““On January 27th, 1945, The Red Army arrived. We were all free. As four soldiers entered our barracks, Pesha gave one a hug and started to cry. Mikhail and Vladimir shook the hands of all four. One of the soldiers began to lead us in “Gosudarstvenny Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii,” the new National Anthem of The Russian Federation. We hadn’t heard it before. A young soldier approached me. I had been sitting on my bed, with my head in my hands, weeping. He said, “Ты в порядке?” “Are you ok?” “Нет, я не в порядке. Я не могу жить в другой день после этого.” “No. I am not ok,” I said. “I cannot stand to live another day after this.” I hit the soldier in the stomach quickly, grabbed his standard issue Nagant M1895 Revolver from his hip, put the barrel to my head, and pulled the trigger. Now, I was free.””
