1. Introduction. ………………………………………………………………………………….. 2

2. Heroes-border guards……………………………………………………. 5

3. The feat of Viktor Talalikhin………………………………………………………5

4. The feat of Alexander Pankratov……………………………………….. 9

5. The heroism of the defenders of Sevastopol…………………………………………………….. 11

6. The feat of the submarine “Shch-408”………………………………………………………. eleven

7. Defense of Moscow…………………………………………………….. 12

8. Partisan movement………………………………………………... 14

9. Defense of Stalingrad……………………………………………………………... 18

10. The exploits of Soviet patriots…………………………………………. 19

11. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………… 23

12. List of references…………………………………….. 24

Introduction.

Russia with Russian bayonets

She saved herself and saved us

Guys! Isn't Moscow behind us?

No, much more than Moscow...

I always listened with great interest to my dad’s stories about my grandfather, who went through the Great Patriotic War. Unfortunately, my grandfather himself died long ago. I listened and wondered if I or my friends could do the same as those who defended our Motherland in that war. Maybe those youth thought differently, or maybe they had something that we lack. Unfortunately, in school the topic of war was limited to the start date and end date of the war and the study of the main battles. But it was not clear what motivated them, the young ones, because they were not promised anything, they were not paid money, they themselves were eager to go to the front: they took credit for their years, if they were not taken into the army, they fought in the rear, at the machine tool, in partisan detachments. Maybe, having written this report, I will be able to understand at least a little how we differ from them or whether we are still the same.

On June 22, 1941, at about 4 o'clock in the morning, when millions of Soviet citizens were still sleeping peacefully, Nazi Germany, without presenting any claims, treacherously attacked the Soviet Union. Thousands of bombs and shells began exploding almost all along the western state border of the USSR; the pre-dawn silence was filled with the roar of German planes and the roar of tank engines.

At the western borders of the USSR, the Nazis concentrated 82% of the total number of active forces ground army. Together with the troops of the satellite countries, 190 fully equipped divisions were deployed here. The invading army consisted of 5.5 million soldiers and officers, about 4,300 tanks, 4,980 combat aircraft, 47,200 guns and mortars.

Taking advantage of three-fold, and in some areas five-fold superiority, the Nazi hordes rushed into the depths of our country. In the main directions: southern - to Kyiv, northern - to Leningrad and central - to Moscow - a difficult military situation was created.

A mortal danger looms over our Motherland - to be free or to fall into dependence on the fascist invaders.

The Communist Party and Soviet government immediately took the necessary measures to protect the Motherland from fascist enslavement and to mobilize human and material resources to defeat the enemy.

The leadership of the country's Armed Forces was headed by the Supreme Command Headquarters created on July 10 (since August 8, 1941 - the Supreme High Command Headquarters), the chairman of which was appointed I.V. Stalin.

In order to unite the efforts of the front and rear, on June 30, the State Defense Committee was formed under the chairmanship of I.V. Stalin, who concentrated all power in his hands. The State Defense Committee led the restructuring of the economy, the mobilization of the country's forces and resources.

On July 3, J.V. Stalin gave a speech in which he outlined a detailed program of the party and the Soviet government, aimed at ensuring victory over the enemy. J.V. Stalin explained to the people the just nature of the Great Patriotic War, the sacred duty of every Soviet person to defend the Motherland, defend the gains of socialism, called for courage and heroism at the front and selfless work in the rear. The Chairman of the State Defense Committee addressed the working class, collective farm peasantry and intelligentsia with the call “Everything for the front!” Everything for victory! The Red Army was given the task of defending every inch of land, fighting until last straw blood for their cities and villages, to exhaust and bleed the Nazi troops in defensive battles, to defeat and expel them from Soviet soil, to help the peoples of Europe throw off the fascist yoke.

First day Patriotic War A resolution of the Komsomol Central Committee was prepared and published on June 23. “In connection with the treacherous, predatory attack of the German fascists on our country,” the document said, “the Central Committee of the Komsomol demands tenfold vigilance, cohesion, discipline, and organization from all Komsomol organizations.” The Komsomol Central Committee demanded that “every Komsomol member be ready to fight with arms in hand against the attacking, arrogant enemy for the Motherland, for honor, for freedom.”

The Komsomol quickly responded to the call of its leadership to defend the Motherland. Young patriots of the capital, leaving for the front, wrote this in an appeal to Moscow youth: “We grew up, received an education and a profession under Soviet power, on Soviet soil, under the Soviet sun. What could be more honorable for us than to defend our beloved Motherland against the invasion of Hitler’s gangs! We are obliged, and therefore we rightfully demand that we be sent to the front. We will take revenge on our enemies with full consciousness of duty to our Motherland.” In total, 50 thousand applications for voluntary departure to the front were submitted in Moscow during the three days of the war. “All Komsomol members of the Leningrad organization submitted applications to be sent as volunteers to the front,” reported the Leningrad City Committee of the Komsomol Central Committee.

The unprecedented impulse of Soviet youth, first of all, was manifested in the fact that every boy and girl in the district Komsomol committee, in the military registration and enlistment office or at the enterprise declared their desire to immediately go into battle against fascism. More than 100 thousand Komsomol members of Moscow and the Moscow region, most voluntarily, joined the ranks Soviet army already in the first months of the war.

From the very first days of the war, showing massive heroism, infantrymen, artillerymen, tank crews, sailors, pilots - warriors of all branches of the Soviet Armed Forces - bravely fought against the invaders.

Border Guard Heroes.

The Soviet border guard heroes were the first to engage in battle with the enemy.

At one of the border outposts, said Lieutenant I.S. Rubanik, a fierce battle took place with superior enemy forces. “The enemy paid for those killed in the unequal battle with black fascist blood, leaving up to 1,000 killed and wounded soldiers and officers on the battlefield.” The losses of the border guards amounted to 40 people killed and wounded.

On the western border, near the Ukrainian village of Paripsy, 136 border guards died a brave death. For an hour and a half they held back the onslaught of 16 fascist tanks. One of the heroes, junior lieutenant N.D. Sinokop, wrote on a piece of paper: “I will die for my Motherland, but I will not surrender to the enemy alive.”

The garrison of the Brest Fortress, consisting of a small part of the combat border forces, delayed the advance of two enemy infantry divisions for almost a month and inflicted heavy losses on them.

The front-line soldiers, without lying, spoke truthfully about heavy losses and retreat, especially in 1941. This is evidenced, in particular, by a letter from Red Army soldier Yegor Zlobin, sent to his relatives on July 20, 1941. Let us refer to a short excerpt from it: “... Dad and Mom, you know that the Germans attacked the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, and I have already been in battle since June 22: from 5 o’clock at night the Germans crossed, and we were no more than 20 kilometers from him in the camps, and from these days, dad and mom, I saw the country. As from the first days the Germans began to beat us, we couldn’t find a place. We were surrounded by him. He beat us up. About 50 people remained from the regiment, or they died or were taken into military service. Well, I forcibly jumped out of his hot clutches and ran... And the Germans were met by new units of the Red Army. As soon as they started to beat him, only feathers flew ... "

It wasn’t just Yegor Zlobin who was given such lines. And yet he decided to write the truth. One detail: there are no complaints or whining in the letter. And in the words “they started to beat him, only feathers fly” - the confidence that the enemy will be defeated, no matter what.

During the terrible days, the Pravda newspaper wrote: “The Soviet border guards fought like lions, having taken the first sudden blow of the vile enemy... They fought hand-to-hand, and only through their dead bodies was the enemy able to advance.”

The feat of Viktor Talalikhin.

But the Soviet pilots especially distinguished themselves in battles with the enemy. On the night of July 22, 1941, there was the first enemy air raid on Moscow, and on July - August German air raids became more frequent. On July 25, the regiment pilots opened the scoring, captain Ivan Samsonov shot down a Junkers 88. In the last days of July 1941, Viktor Talalikhin was appointed deputy commander of the first squadron, and then he began to serve as acting commander.

Viktor Talalikhin shot down the first bomber on the night of August 5-6 - it was a German Junkers-88 bomber.

Near Moscow, August 1941 was a restless, alarming and menacing wartime. Endless night bombing by German planes of Moscow and all its suburbs. I, who lived through those difficult summer and autumn months of the first year of the war, who experienced bombings and machine gun fire, remember a heightened sense of danger, and the victory of Soviet pilots and anti-aircraft gunners in the Moscow sky gave me hope.

We learned about the night ramming of a German Heinkel-111 aircraft by fighter pilot Viktor Talalikhin on August 8, 1941.

From the very early morning of August 6, aviation technicians and aircraft mechanics Sergei Borzov, Philip Usatyuk and Vladimir Tsvetkov prepared the fighters for flight.

Talalikhin's "Hawk" was prepared for flight. Borzov reported to the regimental engineer A.M. Menshov about the completion of the task: the engine was tested, gas tanks were filled, a preliminary inspection of the aircraft was carried out.

V. Talalikhin had to fly out for night duty, he approached the plane. Victor in a leather raglan, cap and chrome boots, with a tablet. He checked everything thoroughly and asked to rearrange the foot control pedals, shortening them. Victor Talalikhinsel into the cockpit and prepared for combat duty. The night from August 6 to 7 was warm, quiet, starry. Searchlights started working in the Moscow sky. Many bright rays pierced the dark sky, searching for enemy aircraft.

The fighters stood in shelter on the edge of a small forest, near the village, waiting for a combat signal. The planes of Viktor Talalikhin, Pyotr Funtov, Alexander Pechenevsky, Ivan Tyapin, Alexander Bogdanov, Grigory Finogenov received the message: “Enemy planes appeared in square 82 at an altitude of 4 thousand meters.” The regiment commander called the 1st squadron at 22:55. Talalikhin heard the command: “Air!” Talalikhin’s “Hawk” rose into the sky and gained altitude. Below are the Lvovskaya and Stolbovaya railway stations. Talalikhin noticed a shiny point from which green-red flashes were coming. This is from the engines of an enemy aircraft.

Talalikhin quickly led the "hawk" towards the target - the Heinkel-111 bomber. He walked at an altitude of 4.5 km. The bomber is armed with seven machine guns and one cannon. Talalikhin walked behind the bomber, began to catch the Heinkel in his sight, and pressed the trigger. The right engine of the fascist bomber began to smoke, and the Heinkel 111 shuddered. Talalikhin attacked again, aiming for the cockpit. The German plane changed course, turning west. Talalikhin attacks again and again, releasing several bursts of fire. Having increased its speed, the Heinkel-111 began to descend, but the Hawk pursued it.

