FLYING WEREWOLF
(pilots-defectors in the Great Patriotic War)

This topic has been taboo for many years. After all, it was about Soviet pilots who flew to the enemy or were captured, including several Heroes of the Soviet Union, who then fought shoulder to shoulder with the aces of the Luftwaffe against yesterday's brothers-in-arms.

SHOOTS

Unfortunately, as it turned out, the Germans never experienced difficulties in forming Russian aviation units and testing the latest types of Soviet aircraft that came to them safe and sound. The flow of defector pilots who flew over to the side of the enemy in their own cars did not dry out throughout the war, and was especially great in the first years of the war.
Already on June 22, 1941, during the bombing of Koenigsberg, the navigator of a high-speed SB bomber abandoned a serviceable car and parachuted over the territory of East Prussia, leaving his crew without navigational support. In the summer of the same 1941, the crew of a Su-2 bomber from the 735th Air Regiment, during a combat mission, defected to the side of the enemy and voluntarily landed at a German airfield. As a result of the proceedings, the regiment did not receive the guards rank, although it had already been presented to him.

It must be admitted that these were far from isolated cases of desertion. A vivid confirmation of this can serve at least as issued on August 19, 1941, the Order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 229 "On measures to combat hidden desertion among individual pilots."
But neither cash bonuses for sorties and downed enemy planes (later, after the war, this money would be taken away from the front-line soldiers by the predatory monetary reform of 1948, exchanging savings one for ten), nor high government awards could “dry up” the flow of defector pilots.
In 1943 alone, 66 aircraft voluntarily flew to the Germans (and not only on fighter jets, so one can only guess about the number of servicemen who were part of the crews). And in the three months of 1944, it would seem, a victorious offensive year, another 23 Soviet crews decided to surrender to the mercy of the German troops, who were suffering defeat after defeat.
It is hardly possible to verify these figures based on the materials of domestic archives and give them an adequate assessment: there are no such confessions in them, because for the unit commander, agreement with the fact of desertion of his pilot would mean an accusation of complicity, or at least connivance and a cross on his entire career. In addition, the one who decided on the flight hardly outwardly betrayed his intentions, he simply got lost in the sky, lagging behind the group and going west unnoticed, then being listed in the reports as “missing” or “not returning from battle”.
Another indirect evidence of the many cases of treason by the flight crew is a significant number of Soviet aircraft, which fell into the hands of the enemy practically undamaged. The largest number of them, of course, was captured at the airfields in 1941. However, later, throughout the war and even with the retreat of the Germans the number of captured vehicles, including the most modern ones, remained noticeable and allowed the Luftwaffe not only to conduct comparative tests of Soviet equipment, getting acquainted with its combat qualities, but also to use dozens of fully functional "prisoner" vehicles in its ranks.
The last episodes of flights were already noted a few days before the end of the war. Although it is doubtful that the pilots then chose German airfields. Most likely, neutral states or allied air bases became their target. So, the last case of desertion by the Soviet crew was recorded in April 1945! The Pe-2 bomber from the 161st Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment left the combat formation in the air and, not responding to the shouts of the group commander, disappeared into the clouds. The pilot, senior lieutenant Batsunov and navigator Kod (the gunner-radio operator is not named) who flew away on it aroused suspicion before (they said that ordinary people in Europe live better than in the USSR, they did not raise toast in honor of Comrade Stalin at flight gatherings, etc. ), and after a collision the day before in flight with another plane, they were completely accused of sabotage and even cowardice; a deadly officer frequented the parking lot to their "pawn". So the question of their fate was most likely resolved. But the crew, apparently, managed to draw conclusions earlier ... Nobody heard anything more about the fate of this crew.
Similar cases of flights took place in other countries, the pilots of which resolved conflicts with their command or social order in such an unconventional way.
The downed pilot who was taken prisoner was expected to be astounded as other military personnel by the fact that he had already been sentenced in absentia at home: “having a personal weapon in his hands, he surrendered and betrayed the Motherland”, for which Article 58-1 provided for the inevitable 25 years in prison, followed by deportation to remote places, and under aggravated circumstances, execution. (What to consider as aggravating circumstances was decided during the war by the SMERSH authorities, and then by the MGB.) This was not an invention of the Vlasov emissaries: the famous escape of Mikhail Devyatayev from captivity on the captured He111H-22 ended with the “atonement” by the pilot and 11 comrades he saved in the camp, now already native, Soviet. However, later the pilot was credited with the German secret car delivered to his own - the carrier of Fi103 cruise missiles, having been released ahead of schedule, in which one of the founders of the Soviet missile program and Chief Designer of OKB-1 S.P. Korolev took a considerable part. (The remaining 7 people who fled with M. Devyatayev from German captivity and helped him in this, served time from start to finish, and four died of starvation and disease in places of detention.)
Perhaps that is why in August 1942, in the Osinovka camp near Orsha, a group of captured Soviet pilots suggested that the Germans form a separate Slavic air unit as part of the Luftwaffe. The initiators of the creation of the aviation unit were Major Filatov, Captain Ripushinsky and Lieutenant Plushev.
The air group was created, but the Nazis were in no hurry to provide it with aircraft. The fact is that yesterday's Stalinist aces had only a few tens of flight hours. Therefore, the Germans organized a kind of educational program for those wishing to fight shoulder to shoulder with Soviet pilots.
Initially, 22 people studied flight theory, navigation and materiel in the group, including nine pilots, three navigators and four radio gunners. At the same time, groups of technical staff were formed from among the captured volunteers serving the aircraft.
But the Luftwaffe generals were in no hurry to involve even properly trained Soviet pilots in the performance of combat missions. An enthusiast was needed who would believe in the effectiveness of participation in combat operations of yesterday's opponents. And he found...

"CHICKS" HOLTERS. CLOSED BIOGRAPHIES

It is believed that the first who drew attention to the anti-Soviet-minded captured pilots was the officer of the headquarters of the Luftwaffe command "Vostok" Oberst Lieutenant (lieutenant colonel) Holters. It was he who came up with the idea of ​​creating a combat flight unit from Russian volunteers. To implement this project, Holters attracted Colonel Viktor Maltsev.
Maltsev Victor Ivanovich was born into a peasant family on April 25, 1895 in the town of Gus-Khrustalny, Vladimir province. Colonel of the Red Army (1936). Member of the "Vlasov" movement. Major General and Commander of the Air Force of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (KONR, 1945).
In 1918, he voluntarily joined the Red Army, graduated from the Yegorievsk School of Military Pilots (1919), and participated in the Civil War. In 1918-1921, 1925-1938 and 1940-1941. - Member of the Communist Party. In 1921, he was expelled on suspicion of being related to the big businessman Maltsev, then he was restored, and again expelled in 1938 - in connection with his arrest.
He was an instructor at the Yegoryevsk School of Military Pilots. According to some sources, he was one of the instructors of V.P. Chkalov and even released him on his first solo flight. It is no coincidence that all works on the biography of an outstanding pilot bypass the issue of Valery Pavlovich's flight teachers. In 1925-1927. - Head of the Central Airfield near Moscow, in 1927-1931. - assistant chief, since 1931 - head of the Air Force Directorate of the Siberian Military District, then was in reserve. Since 1936 - Colonel. From 1937 he was the head of the Turkmen Department of the Civil Air Fleet, and for high performance he was nominated for the Order of Lenin.
However, instead of a reward, on March 11, 1938, he was arrested by the NKVD on charges of participating in an "anti-Soviet military conspiracy." He was held in the Ashgabat department of the NKVD, where he was tortured, but he pleaded not guilty. On September 5, 1939, he was released, rehabilitated and again reinstated in the party. However, months in the dungeons of the NKVD, interrogations and torture left an indelible mark: Maltsev became an implacable opponent of the Stalinist regime. He was not returned to significant leadership work, and in December 1939 he was appointed head of the Aeroflot sanatorium in Yalta.
In November 1941, after the occupation of Yalta by German troops, in the uniform of a colonel of the Red Army Air Force, he appeared at the German commandant's office and declared his desire to fight the Bolsheviks. He spent some time in a prisoner of war camp (as a senior reserve officer), after his release he refused to engage in identifying Soviet and party workers who remained in the city. Then the German authorities instructed him to check the work of the Yalta city government. During the inspection, I found major flaws in her work. After that, in March 1942, he agreed to become the burgomaster of Yalta, but already in May he was removed from this position as he had previously been a member of the Communist Party. From September 1942 in Yalta he was a justice of the peace. Since December of the same year, he was engaged in the formation of anti-Soviet military formations. A large circulation (50,000 copies) was published of the book “The GPU Conveyor” written by him, dedicated to his arrest and imprisonment and actively used in German propaganda work.
Soon, Colonel Maltsev was introduced to Lieutenant General Andrei Vlasov, who was captured, treated by the Germans and already rushing about with the idea of ​​​​organizing the ROA.
In 1943, he began to form the Russian Eastern Aviation Group. In particular, he visited prisoner of war camps, agitating pilots to join this military unit. In 1944 he delivered anti-Stalinist speeches on the radio and in POW camps. In the same year, he led the formation of several aviation groups from among captured Soviet pilots to ferry aircraft from German factories to active units of the German army.
In the fall of 1943, Lieutenant Colonel Holters proposed to his superiors that a flight combat unit be formed from captured Soviet pilots. No sooner said than done. Already in October, Soviet pilots began to be brought to a special camp located near the town of Suwalki to undergo a medical examination and test for professional suitability. By the end of November, in Moritzfeld near Inserburg, the Holters Air Group was fully staffed with former prisoners of the camps and was ready to carry out combat missions.
The "Holters Chicks" were engaged in the training program for Luftwaffe pilots, which was fundamentally different from similar training in the Air Force of the Workers 'and Peasants' Army. Judge for yourself, a graduate of the Soviet aviation school before being sent to the front had only 15-20 hours of flying time, in addition, he often did not have the practice of aerial shooting. German instructors, on the other hand, believed that their graduates should have 450 flight hours and be able to shoot well!
Many Soviet pilots, being in captivity, from the very beginning were interested in the ideas of the Liberation Movement. A number of officers - from lieutenants to colonels - declared their readiness to cooperate with the Holters-Maltsev Air Group, as it became known. Among them were such commanders as the chief of staff of the Air Force of the Orel Military District, Colonel A.F. Vanyushin, who distinguished himself in the post of aviation commander of the 20th Army in battles against the Germans near Lepel and Smolensk in the summer of 1941; bomber regiment commander Colonel P.; major P. Sukhanov; captain S. Artemyev; Hero of the Soviet Union Captain S.T. Bychkov; Captain A. Mettl, who served in the aviation of the Black Sea Fleet; captain I. Pobedonostsev; Hero of the Soviet Union Senior Lieutenant B.R. Antilevsky and others. Found a way to compatriots, Major-order-bearer Serafima Zakharovna Sitnik, head of intelligence of the 205th Fighter Division. Her plane was shot down and she was wounded and taken prisoner by the Germans. Mother and child Sitnik lived in the occupied territory, and the pilot had no doubt that the Germans had killed them. What was her joy when the plane of the Vostok intelligence processing center delivered her loved ones to Moritzfeld!
The absence of disagreements between Holters and Maltsev was the key to the favorable atmosphere established in the air group. Both were staunch supporters of German-Russian cooperation. When in early March 1944, Lieutenant General Vlasov first visited Moritzfelde, Holters explained to him that he was “very, very happy that fate brought him together with Russian pilots, and would do everything to completely transfer the air group led by Colonel Maltsev to an independent Liberation Army."
Holters achieved that the Russian volunteers were completely equalized in rights and security with German pilots, and Captain Shtrik-Shtrikfeldt, Vlasov's German assistant, noted that the Reichsmarschall himself, if he got into Moritzfeld, would not be able to distinguish Russian pilots from German.
Yesterday's inhabitants of the camps were placed four people in a room. Each has a separate bed with snow-white linens. Two sets of uniforms. Ration according to the norms of the Luftwaffe. Monetary allowance - 16 marks per month.

