Heroes of the Great Patriotic War

Alexander Matrosov

Submachine gunner of the 2nd Separate Battalion of the 91st Separate Siberian Volunteer Brigade named after Stalin.

Sasha Matrosov did not know his parents. He was brought up in an orphanage and a labor colony. When the war began, he was not even 20. Matrosov was drafted into the army in September 1942 and sent to an infantry school, and then to the front.

In February 1943, his battalion attacked the Nazi stronghold, but fell into a trap, falling under heavy fire, cutting off the path to the trenches. They fired from three bunkers. Two soon fell silent, but the third continued to shoot the Red Army soldiers who lay in the snow.

Seeing that the only chance to get out of the fire was to suppress the enemy's fire, Matrosov crawled to the bunker with a fellow soldier and threw two grenades in his direction. The gun was silent. The Red Army went on the attack, but the deadly weapon chirped again. Alexander's partner was killed, and Matrosov was left alone in front of the bunker. Something had to be done.

He didn't even have a few seconds to make a decision. Not wanting to let his comrades down, Alexander closed the embrasure of the bunker with his body. The attack was successful. And Matrosov posthumously received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Military pilot, commander of the 2nd squadron of the 207th long-range bomber aviation regiment, captain.

He worked as a mechanic, then in 1932 he was called up for service in the Red Army. He got into the air regiment, where he became a pilot. Nicholas Gastello participated in three wars. A year before the Great Patriotic War, he received the rank of captain.

On June 26, 1941, the crew under the command of Captain Gastello took off to attack a German mechanized column. It was on the road between the Belarusian cities of Molodechno and Radoshkovichi. But the column was well guarded by enemy artillery. A fight ensued. Aircraft Gastello was hit by anti-aircraft guns. The shell damaged the fuel tank, the car caught fire. The pilot could eject, but he decided to fulfill his military duty to the end. Nikolai Gastello sent a burning car directly to the enemy column. It was the first fire ram in the Great Patriotic War.

The name of the brave pilot has become a household name. Until the end of the war, all the aces who decided to go for a ram were called Gastellites. According to official statistics, almost six hundred enemy rams were made during the entire war.

Brigadier scout of the 67th detachment of the 4th Leningrad partisan brigade.

Lena was 15 years old when the war began. He already worked at the factory, having finished the seven-year plan. When the Nazis captured his native Novgorod region, Lenya joined the partisans.

He was brave and determined, the command appreciated him. For several years spent in the partisan detachment, he participated in 27 operations. On his account, several destroyed bridges behind enemy lines, 78 destroyed Germans, 10 trains with ammunition.

It was he who, in the summer of 1942, near the village of Varnitsa, blew up a car in which the German Major General of the Engineering Troops, Richard von Wirtz, was located. Golikov managed to obtain important documents about the German offensive. The enemy attack was thwarted, and the young hero for this feat was presented to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In the winter of 1943, a significantly superior enemy detachment unexpectedly attacked partisans near the village of Ostraya Luka. Lenya Golikov died like a real hero - in battle.

Pioneer. Scout of the partisan detachment named after Voroshilov in the territory occupied by the Nazis.

Zina was born and went to school in Leningrad. However, the war found her on the territory of Belarus, where she came for the holidays.

In 1942, 16-year-old Zina joined the underground organization Young Avengers. It distributed anti-fascist leaflets in the occupied territories. Then, under cover, she got a job working in a canteen for German officers, where she committed several acts of sabotage and only miraculously was not captured by the enemy. Her courage surprised many experienced soldiers.

In 1943, Zina Portnova joined the partisans and continued to engage in sabotage behind enemy lines. Due to the efforts of defectors who surrendered Zina to the Nazis, she was captured. In the dungeons, she was interrogated and tortured. But Zina was silent, not betraying her. At one of these interrogations, she grabbed a pistol from the table and shot three Nazis. After that, she was shot in prison.

Underground anti-fascist organization operating in the area of ​​modern Luhansk region. There were over a hundred people. The youngest participant was 14 years old.

