Introduction
This short article contains only a drop of information about the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. In fact, there are a huge number of heroes and collecting all the information about these people and their exploits is a titanic work and it is already a little beyond the scope of our project. Nevertheless, we decided to start with 5 heroes - many of them have heard about some of them, there is a little less information about others and few people know about them, especially the younger generation.
The victory in the Great Patriotic War was achieved by the Soviet people thanks to their incredible efforts, dedication, ingenuity and self-sacrifice. This is especially vividly revealed in the heroes of the war, who performed incredible feats on and behind the battlefield. These great people should be known to everyone who is grateful to their fathers and grandfathers for the opportunity to live in peace and tranquility.
Viktor Vasilievich Talalikhin
The history of Viktor Vasilievich begins with the small village of Teplovka, located in the Saratov province. Here he was born in the autumn of 1918. His parents were simple workers. He himself, after graduating from a school that specialized in the production of workers for factories and factories, worked at a meat processing plant and at the same time attended an flying club. After he graduated from one of the few pilot schools in Borisoglebsk. He took part in the conflict between our country and Finland, where he received a baptism of fire. During the period of confrontation between the USSR and Finland, Talalikhin made about five dozen sorties, while destroying several enemy aircraft, as a result of which he special successes and the fulfillment of the assigned tasks, they were awarded the honorary Order of the Red Star in the fortieth year.
Viktor Vasilievich distinguished himself by heroic deeds already during the battles in the great war for our people. Although he has about sixty sorties, the main battle took place on August 6, 1941 in the sky over Moscow. As part of a small air group, Viktor flew out on an I-16 to repel air attack enemy to the capital of the USSR. At an altitude of several kilometers, he met a German He-111 bomber. Talalikhin fired several machine-gun bursts at him, but the German plane skillfully dodged them. Then Viktor Vasilievich, through a cunning maneuver and regular shots from a machine gun, hit one of the bomber's engines, but this did not help stop the "German". To the chagrin of the Russian pilot, after unsuccessful attempts to stop the bomber, there were no live cartridges left, and Talalikhin decides to ram. For this ram, he was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
During the war there were many such cases, but by the will of fate, Talalikhin became the first who decided to ram, neglecting his own safety, in our sky. He died in October of the forty-first year in the rank of squadron commander, performing another sortie.
Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub
In the village of Obrazhievka, a future hero, Ivan Kozhedub, was born in a family of simple peasants. After graduating from school in 1934, he entered the Chemical Technology College. The Shostka flying club was the first place where Kozhedub received flying skills. Then in the fortieth year he entered the army. In the same year, he successfully entered and graduated from the military aviation school in the city of Chuguev.
Ivan Nikitovich took a direct part in the Great Patriotic War. On his account there are more than a hundred air battles, during which he shot down 62 aircraft. From a large number two main sorties can be distinguished - the battle with the Me-262 fighter, which has a jet engine, and the attack on a group of FW-190 bombers.
The battle with the Me-262 jet fighter took place in mid-February 1945. On this day, Ivan Nikitovich, together with his partner Dmitry Tatarenko, flew out on La-7 planes to hunt. After a short search, they came across a low-flying aircraft. He flew along the river from the direction of Frankfupt an der Oder. Approaching closer, the pilots discovered that this was a new generation Me-262 aircraft. But this did not discourage the pilots from attacking an enemy aircraft. Then Kozhedub decided to attack on the opposite course, since this was the only way to destroy the enemy. During the attack, the wingman fired a short burst from a machine gun ahead of schedule, which could confuse all the cards. But to the surprise of Ivan Nikitovich, such an outburst of Dmitry Tatarenko had a positive effect. The German pilot turned around in such a way that he eventually fell into the sight of Kozhedub. He had to pull the trigger and destroy the enemy. Which he did.
The second heroic feat Ivan Nikitovich accomplished in mid-April of the forty-fifth year in the area of \u200b\u200bthe capital of Germany. Again, together with Titarenko, performing another sortie, they found a group of FW-190 bombers with full combat kits. Kozhedub immediately reported this to command post, but without waiting for reinforcements, began an attacking maneuver. German pilots saw how two Soviet aircraft, having risen, disappeared into the clouds, but they did not attach any importance to this. Then the Russian pilots decided to attack. Kozhedub descended to the height of the Germans and began to shoot them, and Titarenko fired in short bursts in different directions from a higher altitude, trying to give the enemy the impression of the presence of a large number of Soviet fighters. The German pilots believed at first, but after a few minutes of battle, their doubts dissipated, and they proceeded to take active steps to destroy the enemy. Kozhedub was on the verge of death in this battle, but his friend saved him. When Ivan Nikitovich tried to get away from German fighter, chasing him and being in the position of shooting a Soviet fighter, Titarenko was ahead of the German pilot in a short burst and destroyed the enemy machine. Soon a support group arrived in time, and the German group of aircraft was destroyed.
During the war, Kozhedub was twice recognized as a Hero Soviet Union and was elevated to the rank of Marshal of Soviet Aviation.
Dmitry Romanovich Ovcharenko
The homeland of the soldier is the village with the speaking name Ovcharovo of the Kharkov province. He was born into the family of a carpenter in 1919. His father taught him all the intricacies of his craft, which later played an important role in the fate of the hero. Ovcharenko studied at school for only five years, then went to work on a collective farm. He was drafted into the army in 1939. The first days of the war, as befits a soldier, met on the front lines. After a short service, he received minor damage, which, unfortunately for the soldier, caused him to move from the main unit to serve at the ammunition depot. It was this position that became the key for Dmitry Romanovich, in which he accomplished his feat.