At the end of 1943, the Auxiliary Night Assault Group "Ostland" was formed from the Russians as part of the 1st Air Fleet. The squadron was armed with captured U-2, I-15, I-153.
Unfortunately, little is known about the performance of the Ostland, but its combat work was rated quite highly. The chest of many pilots of the Holters-Maltsev Air Group was decorated with Iron Crosses of the 1st and 2nd degrees. In addition, the reports of both the Russian and German leadership emphasized the high combat readiness of Russian pilots. During the fighting, the air group lost only three aircraft in battle. Nine pilots died (landing seriously wounded at their airfields), and a dozen pilots were injured.
The audacity and courage of the "Eastern pilots" is also evidenced by the fact that two of them flew to the Soviet rear and, having taken their relatives, returned safely to the German base. But none of the "Holters chicks" did not fly by plane to the east! No one!
True, three pilots in Belarus went into the forests to the partisans ... Why didn’t they fly over? We believe that the train of their thoughts was as follows: well, let's fly to our own, what's next? Immediately soldered 25 years in the camps according to the well-known Stalinist order about those who surrendered. And so, let's go to the partisans, there are simple men, they will understand everything! We ourselves have come! And then we will show that they fought with the Germans in good faith, the commander of the partisan detachment and the commissar will write a good characterization, the native Soviet authorities will appreciate and forgive ... But nothing has been known about these pilots who went to the partisans since then. Most likely, having honestly told who they were, where and with whom the Germans served, they were immediately shot ... Someone else's life, someone else's fate - why stand on ceremony with them? What if they were sent? There is no time to understand, then we will find out ... War ... In war, everything is allowed, everything is possible! You can even decide from the position of God who will live and who will immediately die. And to see those eyes of people praying for life, who, perhaps, are waiting somewhere for elderly parents, wife, children. And your word decides everything here! .. Before the war, he was an accountant on a collective farm, or traded in seeds on the collective farm market, or sold braces in the city haberdashery, and here - God and the king over people! Here it is, vlaaaaast! .. And no one will ask! And if they ask, I’ll say: I killed the traitors on the orders of Comrade Stalin! .. So he told the pioneers later: they fought the traitors!
Since the autumn of 1944, in Cheb (the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, i.e. the current Czech Republic), V. Maltsev formed an aviation unit, which in February 1945 formed the basis of the Air Force of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (KONR).
On December 19, 1944, the Chief of Aviation of the Third Reich, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, gave the green light to the formation of aviation of the Russian Liberation Army (ROA). According to Maltsev's plans, the ROA aviation was supposed to number 4,500 people. Therefore, he filed a petition with G. Goering to call on all comers from among the Russians who had already served in German units. The Reichsmarschall authorized the call. Soon, Maltsev, on the proposal of General A. Vlasov, was appointed commander of the aviation of the Army of the Peoples of Russia, and was also promoted to the rank of major general.
On February 2, 1945, G. Goering received Vlasov and Maltsev at his residence. The result of this meeting was the order of the chief of the main headquarters of the Air Force, Lieutenant General Karl Kohler, who legally confirmed the independence of the ROA Air Force from the Luftwaffe.
By the spring of 1945, the KONR Air Force included up to 5 thousand people, including an aviation regiment equipped with flight personnel and materiel (40-45 aircraft), an anti-aircraft artillery regiment, a paratrooper battalion, and a separate communications company. Command posts in the aviation regiment were occupied by both pilots from among the emigrants and two Heroes of the Soviet Union who were captured by the Germans. The headquarters of the KONR Air Force was located in Marianske Lazne.
The fighter squadron was led by the Hero of the Soviet Union, Major Semyon Bychkov, and the Hero of the Soviet Union, Captain Bronislav Antilevsky, the squadron of high-speed bombers. Both Stalinist falcons were shot down in September 1943 and taken prisoner. Interestingly, just three months before his capture, Semyon Bychkov in the Kremlin accepted the Order of Lenin from the hands of Stalin himself. The pilot had 15 downed enemy aircraft on his account, Bronislav Antilevsky received his title of Hero in the Finnish campaign.
Bychkov Semyon Trofimovich was born on May 15, 1918 in the village of Petrovka, Khokholsky district, Voronezh province. In 1936 he graduated from the 7th grade of high school and the Voronezh flying club, after which he remained there as an instructor. In September 1938 he graduated from the Tambov School of the Civil Air Fleet and began working as a pilot at the Voronezh airport. Since January 16, 1939 - in the ranks of the Red Army. He studied flying at the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation School named after V.P. Chkalov. On November 5, 1939, he was released as an I-16 fighter pilot and sent to the 12th Reserve Aviation Regiment (NPO USSR Order No. 04601). On January 30, 1940, he was awarded the military rank of "junior lieutenant", from December 16 - junior pilot of the 42nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, from December 1941 to September 1942 - pilot of the 287th Fighter Aviation Regiment.
In June 1941 he graduated from the fighter pilot courses of the Konotop military school. On March 25, 1942, he was awarded the military rank of "lieutenant", from July 20 of the same year - deputy squadron commander.
There is a mention of him in the famous book “Air Defense Forces of the Country in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”, where the following message is placed on page 93:

March 7, 1942. Parts of the 6th IAK PVO during the day carried out tasks to cover the troops of the Western and North-Western fronts, railway transportation and rear facilities. 184 sorties were made, 5 air battles were conducted. 3 enemy aircraft shot down: junior lieutenant S.T. Bychkov (287th IAP) in the Yukhnov area shot down Xe-113, and six fighters of the same regiment (leading captain N.I. Khromov) also destroyed 2 Me-109 in the Yukhnov area.

It should only be noted that in those days, "Xe-113" meant the new German fighter Me-109F.
In the newspaper "Red Star" No. 66 of March 20, 1942, a photo of the pilots of the 287th IAP, Senior Lieutenant P.R. Coffin and junior lieutenant S.T. Bychkov, who shot down the day before (that is, March 19) 3 German aircraft at once: Coffin - 2 Yu-88 (according to M.Yu. Bykov, these were Yu-87) and Bychkov - 1 Me-109.
In 1942 S.T. Bychkov was found guilty by a military tribunal of committing an aircraft accident and sentenced to 5 years in labor camps, using note 2 to article 28 of the RSFSR Criminal Code. By decision of the Military Council No. 037/44 of October 1, 1942, the conviction was expunged.
From July to November 1943 he fought in the 937th Aviation Regiment, and then in the 482nd Aviation Regiment (322nd Fighter Aviation Division).
May 28, 1943 he was awarded the military rank of "Captain". Soon he was appointed deputy commander of the 482nd Fighter Aviation Regiment. He was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner.
For the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command, courage, courage and heroism shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 2, 1943, Captain Bychkov Semyon Trofimovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Medal. Star "(No. 1117).
He made 230 sorties in total. After 60 air battles, he shot down 15 enemy aircraft personally and 1 in a group. (M.Yu. Bykov in his research indicates 9 personal and 5 group victories.) Photo by S.T. Bychkov (on a group photo of famous Soviet aces dates from August 1943) even got into the famous book “Aces of Stalin. 1918-1953" (authors Thomas Polak and Christopher Shores), although not a word is said about the pilot himself in this publication ... Perhaps this is one of the last photographs of Koltsov and Bychkov. The fate of both pilots will be tragic: soon one of them will die in battle, and the other will be captured and will be shot after the war.
On December 10, 1943, Captain S.T. Bychkov was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft artillery fire in the Orsha region and was captured by the wounded. On March 7, 1944, by order of the GUK NPO of the USSR No. 0739, he was excluded from the lists of the Red Army.
S. Bychkov was kept in a prisoner of war pilot camp in Suwalki, which was guarded by Luftwaffe soldiers, not SS men. In 1944, in the Moriifeld camp, he agreed to join the Russian aviation group of G. Holters - V. Maltsev. He took part in the transfer of German aircraft from factories to field airfields on the Eastern Front, as well as in combat operations of the Russian squadron against partisans in the Dvinsk region in March - June 1944.
After the group was disbanded in September 1944, he arrived in Eger (Czech Republic), where he took an active part in the creation of the 1st Aviation Regiment of the “Committee for the Liberation Movement of the Peoples of Russia”. Together with the Hero of the Soviet Union, Senior Lieutenant B.R. Antilevsky and Colonel V.I. Maltsev repeatedly spoke in the camps of prisoners of war and eastern workers with propagandistic anti-Soviet speeches.
In December 1944, Captain S.T. Bychkov led the formation of the 5th Fighter Squadron named after Colonel A.A. Kazakov of the 1st Aviation Regiment, which became the 1st Air Force KONR Flight Squadron.
On February 4, 1945, Lieutenant General A.A. Vlasov was awarded a military order. On February 5, he was promoted to the rank of Major in the Air Force KONR.
Antilevsky Bronislav Romanovich was born in July 1917 (according to other sources in 1916) into a peasant family. Pole. In 1937 he graduated from the College of National Economic Accounting.
From October 1937 he served in the Red Army. In 1938 he graduated from the Special Purpose Aviation School in Monino. Since July 1938 - gunner-radio operator of the 21st long-range bomber regiment. Participated in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. For the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the Finnish White Guard, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 304).
In 1942 he graduated from the Kachinsky Red Banner Military Aviation School. A. Myasnikova. From April 1942 - junior lieutenant, participated in the Great Patriotic War as part of the 20th Fighter Regiment of the 303rd Fighter Division of the 1st Air Army. Lieutenant (1942).
Since December 15, 1942 - commander of the 203 IAP. Since April 15, 1943 - deputy squadron commander. Senior lieutenant (1943). He was awarded the Order of the Battle Red Banner (08/03/1943).
August 28, 1943 on the Yak-9 was shot down in an air battle and soon captured. During interrogations, he told the Germans about the location of the airfields of the division in which he served and the types of aircraft in service with his regiment. He was held in a camp in the Suwalki area, then in Moritzfeld.
At the end of 1943, Colonel V. Maltsev persuaded B. Antilevsky to join the Ostland aviation group. And he participated in the transfer of aircraft from aircraft factories to field airfields of the Eastern Front, as well as in anti-partisan combat operations in the Dvinsk region.
Of course, having got such venerable pilots into their networks, the Germans decided to fully use them, primarily for propaganda purposes. Together with another Hero of the Soviet Union Semyon Bychkov, Bronislav Antilevsky appealed in writing and orally to the captured pilots with calls to cooperate with the Germans. On March 29, 1944, in the newspaper of the Vlasov army "Volunteer", an appeal was published to Soviet captured pilots, signed by both Heroes of the Soviet Union Bychkov and Antilevsky:

“Knocked down in a fair fight, we were captured by the Germans. Not only did no one torment or torture us, on the contrary, we met on the part of the German officers and soldiers the most warm and comradely attitude and respect for our shoulder straps, orders and military merit.

And Captain Artemiev expressed his feelings in the poem "To German pilots, comrades in arms":

"You greeted us like brothers,
You managed to warm our hearts,
And today as a single army
We fly towards the dawn.

Let our homeland be under oppression,
But clouds can't hide the sun
We fly planes together
To defeat death and terror.

It is also curious that, according to the foreign press, S. Bykov and B. Antilevsky, according to a special decision of the Luftwaffe command, had every right to wear their Golden Stars of Heroes in the service of the German armed forces. After all, according to the Germans, any award received in the army of another country only confirmed the valor and courage of its owner.
In September 1944, after the disbandment of the Ostland group, Antilevsky arrived in Cheb, where, under the command of V. Maltsev, he took an active part in the formation of the 1st aviation regiment of the Vlasov Air Force of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia.
From December 19, 1944, he was the commander of the 2nd assault squadron (it was armed with 16 aircraft), which was later renamed the 2nd squadron of night attack aircraft. February 5, 1945 promoted to captain. He was awarded two medals (including a German badge of distinction) and a nominal watch.
In April 1945, the squadrons of S. Bychkov and B. Antilevsky took part in the fighting on the Oder against the Soviet army. And a few weeks before the end of the war, fierce air battles were going on over Germany and Czechoslovakia. The crackle of cannon-machine-gun bursts, jerky commands, the curses of pilots and the groans of the wounded, accompanying fights in the air, sounded on the air. And, it used to be, Russian speech was heard from both sides - in the sky over the center of Europe in furious air battles not for life, but for death, Russian military pilots agreed ...

