroy the 300,000-strong German force that
was approaching the Volga
THE GERMAN NAZI TROOPS INCLUDED GERMANS, ROMANIANS, ITALIANS, HUNGARIANS, AND CROATS. [Vitaly] In fact, even then the whole of Europe was fighting against us
[Vitaly] There was severe frost, up to −20°C. Snowfalls began
[Vitaly] On November 19, at 7:55 am, we received an order... 'Load!'
[Vitaly] 15,000 guns and mortars rained down their fire on the German Nazi troops,
and our tanks advanced
[Vitaly] When our tanks were approaching the enemy's frontline,
[Vitaly] I saw anti-tank guns rolling out of the German trenches
[Vitaly] While our tanks were advancing,
I managed to destroy two anti-tank guns with a few shots
[Vitaly] Infantry followed the tanks
[Vitaly] Morale was boosted
[Vitaly] I didn't feel any fear. We ran and ran, forward as fast as we could
along with the infantry and tanks
[Vitaly] Our regiment was moving to the Italians' defensive positions
[Vitaly] They fled in panic, dropping their weapons
[Vitaly] The Romanians were the first to surrender
[Vitaly] Entire regiments and even divisions surrendered
[Vitaly] I witnessed huge columns of Germans,
Romanians and Italians surrendering
[Vitaly] They were exhausted, cold, hungry, and ragged
[Vitaly] Artillery, of course, played a very important role
AFTER BEING SERIOUSLY WOUNDED, TEPLOTANSKIKH WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO RETURN TO THE FRONT, BUT HE INSISTED AND WENT BACK
[Nikolay] We liberated the small town of Ochuga
[Nikolay] A woman and a girl approached and stuck flowers through the tank's hatch
[Nikolay] They were crying, thanking us for liberating them
[Nikolay] Houses were burning. In retreat, the Germans set fire to them
[Nikolay] I saw gallows. Now, when I wake up,
[Nikolay] I see this girl and woman before my eyes
[Nikolay] I remember them well
[Nikolay] And I dream of how I pulled Sasha out
[Nikolay] I was standing on the tank
[Nikolay] I might have been cut down. I have bits of shrapnel in my spine,
and a bunch of shrapnel pieces in my hip joint
[Nikolay] I think what a fool I was to stand on the turret
[Nikolay] But had I abandoned him, he would've been killed or captured
[Nikolay] I didn't leave him. I also dream about that at night... Oh!
[Vitaly] This was taken after Stalingrad
[Vitaly] This is in Ukraine
[Vitaly] I crossed the Seversky Donets River with the infantry
[Vitaly] As soon as I crossed it, they shouted to me, 'Get down! Get down!'
[Vitaly] I got down with my soldiers
[Vitaly] I saw a little metal flag with a skull and bones on it
[Vitaly] We were in a minefield
[Vitaly] Then, heavy machine-gun fire started from the high ground opposite
[Vitaly] Our infantry lay down. From the ground,
[Vitaly] I could see machine-gun bursts. I opened fire
[Vitaly] Apparently, they were overwhelmed, and ceased fire
[Vitaly] That's how I helped our infantry to suppress those machine-gun nests
IN OCTOBER 1944, TEPLOTANSKIKH WAS SENT TO KÖNIGSBERG
[Nikolay] There was heavy resistance
[Nikolay] The Germans had turned every house into a fortress
[Nikolay] We got to Königsberg, where the order was:
[Nikolay] 'Move forward, forward...' Tanks were burning
[Nikolay] The radio operator was killed, and so was the loader
[Nikolay] Alyoshka, the gunner, asked, 'Kolya, how are you?'
[Nikolay] I'd already been stunned. They were hitting my front armour
[Nikolay] Small fragments were flying about. My eyes must have been damaged
by them
[Nikolay] Then, boom! I lost consciousness
[Nikolay] I don't know who pulled me out. They put me in a trench
[Nikolay] They picked up the wounded first
[Nikolay] Then they collected dead bodies - maybe after a few days
[Nikolay] There were also dead Germans
[Nikolay] They began to collect the bodies, and I turned out to be alive
[Nikolay] I was sent to the eye hospital in Kaunas. There were two nurses there:
[Nikolay] Tosya and Velta. They told me:
[Nikolay] 'A colonel came. He told us to remove your eyes'
[Nikolay] I told the chief doctor I'd never allow it
[Nikolay] She said, 'Come on, I'll do all I can to avoid removing your eyes'
[Nikolay] I said, 'Truly?' She said, 'Yes'
[Nikolay] Well, she did remove my crystalline lenses
[Nikolay] Then, on the second or the third day,
the pain became so intense it was impossible to bear
[Nikolay] I couldn't eat or drink
[Nikolay] So, I decided...
[Nikolay] My eyes were bandaged
[Nikolay] I spilled out of bed
[Nikolay] I knew I wasn't on the first floor
[Nikolay] I crawled up to the window, thinking: 'Who needs me blind?'
[Nikolay] And then this nurse, Tosya, ran up and picked me up
[Nikolay] I was skin and bones, probably weighed no more than a rabbit
[Nikolay] She put me back to bed, crying, screaming, and cursing the Germans
[Reporter] Did any wounded fall for you as a young nurse?
[Valentina] Well, it did happen
[Valentina] You stroke a head, make a joke, or say a few kind words...
