“At the end of February 1944 the Germans turned Mikhailovskoye
into a military objective and into one of the strongpoints of
the German defense. The park area was dug up for combat and
communication trenches; shelters were constructed. The cottage
of Pushkin’s nurse was taken to pieces and next to it, and
partly on its former site, the Germans constructed a large
dugout, protected by five layers of timber. The Germans built a
similar dugout near the former museum building.
“Prior to their retreat from Mikhailovskoye, the Germans
completed the destruction and desecration of the Pushkin estate.
The house-museum erected on the foundation of Pushkin’s former
residence was burned down by the Germans and nothing remained
but a heap of ruins. The marble plate of the Pushkin monument
was smashed to pieces and thrown onto the pile of ashes. Of the
other two houses standing at the entrance to the Mikhailovskoye
estate, one was burned down by the Germans, the other severely
damaged. The German vandals put three bullets into the large
portrait of Pushkin hanging in an archway at the entrance to the
Mikhailovskoye park; then they destroyed the archway.
“After their retreat from Mikhailovskoye, the fascists bombarded
the village with mine throwers and artillery fire. The wooden
stairs leading to the River Soret were destroyed by German
mines. The old lime trees of the circular alley leading to the
house were broken down; the giant elm tree in front of the house
was damaged by shell fire and splinters.”