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Jānis Pīnups (10 May 1925 — 15 June 2007) was the last of the World War II Forest brothers, who only came out of hiding in 1995, at the age of 70.〔(Pēdējo mežabrāļu atgriešanās ), Māra Grīnberga. 27 November 1997〕 == Half a century in hiding == He had been conscripted into the Red Army in August, 1944 and was sent to the front, where he participated in two battles. A concussion rendered him unconscious in the second battle. When he awoke, he saw that no one was left on the battlefield and seized the opportunity to "desert",〔Mobilization of forces from occupied territories was illegal. The USSR considered the forcibly occupied Baltics to be Soviet territory and its inhabitants Soviet citizens. Deserting or defecting was treated as an act of treason.〕 finally managing to return home on 7 October 1944.〔("Участник Второй мировой скрывался от властей 50 лет" Komersant (20.05.95.) ) in Russian〕 From that moment on he spent more than 50 years hiding from the authorities and strangers. Only his brothers and sister knew he was even alive. At first he lived in the forest, but with cold weather setting in, he fitted out a hidden underground bunker for himself on the farm of some relatives. In the 1950s, these relatives built a new house, leaving their old one derelict, that becoming another sanctuary for hiding from strangers.〔("Участник Второй мировой скрывался от властей 50 лет" Komersant (20.05.95.) ) 〕 He came out into the yard during the day only when his neighbors couldn't see him. He also helped his brothers with farm work, as well as picking mushrooms and berries in the forest—all of which he did only by the cover of night, having constructed a number of bunkers in the forest to help him stay hidden.〔 Once he accidentally wandered into the parish center and met a man at the bus stop who said that he knew Pīnups, but couldn't remember his name. Pīnups fled immediately—the incident made him even more cautious because, after a quarter of a century, he had been convinced no one would remember him. As late as the 1980s, when Pīnups dislocated his ankle, he sought medical assistance under an assumed name.〔 He spent his last two decades in hiding being particularly cautious. Remaining in hiding became increasingly difficult after his brothers died and only his sister Veronika was left alive. Nor was he able to continue to assist or stay with her after her curious neighbors inquired as to who it was, that was visiting her. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jānis Pīnups」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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