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22nd June 1941 was going to be a leisurely day for me. I took my one-year- old son to Lanjeron in the morning. On our way back home I heard an announcement about the beginning of the war on the radio. We had only one feeling: we had to save our motherland! I went to the military mobilization office immediately. Since I was shortsighted their verdict was that I was only partially fit for military service. Men like me with all kinds of restrictions were taken to Kherson. From there we went to Dnepropetrovsk by boat. We stayed in a field camp on the bank of the Dnieper River.
I stayed two weeks maximum in the camp. One day a truck escorted by a frontier captain and a few soldiers delivered boxes of weapons to our camp. We were given rifles and uniforms and crossed the Dnieper. We walked for about ten hours before we stopped and entrenched ourselves. Some trucks delivered some loads to the location. The frontiers unloaded them and took some boxes to the bank of the Dnieper. We were supposed to escort them. At that moment a group of German motorcyclists showed up firing at us. We fired back and they retreated. In about an hour we were bombarded with mines and the captain ordered us to retreat to the Dnieper. He said, 'Well, guys, you've done your job and now go cross the river back to your place'. There was nothing to cross the river on, but some logs and planks. Those from Nikolaev, Kherson and Odessa could swim to cross the Dnieper while others were less fortunate, and, I believe, many of them perished then.
I managed to get to the opposite bank about three kilometers down the stream. We returned to our initial location and registered with the retreating military units. My military unit arrived in Kharkov where I had a medical check up. I and a few other men who had health problems were released from military service. By that time I had received a letter from uncle Abram. He told me where my mother, wife and son were.
I stayed two weeks maximum in the camp. One day a truck escorted by a frontier captain and a few soldiers delivered boxes of weapons to our camp. We were given rifles and uniforms and crossed the Dnieper. We walked for about ten hours before we stopped and entrenched ourselves. Some trucks delivered some loads to the location. The frontiers unloaded them and took some boxes to the bank of the Dnieper. We were supposed to escort them. At that moment a group of German motorcyclists showed up firing at us. We fired back and they retreated. In about an hour we were bombarded with mines and the captain ordered us to retreat to the Dnieper. He said, 'Well, guys, you've done your job and now go cross the river back to your place'. There was nothing to cross the river on, but some logs and planks. Those from Nikolaev, Kherson and Odessa could swim to cross the Dnieper while others were less fortunate, and, I believe, many of them perished then.
I managed to get to the opposite bank about three kilometers down the stream. We returned to our initial location and registered with the retreating military units. My military unit arrived in Kharkov where I had a medical check up. I and a few other men who had health problems were released from military service. By that time I had received a letter from uncle Abram. He told me where my mother, wife and son were.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Victor Feldman