World War II veteran Mukhamet Iskhakov shared his memories of the war years
On the eve of the 76th anniversary of the Victory in our section "People of Labor", we will tell about agricultural workers who participated in the Great Patriotic War. One of them is Mukhamet Zaripovich Iskhakov.
He was born on May 3, 1921 in the village of Syrish, Chekmagushevsky district, Bashkir ASSR. When the war began, Mukhamet Iskhakov worked as an agronomist on a state farm.
He was sent to the north-western front, then was enlisted in the 370th Rifle Division as a soldier and transferred directly to the front.
"The fights were different, but most of all I remember the first and most terrible fight, which by a strange coincidence was on my birthday. In May, 43, I was wounded in a hand-to-hand fight with a German. He threw the grenade right into my hands, but I didn't lose my head, I threw it as far as possible. There was a deafening explosion. It took me a moment to realize what had hit me. I spent two weeks in the medical battalion and returned to the front, " the veteran recalls.
The second wound was serious. This happened on October 28. Muhamet Zaripovich was seriously wounded in the lung, and he was sent to Nizhny Tagil, where he stayed until February.
"I really wanted to go to the front, I felt good and was eager to fight, but the doctors upset me with the news that they would send me home. I didn't want to put up with it. I came to the regiment, handed over the horses. It was time to leave. And it was as if fate itself had smiled on me. Unwittingly, I missed the train... I was confused and didn't know where to go. I returned to my companions. My fellow soldiers offered to take the horses for a walk, then I realized that this was a gift of fate, I should take advantage of it. The next day there was a check, I was noticed. The lieutenant colonel did not like it very much, but they stood up for me, saying that I was a good mortar man and really wanted to serve the Motherland. I was afraid of his reaction. Fortunately, he allowed me to continue serving, " he says.
First of all, his regiment liberated the city of Chernihiv, after which they met with Zhukov. They liberated Ukraine, Belarus and reached Warsaw.
"When the defeat of the enemy was already close, we cheered up and completely forgot about our hungry and cold walk through the swamps. We spent 17 days in the swamps without food or drink. The horses could not stand it and died. In such difficult moments, when it seemed that death was on our heels, we sang songs. We had our own life-affirming song that warmed the soul. It was our weapon, you can even say, a full-fledged fighter: "The bomb is afraid of us, the mine does not take us, this is our cavalry guards coming," says Muhamet Zaripovich.
In January, they met with Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny. The conversation was that they had a great good fortune to storm Berlin.
"Yes, it was scary, but there's nothing to be ashamed of. War is war. This is a very serious matter. I am proud that I did not consider the Germans as enemies. I observed the peaceful population of Germany, adopted their experience in animal husbandry and agriculture. By time we crossed the Polish-German border, all the settlements were almost empty, there were only elderly women and children. I watched them run the farm and admired their dedication and hard work. That's how I remember Berlin."