Tank Rider: Into the Reich with the Red Army

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Many of my comrades told me that I should write my memoirs but it is actually a difficult thing to do. After all, I’m not a professional writer – if the truth be known, I’m very far from that. But I can tell the story of my family, my childhood and my youth, and relate to you my experiences during the years of the Great Patriotic War.

Human memory is an amazing thing and life erodes away many experiences and events. With all the burdens and cares of daily life I had no time to indulge myself in my memories. I was not a government official or a politician, but a simple individual just like millions of others in our country. My memoirs will concern themselves with events that I saw take place or with those events which had an impact on me and those around me during the War. I do not claim to have a full and objective reflection of events – human memory isn’t perfect – but I will try my best. Similarly, I will try not to be too critical in my judgement of others. Things that are described in the memoirs are my personal point of view, my personal judgement and my perception of life. These memoirs are a look back at the life of a typical member of the Red Army, a career officer, who served 35 years of his life in the military – from 1941 to 1976. I entered service when I was 18 and retired at the age of 53 as a Colonel.

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