June 4 Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council USSR awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union sergeant Abramkov Prokopy Ivanovich. With excitement, the soldiers of our front learned about this Decree and again remembered the glorious hero-warrior, who immortalized his name with his life, his feat. On our front made his unprecedented feat Alexander Matrosov, whose image has become a symbol of military prowess and heroism.
Procopius Abramkov repeated podvit Matrosova. The collective-farm tractor driver from the distant Altai became a brave warrior in the harsh days for the Motherland. Abramkov was Respected man in a company, battalion, division. For courage and skill, the command appointed him a squad leader, conferring the rank of sergeant.
He was in the forward line and in that memorable battle, when Captain Belousov led his company on the attack, to storm the enemy heights. This height was an important stronghold of the enemy with numerous engineering fortifications, complex system bunkers, a network of trenches and trenches.
The earth groaned from ruptures. Behind the fire shaft, infantrymen marched forward. The chain of attackers was already very close to the enemy trenches, but at the moment when the company rushed to the attack, an enemy machine gun, silent until now, rattled from the embrasure of a carefully camouflaged bunker. The attack faltered. Hurricane enemy fire forced the fighters to cling to the ground. Without raising your head. Abramkov peered ahead. Wounded comrades were lying nearby, the hated enemy machine gun was still beating. Only a few tens of meters separated it from
German firing point - so is it really possible to retreat back?
A moment passed, and then everyone saw Abramov crawling forward. With every second the distance between Abramkov and the enemy machine gun was reduced. The sergeant already clearly saw the embrasure, which was spewing fire, there was a long burst of machine-gun fire, then Abramkov threw a grenade. The German machine gun fell silent. But before the fighters had time to rise to their full height, he began to scribble with new force. All ammo, no grenade. And then Abramkov jumped up, shouted something, rushed to the bunker and closed the embrasure with his chest. The machine gun choked in the blood of the hero. For a moment there was silence on the battlefield. The rifles and machine guns were silent, the Germans were silent, the company was silent. Then someone shouted "Hurrah", and now the whole company rushed to the attack on the heights, where the body of Prokopy Abramkov lay. How much anger and rage was in this outburst!
Six Germans attacked the platoon commander Pavlov. He shot four with a machine gun, two he destroyed with a grenade. The Germans were mercilessly beaten by the machine gunner Orlov, the shooter Kalimov, the machine gunner Mamedov.
The height was taken by storm. The success of the company was developed by neighboring units.
The battle died down, and comrades in arms carefully raised the bloody body of the hero. Fighting friends sacredly honor the memory of the hero Abramkov, take revenge on the enemy for dead friend. Two heroes Matrosov and Abramkov- the soldiers of our front, their exploits are immortal. They are an example of selfless service to the Motherland. With their names on their lips, our warriors go into battle.
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hero of the Soviet Union, who repeated the feat of Alexander Matrosov
Alternative descriptionsTimofeevich (between 1537 and 1540-1585) Russian Cossack ataman, a campaign in 1582-85. laid the foundation for the development of Siberia by the Russian state, died in battle with Khan Kuchum
In love with Siberia and conquered it
City (since 1961) in Kazakhstan, Pavlodar region, on the Irtysh River
Historical novel by E. A. Fedorov
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Russian name for bulldog
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Rival of Khan Kuchum
City in Kazakhstan
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Historical film in which Yevgeny Evstigneev played his last role - the role of Ivan the Terrible
It was this nickname that Vasily Timofeevich Olenin received, for his character as hard as a stone and "strength of spiritual strength"
Who did N.M. Karamzin call the Russian Pizarro - formidable for wild peoples, but less terrible for humanity?
Which Russian ataman died at the mouth of the Vagai River?
In 1636, the deacon Esipov compiled a chronicle, the exact title of which is “The Siberian kingdom and reign and about the capture”, and who was its main character?
Some believe that his name came from the artel tagan, others - from a millstone, still others - from the name of Yermolai
Which ataman had the nickname Tokmak?
Russian epic about the conquest of Siberia
Killed in battle with Khan Kuchum
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Poem by the Russian poet K. Ryleev
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Timofeich, who conquered Siberia
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Ataman who conquered Siberia
. "the storm roared, the rain rustled ..." (song)
Russian icebreaker legend
Siberian ataman
Aksu city before
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Cossack chieftain, conqueror Western Siberia
City in Pavlodar region, on the Irtysh river
Russian Cossack chieftain, conqueror of Western Siberia (16th century)
Russian icebreaker
City in Kazakhstan, in Pavlodar region
. "the storm roared, the rain rustled ..." (song)
Ataman "on the wild bank of the Irtysh"
In 1636, the deacon Esipov compiled a chronicle, the exact title of which is "The Siberian kingdom and the reign and about the capture", and who was its main character
It was this nickname that Vasily Timofeevich Olenin received, for his character as hard as a stone and "strength of spiritual strength"
Which Russian ataman died at the mouth of the Vagai River
Who N. M. Karamzin called the Russian Pizarro - formidable for wild peoples, but less terrible for humanity
Who sat on the wild bank of the Irtysh
Icebreaker "Timofeevich"
M. small millstone, for manual peasant mills. Yermol that, Vyat. crush, rub, tear, scratch, scrape
Pioneer of Siberia
Who had the nickname Tokmak
Ataman - the conqueror of Siberia
The first who during the Great Patriotic War covered an enemy machine gun with his body, was 24-year-old Alexander Pankratov. It was August 24, 1941 during the defense of Veliky Novgorod.
