The meeting with the direct descendants of the heroes, which was attended by scientists, civil servants, representatives of the Ministry of Defense and other authorities of Belarus, began on April 15 with a ceremony of laying flowers and wreaths at the Victory Monument at the Eternal Flame — four wreaths symbolized the four fronts. Flowers were also laid by Minsk schoolchildren from the Schools of Peace and students of Suvorov Military School.

History in the hearts of people

After the ceremony, the grandchildren of I. Kh. Bagramyan — Ivan Bagramyan and Karine Nadzharova, I. D. Chernyakhovsky — granddaughter Anastasia Orlova and great-grandson Vadim Polyantsev, G. F. Zakharov — grandson Mikhail Afanasyev and K. K. Rokossovsky — grandson Konstantin Rokossovsky and his wife Lyudmila Rokossovskaya went to the secondary schools of Minsk, previously awarded the status of Schools of Peace. Among the events of the project were the following: Secondary School No. 62 was named after G. F. Zakharov, Secondary School No. 118 — after K. K. Rokossovsky, Secondary School No. 148 — after I. Kh. Bagramyan.

Ivan Baghramyan and Karine Najarova are grandsons of Marshal Ivan Baghramyan

And on April 16, the descendants of the heroes visited Minsk Gymnasium No. 11, which already bears the name of I. D. Chernyakhovsky, and also took part in a unique round table meeting at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus entitled «They are named after them... For the Day of the Great Victory.»

The idea of the project «Four Fronts — One Victory» was born in Minsk. The authors of the idea are the Belarusian Peace Foundation and the Russian Marshal I. Kh. Bagramyan Historical Memory Preservation Foundation. Activists of the two foundations implemented the idea together with employees of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and the Education Committee of Minsk City Executive Committee.

— Your Belarus is beautiful, — Ivan Bagramyan, the namesake of his great grandfather, told us on Victory Square before the wreath-laying ceremony. — Grandfather always had warm feelings for your country, often came here on official visits, did patriotic work, met with young people. In September 1980, I accompanied him to Minsk, when another meeting of Komsomol and youth marchers to places of military glory was held here...

Anastasia Orlova, granddaughter of General Ivan Chernyakhovsky with her son Vadim Polyantsev

The students of Secondary School No. 148 listened with great interest to Ivan Sergeevich Bagramyan, who spoke passionately about the legendary commander-in-chief, who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on July 29, 1944, for the successes of the troops of the 1st Baltic Front during Bagration Operation and the personal courage he demonstrated. Judging by the students’ lively reactions, it was clear that the facts they knew from history, coming from the mouth of a grandson who knew his beloved grandfather so well, had a vivid effect on them.

— Ivan Khristoforovich developed a special attitude towards Belarus precisely after he became the commander of the 1st Baltic Front. The first large settlement liberated by the front’s troops was Gorodok. They entered Belarusian soil in December 1943, and in 1944 Bagration Operation, or Stalin’s fifth strike, began, after which Soviet troops reached the border of the Soviet Union. Grandfather always said that we were able to win this terrible war because they were one Soviet people.

General Georgy Zakharov


Mikhail Afanasyev (left) is the grandson of General Georgy Zakharov, Konstantin Rokossovsky is the grandson of Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky and his wife Lyudmila Rokossovskaya

Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky

Of course, the national composition of the commanders of the fronts that liberated Belarus is impressive. 1st Belorussian Front — Konstantin Rokossovsky — a Pole on his father’s side and a Belarusian on his mother’s side, a teacher from Pinsk. 2nd Belorussian Front — Georgy Zakharov — Russian. 3rd Belorussian Front — Ivan Chernyakhovsky — Ukrainian. 1st Baltic Front — Ivan Bagramyan — Armenian. The fact that representatives of different nationalities were able to successfully implement this major strategic operation testifies to the strongest friendship of peoples. 

Everyone at school was delighted to meet the marshal’s grandchildren and communicate with Ivan Sergeevich Bagramyan and Karine Sergeevna Nadzharova. And the distinguished guests were also inspired when they learned that a street named after their legendary grandfather would soon appear in the new Minsk microdistrict Severny Bereg.

