Incredible Stories of Survival: Real Stories of Fortitude and the Will to Survive (Aron Ralston and others). Five stories about strong people Life stories about the strength of the human spirit

Each person during his life meets with a large number of people who behave differently and turn out to be decent, mean, weak, strong-willed and other personalities. And how should a person show himself so that it can be said about him that he is a strong personality? This is a person with certain character traits, such as self-confidence and one's own strengths, determination, optimism, the ability to look at things realistically, perseverance, the ability to take responsibility for decisions made, the ability to control the situation, be a leader and lead other people .

Prominent people in history

Not every person who lived in the past or exists at the present time can be said to be a really strong personality. Examples of people who became famous for their unbending willpower, the ability to lead entire nations, their fateful responsible decisions that changed the outcome of many important events, captured the history of our state and the whole world. Such people can be called Prince Vladimir, Vasily II, Alexander Nevsky, Empress Catherine II, Emperor Peter I, Nicholas II and many others.

A specific example of a strong personality

We can go on giving examples of a strong personality in history for a long time, but I would like to consider one outstanding person as a role model. Yuri Gagarin, the first cosmonaut in the history of mankind, can deservedly be considered such a person. The strength of this man's personality is beyond question. He went through many trials and tribulations during his preparation for space flight and during the flight itself. Yuri Gagarin was a very purposeful, hard-working person, able to mobilize in difficult times to make the right decision. He was able to maintain inner calm in absolutely any situation and transmit this calm state to others. It was this trait - the ability not to panic and make informed decisions in a difficult situation - that was the main characteristic of an astronaut for the first manned space flight.

Yuri Alekseevich was a simple, open person, he helped other cosmonauts, his colleagues, in preparation for the flight. He knew how to organize people and lead them along. Every morning, Gagarin took his family and the residents of his entire house to morning exercises outside in the courtyard, going around each apartment and ringing the doorbell. He did not allow anyone to shirk and be capricious. And no one even tried to refuse - all people gladly obeyed the advice and instructions of this outstanding person.

Having become famous, Yuri Gagarin passed the test of fame and did not become arrogant. But not everyone can withstand the pressure of fame in order to remain the same person, a model of endurance and self-control.

It is unfortunate that this great man passed away early, died during a plane crash, the true cause of which is still not clear. If his fate had turned out differently, and he had not died, we can say with confidence that he would have done many more important things, he could have led many people and showed them the right path in life. Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin is a real example of a strong personality in the history of mankind.

Strong personality: examples was last modified: December 15th, 2015 by Elena Pogodaeva

Some of us can be awarded an Oscar for the excellent skill of indulging in depression, despondency, not finding a way out of difficult situations, hysteria, complaining about life. Reading stories, whether real or fictional, about people who managed to survive, endure the trials that life sent them, we are surprised: “How could they overcome pain, cold, hunger, fear and not break, not close their eyes and die ?! Where, in what did these people draw their strength?!” Looking at the fate of strong-willed people, our problems suddenly become small - arms, legs, head are intact, even if health is not perfect, but everything is in our hands. They did it, and we can do it. The main thing is to appreciate life, even if it is not perfect, even if you lack something, do not grumble, thank the Universe, and do not scold it, because words are material and what you think always happens.

Think positive! And it will happen!

There are many amazing stories of people who survived in the most extreme situations, from which, it would seem, it was impossible to get out alive, but by fighting, a person can adapt to any difficult conditions.

We want to tell you some stories about the unique salvation of those who set themselves one goal - to survive.

In Antarctic Hell

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Australian scientists Douglas Mawson An expedition to Antarctica was organized, which included the scientist himself, his colleagues Belgrave Ninnis, Xavier Meritz. When the members of the expedition collected all the necessary materials, they decided to return to the base, but on December 14, 1912, a tragedy occurred - Belgrave Ninnis died, falling into a crevice, while he dragged a sleigh into the abyss, with a lot of supplies and harnessed by dogs.

The travelers had to walk another 500 kilometers to the base through the icy lifeless desert, in which there was no shelter where one could rest. Provisions remained for a maximum of three or four days. When Mawson and Meritz ran out of supplies, they had to feed on their own dogs, which meant they had to pull the sled with valuable scientific materials themselves. Soon, unable to withstand the cold, hunger, exhaustion, Meritz dies. And now Mawson is left alone in the endless Antarctic hell. Conjunctivitis, severe frostbite, from which the skin comes off, and hair falls out, legs are worn into the blood, ulcers fester, but the scientist stubbornly goes forward.

