Veteran of the Great Patriotic War - about "padlets" in the war, music that heals the heart, and creation in the name of the future

Veteran of the Great Patriotic War Mikhail Volchek urges to preserve peace, preserve memory and protect the historical truth about the war

He fought in a partisan detachment, reached East Prussia by front roads. He lost his comrades in war and lost his only daughter in peacetime. A year later he adopted two orphans with his wife. Wife of veteran of the great Patriotic war Mikhail Volchek Nina Ivanovna is no longer, but in Bobruisk live their son and daughter, three grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren. “I feel sorry for all the children, I would give my soul to them,” says Mikhail Timofeevich, who worked for many years as a teacher in a music school. He has had a passion for music since he was a child. And before becoming a teacher, he both at the front and in peacetime rotated the ram of a car. The veteran shared his memories with our correspondents and gave instructions to those who will build the future of the country.

- I came to do, however, did not decide where, recalls Mikhail Timofeevich. In the evening I went with friends to the club for a movie about Chapaev. Suddenly the lights went out, we ran outside, we hear planes buzzing. The war was declared the next day. People started leaving the city. Many went to Tashkent, away from the bombing. I walked to my native village, which is 80 kilometers away. Seeing German vehicles moving along the highway, he dived into the roadside bushes. I got home a day later, found my mother and younger brother Vitya. His father died before the war, as did his older brother, Volodya, a third-grader who had dysentery. Vita was 13 and I was 15. Although my passport says 1928, I was born between 1926 and November 25 on my 100th birthday. In the document, which was issued after the war, crept a mistake. And in 1941, when I came to the partisans, I was not taken into the detachment. People like us were called padlets. According to Mikhail Volchek, his Land burned twice in the war. Fleeing from the reprisals of the punishers, civilians went to the forests, says the veteran: – The 123rd partisan brigade was stationed there. The teenagers, who have not yet been enlisted in the squad, were entrusted to make bottles with incendiary mixture. We were sent to the villages to find out where the fascists were. He received his first baptism in 1942, having already become a partisan. The brigade commander sent me and a friend over the river Ptich with a report to the cavalrymen who were surrounded. After crossing, we came across German armored vehicles in the forest, blew up several cars. During the occupation, our brigade destroyed 107 enemy trains, 34 tanks and 111 locomotives. One of the most difficult battles was when the enemies threw three infantry and two tank divisions against the people's avengers to "close" the so-called Rudobel Gate - a ten-kilometer gap on the front line formed in the fall of 1943. Thanks to this gate, communication was established between guerrilla formations, army units and the population behind enemy lines. In that battle, says Mikhail Timofeevich, barely managed to take out the wounded and killed.

In 1943, Mikhail Volchek joined the ranks of the Red Army, became a driver of an autobattalion. I managed to reach East Prussia - in one of the battles, the car was hit by enemy grenade launchers, recalls:

- I got a concussion - a shrapnel hit the head, my eardrum burst. After the hospital, it was still difficult for me to walk, but I got behind the wheel again. I met the victory in Bobruisk.

- I still drive my Skoda today – to a store, a hairdresser’s shop, adds Mikhail Timofeevich with a smile. - Not deprived of attention: representatives of the city executive committee and the council of veterans visit, a social worker comes. And the pension is good, an apartment allocated by the state. In Belarus, veterans are taken care of.

Since childhood, Mikhail Volchek has another passion for music. As a boy, he played harmony, after the war he graduated from a music school, 15 years worked as a teacher in the Bayan class. Taking up the instrument, he famously tightens Katyusha:

- That's my favorite song. I know a lot of them - music heals the heart.

The heart of Mikhail Timofeevich was broken when in 1975 their only daughter Natasha, a freshman student of the Pedagogical Institute, died of peritonitis - appendicitis burst.

- After her funeral, Nina’s wife went to her sister in Zaporozhye. After some time, she calls from there: they say, she met a five-year-old orphan Lenochka, wants to adopt her. I certainly didn't mind. And then again the call of his wife: “Misha, she has a younger brother, they can not be separated!” In Bobruisk he met his wife and children at the station. As he picked up the kids in his arms, since then we are the closest relatives – the face of Mikhail Timofeevich illuminates a smile. With his wife lived 64 years, she died, but there is Lena and Glory, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. A large family is a great happiness.

In 2025, Mikhail Volchek, awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, medals "For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", was awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of the City of Bobruisk". But, as he says himself, the main reward is to live in an independent and free country. I talk a lot with the younger generation. Our young people are wonderful – talented, purposeful. The state provides many opportunities for young people. But I always tell them that what they have now is paid for with the blood of my generation. Therefore, they must preserve the memory and truth of the war, preserve and multiply everything that was created during the years of peace, be loyal to their land. kislyak@sb.by