— In the year of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, we decided to gather the families of the legendary commanders of the fronts that liberated Belarus, — explained the Chairman of the Board of the Belarusian Peace Foundation Maksim Misko at a meeting in Secondary School No. 148. — I am glad that we succeeded. At the same time, a decision was made to assign the names of the heroes to Minsk schools. I would like to note that this is not a formal process, there is a certain procedure, including the need to delve deeply into the history of the glorious personalities themselves. I believe that such an invisible presence of great people will have a beneficial effect on the educational and upbringing processes. We greatly appreciate the personal participation of representatives of the heroes’ families, which proves that history is not only films and books, it also lives in the hearts of people. And this is what unites us. I think that by the Day of Knowledge, memorial plaques with the names of the heroes will appear on all four educational institutions.

These heartfelt encounters will be written into world history

At the wreath-laying ceremony and later at school No. 118, and at a meeting at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the maternal grandson of Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky warmly recalled the Belarusian roots of the family tree.

— I rarely visit Minsk, — said Ivan Sergeevich. — But I always enjoy being here, for me this is my native land. My great-grandmother, my grandfather’s mother Antonina Ovsyannikova, was born in Telekhany. She worked as a teacher in Pinsk when she met my grandfather, with whom they later moved to Warsaw. We were an ordinary family, except for the fact that my grandfather was a marshal. For others, Rokossovsky was a great commander, but for me he was just a grandfather. He taught me to play chess, fish, dig a vegetable garden. And he was a wonderful person, polite, tactful. In a word, a gentleman. His restraint and calm did not prevent him from showing firmness and putting anyone in their place.

Eternal memory to the heroes

We talked at the Victory Memorial with Anastasia Orlova, the granddaughter of Army General Ivan Chernyakhovsky, and met his great-grandson, the architect Vadim Polyantsev.

— My grandfather was a great man, — said Anastasia Markovna. — And I am proud of him. Of course, it is important that the younger generation remembers the names of the heroes, but it is even more important, in my opinion, that children are told about their ancestors in their families, remembered and honored. After all, literally in every family, especially in Belarus, the ancestors of today’s children, young people, in one way or another, participated in the Great Patriotic War. And we also need to teach children to understand the huge flow of information that fills the Internet. And among it there is a lot of untruth, fakes about the war. When a child knows the history of his/her family, then the connection of times, the connection between ancestors and descendants is much stronger.

This idea was voiced both at the meeting in Gymnasium No. 11 and during a conversation at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

Here is what General Zakharov’s grandson, Mikhail Yuryevich Afanasyev, said, who gave Secondary School No. 62 photographs from the family archive, shoulder straps and a cockade from the army general’s cap, as well as a short biographical essay about him, published in 1944.

Descendants of heroes in Minsk Secondary School No. 148, which is named after twice Hero of the Soviet Union I. H. Baghramyan

— Today’s event is taking place on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, which is significant in itself. It is aimed at young people, at schoolchildren — they are our future. The meeting is aimed at preserving memory. Yes, it is important for the younger generation to know about the four front commanders, about the participants of Bagration Operation, who coped with their task of liberating the territory of Belarus. But my grandfather Georgy Fedorovich did not fight all his life: he studied a lot, and by the age of 40 he had received two higher military educations. He is a worthy example for young people. At every stage of life, opportunities open up, and it is never too late to learn... They said and wrote about my grandfather that he had a tough and rude character. But I do not know anyone like that. I always saw him kind and smiling and did not feel his severity.

Many living facts from the lives of four unique personalities were heard in the speeches of their closest relatives. These facts, by common admission of the participants of the meeting at the Institute of History, sounded so sincere and heartfelt that it was clear how important such contacts are for the younger generation, sensitive to the truth of life. As Igor Moroz, PhD in Law, Director of the Scientific and Practical Center for Strengthening Law and Order of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Belarus, said in his speech, thanks to such meetings as meetings with the descendants of the victors, we will definitely win the information war.