It would seem how he succeeded, what motivated him, because on top of everything, due to a dulled consciousness, a person steps on an imperceptible crack and falls into a deep crevice. But by some miracle, the sleigh gets stuck on the edge of the abyss, preventing the scientists from falling to the very bottom of the gorge. And now he, losing consciousness, at the limit of human capabilities, begins to climb up the rope, stopping for a short rest. Reaching the surface, Mawson continued his eerie journey. Once finally at the base, the scientist learns that the Aurora, the ship that was supposed to take him home, left only 5 hours ago. The next one came only ten months later...

Lost in the Sahara

One of the most difficult and dangerous marathons in the world is the marathon on the sands of the Sahara. In six long days it is necessary to overcome 250 kilometers. A truly strong, hardy and courageous person can venture into such an extreme.

Mauro Prosperi I always considered myself like that, because he is a policeman, moreover, he was engaged in pentathlon, which is why he decided to pass this test. All was well for four days, Prosperi was seventh. But, as usual in the deserts, a strong sandstorm suddenly arose. In such cases, according to the rules of the marathon, it is necessary to stop and wait for help, but the brave, or perhaps reckless, Italian thought that some sand and storm would not prevent him from moving forward. Wrapping his head in a scarf, he continued his marathon. When the storm subsided a few hours later, Mauro, looking around, realized that he had been moving in some wrong direction all this time.

The flares fired by him did not bring any benefit - no one saw them, the marathon runner had gone so far. An absolutely lonely person is among the sands of the largest and most dangerous desert on Earth. What to do? Lie down and wait for death .... But the man decides to continue on his way, without food and water. On the way he comes across an abandoned mosque, where Mauro decided to take a break from the scorching sun. Here he can be said to be lucky - the mosque was chosen by bats. They became food for Prosperi. At some point, despair covered a strong man, and he decides to commit suicide, to cut his veins. But the blood was so thickened from the lack of water in the body that it simply did not flow.

Then, pulling himself together, realizing that the Universe needs him for something, the marathon runner decided to fight for life and survive no matter what. And for another five days, Mauro continues his ordeal across the Sahara, eating lizards and collecting dew from a few stones with his lips in the morning. Only on the ninth day of torment did fate send salvation to the Italian in the person of a group of nomads who explained to the foreigner that at the moment he was on the territory of Algeria, that is, more than 200 kilometers further than where he should have been.

During his "journey" Mauro lost more than 18 kg of weight. In Italy, he became a national hero, a story of survival that formed the basis of a documentary on the National Geographic Channel. This was in 1994, and do you think that the horror he experienced stopped Mauro from further extreme marathons? No. In 1998, he re-entered the race, but had to retire due to a broken leg. In 2012, he did finish his marathon in 34 hours, placing 131st.

Australian desert survivor

This story began with the fact that an ordinary person Ricky Migi he was driving somewhere in his car, on the way he met a couple who for some reason did not start the car, and Ricky decided to stop and help people ... further ... just a memory lapse. He woke up in a hole, they covered him with stones, sand and left him to die in the middle of the desert, apparently hoping that Ricky would be eaten by dingoes. How did he get here, where is he at all, what happened - a complete loss of memory for a given period of time. Ricky Migi walked for ten days in an unknown direction, barefoot and undressed, and the longer the journey continued, the more meaningless it seemed to the man. Having stumbled upon an abandoned dam, he decides to build a hut from branches, twigs, where he lived for another three months. Ricky ate grasshoppers and everything that crawls and that you can catch. When he managed to catch frogs, it was, like a gift of fate, a delicacy - a frog dried in the sun. Ricky was saved by farmers who, by a lucky chance, wandered into this area. During his seclusion, the man lost more than 18 kg of weight.

The man who cut off his own hand

In order to survive, could you cut off your own hand? A difficult question, many would be afraid, they would simply wait for help, dying quietly and slowly. And here Aron Ralston could, and it happened in May 2003. A climber was trapped in a Utah canyon when a huge boulder fell on his wrist. For five days, Aron waited to be found and rescued, but the water and food ran out, hopes began to fade, and then he decided on a desperate act. Using a knife, the climber proceeded to amputate the hand. For almost an hour he cut tendons, muscles, bone. The pain is unbearable, but it was the only way out of the situation, because the question was - life or death. The man chose life. Being in a state of traumatic shock, with severe blood loss, the climber managed to reach people. Naturally, Hollywood could not pass by such an amazing plot for a blockbuster, and made the film "127 Hours", where the prototype of the hero is Aron Ralston.

