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Vladimir Metelitsa. Full, unedited interview, 2007

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ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

TABLE OF CONTENTS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

ENGLISH TRANSLATION 2 CITATION & RIGHTS 13

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Vladimir Metelitsa. Full, unedited interview, 2007

ID EST021.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b4mh3w

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

TRANSCRIPT ENGLISH TRANSLATION —Today is October 29th, 2007. We are in the capital of Estonia – Tallinn, meeting a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. Please introduce yourself: your first name, patronymic and last name. Where and when were your born, what do you remember about your life before the war, about your family where you grew up. How did the war start for you, how did you end up in the army, and what were the years of the war like for you. Please [begin].

I am Vladimir Isayevich Metelitsa. I was born on September 11, 1925 in Smolensk. Let us start by talking about my parents. My father was Isay Abramovich, Metelitsa. He worked at Rumyantsev’s sewing factory as a general laborer, and worked his way up to deputy director. My mother also worked at the sewing factory, as a seamstress. I attended Smolensk school #25 up to eighth grade. I entered eighth grade in 1941. Eighth grade. 1941. On June 22nd along with my father’s colleagues, his subordinates, we travelled to the country, to a place called Krasniy Bor, for May celebrations. Not far from [Krasniy Bor], on the 401st km from Moscow, was a military base. When we arrived the military would not let us through and that’s how we discovered that the war began. We returned to the city of Smolensk on the 22nd and already on that same night a German plane appeared above the city. The plane was a “Rama” (BA note - Frame, in Russian, nickname of the Focke-Wulf Fw 189). We looked up and it was already hovering above us. Boys were climbing on rooftops to watch. It was a spectacle, a game. The jet flew off; it was a reconnaissance mission, this Rama German jet. The older people said: “now just wait for the bomber jets to arrive”. The same day, the school, which had just been let out, summoned us back. There was such an air of patriotism in the room, we were feeling like “let’s go, lets fight!” So a whole bunch of us headed for the military registration office. Of course we were turned away immediately: “You boys are interfering with our work.” On the 23rd they were already bombing us. Three times we were bombed with large-caliber incendiary bombs. We organized these outposts where we stood guard on the rooftops: some sand and tongs. You had to get the bomb into the sand so that it wouldn’t ignite. We started attending to this on the 23rd. The city was in panic mode, of course.

Everyone in the city was panicking. The Germans dumped leaflets, warning that they would kill all Jews and communists, and called for the rest of the people to remain put. On the 28th they dropped a leaflet instructing that everyone should abandon the city because it would be destroyed. My mother and sister and I left the city. All of the city’s citizens left (cries). When we returned to [Smolensk] our house – (weeps). Forgive me, I remember this with such [emotion]. It wasn’t just the house, all of my toys, my little toy gun, my sister’s doll. In the snap of a second we ended up on the street. And when I hear about the [massive] fires in the US, I feel for them, because I know how hard that is. [It makes] my memories return to me.

So, my father was immediately mobilized to join the Tallinn defense unit.

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Vladimir Metelitsa. Full, unedited interview, 2007

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—Tallinn?

Sorry, I meant Smolensk. The city of Smolensk. He received a stipend. He was already 49 years old. I ended up on the street. A neighbor from a nearby house offered shelter to my mother and sister. So my father took me into his unit with him. He convinced the commander to give me a stipend as well. I began to complete tasks that were given to me, like guarding the linen plant. We would stand guard on the roof making sure the bombs didn’t [ignite]. On July 3rd I was told to gather my schoolmates, boys and girls, and we were instructed to dig trenches. I ran [to complete my assignment]. There were three cars [for us] and shovels. Guys from the unit were in charge. They didn’t have uniforms, well they had uniforms, but they were the old military uniforms. With these three commanders in charge we set out towards the town of Lelekvino, located 80 km from Smolensk. When we reached the town, German troops awaited us. We had barely debarked cars. One car was destroyed, burnt to the ground, right in front of me. The second car, we – myself and another girl who was my first love, Zhenya - had ran away to the right, into the woods (cries). She was killed. The Germans came up to us from a distance of maybe 50-60 meters and opened fire. Zhenya was killed. I was under the impression that they were drunk, playing the harmonica, playing their harmonicas and laughing. They were entertained by our fear as we darted back-and forth. Bullets were barely missing us, and we ran, there was nothing else to do. We ran into the woods to the sounds of their laughter and their shots.

