The Museum of Military Glory displays items extracted from the bodies of soldiers by a Kolomna surgeon Nikolay Mitropolsky: flattened metal bullets, rusty shards of mines and shells, fragments of bones. Among them, also survived scraps of clothing, bristles from a shaving brush, spoons, and even coins — the doctor took them out of the hip of a wounded soldier during World War II.
At the time, Mitropolsky served as chief surgeon at the military hospital in the town of Slobodskoy. A soldier with a shrapnel wound was brought to his table, and after the operation, he continued to complain of constant pain. On an X-ray, the doctors found a dark spot and decided to operate on him again. That is when they saw that several coins were stuck in the fighter’s body. It turned out that they were in the pocket of a Red Army soldier, a shell fragment had hit him right there and embedded the coins in his thigh.
Nikolay Mitropolsky was born on December 18, 1890. He graduated from the medical faculty of Moscow State University and was a field doctor during World War I. During the Great Patriotic War, Mitropolsky simultaneously operated in several hospitals that were deployed in Slobodskoy, advised young doctors, conducted courses for nurses, and supervised therapeutic work. There were many wounded people coming in, and the surgeon could perform several complicated surgeries a day in a row. The staff and patients called him “our Uncle Kolya” or “our healer”.
Despite wartime conditions and a demanding work schedule, Nikolay Mitropolsky found time to write down all information about the wounded people. Thanks to this, it was possible to assemble a collection. In all, Mitropolsky saved about 300 “fragments of war”. These are small yellowed with time rolls with inscriptions: name and surname of the soldier, year of birth, number of the regiment in which he served, date of his wound, date of his arrival to the hospital, and date of surgery. In addition, the paper bags themselves contained bullets, fragments of mines, bombs, and other foreign items.
The collection was given to the museum by the staff of the Kolomna Medical College, where it was kept after the doctor’s death. Some items are also in the museum of the Kolomna Central District Hospital, where Mitropolsky worked as a surgeon for a long time.
Nikolay Mitropolsky was born on December 18, 1890. He graduated from the medical faculty of Moscow State University and was a field doctor during World War I. During the Great Patriotic War, Mitropolsky simultaneously operated in several hospitals that were deployed in Slobodskoy, advised young doctors, conducted courses for nurses, and supervised therapeutic work. There were many wounded people coming in, and the surgeon could perform several complicated surgeries a day in a row. The staff and patients called him “our Uncle Kolya” or “our healer”.
Despite wartime conditions and a demanding work schedule, Nikolay Mitropolsky found time to write down all information about the wounded people. Thanks to this, it was possible to assemble a collection. In all, Mitropolsky saved about 300 “fragments of war”. These are small yellowed with time rolls with inscriptions: name and surname of the soldier, year of birth, number of the regiment in which he served, date of his wound, date of his arrival to the hospital, and date of surgery. In addition, the paper bags themselves contained bullets, fragments of mines, bombs, and other foreign items.
The collection was given to the museum by the staff of the Kolomna Medical College, where it was kept after the doctor’s death. Some items are also in the museum of the Kolomna Central District Hospital, where Mitropolsky worked as a surgeon for a long time.
