A student cadet, and even a minor, is a vulnerable creature, but quickly educated. This creature is always full of dreams, the children's brain of these creatures constantly gives birth to them, improves and develops them. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, there were about 1 million orphans in the country. This from the adult population of the country was at the level of 0.3%. Therefore, the government of the USSR, paying attention to the upbringing of the younger generation, created faculties at higher military educational institutions where these orphans could study. Everything was organized at the highest level.
Cadet-pupil Yu. G. Shatrakov, 1952
The system at the faculties was platoon, then company. Each company had a commander - an officer, as a rule, who had gone through the Great Patriotic War. In the companies there were foremen, who also fought with the Nazis. Platoons were commanded by assistant platoon commanders, who were appointed from senior cadets, and squad leaders were appointed from among the platoon cadets. And, as a rule, the commander and foreman of the company selected the strongest guys for the position of squad leader, who could command a team of seven people. We, such cadets-pupils, gathered in one of the naval schools of Leningrad, two companies, which were completed already at the beginning of June.
Everything was unusual for us. Wake up at six o'clock in the morning, latrine, exercise, wash and breakfast. Then the construction, analysis of comments and tasks for the day. We remember the first constructions. On one of them, the company foreman, such a stocky strongman by the name of Anashkin, received a report from our platoon commander. In the report, he reported that the cadet Ivliev was absent, as he was sent to the medical unit due to a runny nose. The foreman commanded: "At ease." I walked around the company formation and remarked: “Comrades, cadets, you don't need to be sick much. Please remember this for the rest of your life. " Then he asked in this formation: "Who has questions?" One cadet from the second platoon asked: "Comrade foreman, when should you carry out the order that you receive from the platoon commander?" The foreman ordered the cadet to be out of order and loudly explained: "The orders concerning the company and platoon level are carried out in the first place." We listened with bated breath. And then he added: "And the personal ones are done immediately."
The smile on the foreman's face told us a lot. The fathers-commanders loved us from the first day. They considered us their children and showed love for us in everything. Apparently, the war affected them, as well as us. After all, we did not feel the love of our parents in childhood. It ended for us from the moment the war began, and for them youth ended with the call to this war.
Classes at our school lasted until 2 pm. The movement of platoons around the school was allowed only in formation, even the transition from one classroom to another we carried out at the command of the formation. After classes, the platoon personnel moved to the cockpit and then, after washing their hands, went to lunch. The latter was impressive for us orphans. In the dining room, the cadets were seated at tables in departments, and music played quietly in the hall. Barrels served in turn salad, soup, main course and compote. The duty officer, in the process of taking food by the personnel, walked between the tables and kept order. We were not allowed to speak at this moment. We quickly got used to naval order. Everyone wanted to be cadets, because no one forced us, we entered the school at the call of our hearts.
In my squad, and I was the commander, there was one cadet who did not stand out from the rest of the boys. A kid is like a kid. Scheduled classes began in September. We have already passed the standards of the "young sailor", learned to shoot from military weapons, mastered the skills of hand-to-hand combat and learned to swim well. And at one of the lessons the captain of the 3rd rank Khrustalev asked: "Does any of the cadets know the history of the city of Kronstadt?" As I remember, two hands were raised. Cap-three allowed cadet Kuznetsov to report on the matter. What we heard amazed us. Kuznetsov began to talk about the city of Kronstadt, which was located in the Romanian People's Republic. We, with bated breath, listened to our peer, didn’t interrupt for a while and also listened attentively. It turns out that the city of Kronstadt in the RNR was founded back in 1211 by the knights of the Teutonic Order. Later this city was called Brasov. It was the cultural center of the Transylvanian Saxons. There are a lot of attractions in this city: the Church of St. Bartholomew, the Church of St. Nicholas, the Black Church, the Catherine's Gate, the narrowest street in Europe. When cadet Kuznetsov finished performing, cap-three asked where he got this knowledge. The cadet reported loudly that he and his mother had lived for one summer with his father in this city, who commanded a rifle regiment in the 33rd mechanized brigade. But my father died last year, and he wanted to tell the cadets about this wonderful city.
Photos of streets and churches of the city of Brasov
The captain of the 3rd rank allowed the cadet Kuznetsov to take his place at the table (we had tables, not desks). I gave the cadet an excellent mark, and he told us the story of the city of Kronstadt, which is located near Leningrad on the island of Kotlin.
