Veteran Vladimir Bosovets: remember who won that terrible war

A simple 17-year-old boy from David Gorodka began writing his short but bright chapter in the history of the Great Patriotic War in 1944. Veteran Vladimir Fedorovich Bosovets still remembers how for the sake of delivering a secret report he swam several kilometers in cold water, and assures that many years of hardening and love for physical education helped to live to the venerable age.

Congratulations on the 100th anniversary of the veteran of the Great Patriotic War (WWII) Vladimir Bosovets and the presentation of his passport. A small private house was prepared for the feat since childhood with a sign "Here is the veteran Vyalikai Aichinnai Vainy." Dzyakui for Peramog! as if frozen in time in the very center of Gomel among high-rises and shopping centers. These days, numerous guests come here to congratulate on the 100th anniversary of veteran Vladimir Bosovets. The anniversary himself, surrounded by loved ones, greets guests with a slightly confused smile and is surprised:

- How many people! How beautiful everyone is!

Age has long taken its toll and does not allow the veteran to go out to meet the guests, but Vladimir Fedorovich greets men from his chair with a firm handshake, and women gallantly kisses hands. Behind the net of wrinkles still hides a 17-year-old guy who, although short, but had to go through the roads of war. Having survived the occupation, immediately after the liberation of his native places, he was drafted into the Red Army. The young man took a short course in a training company, after which he was distributed to the 101st Guards Rifle Division. Together with the troops of the 2nd Belarusian Front under the command of Marshal Rokossovsky, Vladimir Bosovets fought his way to the Baltic Sea coast. The guardsmen broke the fierce resistance of the surrounded German groups, participated in the capture of strategically important defense nodes. Especially severe were the battles for the fortified port city of Gdynia, during the storming of which the Belarusian guy had the opportunity to accomplish his feat. When the enemy destroyed the connection, Vladimir, who had been fond of swimming since childhood, volunteered to swim across the Kaliningrad Bay and personally deliver a secret report to the troops on the other side. The veteran recalls that even in the narrowest section of the bay, the width of the water barrier began from two kilometers. What exactly was in the report, and did not tell anyone even after many years. Military secret.

Lyudmila Fedotova affectionately hugs the pope and assures that there is no mistake, after which she adds for the guests:

- Dad in 40 years played football for six hours a day, that, apparently, and the hardening affected. I also remember how he and my husband decided to race to the river while walking. His father won even though he was 82.

After the Victory, Vladimir Fedorovich served in Berlin for another five years, and then returned to creative work in his native land. For some time he worked in David-Gorodka as a teacher of physical culture - instilled in the younger generation the same love for sports that once saved his life in the ice bay. Then, together with his wife, he moved to her homeland, in Rechitsa, where he got a job as an electrician at a local hydrolysis-yeast plant. About work in complex chemical production and today reminds departmental badge "Excellence in microbiological industry of the USSR", and on front roads - the Order of the Patriotic War II degree.

- Take care of the world and remember who won that terrible war!

boyarchuk@sb.by