Dear Grachya Misakovich!
I haven’t told you that we have the following plan: to make and install a memorial plate for the 75th anniversary of Estonia liberation. Because, God forbid, it would not work. But now I can say you MANY THANKS! Thanks to your help, the name of the hero was immortalized!
Thirty years is not enough for the universe
I didn’t even know the guy who
Promised: "I'll be back, mom!"
Platoon commander of the 9th rifle troop of the 300th rifle regiment of the 7th Estonian Tallinn Rifle Division - junior lieutenant Angeryarv August Johannesovich - who was born on February 21, 1913 in Tartu County, was called into the Red Army on June 27, 1941.
As part of the division, he participated in battles on the Kalinin, 2nd Baltic and Leningrad fronts.
During the Moonsund landing operation, having crossed the Weikewein Strait with his platoon, he seeped behind enemy lines and blocked the escape route, fighting until the regiment's main forces arrived. For which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star.
Junior Lieutenant August Johannesovich has died on October 13, 1944 during the tactical landing to the village of Vintri on the Sõrve Peninsula (Saaremaa Island), performed by the ships of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet.
Augustus’s brother, Emil, while serving on the island of Saaremaa, tracked down his brother’s grave and found out the details of his death with the help of local residents.
August Johannesovich, fighting at a staging ground, got an abdominal wound after which he was captured. Apparently, he died on the road, not meeting the expectations of the enemy for interrogation. According to the stories of local residents, the Germans took the corpse of August Johannesovich from their car and put it near a fire box. Local resident Ann Rand buried the lieutenant not far from her farm, on a hill in a pine forest.
On October 17, 1967, in a festive atmosphere, a new monument was erected on the grave in place of the wooden pyramid.
Unfortunately, in the early 90s, non-ferrous metal hunters had stolen the plate, so the name of the hero for a long time remained only in the memory of local residents and his relatives, and the grave became nameless.
In 2019, having learnt about the lieutenant’s grave, the members of our organization decided to restore the monument and began collecting the information and searching for relatives in order to verify all the data.
Within a few months of searching, we managed to find the relatives of August Johannesovich. They confirmed the grave location and told that while brother and sister were alive, they constantly went to Saaremaa and, sitting on a bench near the monument, talked with their brother.
The relatives also shared the missing data and a photograph of August Johannesovich took before the war.
To get a support in paying for the manufacture of the gravestone and associated costs, we turned to our great friend Grachya Misakovich Pogosyan. He immediately responded to our request, since he has a special attitude to the Great Patriotic War.
The gravestone was installed during celebration of the 75th anniversary of a complete liberation of Estonia from Nazi forces.
It is pleasant to write that the inhabitants of the island helped us in cleaning the area around the grave, as well as in installing the gravestone. The old people who came from neighboring farms thanked for keeping the memory as well as for a respect for the fallen.
Participant fallen in the liberation of the Moonsund Archipelago in October 1944, could not have known that the war would last for another 208 days. Fallen in October 1944, the liberator of the Moonsund archipelago could not hear the volleys of Victory. The Motherland saluted to those who headed for this great Victory, and those who took the first step towards it.
We thank all those who provided help and support in perpetuating the memory of the hero!
Sincerely, Andrey Lazurin
Front Line, Tallinn