It all happened in the middle of the summer of 1941 in the area of the village of Arctic fox. Ovcharenko carried out the order of his superiors to deliver ammunition and food to a military unit located a few kilometers from the village. He came across two trucks with fifty German soldiers and three officers. They surrounded him, took away the rifle and began to interrogate him. But soviet soldier he was not taken aback and, taking an ax lying next to him, cut off the head of one of the officers. While the Germans were discouraged, he took three grenades from a dead officer and threw them towards the German cars. These throws were extremely successful: 21 soldiers were killed on the spot, and Ovcharenko finished off the rest with an ax, including the second officer who tried to escape. The third officer still managed to escape. But even here the Soviet soldier did not lose his head. He collected all the documents, maps, records and machine guns and took them to the General Staff, while bringing ammunition and food at the exact time. At first, they did not believe him that he single-handedly dealt with a whole platoon of the enemy, but after a detailed study of the battlefield, all doubts were dispelled.
Thanks to the heroic act of the soldier, Ovcharenko was recognized as the Hero of the Soviet Union, and he also received one of the most significant orders - the Order of Lenin, along with the Gold Star medal. He did not live to win just three months. The wound received in the battles for Hungary in January became fatal for the fighter. At that time he was a machine gunner of the 389th Infantry Regiment. He went down in history as a soldier with an axe.
Zoya Anatolyevna Kosmodemyanskaya
Homeland for Zoya Anatolyevna is the village of Osina-Gai, located in the Tambov region. She was born on September 8, 1923 in a Christian family. By the will of fate, Zoya spent her childhood in gloomy wanderings around the country. So, in 1925, the family was forced to move to Siberia in order to avoid persecution by the state. A year later they moved to Moscow, where her father died in 1933. The orphaned Zoya begins to have health problems that prevent her from studying. In the fall of 1941, Kosmodemyanskaya joined the ranks of intelligence officers and saboteurs of the Western Front. In a short time, Zoya underwent combat training and began to fulfill her tasks.
She accomplished her heroic deed in the village of Petrishchevo. By order of Zoya and a group of fighters, they were instructed to burn a dozen settlements, which included the village of Petrishchevo. On the night of November 28, Zoya and her comrades made their way to the village and came under fire, as a result of which the group broke up and Kosmodemyanskaya had to act alone. After spending the night in the forest, early in the morning she went to carry out the task. Zoya managed to set fire to three houses and escape unnoticed. But when she decided to return again and finish what she had begun, the villagers were already waiting for her, who, seeing the saboteur, immediately reported German soldiers. Kosmodemyanskaya was seized and tortured for a long time. They tried to find out from her information about the unit in which she served, and her name. Zoya refused and did not tell anything, but when asked what her name was, she called herself Tanya. The Germans considered that they could not get more information and hung it in public. Zoya met her death with dignity, and her last words went down in history forever. Dying, she said that our people numbered one hundred and seventy million people, and all of them could not be outweighed. So, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya died heroically.
Mentions of Zoya are associated primarily with the name "Tanya", under which she went down in history. She is also a Hero of the Soviet Union. Her distinguishing feature is the first woman to receive this honorary title posthumously.
Alexey Tikhonovich Sevastyanov
This hero was the son of a simple cavalryman, a native of the Tver region, was born in the winter of the seventeenth year in the small village of Kholm. After graduating from a technical school in Kalinin, he entered the school of military aviation. Sevastyanov finished her with success in the thirty-ninth. For more than a hundred sorties, he destroyed four enemy aircraft, of which two individually and in a group, as well as one balloon.
He received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously. The most important sorties for Aleksey Tikhonovich were fights in the sky over the Leningrad region. So, on November 4, 1941, Sevastyanov, on his IL-153 aircraft, patrolled the sky over northern capital. And just during his watch, the Germans made a raid. Artillery could not cope with the onslaught and Alexei Tikhonovich had to join the battle. The German aircraft He-111 for a long time managed to keep the Soviet fighter out. After two unsuccessful attacks, Sevastyanov made a third attempt, but when it was time to pull the trigger and destroy the enemy in a short burst, Soviet pilot discovered the lack of ammunition. Without thinking twice, he decides to go to the ram. The Soviet plane pierced the tail of an enemy bomber with its propeller. For Sevastyanov, this maneuver was successful, but for the Germans it all ended in captivity.
The second significant flight and the last for the hero was an air battle in the sky over Ladoga. Alexei Tikhonovich died in an unequal battle with the enemy on April 23, 1942.
Conclusion
As we have already said, not all the heroes of the war are collected in this article, there are about eleven thousand of them in total (according to official data). Among them are Russians, and Kazakhs, and Ukrainians, and Belarusians, and all other nations of our multinational state. There are those who did not receive the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, having committed an equally important act, but by coincidence, information about them was lost. There was a lot in the war: the desertion of soldiers, and betrayal, and death, and much more, but the most great importance had feats - these are the heroes. Thanks to them, victory was won in the Great Patriotic War.
Today we want to remember 5 heroes of the Great Patriotic War whose exploits are sometimes in the shadows ... Ekaterina Zelenko If everyone knows the feat of Talalikhin, 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 in the shadows...
Ekaterina Zelenko
If everyone knows the feat of Talalikhin, then few know the name of the first woman who committed an aerial ramming. On September 12, 1941, Zelenko, on her Su-2 light bomber, entered into battle with the German Messers, and when her car ran out of ammunition, she destroyed an enemy fighter precisely in an air ram. In that battle, the heroine did not manage to survive.
Zelenko's husband, military pilot Pavel Ignatenko, also died in the battles of the Great Patriotic War in 1943.
Dmitry Komarov
Selfless ramming tactics are unique in modern warfare - 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 Lieutenant Dmitry Komarov, who on June 25, 1944, at full speed on a burning "thirty-four" rammed a German train near Chernye Brody in western Ukraine.
By some miracle, the hero in that battle survived, although almost all members of his crew died. Nevertheless, Dmitry Evlampievich, as the people say, “hurried to God”: he died heroically in the battles for Poland in the autumn of the same 1944.
Ivan Fedorov
This Hero of the Soviet Union has one of the most mysterious biographies. Undoubtedly possessing remarkable skills in air combat and having shot down more than a dozen German aircraft, Ivan Evgrafovich, however, earned himself not very corresponding to his rank.
