Heroes of the Great Patriotic War

1. Ivan Timofeevich Lyubushkin (1918-1942)

In the fall of 1941, fierce battles took place in the area of ​​the city of Orel. Soviet tank crews repulsed the fierce attacks of the fascists. At the beginning of the battle, the tank of senior sergeant Lyubushkin was damaged by an enemy shell and could not move. The crew took an unequal battle with fascist tanks pressing from all sides. Courageous tankers destroyed five enemy vehicles! During the battle, another shell hit Lyubushkin's car, the crew was wounded.

The tank commander continued to fire at the advancing fascists and ordered the driver to repair the damage. Soon, Lyubushkin's tank was able to move and joined its column.

For courage and courage I. T. Lyuboshkin October 10, 1941 was awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union.

In one of the battles in June 1942, Lyubushkin died a heroic death.

2.Alexander Matveevich Matrosov (1924-1943)

On February 23, 1943, fierce battles unfolded on one of the sections of the Kalinin Front near the village of Chernushki north of the city of Velikiye Luki. The enemy turned the village into a heavily fortified stronghold. Several times the soldiers went up to attack the fascist fortifications, but the destructive fire from the bunker blocked their way. Then a private guard of the Sailors, making his way to the bunker, closed the embrasure with his body. Inspired by the feat of Matrosov, the soldiers rose to the attack and drove the Germans out of the village.

For the feat A.M. Matrosov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Today the regiment in which Matrosov served bears the name of the hero, forever enrolled in the unit's lists.

3. Nelson Georgievich Stepanyan (1913-1944)

During the Great Patriotic War, the commander of the assault regiment Stepanyan made 293 successful sorties to attack and bombard enemy ships.

Stepanyan became famous for his high skill, surprise and audacity of strikes against the enemy. Once Colonel Stepanyan led a group of planes to bomb an enemy airfield. The attack aircraft dropped their bombs and began to leave. But Stepanyan saw that several fascist aircraft remained intact. Then he sent his plane back, and when approaching the enemy airfield, he released the landing gear. The enemy's anti-aircraft artillery ceased fire, thinking that a Soviet plane voluntarily landed on their airfield. At that moment, Stepanyan gave gas, removed the landing gear and dropped the bombs. All three planes that survived the first raid burst into flames. And Stepanyan's plane landed safely at his airfield.

On October 23, 1942, the knowledge of the Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to the glorious son of the Armenian people for the excellent performance of command assignments. He was awarded the second Gold Star medal posthumously on March 6, 1945.

4. Vasily Georgievich Klochkov (1911-1941)

November 1941. Moscow has been declared a state of siege. On the Volokolamsk direction in the area of ​​the Dubosekovo junction, 28 soldiers of the rifle division of Major General I.V. Panfilov, led by political instructor Klochkov, stood to death.

On November 16, the Nazis threw a company of machine gunners against them. But all enemy attacks were repulsed. The Nazis left about 70 corpses on the battlefield. After a while, the Nazis moved 50 tanks against the 28 brave men. The soldiers, led by the political instructor, bravely entered into an unequal battle. One after another, valiant warriors fell to the ground, slain by fascist bullets. When the cartridges ran out, and the grenades were running out, political instructor Klochkov gathered around him the surviving fighters and, with grenades in his hands, went to the enemy.

At the cost of their own lives, the Panfilovites did not let the enemy tanks rushing towards Moscow through. The Nazis left 18 wrecked and burned vehicles on the battlefield.

For unparalleled heroism, courage and courage, political instructor V.G. Klochkov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

After the war, a monument was erected to the Panfilov heroes at the Dubosekovo junction.

5.Alexander Mikhailovich Roditelev (1916-1966)

During the battles for Konigsberg in April 1945, the commander of a sapper platoon, junior lieutenant Roditelev, with eight sappers acted as part of an assault group.

With a swift throw, the assault group reached the enemy's artillery positions. Wasting no time, Roditelev ordered the gunners to be attacked. In the ensuing hand-to-hand combat, he himself destroyed six fascists. Unable to withstand the onslaught of Soviet fighters, 25 German soldiers surrendered, the rest fled, leaving 15 heavy guns. A few minutes later, the Nazis made an attempt to return the abandoned guns. The sappers repulsed three counterattacks and held the artillery positions until the main forces advanced. In this battle, a group of sappers under the command of Roditelev destroyed up to 40 Nazis and captured 15 serviceable heavy guns. The next day, April 8, Roditelev with twelve sappers blew up the enemy bunker, cleared 6 city blocks from the Nazis and captured up to 200 soldiers and officers.

For courage and courage shown in battles with the German fascists, A.M. Roditelev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

6. Vladimir Dmitrievich Lavrinenkov (Born 1919)

Fighter pilot Lavrinenkov spent his first battle at Stalingrad. Soon he had 16 destroyed enemy aircraft on his account. With each sortie, his skill grew and strengthened. In battle, he acted decisively and courageously. The number of downed enemy aircraft increased. Together with his comrades, he covered attack aircraft and bombers, repelled enemy air raids, conducting air battles - lightning-fast battles with the enemy, from which he always emerged victorious.

By the end of the war, the communist Lavrinenkov had 448 sorties, 134 air battles in which he personally shot down 35 enemy aircraft and 11 as part of a group.

The Motherland twice awarded V. D. Lavrinenkov with the Gold Star medals of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

7. Viktor Dmitrievich Kuskov (1924-1983)

The motor operator of the torpedo boat Kuskov fought all the war on the ships of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. The boat on which he served took part in 42 military operations, sunk 3 enemy ships.

In one of the battles, a direct hit of an enemy shell in the engine compartment broke the left engine and damaged the oil line of the second engine. Kuskov himself was seriously wounded. Overcoming the pain, he got to the engine and covered the hole in the oil line with his hands. The hot oil burned his hands, but he unclenched them only when the boat got out of the battle and broke away from the enemy.

In another battle, in June 1944, a fire broke out in the engine room from a direct hit from an enemy shell. Kuskov was seriously wounded, but continued to remain at his post, fighting the fire and water flooding the engine compartment. However, the ship could not be saved. Kuskov, together with Sergeant Major Matyukhin, lowered the crew members into the water on lifebelt, and the seriously wounded boat commander and officer were held in the water in their arms for two hours until our ships arrived.

For fearlessness and dedication, a high understanding of military duty and saving the life of the commander of the ship, the communist V.D.Kuskov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on July 22, 1944.

8. Rufina Sergeevna Gasheva (Born 1921)

School, pioneer detachment, three years of study at Moscow State University - this usual biography was drastically changed by the war. 848 sorties were recorded in the summer book of Rufina Gasheva, navigator of the squadron of the 46th Guards Taman regiment of light bombers. More than once she had to find herself in the most difficult situations. In one of the battles in the Kuban, Gesheva's plane was shot down by a fascist fighter and fell behind the front line. For several days, the girl fought her way through the enemy's rear to her regiment, where she was already considered dead. Near Warsaw, having jumped out of a burning plane with a parachute, she landed on a minefield.

