Epilogue

Suburban Detroit Michigan, Residence of Ivan James Kinchloe,
January 18, 1993

"And that is how Vladimir came to leave Stalag 13," Ivan Kinchloe said to the man sitting across from him. They were sitting in chairs next to the fireplace in Kinch's home, the fire casting warmth over them to counter the frosty snow of the Michigan winter. Kinch regarded the man sitting across from him thoughtfully. It's been fifty years, but I swear that I am looking at the spitting image of Vladimir. His grandson sure does have the family resemblance.

Ivan Alexandrovich Minsky was Vladimir's grandson. He had come from Russia to visit with Kinch. Ivan looked at Kinch, trying to imagine him fifty years younger, when his grandfather had last seen him. "That was a fascinating story," he said to Kinch. "Dyedushka told us many tales of your missions while he was in the prison camp, but never told us how he came to leave. We only knew that he had left before the war ended. I must say that we didn't believe half of the stories he told us. It seemed too amazing to be true."

The men were speaking in Russian. Vladimir had taught Kinch the language when they were both in Stalag 13, and Kinch had studied further and become fluent after the war ended. He enjoyed the opportunity to practice the language again, especially while reminiscing about his Russian friend.

Kinch nodded as he took a sip of his tea. "Some of the stories are pretty unbelievable," he said. "In a way, it doesn't surprise me that he never told you. That was a very difficult moment for Sam, I mean your dyedushka."

Ivan smiled. "Da, he did tell us that you had called him Sam," he said. "Sam Minsk, United States Army Air Corps," he recited in English. He chuckled at the memory of his dyedushka reciting those lines to him. "During the tense days of the Cold War, he would remind us that he was an honorary member of dreaded American military, which made him our enemy."

Kinch laughed. "I see he didn't lose his sense of humor!" he said.

"Nyet," Ivan replied. "His humor was with him until the end. It's been almost twenty years since he passed away, but sitting here talking with you has made me feel as if he is in the room with us."

Kinch sighed. "So true," he said. "It's been a lot longer for me. I regret that we were not able to stay in touch after the war."

Ivan nodded. "I know that he was saddened by that as well," he told Kinch.

"The day he left camp was the last time saw him, with the exception of a mission near the end of the war," Kinch said. "We did have some occasional contact on other missions before the war ended, but I had hoped that it would not be the last I saw of him."

"I know he thought highly of his fellow prisoners, especially you," Ivan told Kinch. "The time he spent at Stalag 13 was a turning point in his life."

Kinch leaned forward slightly in his chair. "I did try to use some of my military connections to find out what happened to Sam after the war. I know what he did during the war after he left camp. And I was able to find out that he retired with many honors, including being awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union. Quite an honor for him," he said.

Ivan chuckled. "Da, it was quite an honor," he responded. "Dyedushka was able to retire from the military and reopen his tailor shop, serving the highest Soviet officials, including the General Secretary."

"He kept his tailoring skills sharp while at Stalag 13. Although I can assume that when making a suit for the General Secretary, he used better material than an old army blanket!" Kinch said with a smile.

Ivan laughed. "I would assume so," he replied. "But I wouldn't put it past him to have tried it!" Both men laughed.

Ivan contemplated the tea in his cup for a moment, and then looked at Kinch again. "Mr. Kinchloe," he began.

Kinch interrupted. "Kinch, please," he said.

"Kinch," Ivan continued. "The main reason I came here to see you was to deliver this," he said. He took a yellowed envelope from his pocket. "Dyedushka wrote this letter shortly before he died and left it to be delivered to you whenever possible." Ivan handed the envelope to Kinch.

Kinch looked at the envelope in his hands, a flood of memories washing over him. He looked up at Ivan.

"It's been seventeen years," Ivan said. "Minsky postal express, at your service - a model of Soviet efficiency." Ivan smiled broadly.

Kinch couldn't help laughing. Neither man said anything for several moments.

"I can leave if you would like to read in private," Ivan finally said.

"Nyet," Kinch responded, shaking his head. "Please stay." Kinch fumbled to open the envelope, his hands trembling slightly. Why am I nervous? Is it because of a letter from my dear friend – no, a letter from the grave? Ivan James, get a hold of yourself! You're too old for this. Kinch finally extracted the letter from the envelope and unfolded the paper. He started reading the Russian handwriting.

