Incomprehensible and incredible Russia. This is how our Motherland appears before the eyes of our opponents and enemies. Even those of them who initially underestimated the people inhabiting our country, at the cost of enormous losses, recognized the immutable truth: Russia is invincible. Our history contains many such examples.
“Never fight with the Russians. They will respond to your every military trick with unpredictable stupidity,” warned German Chancellor Otho von Bismarck back in the 19th century.
Only he called stupidity what those who attacked our land could not understand. This is courage, heroism, incredible self-sacrifice, and the fortitude of the people inhabiting our country.
So what do the losers say about us? Those who set out to conquer the freest people.
“My God, what are these Russians planning to do to us? We’ll all die here!”
The greatest feat was accomplished by the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. At the cost of millions of lives, the country won the bloodiest war in world history. The desperate resistance and heroism of Soviet soldiers amazed even the Germans, who initially considered the Slavs to be “subhuman.”
When the Nazis set foot on Russian soil, they immediately encountered fierce resistance. The Nazi army, which easily conquered all of Europe, did not expect such a rebuff at all.
German officer Erich Mende recalled the words of his superior, who fought with the Russians during the First World War: “Here, in these vast expanses, we will find our death, like Napoleon. Mende, remember this hour, it marks the end of the old Germany.”
From the first days of the war, German soldiers and unit commanders noted that the war with the Russians was radically different from what it was in Europe. The Germans were amazed by the tenacity and perseverance of the Russian soldier in defense - never giving up and always emerging victorious.
This is how it was on June 22, 1941, when enemy forces surprised the defenders Brest Fortress, the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Command described in his diary ground forces Wehrmacht Franz Halder:
“Where the Russians were knocked out or smoked out, new forces soon appeared. They crawled out of basements, houses, sewer pipes and other temporary shelters, fired with precision, and our losses continually grew.”
One of the German soldiers who fought at Stalingrad surprisingly accurately reflected in his diary the incredible qualities of Soviet soldiers.
“October 1. Our assault battalion reached the Volga. More precisely, there are still 500 meters to the Volga. Tomorrow we will be on the other side and the war is over.”
"October 3. There is very strong fire resistance, we cannot overcome these 500 meters. We are standing on the border of some kind of grain elevator."
"October 10. Where are these Russians coming from? The elevator is no longer there, but every time we approach it, fire is heard from underground."
“It turned out that the elevator was defended by 18 Russians, we found 18 corpses.”
A battalion of 350-700 people could not break the resistance of eighteen soldiers for two weeks.
“I’ve never seen anyone more evil than these Russians. Real watchdogs! You never know what to expect from them. And where do they get tanks and everything else?!”, recalled another German military man.
What is good for a Russian is death for a German.
Many also noted the close communication with nature of Russian people and his unpretentiousness in food and comfort.
The chief of staff of the 4th Wehrmacht Army, General Günther Blumentritt, wrote: “Close communication with nature allows the Russians to move freely at night in the fog, through forests and swamps. They are not afraid of the dark, endless forests and cold. They are no stranger to winter when the temperature drops to minus 45.”
The cold and endless expanses of our Motherland did not really appeal to the German invaders. The same Blumentritt argued that the endless and melancholic expanses of Russia had a depressing effect on the Germans, accustomed to small territories. This influence was especially intensified in autumn or winter, when the landscape was transformed. At this time, the German soldier felt insignificant and lost.
Another Wehrmacht general, Friedrich Wilhelm von Mellenthin, noted that the strength of the Russian soldier lies in his special closeness to nature. He wrote that for Russian people there are no such natural obstacles as swamps, swamps, or impenetrable forests. Under these conditions, the Russians felt at home, Mellenthin marveled. They easily crossed wide rivers using the most basic means at hand and could build roads everywhere.
“In a few days, the Russians build many kilometers of roads through impassable swamps,” Mellenthin wrote.
The Germans also noted with bewilderment that the Russians practically did not surrender and fought to the last soldier. This worried them very much, because a person for whom duty and Motherland are more valuable than life is invincible.
Thousands of partisans also stood up to defend our Motherland behind enemy lines. For the Germans, by their own admission, the fight against partisan movement turned into a real nightmare.
Never has the world known such mass heroism as during the Great Patriotic War. Such self-sacrifice has no analogues in the entire history of mankind. Similar heroic deeds, when soldiers covered the embrasures of pillboxes with their chests, were performed by hundreds of Soviet soldiers. Neither the Germans nor the representatives of the Allied forces did anything like this.
Russians do not surrender or “attack of the dead”.
The heroism of the Russian people was manifested not only during the Second World War. It was recognized by our enemies during the First World War. Then Germany easily defeated the armies of France and England, which were considered the strongest in Europe. At the same time, just as during World War II, it faced an “insurmountable obstacle” - Russia. The Germans could not help but note the fierce resistance of the Russian soldiers until their last breath, even when death was inevitable, which is why they fought even more courageously.
According to the recollections of many of our opponents, both in the First and Second World Wars, the Russians went on the attack, even knowing that the enemy’s forces significantly exceeded their own. However, despite the fact that our army in many wars was significantly inferior both in the technical component and in the number of soldiers, it managed to win incredible victories. History is replete with such examples. The Germans in both the First and Second World Wars were perplexed: how could the Russians win victories when technically german army was equipped significantly better when their forces outnumbered ours?
Major Kurt Hesse wrote: “He who is in Great War fought against the Russians, will forever retain deep respect for this enemy in his soul. Without those big ones technical means, which we had at our disposal, only weakly supported by our artillery, the sons of the Siberian steppes had to withstand the fight with us for weeks and months. Bleeding, they courageously performed their duty.”
The birth of the legendary phrase “Russians do not give up!” usually associated with an event that took place on the battlefields of the First World War.
In 1915 Russian troops held the defense of the Osovets fortress, which was located on the territory of modern Belarus. The command gave the order to hold out for 48 hours, but one small Russian garrison defended itself for 190 days.
For several months in a row, the Germans bombed the fortress day and night. Thousands of shells and bombs were dropped on the defenders of the fortress. There were very few of them, but there was always the same answer to the offer to surrender.
Then on the morning of August 6, 1915, the Germans used poisonous gases against the defenders. They deployed 30 gas batteries opposite the fortress. Our soldiers had almost no gas masks or any means of protection against chemical weapons at their disposal.
Every living thing on the territory of the fortress was poisoned. The grass turned black, and a toxic layer of chlorine oxide lay on the surface of the guns. Immediately after the gas attack, the enemy used artillery and 7,000 soldiers moved to storm Russian positions.
The Germans believed that the fortress had already been taken; they did not expect to meet anyone alive on its territory...
And at that moment, a Russian counterattack fell on them from a poisonous green fog. The soldiers, of whom there were a little more than sixty, marched full height. For every Russian warrior there were more than a hundred opponents. But they walked to the bayonet quarters, shaking with coughing and spitting out pieces of their lungs onto their bloody tunics. Everyone moved forward as one, with the sole purpose of crushing the Germans.