In 1956, Rufina Sergeevna Gasheva was demobilized with the rank of major. Taught English language at the Academy of Armored Forces named after R. Ya. Malinovsky, worked at the Military Publishing House. Since 1972 she has been retired in Moscow. For courage shown in battles with the enemy, Rufina Sergeevna Gasheva was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on February 23, 1945.

10. Evgeniya Maksimovna Rudneva (1921-1944)

In the early days of World War II, a student at Moscow State University Zhenya Rudneva volunteered for the front. During the course, she mastered the art of navigation. And then there were the successful bombing of the accumulations of enemy troops, enemy equipment in the Kuban, the North Caucasus, in the Crimea. 645 sorties were made by the navigator of the Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment, Senior Lieutenant Rudneva. In April 1944, performing another combat mission in the Kerch region, E. M. Rudneva died heroically. On October 26, 1944, the navigator of the Guards Bomber Regiment, Evgenia Maksimovna Rudneva, was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

12. Manshuk Zhiengalievna Mametova (1922-1943)

The best machine gunner of the 21st Guards Rifle Division was considered a Kazakh girl Manshuk Mametova. She was an example of valor and fearlessness, the pride of the division's soldiers.

On October 15, 1943, there was a fierce battle for the city of Nevel. Manshuk supported the offensive of her unit with machine-gun fire. She was wounded in the head. Gathering her last strength, the girl pulled out a machine gun to an open position and began to shoot the Nazis point-blank, clearing the way for her comrades. Even when she was dead, Manshuk gripped the grips of a machine gun ...

From all parts of our Motherland, letters were sent to Alma-Ata, where she lived, from where Manshuk left for the great feat. And in Nevel, near the walls of which the heroine died, there is a street named after her. On March 1, 1944, the courageous machine gunner was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.

13.Elena Fedorovna Kolesova (1921-1942)

On a frosty November night in 1941 near Moscow, a detachment of female intelligence officers, led by a twenty-year-old Muscovite Komsomol member Elena Kolesova, left behind enemy lines. For the exemplary performance of this task, Lelia Kolesova was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Since April 1942, Kolesova's group operated in one of the districts of the Minsk region. Under the leadership of its brave commander, the group collected and transmitted information about the location of the Nazis, the transfer of enemy troops and military equipment, bypassed highways and railways, blew up enemy trains and bridges. On September 11, 1942, Elena Kolesova died in an unequal battle with punishers near the village of Vydritsa, Minsk region. The name of the heroine was borne by the pioneer squad of the Moscow school number 47, where she worked as a pioneer leader, a teacher. The glorious intelligence officer who gave her life for the freedom and independence of our Motherland was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on February 21, 1944.

14. Anatoly Konstantinovich Avdeev, gunner fighter anti-tank artillery regiment, born in 1925.

On July 5, 1944, Avdeev's gun crew was ordered to prevent the breakthrough of the fascist troops from the encirclement in the Volma region (Belarus). Having occupied an open firing position, the soldiers shot the Nazis at close range. The battle lasted 13 hours. During this time, the gun crew repulsed 7 attacks. Almost all the shells ran out, and 5 people of the gun crew died in the death of the brave. The enemy goes on the attack again. A direct hit of a projectile breaks down Avdeev's gun, and the last soldier from the calculation is killed. Left alone, Avdeev does not leave the battlefield, but continues to fight with a machine gun and grenades. But now all the cartridges and the last grenade are used up. The Komsomol member grabs an ax lying nearby and destroys four more fascists.

Mission accomplished. The enemy did not pass, leaving on the battlefield in front of Avdeev's gun up to 180 corpses of soldiers and officers, 2 self-propelled guns, a machine gun and 4 cars.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the glorious son of the Russian people Avdeev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

15. Vladimir Avramovich Alekseenko, deputy commander of an aviation regiment, born in 1923, Russian.

Attack aviation pilot Alekseenko made 292 successful sorties during the war years. He stormed enemy batteries that shelled Leningrad, crushed the enemy on the Karelian Isthmus, in the Baltic States and in East Prussia. Dozens of aircraft shot down and destroyed at airfields, 33 tanks, 118 vehicles, 53 railway cars, 85 carts, 15 armored personnel carriers, 10 ammunition depots, 27 artillery pieces, 54 anti-aircraft guns, 12 mortars and hundreds of killed soldiers and officers of the enemy - this is the battle captain Alekseenko's account.

For 230 successful combat sorties on assault strikes against concentrations of troops and equipment of the enemy, for courage and bravery, the communist V.A.Alekseenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on April 19, 1945. On June 29, 1945, he was awarded the second Gold Star medal for new military exploits at the front.

16.Andrey Egorovich Borovykh, squadron commander, born in 1921, Russian.

During the Great Patriotic War, fighter pilot Andrei Borovykh fought on the Kalinin front. His combat path ran through Oryol and Kursk, Gomel and Brest, Lvov and Warsaw and ended near Berlin. He flew to intercept enemy aircraft, accompanied our bombers behind enemy lines, and conducted aerial reconnaissance. In the first two years of the war alone, Major Borovykh made 328 successful sorties, took part in 55 air battles, in which he personally shot down 12 enemy aircraft.

In August 1943, the communist Borovykh was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the second Gold Star medal on February 23, 1945 for another 20 enemy aircraft shot down in the next 49 air battles.

In total, during the war years, Borovykh made about 600 successful combat missions.

After the Great Patriotic War A.E. Borovykh was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR and a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

17. Boris Alexandrovich Vladimirov , commander of a rifle division, born in 1905, Russian.

General Vladimirov especially distinguished himself in January 1945 in the Vistula-Oder operation. As a result of a well-thought-out and skillfully organized battle, his division on January 14-15 successfully broke through the deeply echeloned German defenses on the Vistula River line. In pursuit of the enemy, the division fought about 400 km from 16 to 28 January, with insignificant losses in personnel and military equipment. The fighters under the leadership of General Vladimirov were among the first to enter the territory of Nazi Germany and, having made a difficult maneuver in a wooded area, with fierce resistance from the Nazis pushed them away from the border and defeated the five thousandth garrison of the city of Schneidemühl. In the area of ​​the city of Schneidemühl, the soldiers of the division captured huge trophies, including 30 echelons with military equipment, food and military equipment.

For the skillful leadership of the division in difficult battle conditions and the personal courage and heroism shown at the same time, the communist B.A.Vladimirov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

18.Alexander Borisovich Kazaev , commander of a rifle regiment, born in 1919, Ossetian.

On April 13, 1945, a rifle regiment under the command of Major Kazaev, conducting offensive battles against the fascist grouping on the Zemland Peninsula, approached a heavily fortified enemy line. All attempts to break through the defenses from the front were unsuccessful. The division's offensive was suspended. Then Major Kazaev, with a daring and unexpected maneuver with small forces, blocked the main stronghold of the enemy, and with his main forces broke through the defenses from the flanks and ensured a successful offensive of the entire division.

During the offensive battles from 13 to 17 April 1945, Major Kazaev's regiment destroyed more than 400 and captured 600 Nazi soldiers and officers, captured 20 guns and freed 1,500 prisoners languishing in concentration camps.

