Epistinia Stepanova lost 8 sons on the war fronts. In memory of this heroic family, films, monuments, paintings have been created.
Epistinia Stepanova is a soldier's mother. She is known for the fact that 9 sons of this heroic woman died at the front during the war, during the battles with the enemies, due to wounds.
Biography
The future "Mother Heroine" was born on the farm named after May Day in November 1874, then she lived in the Kuban.
Epistinia Fyodorovna began working early. Already at the age of 8, she labored: she harvested bread, grazed poultry.
The girl saw the future husband of Stepanov Mikhail Nikolaevich only when he came to woo her. Mikhail was born in 1878. And after the revolution, he was a collective farm foreman.
Epistinia Fyodorovna became a widow early. In 1934, her husband passed away. So the woman's personal life ended. The young wife and mother were left with small children in their arms.
Epistinia Stepanova had a very difficult fate. She lost her children one by one.
At first, Stesha's daughter died. When the girl was 4 years old, she accidentally poured boiling water over herself and scalded herself with it. When Epistinia Stepanova was ready to become a mother again, her twin boys were born dead. Grisha's son, at the age of 5, fell ill with mumps and died.
Two years before the start of the war, the daughter of Vera, who was poisoned by carbon monoxide, passed away. So, out of 15 children, Epistinia Fedorovna left 10 - one daughter and 9 sons. But the boys faced a tragic and at the same time heroic fate.
The eldest sons of the "Heroine Mother"
The oldest boy at that time was Sasha. He was born in 1901. After the October Revolution of 1917, there was a Civil War in the country. The Stepanov family helped the Red Army. The whites found out about this, they grabbed Alexander and shot him.
Fyodor Mikhailovich was killed next. He was born in 1912. Over time, he graduated from the courses of commanders, after which he was sent to the military district of Transbaikalia. Fyodor Stepanov died in battle in the vicinity of the Khalkhin-Gol River in August 1939.
Then Paul's son died. The young man was 22 years old when he was called to the front. Studying the biography of a young man, one can understand that Pavel Mikhailovich managed to become a member of the Komsomol, then fought in the 55th division. He went missing at the end of 1941.
And in 1942 Ivan died. The young man was taken prisoner in the summer of 1941, fled, wandered. By the fall of 1942, he went to the village "Velikiy Les". A family of collective farmers sheltered him. The young man got married and joined the partisans. But then the Germans caught him and shot him.
Younger sons of Epistinia Feodorovna
This is how the heroine mother lost her children one by one.
The mother still managed to see the son of Ilya, called in 41. After being wounded and treated in the hospital, the young man came home for several days. But in July 1943 he was killed at the Kursk Bulge. Then Vasily died.
In the same year, a funeral came for another son of Epistinia Stepanova - Alexander. The boy was the youngest in the family. He was born in the spring of 1923, but at the age of 18 he was drafted to the front. When in one of the battles Alexander was surrounded by the Nazis, he took out the pin from the grenade and detonated it. The young man died himself and destroyed several officers and soldiers of the enemy. For this feat, Alexander Mikhailovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Philip Mikhailovich died on the eve of the Victory. He was captured in the spring of 1942, was held in a prisoner of war camp, died in February 1945. The man still has a wife - Alexandra Moiseevna.
Only one son of Stepanova E. F. returned from the front - Nikolai. But the fragments of the war remained in his right leg. He died of an old wound in 1963. Nikolai is survived by his wife and son Valentin.
In recent years, Epistinia Fedorovna lived in the family of her daughter. But their family did not end, since the woman had many grandchildren and great-grandchildren - 44 little people from the Stepanov family came to replace the deceased older relatives.
Stepanova E. F. lived a long but hard life. She passed away at the age of 94.
In memory of the heroic woman, a monument, a memorial plaque was created, poems were dedicated to her, films were shot, pictures were created. But the best reward is the long memory of people!