When I returned, we walked back home, we were covered in blood, our feet were raw with scrapes. Also, on the way back, we were almost killed [again], a guardsman halted us, “who’s there?” Miraculously, we remained alive, even though they opened fire at us. They grabbed us, cursed us, “Who sent you?!” That was life. When I got back to my father, only four of us returned. Zhenya, she was wounded and she died on the way back. We left on the 3rd and got back on the evening of the 4th. We walked all day and all night. Father was naturally worried.

Then the evacuation of the city began. The trains did not have any passenger cars, just flatcars. People were loaded in. You could only take a few belongings, but we didn’t even have anything to take. I had some old boots, a shirt, and someone had given me a cap. Essentially – I didn’t have anything. My mother evacuated together with our neighbor, the Poluchayevskiye [family], who were also Jews, her name was Lena, no, Lyubochka. Father insisted that I leave the city and go with my mother and my sister. I resisted, I didn’t want to leave, “I’ll stay with you and the squad”, I told him. He was very firm, told me that I was to leave at once. He walked us to the train station. It was the 15th or 16th of July. We spent entire days on guard. The entire city was destroyed. 70% of the city was destroyed. Boys climbed through the ruins, [this way] I found a handgun and some other things. On the 16th or 15th, father put us onto [the flatcar]. The city is divided by the Dniepr River into Upper City and Lower City. The train station was by the Dniepr. He loaded us on and hurried back because he had heard that the bridge would be blown-up. And once he crossed the bridge – I was watching – shortly after he crossed, the bridge was destroyed. On the 16th the

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Vladimir Metelitsa. Full, unedited interview, 2007

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ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

Upper City of Smolensk was surrendered. If it wasn’t for his insistence, we would have been captured by the Germans. He spent a month and a half hiding in the woods, trying to get out of occupied territory, because the Germans were ahead of him. He was deep in the German rear. Luckily, he was not captured by the Germans and came out somewhere near Kaluga. We first arrived somewhere near Vyaz’ma, where there had been terrible battles. The bombardments, bombardments were horrible. Germans had skirted Smolensk a bit, and they moved through the fields. The occupation of Smolensk went from one side to the other, several times, because it was quite staunchly defended. We were brought to Kaluga, where father had also been, but we did not meet him there. Then we were forced to dig trenches on the outskirts of Moscow, near Kaluga. Later we were put on another train and sent to the Tambov region. This was already fall 1941. Sometime around the 22nd- 23rd of September we arrived in Tambov region, Umyotsky District, the village of Maslovka. We were greeted with much warmth, we were fed and given shelter. I started to work in the kolkhoz???????????. My sister was three years older than me, wasn’t able to bear all of the hardships and died. Only my mother and I remained. I was a member of the Komsomol at the time. Patriotism was ingrained in me. I kept yearning to go to the front, or to [at least], experience some action. At one point an official letter came to the Komsomol announcing that they were building a 2nd Novokuznetsk Iron and Steel Plant in Siberia, in the city of Stalinsk, now known as Novokuznetsk. I enlisted and mother went with me. We traveled for a long time and when we arrived at this plant, we were not welcomed in the same way as in Tambov oblast. We were placed in what used to be a horse stable with bunk plank beds. There was an outbreak of typhus. I don't know – this was already the second time that I was spared by God. I must have had some guardian angel looking over me, because I survived that very first encounter with the Germans (crying), and the second instance in this former horse stable. Mother and I were lying on the same plank beds [as the others], and the fleas were the same fleas crawling on everyone, but neither mother nor I caught that typhus. Half of the people that slept there died of typhus. So, they took us to the construction site and I was sent to the taiga to chop wood. I wasn’t dressed warmly. Of course, we saw our share of grief but at least they fed us decently. My job was to tag the logs. They axed down the trees and stacked up the logs and my job was to put numbers on them. [Eventually] I escaped from that site because the conditions were absolutely unbearable and I knew that I would’ve died if I stayed. I returned to the 2nd Novokuznetsk Iron and Steel Plant and I went to the production department. I went to the Komsomol and I knew that the secretary of the Central Committee was visiting from Moscow. I managed to get an audience with him. I said “I don’t want to work [just on anything], I want to work [to help the war effort].” So, I was assigned to make boxes for missile shells. I worked with a power-saw bench. And right there, in January of 1942, everything happened so quickly. In the winter I heard that the Vilnius infantry school was at the plant and was enlisting cadets. Once again, I was not released [from the plant], a hold was ordered on my enlistment. We ran away. We went to the infantry school and we were arrested. Members of the Central Committee of Saratov were there, and I got close to Central Committee secretary and said to him, “They’re putting us on trial, but we wanted to [serve]! The Siberian Stalin Division was being organized at the time, all we wanted was to get into [the division], but ended up at the Vilnius infantry school, and now we are being put on trial.” Basically, just wanted to get to the front. He said, “What’s going on? Let these boys go! What are they on trial for?” So myself and about eight others were

