25th of june 1941

I woke up to the sound of my dad and mom talking about what he should pack in his bag.

Instead of getting up from bed i simply laid there looking at the ceiling for a few minutes before being able to muster enough willpower to get up from bed and get dressed, i then dragged myself to the table and ate my porridge.

i then went to help my dad pack his belongings and whilst doing that i asked him a few questions

"Father ?

Yes son ?

Where will you be going in the west ?

I have not received the exact location yet however i do know it is somewhere in what used to be poland."

i nodded my head and helped him finish packing his bag.

I came back to my room and pondered to myself what were the implications of this war.

I then tried to gather all the information i knew about the war,

- I knew that guderian was in the charge of the offensive in the easy of germany

- I knew that the soviet forces were going to be spread out on the western border including next to finland.

-I knew that the Nazis had better equipment, more tanks and 600 000 more troops than the soviets considering the fact that the ussr had around 2.600.000 troops at it's disposal although it had a massive gun deficit.

Even though i was quite well informed about the war since my father was a kombrig i still had no idea as to what was happening on the front.

Since i had quite some time until dinner i warned my parents and headead outside to clear my head.

looking and the massive buildings and felling the cold breeze i was lost of words for the sight. massive buildings that could host hundreds of people each neatly lined up next to each other.

I suddenly snapped out of my admiration when i heard a snarky voice calling me.

" Oy sergey comme here."

Trying to ignore the man calling me i turned the other way and upped the pace however he and his friends catched up to me and as he put his arm around my neck and started speaking.

" Why are you running away friend i wanted to spend quality time with you.

Fuck off. I muttered not wanting to be near them at all.

What did you say to me !? the man shouted as he kicked my legs on the side (calf kick for reference) forcing me down on my knees.

I said leave me the fuck alone. I shouted at him.

Idiot. he calmly said as he kicked the back of my head and left with his friends.

I gathered all the energy i had left and ignoring the banging headache, i slowly walked home limping.

When i entered our modest flat, my mother immediatly rushed to me inquired as to what has happened to me.

I explained to her how oleg and his band had annoyed me once more and brushed it off as nothing serious. I looked at the clock on the wall i saw it was only 12:30, and thus went back to my room to exercise before eating dinner.

Once we started eating, my dad told me he had received a telegram with some more information about what he was going to do.

He then told me about how we was going to a city called Lwów in south poland right on the border with nazi germany. I then realised than not only was he going to be on the front line but also that supply lines and defences had not yet been built and thus it was more dangerous than ever however i also knew that worrying was useless since i could not do anything about it.

After eating my mother went to work at the factory and my dad went to read a book. Since i could do whatever i wanted i decided to disassemble and assemble my father's fire arm a few times because i didn't really have anything better to do. I then went back to reading my book untill supper.

As we were all around the table there was a heavy melancholic silence as we all knew that this was our last dinner together for a long time if not forever and thus we all ate without speaking a word until my father broke the silence.

"Tomorrow morning a train will be waiting for me at the station and i will be leaving for the frontline."

The silence came back however i could see my mother's eyes understandably tear up.

After finishing eating i went to bed and tired after today's events went to sleep.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT SCROLL DOWN IF YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED.

How big was the average Soviet apartment?

Typical apartments of the K-7 series have a total area of 30 m2 (323 sq ft) (one-room), 44 m2 (474 sq ft) (two-room) and 60 m2 (646 sq ft) (three-room).

What was Soviet housing like?

Although it would be quite cold in winter a major avantage of soviet housing was the fact that it was very cheap especially appartements that were dirt cheap, wich was also the reason why you would never ever see a homeless person on the streets of soviet russia. The reason why the state could make it so cheap was because of the fact that it was a huge block of about a dozen stories all built out of very cheap steel and there was not much furniture included with it.

Do people still live in Soviet apartments?

Today in Russia, Soviet style apartment blocks are still built and are termed "Novostroika", they are often painted colorfully and have all modern amenities.

People in the Soviet Union liked to have a hearty breakfast. Rich porridges, cheesecake made from tvorog (quark, or farmer's cheese), and eggs sunny-side up with fried doktorskaya sausage were cooked at home and eaten at cafes and school cafeterias.

What did people in the USSR eat?

A typical lunch meal could consist of chicken-broth-based soup or borscht for a first course and fried meatballs or goulash served with boiled potatoes or buckwheat porridge as a main course. Butter or sour cream was typically used as a sauce.

How much was a loaf of bread in the USSR?

Bread costs the equivalent of about 30 cents a loaf in the Soviet Union.

During the Siege of Leningrad the Soviet authorities found 2,000 tons of mutton guts which they turned into galantine to feed the starving citizens. Oct 9, 2015

(Galantine, a dish of boiled or roast meat, fowl, rabbit or fish, served in aspic is another Soviet stalwart.)