Shirinkina, Alevtina Il'inichna
On the 1st of September in 1939 the Nazi troops of Germany invaded Poland suddenly. On the 3d of September England and France, which were connected with Poland by union obligations, started the war against Germany. By the 10th of September the war to Germany had been declared by British Commonwealth of Nations – Australia, New Zeeland, Canada and India, which were British colonies that time. More and more countries were being involved in the war and it was impossible to stop it. The United States of America and The Soviet Union announced about their neutrality. Gradually the Second World War involved 61 states, which was 80 % of the population of the Earth and it continued for six years. On the 22nd of June in 1941 the Minister for Foreign Affairs announced that the USSR was involved into the war against Germany.
The events of 1941-45th will always remain in the memories of those people, who went “the seven rounds of hell” of the severe war. Sixteen-year-old boys went to the front to protect the Motherland and faced the death! Bulat Ockudgava was among those who had just finished school by that time.
‘ Ах, война, что же ты сделала, подлая: Стали тихими наши дворы, Наши мальчики головы подняли, Повзрослели они до поры, На пороге едва помаячили, И ушли за солдатом солдат… До свидания, мальчики! Мальчики, Постарайтесь вернуться назад!’
(War, what you did: our yards became empty; our boys, having become grown-ups very early, went to the war.Boys, try to come back!)
The life of those who stayed in the rear, was not easy at all: huge responsibility was laid on them because they worked at factories in order to supply the front with all necessary things.
Shirinkina Alevtina Iljinichna was about 16 years old when the Great Patriotic War broke out. She lived in the city called Kizel where was the Machine Plant of Gorkij which was removed from Kiev. And Alevtina Iljinichna went to work. The conditions of the work left much to be desired, there was plywood instead of the walls. Although Alevtina Iljinichna and other workers suffered from unbearable cold, they did their best in order to help Russian soldiers. As a matter of fact, their aim was to produce the mines for ‘ Katjusha ‘. An eighteen year old girl managed to do plenty of different kinds of work and her payment was a loaf of bread. As for people, who were disabled, they got only 300 gram of bread. Besides, some workers could get the coupons and thus they could eat some hot soup. As for Alevtina’s brother he was taken to the front immediately and unfortunately, he died there. Her father went to the front as well. There was only her little sister and mother at home. Of course they could not work and it meant that Alevtina had to do her best to earn some money and survive. War means sufferings and famine no doubt. But young people did not lose heart, they tried to entertain themselves going to “dances“ in order to forget about the bloody war.
But in the morning everything was the same: mines, work shops and difficult work. Frankly speaking, everybody was eager to finish that war. Moreover, every person believed that he or she was a part of a huge organism and thus everyone was extremely important. Unfortunately sometimes people got injuries at the plants and Alevtina was not an exception. She got her first injury at the beginning of the war because she was an inexperienced teenage girl. To be exact she cut her leg and that was why she was made the master of a work shop.
It is a well-known fact that the twenty second of June is a holiday for all Russian graduates. Alevtina Ilyinichna was eager to become a geologist and study at Kizel Mining College but her dreams were broken. On the ninth of May in 1945 Germany capitulated. People all over the world celebrate the end of the Soviet Union’s participation in World War II. Fathers and children came back home and we will remember them. They are always in our hearts. As for Alevtina Ilyinichna, she was awarded for her labour and diligence.
Russian Version: Ширинкина, Алевтина Ильинична