72 hours at the bottom of the ocean

Once upon a time there was a cook, the most ordinary from Nigeria, the most peaceful and calm profession, and most importantly, it seems, as well as safe. But the story of one coke Harrison Okene It is amazing how much a person wanted to live and how many difficulties he overcame after spending more than three days on a sunken ship at the bottom of the ocean. At the end of May 2013, a tugboat sank while passing through the Gulf of Guinea. In addition to Harrison, all crew members were killed. The ship's cook escaped thanks to his ability to find a way out in an extreme situation and control his mind when the adrenaline goes off scale. The cook spent a long time swimming under water in the cabins, but found such a place in the premises of the sunken ship, where there was an air cushion, and spent almost three days there. He was rescued by divers who raised the bodies of dead sailors to the surface. Rescuers noted that this is a really unique case, because all this time Harrison stood waist-deep in cold water, and there was little air left in his pocket.

Twice risen

Beck Withers in 1996 he participated in an expedition to climb Everest. Looking ahead, let's say everything ended tragically for this American climber and doctor from Texas. They didn't pick him up, exhausted, who had fallen on the snow, thinking that he had already died. He lay on the snow in full consciousness, but his body could not move. It was in May 1996, Beck is 49 years old. It was a commercial climb and it was important for the climbers to climb to the top of the dangerous Everest, so when a storm arose, they decided not to postpone the expedition, which was a fatal mistake, for which many then paid with their lives. At some altitude, Withers realized that he was going blind, as the height and rarefied air affected his vision. Extreme cold, lack of oxygen shackled his body, but he heard someone, looking at him, say that he was dead. People left, and he remained lying, unable to even blink, but life did not leave the frostbitten body. For 1.5 days the climber lay on the snow, clearly understanding that this was the end and he was very unlucky. But then, according to Withers' memoirs, the realization came to him that he did not want to die like this, he had a family that was waiting for him and he was obliged to survive for their sake. And he just got up and just walked to the base. HOW he did it - until now, doctors cannot explain this, because by all indications he should have been dead, given his long lying on the snow, at a height.

But Beck got up, came, tumbled completely exhausted, into the tent to the expedition doctor, he said: “Hi, guys, where can I sit here, is my insurance still valid?” Everyone who saw him was in complete shock - severe frostbite, a completely white hand and nose, a terrible face. It was impossible to immediately evacuate Beck, as the blizzard still continued to rage. All night he screamed in pain, but the rumble of the wind drowned out any screams, and then the wind tore off the tent and again the climber found himself on the snow under the open sky. The next morning, everyone expected that Withers did die, because no one believed that he would survive. Later, Beck wrote a book, translated into Russian, its title is "Left to die." In it, he honestly spoke about this ascent, what a person feels who was left to die at a great height, in the middle of ice and snow. He has no hope of salvation left, he knows for sure that his life is only in his weak, frostbitten hands. And only the thought that he was loved and expected gave him strength. How did he manage to survive? There are different opinions about this. Doctors explain this phenomenon by the fact that in extreme situations, the hidden capabilities of our brain and our body turn on, which help to survive. Local guides of the Sherpa people claimed with confidence that the gods helped Bek. But Beck firmly believes that a strong desire to live and the love of his family helped him return from the dead. Of course, the nose and arm had to be amputated. Beck Withers now continues his medical practice, giving motivational lectures.

All these stories are worthy of becoming screenplays, but when directors test their characters on the screen, they explain to them what to do and how to do it right. Stuntmen often come to the rescue, but in life no one will tell a person the scenarios of upcoming events, all the horrors of dying and resurrection, no one will explain how to act correctly. In any extreme situation in life, you have to rely solely on yourself, on your strengths, love for life, on your luck.

We told just a few stories, but there are many more. They prove that acting at the limit of human capabilities, in the most severe trials, a person with a strong spirit and a desire to live, thinking about his neighbors, is able to avoid meeting the Gray-haired old woman with a scythe.

On March 11, a large-scale festival “Without Borders: Body, Society, Culture” dedicated to the Paralympics starts in Moscow. It is organized by the No Borders social project, which deals with the perception of disability in society. According to the organizers, the purpose of this festival is to involve as many people as possible in an open, intellectual conversation about the body and disability in the modern world.

P.S.: Our experience shows that sometimes such a short story is easier to write if you ask your neighbor (or yourself) these questions - but, of course, you can do without them.

