In honor of the Victory Day over fascism, the Netherlands-based "Ex Ponto" magazine (www.exponto.nl) published an article titled "Odyssey of Medo" dedicated to the Second World War and the fate of the Azerbaijani hero in the Netherlands Mammad Mammadov, known as Medo in the Dutch land. Below is the translation of an article from the Dutch language.
The Ballad of freedom
The Second World War ended exactly 65 years ago. During these 65 years, we were trying to restore the World War II events carefully studying the facts. Each new fact leads to new figures and new discussions. And the more facts found, the fiercer the debates become.
History books of 1940-1945 are still not fully restored: they have torn pages and restricted topics. There is still a lot of work to do. We obliged to keep in mind there was a brutal war imposed on humanity. There were forces that were interested in this and fought this war and there were also people who were involved in war unwittingly. The hero of our story, Azerbaijani Mammadov, who arrived in the Netherlands from a distant country, is one of those people. This is his story.
Serving in the Red Army
The story starts in Azerbaijan, in the Zakatala province, in the Mughanli village on Jan. 7, 1941. A group of people are sitting on the terrace of an ordinary village house.
The mother Nana-Khanum embraced 18-year old son Mammad for the last time before he left for a military service. The whole family came out to see off the recruit. His mother Nana-Khanum, Father Khalil, brother Mammadali, sister Tukezban and other relatives were trying to hide their tears from the soldier. The man who is called into the army should see only courage and hope in the eyes of relatives.
Like millions of other soldiers, Mammad Mammadov was drafted to the front. He was captured during the battle for Don in Ukraine in 1941. This was the starting point of his adventures. He was soon declared missing in action. The family was grieving. But his mother was waiting with hope.
Medo
In those days, Mammad Mammadov’s sole purpose was let his relatives know that he was alive. But all his attempts to send news to relatives failed like numerous attempts by other Russian prisoners of war.
In 1943, he and his fellows who shared the same misfortune were sent to the Netherlands and after a couple of months of stay in Arles-Rikstre they were brought to North Brabant in Ostervyayk. They had to do hard physical work in the Grotto Spake forests.
Medo was distinguished among other inmates. He became more and more popular not only in the boarding school, where they stayed, but also among the local population in Ostervyayk. Local residents who sympathized with him often helped him with dress and food. He, in turn, shared the gifts with his fellows. Thus, Medo became very friendly with the Dutch Sibregts family and soon fell in love with their daughter Rita Sibregts, who became a line of light in the darkness of his detention. Rita supported her Medo always, everywhere and in everything.
People loved Mammadov for his leadership qualities and numerous attempts to escape. He became a local celebrity known as Medo. He made numerous attempts to escape from the camp to join resistance fighters in the Netherlands.
Release
Finally, Medo could realize a plan of escape. During transportation to Amsterdam, he fled with his two fellows. They were met by resistance fighters. Medo and the other two Azerbaijanis began to fight together with the Dutch resistance fighters. But Medo dreamed of returning to his native Azerbaijan though he did not know what awaited him upon his return to his homeland.
With the help of partisans, he and his five companions made it to Brussels to somehow trip to Azerbaijan from there. But they were soon caught. During the transport, unconquered Medo again managed to escape with two companions. The escapees returned to Ostrevyayk and stayed there until the Liberation and forever.
Mammad Mammadov - Nederlands citizen
Medo married his beloved Rita Sibregt in Ostervyayk and began to build a new life. He worked in a shoe factory and gained popularity for various innovations that amazed those around him. He was later granted Dutch citizenship.
Medo received highest awards of the country: the title of Knight of the Royal Order, Honorary Member of the Royal Family and Honorary citizen Ostervyayk.
In his town, he became popular as the founder of a school of police dogs "Always alert" and as a coach of the youth soccer team. Later his only child, daughter Nana-khanum (Nancy), was born who later gave a birth to his granddaughter Selina. He lived in Ostervyayk until January 9, 2003. There is no one in Ostervyayke who does not know or never heard of Medo.
The Netherlands Red Cross had repeatedly appealed to the USSR with a request to find Medo’s relatives. And only 14 years after liberation, Medo received the first letter from his mother Nana-Khanum. During all these 14 years he lived without any news about his family. Letters from relatives never reached him before. This became possible during the Khrushchev thaw only after the fall of the Stalin regime. All the local newspapers covered the first letter Medo received from Azerbaijan.
After 14 years of separation, Mammad Mammadov’s mother finally received good news that her missing son is not only alive and well, but also is married and lives in country called "Holland". The Red Cross worked hard to help Mammadov to visit relatives. In his turn, Mammadov continued to write letters to Khrushchev, then leader of the Soviet Union. In the end, he succeeded to do it 31 year later in 1972! His daughter was already 11 years old.
He saw his loved ones again after 31 years, almost half of a man’s lifetime. The happiness was clouded by the fact that his 82-year-old mother passed away before seeing her son, although he had dreamed of this meeting so much.
Freedom
Mammad Mammadov died in January 2003. He devoted his life to the struggle, liberation, love and good name. Mammadov was a man with a capital letter as they say in Azerbaijan. He rests beside his beloved wife Mammadova-Sibregt. Mammadov left his native village to return there a hero one day. But he became a hero in the Netherlands. The history every time and again convinces us of one thing: the important thing is not where you are, but how you live and what you fight for.
Lena Sangin, May 3, 2010
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