p October 1941

p Dear Sasha,

p If I die, write to my old people that I died painlessly and calmly. I hate fascism, I hate the bloody, plundering and murdering fascist scum. And if I had a second life, I’d give it too. Tell them I’m happy to have fought in this great battle.

Farewell, don’t forget me,
Arkady Poluektov

p In October of 1941, Moscow was in mortal danger. Hitler’s armies had pushed on into Mozhaisk, Maloyaroslavets and Naro-Fominsk, not far from the capital.

p The Naro-Fominsk sector of the front was being defended by the 33rd Army commanded by Lieutenant-General Yefremov. The battle did not let up day or night. Side by side with the Red Army regular detachments fought the soldiers of the people’s volunteer corps of the Kuibyshev and Frunze districts of Moscow. The soldiers daily performed miracles of valour and daring. Every soldier knew that Moscow lay behind him and that the enemy had to be stopped at all costs.

p In order to spot the enemy’s firing points, gunner-scout Arkady Poluektov was always trying to crawl as close as he could to enemy lines so that his comrades on the gun batteries could pinpoint their target. One bleak October day the brave scout was fire-spotting from his vantage point. Enemy tanks and guns blew up into the air together with their crews on his directions. But Arkady was to scout no more. He lay dead, struck by an enemy bullet.

His last letter was written to his friend Alexander Gorbulin.