A. V. Kazaev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the skillful leadership of the regiment's combat operations and the displayed courage.

21. Ermalai G. Koberidze, rifle division commander, born in 1904, Georgian, communist.

A career soldier, Major General E.G. Koberidze on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War - since June 1941. He especially distinguished himself in battles in July 1944. On July 27, 1944, the divisional commander, General Koberidze, personally with the advanced detachment of the division went to the eastern bank of the Vistula and organized its crossing. Under heavy enemy fire, the fighters, inspired by the division commander, crossed over to the western bank and captured a bridgehead there. Following the advance detachment, the entire division, conducting heavy battles, within two days completely crossed to the western bank of the river and began to consolidate and expand the bridgehead.

For the skillful management of the division in the battles for the Vistula and for the personal heroism and courage shown at the same time, E. G. Koberidze was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

22. Caesar Lvovich Kunikov , commander of the landing detachment of sailors of the Novorossiysk Naval Base of the Black Sea Fleet, Russian.

On the night of 3 to 4 February 1943, a landing detachment of sailors under the command of Major Kunikov landed on the enemy-occupied and heavily fortified coast in the Novorossiysk region. With a swift blow, the landing detachment knocked the Nazis out of the stronghold and firmly entrenched themselves on the captured bridgehead. At dawn, a fierce battle broke out. The paratroopers repelled 18 enemy attacks during the day. By the end of the day, ammunition was running low. The situation seemed hopeless. Then the detachment of Major Kunikov made a surprise raid on the enemy's artillery battery. Having exterminated the gun crew and seizing the guns, they opened fire from them at the attacking enemy soldiers.

For seven days, the paratroopers repulsed the fierce attacks of the enemy and held the bridgehead until the main forces approached. During this period, the detachment destroyed over 200 Nazis. In one of the battles, Kunikov was mortally wounded.

For courage and bravery, the communist Ts. L. Kunikov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

24. Kafur Nasyrovich Mamedov ... On October 18, 1942, a battalion of marines of the Black Sea Fleet, in which sailor Mamedov also fought, fought a heavy battle with superior enemy forces. The fascist German troops managed to break through and surround the command post of the company commander. Sailor Mamedov rushed to the rescue of the commander and covered him with his chest from the enemy zeros. A brave warrior saved the commander at the cost of his own life.

For courage, courage and self-sacrifice in the battle with the fascist invaders, the son of the Azerbaijani people, Komsomol member KN Mamedov, was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

29. Maguba Huseynovna Syrtlanova , deputy commander of a squadron of night bombers, born in 1912, Tatar, communist.

Guard Senior Lieutenant Syrtlanova during the Great Patriotic War fought in the North Caucasus, Taman Peninsula, Crimea, Belarus, Poland and East Prussia. In battles, she showed exceptional courage, courage and courage, flew 780 sorties. In the most difficult meteorological conditions, Syrtlanova with great accuracy brought groups of planes to specified areas.

For the courage and courage of the guards, Senior Lieutenant M.G. Syrtlanova was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

During the Great Patriotic War, heroism was the norm of behavior for Soviet people, the war revealed the steadfastness and courage of the Soviet people. Thousands of soldiers and officers sacrificed their lives in the battles of Moscow, Kursk and Stalingrad, in the defense of Leningrad and Sevastopol, in the North Caucasus and the Dnieper, in the storming of Berlin and in other battles - and immortalized their names. Women and children fought on a par with men. The home front workers played an important role. People who worked exhausted to provide the soldiers with food, clothing, and thus a bayonet and shell.
We will tell you about those who gave their lives, strengths and savings for the Victory. Here they are the great people of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

Medic heroes. Zinaida Samsonova

During the war, more than two hundred thousand doctors and half a million paramedics worked at the front and in the rear. And half of them were women.
The working day of doctors and nurses of medical battalions and front-line hospitals often lasted several days. Sleepless nights, medical workers stood relentlessly near the operating tables, and some of them pulled the dead and wounded out of the battlefield on their backs. Among the medics there were many of their own "sailors" who, saving the wounded, covered them with their bodies from bullets and shell fragments.
They did not spare, as they say, their belly, raised the spirit of the soldiers, lifted the wounded from the hospital bed and sent them back into battle to defend their country, their homeland, their people, their home from the enemy. Among the large army of doctors, I would like to name the Hero of the Soviet Union Zinaida Alexandrovna Samsonova, who went to the front when she was only seventeen years old. Zinaida, or, as her fellow soldiers called her, Zinochka, was born in the village of Bobkovo, Yegoryevsky district, Moscow region.
Before the war, she entered the Yegoryevsk Medical School. When the enemy entered her native land, and the country was in danger, Zina decided that she must definitely go to the front. And she rushed there.
She has been in the active army since 1942 and immediately finds herself at the forefront. Zina was a sanitary instructor for a rifle battalion. The soldiers loved her for her smile, for her selfless assistance to the wounded. With her fighters, Zina went through the most terrible battles, this is the Battle of Stalingrad. She fought on the Voronezh front and on other fronts.

Zinaida Samsonova

In the fall of 1943, she took part in an amphibious operation to seize a bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper near the village of Sushki, Kanevsky district, now the Cherkasy region. Here she, together with her fellow soldiers, managed to seize this bridgehead.
From the battlefield Zina carried more than thirty wounded and ferried them to the other side of the Dnieper. This fragile nineteen-year-old girl was legendary. Zinochka was distinguished by her courage and courage.
When the commander died near the village of Holm in 1944, Zina, without hesitation, took over the command of the battle and raised the fighters to attack. In this battle, her fellow soldiers heard her amazing, slightly hoarse voice for the last time: "Eagles, follow me!"
Zinochka Samsonova died in this battle on January 27, 1944 for the village of Holm in Belarus. She was buried in a mass grave in Ozarichi, Kalinkovsky district, Gomel region.
For endurance, courage and courage, Zinaida Alexandrovna Samsonova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The school where Zina Samsonova once studied was named after her.

A special period of activity of Soviet foreign intelligence officers is associated with the Great Patriotic War. Already at the end of June 1941, the newly created State Defense Committee of the USSR considered the issue of the work of foreign intelligence and clarified its tasks. They were subordinated to one goal - the earliest possible defeat of the enemy. For exemplary performance of special missions behind enemy lines, nine cadre foreign intelligence officers were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. This is S.A. Vaupshasov, I. D. Kudrya, N.I. Kuznetsov, V.A. Lyagin, D.N. Medvedev, V.A. Molodtsov, K.P. Orlovsky, N.A. Prokopyuk, A.M. Rabtsevich. Here we will tell you about one of the hero scouts - Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov.

