Lyonya Golikov
Not far from the lake, on the steep bank of the Pola River, is the village of Lukino, where the rafter Golikov lived with his wife and three children. Every year in early spring, Uncle Sasha went on rafting, drove large rafts tied of logs along the rivers, and only returned to his village in the fall.
And at home with the children - two daughters and the youngest son Lyonka - mother Ekaterina Alekseevna remained. From morning until evening she was engaged in the household or worked on the collective farm. And she taught her children to work, the guys helped their mother in everything. Lyonka carried water from a well, looked after a cow and sheep. He knew how to fix the fence, fix his boots.
The children went to school across the river to the neighboring village, and in their free time they loved to listen to fairy tales. Mother knew a lot of them, and she was a master of the story.
Lyonka was of short stature, much smaller than his one-year-old comrades, but in strength and dexterity, rarely anyone could compare with him.
Whether to jump from a full run across the stream, go into the wilderness of the forest, climb the tallest tree or swim across the river - in all these matters Lyonka was inferior to few people.
And so Lyonka lived in the open spaces among the forests, and his native lands became more and more dear to him. He lived happily and thought that his free life would always be like that. But one day, when Lyonka was already a pioneer, a misfortune happened in the Golikov family. Father fell into cold water, caught a cold and fell seriously ill. He lay in bed for many months, and when he got up, he could no longer work as a raftsman. He called Lyonka, sat down in front of him and said:
- That's what, Leonid, you need to help your family. I became bad, the disease completely tortured me, go to work ...
And his father made him an apprentice on a crane, which loaded firewood and logs on the river. They were loaded onto river barges, sent somewhere beyond Lake Ilmen. Lyonka was interested in everything here: the steam engine, in which the fire hummed, and the steam burst out in large white clouds, and the mighty crane, which lifted heavy logs like feathers. But Lyonka did not have to work for long.
It was Sunday, a warm and sunny day. Everyone was resting, and Lyonka also went with his comrades to the river. Near the ferry, transporting people, trucks and carts to the other side, the guys heard the driver of a truck, which had just arrived at the river, anxiously asked:
- Have you heard about the war?
- About what war?
- Hitler attacked us. Now I heard it on the radio myself. The Nazis are bombing our cities.
The boys saw their faces darken. The guys felt that something terrible had happened. Women cried, more and more people gathered around the driver, and everyone repeated: war, war. Lyonka had a map somewhere in an old textbook. He remembered: the book was in the attic, and the guys went to the Golikovs. Here, in the attic, they bent over the map and saw that Nazi Germany was located far from Lake Ilmen. The guys calmed down a bit.
On the next day, almost all the men went to the army. Only women, old people, children remained in the village.
The boys now had no time for games. They spent all their time on the field, replacing adults.
Several weeks have passed since the war began. On a hot August day, the guys drove sheaves from the field, talked about the war.
“Hitler is approaching Staraya Russa,” said the white-headed Tolka, laying the sheaves on the wagon. - The fighters rode, they said, nothing at all from Russa to us.
- Well, he won't be here, - Lyonka answered confidently.
- And if they come, what will you do? - asked the youngest of the guys, Valka, nicknamed Yagodai.
- I'll do something, - Lyonka answered vaguely.
The boys tied the sheaves on the cart and moved towards the village ...
But it turned out that little Valka was right. Fascist troops approached closer and closer to the village where Lyonka lived. Not today or tomorrow they could capture Lukino. The villagers wondered what to do, and the whole village decided to go into the forest, to the most remote places where the Nazis would not be able to find them. And so they did.
There was a lot of work in the forest. At first, huts were built, but some have already dug dugouts. Lyonka and his father were also digging a dugout.
As soon as Lyonka had free time, he decided to visit the village. As there?
Lyonka ran after the guys, and the three of them went to Lukino. The shooting either died down or started again. We decided that everyone would go his own way, and in the gardens, in front of the village, they would meet.
Stealthily, listening to the slightest rustle, Lyonka safely reached the river. He went up the path to his house and cautiously looked out from behind the hillock. The village was empty. The sun was beating in my eyes, and Lyonka put his hand to the visor of his cap. Not a single person around. But what is it? Soldiers appeared on the road outside the village. Lyonka immediately saw that the soldiers were not ours.
"Germans! He decided. - Here you are! "
The soldiers stood at the edge of the forest and looked at Lukino.
“Here you are! - Lyonka thought again. - I shouldn't have fought off the guys. We must run! .. "
A plan ripened in his head: while the Nazis were going along the road, he would go back down to the river and go along the stream into the forest. Otherwise ... Lyonka was even scared to imagine what would be different ...
Lyonka took a few steps, and suddenly the silent silence of an autumn day was cut through by the beat of a machine gun. He glanced at the road. The Nazis fled to the forest, several dead were left on the ground. Lyonka could not understand in any way where our machine gunner was shooting from. And then I saw him. He shot from a shallow hole. The Germans also opened fire.
Lyonka imperceptibly approached the machine gunner from behind and looked at his worn heels, at his back, darkened with sweat.
- And you are great! - said Lyonka when the soldier began to reload the machine gun.
The machine gunner shuddered and looked around.
- And so you! - he exclaimed, seeing the boy in front of him. - What do you want here?
- I am here ... I wanted to see my village.
The machine gunner fired a burst again and turned to Lyonka.
- What's your name?
- Lyonka ... Uncle, maybe I can help you with what?
- Look how smart you are. Well, help me. I would have brought some water, my mouth was dry.
- What, what? At least scoop up a cap ...
Lyonka went down to the river, immersed his cap in cool water. By the time he reached the machine gunner, there was very little water left in the cap. The soldier greedily clung to Lenka's cap ...
“Bring some more,” he said.
From the side of the forest, they began to beat from the mortar along the coast.
- Well, now we have to retreat, - said the machine gunner. - It was ordered to keep the village until noon, and now it is soon evening. What is the name of the village?
- Lukino ...
- Lukino? At least I will know where the battle was held. And what is this - blood? Where did you get hooked? Let me tie it up.
Lyonka himself just now noticed that his leg was covered in blood. It can be seen, indeed, caught by a bullet.
The soldier tore off his shirt and bandaged Lyonka's leg.
