All motorists who were born in the Soviet Union are familiar with the “Za Rulem” (“Behind the Wheel”) magazine. Until 1989, it was the most popular automotive periodical in the USSR. The path to the magazine's success began in the late 1950s, with the arrival of a talented journalist, Mark Tilevich, a graduate of the editorial and publishing department of the Moscow Polygraphic Institute.

Tilevich, the owner of an old Moskvich-401, came to the conclusion that the country sorely lacks a truly interesting publication that advertises the culture of personal vehicles. After becoming deputy editor-in-chief, he founded many new headings, making the magazine a cult following.

But, in addition to editorial chores and sporting events, Mark also had another social burden – he was vice-president of the International Committee of Former Prisoners of Sachsenhausen and a member of the International Holocaust Memorial Foundation, built at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, was a member of the supervisory board of the Russian “Foundation for Mutual Understanding and Reconciliation”, was elected vice-president of the Interregional Public Organization of Disabled People – Former Prisoners of Nazi Camps. Mark also helped in every way the Association of Jews – Former Prisoners of the Ghetto and Nazi Concentration Camps (MAE).

In his youth, Mark dreamed of working in print. His father, since 1924 worked in the publishing house of the newspaper Pravda. The atmosphere of editorial offices and creative work has been familiar to Mark since childhood, but after the war his personal data became an almost insurmountable obstacle to starting a journalistic career. At first, they did not want to take Mark to the printing institute, then it echoed in every possible way when applying for a job. Tilevich had to interrupt for several years with the occasional fees of a newspaper freelance employee. But in 1959, luck finally found to him: Mark Tilevich, an excellent journalist, well versed in auto and motor sports, got a job in the “Za Rulem” magazine.
Mark had problems with his profile because of the war: he, a Soviet soldier, was taken prisoner by Germany. For such a “misconduct” people had not only problems with work and study – it could well turn into criminal prosecution.

In October 1940, a Muscovite Tilevich, a high school graduate, was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army. Since 1941, as a political commander of the artillery unit, he served in Lithuania, a few kilometers from the Soviet-German border. Mark's first battle began at dawn on June 22 near Kaunas, when German aircraft began bombing them from the air. During the retreat, in the late summer of 1941, he was wounded and taken prisoner unconscious.

He was saved by one of his colleagues: before the Germans approached, the sleeve of his tunic was torn off from the wounded and shell-shocked Tilevich. A red asterisk was sewn on this sleeve – the sign of a political worker, who would have been immediately shot right in the trench.

In the camp, one had to fear not only the Germans, but also their own: a Jew could be surrendered in a second. He had to introduce himself by another name: this is how Mark became Michael.

Tilevich was brought with other Soviet prisoners of war to Germany, to the Witzendorf camp – “Russian camp” – Stalag 310 (X D) in Lower Saxony. Conditions in the camp were appalling: a fenced-in area and gnawed tree bark, which the prisoners of war ate. The Germans gave a small amount of turnips for everyone, and they did not build premises for spending the night at all. To protect themselves from the cold, the prisoners of war dug shelters in the ground – with their bare hands and spoons. Mark Tilevich, along with other prisoners, was sent to work at the sawmill. He was not going to remain in German captivity: he fled with two comrades with the hope of crossing the front line, to his own. But the fugitives were soon caught and sent to a penal camp for hard work and a strict regime.

In early June 1943, Tilevich tried to escape again, and again without success. For this, the Germans sent Mark to the infamous Sachsenhausen concentration camp. In the fall of 1941, 13 thousand Soviet soldiers were killed here – for this, the SS were given a three-week vacation in Sorrento as a reward. It was clear to Tilevich that one could get out of this hell only through the crematorium chimney.
All the time Soviet citizens were helped by German anti-fascists, Norwegians, Czechs, Dutch, immigrants from other countries, who worked as barracks wardens, senior workers' teams, or clerks. As Mark recalled, the Norwegians and Danes received food parcels, which, at a terrible risk, were shared with Soviet prisoners. Despite the fact that some of the prisoners recognized him as a Jew, they remained silent and continued to call him Misha.

The anti-fascists helped Tilevich with work. Instead of hard labor loading cement, he was enrolled in a team of electricians led by the Norwegian patriot Martin Gausle.