Lara Mikheyenko
Exchanging the gifts of childhood for the ultimate sacrifice
When I was about her age, 14-year-old I read a book about her and her childhood friends' sacrifice during the Nazis war. Her story has played a huge role in my life and dream. The feeling and nostalgia do not change. But, after so many attempts of getting a job at international organizations, I have been working for corporates ever since. The worst thing I got caught up with modernization and materialism and I almost forget about my dream to make the world a better place for other children and people.
The following is her story:
"In the early summer of 1941, during her summer vacation, this Leningrad schoolgirl went to visit her grandmother in a village. After the war started, she found that she was unable to return home as the village she was living in had been captured by the Germans.
In the summer of 1943, Lara and a friend ran away to join a partisan unit, where she became a scout. She collected information about the number of German soldiers, locations of gun emplacements, and participated in the “railway line” war, derailing enemy trains.
In the fall of 1943, the 14-year-old girl was seized by the Nazis during a scouting expedition. During the interrogation, she tried to blow herself up with a grenade, which for some reason did not explode. After being severely tortured, she was shot by the Nazis"
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