having learned about the capture of the children, shmyrev was in despair. i’ll say this, the most painful point is always children, this is for any normal person what children are, this is a symbol of faith, this is a kind of religion of parents. shmyrev’s relatives were held captive for almost 4 months; the germans promised to leave the children alive if the dad minai will voluntarily surrender. old man minai was beside himself with grief. at first he wanted to give up, then he thought about committing suicide, hoping that the germans would not kill children. from the memories of father minai, what i thought then, my children. dear, my family, how can i convey to you, how can i tell you about my pain, and what should i do, what should i come up with? my boys are eager to go into battle, they are ready to lay down their lives for you, but how can i lead them to tanks, control towers, under german guns, they will kill them, their children, mothers, wives will not forgive me for this, their native land will not forgive me. in such an inhumane way, the nazis t