Stalingrad Veteran Interview

'IT WAS LIKE A DAY IN PARADISE' 

INTERVIEW WITH WAR VETERAN

By Oksana Chebotareva

Second City Teacher was fortunate enough to befriend and attain an

interview with a 96-year-old war veteran of the Great Patriotic War,

Alexander Dmitrivitch Levin, a lieutenant who worked with the counter

Intelligence group known as SMERSH. Oksana Chebotareva listened

to the veteran for hours in his home city of Kishinev, Moldova, where

he was awarded a medal just two years ago by the Russian consulate

for his brave role in the Battle of Stalingrad. Unlike many war veterans,

Alexander is not reticent .On the contrary, he is more than happy to

spend hours reminiscing about his wartime experience. He seemed

indefatigable. He could have spoken incessantly into the night was it

not for a relative who wanted to go home. When leaving he informed

Oksana that, "I'll tell you the second half later". Well, we are dying to

know! Levin reminded me of a veteran I had met by accident in

Moscow while waiting for an English student outside his apartment.

He told me in a matter of fact way about being on a barge at Stalingrad

and the terror of coming under German bombardment.

Levin said he was 96 and in good health. He was enjoying life. The

old proverb : 'Old age is no joy' does not seem to apply to him!

"I am looking forward to reaching 100 ". He seems very cheerful,

warm, friendly and an affirmative person. It is difficult to believe he

was a lieutenant who worked in the Counter-intelligence Unit

SMERSH. He spoke to us about his experience at the Battle Of

Stalingrad, the Battle of Budapest as well as his poignant meeting

and friendship with an Italian prisoner he had captured in Kishinev.

It is worth noting that the Russians did not seem to bear a grudge

against the Italians for their role in the war. There are stories of

Italian soldiers capturing a Russian female partisan and letting her

go because they felt sorry for her. Marshal Zhukov even made an

agreement which allowed Italian prisoners to be released and

to return home to Italy rather than remaining in long - term captivity.

Second City Teacher:  Could you tell us about your experience at the Battle of Stalingrad?

Alexander Demitrivich Levin:  The fighting was terrible. It was so bad that the wounded were rarely taken or rescued from the battlefield. They were just left to die on the battlefield.

I did not like this. I was lying on the ground.

I could not walk. So somebody made a stretcher out of a slate roof I saw on the ground

and tied it to a horse. Then he took me to the nearest medical station. It was a

horrible place to see. The surgeon on duty was like a real butcher. I did not

like how he was cutting into the wounds of soldiers to extract bullets with a knife.

All this was being done without any painkillers . There was not even vodka to

relieve the men.

Alexander Levin

You fought at the Battle of Budapest. How was that?

It was very difficult . We received no aerial support from Russian bombers. The

Russian air force did not want to bomb the underground metro stations because

they knew that civilians had taken shelter there and did not want to kill them.

The Hungarians fought to the last drop of blood. We were amazed at how brave

the Hungarian soldiers were. We really respected them for this.

And how did you meet up with the King of Romania?

We were assigned as a kind of body guard around him in the sense we

organised a security cordon around him. King Mihai I of Romania was

a great guy. We got on well with him. He shook hands with all my men but
his wife only shook hands with me.

There was a rich Hungarian too who we stayed with and treated us all to a beer.
We had a big feast there with dancing, and there was a romance with one
Hungarian girl, the daughter of the rich Hungarian where we stayed.

{Editor's note: Romania changed sides from Germany to the allies during

the War. The King played an important role in this changing of sides}

We liked the King so much we decided to give him a decommissioned ship as

a present with his name inscribed upon a metal plate we put on it.

What happened to your unit while in Kishinev?

My military unit was sent in advance to make sure there were no remaining

pockets of resistance in one part of the city . That is there were no longer

any bombs, snipers or saboteurs. After we had made a zone safe it was

the commanding officer's role to paint a message on the wall, with his name,

informing other troops that this place was safe. While we were searching the

cellars we came across one Italian soldier with curly hair who was hiding, and

we found his rifle in another room. He surrendered. One of my men shouted: "Let us

waste him". I told him, "Stop talking nonsense. We are taking him prisoner.

He can peel the potatoes for us". For the rest of his captivity he cooked for us.

I never liked this talk of killing unarmed prisoners. Then I noticed the Italian

eyes started to gleam when he caught sight of an accordion. It was clear to

us that he could play it so he played for us an Italian song called 'the Blue

Handkerchief '. {Now many people assume this is a Russian folk song but

it has Italian origins} We asked him to play the accordion and he could play

it well. He could even play some songs in Russian. We grew to like him very

much. I decided to let him go and place him on what I thought was a safe

train heading for Italy . When he said farewell to us he had tears in eyes and

started to cry. I don't know what happened to him. I spent a lot of time

wondering and worrying whether he had survived.

How did you experience the Day of Victory?

We ended the war while staying in one of Goebbel's castles in the Austrian

Alps. I recall how beautiful everything was. The fruit trees were all white

and blooming. Then we heard what was a horrible explosion or eruption of

thunder as if a bomb was going off. We thought we were being attacked

by partisans . We jumped out of the windows and took up positions ready

to shoot . But there were no partisans. Then we saw that people were throwing

up their hats into the air and some saying : "It is our Victory Day " and "We are

alive " . I can never forget the sky . It was so clear, crisp and transparent.

Everything looked beautiful. It was as if we were with God in paradise.

So you believe in God?

Yes, and I noticed that whenever my men entered a house and noticed

icons or crosses upon the wall they always took off their caps.