The Russian soldiers, who, it would seem, should have already been dead, plunged the Germans into such genuine horror that they rushed back. They fled in panic, trampling each other, hanging on barbed wire fences. At this time, the revived Russian artillery hit them.
Several dozen half-dead Russian soldiers put several well-equipped enemy battalions to flight.
Another example where incredible fortitude and courage accomplished the seemingly impossible. "Attack of the Dead" became immortal feat of the Russian people.
We say Russians, but we mean many nationalities, because our country is a multinational and multi-religious state, united under the banner Great Russia. On the battlefields of both the First and Second World Wars, representatives of various nationalities died and performed great feats. All of them created the history of Russian military glory.
Introduction
History does not know a more large-scale, fierce, destructive and bloody confrontation than the one that our people had to wage against the fascist aggressors. In the war of 1941-1945. The fate of not only the Fatherland, but also many other peoples and countries - essentially all of humanity - was being decided. Military personnel of the internal troops fought shoulder to shoulder with the Red Army against the invaders. Eternal and holy is the feat of our compatriots who overcame fascism and won Great Victory.
The Great Patriotic War will forever remain in the memory of the descendants and successors of the great people great country. About thirty million of our compatriots died heroically for the freedom of our Motherland. At times it seemed to the enemy that the collapse of the USSR was inevitable: the Germans were near Moscow and Leningrad, breaking through near Stalingrad. But the fascists simply forgot that for centuries Genghis Khan, Batu, Mamai, Napoleon and others tried unsuccessfully to conquer our country. The Russian people were always ready to defend their Motherland and fight until their last breath. There was no limit to the patriotism of our soldiers. Only a Russian soldier saved a wounded comrade from under heavy fire from enemy machine guns. Only the Russian soldier mercilessly beat the enemies, but spared the prisoners. Only the Russian soldier died, but did not give up.
At times, German commanders were horrified by the rage and tenacity, courage and heroism of ordinary Russian soldiers. One of the German officers said: “When my tanks go on the attack, the earth trembles under their weight. When the Russians go into battle, the earth trembles from fear of them.” One of the captured German officers looked into the faces of the Russian soldiers for a long time and, in the end, sighed and said: “Now I see that Russian spirit that we were told about many times.” Our soldiers performed many feats during the Great Patriotic War. The young guys sacrificed themselves for this long-awaited Victory. Many of them did not return home, disappeared or were killed on the battlefields. And each of them can be considered a hero. After all, it was they who, at the cost of their lives, led our Motherland to the Great Victory. The soldiers died, knowing full well that they were giving their lives in the name of happiness, in the name of freedom, in the name clear skies and clear sun, in the name of future happy generations.
Yes, they accomplished a feat, they died, but did not give up. The consciousness of his duty to the Motherland drowned out the feeling of fear, pain, and thoughts of death. This means that this action is not an unconscious action - a feat, but a conviction in the rightness and greatness of the cause for which a person consciously gives his life.
Victory in the Great Patriotic War is a feat and glory of our people. No matter how the assessments and facts of our history have changed in recent years, May 9, Victory Day, remains a sacred holiday for our people. Eternal glory to the soldiers of war! Their feat will forever remain in the hearts of millions of people who value peace, happiness, and freedom.
feat hero soldier war
1. The exploits of Soviet soldiers and officers during the Great Patriotic War
The war between the USSR and Nazi Germany was not an ordinary war between two states, between two armies. It was the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders. From the very first days of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet people had to deal with a very serious enemy who knew how to wage a major modern war. Hitler's mechanized hordes, regardless of losses, rushed forward and put to fire and sword everything that came along the way. Thanks to iron discipline, military skill and dedication, millions of Soviet people, who looked death in the face, won and remained alive. The exploits of Soviet heroes became a beacon to which other heroic warriors looked up.
Viktor Vasilievich Talalikhin
Born on September 18, 1918 in the village. Teplovka, Volsky district, Saratov region. Graduated from the Borisoglebok Military Aviation School for Pilots. Participated in Soviet-Finnish war 1939 - 1940. He made 47 combat missions, shot down 4 Finnish aircraft, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star (1940).
In the battles of the Great Patriotic War from June 1941. Made more than 60 combat missions. In the summer and autumn of 1941, he fought near Moscow<#"justify">. Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub
(1920-1991), Air Marshal (1985), Hero Soviet Union(1944 - twice; 1945). During the Great Patriotic War in fighter aviation, squadron commander, deputy regiment commander, spent 120 air battles; shot down 62 aircraft.
Three times Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub shot down 17 enemy aircraft on the La-7 (including the Me-262 jet fighter<#"justify">. Alexey Petrovich Maresyev
Maresyev Alexey Petrovich fighter pilot, deputy squadron commander of the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, guard senior lieutenant.
Born on May 20, 1916 in the city of Kamyshin, Volgograd Region, into a working-class family. He was drafted into the Soviet army in 1937. Served in the 12th aviation border detachment. He made his first combat mission on August 23, 1941 in the Krivoo Rog area. Lieutenant Maresyev opened his combat account at the beginning of 1942 - he shot down a Ju-52. By the end of March 1942, he brought the count of downed fascist planes to four
In June 1943, Maresyev returned to duty. Fought on Kursk Bulge as part of the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, he was deputy squadron commander. In August 1943, during one battle, Alexey Maresyev shot down three enemy FW-190 fighters at once.
On August 1943, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Guard Senior Lieutenant Maresyev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Later he fought in the Baltic states and became a regiment navigator. In 1944 he joined the CPSU. In total, he made 86 combat missions, shot down 11 enemy aircraft: 4 before being wounded and seven with amputated legs. In June 1944, Guard Major Maresyev became an inspector-pilot of the Directorate of Higher educational institutions Air Force. Boris Polevoy's book "The Tale of a Real Man" is dedicated to the legendary fate of Alexei Petrovich Maresyev.
Retired Colonel A.P. Maresyev was awarded two Orders of Lenin, orders October revolution, Red Banner, Patriotic War 1st degree, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, Orders of Friendship of Peoples, Red Star, Badge of Honor, "For Services to the Fatherland" 3rd degree, medals, foreign orders. He was an honorary soldier of a military unit, an honorary citizen of the cities of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Kamyshin, and Orel. A small planet is named after him solar system, public fund, youth patriotic clubs. He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Author of the book "On the Kursk Bulge" (M., 1960).
Even during the war, Boris Polevoy’s book “The Tale of a Real Man” was published, the prototype of the main character of which was Maresyev.
Krasnoperov Sergey Leonidovich
Krasnoperov Sergei Leonidovich was born on July 23, 1923 in the village of Pokrovka, Chernushinsky district. In May 1941, he volunteered to join the ranks Soviet army. I studied at the Balashov Aviation Pilot School for a year. In November 1942, attack pilot Sergei Krasnoperov arrived at the 765th attack air regiment, and in January 1943 he was appointed deputy squadron commander of the 502nd attack air regiment of the 214th attack air division of the North Caucasus Front. For military distinctions he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, the Red Star, and the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree.
The regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov, wrote about Sergei Krasnoperov: “Such heroic deeds of Comrade Krasnoperov are repeated in every combat mission. The pilots of his flight became masters of assault. The flight is united and occupies a leading position. The command always entrusts him with the most difficult and responsible tasks. With his heroic exploits, he created military glory for himself and enjoys well-deserved military authority among the regiment’s personnel.” Indeed. Sergei was only 19 years old, and for his exploits he had already been awarded the Order of the Red Star. He was only 20, and his chest was decorated with the Golden Star of the Hero.
Sergei Krasnoperov made seventy-four combat missions during the days of fighting on the Taman Peninsula. As one of the best, he was trusted to lead groups of “silts” on assault 20 times, and he always carried out a combat mission. He personally destroyed 6 tanks, 70 vehicles, 35 carts with cargo, 10 guns, 3 mortars, 5 anti-aircraft artillery points, 7 machine guns, 3 tractors, 5 bunkers, an ammunition depot, sunk a boat, a self-propelled barge, and destroyed two crossings across the Kuban.
Matrosov Alexander Matveevich
Matrosov Alexander Matveevich - rifleman of the 2nd battalion of the 91st separate rifle brigade (22nd Army, Kalinin Front), private. Born on February 5, 1924 in the city of Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk). In October 1942 he entered the Krasnokholmsky Infantry School, but soon most of the cadets were sent to the Kalinin Front. In the active army since November 1942. On February 27, 1943, the 2nd battalion received the task of attacking a strong point in the area of the village of Chernushki (Loknyansky district of the Pskov region). As soon as our soldiers passed through the forest and reached the edge, they came under heavy enemy machine-gun fire. Two machine guns were destroyed, but the machine gun from the third bunker continued to fire at the entire ravine in front of the village. Then Matrosov stood up, rushed to the bunker and closed the embrasure with his body. At the cost of his life, he contributed to the accomplishment of the unit’s combat mission.
A few days later, the name of Matrosov became known throughout the country. Matrosov’s feat was used by a journalist who happened to be with the unit for a patriotic article. Despite the fact that Matrosov was not the first to commit such an act of self-sacrifice, it was his name that was used to glorify the heroism of Soviet soldiers. Subsequently, over 200 people accomplished the same feat, but this was no longer widely publicized. His feat became a symbol of courage and military valor, fearlessness and love for the Motherland.
“It is known that Alexander Matrosov was far from the first in the history of the Great Patriotic War to accomplish such a feat. More precisely, he had 44 predecessors (5 in 1941, 31 in 1942 and 8 before February 27, 1943). And the very first to cover the enemy machine gun with his body was political instructor A.V. Pankratov. Subsequently, many more commanders and soldiers of the Red Army performed the self-sacrificing feat. By the end of 1943, 38 soldiers followed Matrosov’s example, in 1944 - 87, in the last year of the war - 46. The last one in the Great Patriotic War to close the machine gun embrasure with his body was Guard Sergeant Arkhip Manita. This happened in Berlin 17 days before the Victory...
Of the 215 who accomplished the “feat of Matrosov,” the heroes were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Some exploits were appreciated only many years after the war. For example, a Red Army soldier of the 679th rifle regiment Abram Levin, who covered the bunker embrasure with his body in the battle for the village of Kholmets on February 22, 1942, was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, only in 1967. There are also documented cases where brave men who performed the “sailor’s” feat remained alive. This is Udodov A.A., Rise R.Kh., Maiborsky V.P. and Kondratyev L.V.” (V. Bondarenko “One Hundred Great Feats of Russia”, M., “Veche”, 2011, p. 283).
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was posthumously awarded to Alexander Matveevich Matrosov on June 19, 1943. He was buried in the city of Velikiye Luki. On September 8, 1943, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, the name of Matrosov was assigned to the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment, and he himself was forever included (one of the first in the Soviet Army) in the lists of the 1st company of this unit. Monuments to the Hero were erected in St. Petersburg, Togliatti, Velikiye Luki, Ulyanovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Ufa, Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, and there are at least several hundred streets and squares of Alexander Matrosov in the cities and villages of the former USSR.
Ivan Vasilievich Panfilov
In the battles near Volokolamsk, the 316th Infantry Division of General I.V. especially distinguished itself. Panfilova. Reflecting continuous enemy attacks for 6 days, they knocked out 80 tanks and killed several hundred soldiers and officers. Enemy attempts to capture the Volokolamsk area and open the way to Moscow<#"justify">. Nikolai Frantsevich Gastello
Nikolai Frantsevich was born on May 6, 1908 in Moscow, into a working-class family. Graduated from 5th grade. Worked as a mechanic at the Murom Locomotive Plant construction machines. In the Soviet Army in May 1932. In 1933 he graduated from Lugansk military school pilots in bomber units. In 1939 he took part in the battles on the river. Khalkhin - Gol and the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940. In the active army since June 1941, the squadron commander of the 207th Long-Range Bomber Aviation Regiment (42nd Bomber Aviation Division, 3rd Bomber Aviation Corps DBA), Captain Gastello, carried out another mission flight on June 26, 1941. His bomber was hit and caught fire. He flew the burning plane into a concentration of enemy troops. The enemy suffered heavy losses from the explosion of the bomber. For the accomplished feat, on July 26, 1941, he was posthumously awarded the Title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Gastello's name is forever included in the lists of military units. At the site of the feat on the Minsk-Vilnius highway, a memorial monument was erected in Moscow.
9. Zoya Anatolyevna Kosmodemyanskaya (“Tanya”)
Zoya Anatolyevna Kosmodemyanskaya was born on September 8, 1923 in the village of Osino-Gai (now Tambov region). On October 31, 1941, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya voluntarily became a fighter in the reconnaissance and sabotage unit No. 9903 of the Western Front headquarters. The training was very short - already on November 4, Zoya was transferred to Volokolamsk, where she successfully completed the task of mining the road. On November 17, 1941, Order No. 0428 of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command appeared, ordering “to destroy and burn to the ground all populated areas in the rear of German troops at a distance of 40-60 km in depth from the front line and 20-30 km to the right and left of the roads. To destroy populated areas within the specified radius of action, immediately deploy aviation, make extensive use of artillery and mortar fire, reconnaissance teams, skiers and partisan sabotage groups equipped with Molotov cocktails, grenades and demolition means.”
And the very next day, the leadership of unit No. 9903 received a combat mission - to destroy 10 settlements, including the village of Petrishchevo, Ruza district, Moscow region. Zoya also went on a mission as part of one of the groups. She was armed with three Molotov cocktails and a revolver. Near the village of Golovkovo, the group with which Zoya was walking came under fire, suffered losses and disbanded. On the night of November 27, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya reached Petrishchev and managed to set fire to three houses there. After that, she spent the night in the forest and returned to Petrishchevo again in order to fully carry out the combat order - to destroy this settlement.
