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List of stories
Kleshnya Semyon Vladimirovich
Material provided by the Crimean Republican Universal Scientific Library named after I. Y. Franko
Material provided by the Crimean Republican Universal Scientific Library named after I. Y. Franko
Kleshnya Semyon Vladimirovich

Kleshnya Semyon Vladimirovich

1922–1985

Semyon Vladimirovich Kleshnya was born on February 23, 1922, in the village of Novopetrikovka, Pavlodar District, Kazakh SSR. After graduating from high school in Semipalatinsk, he attended teacher training courses.
However, the young teacher did not work long at the school. The Great Patriotic War began, and he volunteered for the front. He completed telegraph operator training and was assigned to a front-line reconnaissance platoon. As part of the 4th Artillery Brigade, he fought on the Western, 1st Baltic, and Leningrad Fronts. During brief moments of rest between battles, Semyon Kleshnya made entries in his wartime diary, which he carefully preserved throughout his life.
Reading these lines left by the young soldier today, it becomes clear why our country achieved victory over the most vicious enemy in this terrible war. We won because the Soviet people, consisting of ideologically hardened and spiritually strong individuals like Semyon Vladimirovich Kleshnya, were impossible to break. This is evidenced by the diary entries about his frontline experiences.
January 4, 1942
They say the New Year brings happiness. And it seems this happiness has already begun. Yesterday, I passed the re-examination. To my great surprise, I was deemed fit for military school, and a summons was issued the same day.
Everything went smoothly at home. Although my little brother Lyonya cried hard. My mother and father for whatever reason remained calm. We left for the radio telegraph operator courses. When we arrived, my mood was excellent. And now I am a cadet, even a squad leader, dressed in a military uniform. My dreams of military school remained dreams. But that doesn’t matter. After all, I will still defend the Motherland. As long as I get to the front, the rank doesn’t matter.
The commissar of the courses was right when he said there’s no time for long studies now; we need people. Time flies like a bullet. You don’t even notice how days pass. Studying is very difficult. Especially listening and decoding. The rest is manageable.
In my free time, I often recall the days of civilian life, home, and my parents. And then sadness weighs heavily on my heart. For some reason, all the bad things in my life have been forgotten, only the good remains. Whether I hear a familiar song or look at the sky where crows circle, I remember my native village where I spent the summer.
The monotonous sound of the buzzer taps out the already tiresome "ta-ta-ta." Two months of study will pass unnoticed, and we, radio specialists, will be sent to the front, where the fate of the Motherland is being decided.
February 23
Today marks twenty-four years since the Red Army was founded. And I am celebrating this anniversary as its soldier. Today, I swore an oath of allegiance to the Motherland and the Soviet people before the entire country. With what enthusiasm I pronounced every word of the military oath!
From today, I am a full member of the great and mighty, invincible, and steel-like Red Army. I vowed to defend my Motherland courageously, with dignity and honor, sparing neither my blood nor my life. This oath will be fulfilled with honor.
And today, I turned exactly twenty years old. Now I feel that army life is making a completely new person out of me, capable of overcoming any difficulties.
April 6
The intense studies are over. The exams are passed. I received my Red Army book, in which one of the entries reads "Junior Sergeant." The long-awaited day has finally come. We were lined up, and after a short speech by the course commander, we marched out of the unit gates for the last time.
And now, for the sixth day, we’ve been traveling with long stops toward Moscow. We’re heading to the front, but when we’ll arrive is unknown. But in any case, we’ll make it in time for the fiercest battles. We arrived in liberated Kaluga. Convoys, cars, and infantry columns remind us that the front is near. More and more, we hear the explosions of shells and bombs. In Sukhinichi, we wait for a train. We can’t travel during the day. We wait for night. The guys scour Sukhinichi, looking for trophies. And these trophies played a cruel joke. Someone found a German grenade. After examining it, they threw it aside. Warming in the sun, it exploded just a meter and a half from me. Piercing my puttees in several places and getting stuck in my overcoat, its fragments caused me no harm. But two others lying farther from me were wounded, one in the arm, the other in the leg.
Finally, we board the train again and head further West.
June 1942
From all the hustle and bustle observed everywhere, it’s clear that something serious is being prepared. And it began at sunrise. First, the artillery started firing, and then the tanks moved in. There were many of them. All around, there was noise and thunder. It was all new to me, yet interesting.
Today, I heard the "Katyusha" sing for the first time. Apparently, many ‘Fritz’ heard this song and fell into a deep, eternal sleep to its tune.
July 13
Morning. The battles continue. The artillery is working especially hard, both ours and the enemy’s. Damaged tanks are being towed from the battlefield. Somewhere above, planes are buzzing. I’m at the observation post. Working as a scout. I don’t know if it’s temporary or permanent, but the situation is serious. The observation point is right on the front line. Scouts often visit us. They perform miracles! Sometimes they bring back a plume (prisoner). More often, they track down enemy reconnaissance and destroy it.
August 4
Yesterday, the battalion commander sent me back to the radio. There’s an order to use radio operators according to their specialty. But for some reason, I don’t feel like working on the radio.