- So ... Now let's go. The soldier lifted the machine gun onto his shoulders. - I also have something to do with you, Leonid, - said the machine gunner. - The fascists killed my comrade. More in the morning. So you bury him. Over there, under the bushes, lies. His name was Oleg ...
When Lyonka met with the guys, he told them about everything that had happened. They decided to bury the murdered that same night.
Twilight thickened in the forest, the sun had already set, when the guys approached the stream. Stealthily, they went out to the edge and disappeared into the bushes. Lyonka walked first, showing the way. The victim was lying on the grass. Nearby - his machine gun, disks with cartridges were lying around.
Soon a mound grew on this place. The guys stood in silence. With their bare feet, they felt the freshness of the dug earth. Someone sobbed, and the rest could not resist. Melting their tears from each other, the guys bowed their heads even lower.
The guys lifted a light machine gun on their shoulders and disappeared into the darkness of the forest. Lyonka put Oleg's cap on his head, which he picked up on the ground.
In the early morning, the guys went to make a cache. They did it according to all the rules. First, they spread the mat and threw earth on it so as not to leave traces. Dry branches were thrown at the place of the cache, and Lyonka said:
- Now, not a single word to anyone. Like a military secret.
- We ought to take an oath to make it stronger.
All agreed. The guys raised their hands and made a solemn promise to keep the secret. Now they had weapons. Now they could fight their enemies.
As time went. No matter how the villagers lurked, who had gone into the forest, the Nazis still found out where they were. Once, returning to the forest camp, the boys heard from afar that vague cries, someone's rough laughter, and the loud cries of women were coming from the forest.
Hitler's soldiers walked among the dugouts with a master's air. They had various things stuck out of their back bags, which they had managed to loot. Two Germans walked past Lyonka, then one of them looked around, returned and, stamping his feet, began to shout something, pointing at Lyonka's cap and his chest, where the pioneer badge was pinned. The second German was a translator. He said:
- Mister corporal ordered to hang you, if you do not throw away this hat and another badge.
Before Lyonka had time to recover, the pioneer badge found himself in the hands of a lanky corporal. He threw the badge to the ground and crushed it with his heel. Then he tore the cap off Lyonka, painfully slapped him on the cheeks, threw the cap on the ground and began to trample on it, trying to crush the asterisk.
“Next time we'll hang you,” said the translator.
The Germans went, carrying away the looted things.
It was hard on Lyonka's soul. No, not a cap with an asterisk, not a pioneer badge trampled by this lanky fascist, it seemed to Lyonka that the Nazi stepped on his chest with his heel and pressed so that it was impossible to breathe. Lyonka went to the dugout, lay down on the bunk and lay there until evening.
In the forest every day it became more uncomfortable and colder. Tired, frozen, mother came one evening. She said that a German stopped her and ordered her to go to the village. There, in the hut, he pulled out a heap of dirty linen from under the bench and ordered it to be washed on the river. The water is icy, hands freeze, fingers cannot be straightened ...
“I don’t know how I got there,” her mother said quietly. - My strength was not there. And the German gave me a slice of bread for this wash, generous.
Lyonka jumped up from the bench, his eyes were burning.
- Throw this bread, mom! .. I'll die of hunger, I won't take their crumbs in my mouth. I can't do this anymore. We must beat them! I'll go to the partisans ...
Father looked sternly at Lyonka:
- What are you thinking, where are you going? You are still small! We must endure, we are now prisoners.
- And I will not endure, I can not! - Lyonka came out of the dugout and, without making out the road, went into the darkness of the forest.
And Ekaterina Alekseevna, Lyonka's mother, caught a bad cold after that wash in ice water. For two days she endured, on the third she said to Lyonka: “Lyonyushka, let's go to Lukino, we will warm ourselves in our hut, maybe it will be better for me. I'm afraid of one of them. "
And Lyonka went to see his mother off.
Soon the Germans drove the inhabitants out of the forest. They had to return to the village again. Now they lived closely, several families in one hut. Winter came, they said that partisans appeared in the forests, but Lyonka and his comrades never saw them.
Once, Only came running and, calling Lyonka aside, said in a whisper:
- I was with the partisans.
- Come on! - Lyonka did not believe.
- Honest pioneer, do not lie
He only told me that he had gone to the forest and met with the partisans there. They asked who he was and where he came from. They asked where they could get hay for the horses. He only promised to bring them.
A few days later, the guys went to carry out a partisan mission. Early in the morning, on four carts, they drove to the meadows, where tall haystacks had stood since summer. On a deaf road, the guys took the hay to the forest - to the place where Tolka agreed to meet with the partisans. The pioneers walked slowly behind the carts, now and then looked around, but there was no one around.
Suddenly the front horse stopped. The guys did not even notice how a man who appeared from nowhere took her by the bridle.
- We arrived all the same! He said cheerfully. - I've been following you for a long time.
The partisan put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. They answered him with the same whistle.
- Well, now quickly! Turn into the woods!
In a deep forest, bonfires were burning, near which partisans were sitting. A man in a sheepskin coat with a pistol in his belt rose to meet him.
“We’ll give you guys another sled,” he said, “and we’ll leave yours with the hay so that it’s faster.”
While the horses were being harnessed, the commander of the detachment asked the guys what was going on in the village. Saying goodbye, he said:
- Well, thanks again, but take these leaves with you. Give them to adults, but be careful that the Nazis do not sniff out, otherwise they will shoot you.
In the leaflets, the partisans called on Soviet people to fight the invaders, to join the detachments, so that the fascists would not have rest day or night ...
Soon Lyonka met with his teacher Vasily Grigorievich. He was a partisan and brought Lyonka to his detachment.
Lyonka could not come to his senses. He looked around curiously. I wish he was accepted here. Looks like a brave people, cheerful. One word: partisans!
Someone offered to take him into reconnaissance, but Lyonka took it at first as a joke, and then thought, maybe they will really take him ... No, there is nothing to think about. They will say - small, you need to grow up. But still he asked the teacher:
- Vasily Grigorievich, can I join the partisans?
- You? - the teacher was surprised. - I really don't know ...
- Take it, Vasily Grigorievich, I won't let you down! ..
