Yevdokia Ivanovna Syemchonok was small, somehow reminding me of an aging falcon, her sharp eyes fading as she blinked in the bright light. Ninety-four, she stood straight and resisted my attempt to take her arm. In the Moscow apartment we sat at her daughter’s table, her grandson Alexei on her right to translate.
She had brought photographs of herself before, during and after the Great War, and she spread them on the table. The last showed her standing straight wearing a dozen medals and ribbons common in photos of Red Army veterans. They are so common we …read more
Source: The Huffington Post