But within a day the situation in the village changed. The occupiers gathered local residents for a meeting and ordered them to guard their houses. It was a local resident named Sviridov who noticed Zoya at the moment when she tried to set fire to his barn with hay. Sviridov ran after the Germans, and Kosmodemyanskaya was captured. They bullied Zoya terribly. They flogged me with belts, held a burning kerosene lamp to my lips, walked me barefoot through the snow, and tore out my fingernails. Kosmodemyanskaya was beaten not only by the Germans, but also by local residents, whose houses she burned. But Zoya held on with amazing courage. She never gave her real name during the interrogation, she said that her name was Tanya.
November 1941 Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was hanged by the occupiers. Before her death, she uttered a proud phrase, which later became famous: “There are 170 million of us, you can’t outweigh them all!” On January 27, 1942, the first publication in the press appeared about the feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya - an article by P. Lidov “Tanya” (it was published by Pravda.) Soon it was possible to establish the identity of the heroine, and on February 18 a second article appeared - “Who was Tanya.” Two days before this, a decree was issued on awarding Kosmodemyanskaya the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously. She became the first woman awarded this title during the Great Patriotic War. The heroine was buried on Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.
About the feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, a feature film was made about it already in 1944, monuments to the heroine decorated the streets of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Kharkov, Tambov, Saratov, Volgograd, Chelyabinsk, Rybinsk, poems and stories were written about Zoya, and the streets named in her honor, there are several hundred in the cities and villages of the former USSR.
Aliya Moldagulova
Aliya Moldagulova was born on April 20, 1924 in the village of Bulak, Khobdinsky district, Aktobe region. After the death of her parents, she was raised by her uncle Aubakir Moldagulov. I moved with his family from city to city. She studied in the 9th high school Leningrad. In the fall of 1942, Aliya Moldagulova joined the army and was sent to sniper school. In May 1943, Aliya submitted a report to the school command with a request to send her to the front. Aliya ended up in the 3rd company of the 4th battalion of the 54th Rifle Brigade under the command of Major Moiseev. By the beginning of October, Aliya Moldagulova had 32 killed fascists.
In December 1943, Moiseev’s battalion received an order to drive the enemy out of the village of Kazachikha. By capturing this settlement, the Soviet command hoped to cut the railway line along which the Nazis were transporting reinforcements. The Nazis resisted fiercely, skillfully taking advantage of the terrain. The slightest advance our companies were paid at a high price, and yet slowly but steadily our fighters approached the enemy’s fortifications. Suddenly a lone figure appeared ahead of the advancing chains.
Suddenly a lone figure appeared ahead of the advancing chains. The Nazis noticed the brave warrior and opened fire with machine guns. Seizing the moment when the fire weakened, the fighter rose to his full height and carried the entire battalion with him.
After a fierce battle, our fighters took possession of the heights. The daredevil lingered in the trench for some time. Traces of pain appeared on his pale face, and strands of black hair came out from under his earflap hat. It was Aliya Moldagulova. She destroyed 10 fascists in this battle. The wound turned out to be minor, and the girl remained in service.
In an effort to restore the situation, the enemy launched counterattacks. On January 14, 1944, a group of enemy soldiers managed to break into our trenches. Got started hand-to-hand combat. Aliya mowed down the fascists with well-aimed bursts from her machine gun. Suddenly she instinctively sensed danger behind her. She turned sharply, but it was too late: the German officer fired first. Gathering her last strength, Aliya raised her machine gun and the Nazi officer fell to the cold ground...
The wounded Aliya was carried out by her comrades from the battlefield. The fighters wanted to believe in a miracle, and vying with each other to save the girl, they offered blood. But the wound was fatal.
June 1944, Corporal Aliya Moldagulova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Conclusion
From the very first days of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet people had to deal with a very serious enemy. Soviet people He spared neither strength nor life in order to bring the hour of victory over the enemy closer. Women also forged victory over the enemy shoulder to shoulder with men. They bravely endured the incredible hardships of wartime, they were unparalleled workers in factories, on collective farms, in hospitals and schools.
Win or die - this was the question in the war against German fascism, and our soldiers understood this. They consciously gave their lives for their Motherland when the situation demanded it.
What strength of spirit was demonstrated by those who did not hesitate to cover with their bodies the embrasure of the enemy bunker that was spewing deadly fire!
The soldiers and officers of Nazi Germany did not perform such feats, and could not have accomplished them. The spiritual motives for their actions were reactionary ideas of racial superiority and motives, and later - fear of fair retribution for crimes committed and automatic, blind discipline.
The people glorify those who fought bravely and died, with the death of a hero, having brought closer the hour of our victory, glorify the survivors who managed to defeat the enemy. Heroes do not die, their glory is immortal, their names are forever included not only in the lists of personnel Armed Forces, but also in people's memory. People make up legends about heroes, erect beautiful monuments to them, and name the best streets of their cities and villages after them. More than 100 thousand soldiers, sergeants and military officers were awarded orders and medals of the Soviet Union, and almost 200 military graduates were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. More than 50 monuments and obelisks were built in honor of the soldiers of the internal troops, about 60 streets and more than 200 schools were named. The exploits of those who defended the life and independence of our Motherland will forever remain in the people's memory.
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During the Great Patriotic War incredible feat Not much was known about the simple Russian soldier Kolka Sirotinin, as well as about the hero himself. Perhaps no one would ever have known about the feat of the twenty-year-old artilleryman. If not for one incident.
In the summer of 1942, an officer of the 4th died near Tula. tank division Wehrmacht Friedrich Fehnfeld. Soviet soldiers found his diary. From its pages, some details of that very last battle of Senior Sergeant Sirotinin became known.
It was the 25th day of the war...
In the summer of 1941, the 4th Panzer Division of Guderian’s group, one of the most talented German generals, broke through to the Belarusian city of Krichev. Units of the 13th Soviet Army were forced to retreat. To cover the retreat of the artillery battery of the 55th Infantry Regiment, the commander left artilleryman Nikolai Sirotinin with a gun.
The order was brief: to delay the German tank column on the bridge over the Dobrost River, and then, if possible, catch up with our own. The senior sergeant carried out only the first half of the order...
Sirotinin took up a position in a field near the village of Sokolnichi. The gun sank in the tall rye. There is not a single noticeable landmark for the enemy nearby. But from here the highway and the river were clearly visible.
On the morning of July 17, a column of 59 tanks and armored vehicles with infantry appeared on the highway. When the lead tank reached the bridge, the first – successful – shot rang out. With the second shell, Sirotinin set fire to an armored personnel carrier at the tail of the column, thereby creating a traffic jam. Nikolai shot and shot, knocking out car after car.
Sirotinin fought alone, being both a gunner and a loader. It had 60 rounds of ammunition and a 76-mm cannon - an excellent weapon against tanks. And he made a decision: to continue the battle until the ammunition runs out.
