Grigoriy Tets

This is my brother Grigoriy Tets, as chief of headquarters, at a field hospital. This photo was taken in Moldova in 1944.

In November 1941 we arrived at Yangiyul not far from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. A rear hospital from the vicinity of Moscow, also evacuated to this town. Since my parents had medical education, the local military office sent them to work in this hospital. My brother, who knew several foreign languages, went to work as an English and Russian teacher at school.

We were accommodated in a clay kibitka for hospital employees. There was a clay floor and walls in the hut and there was noting else available. The hospital provided planks, and we made plank beds and stools. The hospital also provided shabby bed sheets, so we had these. The hospital quarters made our life much easier. We had meals at the hospital. In late 1942 my brother was offered a job in the hospital. He had a legal education, and was appointed chief of the military hospital headquarters.

In 1943 our hospital changed its status and became a military field hospital. It belonged to military unit 2959, 57th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. This meant that the hospital was to relocate to the front line. We were contract personnel and might choose to stay in Yangiyul, but we were used to working in the hospital and we decided to follow it. We knew this was not the safest choice, but there were dangers everywhere. The hospital was moving along with the front line forces. We advanced farther and farther to the west. We went across Dnepropetrovsk region, the rest of Ukraine and Moldavia. From there we moved to the border of the USSR: Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. Our last point was Graz, Austria. Our hospital celebrated 9th May 1945 in Austria. In summer 1946 we returned to Riga. My brother went to work as a lawyer at a plant.

My brother met his future wife in the hospital. Maria Gaisinskaya, a Jewish woman from Dnepropetrovsk, was a doctor. We were friends and corresponded with her after the war. Once we invited her to stay with us in Riga. My brother spent much time with her showing her around. They went to theaters and got to know each other better. When it was time for Maria to go back home, they told us they were going to get married. Maria moved to Riga. They had a common wedding. They registered their marriage in the municipal registry office and invited the family to a quiet dinner. In 1949 Maria and Grigoriy's daughter Ilana was born.