“Moment of Truth” for Everyone

Next year marks an important milestone for humanity—the 80th anniversary of the end of the bloody and destructive Second World War. The contemporaries of those events are passing away, but we continue to hear the voice of the war through books, films, poems, documentary footage, archives, and interviews left by the witnesses. As always, Robert Rozhdestvensky’s words resonate with us:

“Let us remember each by name,

Let us remember our sorrow…

This is needed—

Not for the dead!

This is needed—

For the living!”

In 2024, we also commemorate the centennial of the great Soviet writer Vladimir Osipovich Bogomolov, one of the most enigmatic authors of the 20th century, who wrote one of the most widely-read and sensational works about the war, the detective novel “Moment of Truth” (or “Emergency Investigation: In August 1944”), which is also celebrating its 50th anniversary. In 2000, Soviet and Belarusian director Mikhail Nikolaevich Ptashuk adapted the beloved film “In August 44…” based on Bogomolov’s work.

What makes these works significant, and why August 1944?

The year 1944 was marked by major liberation operations of the Second World War. The decisive Battle of Stalingrad was behind us, as was Kursk, but the war was far from over, and the enemy was not yet defeated. At the end of 1943, the Allied coalition of the USSR, the USA, and Great Britain made the crucial decision to open a Second, Western Front at the Tehran Conference. However, preparations for the operation progressed slowly, and the front would only be opened by the summer of 1944.

In June, Europe celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, known as “D-Day,” which began on June 6, 1944, with Operation Overlord. This was followed by the liberation of Paris at the end of August 1944, the liberation of Brussels on September 3, 1944, and the advance into the heart of Europe, reaching Berlin by May 1945. Meanwhile, from June 23 to August 29, 1944, the Eastern Front saw the large-scale Operation Bagration on the territory of the Belarusian SSR against the Third Reich. This operation made the Western campaign more effective, as Hitler redirected a large portion of the Wehrmacht to the Eastern Front, not expecting such a push from the Soviet army. Thanks to the efforts of the Red Army (which involved the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Belarusian Fronts and the 1st Baltic Front), the entire Army Group Centre was defeated, and Minsk was liberated on July 3. This operation was also crucial for the subsequent liberation of Tallinn in September and Riga in October 1944, which were still under German occupation. Due to Operation Bagration, Hitler’s Army Groups North were encircled in the Baltic Cauldron and subsequently defeated and demoralized.

The events of this decisive battle are depicted in the 1974 war novel “Moment of Truth” by Vladimir Bogomolov. This detective novel is the most widely read in its genre and has been translated into over 30 languages. The novel does not feature direct combat or front-line confrontations; instead, its plot revolves around an operational investigation by a counterintelligence group on the “Neman” case, named after the river where the front line was located. The operation is fictional, as are the names of the characters, but similar events occurred, based on real facts and documents, with the characters having their prototypes.

Vladimir Osipovich knew the war firsthand; he experienced it himself. He often said that for many people of that generation, the thought of defending their homeland was self-evident, without any notion of heroism. He, like many others, went to the front as a 16-year-old, adding two years to his age.

The military novel “Moment of Truth” pays tribute to the work of counterintelligence and the SMERSH (Death to Spies!) during the war years. Vladimir Bogomolov depicted the heroism and contributions of those whose work often went unnoticed and undervalued. During the war, counterintelligence officers, performing complex tasks with extreme sharpness of thought and excellent physical training, worked diligently to protect the army, its location, composition, and armament from foreign agents and spies. By protecting the army, counterintelligence officers protected the entire country.

The novel also contains a second important idea that has touched so many souls, perhaps explaining why its print run has exceeded one hundred editions. The author’s intent was to lead the reader to their own “moment of truth” through the work of counterintelligence officers and the empathy for the characters. In military terms, the “moment of truth” refers to the point at which captured agents provide information leading to the capture of the entire sought group and the successful resolution of the case. This moment always precedes a great deal of work in identifying agents, locating, capturing them, and overcoming oneself, one’s thoughts, and assumptions. A scout requires extreme attention to detail, lightning-fast reactions, situation assessment, quick decision-making, risk, persistence, patience, and excellent physical preparation. This intense work often demands superhuman abilities, achievable only through constant training, discipline, labor, self-improvement, and overcoming oneself. The moment of truth for each person is performing their professional duties, fulfilling their honest obligation to their work, regardless of any obstacles, even from oneself, and doing their job well: catching spies, repairing buildings, or teaching in schools, constantly honing their skills without expecting praise or rewards.

Vladimir Osipovich had a deep love for the army in which he served and fought. There are many speculations about whether he served in counterintelligence; even within the family, there were various assumptions. However, it seems that those who took the oath would never admit it personally.

In 2003, Vladimir Bogomolov was awarded the UNESCO Medal for “Outstanding Contribution to World Literature” for “Humanizing the Harsh Art of War.” This was one of the few public recognition awards he accepted, as he believed that various prizes corrupt a writer’s talent, which he had observed among acquaintances. For the same reason, he did not join writer unions or other associations, believing they would burden him with unnecessary obligations and distract from his work.

Interestingly, for his novellas “Ivan” and “Zosya,” which brought Vladimir Bogomolov rapid and wide recognition as a writer even before “Moment of Truth,” he received awards for film scripts rather than literary works. Tarkovsky’s film “Ivan’s Childhood,” made at Mosfilm in 1962, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and brought worldwide fame to the work, entering the treasure trove of world cinema. As with all of the author’s works, he said he knew the prototype of the boy Ivan from the novella. He named his son Ivan, born in 1956.