May 12, 1975

Privyet druzhishe Vanya,

It has been 30 years since the end of the Great Patriotic War. 30 years! It has been more than that since I have had the pleasure of a chess game with you. I do hope that you have continued to play the game. I do so miss the games we enjoyed.

The recent celebrations here in Moscow for the 30th anniversary of the end of the war evoked a great many remembrances in me. Once again I was in Stalag 13, fighting the war with you, Andrew, Louis, Peter, Richard and Colonel Hogan. When I think back to what might have happened to me if I had not been lucky enough to find myself at Stalag 13, I consider myself blessed.

It sounds morbid to consider a war that killed millions upon millions of people a happy time, but all of you with me there in camp taught me something. Colonel Hogan taught me that you could lead men better through respect rather than fear. Andrew taught me that there could be simple genius in naivety. Louis taught me the strength in patriotism and the love of your homeland means that you never give up. Peter taught me the magic of humor to keep your sanity. And from the stories that both you and Richard told me, I learned the value of strength of character; that standing tall against people who hated you because you were different was the best way to fight back. All of this, and all of you, made me a stronger person, one who was able to return to my family when the fighting was over instead of being one of the many casualties of war. I have all of you to thank for my long life and large family.

But most of all, from you druzhishe, I learned the value of friendship. When I arrived at Stalag 13, I was scared, alone and did not know enough of any language to communicate well with anybody. You became a friend, looked after me, and taught me English. You listened. You cared. You became a true friend, because you wanted to and not because you had to. It is to you that I owe the most. When I was feeling my lowest, you knew what to say and when not to say anything. You stuck up for me when you thought I needed it most. Of all my memories of the past, these are my most cherished ones.

I write this with a trembling hand, partly from emotion and partly from age. Father Time has caught up with me, and my days on this earth are drawing to a close. Please forgive the ramblings of a tired old man. My fondest wish would be to deliver this letter to you personally, and enjoy one more game of chess. But I fear that it is not to be - our friendship is a victim of government ideology. I will leave this letter with my family in the hopes that someone will be able to locate you and deliver it.

Ivan James Kinchloe, druzhishe, you are like a brother to me. I wish you a long happy life filled with many happy memories. It would please me if our friendship was one of those happy memories. It is with great sadness that I tell you goodbye.

Your friend,

Sam Minsk, United States Army Air Corps, retired

Pinned to the paper below the name were the pilot's wings that Colonel Hogan had given to Vladimir when he left camp. A caption written below the wings said:

Every time I looked at these, I thought of all of you from Stalag 13, my friends and comrades.

As Kinch finished reading, the words on the page blurred. He took out a handkerchief and dabbed his eyes. "Have you read this?" he asked Ivan.

Ivan shook his head. "Nyet," he said. "It's been sealed since dyedushka wrote it, and we wished to respect his privacy."

Kinch looked at the letter again. Sam, my friend, your memory is with me always. The clink of china startled him and he looked up at Ivan, who was placing his cup on the table beside him.

As Ivan looked at Kinch, he leaned forward in his chair. "Does the letter say anything about me?" he asked curiously.

Kinch shook his head, a little confused by the question.

Ivan smiled a broad smile. "Then I think there is something else you should know," he said. Kinch looked puzzled and Ivan's smile grew broader. "My name. How do you think I came by my name?" he asked Kinch.

Kinch shrugged. "Vladimir's father was named Ivan, so I assume you were named after him," he said.

Ivan shook his head and laughed. Then he pointed his finger at Kinch. "You," he said.

Kinch felt his jaw drop.

"My father named me after Ivan James Kinchloe, his father's dear friend. My father, Alexander, listened to dyedushka telling hisstories and was convinced that it was mainly because of you that dyedushka made it through the war to return home to him," said Ivan.

Kinch shook his head in disbelief. "Surely you are joking," he said.

"Nyet," said Ivan. "It's the truth."

Kinch didn't know what to say. "I don't believe it," he muttered in English.

Ivan smiled again. "One more thing," he said. Kinch looked at him. "I don't know if you still play, and I know I do not have the skill of dyedushka, but it would be a great honor to play a game of chess with you."

Kinch smiled. "Da," he said. "It would be a pleasure."

Author's Notes

All hyperlinks have been removed from this version of the author's notes because of the limitations with 's handling of hyperlinks. For a complete version, including the hyperlinks, view the copy of the story that is in the Library section of WebStalag13 (my home page).