Something mysterious and interesting draws me to reconnaissance. The whistle of bullets, when they rain down almost everywhere on the observation point, seems not scary but intriguing. True, when a bullet flies overhead, you duck, and from the whistle and howl of a mine, your nerves get all tense.
August 11
Today, we prepared a performance. On the 19th, the colonel and commissar are supposed to watch it.
I feel sad. It’s been a long time since I’ve received letters from family or friends.
The sun is already setting, and everything around is so beautiful!
How similar this sunset and this evening are to many others I’ve seen in my native village. And now, observing the enemy from the trenches, I involuntarily recall everything dear and close, and my heart aches with longing.
Silence is all around. Not a single shot. It seems as if this is how it should be, that I ended up not in a war but somewhere by chance. But this won’t last long. In an hour, or maybe less, the machine guns will rattle again in a fiery whirlwind, and the artillery will start its work. But how I wish it wouldn’t happen. How I wish this silence, reminiscent of home, would never be broken by a single shot again.
August 21
Yesterday, I submitted an application to the regimental Komsomol bureau for a recommendation to join the Party. Today, while digging a trench, I was wounded in the leg by a shell fragment that exploded nearby. I remained in the ranks. I will never forget the care of my comrades, even though the wound is not severe.
August 23
The green hollow is bathed in the direct rays of the sun. It’s as crowded as never before. Now it’s lunchtime. Sitting on the green carpet of young grass, the soldiers eat delicious-smelling cabbage soup. A concert is about to take place here, performed by the division’s agitprop team.
Only a few dozen spectators have gathered, but even that is a lot under our conditions. They came from firing and observation posts, from the front line.
The concert began. Particularly remarkable were the performances of "The Curly-haired Boy" and Strauss’s waltz "Spring Voices."
September 26
Another 34 days of intense frontline life have passed. Much has been done during this time, and no less has been experienced. For about 20 days, I had to go around all the units and give concerts.
Our work was appreciated by the command—we received gratitude from the commissar, the chief of artillery, and the regimental command.
In April 1945, Semyon Vladimirovich, as part of the 3rd Belorussian Front, participated in the capture of Königsberg. He met Victory in the Baltics. The residents of Latvia greeted the victors ambiguously, but most welcomed the Soviet liberators from the Nazi invaders. To commemorate this day, Semyon Vladimirovich and his comrades took a photo in Riga.
With comrades in Riga, May 10, 1945
During the war, he was seriously wounded three times, which later led to him being recognized as a Group 1 disabled veteran of the Great Patriotic War. For his military exploits, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class, and medals "For Courage," "For Military Merit," "For the Capture of Königsberg," and "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945."
The war ended. Semyon Vladimirovich, on the recommendation of the Komsomol organization, enrolled in the Rostov Law School. After graduation, he was assigned to work in the prosecutor’s office of the Crimean region. He arrived at his new job as a family man, with a young wife and a one-year-old daughter.
Prosecutor of the Belogorsk District of the Crimean Region, 1953
He began his career as an investigator in the prosecutor’s office of the Zuy district. Later, he was appointed prosecutor of the Belogorsk and, subsequently, Stary Krym (Kirov) districts. During this time, he completed his studies at the Kharkov Law Institute by correspondence. He then headed the prosecutor’s office of the Bakhchisaray district. He worked as the head of the investigative department of the prosecutor’s office of the Crimean region. In 1962, S. V. Kleshnya became the prosecutor of the city of Kerch. When his five-year constitutional term in this position successfully ended, Semyon Vladimirovich transitioned to party work and later worked in the party committee of the Kerch Oceanic Fisheries Management. In 1973, he was appointed deputy head of the "Yugrybpromrazvedka" management for personnel and retired from this position in 1984.
S. V. Kleshnya - Prosecutor of the City of Kerch
S. V. Kleshnya always actively participated in the life of the city. He led or participated in the work of many city public organizations. Unfortunately, his well-deserved retirement was short-lived. His wartime wounds took their toll, and on October 8, 1985, Semyon Vladimirovich Kleshnya passed away. Colleagues in the legal profession, Kerch sailors, and many residents of the city respected and valued him for his kindness, responsiveness, and high professionalism.

Today’s employees of the Kerch prosecutor’s office honor the memory of their colleagues who participated in combat operations by laying flowers on their graves annually. A memory room has been created in the Kerch prosecutor’s office building, where S. V. Kleshnya’s wartime notes are carefully preserved, lovingly donated by his daughter, Irina Semyonovna Moskalenko. She successfully continued her parents’ professional legacy, working for many years as the head of the personnel department of the Kerch police.

We thank Alexander Bykhovets, a veteran of law enforcement, and S. V. Kleshnya’s daughter, Irina Moskalenko, for providing the materials!
Bibliography:

1. Gromchik T. We Honor History Sacredly / T. Gromchik // Kerch Worker. – 2020. – June 25. – P. 1.
2. Kleshnya Semyon Vladimirovich // Prosecutors of Crimea – Participants of the Great Patriotic War: Collection of Biographical Articles / Compiler G. Kolosov. – Simferopol, 2013. – Pp. 37–40: photo.
3. Kolosov G. The Prosecutorial Days of Semyon Kleshnya / G. Kolosov // Kerch Worker. – 2022. – February 22 (No. 20). – P. 6.
Material provided by the Crimean Republican Universal Scientific Library named after I. Y. Franko, https://franco.crimealib.ru/