Boris Komsky. Wartime Diary, July 1943-January 1945
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DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT Boris Komsky. Wartime diary, July 1943-January 1945 ID UKR058.008 PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b4hx15s2p ITEM TYPE DIARY ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN TABLE OF CONTENTS ITEM TRANSCRIPT ENGLISH TRANSLATION 2 CITATION & RIGHTS 56 2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 1/56 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT Boris Komsky. Wartime diary, July 1943-January 1945 ID UKR058.008 PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b4hx15s2p ITEM TYPE DIARY ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN TRANSCRIPT ENGLISH TRANSLATION Komsky Boris Grigorevich Kiev (Kyiv) Active Army July 1943 Party candidate membership ID: VKP(B) 5811004 Komsomol membership ID: 1116212 *** “Mortar Gunners’ Song” It stands, made for battle, With its base plate sunk deeply. Its spitting will make the enemy howl And go silent forever. * Fly, my mine, Whistle, my mine. Crush everything in your path. Cleave yourself, my mine, Into the fascists’ avalanche 2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 2/56 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT Boris Komsky. Wartime diary, July 1943-January 1945 ID UKR058.008 PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b4hx15s2p ITEM TYPE DIARY ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN So the Germans don't escape alive. * We became friends long ago, We're always together now. It stands, made for battle, Waiting for the order "Fire!" * The gun crews await the order. Only markers are seen in the field, So fire, fire, mortars, On the enemies of our dear country. * We will send a lethal hurricane Onto fascist backs and necks. Behind the mountain and in a deep trench Our mine will find the enemy. —July 8, 1943 “Soldier’s Song” There are many big roads out there in the world, 2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 3/56 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT Boris Komsky. Wartime diary, July 1943-January 1945 ID UKR058.008 PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b4hx15s2p ITEM TYPE DIARY ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN There are many footpaths and trails— Everywhere, there are imprints of soldiers’ boots, Everywhere, the soldiers’ stomping. * It’s a difficult march, full of misfortunes— A soldier’s life is like that. Bullets are whistling, looking for soldiers, Their whistling is a soldier's song. * The ground is covered with the wrinkles of ditches, So much strenuous work! Rivers of sweat rolled down like hail From the soldiers’ dust-covered foreheads. * Don’t spare your strength getting into the ground. A soldier’s life is like that. Bullets are whistling, looking for soldiers, Their whistling is a soldier’s song. * So many shells and bullets were cast— 2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 4/56 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT Boris Komsky. Wartime diary, July 1943-January 1945 ID UKR058.008 PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b4hx15s2p ITEM TYPE DIARY ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN Who would begrudge steel or lead? The cruel lashes of death, Await us at every step. * The mine and the shell are all to the soldier. A soldier’s life is like that. Bullets are whistling, looking for soldiers, Their whistling is a soldier’s song. —July 11, 1943 July 11, 1943. Area if Orlovka village. All day we were moving towards the front line. An intense artillery barrage and major air battles have been going on since morning. Our units have begun to advance. Moving along the same coordinates where the Germans was positioned this morning. The fighting is at a distance of 4-5 kilometers. We move from place to place at night. Twice we began preparing fire positions. Chaos. July 12, 1943. Our guys are moving forward. We can’t keep up with the infantry. The Germans are escaping quickly, leaving behind weapons and supplies. We’re gathering the spoils of war. My mood is good. We didn’t launch a single mortar, as the front line is moving further ahead of us each minute and we can’t catch up to our forces. July 13, 1943. We covered 30 km and set up our positions in a destroyed village, previously a German base. Not much fire. The Germans lived here like they were in a resort; the only thing they were missing in their dugouts was bird’s milk. July 14, 1943. We are catching up with infantry. We are firing German 81mm shells. A great deal of disorder. Got completely lost at night. Really exhausted—we move without stop… with cannons and high- 2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 5/56 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT Boris Komsky. Wartime diary, July 1943-January 1945 ID UKR058.008 PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b4hx15s2p ITEM TYPE DIARY ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN powered five-ton lorries with ammunition. The delivery of ammunition is fantastic. A row of trucks in the street but there is not a single worthless car available for our mortars, so we have to walk for dozens of kilometers in the heat, carrying the machinery on our backs. July 21, 1943. We’re following our offensive line. On the way—whole, untouched villages—[the enemy] didn’t have enough time to set on fire, and fields full of wheat, potatoes and so forth. We stopped in a village, entrenched ourselves. “Tigers” expected. No civilians in the villages. Saw a former POW who was working for the Germans and who escaped back to our side. Tells us about frightening things. All men wearing Russian clothes are shot without any discussion, partisans. Ahead of us is the Vlasov Army. We’ll send them a couple of knock-outs. 37 km to Oryol. We have taken over Mtsensk and Laoarchangelsk. Taking advantage of this rest, we are constantly boiling potatoes, eating apples,etc. July 22, 1943. Got our military assignment at noon—we are going to replace the second battalion. There are no reserves left. We have to occupy two elevated positions around the village Zelënyye Sady. Front line. The road was very challenging. Swarms of bullets fly right above our heads. Set up the fire positions in a deep ravine. Already fired about ten shells. The Germans are constantly pounding us with his artillery. Sasha Ogloblin is wounded in the head. He went to the medical battalion. Yesterday, the head of the regiment headquarters was killed. My mortar fired 45 shells in one day. That’s my record so far. Just now the body of Jr. Lieutenant was recovered: he was burned alive after he wound up in occupied territory with twelve other wounded soldiers. Women with small children are passing us, returning to their villages, carrying their miserable things. These are the ones who were able to hide when everyone was expelled. Everyone else was chased away to Oryol. The women’s faces are filled with fear and joy, confusion and happiness. There were Germans here. It smells of Fritzes. The traces of the Germans are all over: An oak cross above a murderer’s grave, And ruins, rifles, helmets, smoke. I saw the fire over the Orel villages And the smoke rising up to the skies, Haggard women with naked children 2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 6/56 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT Boris Komsky. Wartime diary, July 1943-January 1945 ID UKR058.008 PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b4hx15s2p ITEM TYPE DIARY ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN And the horror on their faces—I saw it all firsthand. And the corpse of a commander burned alive Still stands before me now like a ghost. I swore to avenge them all threefold, To make the beast endure hellish torment. Zelënyye Sady, Dubrovskiy, and Krasnaya Polyana have been captured. In the last two places, almost all the civilians survived, except the men. They greet us as their own: “Where have you been all this time?” That increases our strength tenfold. Today’s a difficult day, the Germans broke away and put quite a distance between us, apparently entrenched themselves, and found reinforcements. We advanced about 15km. They keep pounding us with artillery and mortars. Our company lost only three people at the marshes—one dead. The fire is fierce. Tons of airplanes. Getting closer to Oryol and Bryansk. July 24, 1943. There has never before been so much German aviation. Up to 40 planes are hanging above our heads. One fleet barely finishes dropping bombs before the next one arrives. Everything is grey from the smoke. Six Juners were strafing our fire positions; no casualties. We launched sixty shells each. Two traitors were escorted in front of us: a village elder and a polizei. The latter was young and tall. The roads are filled with a moving mass of our forces: motorized infantry, tanks, and artillery. July 25, 1943. We’re shooting from old fire positions. Launched about fifty shells. There are two mortar batteries and three battalions near us. Met some guys from the Operational Search Administration. The company commander was contused. He was replaced by Lieutenant Kovalenko. Two guys are MIA; they probably ran away. Intense artillery barrage since morning. Guns and mortars lie beneath each blade of grass. Fired fifty shells each. Katushas and Andrushas are firing. Tanks are supporting our infantry, but the advance is slow. It seems that the Germans brought in their reserves and reinforced. We moved forward towards the evening. We were hit by heavy fire in the village. The Germans are using their aviation. We roamed all night. July 26, 1943. We didn’t sleep this night. At dawn we manned our fire positions and started shooting. Advancing slowly, though there’s a lot of force assembled on our side. Ahead of us is an important railroad station which marks 12 km from Oryol. We have to take it. Our battalion is seriously depleted.