Single sniper holder of the Order of Glory. All the most interesting in one magazine

The best Soviet female snipers of the Great Patriotic War.

Shanina Roza Egorovna

Beauty sniper Roza Shanina.

A sniper is a person who is fluent in the art of marksmanship, camouflage and observation; hits the target, as a rule, from the first shot. The task of the sniper is to destroy important emerging, moving, open and camouflaged single targets.
On April 3, 1924, Roza Shanina was born in a small Soviet village called Yedma in the Arkhangelsk region, who earned several high awards and the eternal memory of her descendants for her short and heroic life.
A beautiful, stately girl with blond wavy hair and huge blue eyes became one of the most formidable lone snipers of the Great Patriotic War. We can judge her character today by the memoirs of contemporaries and relatives, as well as excerpts from the diary that Shanina herself kept while at the front. She wrote letters from the front line, mostly to her correspondent friend Molchanov, who published several works about this amazing brave northerner.
Rosa was born in a large Soviet family. Her father Yegor Mikhailovich worked in logging, and her mother Anna Alekseevna worked as a milkmaid on a local collective farm.
There was only one girl in the family, four brothers Fedor, Mikhail, Sergey and Marat were brought up with her. Of all the children, only Marat returned home from the war.
Already at the age of fourteen, Rosa showed all the strength of her character and, despite the protests of her parents, went to study at the Pedagogical School in Arkhangelsk. According to biographers, a little girl walked 200 km alone to fulfill her dream of studying. After graduation, Shanina was sent to work in a kindergarten, which she protected from fires during air bombardments. In Arkhangelsk, residents carried out voluntary duty on the roofs, and they tried to immediately eliminate fires and destruction from German bombs. The actions of the townspeople saved Arkhangelsk from destruction, since the buildings in the city were mostly wooden. One of the books dedicated to Shanina describes an episode with a destroyed confectionery shop, in which the young teacher Roza begs the unfortunate children not to eat melted sugar mixed with dirt and combustion products.
The war began when the future sniper girl was only 17 years old, she immediately appeared at the draft board to go to the front line as a volunteer. However, the girl was not taken to the front due to her age. After persistent demands, tears and persuasion, Rosa was accepted into the Vseobuch detachment, and then underwent training at a sniper school in Podolsk.
The character of Shanina can be judged by the reviews of her Arkhangelsk friend Maria Makarova. Makarova remembers Rosa as a kind and sympathetic girl who gave her products out of compassion during her difficult hungry years. The young teacher was eager for war, all actions were aimed only at achieving the goal. The strong-willed character of Shanina made it possible to gain respect at the front. From the diary and letters published by Rosa's friend correspondent Molchanov, one can understand how strongly this young and beautiful northerner was burning with the desire to fight. She called the battle with the Germans nothing more than revenge for the fallen and tortured compatriots.
On April 2, 1944, Rosa, who had reached the age of twenty, arrived in the 184th Infantry Division. The command identified Shanina in a female sniper platoon, whose tasks were to search for and destroy individual enemy soldiers, as well as his snipers. For the first time, the sniper Rosa had to shoot at a live target already on April 5, 1944, the girl's hand did not flinch, and the account of revenge for the occupiers who fell from the hands of the invaders was opened. The division then stood southeast of Vitebsk.
In Rosa's diaries, you can find entries dated mid-summer 1944. Before Shanina began to write down her thoughts and write letters to Molchanov, she had already earned the respect of commanding her skill not only in shooting accurately, but also in finding the position of the enemy. Since the time of the sniper school, she has become known for her double shot, or, as they called it at the front, a doublet. Shanina made two accurate shots in one breath, instantly destroying two intended targets at once. The commanders spoke of her as the best sniper of the division, compared with the heroes. During the first month of the "hunt", as the girls called their assignments, Shanina had already killed more than a dozen Nazis, according to some sources, their number was 17 people. The total number of Nazis killed has not yet been established and varies from 54 to 75 (including 12 German snipers). The fame of the sniper girl spread not only in the division, publications about Rosa were even published in the Moscow magazine Ogonyok. Posters and newspaper articles with patriotic slogans with a photograph of the northern beauty were published regularly.
On June 18, Shanina was awarded her first award - the Order of Glory 3rd degree. An interesting fact is that in the award list, worn out by time and made on an old typewriter, found in one of the military archives, the middle name of Corporal Shanina is indicated as Georgievna. This contradiction can be explained by the fact that the names Yegor and George in the forties in the Union were considered paired and interchangeable. With the breakthrough of the German Fifth Defense Army, the female sniper platoon is sent to rest in the rear, which outrages Shanina. She angrily writes in her diaries about being forced to withdraw from battles, and then tries to get her sent to the battlefield. The value of such a skilled shooter for the army is quite understandable, so the behavior of the command was dictated more by expediency than by pity for the girl.
Particularly interesting are the records of unauthorized absences from the front line and the struggle with commanders for the right to fight on the front line on "legal" grounds. On August 8, Shanina, returning from another unauthorized absence, captured three healthy, experienced Germans. Realizing how valuable Shanina was as a sniper, the commanders regularly reprimanded her for such sorties, but finally gave up. By August 31, Rosa's personal account reached 42 killed Nazis. September 22 Shanina is awarded the Order of Glory 2nd degree. Rose became the first girl to receive such an award at once 2 and 3 degrees. Literally a month before his death, Shanina was also awarded the medal "For Courage".
On December 13, Rosa was wounded by a bullet in her shoulder, in her diary she said that she practically did not feel pain and was annoyed at the need to leave the front line. Shanina was very reserved about fame, as can be seen from her reasoning. For example, in the December 13 entry, she is perplexed by the exaggeration and attention to her person at the gathering of army snipers. She considers her merits only that share of participation that every citizen of the country must invest in liberation from the invaders. Rosa did not recognize herself as a hero, although she considered her dead and wounded friends to be such.
In January 1945, the entries in the diary take on a sad connotation; in one of her last letters, Shanina asks to forward what she wrote to her mother in the event of her death. At this time, she participates in fierce battles on the territory of East Prussia, sees how the whole battalion is mowed down by the rabid ashists of Russian soldiers. The presentiment did not deceive the brave northerner, the enemy bullet overtook her on January 28, 1945, on the third kilometer from the village of Ilmsfdorf. The still living girl was taken to the hospital, but the wound turned out to be fatal, she died before the arrival of her pen pal Molchanov.
The lines of the diary convey not only an amazing desire to avenge their native land, there are also truly feminine thoughts and feelings here. For example, the record from October 10 sounds somehow especially girlish. Rosa complains about the absence of her close friend, talks about strange dreams that have been haunting her lately. Later in the diary, the name of a certain Nikolai is mentioned, although soon Shanin
wrote about parting with this man. Judging by the rare remarks of the girl, no relationship with this guy has ever been established. Rosa herself admits in her letters that she wanted to love, she was looking for only that one, but she did not have time to find him.
At home, they were proud of Rosa and her front-line successes, her photograph hung on the board of honor of the Arkhangelsk regional committee of the Komsomol. Simplicity in communication, a lively sparkle in her eyes and an open smile made Shanina much more beautiful than those images in the photo that remained after her death. A young girl from a northern village has become a symbol of the Patriotic War. Many stories and legends are associated with her name, which inspired new heroes to glorious deeds. The memory of Rosa Shanina is dedicated to such works as "I'll be back after the battle" by the author Zhuravlev, and "Thirst for battle" by Molchanov, as well as their joint creative work called "Snowdrops in a minefield". There are inaccuracies in the works, many of the characters are collective and carry the features of several prototypes at once. Nevertheless, the general information about the fate and characters of Rosa Shanina is conveyed by these authors quite accurately.
Fragments from works.
***
“... The less territory remained under the control of the Nazis, the more fiercely they clung to it. Relying on the concrete fortifications of farms, towns and railway stations, the German command concentrated equipment and manpower around them, mobilizing the civilian population capable of holding weapons.
Such a fortified defense turned out to be in the path of the 5th Army near the Rihau farm. The Nazis concentrated here tanks, mortars, artillery and large infantry forces. For 2 days, bloody battles were going on on the outskirts of Rihau. Heavy Baltic winds, wet snow, mud - everything seemed to be turned against the attackers, and yet on the 3rd day several rifle battalions broke through the first line of trenches.
