- Vadim Nikolaevich, I would like to welcome you to the field of view of our television camera. Thank you very much for agreeing to talk. We are celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. I would like to ask in this regard how Pridnestrovie, a small republic, manages to hold together so tightly and resist what is happening literally 100 kilometers away. We preserve the Victory, preserve the memory of this Victory, of the veterans, of those who contributed to the peaceful sky.
- It’s a simple and complex question, in fact. I have never asked myself the question "how?" I will explain why. Because we were brought up in the Soviet Union and naturally have always honored the memory of our ancestors, fathers, grandfathers, visited mass graves – and not only on May 9. They accepted us into the Pioneers there and so on, you understand? It was our tradition. I even remembered it recently. My wife and I got married in 1991. It was on August 3, 1991. We went to the mass graves to lay flowers. It was such a tradition. It has remained with us. That is, we by and large did not change anything. It is clear that this is a process, we are doing this, we will talk about this, but we did not change anything in relation to our history, in relation to our veterans. Therefore, if someone changed, like our neighbors, for example, in Moldova or in other countries, then, probably, the question to them is why they did it. Why did they do it this way, act this way? The question to them. We did not change anything, we preserved our continuity of generations, we preserved the memory of our veterans and respect for the very sacrifice of the Soviet people, with the help of which the victory over fascism and Nazism was achieved.
– The veterans of the Great Patriotic War are the main people who played a role in the Victory, those who liberated both the republic and the whole world. How many of them are there in Pridnestrovie today?
– Few, unfortunately. Just recently there were 14, today there are 13. Of course, the years take their toll, and the generation of victors, unfortunately, is passing away. These are not only veterans who took part in military operations. These are also participants in the home front. By and large, the entire Soviet people won. Each forged the victory in their own way. Do you understand? It was forged not only at the front, it was forged in the rear as well. This generation as a whole is a generation of victors. Each bore the burden of this war on themselves, each of the entire Soviet people, the Soviet Union, made a small contribution. Unfortunately, time takes its toll, of course. But there are still such cheerful veterans, and we, I hope, will see them at the procession of the "Immortal Regiment", at least at the laying of the wreath. Although, it is hard for them, of course.
- How does the state take care of them? Does it promote communication between the wartime generations and today's youth?
- Yes, of course. We have many social programs, laws regarding assistance to veterans, not only veterans of the Great Patriotic War. We have veterans of the 1992 military operations. This is a comprehensive state program. It goes without saying.
As for the connection between generations, I still remember when I was in school, and veterans of the Great Patriotic War would come to us and tell us about the war. It was a different time then, and the veterans were still vigorous and strong. They would tell us the details naturally. I was always interested, I was interested in how, what... I was lucky in life, I guess: I had the opportunity to communicate with veterans. I was the chief of the Bendery militia, and we had veterans of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who were also veterans of the Great Patriotic War. I really liked to gather them for holidays, and not only on May 9 right in my office, at the table, and they would talk about the war – without any complaints about each other or the commander, about the time. No. On the contrary. They remembered with some kind of positivity, they remembered different incidents. That's how lucky I was in life. I also communicate with veterans today, but there are few of them. Of course, there is a connection between generations. Everyone can create it. Each family has their own heroes – grandfathers, great-grandfathers, already great-great-grandfathers, probably. Their own family stories. Veterans, as a rule, did not talk much. But now the archives are open. You can look at the award sheets. You can look at the path of your ancestors. This is important.
- Let's continue about ancestors. There are veterans in your family too. Tell us more.
- My grandfather is Vasily Ivanovich Krasnoselsky. Here is his photo. He is still wearing a Budenovka in it. The photo is pre-war, 1940. Vasily Ivanovich met the war in 1941 in the Moldavian SSR. Then retreat and participation until the last days of the war, until 1945. He ended the war in Austria. He took part in the liberation of Crimea – this is May 7–9, 1944. He took part in the Jassy-Kishinev operation. He distinguished himself. He was awarded. He had three brothers. There were four brothers, and each has his own story, which probably deserves a special description. There were different fates. Tragic fates. Some were captured, some returned in 1953, but all four brothers survived. Amazing. Yes, they all returned from the war, all survived.
