Thread by @DrAlakbarov

ThreadL

I actually want to share a story of a 99 year old Azerbaijani World War II veteran.

My name is Mikayil Mirzayev. Born on a farm in Armenia, my father was taken to Siberia never to be seen again when I was 10 years old.

https://twitter.com/DrAlakbarov/status/1259121563141656576

The Soviets used the farm as a collective farm, killed our honey bees, and confiscated all of the livestock. At 16, I escaped from the farm & fled to Yerevan, Armenia. I managed to enter veterinary school, attended for 3 years, and was conscripted into the Soviet army in 1941.

The Nazis soon pushed into the Caucasus Mountains, and was heading for oil-rich Baku, and the Soviets defended fiercely.

While fighting in the mountains I was injured from a hand grenade explosion, with over 26 shrapnel pieces in my body.

I was transported to Sochi on the Black Sea to a hospital and in November I was sent back out to fight back in the mountains.

While fighting again the Nazis surrounded our battalion, with fighting on all of our sides.

I remember an explosion while I charged with my rifle and I was knocked out, awaking to a Nazi kicking me in the back.

My finger was hanging from my hand and was bandaged.

Nazis took our overcoats, and we suffered heavily through the night, with nearly half of my fellow soldiers freezing. Somehow I survived. We marched for four days into a valley that separated Georgia from Russia.

I was marched to a prison camp in a small city in southern Russia called Maykop, where I stayed for about three months.

The Soviets were advancing on the Nazi position and we were given the choice of marching with the Nazis or facing our Soviet comrades who would, in our eyes, most definitely kill us for surrendering.

Most chose to march towards Nazi lines, though many died during that march.

With so many wounded horses I was given the chance to show my veterinary skills and was given a position as an assistant veterinarian for almost three years.

Eventually we ended up in Austria, where we were fighting the oncoming Soviet forces. A high ranking German officer came to speak to us. He told us the World War II was over.

He told us we were on our own, and that the American line was about 50km west.

He warned us that the Russian line would be more dangerous, but we only had about 5 or 6 hours to make it to the Soviet line.

Taking my time and giving my horse plenty of rest, I made it to the American line and was put into a camp as a German PoW.

With other Soviets, I convinced the American commander that we were not Nazis, and just like that he let us go. I found work on a farm in Austria.

When we learned that the area of Austria we were in was possibly part of Czechoslovakia, which would be Soviet territory, and fearing for our lives, we fled to an UNRA refugee camp in Germany and sought work.

As a free man, I eventually met my wife in Amberg, Germany, married in 1946 and had two children. After that we came to the US by boat in 1951 in hopes of something better.

My first choice was actually to move to Australia, but at the Australian consulate I was rejected because I am a Muslim.

We had another child, lived and worked on farms, lived in New York City, worked any job necessary, moved to Boston, owned a diner.

I had a stroke, and live happily with our three daughters, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. In the US, they call me Michael Mirson.

I believe in working hard and honesty.

In the Soviet army, they were very poor. Very little food, the boots were poor, and the discipline was not good. We walked in the Caucasus Mountains with blisters on your feet. You could barely walk, and had to go so slow.

Soviet officers on horseback would come by with a whip and say "comrade, you're walking too slow, you must walk fast. You must walk fast for this country and for Stalin." Once someone fought back against an officer, and was shot. This scared us into keep walking, no matter what.

I really learned how to survive. I truly learned how to take care of myself and others. I always tried to help my friends. I learned how to come together to help people, and how other people can help you.

It just always seems to be the same story, the fighting story. When people lived in caves, they fought with stones. Now they fight with planes and drones.

Once we came upon a village that had been through a big fight. There was one little boy. His face was all wet from crying, and he messed himself, and there was nobody to take care of him. He calling for his mother over and over.

All of us, we were so sad for this little boy (Veteran is now crying). I thought ‘why do we have this war? Now this little boy is alone, his family killed.’ This was so sad to see. I also had hatred towards the war, Hitler, and Stalin.