It was not possible to advance further. Under heavy mortar fire, the battalions lay down. Katyushas hit the enemy fortifications.
“After these volleys, we’ll go on the attack,” the platoon leader warned.
And at this time, the messenger of the battalion commander crawled up to Rosa:
- A note to you, Comrade Shanina.
"Immediately return to the rear. Ordered to withdraw. Urgently," she read and looked inquiringly at the fighter.
- The commander ordered. I heard it myself,” said the messenger.
- Okay, I'll be back after the fight...
... This estate changed hands twice, and twice a mortal battle began from dawn. Now these hills are ours, and behind the stone walls of the main house, behind the walls of the stables are the Nazis. To the right is a road running in a half-arc towards the forest, and there ... Who knows what is there. There were few people left, one - the only field cannon, that's all the firepower of Lieutenant Vetoshkin's division. Few shells and few people remained in the division. And the battle goes on, goes in rifts, from edge to edge, from the grove to the hills.
- Back! Get down! - the soldier screams heart-rendingly, - waving a machine gun over his head.
Rosa does not hear, runs to the road, presses against the trunk of a tree, raises her rifle. There is a black chain in front of the forest. The chain is alive, the chain snakes, then it breaks into links, then again it will be marked with a black line on a snow-covered field. Splash of fire, smoke, earth!
The chain is broken. Vetoshkin saw the Germans, if only he had enough shells, if only others would not fall out of the forest. One gun on direct fire. In the most extreme case, because the shells are short. Rosa lowers her rifle, one last round, one last shot down the chain. And again he runs across the road, without bending down, to his full height.
- Soldiers! Give me some ammo!..
There are no rifle cartridges for submachine gunners, there are no rifle cartridges for artillerymen either. Disks yes shop boxes. She ran up to Vetoshkin, stretched out her hand to the abandoned machine gun, and only now saw the Germans behind the poplars, very close ...
So what is he, blind, or something, Vetoshkin! He's leaning against a tree and won't even look at the road.
She grabbed the sleeve, wanted to say something evil to the lieutenant, and her voice broke ... She dragged Vetoshkin by the shield of the gun, and, leaning against the wheel, she poured out the entire contents of the disk into the crowd of Germans. How many of them were behind the poplars, she did not see. She now did not see anything that was happening on this earth. Nothing. The sky was before her eyes. Cold, alien, gray sky. And for some reason the stars. Many, many stars.
Then the stars went out...
***
On January 27, 1945, the commander of an artillery unit was wounded in one of the battles. Covering him, senior sergeant Roza Shanina was seriously wounded by a shell fragment in the chest. Rose was taken to the hospital of the 205th separate medical and sanitary battalion of the 144th Vilna Red Banner Order of the Suvorov Rifle Division near the Reihau estate, three kilometers northwest of the village of Ilmsdorf, where she died on January 28 from her wounds. According to the nurse Ekaterina Radkina, in whose arms Shanina died, Rosa said that she regretted that she had done so little.
According to the data of the Memorial OBD, namely, the layout of the graves of the 205th separate medical and sanitary battalion of the 144th Vilna Red Banner Order of the Suvorov Rifle Division, Roza Shanina was buried in the town of Reichau (German: Reichau, now the village of Cherepanovo, Pravdinsky district, Kaliningrad region ), in the fifth grave in the direction of Ilmsdorf (now the village of Novo-Bobruisk, Pravdinsky district of the Kaliningrad region). Later, according to the information of the Memorial OBD, the burial was moved to the village of Znamensk, Gvardeisky District, Kaliningrad Region, and the name of Roza Shanina was immortalized on the military memorial "The Mass Grave of Soviet Soldiers". The memorial plate over a separate burial of Rosa is located on Brovkov Alley, in the square near the military unit of Znamensk. Whether the reburial was actually carried out is unknown.
According to the publications of the Arkhangelsk journalist and writer Lidia Melnitskaya, in 1965 she visited the place of death of Shanina and discovered that Rosa was the only one of the dead soldiers whose remains were not transferred to Znamensk during the reburial in 1953, since neither the members of the special commission nor the soldiers from the neighboring military unit, who opened the graves, did not know who she was, where she came from, how she died.
It should be noted that Melnitskaya conducted her research in the town of Rihau (German: Richau, now the village of Telmanovo in the Gvardeisky district of the Kaliningrad region). On May 4, 1965, the place identified by Melnitskaya as the grave of Roza Shanina was re-laid out and fenced off by local pioneers. As a result of this confusion, some sources mention that the grave of Rosa Shanina was located on the banks of the Lava River, which flows near Richau.
Reviews and memory of Rose.
Maria Antonovna Krotova, the same age as Rosa Shanina, recalls her countrywoman and friend with some special, slightly hidden feeling of sadness and pride: “She left us for the city and it seemed to be quiet in Bogdanovsky. .
***
“Shanina was very authoritative among her friends,” writes Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General A. A. Kazaryan. “She was eager for the front line. There she acted perfectly ... She died covering the commander of an artillery battalion.”
***
"The girls were nice. Especially Rosa Shanina," recalled Marshal of the Soviet Union N.I. Krylov. "I remember her in a combat situation. Shanina was the first of the girls of the 3rd Belorussian Front to be awarded the Order of Glory 3rd and 2nd degrees" .
In the 5th Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front, sniper Shanina somehow immediately, as they say, immediately became a prominent, well-known warrior. In the army newspaper, in combat leaflets, on the pages of Ogonyok, the front-line press, the name of the brave girl appeared at very short intervals. Here is a brief about Rose in print.
"Honor and glory to the fearless fascist fighter Rosa Shanina!", "In the area where the sniper Roza Shanina is in combat service, the enemy is hiding in a lair" ("Krasnoarmeyskaya Pravda", July 11 and October 5, 1944).
“Let the Russian mother rejoice, who gave birth and raised a glorious, noble daughter to the Motherland!”, “Yesterday, sniper Roza Shanina for one exit
destroyed 5 fascists. With military success, Comrade Shanina! Now, on the combat account of the fearless girl, there are 51 killed Nazis and 3 personally captured by her" ("Destroy the Enemy", September 17 and 24, 1944).
***
One could continue excerpts from the newspapers of the war years, but even these few are convincing evidence of the recognition of the courage, courage, military skill of a 20-year-old girl warrior.
She loved life so much. Perhaps more, many times more than those who, like the devil from incense, fled from the war. She hoped to reach Berlin and, after the victory, return to Arkhangelsk, to the kindergarten kids.
She's back. She lives in the affairs of the Timurov (pioneer) squads and detachments, in the patriotic initiatives of the youth, in the solemn promises of schoolchildren to be the first. In her homeland there are spacious, bright classrooms in the new building of the school named after Roza Shanina. There is also a Timurov detachment named after Roza Shanina. In the kindergarten "Birch", where Rosa worked, there is a large portrait made by the artist from nature when Rosa came to Arkhangelsk from the front on a visit. Children know well who Rosa is. She loved kids very much. In Arkhangelsk, every year, for several decades now, traditional DOSAAF shooters' competitions for the prize named after Roza Shanina have been held.
And all this - more than 70 years after the death of a person. This is immortality - the lot of the strong in spirit, devoted to their Motherland to the last drop of blood.
A street in Arkhangelsk, in the villages of Shangaly and Stroevskoye was named after the Rose. A memorial plaque has also been installed in Arkhangelsk.
Under the patronage of the Eden rural school, where Rosa studied from 1931 to 1935, a museum dedicated to Shanina was organized. There is a memorial plaque at the school itself. In 2011, for many years of work on the development of the museum and the organization of exhibitions about the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, students and teachers of the school were awarded a government award - an honorary badge "For active work on the patriotic education of citizens of the Russian Federation." On March 28, 2014, at the regular session of the District Assembly of Deputies, it was unanimously decided to award the school with the honorary name MBOU "Edem Basic Comprehensive School named after Roza Shanina, holder of the Orders of Glory of two degrees."
Every year in Arkhangelsk, traditional DOSAAF shooters competitions for the prize named after Roza Shanina are held.
In the village of Malinovka, Ustyansky district, annual cross-country ski races named after Roza Shanina are held.
In 2004, Novodvinsk hosted competitions in
shooting, dedicated to Shanina.
In 2010, in the village of Bogdanovsky, which also claims to be the birthplace of Roza Shanina, a monument was erected to three holders of the Order of Glory III and II degrees, who were born in the village: Roza Shanina, military
scouts Alexander Shanin (namesake) and Pyotr Kozlov.
The memorial was built thanks to a grant from the regional competition of rural initiatives, with money from the district and donations from fellow countrymen.
The PomorFilm studio filmed a short report dedicated to Roza Shanina as part of the Arkhangelsk - City of Military Glory series.

