The Rechitsa Regional State Archives presents a document—a letter from a Great Patriotic War veteran to his family in the Bragin District

The archives of the Department of Labor, Employment, and Social Protection of the Bragin District Executive Committee hold a letter from Great Patriotic War veteran Nikolai Mikhailovich Bereznyatsky, dated January 12, 1944 (F.186, Op.3, D.91, L.266-266ob), addressed to the village of Savichi in the Bragin District. The letter contains the following lines:

«Hello, dear father, mother, and brother Styopa. I hasten to inform you that I am still alive. I will not write much for now. I do not know whether you will receive my letter or not. I am currently in Kyrgyzstan. I was wounded on April 8, 1942. My wound was serious. After recovering, I was sent to Kyrgyzstan, and I am currently on leave. I might go to the front again, but I don’t know yet. My main interest is how my family is, whether they are alive, and where they are».

The website «Memory of the People» (pamyat-naroda.ru) indicates that Nikolai Bereznyatsky was born in 1912 in the village of Savichi. In 1940, he was drafted into the Red Army. He fought in the Great Patriotic War with the 77th Rifle Regiment of the 80th Rifle Division. He was initially presumed dead from his wounds on April 8, 1942. He was discharged from the army due to illness in accordance with Order No.03161 of the Main Personnel Directorate of the People’s Commissariat of Defense of the USSR dated September 17, 1944. He returned home as a Group II disabled person and worked as a military instructor. He was awarded the Orders of the Patriotic War, II and I degrees, and the Medal «For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945».

As for the family of Nikolai Bereznyatsky, according to data from the household registers for the village of Savichi for 1944-1948 (F.218. Op.3. D.4. L.161ob-162; F.218. Op.3. D.8. L.15ob-16), at the time of the war, Nikolai Mikhailovich had a wife, Anna Efimovna, and two sons – Anatoly and Nikolai, who died soon after. In 1948, the Bereznyatskys had a son, Evgeny.

1-2. ZGARech. F.186. Op.3. D.91. L.266-266ob