The air night duel continued. The fascist bomber, shot down but not finished, continued to fly, again the attack was the sixth. Talalikhin presses the trigger, but the machine gun is silent, the cartridges are out,

Heinkel 111 goes into the darkness of the night. Talalikhin instantly makes a decision - to go for a ram, informs the ground - the ammunition has run out. Talalikhin catches up with the Heinkel-111, approaches it, masterfully aligns himself with the tail of the plane, a machine-gun burst flashes from the Heinkel-111, Talalikhin’s right hand is burned - his hand is shot through. But the “hawk” is at the target - 10 meters left. Talalikhin rammed the bomber with his entire vehicle, the “hawk” turned over in the air, the pilot left the plane and flew for about a thousand meters in a long jump, and then opened the parachute.

A fascist Heinkel-111 bomber crashes near a birch grove between the villages of Dobrynikha and Shcheglyatyevo.

This was the first night ram in the history of the war, a heroic feat of Viktor Talalikhin. Ramming is the highest degree of heroism , when the life of a pilot is in the balance, when the unknown lies ahead: is it possible to jump out of a crumpled and damaged plane? Ramming is a special courage of the pilot. Ramming is on the verge of self-sacrifice. Soviet pilots made a daytime ram on the first day of the war near Leningrad, and during the war years, Soviet pilots made hundreds of rams. There were pilots who rammed twice and three times. German pilots did not go to war to ram.

Having thrown himself out of the plane, Talalikhin landed on the bottom of a shallow river. Severki near the outskirts of the village of Mansurovo. Having climbed ashore, Viktor Talalikhin felt pain in his legs and lower back, and the wound on his arm was especially bothersome.

Talalikhin's watch stopped at 23:28 (it was at this moment that the ramming occurred). The pilot was in flight for 33 minutes. The Mansurites found the pilot on the bank of the Severka River. They treated him cautiously - they didn’t know who he was. I.M. were the first to see Talalikhin and approached him. Buralkin , V.D. Zaelkin and V.G. Larionov, collective farmers from Mansurov.

The pilot said: “I belong,” and, overcoming the pain, stood up. The collective farmers carefully led the wounded Viktor Talalikhin to the last house in the village, where E.I. lived. Larionov. Marfa Ivanovna Larinova immediately bandaged Victor’s hand, brought him linen, gave him milk and put him to rest.

Victor, waking up at dawn, looked out of the window; not far away he could see the edge of the forest. In the morning, Victor was given tea, and Yegor Ivanovich Larionov escorted Talalikhin to the place where the plane crashed. After examining the remains of the plane, they returned to the house. The Larionovs already had a cart at home by order of the collective farm chairman N.I. Zaelkina. All Mansurites. escorted Viktor Talalikhin to the village of Stepygino.

That August night they were waiting for the pilot V. Talalikhin at the airfield, but he still wasn’t there. Everyone asked: “Where is Talalikhin, what happened to him?” Victor’s friend, pilot Alexander Pechenevsky, was worried; it was already three o’clock, but his comrade was still not there...

Morning: 9 hours 45 minutes... A U-2 plane appeared over Podolsk, flying to the airfield... Talalikhin got out of the plane with a bandaged hand. Victor is surrounded by fellow soldiers.

Regiment commander Korolev urgently reported to the air unit headquarters about Talalikhin’s feat. Air Corps Commander I.D. Klimov gave instructions to Major Korolev to personally go to the crash site of the fascist bomber and present materials for conferring the title of Hero on pilot Viktor Talalikhin Soviet Union. Major Korolev went to the downed Heinkel-111 plane together with Talalikhin. Four fascists lay motionless ten meters away. While at the downed plane, MI. Korolev and V.V. Talalikhin was seen by correspondents and a photojournalist who had arrived from Moscow. In the photo, Viktor Talalikhin stands next to the fascist bomber he rammed in a long raincoat. Right hand Talalikhin in a sling.

His parents learned about Victor’s heroic deed from a radio message. On the same day in the evening, Viktor Talalikhin will arrive in Moscow.

August 8, 1941 all central newspapers talked about the combat feat of fighter pilot V. Talalikhin, placing a “decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR”, which said: “...for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against German fascism and the courage and heroism shown at the same time, award the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal to fighter pilot junior lieutenant Viktor Vasilyevich Talalikhin.”

Early morning of October 27, cold and clear. By the middle of the day clouds appeared and a piercing blow blew cold wind. The Nazis are rushing towards Moscow, columns of tanks are moving along the Warsaw Highway, bombers are flying into the suburbs in waves.

A squadron of “hawks” under the command of Viktor Talalikhin on the morning of October 27 flew towards the village of Kamenki, flying at low level. Kamenki is located on the 85th km of Warsaw Highway. Fascist scouts fly here day and night. The squadron flew up to Kamenka at 11 o'clock in the morning. In the continuous clouds, six Hawks discovered six Messerschmitts.

- “Messers” on the left! They're attacking! Act boldly and decisively!” - Talalikhin ordered over the radio.

And he was the first to rush into battle. Followers are behind him. From the fire of V. Talalikhin and A. Bogdanov, one Messerschmitt fell down. The rest left. The combat mission of Talalikhin’s squadron was to discover an enemy field airfield, from where Junkers and Heinkels flew to bomb our combat positions. But suddenly a large squadron of Messerschmitts emerged from the clouds and directed fire at Talalikhin’s plane. One Messerschmitt was shot down, but at the same moment Talalikhin’s plane began to descend. “Comrade commander!” cried the wingmen, but Viktor Talalikhin remained silent. Talalikhin's "Hawk" was riddled with bullets from three "Mssserschmitts". The squadron commander died a heroic death. The plane crashed into a dense forest, Viktor Talalikhin did not deviate from the battle, he boldly walked towards the enemy in those difficult October days of 1941 hanging over the country. It was necessary to win, it was necessary to save Russia, but heroes also die. The chief of staff of the regiment flew to the scene of death on a U-2 plane. In the thicket of the forest they found the remains of an airplane and deceased Hero Soviet Union Viktor Talalikhin. Victor's funeral took place in Moscow at the meat-packing plant club.

The feat of Alexander Pankratov.

During the Great Patriotic War, the first feat of a heroic warrior, who covered the embrasure of an enemy bunker with his body, was performed by the political commissar of a tank company, Alexander Konstantinovich Pankratov, from the 125th tank regiment of the 28th tank division, commanded by Colonel I.D. Chernyakhovsky. A turner at the Vologda plant "Northern Communar", Komsomol member Alexander Pankratov, volunteered to serve in the army in October 1938. He was sent to the 21st Tank Brigade. There he graduated from the school for junior commanders, learned to drive a tank, and fire a tank cannon.

The command sent him to the Smolensk Military-Political School, from which he graduated in January 1941 with the rank of junior political instructor. And soon the war broke out.

Having a hard time experiencing the failure of the first days of the war, Alexander wrote home: “Don’t worry, mom! We will defeat the Nazis anyway, and if I have to die, I will die a hero.” This was Pankratov’s real oath, given to his homeland and his own mother, that he was ready for a feat, which he accomplished in the battles for Novgorod on August 24, 1941.

Leaving Novgorod, our units retreated to the east and took up defense on the eastern banks of the Volkhov and Maly Volkhovets rivers. Here stood the Kirillov Monastery, which the Nazis used as an artillery observation post.

On the night of August 24-25, the 125th Tank Regiment was given the task of secretly crossing Maly Volkhovets and capturing the Kirillov Monastery. This task was entrusted to a company in which Pankratov was the political instructor. The company crossed unnoticed, without firing a single shot, and began to make its way to the monastery. The Nazis noticed our fighters and opened machine-gun fire. The company lay down. Pankratov with a group of daredevils crawled towards the monastery. The Nazis discovered them too and began pouring lead on them from the pillbox. The political instructor pulled ahead a little and found himself in “dead” space. Squeezing the last lemon grenade, Pankratov crawled closer to the embrasure and threw the grenade inside. There was an explosion in the bunker. Then Pankratov made a sharp jerk towards the embrasure with the exclamation: “Attack, forward!” and covered the barrel of the enemy’s machine gun with his body. And his company, shouting “hurray,” broke through to the monastery.

The homeland highly appreciated the hero's feat. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 16, 1942, junior political instructor Alexander Konstantinovich Pankratov was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

A similar feat was accomplished on February 23, 1943 by Alexander Matrosov. All those who accomplished such feats before and after Matrosov began to be called sailors, and Pankratov was the first sailor. We couldn't think of anything worse, but it's a fact. If we were to call such heroes something, we should call them Pankratovites. After all, Alexander Pankratov was the first in the history of war to perform a feat of self-sacrifice, covering the enemy’s machine gun with his chest.

The heroism of the defenders of Sevastopol.

The defenders of Sevastopol showed unprecedented courage and resilience. October 30, 1941 The fighting was unprecedentedly fierce. The defenders of Sevastopol fought to the death, but did not surrender to the enemy: “Fight the enemy the Sevastopol way, to the last drop of blood!”

In the note of the sailor-machine gunner “My Motherland! Russian land! I, the son of Lenin’s Komsomol, his pupil, fought as my heart dictated, destroyed the reptiles while my heart beat in my chest. I'm dying, but I know that we will win. The enemy should not be in Sevastopol! Black Sea sailors! Hold on tight! Destroy the fascist mad dogs!”

During a difficult battle for one of the heights, many sailors were shell-shocked or wounded. And although the paratroopers arrived and brought ammunition, some food and water, the forces were clearly unequal. But only on December 20, when only three wounded sailors remained alive, the Nazis managed to capture the bunker and take possession of the heights. Courageous Black Sea residents destroyed several German tanks. And when the supply of bottles with a combustible mixture was used up, they were tied with grenades and thrown under the tanks.

At the end of 1941, German troops broke through to Leningrad. All Leningraders capable of holding weapons in their hands joined the army. Seven hundred thousand young people built the belt defensive structures around the city.

The feat of the submarine "Shch-408".