Hero of the reputation of "Baron Munchausen" of the domestic Air Force. Being the commander of one of the aviation penal battalions, he often later boasted of greatly exaggerated or simply false "exploits".
The most ridiculous was the case 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 steamer. When it became known about Fedorov's misconduct, he only miraculously escaped the tribunal and for a long time later went under suspicion, so he received the Golden Star of the Hero relatively late.
Nikolai Sirotinin
His biography is little known and unremarkable: a simple guy from Orel, he was drafted into the army in 1940. But it is Nikolai Sirotin who, with his incredible feat, confirms the statement "And there is only one warrior in the field, if he is tailored in Russian."
On July 17, 1941, Sirotinin, together with his battalion commander, covering our retreating units, took 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 answered them 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.
Nevertheless, the Motherland noted the feat of Sirotinin only with the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, and then only in 1960.
Epistinia Stepanova
How to measure heroism? How to determine who can be considered a hero and who is not? 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 Motherland the most precious - 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 of "Mother Heroine" and, after her death in 1974, buried her with full military honors.
The exploits of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War
CHEREPANOV SERGEY MIKHAILOVICH (1916-1944) - Hero Soviet Union. Born on July 16, 1916 in the Vologda region. Lived and worked in the village. Novy Bor, Ust-Tsilemsky district, Komi ASSR. He went to the front as a volunteer in August 1942. Participated in battles on the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts.
On January 24, 1944, the commander of the 1249th Infantry Regiment of the 377th Infantry Division (59th Army, Leningrad Front) Cherepanov S. M. was the first to break into the village of Poddubie (Novgorod Region) and destroyed the enemy machine gun with a grenade. He was wounded in the chest, but did not leave the battlefield. After several Nazi counterattacks, Sergeant Cherepanov was left alone - his comrades were killed. With well-aimed fire from a machine gun, he continued to destroy the invaders, pressing from all sides. And when the cartridges ran out, he blew himself up and the enemies around him with the last grenade. It happened on January 24, 1944. S. M. Cherepanov was buried in the village. Poddubie, Novgorod region
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 5, 1944, Sergeant S. M. Cherepanov (posthumously) was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In the village A bust of the Hero was installed in Novy Bor, one of the streets of the village was named after him.
CHERKASOV ALEXEY IVANOVICH
(1914-1980)
- Hero of the Soviet Union. Born in Moscow in a working class family, brought up in an orphanage. He graduated from the factory school, worked as a turner. Before the war, on a Komsomol ticket, he came to the Komi ASSR to build the North Pechora Railway. Labored the working way railway station Leather. In 1942
Kozhvinsky district military registration and enlistment office (now Pechora city) was drafted into the Red Army, became a military sapper.
On the front of the Great Patriotic War from February 1943, he built crossings, cleared passages in minefields for tanks, artillery, infantry near Voronezh, in Battle of Kursk, in the battles for Ukraine, in Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Austria. Commanding a detachment of the 392nd engineer battalion (232nd rifle division, Voronezh front), senior sergeant Cherkasov showed heroism when crossing the Dnieper near Vyshgorod (Kiev region). He was one of the first in the battalion at the beginning of October 1943, at night, under enemy fire, ferried his squad across the Dnieper by boat and firmly entrenched himself on the right bank of the river. By diverting the enemy's fire, he contributed to the successful start of the crossing of the river. He boldly acted on the crossing itself, promptly repairing watercraft, thereby ensuring the consolidation of units on the right-bank bridgehead.
On January 10, 1944, Senior Sergeant A. I. Cherkasov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree, and medals.
After demobilization in 1945, he lived in the mining town of Gorskoe (Donbass). He worked in coal mines, led a mining team. Died 08/07/1980. Buried in Gorskoe.
BABIKOV MAKAR ANDREEVICH - Hero of the Soviet Union. Born in 1921 in the village. Ust-Tsilma Komi ASSR in a peasant family. Russian. Studied at Ust-Tsilemsk secondary school, worked as a teacher primary school, then in the district committee of the Komsomol. Since 1939 he served in the Northern Navy. Communist.
Participated in the Great Patriotic War from the beginning to the end of hostilities. He bravely acted in all combat and reconnaissance campaigns of a special reconnaissance detachment Northern Fleet behind enemy lines. In 1943, commanding a platoon in reconnaissance, he destroyed a convoy of an enemy anti-aircraft regiment, captured prisoners and provided the command with important information. He smashed the garrisons on the shores of the Barents Sea. At Cape Krestovy, he captured an artillery battery and inflicted great damage on the enemy in manpower.
Actively participated in August 1945 in the war with imperialist Japan as part of a separate reconnaissance detachment Pacific Fleet, commanded a platoon of paratroopers in operations to capture the South Korean ports of Yuki, Racine and others. He distinguished himself by heroism in the operation to capture the city of Seishin. Having landed from torpedo boats, the paratroopers quickly broke into the city. Babikov's platoon captured the railway and highway bridge across the river, destroyed more than 50 soldiers, 6 vehicles. For more than 18 hours, the paratroopers held out, repelling continuous enemy attacks. Babikov fearlessly acted in other battles to hold Seishin until the main landing force approached. On September 14, 1945 Babikov M.A. was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. He was awarded two orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star, the Badge of Honor and medals.
In 1946, Chief Petty Officer Babikov M.A. was transferred to the reserve. He graduated from the Higher Party School under the Central Committee of the CPSU, worked in the Komsomol, party, Soviet work, in the KGB. Lives in Moscow, retired colonel, pensioner
SHEVELEV ANTON ANTONOVICH
(1918-1981)
- Hero of the Soviet Union. Born in the village of Neivo-Shaytanovka, Alapaevsky district, Sverdlovsk region, in the family of a peasant-otkhodnik. His childhood was spent in his father's homeland in the village. Mordino, Kortkerossky district, Komi ASSR.
Graduated from the Bataysk Civil Aviation School.
