“Defenders of the Fatherland” at the Druzhba Children’s Holiday Camp

“Defenders of the Fatherland”, a military-history group from Stalin Line, held a patriotic event at the Druzhba Children’s Holiday Camp, located in Energetik near Negoreloye. 

 

The group was invited by the camp director, Olga Ivanovna Sharko. Group leader Pavel Cheslavovich Maretsky presented the camp with Boris Prokazov’s children’s book The Great Patriotic War and introduced the children to three historical displays relating to the First World War, the Great Patriotic War and the war in Afghanistan.

 

 

Pavel Maretsky began by speaking about the First World War and showing the children the equipment used by soldiers from this region who served in the Imperial Russian Army. Yevgeny Tokarev portrayed a Russian soldier.

 

 

Moving on to  Great Patriotic War equipment, the leader of “Defenders of the Fatherland” began with partisan uniforms. Sergei Zhdanovich and his younger son Alexander portrayed the avengers of the people. Yevgeny Rybintsev demonstrated the typical equipment carried by a Red Army soldier, while Viktor Gordievich portrayed a reconnaissance soldier wearing the Soviet spotted ‘amoeba’ camouflage suit.

 

 

Alexander Drebesov demonstrated how a Soviet greatcoat was rolled into a pack.

 

 

His son Ignaty wore a pre-war Red Army uniform, while Zhdanovich’s elder son Dmitry wore a 1943 uniform. The children were allowed to handle one of the weapons of Victory, a PPSh submachine gun, and to try on the rolled greatcoat and a Soviet steel helmet.

 

 

Yevgeny Rybintsev demonstrated how to strip the Mosin rifle, with which soldiers from this region fought through two world wars, and showed how it was loaded.

 

 

Alexander Drebesov not only showed the children the soldiers’ simple food, but also invited them to try it.

 

 

His son Ignaty was then ceremonially presented with the Union State’s ‘Young Defender of the Fatherland’ commemorative badge for his active participation in historical reenactments at Stalin Line.

 

 

Ivan Iosifovich Akhrem spoke about the war in Afghanistan, the equipment used by Soviet soldiers and military communications during the Great Patriotic War and the war in Afghanistan. The children immediately had the opportunity to take on the role of signallers: the equipment was operational, allowing them to communicate with one another.

 

 

Boris Prokazov, a member of the Stalin Line staff, showed the children his books on military subjects.