The Nazis threw themselves to the ground in panic, not understanding where the shooting was coming from. The guns fired at random, across squares. After all, the day before, their reconnaissance had failed to detect Soviet artillery in the vicinity, and the division advanced without special precautions. 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.
This unique battle lasted a little over two hours. The crossing was blocked. 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. Having entered Sirotinin's rear on motorcycles, the Germans destroyed the lone gun with mortar fire. At the position they found a lone gun and a soldier.
The result of the battle of Senior Sergeant Sirotinin against General Guderian is impressive: after the battle on the banks of the Dobrost River, the Nazis were missing 11 tanks, 7 armored vehicles, 57 soldiers and officers.
Durability Soviet fighter earned the respect of the Nazis. The commander of the tank battalion, Colonel Erich Schneider, ordered the worthy enemy to be buried with military honors.
From the diary of Chief Lieutenant of the 4th Panzer Division Friedrich Hoenfeld:
July 17, 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 (Colonel - editor's note) said before the grave that if all the Fuhrer's soldiers fought like this Russian, they would conquer the whole world. They fired three times in volleys from rifles. After all, he is Russian, is such admiration necessary?
From the testimony of Olga Verzhbitskaya, a resident of the village of Sokolnichi:
I, Olga Borisovna Verzhbitskaya, born in 1889, a native of Latvia (Latgale), lived before the war in the village of Sokolnichi, Krichevsky district, together with my sister.
We knew Nikolai Sirotinin and his sister before the day of the battle. He was with a friend of mine, buying milk. He was very polite, always helping elderly women get water from the well and do other hard work.
I remember well the evening before the fight. On a log at the gate of the Grabskikh house I saw Nikolai Sirotinin. He sat and thought about something. I was very surprised that everyone was leaving, but he was sitting.
When the battle started, I was not home yet. I remember how the tracer bullets flew. He walked for about two or three hours. In the afternoon, the Germans gathered at the place where Sirotinin’s gun stood. They forced us, local residents, to come there too. To me, as someone who knows German, the main German of about fifty with orders, tall, bald, gray-haired, ordered his speech to be translated to local people. He said that the Russian fought very well, that if the Germans had fought like that, they would have taken Moscow long ago, and that this is how a soldier should defend his homeland - the Fatherland.
Then a medallion was taken out of the pocket of our dead soldier’s tunic. I firmly remember that it was written “the city of Orel”, Vladimir Sirotinin (I didn’t remember his middle name), that the name of the street was, as I remember, not Dobrolyubova, but Gruzovaya or Lomovaya, I remember that the house number was two digits. But we could not know who this Sirotinin Vladimir was - the father, brother, uncle of the murdered man or anyone else.
The German chief told me: “Take this document and write to your relatives. Let the mother know what a hero her son was and how he died.” Then a young German officer standing at Sirotinin’s grave came up and snatched the piece of paper and medallion from me and said something rudely.
The Germans fired a volley of rifles in honor of our soldier and put a cross on the grave, hanging his helmet, pierced by a bullet.
I myself clearly saw the body of Nikolai Sirotinin, even when he was lowered into the grave. His face was not covered in blood, but his tunic had a large bloody stain on the left side, his helmet was broken, and there were many shell casings lying around.
Since our house was located not far from the battle site, next to the road to Sokolnichi, the Germans stood near us. I myself heard how they spoke for a long time and admiringly about the feat of the Russian soldier, counting shots and hits. Some of the Germans, even after the funeral, stood for a long time at the gun and the grave and talked quietly.
February 29, 1960
Testimony of telephone operator M.I. Grabskaya:
I, Maria Ivanovna Grabskaya, born in 1918, worked as a telephone operator at Daewoo 919 in Krichev, lived in my native village of Sokolnichi, three kilometers from the city of Krichev.
I remember the events of July 1941 well. About a week before the Germans arrived, Soviet artillerymen settled in our village. The headquarters of their battery was in our house, the battery commander was a senior lieutenant named Nikolai, his assistant was a lieutenant named Fedya, and of the soldiers I remember most of all the Red Army soldier Nikolai Sirotinin. The fact is that the senior lieutenant very often called this soldier and entrusted him, as the most intelligent and experienced, with this and that task.
He was slightly above average height, dark brown hair, a simple, cheerful face. When Sirotinin and senior lieutenant Nikolai decided to dig a dugout for the local residents, I saw how he deftly threw the earth, I noticed that he was apparently not from the boss’s family. Nikolai answered jokingly:
“I am a worker from Orel, and I am no stranger to physical labor. We Orlovites know how to work.”
Today in the village of Sokolnichi there is no grave in which the Germans buried Nikolai Sirotinin. Three years after the war, his remains were transferred to the mass grave of Soviet soldiers in Krichev.
Pencil drawing made from memory by a colleague of Sirotinin in the 1990s Residents of Belarus remember and honor the feat of the brave artilleryman. In Krichev there is a street named after him, and a monument has been erected. But, despite the fact that Sirotinin’s feat, thanks to the efforts of the workers of the Soviet Army Archive, was recognized back in 1960, he was not awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. A painfully absurd circumstance got in the way: the soldier’s family did not have his photograph. And it is necessary to apply for a high rank.
Today there is only a pencil sketch made after the war by one of his colleagues. In the year of the 20th anniversary of the Victory, Senior Sergeant Sirotinin was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, first degree. Posthumously. This is the story.
Memory
In 1948, the remains of Nikolai Sirotinin were reburied in a mass grave (according to the military burial registration card on the OBD Memorial website - in 1943), on which a monument was erected in the form of a sculpture of a soldier grieving for his fallen comrades, and on the marble plaques the list of those buried indicated surname Sirotinin N.V.
In 1960, Sirotinin was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.
In 1961, at the site of the feat near the highway, a monument was erected in the form of an obelisk with the name of the hero, near which a real 76-mm gun was installed on a pedestal. In the city of Krichev, a street is named after Sirotinin.
Installed at the Tekmash plant in Orel Memorial plaque With brief information about N.V. Sirotinin.
The Museum of Military Glory in Secondary School No. 17 in the city of Orel contains materials dedicated to N.V. Sirotinin.
In 2015, the council of school No. 7 in the city of Orel petitioned to name the school after Nikolai Sirotinin. Nikolai’s sister Taisiya Vladimirovna was present at the ceremonial events. The name for the school was chosen by the students themselves based on the search and information work they did.
When reporters asked Nikolai’s sister why Nikolai volunteered to cover the division’s retreat, Taisiya Vladimirovna replied: “My brother could not have done otherwise.”
The feat of Kolka Sirotinin is an example of loyalty to the Motherland for all our youth.
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Every year on the third Sunday in August the Day of Air fleet Russia. Binding to the month of August has historical roots. At the dawn of its development, Russian aviation was not an independent branch of the armed forces, but was considered, together with aeronautics, an integral part of engineering. And only on August 12, 1912, control of aviation and aeronautics was transferred to the newly organized aeronautical unit General Staff. This is how the Imperial Air Force was born.