In the US, I was working as window washer, and I thought to start my own business. In the paper, I saw it for sale for $4,000.

I liked being my own boss, working for myself. BUT, it was hard work all day and night.

I don’t know what to say about the future. I think that people are getting a little crazy. There is too much fighting everywhere, for nothing. There is a lot of trouble.

The Soviet officers were well dressed and fed, and sat back while we fought. If we didn't fight well or if we turned back, they threatened to shoot. Before battles, commissar said "comrade soldiers, you fight the Nazis. If you don't have a weapon, use your fist. March, forward."

When you come up from a ditch, you didn't see the Nazis, because they were hiding. But then, they started shooting us. In 15-20 minutes, half of the several thousand men were gone.

I don't think I killed anyone. My mother hugged me and cried before I left for the war, and asked me not to kill anyone.

When you came back from a battle, you were asked how many Nazis you killed. The first time, I said that I didn't see the Nazis, which upset my commissar. He called me a coward.

In the Nazi prison camp, it was terrible. When I got there I was so skinny. A lot of people got dysentery, luckily not me. The soup was like sawdust, but I tried to pick out only the good parts of the soup, like the horse meat.

I hope that Azerbaijan's future is bright. One big hope is that the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan is settled. I want a good future for both countries.

I finally went back to Azerbaijan for the first time in 1972. It had been 32 years!

I couldn't believe it, my mother was still alive! And they couldn't believe that I was alive! They thought I was dead.

Over 300 people were waiting for me at the airport! Some of my family traveled 400 miles to Baku, to greet me. We were so excited, and crying. I saw so many of my young relatives that I had never met before.

At that time, Azerbaijan was still a communist country, and I only had a tourist visa, meaning I had to stay in only certain tourist hotels.

Not all Germans were Nazis. My wife is a German. Her mother was almost sent to a concentration camp because she hid some food for Jewish people in her trash barrel, and was caught by the Gestapo. She was arrested, but luckily let her back home.

I was so happy when Soviet Union was collapsed, I was laughing and dancing! It was one of the happiest moments of my life.

I'll never forget watching [on the television] the man walk on the moon!

Dear kids, be honest. Don't lie or cheat your way. Educate yourself! Make a good job and family! Learn from your parents. Don't get hooked on smoking or drugs. It does not good for your health or money. Schnapps is okay! I never did these things, and I made it 99 years (laughs).

I remember my first day in the US. The first day we got off the boat was exciting. We went from NYC right to Saratoga Springs via bus. The family gave us a second floor apartment. We were too tired to eat, and went right to bed.

I felt that the house was shaking, and my first thought was that the Americans were crazy, and didn't know how to build a house! I realized I was still in motion, from the boat, and I laughed at myself. The breakfast in the morning was so big!

Stalin was the worst person in the World, worse than Hitler. I never liked him because my father was taken when I was a little boy, for nothing. They took our animals, too.

A lot of Germans that I've met didn't like the war. They didn't want to see their country destroyed. We could not talk like this openly, in front of the officers. There were many Nazi spies, even spying on their own soldiers, to make sure they weren't against Hitler.

When I was in Ukraine, a lot of Nazi troops marched in. We were supposed to salute them, but I had not. One man yelled at me for and nearly punched me! He said 'you must salute to the SS troops!' I was lucky, I didn't see too much.

My best friend was a Jewish guy from Baku. In Soviet Army, there was a lot of racism against those who were not Russian like the Georgians, Uzbeks, or Azerbaijanis. They always bullied us. Sometimes they beat us.

I love Azerbaijani cuisine. But I also love my scrambled eggs, American chopped suey, and blueberry muffins.

I hope you enjoyed this thread.

Unfortunately, I've learned that Mikayil passed away. He was an honorable, compassionate and courageous man with deep family commitments and a love of nature and animals that he instilled in his descendants. Legends never die.

In 2014 he was honored by the Witness to War Foundation and the interview he gave detailing his war stories was submitted into the U.S. Library of Congress.