Since the beginning of World War II, he was enrolled in the fourth department of the NKVD, whose main task was to organize reconnaissance and sabotage activities behind enemy lines. After numerous training and study in the prisoner of war camp, the customs and life of the Germans, under the name of Paul Wilhelm Siebert, Nikolai Kuznetsov was sent to the rear of the enemy along the line of terror. At first, the special agent conducted his secret activities in the Ukrainian city of Rivne, where the Reich Commissariat of Ukraine was located. Kuznetsov closely communicated with enemy officers of the special services and the Wehrmacht, as well as local officials. All the information obtained was transferred to the partisan detachment. One of the notable feats of the secret agent of the USSR was the capture of the Reichskommissariat courier, Major Gahan, who was carrying a secret map in his briefcase. After interrogating Gahan and studying the map, it turned out that a bunker for Hitler had been built eight kilometers from the Ukrainian Vinnitsa.
In November 1943, Kuznetsov managed to organize the abduction of the German Major General M. Ilgen, who was sent to Rovno to destroy partisan formations.
The last operation of the intelligence officer Siebert in this post was the elimination in November 1943 of the head of the legal department of the Reichskommissariat of Ukraine, Oberführer Alfred Funk. After interrogating Funk, the brilliant intelligence officer managed to obtain information about the preparations for the assassination of the heads of the "Big Three" of the Tehran Conference, as well as information about the enemy's offensive on the Kursk Bulge. In January 1944, Kuznetsov was ordered to go to Lvov together with the retreating fascist troops to continue his sabotage activities. Scouts Jan Kaminsky and Ivan Belov were sent to help Agent Siebert. Under the leadership of Nikolai Kuznetsov, several invaders were destroyed in Lvov, for example, the head of the government office, Heinrich Schneider and Otto Bauer.

From the first days of the occupation, boys and girls began to act decisively, a secret organization called "Young Avengers" was created. The guys fought against the fascist invaders. They blew up a water pump, which delayed the dispatch of ten fascist echelons to the front. Distracting the enemy, the Avengers destroyed bridges and highways, blew up a local power plant, and burned down the plant. Obtaining information about the actions of the Germans, they immediately passed it on to the partisans.
Zina Portnova was assigned more and more complex tasks. According to one of them, the girl managed to get a job in a German canteen. After working there for a while, she carried out an effective operation - she poisoned food for the German soldiers. More than 100 fascists suffered from her lunch. The Germans began to blame Zina. Wanting to prove her innocence, the girl tried the poisoned soup and only miraculously survived.

Zina Portnova

In 1943, traitors appeared who disclosed secret information and betrayed our guys to the Nazis. Many were arrested and shot. Then the command of the partisan detachment instructed Portnova to establish contact with those who survived. The Nazis grabbed a young partisan when she was returning from a mission. Zina was terribly tortured. But the answer to the enemy was only her silence, contempt and hatred. The interrogations did not stop.
“The Gestapo man went to the window. And Zina, rushing to the table, grabbed a pistol. Obviously catching the rustle, the officer turned abruptly, but the weapon was already in her hand. She pulled the trigger. For some reason I didn't hear the shot. I just saw how the German, clutching his chest with his hands, fell to the floor, and the second, who was sitting at the side table, jumped out of his chair and hastily unfastened the holster of his revolver. She pointed the gun at him too. Again, almost without aiming, pulled the trigger. Rushing to the exit, Zina pulled open the door, jumped into the next room and from there onto the porch. There she shot almost point blank at the sentry. Having run out of the building of the commandant's office, Portnova rushed down the path like a whirlwind.
"If only I could run to the river," thought the girl. But the noise of the chase was heard from behind ... "Why don't they shoot?" The surface of the water already seemed very close. And beyond the river the forest was black. She heard the sound of machine gun fire, and something prickly pierced her leg. Zina fell onto the river sand. She still had enough strength, slightly raised herself, to shoot ... She took care of the last bullet for herself.
When the Germans ran very close, she decided that it was all over, and pointed a pistol to her chest and pulled the trigger. But there was no shot: a misfire. The fascist knocked the pistol out of her weakening hands. "
Zina was sent to prison. For more than a month the Germans brutally tortured the girl, they wanted her to betray her comrades. But having sworn an oath of loyalty to the Motherland, Zina kept it.
On the morning of January 13, 1944, a gray-haired and blind girl was taken out for execution. She walked, stumbling with bare feet in the snow.
The girl withstood all the torture. She truly loved our Motherland and died for her, firmly believing in our victory.
Zinaida Portnova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The Soviet people, realizing that the front needed their help, made every effort. Engineering geniuses simplified and improved production. Women who had recently escorted their husbands, brothers and sons to the front, took their place at the machine, mastering unfamiliar professions. "Everything for the front, everything for the victory!" Children, old people and women gave all their strength, gave themselves for the sake of victory.

This is how the collective farmers' call sounded in one of the regional newspapers: “... we need to give the army and the working people more bread, meat, milk, vegetables and agricultural raw materials for industry. We, the workers of the state farms, together with the collective farm peasantry must hand it over. " Only by these lines can one judge how much the home front workers were obsessed with thoughts of victory, and what sacrifices they were willing to make in order to bring this long-awaited day closer. Even receiving funerals, they did not stop working, knowing that this is the best way to take revenge on the hated fascists for the death of their loved ones.

On December 15, 1942, Ferapont Holovaty gave all his savings - 100 thousand rubles - to purchase an aircraft for the Red Army, and asked to transfer the aircraft to the pilot of the Stalingrad Front. In a letter addressed to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, he wrote that, having accompanied his two sons to the front, he himself wanted to contribute to the cause of victory. Stalin answered: “Thank you, Ferapont Petrovich, for your concern for the Red Army and its Air Force. The Red Army will not forget that you gave all your savings to build a combat aircraft. Please accept my greetings. " Serious attention was paid to the initiative. The decision on who exactly will get the named aircraft was made by the Military Council of the Stalingrad Front. The combat vehicle was handed over to one of the best - the commander of the 31st Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Major Boris Nikolayevich Eremin. The fact that Eremin and Holovaty were fellow countrymen also played a role.

Victory in the Great Patriotic War was achieved by inhuman efforts, both front-line soldiers and home front workers. And this must be remembered. Today's generation should not forget their feat.

Twelve of several thousand examples of unparalleled childhood courage
Young heroes Great Patriotic War - how many were there? If you count - how could it be otherwise ?! - 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 Archives of the Ministry of Defense (TsAMO) of Russia, during the war years, more than 3,500 servicemen under the age of 16 were numbered in combat units. At the same time, it is clear that not every subunit commander who risked taking on the education of the regiment's son found the courage to announce his pupil on command. You can understand how their fathers-commanders tried to hide the age of the little fighters, who in fact were for many instead of their fathers, by the confusion in the award documents. On the yellowed archival sheets, the majority of underage servicemen are clearly overstated. The real one came to light much later, after ten or even forty years.

But there were also children and adolescents who fought in partisan detachments and were members of underground organizations! And there there were much more of them: sometimes whole families went to the partisans, and if not, then almost every teenager who found himself in 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 this is not a reason not to remember them.