In October 1938 Sasha Pankratov from Vologda went to serve in the Red Army. The service begins in Smolensk. In August 1939, the young man was sent to Gomel to take courses for junior political officers of the Belarusian Military District, and as one of the most capable cadets in January 1940 he was transferred to the Smolensk Military-Political School. In 1941, Alexander Pankratov graduated from the school with the rank of junior political hand.
The junior political instructor Pankratov met the Great Patriotic War in the Baltics. The Germans were rapidly approaching Veliky Novgorod. The most combat-ready military unit, opposing the Nazis in the battles for the city, in August 1941. There was the 28th tank division of Colonel I. D. Chernyakhovsky, in which Pankratov served. On August 19, the enemy managed to break into the northeastern outskirts of the city. Intelligence established that the Germans created an observation post within the walls of the Kirillov Monastery, from where they corrected their artillery fire. The tankers were given the task: on the night of August 24-25, to covertly cross the Maly Volkhovets River and take control of the monastery with a sudden blow. The execution of the order was entrusted to the company of Lieutenant Platonov, in which Alexander Pankratov was the junior political instructor. But the expectation of surprise did not justify itself - the Nazis met the Red Army with machine-gun fire. The company commander was killed, the soldiers leaned. Assessing the situation, the junior political instructor Pankratov crawled to the enemy machine gun and threw grenades at him. Alas, the machine-gun fire continued to mow down the fighters. Then the political instructor Pankratov, with an exclamation of "Forward!" made a sharp jerk towards the enemy embrasure and covered the barrel of the machine gun with his chest. The company immediately went on the attack and broke into the monastery.
March 16, 1942 Pankratov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. November 19, 1965 Near Novgorod, on the banks of the Maly Volkhovets River, an obelisk was erected in his honor. In Vologda, on one of the houses on Pankratova Street, a memorial plaque with a bas-relief of the hero was installed.
The obelisk was erected at the site of the feat.
Ivan defended Poland
Exactly 70 years ago, February 11, 1945, 20-year-old machine gunner of the 548th rifle regiment Ivan Soltys, under heavy enemy fire, was among the first to cross over to west coast River Beaver and machine-gun bursts covered the company. Chasing the retreating enemy together with his comrades, he was the first to break into locality Luisenthal and threw grenades at an enemy machine gun. As soon as the fighters went on the attack, another machine gun of the Nazis “woke up” in the bunker on the right. Ivan rushed to the embrasure... The title of Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Isidorovich Soltys was awarded posthumously on April 10, 1945. The hero was buried in the city of Kendzezhin (Poland). In his native village of Kuzmin (Moldova), a monument was erected to him. Streets in Tiraspol, Chisinau and Minsk bear the name of Ivan Soltys. The poem "Solar Clouds" by V. Marfin is dedicated to the life and feat of the hero.
Forever 15 year old
For the sake of the Motherland, he did not spare himself ...
Near the village of Onufrievka, in Ukraine, there is an obelisk on the edge of the forest, on it is a memorial plaque with the inscription: “Stop, traveler! Bow with all your heart to the young man who is forever fifteen. For your dream, for your cloudless childhood, on November 23, 1943, at this place, when Onufriyevka was liberated, Anatoly Komar repeated the feat of Alexander Matrosov, gave his life.
Tolya was 13 years old when the war began. He lived in Slavyansk, in a family of teachers. The father went to the front, the mother and children moved to relatives in the village. Brigade of the Poltava region. In September 1943, the 252nd Kharkov Red Banner Rifle Division led offensive battles on the territory of the Poltava region. When the forward units of the division advanced towards the village of Brigadirovka, the scouts met a thin, ragged boy who volunteered to lead the fighters behind enemy lines. And after that, he asked to be taken as a scout. This is how it started frontline life Toli Komar. At the end of September 1943, the division reached the Dnieper south of the city Kremenchug and received an order to force the river. Scouts were sent to determine the area of the forthcoming crossing - Sergeant Polozov and Private Komar. For this operation, Sergeant Polozov was awarded the Order of the Red Star, and Tolya was awarded the medal "For Courage". Early October Soviet troops crossed the Dnieper. Trying to delay the advance of our troops, German command concentrated on the right side big forces, thoroughly strengthening their defensive positions. On the night of November 23, Komar, as part of a reconnaissance group, went behind enemy lines. In the car destroyed by grenades, scouts found important map. But going back was not easy. The fighters were stopped by an enemy machine gun. The death of the group seemed inevitable. Then the Mosquito rushed to the machine gun, winning the time that his comrades needed so much. After the war, local trackers managed to find Tolya Komar's grave. His ashes were reburied with honor in the village. Onufrievka. In 1985, Komar was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree.
Saved the detachment and the commander
Among the daredevils who repeated the feat of Matrosov, there were also girls. One of them is Rimma Shershneva, who was only 17 in November 1942. Even in the 10th grade, she was eager to volunteer for the front. Immediately after graduation, the girl went to Moscow for radio operator courses, where she mastered topography, a walkie-talkie, learned to shoot, and parachute. Rimma was enrolled in the partisan detachment. Gastello. In August 1942, the detachment crossed the front line, and a month later reached the Belarusian Polesie.