Russian Life and Culture

Much of my knowledge of the Russian language, dialog and attitudes used in the story was obtained from my resident Russian culture expert. My wife was born and raised in Ukraine when it was the Soviet Union. She left in the mid 1990's to come to the United States, after the fall of the Soviet Union and the birth of an independent Ukraine. She related the experiences of her relatives who were alive during the Great Patriotic War, as WWII is known to the Russian culture, as they were related to her.

Since her relatives were residents of the Ukraine during that period of time, their attitudes and biases might be a little different than someone from Moscow or Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Stalin was not very kind to the Ukrainian people, though he was not kind to many different ethnicities during his rule.

The tale of Vladimir's living conditions reflects Soviet communal living in the kommunalka. For a very good article about what it was like to live in a communal flat, see [hyperlink removed] .

I have tried to depict Vladimir's, and Marya's, Russian aspect as true to life as possible. Their aspect is a combination of what was related to me, what I have read and what literary privilege was necessary to fit them into this work of fiction.

Russian POWs

The Russian command hierarchy was not known to be kind to soldiers who were POWs. It was expected to fight to the death rather than be captured, and if you were captured, you were considered a traitor. Families of the captured soldiers were often sent to the gulag as punishment. Stalin's own son, Jacob, was captured by the Germans and rather than bargain with them to obtain his return, Stalin sent his son's family to the gulag to show that he put the nation's interests above his family's.

A good Russian POW account can be found at [hyperlink removed] - this is an interview with an ex-Soviet POW.

My wife's grandfather was also captured during the war, during the battle of Stalingrad. When the Red Army retook the city, he was released, malnourished and almost dead. After being nursed back to health in the hospital (by the woman who would later become his wife) he was lucky enough to avoid being shipped to a gulag for being captured by the enemy. However, he was never again allowed to fight at the front line, being relegated to the reserves and back line support duties, such as recruiting and training.

Even the Russian civilians were sometimes treated harshly. When the Red Army would take back territory, the people living in the area were many times looked at as traitors and collaborators. In many instances, the Russian soldiers were even more brutal to the civilians than the Germans were, raping women – young and old alike – and taking anything that they wanted.

Russian Names

A Russian will have 3 names, a first name followed by a patronymic and then a surname.

The first name is the given name. It can have many forms indicating varying degrees of relationship or familiarity or even emotions. There are forms to show endearment or intimacy (as husband/wife) and also a form that would be used as an impolite address, or also displeasure or parental scolding.

The patronymic is a name that is derived from the paternal first name by adding ovich/evich (son of) for males and ovna/evna (daughter of) for females.

For females, the surname takes on a feminine ending, usually by adding an a/aya to the male version of the surname.

The polite/formal form of address for adults is the first name followed by the patronymic. When addressing a child, friend or family member, the first name, or any of its derivatives would be used.

Vladimir, his wife and his son would have the following names:

Vladimir Ivanovich Minsky – Shortened form would be Volodya or Vova and his wife would refer to him as Volodenka or Vovochka. The impolite form of the name would be Volodka or Vovan.

Natalya Antonovna Minskaya – Nickname would be Natasha or Nata and Vladimir would call her Natashenka. The impolite form of the name would be Natashka.

Alexander Vladimirovich Minsky – Nickname would be Sasha and the more affectionate form would be Sashenka. When he misbehaves, his parents would refer to him as Sashka.

There is a very descriptive web page at [hyperlink removed] , but be warned, the page does contain some Cyrillic text which will appear as gibberish if you do not have the proper encoding set up in your browser.

There is one other note about Vladimir's last name. I have taken the liberty of changing his last name from Minsk to Minsky. The latter name is a more realistic Russian name. He will still be referred to as Minsk in the story. And since you have just read the reason for the name change, you understand why!

The other interesting factoid from the episode is that the Russian rocket scientist says that his name is Illyich Igor Zagoskin. From the information I have just mentioned, we can see that this is not correct. The order of names here is the patronymic followed by the first name and surname. Illyich is the patronymic form of the name Illya.

Russian Language and Dictionary

There are several ways to transliterate Russian from the Cyrillic alphabet to the Roman alphabet. I have tried to follow the Library of Congress simplified transliteration system for all Russian words and phrases used in this text, though I have deviated a little from them at times in order to help pronunciation. There is a good web page at [hyperlink removed] with this information.