Not only infantrymen, but also sailors fought heroically for Leningrad. Of the submarines that tried to break into the Baltic in the spring of 1943, some died. The fate of the submarine "Shch-408" under the command of Lieutenant Commander P.S. Kuzmin is known. On May 25, 1943, the submarine Shch-408, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Pavel Kuzmin, tried for three days to overcome German nets and mines placed in the area of ​​Vaindlo Island on the way from the Gulf of Finland to the Baltic Sea. The battery ran out, air supplies ran out, people began to suffocate and lose consciousness. From fuel tanks damaged by mine explosions, diesel bubbles floated to the surface and burst. Based on these spots, the submarine was discovered by enemy aircraft and boats.

The ship's commander, Pavel Kuzmin, a native of the city of Grozny, reported on the difficult situation on the command post fleet. After which he ordered the main ballast tanks to be blown out and to ascend. The submarine was immediately surrounded torpedo boats enemy and opened fire on her. Pavel Kuzmin climbed onto the bridge and called the artillery crew onto the deck. The boat, being on the surface, entered into an unequal battle. And a radiogram went ashore with a request to urgently send planes. Three aviation groups of the 71st Regiment flew from naval airfields to help the submariners; four of our planes were shot down, but the efforts were in vain - the pilots were late.

"Shch-408" was able to hit two enemy boats with artillery fire. And when the shells ran out, she went under the water without lowering the flag.

Defense of Moscow.

The heroic defense of Kyiv, Leningrad, Odessa, Sevastopol and Smolensk was of great importance for disrupting the fascist plan of the “blitzkrieg” and for the defense of Moscow.

In preparation for the capture of Moscow, Hitler gave an ominous, barbaric directive: “The city must be surrounded so that not a single Russian soldier, not a single resident - be it a man, a woman, or a child - can leave it. Any attempt to suppress by force. Make the necessary preparations so that Moscow and its surroundings are flooded with water using huge structures. Where Moscow stands today, a sea must appear that will forever hide the capital of the Russian people from the civilized world.”

In the historical battle for Moscow, the main blow was taken by the rifle divisions of I.V. Panfilov, the group of troops of General L.M. Dovator, and the 1st Guards Tank Brigade of M.E. Katukov.

316th Rifle Division under the command of General Panfilov was the force that was supposed to not let the enemy pass in the Volokolamsk direction. The last echelon of fighters from the Kresttsy and Borovichi area arrived at the Volokolamsk station on October 11, 1941. There was no prepared defense, just as there were no other troops.

The division took up defensive positions on the 41st kilometer front from Ruza to Lotoshino and immediately began to create centers of resistance in the likely directions of enemy attack. Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov was sure that the enemy would rely on tanks as the main striking force. But... “The brave and skillful tank is not afraid,” said Panfilov.

“We will not surrender Moscow to the enemy,” wrote I.V. Panfilov to his wife Maria Ivanovna, “we will destroy the reptile in the thousands, hundreds of his tanks. The division is fighting well...” From October 20 to October 27 alone, the 316th Rifle Division knocked out and burned 80 tanks, killing more than nine thousand enemy soldiers and officers.

The exhausting battles did not stop; by the end of October, the division's front was already 20 kilometers - from the Dubosekovo junction to the village of Teryaevo. Having brought up new forces, replacing broken divisions with new ones and concentrating more than 350 tanks against Panfilov’s division, by mid-November the enemy was ready for a general offensive. “We will have breakfast in Volokolamsk, and dinner in Moscow,” the Nazis hoped.

On the right flank the 1077th regiment of the rifle division held the defense, in the center there were two battalions of the 1073rd regiment of Major Elin, on the left flank, on the most critical section of Dubosekovo - Nelidovo, seven kilometers southeast of Volokolamsk, there was the 1075th regiment of Colonel Ilya Vasilyevich Kaprov. It was against him that the main forces of the enemy were concentrated, trying to break through to the Volokolamsk highway and the railway.

On November 16, 1941, the enemy offensive began. The battle that was fought at night near Dubosekovo by a group of tank destroyers of the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th regiment, led by political instructor Vasily Georgievich Klochkov, was included in all history textbooks. For four hours, Panfilov’s men held back enemy tanks and infantry. They repelled several enemy attacks and destroyed 18 tanks. Most of the legendary warriors who accomplished this unparalleled feat, including Vasily Klochkov, died a brave death that night. The rest (D.F. Timofeev, G.M. Shemyakin, I.D. Shadrin, D.A. Kozhubergenov and I.R. Vasiliev) were seriously wounded. The battle of Dubosekovo went down in history as a feat of 28 Panfilov men; in 1942, all its participants were awarded the title of Heroes of the Soviet Union by the Soviet command...

Panfilov’s men became a terrible curse for the Nazis; there were legends about the strength and courage of the heroes. On November 17, 1941, the 316th Rifle Division was renamed the 8th Guards Rifle Division and awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Hundreds of guardsmen were awarded orders and medals.

On November 19, the division lost its commander... For 36 days it fought under the command of General I.V. Panfilov 316th Rifle Division, defending the capital on the main direction. During his lifetime, the division's soldiers in fierce battles destroyed over 30 thousand fascist soldiers and officers and more than 150 tanks.

Having failed to achieve decisive successes in the Volokolamsk direction, the main enemy forces turned to Solnechnogorsk, where they intended to break through first to Leningradskoye, then to Dmitrovskoye Highway and enter Moscow from the north-west.

Partisan movement.

The partisans operating behind enemy lines provided serious assistance to the Soviet Army.

During combat operations, partisan detachments of Mozhaisk, Volokolamsk, Lotoshinsky, Ruzsky and other districts of the Moscow region distinguished themselves.

Performed an immortal feat heroine Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya . On November 29, 1941, in the village of Petrishchevo near Moscow, the Germans hanged partisan Tanya, who set fire to a stable with German horses. Under the name Tanya was hiding the Moscow schoolgirl Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for her feat. The Germans did not catch the partisan themselves, she was betrayed by her comrade and peer, who walked with her on the fateful night of November 26, who at the same time had to throw his incendiary bottle. He chickened out at the last minute, he was afraid of being hanged by the Germans, but was shot by the Russians.
Vasily Klubkov chickened out and was caught. Zoya did not chicken out, she did her job and went to the appointed place. She could have gone further into the forest, but she did not want to leave her comrade in danger. Zoya trustingly waited for Klubkov, but instead of him, the German soldiers sent by him came to the edge of the forest.
Zoya was interrogated in the presence of Klubkov. She refused to identify herself, refused to answer where she came from and why. She said that she did not know Klubkov and was seeing him for the first time.
Then the officer looked at Klubkov. Klubkov said: “She’s lying, we’re from the same detachment. We carried out a task together. Her name is Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya...”
The story with Klubkov not only explained how the Germans established the true name of the partisan Tanya, but also made her interrogation by the Germans pointless. After all, from the traitor, the enemies had already learned the name and real biography of the heroine, and the location of the partisan detachment. And Zoya’s feat was measured not by the damage inflicted on the enemy, but by her moral superiority over him, expressed in her refusal to buy her life or at least an easy death at the cost of betrayal.
Klubkov, sent as a German agent to Moscow, either confessed himself or was exposed as an enemy spy. He was shot according to martial law. Obviously, before his death, the traitor told about Zoya’s last hours.
Here are excerpts from the essay by Peter Lidov:
"...And then they brought Zoya in, pointed to the bunk. She sat down. On the table opposite her were telephones, a typewriter, a radio, and staff papers were laid out.
The officers began to converge. The owners of the house (Voronin) were ordered to leave. The old woman hesitated, and the officer shouted: “Uterus, fuck!” - and pushed her in the back.
Commander of the 332nd infantry regiment 197th Division Lieutenant Colonel Rüderer himself interrogated Zoya.
Sitting in the kitchen, the Voronins could still hear what was happening in the room. The officer asked questions, and Zoya (here she called herself Tanya) answered them without hesitation, loudly and boldly.
- Who you are? - asked the lieutenant colonel.
- I will not say.
- Did you set the stable on fire?
- Yes I.
- Your aim?
- Destroy you.
Pause.
- When did you cross the front line?
- On Friday.
- You got there too quickly.
- Well, yawn, or what?
Zoya was asked about who sent her and who was with her. They demanded that she give up her friends. The answers were heard through the door: “no,” “I don’t know,” “I won’t tell,” “no.” Then the belts whistled in the air, and you could hear them lashing your body. A few minutes later, the young officer rushed out of the room into the kitchen, buried his head in his hands and sat there until the end of the interrogation, closing his eyes and plugging his ears. Even the fascist’s nerves couldn’t stand it... Four hefty men, taking off their belts, beat the girl. The owners of the house counted two hundred blows, but Zoya did not make a single sound. And then she answered again: “no,” “I won’t tell”; only her voice sounded muffled than before...
Non-commissioned officer Karl Bauerlein (later captured) was present at the torture inflicted on Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya by Lieutenant Colonel Rüderer. In his testimony he wrote:
“The little heroine of your people remained firm. She did not know what betrayal was... She turned blue from the cold, her wounds were bleeding, but she did not say anything.”
Zoya spent two hours in the Voronins’ hut. After interrogation, she was taken to Vasily Kulik’s hut. She walked under escort, still undressed, walking barefoot in the snow.
When she was brought into Kulik’s hut, she had a large bluish-black spot on her forehead and abrasions on her legs and arms. She was breathing heavily, her hair was disheveled, and black strands stuck together on her high forehead, covered with drops of sweat. The girl’s hands were tied behind her with a rope, her lips were bitten and bloody and swollen. She probably bit them when they tried to torture them out of a confession.
She sat down on the bench. A German sentry stood at the door. She sat calmly and motionless, then asked for a drink. Vasily Kulik approached the tub of water, but the sentry beat him to it, grabbed the lamp from the table and brought it to Zoya’s mouth. He wanted to say that he should be given kerosene to drink, not water.
Kulik began to ask for the girl. The sentry snapped, but then reluctantly gave in and allowed Zoya to get a drink. She greedily drank two large mugs.
The soldiers who lived in the hut surrounded the girl and laughed loudly. Some stabbed her with their fists, others held lit matches to their chins, and someone ran a saw across her back.
Having had enough fun, the soldiers went to bed. Then the sentry raised his rifle at the ready and ordered Zoya to get up and leave the house. He walked down the street from behind, placing his bayonet almost close to her back. Then he shouted: “Tsuryuk!” - and took the girl to reverse side. Barefoot, in only her underwear, she walked through the snow until the tormentor himself was chilled and decided that it was time to return to a warm shelter.
This sentry watched Zoya from ten o'clock in the evening until two o'clock in the morning and every hour took her outside for fifteen to twenty minutes...
Finally a new sentry took up post. The unfortunate woman was allowed to lie down on a bench. Taking a moment, Praskovya Kulik spoke to Zoya.
-Whose will you be? - she asked.
- Why do you need this?
- Where are you from?
- I am from Moscow.
- Are there any parents?
The girl didn't answer. She lay there until the morning without moving, saying nothing more and not even groaning, although her legs were frostbitten and, apparently, were in great pain.
In the morning, the soldiers began to build a gallows in the middle of the village.
Praskovya spoke to the girl again:
- The day before yesterday - was it you?
- I... Did the Germans burn out?
- No.
- It's a pity. What burned?
- Their horses were burned. They say the weapon burned...
At ten o'clock in the morning the officers arrived. One of them asked Zoya again:
- Tell me: who are you?
Zoya didn't answer...
The owners of the house did not hear the continuation of the interrogation: they were pushed out of the house and let in when the interrogation was already over.
They brought Zoya's things: a blouse, trousers, stockings. There was also her duffel bag, and in it were matches and salt. The hat, fur jacket, downy knitted sweatshirt and boots were gone. The non-commissioned officers managed to divide them among themselves, and the mittens went to the red-haired cook from the officer’s kitchen.
Zoya was dressed, and the owners helped her pull stockings onto her blackened legs. They hung bottles of gasoline taken from her and a board with the inscription: “Arsonist” on her chest. So they took him to the square where the gallows stood.
The execution site was surrounded by ten horsemen with drawn sabers, more than a hundred German soldiers and several officers. Local residents were ordered to gather and be present at the execution, but few of them came, and some, having come and stood, quietly went home so as not to witness the terrible spectacle.
Under a loop lowered from the crossbar, two boxes were placed one on top of the other. They lifted the girl, placed her on a box and put a noose around her neck. One of the officers began pointing the lens of his Kodak at the gallows. The commandant made a sign to the soldiers performing the duty of executioners to wait.
Zoya took advantage of this and, turning to the collective farmers and collective farm women, shouted in a loud and clear voice:
- Hey, comrades! Why are you looking sad? Be brave, fight, beat the fascists, burn, poison!
The fascist standing next to him swung his hand and wanted to either hit her or cover her mouth, but she pushed his hand away and continued:
- I'm not afraid to die, comrades! It is happiness to die for your people!
The photographer had photographed the gallows from a distance and close up and was now positioning himself to photograph it from the side. The executioners looked restlessly at the commandant, and he shouted to the photographer:
- Aber doh schneller! (Hurry up!)
Then Zoya turned towards the commandant and shouted to him and the German soldiers:
- You'll hang me now, but I'm not alone. There are two hundred million of us, you can’t outweigh them all. You will be avenged for me. Soldiers! Before it's too late, surrender: victory will still be ours!
The executioner pulled the rope, and the noose squeezed Zoya’s throat. But she spread the noose with both hands, rose up on her toes and shouted, straining all her strength:
- Farewell, comrades! Fight, don't be afraid...
The executioner rested his forged shoe on the box, which creaked on the slippery, trampled snow. The top drawer fell down and hit the ground with a loud sound. The crowd recoiled. Someone's scream rang out and died away, and the echo repeated it at the edge of the forest..."