Boys walked from Brest to Berlin

The youngest of all the known little soldiers - in any case, 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, you can find two certificates about the awarding of a boy who was born in 1936 and ended up in the army since September 8, 1942, shortly after the punishers shot his mother and older brother for contact with the partisans. The first document dated April 26, 1943 - about rewarding him with the medal "For Military Merit" in connection with the fact that "Comrade. Aleshkin's favorite of the regiment "" with his cheerfulness, love for the unit and those around him, in extremely difficult moments, instilled courage and confidence in victory. " The second, dated November 19, 1945, on awarding the pupils of the Tula Suvorov Military School with the medal "For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945": in the list of 13 Suvorovites, the name of Aleshkin is the first.

But still, such a young soldier is an exception even for wartime and for a country where all the people, young and old, rose to defend the Motherland. 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 of the Brest Fortress, and one of the regiment's sons - holder of the Order of the Red Star, the Order of Glory III degree and the medal "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. Fighting in different places and performing 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 of them - Lena Golikov and Zina Portnova - were 17 years old by the time they had a chance to show unprecedented courage, two more - Valea Kotik and Marat Kazei - were only 14 each.

Lenya Golikov was the first of the four who was awarded the highest rank: the assignment decree was signed on April 2, 1944. The text says that the title of Hero of the Soviet Union Golikov was awarded "for exemplary performance of command assignments and displayed courage and heroism 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 blowing up more than a dozen bridges, in the capture of a German major general with secret documents ... the battle near the village of Ostraya Luka, without waiting for a high reward for the capture of a strategically important "language".

Zina Portnova and Valya Kotik were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union 13 years after the Victory, in 1958. Zina was awarded an award for the courage with which she carried out underground work, then performed the duties of a liaison between the partisans and the underground, and in the end 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 Shepetivka partisan detachment named after Karmelyuk, where he came after a year of work in an underground organization in Shepetivka itself. And Marat Kazei was awarded the highest award only in the year of the 20th anniversary of Victory: the decree on conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on him 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 who surrounded 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 present people are 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 found Vasya as a sixteen-year-old teenager. In the very first days, he was mobilized to the labor front, and in October he achieved enrollment in the 726th Infantry Regiment of the 395th Infantry Division. At first, the boy of non-recruitment age, who also looked a couple of years younger than his age, was left in the train: they say, there is nothing for teenagers on the front line to do. But soon the guy got his way and was transferred to a combat unit - to the sniper team.

Vasily Kurka. Photo: Imperial War Museum

An amazing military fate: from the first to the last day, Vasya Kurka fought in the same regiment of the same division! He made a good military career, rising to the rank of lieutenant and taking command of a rifle platoon. He wrote down to his own account, according to various sources, from 179 to 200 killed Nazis. He fought from 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

The 15-year-old Arkady Kamanin arrived at the location of the 5th Guards Assault Air Corps 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 a communications squadron. But they soon became convinced that the "general's son" did not live up to their negative expectations at all. The boy did not hide behind the back of the famous father, but simply did his job well - and strove with all his might to the sky.

Sergeant Kamanin in 1944. Photo: war.ee

Soon Arkady achieved his goal: first he rises into the air as a letnab, then as a navigator on the U-2, and then goes on the first independent flight. And finally - the long-awaited appointment: the son of General Kamanin becomes the pilot of the 423rd separate communications squadron. Before the victory, Arkady, who had reached the rank of foreman, managed to fly almost 300 hours and earned three orders: two - the Red Star and one - the Red Banner. And if it were not for meningitis, who literally in a matter of days killed an 18-year-old guy in the spring of 1947, perhaps in the cosmonaut corps, the first commander of which was Kamanin Sr., Kamanin Jr. would also have been listed: Arkady managed to enter the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy back in 1946.

Frontline intelligence officer Yuri Zhdanko

Ten-year-old Yura ended up in the army by accident. In July 1941, he went to show the retreating Red Army soldiers a little-known ford on the Western Dvina and did not manage to return to his native Vitebsk, where the Germans had already entered. So he left together 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 the encircled partisans and helped them break through the enemy ring. In the summer of 1942, together with a group of fellow intelligence officers, he blows up a strategically important bridge across the Berezina, sending not only the bridge bed to the bottom of the river, but also nine trucks passing through it, and less than a year later he turns out to be the only messenger who managed to break through to the surrounded battalion and help him get out of the "ring".

By February 1944, the 13-year-old scout's chest 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 School, but did not pass for health reasons. Then the retired young intelligence officer retrained as a welder and on this "front" also managed to become famous, having traveled with his welding machine almost half of Eurasia - he was building pipelines.

Infantryman Anatoly Komar

Among the 263 Soviet soldiers who covered the enemy embrasures with their bodies, the youngest was Anatoly Komar, 15-year-old private of the 332nd reconnaissance company of the 252nd Infantry Division of the 53rd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. The teenager entered the army in September 1943, when the front came close to his native Slavyansk. It happened with him in 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 men. Anatoly helped them to 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, the front line of Tolya Komar was much shorter. Only two months he had a chance to wear the shoulder straps 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 in battle. The last obstacle on the way back was the machine gun, which pressed the reconnaissance to the ground. Anatoly Komar threw a grenade at him, and the fire died down, but as soon as the scouts got up, the machine gunner started firing again. And then Tolya, who was closest to the enemy, got up and fell on the 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 boy of about ten is standing 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 gripping the PPSh submachine gun, 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 Tashkent destroyer Borya Kuleshin. The picture was taken in Poti, where, after repairs, the ship entered for another load of ammunition for the besieged Sevastopol. It was here at the gangway of "Tashkent" that twelve-year-old Borya Kuleshin appeared. His father died at the front, his mother, as soon as Donetsk was occupied, was driven to Germany, and he himself managed to escape through the front line to his own people and, together with the retreating army, reached 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 in the cabin boy, the sailors managed to give him a belt, a peakless cap and a machine gun and take a picture of the new crew member. And then there was a transition to Sevastopol, the first raid on the "Tashkent" in Boris's life and the first in his life clips for an anti-aircraft artillery machine, which he, along with other anti-aircraft gunners, handed to the shooters. At his combat post, he was wounded on July 2, 1942, when German aircraft tried to sink a ship in the port of Novorossiysk. After the hospital, Borya followed Captain Eroshenko to a new ship - the Krasny Kavkaz guards cruiser. And already here I found him a well-deserved reward: presented for the battles on the "Tashkent" for 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 is already showing off in the new uniform of a young sailor, on whose head there is a peakless cap with a guards' ribbon and the inscription "Red Caucasus". It was in this uniform that in 1944 Borya went to the Tbilisi Nakhimov School, where in September 1945, along with other teachers, educators and pupils, he was awarded the medal "For 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 Infantry Regiment Pyotr Klypa, like other underage inhabitants of the Brest Fortress, had to go to the rear with the beginning of the war. But Petya refused to leave the fighting citadel, which, among others, was defended by his only family member - his older brother, Lieutenant Nikolai. So he became one of the first teenage soldiers in the Great Patriotic War and a full participant heroic defense Brest Fortress.

