M.Morozov”s monument

In 1977, Mikhail Moroz found an artillery shell left over from World War II in a collective farm field and carried it away. At the cost of his own life, he saved his comrades and agricultural equipment. He was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Star.

Heroic act in a potato field

His life was cut short on September 10, 1977, in a potato field during the harvest. People called Mikhail’s deed a true act of heroism. Students of the Orsha Industrial-Pedagogical College, including Mikhail, were working in the fields of the "Progress" collective farm in Dubrovensky District.

The price of a saved life

Seeing an artillery shell moving along the conveyor belt among the potatoes, Misha was the first to grab it and carefully carried it across the field toward a ravine. He was just a few meters short of his destination when the deadly shell exploded in his hands.

A high honor for bravery

For his courage and self-sacrifice, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR posthumously awarded the brave Komsomol member the Order of the Red Star. Mikhail Moroz’s name was entered into the Honor Book of the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (VLKSM) and the Honor Book of the Central Committee of the Leninist Young Communist League of Belarus. His Komsomol membership card contained the inscription: "He carried a live shell out of the field, saving people at the cost of his own life."

A heroic deed known across the Soviet Union

At that time, the entire country knew about Mikhail Moroz’s feat. Each of us measured our own actions against the bravery of this young man and aspired to be a worthy citizen of our country.

A lasting memory of a hero’s deed

Letters of gratitude from strangers poured in to Misha's parents in the village of Berezhtsy, Zhitkovichi District. Poems, books, and paintings were created in his memory. Museums were established in the Hilchitsy School and the Orsha Pedagogical College, where Misha studied, attracting Komsomol members from across the country. The field where he performed his heroic act was named "Misha’s Field." A song, "Potato Field" (lyrics by E. Dolmatovsky, music by E. Kolmanovsky), frequently aired on the radio. Everyone considered it their duty to contribute to the fund for erecting a monument to Mikhail Moroz in the city of Zhitkovichi.