{"id":1025650,"date":"2026-09-28T10:54:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T07:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/?p=1025650"},"modified":"2026-09-28T10:54:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T07:54:50","slug":"the-zonal-state-archive-in-rechitsa-presents-a-document-a-letter-from-a-great-patriotic-war-veteran-to-his-family-in-the-bragin-district-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/news\/1025650","title":{"rendered":"The Zonal State Archive in Rechitsa presents a document: a letter from a Great Patriotic War veteran to his family in the Bragin District"},"content":{"rendered":"

The records of the Department of Labor, Employment, and Social Protection of the Bragin District<\/strong> Executive Committee contain a letter dated March 1, 1944, written by Ivan Filippovich Degtyarenko<\/strong>\u2014a veteran of the Great Patriotic War\u2014to the village of Ugly in the Bragin District (F.186, Op.3, D.94, L.267\u2013268v). The letter reads as follows:<\/p>\n

\u00abHello, my dear family\u2014Mom and Zhenya!<\/p>\n

I was overjoyed today when, for the first time in nearly three years, I received a letter from you and learned that you are alive and well. I had sent you about eight letters, but in the three and a half months following the liberation [of my area], I received no mail, so I had lost almost all hope. I am very pleased and happy to have received this letter. Perhaps we shall meet again.<\/p>\n

Now, a little about myself. As you know, the war caught me on the Hanko Peninsula, from where I used to write to you before the hostilities began. We were evacuated from Hanko to Leningrad in November 1941.<\/p>\n

I fought on the Leningrad Front for two years. I was wounded three times, but I recovered safely and feel healthy. A piece of shrapnel gave my face a nasty scratch, but it\u2019s nothing\u2014it will serve as a lasting memento from the Germans.<\/p>\n

In June 1943, we were sent from the Leningrad Front to the city of Saratov for training; that is where I am stationed now. I currently hold the rank of lieutenant\u00bb. Upon receiving my letter, Zhenya, please write to me in detail about everything: your life under the Germans and how you are living now\u2014whether you have bread, a cow, and so on\u2014absolutely everything. If there is anything I can do to help you, please let me know. <\u2026><\/p>\n

Mama, do not grieve too much over Larion; perhaps he will make himself known. You lived under the German yoke for over two years and saw how many people were perishing\u2014such is the nature of war. Mama, take care of yourselves and ensure you live well. We are old enough to live independently and look after ourselves.<\/p>\n

The time will come when the war ends and we are still alive; we will all gather together and recall these hard times of war\u2014only to put them behind us forever and never think of them again.<\/p>\n

That is all for now. Please write to me about everything. Are Uncle Tikhon, the Mikhnovskys, the Seletskys, and the others still alive?This was the first letter I received from you, even though you mentioned it was the second. Goodbye! I wish you health and happiness. Yours, Vanya\u00bb.<\/em><\/p>\n

The \u00abMemory of the People\u00bb website (pamyat-naroda.ru)<\/strong> indicates that Ivan Degtyarenko<\/strong> was born in 1913 in the village of Ugly. He served in the Red Army starting in 1939 and was awarded the \u00abFor the Defense of Leningrad\u00bb<\/strong> medal.<\/p>\n

According to the household register for the village of Ugly covering the years 1944\u20131946 (F.473, I.3, F.3, S.72v\u201373), Ivan Filippovich\u2019s relatives lived there: his mother Zinaida Nikitichna, his sister Evgeniya, and his brothers Illarion and Pyotr (both of whom served in the Great Patriotic War and went missing in action in 1944).<\/p>\n

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1-4. ZGARech. F.186. Op.3. D.94. Ll.267\u2013268v.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The records of the Department of Labor, Employment, and Social Protection of the Bragin District Executive Committee contain a letter dated March 1, 1944, written by Ivan Filippovich Degtyarenko\u2014a veteran…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1025650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sitenews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025650"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1025650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1025651,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025650\/revisions\/1025651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1025650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1025650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1025650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}