22.04.2009 00:07 | The Tragedy of Kozaevs Family
 There are not only separate citizens in mournful martyrology of the victims of Georgian aggression against South Ossetia, but also the wholes families. One of these lost families was Kozaevs family, which lived at Gennady Dzhabiev Street.
The head of the family Albert Kozaev was a respectable, frugal and kind man. During all his life he worked as a photographer. On Soviet time he worked at a photostudio, and after the disintegration of the Soviet Union he had private practice. Theatrical Square was his favourite place of employment, he photographed the children against the background of a fountain. His old mother Maria Kozaeva, wife Bella and elder brother Irakly lived together with him.
At night from the 7th to the 8th of August, when Tskhinval was under heavy shelling, Kozaevs family tried to take cover from the shells. As the neighbours said, in the morning of August, 8, nobody saw Kozaevs family. They didn’t even managed to leave the house. The artillery shell exploded right in a court yard of the house from side of the homestead land. There is a huge funnel in a concrete land. On the one part Maria and Albert laid, it seemed that mother tried to shield the son with her body and save him. Albert`s wife Bella was at the threshold near the entrance door. Explosion occurred when she was at the door. From the way of body placement she, probably, opened the door and at that moment the shell landed. According to the traces of blood, after the explosion she was still alive and tried to get out of the house… Two more shells destroyed the stairway to the second floor and damaged the kitchen on the ground floor.
62-year-old Albert`s brother Irakly, the gravely ill man, received severe wound of a leg. He was saved by a miracle, but lost his mind. For several months Irakly received treatment for his wounds and even could walk for some time. The relatives gave him every attention and care. The construction team “Our builders” decided to become a party to his fate, they visited Irakly and were going to restore the house…
The relatives of Kozaevs found the bodies of killed only on August, 11, when it was possible to walk along the streets without fear for Georgian artillery hits.
They sought help from republican hospital, but they said that the mortuary is overfilled and they could not take the bodies of victims. There was nothing for relatives but bury Kozaevs family temporary in a kitchen garden of their house. As one of the relatives said, “When we dug a grave in a kitchen garden, there was an air battle above us. Russian “SU” drove Georgian plane from pillar to post. Of course, It was unforgettable spectacle. The monstrous thought had crossed my mind: having put my foot on a spade I admired the air battle when three bloody dead bodies of my relatives were lying next to me. But in this war, probably, everybody drove crazy having already got accustomed to the death. We dug the graves desperately, cursing everybody and everything in the world”… After a few days Kozaevs family were reburied in the urban cemetery.
At the beginning of October Irakly`s starter wife Galina came from Saransk together with her daughter Medea to see him. In the middle of November Galina was going to Tskhinval again. But there is nobody to come to. Irakly Kozaev died on November, 8…
Spartak Dzhioev
Translated by Tatiana Inozemtseva
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