This youth underground organization was formed immediately after the occupation of the Lugansk region. It included both regular military personnel, who were cut off from the main units, and local youth. Among the most famous participants: Oleg Koshevoy, Ulyana Gromova, Lyubov Shevtsova, Vasily Levashov, Sergey Tyulenin and many other young people.

The "Young Guard" issued leaflets and committed sabotage against the Nazis. Once they managed to disable an entire tank repair shop, burn down the stock exchange, from where the Nazis drove people to forced labor in Germany. The members of the organization planned to stage an uprising, but were exposed because of the traitors. The Nazis caught, tortured and shot more than seventy people. Their feat is immortalized in one of the most famous military books by Alexander Fadeev and the film adaptation of the same name.

28 people from the personnel of the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th rifle regiment.

In November 1941, a counteroffensive against Moscow began. The enemy did not stop at nothing, making a decisive forced march before the onset of a harsh winter.

At this time, the fighters under the command of Ivan Panfilov took up a position on the highway seven kilometers from Volokolamsk, a small town near Moscow. There they gave battle to the advancing tank units. The battle lasted four hours. During this time, they destroyed 18 armored vehicles, delaying the enemy's attack and frustrating his plans. All 28 people (or almost all, here the opinions of historians differ) died.

According to legend, the political instructor of the company, Vasily Klochkov, before the decisive stage of the battle, turned to the fighters with a phrase that became known throughout the country: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind!”

The Nazi counteroffensive ultimately failed. The battle for Moscow, which was assigned the most important role during the war, was lost by the occupiers.

As a child, the future hero suffered from rheumatism, and the doctors doubted that Maresyev would be able to fly. However, he stubbornly applied to the flight school until he was finally enrolled. Maresyev was drafted into the army in 1937.

He met the Great Patriotic War at the flight school, but soon got to the front. During a sortie, his plane was shot down, and Maresyev himself was able to eject. Eighteen days, seriously wounded in both legs, he got out of the encirclement. However, he still managed to overcome the front line and ended up in the hospital. But gangrene had already begun, and the doctors amputated both of his legs.

For many, this would mean the end of the service, but the pilot did not give up and returned to aviation. Until the end of the war, he flew with prostheses. Over the years, he made 86 sorties and shot down 11 enemy aircraft. And 7 - already after amputation. In 1944, Alexei Maresyev went to work as an inspector and lived to be 84 years old.

His fate inspired the writer Boris Polevoy to write The Tale of a Real Man.

Deputy squadron commander of the 177th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment.

Victor Talalikhin began to fight already in the Soviet-Finnish war. He shot down 4 enemy planes on a biplane. Then he served in the aviation school.

In August 1941, one of the first Soviet pilots made a ram, shooting down a German bomber in a night air battle. Moreover, the wounded pilot was able to get out of the cockpit and descend by parachute to the rear of his own.

Talalikhin then shot down five more German planes. Killed during another air battle near Podolsk in October 1941.

After 73 years, in 2014, search engines found Talalikhin's plane, which remained in the swamps near Moscow.

Artilleryman of the 3rd counter-battery artillery corps of the Leningrad Front.

Soldier Andrei Korzun was drafted into the army at the very beginning of World War II. He served on the Leningrad front, where there were fierce and bloody battles.

November 5, 1943, during the next battle, his battery came under fierce enemy fire. Korzun was seriously wounded. Despite the terrible pain, he saw that the powder charges were set on fire and the ammunition depot could fly into the air. Gathering the last of his strength, Andrey crawled to the blazing fire. But he could no longer take off his overcoat to cover the fire. Losing consciousness, he made a last effort and covered the fire with his body. The explosion was avoided at the cost of the life of a brave gunner.

Commander of the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade.

A native of Petrograd, Alexander German, according to some sources, was a native of Germany. He served in the army from 1933. When the war began, he became a scout. He worked behind enemy lines, commanded a partisan detachment, which terrified the enemy soldiers. His brigade destroyed several thousand fascist soldiers and officers, derailed hundreds of trains and blew up hundreds of vehicles.

