Until the last bullet

Many young people, even teenagers, were killed performing the acts of heroic virtue for the sake of Motherland within the Great Patriotic War. All those people gave the most precious thing they had - their lives. Their deeds significantly changed the course of that terrible war. Due to their small exploits our country has won the great victory then.

One of such heroes is Marat Kazei. Together with his mother and sister he joined a partisan group. Being a schoolboy Marat Kazei entered actively into the war. He became a scout and had fearless fights with the enemy at the rear. He had many exploits to his credit and killed many enemies.

14 years old

Probably every schoolchild knows how the life of Marat Kazei ended. That happened on the 11 of May 1944. The war was drawing to a close, but Marat was surrounded near the village of Horokomenskoye, Uzda district. That battle was the last one for Marat Kazei. He was 14 years old when he was caught in a trap. First Marat was shooting back, but then he ran out of ammo. Only grenades were left. One of them was thrown to the Nazis. He squeezed the second grenade tightly in his hand so to blow himself up along with the enemies

Sculptor Selikhanov and architect Volchek created a monument to Marat Kazei in 1959. The sculpture was erected in Minsk. The figure of Kazei is made of bronze. The authors depicted the last minutes of the boy’s life. As in that heroic moment Marat grips the grenade in one hand holding the empty submachine gun with the other hand.

All the emotion, with which the authors tried to portray the last moments of the boy’s life, is striking in its realism. Besides the monument in Minsk there is the monument to Marat Kazei in Stankovo – a village in Dzerzhinsk district where the hero was born. A museum of Marat Kazei is opened in Stankovo.

The title of the Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to Marat Kazei in 1965 posthumously.

An example to follow

When you are going to visit the capital of Belarus include in your itinerary a visit to the monument to Marat Kazei, especially if you travel with children. Admit that it will be not only interesting but very useful for the coevals of Marat Kazei to learn about the act of bravery that was performed by the boy of the same age.  It will not only be an incentive in later life, but also help to educate the real heroes in the future.

Nowadays the monument to Marat Kazei is a sight of the capital of Belarus. It is included to many tourist itineraries. Solemn rallies and commemorative meetings take place at the monument to a hero that has gone so early. On The 9th of May school and college students gather at the monument and organize concerts. It is very important and precious for the future generations. People who come to commemorate the hero are not indifferent. They remember about the great deed of a small boy.

The monument to Marat Kazei it is also the history, the importance of which shouldn’t be diminished. After all, the great victory has gradually been composed of the small deeds.  It was the great victory of the Soviet people over the Nazi invaders. The winners are those who survived as well as those who died fighting.