Of course, from Hogan's Russian lesson in the episode Movies Are Your Best Escape, we know that da means "yes", and nyet means "no". Hogan also tells us that tovarish means "friend". While this is a more formal meaning, it would mostly be used in place of Comrade, or "fellow sufferer". A more personal term for friend would be the word drug (with the 'u' pronounced as in the English word 'boot', or it could also be transliterated as droog). The word tovarishy is the plural form, and would be used to refer to a group of comrades. (Just a note: I believe that the episode showed the word spelled as tovarich. However, the end sound of the word is not 'ch' as in church, it is pronounced 'sh' as in ship. Most transliterations will use the 'sh' rather than the 'ch' spelling.)

When you see a word that contains a superscript 'y', it means that there is a soft 'y' sound added after the consonant. For instance, privyet. In the Russian spelling, there is no letter corresponding to the 'y' – it would literally be transliterated as privet. But when pronouncing the word, it would be said like privyet, though the 'y' sound would not be as pronounced as it is in English.

bozhe moi – An exclamation meaning My God!

rodina – Motherland, Mother Russia.

spokoyne noche – Literally, calm night. This phrase is used to mean good night.

nichevo – It's nothing, don't worry about it, no worries mate.

eti svini – An insult referring to a group of people – "Those swine".

Vy Russki? – Are you Russian?

Kak vas zavut? – What is your name?

predatel – Traitor, the plural is predately.

izvinite – Excuse me

semya - Family

do svedanya – Goodbye

kommunalka – A communal flat, called this during the Soviet era.

babushka – Grandmother

spasibo – Thank you

suka – Euphemism for "female dog" (i.e., bitch!)

hvatit – That's enough!

zatknis – A very rude form of Shut up. It would be the equivalent of "Shut the f&% up!"

Nyevozvratnoye proshloye – A phrase meaning "Unreturned past." A close English idiom equivalent is "water under the bridge."

paka – Informal form of goodbye

dyedushka – Grandfather

privyet – Hello

druzhishe – A dear friend

Story Timeline vs. History

I have set this story in the fall of 1943, mainly for the purpose of fitting it into the 200th mission timeframe. The rocket in the episode is supposed to be a "standard V2 rocket", as Hogan calls it. In reality, the V2 did not enter full production and use until the fall of 1944, even though the first successful flight was in 1942. Therefore, Hogan should not really know much about the V2 at the time of this story. However, setting the story later in the war, in my opinion, wouldn't really hold true to the 200th mission, assuming that our little band of Heroes was a busy bunch!

There is a very good website with V2 rocket information at [hyperlink removed] .

Soviet Secret Police – NKVD

The Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del, or NKVD, was the name for the Soviet secret, or political, police during the Great Patriotic War. The name translates to Peoples Commisariat for Internal Affairs. It was this body that was later transformed into the KGB.

There are many sites out there with information on the NKVD. The following is a partial list:

[hyperlinks removed]

In this story, I have made Marya a member of the NKVD. While this was not explicitly stated in any of the episodes she was in, it seemed pretty obvious. I believe there was a claim she made that she was a White Russian, and I have used that as her "cover" to allow her to freely roam around Germany. In addition, I have made her a member of the Smert' Shpionam , or Smersh. This name translates as "Death to Spies". This is the arm of the NKVD that performed the most dastardly deeds of the NKVD. Initially it was formed to secure the rear of the active Red Army on the front, to prevent any Red Army soldier from retreating or leaving the front. It grew into an organ for terrorizing and punishing minority nationalities within the Soviet Union as well as in occupied German territory, for executing purges within the NKVD itself, and to hunt down various "enemies of the people" outside of the USSR. In short, these are the nasty ones of the bunch!

I figured that if Marya were involved in the kind of activity in Germany as depicted in the show, then she would be a member of this group of the NKVD. One other thing you'll notice is that the "Hogan, darling" façade slips at times in this story. I decided that if she were really NKVD/Smersh then she would be pretty ruthless if she had to be, and would also be a good actress to assume roles necessary to complete her assignments.

I apologize if this portrayal ruined anyone's image of her. However, you will have noticed that she turns out not to be so bad after all.

For more information the Smersh, see the following website:

[hyperlink removed]

Masked Bandits

I have placed a raccoon in the story to provide some woodland suspense. Raccoons are not native to Germany. They were imported in the early 1900's to fur farms. Before the war, some of them had either escaped or been let loose from the farms and began to expand.

More information can be found on the following webpage:

[hyperlink removed]