The Nazis staged a real hunt for Herman. In 1943, his partisan detachment was surrounded in the Pskov region. Making his way to his own, the brave commander died from an enemy bullet.

Commander of the 30th Separate Guards Tank Brigade of the Leningrad Front

Vladislav Khrustitsky was drafted into the Red Army back in the 1920s. In the late 30s he graduated from armored courses. Since the autumn of 1942, he commanded the 61st separate light tank brigade.

He distinguished himself during Operation Iskra, which marked the beginning of the defeat of the Germans on the Leningrad front.

He died in the battle near Volosovo. In 1944, the enemy retreated from Leningrad, but from time to time made attempts to counterattack. During one of these counterattacks, Khrustitsky's tank brigade fell into a trap.

Despite heavy fire, the commander ordered to continue the offensive. He turned on the radio to his crews with the words: "Stand to the death!" - and went forward first. Unfortunately, the brave tanker died in this battle. And yet the village of Volosovo was liberated from the enemy.

Commander of a partisan detachment and brigade.

Before the war, he worked on the railroad. In October 1941, when the Germans were already standing near Moscow, he himself volunteered for a difficult operation, in which his railway experience was needed. Was thrown behind enemy lines. There he came up with the so-called "coal mines" (in fact, these are just mines disguised as coal). With the help of this simple but effective weapon, a hundred enemy trains were blown up in three months.

Zaslonov actively agitated the local population to go over to the side of the partisans. The Nazis, having learned this, dressed their soldiers in Soviet uniforms. Zaslonov mistook them for defectors and ordered them to be allowed into the partisan detachment. The path to the insidious enemy was open. A battle ensued, during which Zaslonov died. A reward was announced for living or dead Zaslonov, but the peasants hid his body, and the Germans did not get it.

The commander of a small partisan detachment.

Yefim Osipenko fought back in the Civil War. Therefore, when the enemy seized his land, without thinking twice, he joined the partisans. Together with five other comrades, he organized a small partisan detachment that committed sabotage against the Nazis.

During one of the operations, it was decided to undermine the enemy composition. But there was little ammunition in the detachment. The bomb was made from an ordinary grenade. The explosives were to be installed by Osipenko himself. He crawled to the railway bridge and, seeing the approach of the train, threw it in front of the train. There was no explosion. Then the partisan himself hit the grenade with a pole from the railway sign. It worked! A long train with food and tanks went downhill. The squad leader survived, but lost his sight completely.

For this feat, he was the first in the country to be awarded the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War."

The peasant Matvey Kuzmin was born three years before the abolition of serfdom. And he died, becoming the oldest holder of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

His story contains many references to the history of another famous peasant - Ivan Susanin. Matvey also had to lead the invaders through the forest and swamps. And, like the legendary hero, he decided to stop the enemy at the cost of his life. He sent his grandson ahead to warn a detachment of partisans who had stopped nearby. The Nazis were ambushed. A fight ensued. Matvey Kuzmin died at the hands of a German officer. But he did his job. He was in his 84th year.

A partisan who was part of the sabotage and reconnaissance group of the headquarters of the Western Front.

While studying at school, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya wanted to enter a literary institute. But these plans were not destined to come true - the war prevented. In October 1941, Zoya, as a volunteer, came to the recruiting station and, after a short training at a school for saboteurs, was transferred to Volokolamsk. There, an 18-year-old partisan fighter, along with adult men, performed dangerous tasks: she mined roads and destroyed communication centers.

During one of the sabotage operations, Kosmodemyanskaya was caught by the Germans. She was tortured, forcing her to betray her own. Zoya heroically endured all the trials without saying a word to the enemies. Seeing that it was impossible to get anything from the young partisan, they decided to hang her.

Kosmodemyanskaya steadfastly accepted the test. A moment before her death, she shouted to the assembled local residents: “Comrades, victory will be ours. German soldiers, before it's too late, surrender!" The courage of the girl so shocked the peasants that they later retold this story to front-line correspondents. And after the publication in the Pravda newspaper, the whole country learned about the feat of Kosmodemyanskaya. She became the first woman to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War.

