This article is part of the rubric: historical photos.
These two images are displayed side by side in the Andrei Pozdeev Museum. The caption reads: ‘(On the left) Artist Evgeny Stepanovich Kobytev on the day he was sent to the front in 1941. (On the right) In 1945 upon his return’. This is the human face after four years of war: a thin and tired face, deep wrinkles, a worried expression, this man has been completely transformed.
Evgeny Stepanovich Kobytev was born on December 25, 1910 in the village of Altai. After graduating from a pedagogical school, he worked as a teacher in rural Krasnoyarsk. His passion was painting, specifically portraits and landscapes. In 1936, he was able to pursue higher education in the arts when he started studying at the Kiev State Art Institute in Ukraine.
In 1941, he graduated with honours from the art institute and was ready to start a new life, but his dreams were interrupted on June 22nd, 1941 when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. The artist willingly became a soldier and enlisted in one of the Red Army’s artillery regiments. His regiment was involved in a fierce battle to defend the small town of Pripyat, located between Kiev and Kharkiv.
In September 1941, Kobytov was wounded in the leg and became a prisoner of war. He ended up in the German concentration camp called ‘Khorol pit’ (Dulag #160). Approximately ninety thousand prisoners of war and civilians died in this camp.
In 1943, Kobytev managed to escape from captivity and rejoined the Red Army. He participated in various military operations in Ukraine, Moldavia, Poland, and Germany. Upon the end of World War II, he was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal for his exceptional military service during the battles to liberate Smila and Korsun in Ukraine. However, the High Command refused to award him the victory over Germany medal because his military career was “ruined” by being a prisoner of war.