Defense of Stalingrad.

In 1942, German troops broke through to the North Caucasus and launched an offensive in the Stalingrad direction.

The defense of Stalingrad was entrusted to the 62nd Army of General V.I. Chuikov. The whole world knows the words of the legendary hero, uttered by him when he was appointed commander of the army: “I understand the task very well, I will carry out the task, but in general I will either die or Stalingrad will be lost.”

Every great battle gives birth to its heroes. The Battle of Stalingrad has no equal in history.

Soviet pilots fought valiantly in continuous air battles with the enemy. Pilot crew N. Divichenko , who made three combat sorties every day, went on a solo hunt on December 21, 1942. Having dropped bombs on an enemy airfield in the Morozovskaya area, the plane was damaged and was returning on one engine. Then the second engine was damaged by anti-aircraft fire and caught fire. There was a strong explosion in the car. The navigator's cabin was torn off and he bailed out. Divichenko and the shooters died.

Former student of GITIS Natasha Kachuevskaya , who voluntarily went to the front, performed what seemed like an incredible feat on the Stalingrad front as a nurse. After a long battle, 20 people were wounded. Kachuevskaya carried them out along with their weapons, provided first aid and, by order of the commander, took several seriously wounded to the medical battalion. Suddenly she noticed a group of German machine gunners who had infiltrated our rear. They were chasing the car. Natasha carried the wounded to the dugout, and she, armed with rifles and grenades, took cover nearby. The Nazis surrounded the dugout. With well-aimed shots she disabled two Nazis, but she herself was mortally wounded. Gathering her last strength, Natasha inserted fuses into the grenades and detonated them at the moment when at least a dozen fascists came close to her. Some of them were killed, others were wounded. Natasha Kachuevskaya also died, but the wounded were saved. They were taken to the hospital by soldiers from a neighboring company.

On February 2, 1943, the grandiose battle of Stalingrad ended. With this major battle, a turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War began; from that moment on, the strategic initiative passed to the side of the Soviet command.

The largest battle of World War II was the Battle of Kursk.

Feats of Soviet patriots.

The chronicles of the Great Patriotic War record hundreds of thousands of remarkable feats of Soviet patriots.

Komsomolskaya Pravda Galina Kyiv in the winter of 1942 she found herself at the front under Staraya Russa as a company political instructor. In the battle she was seriously wounded, and the medical commission declared her unfit for life. military service. But, having recovered from her wound, the patriot was again eager to go to the front. And with the help of the Komsomol Central Committee, she received permission. At the beginning of May 1943, G. Kievskaya was appointed Komsomol organizer of the battalion of the 125th Infantry Division. During this battle, the attack of our Red Army soldiers failed. And at this critical moment the girl stood up to her full height and shouted “For the Motherland!” rushed forward. The soldiers, carried away by the heroic example of the Komsomol member, stood up, but the enemy could not withstand such an onslaught and abandoned the heights.

2nd year student of the Chuvash Pedagogical Institute Ivan Alekseev , drafted into the Red Army, participated in battles as an anti-aircraft gunner. After the first wound, he wrote to his sister: “Now I’m stronger, I don’t complain about my health. And don’t forget your older brother - he shot down many enemy planes with his cannons... Soon, having defeated the enemy, he will return home.” In another letter he gives advice: “Study, read, help the front in any way you can.” Having received the news of the death of brother Vasily, he answered sparingly: “There is no hope to wait. I will avenge him!”

June 13, 1944 Death tore Ivan Alekseev from the ranks of Soviet soldiers. In his suicide note, he asked to convey the following words to the “gray-haired father”: “Your son Vanya fulfilled your father’s advice and orders, sparing neither his strength nor his life.”

Lyudmila Pavlinchenko fought near Odessa and Sevastopol. Army newspapers and leaflets called for learning the art of marksmanship from snipers. Lyudmila accounted for 309 killed Nazis. At the front she was wounded, shell-shocked, and frostbitten, but she didn’t even want to hear about being sent to the rear. For her accomplished feat of arms, L. Pavlinchko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The news of the exploits spread throughout the vast country "Young Guard" in Krasnodar. True to their oath, the Young Guards carried out a great deal of mass political work among the population. In total, during the occupation they issued more than 30 leaflet titles, which ended with the words: “Death to the German occupiers!” On the night of November 7, 1942, Komsomol members strengthened red flags on a number of buildings in the city. Immediately after the November holidays, the underground organized the escape of 20 prisoners of war from the Pervomaiskaya hospital and freed more than 70 soldiers and commanders from the camp on the Volchanok farm.

All Young Guards became a symbol of perseverance, greatness of spirit, love for the Motherland and hatred of its enemies.

On January 1, 1943, failure unexpectedly occurred - due to the fault of a traitor. Arrests and torture began. Underground workers were hung by the neck from a window frame, their fingers were crushed by the door and needles were driven under their nails, they were beaten with sticks and whips. The investigator's office, in which the Komsomol members were tortured, looked more like a slaughterhouse, as it was spattered with blood.

On the walls of the prison cells they left farewell inscriptions that testify to the steadfastness and courage of the Young Guards.

I.A. Zemnukhov wrote: “Dear mom and dad! We need to endure everything steadfastly! Greetings from the loving son of Zemnukhov.” L. Shevtsova’s inscription was laconic and tragic: “Farewell mother, your daughter Lyubka is leaving for the damp earth.”

January 30, 1945 Soviet submarine "S-13" under the command of captain 3rd rank A.I.Marinesko accomplished a truly heroic feat. She tracked down the German liner Wilhelm Gustow, which was transporting more than 6 thousand Nazis from Danzig to Kiel. Despite the raging storm, an hour before midnight our submarine attacked an enemy ship. Several torpedoes, one after another, quickly rushed towards the target. After a strong explosion, the liner was blown up.

Young communist pilot A.K. Horovets near the village of Zasorinye, he entered into battle with 20 enemy bombers, shooting down 9 of them. The rest, throwing bombs, turned back. It has never happened in aviation that in one air combat the pilot shot down nine enemy planes! Communist A.K. Gorovets, who died in this unequal battle, was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Komsomol guard junior lieutenant A.A.Derevianko wrote to his mother: I will die, only heroically.” And he remained true to his oath. In the battle near Belgorod, Derevianko knocked out three Tiger tanks. A few minutes later, new tanks attacked his anti-aircraft gun. With the exclamation “We are Russians!” We will not retreat! Derevianko knocked out another tank. Without having time to load the gun, the Soviet patriot was crushed by the tank tracks. The courageous artilleryman was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In 1939 Sr. lieutenantA. I. Pokryshkin graduates from aviation school with excellent grades and leaves for Kirovograd, to the 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment. This is where his flying biography began. Pokryshkin met the war in Moldova. And already on June 23 he opens the account - he shoots down the first Me -109. On July 3, already having several victories in the air, he was shot down by anti-aircraft fire over the Prut River. The plane was destroyed during landing at the edge of the forest. The pilot, despite his leg injury, managed to reach the regiment's location on the fourth day.