In general, today's holiday, although it is professional holiday all pilots and aviation workers, but it arose as a holiday specifically for military aviators. Let us remember on this day the heroic pilots who glorified Russian aviation during the First World War and the Great Patriotic War.
Petr Nesterov
The founder of aerobatics, the famous test pilot, the first performer of " dead loop" On August 25, 1914, at the height of the first Battle of Galicia, the commander of the 11th aviation detachment, staff captain P. N. Nesterov, for the first time in combat aviation practice, rammed an enemy aircraft. Seeing the Austrian Albatross airplane conducting aerial reconnaissance of our positions, Nesterov decided to engage it in battle and, taking off into the air, attacked it. The Russian and Austrian pilots fired at each other with revolvers for a long time, until Nesterov ran out of cartridges. Then Nesterov decided to ram the Albatross with his Moran. At an altitude of 2000 meters, he directed the airplane from above at the enemy. Having caught up with him, he attacked the enemy vertically, nose down. The Albatross capsized and began to fall. Nesterov's airplane was unharmed and continued its flight safely, but the shock from the impact was so strong that Nesterov died from a broken spine.
Nesterov’s bravery was appreciated not only in Russia, but also by the enemy. Wilhelm II said in those days: “I wish that my aviators would stand at the same height of art as the Russians do.”
Alexander Kazakov
An outstanding Russian fighter ace, the second pilot in history to use air ram, and the first to survive the ramming. Over the three years of the war, Kazakov personally shot down 17 enemy aircraft and in group battles another 15 and was recognized as the most successful Russian fighter pilot during the First World War. had 16 awards, including the Order of St. George, the British Order of Military Merit, the Military Cross and the French Legion of Honor. On August 20, Kazakov was appointed commander of the 19th squadron of the Air Corps. In 1917 - commander of the 1st fighter group. Having not accepted Bolshevism with all his heart, Kazakov took part in the Civil War, commanding the Slavic-British squadron. When the British decided to leave Russia, Kazakov, on August 3, 1919, boarded his plane, soared into the sky and dived into the center of the airfield.
Alexander Prokofiev-Seversky
The first disabled combat pilot in history, whose story later inspired Alexei Maresyev, the prototype of the main character of Boris Polevoy’s book “The Tale of a Real Man.” Seversky graduated from the Naval School and then studied at a military flight school. In 1915 he was sent to the 2nd Bomber Squadron of the Baltic Fleet. On July 2, 1915, during his first night bombing mission, the pilot was shot down over the Gulf of Riga. The explosion tore off his right leg. Nevertheless, Seversky appealed to the Emperor with a request to remain in service, and such permission was received. He flew 1,600 hours, participated in 57 air battles, won 13 victories, had many military awards, including the Arms of St. George - for fighting alone with seven German aircraft, and the Order of St. George, 4th degree.
The plane is a Voisin reconnaissance aircraft, armed with a machine gun mount.
Leonid Osipov
He came to aviation from the infantry, having graduated from aviation school during the war. On April 16, 1916, Leonid Osipov in his Voisin met with the German Albatross at an altitude of 2000 meters. Having attacked the German, the pilot forced him to glide steeply downwards and, at an altitude of 1000 meters, attacked him again under enemy artillery fire. A stubborn battle began. Albatross machine gun and german guns literally riddled the Russian plane with fire. The observation officer, Second Lieutenant Kalinovsky, was seriously wounded and lost consciousness. Second Lieutenant Osipov himself was wounded in the leg and lost the ability to control the aircraft with feet. And yet the brave pilot managed to shoot down an enemy airplane. After that, his “Voisin” with punctured gasoline and oil tanks, flying at an altitude of 300 meters above the German positions under their hurricane fire, planned to its airfield. Having barely managed to land the plane, Osipov gathered his last strength and pulled the wounded and unconscious Kalinovsky out of the burning cabin. And then he even extinguished the plane with the help of soldiers who ran up. For this feat Osipov received the Order of St. George, 4th degree.
Victor Yankovius
Fought as part of infantry regiment, was wounded twice in battle, after which he transferred to aviation. He flew on the famous airship "Ilya Muromets", which became the founder of heavy and strategic bombers in the world military aviation. On April 13, 1916, the Ilya Muromets, on which Yankovius was assistant commander, conducted aerial reconnaissance in the Friedrichstadt area. The winged giant did not manage to go unnoticed. The plane came under heavy fire from German anti-aircraft guns. Three of its four engines were knocked out by shrapnel and bullets, and the commander flying the plane was seriously wounded in the chest. The airship began to fall rapidly. At the critical moment, Captain Yankovius, without losing his presence of mind, took the place of the unconscious and bleeding commander, leveled the plane and, using one engine, took it out of the zone of severe fire. Having managed to reach his airfield and land safely, Victor Yankovius saved both the plane and its five crew members from imminent death. In “Ilya Muromets” they later counted about 70 holes. For his feat, the pilot received the golden St. George weapon.
Specially hardened armor
Our cars are ready. It's amazing how good they are! Chrome-nickel armor, specially hardened... God willing, we will fight!
From the diary of staff captain Pavel Gurdov. October 1914. World War I.
Miracle machines
On October 19, 1914, the personnel of the Automobile Machine Gun Company formed up on the Semenovsky Parade Ground in Petrograd. Eight armored Russo-Balts were also stationed here. A farewell prayer was served, the vehicles were blessed, and the company set off for the North-Western Front. The combat journey of the world's first armored army unit began. Staff Captain Pavel Gurdov commanded the 4th platoon: 25 people and 5 vehicles. Two armored Russo-Baltas, two ordinary cars and a truck. On November 7 we arrived in Łowicz, to the 16th Infantry Division. They were questioned and wondered: what kind of miracle machines are these? However, very soon the enemies began to be surprised. At dawn on November 11, on the Strykov-Zegrz highway, a Russian detachment was fired upon from German trenches. Gurdov in an armored car came close to the trenches and covered them with machine-gun fire at speed. The Germans were scared, many simply fled. By nine o'clock in the morning the road was clear. 10 days later, on November 21, Gurdov’s platoon took part in the Lodz operation. The award order stated: “Staff Captain Gurdov with armored vehicles moved forward along the highway without cover and, approaching 150 steps to the advancing enemy column, inflicted great damage on it and brought it into complete disorder, continuing to act despite being wounded...”. After this battle, Gurdov became the hero of a poem popular at the front, where he was called “the thunderstorm of the Prussians.”
