The Ministry of Medium Machine Building regarded its technical experts—architects, engineers, scientists, electricians, dosimetrists—as irreplaceable. They had to be protected from overexposure so that they could work in the zone for as long as possible. But the often middle-aged partizans were perceived as ignorant, unskilled, and expendable. They were thrown into the front line wherever necessary to perform manual tasks in high-radiation zones, one platoon after another. These men caught their maximum dose in a matter of hours—or minutes—before being sent home and replaced with more cannon
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