Sos Nurijanyan – The Fate of the Defender of Brest Fortress

Sos Nurijanyan was one of the defenders of Brest Fortress who would meet a miraculous fate. On June 22, 1941, the fortress became the site of the first major clash between the Soviet and German forces. Nurijanyan was in the fortress on that fateful day.

While the fortress held out longer than the Wehrmacht had expected, the Germans eventually captured it, killing over 2.000 and capturing 6.800 people. Among the ones captured was Sos Nurijanyan.

In autumn of 1941, Nurijanyan managed to escape from captivity and join the Red Army. In the 142nd rifle division, he participated in the defense of Sevastopol where he was again wounded and captured. But once again, he managed to escape.

He went into hiding in the Crimean Mountains but was again captured in a month. Then, he experienced the torture of Nazi camps in Poland and France.

In 1943, however, he again managed to escape from captivity and join the partisans of the 1st Soviet Partisan Regiment in France that numbered over 2,200 fighters and officers from different nationalities of the Soviet Union who had fled from concentration camps.

In August 1945, Nurijanyan returned to his homeland, having repeatedly escaped from seemingly imminent death that awaited him in captivity.

After the war, Sos Nurijanyan would be awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the second degree, as well as the French Combatant’s Cross of the second and first degrees. Eventually, he would settle in Yerevan for the rest of his days.