He cooked meals and helped serve mines. How a Belarusian Red Army soldier wasn't stopped by a wound on the road to the Great Victory.

News Topics: For bravery, courage, bold actions, and for victory over the occupiers—this is just a small list of the reasons why Red Army soldiers received award medals. Our hero, Alexander Babich, received one for his work as a cook. He personally delivered meals to firing platoons under enemy fire. We learned about this brave soldier from a five-year-old article on the website of a local newspaper in Glubokoye. The headline, "Grandfather Was Wounded Near Rzhev," caught our attention as one of many stories about soldiers during the war. However, getting to know the hero better, we realize his story is far from typical. Alexander Babich was drafted on the first day of the war, and after being wounded, he didn't remain in the rear but returned to the front to protect his family. Today, he is the subject of a special BELTA project, "Professions of Victory," dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Soviet people's victory in the Great Patriotic War. We tell the stories of courageous people of all walks of life—those who contributed to the nation's fight against fascism on the front lines, in the rear, or during the occupation.

The memory of Alexander Babich is preserved only in the family archives of his daughters and granddaughter Elena Sasimovich, who told us about her grandfather. He was born on February 2, 1911, in the village of Meretskie, now in the Glubokoe District of the Vitebsk Region. Before the war, he completed three years of elementary school, worked on a collective farm, got married, and in 1940, his daughter Verochka, Elena Sasimovich's mother, was born. The young family built their home, ran their farm, and enjoyed life. But in fateful June 1941, their plans were changed. Remaining a loving husband and father, on June 22, 30-year-old Alyosha (as his fellow villagers called Alexander Babich) left his wife and one-year-old daughter in Meretskie and set off to defend them, the village, and the entire country from the Nazi occupiers. Dozens of villages were burned in the Vitebsk region, but the soldier was lucky enough to return home to his wife and Verochka.

Through the Prayers of a Daughter

, "Grandma recalled that as soon as the war began, all the men were taken to the village council in Litovtsy. As you drive to Udelo, at the crossroads, on the right, stand tall trees. This was the site of a farmstead, then an elementary school, and later, the village council. From the village council, the mobilized soldiers were taken to Udelo for a church service, where the priest prayed for everyone and gave each an icon. Only Grandpa's cousin didn't attend the service—he circled around it but didn't enter. Grandma said he died in the first battle; no one was even wounded, but he never returned," Elena Sasimovich emphasized.
The woman said her mother often recalls how, as a three-year-old girl, she constantly prayed for her father. "We Catholics have one prayer that my grandmother, an Orthodox Christian, loved until the end of her life. The villagers would say, 'How a daughter prays for her father,' and my grandmother believed that he returned, in part, thanks to her daughter's prayers. And she would always read her Orthodox prayers first, and then this prayer," she said. At the end, instead of saying, "Protect us," little Vera would say, "Protect my father."

"I can't remember this,"

Alexander Babich's granddaughter remembered even as a teenager, when she often visited their village. "As far back as I can remember, he was always quiet, calm, focused. Sad. It's clear that the war didn't add to his HEALTH or joy. He also smoked a lot, a lot. He planted and grew his own tobacco, and rolled it himself. Later, he'd buy some, but he mostly smoked his own. I used to tell my grandmother that there was a lot of smoke in the house. But she'd say she wouldn't throw him out - 'He's been through such hell, let him stay home,'" recalls Elena Sasimovich. And here one can see the immense love of a woman who waited for her beloved to return from the front. And in 1946, their second daughter, Alya, was born.
"Grandfather didn't like to remember the war, he didn't like to watch war movies. When I asked him to talk about those events, he usually replied, 'Granddaughter, don't ask, I can't remember it.' Sometimes he would say something, but very little. "Even I, a teenager, didn't remember, and now I deeply regret it, I reproach myself for it. I constantly think that there were so many opportunities to ask questions, but I didn't take advantage of them," Elena Sasimovich says sadly. "Sometimes I think that if we had modern technical capabilities back then, we would have been able to preserve much more than my not always reliable memory. In general, my grandfather was very silent. And this was not only because of the war, but because of his character."

The woman is convinced that the children , grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of heroes must, in the name of future generations, recreate everything that the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War lived through, and not allow anyone to turn history upside down.

Relying on the Red Army book, military ID, and awards that the Red Army soldier's second daughter, Alla Budich, carefully preserves, as well as the memories of relatives, we tried to recreate the heroic path of Alexander Babich.

He visited his wife and daughter in a tank.

