Two soldiers, two destinies: a family History of the Great Patriotic War

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Introduction. On the eve of the 80th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War, we recall the heroism and dedication of our ancestors who defended the freedom and independence of the Motherland. Every family has its own heroes, whose exploits will forever remain in the memory of the descendants. This article is dedicated to two great-grandfathers of a student of the medical faculty of the N.N. Burdenko VSMU, A.A. Khokhlova, who passed through all the hardships of the war with honor, showing courage and fortitude.
The purpose of the work. To study and describe the heroic pages of the life of family members who participated in the Great Patriotic War.
Materials and methods of research. The study was conducted by analyzing the family archive.
The results of the study. These stories are just a small part of the great feat of the Soviet people, who did not break under the onslaught of the enemy and gave us a peaceful sky above our heads.
Alexey Vladimirovich Khokhlov was born on May 15, 1923. He was the third child in the family. During the war, he worked as a mechanic at a machine and tractor station in the village of Pokrovskoye in the Orel region, but in 1943 he was called up to serve in the 392nd Infantry regiment of the 73rd Infantry Division, which liberated the Pokrovsky district and the village of Pokrovskoye. He fought as a gunner of a light machine gun.
A little earlier, his uncle Sergei Nazarovich and his older brother Vasily Vladimirovich, who went missing, went to war. And if neither the widow nor the relatives managed to find out anything about the uncle's military path, then scant information about Vasily Khokhlov has been preserved: "Senior Sergeant, commander of the 10th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 6th Guards Rifle Division Vasily Vladimirovich Khokhlov went missing in an offensive battle for D. Stepanovka, Sverdlovsk region". But my great-grandfather, Alexey Vladimirovich, found out about this only after returning from service.
Alexey Khokhlov's front-line fate turned out to be short, but heroic. This is how the commander of the 392nd Infantry regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Yelkin, described the feat of his Red Army soldier on June 22, 1943.:
"... On the defensive near the village of Verkhne-Stolbetskoye in the Pokrovsky district of the Orel region, when attacked by German intelligence (according to Alexey Vladimirovich's memoirs, there were three Germans – A.P.), while he was cleaning a machine gun, he was wounded in the arm and captured. Having shown courage and bravery, Khokhlov, holding a machine gun barrel in his wounded hand, managed to hit the German on the head with it and killed him.
After that, the Germans shot him in the chest, arm and shoulder with a burst from a machine gun and, considering him dead, abandoned him, thereby preventing the Germans from capturing the "tongue".
Alexei Khokhlov's colleagues ran to the sound of gunfire and shot the remaining Germans. The squad leader gave the order to find the great-grandfather, but one of his colleagues said that he was not at the scene of the shooting. Khokhlov was considered captured for his "tongue," but a few days later, passing by this place, they heard groans and found Alexei Vladimirovich wounded. For deceiving and evading the commander's orders, the colleague was shot.
For his courage, Red Army soldier Alexei Khokhlov was awarded the Order of the Red Star. But after eight months of treatment in the hospital, the war ended for him, because the medical commission declared the hero unfit for military service. And the medal-bearer returned to his native village.
Alexey Vladimirovich worked as a mechanic at Pokrovskaya MTS for a decade and a half, worked hard and was repeatedly awarded diplomas and awards by his superiors. After the liquidation of MTS, A.V.Khokhlov moved to the same position at the Lenin collective farm. He also worked as a foreman of a tractor brigade, already at the Pokrovsky state farm. He married my great-grandmother Olga Mikhailovna Khokhlova, became the father of 6 children and lived a long life. Great-grandfather died on April 6, 2010, having lived 86 years.
The fate of my other relative, my great-grandfather's brother, Egor Vladimirovich Khokhlov, turned out differently. He was a policeman in the village of Yudinka. He secretly worked for the Red Army, which gave him the task of "making friends" with the Germans, gaining their trust. Thanks to Yegor Vladimirovich Khokhlov, when the Germans occupied the village of Yudinka, not a single civilian was killed or captured, not a single house was vandalized or destroyed. Egor Vladimirovich coped with the task of the Red Army, but since the data was classified and no one knew about his assignment, he was convicted of having ties with the Germans and sent to prison for 10 years. There he contracted tuberculosis and died a few months after his release, on July 30, 1962, but his feat remained forever in the memory of our family.
Conclusion. The story of my family during the Great Patriotic War demonstrates the heroism and tragedy of the fate of ordinary people. Alexey Vladimirovich showed courage at the front, defending his country, and after the war he worked honestly for the benefit of society. Yegor Vladimirovich, performing a secret mission, risked not only his life, but also his reputation to save his fellow villagers.
Despite their different fates, both brothers contributed to the victory over the enemy. The feat of Egor Khokhlov, convicted of having ties with the Germans, shows the complexity and ambiguity of wartime.
It is important to remember and honor the memory of all those who fought and worked at the front and in the rear, bringing victory closer. Family stories, such as my family's, help to keep generations connected and convey the values of patriotism and heroism. Studying the history of your ancestors allows you to better understand the history of your homeland. Preserving the memory of war heroes is necessary for the education of future generations. Stories about the exploits of our ancestors inspire us to new achievements and strengthen our sense of pride in our family and country.

About the authors

Arina Alekseevna Khokhlova

Voronezh State Medical University named after N. N. Burdenko

Author for correspondence.
Email: hohlovaar128@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0009-0002-2987-8960
Russian Federation, 10 Studencheskaya str., Voronezh, 394036, Russia

Vita Anatolievna Kirillova

Voronezh State Medical University named after N. N. Burdenko

Email: lumier76@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0004-3689-9393
SPIN-code: 8197-9777

Lecturer at the Department of Pedagogy and Humanities

Russian Federation, 10 Studencheskaya str., Voronezh, 394036, Russia

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