In the Great Patriotic War, people fought at the forefront, worked in the rear, set records in industrial production and agriculture. All forces were directed only to victory. Mothers sent their husbands and sons to the front, hoping for a speedy return and victory. Years of waiting dragged on. This is a real feat of mothers. Many people know Stepanova Epistinia Fedorovna, it is about her that you can read in this article. She is a special woman who gave birth to her soldier sons.
Epistinia and Mikhail Stepanov
Born in 1882 in Ukraine Stepanova Epistinia Fedorovna. Photos of women can be found in museums. Since childhood, she lived with her family in the Kuban. From an early age, the girl began to work as farm laborers: she went after cattle, herded birds, and harvested bread.
I met my husband Mikhail Nikolaevich Stepanov (1878 - 1933) only during the matchmaking. He worked on a collective farmforeman. In the future, the Stepanov family lived on the May 1 farm (Olkhovsky farm). They had 15 children, but due to childhood illnesses and high infant mortality, tragic accidents, only 9 sons and one daughter survived. They lived together, respected and helped each other. Stepanova Epistinia Fedorovna is a mother-heroine, not every woman will be able to give birth to fifteen children in her entire life and raise ten of them as worthy people.
The fate of the Stepanovs' sons
The woman shed a lot of tears, seeing off her own children to the front. But, despite this, Stepanova Epistinia Fedorovna was very strong, whose biography was published repeatedly by many Russian museums. The fate of the nine sons was different:
- Alexander (1901 - 1918). He was killed by the Whites for helping the soldiers of the Red Army.
- Nikolai (1903 - 1963). He went to the front as a volunteer in August 1941. Places of battles: North Caucasus, Ukraine. In October 1944 he received a severe shrapnel wound to his right leg. Not all of the fragments were removed, some remained. He returned from the war, Stepanova Epistinia Fedorovna met him. Died from the effects of injuries.
- Vasily (1908 - 1943). Shot by the Germans in December 1943. Buried in the village of Sursko-Mikhailovka.
- Philip (1910 - 1945). He died on February 10 in a Nazi POW camp.
- Fyodor (1912 - 1939). Killed at the Battle of the Khalkhin Gol River. Awarded the medal "For Courage" (posthumously).
- Ivan (1915 - 1943). In the autumn of 1942 he was taken prisoner andwas shot by the Germans. Buried in the village of Drachkovo.
- Ilya (1917 - 1943). Killed in July 1943 during the Battle of Kursk. Buried in the village of Afanasovo.
- Pavel (1919 - 1941). Went missing defending the Brest Fortress in the first hours of the war.
- Alexander (1923 - 1943). Heroically died in 1943 near Stalingrad. Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).
Waiting time
Epistinia Fyodorovna was gathering her sons to the front, packing their duffel bags with love and hoping for a speedy return. One by one she followed her gaze from the outskirts. The road at first was a flat field, then climbed a little up the slope. The departing person was visible for a long time, to the smallest detail. Heavy forebodings and longing with each son leaving along the road became more and more. They were left alone with their daughter Valya to wait for their sons.
With trembling expectation of news from the front Stepanova Epistinia Feodorovna. The daughter supported her mother in every possible way and helped with the housework.
Scary Letters
All the war years she waited for news from her sons. At first, the sons wrote often, promising to return soon. And then there were no more letters. The mother languished in anticipation, worried about the fate of her sons. The occupation lasted six months. In the spring of 1943, the Krasnodar Territory was liberated. First came the delayed news from the sons. And then the funerals began to come one after another.
Mother did not wear a black headscarf for a long time, she was waiting for news from her sons, she believed that they were alive. Everyoneonce at the sight of the postman hurrying to the house, the mother's heart sank anxiously. What is there - joyful news or sorrow? And each time, receiving another notification of death, the mother's heart received a deep bleeding wound. Until the last, Stepanova Epistinia Fedorovna remained strong. The family was of particular importance for a woman, so burying her sons was scary and insanely painful.
