The Zonal State Archive in the city of Rechitsa presents a document: a letter from a participant in the Great Patriotic War to his family in the Bragin District

Published: October 29, 2026

Held within the records of the Department of Labor, Employment, and Social Protection of the Bragin District Executive Committee is a letter dated May 5, 1944, written by a participant in the Great Patriotic War, Lavrentiy Mikhailovich Leshchinsky, to his family in the village of Kovaka, Bragin District (Fond 186, Inventory 3, File 94, sheets 704–704v). The text of the letter reads:

«Natasha, Tanyusha, and Ninochka, I am so glad that someone from our area saw you and let me know that you are still alive and, it seems, in good health. It is a pity, though, that you didn’t manage to write anything about yourselves. I had no idea what was happening to you—two months have gone by without a single letter; it was as if you had fallen through the earth. I did receive the parcel you sent.

Natasha, I’d like to know: what did you manage to bring over from Beresnyovka? How much land have you been allotted for your homestead, and what have you planted? When will you finish your work at the school?

Tanyusha, when are your 4th-grade exams scheduled, and for which subjects? Do write and let me know how your studies are going in general. Tanyusha, please help your mother with the sowing and planting in the garden—make sure the crops grow well, so that when I return home, I’ll be able to praise you all.

Natasha, have you contacted the Bragin District Military Commissariat to request a certificate regarding me? If you did, what did they say?» Perhaps you didn’t receive my letter in which I asked you to go to the military enlistment office and obtain a certificate for me, stating that on December 7, 1943, a military commission deemed me fit for non-combatant duty under Article 26 of the schedule of medical conditions. In short, please try to answer my questions.

Natasha, ask someone specific to look after our crops in Beresnyovka, and promise them some form of payment in kind.

For now, I wish you good health and every success. Kisses to you, my little ones. Your Papa».

The «Memory of the People» (pamyat-naroda.ru) website indicates that Lavrentiy Leshchinsky was conscripted into the Red Army on December 4, 1943. He served in the 215th Army Reserve Rifle Regiment.

1–2. ZGARech [State Archive of the Rechitsa Region]. Fond 186, Series 3, File 94, sheets 704–704v.