Memory Day at Kazanorgsintez: floral tributes to memorial to Great Patriotic War veterans

The Great Patriotic War that changed the fates of millions of people and claimed the same amount of lives ended 76 years ago. Not only soldiers but also those who spent nights next to machine tools, firstly, to equip the country with the essentials and then replenishing its reserves after the war, bringing the habitual pre-war life closer helped to win the victory. Veterans of the Great Patriotic War worked at Kazanorgsintez PJSC too, now only four of them left. Another 36 workers are home front workers. KOS laid flowers to the memory of all workers involved in the holiday to their memorial on 7 May.

To pay tribute

This year there were fewer flowers near the memorial — not all people managed to watch the celebration due to COVID-19 restrictions. KOS veterans who brought the victory closer thanks to their effort stood home because of the pandemic. But each of them is thanked for peace: by Victory Day, they were sent congratulations from the enterprise they worked most of their life in. Hero of Social Labour Gulsina Zantimirova is one of them. She was the only Kazanorgsintez veterans to be able to personally lay flowers to the memory of war veterans.

“I consider 9 May as the greatest holiday. My grandparents participated in the war, I was born in wartime, in 1943. I remember the tough post-war years when the country had to be raised. But we began to live better and better with time. I joined Kazanorgsintez at 18 years where I worked as operator for more than 40 years. I think it is the best factory in Tatarstan,” says Gulsina Zantimirova.

The enterprise has 4 veterans of war and 36 home front workers. KOS annually hosts a celebration to make this day special for them. A memorial built in honour of Kazanorgsintez employees who witnessed the war.

“We, today’s KOS workers are grandchildren of those heroes who fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, those who were on the home front. Now our children, the great-grandchildren of those heroes, grow up. In any case, what was done during those years cannot be overestimated. I perfectly remember the 30th Victory Day when I was 9. The celebrations were big, and I think that though we go far from this victory year after year, its honouring must remain as big and joyful as it was,” said Director General of Kazanorgsintez PJSC Farid Minigulov.

“We congratulate you on Victory Day on behalf of the management of TAIF GC and personally on Director General Ruslan Shigabutdinov’s instructions. 9 May is a holy holiday for every citizen of the country that unites every family and is a symbol of invincibility and patriotism. I wish us a peaceful sky above our heads,” head of TAIF JSC’s press service Leonid Kozlovsky delivered the congratulations.

Festive programme

Wartime songs, dances and an orchestra. A concert programme started to be created in the enterprise a month to the event. The crucial criterion was to deliver the atmosphere of joy Victory Day is impossible without. 11-year-old Daria Sevostyanova knows how to do it — she sings in Sol pop and jazz studio but performs war songs instead of jazz every May. Peace for Peace is one of her favourites. The song reads that no country should have room for war.

“I am really sorry for people who lived in wartime. I have heard about the war and especially the siege very much. My great-granddad went to the war in my family, he passed away several years ago,” Daria said.

Two carnations in every hand. Kazanorgsintez executives, invited guests and members of the trade union laid them to the memorial.

“Personally for me and my family, it is one of the most important holidays. Most people have relatives who went to the war. Great-grandfathers went to the war in my family. I have participated in about 70 search expeditions, and it is rare for me to celebrate the holiday in the city, not on battlefields. It is gratifying that KOS pays attention to the holiday, pays tribute and gathers near the memorable stele,” shared head of the Department of Youth Affairs and Sport of the trade union at Kazanorgsintez PJSC Shakirdzjan Abdusalyamov.

In conclusion, the people who died at war were paid a tribute with a minute of silence.

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By Alsu Gusmanova