In anticipation of the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the great Patriotic war employees of Smolensk customs, observing sanitary standards and armed with the necessary tools, cleaned up the war graves in the village Anastasio. At the end of the day, they laid flowers and paid tribute to the fallen heroes with a moment of silence.
In this mass grave are buried 385 Soviet soldiers, sergeants and officers of the 152-th, 46th and 129th infantry divisions killed in action during the period of the battle of Smolensk in July – September 1941, of them know the names of only 32 victims of the soldiers. Customs officers cared for this burial for several years and take it as a tribute to the soldiers who gave their lives to stop the movement of the enemy to the heart of our country.
In addition, by tradition on the eve of Victory day employees of Smolensk customs congratulated the more than 30 veterans of the great Patriotic war, home front workers, former underage prisoners of concentration camps with the upcoming celebration and expressed gratitude for the resilience, courage, heroism and love of country.
Pandemic coronavirus has made adjustments. TSof flowers, gifts and greetings to most of the veterans customs officers told the relatives with whom they live, and part handed over compliance with sanitary norms.
In short conversations, the veterans recalled those difficult days of the war, their comrades. Each of the great Patriotic war veterans, home front workers, former underage prisoners of concentration camps, who met customs, its own fate, passed the roads of war path. But listening to them, understand what they have in common – faith in Victory, which gave them the strength to live and fight with the enemy. And 75 years later, memories of that joyous moment of Victory, make their faces happy and bright.
Vladimir Safonov,
press Secretary of the Smolensk customs