Petr Klypa. Photo: worldwar.com

He fought there until early July, when he received an order to break through to Brest along with the remnants of the regiment. This is where Petit's ordeal began. Having crossed the tributary of the Bug, he, among other colleagues, was captured, from which he soon managed to escape. He reached Brest, lived there for a month and moved east, following the retreating Red Army, but did not reach it. During one of the nights he and a friend were found by policemen, 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 the Soviet army for several months. And upon returning to his homeland, he again ended up behind bars, because he succumbed to the persuasions of an old friend and helped him speculate on the looted. Pyotr Klypa was released only seven years later. He needed to thank the historian and writer Sergei Smirnov for this, who, bit by bit, recreated the history of the heroic defense of the Brest Fortress and, of course, did not miss the history of one of its youngest defenders, who after his liberation was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.

Fifty great deeds of Soviet soldiers worthy of memory and admiration ...

1) Only 30 minutes were allocated by the command of the Wehrmacht to suppress the resistance of the border guards. However, the 13th outpost under the command of A. Lopatin fought for more than 10 days and the Brest Fortress for more than a month.

2) At 4 hours 25 minutes on June 22, 1941, the pilot senior lieutenant I. Ivanov made an air ram. This was the first feat in the course of the war; awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

3) The frontier guards and units of the Red Army launched the first counterattack already on June 23rd. They liberated the city of Przemysl, and two groups of border guards broke into Zasanie (the territory of Poland occupied by Germany), where they defeated the headquarters of the German division and the Gestapo, while liberating many prisoners.

4) During heavy battles with tanks and assault guns of the enemy, the gunner of the 76 mm gun of the 636th anti-tank artillery regiment, Alexander Serov, destroyed 18 tanks and assault guns of the Nazis on June 23 and 24, 1941. Relatives received two funerals, but the brave warrior survived. The veteran was recently awarded the title of Hero of Russia.

5) On the night of August 8, 1941, a group of Baltic Fleet bombers under the command of Colonel E. Preobrazhensky made the first air raid on Berlin. These raids continued until September 4th.

6) Lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko from the 4th tank brigade is rightfully considered the number one tank ace. In three months of fighting in September-November 1941, he destroyed 52 enemy tanks in 28 battles. Unfortunately, the brave tanker died in November 1941 near Moscow.

7) The most unique record of the Great Patriotic War was set by the crew of Senior Lieutenant Zinovy ​​Kolobanov on the "KV" tank from the 1st Tank Division. For 3 hours of battle in the area of ​​the "Voiskovitsy" state farm (Leningrad region), he destroyed 22 enemy tanks.

8) In the battle for Zhitomir near the farm of Nizhnekumsky on December 31, 1943, the crew of junior lieutenant Ivan Golub (13th Guards Tank Brigade of the 4th Guards Tank Corps.) Destroyed 5 "tigers", 2 "panthers", 5 guns of a hundred fascists.

9) An anti-tank gun crew consisting of senior sergeant R. Sinyavsky and corporal A. Mukozobov (542nd rifle regiment, 161th rifle regiment) destroyed 17 enemy tanks and assault guns in the battles near Minsk from June 22 to 26. For this feat, the soldiers were awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

10) Calculation of the guns of the 197th Guards. regiment of the 92nd Guards. rifle division (152 mm howitzer) consisting of brothers of the guard senior sergeant Dmitry Lukanin and guard sergeant Yakov Lukanin from October 1943 until the end of the war destroyed 37 tanks and armored personnel carriers and more than 600 enemy soldiers and officers. For the battle near the village of Kaluzhino, Dnepropetrovsk region, the fighters were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Now their 152-mm howitzer cannon is installed in the Military-Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps. (Saint Petersburg).

11) Sergeant Petr Petrov, the commander of the 37 mm gun of the 93rd separate anti-aircraft artillery battalion, is rightfully considered the most effective anti-aircraft ace. In June-September 1942, his crew destroyed 20 enemy aircraft. A crew commanded by a senior sergeant (632th anti-aircraft artillery regiment) destroyed 18 enemy aircraft.

12) For two years, the calculation of 37 mm guns of the 75th Guards. army anti-aircraft artillery regiment under the command of the guards. Sergeant Major Nikolai Botsman destroyed 15 enemy aircraft. The latter were shot down in the sky over Berlin.

13) The gunner of the 1st Baltic Front, Klavdia Barkhotkina, hit 12 enemy air targets.

14) The most productive of the Soviet boats was Lieutenant-Commander Alexander Shabalin (Northern Fleet), he led the destruction of 32 enemy warships and transports (as the commander of a boat, a flight and a detachment of torpedo boats). For his exploits A. Shabalin was twice awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

15) For several months of fighting on the Bryansk front, a fighter of the fighter detachment, Private Vasily Putchin, only destroyed 37 enemy tanks with grenades and Molotov cocktails.

16) At the height of the fighting on the Kursk Bulge on July 7, 1943, the machine gunner of the 1019 regiment, senior sergeant Yakov Studennikov, alone (the rest of his crew died) fought for two days. Wounded, he managed to repel 10 attacks of the Nazis and destroyed more than 300 Nazis. For the feat he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

17) About the feat of the soldiers 316 s.d. (Divisional Commander Major General I. Panfilov) at the well-known crossing of Dubosekovo on November 16, 1941, 28 tank destroyers met a blow from 50 tanks, of which 18 were destroyed. Hundreds of enemy soldiers found their end at Dubosekovo. But few know about the feat of the soldiers of the 1378th regiment of the 87th division. On December 17, 1942, in the area of ​​the village of Verkhne-Kumsky, the soldiers of the company of senior lieutenant Nikolai Naumov with two calculations of anti-tank rifles while defending an altitude of 1372 m repelled 3 attacks of enemy tanks and infantry. Several more attacks the next day. All 24 fighters were killed defending the hill, but the enemy lost 18 tanks and hundreds of infantry.

18) In the battle of Stalingrad on 01.09.1943, machine gunner sergeant Khanpasha Nuradilov destroyed 920 fascists.

19) B Stalingrad battle in one battle on December 21, 1942, Marine I. Kaplunov knocked out 9 enemy tanks. He knocked out 5 and, being seriously wounded, knocked out 4 more tanks.

20) In the days of the Battle of Kursk, July 6, 1943 Guards pilot Lieutenant A. Gorovets took a battle with 20 enemy aircraft, and shot down 9 of them.

21) On account of the crew of the submarine under the command of P. Grishchenko 19 sunk enemy ships, and in the initial period of the war.

22) Pilot of the Northern Fleet B. Safonov from June 1941 to May 1942 shot down 30 enemy aircraft and became the first twice Hero of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War.

23) During the defense of Leningrad, sniper F. Dyachenko killed 425 Nazis.

24) The first decree on conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the war was adopted by the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces on July 8, 1941. It was awarded to pilots M. Zhukov, S. Zdorovets, P. Kharitonov for air rams in the skies of Leningrad.

25) The famous pilot I. Kozhedub received the third Gold Star - at the age of 25, the artilleryman A. Shilin the second Gold Star - at the age of 20.

26) In the Great Patriotic War, five schoolchildren under the age of 16 received the title of Hero: Sasha Chekalin and Lyonya Golikov at 15, Valya Kotik, Marat Kazei and Zina Portnova at 14.