CORKSCREW

The rapid offensive of the Red Army "grounded" the fighting of the aces of Vlasov. Maltsev and his comrades were well aware that if they were captured, reprisals would not be avoided, so they tried in every possible way to go west to meet the Americans. But negotiations with the leadership of the 12th Corps of the 3rd US Army, at which Maltsev asked to be granted the status of political refugees, ended to no avail. It remained to rely only on the mercy of providence.
The surrender of arms on April 27 at Langdorf, between Zwiesel and Regen, was organized. The Americans immediately separated the officers from the rank and file and divided the prisoners of war into three categories (so that military organizational forms immediately fell apart).
The first group included officers of the air regiment and part of the officers of the parachute and anti-aircraft regiments. This group, consisting of 200 people, after temporary internment in the French city of Cherbourg, was handed over to the Soviet authorities in September 1945. Among them were the commander of the fighter squadron, Major Bychkov and the head of the training staff of the flight school, the commander of the transport squadron, Major Tarnovsky (the latter, being an old emigrant, was not subject to extradition, but he insisted on sharing the fate of his comrades and was extradited to the USSR).
The second group - about 1,600 people - spent some time in a prisoner of war camp near Regensburg. The third group - 3,000 people - was transferred from the prisoner of war camp in Kam to Nierstein, south of Mainz, even before the end of the war. Obviously, this was due to the desire of Brigadier General Kenin to save the Russians from forced repatriation. Indeed, both of these groups for the most part avoided extradition, so that the fate of the units of the air forces of the KONR turned out to be not as tragic as the fate of the 1st and 2nd divisions of the ROA.
Viktor Maltsev also fell into the hands of the NKVD officers. "Commander-in-Chief of the ROA Air Force" twice tried to commit suicide. During a brief stay in a Soviet hospital in Paris, he cut open his arms. In order to save Maltsev from trying to evade the court, he was taken to Moscow on the Douglas. Since 1945, he was kept in the Butyrka prison (originally in the prison hospital). During the investigation, he pleaded guilty. The unpredictability of Maltsev's behavior, like that of some other "Vlasovites", led to the fact that the trial of them was declared closed. (There were fears that the defendants might begin to express their views, objectively coinciding with the mood of a certain part of the population dissatisfied with the Soviet regime.) At the trial, he also pleaded guilty. The military collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR was sentenced to death. On August 1, 1946, he was hanged in the courtyard of the Butyrskaya prison, along with Generals Vlasov, Shkuro, Zhilenkov and other high-ranking leaders of the ROA, in the presence of the Minister of the Ministry of State Security, Colonel-General V. Abakumov. (General Shkuro, before being hanged, shouted to the then all-powerful minister of the MGB: “You don’t have long to walk the earth! after the death of the "father of peoples" by the verdict of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR, he was shot ...)
By the way, Hero of the Soviet Union Semyon Bychkov spoke before the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR as a witness for the prosecution, who told how it was at the end of January 1945 in the Moritzfelde camp that Maltsev recruited captured Soviet pilots. According to Bychkov, the situation was like this.
When, in January 1945, he, Bychkov, refused Maltsev’s offer to go to serve in the “ROA aviation”, he was so beaten that he was sent to the infirmary, where he lay for two weeks. Maltsev did not leave him alone there either. He intimidated that in the USSR he would “be shot as a traitor anyway”, and if he nevertheless refused to serve in the ROA, then he, Maltsev, would make sure that Bychkov was sent to a concentration camp, where he would undoubtedly die.
However, the Lubyanka directors of this performance made several mistakes. Firstly, there was no prisoner of war camp in Moritzfeld: there was a camp for former Red Army pilots who had long ago declared their voluntary consent to join the ROA, and, therefore, there was no need to force them to take this step no one was. Secondly, in January 1945, Moritzfelde, located near St. Petersburg, had long been in the hands of the Soviet army. And thirdly, Major Bychkov, Hero of the Soviet Union, awarded the Order of Lenin and the Red Banner of War, commander of the fighter squadron of the Air Force of the ROA named after Colonel Kazakov, already at the beginning of 1944, together with V. Maltsev, who was then a colonel, and Hero of the Soviet Union As a senior lieutenant B. Antilevsky, he spoke in the camps of prisoners of war and eastern workers, openly calling for the fight against the Stalinist regime, and then, as part of the Aviation Group, he personally took part in combat sorties against the troops of the Red Army.
Now the priest Plyushchev-Vlasenko, who was once Maltsev's adjutant during the war, having learned about Bychkov's such testimony, with good reason called the Soviet court performance "an obvious fake." But it’s not clear here: either the Lubyanka investigators demanded such testimony, ignoring reality, or, having agreed to act as a witness against V. Maltsev, S. Bychkov himself uttered a lot of absurdities so that historians could understand that he was lying, however the very fact of using such testimony to prove the forced nature of the creation of the ROA Air Force and presenting them in an unfavorable light testifies to the high moral and political spirit that reigned in the ranks of the ROA Air Force, which had to be belittled at any cost even in closed trials of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR! Bychkov S. for giving the necessary testimony, by the way, was promised the preservation of life. But on August 24 of the same year, the military tribunal of the Moscow District sentenced Bychkov himself to death. It is noteworthy that in the verdict there was not a single line about depriving this defendant of titles and awards! The sentence was carried out on November 4, 1946.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 21, 1947, Semyon Bychkov, who had betrayed the Motherland and fought on the side of the enemy, was deprived of all awards, officer rank and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Therefore, he was shot while still remaining the Hero of the country he had betrayed.
Somewhat confused in the fate of Bronislaw Antilevsky. There is a version that at the end of April 1945 he was supposed to pilot a plane on which General A. Vlasov was supposed to fly to Spain, but Vlasov allegedly refused to flee and decided not to abandon his army. It is possible that this version became the basis for the legend that Antilevsky nevertheless reached Spain, where he lived for many years. The version may also be based on the fact that in the criminal case on treason, in which Antilevsky was sentenced to death by a Soviet court, there is no document on the execution of the sentence. On this basis, those who believe in this legend believe that Antilevsky was convicted in absentia, because he was in Franco's Spain inaccessible to Soviet justice.
According to another version, after the surrender of Germany, B. Antilevsky was detained while trying to get into the territory of the USSR. He left for the Soviet Union with documents in the name of a member of the anti-fascist partisan detachment Berezovsky in Czechoslovakia. But during an inspection at the NKVD, a Gold Star medal issued by B.R. was found in the heel of his boot. Antilevsky, by which he was identified.
But in fact, on April 30, 1945, Bronislav Antilevsky, along with other pilots and technicians of the ROA, surrendered to the soldiers of the 12th Corps of the 3rd American Army. In September 1945, he was issued to representatives of the Soviet repatriation commission.
In Moscow, Bronislav Antilevsky was repeatedly interrogated and completely convicted of treason. The criminal activity of Antilevsky in captivity was also proved by the testimony of witnesses. On July 25, 1946, by the military tribunal of the Moscow Military District, he was sentenced to death under article 58-1 "b" of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. And on the same day he was executed.
On July 12, 1950, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Antilevsky Bronislav Romanovich, as a traitor to the Motherland, was deprived of all titles and awards. As you can see, this pilot also died a Hero of the Soviet Union and an officer ...
In 2001, after a re-examination of the Antilevsky case, the Main Military Prosecutor's Office issued a verdict: Antilevsky B.R. legally convicted and not subject to rehabilitation.

Security Department.
Chief Major V.D. Tucholnikov.
Human Resources Department.
Head captain Naumenko.
Propaganda department.
1. Chief: Major A.P. Albov;
2. editor of the newspaper "Our Wings" Ar. Mustache;
3. War correspondent Lieutenant Junot.
Legal department.
Chief Captain Kryzhanovsky
Intendant service.
Chief Lieutenant of the Intendan Service G.M. Goleevsky.
Sanitary service.
Chiefs Lieutenant Colonel Dr. V.A. Levitsky, then Major General P.Kh. Popov
Special Forces Platoon.
Cadets of the 1st Russian Cadet Corps. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich. Commander Lieutenant Fatyanov.

1st Aviation Regiment
1. commander (12.1944-01.1945): Colonel L.G. Baidak. Commander of the 5th Air Regiment of the Yugoslav Air Force. Head of the garrison of the regiment in the city of Eger (01.-20.04.1945). Head of the training department of the aviation center in Eger (11.-12.1944).
2. NSH Major S.K. Shebalin.
3. adjutant of the regiment commander, lieutenant G. Shkolny.
1st Fighter Squadron named after Colonel Kazakov
Air Commander Major S.T. Bychkov. Captain of the 937th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Red Army, Hero of the Soviet Union. Stationed in Carlsbad. On January 14, 1945, a squadron consisting of 16 Me109-G-10 aircraft received equipment, prepared it for flight, and showed high combat readiness during the inspection check by General Aschenbrenner. Bychkov received gratitude from Vlasov.
2nd Fast Bomber Squadron. 12 Yu-88 light bombers.
Air commander Captain B.R. Antilevsky, Hero of the Soviet Union. Senior Lieutenant of the Red Army. Received gratitude from Vlasov.
3rd Reconnaissance Squadron. 2 Me109, 2 Ju88, 2 Fi 156.2 U-2, 1 He 111, 1 Do 17.
Air Force Commander Captain S. Artyomov.
4th Transport Squadron
Air Commander Major M. Tarnovsky. RIA Captain. He lived in exile in Czechoslovakia. Member of the NTS. He insisted on his extradition. Shot.
Communication Squadron.
Reserve Squadron.
Pilot school.
Head: Colonel L.I. Baidak.
Engineering and technical service.
Communication company.
Commander Major Lantukh
Airfield service.
Regiment of anti-aircraft artillery.
2,800 people, having been trained as anti-aircraft gunners, were retrained at the infantry course.
1. Commander Lieutenant Colonel Vasiliev.
2. RIA officer Lyagin. He lived in exile in Yugoslavia.
3. RIA officer Filatiev. He lived in exile in Yugoslavia.
Paratrooper Battalion.
The personnel were armed with Soviet and German machine guns, edged weapons and staffed by the most physically developed volunteers, mainly from among the police.
1. commander: lieutenant colonel Kozar.

1. TsAMO, f. 33, op. 682525, unit ridge 159.
2. TsAMO, f. 33, op. 682526, house 723.
3. Katusev A.F., Oppokov V.G. "The movement that was not", "Military History Journal", 1991, No. 12, pp. 31-33.
4. Konev V.N. “Heroes without Gold Stars. Cursed and forgotten." Moscow, 2008, ed. "Yauza EKSMO", p. 28.
5. "Air Defense Forces of the country in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." Moscow, Military Publishing House, 1968, p. 93.
6. Bortakovskiy T.V. "Executed Heroes of the Soviet Union". Series "Military secrets of the twentieth century". Moscow, ed. Veche, 2012 Chapter "Stalin's falcons of General Vlasov", p. 304.
7. Zvyagintsev V.E. Tribunal for Heroes. Dossier Series. Moscow, ed. "OLMA-PRESS Education", 2005. Chapter 16 "Falcons of General Vlasov", p. 286.
8. Hoffman J. "History of the Vlasov army". Paris. "Ymca-press", 1990. Chapter 4 "ROA Air Force". (on a five-point scale) and pressing the RATING button at the top of the page. For the authors and administration of the site, your ratings are extremely important!