On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since 1942 - in the 455th (30th Guards) aviation regiment long-range bomber aircraft. By October 1944, Guard Captain Shevelev made 222 sorties for bombing behind enemy lines, 103 times participated in the bombing of large enemy targets on the instructions of the command of the Volkhov, Leningrad, Kalinin, 1, 2, 3 Belorussian fronts.
On March 16, 1943, Shevelev's plane, which took off on a mission, was attacked by an enemy fighter. The plane received 30 holes, became difficult to control. The radio operator and gunner were wounded. However, A. A. Shevelev, having shown exceptional courage, reached the goal and successfully completed the task, masterfully landed the aircraft on one wheel at his airfield, saved the aircraft and the lives of the crew members.
On November 5, 1944, Captain A. A. Shevelev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. He was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner of War, Order of the Patriotic War, I degree, and medals.
In May 1945, Major A. A. Shevelev was demobilized after a severe wound to the guard. After the war, he graduated in absentia from the Ural Forest Engineering Institute, postgraduate studies. Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Associate Professor, worked as a university teacher, died on May 10, 1981, was buried in Sverdlovsk.
GAVRILOV IVAN SAMSONOVYCH
(1913-1944)
- Hero of the Soviet Union. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1939. Born in the village. Makeevka (now the city Donetsk region) in a miner's family. Russian. Graduated from mining school. He worked at the mines in the Donbass, at
Svalbard, Karaganda.
In June 1942, among the volunteer miners from Karaganda, he came to the North to develop the Pechora coal basin. He worked in Vorkuta as an assistant to the head of the section of mine No. 1/2, then as the head of the section of mine No. 4.
Drafted into the Red Army in March 1943 by the Kozhvinsky district military commissariat. He fought from April 1943 as part of the 1318th Infantry Regiment of the 163rd Romensko-Kyiv Division. In October 1943, commander I.S. Gavrilov, with the soldiers of his squad, were among the first to secretly cross from the enemy to the right bank of the Dnieper in the Zhukovka region (the southern outskirts of Kiev). With a sudden throw, they knocked out the Nazis from their positions and, diverting fire on themselves, helped other units successfully cross the Dnieper.
For skillful command of the squad in battle, for repelling five counterattacks of superior enemy forces and for his courage and heroism, I.S. Gavrilov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on October 29, 1943 with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. He was awarded the medal "For Courage". In one of the battles, I.S. Gavrilov was seriously wounded and died on January 2, 1944 in a front-line hospital. Buried in the village Stavishche of the Kyiv region.
Young heroes of the Great Patriotic War
educational material for extracurricular activities By literary reading or by history for elementary school Subject: WWII
Before the war, they were the most ordinary boys and girls. They studied, helped the elders, played, bred pigeons, sometimes even took part in fights. These were ordinary children and teenagers, known only to relatives, classmates and friends.
But the hour of hard trials came and they proved how huge an ordinary small thing can become. baby heart when sacred love for the Motherland flares up in him, pain for the fate of his people and hatred for enemies. Together with adults, the weight of hardships, disasters, 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 enduring. And no one expected that it was these boys and girls who were able to accomplish a great feat for the glory of the freedom and independence of their Motherland!
No! we told the fascists,
Our people will not tolerate
To fragrant Russian bread
It was called "bro".
Where is the power in the world
To break us down
Bent us under the yoke
In those parts where in the days of victory
Our great-grandfathers and grandfathers
Feasted so many times? ..
And from sea to sea
Russian regiments got up.
We got up, we are united with the Russians,
Belarusians, Latvians,
People of free Ukraine,
Both Armenians and Georgians
Moldovans, Chuvashs...
Glory to our generals
Glory to our admirals
And ordinary soldiers ...
On foot, swimming, horseback,
Hardened in hot battles!
Glory to the fallen and the living,
I thank them from the bottom of my heart!
Let's not forget those heroes
What lie in the damp earth,
Giving life on the battlefield
For the people - for you and me.
Excerpts from S. Mikhalkov's poem "A True Story for Children"
Kazei Marat Ivanovich(1929-1944), partisan of the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union (1965, posthumously). Since 1942 scout partisan detachment(Minsk Region).
The Nazis broke 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 furious. Anna Alexandrovna Kazei was captured for her connection with the partisans, and soon Marat found out 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 Ad oy, Marat Kazei went to the partisans in the Stankovsky forest. He became a spy at headquarters partisan brigade. Penetrated into enemy garrisons and delivered valuable information to the command. Using this information, the partisans developed a daring operation and defeated the fascist garrison in the city of Dzerzhinsk. Marat participated in the battles and invariably showed courage, fearlessness, along with experienced demolition workers, mined railway. Marat died in battle. He fought to the last bullet, and when he had only one grenade left, he let the enemies get closer and blew them up ... and himself. For courage and courage, 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), a 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 Zina Portnova from Leningrad in the village of Zuya, where she came on vacation, not far from the Obol station in the Vitebsk region. In Obol, an underground Komsomol youth organization "Young Avengers" was created, and Zina was elected a member of its committee. She participated in daring operations against the enemy, distributed leaflets, and conducted reconnaissance on the instructions of the partisan detachment. In December 1943, returning from a mission, in the village of Mostishche, Zina was betrayed by a traitor to the Nazis. The Nazis seized 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 fired point-blank at the Gestapo. The officer who ran into 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 until the last minute she remained steadfast, courageous, unbending. And the Motherland posthumously marked her feat with her highest title - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Kotik Valentin Alexandrovich(Valya) (1930-1944), a young partisan of the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union (1958, posthumously). Since 1942 - a liaison of an underground organization in the city of Shepetovka, a scout of 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 number 4. When the Nazis broke into Shepetovka, Valya Kotik and his friends decided to fight the enemy. The guys collected weapons at the battlefield, which the partisans then transported to the detachment in a wagon of hay. Looking closely 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, the order of the changing of the guard. The Nazis planned a punitive operation against the partisans, and Valya, having tracked down the Nazi officer who led the punishers, killed him. When arrests began in the city, Valya, along with his mother and brother Viktor, went to the partisans. An ordinary boy, who had just turned fourteen years old, fought shoulder to shoulder with adults, liberating his native land. On his account - six enemy echelons blown up on the way to the front. Valya Kotik was awarded the order Patriotic War I degree, medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" II degree. Valya died as a hero in one of the unequal battles with the Nazis.
