My Grandfather
The 9th of May is the Victory Day in Russia. It is a great day for all the Russians. We are remembering the people who have taken part in the WWII. I would like to tell about my grandfather today.
My grandfather died in 2005 at the age of 91. He was a veteran of WWII. He was recruited in 1941 and served as a private in the NKVD. He was given many awards. During the war, he was seriously wounded and later released from the Soviet army. I don’t know exactly what he did, but I do know for certain that he didn’t ever want to die. He was afraid of death until his last breath. He very rarely ever talked to us about the war. He didn’t like to recall it. Only once I heard a story from him. Here it is.
My grandfather died in 2005 at the age of 91. He was a veteran of WWII. He was recruited in 1941 and served as a private in the NKVD. He was given many awards. During the war, he was seriously wounded and later released from the Soviet army. I don’t know exactly what he did, but I do know for certain that he didn’t ever want to die. He was afraid of death until his last breath. He very rarely ever talked to us about the war. He didn’t like to recall it. Only once I heard a story from him. Here it is.
It was just another day in the beginning of the war. My granddad and a bunch of the other soldiers had a meal gathered around the field canteens. As usual, they ate shitty tasting porridge. My grandfather quite loudly said how horrible it tasted. It happened that the political commissar* overheard, and that night he called my grandfather in.
When my grandfather got into the room, the officer closed the door and started shouting at him. He called my grandfather a piece of shit and accused him of committing espionage for the Germans. Afterwards, the commissar declared my grandfather to be an enemy of the people and said he must be eliminated. The commissar said he’d do it right now and right there. He pulled out a gun pointing it at my granddad. My granddad was scared to death. He turned pale, lost control and pissed in his pants. The officer put the gun down and asked if my grandfather understood his words. My grandfather did. Then the commissar let him out. He came out with tears in his eyes and with the wet pants.
That’s the story.
I had always known my grandpa to be a strong man and he really was a hell of a man. But that time he was not brave. I don’t in any way blame him for that. What would I have done in his place? I might have taken a crap.
I don’t know why he told it to us. Perhaps, it was the only thing he wanted us, his grandchildren, to know about the war.
* Political commissar. In the military, a political commissar or political officer (or politruk, from Russian: политический руководитель, "political leader"), is a supervisory officer responsible for the political education (ideology) and organization of the unit they are assigned to, and intended to ensure civilian control of the military.
Олег, ты вполне достойный внук своего достойного дедушки. Его единственная история о Второй мировой войне очень уместна, чтобы вызвать разврат, безумие войны.
ReplyDeleteOleg, you are a completely worthy grandson of your worthy grandfather. His only story about World War II is very appropriate to evoke the depravity, the insanity of WAR.