Awards.
Order of Glory III degree (April 18, 1944)
Order of Glory II degree (September 22, 1944)
Medal "For Courage" (December 27, 1944)
Incomplete Cavalier of the Order of Glory.
In 2014, only four women from the entire Soviet Union ended the war with full holders of the Order of Glory. Roza Shanina could be fifth. According to the memoirs of the former commander of the 215th Infantry Division, Major General Andranik Kazaryan, for valor in the battles for Schlossberg. On October 26, 1944, Shanina was presented by the command to be awarded the Order of Glory, 1st degree. Instead, Rose was awarded the Medal of Courage in December. On December 29, for military merit, Rose was again presented for the award of the Order of Glory, I degree, but after her death, the award list was lost.
Publications about Roza Shanina:
Shanina Roza Egorovna // Snipers. - M.: Young Guard, 1976.
Aleshina A., Popysheva K. Sniper Rose // Fatherland: Local Lore Almanac. - 2010. - No. 8. - S. 14-17.
Bronnikova E. Unknown letter // News of the Russian North. - 2010. - No. 3 (5). - S. 26-31. Archived from the original on August 17, 2012.
Zhuravlev N. After the battle I will return ... - M .: DOSAAF, 1985. - 189 p. - (For the honor and glory of the Motherland). - 100,000 copies.
Mamonov V., Poroshina N. She bequeathed us songs and dews. - Ustyansky Museum of Local Lore, 2011. - 75 p. - 150 copies.

Medvedev V. To the wind in the face. - M.: Soviet Russia, 1974. - 144 p.
Molchanov P. Thirst for battle // Snipers / E. Nikiforova, G. Evstigneev. - M.: Young Guard, 1976. - 158 p.
Molchanov P., Zhuravlev N. Snowdrops in a minefield. - Arkhangelsk: North-
Western book publishing house, 1974. - 83 p.
Ovsyankin E. Sniper Roza Shanina // Arkhangelsk Pedagogical College. - 2nd ed. add. - Arkhangelsk: CJSC "Archconsult", 2004. - 312 p. -ISBN 5888670197.
Ovsyankin E., Popov M. Sniper Roza Shanina // In my lifetime: memories, family traditions, reflections. - Arkhangelsk: Pravda Severa, 1996. - 238 p.
Poroshina N. Her youth was torn by shells // We brought this day closer as best we could ...: Ustyaks at the front and in the rear. - Ustyansky regional museum of local lore, 1995.
Pegler Martin. Out of Nowhere: A History of the Military Sniper. - Osprey Publishing, 2006. - 352 p. - ISBN 9781841768540.
Brayley Martin, Ramiro Bujeiro. World War II Allied Women's Services. - Osprey Publishing, 2001. - 48 p. - ISBN 9781841760537.
Melnitskaya L. Forever - twenty years old (part 1). Truth of the North. Press of the Arkhangelsk region (February 9, 2006). Retrieved June 23, 2014.
Melnitskaya L. Forever - twenty years old (part 2). Truth of the North. Press of the Arkhangelsk region (February 16, 2006). Retrieved June 23, 2014.
Skosyreva O. Roza Shanina and 5 other outstanding Soviet women snipers of the Second World War. The history of modernity. Komsomolskaya Pravda in Samara (January 27, 2014). Retrieved 16 July 2014.
Sniper Roza Shanina. Armory-online.ru. Retrieved June 19, 2014. Archived from the original on August 17, 2012.
Video.
Reportage "The Forgotten Hero - Roza Shanina". Studio "PomorFilm". Retrieved 14 July 2014. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012.
Natalie Sklobovskaya. Rosa (Story of the girl sniper) (2011). Retrieved 14 July 2014.
Report "Forgotten Hero - Roza Shanina"
On one of the nondescript houses in Arkhangelsk hangs a modest sign "street named after Roza Shanina." Who was this girl, why is the street named after her, who keeps her memory? Only a military diary, still not completely declassified... This is a report from the cycle "Arkhangelsk - the city of military glory" about a girl-sniper, a northerner, who heroically passed away at the age of 20.
Production company - youth edition of the Pomorfilm studio
Journalist - Anna Antonova
Operator, editing - Artem Kirilkin
Editor - Tamara Statikova
From the diary of Shanina Roza Egorovna.
We invite you to get acquainted with some excerpts from the letters and diaries of Roza Egorovna Shanina. Despite the well-known dispersion, they will best say about their author, who without hesitation left the distant city in the rear for the front, knowing that here you can lose the most precious thing - life.