Hero of the USSR is the most honorary title that existed in the Soviet Union. He was awarded for outstanding feats, significant merits during times of hostilities, as an exception, they could be awarded in peacetime. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union appeared in 1934.

Honorary title

During the existence of the Soviet Union, 12,777 people received the title of Hero of the USSR. At the same time, sometimes a person who was awarded such an award was deprived of it. It is known that 72 people were deprived of it for actions that discredited this title in the future, there are also 13 precedents when the decision was canceled as unreasonable.

Heroes of the USSR often became more than once. For example, Pokryshkin, Budyonny and Kozhedub were awarded it three times, and Zhukov and Brezhnev - four each.

Interestingly, the title was awarded not only to people, but also to cities. So, after the Great Patriotic War, 12 cities and the hero-fortress Brest received the title of Hero of the USSR. In this article, we will focus on the most iconic names from this list. Now you will know exactly how many heroes of the USSR existed during all this time.

Hero of the USSR (photo above) Anatoly Lyapidevsky became the first Hero of the Soviet Union in history. This award was presented to him in 1934. He was a pilot, after the war he received the rank of major general.

He went to serve in the Red Army in 1926. In 1934, Lyapidevsky participated in the rescue of the Chelyuskinites. In terrible weather conditions, he made 29 sorties in order to search for the missing expedition. As a result, he managed to locate their camp. The pilot landed riskily on an ice floe and took out 12 people from there, of which there were two children, and the rest were women.

After Lyapidevsky took part in the Great Patriotic War, commanded the 19th Army, and headed an aircraft factory. He died in 1983 when he was 75 years old.

Volkan Goranov

The list of heroes of the USSR contains the names of not only citizens of the Soviet Union, but also foreign states. First of all, of course, from the Soviet-friendly republics. Among them is the Bulgarian pilot Volkan Goranov. He served in the Red Army for 15 years. Received the rank of Colonel General.

As a fighter pilot, he took part in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the adherents of the Republic. He became the first foreign citizen to receive the title of Hero of the Soviet Union of the USSR.

In addition to the battles in the Kuban, he participates in the Mius offensive operation, air battles in the Donbass, Melitopol, Crimea.

In 1944, he was appointed commander of the Guards Fighter Regiment. Now he devotes more and more time to command, he can no longer make sorties so often. Although the Germans were afraid of him until the end of the war, announcing to everyone around in advance: "Attention! Pokryshkin is in the air."

Four titles of the Hero of the Soviet Union from the Soviet commander, who after the Great Patriotic War received the unofficial nickname Marshal of Victory.

During the battles with the Nazis, he led the General Staff, commanded the front, was a member of the headquarters of the Supreme Commander. His role in the decisive and final victory in the Great Patriotic War is difficult to underestimate.

Many believed that after the triumph in 1945, he was more popular in the country than Stalin, which forced the leader to reconsider his attitude towards the legendary commander, soon removing him from key positions in the management of the Soviet army.

Twelve of several thousand examples of unparalleled childish courage
Young heroes of the Great Patriotic War - how many were there? If you count - how else? - the hero of every boy and every girl whom fate brought to war and made soldiers, sailors or partisans, then - tens, if not hundreds of thousands.

According to official data from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense (TsAMO) of Russia, during the war years there were over 3,500 servicemen under the age of 16 in combat units. At the same time, it is clear that not every unit commander who dared to take on the education of the son of the regiment, found the courage to declare a pupil on command. You can understand how their fathers-commanders, who really were many instead of fathers, tried to hide the age of the little fighters, by the confusion in the award documents. On the yellowed archival sheets, most of the underage servicemen indicate a clearly overestimated age. The real one became clear much later, after ten or even forty years.

But there were still children and teenagers who fought in partisan detachments and were members of underground organizations! And there were much more of them: sometimes whole families went to the partisans, and if not, then almost every teenager who ended up on the occupied land had someone to avenge.