On October 5, 1941, in the Zaporozhye region, Pokryshkin was shot down for the second time. For several days he emerges from encirclement and fights at the head of a group of soldiers.

At the end of 1941, Pokryshkin's main combat job was as a reconnaissance officer, capable of providing reliable information to the command of the Southern Front. In November, when the lower edge of the clouds dropped to 30 meters, on a low-level flight, Pokryshkin alone (before that, two I-16 fighters flew out on the same mission and did not return) finds the main group of the general’s tank army in the Rostov-on-Don area von Kleist - more than 200 cars. For this feat he was awarded the Order of Lenin.

The air battle began in Kuban. The 16th Guards Regiment, whose first squadron was commanded by Alexander Pokryshkin, gained particular fame. On April 12, in one of the very first battles upon arrival in Kuban, in front of the front air force commander, Lieutenant General K. A. Vershinin, he shot down four Messerschmitts. For this success, the innovative pilot was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. A few weeks later, Pokryshkin’s name was already thundering in the front-line and central press. On May 24, 1943, A.I. Pokryshkin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The legendary battle of April 29, 1943, in which he shot down 5 bombers, is widely known. In the essay “Master of the Sky - Alexander Pokryshkin,” front-line correspondents A. Malyshko and A. Verkholetov wrote: “Does he shoot?” friends say about him. “He comes down with all his fire, burns like a blast furnace.” All firing points on Pokryshkin’s vehicle were transferred to one trigger. Four against 50, three against 23, alone against 8 Pokryshkin entered the battle. And I never knew defeat. Possessing a clear style, A. I. Pokryshkin himself appears with articles in the military press, where he writes about the famous “thunderstorm formula” he created: “Altitude - speed - maneuver - fire!”, about the “Kuban whatnot”, about the “falcon strike” , about a new method of patrolling at high speeds based on the principle of movement of a clock pendulum and other tactical innovations. “Feat requires thought, skill and risk” - this was the credo of the legendary pilot, whom the Hero of the Soviet Union famous pilot

and the writer M. L. Gallai accurately called him “a thinker in our business.”

In February 1944, a call to high authorities followed. The renowned ace is offered the general position of head of the combat training department of the Air Force fighter aircraft. Pokryshkin without hesitation refuses the promotion and returns to the front. In March 1944, Pokryshkin became commander of the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (4th Ukrainian Front).

On July 8, 1944, he received the rank of colonel and was appointed commander of the 9th Guards Fighter Air Division.

On August 9, 1944, for 550 combat missions and 53 downed aircraft, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the third time. A.I. Pokryshkin became the first to be awarded this title, and remained the only three times Hero until the day of Victory over Germany.

Officially, Pokryshkin has 650 combat missions and 59 personally shot down aircraft.

Conclusion.

May 9, 1945 Soviet people, all progressive humanity celebrated a great holiday - Victory Day, which heralded the end of the bloodiest war.

The rejoicing of our people on this “holiday with tears in our eyes” knew no bounds. The terrible bloodshed ended and a new, peaceful life began.

In the front ranks of the warriors who fought on land, sea and in the air were young people. The famous Soviet commander G.K. Zhukov speaks with unusual warmth about the heroism and courage of young soldiers: “I have seen many times how soldiers rise to attack. It is not easy to rise to your height when the air is permeated with deadly metal. But they got up! But many of them barely knew the taste of life: 19-20 years old is the best age for a person - everything is ahead! And for them very often there was only a German dugout ahead, spewing machine-gun fire!”

We also won because there were those at the guns, in the tanks, on the planes whose energy and unquenchable passion for heroism in the name of saving the Motherland worked miracles.

During the war years, 7 thousand students of the Youth Union became Heroes of the Soviet Union, 60 Komsomol members were awarded this title twice. 9 million young men and women who joined the Komsomol during the war made an invaluable contribution to the achievement of Victory with their military and labor feats.

Let us bow to those great years,

Theme to glorious commanders and soldiers.

And the country's marshals and privates,

Let us bow to both the dead and the living, -

To all those who must not be forgotten,

Let's bow, bow, friends.

The whole world, all the people, the whole Earth -

Let us bow down for that great battle.

. Alexander Vert. Russia in the war of 1941-1945. Progress Publishing House.

Moscow 1967

Bibliography:

Today we want to remember 5 heroes of the Great Patriotic War, whose exploits are sometimes overshadowed... Ekaterina Zelenko If everyone knows Talalikhin’s feat, then the name of the first woman who committed...

Today we want to remember 5 heroes of the Great Patriotic War, whose exploits are sometimes overshadowed...

Ekaterina Zelenko

While everyone knows Talalikhin’s feat, the name of the first woman to perform an aerial ram is known to few. On September 12, 1941, Zelenko, in her Su-2 light bomber, entered into battle with the German Messers, and when her vehicle ran out of ammunition, she destroyed the enemy fighter precisely in air ram. The heroine did not survive that battle.

Zelenko’s husband, military pilot Pavel Ignatenko, also died in the battles of the Great Patriotic War in 1943.

Dmitry Komarov

The selfless tactics of ramming are unique in modern warfare - it is all the more surprising when one relatively small tank goes to ram an entire armored train! The only documented case of such a feat is the story of Guard Lieutenant Dmitry Komarov, who on June 25, 1944 full speed ahead a burning T-34 rammed a German train near Chernye Brody in western Ukraine.

By some miracle, the hero remained alive in that battle, although almost all the members of his crew died. Nevertheless, Dmitry Evlampievich, as people say, “hurried to God”: he died heroically in the battles for Poland in the fall of the same 1944.

Ivan Fedorov

This Hero of the Soviet Union has one of the most mysterious biographies. Undoubtedly possessing remarkable skill in conducting air combat and having shot down more than a dozen German aircraft, Ivan Evgrafovich, nevertheless, earned himself a title that was not very commensurate with his rank.

Hero of the reputation of "Baron Munchausen" of the Russian Air Force. As the commander of one of the aviation penal battalions, he often later boasted of greatly exaggerated or simply false “feats.”

The most ridiculous incident was when he began to tell the cadets of the Kachinsky School that he allegedly participated in the operation to rescue the crew of the Chelyuskin steamship. When Fedorov’s misconduct became known, he only miraculously escaped the tribunal and for a long time then he was under suspicion, so he received the Gold Star of the Hero relatively late.

Nikolay Sirotinin

His biography is little known and unremarkable: a simple guy from Orel, he was drafted into the army in 1940. But it was Nikolai Sirotin who, with his incredible feat, confirms the saying “And there is only one warrior in the field, if he is tailored in Russian.”

On July 17, 1941, Sirotinin and his battalion commander, covering our retreating units, took on an unequal battle with the Germans at the bridge over the Dobrost River in Belarus. The battalion commander, having been wounded, retreated, and Nikolai Sirotinin remained in the firing position, from where he only stepped straight into history.

In that battle, he single-handedly destroyed 11 tanks, 6 armored personnel carriers and 57 soldiers of the enemy army, and when the shells ran out and the Germans offered to surrender, he responded only with fire from his carbine. When it was all over, the Nazis buried the twenty-year-old Red Army soldier - with military honors, paying tribute to his heroism.

However, the Motherland celebrated Sirotinin’s feat only with the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and then only in 1960.

Epistinia Stepanova

How to measure heroism? How to determine who can be considered a hero and who cannot? Probably the most worthy of all who could bear this proud title is she, a simple Russian woman who gave birth to 15 children - Epistinia Stepanova.

She gave the most precious thing to the Motherland - nine sons, seven of whom never returned home from the Great Patriotic War, and two more died in the Civil War and Khalkhin Gol. The authorities awarded her the title “Mother Heroine” and after her death in 1974, she was buried with full military honors.

Young heroes of the Great Patriotic War

Educational material for extracurricular activities literary reading or history for primary school on topic: WWII

Before the war, these were the most ordinary boys and girls. They studied, helped their elders, played, raised pigeons, and sometimes even took part in fights. These were ordinary children and teenagers, whom only family, classmates and friends knew about.

But the hour has come severe tests and they proved how huge an ordinary little child’s heart can become when a sacred love for the Motherland, pain for the fate of one’s people and hatred for enemies flares up in it. Together with the adults, the weight of adversity, disaster, and grief of the war years fell on their fragile shoulders. And they did not bend under this weight, they became stronger in spirit, more courageous, more resilient. And no one expected that it was these boys and girls who were capable of accomplishing a great feat for the glory of the freedom and independence of their Motherland!

No! - we told the fascists, -

Our people will not tolerate

So that Russian bread is fragrant

Called by the word "brot"....

Where is the strength in the world?

So that she can break us,

Bent us under the yoke

In those regions where on the days of victory

Our great-grandparents

Have you feasted so many times?..

And from sea to sea

The Russian regiments stood up.

We stood up, united with the Russians,

Belarusians, Latvians,

People of free Ukraine,

Both Armenians and Georgians,

Moldovans, Chuvash...

Glory to our generals,

Glory to our admirals

And to the ordinary soldiers...

On foot, swimming, horseback,

Tempered in hot battles!

Glory to the fallen and the living,

Thank you to them from the bottom of my heart!

Let's not forget those heroes

What lies in the damp ground,

Giving my life on the battlefield

For the people - for you and me.

Excerpts from S. Mikhalkov’s poem “True for Children”

Kazei Marat Ivanovich(1929-1944), partisan of the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union (1965, posthumously). Since 1942, scout for a partisan detachment (Minsk region).

The Nazis burst into the village where Marat lived with his mother, Anna Alexandrovna. In the fall, Marat no longer had to go to school in the fifth grade. The Nazis turned the school building into their barracks. The enemy was fierce. Anna Aleksandrovna Kazei was captured for her connection with the partisans, and Marat soon learned that his mother had been hanged in Minsk. The boy's heart was filled with anger and hatred for the enemy. Together with his sister Hell Marat, Kazei went to the partisans in the Stankovsky forest. He became a scout at the headquarters of a partisan brigade. He penetrated enemy garrisons and delivered valuable information to the command. Using this data, the partisans developed a daring operation and defeated the fascist garrison in the city of Dzerzhinsk. Marat took part in battles and invariably showed courage and fearlessness, and together with experienced demolitionists he mined railway. Marat died in battle. He fought to the last bullet, and when he had only one grenade left, he let his enemies get closer and blew them up... and himself. For courage and bravery, fifteen-year-old Marat Kazei was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. A monument to the young hero was erected in the city of Minsk.