* * *
July 29, 1944. Pass it on, please, and help me. If you knew how passionately I want to be with the fighters at the very forefront and destroy the Nazis. And now, imagine, instead of the front line - in the rear. And recently we lost 4 more with black and 1 on red very much. (In order to preserve military secrecy about the losses, Rosa writes allegorically, "black" - killed, "red" - wounded. We are talking about snipers). I want to avenge them. I ask you to talk to someone, although I know that you are very busy.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
8 August. I recently went AWOL. Accidentally lagged behind the company at the crossing. And she didn't look for her. Good people said that going to the front line from the rear is not a crime. And I knew that our training company would not go on the offensive, but would trail behind. I need to be at the forefront, to see with my own eyes what it is, a real war. And then, how was it to look for your company? All around, the Germans staggered through the forests and swamps. It's dangerous to walk alone. I went after the battalion, which was heading to the front line, and on the same day I went to battle. People died next to me. I shot, and successfully. And after 3 she took prisoner ... such healthy fascists.
I'm happy! Although I was reprimanded for AWOL, I even received a Komsomol penalty - they put me in sight.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
12th of August. The commander did not allow to go further with his battalion. Said, "Come back, girl, to the rear." Where to go? It's getting light. I see a sentry looming in the distance. But whose? Creeped closer along the rye. Our! They sleep, tired, after the battle. And the sentry dozes standing. Scared him. He asked who I was and why I had come. Advised to rest. Under the cloak - cape immediately fell asleep. They woke me up and said that a German counterattack was expected. And there is. Team. Occupied a cell. At first I did not see, then I see: 100 meters away from the hill, Nazi tanks with troops are sliding down. Our artillery hit. I shoot paratroopers. One tank broke through to our positions, but without landing. Next to me, a senior lieutenant and a soldier were crushed by caterpillars a few meters away. I have a stuck shutter. I sat down, eliminated the delay and fired again. Here comes the tank right at me, about 10 meters away. I feel the belt on which the grenades were hung. There is no pomegranate. Lost, probably, when crawling in the rye. And it wasn't scary. Sat down, the tank passed by. Tanks ran into our artillery, turned back. I continued to dump the Nazis as they jumped out of the burning tanks. In total, 8 tanks were knocked out, the rest were returned back. After all, when I saw the dead and wounded, it became terrible. But she pulled herself together. The point is clear - we must fight, avenge our dead comrades.
I rested a little and went to look for our female platoon, hidden somewhere in the rear. Went out on the road. I accidentally looked in the direction of the ravine and I see a German standing. Shouted: "Hyundai hoh!" 6 hands went up: that means there are three of them. One mumbled something, I did not understand. Know only shouting: "Faster, forward!", And showed with a rifle - crawl, they say, to me. They crawled out. Picked up the weapon. We walked a little, I see a German in one boot. So he asked permission to put on a second boot. I took them to the village. One asks: "Gut or kaput?" I say: "Gut" - and I lead them further, a rifle in my hand; behind the belt are grenades and a finca - well, like a real warrior. The prisoners were handed over to whomever should.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
August 31, 1944. Thank God we are finally back in action. Everyone went to the front. The account is increasing. I have the largest - 42 killed Nazis, Ekimova - 28, Nikolaeva - 24.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
10 October. I saw my brother Fedya in a dream. My heart is heavy, I'm 20 years old, but I don't have a close friend, why? And there are plenty of guys, but the heart does not trust anyone.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
17 October. Ready to run to the front again. Some force is pulling me there. How to explain? .. Some people think that I am striving for a familiar guy. But I don't know anyone there. I want to fight! I want to see real war. I'm leaving. What a pleasure to "travel" along the front lines! Our platoon is in reserve, no one is watching him, especially since they think that I am wounded in the hospital.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
18 October. Attacks. Finally crossed the German border. We are advancing on German territory. Prisoners. Killed. Wounded. Dot attacked. They took another 27 prisoners: 14 officers. Strongly resisted. I'm going "home", to my platoon.
Today I visited General Ghazaryan, then I visited the head of the political department. Begged for the front line. I cried that they didn't let me in.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
The 20th of October. Yesterday I was on the run again, went on the attack. They were advancing. But we were stopped. Rain, mud, cold. Long nights.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
October 21. Again I complain to you that they do not transfer to intelligence. They finally refused. And yet I am constantly with scouts. The authorities do not expel to the rear, and I am satisfied. The mood is as good as ever. Here again the command "Forward!".
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
October 24th. There were no conditions to write, I fought. Walked along with everyone. The wounded, the dead. She returned from the front line at the call of the regimental commander. Ordered to sit in the rear. Again inaction.
Oh god, so much gossip about my absence. Even friends met with irony: who had it? If they knew the truth, they would envy. But I am silent. If they decide to follow my example, my free life will come to an end. Let them think what they want.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
the 25th of October. Still, it's good to have a girlfriend. Sasha, I sometimes have fun with you even in sadness. I share with you everything that is in my soul (Note: Alexandra Ekimova is a friend of Rosa Shanina).
The head of the political department called me about my letter, where I asked to be sent to the front line and criticized the officers for insults. I remember my mother. Dear Mom! How I want you!
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
28 of October. For a place near Pilcalleon, she fought legally. This time they let go. We took the city. When repulsing one of the most violent attacks of the enemy, I seemed to shoot especially well. I shot a lot at close range. We were lying on the edge of the forest behind the embankment. When the Nazis crawled, only helmets were visible. 200 meters - shoot. 100 meters. The Nazis rose to their full height. And only when we were separated by 20 meters, we moved away. Captain Aseev, Hero of the Soviet Union, died nearby.
In the evening, tired, I went to the command post of the regiment and ate for the first time that day. She fell asleep soundly. Suddenly, shooting, the Germans crept up to the command post. The artillerymen were the first to notice the enemy and drove them away.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
Nov. 1. On the third day they buried a friend in arms, Sasha Koreneva. 2 more of our girls were wounded: Valya Lazorenko and Zina Shmeleva. Maybe you remember them?
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
the 3rd of November. Came back from the front completely exhausted. I will remember this war. The place changed hands 4 times. 3 times I left from under the very nose of the Nazis. In fact, war on enemy territory is a serious matter.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
November 7th. She was at the forefront again. And at this time, it turns out, a photojournalist from Moscow came. The general called me, and I don't know where. Today I met the general, and he scolded me.
Received a letter from Arkhangelsk. The countrymen have seen my portrait in a magazine and write that they are proud of my exploits. But I've been overrated. I do only what every Soviet soldier is obliged to do. The Order of Glory is too much for me (note: Roza Shanina was the first of the girls who fought in the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front to be awarded the Orders of Glory of the 3rd and 2nd degrees).
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina)
***
15th of November. I don't go hunting now. I sit without shoes. There is a lot of movement at the front. Our girls have been awarded. Sasha and I were presented with Certificates of Honor from the Central Committee of the Komsomol yesterday.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
November 18th. The mood is nasty. I saw Nicholas. The first time I met him was when I ran to the front line. I like him a little, although he does not shine with upbringing and education. But I respect him for his courage. For some reason, I get it into my head that I love him. Maybe because it's hard to be alone. I would like to have a close person, a good friend.
I don't think about marriage. Now is not the time. I wrote a letter to a front-line girl - a stranger. (there was an unsent letter to a certain Masha in the diary.)
"Hello, Masha!
I'm sorry that I call you that, I don't know your middle name. I decided to write when I accidentally found out about your letter to Klavdia Ivanovna.
You write that you are madly in love with Claudia's husband. And she has a 5-year-old child. You ask her forgiveness not for allowing yourself an inadmissible thing, but for the fact that you are going to build a life with her husband in the future. You justify yourself by the fact that you cannot raise a child alone, who is soon to appear, and that you allegedly did not know before if N.A. had a wife and children.
You write: "What will I answer my child when he asks where is daddy?" And what will Klavdia Ivanovna answer to her son, who already knows his father well? He will ask after the war: "Why doesn't daddy come?"
If it’s hard for you to stop loving a person you accidentally met on the roads of war, then how can Klavdia Ivanovna forget her beloved husband?
Who am I? Like you, I came to the front. I am a sniper. Recently I was in the rear. On the way, on the train, I often felt the gratitude of people who looked at my awards. But there were some harsh words too. Why? Why do others look askance at the girl in the tunic? It's your fault, Masha. I could not find a place for myself then, and I cannot calm down even now, having returned to the front.
I often wonder how we, military girls, will return from the war? How will we be received? Really with suspicion, despite the fact that we risked our lives and many of us died in the battles for the Motherland. If this happens, then those who fought off other people's husbands will be to blame.
Think that not only Klavdia Ivanovna will not forgive you, but all of us, and there are many of us. That's all I wanted to say. Rosa Shanina.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
20 November. There were so many invitations yesterday to the evening in honor of Artillery Day - "Katyushniki", scouts, the 120th battery and many, many more. Went to Nicholas. I explained to him, wrote him a note in the sense of "but I am given to another and I will be faithful to him for a century." And went to the gunners. As they were escorting me home, the duel shooting went up.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
November 23rd. Received a letter from the tankers. It turns out that they remember me and how I laughed fervently with them and sang "The Germans stomped, mended their uniforms." They write that they saw my photo in a magazine. And I haven't seen it yet.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