1. What happened? How and under what circumstances has your body changed?

2. What has been the most important thing in your life up to this point?

3. What was going on inside you, in your mind, when you realized that the situation had changed forever?

4. What did your loved ones do?

5. How did you start putting yourself back together?

6. How did you have to change your life?

7. How did you get to where you are now?

8. What do people - any people - need to understand about their bodies?

Elena Leontieva

Age: 53

What happened: spinal fracture

What he does: accessibility expert

Elena Leontieva

In 1988, I broke my spine. At that moment, I was a postgraduate student and was preparing to defend my dissertation, I was teaching at the institute. When all this happened... I really wanted to commit suicide. Imagine an energetic person who is paralyzed. They turn you over like a log every two hours to prevent bedsores. It seems like life will always be like this. When I asked how long I would be in the hospital, they told me: "Two months." I thought: “How can you lie in bed for two months?” It turned out not two, but nine. But at the same time, I began to understand how I was always lucky with friends: for example, they donated blood for transfusion, they scheduled a schedule and were on duty at the hospital in the early days, until my parents arrived from another city. The patients around me were constantly changing - along with the next patient with a spinal injury, which the ambulance brought, I had to relive the whole nightmare of the situation every time. But one day a girl was admitted for a second operation. She was in a wheelchair, but she did everything herself, without anyone's help: she cooked, washed, helped the bedridden. And she always smiled. It turned out that she had a husband and two children. Suddenly, looking at her, I realized that you can fully live in a wheelchair.

After leaving the hospital, I began to look for people like me. At that time, few people knew about the disabled. There was no Internet, no necessary information, everyone survived on their own. Just at that time, the All-Russian Society of the Disabled was created. I called and through them I began to get acquainted with people in a similar condition. Every day I was engaged in rehabilitation physical education, read books about disability, which at that time were very few, and all the time I dreamed of an independent life. I was sure that it was impossible, that I had a wonderful past, but no future. However, soon she met my future husband at a local rehabilitation center - and we decided to live on our own, in a room in a communal apartment. It took a year to adapt to independent life. It helped a lot that my husband, although he used a wheelchair, could walk around the apartment on crutches. For example, he could reach the top shelves of the closet. When we got street carriages, we began to leave the house and make forced marches around the city, each time leaving farther and farther from home. Then we passed on the rights, the Zaporozhets appeared in the family, we got out of the communal apartment. When we moved into a separate one-room apartment in 1993, I told my husband: "A family cannot exist without children." She gave birth to a son, he will soon be 20 years old.

Once I got a call from the institute and asked for a short biography - they say, what have you achieved in life? And I sit and think: nothing so special. But on the other hand, with my ordinary life, I break stereotypes about disability - why not benefit from this, why not make it my mission? I decided to start creating an accessible environment in the city. For example, I collected signatures near the nearest grocery store for the installation of a ramp. Just at that moment, the municipal program "Disabled" was launched. I united the wheelchair guys and said: “Let's go talk to the authorities. We and they need it." We took the text of the program, read it and said: "Here in this point, in this and in this we can work together." We started to work. And we are working.

It must be understood that God created man, but did not create spare parts for him. Now, for example, I do not understand people involved in extreme sports. If you are ready to break your spine, this is your right, but you also need to think about how much grief this will bring to your loved ones.

Alena Volokhova

Age: 36 years old

What happened: lost an arm and a leg

What she does: mother of two children, founder and vice-president of the Full Life charity foundation, assistant to the chairman of the board of the ROOI Equal Citizen, model

Alena Volokhova

I had an accident in 2011 in July and lost an arm and a leg. She quickly came to her senses and six months later she was already walking along the catwalk like a real model. After that, she took part in a photo exhibition organized by the Katyusha Society for the Support of Parents with Disabilities and Their Families. I have projects all the time.

Before the accident, like everyone else, I took care of the house, garden, garden, family, raised two children. And everything was somehow boring - it was as if I was leading a life that no one needed. After the accident, my relatives were so helpless, so obviously did not understand what to do with me and how to help me, that I myself decided: I have no right to give up. They are so hard. I had to pull myself together. For example, I began to practice yoga, inventing for myself asanas and kriyas that would be suitable for people with amputations. I began to meditate, I saw the world with different eyes. Yoga has given me peace and balance. When I finally realized that I was different from others, I decided to turn this difference in my favor. She said to herself: “I am not just a beauty, but a special beauty.” I started to walk in a prosthesis without a cosmetic cover and I am not shy about it, but on the contrary, I want as many people as possible to see that there are people like me.