Portnova Zinaida Martynovna (Zina) (1926-1944), young partisan of the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union (1958, posthumously). Scout of the partisan detachment “Young Avengers” (Vitebsk region).

The war found Leningrad resident Zina Portnova in the village of Zuya, where she came for vacation, not far from the Obol station in the Vitebsk region. An underground Komsomol-youth organization “Young Avengers” was created in Obol, and Zina was elected a member of its committee. She took part in daring operations against the enemy, distributed leaflets, and conducted reconnaissance on instructions from a partisan detachment. In December 1943, returning from a mission in the village of Mostishche, Zina was handed over as a traitor to the Nazis. The Nazis captured the young partisan and tortured her. The answer to the enemy was Zina’s silence, her contempt and hatred, her determination to fight to the end. During one of the interrogations, choosing the moment, Zina grabbed a pistol from the table and shot point-blank at the Gestapo man. The officer who ran in to hear the shot was also killed on the spot. Zina tried to escape, but the Nazis overtook her. The brave young partisan was brutally tortured, but before last minute remained persistent, courageous, unbending. And the Motherland posthumously celebrated her feat with its highest title - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Kotik Valentin Alexandrovich(Valya) (1930-1944), young partisan of the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union (1958, posthumously). Since 1942 - liaison officer for an underground organization in the city of Shepetivka, scout for a partisan detachment (Khmelnitsky region, Ukraine).

Valya was born on February 11, 1930 in the village of Khmelevka, Shepetovsky district, Khmelnitsky region. Studied at school No. 4. When the Nazis burst into Shepetivka, Valya Kotik and his friends decided to fight the enemy. The guys collected weapons at the battle site, which the partisans then transported to the detachment on a cart of hay. Having taken a closer look at the boy, the leaders of the partisan detachment entrusted Valya to be a liaison and intelligence officer in their underground organization. He learned the location of enemy posts and the order of changing the guard. The Nazis planned a punitive operation against the partisans, and Valya, having tracked down the Nazi officer who led the punitive forces, killed him. When arrests began in the city, Valya, along with his mother and brother Victor, went to join the partisans. An ordinary boy, who had just turned fourteen years old, fought shoulder to shoulder with adults, freeing native land. He was responsible for six enemy trains that were blown up on the way to the front. Valya Kotik was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and the medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War,” 2nd degree. Valya died as a hero in one of the unequal battles with the Nazis.

Golikov Leonid Alexandrovich(1926-1943). Young partisan hero. Brigade scout of the 67th detachment of the fourth Leningrad partisan brigade, operating in the Novgorod and Pskov regions. Participated in 27 combat operations.

In total, he destroyed 78 fascists, two railway and 12 highway bridges, two food and fodder warehouses and 10 vehicles with ammunition. He distinguished himself in battles near the villages of Aprosovo, Sosnitsa, and Sever. Accompanied a convoy with food (250 carts) to besieged Leningrad. For valor and courage he was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Battle and the medal "For Courage".

On August 13, 1942, returning from reconnaissance from the Luga-Pskov highway, near the village of Varnitsa, he blew up a passenger car in which there was a German Major General of the Engineering Troops, Richard von Wirtz. In a shootout, Golikov shot and killed the general, the officer accompanying him, and the driver with a machine gun. The intelligence officer delivered a briefcase with documents to the brigade headquarters. These included drawings and descriptions of new models of German mines, inspection reports to higher command and other important military papers. Nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. On January 24, 1943, Leonid Golikov died in an unequal battle in the village of Ostraya Luka, Pskov Region. By decree of April 2, 1944, the Presidium of the Supreme Council awarded him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Arkady Kamanin dreamed of heaven when I was just a boy. Arkady's father, Nikolai Petrovich Kamanin, a pilot, participated in the rescue of the Chelyuskinites, for which he received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. And my father’s friend, Mikhail Vasilyevich Vodopyanov, is always nearby. There was something to make the boy's heart burn. But they didn’t let him fly, they told him to grow up. When the war began, he went to work at an aircraft factory, then at an airfield. Experienced pilots, even if only for a few minutes, sometimes trusted him to fly the plane. One day the cockpit glass was broken by an enemy bullet. The pilot was blinded. Losing consciousness, he managed to hand over control to Arkady, and the boy landed the plane at his airfield. After this, Arkady was allowed to seriously study flying, and soon he began to fly on his own. One day, from above, a young pilot saw our plane shot down by the Nazis. Under heavy mortar fire, Arkady landed, carried the pilot into his plane, took off and returned to his own. The Order of the Red Star shone on his chest. For participation in battles with the enemy, Arkady was awarded the second Order of the Red Star. By that time he had already become an experienced pilot, although he was fifteen years old. Arkady Kamanin fought with the Nazis until the victory. The young hero dreamed of the sky and conquered the sky!

Utah Bondarovskaya in the summer of 1941 she came from Leningrad on vacation to a village near Pskov. Here a terrible war overtook her. Utah began to help the partisans. At first she was a messenger, then a scout. Dressed as a beggar boy, she collected information from the villages: where the fascist headquarters were, how they were guarded, how many machine guns there were. The partisan detachment, together with units of the Red Army, left to help the Estonian partisans. In one of the battles - near the Estonian farm of Rostov - Yuta Bondarovskaya, the little heroine great war, died the death of the brave. The Motherland posthumously awarded its heroic daughter the medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War”, 1st degree, and the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.

When the war began, and the Nazis were approaching Leningrad, for underground work in the village of Tarnovichi - in the south Leningrad region- the counselor was left high school Anna Petrovna Semenova. To communicate with the partisans, she selected her most reliable guys, and the first among them was Galina Komleva. Cheerful, brave, inquisitive girl of six years old school years was awarded books six times with the signature: “For excellent studies.” The young messenger brought assignments from the partisans to her counselor, and forwarded her reports to the detachment along with bread, potatoes, and food, which were obtained with great difficulty. One day, when a messenger from a partisan detachment did not arrive on time at the meeting place, Galya, half-frozen, made her way into the detachment, handed over a report and, having warmed up a little, hurried back, carrying a new task to the underground fighters. Together with the young partisan Tasya Yakovleva, Galya wrote leaflets and scattered them around the village at night. The Nazis tracked down and captured the young underground fighters. They kept me in the Gestapo for two months. The young patriot was shot. The Motherland celebrated the feat of Galya Komleva with the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.

For the reconnaissance and explosion operation railway bridge across the Drissa River, Leningrad schoolgirl Larisa Mikheenko was nominated for a government award. But the young heroine did not have time to receive her award.

The war cut off the girl from hometown: in the summer she went on vacation to the Pustoshkinsky district, but was unable to return - the village was occupied by the Nazis. And then one night Larisa and two older friends left the village. At the headquarters of the 6th Kalinin Brigade, the commander is Major P.V. Ryndin initially refused to accept “such little ones.” But young girls were able to do what they couldn’t strong men. Dressed in rags, Lara walked through the villages, finding out where and how the guns were located, the sentries were posted, what German vehicles were moving along the highway, what kind of trains were coming to Pustoshka station and with what cargo. She also took part in military operations. The young partisan, betrayed by a traitor in the village of Ignatovo, was shot by the Nazis. In the Decree on awarding Larisa Mikheenko the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, there is a bitter word: “Posthumously.”

Could not put up with the atrocities of the Nazis and Sasha Borodulin. Having obtained a rifle, Sasha destroyed the fascist motorcyclist and took his first battle trophy - a real German machine gun. This was a good reason for admitting him to partisan detachment. Day after day he conducted reconnaissance. More than once he went on the most dangerous missions. He was responsible for many destroyed vehicles and soldiers. For carrying out dangerous tasks, for demonstrating courage, resourcefulness and courage, Sasha Borodulin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in the winter of 1941. Punishers tracked down the partisans. The detachment left them for three days. In the group of volunteers, Sasha remained to cover the detachment’s retreat. When all his comrades died, the brave hero, allowing the fascists to close a ring around him, grabbed a grenade and blew them up and himself.

The feat of a young partisan

(Excerpts from M. Danilenko’s essay “Grishina’s Life” (translation by Yu. Bogushevich))

At night, punitive forces surrounded the village. Grisha woke up from some sound. He opened his eyes and looked out the window. A shadow flashed across the moonlit glass.

- Dad! - Grisha called quietly.

- Sleep, what do you want? - the father responded.

But the boy did not sleep anymore. Stepping barefoot on the cold floor, he quietly went out into the hallway. And then I heard someone tear open the doors and several pairs of boots thundered heavily into the hut.

The boy rushed into the garden, where there was a bathhouse with a small extension. Through the crack in the door Grisha saw his father, mother and sisters being taken out. Nadya was bleeding from her shoulder, and the girl was pressing the wound with her hand...

Until dawn, Grisha stood in the outbuilding and looked ahead with wide open eyes. The moonlight filtered sparingly. Somewhere an icicle fell from the roof and crashed on the rubble with a quiet ringing sound. The boy shuddered. He felt neither cold nor fear.

That night a small wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows. Appeared never to disappear again. Grisha's family was shot by the Nazis.

A thirteen-year-old boy with an unchildishly stern look walked from village to village. I went to Sozh. He knew that somewhere across the river his brother Alexei was, there were partisans. A few days later Grisha came to the village of Yametsky.

A resident of this village, Feodosia Ivanova, was a liaison officer for a partisan detachment commanded by Pyotr Antonovich Balykov. She brought the boy to the detachment.

The detachment commissar Pavel Ivanovich Dedik and the chief of staff Alexey Podobedov listened to Grisha with stern faces. And he stood in a torn shirt, with his legs knocked against the roots, with an unquenchable fire of hatred in his eyes. The partisan life of Grisha Podobedov began. And no matter what mission the partisans were sent on, Grisha always asked to take him with them...

Grisha Podobedov became an excellent partisan intelligence officer. Somehow the messengers reported that the Nazis, together with policemen from Korma, robbed the population. They took 30 cows and everything they could get their hands on and were heading towards the Sixth Village. The detachment set off in pursuit of the enemy. The operation was led by Pyotr Antonovich Balykov.

“Well, Grisha,” said the commander. - You will go with Alena Konashkova on reconnaissance. Find out where the enemy is staying, what he is doing, what he is thinking of doing.

