Currently, a monument is being built in St. Petersburg in honor of Toktogon Apa, timed to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory.
Today, our correspondent Turmush will tell how Toktogon Altybasarova met her husband Musa Abdiev.
In May 2009, the correspondent, along with the akim of the Tyup district, S. Kerimkulov, visited the home of Musa Ata and Toktogon Apa to congratulate them on Victory Day. Musa Ata sat silently, while Toktogon Apa, with her active personality, suggested raising a toast. Musa Ata continued to smile and remained silent.
When T. Altybasarova was asked about meeting her future husband, she recounted:
“During the day, I worked as a secretary, and in the evenings, I took care of the orphans. I knitted warm clothes for the soldiers. One day, I received a letter from the Red Army soldier Musa Abdiev, who thanked me for the items I sent. He wrote that if he returned, he would marry me. At the end of 1943, he came to our village council, and we met. On May 9, 1945, celebrating Victory, I saw him again. He whispered to me, ‘When will you respond to my letter?’ Suddenly, I was seated in a carriage, and that’s how I married Musa. We spent only one night together, and the rest of the years were spent with the children from Leningrad. This letter marked the beginning of our story.”
Turmush — On February 20, 2024, President Sadyr Japarov signed a decree posthumously awarding Toktogon Altybasarova.
“In honor of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Leningrad from the blockade, for her contribution to the upbringing of children evacuated to Kyrgyzstan, to confer the title of ‘Emgek Batyry’ (posthumously) to Toktogon Altybasarova,” the decree states.