Every day brings another victory. First, I learned to slide down the stairs from the second floor - and turned it into a game with the children. I was driving down a hill, and everyone had fun. Then I learned to cook with one hand, wash the floors. Now I want to learn how to braid my daughter's pigtails with one hand, or at least ponytails! This will be the victory.

Mike Krutyansky

Age: 26 years old

What happened: long-term non-healing fracture, forced to use crutches

What he does: skipper on a yacht, pro rider

Mike Krutyansky

In 2010, we went to freeride competitions by car. The car skidded, and some metal structure on the side of the road blew my shin to smithereens. Before that, the main thing in my life was skiing - more precisely, off-piste skiing (freeride) on skiing. In summer - kayaking, in the off-season - rock climbing. For two years I did not believe that the situation had changed forever - in the end, it was "just a turning point." I was, of course, bad, but I worked hard to recover. Then there was a relapse: due to the severity of the fracture and the nightmarish first operation at the accident site, the bone did not even grow together by half - and was not going to. Slowly, from that moment on, the process of giving up what for me was, in fact, life began. Skiing was both a profession for me and the key to socialization and personal life, and most importantly, it gave me a taste for life in general. My relatives helped and help me with all their strength and means. But what can they really do? It all depends on whether you yourself can regain your taste for life and accept new circumstances.

I decided to start earning money while lying in bed. Money never gets in the way. But for me, earning money is one of the most boring and depressing activities, it does not bring even the simplest satisfaction. Then I started to study. Spanish, French. I had to change my whole life. I don’t even remember anything that didn’t have to be radically changed. For example, I had to change the house: I used to live either with a girl in her apartment, or on trips - in tents, rented apartments in Europe. I had to move with the girl to my parents so that they could all take turns helping with everyday life. And then I got tired of the endless medical burden, of Moscow, of the bed. And he decided to change everything completely, to go alone to Israel and try to forget about the old. What is there to be afraid of if you already live at half strength? I packed x-rays in a backpack (I couldn't roll my suitcase - my hands were full of crutches), a pair of removable underwear, a computer - and flew away. And as soon as it became possible to walk more or less normally, I went to travel. Settled in a tent in the Eilat mountains, went diving. When I realized that there was nowhere to grow in diving until the doctor allowed me to put fins on my sore leg, I went to Europe to study as a skipper (yacht captain). I can’t say that this is my new super hobby, but it’s such a cool feeling - to learn something new, to study, to travel. And I almost do not yield to fully healthy members of the team in terms of work on the yacht.

The main part of our body is the brain. With the help of this conditionally immovable component, you can move mountains, the main thing is to understand in which direction.

Mikhail Zhitlovsky

Age: 60 years old

What happened: lost a leg

What he does: businessman, athlete, master of sports of international class in sambo, master of sports in judo

Mikhail Zhitlovsky

I am a professional athlete, I have competed at a high level in sambo and judo for many years. As a result of several factors, I developed a chronic disease that led to the amputation of my right leg. When all this happened, I immediately began to think about what to live on. I am married, I have children, sons. How can I make it so that I am theirs, and not they provide me? My wife was there all the time, she was very young then, but she has a very strong character, which helped me and her to cope with what happened. But I had to put myself back together very quickly.

I tried to find work in different fields. Before that, I worked as a coach for many years, my colleagues offered me to be a coach in wheelchair sports, but this is more of a managerial job, I was not interested. Wealthy friends offered me a job as an assistant, a driver, I myself was ready to even glue boxes, if it would give an income. But as a result, I said “thank you” to them and decided that I would try it myself. I began to create a workplace for myself: a video room in the library where my wife worked, selling publishing systems, then working with real estate. I have also been in the auto business for almost 15 years, and my company has long been one of the leaders in the automotive market in its segment. Now I'm building a new business model again.

I was promised that in a couple of years my other leg would be amputated. I knew that then everything would become more difficult. After the amputation, I gained a lot of weight, my heart began to make itself felt, and I decided to make an attempt to return, oddly enough, to almost the lifestyle that I led when I was in my best shape. I started with swimming to get my cardiovascular back, then added weights, then table tennis, and then when my wife and son decided to go skiing, I decided to join. Without a prosthesis. I drove 10 meters the first time and fell, I drove the second time 15 meters and fell. Then I found a great coach and learned to skate very well, even started competing: at the stages of the World Cup, the European Cup, at the Paralympic Games. Then it became interesting: if I go skiing, should I get water? Got it. And ski slalom turned out: I participate in competitions among two-legged people, and among one-legged people.