In November 1942, the girl ended up in partisan brigade. The young messenger carried out propaganda work among the population. On November 25, 1942, the partisans attacked the enemy garrison, which occupied the village of Lomovichi. Rimma followed her comrades. During street fight partisans stopped machine-gun fire from a bunker with circular fire. The soldiers were killed one by one. And then the brave girl rushed to the bunker, closing the embrasure with herself. Rimma lived another 9 days. Almost all this time she was unconscious, and when she came to herself, she would certainly ask if the commander was alive. The girl was buried in the village of Zhivun. Subsequently, her remains were reburied at memorial complex Soviet soldiers and partisans in Lyuban. R. Shershneva was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
Darn son of the regiment
There are only a few survivors among those who rushed to the bunkers. Peter Filonenko was lucky...
Retired colonel Pyotr Filonenko (born in 1930 in the Kharkiv region), chairman of the Kyiv organization of young participants in the Great Patriotic War, fled to the front as an 11-year-old boy. He was wounded more than once, and twice he was nearly buried alive. Including in 1944 ... Shelboy for the highway Gomel - Bobruisk. The infantrymen could not get through the wall of fire. Peter had an idea to press the barrel of a fascist machine gun so that it would be torn apart. He made his way through the bushes to the bunker and jumped right onto the trunk. More than a dozen bullets pierced the boy's chest. little hero decided to bury, as an officer, in a coffin. They were already hammering on the lid when faint wheezing was heard. Then there were 12 operations. For these wounds, Peter's comrades nicknamed him Dart. The son of the regiment went through the whole war. After demobilization, he worked in the police. He has written several books and acted in films.
Last fight in a foreign land
Our soldiers did not spare themselves, freeing the world from fascism.
Alexei Lebedev fought on the Steppe and 2nd Ukrainian fronts, was a platoon commander. Participated in the liberation of Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Hungary. Last fight 20 year old native Omsk region adopted on Czech soil. On the night of January 6, 1945, under the cover of darkness, the battalion approached the front line enemy defense. At three in the morning the attack began. The Nazis opened mortar fire, but the fighters moved forward in short dashes until the heavy machine gun started working. The attackers lay down. Aleksey, holding grenades in his hands, crawled to the machine-gun nest and threw them towards the enemy. The machine gun is silent. But, as soon as the fighters went on the attack, he pounded again. And then, with one jump, Alexei ended up at the machine gun and fell on the embrasure with his chest ... He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He was buried in the village of Bela in Slovakia. And a Siberian spruce grows on his grave.
Forward, infantry! To storm the bunker!
One of the officers of the Red Army who repeated the feat of Alexander Matrosov was Guards Lieutenant Minnigal Gubaidullin. In 1942, a Bashkir boy, the son of a collective farmer, was drafted into the army. After graduating from the Buynaksk Infantry School, he began his military career in the Caucasus. Here he received his first wound, but did not leave the battlefield. At the end of 1943 near Melitopol he was wounded a second time. For courage, courage and skillful command of a platoon, Lieutenant Gubaidullin was awarded the Order of the Red Star.
On March 8, 1944, the commander of a machine-gun platoon, Gubaidullin, repeated the feat of Alexander Matrosov in the battle for the liberation of Kherson. The regiment was advancing at the turn of Dudchany - Private Kherson region, but the enemy had advantageously placed firing points on the mounds. To break through the defense it was necessary to occupy one of the hills. Commander Gubaidullin led his platoon to storm the bunker. From award sheet: "Going up to close quarters to the bunker, Comrade. Gubaidullin rushed to the embrasure, but at that time he was almost mortally wounded, however ... he continued to command a platoon and crawl towards the embrasure ... He covered it with his body, and thereby the regiment destroyed the other two machine guns. The mound was occupied, and the regiment successfully began to infiltrate behind enemy lines.
Cholponbai recaptured the chalk mountain
On August 6, 1942, the Kyrgyz guy Cholponbai Tuleberdiev rushed to the Nazi bunker, which was poured with deadly fire Soviet soldiers. It was 60 km from Voronezh, on Melovaya Gora. He died immediately, but for several minutes the enemy machine guns were silent. The Nazis tried to throw away the body of a soldier with bayonets - it prevented them from shooting. This was enough for his battalion comrades to surround and capture the fortification, killing the Fritz who had settled there.
Cholponbai, who was only 20 years old, was buried with military honors in the place of his exploit. In February 1943, the Red Army soldier Tuleberdiev was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Later, a monument was erected, the inhabitants of the nearest village of Selyavnoye look after him and call Cholponbai "our hero". In 1962, the battalion commissar Viktor Muradyan published the documentary story "Heroes do not die", where he spoke in detail about front period life of Cholponbai, based on personal memories of him, his own front-line diaries, documents of the Central Archive of the USSR Ministry of Defense. The most important document, evidence of the heroism of Cholponbay Tuleberdiev, remains his presentation for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, written at the front on August 10, 1942, four days after his feat.
Kirghiz Cholponbai Tuleberdiev is buried near Voronezh. Photo by Legion-Media
February 23, as stated in Soviet history, Alexander Matrosov accomplished his feat. But even after more than half a century, passions do not subside about both the feat itself and the date of its commission, as well as the question of whether Alexander Matrosov was the first to close the embrasure of the enemy’s firing point with his body and how many of them there were - “sailors” ...