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Vladimir Metelitsa. Full, unedited interview, 2007

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ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN accepted into the Vilnius infantry school where I studied for a little over a year and earned the rank of junior lieutenant…These years were very difficult, of course, but frankly speaking, very goal-oriented.

In June of 1944 I was sent to the front. In the beginning of June, we arrived near Leningrad, as part of the 34th regiment of the reserve officers. We were there for three days until we moved to strengthen the 2nd Shock Army. I was assigned to a unit in the 2nd Shock Army, 131st Ropshinsk Red Banner Division. It was commanded by a Hero of the Soviet Union was in charge, I forget the name (BA note - Vladimir Zakharovich Romanovsky), he was a Hero of the Soviet Union, there were two of them, two brothers. One was second in-command of the Leningrad Front, I mean Ukrainian Front, and the second [brother] was our Commander. Fedyunsky, twice a Hero of the Soviet Union, was commander of the 2nd Shock Army. This was near the Narva [River]. There were major battles near the Narva. We needed to cross the river. They attempted it for the first time in March, crossing on the ice (I was not a part of this). However, they were unsuccessful – their losses were enormous, and the crossing itself was unsuccessful. In the month of July, after a long artillery barrage which lasted 45 minutes, our 593rd Narvsky Regiment – that’s what it was called – was thrown in to complete the crossing of the Narva. Well, that was a nightmare. We sat on rafts. There were three squadrons, and each one had its own raft. The first raft was immediately destroyed: direct hit by a missile. I had no control of anything there. I, frankly, was just awaiting for my own death. You could expect anything. The second raft…I didn’t see if a missile hit it or not, but only three people [made it across], and even those [floated over] on [individual] logs. Our raft, which was carrying the machine gun, miraculously, made it to the shore. So, we started. I didn’t go into detail, we started crossing while the artillery was covering us. However, once we crossed half of the river, the artillery weapons were carried off into a deeper, farther region. [Hence,] we were hit by such great fire. Our artillery had not destroyed the firing positions, and we ended up under a downpour of fire. When we stepped on shore, the water was all red; it was a nightmare. Not long ago, I met with my friend, Hero of the Soviet Union Arnold Meri, an Estonian, who was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union near Leningrad. Hearing my story, he said to me, “Listen, Volodya, I was there too, but I came there after you. I was sent by the Estonian corps to conduct a preliminary survey of the area. Your regiments should have covered you. I was in those places too.” He confirmed that there were lots of floating corpses, logs, [more] corpses, and [the water] was red. The pontoon bridge was already destroyed, but we managed to cross over to the other bank and secure ourselves. Many were awarded Hero of the Soviet Union. I must say that our regiment commander, Kononenko, was also a hero. (crying) He was heavily wounded, but he did not leave the battlefield, he wrapped the regiment banner around himself and went into battle. He was presented as a candidate for Hero of the Soviet Union.