- How do you tell your children about your family history now?
- Well, I tell it like it is, without embellishment, so that they know the truth. Because war is work, hard work. Full of its own tragedy, maybe, somewhere, injustice. Who knows... That's how it is. Therefore, I tell it like it is.
- The role of Pridnestrovie in the Great Patriotic War, in particular the Jassy-Kishinev operation? We know that the Kitskany bridgehead is one of the main points from which the Jassy-Kishinev operation began.
- Let's start, probably, with 1941. Pridnestrovie met June 22, 1941 the same as the entire Soviet Union. The same. It was the beginning of the war. Queues were lining up at the military registration and enlistment offices already on the 23rd of June. This was all over Pridnestrovie – in Bendery, Tiraspol, and other cities and regions of our republic. Fighter battalions were formed from the local population. They played a very big role. They held back the German offensive and made it possible to prepare for defense here. This is a very important point. Later, of course, many of those who participated in the defense of Pridnestrovie, participated in the entire Great Patriotic War. Many died. Then the occupation of our territory came. The liberation of Pridnestrovie took place thanks to three offensive operations. These were the Uman-Botoshany, Odessa offensive operation, and the Jassy-Kishinev operation. The Jassy-Kishinev operation was, of course, not only the liberation of Pridnestrovie, our region, the Moldavian SSR, it was the liberation of the southern part of Europe. This was a specific turning point, by and large the final one, in the war. The borders had already been crossed, the territory of the Soviet Union had been liberated. Well, and a lot of young guys were called up in 1944 – after the liberation. If you pay attention, in every village on the territory of Pridnestrovie there are memorial plaques. Separate plaques with the names of those who died during the liberation of a given settlement. There are many more fellow villagers who died on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, and the people of Tiraspol. Unfortunately, we did not have these names carved in granite until recently. They were in the archives, they were somewhere in books. All this may not stand the test of time, documents, you understand. It was decided to carve in granite all the names of our Tiraspol residents who went to defend our Motherland and died on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Naturally this is both the territory of the Soviet Union and the territory of Europe. Some went missing. Many of them. So, there appeared more than 1300 surnames, first names, patronymics, and titles of Tiraspol residents carved in granite on our memorial, as in all cities, districts, and every village of our republic, I repeat. No matter how difficult it is for us – you know, the financial situation is rather difficult now, but we invest, every year we have a program to perpetuate the memory and preserve monuments to the defenders of the Fatherland. We repair memorials everywhere – from a small settlement to a large city.
– A new part of the memorial was opened, where a monument to the Unknown Soldier appeared, identical to the one in Moscow quite recently. A solemn ceremony of burying the remains took place. We were there too.
– The topic of the Great Patriotic War has not been fully explored to this day in general. Many archives are still classified. No one can accurately name the number of casualties to this day. No one can accurately name the number of missing in action to this day. Some say hundreds of thousands, some say millions. Please, imagine. This is a huge number in any case. This is statistics. For information. When relatives and friends receive the short phrase "missing in action." That's it. And uncertainty, and prayers for him, and constant expectations. The ending is the same: almost no one came, no one returned. There were different cases, but mostly like this. There is so much pain in this whole story. Both relatives and loved ones leave then. So, it turns out that these missing people, a large number of people, and there is no one to remember them, you understand. There are many such nameless graves in Pridnestrovie, in fact. We constantly find them, rebury the remains in rural cemeteries, in city cemeteries, but the idea was to create a central place of worship for the unknown soldier. When people turn to this unknown soldier, light a candle or lay flowers, they remember all the unknown, all the missing, you understand. This is an important element, in my opinion, precisely for memory, for understanding the tragedy of history. This is how the younger generation is brought up. Children and grandchildren are brought up. This is shown, this is told. Of course, interest is created in order to continue studying the history of the Great Patriotic War by everyone, regardless, in principle, of age.