Golikov Leonid Alexandrovich(1926-1943). Young partisan hero. A brigade reconnaissance officer of the 67th detachment of the fourth Leningrad partisan brigade, operating on the territory of the Novgorod and Pskov regions. Participated in 27 combat operations.
In total, they destroyed 78 fascists, two railway and 12 highway bridges, two food and feed depots and 10 vehicles with ammunition. He distinguished himself in battles near the villages of Aprosovo, Sosnitsy, Sever. Accompanied a convoy with food (250 wagons) in besieged Leningrad. For valor and courage he was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of War and the medal "For Courage".
On August 13, 1942, returning from reconnaissance from the Luga-Pskov highway near the village of Varnitsy, he blew up a car in which there was a German major general engineering troops Richard von Wirtz. Golikov in a shootout shot from a machine gun the general who accompanied his officer and driver. A scout delivered a briefcase with documents to the brigade headquarters. Among them were drawings and descriptions of new models of German mines, inspection reports to higher command and other important military papers. Introduced to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. On January 24, 1943, in an unequal battle in the village of Ostraya Luka, Pskov Region, Leonid Golikov died. The Presidium of the Supreme Council, by Decree of April 2, 1944, awarded him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Arkady Kamanin I 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 always there is a friend of his father, Mikhail Vasilyevich Vodopyanov. There was something to light up the little boy's heart. But they didn’t let him into the air, they said: grow up. When the war began, he went to work at an aircraft factory, then at the airfield. Experienced pilots, even if only for a few minutes, happened to trust him to fly the plane. Once an enemy bullet shattered the glass of the cockpit. The pilot was blinded. Losing consciousness, he managed to transfer control to Arkady, and the boy landed the plane at his airfield. After that, Arkady was allowed to seriously study flying, and soon he began to fly on his own. Once, from a height, a young pilot saw our plane, shot down by the Nazis. Under heavy mortar fire, Arkady landed, transferred the pilot to 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. Until the very victory, Arkady Kamanin fought with the Nazis. The young hero dreamed of the sky and conquered the sky!
Yuta Bondarovskaya in the summer of 1941 she came from Leningrad for a vacation to a village near Pskov. Here overtook her terrible war. Utah began to help the partisans. First she was a messenger, then a scout. Disguised as a beggar boy, she collected information from the villages: where the headquarters of the Nazis were, how they were guarded, how many machine guns. 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 Rostov - Yuta Bondarovskaya, the little heroine of the great war, died the death of the brave. The Motherland awarded her heroic daughter posthumously with the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" of the 1st degree, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 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 Semyonova. To communicate with the partisans, she picked up her most reliable guys, and the first among them was Galina Komleva. Cheerful, brave, inquisitive girl in her six school years was awarded six times with books with the signature: "For excellent study." The young messenger brought assignments from the partisans to her leader, and she forwarded her reports to the detachment along with bread, potatoes, products, which were obtained with great difficulty. Once, when a messenger from the partisan detachment did not arrive at the meeting point on time, Galya, half-frozen, herself made her way to the detachment, handed over a report and, having warmed up a little, hurried back, carrying a new task to the underground. 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 workers. They were kept in the Gestapo for two months. The young patriot was shot. The Motherland marked the feat of Gali Komleva with the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.
For the operation of reconnaissance and explosion of the railway bridge across the Drissa River to government award was represented by the Leningrad schoolgirl Larisa Mikheenko. But the young heroine did not have time to receive her award.
The war cut off the girl from her hometown: in the summer she went on vacation to the Pustoshkinsky district, but she could not return - the Nazis occupied the village. And then one night Larisa left the village with two older friends. At the headquarters of the 6th Kalinin brigade, commander Major P.V. Ryndin initially refused to accept "so small". But young girls were able to do what strong men could not. Dressed in rags, Lara walked around the villages, finding out where and how the guns were located, sentries were placed, what German cars were moving along the highway, what kind of trains and with what cargo they came to the Pustoshka station. She also participated 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 with the Order of the Patriotic War, I 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, took the first military trophy - a real German machine gun. This was a good reason for accepting him into the partisan detachment. Day after day he conducted reconnaissance. More than once he went on the most dangerous missions. A lot of destroyed cars and soldiers were on his account. For the performance of dangerous tasks, for the courage, resourcefulness and courage shown, Sasha Borodulin in the winter of 1941 was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Punishers tracked down the partisans. The detachment left them for three days. In the group of volunteers, Sasha remained to cover the retreat of the detachment. When all the comrades died, the brave hero, allowing the Nazis to close the 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" (translated by Yu. Bogushevich))
At night, the punishers surrounded the village. Grisha woke up from some sound. He opened his eyes and looked out the window. A shadow flickered across the moonlit glass.
- Dad! Grisha called softly.
Sleep, what do you want? the father replied.
But the boy didn't sleep anymore. Stepping barefoot on the cold floor, he quietly walked out into the hallway. And then I heard someone yank open the door and several pairs of boots rattled heavily into the hut.
The boy rushed into the garden, where there was a bathhouse with a small outbuilding. Through a crack in the door Grisha saw his father, mother and sisters being taken out. Nadia was bleeding from her shoulder, and the girl clamped the wound with her hand...
Until dawn, Grisha stood in the annex and looked ahead of him with wide eyes. The moonlight was sparse. Somewhere an icicle fell off the roof and shattered on the mound with a quiet clang. The boy started. He felt neither cold nor fear.
That night he had a small wrinkle between his eyebrows. Appeared to never disappear again. Grisha's family was shot by the Nazis.
From village to village walked a thirteen-year-old boy with a not childishly stern look. Went to Sozh. He knew that somewhere across the river was his brother Alexei, there were partisans. A few days later, Grisha came to the village of Yametsky.
