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p Those heroic and tragic war years 1941-45 are gradually fading into the past. But the further they get from us and the more the war wounds heal, the better perspective we have on the titanic efforts of their victims.

p Mankind will never forget them, those who gave their lives to save others from slavery, to shield human civilisation and bring long-awaited peace.

p Dear reader, you have before you a collection of documents left by Soviet patriots who died for the liberation and happiness of their country. Most of these letters, testaments, diaries and notes were written just a few days, hours or even minutes before death in a nazi prison cell, on the battlefield or in the rear.

p These deeply-moving and awe-inspiring last lines cannot but induce a feeling of pride and admiration for these brave men and women. They spared no effort, not even their lives to safeguard their country’s independence, to smash fascism and the "New Order" in Europe.

p During the four years of their struggle against a formidable and ruthless enemy, the Soviet people battled with the Germans on a front stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea.

p The war demanded countless sacrifices. The nazis were sweeping aside all life and freedom that lay in their path, were despoiling and trampling underfoot the dearest and most precious human values. Hitler’s men overran Europe to bleed white Soviet people and make them subservient to the German bankers and industrial magnates.

p Once in the hands of their executioners, many men and women courageously withstood all trials and torments, 10 preferring to die by enemy bullet rather than betray a comrade. Through the innumerable acts of heroism we can feel the unbroken spirit, the intrepid faith in victory over fascism, the supremacy of communist over fascist ideas.

p At first losses were many and defeats common. In defence Soviet troops stood firm, then switched to the offensive driving the nazis from the country and bringing freedom to Europe and liberation from the nazi terror. No matter where the combat, Soviet patriots fought to the bitter end. And they won.

p On the field of battle, in a prison cell or in a partisan dugout, many of them jotted down their innermost thoughts and noble feelings. Some used their old letters, some a scrap of paper, others their Party or Y.C.L. card, their handkerchiefs or head-scarfs to write to their near and dear ones, to their comrades-in-arms of their faith in victory and readiness to lay down their lives for a happy future.

p From these pages speak the fearless warriors who were the first to bar the way to the nazi forces. On the Western frontier, close to the Ukrainian village of Paripsa, some 136 borderguards bore the brunt of a first assault. For an hour and a half they held at bay 16 tanks advancing along the ZhitomirKiev highway. Junior Lieutenant Sinokop took a scrap of paper and wrote what was to become a solemn pledge to all who fell in battle: "I’m going to die for my country. The enemy won’t take me alive.”

p We do not know the names of the other border-guards. What we do know is that they were all staunch heroes.

p Then come the brief notes from the Brest Fortress defenders:

p “There were five of us: Sedov, I. Grutov, Bogolyub, Mikhailov, V. Selivanov. We beat back the first attack on 22.VI.41 at 3.15. We shall die but not retreat!”

p “We’ll die but won’t desert the fortress.”

p “I am dying but won’t surrender! Farewell, my country. 20/VII-41.”

p Many hundred miles separate Brest from Moscow, but this is where the main nazi drive on Moscow started. And it was here that a few hundred valiant men made a last ditch stand in their fortress and brought a German division to a halt for a whole month. As they shot their last rounds, the defenders, shedding their blood but never their courage, wrote their final words on the fortress walls, words of tenderness to their families, their country and their Party. So it was everywhere. 11 Everywhere sons and daughters gave their last breath to save their homeland from the nazi marauders.

p As they faced their executioners the authors of these notes met their death with heads raised high.

p “... Today, tomorrow-I don’t know when-they are going to shoot me because I cannot go against my conscience, because I am a Komsomol girl. I’m not afraid to die and I shall die calmly,” wrote Yelena Ubiivovk, one of the members of a big underground organisation in Poltava. All she regretted was that she had been able to do so little in her 20 years.

p Another letter is by young Communist Ivan Kozlov, a key member of the Minsk underground caught by the Germans. He spent two months in prison under constant torture and interrogation. But nothing could break his will. Just before his execution he wrote to his comrades: "No tears. No despair. Our blood won’t be shed in vain.

p “Have courage, be brave, don’t be afraid and never despair.

p “I would give anything to live and get revenge on these savages! That you must do. If only I were able.. .. You can bet your life I would have slaughtered these dirty swine.. . . Yet only a couple of years ago I was too scared even to carve a little chicken....”

p Many people volunteered to remain behind the lines and eagerly carried out the responsible work they were given.