Everyone listened with great interest to the succinct scientific reports: «Soldier’s Duty of Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky», «Zakharov Georgy Fedorovich — Commander of the 2nd Belorussian Front», «General of the Army Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky — Forever in the Ranks», «Commander of Victory — Pages of the Life of Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan». The reports were presented by historians, representatives of the Belarusian Peace Foundation, the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Investigative Committee and the History Department of Lomonosov Moscow State University. The meeting was moderated by Vadim Lakiza, Director of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. And at the end of the meeting, Maksim Misko, Chairman of the Board of the Belarusian Peace Foundation, having signed a cooperation agreement with Ivan Bagramyan, Chairman of I. Kh. Bagramyan Foundation, summed up: this heartfelt meeting will be inscribed in world history.

Personal

I have been convinced more than once that the world is small. The surname «Bagramyan» was familiar to our family in the Ukrainian city of Volchansk, in Kharkov region, since my childhood. I heard it more than once from my father, Cherkashin Mikhail Stepanovich, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War during the Victory Day, when our relatives gathered to celebrate this great holiday. And although my father did not like to talk about the war, he still remembered his friends and comrades from the divisional orchestra, the Armenian Bagramyan and Riga native Mikhail Cherpakov with gratitude at the festive table, throwing out the phrase: it seems my destiny is to live... Together they pulled my father, also a musician, a guard private of the 51st Guards Rifle Division, from under the rubble after a direct hit on the division headquarters on the day of artillery shelling and an enemy air raid near Liepaja on January 16, 1945. The father, who was seriously wounded several months before the Victory, was not able to move further with the orchestra to Konigsberg...

During the meeting at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Hero of Belarus Marina Vasilevskaya, the first cosmonaut in the sovereign history of the country, delivered a welcoming speech.

«Grandpa,» my son, a teenager at the time, asked jokingly, «so maybe a relative of General Bagramyan himself saved you?» «Where are we, and where is Bagramyan... He commanded the front, and my Bagramyan was a simple musician. Like me, a private,» my father answered his grandson. And he added: «But Batka (Father) Bagramyan was a man who respected ordinary soldiers. After all, under him we liberated your Belarus from the bastards.»
It was only then, in 1983, when we gathered for another Victory Day celebration at my parents’ house in Ukraine, that we heard from my father that he had taken part in the Belarusian offensive operation codenamed «Bagration»«, which began on June 23 and ended on August 29, 1944. We know from history textbooks that the operation was decisive in the outcome of not only the Great Patriotic War, but also the Second World War. The main blow to the enemy on the 700 km front line was delivered by the 1st Baltic Front under the command of General Ivan Bagramyan, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts under the command of General Konstantin Rokossovsky, Colonel Generals Georgy Zakharov and Ivan Chernyakhovsky. During Bagration Operation, troops under the command of Ivan Bagramyan crossed the Western Dvina, and together with the 3rd Belorussian Front surrounded and routed the enemy in Vitebsk «cauldron». At the same time, troops of the 1st Baltic Front liberated a number of settlements in the republic, including Polotsk, Vitebsk, Glubokoe, Lepel, and Braslav. My father also mentioned the names of these cities — he walked this road during the war.


An autograph as a keepsake

Textbooks are one thing, but hearing about the fateful moments in the frontline life of someone close to you is quite another. And now, when before the wreath-laying ceremony on Victory Square I was lucky enough to meet and talk to Marshal Bagramyan’s grandson and granddaughter, other direct descendants of the heroes, I am once again convinced of how closely we are all connected in this world by invisible threads. I admit, I could hardly hold back my tears. Although Private Mikhail Cherkashin was far from General Bagramyan, they made history together — each in his own place, in one strong combat team. Therefore, the memory of the hero Bagramyan is also the memory of my hero father for me. And all of us, the descendants of the victorious heroes, are responsible for preserving the memory of those who fought for this fragile peace in the name of peace on earth.

Meeting with the descendants of the heroes, I also thought about what a good deed the grandchildren do, coming to a place where others want to hear more about the great people, thanks to whom the Red Army not only liberated the people of Belarus from occupation, but also brought closer the collapse of fascism — our Victory. Moreover: such meetings remind us, no matter how loud it may sound, of our personal responsibility to ensure that all wars on earth stop. 

Valentina Zhdanovich