On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Day of Remembrance and National Sorrow, there will be many “specialists from history” whose task is to challenge certain examples of mass feat, using certain and undeniable inaccuracies in presenting the facts of that time. "Hands reached" and Alexander Matrosov, who is charged with "accidental fall" in front of the embrasure of the bunker. And also “to the whole world” they trumpet about the distortion of the date and the very fact of his accomplishment of a feat. I do not argue - it was not February 23, but four days later, and Alexander Matrosov was not the first to close the embrasure of the bunker with his body. But the important thing is that it WAS.
I agree that not all the names of the heroes got into history " the right way". But the names led to the battle... Alexander Matrosov... The name of this boy is personified with a feat accomplished near a small Pskov village, but his legacy is invaluable. And it’s not only and not so much about him, but about those who accomplished a similar feat both before and after ... More recently, his name was holy ... There was also a memorial ...
But the time of grateful memory of descendants has passed, when "No one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten" and Alexander Matrosov himself needs protection. "Memorial named after Alexander Matrosov" near the village of Chernushki was subjected to vandal destruction. Is it possible to call these unknown bastards, who encroached on the sacred because of a piece of copper, people? Whether we like it or not, this cannot be considered only from a purely forensic point of view. After all, they defiled the holy feelings of millions of people. We didn’t save the monument, we can lose our memory ...
Cover the earth with armor thickness,
We will melt and forge it.
I want you not to have to
Close the embrasures with bodies.
Semyon Kirsanov said in a poem about Matrosov. Now we will have to close the embrasures of human, everyday and moral meanness with our bodies. The time has come to forge a new "armor thickness" that would protect both the monuments to the heroes and the memory of them. But they cannot erase the name of Matrosov from their memory.
In war, a feat is a man's work, and self-sacrifice is a manifestation of the peak of a spiritual impulse. And when a warrior throws himself at the embrasure with his chest, this, of course, is a feat and self-sacrifice at the same time, no matter what the subverters of patriotism say. As for the myths of war... Any nation without legends is doomed to extinction, such are the laws of history. That's just the exploits akin to the "sailor's" are not myths, but a reality inherent only the Soviet people. The only myth is that Matrossov was the first. But in terms of promoting the greatness of the spirit Soviet man, it was necessary to elevate ordinary Matrosov to the "first echelon of heroism" in order for the "propaganda machine to work." So she corrected the date, thus coinciding with the anniversary of the Red Army: "The great feat of Comrade Matrosov should serve as an example of military prowess and heroism for all soldiers of the Red Army." Ahead was Kursk Bulge, ahead was the Battle for the Dnieper ...
But we come to the main question. The virtual encyclopedia lists 179 people. According to the memoirists, Alexander Matrosov had 45 predecessors, and in total during the war years 215 such feats were accomplished, 134 "sailors" were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. According to others, based on documents from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, the number of people who covered enemy embrasures with their bodies is 239 people. According to the "alternative" ones, it is stated that about 300 Soviet soldiers during the war years they accomplished the “feat of Matrosov”. So how much? This list is still being updated.
For the first time this issue was raised in the "homeland" of the feat - in Velikie Luki on February 23, 2008, where a historical conference was held dedicated to those who repeated his feat during the war years. Unfortunately, little is known about her in Russia itself, even less in Ukraine. But even this conference did not give a clear answer to the question - how much. To date, taking into account its results and conclusions, the search and research work of the staff of the Institute of Military Archeology Russian Federation and the All-Ukrainian Union of Marine Writers, one can name a preliminary, but far from final, number of “sailors” - 263 people.
Some "dry" statistics, which will not interfere with the work with "myth busters". Of the 263 who covered the embrasures of the enemy’s machine-gun emplacement with their bodies, which “led to a ceasefire and contributed to the successful completion of the attack”, seven, despite severe wounds, survived: junior lieutenant Kochnev Stepan Ivanovich, lieutenant Kulikov Stepan Ustinovich, privates Mayborsky Vladimir Petrovich, Maysuradze Georgy Vasilyevich, Orazalinov Sabalak, Rise Tovye Khaimovich and Udodov Alexander Abramovich. high rank 149 people were awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union - three of them - Maiborsky, Maisuradze and Udodov without the prefix "posthumously". Orders for courage and heroism were awarded to 56 people, of which Rise was awarded the Order of Glory 3rd degree, the rest posthumously. Medals "For Courage" were awarded to 28, 25 of them posthumously, and Kochnev, Kulikov and Orazalinov - alive. The remaining thirty awards did not receive. It is worth noting that self-sacrifice was manifested both during offensive operations and in defensive battles, both on one’s own, temporarily occupied, and on the territory of the liberated countries or the enemy. During the period of strategic defensive battles from June 22, 1941 to March 1, 1943, 46 feats were documented, taking into account Alexander Matveevich himself. In 1943, the number of accomplished feats reached 64 manifestations, especially during the Kyiv offensive operation. And in 1944, even more - 86, and from the Black Sea to the Barents. Now the power of the call of the "Great Feat of Comrade Matrosov" becomes clear. Well, in 1945, until May 9, 54 feats were accomplished.