In history, it is often not the names of heroes that remain, but the names of traitors and defectors. These people cause great harm to one side, and benefit to the other. But still, they are despised by both. Naturally, one cannot do without confusing cases when a person's guilt is difficult to prove. However, history has preserved some of the most obvious and classic cases that are not in doubt. We will tell below about the most famous traitors in history.

Judas Iscariot. The name of this man has been a symbol of betrayal for about two thousand years. It does not play a role and nationalities of people. Everyone knows the biblical story when Judas Iscariot betrayed his teacher Christ for thirty pieces of silver, dooming him to torment. But then 1 slave cost twice as much! The kiss of Judas has become a classic image of duplicity, meanness and betrayal. This man was one of the twelve apostles who were present with Jesus at his last supper. There were thirteen people, and after that this number was considered unlucky. There was even a phobia, fear of this number. The story says that Judas was born on April 1, also on a rather unusual day. But the history of the traitor is rather obscure and full of pitfalls. The fact is that Judas was the custodian of the fund of the community of Jesus and his disciples. There was much more money than 30 pieces of silver. Thus, in need of money, Judas could simply steal it without committing a betrayal of his teacher. Not so long ago, the world learned about the existence of the "Gospel of Judas", where Iscariot is depicted as the only and faithful disciple of Christ. And the betrayal was committed precisely on the orders of Jesus, and Judas took responsibility for his action. According to legend, Iscariot committed suicide immediately after his act. The image of this traitor is repeatedly described in books, films, legends. Different versions of his betrayal and motivation are considered. Today, the name of this person is given to those who are suspected of treason. For example, Lenin called Trotsky Judas back in 1911. The same found in Iscariot his "plus" - the fight against Christianity. Trotsky even wanted to erect monuments to Judas in several cities of the country.

Mark Junius Brutus. Everyone knows the legendary phrase of Julius Caesar: "And you, Brutus?". This traitor is not as widely known as Judas, but is also legendary. Moreover, he committed his betrayal 77 years before the history of Iscariot. These two traitors are related by the fact that they both committed suicide. Mark Brutus was the best friend of Julius Caesar, according to some data it could even be his illegitimate son. However, it was he who led the conspiracy against the popular politician, taking a direct part in his murder. But Caesar showered his favorite with honors and titles, endowing him with power. But the entourage of Brutus forced him to participate in a conspiracy against the dictator. Mark was among several conspiring senators who pierced Caesar with swords. Seeing Brutus in their ranks, he bitterly exclaimed his famous phrase, which became his last. Wishing happiness for the people and power, Brutus made a mistake in his plans - Rome did not support him. After a series of civil wars and defeats, Mark realized that he was left without everything - without family, power, friend. The betrayal and murder took place in 44 BC, and after only two years Brutus threw himself on his sword.

Wang Jingwei. This traitor is not so well known in our country, but he has a bad reputation in China. It is often not clear how ordinary and normal people suddenly become traitors. Wang Jingwei was born in 1883, when he was 21, he entered a Japanese university. There he met Sun Yat Sen, a famous revolutionary from China. He influenced the young man so much that he became a real revolutionary fanatic. Together with Sen, Jingwei became a regular participant in anti-government revolutionary uprisings. Not surprisingly, he soon ended up in prison. Wang served several years there, releasing us in 1911. All this time, Sen kept in touch with him, morally supporting and patronizing. As a result of the revolutionary struggle, Sen and his associates won and came to power in 1920. But in 1925, Sun Yat died, and it was Jingwei who replaced him as leader of China. But soon the Japanese invaded the country. It was here that Jingway committed the real betrayal. In fact, he did not fight for the independence of China, giving it to the invaders. National interests were trampled in favor of the Japanese. As a result, when the crisis broke out in China, and the country most of all needed an experienced manager, Jingwei simply left it. Wang clearly joined the conquerors. However, he did not have time to feel the bitterness of defeat, since he died before the fall of Japan. But the name of Wang Jingwei got into all Chinese textbooks as a synonym for betrayal of his country.

Hetman Mazepa. This man in modern Russian history is considered the most important traitor, even the church anathematized him. But in recent Ukrainian history, the hetman, on the contrary, acts as a national hero. So what was his betrayal, or was it still a feat? The Hetman of the Zaporizhian Army for a long time acted as one of the most faithful allies of Peter I, helping him in the Azov campaigns. However, everything changed when the Swedish king Charles XII came out against the Russian Tsar. He, wanting to find an ally, promised Mazepa Ukrainian independence in case of victory in the Northern War. The hetman could not resist such a tasty piece of the pie. In 1708, he went over to the side of the Swedes, but just a year later their combined army was defeated near Poltava. For his betrayal (Mazepa swore allegiance to Peter), the Russian Empire deprived him of all awards and titles and subjected him to civil execution. Mazepa fled to Bender, which then belonged to the Ottoman Empire, and soon died there in 1709. According to legend, his death was terrible - he was eaten by lice.

Aldrich Ames. This high-ranking CIA officer had a brilliant career. Everyone predicted him a long and successful job, and then a well-paid pension. But his life turned upside down, thanks to love. Ames married a Russian beauty, it turned out that she was a KGB agent. The woman immediately began to demand from her husband to provide her with a beautiful life in order to fully comply with the American dream. Although the officers in the CIA make good money, this is not enough for the constantly required new decorations and cars. As a result, the unfortunate Ames began to drink too much. Under the influence of alcohol, he had no choice but to start selling secrets from his work. They quickly showed up a buyer - the USSR. As a result, during his betrayal, Ames gave the enemy of his country information about all the secret agents working in the Soviet Union. The USSR also learned about a hundred covert military operations conducted by the Americans. For this, the officer received about 4.6 million US dollars. However, all the secret someday becomes clear. Ames was exposed and sentenced to life in prison. The special services experienced a real shock and scandal, the traitor became their biggest failure in their entire existence. The CIA has long moved away from the harm that one single person did to it. But he just needed funds for an insatiable wife. That one, by the way, when everything turned out, was simply deported to South America.

Vidkun Quisling. The family of this man was one of the most ancient in Norway, his father served as a Lutheran priest. Vidkun himself studied very well and chose a military career. Having risen to the rank of major, Quisling was able to enter the government of his country, holding the post of Minister of Defense there from 1931 to 1933. In 1933, Vidkun founded his own political party "National Accord", where he received a membership card for the first number. He began to call himself Föhrer, which was very reminiscent of the Fuhrer. In 1936, the party collected quite a lot of votes in the elections, becoming very influential in the country. When the Nazis came to Norway in 1940, Quisling suggested that the locals submit to them and not resist. Although the politician himself was from an ancient respected family, he was immediately dubbed a traitor in the country. The Norwegians themselves began to wage a fierce struggle against the invaders. Then Quisling came up with a plan in response to the removal of Jews from Norway, sending them directly to the deadly Auschwitz. However, history has rewarded the politician who betrayed his people as he deserved. On May 9, 1945, Quisling was arrested. While in prison, he still managed to declare that he was a martyr and sought to create a great country. But justice decided otherwise, and on October 24, 1945, Quisling was shot for high treason.

Prince Andrei Mikhailovich Kurbsky. This boyar was one of the most faithful associates of Ivan the Terrible. It was Kurbsky who commanded the Russian army in the Livonian War. But with the beginning of the oprichnina of the eccentric tsar, many hitherto loyal boyars fell under disgrace. Among them was Kurbsky. Fearing for his fate, he abandoned his family and in 1563 defected to the service of the Polish king Sigismund. And already in September of the following year, he marched with the conquerors against Moscow. Kurbsky knew perfectly well how the Russian defense and army were organized. Thanks to the traitor, the Poles were able to win many important battles. They set up ambushes, drove people into captivity, bypassing the outposts. Kurbsky began to be considered the first Russian dissident. The Poles consider the boyar a great man, but in Russia he is a traitor. However, we should not talk about betraying the country, but about personally betraying Tsar Ivan the Terrible.

Pavlik Morozov. This boy had a heroic image for a long time in Soviet history and culture. At the same time, he passed under the first number, among children-heroes. Pavlik Morozov even got into the book of honor of the All-Union Pioneer Organization. But this story is not entirely unambiguous. The boy's father, Trofim, was a partisan and fought on the side of the Bolsheviks. However, after returning from the war, the serviceman abandoned his family with four small children and began to live with another woman. Trofim was elected chairman of the village council, while he led a stormy everyday life - he drank and rowdy. It is quite possible that in the history of heroism and betrayal there are more domestic than political reasons. According to legend, Trofim's wife accused him of concealing bread, however, they say that the abandoned and humiliated woman demanded to stop issuing fictitious certificates to fellow villagers. During the investigation, 13-year-old Pavel simply confirmed everything that his mother had said. As a result, the unbelted Trofim ended up in prison, and in retaliation, the young pioneer was killed in 1932 by his drunken uncle and godfather. But Soviet propaganda created a colorful propaganda story out of everyday drama. Yes, and somehow the hero who betrayed his father did not inspire.

Heinrich Lushkov. In 1937, the NKVD was fierce, including in the Far East. It was Genrikh Lyushkov who headed this punitive body at that time. However, a year later, a purge began already in the "organs" themselves, many executioners themselves ended up in the place of their victims. Lyushkov was suddenly summoned to Moscow, allegedly to be appointed head of all the camps in the country. But Heinrich suspected that Stalin wanted to remove him. Frightened by reprisals, Lyushkov fled to Japan. In an interview with the local newspaper Yomiuri, the former executioner said that he really recognizes himself as a traitor. But only in relation to Stalin. But Lyushkov's subsequent behavior suggests just the opposite. The general told the Japanese about the entire structure of the NKVD and the residents of the USSR, about exactly where the Soviet troops were located, where and how defensive structures and fortresses were being built. Lyushkov gave the enemies military radio codes, actively urging the Japanese to oppose the USSR. Arrested on the territory of Japan, Soviet intelligence officers, the traitor tortured himself, resorting to cruel atrocities. The pinnacle of Lyushkov's activity was his development of a plan to assassinate Stalin. The general personally took up the implementation of his project. Today, historians believe that this was the only serious attempt to eliminate the Soviet leader. However, she was not successful. After the defeat of Japan in 1945, Lyushkov was killed by the Japanese themselves, who did not want their secrets to fall into the hands of the USSR.

Andrey Vlasov. This Soviet lieutenant general was known as the most important Soviet traitor during the Great Patriotic War. Back in the winter of 41-42, Vlasov commanded the 20th Army, making a significant contribution to the defeat of the Nazis near Moscow. Among the people, it was this general who was called the main savior of the capital. In the summer of 1942, Vlasov took over as deputy commander of the Volkhov Front. However, soon his troops were captured, and the general himself was captured by the Germans. Vlasov was sent to the Vinnitsa military camp for captured senior military officials. There, the general agreed to serve the Nazis and headed the "Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia" created by them. On the basis of KONR, even an entire "Russian Liberation Army" (ROA) was created. It included captured Soviet soldiers. The general showed cowardice, according to rumors, since then he began to drink a lot. On May 12, Vlasov was captured by Soviet troops in an attempt to escape. His trial was closed, as he could inspire people dissatisfied with the authorities with his own words. In August 1946, General Vlasov was stripped of his titles and awards, his property was confiscated, and he himself was hanged. At the trial, the accused admitted that he pleaded guilty, as he was cowardly in captivity. Already in our time, an attempt was made to justify Vlasov. But only a small part of the charges were dropped from him, the main ones remained in force.

