One of them

“So you’re saying there’s a memorial sign to our battalion somewhere here?” – writer Daniil Granin clearly did not recognize the places of his battles.

It’s not surprising, since more than 75 years have passed since his 292nd OPAB fought here.

– What is OPAB? – I ask Daniil Alexandrovich.

I accompany one of the war soldiers, a 98-year-old veteran of the battles for Leningrad, to lay flowers at the memorial sign.

– This is a separate machine-gun and artillery battalion. There were several of them in September 1941. They were recruited from the militia and placed in fortified areas at the entrance to Leningrad. At first we were of little use, but gradually we learned to fight. We did not allow the Germans here, in the area of the Aleksandrovskaya railway station near Pushkin.

This means that somewhere nearby there is the damned “appendicitis” described in Daniil Granin’s story “Our Battalion Commander”. The place of the bloodiest losses. We get out of the car and slowly walk to the memorial complex, installed on the right side of the highway in the direction of Pushkin. A man in a green jacket is riding a bicycle towards me. Having caught up with us, he stops, apparently understanding that we are looking for something. I ask him about the memorial sign and say that Daniil Granin is going to put flowers on it.

The man jumps off the bike, throws it to the side and mutters quickly: “Incredible: Granin!” Then he asks permission to photograph the writer. It turns out that he takes care of this memorial, making a detour on his bicycle every day. In essence, Granin is a living legend for him. I step aside, not stopping them from talking. One feels that Granin is pleased by such attention. Leonid – that’s the worker’s name – takes a few pictures, thanks us and quietly, so that Daniil Aleksandrovich does not hear, tells me that he will now report our meeting to the administration of the city of Pushkin. He leaves, and we very slowly move on to the memorial sign. I see how hard it is for Daniil Alexandrovich to take every step. After walking a few meters, he stops and rests, leaning on crutches. Then we move on. And here it is, this concrete gouge. During the war, such structures were placed in the path of German tanks. Now several triangular-shaped memorial signs adorn the memorial complex. The day before, on Victory Day, hundreds of people visited here. The flowers placed at each of the monuments remind us of this. There are also flowers on Graninsky 292nd OPAB.

I don’t know why Daniil Alexandrovich chose white chrysanthemums, but it turned out really well when he put them next to the red carnations.

Just as slowly, we walked back for a long time. At least an hour had passed since meeting the cyclist. Suddenly we saw a man with a camera at the car. I immediately realized that this was Leonid’s work. And so it turned out. Photojournalist Valery Mukher was urgently sent by the Pushkin administration to the memorial and waited impatiently for Granin. After taking a few pictures, he left, and Daniil Alexandrovich asked: “Who snitched about my arrival?” Continuing to think out loud, he added: “Probably the governor told someone. He was with me the day before and congratulated me. And I told him about the upcoming trip to Pushkin. Then there was also the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly. Maybe he is too."

I did not try to dissuade Granin. Because the top officials of St. Petersburg could well have given such an order. Perhaps I was just ahead of them.

Yuri LEBEDEV, May 2017