Every person who lives with two arms, two legs and a healthy spine must understand that this can change at any moment, at any second. But there is absolutely no need to be afraid: a person with a changed body can do things that ordinary people never dreamed of.

Pavel Obiukh

What happened: was born blind

What he does: business coach, athlete

Pavel Obiukh

I was born blind. Of course, I understood from childhood that my situation is different from the situation of other people. A very important factor for me was that my relatives never treated me as if I had some special features: I was brought up in the same way as my sighted brother. In high school, I began to decide what to do in life: I always had enough hobbies. Sports, music, reading - I was very interested in many things. Thanks to this, I constantly met very different people and got involved in what they do. As a result, today I work as a business coach for Dialogues in the Dark, and work is my main business.

I have a pedagogical education, my degree is also in pedagogy, so I have always been involved in the learning process: even before the Dialogues, in other organizations, I was developing trainings, mainly social ones. Two years ago, a very good friend of mine said that he was recruiting people for a new company, and suggested that I take up not social, but business training. I said to myself: “This is another experience, another life experiment” - and I decided to try to apply my knowledge and skills in this area. Training in the dark is, of course, special, but the darkness is just a tool that we use. The whole training is a transfer of knowledge, experience, analysis skills.

I still really like to read and still enjoy sports: I go skiing, I have three skydiving jumps, in the summer I go on multi-day kayaking trips. Danger in my understanding is a rather conditional thing. The precautions and safety measures I take in some of my activities may sometimes differ from those taken by sighted people. But if the kayak capsizes, both me and the sighted crew member will be saved by our ability to swim. There is no difference here.

Every person should love himself. Someone once said that treating yourself badly is stupid: there are already so many people in the world who can treat you badly, why else would you do it yourself? You need to be in a normal relationship with yourself, and the body in this sense is no exception.

You can send your stories about strong people to

Fortitude is an active determination to go towards the goal, overcoming any obstacles. Everyone would like to be strong, but not everyone succeeds. Examples of the strength (or weakness) of the spirit are found both in fiction and in the reality around us.

Arguments from literature

1. (56 words) In D.I. Fonvizin's comedy "Undergrowth", Starodum can serve as an example of fortitude. The hero meets a young officer who seems decent. However, war was soon declared, the friend of the protagonist evaded the defense of the Motherland and succeeded in the rear. Starodum went to the battlefield, was wounded and outflanked. But this incident did not break him and did not deprive him of faith in the triumph of truth.
2. (48 words) Erast, the hero of N.M. Karamzin "Poor Lisa", turned out to be a weak person, could not match the love of the peasant woman Lisa. The young man, having seduced the girl and received his own, squanders his fortune and decides to find himself a profitable party. Erast deceived Lisa and married another, and she drowned herself, so the hero's impotence was punished with eternal torment of conscience.
3. (54 words) Chatsky, the hero of the comedy A.S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit", is a truly strong man, he had the courage to go not only against one influential person, Famusov, but also against a crowd of his supporters. Chatsky preached truth, freedom, opposed servility and lies. Everyone turned away from him, but Alexander still did not give up, is this not fortitude?
4. (59 words) In the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" by A.S. Pushkin, the strength of the spirit is concentrated in Tatyana. Having fallen in love with Onegin, she was ready for anything for him. The girl was not even afraid to confess, but this was unacceptable in the 19th century. The strength of the spirit, the strength of love overcame all obstacles, except for one - the lack of reciprocal feelings. Tatyana remained unhappy, but she has a core and the truth is on her side.
5. (47 words) Mtsyri, the protagonist of the poem of the same name by M.Yu. Lermontov, yearned for his native Caucasus and freedom all his life. The hero had a goal: to live for real, at least for a moment, outside the monastery. And Mtsyri fled, tried to return to his native places. He did not succeed, but this thirst for freedom reveals the strength of the spirit in the hero.
6. (48 words) Pechorin, the main character of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time" is a strong-willed person. For example, when Grushnitsky started an unfair duel against him, Grigory was not afraid, but calmly brought the game to the end, punishing the scoundrel with death. This act is not at all merciful, but strong, because otherwise the hero would have died himself.
7. (52 words) The main character of the story M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin “The Wise Scribbler” is completely devoid of any mental strength, he was afraid of danger all his life, and therefore did not live, but only existed in a hole without friends, love, simple joys. Because of weakness, everything passed by the scribbler, although his existence was long, but completely empty. Without the power of the spirit there is no life.
8. (36 words) In the story of A.P. Chekhov's "The Death of an Official", the executor Chervyakov sneezed on General Bryzzhalov and was so frightened of the consequences of this accident that, in the end, he died of horror. Fear has deprived the hero of common sense, this is what the weakness of the spirit leads to.
9. (41 words) Andrey Sokolov, the main character of the story by M.A. Sholokhov "The Fate of Man", can be called a strong personality. He went to war, because the Motherland was in danger, he went through all its horrors, then captivity and a concentration camp. Sokolov is a real hero, although he himself never understood his strength.
10. (60 words) Vasily Terkin, the hero of the poem of the same name by A.T. Tvardovsky, fortitude is combined with humor and lightness, as if it costs nothing for a fighter to do things that few modern people can repeat without fear and posturing. For example, in the chapter "Duel" it is told about the confrontation between the hero and the German: the enemy is well-fed, better prepared, but Vasily won, and this victory occurred solely on moral and volitional qualities, because of the fortitude.