Nevertheless, the Germans had been preparing the area surrounding Sinimäe ahead of time. This is past Narva, where the swamps are on one side and there are the area is elevated, Sinimägede, [Sinimäe heights]. We were instructed to go into the swamps. We couldn’t dig any trenches because water was

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Vladimir Metelitsa. Full, unedited interview, 2007

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ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN everywhere. The only cover were these fences that were made of out branches. We lay like that, in those trenches, if you can even call them trenches…We laid down our trench coats amongst the pine and fir trees. For our artillery, we built these special paths with logs because no car could pass through these marshes. Our poor soldiers carried 37m and 45m anti-tank guns on their shoulders, and machine guns. That’s it. That was our entire line of defense. The Germans were able to prepare in advance, so they had plenty of [weapons]. The 20th SS Division, which they are attempting to glorify, which is now considered heroic here, they were the ones who shot at us. [Our ] division had to be strengthened numerous times, because we kept getting shot down. I don’t understand how I ended up alive (crying). I asked myself that question many times and was never able to find an answer. I celebrated my birthday there, on September 11th (crying). No, please forgive me. I made a mistake. That happened later. Yes, that takes place later. This was still the month of June. Afterwards, we just lay there. The Estonian Corps and the 2nd Shock Army. There was nothing that we could do. We were handed over to the 8th Army of General Starikov, which was proposed by Marshal Govorov of the Leningrad region. Forces were concentrated in the region of Tartu. The Estonian corps had already been transferred there. We prepared a powerful attack, we hit from Tartu, the Germans rapidly retreated, because they were so terrified of getting stuck in an encirclement. So, the 18th of September [he likely means June], one of our guys went to “catch a tongue” (a prisoner who gives up information about his side) and he came back and said that there weren’t any Germans there. That’s when the commander made the decision to move forward. And the only thing we saw, as we chased the Germans, was how fast they ran, their broken weapons, wounded Germans, and deserted ammunition. They left behind all of their machinery. They were running away very quickly, because the 2nd Shock Army, joined by the Estonian corps, was on the offensive from Tartu. We continued to move through Estonia in such fashion, in a rather disorganized way: some traveled on foot, some on horseback, some on a bicycles. There were some singular skirmishes. Some call them battles, but let that be on their own conscience. This was already around Rekverewe, we would catch up with the Germans, and they would turn on us, and then run away again. There was some [combat] near Tapa, and then only once we were approaching Tallinn. Even though it’s considered that Tallinn was taken [by Soviet troops] on the 22nd, it was really done on the night of the 21st. We knocked out a tank on the Pirita River. We requested permission from regiment commander Kutslov and switched to tanks. We got separated from our units, it was a complete mess. We lost each other. But we made it to Tallinn. There were practically no more Germans in Tallinn. Only at the port, where refugees were [evacuating] some German soldiers remained. From there we hear explosions and knew that our artillery was at work. But in the city proper, I didn’t see a single German, only our forces. We spent the night there and in the morning the Estonian banner was put in place. An advance force was set up there. Tallinn was liberated by many different forces, including the 30th division [which was called] the Warsaw division, which perished here. [I mean] the 30th regiment of that division. A Jewish woman [from the division] was buried here, her remains have been transported to Israel. The gravestone was removed, and the site of the burial has been destroyed. So her remains were given to her uncle, who arrived from Israel. That’s how the Tallinn [operation] concluded.