27) The pilots brothers Boris and Dmitry Glinka (Dmitry later became twice a Hero), tankmen Yevsey and Matvey Vainrubs, partisans Yevgeny and Gennady Ignatovs, Pilots Tamara and Vladimir Konstantinovs, Zoya and Alexander Kosmodemyanskiy, brothers pilots Sergei and Alexander Kurzenkov, became Heroes of the Soviet Union. brothers Alexander and Peter Lizyukov, twin brothers Dmitry and Yakov Lukanin, brothers Nikolai and Mikhail Panichkin.

28) More than 300 Soviet soldiers covered the enemy embrasures with their bodies, about 500 aviators used an air ram in battle, more than 300 crews sent downed planes to the concentration of enemy troops.

29) During the war, more than 6,200 partisan detachments and underground groups operated in the rear of the enemy, in which there were more than 1,000,000 national avengers.

30) During the war years, 5,300,000 orders and 7,580,000 medals were awarded.

31) There were about 600,000 women in the active army, more than 150,000 of them were awarded orders and medals, 86 were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

32) 10,900 times regiments and divisions were awarded the Order of the USSR, 29 units and formations have 5 or more awards.

33) During the years of the Great Patriotic War, 41,000 people were awarded the Order of Lenin, of which 36,000 were awarded for military exploits. More than 200 military units and formations were awarded the Order of Lenin.

34) More than 300,000 people were awarded the Order of the Red Banner during the war years.

35) For heroic deeds during the Great Patriotic War, more than 2,860,000 were awarded the Order of the Red Star.

36) The Order of Suvorov 1st degree was first awarded to G. Zhukov, the Order of Suvorov 2nd degree No. 1 was received by Major General of Tank Forces V. Badanov.

37) Lieutenant General N. Galanin was awarded the Order of Kutuzov 1st degree No. 1, General A. Danilo received the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky 1st degree No. 1.

38) During the war years, 340 were awarded the Order of Suvorov 1st degree, 2nd degree - 2100, 3rd degree - 300, Order of Ushakov 1st degree - 30, 2nd degree - 180, Order of Kutuzov 1st degrees - 570, 2nd degree - 2570, 3rd degree - 2200, Order of Nakhimov 1st degree - 70, 2nd degree - 350, Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 1st degree - 200, 2nd degree - 1450 , 3rd degree - 5,400, the Order of Alexander Nevsky - 40,000.

39) The Order of the Great Patriotic War of the 1st degree No. 1 was awarded to the family of the deceased senior political instructor V. Konyukhov.

40) The Order of the Great War of War, 2nd degree, was awarded to the parents of the deceased Senior Lieutenant P. Razhkin.

41) N. Petrov received six Orders of the Red Banner during the years of the Great Patriotic War. The heroic deeds of N. Yanenkov and D. Panchuk were awarded with four Orders of the Patriotic War. Six Orders of the Red Star were awarded to I. Panchenko.

42) Sergeant Major N. Zaletov received the Order of Glory, 1st class No. 1.

43) 2577 people became full holders of the Order of Glory. After the warriors, 8 full holders of the Order of Glory became Heroes of Socialist Labor.

44) During the war years, the Order of Glory of the 3rd degree was awarded to about 980,000 people, of the 2nd and 1st degrees - more than 46,000 people.

45) Only 4 people - Hero of the Soviet Union - are full holders of the Order of Glory. These are artillerymen of the guard senior sergeants A. Alyoshin and N. Kuznetsov, infantry sergeant P. Dubina, pilot senior lieutenant I. Drachenko, who lived in Kiev in the last years of his life.

46) During the Great Patriotic War, more than 4,000,000 people were awarded the medal "For Courage", and "For Military Merit" - 3,320,000.

47) Six medals "For Courage" were awarded to the military exploit of intelligence officer V. Breev.

48) The youngest of those awarded the medal "For Military Merit" - six-year-old Seryozha Aleshkov.

49) The medal "Partisan of the Great Patriotic War" 1st degree was awarded to more than 56,000 people, 2nd degree - about 71,000 people.

50) 185,000 people were awarded orders and medals for the feat behind enemy lines.

Law and Duty # 5, 2011

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Heroes of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945):

• Fifty facts: the exploits of Soviet soldiers during the Great Patriotic War- Law and Duty
• 5 myths about the beginning of the war from the military historian Alexei Isaev- Thomas
• Victory or Victory: how we fought- Sergey Fedosov
• The Red Army through the eyes of the Wehrmacht: confrontation of the spirit- Eurasian Youth Union
• Otto Skorzeny: "Why didn't we take Moscow?"- Oles Buzina
• In the first air battle - don't touch anything... How aircraft shooters were trained and how they fought - Maxim Krupinov
• Saboteurs from the village school- Vladimir Tikhomirov
• Ossetian shepherd killed 108 Germans in one battle at the age of 23- Сont
• Mad Warrior Jack Churchill- Wikipedia

Before the war, these were the most ordinary boys and girls. They studied, helped the elders, played, bred pigeons, sometimes even took part in fights. But the hour of hard trials came and they proved how huge an ordinary little child's heart can become when sacred love for the Motherland flares up in it, pain for the fate of its people and hatred of enemies. And no one expected that these boys and girls are capable of performing a great feat for the glory of freedom and independence of their Motherland!

Children left in the destroyed cities and villages became homeless, doomed to death by starvation. It was terrible and difficult to remain in the territory occupied by the enemy. Children could be sent to a concentration camp, taken to work in Germany, turned into slaves, made donors for German soldiers, etc.

Here are the names of some of them: Volodya Kazmin, Yura Zhdanko, Lenya Golikov, Marat Kazei, Lara Mikheenko, Valya Kotik, Tanya Morozova, Vitya Korobkov, Zina Portnova. Many of them fought so hard that they deserved military orders and medals, and four: Marat Kazei, Valya Kotik, Zina Portnova, Lenya Golikov, became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

From the first days of the occupation, boys and girls began to act at their own peril and risk, which was indeed fatal.

"Fedya Samodurov. Fedya is 14 years old, he is a pupil of a motorized rifle unit commanded by the Guard Captain A. Chernavin. Fedya was picked up in his homeland, in the destroyed village of the Voronezh region. Together with the unit he participated in the battles for Ternopil, with a machine-gun crew he kicked the Germans out of the city. When almost the entire crew died, the teenager, together with the surviving soldier, took up the machine gun, firing long and hard, delayed the enemy. Fedya was awarded the medal "For Courage".

Vanya Kozlov, 13 years old,he was left without relatives and for the second year he has been in a motorized rifle unit. At the front, he delivers food, newspapers and letters to soldiers in the most difficult conditions.

Petya Tooth. Petya Zub chose a no less difficult specialty. He has long decided to become a scout. His parents were killed, and he knows how to settle accounts with the accursed German. Together with experienced scouts, he gets to the enemy, reports his location on the radio, and artillery fires at their orders, crushing the fascists. "(Argumenty i Fakty, No. 25, 2010, p. 42).

