The former head of the criminal investigation department of the Oshmyany District Department of Internal Affairs of the Grodno Region, retired police colonel Nikolai Ilyich Ilkevich, has 37 years of service in the internal affairs bodies and an honorary award with the Order of the Red Star. And war.
It is surprising that Nikolai Ilyich in his years, having gone through many difficulties, which not everyone can endure, retains optimism and a positive outlook on life. The front-line soldier moved to Mogilev already in retirement - his wife's mother lived here, whom it was necessary to look after. On the eve of Victory Day, he spoke about his partisan childhood and service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs:
- When the war began, I was only 13 years old, so I remember some of those events in fragments. Somewhere in 1942, my brother joined the partisans, and for a long time no one knew what happened to him. His friends said that he was arrested, but after six months he nevertheless returned home. And it so happened that some time later our village was occupied by the Germans. We lived side by side with the Nazis, somehow adjusted our life, continued to work. And then one day on May 1, 1943 - I will remember this day for the rest of my life - my mother woke up earlier than usual, at dawn, for some premonition, she went out into the street. Looks - a red cross on the door of the house. She took a rag and quickly wiped it off. Mom did not even have time to go back, as the Germans drove into the village in cars. Those who had red crosses on their houses - all these families were taken away. And she managed to save us!
The Nazis took away about ten families - activists, partisans ... A traitor was found and marked at home at night. Made us a gift for May 1st. Immediately after that, a messenger from the partisans appeared and said: “Urgently leave. The Germans might come back and find you." And all of us: father, mother, me, the second brother, - left the house, the cow, the horse ... In general, everything that was, and, only having dressed, left.
From the first of May I became a partisan of the Kalinin detachment of the Voroshilov brigade. We were two boys. Sometimes, on the instructions of the commander, we went to various garrisons: we transmitted messages to messengers.
Once they gave me a basket of mushrooms, they put a grenade in it. If the Germans had arrested me, I would have blown it up so as not to suffer. Comrades from the detachment took me to the edge near the village: it was necessary to find a messenger in it. In the near future, the partisans planned to bomb the German garrison, there was an urgent need to coordinate the actions of our forces in the rear. And so, I remember, I was walking, the Germans were around, I was looking for this house, and myself - neither alive nor dead from fear. Finally I see the building I need. There was a man standing there, I said the established words - can I have some water with you? I still remember this password. Let me in. And I was just glad that I remained intact.
When the Germans caught my partner, he was 12 years old. In Myadel he was shot. Then my older brother was in the detachment "For Soviet Belarus" intelligence commander. After this incident, he came and took us to him.
I escaped death twice in the war. The second incident occurred when it was planned to send me to the “mainland”. When a plane flew in for this, the wounded were suddenly brought in. We decided this: send them right away, and the second flight - me. But the plane took off and was shot down somewhere along the way. I am alive again.
After the war, in 1949, he entered the internal affairs bodies as a district police officer. At that time there were still many remnants of bandit formations, and I fought with them. We worked around the clock, rested in the offices - we came for a couple of hours, made chairs and slept like that. Shops were robbed almost every night in the city. Without any exaggeration, every day we were threatened with death. Now the workers are all with higher education, but then there were front-line soldiers with experience and partisans in the bodies, they coped, although education was often 6-8 grades. By 1963, we liquidated all these bandits.
And after the war, while serving in the police department, I found myself in various amazing situations. Somehow they put me in the 50th year on the site, no one told me what was there - go and that's it. But it turned out that the area is difficult, about six months ago, a senior lieutenant was killed here. All this was told to me by the local chairman.
One weekend I went hunting with the locals. There were five of us in total, we went in different directions, everyone had a trunk with them: whoever gets lost - let them know. I just got lost, but I tried to get out on my own, making my way through the thickets of bushes. Having overcome this obstacle, I ended up on a farm, where at that moment there were two people. I asked if I could drink some water, they allowed it. Just got out - one jumped out the window. I had to chase him. I shot, he fell, I ran up - I asked: “What are you hiding for?” He replied that he was driving moonshine. But he said so, to divert eyes. Then my hunters came running, began to understand. Suddenly we look - these bushes are moving. It turned out that there was a gang hiding, five people. So, by chance, they opened them.
I can tell you such stories for a long time, but I won’t tell you everything. I have already forgotten something, but some events of those years still stand before my eyes, as if they happened only yesterday. May 9 is coming soon, an amazing and important holiday for me, for my entire generation. I want to wish the only thing that really matters for real: peace. So that there is no war. And thank you for not forgetting. And don't let us forget.