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Vladimir Metelitsa. Full, unedited interview, 2007

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ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

After Tallinn, we somehow finally found each other. We were advancing towards Klooga, and there I was one of the first to see the concentration camp there (crying). In the camp, there was barely anyone left except for some women and children and one man who was rotting away in the barracks. For the most part, on the ground – this is shown in many photographs – people mixed up with logs because the Germans didn’t have enough time to burn them. This was near the lake where there is now a memorial standing to commemorate those killed. There were many Jews, Jews who were killed in Klooga. We went further on to Haapsalu. In Haapsalu, we disembarked onto the Dago Island in storm boats. When we arrived in Dago, there wasn’t a single German. The following morning we boarded motor boats once again. We disembarked on the Island Saaremaa, where I suffered a contusion as I was disembarking. I lost consciousness and there was blood coming out of my ears from the contusion. I was taken to the medical battalion where I was told they would send me to the hospital. I was only a boy, and I protested as soon as I regained consciousness. The doctor looked to make sure my ear drums weren’t damaged, and I was sent back to my unit. I stayed there [in the medical battalion] for three days and then I went to back my unit. I caught up with them somewhere along the Saaremaa Island. The Germans were retreating to the Sirvi peninsula. And here, tragedy struck. I only witnessed it, I did not take part in it. One night, the Germans crossed paths with the Estonians in the forest. They only identified each other because of their thicker haircuts. I later witnessed in the Tehvandi area how [our soldiers] were killing Germans with bayonets. So on the Sirvi peninsula, we were in trenches, and it was there that I ‘celebrated’ my birthday. I genuinely thought that this would be my last day (crying). That day I ended up almost completely surrounded by Germans. I heard German speech. I, along with three other soldiers were ordered to set up a connection with the 482nd regiment located nearby. The isthmus there is very narrow, and there are woods and rocks everywhere. We wandered off right up to the Germans without realizing it. We lay low, and at night, we began to crawl out. If we were discovered, we would’ve been killed. As we were crawling, I found a little wooden board, so I pulled i out and saw that there were mines underneath. I thought to myself, where do I crawl next? There is a minefield ahead of us, there is no way we can cross it. I decided: let it be what it will. We grabbed our grenades and rifles, and I said to my comrades “We lay low until the Germans discover us”. Around four in the morning the voices quieted down. I don’t know what it was, but some gut feeling told me that we had to crawl in that direction. I don’t know why. Nowadays, I still have little episodes of that sort, when I get lost somewhere and I say to myself, “OK, this is how you have to do this” and sometimes that is the right move to make (laughing). Just like that. I don’t know. I know it sounds made-up, but sometimes that’s how it happens in life. So we started to crawl and then we did short sprints. All of a sudden we heared someone yell, “Stop!” and Russian cursing. “Stop or we will open fire!” That’s when we realized we reached our troops. It turned out to be 482nd regiment, we managed to come right to them. We established the connection with them. Battles continued until the month of November. On the 26th of November, the peninsula was fully liberated. However, the war was not over. Our division was gathered and we were supposed to disembark near Kaliningrad. Every day we were taken out on motor boats, and on command we would jump into the cold waters. This was already October-November. [The commander] kept telling us that “tomorrow, for sure [it will be over]”. Everyone was sick and tired because everyone was getting back pains [from the cold] and [sick] in every way, and I am not even talking about the older guys.

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Vladimir Metelitsa. Full, unedited interview, 2007

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ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

And then, all of a sudden, Victory! It wasn’t even the word “victory” [that made it clear that we had seen our triumph]. It was the fact that there were so many shots fired by the island. The entire time that I was in the army, I didn’t even hear the sound of so many shots. Those who had spare bullets, shot all of them (laughing). Everything was fired, everything. This was how it ended, fortunately, on the Island Saaremaa, where my service during the war ended.

—What happened to you after?

May I speak frankly?

—Yes.

My time after the war might sound a bit politicized. I was a young lad, and I always wanted to study. I yearned to study. And later, I had some accomplishments, which came, of course, in a roundabout way. I started to prepare, documents started arriving: “The St. Petersburg State University is selecting veterans for a preparatory course without an entry exam.” That was exactly what I needed. The recruiter arrived, and I of course went to him and he told me, “Well, it’s all set.” And I asked, “What about the fact that I never completed the tenth grade?” “Well, this will be a preparatory course. If you pass it, then it will count for two completed grades. You will study for one year.” Great. All of a sudden, a reply arrived, “You do not fit requirements for the program selection.” What selection? I was in the Komsomol, I participated in the war, and my father was at the front. What criteria? I later found out that the one issue was that my nationality was Jewish. Then, I made my way to Tallinn with a goal in mind. In Tallinn, I wanted to get my official discharge and to study. I no longer wanted to serve in the army.