Friedrich Paulus. There was a traitor on the part of the Nazis in that war. In the winter of 1943, the 6th German Army under the command of Field Marshal Paulus capitulated near Stalingrad. His subsequent history can be considered a mirror in relation to Vlasov. The captivity of the German officer was quite comfortable, because he joined the anti-fascist national committee "Free Germany". He ate meat, drank beer, received food and parcels. Paulus signed the appeal "To the prisoners of war of German soldiers and officers and to the entire German people." There, the field marshal announced that he was calling on all of Germany to eliminate Adolf Hitler. He believes that the country should have a new state leadership. It must stop the war and ensure the restoration of friendship with the current adversaries for the people. Paulus even made a revealing speech at the Nuremberg trials, which surprised his former associates a lot. In 1953, the Soviet authorities, grateful for their cooperation, released the traitor, especially since he was beginning to fall into depression. Paulus went to live in the GDR, where he died in 1957. Not all Germans accepted with understanding the act of the field marshal, even his son did not accept his father's choice, eventually shooting himself due to mental anguish.

Viktor Suvorov. This defector also made a name for himself as a writer. Once intelligence officer Vladimir Rezun was a GRU resident in Geneva. But in 1978 he fled to England, where he began to write very scandalous books. In them, the officer, who took the pseudonym Suvorov, quite convincingly argued that it was the USSR that was preparing to strike at Germany in the summer of 1941. The Germans simply preempted their enemy by a few weeks by delivering a preemptive strike. Rezun himself says that he was forced to cooperate with British intelligence. They allegedly wanted to make him last for the failure in the work of the Geneva department. Suvorov himself claims that in his homeland he was sentenced to death in absentia for his treason. However, the Russian side prefers not to comment on this fact. The former scout lives in Bristol and continues to write books on historical topics. Each of them causes a storm of discussion and personal condemnation of Suvorov.

Viktor Belenko. Few lieutenants manage to go down in history. But this military pilot was able to do it. True, at the cost of his betrayal. We can say that he acted as a kind of bad boy who just wants to steal something and sell it to his enemies at a higher price. On September 6, 1976, Belenko flew a top-secret MiG-25 interceptor. Suddenly, the senior lieutenant abruptly changed course and landed in Japan. There, the aircraft was dismantled in detail and subjected to a thorough study. Naturally, not without American specialists. The plane was, after careful study, returned to the USSR. And for his feat "for the glory of democracy" Belenko himself received political asylum in the United States. However, there is another version, according to which the traitor was not such. He just had to land in Japan. Eyewitnesses say that the lieutenant shot into the air with a pistol, not letting anyone near the car and demanding to cover it. However, the conducted investigation took into account both the behavior of the pilot in everyday life and the manner of his flight. The conclusion was unequivocal - landing on the territory of an enemy state was deliberate. Belenko himself turned out to be crazy about life in America, even canned cat food seemed to him tastier than those that were sold in his homeland. From official statements it is difficult to assess the consequences of that escape, the moral and political damage can be ignored, but the material damage was estimated at 2 billion rubles. Indeed, in the USSR it was necessary to hastily change the entire equipment of the "friend or foe" recognition system.

Otto Kuusinen. And again, a situation where a traitor for some is a hero for others. Otto was born in 1881 and in 1904 joined the Finnish Social Democratic Party. Soon and leading it. When it became clear that the communists in the new independent Finland did not shine, Kuusinen fled to the USSR. There he worked for a long time in the Comintern. When the USSR attacked Finland in 1939, it was Kuusinen who became the head of the puppet new government of the country. Only now his power extended to the few lands occupied by Soviet troops. It soon became clear that it would not be possible to capture all of Finland and the need for the Kuusinen regime was no longer needed. In the future, he continued to hold prominent government posts in the USSR, having died in 1964. His ashes are buried near the Kremlin wall.

Kim Philby. This scout lived a long and eventful life. He was born in 1912 in India, in the family of a British official. In 1929, Kim entered Cambridge, where he joined a socialist society. In 1934, Philby was recruited by Soviet intelligence, which, given his views, was not difficult to implement. In 1940, Kim joined the British secret service SIS, soon becoming the head of one of its departments. In the 50s, it was Philby who coordinated the actions of England and the United States in the fight against the communists. Naturally, the USSR received all the information about the work of its agent. Since 1956, Philby has been serving in MI6, until in 1963 he was illegally transferred to the USSR. Here, the traitor intelligence officer lived for the next 25 years on a personal pension, sometimes giving advice.

Every ninetieth Hero of the Soviet Union was subsequently stripped of their high rank

The title of Hero of the Soviet Union is the highest distinction in a huge state that existed from 1922 to 1991. The first to receive this title were polar pilots who participated in the rescue of the Chelyuskinites - passengers and crew members of a steamer stuck in the ice in 1934.

The very first Hero in the USSR was Anatoly Lyapidevsky, the most recent - captain of the second rank Leonid Solodkov for "successful completion of a special task of the command and the courage and heroism shown at the same time": the order to award Solodkov was signed on December 24, 1991, and the next day the USSR ceased to exist.

In total, 12,862 people were awarded the title of Hero (another 26 awards were “doubles” - when a person was accidentally included in two award lists for the same feat). But not everyone managed to remain Heroes to the end: 148 people were deprived of this title (all men). Let's talk about how this could happen.

Not at all military "cases"

According to Soviet law, there were two ways to deprive the title of Hero. Either the authorities recognized that the person was worthy of the award, but later, by his behavior, showed himself not deserving such a high honor - or they canceled the very fact of conferring the title. 133 people ceased to be Heroes according to the first scenario, 15 - according to the second one. Often, however, there was a double cancellation: 63 "disenfranchised" the title was subsequently returned. Most often - posthumously.

With the abolition of the fact of appropriation, everything is clear - the exploits were recognized as failed (we will discuss the most striking of these cases below). Twice, however, the commission later came to the conclusion that the cancellation of the Decrees was unreasonable; partisan Alexander Krivets even lived to see justice restored in 1991 (in 1980 he was accused of exaggerating his own merits).

As for the deprivation of a legally appropriated title, its main and only reason is the crimes committed by a person after receiving an award. In the overwhelming majority of cases, this is a common “criminal”: theft, robbery, rape, murder. Much less often - political affairs: being in captivity, participating in the Russian Liberation Army ("Vlasovites"), or simply falling under the roller of Beria's repressions.

Here are examples of genuine criminal cases:

• Sentenced to 12 years in prison for murder...
• Committed a criminal offense (murder or complicity in the murder of his 12-year-old son) ...
• Convicted under article 119 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (sexual intercourse with a person who has not reached puberty) ...
• Being in a state of alcoholic intoxication, together with his colleagues, he organized an illegal check of the passengers of the electric train, took away their money ...
• Committed a criminal offense (robbed a store and killed a watchman)...
• Accumulated ten convictions, including malicious hooliganism, theft, intentional infliction of bodily harm. State awards were taken away when the sixth sentence was passed ...
• He committed the theft of weapons from a police officer, several robberies of passers-by, rape ...

But cooperation with the invaders and political articles:

• Together with his wife, he fled from the area of ​​deployment of his unit to the American sector of Vienna (Austria). Convicted in absentia on September 7, 1949 for treason...
• Voluntarily joined and participated in the activities of the Russian Liberation Army. Shot…
• He was taken prisoner and volunteered to serve in the police. He served as chief of the rural police ...
• In 1982, he emigrated to permanent residence in the United States (the most ridiculous reason for such harsh measures; after 17 years Mikhail Grabsky returned the title of Hero) ...
• Arrested on charges of anti-communist propaganda, convicted "for treason" ...
• Condemned by the Special Meeting at the Ministry of State Security of the USSR under Art. 58-10, part I (espionage)…
• Condemned by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR under article 58-10 part 1 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda) ...
• Sentenced to death by the verdict of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR of August 24, 1950 under articles 58-11 (creation of a counter-revolutionary organization), 58-1b (attempt to commit treason against the Motherland), 58-8 (attempt to commit a terrorist act against the leaders of the USSR) ...

On most of the political charges, those convicted were subsequently rehabilitated; while the title of Hero, as a rule, returned automatically. As for criminals, an individual approach was used here: rapists and murderers, as a rule, did not receive their rank back (only two such cases, one of them - when a convicted rapist Ivan Chernets after his release he became a Soviet writer Ivan Arsentiev), but embezzlers and hooligans had a good chance of returning the lost award.

wandering stars

There were also more difficult cases. For example, the chief marshal of artillery (the highest possible rank in the USSR, not counting the "generalissimo" Joseph Stalin) Sergey Varentsov in 1963 he was deprived of the title of Hero and demoted with the wording "for dulling political vigilance and unworthy deeds": the fact is that his adjutant during the war, and then a relative, was Oleg Penkovsky, subsequently exposed as the most effective American spy in history. The title of Hero of Varentsov was not returned even in those years when Penkovsky himself began to be perceived almost as a hero.

The theme of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, it would seem, should already be closed. After the awarding of Leonid Solodkov, the Heroes of the USSR were replaced by the Heroes of Independent States, and the revision of old awards and their deprivation seems to have been stopped long ago.

The last at the moment was deprived of the title of Hero of the USSR Alexey Kulak: In 1990, six years after his death, it became known that he worked for foreign intelligence.

Ten years later, the last return of the title seemed to take place - in the aforementioned case with the emigrant Mikhail Grabsky.

But more recently, in 2013, the title of Hero was returned to another person - who died forty years before. Nikolai Kudryashov, the hero of the liberation of Kyiv. He was stripped of all awards back in 1953, when he was convicted of "hooliganism, intentional infliction of minor bodily injury and illegal possession of a firearm." And sixty years later, by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, justice was restored. Kudryashov's platoon destroyed several hundred Nazis in the battles on Pushcha-Voditsa and Khreshchatyk - it is unlikely that one drunken fight can cross out this contribution to the Victory.

pen shark

Let's talk in detail about the most unique "disenfranchised" - the only person who became a Hero thanks to outright fraud, and not, say, appropriation of other people's exploits, which sometimes happened during the Great Patriotic War (remember, for example, the song Vladimir Vysotsky"About Seryozhka Fomin").

Ural boy from a poor family, Volodya Golubenko started stealing very early. Caught in 1933 (he was 19 years old) pickpocketing, received five years, but was released early. Convicted again in 1937 - theft and forgery. He managed to escape from Dmitrovlag, stole documents from a random fellow traveler - and began a new life under the name Valentina Purgina, who, by the way, was five years older, which made the thief more impressive.

The fate of pickpockets in the USSR in those years was difficult - the police "for some reason" caught, and did not protect them, so Golubenko-Purgin decided to rely on his second talent - the master of fakes. Having forged the recommendations of the "old Bolsheviks", he got a job in Sverdlovsk as a correspondent for the railway newspaper Putevka, and then managed to transfer to Moscow, to Gudok.

A caring son, he moved his mother with him and managed to get her a job, even if only as a cleaning lady, but in the building of the Presidium of the Supreme Council! Getting out of the office Mikhail Kalinin, mother pulled off several orders and award books there, and Vova-Valya began to appear in public with the Order of the Red Star.

Having got acquainted with the journalists of Komsomolskaya Pravda, the swindler ingratiated themselves with them and quickly became the deputy head of the military department of the newspaper. Having gone on a business trip to Khalkhin Gol, he awarded himself the Order of Lenin there, however, he messed up a little with the documents - for some reason, the presentation for the award was “formalized” by the command of the 39th division, located in the west of the country. When Purgin was pointed out this discrepancy, he stated that he had two Orders of Lenin - for the Finnish war and for battles with the Japanese.

They preferred not to argue with him, since the swindler hinted at his connections with the NKVD.

Insolent from impunity, Purgin decided to become a Hero of the Soviet Union as well. The 25-year-old (according to the documents - 30-year-old) journalist arranged for himself a business trip to the protracted war with the "White Finns", while he himself remained to drink travel allowances in Moscow and "work with documents."

He did not drink away his talent: on the form of a special 39th division, he built an award sheet for himself for "heroism and courage shown in battles with the White Finns." They did not check in detail the performance of a journalist from a good newspaper - on April 21, 1940, Valentin Petrovich Purgin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

The favorite newspaper let the swindler down: they published an extremely pathos article about the Hero - and they became interested in him at the places of the mentioned exploits: how, they didn’t notice such an employee! The NKVD began checking ... And on November 5, 1940, Vladimir Golubenko was shot.