November 26th. Now in reserve. We rest again. Soon we will completely forget what it is, advanced. Understand, the thirst of my life is a fight. And what? I can't get my way. They are sent to places where they rarely even shoot. And now they've come up with a vacation. Sasha and Lida lie on the bunk and sing: "The day goes by hour by hour." The song makes me feel even worse.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
November 27th. There were dances yesterday. I dance no matter what. Today we took a bath. We remembered how the Germans captured our girls. It was in May. Fascist scouts during the search at the forefront captured 2 snipers - Anya Nesterova and Lyuba Tanailova. Where are they now? Are you alive? In the hands of executioners...
I saw German Frau for the first time. Revenge them for girlfriends? No. I have no hatred for them. And I hate fascists and kill in cold blood. And in this I see the purpose of my life now. And my future is uncertain. Options: 1 - to the institute; 2 - if the first fails, then I will completely devote myself to raising orphans.
And what doesn't come to my mind! I decided here, in the reserve regiment, to study communication, Morse code. Communication courses behind the wall. It's nice to have several different specialties.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
December 2nd. Boredom. An accordion plays behind the wall. I want to go where the fight is. It is forbidden. Why? What irresponsible these chiefs.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
5th of December. She changed her mind about her life, about justice, about girls. I sometimes regret that I was not born a man. No one would pay attention to me now, no one would regret it, and I would fight with all my heart, as I would like. Most strange. But in combat, I'm not afraid of anything. After all, I was not afraid of a tank that drove over my head. And yet still in stock.
I'm used to Sasha and Kaleria, and I'm bored without them. I respect them a lot, more than other girls. Life is easier with friends. We are three from different families. We have different characters. But there is something in common. We are friends and strong. Kaleria is a good girl. Bold, without a shadow of selfishness. This is what I value most in people. Sasha is smart. Understands all issues. Her memory is golden. Sasha, Kaleria and I are the "Vagabond Three". How will I live without them when the war is over and we go our separate ways?
I also like Eva Novikova and Masha Tomarova. Eva is a little short-tempered, but still a world girl. Clean, modest, independent. Masha never loses heart, and when she is sad, she sings songs.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
December 7th. I saw in a German newspaper a photo of our snipers - Nesterova and Tanailova. They say they were tortured by the Nazis, but they didn't say anything...
I often remember my beloved, native Arkhangelsk - the Dynamo stadium, the theater, the cinema "Ars" and "Victory" ...
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
December 13th. The day before yesterday there was a gathering of army snipers. They also talked about me: they say, I show a good example. Yesterday I was wounded in the shoulder. Interestingly, 2 days ago I had a dream, as if I had been wounded, and also in the shoulder. Yesterday I was sitting at the firing point, I remembered the dream. And after a few minutes she shuddered. A fascist sniper's bullet hit me in the very place where I had seen the wound in my dream. I didn't feel any pain, it was just something hot all over my shoulder. The operation was painful. But it seems that the wound is not dangerous - 2 small holes, although they were cut in such a way that, probably, it would not heal for a month. Lying. The joint is aching. I'll run away soon, but I don't know what will happen next...
From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
December 17th. While I'm healing. The wound is still worrying. I am sent to an army rest home. It's generally good there. But I would like some advice. Wouldn't it be better to go to the hospital? From the hospital they can be sent to a battalion, and not to a sniper platoon. Why do I want to leave the platoon? Not because it didn't fit. I have a good character, I am friends with everyone, although, of course, I can’t do without disputes. But it's still too quiet in here. I want cod at work. This is my need, instinct. How can I explain to you? Well, you know, I crave a fight every day, every minute. I can be more useful to our common cause.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
December 18th. Every day I see Sasha and Kalya in my dreams. How I missed them. I receive letters from friends and strangers. Just got back from the cinema. There was a film "Lermontov". Lermontov's character is mine. I decided to follow his example to do as I see fit, right. And I really want to be the first in something. How I like Lermontov's character...
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
27th of December. When life is good, you do not want to write. I read "Sister Kerry" and "Bagration". Good books. "Oh, Kerry, Kerry! Oh, the blind dreams of the human heart! "Forward, forward," it repeats, striving to go where beauty calls it."
I read and thought - these are the words of Theodore Dreiser for you. And Bagration too: "What glory means is either to split one's skull in the name of the Motherland, or to crush someone else's..." - these are the words. I will do that, by God.
I saw a lot of pictures: "In old Chicago", "Wait for me", "Submarine number 9". I especially liked the last one. The rest are just so...
Yesterday I was walking, and a boy came to me. "Give," he says, "I'll kiss you. I haven't kissed girls for 4 years." And he asked so convincingly that I was deeply moved. And indeed, such a pretty one, not disgusting, but pleasant. "To hell with you," I say, "kiss, just once." And she almost cried from incomprehensible pity ...
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
January 8, 1945. There was no paper, and I hadn't written down anything for a long time. After the rest, she went to a member of the Military Council in order to achieve her goal - to get to the front line. Then she was with the commander of the army. With great difficulty I convinced them to let me go on the next offensive. Finally. Good mood. For repulsing a counterattack in the first battle, she received the medal "For Courage".
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
13th of January. Didn't sleep all night. I feel bad. Got sick. The German shoots hard. Today from 9:00 to 11:30 our artillery preparation lasted. The Katyushas started. Wow, and gave pepper to the Nazis. The situation is still unclear. They just built a dugout, and the mood is already suitcase. We are waiting for our offensive... Forward, only forward...
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina).
***
January 14th. Behind Belarus and Lithuania. And here is Prussia. On the left flank, ours advanced far. But gunfire is still heard. All morning the cannonade rumbles. Everyone went forward, but our platoon did not have enough carts. Didn't have dinner or breakfast.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
January 15. They arrived with the rear of the division in Eidkunen. In the morning I put on a white cloak, kissed everyone and went. I'll be at the front in an hour.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
January 16th. I got to the self-propelled. When we went on the attack, I was in the car. From the self-propelled gunners I went to the regiment, reported that I was allowed to be on the front line. They believed, but with difficulty. And they accepted me only because they know that I am a sniper. Unbearable wind. Blizzard. The earth is raw. Dirt. The disguise is already unmasking me - too white. Smoke makes my head hurt. They advise me - it's better to return to the platoon. And my heart says: "Forward! Forward!" I am obedient to him. Let it be!
How many victims were yesterday, but still I went forward. I sit and think about glory. They call me a noble sniper in the newspaper "Destroy the Enemy!", in the magazine "Spark" the portrait was on the first page. But I know that I have done little, no more than I owe as a Soviet person who stood up for his Motherland. Today I agree to go on the attack, even hand-to-hand. No fear. Ready to die in the name of the Motherland.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
January 17. Went on the offensive with the infantry. We moved forward a few kilometers. We were beaten by violinists. (so the soldiers called the German six-barreled mortars). Nearby people were torn to pieces. I had to shoot and bandage the wounded. Took a German house by storm. During the assault, she killed 2 Nazis: one near the house, the second when he leaned out of the self-propelled gun. It is a pity that she brought little use as a sniper.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
January 17. Sorry for the long silence. There was no time to write. My fighting life was on the real front. The battles were severe, but by some miracle I remained alive and unharmed. She went on the attack in the forefront. Please forgive me for not listening to you. I don’t know myself, but some kind of force draws me here, into the fire.
I just came to my dugout and immediately sat down to write a letter to you. Tired, still 3 attacks a day. The Germans resisted terribly. Especially near the old estate. It seems that everything is up in the air from bombs and shells, they still have enough fire to keep us close. Well, nothing, by morning we will defeat them anyway. I shoot at the Nazis, who protrude from behind the houses, from the hatches of tanks and self-propelled guns.
Perhaps they will kill me soon. Please send a letter to my mother. You ask why I was going to die. In the battalion where I am now, out of 78 people, only 6 remained. And I am not a saint either.
Well, dear comrade, be healthy, sorry for everything. Rose.
(From the last letter to P. Molchanov)
***
January 24, 1945. I haven't written for a long time, I didn't have time. For two days there were terrible battles. The Nazis filled the trenches and defended rabidly. Because of the heavy fire, you have to ride in self-propelled guns, but you rarely manage to shoot. Can't get out of the hatch.
Only a few times I crawled out onto the armor of the car and fired at enemy soldiers fleeing from the trenches.
By the evening of January 22, we still knocked the Nazis out of the estate. Our self-propelled gun successfully crossed the anti-tank ditch. In excitement, we moved far ahead, and since we did not report our location, our Katyusha hit us by mistake. Now I understand why the Germans are so afraid of Katyushas. Here is the flame!
Then she went on the attack, and in the evening she met her divisional scouts. They offered to go with them on reconnaissance. Went. 14 Nazis were taken prisoner.
Now we are moving forward quite quickly. The Nazis run without looking back.
We have equipment! .. And the whole army is moving. Well!
The large iron bridge over the river passed without interference. The highway is beautiful. Felled trees were lying around the bridge - the Germans did not have time to make a blockage ...
(The last entry in the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
This is where the diary ends.
On January 27, 1945, Roza Shanina was mortally wounded 3 km southeast of the village of Ilmsdorf in the Rihau district (East Prussia). She has 75 (according to other sources - 54) confirmed destroyed enemy soldiers and officers, including 12 snipers.
(From the collection - "Snipers". Publishing house "Young Guard", 1976.)

