05:43Germany: ‘I made a big scandal’ - Soviet veteran recalls how he got to WWII frontline
A 95-year-old veteran of the Great Patriotic War and a famous Soviet and Russian fencing coach spoke in Munich on Monday about his feelings ahead of the Victory Day celebrations in Russia on May 9.
David Alexandrovich Dushman is the last surviving soldier of the 227th Tank Battalion, which took part in the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Poland. The veteran said he generally does not like to remember the war and talk about it. "It must be too hard. I buried so many people. With these hands, I buried dozens of people in the ground," he recounted.
David Alexandrovich was taking part in youth fencing competitions in Moscow, when on June 22, 1941, the beginning of the war was announced. He suspended his participation in the contest and rushed to a military enlistment office to enroll in the Soviet army. But he was refused, as he was the fencing champion of Moscow.
“I arranged a whole scandal there. Briefly speaking, I achieved what I wanted. I was enlisted practically on the second day after the start of the war,” the veteran said.
Dushman said that little is left in his memory about the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. "The only thing I remember is the exhausted people in striped lab coats behind barbed wire. The Germans all ran away, of course, nobody was there. We gave all of the food that we had to the prisoners.”
No one else survived from his army unit. “I am the only one left now, the last of the 227 heavy tank self-propelled regiment," he said.
David Alexandrovich also said that his fencing students are his pride. The 95-year-old veteran said they have become world champions 14 times and Olympic champions four times.
During the last few years, David Alexandrovich has been living in Munich, Germany.
05:43A 95-year-old veteran of the Great Patriotic War and a famous Soviet and Russian fencing coach spoke in Munich on Monday about his feelings ahead of the Victory Day celebrations in Russia on May 9.
David Alexandrovich Dushman is the last surviving soldier of the 227th Tank Battalion, which took part in the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Poland. The veteran said he generally does not like to remember the war and talk about it. "It must be too hard. I buried so many people. With these hands, I buried dozens of people in the ground," he recounted.
David Alexandrovich was taking part in youth fencing competitions in Moscow, when on June 22, 1941, the beginning of the war was announced. He suspended his participation in the contest and rushed to a military enlistment office to enroll in the Soviet army. But he was refused, as he was the fencing champion of Moscow.
“I arranged a whole scandal there. Briefly speaking, I achieved what I wanted. I was enlisted practically on the second day after the start of the war,” the veteran said.
Dushman said that little is left in his memory about the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. "The only thing I remember is the exhausted people in striped lab coats behind barbed wire. The Germans all ran away, of course, nobody was there. We gave all of the food that we had to the prisoners.”
No one else survived from his army unit. “I am the only one left now, the last of the 227 heavy tank self-propelled regiment," he said.
David Alexandrovich also said that his fencing students are his pride. The 95-year-old veteran said they have become world champions 14 times and Olympic champions four times.
During the last few years, David Alexandrovich has been living in Munich, Germany.