However, there is a version that the talented rogue managed to achieve imprisonment instead of execution, but one way or another, his traces are lost in the darkness of time...

* * *

The Russian Federation is much less generous with the title of Hero - over the 26 years of the existence of the state, this title has been awarded, according to experts, a little more than a thousand people, almost half - posthumously.

Decrees on awarding the title of Hero of the Russian Federation are sometimes classified, so the exact number of those awarded is known only in the Kremlin. There is no information about a single fact of cancellation of the Decree or deprivation of the title.

In the spring of 2016, the Cheboksary court made a historic decision. Awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, he was deprived of it by a court verdict.

Evgeny Borisov, who received the title of Hero of Russia during the Second Chechen campaign, was deprived of it and punished with a fine of 10 million rubles and imprisonment for a term of 6.5 years for organizing an underground casino and trying to bribe an official. This case is the first reliably known deprivation of the title of Hero of Russia.

Although the Heroes of Russia have previously been brought to court as defendants in criminal cases (and there are about a thousand Heroes of Russia in total), in previous cases the courts did not deprive them of this title - only cases of deprivation of the Order of Courage are known. In the Soviet Union, there were much more such cases. We studied why and how heroes were punished in those days.

In the entire history of the USSR, 12.8 thousand people received the title of Hero (12,776, with the exception of those who were deprived of the title or who were canceled for other reasons). In total, more than 70 cases of deprivation of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for inconsistency of the actions of the awarded high rank are known. Another 61 people were stripped of the title, but it was later restored. As a rule, this happened if their cases were connected with political repressions, and all the awards were returned to the person after his rehabilitation (often posthumously).

For convenience, we will divide all cases of deprivation of awards - and therefore, a whole package of benefits and additional payments - into separate categories and give the most interesting stories.

Defectors

Even heroes could not always withstand the hardships of captivity. Some of them went to cooperate with the Germans. Two Soviet hero pilots Bronislav Antilevsky and Semyon Bychkov were shot down in 1943 during combat missions and taken prisoner. Both later joined the Vlasov ROA, which fought against the USSR. The pilots were real masters, and before switching to the side of the enemy, Bychkov had 15 downed aircraft and a whole "iconostasis" on his chest: two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Courage, the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star.

If for other defendants the presence of awards, and even more so the title of Hero, was, as a rule, a mitigating factor, then in the case of defectors and traitors, this was clearly considered as an aggravating factor. Both pilots were shot, although they did not really take part in the hostilities on the side of the enemy.

One of the Panfilov heroes, Ivan Dobrobabin, who participated in the battle at the Dubosekovo junction, was awarded the title of Hero posthumously for this battle. Later it turned out that the journalists significantly embellished the events of that day - and even buried him ahead of time. In fact, he survived, having received a shell shock, and was taken prisoner. He escaped from captivity and returned to his native village, which was then occupied by the Germans. At home, Dobrobabin became a headman and served in the police. After the liberation of the village, he fled to relatives in another village, where he was again drafted into the Soviet army, after which he fought in good faith until the end of the war.

In 1947 he was arrested on suspicion of collaborating with the Germans. As a result, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and the deprivation of all awards. Later, the term was reduced to 7 years. Until the end of his life, Dobrobabin tried to challenge the deprivation of awards, arguing that he did not commit any crimes in the service of the Germans, and was forced to serve under duress, but the awards were never returned to him.

But Ivan Kilyushek lost his awards because of his own perseverance. He distinguished himself in battle two months after being drafted into the army. In honor of the feat, Kilyushek, who was awarded the Star of the Hero, received a month's leave and ended up at home in the ranks of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which also fought for the Reich. At the very end of the war, Kilyushek was arrested in the attic of his own house with weapons in his hands. He himself tried to prove that he was kidnapped and forced to serve in the UPA under the threat of reprisals against his family. The court sentenced him to 10 years in prison, but did not deprive him of the awards. Having been released, Kilyushin tried for several years to protest the verdict, but this only worsened the situation. In 1972, he was stripped of the title of Hero of the Union.

Artilleryman Aleksey Kulak was awarded the Gold Star of a Hero after the war. After serving in the army, he went into science, and then went to work in the KGB, where he worked for almost 20 years. He was in good standing in the intelligence service, worked in the United States, had many awards. In 1984 he died of cancer and was buried with all due honors. And only after his death it turned out that Kulak had been cooperating with American intelligence for at least 10 years, passing secret information and data to Soviet intelligence officers in the United States. In 1990, the Fist was posthumously stripped of all awards and titles. This is the only case of posthumous deprivation of the title of Hero in Soviet history. Nevertheless, the tombstone still indicates that he is a Hero of the Soviet Union.

A slightly more romantic story happened to Major Georgy Antonov, Hero of the USSR. After the war, he remained to serve in the Soviet garrison in Austria, where he met a local resident. Since relations between them were impossible for political reasons, Antonov, who was going to be transferred from Austria to the USSR, fled with his beloved in 1949 to the American sector of Vienna. For this, he was sentenced in absentia to 25 years in the camps and deprived of awards. In the future, he, apparently, changed his surname and his traces were lost.

Indulged in all serious

Not all heroes were able to adapt to peaceful life. Often, soldiers who got to the front at the age of 18 after the war could not find application for their abilities and with great difficulty got along “in civilian life”.

Nikolai Artamonov was drafted in 1941 at the age of 18 and went through the entire war to the end. But he didn’t fit into peaceful life, in the three post-war years he received three convictions, and the last crime overwhelmed the patience of the Soviet court, and Artamonov was sentenced to 18 years for participating in gang rape. He was also stripped of all his awards and titles.

Vasily Vanin also went through the entire war and could not return to normal life. After demobilization, Vanin, who had many awards, tried to work in a Stalingrad bakery, but soon quit his job, began to lead an asocial lifestyle, committed several thefts and robberies, as well as rape, for which he was deprived of all awards and sent to prison for 10 years.

The gallant one-eyed tanker of the guard, senior lieutenant Anatoly Motsny, who had many awards and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, did not find himself after his dismissal from the army for health reasons. After the war, he married, but soon drove his pregnant wife out of the house and remarried. He was able to avoid punishment for bigamy thanks to numerous awards. He drank heavily, wandered around the country, hid from paying alimony, and eventually brutally killed his own five-year-old son for an unknown reason. He received 10 years in prison, but was deprived of awards after his release, after numerous complaints from neighbors, whom he "terrorized every day." He died shortly after being stripped of all awards and titles.

Senior Sergeant Alexander Postolyuk, after demobilization, worked on a collective farm, from where he began his journey along the criminal road. Postolyuk was imprisoned four times for petty theft, each time getting off with a term of about a year. But he lost all awards after the first crime.

Junior Lieutenant Anatoly Stanev returned to his native state farm, where he began to abuse alcohol, ended up in prison and lost all his awards. After his release, he worked as a tractor driver, continued to abuse alcohol and died in a drunken brawl in 1953.

Yegen Pilosyan went through the whole war and had no problems with discipline. Shortly before the victory he received the title of hero, after the war he had the title of captain. Then the long criminal path of Pilosyan began. First, he stole a car in the allied occupation zone. Then another, then another. For theft, he received 4 years in prison and was deprived of all awards. After that, he was tried 4 more times for theft and arson, having spent almost 20 years in prison. In the 70s, he unsuccessfully petitioned for the return of awards, after which his traces are lost.

A kind of record was set by Vasily Grigin. He also went through the entire war and lost an eye at the front. After demobilization, he was tried 10 times: for hooliganism, fights and petty theft. At the same time, he managed to maintain his title of Hero for a long time, which he was deprived of only after the sixth conviction.

Nikolai Kulba stands apart, who even before the war led a criminal lifestyle and was convicted twice. Actually, from the camps, he begged to let him go to the front, where he fought very bravely. He was one of the best snipers in the division, repeatedly distinguished himself in battles, and after another wound was awarded the title of Hero. But due to an error in the documents, it was not immediately possible to find him, and Kulba did not even know about his award. Found it only in the late 50's. Then it turned out that after the war he returned to his former craft and was convicted twice more for committing serious crimes. As a result, by decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, he was deprived of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Crimes in the service

A significant part of the military personnel of the Soviet army after the end of the war was demobilized and returned home. However, some soldiers continued to serve in Soviet garrisons in Europe and the USSR, where they committed acts unworthy of their high title of Hero.

By the end of the war, Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Kukushkin had one and a half hundred sorties on an Il-2 attack aircraft, was shot down over enemy territory and was able to get to his own. After the war he continued to serve in Hungary. In 1948, a division officer noticed him drunk in the company of a local girl. The conflict ended with the fact that Kukushkin took out a pistol and shot the lieutenant colonel, after which he shot himself in the head, but only wounded himself. By the verdict of the tribunal, he was deprived of awards and titles and sentenced to 25 years, later the term was reduced to 10, Kukushkin was released ahead of schedule in 1956.

In Germany, several of our military created a whole gang that robbed the local population. It included two heroes of the Soviet Union at once - Lieutenant Antonov and Sergeant Loktionov. If Antonov simply encouraged the actions of his subordinates, then Loktionov directly took part in them, and also became involved in rape. Later, both were deprived of all awards and titles, but in the 60s Antonov managed to achieve the return of all awards.

Ivan Mironenko was awarded the title of Hero of the USSR at the age of 19. After the war, the young soldier continued to serve in Hungary, but this did not last long. In 1947, together with several colleagues, he went AWOL, they hired a taxi, after which they killed the driver, and they tried to sell the car in Budapest. Mironenko, as a hero, escaped with 10 years in the camps, but lost his awards.

The title of Hero was also taken away for notorious hooliganism. Vladimir Pasyukov, the same age as Mironenko, after the war continued to serve in the Soviet garrisons, but began to skip work, often went AWOL, drank, fought with officials, and finally, due to the combination of hooligan actions, was sentenced to 7 years in camps and deprivation of awards.

Sins of war

Sometimes the basis for the deprivation of a high rank was unflattering facts from the past, compromising the Hero.

Boris Lunin commanded a partisan brigade in Belarus. In 1941, he was captured, but managed to escape and join the partisans. Despite his alcoholism and craving for arbitrariness, he was in good standing with his superiors due to the successful sabotage activities of the partisan group. He got away with several episodes of arbitrariness, according to one of which, on the basis of a personal conflict, he ordered to shoot eight Soviet intelligence officers who had joined the partisan brigade after leaving Minsk. In 1944 he was awarded the Gold Star. The echo of the war overtook the hero of the Union Lunin already in 1957, when he was arrested for numerous past episodes of lynching of Soviet citizens, including children. Given the military merit, he received not the most severe punishment - 7 years in prison plus the deprivation of all awards.

Pyotr Mesnyankin became a Hero after he managed to serve the Germans. At the beginning of the war, his unit was surrounded and captured. Mesnyankin fled and returned to his native village, occupied by the Germans, where he got a job in the police. After the liberation of the village, he was again mobilized into the Soviet army, as a punishment for collaborating with the Germans, he was sent to a penal battalion, where he was wounded several times. Mesnyankin distinguished himself while crossing the Dnieper, for which he was awarded the title of Hero. However, a few years after the war, he was arrested, sentenced to 10 years in camps and deprived of awards for cooperation with the Germans. Later, he repeatedly tried to get the awards returned, pointing out that he had already been punished for working for the Germans by being sent to a penal battalion, but he did not succeed in returning the awards.

A similar fate awaited Yegor Sidorenko. At the beginning of the war, the unit was surrounded, he was wounded, was able to escape captivity and returned to his village, where he became a policeman. After the liberation of the village, he was again drafted into the army, in 1944 he became a Hero of the Union. After the war, he was expelled from the party and deprived of awards for the loss of his party card and service with the Germans, but was not prosecuted.