Intensive fire support
Graduate of Nikolaevsky engineering school Pavel Gurdov began his service in 1905, in the mine company of the Sveaborg fortress. Reliable, cheerful, fearless - this is how his comrades remembered him. He himself volunteered to participate in diving work in the stormy Baltic, raising a sunken ship. He volunteered for the training detachment of the Maritime Department and received the rank of “Diving Officer”. I dreamed of creating an automobile assault squad. The war unexpectedly turned the dream into reality. In 1914, a talented engineer and combat officer Gurdov was involved in the creation of an “armored mobile machine-gun battery.” The new unit was headed by Colonel Dobzhansky. At the Izhora plant, 8 Russo-Balt vehicles were covered with armor. Later, the company’s “vehicle fleet” increased, new vehicles and even “autocannons” were adopted. But for now we were content with what we had – and very successfully: “The armored company provides the most intense fire support to the outer flanks of our troops, fires at the enemy occupying a fortified position to facilitate the approach of our attacking units... War vehicles crash into the retreating columns of the enemy and relentlessly pursue them with fire..."
Twenty steps
In January 1915, after treatment in the hospital, Pavel Vasilyevich again went to the front. On February 12, near the village of Dobzhankovo, Gurdov was attacked by a huge German detachment. He came very close, within 20 steps. The enemies covered the platoon with an avalanche of fire. Six people were killed and many were injured. The cars were heavily damaged. However, the incredible happened - Gurdov’s platoon (two armored cars) held back the advance of enemy regiments for several hours. The 1st platoon, which was in the rearguard, arrived to help. Soon our troops occupied the village. Staff Captain Pavel Gurdov was mortally wounded in this battle and soon died. “Fulfilling the task of capturing a fortified enemy position that protected the crossing, Staff Captain Gurdov brought his vehicles 20 steps to the enemy trenches and, personally walking in the first vehicle, opened fire from his machine guns, shot down the enemy artillery crew and at the same time died a heroic death.”. All personnel of the 4th platoon were awarded the Cross of St. George. Pavel Vasilyevich Gurdov was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra as national hero. He was a specially trained man, just like the armor of his cars.
Ekaterina SHEVELEVA, website Bulletin of Military and Naval Clergy
Heroes of the Great Patriotic War
Alexander Matrosov
Submachine gunner of the 2nd separate battalion of the 91st separate Siberian volunteer brigade named after Stalin.
Sasha Matrosov did not know his parents. He was brought up in orphanage and a labor colony. When the war began, he was not even 20. Matrosov was drafted into the army in September 1942 and sent to the infantry school, and then to the front.
In February 1943, his battalion attacked a Nazi stronghold, but fell into a trap, coming under heavy fire, cutting off the path to the trenches. They fired from three bunkers. Two soon fell silent, but the third continued to shoot the Red Army soldiers lying in the snow.
Seeing that the only chance to get out of the fire was to suppress the enemy’s fire, Sailors and a fellow soldier crawled to the bunker and threw two grenades in his direction. The machine gun fell silent. The Red Army soldiers went on the attack, but deadly weapon it began to chirp again. Alexander’s partner was killed, and Sailors was left alone in front of the bunker. Something had to be done.
He didn't have even a few seconds to make a decision. Not wanting to let his comrades down, Alexander closed the bunker embrasure with his body. The attack was a success. And Matrosov posthumously received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Military pilot, commander of the 2nd squadron of the 207th long-range bomber aviation regiment, captain.
He worked as a mechanic, then in 1932 he was drafted into the Red Army. He ended up in an air regiment, where he became a pilot. Nikolai Gastello participated in three wars. A year before the Great Patriotic War, he received the rank of captain.
On June 26, 1941, the crew under the command of Captain Gastello took off to strike a German mechanized column. It happened on the road between the Belarusian cities of Molodechno and Radoshkovichi. But the column was well guarded by enemy artillery. A fight ensued. Gastello's plane was hit by anti-aircraft guns. The shell damaged the fuel tank and the car caught fire. The pilot could have ejected, but he decided to fulfill his military duty to the end. Nikolai Gastello directed the burning car directly at the enemy column. This was the first fire ram in the Great Patriotic War.
The name of the brave pilot became a household name. Until the end of the war, all aces who decided to ram were called Gastellites. If you follow official statistics, then during the entire war there were almost six hundred ramming attacks on the enemy.
Brigade reconnaissance officer of the 67th detachment of the 4th Leningrad partisan brigade.
Lena was 15 years old when the war began. He was already working at a factory, having completed seven years of school. When the Nazis captured his native Novgorod region, Lenya joined the partisans.
He was brave and decisive, the command valued him. Over the several years spent in the partisan detachment, he participated in 27 operations. He was responsible for several destroyed bridges behind enemy lines, 78 Germans killed, and 10 trains with ammunition.
It was he who, in the summer of 1942, near the village of Varnitsa, blew up a car in which was the German Major General of the Engineering Troops Richard von Wirtz. Golikov managed to obtain important documents about the German offensive. The enemy attack was thwarted, and the young hero was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for this feat.
In the winter of 1943, a significantly superior enemy detachment unexpectedly attacked the partisans near the village of Ostray Luka. Lenya Golikov died like a real hero - in battle.
Pioneer. Scout of the Voroshilov partisan detachment in the territory occupied by the Nazis.
Zina was born and went to school in Leningrad. However, the war found her on the territory of Belarus, where she came on vacation.
In 1942, 16-year-old Zina joined the underground organization “Young Avengers”. She distributed anti-fascist leaflets in the occupied territories. Then, undercover, she got a job in a canteen for German officers, where she committed several acts of sabotage and was only miraculously not captured by the enemy. Many experienced military men were surprised at her courage.
In 1943, Zina Portnova joined the partisans and continued to engage in sabotage behind enemy lines. Due to the efforts of defectors who surrendered Zina to the Nazis, she was captured. She was interrogated and tortured in the dungeons. But Zina remained silent, not betraying her own. During one of these interrogations, she grabbed a pistol from the table and shot three Nazis. After that she was shot in prison.
An underground anti-fascist organization operating in the area of modern Lugansk region. There were more than a hundred people. The youngest participant was 14 years old.
This underground youth organization was formed immediately after the occupation of the Lugansk region. It included both regular military personnel who found themselves cut off from the main units, and local youth. Among the most famous participants: Oleg Koshevoy, Ulyana Gromova, Lyubov Shevtsova, Vasily Levashov, Sergey Tyulenin and many other young people.
The Young Guard issued leaflets and committed sabotage against the Nazis. Once they managed to disable an entire tank repair workshop and burn down the stock exchange, from where the Nazis were driving people away for forced labor in Germany. Members of the organization planned to stage an uprising, but were discovered due to traitors. The Nazis captured, tortured and shot more than seventy people. Their feat is immortalized in one of the most famous military books by Alexander Fadeev and the film adaptation of the same name.
28 people from the personnel of the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th rifle regiment.
In November 1941, a counter-offensive against Moscow began. The enemy stopped at nothing, making a decisive forced march before the onset of a harsh winter.
At this time, soldiers under the command of Ivan Panfilov took a position on the highway seven kilometers from Volokolamsk - small town near Moscow. There they gave battle to the advancing tank units. The battle lasted four hours. During this time, they destroyed 18 armored vehicles, delaying the enemy's attack and thwarting his plans. All 28 people (or almost all, historians’ opinions differ here) died.