So "tens of thousands" is far from an exaggeration, but rather an understatement. And, apparently, we will never know the exact number of young heroes of the Great Patriotic War. But that is no reason not to remember them.

The boys went from Brest to Berlin

The youngest of all known little soldiers - at least, according to the documents stored in the military archives - can be considered a pupil of the 142nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 47th Guards Rifle Division Sergei Aleshkin. In archival documents, one can find two certificates of awarding a boy who was born in 1936 and ended up in the army on September 8, 1942, shortly after the punishers shot his mother and older brother for their connection with the partisans. The first document dated April 26, 1943 - on awarding him the medal "For Military Merit" due to the fact that "Comrade. Aleshkin, the regiment's favorite, ""with his cheerfulness, love for the unit and those around him, in extremely difficult moments, instilled vigor and confidence in victory." The second, dated November 19, 1945, is about awarding students of the Tula Suvorov Military School with the medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945": in the list of 13 Suvorov students, Aleshkin's surname is first.

But still, such a young soldier is an exception even for wartime and for a country where all the people, young and old, have risen to defend their homeland. Most of the young heroes who fought at the front and behind enemy lines were on average 13-14 years old. The very first of them were the defenders of the Brest Fortress, and one of the sons of the regiment - holder of the Order of the Red Star, the Order of Glory of the III degree and the medal "For Courage" Vladimir Tarnovsky, who served in the 370th artillery regiment of the 230th rifle division, left his autograph on wall of the Reichstag in the victorious May 1945 ...

The youngest Heroes of the Soviet Union

These four names - Lenya Golikov, Marat Kazei, Zina Portnova and Valya Kotik - have been the most famous symbol of the heroism of the young defenders of our Motherland for over half a century. Having fought in different places and accomplished feats of different circumstances, they were all partisans and all were posthumously awarded the highest award of the country - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Two - Lena Golikov and Zina Portnova - by the time they had to show unprecedented courage, were 17 years old, two more - Valya Kotik and Marat Kazei - only 14.

Lenya Golikov was the first of the four who was awarded the highest rank: the decree on assignment was signed on April 2, 1944. The text says that Golikov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union "for the exemplary performance of command assignments and the courage and heroism shown in battles." And indeed, in less than a year - from March 1942 to January 1943 - Lenya Golikov managed to take part in the defeat of three enemy garrisons, in undermining more than a dozen bridges, in capturing a German major general with secret documents ... And heroically die in battle near the village of Ostraya Luka, without waiting for a high reward for capturing a strategically important "language".

Zina Portnova and Valya Kotik were awarded the titles of Heroes of the Soviet Union 13 years after the Victory, in 1958. Zina was awarded for the courage with which she conducted underground work, then served as a liaison between the partisans and the underground, and eventually endured inhuman torment, falling into the hands of the Nazis at the very beginning of 1944. Valya - according to the totality of exploits in the ranks of the Shepetov partisan detachment named after Karmelyuk, where he came after a year of work in an underground organization in Shepetovka itself. And Marat Kazei was awarded the highest award only in the year of the 20th anniversary of the Victory: the decree on conferring on him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was promulgated on May 8, 1965. For almost two years - from November 1942 to May 1944 - Marat fought as part of the partisan formations of Belarus and died, blowing up himself and the Nazis surrounding him with the last grenade.

Over the past half century, the circumstances of the exploits of the four heroes have become known throughout the country: more than one generation of Soviet schoolchildren has grown up on their example, and the current generation is certainly told about them. But even among those who did not receive the highest award, there were many real heroes - pilots, sailors, snipers, scouts and even musicians.

Sniper Vasily Kurka

The war caught Vasya at the age of sixteen. In the very first days he was mobilized to the labor front, and in October he was admitted to the 726th rifle regiment of the 395th rifle division. At first, a boy of unconscripted age, who also looked a couple of years younger than his age, was left in the wagon train: they say, there is nothing for teenagers to do on the front line. But soon the guy got his way and was transferred to a combat unit - to a team of snipers.

