Memorial plaque installed on legendary M. Devatayev’s house

8 February 2010, 13:34

(Kazan, February 8, Tatar-inform, Emma Sitdikova). Many people despite bitter cold today gathered at the Sechenov street in Kazan.  The reason was a solemn meeting, held to unveil a memorial plaque in honour of the legendary fighter pilot Mikhail Devatayev.

Attendees at the meeting were the Tatarstan deputy youth, sport and tourism minister Andrey Kondratiev, United Russia party territorial branch head of executive committee Viktor Budarin, other officials, as well as the Hero of the USSR Boris Kuznetsov, military school students and other invitees. The distinguished guests were Mikhail Devatayev’s wife, daughter, grandchildren, great grandchildren and friends.

The Tatarstan Committee of War and Military Service Veterans chairman Akhat Yulashev opened the meeting by telling about the life and feat of Mikhail Devatayev.

The date of installing the plaque was timed to coincide with Devyatayev and his comrades’s escape from a fascist concentration camp in 1945. The Soviet POWs, led by Devyataev, seized a German bomber and managed to cross the front line. They were however arrested in the Soviet territory and sent to camps. Devyataev was released only in 1953. Four years later, he was rehabilitated and awarded the Gold Star of a Hero of the USSR.

After the liberation, Mikhail Devatayev lived in Kazan and worked in the river port. In the final years of his life, he devoted a lot of effort to the veteran movement.

“That was a man who cared about everything relating to the veterans. He was always at the front, persistently demanding support for the veterans, as they deserved. He most of all enjoyed working with younger people,” noted Akhat Yulashev. Boris Kuznetsov said in turn Devatayev’s remarkable modesty was an example to follow.

Three salvoes were made and the Russian anthem played, to mark the memorial plaque’s unveiling.

The meeting’s participants then proceeded to the Arsk cemetery in Kazan’s centre, to lay flowers to Mikhail Devatayev’s tomb.
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