Alexander Babich took the military oath on July 5, 1941. From June 22, 1941, to September 1943, he fought on the Second Belorussian Front in the 220th Rifle Regiment attached to an artillery battery, first as a driver and then as a motorcyclist in an anti-tank artillery battery. He also served as a mortar carrier for a mortar crew, and for this role was awarded the Medal "For Courage." The award sheet reads: "During the battalion's combat operations in the area of ​​the villages of Makeyevka and Mishino, Comrade Babich, while serving as a mortar carrier, demonstrated courage and bravery. Despite intense enemy artillery fire, Comrade Babich provided uninterrupted support for the mortar crew. Instead of the prescribed six mortars, Comrade Babich took 10-13 and fully assisted the crew in quickly opening fire on the enemy. When the second mortar crew member was disabled, Comrade Babich immediately replaced him and assisted the gunner in accurately and quickly aiming the mortar at the target."
In 1942, the Red Army soldier was seriously wounded. "Unfortunately, we don't know exactly where it happened for the same reason my grandfather didn't like to talk about the war. My mother heard from my grandmother that my grandfather often recalled the city of Rzhev, where fierce fighting took place and where he was hospitalized. After this injury, my grandfather carried a shell fragment near his heart for the rest of his life," said Elena Sasimovich.

Even a serious injury didn't stop Alexander Babich from continuing to bring Victory closer with his own hands. "My grandfather was very responsible, and this character trait was passed on to all of us. He couldn't return home or stay in the rear: 'You've healed me, so I'll move on. I can't go back when everyone else is fighting,'" the woman noted.
Elena Sasimovich recounted how my grandfather and his fellow soldiers, heading to the Baltics, stopped in Meretskie in a tank. "There was a large maple tree behind the house, under which the soldiers stopped their tank. The villagers came running, as did my grandmother and great-grandmother, who were working in the fields. There was such joy, seeing their loved one alive. The soldiers didn't stay long, but they were fed and continued on their way," the woman shared.

She showed us the very same maple tree, which still stands today and reminds us of the events of those years ago. Neither Alexander Babich nor his wife are alive anymore—only the century-old tree preserves its silent history. He survived the war and remembers how the occupiers set up a camp right next to him in the garden, and then for many years the brave soldier built his house and restored the land.
Preserve the memory of my grandfather

Elena Sasimovich and her husband, in memory of their relative, even attempted to reconstruct Alexander Babich's military career, based on the few accounts and archival documents available on the website "Memory of the People." "Unfortunately, my grandfather's military career is now difficult to reconstruct. I blame myself for not asking him more detailed questions when I had the chance. According to his Red Army soldier's service record, he began his career in the 70th Rifle Division as a Red Army machine gunner. From September 14, 1943, he served in an anti-tank artillery battery. And on December 4, 1944, the record indicates a transfer to the position of cook in the 119th Guards Tank Regiment," explained the granddaughter.

In the order of January 18, 1944, awarding Alexander Babich with the medal "For Military Merit" we read: "In battles with the German occupiers in the area of ​​the village of Sinyaki from January 6 to January 8, 1944, due to the lack of a motorcycle, he worked as a cook. He coped with the cook's work well, the food was prepared tasty and on time. He personally carried lunches under enemy fire to the personnel of the fire platoons. He is worthy of a government award - the medal "For Military Merit".
He loved soup and cooked "perapechki"

. The Babich family had a good tradition - greeting guests with a set table. "Almost every time I visited, my grandmother fried potatoes. Sprinkled them with green onions and dill. She also picked cucumber flowers, little yellow ones, cut them and added them to sour MILK . And she also added cucumbers. "Well, that's a 'smakata,'" the woman laughs. Their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren follow the same tradition.

"At home, after the war, and even when I was still alive, my grandmother cooked mostly. But my grandfather often helped her by making 'perapechki.' These are buns. I ate them, but I don't remember them well. And I used to ask my mother how they were made—'z bulby.' They were boiled in their skins, and the skins were removed. My grandfather had a special mortar and pestle; they'd put the potatoes in, mash them until smooth, and add FLOUR. The dough was rolled out and rolled into a log, then cut into portions. Everything was placed on a shovel and baked in a heated oven without coals. The buns were incredibly delicious. And when the house was moved further from the road to prevent flooding, my grandfather would bring two bricks, place a pot on them, and cook soup," Elena Sasimovich recalled.
Soup was Alexander Babich's favorite food. "Sometimes they'd get ready for a wedding, and he'd ask his grandmother to make soup," the woman shared. Incidentally, one of his grandfather's responsibilities included churning cream into butter .

"Three times a day, he'd deliver hot food to the battery's firing positions."

