—— The Snipers’ Rally ——115Among the performers, who had been recruited from front
line units, I spotted some of our own, who had been transferred
here from our divisional ensemble. Performing in the frontline
ensemble was our ‘prima donna’, Valya Kaikova with her friend,
and other lads and lasses with whom I was very friendly. The
head of our club was a smart chap, Political Adviser Alexander
Danilovich Cherkassov, with whom I, as a former theatre member,
had things to talk about when time allowed.
On the wall of the broad corridor were a number of portraits,
over which we saw the inscription ‘Leading snipers of the
Leningrad Front’. Among them was my photograph, showing me
with a machine gun in my hands. ‘When did they photograph
me? And why with a machine gun? It must have been when
I was in reconnaissance!’ I guessed. Beside my portrait was one
of Ivan Dobrik. Under the portraits were long inscriptions. On
myself I read: ‘Y. A. Nikolaev – senior sergeant. Secretary of the
Young Communist League committee, bold and full of initiative
as a sniper and scout. Penetrated many times into the enemy
dispositions and fulfilled difficult commissions from his superiors.
In the course of just one day wiped out eleven Nazi pillagers. In all
Comrade Nikolaev has exterminated seventysix German lowlife.’
We realised that the Front command and the organisers of
the gathering had decided to arrange as many pleasant surprises
as possible. It was announced to us that there would now be a
performance from a celebrated cabaret singer whose repertoire
was known and sung by the entire Soviet Union. It was Klavdia
Ivanovna Shulzhenko and her jazz band. Like many theatrical and
cabaret performers, she had remained in besieged Leningrad and
gave concerts for the population of the city and the frontline units.
The band was conducted by Klavdia Ivanovna’s husband,
Vladimir Koralli, a likeable man of above average height and quite
plump, a congenial sort of fellow, wearing a military uniform with
no badges of rank and a small Browning pistol at his side.
Klavdia Ivanovna sang several wellknown songs that were
everyone’s favourites as well as a couple of new ones which had