And so a tired woman with a hoe and a bag wanders into the Sixth Village, and with her a boy dressed in a large padded jacket that is too large for his size.

“They sowed millet, good people,” the woman complained, turning to the police. - Try to raise these fellings with little ones. It's not easy, oh, it's not easy!

And no one, of course, noticed how the boy’s keen eyes followed each soldier, how they noticed everything.

Grisha visited five houses where fascists and policemen stayed. And I found out about everything, then reported in detail to the commander. A red rocket soared into the sky. And a few minutes later it was all over: the partisans drove the enemy into a cleverly placed “bag” and destroyed him. The stolen goods were returned to the population.

Grisha also went on reconnaissance missions before the memorable battle near the Pokat River.

With a bridle, limping (a splinter had gotten into his heel), the little shepherd scurried among the Nazis. And such hatred burned in his eyes that it seemed that it alone could incinerate his enemies.

And then the scout reported how many guns he saw at the enemies, where there were machine guns and mortars. And from partisan bullets and mines, the invaders found their graves on Belarusian soil.

At the beginning of June 1943, Grisha Podobedov, together with partisan Yakov Kebikov, went on reconnaissance to the area of ​​​​the village of Zalesye, where a punitive company from the so-called Dnepr volunteer detachment was stationed. Grisha snuck into the house where the drunken punishers were having a party.

The partisans silently entered the village and completely destroyed the company. Only the commander was saved; he hid in a well. In the morning, a local grandfather pulled him out of there, like a filthy cat, by the scruff of the neck...

This was the last operation in which Grisha Podobedov participated. On June 17, together with foreman Nikolai Borisenko, he went to the village of Ruduya Bartolomeevka to buy flour prepared for the partisans.

The sun shone brightly. A gray bird fluttered on the roof of the mill, watching people with its cunning little eyes. Broad-shouldered Nikolai Borisenko had just loaded a heavy sack onto the cart when the pale miller came running.

- Punishers! - he exhaled.

The foreman and Grisha grabbed their machine guns and rushed into the bushes growing near the mill. But they were noticed. Evil bullets whistled, cutting off the branches of the alder tree.

- Get down! - Borisenko gave the command and fired a long burst from the machine gun.

Grisha, aiming, fired short bursts. He saw how the punishers, as if they had stumbled upon an invisible barrier, fell, mowed down by his bullets.

- So for you, so for you!..

Suddenly the sergeant-major gasped loudly and grabbed his throat. Grisha turned around. Borisenko twitched all over and fell silent. His glassy eyes were now looking indifferently at the high sky, and his hand was stuck, as if stuck, in the stock of the machine gun.

The bush, where only Grisha Podobedov now remained, was surrounded by enemies. There were about sixty of them.

Grisha clenched his teeth and raised his hand. Several soldiers immediately rushed towards him.

- Oh, you Herods! What did you want?! - the partisan shouted and slashed at them point-blank with a machine gun.

Six Nazis fell at his feet. The rest lay down. More and more often bullets whistled over Grisha’s head. The partisan was silent and did not respond. Then the emboldened enemies rose again. And again, under well-aimed machine gun fire, they pressed into the ground. And the machine gun had already run out of cartridges. Grisha pulled out a pistol. - I give up! - he shouted.

A tall and thin as a pole policeman ran up to him at a trot. Grisha shot him straight in the face. For an elusive moment, the boy looked around at the sparse bushes and clouds in the sky and, putting the pistol to his temple, pulled the trigger...

About exploits young heroes The Great Patriotic War, can be read in the books:

Avramenko A.I. Messengers from Captivity: a story / Transl. from Ukrainian - M.: Young Guard, 1981. - 208 e.: ill. — (Young heroes).

Bolshak V.G. Guide to the Abyss: Document. story. - M.: Young Guard, 1979. - 160 p. — (Young heroes).

Vuravkin G.N. Three pages from a legend / Trans. from Belarusian - M.: Young Guard, 1983. - 64 p. — (Young heroes).

Valko I.V. Where are you flying, little crane?: Document. story. - M.: Young Guard, 1978. - 174 p. — (Young heroes).

Vygovsky B.S. Fire of a young heart / Transl. from Ukrainian — M.: Det. lit., 1968. - 144 p. - (School library).

Children of the wartime / Comp. E. Maksimova. 2nd ed., add. - M.: Politizdat, 1988. - 319 p.

Ershov Ya.A. Vitya Korobkov - pioneer, partisan: a story - M.: Voenizdat, 1968 - 320 p. — (Library of a young patriot: About the Motherland, exploits, honor).

Zharikov A.D. Exploits of the Young: Stories and Essays. — M.: Young Guard, 1965. —- 144 e.: ill.

Zharikov A.D. Young partisans. - M.: Education, 1974. - 128 p.

Kassil L.A., Polyanovsky M.L. Street youngest son: story. — M.: Det. lit., 1985. - 480 p. — (Student’s military library).

Kekkelev L.N. Countryman: The Tale of P. Shepelev. 3rd ed. - M.: Young Guard, 1981. - 143 p. — (Young heroes).

Korolkov Yu.M. Partisan Lenya Golikov: a story. - M.: Young Guard, 1985. - 215 p. — (Young heroes).

Lezinsky M.L., Eskin B.M. Live, Vilor!: a story. - M.: Young Guard, 1983. - 112 p. — (Young heroes).

Logvinenko I.M. Crimson Dawns: document. story / Transl. from Ukrainian — M.: Det. lit., 1972. - 160 p.

Lugovoi N.D. Scorched childhood. - M.: Young Guard, 1984. - 152 p. — (Young heroes).

Medvedev N.E. Eaglets of the Blagovsky forest: document. story. - M.: DOSAAF, 1969. - 96 p.

Morozov V.N. A boy went on reconnaissance: a story. - Minsk: State Publishing House of the BSSR, 1961. - 214 p.

Morozov V.N. Volodin front. - M.: Young Guard, 1975. - 96 p. — (Young heroes).

The war demanded courage from people, and heroism was massive. 5 impressive battle stories in which you can appreciate the resilience and courage of the heroes of the Second World War.

July 13, 1941, in battles near the city of Balti, when delivering ammunition to his company near the town of Arctic fox of the riding machine gun company of the 389th rifle regiment 176th Infantry Division of the 9th Army of the Southern Front, Red Army soldier D. R. Ovcharenko was surrounded by a detachment of enemy soldiers and officers numbering 50 people. At the same time, the enemy managed to take possession of his rifle. However, D. R. Ovcharenko was not taken aback and, grabbing an ax from the cart, cut off the head of the officer who was interrogating him, threw 3 grenades at the enemy soldiers, destroying 21 soldiers. The rest fled in panic. He then caught up with the second officer and also cut off his head. The third officer managed to escape. After which he collected documents and maps from the dead and arrived at the company along with the cargo. (A copy of the document confirming Ovcharenko’s feat is on wikipedia.org)

Unfortunately, the hero did not live to see the Victory. In the battles for the liberation of Hungary in the area of ​​the Sheregeyesh station, the machine gunner of the 3rd Tank Brigade, Private D. R. Ovcharenko, was seriously wounded. He died in hospital from his wounds on January 28, 1945. Awarded the Order of Lenin.

Under the onslaught of Heinz Guderian's 4th Panzer Division, commanded by von Langerman, units of the 13th Army retreated, and with them Sirotinin's regiment. On July 17, 1941, the battery commander decided to leave one gun with a two-man crew and 60 rounds of ammunition at the bridge over the Dobrost River at the 476th kilometer of the Moscow-Warsaw highway to cover the retreat with the task of delaying the tank column. One of the crew numbers was the battalion commander himself; Nikolai Sirotinin volunteered second.

The gun was camouflaged on a hill in thick rye; the position allowed a good view of the highway and bridge. When a column of German armored vehicles appeared at dawn, Nikolai with the first shot knocked out the lead tank that had reached the bridge, and with the second - the armored personnel carrier that trailed the column, thereby creating a traffic jam. The battery commander was wounded and, since the combat mission was completed, stepped aside Soviet positions. However, Sirotinin refused to retreat, since the cannon still had a significant number of unexpended shells.

The Germans attempted to clear the jam by dragging the damaged tank from the bridge with two other tanks, but they were also hit. An armored vehicle that tried to ford the river got stuck in a swampy bank, where it was destroyed. For a long time the Germans were unable to determine the location of the well-camouflaged gun; they believed that a whole battery was fighting them. The battle lasted two and a half hours, during which time 11 tanks, 6 armored vehicles, 57 soldiers and officers were destroyed.

By the time Nikolai's position was discovered, he had only three shells left. When asked to surrender, Sirotinin refused and fired from his carbine to the last.

Awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (posthumously). N.V. Sirotinin was never nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. According to relatives, a photograph was needed to complete the documents, but the only photograph the relatives had was lost during the evacuation.

“July 7, 1941. Sokolnichi, near Krichev. In the evening, an unknown Russian soldier was buried. He stood alone at the cannon, shot at a column of tanks and infantry for a long time, and died. Everyone was surprised at his courage... Oberst said before his grave that if all the Fuhrer’s soldiers fought like this Russian, they would conquer the whole world. They fired rifle volleys three times...” From the diary of Chief Lieutenant of the 4th Panzer Division Friedrich Hoenfeld

One of the beautiful legends from the Second World War tells about a Red Army soldier named Vataman from such an assault unit, who in 1944 hand-to-hand combat killed 10 Nazi soldiers with a faulty cartridge. According to one version - 10, according to another - 9, according to the third - 8, according to the fourth - 13 in total. Be that as it may, in the article “Engineer Assault Units of the RVGK” I. Mshchansky talks about 10 Nazis.

Of course, like any legend, the Vataman phenomenon has critics who claim that the Faustpatron is too heavy to fight effectively, and the warhead would simply fall off from the blows. There are several thoughts in the discussion on WarHistory that seem rational.

The first is that in hand-to-hand combat the fighter used the Faust cartridge after firing it. That is, in fact, I only used a pipe that weighs several kg. The Panzerfaust launch tube has a diameter of 15 cm and a length of 1 m, and the projectile weighs 3 kg. For hand-to-hand combat it is quite a suitable weapon.

And for a photograph after the battle, he picked up an entire Faust cartridge. In addition, dr_guillotin also notes that the grenade in the pipe is held by a pin by the ears - so it will not fall out in hand-to-hand combat. In general, faust cartridges were stored separately from fuses. They were inserted shortly before use, and without a fuse you can even throw it from the third floor...

