News of the story
"Victory Parade: Stories and Faces"
In the run-up to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Belarusian news agency BelTA together with the 7 Days newspaper launched a large-scale project. During the year we will be narrating the stories of the Belarusians who took part in the legendary Victory Parade in 1945. These men fought at Rzhev and Odessa, won the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, liberated Belarus, and took Berlin. On 24 June 1945 they marched triumphantly through Red Square in Moscow. They are the faces of our great Victory!
The relatives of veteran Fyodor Zhogol never switch a TV channel when it airs a historical newsreel from the 1940s. Looking at the documentary footage, they all look for the dear face among the front-line soldiers. Fyodor Zhogol was a witness and participant of the main events of the last century: he saw the Victory Banner hoisted in the center of Berlin, left his signature on the wall of the defeated Reichstag, and marched on Red Square during the Victory Parade in 1945.
‘I always wondered how I survived’
Like many veterans, Fyodor Zhogol was reluctant to reminisce about the 1940s. But his grandchildren still asked their grandfather to tell them what the war was like. Giving in to them, he would say: “Close your ears. What do you hear?” The children answered: noise. “That's how the war was,” the former frontline soldier said.
The veteran died in 1976, but his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even great-great-grandchildren are still studying the archival documents from the war, collecting and keeping everything related to their relative.
Fyodor Zhogol was drafted to the army in mid-July 1941. He started to serve as a gunner, but very soon the soldier was sent to a short-term course for military commanders. Having finished them, he entered the battle as a gun commander. He fought first on the Kalinin Front and then in the Baltic Front. He took part in the Battle of Rzhev, which military historians called one of the bloodiest battles in the history of mankind. The fighting between Soviet and German troops in the area of the Rzhev-Vyazma bulge lasted more than a year; the losses on both sides were catastrophic.
“My father's military ID reads that he was wounded near Rzhev on 2 November 1942. He himself said that the wound was not serious, so he did not leave the battlefield, but continued to fight until the end. When the platoon commander died, he took over from him,” the veteran's daughter Olga Grinkevich recalled.
The artilleryman sustained another injury in Latvia on 29 October 1944.
“He was wounded very badly in the shoulder. Dad lay on the battlefield for almost the entire day until a Latvian family saved him. They brought him home and nursed for several days. He said that food was very scarce. In order to survive, the Latvian family had to cook soup from a dead horse,” recalled Olga Grinkevich.
While in the Latvian hospital, Fyodor Zhogol bumped into his childhood friend IosifBraim, who was from the same village of Pilipony, Petrikov District. The two Red Army soldiers took a joint photo: none of them knew whether they would ever see each other again. Today this picture, the only image left from the war years, is kept by Fyodor Zhogol’s family.
“Our soldiers had a very hard time in Latvia. Winters were the biggest challenge. The Red Army soldiers had to dig trenches in -40C. In the postwar years the veteran always wondered how they all managed to make it through. And I also remember a story of my dad capturing an enemy soldier. Our soldiers had already made several unsuccessful attempts to do it, but it was nearly impossible to cross the frontline without being spotted by the enemy. Dad managed to somehow get to a field where a German was harvesting oats. He came very close, sprang to his feet and said "Händehoch". The German was taken aback and dropped the scythe. So the father managed to bring the enemy soldier to the command.
While Fyodor Zhogol was fighting, his wife Pelageya and their eldest daughter Maria, born in 1942, were trying to survive in occupied Pilipony.
When the Red Army liberated the village, my mother ran to welcome the soldiers. She approached every one of them and asked if anyone had met her husband Fyodor Zhogol. There were also two more women looking for any information about their relatives. All three of them were blown up by a land mine that day. It was a huge tragedy for our family. My mother survived, but the scar on her head stayed with her for the rest of her life,” Olga Grinkevich said with tears in her eyes.
The only brother out of five to return home from war
Fyodor Zhogol celebrated the victory in Berlin. When our soldiers entered the city, they did not harm the civilian population. Although the Soviet soldiers had every reason to hate them: as Nazis did not spare their families, and many Red Army soldiers had their relatives brutally murdered and tortured during the occupation.
“Knowing what monstrous things the Nazis did on our land, the soldiers did not allow themselves to stoop to their level. Our people were different. They did not take it out on ordinary Germans. Those who tried, however, were punished by their fellow soldiers,” Olga Grinkevich quoted her father's words.