Here it is appropriate to tell why in the occupied villages people went to the police: the Germans paid a fixed salary and this was one of the few opportunities to survive, since the economy of the villages actually did not work under the conditions of occupation. Even if there was a garden, the harvest could be taken away. After the war, Russian policemen were punished for "cooperating with the occupiers": indeed, sometimes they were involved in the search for partisans in the forests. After the war, they were given 7-10 years in the camps for serving in the police, but if fellow villagers testified that the policeman helped the partisans and worked poorly for the Germans, then there was a chance to avoid prison.

Economic crimes

A separate category of heroes who have fallen on trial are business executives. If hooligan youth, as a rule, got into unpleasant stories immediately after the war, not getting used to civilian life, then in this case, crimes were often committed many years after the Second World War. Nikolai Arseniev, a war hero who rose to the rank of general, received 8 years in 1962 for repeated theft of state property, embezzlement and abuse of power.

Ivan Medvedev was demobilized after the war and worked as a department head in the Petrovsky Passage (the store was opened in Moscow on Petrovka Street back in 1906). Soon Medvedev was arrested for embezzlement and sentenced to 15 years in prison and deprivation of the title of Hero of the USSR.

Some did "combos". Squadron commander Anatoly Sinkov served in Korea after the war, where he raped and robbed a local resident, for which he received 7 years in the camps and was deprived of awards, and later in the USSR he arbitrarily appropriated 3 thousand rubles (for today's money this is about 100 thousand rubles) belonging to the organization for which he worked. True, the second time he did not have to sit for a long time, in the same year he was amnestied.

Curiously, in Stalin's times, economic crimes were often punished much more seriously than crimes against a person - embezzlement or theft was sometimes given a longer sentence than murder or violence.

As a rule, the presence of awards greatly facilitated the fate of the defendants. Even for grave crimes, in most cases they received not the maximum sentences, if these were not property crimes, sometimes punished more severely than murders.

Treason was considered the most serious crime in those days, and most of the heroes lost their lives precisely because of it. Only in one case, the Hero of the Soviet Union was shot for murder in civilian life. We are talking about the pilot Pyotr Poloz, who in 1962 committed a double murder. His fate was determined by the fact that Fomichev, an employee of the personal guard of Khrushchev himself, and his wife, whom Lieutenant Colonel Poloz invited to visit, turned out to be killed. The circumstances of the crime and its motives remain unknown. The court sentenced him to death, thus Poloz became the only Hero of the Union shot who was not executed for going over to the side of the enemy.

No matter how bitter it is to admit, but collaborators were among the Heroes of the Soviet Union. Even the “Panfilov hero” turned out to be an accomplice of the enemy. It is known that the soldiers of the 316th Rifle Division (later the 8th Guards) under the command of Major General Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov, who participated in 1941, were called Panfilovites.

In the defense of Moscow. Among the soldiers of the division, the most famous were 28 people ("Panfilov's heroes" or "28 Panfilov's heroes") from the personnel of the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th rifle regiment. According to the widespread version of events, on November 16, when a new enemy offensive against Moscow began, the soldiers of the 4th company, led by political instructor V.G. Klochkov in the area of ​​​​the Dubosekovo junction, 7 kilometers southeast of Volokolamsk, accomplished a feat by destroying 18 enemy tanks during a 4-hour battle. All 28 heroes died (later they began to write "almost all"). The official version of the feat was studied by the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office of the USSR and recognized as a literary fiction. According to the director of the State Archives of Russia, Professor Sergei Mironenko, "there were no 28 Panfilov heroes - this is one of the myths planted by the state." At the same time, the very fact of heavy defensive battles of the 316th rifle division against the 2nd and 11th German tank divisions in the Volokolamsk direction on November 16, 1941 is beyond doubt. The conclusion of the investigation of the Chief Military Prosecutor’s Office: “Thus, the materials of the investigation established that the feat of 28 Panfilov guardsmen, covered in the press, is a fiction of the correspondent Koroteev, the editor of Krasnaya Zvezda Ortenberg, and in particular the literary secretary of the newspaper Krivitsky” (47).

The fate of the “Panfilov hero” Dobrobabin (Dobrobaba) Ivan Evstafievich turned out to be unusual. On November 16, 1941, Dobrobabin, being part of the military guard at the Dubosekovo junction, was covered with earth in a trench during the battle and was considered dead. Once behind enemy lines, he was captured by the Germans and placed in the Mozhaisk POW camp, from which he escaped or was released as a Ukrainian. In early March 1942, he arrived at his homeland in the village of Perekop, Valkovsky district, Kharkov region, occupied by the Germans by that time.

In June, Dobrobabin voluntarily joined the police and until November of the same year served as a policeman at the Kovyagi station, where he guarded the railway line, ensuring the movement of fascist echelons. Then he was transferred to the police in the village of Perekop, where until March 1943 he served as a policeman and head of the guard shift. In early March, when the village was liberated by Soviet troops, Dobrobabin and other policemen were arrested by a special department, but due to the retreat of our army, they were released. After the second occupation of the village by the Nazis, he continued to serve in the police, was appointed deputy chief, and in June 1943 - chief of the rural police. He was armed with a carbine and a revolver.

While serving in the police, Dobrobabin participated in sending Soviet citizens to forced labor in Germany, conducted searches, confiscated livestock from peasants, detained persons who violated the occupation regime, and participated in interrogations of detainees, demanding to extradite communists and Komsomol members of the village. In July 1943, the former Soviet soldier Semyonov was detained and sent to a concentration camp by policemen subordinate to him. During the retreat of the Nazis in August 1943, Dobrobabin fled to the Odessa region and, when the Soviet troops liberated the occupied territory, hiding his service in the police, he was drafted into the army. In 1948, he was sentenced to 15 years for cooperation with the Nazi invaders, and the decree on conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on him was canceled. In 1955, the term of imprisonment was reduced to 7 years, and Dobrobabin was released. He sought rehabilitation, but he was denied rehabilitation. He was rehabilitated by the decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine dated March 26, 1993. He died in 1996 in the city of Tsimlyansk.

How difficult the fate of the “fascist accomplices” during the war years can be seen in the example of Pyotr Konstantinovich Mesnyankin (1919-1993), lieutenant of the Soviet Army, participant in the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union (1943), deprived of the title and awards in connection with condemnation. Mesnyankin was born in the village of Komyakino (now - the territory of the Ivaninsky district of the Kursk region) in the family of a wealthy peasant. In the 1930s Mesnyankin's family was dispossessed and deported to the Arkhangelsk region. A few years after the expulsion, she managed to move to Kharkov, where Mesnyankin graduated from high school in 1939 and entered a technical school. In the autumn of 1939, he was drafted into the army and served in the 275th artillery regiment. From June 1941 - at the front, took part in the battle of Smolensk, the Elninsk operation. In November 1941, Mesnyankin's unit was surrounded and he was taken prisoner. He was kept in the Oryol prison, from where he escaped in early 1942 and returned to his native village. In February 1942, having no means of subsistence, he joined the police. He held the positions of assistant chief of police, investigator of the world court at the district government, and from December 1942 - chief of police. During his service in the police, he earned the respect of the local population by the fact that "he did not commit atrocities, but, on the contrary, arrested only police officers and elders who committed atrocities against the inhabitants." After the area was liberated by units of the Red Army, he did not run away from the village, was arrested and interrogated in a special department of one of the formations. At the request of local residents, he escaped the death penalty, and by order of the Military Council of the 60th Army, he was sent to a penal company for a period of three months. He served his sentence in the 9th separate army penal company. During his stay in the penal company, he was wounded three times and released from punishment ahead of schedule. Upon returning to the unit, at the request of SMERSH employees, he was re-sent to a penal unit - the 263rd separate army penal company. After being released from the penal company, Mesnyankin fought in the 1285th Infantry Regiment of the 60th Infantry Division of the 65th Army, and was the commander of a 45-millimeter gun crew. Distinguished himself during the battle for the Dnieper. On October 17, 1943, in the area of ​​​​the village of Radul, Repkinsky district, Chernihiv region, Mesnyankin, using improvised means, along with his gun crew, crossed the Dnieper and, entrenched on the right bank, destroyed several enemy firing points with artillery fire, "which contributed to the crossing of other units to the bridgehead" ( 48).

On October 30, 1943, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, for "exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time," Red Army soldier Pyotr Mesnyankin was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and a medal " Gold Star "number 1541, becoming the first hero in the regiment. After the end of the war, he remained to serve in the Soviet Army. He graduated from the artillery school, received the rank of lieutenant, commanded a training platoon of the 690th artillery regiment of the 29th separate guards rifle Latvian brigade. April 5, 1948 Hero of the Soviet Union Lieutenant

Mesnyankin was arrested and urgently transferred to Moscow. In the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence of the USSR Ministry of State Security, he was charged with treason, expressed in the fact that he “... as coming from a kulak family, surrendered to the Germans and collaborated with them on the territory of the temporarily occupied Kursk region ... Living in the village of Komyakino Ivaninsky district, Mesnyankin set about restoring his former kulak economy, moved into a house previously confiscated from them, summoned relatives, and in February 1942 voluntarily entered the service of the German punitive authorities ... conducted searches, took away food and things from local residents , arrested Soviet citizens, subjected them to interrogations and carried out pro-fascist agitation; he handed over the property taken from the collective farmers through the "world" court to the kulaks who returned to the region; handed over to the German punitive authorities 10 communists and Komsomol members, in respect of whom he conducted an investigation; took part in the execution of the former chairman of the collective farm, communist Rassolov ... ".

On August 21, 1948, Mesnyankin was sentenced to 10 years in labor camps by a resolution of the Special Meeting under the Ministry of State Security of the USSR. He served his sentence in the Vorkuta camps, worked in the medical unit. In 1954 he was released from the camp ahead of schedule. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 7, 1955, the conviction was expunged. He lived in Kharkov, worked at a state farm as a foreman of a vegetable growing brigade. Repeatedly sent petitions for reinstatement in the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but they were all rejected. Pyotr Mesnyankin died on July 14, 1993. He was buried at the 3rd city cemetery of Kharkov (49).

The fate of the Stalinist and Vlasov "falcon" Semyon Trofimovich Bychkov (1918-1946) - a Soviet military pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union (1943), who was deprived of titles and awards in 1947 for participating in the "Vdasov" movement during the Great Patriotic War. He was born on May 15, 1918 in the village of Petrovka, Nizhnedevitsky District, Voronezh Region. Graduated from the flying club (1938), Borisoglebsk aviation school named after V.P. Chkalov (1939). From 1939 he served in the 12th reserve aviation regiment. From January 30, 1940 - junior lieutenant, from March 25, 1942 - lieutenant, then senior lieutenant, from July 20, 1942 - deputy squadron commander. In 1942, for committing an accident, he was sentenced by a military tribunal to 5 years in labor camps to serve his sentence after the war. In the same year, the conviction was dropped. From May 28, 1943 - captain. In 1943 - navigator of the 937th Fighter Aviation Regiment, deputy commander of the 482nd Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 322nd Fighter Division. For distinction in battles he was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner. On September 2, 1943, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal for personally shooting down 15 enemy aircraft (in addition, he shot down one aircraft in a group).

In the presentation for the award, it was noted that Bychkov “has shown himself to be an excellent fighter pilot, whose courage is combined with great skill. He enters the battle boldly and decisively, conducts it at a high pace, imposes his will on the enemy, using his weaknesses. He proved to be an excellent commander-organizer of group air battles. December 10, 1943 Bychkov was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft artillery and taken prisoner by the wounded. Kept in prisoner of war camps. In early 1944, Colonel Viktor Maltsev, who had been collaborating with the German authorities since 1941, persuaded him to join the Ostland Aviation Group.