It is also necessary to cite such a small analysis as the geographical application of the "peak of spiritual outburst." On the territory of the USSR, 198 feats were accomplished, but in European countries, Soviet soldiers made their last “four steps” ... During the liberation of Poland, there were 15 self-sacrifices, in Romania and Czechoslovakia - 5, 6 - in Hungary, two in Yugoslavia, one in Italy and the largest number in Germany - 18. It is also worth noting that during the defeat Kwantung Army in Manchuria Far East 13 "Matrosov's exploits" were accomplished.
AT Soviet times such a statistic without fail, added points - nationality and party membership. Considering that in bloody battle» the whole country entered and a great victory was general, it would be appropriate to cite such statistics. Among those who accomplished the feat were: Russians - 161; Ukrainians - 38; Belarusians - 10, Tatars - 9; Kazakhs - 8; Jews - 5; Armenians - 4; Azerbaijanis, Bashkirs, Georgians, Uzbeks and Chuvashs - 3 representatives each; two each - Buryats, Maris, Moldavians and Estonians; one representative each - Abkhazians, Avars, Bulgarians and Ossetians.
Well, “party membership” was represented by members and candidate members of the CPSU (b), members of the Komsomol and non-party people, who in many battles and battles, like real warriors, were above “class-party tasks” ... A feat in the name of Victory was accomplished by 106 communists, 113 Komsomol members and 44 non-partisans. And this statistics also says something, because the Komsomol organizers of the battalions and party organizers did not throw the companies at the embrasures, it really was an act of self-sacrifice.
Unfortunately, "around, but near Matrosov", there are a sufficient number of myths. The main myth of the “whistleblowers” is that more than half of those who committed the feat are fined. Yes, indeed, the embrasures of the bunkers with their bodies were also closed by the penalty box. But there were not half of them, but only ... two. Some researchers with stubborn persistence "find" the penalty box even where there were none, and rank among them the fighters and commanders of individual assault battalions. Based on history, it should be recognized that in the midst of Battle of Kursk issued an order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 00348 “On the formation of separate assault rifle battalions”, which stated: “In order to provide an opportunity for the command and command staff who were long time on the territory occupied by the enemy, and who did not take part in partisan detachments, with arms in hand, I order to prove my devotion to the Motherland: ... Use the battalions on the most active sectors of the front. … length of stay personnel in separate assault rifle battalions establish two months of participation in battles, either before being awarded an order for valor shown in battle or until the first wound ... ".
Beginning in September 1943, combat use"stormtroopers" separate battalions in principle, it did not differ from free throws, although there were some peculiarities. Those who went to them were not condemned and did not lose officer ranks. In fact, only Junior Lieutenant Kuznetsov Dmitry Arkadievich, Komsomol organizer of a separate assault battalion was his representative, but only as a permanent officers. But Skoryagin Fedor Nikolaevich and Sytnik Vladimir Mikhailovich were representatives of full-time assault engineering and sapper brigades ...
A particularly discussed topic is that the officers sent the soldiers to the embrasures to certain death: “Either you go yourself, or I’ll shoot you right here like a coward.” It is difficult to say whether there were such orders to go to death, but the order "to suppress the enemy's firing point at any cost" was given. About the role officer corps worth mentioning in particular. During the entire period of the war, 29 platoon commanders, 10 company commanders, 6 political instructors and one deputy battalion commander became "sailors". A total of 46 officers, i.e. every sixth. What does this statistic say? For me, this fact can be considered only in two aspects - either the severe punishment of the commander, who did not take the height and lost a platoon (company) in front of the pillbox, or high courage, dedication and personal example. I think that both factors "have a place to be", the second - more.
It is worth remembering, perhaps, little known facts, as a repetition of a feat by women - a scout partisan detachment named after Gastello Shershneva Rimma Vasilievna and junior lieutenant medical service to the partisan Nina Alexandrovna Bobyleva. As well as the fact that similar feats were performed by Belarusian partisans Belush Mikhail Andreevich, Ukrainian Prokopchuk Aleksey Grigoryevich and Armenian Kolozyan Gevork Agabekovich - partisans of the Garibaldi brigade in Italy, awarded the bronze medal "For military valor".
We should not lose sight of the fact that not only "warriors" committed acts of self-sacrifice. So, the lieutenant of the medical service Kravtsov Nikolai Nikitovich, on October 15, closed the embrasure of the bunker with his body during the liberation of Belgrade. The medical instructor Grigory Kuzmich Kukharenko did the same.
There was, in general, a unique case of its kind, when, in the Battle for Kyiv, Private Grigory Tikhonovich Belmutov closed the embrasure with his chest on October 18, 1943. And the day before, on October 17, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for earlier accomplished feats but he didn't know about it...
Such a combat episode also speaks of self-sacrifice, when sniper Sergeant Burmistrov Ivan Ivanovich, without suppressing the enemy’s firing point, volunteered to destroy it himself, as it turned out, at the cost of his life.
History has recorded for us the only case of double closing of the embrasure of the bunker, when on March 1, 1944, in the battles for the liberation of the Belarusian Zhlobino, Lieutenant Zhuikov Nikolai Petrovich closed it with his body, but the enemy machine gunner, somehow, dropped him and then Sergeant Mazilin Philip Nikolayevich, again closed the loophole. As is also known the case among the militias, when in February 1942, near Novaya Russa, a company commander of the 3rd Communist Division committed a similar act militia Moscow Khalin Anatoly Evgenievich.
