Smidovich (Russian: Смидович) is an urban locality and the administrative center of Smidovichsky District of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia.
Smidovich in The Hot War[]
After escaping China, Vasili Yasevich wound up in Smidovich in the summer of 1951. He was able to convince the local MGB officer, Gleb Sukhanov that he'd hailed from Khabarovsk, a city destroyed by an American atomic bomb a few weeks prior. Yasevich claimed that he'd been outside Khabarovsk proper, visiting a married woman when the Americans attacked. He also claimed that he'd lost his identification card as a result. While Sukhanov seemed to have his doubts, he was prepared to let Yasevich alone so long as he stayed out of trouble.[1]
This status quo didn't last: Gleb Sukhanov discovered that Yasevich and another citizen, David Berman, had helped a German prisoner named Maria Bauer hide. The MGB arrested Yasevich and Berman in short order. Berman was given a 25-year sentence to a gulag. However, as the MGB hadn't found any records for him, they decided to give Yasevich a choice between the gulag or joining the Red Army. Yasevich chose the army.[2]
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