The Spyaschiy family were Povenets natives. The family consisted of five people. The father worked at the water supply on Belomoro-Baltic Channel. The mother was a housewife, bringing up Sergey and his two sisters. By the beginning of the Winter war 13 years old Sergey was going to the 7th form of Povenets School.

The main sources of political information for the family were the radio and local press (i.g. "Belomorkanal" newspaper). They were the sources of the first information about the "Winter War". Later they saw the mobilization of young people in the settlement.

Sergey Petrovitch marks the active propaganda on radio, newspapers and in school against Finland and about the struggle between socialism and capitalism. There was a distinct division – we are Reds, they are White Finns. There was also one more cause – the Finnish border was too close to Leningrad and that was were dangerous for the city (this cause was also explained to the children at school).

The respondent said that there was no the feeling of the war. The settlement was far enough from the war theatre. So people do their routine work – job, school, housekeeping. Also it was the same in the family (there was no demands "to help the front"). There were no problems with food. And the main thing – there were no people of Finnish nationality in the settlement.

To the question about the attitude to the Finns, Sergey Petrovitch answered that if the man is a real man, then one might be in friendly relation with anyone – Ukrainian, Belorussian or Finnish…

About the war itself he said that everyone understood its uselessness, unreadiness of our troops, that were listed from different nations. Most of the soldiers had never seen the skies and serious frosts before. Especially to note that 1940 winter was extremely cold. The settlement was not so affected by the frosts – there were warm clothing and the in every house and in the school there were stoves that gave warmth. But the family often heard by radio about the people frozen at the front, about big losses from our side.

Sergey Petrovitch remembers the New Year evening at school as usual, without any difference from other New Year holidays. All children wear New Year masquerade cloths and got theirs New Year presents.

The failures of our army was known, but the talks about them were only inside the family because it was too dangerous topic at that time, same as the military and managing leaders.

By the end of the ware a regiment was set nearby the settlement, but there were no close contacts with soldiers. So he has not talked with those who were at the front and at that time it was not a topic of interest between settlement's boy.

No relatives participated in that war.