She was like a mother to them

Anna Mikhailovna Buromenskaya is a teacher who devoted her entire life to the children of metro construction workers, a veteran of the KSUM, a veteran of the Second World War, a prisoner of concentration camps. She worked in kindergarten in Ukhtomka (old No. 183 and new No. 626 “Pearl”) for 58 years from 1954 to 2012. Over the years, thousands of children have passed through her, who to this day remember her with kind words. Their destinies turned out differently, but Anna Mikhailovna remembers each of them and will tell about their character traits, abilities, habits.

Anna Mikhailovna was born on June 19, 1937 in the village of Svitino, Kaluga region. When she was very young, she experienced the Great Patriotic War. Anna was 3 years old at the time. In the village where their family lived there were no telephones or radios. One day motorcyclists arrived and reported the beginning of terrible events.

The village of Svitino was occupied by the Germans. All the children were herded into a large house, kept there for about two months, and they wanted to set them on fire. And it was only by pure chance that this did not happen. Then the children and parents were driven to the village of Fatyanovo, Kaluga region, and kept in a bathhouse one and a half kilometers from the railway. Cars had already been prepared to send children and parents to Germany, but the soldiers of the Soviet Army freed them. Anna had to experience all the hardships of the occupation from an early age.

In 1954, Anna Buromenskaya began working in kindergarten No. 183 of Metrostroy. She was not even seventeen. Such young people, of course, were not hired, but it was very difficult to get a job somewhere in those days. On the recommendation of a relative and under the responsibility of the manager, Anna began working as a cook, and later as a nanny.

The Moscow Metrostroy in those years included many organizations not only in the construction sector. The company had its own social base, providing employees with housing, medical care, cultural leisure, vouchers for recreational recreation, and conditions for sports were created.

The maintenance and development of the social base was carried out by the Municipal Construction Department of the Moscow Metrostroy. KSUM workers also took care of the children of metro workers while their parents worked on the construction of the Moscow metro. In total there were 18 kindergartens, which children attended all year round, and two children’s camps - “Tuchkovo” and “Frolki”.

Kindergarten No. 183 was a sanatorium-type institution; parents sent their children here for three months. The guys, according to Anna Mikhailovna’s recollections, were small, weakened, and required increased attention and care. However, there were no conditions for their comfortable maintenance at that time. The premises had stove heating and only cold water. Sometimes the young nanny had to chop wood for the stove herself and go to a distant pump for water when there was no water at the tap.

There were 25-30 children in groups. Anna Mikhailovna still remembers how she wrapped the babies in sleeping bags and carried them to sleep on the far veranda. In winter, she built ice slides, figures of Father Frost and the Snow Maiden, and colored pyramids for them. Everyone knew her place in kindergarten.

Subsequently, Anna Buromenskaya studied at a pedagogical institute for seven years and became a full-fledged teacher. By that time, the old kindergarten was demolished and a new one was built - No. 626 “Pearl”. Lidia Semenovna Belkina became its manager, then Valentina Vasilievna Bobkova.

Despite the hardships, Anna Mikhailovna keeps many warm memories of those years. The team was a united family; everyone knew about each other. Families went hiking, went to Balabanovo, picked mushrooms and berries in the local forest.

Anna Buromenskaya loved her pupils very much as if they were her own children, she looked after them, washed their clothes, fed them, gave them affection and warmth, tried to instill in them good habits. She admits that she was like a mother to him. The only son was very jealous. Indeed, there was little time left for him; his work took a lot of energy, at which he often had to stay late. But she loved her son, just as she loves her grandchildren now.

Anna Mikhailovna worked at Zhemchuzhinka until retirement and for many years after. Now in her house there are many albums with photographs of students, thanks and reviews from parents.

Anna Mikhailovna's pupils were: Anatoly Adadurov's son Timofey, granddaughter Irina, nephews Ilya and Alyosha; Zoe Shtenberg's son Misha; son of Georgy Ilinykh Dima. Children from the last group are currently in school.

One of the students at Zhemchuzhinka, Anya Kuznetsova, has followed in the footsteps of her teacher, working with children, teaching them English. She wrote the following lines:

“The years spent in my kindergarten are the most unforgettable time in my life, and all thanks to Anna Mikhailovna, my teacher. As a child, you were a second mother to me. I ran to kindergarten, knowing that your smile would greet me. The kindest, smiling, fair teacher. You taught me a lot - kindness, caring for loved ones, drawing. I still keep the folder with drawings that you carefully collected all the years you spent in kindergarten. Thank you for everything, dear Anna Mikhailovna! Low bow to you."

The building of the old kindergarten No. 183 of Metrostroy