Ordinary Soviet woman
The Stepanov family became known only after the war. Epistinia Fedorovna was one of the first Soviet women to receive the Order of the Heroine Mother. A biographical book was written about her and her sons, and a thematic museum was opened. The collected things of all nine sons cannot be called with the dry word "exhibits for the exhibition." After all, every item brought, every item saved is the memory of a soldier's mother. They are all imbued with love and reciprocal tenderness, respect for sons.
The museum contains everything that was saved and preserved by the mother, despite the occupation: a thin notebook of Ivan's poems, Vasily's favorite violin, a small handful of earth from Alexander's grave. The sons' response letters sent from the front line, from hospitals and the front line help to feel the atmosphere of goodwill and respect. Reading the lines of letters, you imagine the image of a son writing a letter and conveying greetings and wishes.
Mother movie
A short film was made about Epistinia Fedorovna, which is shown every day on a small screen in the thematic museum. The film is not a feature, but a documentary, withoutfrills. But, despite the lack of special effects and newsreel footage of military operations, the film makes its way to the most hidden corners of the soul with its emotional component. The main character is an elderly woman. Dressed simply, head covered with a white scarf. Stepanova Epistinia Fedorovna simply and slowly talks about her life. This film is a monologue, there is no place for superfluous.
Begins a story about that wonderful time when sons and daughters grew up side by side. Simple words spoken by a woman penetrate the soul. Involuntarily, you begin to empathize. A quiet monologue is addressed to each viewer. Her eyes are filled with happiness, all wrinkles are smoothed out, she seems to glow from the inside. Hands are looking for the head of a son with soft and fluffy hair to stroke and hug. Smoothly the story moves to the time when she saw off her sons. Involuntarily, you feel the same heaviness in your heart with which a mother parted with her sons. How she rejoiced at every news, as if for a few minutes returning to that happy time. And how she did not want to believe that her sons were dead.
A lump in the throat and tears in the eyes of the audience appear from the silence in the hall, when the mother begins the story of how she was told about the end of the war, and she ran to meet the soldiers. In an intermittent trembling voice, bringing the ends of the handkerchief to her eyes, she leads a leisurely story. With what pain the last phrase is said: "All the sons go, but mine are not and are not." Everyone who watches the film, hears the mother's quiet story, believes in good things. This short film was able to conveyall the feelings of a mother: happiness, pain of separation, bitterness of expectation and great pain of loss.
Portrait in the Museum
When you look at a black and white photograph in a thematic museum, you see a simple woman with an amazing look that radiates calm and wisdom. The only picture was taken already in old age, but it is he who conveys all the nuances of the mother's state of mind. A calm and quiet life, filled with the expectation of sons, lived Stepanova Epistinia Fedorovna. Anxiety, anxiety and cruelty did not break her, did not harden her loving heart.
Mother of all soldiers
After the war, she received a lot of correspondence, many people sent letters to her. And each person found for Epistinia Fedorovna exactly those words that resonated with the feelings of the mother. A letter from soldier Vladimir Lebedenko, in which he asked for permission to consider Epistinia Fedorovna as his mother, helped to find new strength and feel in demand. She carried faith in goodness and hope for the best through her whole life.
Recent years
Epistinia Fedorovna in recent years lived with the family of her only daughter Valya in Rostov-on-Don. But she missed her home, where happy times passed. On the farm in which the whole hard life of a soldier's mother passed. She died February 7, 1969. With the provision of military honors, she was buried in the village of Dneprovskaya. The memorial erected at the burial site unites the entire Stepanov family.
In 1977, for services to the Fatherland, she was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree (posthumously). The Stepanov family continues, and now, in addition to direct descendants, there are about 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
It's hard to feel all the emotions and feelings of a mother who has outlived almost all of her children. This is a real feat of the mother-heroine, who blessed her sons for military exploits, who did not lose faith and hope. It becomes proud when you realize that there are mothers like Stepanova Epistinia. The sons, whose photos are kept in museums, undoubtedly loved and respected her.
