Vladimir Terentyev visited the Vitebsk boarding house for the elderly and disabled
Currently, four veterans of the Great Patriotic War live in the Vitebsk Boarding House. The oldest of them, Maria Drugova, is 102 years old. Before the war, Maria Nikolaevna worked on a collective farm in the Lipetsk region and at a factory in Ukraine. During the war, she looked after children and worked in the fields. In 1943, she ended up in a concentration camp near the city of Hanover. She was awarded the medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945".
There are 350 veterans of the Great Patriotic War and over 2.5 thousand citizens affected by its consequences living in the Vitebsk region.
– Veterans are the people thanks to whom we live. Each of them is a legend, a book can be written about each of them, – noted Vladimir Terentiev. – When studying history, we encounter attempts to rewrite the merits of our people. It is no coincidence that this year has been declared the Year of Historical Memory. It is important to remember historical victories, especially when their witnesses are still alive. Unfortunately, very few veterans of the Great Patriotic War are left. It is important to meet with them so that the younger generation clearly understands who deserved the Great Victory and thanks to whom we live today in a sovereign Belarus.
At the beginning of the war, Vitebsk resident Irina Lipskaya, in order to survive, walked to a village 30 km away from the city, where she exchanged clothes for food. On one of these trips, she met the leader of the partisan movement, Nikolai Volkov, who offered the girl to be a liaison. Irina Lipskaya was fluent in German and easily translated fascist periodicals and various propaganda leaflets, repeatedly crossing numerous enemy cordons.
Before the war, Maria Kosobutskaya from Vitebsk enrolled in the Krasnodar Medical Institute, worked as a secretary in the district Komsomol committee, and completed radio operator courses. Mobilized Maria Afanasyevna was sent to the 9th Cossack Red Banner Plastun Division of the 4th Ukrainian Front, as part of which she traveled from the Caucasus to Germany. She has combat awards: the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree, the Order of the Red Star, and the medal "For Military Merit". She repeatedly received commendations from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
Ivan Zaitsev will turn 100 in September. During the occupation, Ivan Grigoryevich was a liaison officer in the brigade of Minay Shmyrev, in the detachment of Daniil Raytsev, participated in the rail war, and liberated Vilnius. After the war, he worked in the internal affairs bodies. He has the Orders of the Patriotic War and the Red Star, two medals "For Courage", and two medals "To the Partisan of the Patriotic War", I and II degrees.
Vladimir Terentyev presented the veterans with gifts and continued the conversation with them over tea.
It is not by chance that the chairman of the regional council of deputies visited the Vitebsk boarding house on the Day of Social Workers.
“During the pandemic, doctors are thanked a lot. Their work is a feat. A social worker performs such a feat daily,” noted Vladimir Vladimirovich. “Social protection employees do everything to ensure that their wards do not get sick and continue to live. And yet, many do not leave the building where they work for days, despite the fact that they have minor children and elderly parents.”
“Social service workers are people who provide all kinds of support to residents of boarding houses around the clock,” noted Vera Astapenko, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Regional Executive Committee. “This is the work of the soul and heart, which is filled with patience, compassion, and mercy.”
Vera Astapenko presented letters of gratitude from the Chairman of the Committee for Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Regional Executive Committee to a number of employees of the Vitebsk boarding house.