The Great Patriotic War... It became a touchstone for the entire nation, which tested not only the strength of the economic foundations of our society, but also the spiritual potential and moral values of each citizen.

The course of the war, all its 1,418 days and nights, convincingly showed that the deadly danger hanging over the country sharpened the sense of patriotism to the limit, and even more closely united people of different generations in the name of a common goal - the defeat of the hated enemy. Deep ideological conviction, hatred of the aggressor, boundless faith in the rightness of their cause served as an inexhaustible source of spiritual strength of our soldiers, their moral unity on the battlefield.

In short, the cruel reality of the harsh times of that time gave rise to a special responsibility for each of us to fulfill our military duty to the Fatherland. As a result, even in the most tragic days, my colleagues remained optimistic, believing in the upcoming victory.

It is quite clear that the fate of each person in the war develops in its own way. And in the pre-war years, with their great achievements and terrible tragedies, each of us represented a certain personality with its own characteristics and character. However, we were all united in the main thing-in responsibility for the fate of the Motherland, which rises to self-sacrifice in the name of its interests.

This unique feature of our people was noted even by the enemy. Much has been written about it in the world's fiction and nonfiction literature about the war. Perhaps there is no more or less significant work in which this reality does not find a comprehensive, as a rule, truthful interpretation. The vast majority of authors, covering various aspects of the war, paid the main attention to showing exactly the person in the war, his heroism, moral fortitude, and spiritual strength.

In their reflections, the writers place special emphasis on such a moral value of a person as filial care for their Fatherland. At the same time, in recent years there have been such works about the war that are not free from some distortions, deviations from the historical truth. They often contain a typical negative image of a soldier called up to the front from prison. Are the authors entitled to give such an assessment to those who have been convicted once and who have already been punished for their actions? This issue has been repeatedly raised by literary critics. And not without good reason.

It is difficult to say why such a" reinterpretation " of history takes place. Either the authors simply want to" sharpen " the plot, or they lack talent, or opportunistic considerations prevail. It is especially disappointing that not only beginners from the pen, but also writers with a name suffer from a craving for black tones. So, the concept of the eternal depravity of a person in war is contained in the image of the former prisoner under Article 58 of the intelligence platoon commander foreman Lazarev in the novel by Yu. Bondarev "Choice", which with the light hand of the author remains in the soul of a criminal who has not lost his criminal habits. We can assume that this was the case. But was it typical? I don't think so. I would like to tell you about this, based on my personal experience during the harsh military hard times.

In November 1941, I, among other graduates of the military school, was sent to the troops. In those days, the country was probably going through the most critical moment: the fascists were on the outskirts of Moscow. The leadership of the state, the military department, organizing a repulse to the enemy along the entire length of a huge front, took effective measures to prepare and deploy reserves, create new units and formations. One of these connections was formed in the north along the Kotlas-Vorkuta railway. It was here that a small group of young officers was assigned.

The place of formation of the new division to some extent predetermined the social composition of the military personnel arriving to complete the units with private and non-commissioned personnel. Upon arrival at the unit, we found ourselves in conditions where the personnel was represented mainly from among former prisoners. Moreover, several units being formed were located in the premises of the prison camp evacuated the day before, and for two weeks, due to the delay in the arrival of uniforms, many of our subordinates continued to wear prison uniforms.

After staffing and a month and a half of training, parts of the division arrived in the active army, joined the Kalinin Front. As fate would have it, I served in this unit until the end of 1944, fighting from Moscow to Riga. During the course of combat operations, we all had the opportunity to see our subordinates in the most extreme conditions of a combat situation, where the true essence of a person is most fully revealed. For three years, units of the division both advanced and defended, and achieved success, and failed. All sorts of things happened.

The battles for Kuryakovo and Stupino left a particularly deep mark on my soul. To the credit of the soldiers who arrived at the front from places of detention, in the 144th Rifle Regiment, as in other units, there was no case when any of them did not fulfill their military duty. I will say more, in my memory there are many vivid examples of their courage and bravery, fortitude and audacity in battle.

And now I remember with deep respect the brave soldiers (who came from places of detention) - Soldatov, who shot down an enemy plane with a heavy machine gun, Zagradinov, Nikolaev, Pankov and many others. Fellow soldiers remember well, for example, the combat actions of regimental scouts called up from the Komi Republic. How many combat raids, requiring courage and fearlessness, they made across the Lovat River at a time when the regiment's units were defending this line in 1942-1943! Their audacity and bravery were admired by all the soldiers of the regiment.

One episode in particular stuck in my mind. In the fierce battles for the Martyanovsky defense center in November-December 1942, it often came to hand-to-hand combat. A group of fighters led by deputy battalion commander A. Shutov distinguished themselves here. All of them died, but did not leave the occupied line. It is not by chance that a memorial was erected on Stupino Hill by the decision of local authorities on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Victory. The fact that by the end of December 1943, 2,250 soldiers and officers of the unit were awarded orders and medals is also a convincing evidence of the courage and bravery shown by the soldiers of the division.

The examples given here, personal impressions and memories of those who went through the difficult roads of war, once again confirm the well-known truth that a person changes the world, changes himself. Now, when our society is re-evaluating moral values, there is no place for assertions about the unavoidable vices of human character. For man, by his very nature, always strives for the best. This is confirmed by the experience of the last war.