Even in last days war, when the Victory is so close and the battles for the Reichstag are already going on, there was a place for a feat. The latter was recorded in Berlin on April 23, 1945, when the Ukrainian Guard Sergeant Manita Arkhip Samoylovich covered a machine-gun point with his body and on April 24, when a Jew, Lieutenant Iosif Romanovich Bumagin, did the same during the assault on Breslau (now Wroclaw). Both became Heroes of the Soviet Union.
But the first self-sacrifice in the history of the Great Patriotic War was made, as befits a communist, by the junior political instructor of the tank battalion, 24-year-old Alexander Pankratov. It happened on August 24, two months after the start of the war - in a battle near Veliky Novgorod.
Also Alexander, only Pankratov
A month after Pankratov, on September 22, 1941, near the village of Priluki in Yaroslavl region closed the embrasure Alexander Myasnikov from the 4th brigade marines. Two days later, in the battle in Valdai, nineteen-year-old private Nikolai Sosnovsky. And in December 1941, their feat was repeated by five soldiers in different sectors of the front, mainly near Moscow. But ... Matrosov's feat is a reality that even skeptics from history do not refute. Another thing is that it was this case that became so famous and was turned into a symbol of courage and military prowess, fearlessness and love for the Motherland, because in February 1943, on the eve of the start of a radical defeat, Sasha Matrosov, a nineteen-year-old boy, did not even know about the self-sacrifice of political instructor Pankratov . But he did something that will live for centuries. And the name of the hero-soldier became synonymous with valor and heroism, which the whole country learned about by reading Stalin's well-known order in all the newspapers.
Order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief:
The great feat of Comrade Matrosov should serve as an example of military prowess and heroism for all soldiers of the Red Army. To perpetuate the memory of the Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Private Alexander Matveyevich Matrosov, I order:
1. 254th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 56th Guards rifle division assign a name: "254 Guards rifle regiment named after Alexander Matrosov.
2. Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Private Alexander Matveyevich Matrosov to be enlisted forever in the lists of the 1st company of the 254th guards regiment named after Alexander Matrosov.
Did this order play its role in the patriotism of the Soviet soldiers? Yes. And this is reality. And the time will come when an encyclopedia of those heroes will be published (although everyone who went on the attack under fire are heroes), who repeated the feat of Matrosov, who was his predecessor ... After all, far from all the graves of the "sailors" are known to us today. Some rest in fraternal villages and villages, others on central squares cities, the third on the edges of the forests, where there were bloody battles ...
Peace came to Europe, the Great Patriotic War was over, but World War II ended in Port Arthur. The Soviet Union entered the war with the Japanese on August 9, and already on September 2, 1945 signed an act on unconditional surrender Asian ally of Hitler. Thousands of Soviet soldiers fell in China and on the islands of Sakhalin and the Kuriles. The incredible resistance that the samurai offered is evidenced by the fact that in less than a month of the battle in the Far East, 13 warriors repeated the feat of Matrosov.
On the one hand, this fact shows the degree of courage and heroic impulse of the troops, irresistibly striving to return South Sakhalin and the Kuriles. On the other hand, in the "new" historical research the heartlessness and servility of military officials are debunked, who, in order to please the "Leader", for the sake of the "Soviet blitzkrieg", sacrificed thousands of lives of their soldiers and sailors, without any serious operational need. It is alleged that they rushed to the Japanese pillboxes out of hopelessness, from the fact that the leaders of the operation missed the mark, did not suppress the enemy’s firing points before the attack, which doomed their subordinates to death. It is difficult to argue, given that it was the "last war."
But one must know the peculiarities of the war in the Far East, especially in the Kuriles and Sakhalin. In the three-week war, not only the sailors distinguished themselves, but also the soldiers of the Trans-Baikal and Far Eastern fronts, as well as the border guard. Junior sergeant of the Khasansky border detachment Ovchinnikov Pyotr Ivanovich accomplished the feat of Matrosov on the very first day - August 9, 1945, during the assault on the Japanese border post "Kontsurika". The last warriors who accomplished the feat of Matrosov were sailors - foreman of the 1st article Vilkov Nikolai Aleksandrovich and sailor Ilyichev Petr Ivanovich. On August 18, 1945, during the landing on the island of Shumshu, they closed the embrasures of two nearby pillboxes with their bodies. They were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union only on September 1, 1958.
Sergey Smolyannikov
By examples of mass heroism, the Great Patriotic War had no equal in Russian, and, probably, in world history. The exploits of V. Talalikhin, N. Gastello, Z. Kosmodemyanskaya, F. Klochkov, Panfilov heroes, A. Matrosov served during the Great Patriotic example military prowess and heroism for all soldiers of the Red Army. Neither our allies nor our opponents had such examples of self-sacrifice.
On the wave of “perestroika” throughout the life of the country, “perestroika” began and in historical science, in historical consciousness. A reassessment of the exploits of the military generation, the events of the Great Patriotic War, the debunking of ideological "myths", the discovery of "new information", "new sources" began. Examples of true heroism are being questioned and declared to be ideological propaganda and myths.