- Or maybe it’s true to take it, at school, I remember, I was a fine fellow ...
From that day on, pioneer Lenya Golikov was enrolled in a partisan detachment, and a week later the detachment went to other places to fight the Germans. Soon, another guy appeared in the detachment - Mityaika. Lyonka immediately became friends with Mityaika. They even slept on the same bunks. At first, the guys were not given any instructions. They only worked in the kitchen: sawing and chopping wood, peeling potatoes ... But once a mustachioed partisan entered the dugout and said:
- Well, eagles, the commander is calling, there is a task for you.
From that day on, Lyonka and Mityaika began to go on reconnaissance. They recognized and told the commander of the detachment where the Nazi soldiers were stationed, where their guns and machine guns were.
The guys, when they went on reconnaissance, dressed in rags, took old bags. They walked through the villages like beggars, begging for pieces of bread, while they themselves looked with all their eyes, noting everything: how many soldiers were there, how many cars, guns ...
Once they came to a large village and stopped in front of the extreme hut.
“Give alms for food,” they said in different voices.
A German officer came out of the house. Guys to him:
- Pan, let the ford ... Pan ...
The officer didn't even look at the guys.
“He’s greedy, he doesn’t look,” whispered Mityaika.
- That's good, - said Lyonka. “So he thinks we are really beggars.
The reconnaissance was successful. Lyonka and Mityaika learned that new Nazi troops had just arrived in the village. The guys even made their way into the officers' mess, where they were given food. When Lyonka had finished eating everything they were given, he slyly winked at Mityaika - apparently, he had invented something. Fumbling in his pocket, he took out a stub of pencil and, looking around, quickly wrote something on a paper napkin.
“What are you doing,” Mityaika asked quietly.
- Congratulations to the fascists. Now we have to leave as soon as possible. Read it!
On a piece of paper Mityaika read: “The partisan Golikov dined here. Tremble, you bastards! "
The guys put their note under the plate and slipped out of the dining room.
Each time the guys got more and more difficult tasks. Now Lyonka had his own machine gun, which he obtained in battle. As an experienced partisan, they even took him to blow up enemy trains.
Having crept up to the railroad one night, the partisans laid a big mine and waited for the train to start. We waited almost until dawn. Finally we saw platforms loaded with guns and tanks; the carriages in which the fascist soldiers were sitting. When the locomotive approached the place where the partisans had laid the mine, the head of the group, Stepan, ordered Lyonka:
Lyonka pulled the cord. A column of fire shot up under the locomotive, the cars climbed one on top of the other, ammunition began to explode.
As the partisans fled from the railway towards the forest, they heard rifle shots behind them.
- The chase has begun, - said Stepan, - now get away with your feet.
They ran together. There was very little left to the forest. Suddenly Stepan screamed.
- They hurt me, now you can't leave ... Run alone.
- Let's go, Stepan, - Lyonka persuaded him, - they won't find us in the forest. Lean on me, let's go ...
Stepan walked forward with difficulty. The shots died down. Stepan almost fell, and Lyonka hardly pulled him on himself.
“No, I can’t take it anymore,” said the wounded Stepan and sank to the ground.
Lyonka bandaged him up and again led the wounded man. Stepan was getting worse, he was already losing consciousness and could not move on. Exhausted, Lyonka dragged Stepan to the camp ...
For the rescue of the wounded comrade Lyonya Golikov was awarded the medal "For Military Merit".
The night before, the partisan scouts went on a mission - to the highway fifteen kilometers from the camp. They lay all night by the road. Cars did not go, the road was deserted. What to do? The group commander ordered to withdraw. The partisans withdrew to the edge of the forest. Lyonka lagged behind them a little. He was about to catch up with his own, but, looking back at the road, he saw that a passenger car was approaching along the highway.
He rushed forward and lay down by the bridge behind a heap of stones.
The car approached the bridge, slowed down, and Lyonka, swinging, threw a grenade at her. An explosion crashed. Lyonka saw a Nazi in a white jacket with a red briefcase and a machine gun jump out of the car.
Lyonka fired, but missed. The fascist ran away. Lyonka chased after him. The officer looked around and saw that some boy was running after him. Very small. If they were put side by side, the boy would barely reach his waist. The officer stopped and fired. The boy fell. The fascist ran on.
But Lyonka was not injured. He quickly crawled to the side and fired several shots. The officer ran away ...
Lyonka had been chasing for a whole kilometer. And the Nazi, firing back, approached the forest. On the way, he threw off his white jacket and remained in a dark shirt. It became more difficult to aim at him.
Lyonka began to lag behind. Now the fascist will hide in the forest, then everything was gone. Only a few cartridges remained in the machine. Then Lyonka threw off his heavy boots and ran barefoot, not bending down under the bullets that the enemy was sending at him.
The last cartridge remained in the machine's disk, and with this last shot Lyonka hit the enemy. He took his machine gun, briefcase and, breathing heavily, walked back. On the way, he picked up a white jacket thrown by the fascist and only then saw the general's twisted shoulder straps on it.
“Hey! .. And the bird, it turns out, is important,” he said aloud.
Lyonka put on a general's tunic, buttoned it up with all the buttons, rolled up the sleeves that hung below the knees, pulled on a cap with gold stains over his cap, which he found in a wrecked car, and ran to catch up with his comrades ...
The teacher Vasily Grigorievich was already worried, he wanted to send a group in search of Lyonka, when he suddenly suddenly appeared near the fire. Lyonka came out into the light of the fire in a white general's tunic with gold shoulder straps. Around his neck were two submachine guns - his own and a trophy one. He held a red briefcase under his arm. Lyonka looked so hilarious that loud laughter burst out.
- And what is that with you? - asked the teacher, pointing to the portfolio.
“I took German documents from the general,” Lyonka replied.
The teacher took the documents and went with them to the chief of staff of the detachment.
An interpreter was urgently summoned there, then a radio operator. The papers turned out to be very important. Then Vasily Grigorievich came out of the headquarters dugout and called Lyonka.
“Well done,” he said. “Experienced intelligence officers extract such documents every hundred years. Now they will be reported to Moscow about them.
After a while, a radiogram came from Moscow, it said that everyone who had captured such important documents... In Moscow, of course, they did not know that they were captured only by Lyonya Golikov, who was only fourteen years old.