According to legend, the company political instructor Vasily Klochkov, before the decisive stage of the battle, addressed the soldiers with a phrase that became known throughout the country: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind us!”
The Nazi counteroffensive ultimately failed. The Battle of Moscow, which was assigned the most important role during the war, was lost by the occupiers.
As a child, the future hero suffered from rheumatism, and doctors doubted that Maresyev would be able to fly. However, he stubbornly applied to the flight school until he was finally enrolled. Maresyev was drafted into the army in 1937.
He met the Great Patriotic War at a flight school, but soon found himself at the front. During a combat mission, his plane was shot down, and Maresyev himself was able to eject. Eighteen days later, seriously wounded in both legs, he got out of the encirclement. However, he still managed to overcome the front line and ended up in the hospital. But gangrene had already set in, and doctors amputated both of his legs.
For many, this would have meant the end of their service, but the pilot did not give up and returned to aviation. Until the end of the war he flew with prosthetics. Over the years, he made 86 combat missions and shot down 11 enemy aircraft. Moreover, 7 - after amputation. In 1944, Alexey Maresyev went to work as an inspector and lived to be 84 years old.
His fate inspired the writer Boris Polevoy to write “The Tale of a Real Man.”
Deputy squadron commander of the 177th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment.
Viktor Talalikhin began to fight already in the Soviet-Finnish war. He shot down 4 enemy planes in a biplane. Then he served at an aviation school.
In August 1941, he was one of the first Soviet pilots to ram, shooting down a German bomber in a night air battle. Moreover, the wounded pilot was able to get out of the cockpit and parachute down to the rear to his own.
Talalikhin then shot down five more German aircraft. Died during another air combat near Podolsk in October 1941.
73 years later, in 2014, search engines found Talalikhin’s plane, which remained in the swamps near Moscow.
Artilleryman of the 3rd counter-battery artillery corps of the Leningrad Front.
Soldier Andrei Korzun was drafted into the army at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. He served on the Leningrad Front, where there were fierce and bloody battles.
On November 5, 1943, during another battle, his battery came under fierce enemy fire. Korzun was seriously injured. Despite the terrible pain, he saw that the powder charges were set on fire and the ammunition depot could fly into the air. Gathering his last strength, Andrei crawled to the blazing fire. But he could no longer take off his overcoat to cover the fire. Losing consciousness, he made a final effort and covered the fire with his body. The explosion was avoided at the cost of the life of the brave artilleryman.
Commander of the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade.
A native of Petrograd, Alexander German, according to some sources, was a native of Germany. He served in the army since 1933. When the war started, I joined the scouts. He worked behind enemy lines, commanded a partisan detachment that terrified enemy soldiers. His brigade destroyed several thousand fascist soldiers and officers, derailed hundreds of trains and blew up hundreds of cars.
The Nazis staged a real hunt for Herman. In 1943, his partisan detachment was surrounded in the Pskov region. Making his way to his own, the brave commander died from an enemy bullet.
Commander of the 30th Separate Guards Tank Brigade of the Leningrad Front
Vladislav Khrustitsky was drafted into the Red Army back in the 20s. At the end of the 30s he completed armored courses. Since the fall of 1942, he commanded the 61st separate light tank brigade.
He distinguished himself during Operation Iskra, which marked the beginning of the defeat of the Germans on the Leningrad Front.
Killed in the battle near Volosovo. In 1944, the enemy retreated from Leningrad, but from time to time they attempted to counterattack. During one of these counterattacks, Khrustitsky's tank brigade fell into a trap.
Despite heavy fire, the commander ordered the offensive to continue. He radioed to his crews with the words: “Fight to the death!” - and went forward first. Unfortunately, the brave tanker died in this battle. And yet the village of Volosovo was liberated from the enemy.
Commander of a partisan detachment and brigade.
Before the war he worked for railway. In October 1941, when the Germans were already near Moscow, he himself volunteered for a complex operation in which his railway experience was needed. Was thrown behind enemy lines. There he came up with the so-called “coal mines” (in fact, these are just mines disguised as coal). With the help of this simple but effective weapon, hundreds of enemy trains were blown up in three months.
Zaslonov actively agitated the local population to go over to the side of the partisans. The Nazis, realizing this, dressed their soldiers in Soviet uniforms. Zaslonov mistook them for defectors and ordered them to join the partisan detachment. The way was open for the insidious enemy. A battle ensued, during which Zaslonov died. A reward was announced for Zaslonov, alive or dead, but the peasants hid his body, and the Germans did not get it.
Commander of a small partisan detachment.
Efim Osipenko fought back in Civil War. Therefore, when the enemy captured his land, without thinking twice, he joined the partisans. Together with five other comrades, he organized a small partisan detachment that committed sabotage against the Nazis.
During one of the operations, it was decided to undermine the enemy personnel. But the detachment had little ammunition. The bomb was made from an ordinary grenade. Osipenko himself had to install the explosives. He crawled towards railway bridge and, seeing the train approaching, threw it in front of the train. There was no explosion. Then the partisan himself hit the grenade with a pole from a railway sign. It worked! A long train with food and tanks went downhill. The detachment commander survived, but completely lost his sight.
For this feat, he was the first in the country to be awarded the “Partisan of the Patriotic War” medal.
Peasant Matvey Kuzmin was born three years before the abolition of serfdom. And he died, becoming the oldest holder of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
His story contains many references to the story of another famous peasant - Ivan Susanin. Matvey also had to lead the invaders through the forest and swamps. And, like the legendary hero, he decided to stop the enemy at the cost of his life. He sent his grandson ahead to warn a detachment of partisans who had stopped nearby. The Nazis were ambushed. A fight ensued. Matvey Kuzmin died at the hands of a German officer. But he did his job. He was 84 years old.
A partisan who was part of a sabotage and reconnaissance group at the headquarters of the Western Front.
While studying at school, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya wanted to enter a literary institute. But these plans were not destined to come true - the war interfered. In October 1941, Zoya came to the recruiting station as a volunteer and, after a short training at a school for saboteurs, was transferred to Volokolamsk. There, an 18-year-old partisan fighter, along with adult men, performed dangerous tasks: mined roads and destroyed communication centers.
During one of the sabotage operations, Kosmodemyanskaya was caught by the Germans. She was tortured, forcing her to give up her own people. Zoya heroically endured all the trials without saying a word to her enemies. Seeing that it was impossible to achieve anything from the young partisan, they decided to hang her.
Kosmodemyanskaya bravely accepted the tests. Moments before her death, she shouted to the assembled locals: “Comrades, victory will be ours. German soldiers Before it’s too late, surrender!” The girl’s courage shocked the peasants so much that they later retold this story to front-line correspondents. And after publication in the newspaper Pravda, the whole country learned about Kosmodemyanskaya’s feat. She became the first woman to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War.