One officer said:
'Valyusha! There's money there, 600 roubles
[Valentina] Take it
[Valentina] It'll be a memento to remind you of me'
[Valentina] I said: 'No, I don't need money
[Valentina] They feed me here, but you'll need it'
[Valentina] All sorts of things happened
[Valentina] I declared that I wouldn't marry until the war ended
[Valentina] There were many proposals
[Valentina] We attended dances
[Valentina] Once we went to the Officers' House
[Valentina] One young man invited me to dance, to waltz...
and I danced well in my time
[Valentina] And we dated for 6 months, then I turned him down, thinking:
[Valentina] 'Everyone's just looking for a bedmate'
[Valentina] Then my future husband began to court me,
although he knew I'd refuse him
[Valentina] And he couldn't really dance, didn't know how yet
[Valentina] Especially to waltz
[Valentina] He was OK at the tango, but you really need to know how to waltz
[Radio] Moscow speaking
[Radio] After persistent street fighting,
we have completely defeated the German troops in Berlin,
and, today, May 2, captured the capital of Germany,
the city of Berlin
[Vitaly] This is brigade headquarters
[Vitaly] I'm sitting here with a pipe
[Vitaly] Hungary, spring of 1945
[Vitaly] On May 8, we entered the city of Graz
[Vitaly] We were there when they declared victory
[Vitaly] The war was over
[Vitaly] It was certainly a very joyful event
[Vitaly] What's this?
[Vitaly] We had a little feast
[Vitaly] The commandant's office reported: 'The war is over!'
[Vitaly] Everyone with a weapon fired into the air
[Vitaly] I went up to the unit commander
[Vitaly] He hugged me, and I was crying
[Vitaly] 'Kolya! That's it! The war is over! The war is over!'
[Valentina] Well, of course, we jumped for joy
[Valentina] 'Oh, the war is over! Let's go home!'
[Valentina] No. They told us...
there was still war with Japan
[Valentina] We were transferred to the point they expected the Japanese to attack
[Valentina] We arrived and lived in dugouts for more than a month
[Valentina] It was cold, and we only had dry rations to eat
[Valentina] You couldn't light cooking fires or anything in the dugouts
[Valentina] One person would rest, while the other stood by the door with a rifle
[Valentina] The Japanese slaughtered people in hospitals
[Valentina] They were crueller than the Germans
[Valentina] They beheaded girls and women
[Valentina] We beat them with superior numbers when our units came from the West
[Valentina] They were angry, battle-hardened men
[Valentina] On September 3,
we were already in Manchuria,
and the war ended
[Valentina] Our male orderlies found a wine cellar,
but their sake didn't taste very good
[Valentina] Suddenly, they shouted to me: 'Valya, Kolya is here! Valya, Kolya is here!'
[Valentina] Well, of course, I dashed to meet him
[Valentina] He took me in his arms and carried me across the corridor
[Valentina] Then he went to his superiors,
and asked for permission from mine,
and we got married
[Valentina] That's why I stopped going to dances
[Valentina] That was it! My dancing days were over
[Valentina] As my sons used to say:
'Despite all the troubles,
you never learned to swear, drink vodka, or smoke, Mum,
and became a loving mother'
[Nikolay] This is my family
[Nikolay] Mum, my Nina...
[Nikolay] Ninochka
[Nikolay] This is my son, this is my daughter, Galochka
[Nikolay] Mum got a notice saying I was killed in action,
so she thought I was dead
[Nikolay] And I thought she was dead
[Nikolay] They brought me home
[Nikolay] I got out, and Mum came out on the porch
[Nikolay] She touched me: 'Kolya...
[Nikolay] Kolya, is that you?
[Nikolay] Kolya, but you're gone!
[Nikolay] You died at the front
[Nikolay] Kolya, you're gone! Vanya is dead, and you too'
[Nikolay] I said, 'Mum! It's me, Kolya, your son!
[Nikolay] I'm alive!'
[Valentina] You have to be kind and respect others
[Valentina] Love people
[Valentina] First of all, before you get offended or angry with someone,
you need to look at yourself and see how you treat people
[Valentina] I worked in gynaecology for 37 years
[Valentina] I retired at the age of 72,
though, as I wrote to my head doctor, it was 'with great regret'
[Valentina] I have two sons, three grandsons, one granddaughter,
and 5 great-grandchildren...
a lot!
[Valentina] I never complain about anything
[Valentina] I never tell anyone that this hurts or that hurts
[Valentina] The young ones may get aches and pains, but at my age, it's a given
VALENTINA MINAEVA TURNED 103 ON FEBRUARY 5, 2024
[Valentina] Thank you for coming
[Valentina] I probably don't deserve all this attention
[Valentina] Thank you, everyone
[Valentina] I love you
[Valentina] I'm surrounded by good people
[Valentina] I've got nothing to complain about
[Valentina] All is good
VITALY KOLESOV, COLONEL, WORLD WAR II AND AFGHAN WAR VETERAN AWARDED 3 ORDERS OF THE PATRIOTIC WAR AND 3 ORDERS OF THE RED STAR
[Vitaly] Now, when I'm watching TV
and see our gunners in action in the Special Military Operation,
of course, it reminds me of my young years as a commander
'As if I stand with you once more,
in the raging fires of war
by an unknown village
on an unnamed height'
[Nikolay] As Dad told us: 'Whoever you become, remain human
NIKOLAY TEPLOTANSKIKH, SENIOR SERGEANT TANK MECHANIC, AWARDED THE ORDER OF THE RED STAR, THE ORDER OF GLORY
[Nikolay] Don't offend youngsters,
help the weak,
honour your elders,
don't take what isn't yours,
and don't deceive anyone'
[Nikolay] Well...
that's the cross I still carry