Today we took a trip to see Dostoyevsky's house. It's preserved as a museum, which doesn't sound very impressive until you find out only 4 houses were left standing in the whole town during WWII. The people seem to revere not only his genius at writing but also his personal behavior. He was kind to the poor, he was gentle with his children and family, and he suffered prison and exile. Some of the artifacts in the house are really his, and some are restorations.
I think the Russian people must have a special respect for him, because in the time since 1945, they have carefully preserved what they could, despite financial and other difficulties.
It's hard to imagine the awful events that took place in this beautiful countryside. The German army occupied the region for 4 years, and many bloody battles took place in and around Staraya Russa and Novgorod.
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