A World War II veteran
from Almaty, Vassiliy Zinchenko, recently celebrated his 101st birthday. He
received congratulations from military personnel and a special message from the
Kazakh Minister of Defense. At just 17, Vassiliy Ivanovich went to the front
and fought on the Leningrad, 2nd Ukrainian, and Belorussian fronts. He participated
in the defense of Stalingrad, the liberation of Poland and Ukraine, and the
storming of Berlin.
«I was in
reconnaissance when we entered Poland. They detained me, then called me a week
later, and I went to the battlefield. We passed through all of Poland,» the
veteran said.
After the war,
Zinchenko returned to Almaty, where he worked for many years at a local dairy
plant. He and his wife spent 73 years together, raising three sons and a
daughter. Now they have seven grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and two
great-great-grandchildren.
«We started building
this house with our parents. We didn’t have much – my father worked on a car,
and my mother was in a store. A neighbor brought us bricks with concrete from a
demolished house. My father made chisels and hammers, and we cleaned each brick
by hand. We couldn’t go dancing or to the park until the work was done,» shared
Vassiliy Zinchenko, the veteran’s son.
For his courage and
heroism during the war, Zinchenko was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, the
Order of the Red Star, and the medals «For the Defence of Stalingrad» and «For
the Victory over Germany».
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