p With heavy heart, Leonid Silin bade farewell to his home. Like many other patriots he volunteered for the front. War is cruel. In his last note to his wife and children he wrote: "I want to hug and kiss you for the last time. Today I am to be shot by order of the German Command.... I die for my country, for our Party, for all Russians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians and all other people in the land, and for you. Love our country like I loved her, fight for her like I have and, if need be, die for her like me!”

p Among the heroes who fought until their last breath on the approaches to Moscow were soldiers under the command of Alexander Vinogradov. They barred the way to the swastika’d tanks. "Three of us left: Kolya, Volodya and I, Alexander. ... There goes another-Volodya from Moscow. The tanks keep coming at us. Only two of us now. But we shall hold out as long as we can... . Now there’s only me, wounded in the head and arm. But we’ve knocked out more tanks. That makes 23 of them.”

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p Here is a strength of character that will never die: three, two, one, mortally wounded, and 23 tanks are put out of action. There must have been many heroes like Alexander Vinogradov and his comrades or the famous 28 Panfilov men who fought to the last man.

p The poet-martyr and hero Musa Jalil, executed in a Berlin prison, wrote this spirited call to battle:

p Today the last of my songs I sing:
The axe hangs over my head.
It was songs that taught me freedom to prize.
Now they bid me to die like a fighter.
My life was a love-song that soared to the skies;
Let my death be the battle-song of a fighter.

p Some of Jalil’s poems were preserved and returned to the Soviet Union by a member of the Belgian Resistance Movement who had shared a cell with the poet. In this and many other ways anti-fascists from all over Europe joined hands and forged an unshakable friendship. Languages of many nations are inscribed on the walls of the "Death Fortress" set up by the Germans just outside Kaunas. "Keep up your spirits even in this cess-pit. Victory is ours! Workers of the world, unite !"-words in Russian, Rumanian, French and English, scrawled on the solitary-cell wall in the Tiraspol Gestapo prison.

By their bravery and sheer guts. Soviet heroes became an inspiration to anti-fascist fighters the world over.

p As you read these letters you cannot help appreciating the lofty ideals and communist principles which have always motivated the actions of the best people of the Soviet land. They have faith in the coming of a society without wars or plunder, a love for communism and their homeland, a desire for comradeship and friendship among all nations.

p The thoughts of the Soviet people in prison cells often turned to the past, weighing up the good and the bad and passing judgement on themselves. These are quite ordinary men and women and when the time came for heroism they did not flinch. They gave all they could for victory and did it as a matter of course. And the knowledge that they were laying down their lives for the people lightened their cruel 13 fate. Almost everyone of the letters mentions this. These anti-fascist warriors used the slightest opportunity to inform the folks at home, their comrades and countrymen that Hitler’s hangmen had not broken their will. They called out to those alive to mercilessly crush their murderers.

p Riga underground hero Imant Sudmalis and Donetsk Komsomol and underground leader Savva Matekin both bear witness to this undying faith and iron will.

p “When I look back over the days gone by, I have nothing to reproach myself for,” wrote Imant Sudmalis in a Gestapo dungeon before he was hanged. "I acted like a man and a fighter in those fateful days.”

p While waiting to be shot, Savva Matekin shared his last thoughts with his wife: "What can a man do when he is in the death cell? All the same they’re scared of me. Tell that to our people....”

p At the time of the country’s most harrowing tribulations, thousands of people became giants among men and appeared to the world as titans moulded from head to foot of pure steel.

p “The horrors of war must never return! Peace will triumph and life will prosper again!" That was the wish of these legendary heroes. We shall never forget them. And we must ensure their last wish is observed.

p Every letter has its own story. Before they arrived in this collection most of them travelled a hard and often perilous journey, through many hands, along the rutted roads of war. Keeping them often entailed mortal danger for those behind the lines. They preserved them as their most precious possession. Many similar letters were consumed in the flames of war and, no doubt, more than a few still lie undiscovered.

p These letters, notes, inscriptions on walls, diary excerpts, etc., are presented in chronological order and divided into sections where they happen to be connected by one particular place or author, in which case they are arranged according to the date of the last letter.

Each letter has a short note on its author and the conditions under which it was written.

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p You may die, but in the song
of the brave and the strong in
heart, you will forever be a
living example, a proud appeal
for liberty and reason.

Maxim Gorky

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