Shanina Roza Yegorovna April 3, 1924 - January 28, 1945) - Soviet single sniper of a separate platoon of female snipers of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the 1138th Infantry Regiment of the 184th Dukhovshchinskaya Red Banner Rifle Division of the 3rd Belorussian Front, holder of the Order of Glory II and III degrees - the first female sniper and the first soldier of the 3rd Belorussian Front to be awarded this award. Known for her ability to accurately fire at moving enemy targets, Roza Shanina recorded 59 (75) confirmed enemy soldiers and officers killed, including 12 snipers. Despite the fact that she participated in the hostilities for less than a year, the Allied newspapers called Shanina "the invisible horror of East Prussia"

**************************************** *********************************
On April 3, 1924, in a small Soviet village called Yedma in the Arkhangelsk region, Roza Shanina was born, who earned several high awards and the eternal memory of her descendants for her short and heroic life. A beautiful, stately girl with blond wavy hair and huge blue eyes became one of the most formidable lone snipers of the Great Patriotic War.

We can judge her character today by the memoirs of contemporaries and relatives, as well as excerpts from the diary that Shanina herself kept while at the front. She wrote letters from the front line, mostly to her correspondent friend Molchanov, who published several works about this amazing brave northerner.

Rosa was born in a large Soviet family. Her father Yegor Mikhailovich worked in logging, and her mother Anna Alekseevna worked as a milkmaid on a local collective farm. There was only one girl in the family, four brothers Fedor, Mikhail, Sergey and Marat were brought up with her. Of all the children, only Marat returned home from the war. Already at the age of fourteen, Rosa showed all the strength of her character and, despite the protests of her parents, went to study at the Pedagogical School in Arkhangelsk. According to biographers, a little girl walked 200 km alone to fulfill her dream of studying. However, most likely, this is one of the many Soviet exaggerations that are so often present in the biographies of heroes. After graduation, Shanina was sent to work in a kindergarten, which she protected from fires during air bombardments.

In Arkhangelsk, residents carried out voluntary duty on the roofs, and they tried to immediately eliminate fires and destruction from German bombs. The actions of the townspeople saved Arkhangelsk from destruction, since the buildings in the city were mostly wooden. One of the books dedicated to Shanina describes an episode with a destroyed confectionery shop, in which the young teacher Roza begs the unfortunate children not to eat melted sugar mixed with dirt and combustion products.

The war began when the future sniper girl was only 17 years old, she immediately appeared at the draft board to go to the front line as a volunteer. However, the girl was not taken to the front due to her age. After persistent demands, tears and persuasion, Rosa was accepted into the Vseobuch detachment, and then underwent training at a sniper school in Podolsk. The character of Shanina can be judged by the reviews of her Arkhangelsk friend Maria Makarova.

Makarova remembers Rosa as a kind and sympathetic girl who gave her products out of compassion during her difficult hungry years. The young teacher was eager for war, all actions were aimed only at achieving the goal. The strong-willed character of Shanina made it possible to gain respect at the front. From the diary and letters published by Rosa's friend correspondent Molchanov, one can understand how strongly this young and beautiful northerner was burning with the desire to fight. She called the battle with the Germans nothing more than revenge for the fallen and tortured compatriots.

On April 2, 1944, Rosa, who had reached the age of twenty, arrived in the 184th Infantry Division. The command identified Shanina in a female sniper platoon, whose tasks were to search for and destroy individual enemy soldiers, as well as his snipers. For the first time, the sniper Rosa had to shoot at a live target already on April 5, 1944, the girl's hand did not flinch, and the account of revenge for the occupiers who fell from the hands of the invaders was opened. The division then stood southeast of Vitebsk.

In Rosa's diaries, you can find entries dated mid-summer 1944. Before Shanina began to write down her thoughts and write letters to Molchanov, she had already earned the respect of commanding her skill not only in shooting accurately, but also in finding the position of the enemy. Since the time of the sniper school, she has become known for her double shot, or, as they called it at the front, a doublet.

Shanina made two accurate shots in one breath, instantly destroying two intended targets at once. The commanders spoke of her as the best sniper of the division, compared with the heroes. During the first month of the "hunt", as the girls called their assignments, Shanina had already killed more than a dozen Nazis, according to some sources, their number was 17 people. The total number of Nazis killed has not yet been established and varies from 54 to 75 (including 12 German snipers). The fame of the sniper girl spread not only in the division, publications about Rosa were even printed in the Moscow magazine Ogonyok. Posters and newspaper articles with patriotic slogans with a photograph of the northern beauty were published regularly.

On June 18, Shanina was awarded her first award - the Order of Glory 3rd degree. An interesting fact is that in the award list, worn out by time and made on an old typewriter, found in one of the military archives, the middle name of Corporal Shanina is indicated as Georgievna. This contradiction can be explained by the fact that the names Yegor and George in the forties in the Union were considered paired and interchangeable. With the breakthrough of the German Fifth Defense Army, the female sniper platoon is sent to rest in the rear, which outrages Shanina. She angrily writes in her diaries about being forced to withdraw from battles, and then tries to get her sent to the battlefield. The value of such a skilled shooter for the army is quite understandable, so the behavior of the command was dictated more by expediency than by pity for the girl.

Particularly interesting are the records of unauthorized absences from the front line and the struggle with commanders for the right to fight on the front line on "legal" grounds. On August 8, Shanina, returning from another unauthorized absence, captured three healthy, experienced Germans. Realizing how valuable Shanina was as a sniper, the commanders regularly reprimanded her for such sorties, but finally gave up. By August 31, Rosa's personal account reached 42 killed Nazis. September 22 Shanina is awarded the Order of Glory 2nd degree. Rose became the first girl to receive such an award at once 2 and 3 degrees. Literally a month before his death, Shanina was also awarded the medal "For Courage".

On December 13, Rosa was wounded by a bullet in her shoulder, in her diary she said that she practically did not feel pain and was annoyed at the need to leave the front line. Shanina was very reserved about fame, as can be seen from her reasoning. For example, in the December 13 entry, she is perplexed by the exaggeration and attention to her person at the gathering of army snipers. She considers her merits only that share of participation that every citizen of the country must invest in liberation from the invaders. Rosa did not recognize herself as a hero, although she considered her dead and wounded friends to be such.

In January 1945, the entries in the diary take on a sad connotation; in one of her last letters, Shanina asks to forward what she wrote to her mother in the event of her death. At this time, she participates in fierce battles on the territory of East Prussia, sees how the whole battalion is mowed down by the rabid Nazis of Russian soldiers. The presentiment did not deceive the brave northerner, the enemy bullet overtook her on January 28, 1945, on the third kilometer from the village of Ilmsfdorf. The still living girl was taken to the hospital, but the wound turned out to be fatal, she died before the arrival of her pen pal Molchanov.

The lines of the diary convey not only an amazing desire to avenge their native land, there are also truly feminine thoughts and feelings here. For example, the record from October 10 sounds somehow especially girlish. Rosa complains about the absence of her close friend, talks about strange dreams that have been haunting her lately. Later in the diary, the name of a certain Nikolai is mentioned, although soon Shanina wrote about parting with this person. Judging by the rare remarks of the girl, no relationship with this guy has ever been established. Rosa herself admits in her letters that she wanted to love, she was looking for only that one, but she did not have time to find him.

At home, they were proud of Rosa and her front-line successes, her photograph hung on the board of honor of the Arkhangelsk regional committee of the Komsomol. Simplicity in communication, a lively sparkle in her eyes and an open smile made Shanina much more beautiful than those images in the photo that remained after her death.

A young girl from a northern village has become a symbol of the Patriotic War. Many stories and legends are associated with her name, which inspired new heroes to glorious deeds. The memory of Rosa Shanina is dedicated to such works as "I'll be back after the battle" by the author Zhuravlev, and "Thirst for battle" by Molchanov, as well as their joint creative work called "Snowdrops in a minefield".

There are inaccuracies in the works, many of the characters are collective and carry the features of several prototypes at once. Nevertheless, the general information about the fate and characters of Rosa Shanina is conveyed by these authors quite accurately.

Senior Sergeant Shanin was first buried on the banks of the river with the name Lava, in the fifth grave in the direction of Novobobruisk (formerly Ilmsfdorf). Later, the remains of Roza Shanina were reburied in the village of Znamensk, Kaliningrad Region.

self-propelled guns.

In January 1945, the commander of an artillery unit was wounded in one of the battles. Covering him, Roza Shanina was also seriously wounded in the chest. She was taken to a hospital near the Rihau estate (later Telmanovka), three kilometers southeast of the village of Ilmsdorf, where she died of her wounds on January 28. According to nurse Ekaterina Radkina, in whose arms Shanina died, Rosa said that she regretted that she had done so little.

Of the five Shanin children who went to the front, only Marat returned alive, who after the war worked as the director of the Klyuchevskoy Dock in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Leading to the topic

Unique photographs of the Heroes of the Great Patriotic War in color. Today we will show the work of Olga Klimbim, who is engaged in the reconstruction of historical photos.