Examples from life, cinema and media

1. (54 words) Plumber Dmitry, the hero of the film "The Fool" by Yu. Bykov, tried to go against the system for the sake of almost a thousand people who were simply abandoned. In the hostel building, the hero noticed a huge crack, the house is about to collapse, people will die or remain on the street. He fights for strangers against authority, fights to the end. He died, the system still won, but the strength of the character of the hero is respected.
2. (46 words) Chuck Noland, the protagonist of R. Zemeckis' film Cast Away, found himself in an extreme situation: the plane on which the hero was traveling crashes, he finds himself on a desert island. In such a situation, if you surrender, you will die. We need to make decisions here and now. Chuck strained his inner strength, survived and was able to rethink his life.
3. (44 words) The eccentric Captain Jack Sparrow from Gore Verbinski's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End epitomizes unsinkability. This hero came to the next world and returned back without batting an eyelid. And all because he never gives up, and this quality makes him a strong person.
4. (41 words) A man of great fortitude is Nick Vujicic. Nick has no arms and legs, but he was able to get a diploma with two specialties, find love, travel and give lectures that help other people. Such heroes motivate to accomplish great things by their example.
5. (46 words) Peter Dinklage, known to many for his role as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones, has overcome many obstacles. Dinklage was born with achondroplasia (a disease leading to dwarfism), he has a poor family, and there was no success at the beginning of his career. Now this actor is very popular, the problems only hardened his character.
6. (52 words) Stephen Hawking, who is the luminary of modern science, has been fighting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis since the age of 20. Now this disease is not treatable, the scientist is paralyzed, even speaks only with the help of a speech synthesizer. However, Hawking does not give up: he continues his scientific work, inspires young scientists to new achievements, even appears in the comedy series The Big Bang Theory.
7. (67 words) A friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer. This is a young woman with a small child, and the disease was already in the last stage. The first thing she thought about was how to arrange the child in the best way. The second is how to live on. One could cry in anticipation of the end, but the woman began to help other patients, and also live a full life, without postponing any meetings, travels, acquaintances. You need to have a huge inner core to repeat her feat.
8. (47 words) A friend of mine had an operation that didn't go well. The body rejected the material that was sewn during surgery, inflammation began. She underwent several more operations, a huge number of injections, a whole year of her life passed in the hospital ward. However, this year tempered her character, taught her not to give up and be strong.
9. (62 words) As a child, I had an incident that made me strong on pain of death. I was just learning to swim, but I accidentally got into a deep place where I didn’t reach the bottom, got scared and started to sink. It was far enough to the coast. Then I realized that if I didn’t calm down and be strong, I wouldn’t be able to save myself. And I swam as best I could, but I swam and survived.
10. (57 words) Once, when I was still very young, my mother looked out of the apartment and saw that there was smoke in the entrance, and it was impossible to go out, especially with a child. But through the window, my mother saw a fire truck, so we went out onto the balcony, and my mother began to give signals to the firemen. They noticed us and pulled us out. Mom was not at a loss, she had to become strong for me.

Fortitude is not only about going into battle with a drawn saber, it is often required in everyday life to deal with all problems and troubles. This quality must be cultivated in oneself, without it it is impossible, as the Kino group sang: “You must be strong, otherwise, why would you be?”.

Interesting? Save it on your wall!

The history of the Jews of Poland and the history of Jewish Warsaw is the history of the life of the founders of the kibbutz and the history of the founders of the museum. It is difficult to separate a person's life from what is happening around him, from what is happening with his place of residence, especially when there is a war and millions of human lives fall under the wheels of history.
The uniqueness of this exhibition is that it shows the Jewish perspective on life in Warsaw before the Holocaust and during the Holocaust. This is a story about the everyday life of the Jews, about their faith and about their survival.