– There are also Heroes of the Soviet Union who sacrificed their lives, accomplished a feat in Pridnestrovie. The name of Ivan Soltys is heard more often than others. Who else? How many Heroes of the USSR are there in Pridnestrovie?
– Twelve people – Heroes of the Soviet Union among the citizens of Pridnestrovie. As an example – the sixth school, located right opposite the memorial. Five Heroes of the Soviet Union studied in this school. The famous tanker, tank ace, Lieutenant General Bochkovsky was among them. Ivan Soltys was a resident of the Kamenka district, also a hero, also our Pridnestrovian. Twelve Heroes of the Soviet Union. In addition, many Heroes of the Soviet Union came here, already in Pridnestrovie, restored, lived here, on our land.
– You are a big fan of history. Many people know about this. You try to preserve the truth about history, preserve the memory. A large-scale project – an open-air museum. How did this idea come about and why is it important?
- That's the gist of it, by and large. A museum forms history in documentary form. Archives, disks, flash drives – that's all great. That should also be there – electronic document management, electronic documentation of certain archives. I agree. But ask anyone who visits, say, the European Union, the Russian Federation, where do they go? To a museum. Everyone admires it. Oh, what a beautiful museum in Rome. Oh, what a beautiful museum somewhere in Antalya. The Museum of Turkish Culture is beautiful, of course. Yes. Why shouldn't we have such a museum? After all, Pridnestrovie is a very rich historical region. The richest. Starting from the Stone Age, ending with today. This museum (we call it the museum quarter) is a complex of buildings. Rich archeology is already presented in the Catherine Park. This will be one of the halls of the complex, a complex building. Of course, the Middle Ages will be presented, the history of the Russian Empire will be presented, the history of the Soviet Union will be presented, the history of modern Pridnestrovie will be presented. The central place is, of course, the museum of the Great Patriotic War. Not only in the open air, no. There will also be a closed part, large halls where a diorama of the Jassy-Kishinev operation and museum artifacts from the Great Patriotic War, personal belongings of veterans, weapons and so on will be placed. We have a pillbox in the courtyard – a permanent firing point – miraculously preserved. This is Stalin's line of defense. The Germans blew up almost all the pillboxes along the Dniester River during the retreat in 1944, in March. Their ruins are visible. But only a few survived by some chance. It is inexplicable why. One of them stands right in the courtyard of this museum quarter. It just happened. There was also a line of defense in the form of trenches in addition to the pillbox. It exists. It has been completely restored, and the pillbox has been completely restored. I can tell you for sure that there are no such pillboxes anywhere. There are some that are close to the original. There are no pillboxes restored to the original anywhere. They say that there are two very close pillboxes in Belarus. We have completely restored them in their original details, in their original designs in Pridnestrovie. You will see for yourself. Enthusiasts are doing this. We have some. Please, visit them. In addition, we are building a partisan village –a very interesting composition. Well, an open-air museum of equipment. There will be a T-34 tank that is on the move, a Katyusha, a one-and-a-half-ton truck, a field kitchen from 1942, cannons, machine guns, weapons and other equipment from the Soviet period. The museum promises to be very interesting. Interesting, but also accessible, of course. I am convinced that all residents of Pridnestrovie will visit it, and not only residents of Pridnestrovie, but also guests of our republic.
- The equipment and this pillbox – how was it restored, where did the equipment come from? Is it original, even from the war?
- In different ways. For example, the guns are original. The T-34 tank is original. It takes part in our parades, it's in working order. Some elements, of course, are new, but they do not differ. This is work. It's collected bit by bit, sent by mail – elements of the same pillbox, so to speak, the internal structure, the ventilation system, the machine gun cooling system. It's all there. You can look at it. Not polypropylene pipes, but original designs. This is very interesting, actually. These are enthusiasts, you know, you have to be passionate about this. You have to do this and just be a fan, be a fan of this business. Probably love your history dearly. This is what pushes to.
- How can guests of the republic learn about the role of Pridnestrovie in the Great Patriotic War?