The second thought is that the whole event did not happen in one fell swoop, as in action films, where they scatter a bunch of enemies at once, but sequentially throughout the battle. After all, the fighter Vataman fought “half of Europe”, and his opponents, urgently mobilized into the militia, only took up arms a few days ago. And in the stupor of the first battle, they were not very formidable opponents.

But in any case, it's impressive combat history. And Vataman himself looks like a real epic hero - his wide palms reveal him to be a natural strongman. In my opinion, this case can also, in principle, be classified as “one at the gun”... In the end, the Faustpatron is, although not a cannon, but a small anti-tank weapon.

Yes, by the way, I can add that although the name of the daredevil remains unknown, the surname of our hero speaks of his Moldavian roots.

Here we will talk not so much about an individual person, but about a team - the crew of the KV-1 tank, led by senior lieutenant Zinovy ​​Grigorievich Kolobanov. In addition to the commander, the crew included driver-mechanic foreman N. Nikiforov, gun commander senior sergeant A. Usov, radio operator-machine gunner senior sergeant P. Kiselnikov and junior driver-mechanic Red Army soldier N. Rodnikov.

So, this heroic crew, in just three hours of battle, on August 19, 1941, destroyed as many as 22 enemy tanks! This is an absolute record for the entire Great Patriotic War, and subsequent wars. No one was able to destroy 22 tanks in three hours. After the “debriefing” it turned out that the battle was carried out in accordance with all the then accepted rules of military art.

The tankers acted very smartly: on a tank column passing along the nearest road, they shot the “head” and “tail”, after which they began to methodically, like in a shooting range, shoot the stuck “iron beasts” of the enemy. Let us note that the tank of our heroes received 135 hits from German shells. At the same time, the tank continued the battle, and nothing in its design failed.

The crew of the KV-1, senior lieutenant Z. Kolobanov (center) at their combat vehicle. August 1941 (CMVS)

On October 16, 1943, the battalion in which Manshuk Mametova served received an order to repel an enemy counterattack. As soon as the Nazis tried to repel the attack, Senior Sergeant Mametova’s machine gun started working. The Nazis rolled back, leaving hundreds of corpses. Several fierce attacks of the Nazis had already been drowned out at the foot of the hill. Suddenly the girl noticed that two neighboring machine guns had fallen silent - the machine gunners had been killed. Then Manshuk, quickly crawling from one firing point to another, began to fire at the advancing enemies from three machine guns.

The enemy transferred mortar fire to the position of the resourceful girl. A nearby explosion of a heavy mine knocked over the machine gun behind which Manshuk lay. Wounded in the head, the machine gunner lost consciousness for some time, but the triumphant cries of the approaching Nazis forced her to wake up. Instantly moving to a nearby machine gun, Manshuk lashed out with a shower of lead at the chains of the fascist warriors. And again the enemy’s attack failed. This ensured the successful advancement of our units, but the girl from distant Urda remained lying on the hillside. Her fingers froze on the Maxima trigger.

On March 1, 1944, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, senior sergeant Manshuk Zhiengalievna Mametova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in battles for the freedom and independence of our Motherland...

What feats of the Great Patriotic War do we know about? Alexander Matrosov, who covered the embrasure; Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who was tortured by the Nazis; pilot Alexey Maresyev, who lost both legs, but continued to fight... It’s unlikely that anyone will be able to remember the names of other heroes. Meanwhile, there are a lot of people who have done the impossible to defend their homeland. The streets of our cities are named after them, but we don’t even know who they are or what they did. The editors decided to correct this situation - we invite you to learn about the 10 most incredible feats of the Great Patriotic War.

Nikolai Gastello

Nikolai Gastello

Nikolai Gastello was a military pilot, captain, commander of the 2nd squadron of the 207th long-range bomber aviation regiment. Before the Great Patriotic War, Gastello worked as a simple mechanic. He went through three wars, a year before the Second World War he received the rank of captain.

On June 26, 1941, the crew commanded by Nikolai Gastello took off to strike a German mechanized column located between the Belarusian cities of Molodechno and Radoshkovichi. During the operation, Gastello's plane was hit by a shell anti-aircraft gun— the plane caught fire. Nikolai could have ejected, but instead he directed the burning plane into a German column. Before this, during the entire period of the Second World War, no one had done anything like this, so after Gastello’s feat, all the pilots who decided to go for a ram were called Gastelloites.

Lenya Golikov

Lenya Golikov

During the Great Patriotic War, Lenya Golikov was in the Leningrad partisan brigade as a brigade scout of the 67th detachment of the 4th. When the Second World War began, he was 15 years old; he joined the partisan detachment when the Germans captured his native Novgorod region. During his stay in the partisan brigade, he managed to take part in twenty-seven operations, destroy several bridges behind enemy lines, destroy ten trains transporting ammunition, and kill more than seventy Germans.

In the summer of 1942, near the village of Varnitsa, Lenya Golikov blew up a car in which German Engineering Troops Major General Richard von Wirtz was riding. As a result of this operation, Golikov was able to obtain important documents that spoke about German offensive. This made it possible to disrupt the impending German attack. For this feat of laziness, Golikov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He died in battle in the winter of 1943 near the village of Ostray Luka, he was 16 years old.

Zina Portnova

Zina Portnova

Zina Portnova was a scout for the Voroshilov partisan detachment, which operated in German-occupied territory. When the war began, Zina was in Belarus on vacation. In 1942, at the age of 16, she joined the underground organization "Young Avengers", where she initially distributed anti-fascist leaflets in German-occupied territories. Then Zina got a job in a canteen for German officers. There she committed a number of acts of sabotage; it was only a miracle that the Germans did not capture her.

In 1943, Zina joined the partisan detachment, where she continued to engage in sabotage behind enemy lines. But soon, thanks to reports from traitors who had gone over to the German side, Zina was captured, where she was subjected to severe torture. However, the enemies underestimated the young girl - torture did not force her to betray her own, and during one of the interrogations, Zina managed to grab a pistol and kill three Germans. Soon after this, Zina Portnova was shot, she was 17 years old.

Young guard

Young guard

This was the name of the underground anti-fascist organization, which carried out its activities in the area of ​​​​the modern Lugansk region. The “Young Guard” included more than a hundred participants, the youngest of whom was only fourteen years old. The most famous members of the Young Guard are Oleg Koshevoy, Ulyana Gromova, Lyubov Shevtsova, Vasily Levashov, Sergei Tyulenin and others.

Members of this underground organization produced and distributed leaflets in German-occupied territory, and also committed sabotage. As a result of one of the sabotages, they were able to disable an entire repair shop in which the Germans were repairing tanks. They also managed to burn down the stock exchange, from where the Germans were driving people to Germany.

The traitors handed over the Young Guard members to the Germans just before the planned uprising. More than 70 members of the organization were captured, tortured, and then shot.

Victor Talalikhin

Victor Talalikhin

Viktor Talalikhin was the deputy squadron commander of the 177th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment. Talalikhin took part in the Soviet-Finnish war, during which he managed to destroy four enemy aircraft. After the war, he went to serve in an aviation school. During the Second World War, in August 1941, he shot down a German bomber by ramming it, and remained alive, getting out of the cockpit and parachuting to the rear of his own.

After this, Viktor Talalikhin managed to destroy five more fascist planes. However, already in October 1914, the hero died while participating in another air battle near Podolsk. In 2014, Viktor Talalikhin’s plane was found in the swamps near Moscow.

Andrey Korzun

Andrey Korzun

Andrei Korzun was an artilleryman of the 3rd counter-battery artillery corps of the Leningrad Front. Korzun was drafted into the army at the very beginning of the Second World War. His battery came under heavy enemy fire on November 5, 1943. In this battle, Andrei Korzun was seriously wounded. Seeing that the powder charges were set on fire, which could cause the ammunition depot to fly into the air, Korzun, experiencing severe pain, crawled towards the burning powder charges. He no longer had the strength to take off his overcoat and cover the fire with it, so he, losing consciousness, covered it with himself. As a result of this feat of Korzun, no explosion occurred.

Alexander German

Alexander German

Alexander German was the commander of the 3rd Leningrad partisan brigade. Alexander served in the army since 1933, and when the Great Patriotic War began, he became a scout. Then he began to command a partisan brigade, which managed to destroy several hundred trains and cars, kill thousands German soldiers and officers. The Germans tried for a long time to reach German’s partisan detachment, and in 1943 they succeeded: in the Pskov region, the detachment was surrounded, and Alexander German was killed.

Vladislav Khrustitsky

Vladislav Khrustitsky

Vladislav Khrustitsky was the commander of the 30th Separate Guards Tank Brigade on the Leningrad Front. Vladislav served in the army since the 20s; at the end of the 30s he completed armored courses, and in the fall of 1942 he began to command the 61st separate light tank brigade. Vladislav Khrustitsky distinguished himself during Operation Iskra, which gave impetus to the future defeat of the Nazis on the Leningrad Front.

In 1944, the Germans were already retreating from Leningrad, but the tank brigade of Vladislav Khrustitsky fell into a trap near Volosovo. Despite the fierce fire from the enemy, Khrustitsky radioed the order “Fight to the death!”, after which he was the first to go forward. In this battle, Vladislav Khrustitsky died, and the village of Volosovo was liberated from the Nazis.

Efim Osipenko

Efim Osipenko

Efim Osipenko was the commander of a partisan detachment, which he organized with several of his comrades immediately after the Germans seized his land. Osipenko's detachment committed anti-fascist sabotage. During one of these sabotages, Osipenko was supposed to throw explosives made from a grenade under a German train, which he did. However, there was no explosion. Without hesitation, Osipenko found a railway sign and hit the grenade with a stick attached to it. It exploded, and the train with food and tanks for the Germans went downhill. The hero survived, but lost his sight. For this operation, Efim Osipenko received the medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War”; this was the first award of such a medal.

Matvey Kuzmin

Matvey Kuzmin

Matvey Kuzmin became the oldest participant in the Second World War who received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but, alas, posthumously. He was 83 years old when the Germans took him prisoner and demanded that he lead them through the forest and swamps. Matvey sent his grandson ahead to warn the partisan detachment that was next to them about the approaching Germans. Thus, the Germans were ambushed and defeated. During the battle, Matvey Kuzmin was killed by a German officer.