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List of stories
Semen Israelovich Kogan
The Story is provided by the Crimean Republican Universal Scientific Library named after I. Y. Franko
Semen Israelovich Kogan

The Story Is provided by the Crimean Republican Universal Scientific Library named after I. Y. Franko

Semen Israelovich Kogan
1921–2009
Concert manager at the State Philharmonic on the Southern Coast of Crimea, Deputy Director of the Crimean State Philharmonic, and administrator of the Simferopol Circus.

Semen Israelovich Kogan was born on November 18, 1921. He spent his childhood and youth in Simferopol. At the age of sixteen, he began working as an acrobat in the circus, performing with a circus troupe under the Mobile Circus Administration. However, during one of his performances, he fell and broke both arms. After the fractures healed, the doctor told him, "Young man, don’t even think about continuing your craft. If you break them again, you might lose an arm or even both."
After this incident, Semen and his friend and acrobatic partner, Fima Rozbaum, decided to enroll in the Odessa Higher Combined Arms Infantry School named after K. E. Voroshilov. In 1939, they successfully passed the entrance exams and began their studies.
Just before his graduation in 1941, the war broke out. The school formed a combined battalion of cadets, which was sent to the Prut River to cover the retreat of the Primorsky Army. Thus began the long military journey of S. I. Kogan:
“June 22, 1941... A terrible and memorable day... It marked a new chapter not only in my life and the life of my friend but also in the lives of millions of Soviet people...

The Great Patriotic War began... A few days later, we, the senior cadets, were sent to the front lines. We, the cadets of the school, spent about a month on the front lines, losing many of our friends in battle, and were then recalled to the school. The enemy, bloody and cruel, was approaching Odessa. The battles for the city began, followed by the evacuation of the school to the Urals. Many cadets, including myself, were prematurely certified and sent to the active army — to the front.”
Excerpts from S. I. Kogan’s memoirs in the book Notes of a Provincial Administrator
As part of the 62nd Separate Siberian Brigade, Semen was sent to the outskirts of Moscow. He served as the commander of a reconnaissance platoon and participated in the defense of the city:
"It fell to me to defend the capital of our Motherland on its closest approaches, when the Germans were, as they say, one foot inside Moscow. During the battles, something remarkable happened: on November 5, my platoon was gathered, loaded onto trucks, and brought to Moscow... We were issued new uniforms, sheepskin coats, clean underwear, and in one day, we were taught how to march. On November 7, at five in the morning, we were again loaded onto trucks and taken to the center of Moscow, to Ogareva Street... We joined the column that marched across Red Square... My military ID contains a photo taken right after the parade, in that new sheepskin coat."
Military ID with a photo taken during the 1941 parade
After the parade, he was sent back to the front. Near Moscow, he was severely wounded and hospitalized in Moscow. He then spent two months recovering in the city of Kansk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, after sustaining serious injuries to his arm and leg. After being discharged, he was assigned to the Voronezh Front, where fierce battles were raging. There, he led combat reconnaissance missions. By then, Semen was a lieutenant and commander of the regimental reconnaissance company of the 959th Rifle Regiment, part of the 309th Rifle Division. For his actions during the crossing of the Don River, he was awarded his first Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class, and promoted to senior lieutenant.
Later, he fought in the battles for Kharkiv, where a massive German force was concentrated. The fighting was extremely intense. During a night raid as part of a reconnaissance group, S. I. Kogan was seriously wounded and lost a leg.

After being hospitalized in Kharkiv, he was transferred to Ufa. During his treatment and six-month rehabilitation, Semen managed to locate his family. It turned out that they had mistakenly received a death notice for him long ago:

"One day, someone came and told me that my family was living in the city of Chust, Namangan Region, Uzbek SSR. They had been evacuated there and were living and working there. I gave some money to a nurse, who ran to the telegraph office and sent a telegram saying that I was alive and well. I received a reply: 'Our son, Semen Israelovich, died on December 15 near Moscow and was buried in a mass grave in the village of Chasovnya.' So, I went to the city on crutches, had my photo taken at a barbershop, wrote a letter, enclosed the photo, and sent it. Some time later, I received a reply, filled with tears of joy."
After being discharged from the hospital, he went to Chust to reunite with his family. Shortly after, Kogan went to the city military commissariat to obtain a military travel pass—a free railway ticket to Tashkent to get a prosthetic leg. There, he met his future wife:
"So, I came to the military commissariat on crutches, to see the commissar... He treated me rudely, insulted me, saying who was I to demand a travel pass. The commissar was a senior lieutenant, just like me! In a fit of anger, I threw aside my crutches and lunged at him: 'How dare you talk to me like that, you rear-echelon rat, you scoundrel!' The commissar turned pale with fear and started shouting: 'Drukina! Come here! I’m being attacked!' A beautiful young woman rushed into the office, pulled me away, sat me down on a chair, poured me a glass of water, and calmed me down. That woman, Drukina — Oktyabrina Davydovna — became my wife. We’ve been together for 64 years. That’s how my peaceful life began."
In one of his interviews, when asked by a journalist, «How did you celebrate Victory Day?» Semen Israelovich replied:
"You know, in all the post-war years, I never attended any parades. First, it’s difficult for me because of my missing leg. Second, I’ve always believed that mourning for the fallen, for the friends who are gone, is a personal, solitary matter, not a mass event. On Victory Day, I would take out my jacket with the medals, pour two glasses of vodka—one for myself and one for those who are no longer with us— and place a piece of bread on top of the glass. That’s how I’ve spent all these years."
For his service during the Great Patriotic War, Semen Israelovich Kogan was awarded numerous honors and medals, including the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class; the Medal for the Defense of Moscow; the Medal for the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945; and the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class.
Award certificate
In 1948, Semen Israelovich returned to Crimea with his young wife. He was hired as an administrator at the State Philharmonic on the Southern Coast of Crimea in Yalta. His duties included meeting and seeing off performers, arranging their accommodation, organizing advertising, concerts, and more. Later, he served as Deputy Director for Concert Affairs at the Crimean State Philharmonic. For over 40 years, he organized concerts for Soviet pop stars, film and theater actors, and met many famous artists and public idols. He ended his career as the administrator of the Simferopol State Circus.

Semen Israelovich wrote a memoir about his many years of work at the Crimean Philharmonic, recounting real events involving many prominent figures, in which he himself played a part. He also published in local periodicals.
He passed away on November 8, 2009.
Bibliography:

1. Kogan, S. I. Notes of a Provincial Administrator. Simferopol: Sonat, 2008. 191 pp., illus., portraits.
2. Crimeans Who Defended Moscow...: Collection. Ed. group: M. M. Golubev et al. Simferopol: Dolia, 2008. 120 pp., portraits.
The story is provided by the Crimean Republican Universal Scientific Library named after I. Y. Franko, https://franco.crimealib.ru/