This is how pioneer Lenya Golikov became a hero Soviet Union.
The young pioneer hero died a heroic death on January 24, 1943 in an unequal battle near the village of Ostraya Luka.
At the grave of Lenya Golikov, in the village of Ostraya Luka, Dedovichesky district, fishermen of the Novgorod region erected an obelisk, and a monument to the young hero was erected on the banks of the river Pola.
In June 1960, a monument to Lena Golikov was unveiled in Moscow at VDNKh at the entrance to the Young Naturalists and Technicians pavilion. A monument to the young hero was erected in the city of Novgorod at the expense of the pioneers for the scrap they collected,
The name of the brave partisan Lenya Golikov is entered in the Book of Honor of the All-Union Pioneer Organization named after I. V.I. Lenin.
By a decree of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR, one of the ships of the Soviet fleet was named after Lenya Golikov.
The Great Patriotic War is the bloodiest and most ruthless in world history, it took away millions of human lives, including the lives of many young guys who bravely defended the Motherland. Golikov Leonid Alexandrovich is one of the heroes of his country.
This is an ordinary boy, whose childhood was carefree and happy, he was friends with the guys, helped his parents, graduated from seven classes, after which he worked at a plywood factory. The war caught Lenya at the age of 15, instantly cutting off all the boy's youthful dreams.
Young partisan
The village in the Novgorod region, where the boy lived, was captured by the Nazis and, trying to establish their new order, they began to commit atrocities. Lenya Golikov, whose feat is inscribed in history as a red line, did not come to terms with the horrors perpetrated around him and decided to fight against the fascists; after the liberation of the village, he went to the forming partisan detachment, where he fought alongside the adults. True, at first the guy was not mistaken for a young age; help came from a school teacher who was a partisan. He vouched for the boy, saying that he was a reliable person who would show himself perfectly and would not let him down. In March 1942, Lenya became a scout in the Leningrad Partisan Brigade; a little later he joined the Komsomol there.
Fight against fascists
The Nazis were afraid of the partisans, because they mercilessly destroyed German officers and soldiers, blew up trains, and attacked enemy columns. Enemies saw the elusive partisans everywhere: behind every tree, house, bend, so they tried not to walk alone.
There was even such a case: Lenya Golikov, whose feat became for young people of different generations, returned from intelligence and saw five Nazis looting in an apiary. They were so passionate about getting honey and fighting bees that they threw their weapons on the ground. The young scout took advantage of this, destroying three enemies; two of them managed to escape.
The early adult boy had a lot of military merit (27 military operations, 78 enemy officers; several explosions of enemy vehicles and bridges), but the feat of Leni Golikov was not far off. It was 1942 ...
Fearless Lenya Golikov: feat
Luga-Pskov highway (near the village of Varintsy). 1942 year. August 13. Being with his partner in reconnaissance, Lenya blew up an enemy passenger car, in which, as it turned out, was Richard von Wirtz, a major general of the Germans.He had very important information in his portfolio: reports to higher authorities, diagrams, detailed drawings of some samples of German mines, and others data that were of great value to the partisans.
The feat of Leni Golikov, summary which is described above, was awarded the Gold Star medal and was awarded the title posthumously. In the winter of 1942, a detachment of partisans, which Golikov was a member of, was surrounded by German troops, but after fierce battles it was able to break through and change its location. Fifty people remained in the ranks, cartridges were running out, the radio was broken, food was running out. Attempts to reestablish communication with other units were unsuccessful.
In ambush
In January 1943, 27 exhausted partisans, exhausted by the pursuit, occupied the three outer huts of the village of Ostraya Luka. Preliminary reconnaissance found nothing suspicious; the nearest German garrison was far enough away, several kilometers away. The patrols were not posted so as not to attract undue attention. However, a "kind man" was found in the village - the owner of one of the houses (a certain Stepanov), who informed the elder Pykhov, who, in turn, told the punishers about the guests who had come to the village at night.
For this treacherous act, Pykhov received a generous reward from the Germans, but at the beginning of 1944 he was shot as Stepanov - the second traitor, was only a year older than Leni, in times of trouble for himself (when the turn of the war became clear) showed resourcefulness: he went to the partisans , and from there Stepanov even managed to earn awards and return home almost a hero, but the hand of justice overtook this traitor to the Motherland. In 1948, he was arrested for treason and sentenced to 25 years in prison, and with the deprivation of all received awards.
They are no more
Sharp Bow on this unkind January night was surrounded by 50 punishers, among whom were local residents who collaborated with the Nazis. The partisans, taken by surprise, had to fight back and, under the bullets of enemy shells, urgently go back into the forest. Only six people managed to break out of the encirclement.
In that unequal battle, almost the entire partisan detachment died, including Lenya Golikov, whose feat remained forever in the memory of his comrades-in-arms.
Sister instead of brother
Initially, it was believed that the original photograph of Leni Golikov was not preserved. Therefore, to reproduce the image of the hero, the image of his sister Lydia was used (for example, for a portrait painted in 1958 by Viktor Fomin). Later, a partisan photo was found, but the familiar face of Lida, who acted as a brother, adorned the biography of Leni Golikov, who became a symbol of courage for Soviet teenagers. After all, the feat accomplished by Lenya Golikov is a vivid example of courage and love for the Motherland.
In April 1944, Leonid Golikov was awarded (posthumously) the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his heroism and courage in the fight against the fascist invaders.
In everyone's heart
In many publications, Leonid Golikov is described as a pioneer, and he is on a par with such fearless young personalities as Marat Kazei, Vitya Korobkov, Valya Kotik, Zina Portnova.
However, during the perestroika period, when the heroes of the Soviet era were subjected to "mass revelations", a claim arose against these children that they could not be pioneers, because they were older than the required age. The information was not confirmed: Marat Kazei, Zina Portnova and Vitya Korobkov were indeed pioneers, but with Lenya it turned out a little differently.
He got into the list of pioneers thanks to the efforts of people who were not indifferent to his fate and, apparently, from the best intentions. The first materials about his heroism speak of Lena as a Komsomol member. The feat of Leni Golikov, a summary of which was described by Yuri Korolkov in his book "Partisan Lenya Golikov", is an example of the behavior of a young boy in the days of mortal danger hanging over his country.
The writer, who went through the war as a front-line correspondent, lowered the hero's age by literally a couple of years, making a 14-year-old pioneer hero out of a 16-year-old boy. Perhaps with this the writer wanted to make Leni's feat more vivid. Although everyone who knew Lenya was aware of the current state of affairs, believing that this inaccuracy does not fundamentally change anything. In any case, for the collective image of a pioneer-hero, the country needed a suitable person who would also be a Hero of the Soviet Union. Lenya Golikov fit the image optimally.
His feat is described in all Soviet newspapers, many books have been written about him and similar young heroes. In any case, this is the history of a great country. Therefore, the feat of Leni Golikov, like himself - a man who defended his Motherland - will forever remain in everyone's heart.
On February 11, 1930, Valya Kotik was born - the youngest Hero of the Soviet Union, a young reconnaissance partisan. Along with him, many children performed feats in the war. We decided to recall a few more pioneer heroes of World War II.
Valya Kotik
1. Valya Kotik was born into a peasant family in the village of Khmelevka, Shepetovsky district in the Kamenets-Podolsk region of Ukraine. This territory was occupied by German troops. When the war began, Valya had just entered the sixth grade. However, he accomplished many feats. Initially, he worked to collect weapons and ammunition, drew and pasted cartoons of the Nazis. Then the teenager was entrusted with more meaningful work. On account of the boy, he worked as a liaison in an underground organization, several battles in which he was wounded twice, breaking the telephone cable through which the invaders were communicating with Hitler's headquarters in Warsaw. In addition, Valya blew up six train trains and a warehouse, and in October 1943, while on patrol, threw grenades at an enemy tank, killed a German officer and warned the detachment about the attack in time, thereby saving the lives of the soldiers. The boy was mortally wounded in a battle for the city of Izyaslav on February 16, 1944. 14 years later he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In addition, he was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree and the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" of the 2nd degree.
Petr Klypa
2. When the war began, Petya Klypa was in his fifteenth year. On June 21, 1941, Petya, together with his friend Kolya Novikov, a boy a year or a year and a half older than him, who was also a pupil in a music platoon, watched a movie in the Brest Fortress. It was especially crowded there. In the evening Petya decided not to return home, but to spend the night in the barracks with Kolya, and in the morning the boys were going to go fishing. They did not yet know that they would wake up amid the roaring explosions, seeing blood and death around them ... The assault on the fortress began on June 22 at three o'clock in the morning. Petya, who jumped out of bed, was thrown onto the wall by an explosion. He was hit hard and lost consciousness. Recovering himself, the boy immediately grabbed the rifle. He coped with the excitement and helped his older comrades in everything. In the next days of the defense, Petya went on reconnaissance, carried ammunition and medical supplies for the wounded. All the time, risking his life, Petya performed difficult and dangerous tasks, participated in battles and at the same time was always cheerful, cheerful, constantly humming some kind of song, and the sight of this courageous, cheerful boy lifted the spirit of the fighters, added strength to them. What can I say: when he was young, he chose a military vocation for himself, looking at his older brother-lieutenant, and wanted to become the commander of the Red Army (from S.S.Smirnov's book "Brest Fortress" - 1965) By 1941, Petya had already served for several years in the army as a graduate of the regiment and during this time became a real military man.When the situation in the fortress became hopeless, they decided to send the children and women into captivity in order to try to save them. When Petya was told about this, the boy was outraged. “Am I not a Red Army soldier?” He asked the commander indignantly. Later, Petya and his comrades managed to swim across the river and break through the ring of the Germans. He was taken prisoner, and even there Petya was able to distinguish himself. The guys were attached to a large column of prisoners of war, which, under a strong escort, was led across the Bug. They were filmed by a group of German cameramen for the military chronicle. Suddenly, all black with dust and powder soot, half-naked and bloody, a boy walking in the front row of the column raised his fist and threatened him directly into the camera lens. I must say that this act seriously infuriated the Germans. The kid was almost killed. But he survived and lived for a long time.
This does not fit into my head, but the young hero was imprisoned for not reporting on a comrade who committed a crime. He spent seven of the 25 years in Kolyma.
Vilor Chekmak
3. By the beginning of the war, the partisan resistance fighter Vilor Chekmak had just finished 8 classes. The boy had a congenital heart disease, despite this, he went to war. A 15-year-old teenager at the cost of his life saved the Sevastopol partisan detachment. On November 10, 1941, he was on patrol. The guy noticed the approach of the enemy. Having warned the detachment about the danger, he alone accepted the battle. Vilor fired back, and when the cartridges ran out, he let the enemies close to him and blew himself up together with the Nazis with a grenade. He was buried at the cemetery of World War II veterans in the village of Dergachi near Sevastopol. After the war, Vilor's birthday became the Day of the Young Defenders of Sevastopol.
Arkady Kamanin
4. Arkady Kamanin was the youngest pilot of the Second World War. He started flying when he was only 14 years old. This is not at all surprising, given that the boy had an example of his father, the famous pilot and military leader N.P. Kamanin, before his eyes. Arkady was born on Far East, and subsequently fought on several fronts: Kalinin - from March 1943; 1st Ukrainian - from June 1943; 2nd Ukrainian - from September 1944. The boy flew to the headquarters of divisions, to the command posts of the regiments, transferred food to the partisans. The first award was given to the teenager at the age of 15 - it was the Order of the Red Star. Arkady saved the pilot who crashed in the neutral zone of the Il-2 attack aircraft. Later he was also awarded the Order of the Red Banner. The boy died at the age of 18 from meningitis. During his, albeit short, life, he made more than 650 flights and flew 283 hours.
Lenya Golikov
5. Another young Hero of the Soviet Union - Lenya Golikov - was born in the Novgorod region. When the war came, he finished seven classes. Leonid was a scout of the 67th detachment of the 4th Leningrad partisan brigade. He participated in 27 military operations. On account of Leni Golikov 78 killed Germans, he destroyed 2 railway and 12 highway bridges, 2 food and fodder warehouses and 10 vehicles with ammunition. In addition, he was an escort of a convoy with food, which was transported to besieged Leningrad.The feat of Leni Golikov in August 1942 is especially famous. On the 13th, he was returning from reconnaissance from the Luga-Pskov highway, not far from the village of Varnitsy, Strugokrasnensky district. The boy threw a grenade and blew up the car with the German Major General of the Engineering Troops Richard von Wirtz. The young Hero died in battle on January 24, 1943.
Volodya Dubinin
6. Volodya Dubinin died at the age of 15. The pioneer hero was a member of the partisan detachment in Kerch. Together with two other guys, he carried ammunition, water, food for the partisans, went on reconnaissance.In 1942, the boy volunteered to help his adult comrades - sappers. They cleared the approaches to the quarries. There was an explosion - a mine was blown up, and with it one of the sappers and Volodya Dubinin. The boy was buried in the partisans' grave. He was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
In honor of Volodya, a city was named, streets in several settlements, a film was shot and two books were written.
Marat with his sister Ariadne
7. Marat Kazei was 13 years old when his mother died, and he and his sister went to a partisan detachment. Mom, Anna Kazei, was hanged in Minsk by the Germans for hiding wounded partisans and treating them.Marat's sister, Ariadne, had to be evacuated - the girl froze both legs when the partisan detachment left the encirclement, and they had to be amputated. However, the boy refused to be evacuated and remained in the ranks. For his courage and courage in battles, he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, medals "For Courage" (wounded, raised the partisans to attack) and "For Military Merit". The young partisan was killed by a grenade blown up. The boy blew himself up so as not to surrender and not bring trouble to the inhabitants of a nearby village.
The non-pioneer hero pioneer died due to a betrayal that they preferred not to remember.
Not a pioneer age
Among the children and adolescents who distinguished themselves during the Great Patriotic War and were subsequently included in the list of "pioneer heroes" were four who were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - Valya Kotik, Marat Kazei, Zina Portnova and Lenya Golikov.
During the perestroika period, when the heroes of the Soviet era were exposed to massive "exposure", these four also got it in full. Among the many complaints, this was also heard - in fact, the "pioneers" were older than the age attributed to them.
Our dear readers who managed to get acquainted with the materials about Marat Kazei, Valya Kotik and Zina Portnova could be convinced that the accusations of forgery were unfair - Marat and Valya were indeed pioneers, and Zina, being a pioneer, began her activities as an underground worker.
With Lenya Golikov, the story is different - he was undoubtedly a pioneer, undoubtedly a hero, but he got into the list of pioneer heroes through the efforts of people who clearly "wanted the best."
Lyonya Golikov was born into a working-class family that lived in the Novgorod region, in the village of Lukino, on June 17, 1926. Like most of the young heroes, his pre-war biography is not particularly remarkable - he graduated from seven classes of school, managed to work at a plywood factory.
An important point - according to the regulation on the pioneer organization, its members at that time could be persons aged 9 to 14 years. On June 17, 1941, Lena Golikov turned 15, that is, he finally left the pioneer age a few days before the war.
We'll talk a little later about how he “became a pioneer” again, but for now, about how Lenya became a partisan.
Into guerrillas on recommendation
The area of the village of Lukino was under Nazi occupation, but was recaptured in March 1942. It was during this period that, on the liberated territory, by the decision of the Leningrad headquarters of the partisan movement, a partisan brigade was formed from among the fighters of previously operating partisan detachments, as well as young volunteers, which was supposed to go to the enemy rear to continue the fight against the Nazis.
Among the guys and girls who survived the occupation and who wanted to fight the enemy was Lyonya Golikov, who was not accepted at first.
Lena was 15 at that time, and the commanders who took away the fighters felt that he was too young. They took him thanks to the recommendation of a school teacher, who also joined the partisans, and assured that "the student will not fail."
The student really did not disappoint - as part of the 4th Leningrad Partisan Brigade, he took part in 27 military operations, recording at his own expense several dozen destroyed Nazis, 10 destroyed vehicles with ammunition, more than a dozen blown up bridges, etc.
Lenya Golikov received his first award, the Medal For Courage, in July 1942. Everyone who knew Lenya when he was a partisan noted his courage and courage.
Once, returning from reconnaissance, Lenya went to the outskirts of the village, where he found five Germans looting in an apiary. The Nazis were so carried away by the extraction of honey and brushing off the bees that the weapon was put aside. The scout took advantage of this, destroying three Germans. The remaining two fled.
One of Leni's brightest operations took place on August 13, 1942, when partisans attacked a car on the Luga-Pskov highway, in which was a German Major General of the Engineering Troops Richard von Wirtz.
The Nazis fiercely resisted, but Lenya, having reached the car, together with his partner, seized a suitcase with valuable documents.
It must be said that in the classic stories about Lena Golikov it was often stated that he carried out the attack on the general's car almost alone. This is not true. But the fact that the main merit in the extraction of documents belongs to him is undoubtedly.
The documents were forwarded to the Soviet command, and Lenya himself was presented to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. However, the documents, apparently, were not so significant - in November 1942, Lenya was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for this feat.
Heroes and traitors
Alas, the partisan biography, like Lenya's life, was short-lived. In December 1942, the Nazis launched a large-scale anti-partisan operation, pursuing the detachment in which Lenya Golikov fought. It was impossible to break away from the enemy.
On January 24, 1943, a group of partisans of just over 20 people went to the village of Ostraya Luka. There were no Germans in the village, and the exhausted people stopped to rest in three houses. After some time, the village was surrounded by a detachment of punishers in the amount of 150 people, made up of local traitors and Lithuanian nationalists. The guerrillas, who were taken by surprise, nevertheless entered the battle.
Only a few people were able to break out of the encirclement, and later reported to the headquarters about the death of the detachment. Lyonya Golikov, like most of his comrades, died in battle in Ostraya Luka.
The organs of the NKVD and Soviet counterintelligence during the war years conducted a thorough investigation in order to establish the reasons for the death of certain partisan formations. So it was in this case.
Thanks to the testimony of the villagers, obtained after the liberation from the occupation, as well as the testimony of the surviving partisans, it was established that Lyonya Golikov and his comrades fell victims of betrayal.
Someone Stepanov, a resident of one of the houses where the partisans stopped, reported them to the elder Pykhov, who informed the punitive partisans, whose detachment was in the village of Krutets.
Pykhov received a generous reward from the Nazis for the services rendered. However, during the retreat, the owners did not take the accomplice with them. At the beginning of 1944, he was arrested by the Soviet counterintelligence agencies, was convicted as a traitor to the Motherland and shot in April 1944.
The second traitor, Stepanov, who, by the way, was only a year older than Lenya Golikov, showed great resourcefulness - at the beginning of 1944, when it became clear that the war was tending towards the defeat of the Nazis, he went to the partisans, from where he ended up in the regular Soviet Army. In this capacity, he even managed to earn an award and return home as a hero, but in the fall of 1948, retribution overtook Stepanov - he was arrested and sentenced for treason to 25 years in prison with deprivation of state awards.
How the peer of the hero of the "Young Guard" "got younger"
The partisans who survived the last battle of the detachment did not forget about their comrades, including Lena.
In March 1944, Nikitin, the chief of the Leningrad headquarters of the partisan movement, a member of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front, signed a new characterization for the nomination of Lenya Golikov for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 2, 1944, Leonid Aleksandrovich Golikov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously) for exemplary performance of command assignments and for his courage and heroism in battles against the Nazi invaders.
So, there is no doubt about the heroism of Leonid Golikov, and there cannot be, his awards are quite fair and deserved.
But how is it that Leonid Golikov, who, by the way, is only nine days younger than the legendary Komsomol hero Oleg Koshevoy from the Young Guard, became the “pioneer hero Leonid Golikov”.
Oddly enough, the first materials about the exploits of Leonid Golikov spoke of him as a Komsomol member.
Everything was changed by the book of the writer Yuri Korolkov "Partizan Lenya Golikov", published in the early 1950s. The writer who went through the war as a front-line correspondent, talking about the real exploits of Leonid Golikov, lowered his age by literally a couple of years. And from a 16-year-old heroic Komsomol member, a 14-year-old heroic pioneer turned out.
For what it was done, the author knows exactly, who passed away in 1981. Perhaps the writer decided that this would make the feat look brighter. 
Memorial sign at the site of the feat of Lyonya Golikov
Sister instead of brother
Perhaps the All-Union Pioneer Organization, where the creation of a collective image of “pioneer-heroes” was just beginning, decided that thousands of pioneers who were awarded orders and medals during the war years were not enough, and at least one Hero of the Soviet Union was needed. Recall that Marat Kazei, Valya Kotik, Zina Portnova were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union much later, in the late 1950s, and only Lenya Golikov became a Hero back in 1944.
At the same time, everyone who knew the real Leonid Golikov was well aware of the true state of affairs, but believed that a fundamentally similar "inaccuracy" did not change anything.
I must say that for the sake of completeness, even the appearance of the hero was changed. In the only photo of Leonid in the partisan detachment, Golikov appears as a decisive and dashing young man, while in the illustrations that appeared in all the pioneer books about Len Golikov, he has an absolutely childish expression on his face.
Where did this image come from? As it turned out, his mother didn’t keep Leonid’s childhood photographs, so when he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the reporters dressed up as a “partisan” ... little sister, Lida. It was the image of Lida Golikova that became "Lenya Golikov" for millions of Soviet pioneers.
It is unlikely that those who created the canonical history of Lenya Golikov pursued any selfish goals. They just wanted the best, they believed that in this form the feat of Leonid Golikov would look brighter. It never occurred to them that at the turn of the 1980s-1990s all these "little things" would turn against the hero himself.
So, who voluntarily embarked on the path of an armed struggle against fascism at the age of 15 and died at the age of 16, Leonid Golikov, on formal grounds, cannot be considered a “pioneer-hero”.
Does this in any way diminish his feat? Of course not.
We just need to learn to accept our heroes for who they are, without trying to improve them. After all, the feat of the young Komsomol member Leonid Golikov is no worse than the feat of the pioneer Lenya Golikov.
Among the children and adolescents who distinguished themselves during the Great Patriotic War and were subsequently included in the list of "pioneer heroes", there were four who were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - Valya Kotik, Marat Kazei, and .
During the perestroika period, when the heroes of the Soviet era were exposed to massive "exposure", these four also got it in full. Among the many complaints, this was also heard - in fact, the "pioneers" were older than the age attributed to them.
Our dear readers who managed to get acquainted with, and, could be convinced that the accusations of forgery are unfair - Marat and Valya were indeed pioneers, and Zina, being a pioneer, began her activities as an underground worker.
With Lenya Golikov, the story is different - he was undoubtedly a pioneer, undoubtedly a hero, but he got into the list of pioneer heroes through the efforts of people who clearly "wanted the best."
Lyonya Golikov was born into a working-class family that lived in the Novgorod region, in the village of Lukino, on June 17, 1926. Like most of the young heroes, his pre-war biography is not particularly remarkable - he graduated from seven classes of school, managed to work at a plywood factory.
An important point - according to the regulation on the pioneer organization, its members at that time could be persons aged 9 to 14 years. On June 17, 1941, Lena Golikov turned 15, that is, he finally left the pioneer age a few days before the war.
We'll talk a little later about how he “became a pioneer” again, but for now, about how Lenya became a partisan.
The area of the village of Lukino was under Nazi occupation, but was recaptured in March 1942. It was during this period that, on the liberated territory, by the decision of the Leningrad headquarters of the partisan movement, a partisan brigade was formed from among the fighters of previously operating partisan detachments, as well as young volunteers, which was supposed to go to the enemy rear to continue the fight against the Nazis.
Among the guys and girls who survived the occupation and who wanted to fight the enemy was Lyonya Golikov, who was not accepted at first.
Lena was 15 at that time, and the commanders who took away the fighters felt that he was too young. They took him thanks to the recommendation of a school teacher, who also joined the partisans, and assured that "the student will not fail."
The student really did not disappoint - as part of the 4th Leningrad Partisan Brigade, he took part in 27 military operations, recording at his own expense several dozen destroyed Nazis, 10 destroyed vehicles with ammunition, more than a dozen blown up bridges, etc.
Lenya Golikov received his first award, the Medal For Courage, in July 1942. Everyone who knew Lenya when he was a partisan noted his courage and courage.
Once, returning from reconnaissance, Lenya went to the outskirts of the village, where he found five Germans looting in an apiary. The Nazis were so carried away by the extraction of honey and brushing off the bees that the weapon was put aside. The scout took advantage of this, destroying three Germans. The remaining two fled.
One of Leni's most striking operations took place on August 13, 1942, when partisans attacked a car on the Luga-Pskov highway, in which was a German Major General of the Engineering Troops Richard von Wirtz.
The Nazis fiercely resisted, but Lenya, having reached the car, together with his partner, seized a suitcase with valuable documents.
It must be said that in the classic stories about Lena Golikov it was often stated that he carried out the attack on the general's car almost alone. This is not true. But the fact that the main merit in the extraction of documents belongs to him is undoubtedly.
The documents were forwarded to the Soviet command, and Lenya himself was presented to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. However, the documents, apparently, were not so significant - in November 1942, Lenya was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for this feat.
Heroes and traitors
Alas, the partisan biography, like Lenya's life, was short-lived. In December 1942, the Nazis launched a large-scale anti-partisan operation, pursuing the detachment in which Lenya Golikov fought. It was impossible to break away from the enemy.
On January 24, 1943, a group of partisans of just over 20 people went to the village of Ostraya Luka. There were no Germans in the village, and the exhausted people stopped to rest in three houses. After some time, the village was surrounded by a detachment of punishers in the amount of 150 people, made up of local traitors and Lithuanian nationalists. The guerrillas, who were taken by surprise, nevertheless entered the battle.
Only a few people were able to break out of the encirclement, and later reported to the headquarters about the death of the detachment. Lyonya Golikov, like most of his comrades, died in battle in Ostraya Luka.
The organs of the NKVD and Soviet counterintelligence during the war years conducted a thorough investigation in order to establish the reasons for the death of certain partisan formations. So it was in this case.
Thanks to the testimony of the villagers, obtained after the liberation from the occupation, as well as the testimony of the surviving partisans, it was established that Lyonya Golikov and his comrades fell victims of betrayal.
Someone Stepanov, an inhabitant of one of the houses where the partisans stayed, reported about them headman Pykhov, who informed the punitive partisans, whose detachment was in the village of Krutets.
Lyonya Golikov. Photo: Public Domain
Pykhov received a generous reward from the Nazis for the services rendered. However, during the retreat, the owners did not take the accomplice with them. At the beginning of 1944, he was arrested by the Soviet counterintelligence agencies, was convicted as a traitor to the Motherland and shot in April 1944.
The second traitor, Stepanov, who, by the way, was only a year older than Lenya Golikov, showed great resourcefulness - at the beginning of 1944, when it became clear that the war was tending towards the defeat of the Nazis, he went to the partisans, from where he ended up in the regular Soviet Army. In this capacity, he even managed to earn an award and return home as a hero, but in the fall of 1948, retribution overtook Stepanov - he was arrested and sentenced for treason to 25 years in prison with deprivation of state awards.
How the peer of the hero of the "Young Guard" "got younger"
The partisans who survived the last battle of the detachment did not forget about their comrades, including Lena.
In March 1944, Nikitin, the chief of the Leningrad headquarters of the partisan movement, a member of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front, signed a new characterization for the nomination of Lenya Golikov for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 2, 1944, Leonid Aleksandrovich Golikov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously) for exemplary performance of command assignments and for his courage and heroism in battles against the Nazi invaders.
So, there is no doubt about the heroism of Leonid Golikov, and there cannot be, his awards are quite fair and deserved.
But how can Leonid Golikov, who, by the way, is only nine days younger than the legendary Komsomol hero from Molodaya Gvardiya? Oleg Koshevoy, became the "pioneer hero Lenya Golikov".
Oddly enough, the first materials about the exploits of Leonid Golikov spoke of him as a Komsomol member.
Everything was changed by the book of the writer Yuri Korolkov "Partizan Lenya Golikov", published in the early 1950s. The writer who went through the war as a front-line correspondent, talking about the real exploits of Leonid Golikov, lowered his age by literally a couple of years. And from a 16-year-old heroic Komsomol member, a 14-year-old heroic pioneer turned out.
For what it was done, the author knows exactly, who passed away in 1981. Perhaps the writer decided that this would make the feat look brighter.
Memorial sign at the place of Lenya Golikov's feat. Photo: Public Domain
Sister instead of brother
Perhaps the All-Union Pioneer Organization, where the creation of a collective image of “pioneer-heroes” was just beginning, decided that thousands of pioneers who were awarded orders and medals during the war years were not enough, and at least one Hero of the Soviet Union was needed. Recall that Marat Kazei, Valya Kotik, Zina Portnova were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union much later, in the late 1950s, and only Lenya Golikov became a Hero back in 1944.
At the same time, everyone who knew the real Leonid Golikov was well aware of the true state of affairs, but believed that a fundamentally similar "inaccuracy" did not change anything.
I must say that for the sake of completeness, even the appearance of the hero was changed. In the only photo of Leonid in the partisan detachment, Golikov appears as a decisive and dashing young man, while in the illustrations that appeared in all the pioneer books about Len Golikov, he has an absolutely childish expression on his face.
Where did this image come from? As it turned out, his mother did not have child photographs of Leonid, therefore, when he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the reporters dressed up as a "partisan" ... his younger sister, Lida... It was the image of Lida Golikova that became "Lenya Golikov" for millions of Soviet pioneers.
It is unlikely that those who created the canonical history of Lenya Golikov pursued any selfish goals. They just wanted the best, they believed that in this form the feat of Leonid Golikov would look brighter. It never occurred to them that at the turn of the 1980s-1990s all these "little things" would turn against the hero himself.
So, who voluntarily embarked on the path of an armed struggle against fascism at the age of 15 and died at the age of 16, Leonid Golikov, on formal grounds, cannot be considered a “pioneer-hero”.
Does this in any way diminish his feat? Of course not.
We just need to learn to accept our heroes for who they are, without trying to improve them. After all, the feat of the young Komsomol member Leonid Golikov is no worse than the feat of the pioneer Lenya Golikov.