Feodosia Ivanova, a resident of this village, was a liaison officer of the partisan detachment commanded by Pyotr Antonovich Balykov. She brought the boy to the detachment.
Commissar Pavel Ivanovich Dedik and Chief of Staff Alexei Podobedov listened to Grisha with stern faces. And he stood in a torn shirt, with his legs knocked down on the roots, with an unquenchable fire of hatred in his eyes. The partisan life of Grisha Podobedov began. And no matter what task the partisans went on, Grisha always asked to take him with him ...
Grisha Podobedov became an excellent partisan scout. Somehow the messengers reported that the Nazis, together with the policemen from Korma, robbed the population. They took 30 cows and everything that came to hand, and they are going in the direction of the Sixth settlement. The detachment went in pursuit of the enemy. The operation was led by Petr Antonovich Balykov.
“Well, Grisha,” said the commander. - You will go with Alena Konashkova to reconnaissance. Find out where the enemy has stopped, what he is doing, what he is thinking of doing.
And now, a weary woman with a hoe and a sack wanders into the Sixth Village, and with her a boy dressed in an oversized padded jacket.
“They sowed millet, good people,” the woman complained to the policemen. - And try to raise these clearings with a little. It's not easy, oh it's not easy!
And no one, of course, noticed how the boy's keen eyes follow each soldier, how they notice everything.
Grisha visited five houses where the Nazis and policemen stayed. And I found out about everything, then I reported in detail to the commander. A red rocket soared into the sky. And in a few minutes everything was over: the partisans drove the enemy into a cunningly placed "bag" and destroyed it. The stolen goods were returned to the population.
Grisha also went to reconnaissance before the memorable battle near the Pokat River.
With a bridle, limping (a splinter hit the heel), the little shepherd scurried among the Nazis. And such hatred burned in his eyes that it seemed that she alone could incinerate enemies.
And then the scout reported how many cannons he saw on the enemy, where machine guns and mortars were stationed. And from partisan bullets and mines the invaders found their graves on Belarusian soil.
In early 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 made his way into the house, where drunken punishers had a party.
The partisans silently entered the village and completely destroyed the company. Only the commander escaped, he hid in a well. In the morning, a local grandfather pulled him out of there, like a rotten 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 for flour prepared for the partisans.
The sun shone brightly. A gray bird fluttered on the roof of the mill, watching people with cunning little eyes. The broad-shouldered Nikolai Borisenko had just loaded a heavy sack onto the cart when a pale miller came running.
- Punishers! he breathed.
The foreman and Grisha grabbed their machine guns and rushed into the bushes that grew near the mill. But they were noticed. Vicious bullets whistled, cutting alder branches.
- Lie down! - Borisenko gave the command and fired a long burst from the machine gun.
Grisha, aiming, gave short bursts. He saw how the punishers, as if stumbling upon an invisible barrier, fell, beveled by his bullets.
- So you, so you! ..
Suddenly the sergeant-major let out a dull gasp and clutched his throat. Grisha turned around. Borisenko twitched all over and fell silent. His glazed eyes now looked indifferently at the high sky, and his hand dug, as if stuck, in the box of the machine gun.
The bush, where Grisha Podobedov alone is now left, was surrounded by enemies. There were about sixty of them.
Grisha gritted 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 his machine gun.
Six Nazis fell under his feet. The rest lay down. Bullets whistled over Grisha's head more and more often. The partisan was silent, did not respond. Then the emboldened enemies rose again. And again, under well-aimed automatic fire, they pressed into the ground. And the machine is already out of ammo. Grisha pulled out a pistol. — I give up! he shouted.
A tall and thin, like a pole, policeman ran up to him at a trot. Grisha shot him right in the face. For some elusive moment, the boy looked around at a rare bush, clouds in the sky and, putting a gun to his temple, pulled the trigger ...
About the exploits of the young heroes of the Great Patriotic War, you can read in the books:
Avramenko A.I. Messengers from captivity: a story / Per. from Ukrainian - M .: Young Guard, 1981. - 208 e .: ill. — ( Young heroes).
Bolshak V.G. Guide to the Abyss: Dokum. story. - M .: Young Guard, 1979. - 160 p. - (Young heroes).
Vuravkin G.N. Three pages from the legend / Per. from Belarusian. - M .: Young guard, 1983. - 64 p. - (Young heroes).
Valko I.V. Where are you flying, crane?: Dokum. story. - M .: Young Guard, 1978. - 174 p. - (Young heroes).
Vygovsky B.C. The fire of a young heart / Per. from Ukrainian — M.: Det. lit., 1968. - 144 p. - (School library).
Children of wartime / Comp. E.Maximova. 2nd ed., add. — M.: Politizdat, 1988. — 319 p.
Ershov Ya.A. Vitya Korobkov - pioneer, partisan: a story - M .: Military Publishing, 1968 - 320 p. - (Library of a young patriot: About the Motherland, exploits, honor).
Zharikov A.D. Feats 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 of the youngest son: a story. — M.: Det. lit., 1985. - 480 p. - (Military library of a student).
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: dokum. story / Per. from Ukrainian — M.: Det. lit., 1972. - 160 p.
Lugovoi N.D. Burnt childhood. - M .: Young Guard, 1984. - 152 p. - (Young heroes).
Medvedev N.E. Eaglets of Blagovskoe forest: dokum. story. — M.: DOSAAF, 1969. — 96 p.
Morozov V.N. A boy went to 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).
Twelve of several thousand examples of unparalleled childish courage
Young heroes of the Great Patriotic War - how many were there? If you count - how else? - the hero of every boy and every girl whom fate brought to war and made soldiers, sailors or partisans, then - tens, if not hundreds of thousands.
According to official data from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense (TsAMO) of Russia, during the war years there were over 3,500 servicemen under the age of 16 in combat units. At the same time, it is clear that not every unit commander who dared to take on the education of the son of the regiment, found the courage to declare a pupil on command. You can understand how their fathers-commanders, who really were many instead of fathers, tried to hide the age of the little fighters, by the confusion in the award documents. On the yellowed archival sheets, most of the underage servicemen indicate a clearly overestimated age. The real one became clear much later, after ten or even forty years.
