At the age of 105, the veteran of World War II and father of the People's Artist of Tatarstan Gabdelfat Safin passed away. During his lifetime, he met with Musa Jalil.

      At this moment, the funeral of the veteran of the Great Patriotic War (GPW), participant of the Battle of Stalingrad and the capture of Berlin, Gabdrakhman Safin, is taking place at the cemetery of the village of Simetbash in the Arsky district of Tatarstan. As his son and People's Artist of Tatarstan, Gabdelfat Safin, told the correspondent of "BUSINESS Online," his father passed away in a sound mind and clear memory. "He was not ill; when asked how he was doing, he always replied that nothing hurt. He just stopped eating. Until the end, he was in a sound mind, talking to us. He had to endure a lot, fight, be captured, where he met Musa Jalil, face arrest after the war, and much more," said Safin Jr.

      Biography of Gabdrakhman Safin

      Gabdrakhman AkhmetSafovich Safin was born on March 31, 1922, in the village of Simetbash in the Arsky district of the Tatar ASSR. In 1938, he graduated from the 7th grade of the Novokishit Secondary School. Before the war, he worked as a laborer in a collective farm, then as a foreman. In 1941, he went to the front and was assigned to an airborne unit. "We were settled in a village that had been liberated after the expulsion of the Germans from the Volga region. We stayed there until December 1941, undergoing combat training. Then we were transferred to the city of Ivanovo to learn parachuting. A year later, the paratroopers were loaded into cars and taken to Stalingrad. For a whole week, German artillery attacked the Soviet troops. During this attack, about 30 soldiers survived from the entire regiment. The commanders were killed. The remaining survivors were taken prisoner," Safin himself recounted. Thus began Gabdrakhman Safin's life in captivity.

      In captivity, he met Musa Jalil and Abdullah Alish. Only in March 1943 could Gabdrakhman AkhmetSafovich escape from captivity. After that, as part of the 150th regiment of the 50th Guards Division, he participated in the storming of Berlin, for which he was awarded a letter of gratitude from Joseph Stalin. In the winter of 1946, he returned to his native village of Simetbash. In 1949, the war veteran faced a new trial: he was arrested. The sentence was harsh: 20 years of imprisonment, including for reading a newspaper published by Musa Jalil while in captivity, who was then considered a traitor. Neither Stalin's gratitude nor the medal "For the Capture of Berlin" helped him at that time. Two years after Stalin's death, in the autumn of 1955, the court's decision was reviewed. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Safin was rehabilitated, and he returned home. He got married and raised five children.

      His youngest son, Gabdelfat, made a documentary film about his father's fate. Despite his advanced age, Gabdrakhman Safin is active, loves to read, writes poetry, and solves crosswords in Tatar, which his children bring him every week. He follows the news about the special military operation in Ukraine, worries about Russian soldiers, and believes in a swift victory. He was also an active fan of the Ak Bars hockey club, never missing a match.

      Gabdrakhman Safin has a large and close-knit family: four sons and one daughter, 10 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. Gabdrakhman Safin's son is the famous Tatar singer Gabdelfat Safin. Gabdrakhman Safin has been awarded medals "For Diligent Labor during the GPW 1941–1945," numerous certificates from his workplace, jubilee medals, and has been honored with the title "Veteran of Labor." Until his death, Gabdrakhman AkhmetSafovich lived with his son and daughter-in-law in the village of Singeli in the Laishevsky municipal district.

      On March 31, in the village of Singeli in the Laishevsky district, where the deceased lived with his eldest son's family, State Council deputy of Tatarstan Danis Zaripov came to congratulate the veteran. Safin was the oldest fan of the Ak Bars hockey club. That day, a three-time world champion and five-time Gagarin Cup holder, together with the head of the Laishevsky district, Ildus Zaripov, congratulated the fan and presented him with an Ak Bars game jersey with the number 104 and the inscription SAFIN.

      "He has been a fan of Ak Bars all his life; he even used to keep a table of who made it to the playoffs. Now he just watches, knows all the hockey players by name, knows the coach too, and sometimes scolds him for poor play. Father always watched only sports broadcasts, no politics, no war movies. His mind is clear; he remembers everything perfectly, he just doesn't talk much now," said the People's Artist of Tatarstan about his father.

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      War veteran and Ak Bars fan: Gabdrakhman Safin has passed away

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      At the age of 105, the veteran of the GPW and father of People's Artist of Tatarstan Gabdelfat Safin has passed away. During his lifetime, he met with Musa Jalil

      At this moment, the funeral of the veteran of the Great Patriotic War (GPW), participant of the Battle of Stalingrad and the capture of Berlin, Gabdrakhman Safin, is taking place at the cemetery of the village of Simetbash in the Arsky district of Tatarstan. 12:07 26.04.2026 Business Online - Kazan