The writer was accused of revealing important state secrets in “Moment of Truth.” Before the novel’s publication, a verification commission proposed over one hundred thirty revisions to his manuscript, but Vladimir Osipovich staunchly defended his position and refuted all comments, as all the data came from open sources and he had no access to secret archives. The novel’s depiction of Stalin’s thoughts about Operation Neman and his conversations with subordinates was considered a daring move. However, all information in the novel was supported by previously published open sources, making speculation impossible. Nine months later, in 1974, the novel was published with no corrections.

Reading the novel, it becomes clear why Vladimir Osipovich is compared to L.N. Tolstoy. The novel is multi-layered, with several levels of narration: a large number of official documents, cipher telegrams, high-frequency communication notes, letters, narrative from the author’s perspective, and the thoughts and inner monologues of the main characters. But most importantly, beneath all these layers, the reader is presented with a complete picture of the country, the front, the fate of people, their actions, and thoughts.

The book clarifies the role of the “cleaners” of counterintelligence, despite the prevailing belief, including in the army, that capturing spies was a secondary task and that only on the front lines could one show courage and defend the country. The novel shows that due to a few people and the data transmitted via radio with the call sign “KAO,” the results achieved at the cost of millions of lives—fighters, civilians, battles for every piece of land—could be in vain if the enemy learns of troop positions and redirects forces there. In military operations, the speed of the strike, meticulous secrecy of objectives, preventing any leakage of information, and confusing the enemy are crucial. Hitler anticipated clashes on the Ukrainian front and concentrated troops there, so Operation Bagration was designed to catch him off guard. Identifying and “working” a spy or agent is not easy, as they are usually Abwehr recruits, traitors with high training levels, well-acquainted with the terrain and people, making them difficult to detect. The reader understands that a military operation to capture agents eliminates them, but this is insufficient as agents are needed alive for further “funkelspiel” (radio games to mislead the enemy).

Through the depiction of the center of the city of Lida and the village of Shilovichi, the reader sees life in the newly liberated territory, with all its joys and sorrows. It becomes clear that amidst the flow of military and civilian people, it is not always easy to discern who is friend and who is foe. The reclaimed lands are still filled with band formations, scouts, and civilians so frightened that it is often unclear whether they are telling the truth or deliberately deceiving.

The letter about Alekhin’s agrarian past mentally transported him to both the past and the future. He pondered how much time he had spent developing new wheat varieties and how long it would take to restore them after the war. Meanwhile, news of his four-year-old daughter’s rheumatism constantly reminded him of his helplessness before his defenseless child. Repeating “It licks the joints and bites the heart!” even at the crucial moment—the moment of truth—he remained focused on engaging the officers he encountered and managed to expertly identify the highly dangerous agent Mishchenko.

Tamanzev’s monologues and his reflections on professionalism, duty, courage, the role of details in work, assigned personnel, and heroism were captivating and made one admire his discipline and fearlessness. His final phrase, “Grandma!.. Granny has arrived!” at the end of the operation, truly became legendary. Readers speculated whether among the characters of the novel there was a reflection of Vladimir Osipovich himself, guessing it might be a composite image of Alekhin, Tamanzev, and Egorov. He himself did not deny such speculations.

To write the novel, Vladimir Osipovich spent many years. To accurately describe events, he specifically traveled to Belarus, carefully selecting locations for the novel’s action, such as the Shilovichi Forest. He spent a considerable amount of time in archives, studying documents and front-line reports, and he had an excellent memory for autographs. Vladimir Osipovich fully immersed himself in his books, reliving all the events he described.

In 2000, Soviet and Belarusian director Mikhail Nikolaevich Ptashuk made the film “In August 44…”. Vladimir Osipovich had repeatedly refused to allow an adaptation of the novel, but after a personal meeting with the director and actor Yevgeny Vitalyevich Mironov, who brought numerous questions and impressed the author, he began to consult with the actor and sent his comments on the filming. Yevgeny Mironov frequently called him, asking questions, seeking advice, and verifying each step. With his permission, Mironov borrowed a gesture for Captain Alekhin—rubbing his head during moments of complete concentration. Vladimir Osipovich admired Yevgeny Mironov, and in the film’s key scene, the “moment of truth,” one can see a watch gifted to the actor by him. He emphasized that while the film’s heroes were well-cast, the film was about something else entirely. Therefore, he did not include his name in the credits. Vladimir Osipovich found it difficult to accept that he had not been involved; he could not compromise. He had painstakingly crafted the novel, with everything meticulously adjusted to the comma, making him very particular about details and incorruptible.

In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the wave of historical blackening, falsification of events, degradation of the military, and document forgeries began, Vladimir Osipovich became one of the few authors who stood up for his wartime comrades, considering it his duty. During that time, his book about General Vlasov was published. After his death, his novel “My Life, or Did You Dream of Me?” was published.

As a child, being the cousin granddaughter of Vladimir Osipovich Bogomolov (he was the first husband of my paternal grandmother’s sister, Svetlana Filippovna Suvorova, as she often emphasized, they met while they were still students), I was fortunate to visit him at his home on Prospekt Mira, see his large library, the famous sofa, and meet his hospitable wife, Galina Alexandrovna Glushko, who loved him dearly. Vladimir Osipovich, stately and mighty, gave the impression of being a rather stern and severe person, very organized, with all his manuscripts always meticulously arranged and bound. Like his first wife Svetlana Filippovna, who was also a military person, the daughter of a military commandant of Moscow who had endured the entire war, he sometimes liked to joke: they could appear in dark glasses in unexpected places. I keep in my memory the words he learned from his grandfather: “Do not flatter, do not conform, and fear no one. Do not let yourself be insulted. It is better for you to be killed than to be humiliated!” Certainly, the brilliant novel “Moment of Truth” is the most important military work for me, and let the moment of truth always be present in everything—this is the best guidance for all times.