- It's very simple. Please, visit the museum. In addition, thanks to electronic capabilities, all this will be available on the Internet. Every year on May 9 we hold large-scale events in general. We plan to hold the "Immortal Regiment" march this year. I know that there are problems with this in Kishinev, they move it to some secondary streets. Therefore, if the residents of Moldova want to truly experience Victory Day, I invite them to Pridnestrovie, Tiraspol, Bendery and other cities, districts to participate in this holiday, in Victory Day.
- Yes, one of the differences between the two banks is that everything is done here at the state level, and there, as you say, by enthusiasts.
- Well, how can I tell you. Some things are done at the state level there. There is respect for Antonescu, Octavian Goga, Nazi criminals. This is at the state level. They are described as heroes in the history textbook, and the Soviet troops are described as occupiers. It's just a different vector at state levels, you understand? We honor the heroes-liberators, and there they honor the occupiers and Nazis. Well, what can you do? It's their choice, unfortunately. I feel sorry for them, really. This is a departure from history, a departure from their roots. Many of them were educated in the Soviet Union, they understand perfectly well what they are doing today.
- One of the distinctive features of Pridnestrovie is that the people here are friendly, always hospitable and always glad to see visitors. What other Pridnestrovie?
- You started with the people, and this is exactly the answer to the question. We have absolutely different people. We had different formation of the people. In Moldova (historical Bessarabia) – this is one formation of the people with its rich history from ancient Moldova and other territorial transformations that existed, of course, there, on this territory, but the people remained – the Bessarabian people. Their own history. We have the Pridnestrovian people. A completely different history of formation. Historical periods are the same, but the history is different. If we answer the question, we must remember once again how the Pridnestrovian people were formed, of course. The starting point is the Russian-Turkish wars, the Jassy Peace of 1791. There was a border along the Dniester in the beginning. Catherine the Great and Potemkin-Tavrichesky were concerned about the population of Little Russia before the Jassy Peace. There were practically no people. All nations were invited here. Those who wanted to come under the crown of Russia were invited to Pridnestrovie, to the Pridnestrovian region. In addition, there were great privileges, exemptions from taxes, exemptions from military service, great privileges in entrepreneurship. Many nationalities from all over the Russian Empire poured here. That is why there were so many Russians, Ukrainians, Moldovans, Jews, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Bulgarians, Gagauz, Germans, Poles and so on. Everyone found their place here. Pay attention to the Moldovan villages in Grigoriopol district, in Rybnitsa district. The date formation. They all appeared in this period. Why did it happen? Because it was Catherine II and Potemkin who invited them to us in Pridnestrovie from Bessarabia. The whole villages of people left here, to the left bank, under the protection of the crown of the Russian Empire. That is why the Pridnestrovian people are multinational, multicultural, many languages, you understand. Right? The eras changed then, empires collapsed, but the people survived. As Catherine the Great created it, so it has remained here. That is why the Pridnestrovian people are absolutely different from the Bessarabian people. We are different. Even under the Soviet Union... I have lived here since 1973. I remember the differences between the people living compactly in Bendery, Tiraspol, along the Dniester (there was no Pridnestrovie then, but the people lived by the Dniester), and the people who lived in Kishinev. This is a fact. Everyone will confirm the correctness of my words. Of course, we were a common Soviet people, but there were still differences. There is the Pridnestrovian people. We are multinational and multicultural. We have absorbed, probably, the best. That is why we are hospitable. There is absolutely no nationalism in the Pridnestrovian people. Absolutely. We are calm in this regard. The most important thing: each nation honors its traditions. This means it honors its history. Here is the answer to the first question, why it is like this for us, and different for others. We are brought up this way genetically, we are created this way. If we do not honor our history, if we forget the past, we will have no future. This is not just, as they say, a hackneyed phrase. It is an axiom. It is a law. It cannot be otherwise.
- A wonderful law.
- Yes.
- What does Pridnestrovie have, that other countries don't have?