“Every time I look at wartime photos on the internet, particularly those of Soviet soldiers at the Reichstag building, I try to find my great-grandfather's face, because he was there at that time,” Pavel Sosnovsky, the veteran's great-grandson, said. He was born after Fyodor Zhogol's death, but took a keen interest in the life of his hero relative from early childhood.
Fyodor Zhogol was the only brother out of five to return home from the war. He also took part in the Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow.
“My father had a phenomenal memory. When telling about the events of the war, he would not only tell me the names of his fellow soldiers, but also the dates of certain events and sometimes the exact time. Unfortunately, I can't recall much as I was still a child then. There is only one story which I remember very well. My father told me how our soldiers threw enemy banners at the foot of the Mausoleum during the parade. I also remember his parade uniform in which he marched on Red Square," Olga Grinkevich said. "In 1983, I went on a business trip to Moscow and visited Red Square. It was incredible to be in the same place where our victors, frontline soldiers, once marched. Even now, when I see those scenes on TV, I get excited. I never switch the channel. Every time I look carefully at the faces and search for my father among them."
Nine wounds of artilleryman Zhogol
Fyodor Zhogol was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War Second Class and the Order of the Red Star, Medal for Bravery and Medal for the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. After graduating from the Dnepropetrovsk Artillery School, after the war he served in Borisov for more than ten years.
“My sisters, younger brother and I stayed in the village, as our mother did not want to move. The family lived separately until 1957 when my father retired to the reserve. Returning to his hometown, he worked as a chairman of the Brinev village council," Olga Grinkevich recalled.
During the Great Patriotic War, Fyodor Zhogol was wounded nine times. The battle scars affected him even after the war: in 1964 he underwent emergency surgery. Along with the fragment he had part of his lung removed.
...Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the veteran's death. The house that Fyodor Zhogol built after the war has been vacant for a long time. The children and grandchildren have all moved to different cities, but many of them still visit Pilipony. All generations of this large, close-knit family gather at their father's home every year on Radunitsa [the day of commemoration of the departed] to honor the memory of the hero.
If you are a relative or friend of a frontline soldier who took part in the Victory Parade on Red Square, Moscow, in June 1945 and you are willing to share your family story and photos with us, please call +375 17 311-33-17 or send an e-mail to ygavrilenko@belta.by. Let's tell the story of our Victors together!
Yulia GAVRILENKO,
The relatives of veteran Fyodor Zhogol never switch a TV channel when it airs a historical newsreel from the 1940s. Looking at the documentary footage, they all look for the dear face among the front-line soldiers. Fyodor Zhogol was a witness and participant of the main events of the last century: he saw the Victory Banner hoisted in the center of Berlin, left his signature on the wall of the defeated Reichstag, and marched on Red Square during the Victory Parade in 1945.
‘I always wondered how I survived’
Like many veterans, Fyodor Zhogol was reluctant to reminisce about the 1940s. But his grandchildren still asked their grandfather to tell them what the war was like. Giving in to them, he would say: “Close your ears. What do you hear?” The children answered: noise. “That's how the war was,” the former frontline soldier said.
The veteran died in 1976, but his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even great-great-grandchildren are still studying the archival documents from the war, collecting and keeping everything related to their relative.
Fyodor Zhogol was drafted to the army in mid-July 1941. He started to serve as a gunner, but very soon the soldier was sent to a short-term course for military commanders. Having finished them, he entered the battle as a gun commander. He fought first on the Kalinin Front and then in the Baltic Front. He took part in the Battle of Rzhev, which military historians called one of the bloodiest battles in the history of mankind. The fighting between Soviet and German troops in the area of the Rzhev-Vyazma bulge lasted more than a year; the losses on both sides were catastrophic.
“My father's military ID reads that he was wounded near Rzhev on 2 November 1942. He himself said that the wound was not serious, so he did not leave the battlefield, but continued to fight until the end. When the platoon commander died, he took over from him,” the veteran's daughter Olga Grinkevich recalled.
The artilleryman sustained another injury in Latvia on 29 October 1944.
“He was wounded very badly in the shoulder. Dad lay on the battlefield for almost the entire day until a Latvian family saved him. They brought him home and nursed for several days. He said that food was very scarce. In order to survive, the Latvian family had to cook soup from a dead horse,” recalled Olga Grinkevich.
While in the Latvian hospital, Fyodor Zhogol bumped into his childhood friend IosifBraim, who was from the same village of Pilipony, Petrikov District. The two Red Army soldiers took a joint photo: none of them knew whether they would ever see each other again. Today this picture, the only image left from the war years, is kept by Fyodor Zhogol’s family.
