“It was in 1943. The Germans formed a phalanx and they raked the woods in search for the partisans. They carried machine guns and when they spotted some movement they would shoot instantly. The partisans, including Osman Kasajev, knew that this search would come. They knew it two days before it happened. The whole 121st troop left for the camp. They managed to cross the Drut River. But Kasajev was overly confident. He wore a black burka and a black sleeveless overcoat. He began to shoot from the saddle of his horse. When the Rama aircraft pilot spotted him – he was very well visible in his black burka – he shot him at once. He died because he differed too much from the others. If he wasn’t that much different, he’d probably have survived.”
“At five o’clock in the morning, I heard explosions and shooting. I thought to myself: ‘Oh my God, war’. That was before I learned what had happened. Everyone shouted: ‘Hooray, hooray, war is over!’ We all rejoiced. They even cancelled school on that day and everybody went out on the main square.”
“You know, the Germans had this airplane called ‘Rama’ – it was a reconnaissance airplane. It could fly very at very low altitudes and it dropped incendiary bombs. It also had a heavy machine gun on board. The moment we spotted it coming from Mogilev in the morning, we would run for cover in the forest or under a bridge. It would fly so low you could see the pilot. We were afraid he would open fire at us before we could find a shelter to hide ourselves. They were so brash that they would even shoot at grazing cows.”
“There were two Kostin brothers from Mogilev. They both worked for the Germans. In that period, salt was more worth than gold. They brought us a wagon loaded with salt. They were nicely dressed in leather coats. They hoped they’d be forgiven. Throughout the whole war, they worked for the Germans and when the war was about to end, they came to us. They were tried by a special body. Well, they tricked them anyway. They promised them to accompany them on foot to the camp but instead they took them to the forest and shot them there.”
Mrs. Ljubov Pavlovna Latipová was born in 1922 in the vicinity of Mogilev in Belarus. Before the war, she studied at a pedagogical secondary school. At the beginning of WWII, in June 1941, she helped with digging anti-tank trenches near Mogilev, whereupon she left to the countryside to live with her parents. In the course of the occupation, she helped the guerilla fighters of the 121st troop, which was led by Osman Kasajev. After the war, she completed her pedagogical education and married. Today, she lives with her husband in Mogilev.