Vasily Kurka. Photo: Imperial War Museum

An amazing military fate: from the first to the last day, Vasya Kurka fought in the same regiment of the same division! He made a good military career, rising to the rank of lieutenant and taking command of a rifle platoon. Recorded at his own expense, according to various sources, from 179 to 200 destroyed Nazis. He fought from the Donbass to Tuapse and back, and then further, to the West, to the Sandomierz bridgehead. It was there that Lieutenant Kurka was mortally wounded in January 1945, less than six months before the Victory.

Pilot Arkady Kamanin

At the location of the 5th Guards Assault Air Corps, 15-year-old Arkady Kamanin arrived with his father, who was appointed commander of this illustrious unit. The pilots were surprised to learn that the son of the legendary pilot, one of the first seven Heroes of the Soviet Union, a member of the Chelyuskin rescue expedition, would work as an aircraft mechanic in the communications squadron. But they soon became convinced that the "general's son" did not justify their negative expectations at all. The boy did not hide behind the back of the famous father, but simply did his job well - and with all his might strove for the sky.

Sergeant Kamanin in 1944. Photo: war.ee

Soon Arkady achieved his goal: first he takes to the air as a letnab, then as a navigator on the U-2, and then goes on his first independent flight. And finally - the long-awaited appointment: the son of General Kamanin becomes a pilot of the 423rd separate communications squadron. Before the victory, Arkady, who had risen to the rank of foreman, managed to fly almost 300 hours and earn three orders: two - the Red Star and one - the Red Banner. And if it weren’t for meningitis, which literally killed an 18-year-old guy in the spring of 1947, literally in a matter of days, Kamanin Jr. would have been included in the cosmonaut detachment, the first commander of which was Kamanin Sr.: Arkady managed to enter the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy back in 1946.

Front-line scout Yuri Zhdanko

Ten-year-old Yura ended up in the army by chance. In July 1941, he went to show the retreating Red Army soldiers a little-known ford on the Western Dvina and did not have time to return to his native Vitebsk, where the Germans had already entered. And so he left with a part to the east, to Moscow itself, in order to start the return journey to the west from there.

Yuri Zhdanko. Photo: russia-reborn.ru

On this path, Yura managed a lot. In January 1942, he, who had never jumped with a parachute before, went to the rescue of encircled partisans and helped them break through the enemy ring. In the summer of 1942, together with a group of reconnaissance colleagues, he blows up a strategically important bridge across the Berezina, sending to the bottom of the river not only the bridge deck, but also nine trucks passing through it, and less than a year later, he is the only one of all the messengers who managed to break through to the surrounded battalion and help him get out of the "ring".

By February 1944, the chest of the 13-year-old scout was decorated with the medal "For Courage" and the Order of the Red Star. But a shell that exploded literally underfoot interrupted Yura's front-line career. He ended up in the hospital, from where he went to the Suvorov Military School, but did not go through for health reasons. Then the retired young intelligence officer retrained as a welder and also managed to become famous on this “front”, having traveled with his welding machine almost half of Eurasia - he built pipelines.

Infantryman Anatoly Komar

Among the 263 Soviet soldiers who covered enemy embrasures with their bodies, the youngest was 15-year-old private of the 332nd reconnaissance company of the 252nd rifle division of the 53rd army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front Anatoly Komar. The teenager got into the active army in September 1943, when the front came close to his native Slavyansk. It happened with him almost the same way as with Yura Zhdanko, with the only difference that the boy served as a guide not for the retreating, but for the advancing Red Army. Anatoly helped them go deep into the front line of the Germans, and then left with the advancing army to the west.