During the investigation in 1946, Bychkov claimed that he took this step under strong pressure, since another Hero of the Soviet Union, Bronislav Antilevsky, who had already collaborated with the Germans by that time, allegedly beat him. According to other sources, Bychkov voluntarily decided to go over to the side of the enemy, and they were friends with Antilevsky. Participated in the transfer of aircraft from aircraft factories to the field airfields of the Eastern Front, as well as in anti-partisan combat operations in the Dvinsk region. Together with Antilevsky, he appealed in writing and orally to the captured pilots with calls to cooperate with the Germans. After the disbandment of the Ostland group in September 1944, Bychkov, under the command of Maltsev, took an active part in the formation of the 1st aviation regiment of the ROA Air Force, became the commander of the 5th fighter squadron, which was armed with 16 aircraft. February 5, 1945 was promoted to major. At the end of April 1945, he surrendered to American troops, along with other "Vlasov" pilots, was interned in the French city of Cherbourg and in September 1945 was transferred to the Soviet authorities. On August 24, 1946, he was sentenced to death by a military tribunal of the Moscow Military District. The sentence was carried out in Moscow on November 4 of the same year (50:22-30).

Bronislav Romanovich Antilevsky (1916-1946) was also a Stalinist and Vlasov "falcon" - a Soviet military pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union (1940), deprived of titles and awards in 1950. Born in 1916 in the village of Markovtsy, Uzdensky district, Minsk area in a peasant family. Pole. He graduated from a technical school (1937), a special-purpose aviation school in Monino (1938), and the Kachinsky Red Banner Military Aviation School (1942). From October 1937 he served in the Red Army. During the Soviet-Finnish war, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. From April 1942 - junior lieutenant, participated in the Great Patriotic War as part of the 20th Fighter Regiment of the 303rd Fighter Division of the 1st Air Army.

On August 28, 1943, the deputy squadron commander, senior lieutenant Antilevsky, was shot down in an air battle and captured. Kept in prisoner camps. At the end of 1943 he joined the Ostland aviation group. Like Semyon Bychkov, he participated in aircraft transfers and in anti-partisan hostilities, urging captured pilots to cooperate with the Germans. After the disbandment of the Ostland group, he took an active part in the formation of the 1st Aviation Regiment of the ROA Air Force. Since December 19, 1944 he was the commander of the 2nd assault squadron of night attack aircraft. February 5, 1945 promoted to captain. He was awarded two German medals and a nominal watch. In April 1945, Antilevsky's squadron took part in the fighting on the Oder against the Red Army.

There is information that at the end of April 1945, Antilevsky was supposed to pilot a plane on which General Andrei Vlasov was supposed to fly to Spain, but Vlasov refused to flee.

He was interned from the American sector of Germany in September 1945. On July 25, 1946, he was sentenced to death by a military tribunal of the Moscow Military District under Article 58-1 "b" of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. The sentence was carried out on the same day (51:17-22).

It is believed that the third Hero of the Soviet Union in the ROA may have been Ivan Ivanovich Tennikov, a career pilot, a Tatar by nationality. Performing a combat mission to cover Stalingrad on September 15, 1942 over Zaikovsky Island, he fought with enemy fighters, rammed the German Messerschmitt-110, shot him down and survived. There is a version that he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for this feat, but his name is not on the list of persons who were deprived of this title. Tennikov served in Soviet aviation until the autumn of 1943, when he was shot down and considered missing.

While in a prisoner of war camp, he entered the service of German intelligence and was then transferred to the Vlasov army. For health reasons, he could not fly and served as a propaganda officer. Nothing is known about the further fate of this man after April 1945. According to the documents of the Main Directorate of Personnel of the Ministry of Defense, he is still listed as missing (104).

The fate of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, father and son Sokolov, turned out to be difficult. Emelyan Lukich Sokol was born in 1904 on the Pomerki farm in the Lebedinsky district of the Sumy region of Ukraine. Finished six classes. In 1941-1943. Sokol lived with his family in the territory temporarily occupied by German troops. After his release, he was drafted into the army and became a machine gunner in the 1144th Infantry Regiment of the 340th Infantry Division of the 38th Army of the Voronezh Front. Together with him, his son Grigory, born in 1924, served in the same machine-gun crew. Both were awarded medals "For Courage". Father and son distinguished themselves during the battle for the Dnieper, October 3, 1943, when repulsing the attack of enemy units, they cut off the infantry from the tanks with machine-gun fire, and then destroyed the tank and armored personnel carrier. After that, Grigory Sokol broke the caterpillar of the second German tank with a grenade.

After the end of the battle, it was reported to the headquarters that Emelyan and Grigory Sokoly had died, and on January 10, 1944, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "for courage and heroism shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders" they were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously. After the war, it turned out that the father and son of the Falcons remained alive, it turned out that they had replaced the “mortal medallions” of the dead soldiers and surrendered. According to some reports, Yemelyan Sokol, while in captivity, served as the headman of the barracks of prisoners of war, and then joined the police and became the head of the department. On May 5, 1945, he was released from captivity by Czechoslovak partisans. After passing the test, he was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. In 1945, Emelyan Sokol was transferred to the reserve, returned to his native village, and worked on a collective farm (52).

According to some reports, in captivity, Sokol Jr. served as the head of the investigative department in the police. On May 5, 1945, he, like his father, was released from captivity by Czechoslovak partisans. After passing the test, he was also awarded the Gold Star medal and the Order of Lenin. He continued his military service as a foreman in a military bakery. In April 1947, Grigory Sokol was transferred to the reserve, returned to his native village and also began to work on the collective farm (53). In 1947, the father and son Sokoly were arrested by employees of the USSR Ministry of State Security on charges of voluntary surrender. The court sentenced the father to 10 and the son to 8 years in labor camps. On November 14, 1947, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of January 10, 1944 on awarding them the titles of Heroes of the Soviet Union was canceled. After serving their sentences, they both returned to their native village. The father died in 1985 and the son in 1999.

Heroes of the Soviet Union Ivan Kilyushek, Pyotr Kutsy, Nikolai Litvinenko and Georgy Vershinin also turned out to be accomplices of the enemy. Kilyushek Ivan Sergeevich was born on December 19, 1923 in the village of Ostrov, Rivne region of Ukraine. At the beginning of the war, he ended up in the occupied territory. After his release in March 1944, Kilyushek was drafted into the army and three months later he distinguished himself during the crossing of the Western Dvina River. On July 22, 1944, Kilyushek was awarded the title of Hero, the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal for "courage and courage shown during the capture and holding of a bridgehead on the banks of the Western Dvina River" for "courage and courage." On July 23, 1944, Kilyushek received a month's home leave, and on August 10, militants of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army broke into his house and abducted him. It is not known for certain whether Kilyushek voluntarily agreed to an armed struggle against the "Muscovites", or was forcibly held by militants, but on March 14, 1945, he was arrested in the attic of his house with a machine gun in his hands. He was accused of counter-revolutionary activities, participating in the execution of a partisan's family of five, including two children, recruiting young people into the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

During the investigation, Kilyushek pleaded guilty, but justified himself by saying that he was involved in the formation of the UPA by force and remained there only under the threat of reprisals against his family. On September 29, 1945, the military tribunal of the 13th Army sentenced Kilyushek to 10 years in prison with disqualification for a period of 5 years and confiscation of property. In 1958 he was released and lived in the Irkutsk region. In 2009, during the opening of a bunker in the Volyn region, in which the formation of the UPA was based during the war, Kilyushek's Gold Star medal (54) was discovered.

Kutsy Petr Antonovich at the beginning of the war also ended up in the occupied territory. In the spring of 1942, Kutsy joined the police commandant's office in the neighboring village of Veliky Krupol, Zgurovsky district, Kyiv region, which was headed by his father, and his uncle was the secretary. He took part in the deportation of Soviet citizens to Germany and raids on partisans, during which he was wounded twice. After the area was liberated, he was called up for service in the Red Army, where he held the post of squad leader of the 1318th Infantry Regiment. On the night of October 1-2, 1943, Kutsyy with his squad crossed to Zhukovka Island near the southern outskirts of Kyiv, recaptured it from German units, which ensured the crossing of other units of his regiment. October 29, 1943 by decree

The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for "exemplary performance of combat missions of command on the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time" Red Army soldier Pyotr Kutsy was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

At the beginning of 1953, together with two comrades, Kutsy arrived in his native village and started a fight there in a club, during which he beat the chairman of the village council. In February 1953 he was arrested. The Berezansky District Court of the Kyiv region Petr Kutsy was sentenced to 5 years in prison. A few days later, he was released under the "Beria amnesty", but during the investigation, fellow villagers who fought in partisan detachments during the war years testified against him. On their basis, a petition was written, and by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 30, 1954, Pyotr Kutsy was deprived of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for "misconduct discrediting the title of an order bearer" (55).

Litvinenko Nikolai Vladimirovich at the beginning of the war also ended up in the territory occupied by the Germans. In December 1941, he began to cooperate with the occupation authorities. At first he worked as an extra in the agricultural community in his native village, then as a secretary of the village council. Since March 1942, Litvinenko has been in the service of the German police. As a police officer, he took part in punitive operations against the partisans of the Sumy, Chernihiv and Poltava regions, and also guarded settlements from partisans. In August 1943, during the offensive of the Red Army, he was evacuated to the Vinnitsa region, to the rear of the German troops, where he was until the arrival of the Soviet troops, and in January 1944 he was mobilized into the army. On September 23, 1944, Junior Sergeant Nikolai Litvinenko was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union for "exemplary performance of command assignments and courage and heroism in battles against the Nazi invaders." In January 1945, Sergeant Major Litvinenko was sent to study at an infantry school in Riga, and in June 1946 the facts of his betrayal were revealed. In August 1946, Litvinenko was arrested, and on October 11 of the same year, by the military tribunal of the South Ural Military District, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison with a loss of rights for 3 years. On October 14, 1947, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Litvinenko was stripped of all titles and awards. Nothing is known about his further fate (56).

Vershinin Georgy Pavlovich served as a squad leader in the sapper and demolition company of the 23rd airborne brigade of the 10th airborne corps. He distinguished himself during operations in the German rear, when on May 29 - June 3, 1942, the 23rd airborne brigade in the amount of 4,000 people was landed on the territory of the Dorogobuzh district of the Smolensk region. The brigade was tasked with securing a way out of the encirclement of Major General Belov's 1st Guards Cavalry Corps and Major General Kazankin's 4th Airborne Corps.

On the night of June 3, 1942, the battalion of the airborne brigade, in which Vershinin served, secretly approached the village of Volochek, destroyed German patrols, broke into the village, destroyed more than 50 German soldiers and officers and captured 2 armored personnel carriers and 4 mortars. A German tank column was passing near the village, the tankers of which made a halt next to the ambush of the paratroopers. The tankers who got out of the vehicles were destroyed and 22 tanks were captured. Repelling the attack, Vershinin's squad destroyed the bridge across the river along with the three German tanks on it. Holding back the enemy until nightfall, the paratroopers withdrew, having completed the main task - to pull back part of the enemy forces in order to enable the encircled corps to break out of the encirclement. Junior Sergeant Vershinin was considered dead in the explosion of the bridge, and on March 31, 1943, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for "courage and heroism in the fight against the Nazi invaders". In fact, Vershinin survived and was taken prisoner by the Germans. Under interrogation, he gave out all the information he knew about the landing, expressed a desire to serve in the German armed forces, and already in June 1942 he was enlisted in the auxiliary security battalion. He served as a guard on the railway bridge in the rear of the German troops. For sleeping while on duty, he was arrested and sent to a prisoner of war camp, where he fell ill with typhus. After recovering in May 1943, he again entered the service of the Germans in a working engineer battalion. He collaborated with the Germans until June 1944, and when the German troops in Belarus were defeated, he went over to the partisans. When partisans joined forces with the Red Army, he was handed over to SMERSH authorities, he was tested in a filtration camp in the Murmansk region, where he worked as a driller at the Severonikel plant. February 28, 1945 Vershinin was arrested. On July 6, 1945, the military tribunal of the NKVD troops of the Murmansk region sentenced him to 10 years in labor camps with disqualification for 5 years with confiscation of property and deprivation of awards. Died January 1, 1966 (57).