Chernobyl

Please, be advised this blog contains photographs of disfigured people and animals, victims of radiation. If you are sensitive to this kind of materials, please do not scroll down below a warning in red in the middle of the blog.

I was a kid, when it happened. We were scared. People, who went to clean up the disaster area knew they are most like y going to die. It has been over 20 years now, but people still live with the consequences, whether they left the area or stayed around the city of Pripyat.

Toy

fallen

boot

The images above were taken from: http://znyata.com/blinov1/index.php

Contaminated

The inscription on the truck above reads “Contaminated”.

Kindergarten

Children were being evacuated. Their beds left unmade – they were waken from their naps. 1986.

Responder

First responders died within years or months from the tragedy.

Another responder

The above photos are taken from: http://www.sovietmuseum.ru/

left behind

no more fun

frozen in time

The building still bears the device of the Soviet Union.  Taken from a popular Russian blogger:http://www.tema.ru/travel/chernobyl/

Please, do not look below, if you are sensitive – mutations:

no words...

baby

baby

bird

cow?

Above all else, I hope that this never happens again. Anywhere.

WWII Document

Certificate

Today I translated this document for our re-enactment group, so we could use it as a template to create similar certificates for re-enacting purposes.

We are preparing for the ceremony to award certificated to those, who participated in Drive on Stalingrad re-enactment, earlier this October in Colorado.

Here is the translation:

FOR OUR SOVIET MOTHERLAND

USSR

IDENTIFICATION (CERTIFICATE)

FOR PARTICIPATION IN HEROIC DEFENSE

OF CAUCASUS

COMRADE ANDRIANOV

MIHAIL YAKOVLEVICH

BY ORDER OF PRESIDIUM OF THE HIGHEST COUNCIL OF USSR ON MAY 1^ST, 1944

AWARDED A MEDAL

“FOR DEFENSE OF CAUCASUS “

ON BEHALF OF PRESIDIUM OF THE HIGHEST COUNCIL OF USSR, THE MEDAL FOR DEFENSE OF CAUCASUS AWARDED ON 30^TH OF APRIL, 1945

#028531

Position, military rank

And signature of a person, awarding the medal

Lucia Di Lammermoorr (il dolce suono)

Just to lighen the mood, here is Vitas sining Lucia Di Lammermorr, also known as Il Dolce Suono.

And, yes it is his real voice, he could be the one playing Farinelli, if he was around at the time.

About the War

The one… WWII.

It has so much meaning to me. Family lost or maimed by it. Granddad’ s memories, granmother’s medals…

I re-eanct WWII Red Army, because I find interesting, because for a split moment of time it seems like I get closer to my grandparents’ youth that was spent fighting.

Comrades

This is me on the left.  I belong to a group in Texas that re-enacts Red Army.

I updated this blog, so if you look to the left, you will see pages named “Family history” that are dedicated to my family members.

I found some interesting clips, check them out:

Documentary footage from blockade of Leningrad (clean up, dead, wounded)