—— From the Soviet Information Bureau... ——191said: ‘And now have a read of this.’ And he held out several issues
of a newspaper. It was our army fourcolumn paper Striking the
Enemy.
I took one of the newspapers myself. In the first column
my eyes were immediately attracted by a headline in bold type:
‘Deputy political instructor Nikolaev has wiped out 211 enemies
of our homeland!’ And a little below, in smaller type: ‘Follow his
example, multiply the tally of sacred vengeance!’ Featured here
was my portrait, along with the caption: ‘The Military Council
extends greetings to sniper Nikolaev.’ My heart began beating
loudly. I started reading the text, but the letters were swimming
before my eyes:
Dear Comrade Nikolaev! The Military Council warmly
congratulates you on the annihilation of Nazi criminals
in recent battles for the city of Lenin. Having wiped out
211 Nazis, you have shown in action your selfless love
for your homeland and your fierce hatred for the Nazi
monsters.
We wish you further success in the great and noble
cause of cleansing the Soviet land from the German
invaders.And the signature read: ‘Military Council of the Army’.
Tearing myself away from the newspaper, I glanced stupefied
at the troops around me – the eyes of my smiling friends were
looking at me.
‘What have we got here? Take a look!’ said Ivan Dobrik in a
mixture of Russian and Ukrainian, holding out another newspaper,
this a national one.
I took it with trembling hands. It was Pravda.
‘From the Soviet Information Bureau,’ I read. And then the
headline: ‘In three days, sniper Nikolaev wiped out 104 Nazis’.
A correspondent I was unfamiliar with named N. Voronov was
relating ‘some details about the military operations of this master
of sharpshooting.’