So young, beautiful, alive... The faces of the war, the faces of people who defended the Russian land, at the cost of their own lives, paved the way to our bright and serene future, where there is no place for fascist aggression, evil and fierce hatred for everything Soviet, Russian...

1. Soviet pilots from the women's 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, Heroes of the Soviet Union Rufina Gasheva (left) and Natalya Meklin near Po-2 aircraft. One of the most successful pilots of the Soviet military aviation in combat missions.

2. Kuznetsov Petr Dementievich.

He left Krasnodar for the war, went with the infantry all the way to Berlin. For personal courage and courage in battles, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star, many medals. Unfortunately, his wife did not wait for him, she went to another. Therefore, Pyotr Dementievich returned from the war not to his native home, but settled in the Dmitrovsky district, in the village of Kostino. He worked at a glass factory. Died in 1986.

3. Pilots of the 102nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment in a caponier next to the Aerocobra board 33. From left to right: junior lieutenant Zhileostov, junior lieutenant Anatoly Grigoryevich Ivanov (died), junior lieutenant Boldyrev, senior lieutenant Nikolai Petrovich Aleksandrov (died), Dmitry Andrianovich Shpigun (deceased), N.A. Kritsyn, Vladimir Gorbachev.

4. Natalya Meklin (Kravtsova), Sofia Burzaeva, Polina Gelman. 1943

6. Sanitary instructor of the 369th separate battalion of the marines of the Danube military flotilla chief foreman Ekaterina Illarionovna Mikhailova (Dyomina) (b. 1925).

E.I. Mikhailova is the only woman who served in the intelligence of the Marine Corps. She was awarded the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd degrees, medals, including the Medal for Courage and the Florence Nightingale Medal. To the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, chief foreman E.I. Mikhailova was presented in August and December 1944, but the award did not take place. By decree of the President of the USSR of May 5, 1990, Ekaterina Illarionovna Demina (Mikhailova) was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 11608).

7. Tezekpaev Zakiy Kambarovich.

He went through the war from Stalingrad to Austria, was in the artillery anti-tank troops. He was awarded medals "For the defense of Stalingrad", "For the liberation of Belgrade", "For the victory over Germany", "For the capture of Budapest". He was awarded the medal "For Military Merit", as it is written in the order: "Radiotelegraph operator of the regiment's command platoon, private Tezekpaev Zakiya Kambarovich, for being in the area of the village of Mestegne (Hungary) on 12/16/1944, being in the battle formations of the battery, while repelling an enemy counterattack , by his personal example mobilized personnel to repel the latter. He did not leave the battlefield until the enemy counterattack was repulsed.

8. Sarsembaev Talgatbek Sarsembaevich

He was drafted into the Red Army in 1942 by the Akmola RVC. He served as commander of a rifle platoon, the 1135th Rifle Salsky Regiment, the 339th Taman Brandenburg Red Banner Order of Suvorov 2nd Class Rifle Division, the 16th Rifle Kalisz Corps of the 33rd Army of the Belorussian Front. From the award sheet “In the battle to break through the German defenses on the western bank of the Oder River south of Frankfurt, April 16, 1945, despite the fierce resistance of the enemy and strong artillery mortar fire, with a clear risk to life, boldly led his platoon to storm the enemy fortifications and, breaking into at the head of a platoon into the enemy trench, destroyed more than 25 Nazis, while capturing 10 Germans. He personally destroyed 4 Nazis. In this battle he was wounded. Worthy of being awarded the Order of the Red Star. Commander of the 1135 Infantry Salsky Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Stepuro. June 3, 1945".

9. Comrade Stalin.

10. Guard Captain, Deputy Squadron Commander of the 125th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Division Maria Dolina.

Maria Ivanovna Dolina (12/18/1922 - 03/03/2010) performed 72 sorties on a Pe-2 dive bomber, dropped 45 tons of bombs on the enemy. In six air battles, she shot down 3 enemy fighters (in a group). On August 18, 1945, for the courage and military prowess shown in battles with the enemy, she was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

11. Medical instructor, foreman of the medical service Valentina Sokolova. July 1943.

12. Berlin 1945

13. Red Army soldiers are monitoring the movement of German troops near Sevastopol.

17. Tanker Mikhail Smirnov.

22. Squadron commander of the 6th Separate Guards Assault Aviation Regiment Captain Ivan Alexandrovich Musienko (1915 - 1989) at the Il-2 attack aircraft.

23. Rosa Shanina.

Soviet single sniper of a separate platoon of female snipers of the 3rd Belorussian Front, holder of the Order of Glory; one of the first female snipers to receive this award. She was known for her ability to accurately fire at moving targets with a doublet - two shots following each other. On the account of Rosa Shanina, 59 confirmed destroyed enemy soldiers and officers are recorded.

24. Pilot of the 73rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Junior Lieutenant Lidia Litvyak (1921-1943) after a sortie on the wing of his Yak-1B fighter.

25. Alexander Georgievich Pronin (1917-1992) - Soviet fighter pilot.

26. The legendary sniper of the 163rd Infantry Division, Senior Sergeant Semyon Danilovich Nomokonov (1900-1973), on vacation with his comrades. Northwestern Front. On the sniper's chest is the Order of Lenin, which he was awarded on June 22, 1942. During the war years, Semyon Nomokonov, an Evenk by nationality, a hereditary hunter, liquidated 367 enemy soldiers and officers, including one German major general.

27. Squadron commander of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, Hero of the Soviet Union, Major Evdokia Andreevna Nikulina (1917-1993).

28. Fighter pilot Antonina Lebedeva (1916 - 1943).

29. Hero of the Soviet Union, flight commander of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, Lieutenant Nina Zakharovna Ulyanenko (1923 - 2005).

30. Hero of the Soviet Union Senior Lieutenant Anatoly Vasilievich Samochkin (1914 - 1977).

31. Guards captain, deputy squadron commander of the 125th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Division Maria Dolina near the Pe-2 aircraft.

32. Marshal of the Mongolian People's Republic Khorlogiin Choibalsan with Soviet pilots awarded for participating in the battles at Khalkhin Gol, 1939

33. Khorlogiin Choibalsan.

February 8, 1895 – January 26, 1952) was the political leader of Mongolia from the 1930s until his death. Marshal of the MPR (1936). During Choibalsan's lifetime and for some time after his death, there was a cult of his personality in Mongolia, similar to Stalin's personality cult in the USSR.

Choibalsan led the Mongolian army in joint operations with the Red Army on Khalkhin Gol and in the Soviet-Japanese war.

34. Volunteer sniper Nadezhda Kolesnikova.

Destroyed 19 fascists and was awarded the medal "For Courage".

35. Vasily Filippovich Margelov.

November 21, 1941 - appointed commander of the 1st Special Ski Regiment of sailors of the KBF. Contrary to talk that Margelov "would not take root", the Marines accepted the commander, which especially emphasized the appeal to him by the naval equivalent of the rank of "major" - "Comrade captain of the 3rd rank." Margelov, however, sunk into the heart of the prowess of the "brothers". In order for the paratroopers to adopt the glorious traditions of their elder brother, the marines, and continue them with honor, Margelov ensured that the paratroopers received the right to wear vests.

On July 17, 1943, under the leadership of Margelov, the fighters of the 3rd Guards Division broke through 2 lines of defense of the Nazis on the Mius Front, captured the village of Stepanovka and provided a springboard for the assault on the Saur-Mogila.

Since 1944 - commander of the 49th Guards Rifle Division of the 28th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. He led the division during the crossing of the Dnieper and the liberation of Kherson, for which in March 1944 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Under his command, the 49th Guards Rifle Division participated in the liberation of Southeastern Europe.

During the war, Divisional Commander Margelov was mentioned ten times in the gratitude orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

At the Victory Parade in Moscow, Major General Margelov commanded a battalion in the consolidated regiment of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

36. Ekaterina Vasilievna Ryabova (July 14, 1921 - September 12, 1974) - Soviet pilot, participant in the Great Patriotic War, navigator of the squadron of the 46th Guards Women's Night Bomber Regiment of the 4th Air Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front, guard senior lieutenant. The hero of the USSR.