Young partisan. Photo: Imperial War Museum

But, unlike Yura Zhdanko, Tolya Komar's front-line path was much shorter. For only two months he had a chance to wear epaulettes that had recently appeared in the Red Army and go on reconnaissance. In November of the same year, returning from a free search in the rear of the Germans, a group of scouts revealed themselves and was forced to break through to their own with a fight. The last obstacle on the way back was a machine gun, which pressed the reconnaissance to the ground. Anatoly Komar threw a grenade at him, and the fire subsided, but as soon as the scouts got up, the machine gunner began to shoot again. And then Tolya, who was closest to the enemy, got up and fell on a machine-gun barrel, at the cost of his life, buying his comrades precious minutes for a breakthrough.

Sailor Boris Kuleshin

In the cracked photograph, a ten-year-old boy stands against the backdrop of sailors in black uniforms with ammunition boxes on their backs and the superstructures of a Soviet cruiser. His hands are tightly squeezing a PPSh assault rifle, and on his head is a peakless cap with a guards ribbon and the inscription "Tashkent". This is a pupil of the crew of the leader of the destroyers "Tashkent" Borya Kuleshin. The picture was taken in Poti, where, after repairs, the ship called for another cargo of ammunition for the besieged Sevastopol. It was here that the twelve-year-old Borya Kuleshin appeared at the gangway of the Tashkent. His father died at the front, his mother, as soon as Donetsk was occupied, was taken to Germany, and he himself managed to escape across the front line to his own people and, together with the retreating army, reach the Caucasus.

Boris Kuleshin. Photo: weralbum.ru

While they were persuading the commander of the ship, Vasily Eroshenko, while they were deciding which combat unit to enroll the cabin boy in, the sailors managed to give him a belt, cap and machine gun and take a picture of the new crew member. And then there was a transition to Sevastopol, Borya's first raid on the "Tashkent" in his life and the first clips for an anti-aircraft gun in his life, which he, along with other anti-aircraft gunners, gave to the shooters. At his combat post, he was wounded on July 2, 1942, when German aircraft tried to sink the ship in the port of Novorossiysk. After the hospital, Borya, following Captain Eroshenko, came to a new ship - the guards cruiser Krasny Kavkaz. And already here he found his well-deserved award: presented for the battles on the "Tashkent" to the medal "For Courage", he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner by the decision of the front commander, Marshal Budyonny and a member of the Military Council, Admiral Isakov. And in the next front-line picture, he already flaunts in a new uniform of a young sailor, on whose head is a peakless cap with a guards ribbon and the inscription "Red Caucasus". It was in this form that in 1944 Borya went to the Tbilisi Nakhimov School, where in September 1945, among other teachers, educators and pupils, he was awarded the medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."

Musician Petr Klypa

Fifteen-year-old pupil of the musical platoon of the 333rd rifle regiment, Pyotr Klypa, like other underage inhabitants of the Brest Fortress, had to go to the rear with the outbreak of war. But Petya refused to leave the fighting citadel, which, among others, was defended by the only native person - his older brother, Lieutenant Nikolai. So he became one of the first teenage soldiers in the history of the Great Patriotic War and a full participant in the heroic defense of the Brest Fortress.

Peter Klypa. Photo: worldwar.com

He fought there until the beginning of July, until he received an order, along with the remnants of the regiment, to break through to Brest. This is where Petit's ordeals began. Having crossed the tributary of the Bug, he, along with other colleagues, was captured, from which he soon managed to escape. He got to Brest, lived there for a month and moved east, behind the retreating Red Army, but did not reach. During one of the nights, he and a friend were discovered by the police, and the teenagers were sent to forced labor in Germany. Petya was released only in 1945 by American troops, and after checking, he even managed to serve in the Soviet army for several months. And upon returning to his homeland, he again ended up behind bars, because he succumbed to the persuasion of an old friend and helped him speculate on the loot. Pyotr Klypa was released only seven years later. He had to thank the historian and writer Sergei Smirnov for this, bit by bit recreating the history of the heroic defense of the Brest Fortress and, of course, not missing the story of one of its youngest defenders, who, after his release, was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.