One of the objects of "reassessment" and "revision" was heroic deed guard private Alexander Matrosov, who committed his immortal feat on Pskov land.
70 years have passed since the death of A. Matrosov. But the controversy about it still does not subside. Everything is subject to revision - the name of the hero, his biography, the circumstances of his last battle, the date of the feat, the "primacy" of the feat, even the circumstances and details of the feat itself, the expediency of such an act, etc.
Yes, indeed, during the Great Patriotic War, A. Matrosov was not the first to close the embrasure of the bunker with his body, to drown out the enemy's firing point with his body, thereby ensuring the success of the offensive. Before Matrosov, 70 soldiers of the Red Army had already committed similar heroic deeds. The first of them was an officer of the 125th tank regiment of the 28th tank division junior political instructor Alexander Pankratov. On August 24, 1941, in the battle for the village of Spas-Nereditsa near Novgorod, during the storming of the Kirillovsky Monastery, Pankratov covered an enemy machine gun with his body. A. Pankratov on March 10, 1942 was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - the first for such a feat.
Why, then, "sailors" and not "pankratovtsy"? No one will answer for sure. Much in those days depended on who becomes a symbol of a feat, whether there was a “popularizer” next to this or that hero. The feat of Matrosov, earlier than the feat of other heroes, became known throughout the country, to every soldier of the Red Army.
The feat of Matrosov became known thanks to the order People's Commissar Defense No. 269 of September 8, 1943:
“On February 23, 1943, Guards Private of the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 56th Guards Rifle Division Alexander Matveyevich Matrosov at the decisive moment of the battle with fascist german invaders beyond the village of Chernushki, breaking through to the enemy bunker, closed the embrasure with his body, sacrificed himself and thereby ensured the success of the advancing unit.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 19, 1943, Guards to Private Comrade. Matrosov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The great feat of Comrade Matrosov should serve as an example of military prowess and heroism for all soldiers of the Red Army.
By the same order, the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment was named after Alexander Matrosov, and Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Matrosov was forever enrolled in the lists of the 1st company of this regiment (the first in the country).
This order was read out on all fronts, in active parts Red Army. On the same days, leaflets dedicated to the feat of A. Matrosov appear on the fronts. From that time on, everyone who accomplished a feat similar to the feat of Matrosov was called "sailors."
Very little information has been preserved about many "sailors", and not very much is known about Alexander Matrosov himself. There is one official biography hero and a few unofficial ones. Differences in biographies relate primarily to pre-war period. All versions are almost unanimous in the further facts of the biography: September 1942 - Matrosov cadet of the Krasnokholmsk Infantry School near Orenburg; November 1942 (January 1943?) - the entire cadet staff of the school was sent by privates to replenish front-line units.
A. Matrosov was in the 91st separate rifle brigade(since May 1943, the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 56th Guards Rifle Division). After leaving the encirclement, the brigade as part of the 22nd Army of the Kalinin Front was in reserve.
On February 12, 1943, the brigade unloaded at the Zemtsy station of the Kalinin region near the town of Nelidovo and, after a many-kilometer march, entered the Pskov land. The area in this area is sparsely populated, with many swampy areas.
In the area of the villages of Lubomirovo, Chulinino, Chernushki, an offensive was being prepared with the aim of cutting railway Nasva - Loknya. In the battle for the village of Chernushki, Private A. Matrosov accomplished a feat - he closed the embrasure of the bunker with himself. Agitator of the political department of the brigade, Senior Lieutenant P.I. Volkov, a witness to the feat, wrote on the same day in a report to the political department: “... I am in the 2nd battalion ... We are advancing ... In the battle for the village of Chernushki, Komsomol member Matrosov committed a heroic deed - he closed the embrasure of the bunker with his body, which ensured the advancement of our shooters forward. Blackies are taken. The attack continues. I will report the details when I return." He failed to give details - Volkov died on the same day, in the evening.
In May 1943, the Military Council of the Kalinin Front petitioned for the nomination of Alexander Matrosov to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The first memories of the participants in the memorable battle near Chernushki appeared in the same 1943 - they were published in the newspaper of the 22nd army "Forward for the Motherland" dated October 13, 1943.
There is an opinion that this battle took place not on February 23, the birthday of the Red Army, but on February 27, 1943. And on February 23, the feat was "transferred" for ideological reasons. Or maybe there was a simple mistake? But did the feat cease to be such from the replacement of the date? In a report about irretrievable losses the date of the death of A. Matrosov, indeed, is February 27. And Senior Lieutenant Volkov died on the same day, February 27. By the way, then Volkov was buried in the village of Chernushki, but on this moment not listed in any of the graves.
Alexander Matrosov was buried near the village of Chernushki. In 1948, his ashes were transferred to Velikiye Luki. A monument was erected on his grave in 1954. Monuments to A. Matrosov were also installed in Ufa, Krasnoyarsk, Ulyanovsk, St. Petersburg.
Despite what propaganda did to Alexander Matrosov in the Soviet, perestroika and post-perestroika time, the feat remained a feat. How were the greatest examples of courage and self-sacrifice the exploits of other "sailors".
In battles during the liberation of the Pskov region, exploits, like a feat Matrosov, committed several fighters. The names of V. Smirnov, A. Kozhevin, G. Gafiyatullin, P. Avramkov, I. Korovin are widely known.