—This was 1946?

This was already 1945-1946. 1946. [Here] I made four attempts. I passed [the needed exam]. We had preparations at first, in the district. We took [the exam] in our region, and then took the exam at the academy. I applied first to the Academy of the Home Front, and second to the Academy of Auto- Transportation. Initially, I applied to the Institute of Foreign Languages, but I did not know that that it was designated as preparation of diplomatic workers and I was denied admission immediately. At this point, I was been admitted past the preliminaries. I passed them both, aced them both, the first and the second, but here I was rejected because I did not meet their criteria. And, then, they told me openly, this was in 1947, when Jews were – it was the same time as the Doctor’s Plot.

—The Doctor’s Plot was in 1952

You are absolutely right. You corrected me. That’s absolutely right. So, this was my last attempt. I had been

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Vladimir Metelitsa. Full, unedited interview, 2007

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ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN trying for four years: 1947, 1948, 1949. I was trying for four years. Up until then, until 1953, you can count: I was 28 years old. When Stalin finally seemed to allow [Jews in universities], I was already past the age. Only toward the end, I was finally admitted into the Institute of Physical Education. I figured that they had to admit me there, since the risk [of having me there] was evidently minimal. I completed that institute with excellent grades. I have a Gold Diploma. I just wanted to prove, not only to myself, but to God, what I was capable of. Later, I even specialized in physiotherapy, because I was of the appropriate age to specialize in something, and I wanted to defend a dissertation for a PhD position but that all happened later. That is all.

—What happened to your father?

He broke through the encirclement and what happened to him after? After that, he joined a field-engineer battalion.

—Did he end up in a camp or in the SMERSH, first?

No, no. He was never in captivity. He and eleven others managed to get out of occupied territory. He walked out of the encirclement. There were eleven of them. And they, immediately [went to the battalion]. They were very smart about it so they reached the field engineer battalion. They were asked, “Where are you from? Come on board.” So, they were all taken into that battalion and there was this Protopopov, I later exchanged letters with him, he accepted [my father]. Everyone was given the title of first class lance- corporal, the rank he held throughout the war. He made it through the entire war, but he was never in the trenches. But the field-engineers were [always] ahead The field-engineers were ahead, but he was a tailor. He sewed for everyone. He sewed for the entire commanding section. Do you understand? He worked a lot, he was excellent. He was surrounded by those of great authority during the war. He served that way.

—And your mother returned?

Well, my mom returned. No she did not return. She stayed in evacuation by herself. After I settled down in Tallinn I went to go get her. My father had come back from the front [and joined my mother] and my mom said, (Metelitsa is crying) “Dad came back, our daughter is gone, you aren’t around.” It was a mistake that he did not find work right after he returned. “You sit, you sit,” she would say to him. “I will do it on my own.” And suddenly, he wasn’t “all there” anymore. He had such horrible depression that he did not even know where he was going anymore or why he needed to go anywhere. That’s it. And mother wrote me a letter, (crying) “My dearest son, my heart is being torn into pieces, but our daddy, he is dying.” And I asked the commander of my section to release me and I went to get them. I brought them to Tallinn, set him up in the hospital here, into the psychiatric ward. He was treated there and he recovered. He went back to work to the sewing

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Vladimir Metelitsa. Full, unedited interview, 2007

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ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN factory here in Klementi, where he worked for another 20-something years. He died when he was 90, going on 91. I saved him somehow. My mother died later, when she was 89. I of course helped them out all of those years. In 1950 I got married, I have two daughters. My wife went through the Blockade, so of course, her health was poor. Unhealthy people do not have healthy children. So, my younger daughter, she also suffered a tragedy. She got sick with diabetes and went blind. Now, she is completely blind. She lives with me, well, not with me, but she lives near me. That’s my story. And the older one, she is in Cologne, Germany.

—You do public work. Can you say a few words about that?

