…. The summer of 1941, the Savichevs were going to spend in a village close to
Gdov, by lake Chudskoye . But only Misha left for the village. The morning of the
22nd of June, which brought the war, changed all plans. The family decided to stay
in Leningrad , to be close together and to help the front in any way they could. The
mother sewed uniforms for the soldiers. Leka, because of his bad vision, was not
drafted and worked at a factory instead while his sisters Zhenya and Nina worked
at a factory sharpening mine bodies as well as strengthening city defences.