No doubt, this is truly a love story that rivals the best that Hollywood has to offer. The setting war-torn Europe, days after Nazi Germany surrounded unconditionally to the allies, in May of 1945, amid celebrations in Washington, London, Moscow, and Paris proclaiming Victory in Europe (V-E Day). The war had finally come to an end, and the monumental task of rebuilding Europe involving all of the allies would begin soon after.
Boris Kozlov, a young 20-year old intelligence officer in the Red Army, and an avid member and supporter of the Young Communist Party, had just encountered a young beautiful girl named Anna standing with friends in the village square, as he was about to make a propaganda speech about the wonders of communism.
However, unbeknown to Boris, Anna’s father had been purged by Stalin years before the war for refusing to work on a collective farm. Boris didn’t care, he had fallen madly in love with Anna, and soon their romance blossomed, until one day when Boris was given orders by his commander that their unit would be moving out to the frontier within a few weeks.
With little time left they decided to wed, even though the war had depleted almost all of the bare necessities. However, they nevertheless had a beautiful wedding ceremony.
Little did they know at the time, they would spend only 3-days together as husband and wife, before Boris would be shipped out with his unit, never again to see his beloved Anna, until 60-years later.
Boris dan Anna Kozlov. 60 Tahun terpisah, kalo jodoh pasti bertemu
#LASIK pic.twitter.com/6ylpjK2EnF
— Meclub Radio UB (@MecRadio) May 29, 2013
After the newlyweds parted in 1946, the communist party once again reared it ugly head declaring Anna’s family enemies of the state. The family was forced to leave their home and quickly exiled to the wasteland of Siberia.
When Boris returned home, months later, no one knew where Anna and her family had gone. They had vanished like millions of others under Stalin’s tyrannical rule.
Boris tried contacting his superiors both within the Russian military and within the Communist Party, to no avail, Anna and her family were gone!
However, this love story (unlike the 1970 Hollywood version) has a happy ending. Although, it would take 60 years before the newlyweds would by chance meet again.
The beautiful Anna Kozlov, now in her 80’s was visiting the village of Borovlyanka in Siberia, where she had been exiled decades ago, when she saw a stranger ambling out of a vehicle that looked familiar. She quickly realized that it was her long lost love and husband Boris. He had been there visiting the gravesite of loved ones who had also decades ago been exiled to Siberia.
“I thought my eyes were playing games with me,” Anna told the Telegraph. “I saw this familiar looking man approaching me, his eyes gazing at me. My heart jumped. I knew it was him. I was crying with joy.”
Boris (now also in his 80’s) was overjoyed to see his wife, recalling the last time they kissed before Stalin declared them political enemies of the state.
Anna recalled the days following the purge “I threatened to commit suicide rather than go because I couldn’t live without him. But in the end, I was forced to go.”
“She was always smiling for me when I came home, but this time there was no sign of her. Nobody knew where they are, or what happened to Anna. That’s how we lost any track of each other,” recalled Boris on his painful memories.
Although both Anna and Boris eventually married others, they never forgot each other. Ironically, both marriages ended in divorce which leaves us to wonder if destiny played a part? No matter, both have vowed to never again part.
This story syndicated with permission from My Faith News