But there were still children and teenagers who fought in partisan detachments and were members of underground organizations! And there were much more of them: sometimes whole families went to the partisans, and if not, then almost every teenager who ended up on the occupied land had someone to avenge.
So "tens of thousands" is far from an exaggeration, but rather an understatement. And, apparently, we will never know the exact number of young heroes of the Great Patriotic War. But that is no reason not to remember them.
The boys went from Brest to Berlin
The youngest of all the known little soldiers - at least, according to the documents stored in the military archives - can be considered a pupil of the 142nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 47th Guards Rifle Division Sergei Aleshkin. In archival documents, one can find two certificates of awarding a boy who was born in 1936 and ended up in the army on September 8, 1942, shortly after the punishers shot his mother and older brother for their connection with the partisans. The first document dated April 26, 1943 - on awarding him the medal "For Military Merit" due to the fact that "Comrade. Aleshkin, the regiment's favorite, ""with his cheerfulness, love for the unit and those around him, in extremely difficult moments, instilled vigor and confidence in victory." The second, dated November 19, 1945, is about awarding students of the Tula Suvorov Military School with the medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945": in the list of 13 Suvorov students, Aleshkin's name is first.
But still, such a young soldier is an exception even for wartime and for a country where all the people, young and old, have risen to defend their homeland. Most of the young heroes who fought at the front and behind enemy lines were on average 13-14 years old. The very first of them were defenders Brest Fortress, and one of the sons of the regiment is a holder of the Order of the Red Star, the Order Glory III degrees and medals "For Courage" Vladimir Tarnovsky, who served in the 370th artillery regiment of the 230th rifle division, left his autograph on the wall of the Reichstag in the victorious May 1945 ...
The youngest Heroes of the Soviet Union
These four names - Lenya Golikov, Marat Kazei, Zina Portnova and Valya Kotik - have been the most famous symbol of the heroism of the young defenders of our Motherland for over half a century. They fought in different places and accomplished feats of different circumstances, all of them were partisans and all were posthumously awarded the country's highest award - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Two - Lena Golikov and Zina Portnova - by the time they had to show unprecedented courage, were 17 years old, two more - Valya Kotik and Marat Kazei - only 14.
Lenya Golikov was the first of the four who was awarded the highest rank: the decree on assignment was signed on April 2, 1944. The text says that Golikov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union "for the exemplary performance of command assignments and the courage and heroism shown in battles." And indeed, in less than a year - from March 1942 to January 1943 - Lenya Golikov managed to take part in the defeat of three enemy garrisons, in undermining more than a dozen bridges, in capturing a German major general with secret documents ... And heroically die in battle near the village of Ostraya Luka, without waiting for a high reward for capturing a strategically important "language".
Zina Portnova and Valya Kotik were awarded the titles of Heroes of the Soviet Union 13 years after the Victory, in 1958. Zina was awarded for the courage with which she conducted underground work, then served as a liaison between the partisans and the underground, and eventually endured inhuman torment, falling into the hands of the Nazis at the very beginning of 1944. Valya - according to the totality of exploits in the ranks of the Shepetov partisan detachment named after Karmelyuk, where he came after a year of work in an underground organization in Shepetovka itself. And Marat Kazei was awarded the highest award only in the year of the 20th anniversary of the Victory: the decree on conferring on him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was promulgated on May 8, 1965. For almost two years - from November 1942 to May 1944 - Marat fought as part of the partisan formations of Belarus and died, blowing up himself and the Nazis surrounding him with the last grenade.
Over the past half century, the circumstances of the exploits of the four heroes have become known throughout the country: more than one generation of Soviet schoolchildren has grown up on their example, and the current generation is certainly told about them. But even among those who did not receive the highest award, there were many real heroes - pilots, sailors, snipers, scouts and even musicians.
Sniper Vasily Kurka
The war caught Vasya at the age of sixteen. In the very first days he was mobilized to the labor front, and in October he was admitted to the 726th rifle regiment of the 395th rifle division. At first, a boy of unconscripted age, who also looked a couple of years younger than his age, was left in the wagon train: they say, there is nothing for teenagers to do on the front line. But soon the guy got his way and was transferred to a combat unit - to a team of snipers.
Vasily Kurka. Photo: Imperial War Museum
Amazing military fate: from the first to last day Vasya Kurka fought in the same regiment of the same division! did a good job military career, rising to the rank of lieutenant and taking command of a rifle platoon. Recorded at his own expense, according to various sources, from 179 to 200 destroyed Nazis. He fought from the Donbass to Tuapse and back, and then further, to the West, to the Sandomierz bridgehead. It was there that Lieutenant Kurka was mortally wounded in January 1945, less than six months before the Victory.
Pilot Arkady Kamanin
At the location of the 5th Guards Assault Air Corps, 15-year-old Arkady Kamanin arrived with his father, who was appointed commander of this illustrious unit. The pilots were surprised to learn that the son of the legendary pilot, one of the first seven Heroes of the Soviet Union, a member of the Chelyuskin rescue expedition, would work as an aircraft mechanic in the communications squadron. But they soon became convinced that the "general's son" did not justify their negative expectations at all. The boy did not hide behind the back of the famous father, but simply did his job well - and with all his might strove for the sky.
Sergeant Kamanin in 1944. Photo: war.ee
Soon Arkady achieved his goal: first he takes to the air as a letnab, then as a navigator on the U-2, and then goes on his first independent flight. And finally - the long-awaited appointment: the son of General Kamanin becomes a pilot of the 423rd separate communications squadron. Before the victory, Arkady, who had risen to the rank of foreman, managed to fly almost 300 hours and earn three orders: two - the Red Star and one - the Red Banner. And if it weren’t for meningitis, which literally killed an 18-year-old guy in the spring of 1947, literally in a matter of days, Kamanin Jr. would have been included in the cosmonaut detachment, the first commander of which was Kamanin Sr.: Arkady managed to enter the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy back in 1946.
