This is me, Naum Poliak, the picture was taken in Tomsk in 1944 during my studies at the military college.
I am Naum Iosifovich poliak. I was born on 3 September 1923 in Fastov, Kiev Province.
On 21 June 1941 I was at my prom. It was a lovely evening. At two o'clock in the morning after the party we were walking along the steep street of Sobachka and talking. The subject of our discussion was the possibility of the war. Some were saying that the fascists couldn't even measure swords with us and the others thought there would be a war. I came home at three o'clock in the morning and went to bed. All of a sudden at 4 o'clock in the morning we heard some sounds of explosions. We realized that it was air raid and that the war began. I had a ticket to the stadium. On this day they were planning to have the opening ceremony and a football game. But at 12 o'clock Molotov spoke on declaration of the war on the radio. We were at home. Our widows faced the Bessarabka square - there were loudspeakers there. At 12 o'clock I went to the stadium to find out about the football game. There was an announcement there saying "The football game is cancelled due to the war". But I kept my ticket and went to the football game in 1946.
My parents left Kiev on 5 July with mamma's sister Fania Gorenshtein and her family. But I couldn't evacuate on the 5th, because I was summoned to be at the recruiting office on the 10th. I was only 17 then to reach 18 in September. But I was a Komsomol member and was bound to come to the recruiting office, therefore, I couldn't leave with my family. I went to the recruiting office after my parents left on the 5th of July. There was panic there. All recruits were assigned by the recruiting office and were leaving, but those under age were told to come on the tenth. There were piles of ashes in the streets all around, all organizations were burning their archives. When I came to the recruiting office on 10 July, there was nobody around. There was a note on the door saying that all those under the recruit age were to board the train on the 2nd line at the railway station and that was all there was.
They didn't take me to the army, because I had flat feet. But there was another recruit campaign in spring 1943 and they took me to the army. Flat feet didn't count any more.
. I received assignment as commanding officer of a spotlight and anti-craft unit on the Western border. There were only girls in it. I received this unit in January 1945 and met the victory on the same position in the vicinity of Lvov. When the war finished I was in the rank of second lieutenant.