The story of the exhibition begins long before the Nazis came to power and took over Poland.

With the help of a variety of documentary evidence, the exhibition tells about life, although usually such exhibitions are stories about dying ... Without understanding Jewish life before the war, its aspirations, hopes and expectations, we will not be able to understand the extent of the destruction of an entire culture from which there is no trace.
We return to the Jewish street in Warsaw 1935. , with its political and ideological currents. Who was not there: Hasidim and Mitnagdim; educated and assimilated; members of Zionist youth movements; members of non-Zionist youth movements... The exhibition aims to show the complexity and inconsistency of the Jewish life of those times.
Assimilated, orthodox, workers and socialists fought to raise their children, believing that in this way they would give the next generation the opportunity for a better life.

Tablet "Mizrach" of the Mizrachi movement (Mizrachi is a religious Zionist organization and movement), Warsaw, 1920.

traditional Jewish education.

And at the same time...

... joint struggle for the betterment of the conditions of the workers.

Various aspects of Jewish life are presented by people's stories, which represent a spectrum of opinions and experiences.

The theme of repatriation to Eretz Israel is one of the important aspects of Jewish life in pre-war Warsaw.

Congratulations to Shana Tov (Happy New Year) to a repatriate sailing on a ship to Eretz Israel, Warsaw 1925.

Greeting card Shana Tova (Happy New Year), Warsaw 1930.
Repatriates are depicted on the road to Eretz Israel.

Preparation for agricultural activities on a training farm in Gorochowa, Warsaw 1937.

Repatriation certificate issued by the Hashomer HaTzair trade union in Poland, 1924.

The exhibition presents diaries, letters, photographs, films, various objects and documents from the archives of the Lohamei Ha-Getaot Museum. Including exhibits from the Korczak Collection, Zionist youth movements and the Oneg Shabat ghetto archive. Used a lot of documentaries and photographs of that time.

For the first time, materials from the museum's archive that have never been exhibited are presented. The "Korczak Collection" includes letters and other materials from the orphanage.

Technically, the exhibition is focused on the younger generation and tries to speak its language: a lot of interactive showcases, where by touching the image of one of the displayed artifacts, you get information and a story about it. There are separate interactive stories about Jewish theater and cinema, Jewish newspapers, sports...

Illustrated newspaper for children and adolescents "Eaton katan" (small newspaper, Hebrew)" in Hebrew, 1929.

After the war, Jews emigrated to different countries, some came to Eretz Israel.
The seeds of Jewishness were sown in children's souls by the systems in which children were brought up before the war: in Jewish youth movements, in Jewish education, in prayers in synagogues for Yishuv in Eretz Israel, sports associations and newspapers in Hebrew, all this played a role in choosing a life way.

The war burst into the Jewish life of Poland, splitting it into two parts: before and on time.

This is how an artist unknown to me depicted it, in a painting not participating in the exhibition, but photographed by me in the museum.

The interactive section is dedicated to the capture of Warsaw. We not only see the siege, bombardment, shelling on the screens, we feel ourselves a part of what is happening.

I made some small videos from this section.

In the "Ghetto" section, with the help of video films, life is shown under the yoke of occupation and isolation for almost two years, between October 1940 and July 1942, when a wall was built separating the ghetto from the rest of the city and people did not know what was happening behind the walls of the ghetto didn't know what a new day would bring.

Ghetto borders 11/15/1940.

Many testimonies and diaries written at that time illustrate what was happening. The story about the events of those days is conducted on behalf of real people who lived in the ghetto. This is also a story about daily life in the ghetto and the problems of this life: a colossal gap between the rich and the poor in the ghetto, issues related to the observance of religious rites and the Sabbath, Jewish holidays.

Old films and photographs speak of something that cannot be described in words. Some of these people remained only in photographs, they have neither graves nor names ...

Summer 1942, deportation of 300,000 Jews, two-thirds of the ghetto's population, to death camps.

The exhibition does not end with the Catastrophe. It's still in the making.

The exhibition will end with the founding of the kibbutz and the birth of the first child. The circle closed when the children, who grew up in rich European bourgeois houses that were destroyed in the Holocaust, built new houses in Eretz Israel, in kibbutzim and began a new life ..

"We must fight for our future" is the message of the exhibition, which applies to both Jews and non-Jews.

I already talked about the ongoing exhibition at the Memorial Museum of Beit Lohamei ha-gettaot