- Probably the people. Let's get back to the people. Each state has its own people. The people form everything else: languages, culture, traditions, and so on. The Pridnestrovian region is traditional. Pridnestrovie has an absolutely calm attitude, let's say, towards religion. Of course, we have many Orthodox churches, but we also have Catholic churches, we also have Baptists, there are Adventists, there are Old Believers. Personally as President, I have an absolutely equal attitude towards everyone. We all get together, although I am an Orthodox person, I nevertheless treat all religious confessions with respect. To all of them, you understand. Without any disputes or claims. In no case is this acceptable here. By the way, when Catherine II invited us, many Old Believers came here. They were given the opportunity to build their Old Believer churches here, which have been preserved to this day. This is also an element of our history. For example, the city of Bendery. Before the revolution, there were 32 synagogues there. There were many people of Jewish nationality. There was a large Jewish cemetery. There was another, tragic page in the history of this people. This probably affected everyone at that time. Yes, our history. So.
- About "The Tankman’s Fate" story. This is a special book, especially for you. Tell us in detail how Ilya Sokolov appeared?
- I have always loved military history, even since school. We were taught military history, the history of the Great Patriotic War, when I studied at a military university. The teacher was a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. That's how it happened. Then it became a hobby. A lot of material was accumulated, so to speak, in my head. Of course, the Internet is a very good thing, but in the right hands. It gives an opportunity to penetrate deeply, so to speak, into history. I wanted to put this knowledge down on paper. The book by and large is not only the story of the fate of Ivan Morozov, Katerina Frolova and their classmates. It is a story about the generation of victors. This book in fact reveals all the stages of the Great Patriotic War, the actions of a simple soldier and the actions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. This is a brief excursion into the history of the war. Therefore, a person who has read it, if something caught his attention, he can already go online or rummage through some archives and expand his knowledge. This is a window into this history, a door, you understand? You go there, and you choose what interests you then. I always caught what storyline they highlight, when I talked with readers of this book. In different ways. Someone highlights battles, fights, tank attacks, tactics. Some people highlight, of course, Ivan Morozov, Katerina, love, feelings that are intensified at the front, this goes without saying. Some people highlight the historical theme. Some people highlight the religious theme – this is also an important fact. After all, Ivan Morozov came to God, to faith. Therefore, it is simple, easy to read, but at the same time, probably, complex, because it covers a large array of information.
- Are there any prototypes of the heroes?
- It depends. There are collective images, of course, and there are living prototypes. The unit commander, the nurse, the head of the medical service, the head of intelligence, the battalion commander – these are all living people. This is all living history. By and large, even a collective image is not far from the truth. There were thousands, hundreds of thousands of such stories. Naturally, I was familiar with these stories. Veterans told me about them. For example, I read about tank combat tactics, of course, and in books and was specifically interested. There is a T-34, which I could examine and understand how the commander acts. I am also a military man, in principle. I also talked to veteran tankers who told me what really happened on the battlefield. I tried to present this knowledge in the book. How it turned out, it is up to the reader to judge, but this is the author's point of view. This also takes place in principle.
- If possible, a few words in more detail about the hero. Why was he chosen? What attracted you as an author?
- It is difficult to single out a single character in this book. The main character is Ivan Morozov, of course. Everything is around him, basically. But the battalion commander Svintsov is such a force, a wall, a warrior, a hero, you know, there were many of them. A simple one, and not requiring regalia, and who went through the entire war, and rose to the rank of major general only, by and large. This suggests that the man did not rush for shoulder straps, he fought, everyone respected him precisely as a warrior. Simple sergeant major Fomich is a seasoned warrior, and here he is with Ivan Morozov in a tank, here they are together, and he supports him somewhere. He is from a simple peasant family from the Poltava region. He also experienced a lot. So he ended the war victoriously, as a full Cavalier of the Order of Glory, and until the end of his days, in fact, he did not tell his children and grandchildren about his exploits, somewhere he was embarrassed, somewhere it was painful for him. These are all images, in fact, seemingly collective, but they are all alive, because in every family it is like that. Of course, I also formed these images at the expense of living people, living emotions, living memories and living memory.
- Thank you very much for the book, for the interview and for the work.
- Thank you.