It's no coincidence that we brought up food, because in addition to the Medal "For Military Merit," Alexander Babich was nominated for another award, as a cook. One of the award documents contains a brief, specific description of his personal combat achievement. "Comrade Babich proved himself a brave and courageous Red Army soldier in battles with the German invaders. During the offensive battles from June 22, 1944 to July 4, 1944, he prepared food for the battery and, despite artillery and machine gun fire , delivered hot meals to the battery's firing positions three times a day. Comrade Babich is worthy of the government award of the Order of the Red Star."
"For some reason, among my grandfather's awards there is no Order of the Red Star, but in peacetime he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War. On March 20, 1945, he was awarded the Gratitude of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief for his participation in the operation to capture the city of Gdansk. My grandfather was demobilized in November 1945. After the war, on February 9, 1946, he was awarded another award - the medal "For Victory over Germany", and later - jubilee medals for the 20th anniversary (1966), 30th anniversary (1976), 40th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War (1985 - my grandfather's last award), medals "50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1969) and "60 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1979). On March 26, 1970, by Decree The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded Alexander Babich the jubilee medal "For Valiant Labor." "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of V.I. Lenin's birth," said Elena Sasimovich.
Alexander Babich's granddaughter was always proud of her grandfather and really wanted to tell others about him. But he was reticent, never talking about the years of that terrible human tragedy. In search of information about him, we turned to the Glubokoye Historical and Ethnographic Museum, where, aside from award certificates, there's no other information about the veteran. "He must have been very modest," they replied at the museum, since they couldn't find a single article about him even in the newspaper archives. The situation is exactly the same at the Meretskaya Basic School, even though Alexander Babich lived in his native village his entire life before and after the war. The National Archives couldn't help us either.

"I thought Alyosha didn't love me anymore, but look how he loves me."

"Grandfather also loved flowers. Wherever he went—taking the cow from the pasture or picking it up—he always returned with a bouquet. "Nadya, hold on," he would say to his grandmother. They always had fresh flowers in the better part of the house: daisies, cornflowers, lupines. A huge jasmine bush grew in the yard; he often put several branches in a vase. He even ordered that when he died, jasmine be planted next to it. We fulfilled that wish," his granddaughter recalled. Jasmine also still grows near the house.

After the war, the family joined the collective farm without hesitation . "Mom said that they gave their horse there,There were no tractors, and all the work in the fields was done by horses. My grandparents were left with a cow., a pig , chickens. And they took the land, but then, as a war veteran, they gave him as much as he needed. They worked on the collective farm all their lives. I also remember going to help my grandmother weed the beets. Grandfather worked with horses,” recalls Elena Sasimovich. “He was very hardworking. And my mother also told me that he liked to fish with my dad. There was practically nothing to eat. And so they would bring fish and pickle it.”

“The most vivid memories of my childhood and adolescence are associated with my grandfather and grandmother. We were very close, and I loved them madly. Grandmother was very wise. Grandfather could sometimes quarrel – after the war, his nerves were shattered. Grandmother was able to calm him easily with just her “Alyosha, don’t.” He loved grandmother very much. It would seem so stern, taciturn, but very sensitive. When grandmother lost consciousness, he was very upset. "Grandma was still laughing then, saying, 'I thought Alyosha didn't love me anymore, but look how he loves me,'" Elena Sasimovich says with a smile.
Listening to this touching story of lifelong love that outlasted the war, we couldn't help but wonder if Alexander Babich wrote to his wife. "There were letters. But where they went after Grandma died is unknown. I remember them well. I opened them and read them, but I can't recall what they said. There were three letters from Grandpa—in soldier's triangles," the granddaughter shared. "Thanks to Auntie, who saved the medals. Grandpa gave them to his grandchildren to play with, and they're even all stained from it. Auntie Alya took Grandpa in after his death, and we managed to save some documents, medals, and orders."

"I also remember there was a carpet painted by Yazep Drozdovich hanging on their wall. I realized this too late. I asked my grandmother where she got it from. 'Some guy walked around and painted it for everyone.' And I, working as a teacher, knew who Yazep Drozdovich was and that he really did walk around and paint such carpets, and people gave him treats in return. Where the carpet went – ​​no one knows," says Elena Sasimovich.
Brave artilleryman, tank driver, and cook Alexander Babich died on August 28, 1991. He and his wife lived a difficult but heroic life. "A deep bow and gratitude to you, Grandpa, and to the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War for the opportunity to live, study, and work under a peaceful sky today," concluded Elena Sasimovich with tears in her eyes.

Irina SKAKUN,
photo by Nadezhda KOSTETSKAYA.
BELTA