Front-line scout Yuri Zhdanko
Ten-year-old Yura ended up in the army by chance. In July 1941, he went to show the retreating Red Army soldiers a little-known ford on the Western Dvina and did not have time to return to his native Vitebsk, where the Germans had already entered. And so he left with a part to the east, to Moscow itself, in order to start the return journey to the west from there.
Yuri Zhdanko. Photo: russia-reborn.ru
On this path, Yura managed a lot. In January 1942, he, who had never jumped with a parachute before, went to the rescue of encircled partisans and helped them break through the enemy ring. In the summer of 1942, together with a group of reconnaissance colleagues, he blows up the strategically important bridge across the Berezina, sending to the bottom of the river not only the bridge deck, but also nine trucks passing through it, and less than a year later, he is the only one of all the messengers who managed to break through to the surrounded battalion and help him get out of the "ring".
By February 1944, the chest of the 13-year-old scout was decorated with the medal "For Courage" and the Order of the Red Star. But a shell that exploded literally underfoot interrupted Yura's front-line career. He ended up in the hospital, from where he went to the Suvorov Military School, but did not go through for health reasons. Then the retired young intelligence officer retrained as a welder and also managed to become famous on this “front”, having traveled with his welding machine almost half of Eurasia - he built pipelines.
Infantryman Anatoly Komar
Among the 263 Soviet soldiers who covered enemy embrasures with their bodies, the youngest was a 15-year-old private of the 332nd reconnaissance company of the 252nd rifle division of the 53rd army of the 2nd Ukrainian front Anatoly Komar. The teenager got into the active army in September 1943, when the front came close to his native Slavyansk. It happened with him almost the same way as with Yura Zhdanko, with the only difference that the boy served as a guide not for the retreating, but for the advancing Red Army. Anatoly helped them go deep into the front line of the Germans, and then left with the advancing army to the west.
Young partisan. Photo: Imperial War Museum
But, unlike Yura Zhdanko, Tolya Komar's front-line path was much shorter. For only two months he had a chance to wear epaulettes that had recently appeared in the Red Army and go on reconnaissance. In November of the same year, returning from a free search in the rear of the Germans, a group of scouts revealed themselves and was forced to break through to their own with a fight. The last obstacle on the way back was a machine gun, which pressed the reconnaissance to the ground. Anatoly Komar threw a grenade at him, and the fire subsided, but as soon as the scouts got up, the machine gunner began to shoot again. And then Tolya, who was closest to the enemy, got up and fell on a machine-gun barrel, at the cost of his life, buying his comrades precious minutes for a breakthrough.
Sailor Boris Kuleshin
In the cracked photograph, a ten-year-old boy stands against the backdrop of sailors in black uniforms with ammunition boxes on their backs and the superstructures of a Soviet cruiser. His hands are tightly squeezing a PPSh assault rifle, and on his head is a peakless cap with a guards ribbon and the inscription "Tashkent". This is a pupil of the crew of the leader of the destroyers "Tashkent" Borya Kuleshin. The picture was taken in Poti, where, after repairs, the ship called for another cargo of ammunition for the besieged Sevastopol. It was here that the twelve-year-old Borya Kuleshin appeared at the gangway of the Tashkent. His father died at the front, his mother, as soon as Donetsk was occupied, was taken to Germany, and he himself managed to escape across the front line to his own people and, together with the retreating army, get to the Caucasus.
Boris Kuleshin. Photo: weralbum.ru
While they were persuading the commander of the ship, Vasily Eroshenko, while they were deciding which combat unit to enroll the cabin boy in, the sailors managed to give him a belt, cap and machine gun and take a picture of the new crew member. And then there was a transition to Sevastopol, the first raid on "Tashkent" in Borya's life and the first clips for an anti-aircraft gun in his life, which he, along with other anti-aircraft gunners, gave to the shooters. At his combat post, he was wounded on July 2, 1942, when German aircraft tried to sink the ship in the port of Novorossiysk. After the hospital, Borya, following Captain Eroshenko, came to a new ship - the guards cruiser Krasny Kavkaz. And already here he found his well-deserved award: presented for the battles on the "Tashkent" to the medal "For Courage", he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner by the decision of the front commander, Marshal Budyonny and a member of the Military Council, Admiral Isakov. And in the next front-line picture, he already flaunts in a new uniform of a young sailor, on whose head is a peakless cap with a guards ribbon and the inscription "Red Caucasus". It was in this form that in 1944 Borya went to the Tbilisi nakhimov school, where in September 1945, among other teachers, educators and pupils, he was awarded the medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
Musician Petr Klypa
Fifteen-year-old pupil of the musical platoon of the 333rd rifle regiment, Pyotr Klypa, like other underage inhabitants of the Brest Fortress, had to go to the rear with the outbreak of war. But to leave the fighting citadel, which, among others, was defended by the only native person- his older brother, Lieutenant Nikolai, Petya refused. So he became one of the first teenage soldiers in the Great Patriotic War and a full participant in the heroic defense of the Brest Fortress.
Peter Klypa. Photo: worldwar.com
He fought there until the beginning of July, until he received an order, along with the remnants of the regiment, to break through to Brest. This is where Petit's ordeals began. Having crossed the tributary of the Bug, he, along with other colleagues, was captured, from which he soon managed to escape. He got to Brest, lived there for a month and moved east, behind the retreating Red Army, but did not reach. During one of the nights, he and a friend were discovered by the police, and the teenagers were sent to forced labor in Germany. Petya was released only in 1945 by American troops, and after checking he even managed to serve in Soviet army. And upon returning to his homeland, he again ended up behind bars, because he succumbed to the persuasion of an old friend and helped him speculate on the loot. Pyotr Klypa was released only seven years later. He had to thank the historian and writer Sergei Smirnov for this, bit by bit recreating the history of the heroic defense of the Brest Fortress and, of course, not missing the story of one of its youngest defenders, who, after his release, was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.