Yes, after the death of my wife, I was lost. And this war veterans organization was set up by Nikolai Nikitych Molosaev, a colleague of mine. He told me to come to work as his deputy. He said, “That way you will escape your worries and your sad state a bit,” and I became his deputy. We recently buried him. I have been the chairman for 5 years now. I found myself. I have always been a leader everywhere, to be honest. This was apparent in me, in sports. I was even in charge of gathering people for that first time we set out to dig trenches (laughing), when I was still a boy. I look at myself, and I see that, in school, I was the leader of my class. It’s as if it’s in my blood. When I first joined the organization there were 9,000 members.

—That is 9,000 veterans of war?

Veterans of war. Now there is a little under 3,000. These are people who - the youngest are 80 years old. I am young, I am 82. Yesterday, one turned 101, Neimerg. We celebrated the occasion. The 28th, one Jew turned 98. He is still the director of an organization of veteran engineers, Mikhlin.

—Mikhlin, we interviewed him.

You interviewed him, yes? People like Mikhlin give you a kind of energy that makes you say to yourself, “You are just a boy.” What do we do? First of all, we – Have I taken up too much time?

—No, no, no. No worries, everything is fine, go on.

One of our areas of interest deals with the social issues that concern our veterans. For the most part, these are Russian citizens. Even if they aren’t Russian citizens and are Estonian citizens, they are turned away by the Estonian government. Anyway, these social issues are what we deal with. We look for sponsors. Russia helps, sponsors help, but it is a constant quest for these kind people who help both financially and morally. This is our basic work, but we are not limited by that. We are also tied to youth organizations, like Frontline, like Night Watch, which have not really established themselves. It was a good organization but they got involved in politics. Now, they are divided into two halves. We also lead courses on courage, in schools,

Vladimir Metelitsa. Full, unedited interview, 2007

ID EST021.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b4mh3w

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN and try to do this work with the kids. Some people who were in the Blockade, who also take part in our organization, recently went to St. Petersburg, where we went to war memorials, where we walked around the cemeteries where so many millions died. These young people have tears in their eyes when they learn about what happened during the war; they witness and process all of this with great enthusiasm. But, unfortunately, there are people who want to overlook the events of WWII but I do not think that they will be able to do that. We celebrate Victory Day, New Year’s, Defenders of the Fatherland Day, Day of Liberation. We celebrate all of this here with honor. We invite veterans, depending on our financial situation. But they are all happy about this. Now, for Christmas, I just got off the phone with a sponsor who sent me 250 gifts for veterans for Christmas. Of course there are 3,000 of them, but not all of them need these gifts. Some have children, some have other relatives, but these [gifts] are for those who are completely alone. We are going to drive around and deliver them these Christmas gifts and this is all done (crying) with tears in our eyes.

—I forgot to ask you, a bit earlier, which awards were you awarded during the war?

During the war, I was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

—Is that for the crossing of Narva?

Yes. I also got a medal “For Battle Merit.” No, nothing else.

—And one other short question.

And also a medal “For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945”, but that is obvious.

—After the war, you encountered anti-Semitism, but how about during the war?

During the war, there was real, government-induced, anti-Semitism. It was shown when they did not accept me into the [military] school. That was already after the war. During the war, it was the same thing. But, they told me this, “You are an exceptional person, you aren’t [like] a Jew, you are [like] one of us,” and so forth. You see? Personally, there was nothing direct, but that was how they spoke to me. There is a Hero of the Soviet Union who is in Israel, what’s his name? He is a Jew. He was the second-in-command of Positive the Artillery. Gershovich has him in his album. He was practically crying when he told me about this. He was asked by the commander, “Moshe, how much did you pay for your Gold Star?” That is what he said to him after the war. Not just anybody, but one of his commanders! You understand? He was literally crying when he talked about it.

—Thank you.

Vladimir Metelitsa. Full, unedited interview, 2007

ID EST021.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b4mh3w

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

Vladimir Metelitsa. Full, unedited interview, 2007

ID EST021.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b4mh3w

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

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