During the Nevelsk operation on October 6, 1943, the troops of the Kalinin Front liberated the city of Nevel, a powerful enemy defense center at the junction of two groups - "North" and "Center". After the end of the operation, the Kalinin Front went on the defensive. Defensive battles were fought west and northwest of Nevel. November 11, 1943 in the battle for railway station Nevel-1 performed a feat machine gunner of the 153rd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 52nd Guards Rifle Division of the Guard Lance Sergeant Vyacheslav Smirnov. At the cost of his life, he silenced the enemy's bunker. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 4, 1944 V.V. Smirnov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).
In January 1944, during the Leningrad-Novgorod operation, the Novgorod and Leningrad region, northern and eastern regions Pskov region. Parts of the 2nd Baltic Front went on the offensive in the Novosokolniki area. The fighting in this area was extremely fierce. The 2nd Baltic Front pinned down the forces of the 16th army of the enemy and prevented the transfer of its units to Leningrad and Novgorod to help the 18th army.
On January 14, 1944, in the battle for the village of Ovsishche, the deputy commander of the 20th Infantry Regiment of the 37th Infantry Division, Sergeant Gazinur Gafiyatullin, together with the fighters of the unit, destroyed one enemy bunker. Having crept along the trench to the second bunker and having used up all the ammunition, Gafiyatullin, ensuring the success of the offensive, rushed to the embrasure of the bunker and closed it with himself. The hero was buried in the village of Ekimovo, then his ashes were transferred to a mass grave in the village of Myakotino, Velikoluksky district.
On January 22, 1944, near Novosokolniki, the commander of the 1344th Infantry Regiment of the 319th Infantry Division, Sergeant Prokopy Avramkov, in the battle for the village of Omshary, having used up ammunition, closed the embrasure of the enemy bunker with his body, paving the way for the advancing units. The hero was buried in the village of Zabolotye, reburied in the village of Terenino.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 4, 1944, both Gazinur Gafiyatullin and Prokopy Avramkov were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The fighting near Novosokolniki continued throughout January 1944. After the liberation of Novosokolniki on January 29, the command of the 2nd Baltic Front developed the offensive further - in the area of the villages of Zazhogino, Starosokolniki. On February 1-2, the advancing units came across machine-gun fire from two bunkers on the outskirts of the village of Zazhogino. The commander of the squad of the 94th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 30th Guards Rifle Division of the Guard, Junior Sergeant A. Kogevin, who was awarded the medal "For Courage" in these battles, volunteered to destroy the bunkers. We managed to crawl closer to the first bunker and throw a grenade at it. A. Kogevin was wounded by a machine-gun burst from the second bunker. Bleeding, he crept up to the second firing point and, with a grenade in his hand, rushed to the embrasure. There was an explosion - A. Kogevin blew up the machine gun along with the calculation.
Guards junior sergeant Alexei Kogevin by order of the 10th guards army On February 18, 1944, he was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class. His name is immortalized in the village of Starosokolniki, Novosokolniki District. Only in the lists of "sailors" is his patronymic "Olitrievich", but in fact "Petrovich".
In the history of the Great Patriotic War, there is a case when the feat of Matrosov was "repeated" by a rifle regiment - the regiment named after Alexander Matrosov.
This happened on Pskov land in the spring of 1944, in the area of Novosokolniki and Pustoshka on the 2nd Baltic front. After the liberation of Pustoshka, the 254th Alexander Matrosov Guards Rifle Regiment of the 56th Guards Rifle Division liberated the villages of Myatskovo, Bolshoye and Maloye Makoveytsevo. The enemy transferred here and brought into battle reserves from near Idritsa. The pace of the regiment's offensive dropped noticeably.
In the first days of March 1944, the regiment received an order to penetrate the enemy defenses and take the heights near the village of Kryakovo, hold them until the second echelon of the 19th Guards rifle corps. On the night of March 7, without artillery preparation, the fighters of the regiment removed the enemy’s outposts, passed Front edge, suddenly attacking the enemy from the rear, and captured the heights. The enemy began to draw additional forces into the breakthrough area, trying to regain tactically advantageous heights.
On March 7, continuous enemy counterattacks began. 4 attacks were repelled by sailors. On March 8-9, enemy attacks did not stop. On March 9, Kryakovo changed hands six times, reaching hand-to-hand fights. The enemy brought fresh forces into battle, supported by tanks, artillery and mortar fire. On this day the regiment suffered huge losses- the chief of staff, all his assistants, battalion commanders and their deputies, almost all company and platoon commanders were out of action.
On March 10, the regiment repelled nine enemy counterattacks. On this day, everyone who could hold a weapon participated in repelling enemy counterattacks. On the same day, the commander of the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment, 25-year-old Guard Lieutenant Colonel E. Roshchupkin, died. The regiment continued to hold positions near the village of Kryakovo, diverting significant enemy forces from near Novorzhev and Pushkinskiye Gory.
After approaching the Kryakovo heights of the main forces of the division, the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment was withdrawn to the second echelon for rest and replenishment. Of the 680 soldiers and officers who fought for the Kryakov heights, only 12 combat-ready fighters remained in the regiment. Marshal of the Soviet Union A.I. Eremenko praised the feat of the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment named after Alexander Matrosov: "Here the regiment repeated the feat of Matrosov."
Marina Safronova
