On 7 May the museum curator Tleukhor Izembekovna Boshumova presented congratulatory cards and monetary gifts to veterans U. N. Repina, N. A. Bocharnikova, E. G. Kolesnikova, V. I. Kolesnikov and A. O. Omurbekova — they appreciated the attention from their fellow aviators.

About the event

The institute provides support to six former civil aviation employees; one of them noted the Institute's regular assistance in recent years.

Veterans' stories

Ulyana Nikitichna: due to the war she began working at the age of 14 at a factory assembling bombs. She recalled with bitterness how, in October, she endured terrible cold and, lacking footwear, her bare feet were often wounded by steel shavings in the workshop. When her bread, then issued only by ration cards, was stolen because she had picked beetroot without permission, she was taken to a police station. An officer noticed the crying girl, questioned her and ordered that she be given two sacks of oilcake (note: oilseed cake). However, she received nothing from that cake nor from the beetroot — while she was on shift others ate it. Having worked in the medical unit, raised children and now bringing up a great-grandchild, considering only her wartime labour, she said she had not lived in vain.

Nadezhda Antonovna: despite numerous fractures, surgeries and diagnoses, she remains resolute in spirit. Recounting life difficulties, she assured that when you give, you receive goodness in another way.

"I am alive!"

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