Mom! My studies have ended, and here I am again in my unit. On our release, all the command of the division was there, a brass band played. Everything was very solemn. And now I am a commander in the Red Army. Now my task is to lead my soldiers into battle. Leading into battle means skillfully commanding during the battle, being ahead, inspiring fighters with your personal example. And all this is not so easy to do while not in training but under bullets. You need to be truly brave, conscientious, and crystal-honest. Only then can you enjoy the boundless trust, respect, and love of the fighters, and without this, again, you cannot go into battle. How I can cope with these tasks will be shown by the upcoming offensive battles, in which the German and Finnish evil spirits will be wiped off the face of the earth, and the Soviet people will have the opportunity to live in friendship with the Finnish working people.
You write that a real Russian winter has been established, and from the newspapers I know that a real German escape has also been established. Yes, they have something to run from. The harsh arctic winter makes it difficult to survive in combat conditions if you are wearing a cap, boots and, albeit woolen, an overcoat. And this is how the Germans are still dressed. That is why they began to surrender in groups, with the officers together, without waiting for the cruel slap of the bony paw of the Russian big bear. And the Russian bear is already beginning to seriously bare its teeth at its neighbor in the north, it is already sharpening its claws, preparing for the last decisive slap on the hunched back of Hitler’s lackey – Finland. Speaking of Finland and its cursed nature. We laugh here that when God created the world, at the end he did not have enough material, then he spat, and it turned out to be Finland. What a story! By the way, about the local climate. It is very strange, fickle. The weather can literally change 3—4 times a day. Severe frosts (already at – 44°С) are replaced by rather warm weather of – 10 to —12 °С. In general, the usual temperature here is – 18 to – 25 °С. But due to the absence of wind and very good warm uniforms, frosts are not so sensitive. Although I still managed to freeze, and rather hard, the lobes on the fingers of my right hand. Today is the 20th of January – half of winter is over. Behind the long arctic night. Today the day has increased by an hour and a half. Yesterday I saw the sun for the first time in winter. True, I saw it from a high hill, and I saw a red ball with yellow-red rays gliding along my legs. But even this after Northern night made me happy.
My unit is now on vacation, some distance from the front line. There are intense activities, they go on reconnaissance sometimes, sometimes to the rear of the enemy. I haven’t been there yet. But soon it will have to. We will have to stay awake there for several days because it is quite tricky to fall asleep under a spruce in the snow.
Well, so far, this is all I wanted to write. I am now the chief of the guard (now I am relieved of standing watch, and this is a great relief). I changed posts and sat by the stove made of a gasoline barrel, and now I am writing this letter to you. Yesterday I received your letter of 12 December and a postcard of 27 September. In the postcard, you write that you sent the package that I received in October. It’s interesting how post works. Fun!
You write that Boris28 studies at a school for adults. Why? Unclear. Explain! Why is Grisha in the city of Osh? Who and where does he work? You write that Vasya passed the city of Kuibyshev. Is he going to the front with Gladyshev? Say hello to the teachers you see. We will avenge Zhenya. We will take revenge for everything. Give Natasha A. my warmest greetings. Tell her, by the way, that she could write a little letter. Where does Lyalya work, and what is her job? Hi to Aunt Nadya. I wish her not to drown in the wisdom of science.29 Regards, Yasha.
18.
7 February 1941
Hello Mom!
My life goes on as before. As before, I belong to the small number of non-smokers here, although no one would classify me as teetotal. You know, you get used to these 100 g of vodka – our daily ration – so it’s boring without them.
Two days ago, I performed an independent combat mission for the first time. I led the fighters through the hills and lakes on skis following the map. In just 13 hours, we did 65—75 km. The path through deep snow and hills was difficult though we went skiing.
We are all hungry for the offensive!
Then bye. Write how you are.
Hello to everybody. Regards, Yasha.
19.
10 February 1942
Hello Mom!
For some reason, there have been no letters from you for a long time. My life goes on as before. By order of the company’s political instructor, I conduct political studies. Today, when I was preparing for the lesson, I had to take notes on “A short course on the history of the VKP (b)30”. I remembered the past, I remembered Lazar. His lessons came in handy here too. I live in a nice house with a glass window made of bottles and a stove made of a barrel (it was dragged 40 km). We built it all ourselves. I am in a unit that is famous for its carpenters. We have rebuilt a wonderful kitchen (I am enclosing a clipping from the newspaper), and our dugouts and defenses are always the best along our entire front line.
Mom, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow my life is changing. I finish my stay here and go to the front line. Mom, I won’t have to go into battle soon, but I must say that the defense sector that I and my unit will occupy is, without exaggeration, the most important and dangerous in our entire front line. There are enough German shells and bullets in this area. Do not worry too much, but I consider it my duty to warn you that now I will be almost in battle. Well, bye.
I kiss you hard, hello to everyone, Yasha.
20.
13 February 1942
Hello Mom! There have been no letters from you for a long time. I am sitting in a dugout – a burrow, and I am writing this letter. Mom, here I am again experiencing the sensations and moods of a person going into battle. The enemy is several hundred meters away from us. We always wear masked coats, crawl during the day because we are in a completely open area, with heavy fire. So far, no shells have hit the dugouts though everything around them has been dug up, and all the trees have been swept away. I am here today for the second day. I must say, the mood is bad. Unaccustomed to such tension.
Then bye! Regards, Yasha.
PS Last time I washed my face was on the 10th. As you can see, I have not gotten into a rut yet.
By the way, our defense is not bad. No worse than yours near Moscow. But, on the other hand, the site is important. I’m sure the Germans won’t get through here! Yasha.
21.
25 February 1942
Hello Mom!
For a long time, there have been no letters from you. I worry.
I have already written to you about the changes in my army life. I’m already used to the new environment. As before, I conduct conversations with the soldiers, publish “Combat Leaflet”, etc. Now there is no longer a day that I do not wash my face! Our conditions are as follows: the German sits on a hill and looks at us as if on a saucer, for the entire forest has been swept away by artillery fire. We live at night and sleep during the day. If you need to go somewhere day or night, you still must wear a camouflage coat. You walk like a woman in a skirt. However, even in a camouflage coat you should not walk but crawl. Between us – if you need to get rid of excessive liquid, you have to put on a camouflage coat and crawl out on all fours to the proper place. Fun!!! Shells have already entered the daily routine. I can handle them well compared to others. True, here the other day a blow-off shell exploded