A sixteen year old schoolgirl Olya Demesh with her younger sister Lida at the Orsha station in Belarus, on the instructions of the commander of the partisan brigade S. Zhulin, fuel tanks were blown up with magnetic mines. Of course, the girls attracted much less attention from the German guards and policemen than teenage boys or adult men. But the girls were just right to play with dolls, and they fought with the soldiers of the Wehrmacht!

Thirteen-year-old Lida often took a basket or bag and went to the railroad tracks to collect coal, extracting intelligence about German military echelons. If the sentries stopped her, she explained that she was collecting coal to heat the room in which the Germans lived. Olya's mother and younger sister Lida were seized and shot by the Nazis, and Olya continued to fearlessly carry out the partisans' assignments.

For the head of the young partisan Oli Demesh, the Nazis promised a generous reward - land, a cow and 10 thousand marks. Copies of her photograph were distributed and sent to all patrol services, policemen, headmen and secret agents. Capture and deliver her alive - that was the order! But they failed to catch the girl. Olga destroyed 20 German soldiers and officers, derailed 7 enemy trains, conducted reconnaissance, participated in the "rail war", in the destruction of German punitive units.

Children of the Great Patriotic War

What happened to the children during this terrible time? During the war?

The guys worked day and night in factories, factories and industries, standing behind the machines instead of the brothers and fathers who had gone to the front. Children also worked at defense enterprises: they made fuses for mines, fuses for hand grenades, smoke bombs, colored flares, assembled gas masks. They worked in agriculture, grew vegetables for hospitals.

In school sewing workshops, the pioneers sewed linen and tunics for the army. The girls knitted warm clothes for the front: mittens, socks, scarves, sewed pouches for tobacco. The guys helped the wounded in hospitals, wrote letters to their relatives under their dictation, put on performances for the wounded, arranged concerts, causing a smile from the war-worn adult men.

A number of objective reasons: the departure of teachers to the army, the evacuation of the population from the western regions to the eastern, the inclusion of students in labor activity in connection with the departure of family breadwinners to the war, the transfer of many schools to hospitals, etc., prevented the deployment in the USSR during the war of the universal seven-year compulsory training begun in the 30s. In the remaining educational institutions training was carried out in two, three, and sometimes four shifts.

At the same time, the children were forced to store firewood for the boiler rooms themselves. There were no textbooks, and due to lack of paper they wrote on old newspapers between the lines. Nevertheless, new schools were opened, additional classes were created. Boarding schools were created for the evacuated children. For those young people who left school at the beginning of the war and were employed in industry or agriculture, schools for working and rural youth were organized in 1943.

There are still many little-known pages in the annals of the Great Patriotic War, for example, the fate of kindergartens. "It turns out that in December 1941 in besieged Moscowkindergartens worked in bomb shelters. When the enemy was driven back, they resumed their work faster than many universities. By the fall of 1942, 258 kindergartens had opened in Moscow!

From the memoirs about the war childhood of Lydia Ivanovna Kostyleva:

“After the death of my grandmother, I was assigned to Kindergarten, older sister at school, mom at work. I went to kindergarten alone, on a tram, in less than five years. Once I got seriously ill with mumps, I was lying at home alone with a high fever, there was no medicine, in my delirium I fancied a pig running under the table, but nothing happened.
I saw my mother in the evenings and on rare weekends. The children were raised by the street, we were friendly and always hungry. From early spring, they ran on mosses, fortunately, the forest and swamps are nearby, they picked berries, mushrooms, and various early grass. The bombing gradually stopped, the residences of the allies were located in our Arkhangelsk, this brought a certain flavor to life - we, children, sometimes dropped warm clothes and some food. Basically, we ate black shangi, potatoes, seal meat, fish and fish oil, on holidays - "marmalade" of seaweed, tinted with beets. "

More than five hundred educators and nannies in the fall of 1941 dug trenches on the outskirts of the capital. Hundreds of people worked in the logging industry. The teachers, who had just yesterday led a round dance with the children, fought in the Moscow militia. Natasha Yanovskaya, a kindergarten teacher in the Bauman region, heroically died near Mozhaisk. The educators who remained with the children did not perform feats. They simply rescued babies whose fathers fought, and mothers stood at their machines.

Most of the kindergartens became boarding schools during the war, children were there day and night. And in order to feed the children in a half-starved time, to protect them from the cold, to give them at least a little bit of comfort, to occupy them with the benefit of the mind and soul - such work required great love for children, deep decency and boundless patience. "(D. Shevarov" World of news ", No. 27, 2010, p. 27).

Children have changed their games, "... a new game - in the hospital. They played in the hospital before, but not like that. Now the wounded are real people for them. But they play war less often, because no one wants to be a fascist. They are carried out by trees. They are shooting at them with snowballs. We have learned to help the victims - the fallen, bruised. "

From a boy's letter to a front-line soldier: "We used to also often play war, but now much less often - we are tired of the war, it would sooner be over, so that we can live well again ..." (Ibid.).

In connection with the death of their parents, many street children have appeared in the country. Soviet state despite the difficult wartime, it nevertheless fulfilled its obligations to children left without parents. To combat neglect, a network of children's receivers and orphanages was organized and opened, and the employment of adolescents was organized.

Many families of Soviet citizens began to take orphans to their upbringingwhere they found new parents for themselves. Unfortunately, not all educators and heads of children's institutions were distinguished by their honesty and decency. Here are some examples.

“In the fall of 1942, children dressed in rags were caught in Pochinkovsky district of the Gorky region, who were stealing potatoes and grain from collective farm fields. Investigations by local police officers uncovered a criminal group, and, in fact, a gang, which consisted of employees of this institution.

In total, seven people were arrested in the case, including the director of the orphanage Novoseltsev, accountant Sdobnov, storekeeper Mukhina and others. During the searches, 14 children's coats, seven suits, 30 meters of cloth, 350 meters of manufactory and other misappropriated property, allocated with great difficulty by the state during this harsh wartime, were seized from them.

The investigation established that by not supplying the due norm of bread and food, these criminals only during 1942 stole seven tons of bread, half a ton of meat, 380 kg of sugar, 180 kg of biscuits, 106 kg of fish, 121 kg of honey, etc. The employees of the orphanage sold all these scarce products on the market or simply ate them themselves.

Only one comrade Novoseltsev received fifteen servings of breakfast and lunch for himself and his family members every day. At the expense of the pupils, the rest of the staff ate well. The children were fed "dishes" made from rot and vegetables, citing poor supplies.

Throughout 1942, they were given only one candy each for the 25th anniversary of the October Revolution ... And what is most surprising, the director of the Novoseltsev orphanage in the same 1942 received an honorary diploma from the People's Commissariat of Education for excellent educational work. All these fascists were deservedly sentenced to long terms of imprisonment "(Zefirov MV, Dektyarev DM" Everything for the front? How the victory was actually forged ", pp. 388-391).

At such a time, the whole essence of man is manifested .. Every day to face a choice - how to act .. And the war showed us examples of great mercy, great heroism and great cruelty, great meanness .. We must remember this !! For the future !!

And no time can heal wounds from war, especially children. "These years that were once, the bitterness of childhood does not allow to forget ..."