37. Serbian partisan Milja Marin (Toroman). Nurse of the 11th Kozarcha brigade. 1943

38. Marina Mikhailovna Raskova (nee Malinina; March 28, 1912, Moscow - January 4, 1943, Saratov Region) - Soviet pilot-navigator, major; one of the first women to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

39. Marshal of the Mongolian People's Republic Khorlogiin Choibalsan with Soviet pilots awarded for participating in the battles at Khalkhin Gol, 1939

40. Sofya Petrovna Avericheva (September 10, 1914, Big Never - May 10, 2015, Yaroslavl) - Soviet and Russian theater actress, participant in the Great Patriotic War.

41. The Viktorov family, Monino.

42. Soldiers and commanders of the 7th Guards Tank Corps in Berlin 1945.

43. Captain Alexander Pronin and Major Sergei Bukhteev before departure. In the cockpit of the "Aircobra" S.S. Bukhteev. From June 1943, the 124th Fighter Wing / 102nd Guards Fighter Wing was re-equipped with American-made P-39 Air Cobra fighters.

45. Bauyrzhan Momyshuly (1910 - 1982) - participant in the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union, Panfilov, participant in the battle for Moscow, writer.

46. Dospanova Khiuaz Kairovna (1922-2008) - pilot of the Great Patriotic War, navigator-gunner.

47. Mikhail Petrovich Devyataev (July 8, 1917, Torbeevo, Penza province - November 24, 2002, Kazan) - senior lieutenant of the guard, fighter pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union. He escaped from a German concentration camp on a bomber he stole.

48. Soviet pilots, Crimea, 1944

49. Ilya Grigoryevich Starinov (July 20 (August 2), 1900 - November 18, 2000) - Soviet military leader, colonel, partisan saboteur, "grandfather of the Soviet special forces."

51. Amet-Khan Sultan (1920 - 1971) - Soviet military ace pilot, participant in the Great Patriotic War, twice Hero of the Soviet Union.

52. Roza Egorovna Shanina

53. The calculation of the Soviet 37-mm automatic anti-aircraft gun model 1939 (61-K) is monitoring the air situation in Berlin. 1945

54. Captain of the medical service. The person has not been identified.

56. Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko (nee Belova; July 12, 1916, Belaya Tserkov, Vasilkovsky district, Kyiv province - October 27, 1974, Moscow) - sniper of the 25th Chapaev Rifle Division of the Red Army. Hero of the Soviet Union (1943). After the end of the war, she was an employee of the General Staff of the USSR Navy with the rank of Major of the Coastal Defense Forces.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko is the most successful female sniper in world history, with 309 confirmed fatal hits on enemy soldiers and officers.

57. Soviet soldiers cross the Dniester.

58. Red Army soldiers marching through the city of Schneidemuhl. February 1945

59. Lyudmila Pavlichenko.

60. Lieutenant of the Red Army.

Roza Egorovna Shanina was born on April 3, 1924 in the Bogdanovskaya commune near the village of Yedma. In some documents, Rosa's patronymic is indicated as Georgievna, however, Yegor and Georgy are two forms of the same name, so there is no mistake here. In the Shanin family, in addition to Rosa, there were six more children.
In 1939, 15-year-old Rosa went to Arkhangelsk to enter a teacher training college. Rosa walked 200 kilometers to the Konosha railway station, from where trains went to Arkhangelsk. Entering the evening department of the school, during the day Rosa worked as a kindergarten teacher.

Rosa Shanina - a student of the Arkhangelsk Pedagogical College 1941

Roza Shanina with her favorite Tanya in kindergarten

When the war began, Rosa went to the draft board to ask for the front. They refused: she was only 17 years old. Not a week went by that she did not go to the military enlistment office. Again and again, having tried, it seemed, already all the methods: persuasion, persuasion, and tears, she proved that her place was only at the front. In the military registration and enlistment office, amazed at her perseverance, they finally gave up and on June 22, 1943, the already 19-year-old Rosa was sent to the Central Women's Sniper School near Moscow. After graduating from school with honors, she, having rejected the offer to remain at the school as an instructor, went to the front.
The first shot of Rosa Shanina was fired on April 5, 1944 southeast of Vitebsk. Having killed the German, Shanina slipped into the trench, not remembering herself: "I killed a man, a man ..." Alarmed friends, running up to her, reassured: "Yes, you killed the fascist!"
After 6 days, she killed 10 Nazis, and a month later, for her successes, she received the Order of Glory III degree.

On September 16, 1944, Senior Sergeant Roza Shanina was awarded the Order of Glory II degree for her courage in the fight against Nazi Germany.

Sniper Roza Shanina and her commander A. Balaev

On October 6, 1944, Rosa began to keep her front-line diary, although it was forbidden to keep diaries at the front (because they could get to the enemies). But Roza Shanina did not obey the prohibitions, for example, she more than once went on unauthorized hunts for the Nazis. Her first diary entries betray the loneliness of a girl who has neither good friends nor good girlfriends: “It’s hard on my heart, I’m 20 years old and I don’t have a good friend, why? And there are a lot of guys, but my heart doesn’t trust anyone. They say that girls won’t be allowed into Germany, and we are already at the border, where fate will throw? I remember Mishka Panarin. What a good guy. Killed ... He loved me, I know, and I him. Senior sergeant, 2 years of institute, well-mannered, simple, decent, handsome guy. I felt very sorry for him. Blokhin, Solomatin before my eyes. I liked them, but I I knew that it was only temporary, they left and did not write letters - that's the proof.
"I want to have a girlfriend. I often think about Anna Smirnova and Masha Tisanova, I really like them, but I don't know yet. Not our division."
Entry dated October 24, 1944: “There were no conditions to write. I remember the dead comrades during this period. The same fate awaited me, and here is gratitude. Even my friends met with irony. The world is saturated with untruth. It seems that I do not have enough willpower to look at this false world for the rest of my life. "

Diary entries show that Roza Shanina was a believer. She writes about the afterlife or addresses God directly, as in this entry dated December 6, 1944: "God! Won't you help me sort it all out. It's all so mixed up, oh my God!"

Last photo of Rosa Shanina. New Year 1945 in the editorial office of the newspaper "Destroy the enemy"

On January 27, 1945, the commander of an artillery unit was wounded in one of the battles. Covering him, senior sergeant Roza Shanina was seriously wounded by a shell fragment in the stomach. Rosa's brother Marat Shanin writes: “Soldier Lentsov Nikolai Vasilyevich wrote to me in a letter 30 years ago:
- They ran to a woman's heartbreaking cry. Rosa lies on the ground, a sniper rifle nearby. Shouts:
- Guys! Shoot me fast!
With both hands, he holds the protruding entrails of his belly, torn by shrapnel. He bandaged her, and the soldier Dubov Leonid Vasilyevich helped. Together they carried Rosa out of the fight.

Rose was taken to the hospital, where on January 28, 1945, just 3 months before the victory, she died from her wounds. Nurse Ekaterina Radkina, in whose arms Shanina died, recalled: "Rosa understood the gravity of her situation. She knew that she would not survive. She regretted that she had not done enough. She remembered her relatives and called her mother."

Only four women became full holders of the Order of Glory, i.е. received the order of all three degrees. Roza Egorovna Shanina could become the fifth. She had the Order of Glory of Glory of the III and II degrees, and the commander of the 215th Neman Division, General Kazaryan, presented her to the Order of Glory of the I degree. However, Rosa died, the award sheet was lost and the award never found its heroine. Rosa's last award was the medal "For Courage", which she received on December 27, 1944.

From a letter from military unit 14041 to Rosa's mother Anna Alekseevna:
"Among us, there was no comrade-in-arms, the noble sniper Roza Shanina. We are experiencing this heavy loss together with you. We have given the oath to avenge the enemy for your daughter. Rosa has traveled a glorious military path from Vitebsk to East Prussia. Two Orders of Glory III and II degrees and the medal "For Courage" marked her services to the Motherland. Her name will go down in history as the names of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya and Liza Chaikina. She immortalized her name with her heroic deeds. Her name lives and will live in our hearts."

Rosa's mother, upon learning of her death, said: "Maybe it's for the best that Rosa died. How could she live after the war? She shot so many people ..."

Cartoon about Rosa Shanina