Heroes of “Normandie – Niemen”

Heroes of “Normandie-Niemen”

By I. Ehrenburg

translated by Fedor Galiy and Maria Pribor, 

students of Kaliningrad Boarding lyceum 

edited by Tatyana Dobronravova, 

the teacher of the English language of Kaliningrad Boarding lyceum 

There are two Frenchmen in the world who can proudly say about themselves: “We are the Heroes of the Soviet Union”. These are joy and happiness for the French; these are joy and happiness for us as both our nations are dedicated to freedom. The people from Valmy and Verdun, Perekop and Stalingrad are equally proud of the brave soldiers Marcel Albert and Roland de La Poype.

Now we have lots of friends: winners’ gathering is fairly big. The “Normandie” pilots came to us in the autumn of 1942. We were not in East Prussia that time, but the Nazis were at the Volga then. We were fighting desperately as there was no way to retreat any further. Abroad they were wondering if we would last long. In that dark autumn our friends, the French pilots, came to us. They realized our strength and believed in our friendship. When the German fascists were still in the Caucasus, the French patriots understood that the battle of Russia was also the battle of France and they could fight for the French soil in the Russian sky. Marcel Albert and Roland de La Poype were among the first ones. They joined us before the battle of Stalingrad. We will never forget it.

France has been liberated from the invaders. In the battles for Alsace, the French army covered itself with glory. In 1942 France was silent: the Nazis clamped its mouth shut. Even then, we believed in the star of the French Republic and the soldiers of the Red Army were speaking respectfully and lovingly about this beautiful country. Now France has been recognized though we were recognizing it when it was shacked. The French will never forget it.

Marcel Albert shot down 23 enemy planes on our fronts. He is the first ace of the French army. It was Russia that gave him a wonderful plane, it was France that gave him the heart of the true hero,  it was Nazi Germany that fostered hatred in him. And so, this cheerful Frenchman, a Parisian, a son of a worker became a Hero of the Soviet Union. There were three pilots: Lefebvre, Durand and Albert. They all flew from Northern Africa captured by the Germans to Gibraltar. All of them said: “We want to fight in Russia”. They were inseparable, and their comrades jokingly called them the “three Musketeers”. Durand and then Lefebvre died in battles. Marcel Albert continued beating the enemy.

The unity of the French people in the struggle against the invaders is great: Marcel Albert was a son of a worker, and de La Poype was a representative of the old aristocracy, and he could have showed off his titles whenever he wanted to. But La Poype is a true democrat, liberty-minded individual who is proud of his contribution to the victory, the downed planes. When the German fascists captured France, de La Poype did not hesitate to take a boat to England and went on fighting against the invaders there. Upon learning that a group of pilots wanted to go to the Soviet Union, he stated: “Please send me to the East to fight side by side with the Red Army”. He shot down 16 Nazis.

The art of a pilot is hard to describe. It is poetry. Who can explain why a great poet writes beautiful verses? I will not dare to speak of the aerial victories of two French heroes. I will merely remind you that they took part in those operations, each of which made up a new chapter of the war: Orel, Smolensk, Orsha, Neman, East Prussia. These names tell us more than thick volumes. In all these battles the blood of French pilots was shed, in all these battles Albert Marcel and Roland de La Poype struck down the enemy.

Their love for France is passionate, say no more. They love its  vineyards, its gardens, its gray stones, its joyful girls, its freedom, its history. However, I will tell you a thing: they have fallen in love with our Motherland. They have not only learned the Russian language, but have also  grasped something not written in the dictionaries or grammar books: the Russian heart. They have seen the ashes of our burned cities and the sorrow of our women. They have witnessed the courage of the Red Army, its way from Orel to East Prussia. Each of them is bound to us not by words, but by their blood. Someday in the Pyu-de-Dome, among the green pastures and gentle alders, Roland de La Poype will tell his children about the land of vast spaces and great heart, about a distant yet close Russia. Someday, cheerful Marcel Albert amid the noise of Paris which is never silent, like the Seine, will suddenly  recall the silence of the Smolensk forests and say: "There I learned the measure of  human sorrow and the strength of hearts."

The warriors of the Red Army welcome their trusted friends, the heroes of France, now the Heroes of the Soviet Union. If friendship is tested in the fires of the war, than the friendship of the Soviet Republic and the French Republic has been tested. It has endured sorrow, it has endured joy. We will clink with the French in Berlin soon.

November 28, 1944