“Our soldiers had a very hard time in Latvia. Winters were the biggest challenge. The Red Army soldiers had to dig trenches in -40C. In the postwar years the veteran always wondered how they all managed to make it through. And I also remember a story of my dad capturing an enemy soldier. Our soldiers had already made several unsuccessful attempts to do it, but it was nearly impossible to cross the frontline without being spotted by the enemy. Dad managed to somehow get to a field where a German was harvesting oats. He came very close, sprang to his feet and said "Händehoch". The German was taken aback and dropped the scythe. So the father managed to bring the enemy soldier to the command.
While Fyodor Zhogol was fighting, his wife Pelageya and their eldest daughter Maria, born in 1942, were trying to survive in occupied Pilipony.
When the Red Army liberated the village, my mother ran to welcome the soldiers. She approached every one of them and asked if anyone had met her husband Fyodor Zhogol. There were also two more women looking for any information about their relatives. All three of them were blown up by a land mine that day. It was a huge tragedy for our family. My mother survived, but the scar on her head stayed with her for the rest of her life,” Olga Grinkevich said with tears in her eyes.
The only brother out of five to return home from war
Fyodor Zhogol celebrated the victory in Berlin. When our soldiers entered the city, they did not harm the civilian population. Although the Soviet soldiers had every reason to hate them: as Nazis did not spare their families, and many Red Army soldiers had their relatives brutally murdered and tortured during the occupation.
“Knowing what monstrous things the Nazis did on our land, the soldiers did not allow themselves to stoop to their level. Our people were different. They did not take it out on ordinary Germans. Those who tried, however, were punished by their fellow soldiers,” Olga Grinkevich quoted her father's words.
Fyodor Zhogol was one of the Red Army soldiers to sign the wall of the Reichstag and witness the Banner of Victory being hoisted in the center of Berlin.
“Every time I look at wartime photos on the internet, particularly those of Soviet soldiers at the Reichstag building, I try to find my great-grandfather's face, because he was there at that time,” Pavel Sosnovsky, the veteran's great-grandson, said. He was born after Fyodor Zhogol's death, but took a keen interest in the life of his hero relative from early childhood.
Fyodor Zhogol was the only brother out of five to return home from the war. He also took part in the Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow.
“My father had a phenomenal memory. When telling about the events of the war, he would not only tell me the names of his fellow soldiers, but also the dates of certain events and sometimes the exact time. Unfortunately, I can't recall much as I was still a child then. There is only one story which I remember very well. My father told me how our soldiers threw enemy banners at the foot of the Mausoleum during the parade. I also remember his parade uniform in which he marched on Red Square," Olga Grinkevich said. "In 1983, I went on a business trip to Moscow and visited Red Square. It was incredible to be in the same place where our victors, frontline soldiers, once marched. Even now, when I see those scenes on TV, I get excited. I never switch the channel. Every time I look carefully at the faces and search for my father among them."
Nine wounds of artilleryman Zhogol
Fyodor Zhogol was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War Second Class and the Order of the Red Star, Medal for Bravery and Medal for the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. After graduating from the Dnepropetrovsk Artillery School, after the war he served in Borisov for more than ten years.
“My sisters, younger brother and I stayed in the village, as our mother did not want to move. The family lived separately until 1957 when my father retired to the reserve. Returning to his hometown, he worked as a chairman of the Brinev village council," Olga Grinkevich recalled.
During the Great Patriotic War, Fyodor Zhogol was wounded nine times. The battle scars affected him even after the war: in 1964 he underwent emergency surgery. Along with the fragment he had part of his lung removed.
...Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the veteran's death. The house that Fyodor Zhogol built after the war has been vacant for a long time. The children and grandchildren have all moved to different cities, but many of them still visit Pilipony. All generations of this large, close-knit family gather at their father's home every year on Radunitsa [the day of commemoration of the departed] to honor the memory of the hero.
If you are a relative or friend of a frontline soldier who took part in the Victory Parade on Red Square, Moscow, in June 1945 and you are willing to share your family story and photos with us, please call +375 17 311-33-17 or send an e-mail to ygavrilenko@belta.by. Let's tell the story of our Victors together!
Yulia GAVRILENKO,
7 Days newspaper
Photos courtesy of Fyodor Zhogol's family
Follow us on:
