During the Great Patriotic War, sons and daughters of all republics and all peoples of the USSR fought shoulder to shoulder at the front. Each nation had its own heroes in this war.
The peoples with the most heroes
During the Great Patriotic War Heroes Soviet Union became 7998 Russians, 2021 Ukrainians, 299 Belarusians. The next in terms of the number of heroes are Tatars - 161, Jews - 107, Kazakhs - 96, Georgians - 90, Armenians - 89.
Other peoples
Not much behind the Georgians and Armenians are Uzbeks - 67 heroes, Mordvinians - 63, Chuvashs - 45, Azerbaijanis - 43, Bashkirs - 38, Ossetians - 33.
9 heroes each came from German (we are talking, of course, about the Volga Germans) and Estonian peoples, 8 each - from Karelians, Buryats and Mongols, Kalmyks, Kabardians. Adygs gave the country 6 heroes, Abkhazians - 4, Yakuts - 2, Moldovans - also 2, Tuvans - 1. And finally, representatives of repressed peoples such as Chechens and Crimean Tatars fought no less bravely than others. 5 Chechens and 6 Crimean Tatars were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
About "inconvenient" nationalities
At the everyday level in the USSR, there were practically no ethnic conflicts, everyone lived peacefully side by side, and treated each other, if not as brotherly, then as good neighborly. However, at the state level, there were periods when some peoples were considered "wrong". These are, first of all, the repressed peoples and Jews.
Everyone who is even slightly interested in the issue of the Crimean Tatars knows the name of Ametkhan Sultan, the legendary ace pilot, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Representatives of the Chechen people also performed feats. As you know, in 1942, the call to the front of residents of the Chechen-Ingush Republic was stopped, but by the end of this summer, when the Nazis invaded North Caucasus, it was decided to call on Chechen and Ingush volunteers to the front. 18.5 thousand volunteers came to the recruiting offices. They stood to death on the outskirts of Stalingrad as part of a separate Chechen-Ingush regiment.
There is often an opinion about the Jews that the representatives of this ancient people are capable, first of all, of intellectual work and commerce, and the warriors of them are so-so. And this is not true. 107 Jews became during the Great Patriotic Heroes Soviet Union. Great merit of Jews, for example, in the organization partisan movement in Odessa.
From "natural" numbers to percentages
7998 Russians became Heroes of the Soviet Union during the war. At first glance, this number is much more than 6 - this is the number of Heroes of the Soviet Union from the Circassians. However, if you look at the percentage of heroes to population, you get a completely different picture. The 1939 census showed that 99,591,520 Russians live in the country. Adygov - 88115. And it turns out that the percentage of heroes per "capita" among the small Adyghe people is even slightly higher than among the Russians - 0.0068 versus 0.0080. The "percentage of heroism" among Ukrainians is 0.0072, among Belarusians - 0.0056, among Uzbeks - 0.0013, among Chechens - 0.0012, and so on. It is clear that the number of heroes in itself cannot be considered an exhaustive characteristic of the national spirit, but the ratio of the number of heroes and the total population says something about the people. If you get acquainted with these statistics using the example of the peoples of the USSR, it will become clear that during the war years each of our peoples contributed its share to the common victory, and it would be a flagrant injustice to single out someone.
This article contains statistics on Heroes of the Soviet Union. The main attention is paid to the pre-war period and the period of WW2. This does not include statistics on the cosmonauts and Heroes of the USSR awarded this title after WW2.
In August 1933, the steamer Chelyuskin set out on a voyage, with an Arctic expedition on board. On February 13, 1934, at 3.30 pm, the Chelyuskin, crushed by the ice, sank. 111 people remained on the ice.
In the difficult conditions of the polar winter, with a huge risk to life, Soviet pilots tracked down and rescued the destitute polar explorers. On April 13, the rescue pilots received a telegram from the leaders of the Communist Party and the Soviet government: “We are delighted with your heroic work to save the Chelyuskin people. We are proud of your victory over the forces of the elements. We are glad that you justified the best hopes of the country and turned out to be worthy sons of our homeland ... We enter the petition to the Central Executive Committee of the USSR:
1. On the establishment of the highest degree of distinction associated with the manifestation of heroic deeds - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union ... "This telegram was published in the most widespread newspaper Pravda, 1934, on April 17.
On April 20, 1934, the first Resolution of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR was issued on conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
On June 19, 1934, in the Kremlin, Mikhail I. Kalinin presented seven pilots with the highest award of the country - the Order of Lenin and a special Diploma of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. After the establishment of the Gold Star medal in August 1939, medal No. 1 was awarded to A.V. Lyapidevsky.
| Heroes of the Soviet Union, awarded this title for deeds performed in the pre-war years | ||||
|
Composition |
Rescuing people, testing new technology, developing the Arctic | When defending the borders of the USSR | When performing an international duty | Total |
| Total people | 45/1 | 438/1 | 143/3 | 625*/5 |
| communists | 28/1 | 293/1 | 118/3 | 439/5 |
| Komsomol members | 4 | 86 | 20 | 110 |
| russians | 37/1 | 303 | 106/1 | 446/2 |
| Ukrainians | 3 | 90/1 | 20 | 113/1 |
| Belarusians | - | 13 | 7/1 | 20/1 |
| other nationalities | 5 | 32 | 10/1 | 47**/1 |
| up to 20 years | - | 3 | - | 3 |
| up to 25 years | 1 | 132 | 25 | 158 |
| up to 30 years | 13 | 132 | 64/2 | 209/2 |
| up to 40 years (incl.) | 28 | 153/1 | 53/1 | 234/2 |
| over 40 years old | 3/1 | 18 | 1 | 22/1 |
| soldiers, sailors, sergeants and foremen *** | - | 142 | 27 | 169 |
| junior officers | 5 | 247 | 93 | 345 |
| senior officers | 6/1 | 41 | 16/2 | 63/3 |
| senior officers | 5 | 8/1 | 7/1 | 20/2 |
| no military rank | 29 | - | - | 29 |
In total, 412 people, including 282 communists and 74 Komsomol members, were awarded the title of GSS for their courage and bravery shown in the Soviet-Finnish war. The highest degree of distinction of the Motherland was noted by the commanders of the troops of the North-Western Front, the commander of the 1st rank S.K. Timoshenko, the commander of the 7th Army, the commander of the 2nd rank K.A. Meretskov, the commander of the 50th rifle corps, Divisional Commander F.D. Gorelenko, commander of the 136th rifle division brigade commander S.I. Chernyak. Among the GSS - representatives of all types Armed Forces, combat arms and special forces: 154 soldiers of rifle troops, 75 aviators, 75 tankmen, 64 artillerymen, 19 sailors, 10 soldiers of engineering troops, 1 cavalryman, 13 border guards and 1 pilot of the Civil Air Fleet.
In the pre-war years, this high rank was awarded for the exemplary fulfillment of military duty in the defense of Soviet borders and the provision of international assistance to other peoples, soldiers of the Soviet Army and the Navy, participants in high-latitude expeditions, testers of new technology - 597 people (including 5 people twice), or 95, 4% of the total number of Heroes of the USSR. Among them: soldiers of the Ground Forces - 68.8%, Air Force - 27.1%, Navy - 4.1%.
Communists accounted for 70.1% of the total number of the SCA, Komsomol members - 17.6%.
Among the GSS of the pre-war years there are representatives of various nations and nationalities. Of these: 71.2% are Russians, 18.1% are Ukrainians, 3.2% are Belarusians, 7.5% are representatives of other nationalities. Most of them are young people, under the age of 40 - 96.5%.
On July 8, 1941, the first decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on awarding the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was broadcast on the radio.
By the end of 1941, 126 more names were added to the list of Heroes of the USSR.
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Heroes of the Soviet Union, awarded this title for deeds performed in the first period of the Great Patriotic War |
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|
Composition |
Ground troops | Air force | Air defense | Navy | Total |
| Total people | 241 | 286/1 | 28 | 70*/1 | 625**/2 |
| communists | 159 | 253/1 | 25 | 60/1 | 497/2 |
| Komsomol members | 28 | 29 | 2 | 6 | 65 |
| russians | 159 | 210 | 20 | 55/1 | 444/1 |
| Ukrainians | 41 | 60/1 | 6 | 6 | 113/1 |
| Belarusians | 4 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| other nationalities | 37 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 54*** |
| up to 20 years | 13 | 24 | - | 3 | 40 |
| up to 25 years | 76 | 128 | 8 | 17 | 229 |
| up to 30 years | 69 | 78 | 18 | 29/1 | 194/1 |
| up to 40 years (incl.) | 70 | 56/1 | 2 | 19 | 147/1 |
| over 40 years old | 13 | - | - | 2 | 15 |
| 110 | 9 | - | 13 | 132 | |
| junior officers | 101 | 232 | 27 | 46 | 406 |
| senior officers | 26 | 44/1 | 1 | 6/1 | 77/2 |
| senior officers | 4 | - | - | 2 | 6 |
| no military rank | - | 1 | - | 3 | 4 |
* Including 3 merchant sailors
** In addition, 18 partisans and underground fighters (see tab. 7)
*** Including: Georgians - 7 people; Jews and Kazakhs - 5 people each; Avars, Azerbaijanis, Kyrgyz, Estonians - 2 people each; Abkhazian, Adygean, Balkarian, Buryat, Kalmyk, Komi, Lezgin, Mari, Mordvin, Turkmen, Uzbek, Finn, Chechen.
For the courage shown in battles in the first period of the Second World War, 625 people - representatives of all types of the Armed Forces - were awarded the highest degree of distinction - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The largest number of those who received the rank of GSS were the military personnel of the Air Force - 286 people, or 45.8%. Among them there are 144 warriors of fighter aviation, 55 - bomber, 49 - long range, 32 - assault, 6 - reconnaissance aviation and special aviation.
A significant number of the GSS were in the Ground Forces - 241 people, or 38.6% of the total. They bore the main brunt of the struggle against the enemy. Among them there are 163 soldiers of rifle troops, 6 artillerymen, 3 cavalrymen, 45 soldiers of armored and mechanized troops, 5 - engineers, 3 - airborne troops, 1 - railway, 15 - border and internal troops.
In the Navy, the number of GSS is 70, or 11.2% of the total. 30 of them are soldiers of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, 10 - of the Northern Fleet, 27 - of the Black Sea Fleet, 3 - of the Merchant Marine Fleet. 44 GSS - aviators, 9 - marines, 7 - sailors of surface ships, 5 - submariners, 2 - coastal defense soldiers, 3 - sailors of the cargo ship "Old Bolshevik".
Among the GSS, more than half were commanders of platoons, companies, battalions and their peers; 21.1% - privates and sergeants. The Communists of the GSS made up 79.5%, the Komsomol - 10.4%.
The SCA includes representatives of 28 nationalities, Russians - 71%.
According to the age structure, the SCA are mostly young people. 74.1% are under the age of 30, 23.5% are under 40, and only 15 people are over 40.
Until the fall of 1941, all awards were made only by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
On October 22, 1941, the right to award orders and medals on behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was granted to military councils of fronts and fleets, and from November 10, 1942 - also to military councils of armies and flotillas, commanders of corps, divisions, brigades and regiments. The awarding of the Order of Lenin and the conferring of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union were still carried out by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which now received the opportunity to more quickly resolve such issues.
|
Heroes of the Soviet Union, awarded this title for deeds performed in the second period of the Great Patriotic War |
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|
Composition |
Ground troops | Air force | Air defense | Navy | Total |
| Total people | 3052/1 | 478/8 | 43 | 85 | 3658*/9 |
| communists | 1723/1 | 454/7 | 42 | 73 | 2292/8 |
| Komsomol members | 505 | 11/1 | 1 | 6 | 523/1 |
| russians | 2121/1 | 354/4 | 31 | 70 | 2576/5 |
| Ukrainians | 509 | 94/4 | 10 | 12 | 625/4 |
| Belarusians | 50 | 13 | 2 | - | 65 |
| other nationalities | 372 | 17 | - | 3 | 392** |
| up to 20 years | 610 | 12 | - | 1 | 623 |
| up to 25 years | 874 | 224/2 | 27 | 28 | 1153/2 |
| up to 30 years | 637 | 175/4 | 10 | 22 | 844/4 |
| up to 40 years (incl.) | 723/1 | 67/2 | 6 | 28 | 824/3 |
| over 40 years old | 208 | - | - | 6 | 214 |
| soldiers, sailors, sergeants and foremen | 1633 | 5 | - | 19 | 1657 |
| junior officers | 1091 | 395/4 | 29 | 54 | 1569/4 |
| senior officers | 282/1 | 77/4 | 14 | 12 | 385/5 |
| senior officers | 46 | 1 | - | - | 47 |
* In addition, 30 partisans and underground fighters (see Table 7).
** Including: Tatars - 63 people; Jews and Kazakhs - 41 people each; Uzbeks - 34 people; Mordvins - 33 people; Armenians - 27 people; Bashkirs - 22 people; Georgians - 20 people; Chuvash - 17 people; Ossetians - 12 people; Azerbaijanis - 11 people; Turkmen - 8 people; Poles and Tajiks - 6 people each; Mari - 5 people; Kabardians, Udmurts and Czechs - 4 people each; Karelians, Lithuanians - 3 people each; Avars, Buryats, Kalmyks, Komi, Khakassians, Estonians - 2 people each; Abkhazian, Adygean, Assyrian, Greek, Dargin, Dungan, Spaniard, Karachai, Kyrgyz, Kumyk, Lak, Lezgin, Circassian, Chechen, Evenk, Yakut.
2,438 people were awarded the title of GSS (in 1943 - 1,622 people, in 1944 - 816 people). In addition, for the crossing of the Dnieper and other rivers, for the feats accomplished in subsequent years, another 56 people were awarded the title of GSS.
It was the most numerous detachment of the GSS since the beginning of the Second World War. The main brunt of the fighting during the crossing of the Dnieper and holding the bridgeheads fell on the shoulders of the soldiers of the Ground Forces. Warriors of this type of the Armed Forces, awarded the title of GSS, make up the majority - 94.7%, of which about 70% are infantrymen.
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Heroes of the Soviet Union, awarded this title for the deeds performed during the final liberation of the Soviet land (December 1943 - October 1944) |
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|
Composition |
Ground troops | Air force | Air defense | Navy | Total |
| Total people | 1718/5 | 811/11 | 9/1 | 268/3 | 2806/20 |
| communists | 1089/5 | 762/11 | 8/1 | 207/3 | 2066/20 |
| Komsomol members | 255 | 27 | 1 | 27 | 310 |
| russians | 1175/1 | 621/9 | 7/1 | 193/2 | 1996/13 |
| Ukrainians | 335/2 | 127/2 | 1 | 49/1 | 512/5 |
| Belarusians | 50/2 | 37 | - | 5 | 92/2 |
| other nationalities | 158 | 26 | 1 | 21 | 206* |
| up to 20 years | 438 | 66/1 | - | 18 | 522/1 |
| up to 25 years | 516 | 475/5 | 8 | 112 | 1111/5 |
| up to 30 years | 335 | 202/4 | 1/1 | 84/1 | 622/6 |
| up to 40 years (incl.) | 335/4 | 68/1 | - | 52/2 | 455/7 |
| over 40 years old | 94/1 | - | - | 2 | 96/1 |
| soldiers, sailors, sergeants and foremen | 829 | 5 | - | 77 | 911 |
| junior officers | 682 | 677/11 | 8/1 | 157 | 1524/12 |
| senior officers | 179/4 | 129 | 1 | 34/3 | 343/7 |
| senior officers | 28/1 | - | - | - | 28/1 |
* Including: Tatars - 32 people; Georgians - 22 people; Armenians - 21 people; Jews - 18 people; Kazakhs - 15 people; Uzbeks - 11 people; Chuvash - 10 people; Mordvins - 9 people; Azerbaijanis - 8 people; Komi and Ossetians - 5 people each; Adyghe and Udmurts - 4 people each; Bashkirs, Kyrgyz, Latvians, Tajiks, French and Estonians - 3 people each; Karelians, Lezgins, Mari - 2 people each; Avar, Altai, Greek, Kalmyk, Korean, Kumandin, Kumyk, Moldovan, Lithuanian, Nanaci, Nogay, Pole, Svan, Tuvan, Gypsy, Circassian, Chechen and Yakut.
The largest number of GSS at this stage of the war was in the Ground Forces - 1718 people, which is 61.2%, including 5 people were awarded the second Gold Star medal. More than 1,000 of them served in the rifle troops, over 300 in the armored and mechanized forces, about 200 in the artillery and mortar forces, and 30 in the airborne troops.
The GSS Air Force had 811 people, or 28.9%. Among them, 382 served in assault aviation, 193 - in fighter aircraft, 112 - in long-range, 72 - in bomber and 52 - in reconnaissance aviation and special aviation. 11 people were awarded the title of GSS for the second time.
In the Navy, 268 people became GSS, or 9.6%. 134 of them served in the naval aviation, 78 - in the marines, 33 - on surface ships, 15 - in river military flotillas and 8 - submariners. 3 people were awarded the second Gold Star medal.
It is indicative that 1895 SCA, or 67.5%, are commanders and political workers. Of these, 18.1% are senior officers and almost 1.5% are senior officers. 8.7% are communists and Komsomol members.
Of the total number of those awarded the title of GSS, 80.4% were under the age of 30, of which 18.6% were under 20. Among the SCAC there are representatives of 43 nationalities: 71.1% - Russians, 18.2% - Ukrainians, 3.3% - Belarusians, other nationalities - 7.4%.
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Heroes of the Soviet Union, awarded this title for deeds performed during the battles in Europe (1944 - 1945) |
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|
Composition |
Ground troops | Air force | Air defense | Navy | Total |
| Total people | 3396/34 | 756/40 | 12 | 38/2 | 4202/76 |
| communists | 2427/34 | 662/39 | 12 | 23/2 | 3124/75 |
| Komsomol members | 447 | 62/1 | - | 8 | 517/1 |
| russians | 2389/19 | 564/28 | 6 | 29/1 | 2979/48 |
| Ukrainians | 614/10 | 125/8 | 4 | 3 | 746/18 |
| Belarusians | 53/1 | 32/1 | 2 | 3 | 90/2 |
| other nationalities | 349/4 | 35/3 | - | 3/1 | 387*/8 |
| up to 20 years | 688 | 95 | - | 4 | 788 |
| up to 25 years | 1073/3 | 406/27 | 7 | 9 | 1495/30 |
| up to 30 years | 709/2 | 162/7 | 4 | 5/2 | 880/11 |
| up to 40 years old | 670/6 | 90/5 | 1 | 18 | 779/11 |
| over 40 years old | 256/23 | 2/1 | - | 2 | 260/24 |
| soldiers, sailors, sergeants and foremen | 1231 | 4 | - | 13 | 1248 |
| junior officers | 1421/2 | 581/13 | 11 | 17 | 2030/15 |
| senior officers | 602/9 | 151/23 | 1 | 7/2 | 761/34 |
| senior officers | 142/23 | 20/4 | - | 1 | 163/27 |
* Including: Tatars - 62 people; Jews - 43 people; Georgians - 42 people; Armenians - 38 people; Kazakhs - 35 people; Uzbeks - 22 people; Azerbaijanis - 21 people; Mordvins - 17 people; Bashkirs - 14 people; Chuvash - 13 people; Ossetians - 11 people; Mari - 10 people; Turkmen - 9 people; Kyrgyz - 6 people; Tajiks - 5 people; Abkhazians, Dungans, Kabardians, Kalmyks, Karelians, Latvians and Lithuanians - 3 people each; Komi, Poles, Udmurts and Estonians - 2 people each; Altai, Bulgarian, Buryat, Kurd, Lak, German, Finn, French, Czech and Yakut.
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Heroes of the Soviet Union, awarded this title for deeds performed in the third period of the Great Patriotic War |
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|
Composition |
Ground troops | Air force | Air defense | Navy | Total |
| Total people | 5114/39 | 1567/51 | 21/1 | 306/5 | 7008*/96 |
| communists | 3516/39 | 1424/50 | 20/1 | 230/5 | 5190/95 |
| Komsomol members | 702 | 89/1 | 1 | 35 | 827/1 |
| Russian | 3555/20 | 1185/37 | 13/1 | 222/3 | 4975/61 |
| Ukrainians | 949/12 | 252/10 | 5 | 52/1 | 1258/23 |
| Belarusians | 103/3 | 69/1 | 2 | 8 | 182/4 |
| other nationalities | 507/4 | 61/3 | 1 | 24/1 | 593**/8 |
| up to 20 years | 1125 | 162/1 | - | 22 | 1309/1 |
| up to 25 years | 1590/3 | 881/32 | 15 | 121 | 2607/35 |
| up to 30 years | 1044/2 | 364/11 | 5/1 | 89/3 | 1502/17 |
| up to 40 years old | 1005/10 | 158/6 | 1 | 70/2 | 1234/18 |
| over 40 years old | 350/24 | 2/1 | - | 4 | 356/25 |
| soldiers, sailors, sergeants and foremen | 2060 | 9 | - | 90 | 2159 |
| junior officers | 2103/2 | 1258/24 | 19/1 | 174 | 3554/27 |
| senior officers | 781/13 | 280/23 | 2 | 41/5 | 1104/41 |
| senior officers | 170/24 | 20/4 | - | 1 | 191/28 |
* In addition, 201 people are partisans, underground fighters and members of the Resistance movement.
** Including: Tatars - 94 people; Georgians - 64 people; Jews - 61 people; Armenians - 59 people; Kazakhs - 50 people; Uzbeks - 33 people; Azerbaijanis - 29 people; Mordvins - 26 people; Chuvash - 23 people; Bashkirs - 17 people; Ossetians - 16 people; Mari - 12 people; Kyrgyz and Turkmen - 9 people each; Tajiks - 8 people; Komi - 7 people; Latvians and Udmurts - 6 people each; Karelians and Estonians - 5 people each; Adyghe, Kalmyk, Lithuanian and French - 4 people each; Abkhazians, Dungans, Kabardians and Poles - 3 people each; Altai, Lezgins and Yakuts - 2 people each; Avar, Bulgarian, Buryat, Greek, Korean, Kumandin, Kumyk, Kurd, Lak, Moldavian, Nanaci, Nogay, German, Swan, Tuvan, Finn, Gypsy, Circassian, Czech and Chechen.
In the Ground Forces, out of the total number of the GSS, more than 3,000 people served in the rifle forces, over 900 in the armored and mechanized forces, and 500 in the artillery and mortar forces, the rest in the airborne, cavalry, engineering and communications troops.
Among the GSS who served in the Air Force, 706 were from assault aviation, 463 from fighter aircraft, 183 from bomber aircraft, 137 served in long-range aviation and 78 in reconnaissance and special purposes.
Almost all offensive operations of 1944-1945. were carried out with the direct participation of sea fleets, river and lake flotillas. Representatives of the Navy made up 4.4% of the total number of the SCA. Among them, 144 people served in the naval aviation, 78 - in the marines, 37 - on surface ships, 32 - in river and lake flotillas and 15 people - submariners.
If in the first period of the Second World War there were 6 people among the senior officers of the GSS, in the second - 47, then in the third period - 191 people, including 28 people were awarded the Gold Star medal twice.
Communists and Komsomol members accounted for almost 86%. The SCA includes representatives of 54 nationalities. Compared with the previous periods of the war, the number of soldiers under the age of 20 who were awarded the title of GSS has significantly increased. If in the first period of the SSS, who did not reach 20 years old, there were 40 people, in the second - 623, then in the third there were already 1309 people.
| Heroes of the Soviet Union - partisans, underground fighters and members of the European Resistance movement | ||||
|
Composition |
Partisans | Underground workers | Members of the resistance movement | Total |
| Total people | 172/2 | 61 | 16 | 249/2 |
| communists | 133/2 | 32 | 13 | 178/2 |
| Komsomol members | 22 | 25 | - | 47 |
| pioneers | 3 | - | - | 3 |
| Russian | 87 | 20 | 7 | 114 |
| Ukrainians | 36/2 | 25 | 3 | 64/2 |
| Belarusians | 37 | 8 | 1 | 46 |
| other nationalities | 12 | 8 | 5 | 25* |
| up to 20 years | 13 | 2 | - | 15 |
| up to 25 years | 12 | 21 | - | 33 |
| up to 30 years | 48 | 12 | 6 | 66 |
| up to 40 years old | 68 | 13 | 6 | 66 |
| over 40 years old | 31/2 | 13 | 4 | 48/2 |
* Including: Lithuanians - 8 people; Latvians - 4 people; Germans - 3 people; Azerbaijani; Veps, Jew, Kalmyk, Karelian, Karachai, Mordvin, Tatar, Uzbek and Czech.
249 people - partisans, underground fighters, members of the Resistance movement - were awarded the highest degree of distinction of the Motherland - the title of GSS. An analysis of the figures given in the table shows that the majority of Heroes-parisans make up 69.1%, underground members - 24.5%, members of the Resistance movement and scouts - 6.4% of the total number of GSS - participants in the struggle behind enemy lines.
Among the partisans, underground fighters, members of the Resistance movement. who became the GSS, 71.5% were communists, 18.9% were Komsomol members. Among them are 16 secretaries of underground regional committees, city committees and district committees of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and 14 commissars of partisan detachments and formations. Among the GSS, Russians accounted for 45.8%, Ukrainians - 25.7%, Belarusians - 18.5%, in total - representatives of 16 nationalities aged 13 to 83 years.
Among them, more than 30% are workers and about 40% are collective farmers, many young people, including pioneers, about 10% are women.
| Heroes of the Soviet Union, awarded this title for the deeds performed during the Great Patriotic War | ||||||
|
Composition |
Ground troops | Air force | Air defense | Navy | Partisan formations and underground organizations | Total |
| Total people | 8447/44 | 2332/61 | 92/1 | 513/7 | 249/2 | 11633/115 |
| communists | 5434/44 | 2132/59 | 87/1 | 406/7 | 178/2 | 8237/113 |
| Komsomol members | 1238 | 129/2 | 4 | 53 | 47 | 1471/2 |
| Russian | 5861/23 | 1750/42 | 64/1 | 393/5 | 114 | 8182/71 |
| Ukrainians | 1507/13 | 406/15 | 21 | 74/1 | 64/2 | 2072/31 |
| Belarusians | 159/3 | 90/1 | 5 | 11 | 46 | 311/4 |
| other nationalities | 920/5 | 86/3 | 2 | 35/1 | 25 | 1068/9 |
| up to 20 years | 1750 | 198/1 | - | 27 | 15 | 1990/1 |
| up to 25 years | 2542/3 | 1233/34 | 50 | 172 | 33 | 4030/37 |
| up to 30 years | 1758/2 | 617/15 | 33/1 | 154/5 | 66 | 2628/23 |
| up to 40 years old | 1810/11 | 281/9 | 9 | 143/2 | 87 | 2330/22 |
| over 40 years old | 687/28 | 3/2 | - | 17 | 48/2 | 655/32 |
| soldiers, sailors, sergeants and foremen | 3810 | 23 | - | 134 | - | 3967 |
| junior officers | 3304/2 | 1885/28 | 75/1 | 295/1 | 5 | 5564/32 |
| senior officers | 1098/14 | 401/28 | 17 | 74/6 | 15 | 1605/48 |
| senior officers | 235/28 | 22/5 | - | 7 | 7/2 | 271/35 |
| no military rank | - | 1 | - | 3 | 222 | 226 |
Among the GSS awarded this rank during the Second World War, soldiers, sergeants and foremen made up 34.1%, junior officers - 47.8%, senior officers - 2.3%.
71% were communists and about 13% were Komsomol members.
People under 25 years old accounted for 51.8%, over 40 years old - 5.6%.
| Heroes of the Soviet Union, awarded this title for deeds performed during the Soviet-Japanese war | ||||
|
Composition |
Ground troops | Air force | Navy | Total |
| Total people | 40/4 | 1/1 | 52/1 | 93/6 |
| communists | 36/4 | 1/1 | 43/1 | 80/6 |
| Komsomol members | 3 | - | 6 | 9 |
| Russian | 26/2 | 1/1 | 46/1 | 73/4 |
| Ukrainians | 8/1 | - | 4 | 12/1 |
| Belarusians | 2 | - | 1 | 4 |
| other nationalities | 4/1 | - | - | 4*/1 |
| up to 20 years | 2 | - | 1 | 3 |
| up to 25 years | 2 | - | 6 | 8 |
| up to 30 years | 8 | - | 14/1 | 22/1 |
| up to 40 years old | 12 | - | 36 | 38 |
| over 40 years old | 16/4 | 1/1 | 5 | 22/5 |
| soldiers, sailors, sergeants and foremen | 7 | - | 12 | 19 |
| junior officers | 9 | - | 21/1 | 30/1 |
| senior officers | 9 | - | 15 | 24 |
| senior officers | 15/4 | 1/1 | 4 | 20/5 |
The largest number of the GSS, 52 people, are representatives of the Navy: 44 people from the Pacific Fleet, 7 from the Red Banner Amur Flotilla and People's Commissar of the Navy N.G. Kuznetsov. Among the hero sailors, 14 people served in the marines, 15 - in the aviation of the Pacific Fleet, 22 - on surface ships. The fact that more than half of the GSS - participants in the war with Japan are sailors is explained by the conditions of the theater of military operations.
The largest number of the GSS who served in the Ground Forces and were awarded this title for exploits in the Far Eastern Company, 26 soldiers from the composition of the stklkovy wax, 6 - armored, 4 - artillery, 2 - engineering troops, one soldier served in the cavalry.
Among the SCAC - representatives of the High Command (including the commander-in-chief of Soviet troops on the Far Vlstok Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky), commanders of fronts (fleets), armies (flotillas); commanders of corps, divisions, brigades, ships, regiments, battalions; staff officers, commanders of companies, platoons, squads, crews of tanks and aircraft, gun crews; rank and file. In particular, among the GSS - 20 marshals, generals and admirals, 54 officers, 19 petty officers, Red Army and Red Navy men.
Among the GSS - participants in the battles with Japan, communists and Komsomol members accounted for 95.7%.
|
Heroes of the Soviet Union, awarded this title twice or more times (1934 - 1984) |
||||
|
Composition |
In the pre-war years | During the Great Patriotic War | In the post-war years | Total |
| Total people | 5 | 115 | 30 | 150 |
| communists | 5 | 113 | 30 | 148 |
| Komsomol members | - | 2 | - | 2 |
| Russian | 2 | 71 | 25 | 98 |
| Ukrainians | 1 | 31 | 3 | 35 |
| Belarusians | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| other nationalities | 1 | 9 | 1 | 11* |
| up to 25 years | - | 38 | - | 38 |
| up to 30 years | 2 | 23 | 2 | 27 |
| up to 40 years old | 2 | 22 | 19 | 43 |
| over 40 years old | 1 | 32 | 9 | 42 |
| junior officers | - | 32 | 9 | 42 |
| senior officers | 3 | 48 | 17 | 68 |
| senior officers | 2 | 36 | 4 | 42 |
| no military rank | - | - | 8 | 8 |
* Including: Armenians and Jews - 2 persons each; Bashkir, Karelian, Kazakh, Ossetian, Pole, Tatar, Chuvash.
The topic is not slippery, in my opinion the topic is controversial ... since national belonging is not always unambiguous ...
ABOUT VALOR, ABOUT FEATS, ABOUT GLORY
To the publication of Lev Yarutsky's brochure "Greeks - Heroes of the Soviet Union"
The peoples of the former Soviet Union, who participated in the defeat of Nazi Germany, are still scrupulously
count how many Golden Star Cavaliers they have nominated from their ranks. These names are rightly
the pride of the nations inhabiting the post-Soviet space.
For a long time it was believed that of the Greeks, only one person was awarded the highest award for military valor -
Ilya Fedorovich Takhtarov. Ten years ago, when Lev Yarutsky's brochure “Outstanding Greeks-
residents of Mariupol ", among its twenty characters there were already three Heroes: K.Ya. Talakh joined Takhtarov and
G.Ya.Bakhchivandzhi. And in the new book of a well-known local historian there are already 16 (!)
Soviet Union, two were awarded Gold Stars twice, and one was not only a holder of the Gold Star, but also
Full Knight of the Order of Glory. True, the author did not limit himself only to the Mariupol Greeks, but covered
all of their fellow tribesmen who inhabited the former Soviet Union.
It will surprise many, and some may even be shocked, that the brochure "Greeks - Heroes of the Soviet Union" opens
essay on the famous Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov. How, wasn’t the great Russian commander
Greek ?!
Yes, Father Georgy Konstantinovich in the village of Strelkovka was called Kostya the Greek, the marshal himself told about this. AND
although very scant biographical information has come down to us about Konstantin Zhukov, the author of the brochure convincingly
argues why he opens the list of Greek Heroes with an essay about four times Hero of the USSR.
In Soviet times, the word "Greek" in the notorious fifth column of the questionnaire threatened all sorts of restrictions in
civil rights. It was an obstacle to admission to prestigious university, to graduate school, slowed down
professional growth and promotion. Under these conditions, in the passports of people with pronounced
Greek surnames in the column "nationality" appeared the word "Ukrainian" or "Russian". In a number of cases, there were
however, there are legal grounds for this: persons born of mixed marriages avoided the nationality of the “second
varieties ", and chose one of the parents" advantageous "nationality.
It happened with Pavel Khristoforovich Dubinda, Hero of the Soviet Union and full holder of the order
Glory. In the encyclopedia "Heroes of the Soviet Union" he is referred to as a Ukrainian - by his mother. But his father was Greek, and
P.Kh.Dubinda is the son of two peoples - Ukrainian and Greek.
Lev Yarutsky, based on documents published in the last decade, restored the original
the nationality of the Heroes. For example, the world-renowned polar explorer I.D. Papanin, brothers V.K. and K.K. Kokkinaki,
purebred Greeks, but in the reference book they are listed as Russians. General of the Army is also recorded by the Russians.
V.Ya. Kolpakchi, and Anatoly Ratfopullo, who has repeatedly stated both orally and in print that he is a Greek, is also ranked among
"Elder brother".
Like the previous eleven books by Lev Yarutsky, the brochure "Greeks - Heroes of the Soviet Union" was written
freely and uninhibited, in a lively and imaginative literary language.
During the Great Patriotic War, sons and daughters of all republics and all peoples of the USSR fought shoulder to shoulder at the front. Each nation had its own heroes in this war.
The peoples with the most heroes
During the Great Patriotic War 7998 Russians, 2021 Ukrainians, 299 Belarusians became Heroes of the Soviet Union. The next in terms of the number of heroes are Tatars - 161, Jews - 107, Kazakhs - 96, Georgians - 90, Armenians - 89.
Other peoples
Not much behind the Georgians and Armenians are Uzbeks - 67 heroes, Mordvinians - 63, Chuvashs - 45, Azerbaijanis - 43, Bashkirs - 38, Ossetians - 33. Next are the Mari, Turkmens, Lithuanians, Tajiks, Latvians, Kyrgyz, Komi, Udmurts, who gave country from 10 to 18 Heroes of the Soviet Union. 9 heroes each came from the German (we are talking, of course, about the Volga Germans) and the Estonian peoples, 8 each - from the Karelians, Buryats and Mongols, Kalmyks, Kabardians. Adygs gave the country 6 heroes, Abkhazians - 4, Yakuts - 2, Moldovans - also 2, Tuvinians - 1. And finally, representatives of repressed peoples such as Chechens and Crimean Tatars fought no less bravely than others. 5 Chechens and 6 Crimean Tatars were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
About "inconvenient" nationalities
At the everyday level in the USSR, there were practically no ethnic conflicts, everyone lived peacefully side by side, and treated each other, if not as brotherly, then as good neighborly. However, at the state level, there were periods when some peoples were considered "wrong". These are, first of all, the repressed peoples and Jews. Everyone who is even slightly interested in the issue of the Crimean Tatars knows the name of Ametkhan Sultan, the legendary ace pilot, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Representatives of the Chechen people also performed feats. As you know, in 1942, the call to the front of residents of the Chechen-Ingush Republic was stopped, but by the end of this summer, when the Nazis invaded the North Caucasus, it was decided to call on Chechen and Ingush volunteers to the front. 18.5 thousand volunteers came to the recruiting offices. They stood to death on the outskirts of Stalingrad as part of a separate Chechen-Ingush regiment.
There is often an opinion about the Jews that the representatives of this ancient people are capable, first of all, of intellectual work and commerce, and the warriors of them are so-so. And this is not true. 107 Jews became Heroes of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War. The Jews are enormous, for example, in organizing the partisan movement in Odessa.
From "natural" numbers to percentages
7998 Russians became Heroes of the Soviet Union during the war. At first glance, this number is much more than 6 - this is the number of Heroes of the Soviet Union from the Circassians. However, if you look at the percentage of heroes to population, you get a completely different picture. The 1939 census showed that 99,591,520 Russians live in the country. Adygov - 88115. And it turns out that the percentage of heroes per "capita" among the small Adyghe people is even slightly higher than among the Russians - 0.0068 versus 0.0080. The "percentage of heroism" among Ukrainians is 0.0072, among Belarusians - 0.0056, among Uzbeks - 0.0013, among Chechens - 0.0012, and so on. It is clear that the number of heroes in itself cannot be considered an exhaustive characteristic of the national spirit, but the ratio of the number of heroes and the total population says something about the people. If you get acquainted with these statistics on the example of the peoples of the USSR, it will become clear that during the war years each of our peoples contributed its share to the common victory, and it would be a flagrant injustice to single out someone.
Victory in the Great Patriotic War was achieved only through heroism Soviet people(by no means only Russian, as is often presented in the modern press), many peoples lost their sons at the fronts and in the camps of the Nazis. Is there a way to celebrate and appreciate each individual person for their heroism and courage. In the USSR, the highest award was the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
During the Second World War, 11302 people were awarded the Hero's Star. But here's what's strange: when the official sources indicate which peoples were nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, as a rule, it says: Russians - 7998 people, Ukrainians - 2021 people, Belarusians - 299 people and other peoples - 984 people. But why did the rest of the nations forget?
The USSR was a single country of friendly and equal peoples, but then why in the official statistics most of the peoples are indicated as others. After all, the Heroes of the Soviet Union were: 161 Tartars, 107 Jews, 96 Kazakhs, 90 Georgians, 89 Armenians, 67 Uzbeks, 63 Mordvins, 45 Chuvashes, 43 Azerbaijanis, 38 Bashkirs, 31 Ossetians, 18 Mari, 16 Turkmens, 15 Lithuanians, 15 Tajiks , 12 Latvians, 12 Kirghiz, 10 Komi, 10 Udmurts, 9 Estonians, 8 Karelians, 8 Kalmyks, 6 Kabardians, 6 Adygeis, 4 Abkhazians, 2 Yakuts, 2 Moldovans, 1 Tuvan. But even in this list one can see the absence of representatives of the repressed peoples - Chechens and Crimean Tatars.
Really puzzling is the question of the attitude to the representatives of the peoples, who for some reason became objectionable, and with one stroke of the pen they were deleted from. In fairness, it should be noted that 6 Chechens and 5 Crimean Tatars became Heroes of the Soviet Union (Ametkhan Sultan - twice). These people have committed heroic deeds, for which they were awarded the highest government award of the USSR. In 1942, by order of Beria, the call to the front of representatives of the Chechen-Ingush Republic was terminated. This was at the beginning of the year, and by the end of the summer, when the Nazis invaded the territory of the Soviet Caucasus, it was decided to allow volunteers from Checheno-Ingushetia to participate in the battles. On the fronts of the Second World War, 18.5 thousand volunteers and conscripts from Chechen-Ingushetia fought, they stood to death on the outskirts of Stalingrad as part of a separate Chechen-Ingush regiment.
The machine gunner Khanpasha Nuradilov and the sniper Abukhazhi Idrisov became one of the most famous Chechen heroes. Nuradilov distinguished himself in a battle near the village of Zakharovka, when he destroyed 120 Nazis, in total the hero destroyed 920 enemy soldiers, for which he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - posthumously. Idrisov killed 349 Wehrmacht soldiers and officers from his sniper rifle.
Representatives of the Jewish people played an equally important role in the Second World War. For many years, everyone spoke of the Jews only as merchants and intellectuals, but the terrible time of war came, and they proved that the Motherland is not an empty phrase for them and they will defend it to the last drop of blood.
As part of the Soviet troops, more than 200 thousand Jews were nominated for various state awards, and 107 were nominated for the highest award - Hero of the Soviet Union. Some sources indicate the number - 150, but for the most part this is due to the fact that in the difficult years of the war, nationality did not always play a decisive role, and only after the war it was established that, for example, Mikhail Plotkin, the legendary pilot, was not Russian, but Jews, and there are a lot of such examples, but nevertheless this does not diminish the merit of this or that people. The great merit of the representatives of the Jewish people was that the Nazis were not able to break the proud spirit of Odessa. It was the Jewish partisans who forced the enemy to live in constant fear. And if we talk about the exploits of the Jews, how not to remember the legendary intelligence officer Yankel Chernyak, who organized an excellent network of agents from the top leadership of Nazi Germany. It was Chernyak's group that was able to gain access to the secret developments of the "Tiger" and transfer this information to Moscow. As a result, when, according to the Nazis, their best tank was delivered to the front, Soviet tanks were already ready for this.
Representatives of the then young Soviet republics - Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia took an active part in the war. Representatives of Western Ukraine did not stand aside either, many heroes were subsequently repressed for a possible connection with the UPA, but the fact remains - the heroes were not only in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, but also in other republics.
Unfortunately, those years when the USSR was united and powerful are in the past. Fewer and fewer remain alive and those who stood at the origins of the victory, who created it. After all, now even those who were born in 1930 and participated in the partisan movement as a teenager are already 81, and this is a very respectable age, given what these people had to go through. And the fewer veterans remain alive, the fewer eyewitnesses who can tell the truth about the war. An attempt is already underway to change, or, more simply, to rewrite history. The heroes of the war are questioned, many events are spoken of as not real, but only invented for the purpose of propaganda. Yes, there was propaganda, but it was propaganda calling for confrontation with the enemy who occupied our Motherland.
At the front, a Russian, a Chechen, an Uzbek, a Ukrainian stood side by side, and there was not even a shadow of doubt that a comrade would not leave to die on the battlefield. No, these people did not have a nationality, they were Soviet, and perhaps this is where the strength lies when teenagers do not point their fingers at a representative of another nationality passing along the street or when a Chechen guy does not raise