Hero of the Soviet Union - the highest title, the greatest distinction and achievement that could only be achieved in the USSR. The award in the form of a gold star, universal respect and honor were received by those who performed a real feat during the war or other hostilities, as well as in peacetime, but most likely this was a rare exception than the rule. It was not easy to get such a title once, what can we say about those who have been awarded it several times?

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union... There were as many as 154 such exceptionally brave people. Of these, 23 have survived to this day - these are data as of November 2014.

The first two heroes of the USSR

They became pilots. They received their awards back in 1939 during clashes with Japanese fighters. These are Colonel Kravchenko, Major Gritsevets and Commander Smushkevich. Unfortunately, fate was cruel to them. The pilot, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Gritsevets, having shot down a dozen enemy fighters in the sky, died a month after receiving the award.

The plane crash also took the life of Kravchenko. By the way, he became the youngest lieutenant general in the USSR. He was then only 28 years old. During the war years, he commanded an entire air division, in the Japanese sky he eliminated 7 enemy aircraft. During one of the flights, he jumped out of a burning car, but his parachute did not open due to a cable broken by a shell fragment.

As for Smushkevich, after all his valor in Spain in 1937 and receiving the highest awards, in June 1941 he was taken into custody by representatives of the NKVD. The hero was accused of conspiracy and campaigning aimed at reducing the defense capability of the Red Army. He was shot a few months after his arrest.

Boris Safonov

One of those who first received the title of "Twice Hero of the Soviet Union" was this world-famous pilot. He distinguished himself already in the first air battles with the Nazis in 1941. They say that the Germans, when they noticed his plane on the horizon, passed the message to each other: "Safonov is in the air." This was the signal for all enemy fighters to immediately return to base. With the Soviet pilot, they were afraid not only to go into battle one on one, even a whole group of aircraft tried not to collide with him in the sky.

Soviet attack aircraft, whose combat vehicles were brightly painted, became the first targets of the Nazis. They were easy to notice, they irritated and provoked aggression in the enemy. Safonov already had two huge inscriptions on board: "Death to the Nazis" and "For Stalin." Despite this, for a long time he managed not only to survive, but also to have the highest rates of downed enemy fighters. Safonov's exploits were also noted in Great Britain. He received the country's highest aviation award - "For Outstanding Flying Merit". The hero died in May 1942 in battle.

Leonov Viktor Nikolaevich

There were two namesakes who received this high award. And I would like to tell you about these courageous people, so different, but such significant deeds of which are inscribed in golden letters in the history of our country. The first is twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov. In 1944, his detachment, fearlessly attacking the enemy and capturing the Germans, created all the conditions for the Soviet troops to successfully land in the port of Liinakhamari and liberate the cities: Finnish Petsamo and Norwegian Kirkenes.

The second time he showed valor and courage, in fact, in peacetime. In 1945, during the continuation of the confrontation between the Soviet and Japanese states, his detachment several times captured thousands of soldiers and officers, fought the enemy for many days in a row and took possession of ammunition depots. For all these merits, he again received the highest award. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov continued to serve for the good of the Motherland after the war. He died in 2003.

Leonov Alexey Arkhipovich

The namesake of Viktor Nikolaevich did not run under bullets and did not blow up dugouts, but his deeds not only glorified him, but the entire Soviet Union. Alexei Arkhipovich is a famous cosmonaut. He received a high award for being the first in the history of mankind to venture into outer space. His famous "walk" lasted 12 minutes and 9 seconds. He showed his valor when, due to a damaged, swollen spacesuit, he could not return to the ship. But having taken strength into a fist and showing ingenuity in unforeseen conditions, he guessed to pump out the excess pressure from his attire and got on board.

For the second time, he was awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union" for the fact that, being the commander of the Soyuz 19 spacecraft, he successfully completed the docking operation with the American Apollo. Neither Soviet cosmonauts nor their fellow astronauts have seen this before. Therefore, the feat of Leonov gave impetus to the further active development of starry spaces. He became an example for all young cosmonauts, and is still such, as he is one of the living heroes. In 2014, he turned 80 years old.

The feat of the Kazakhs

This nation played a big role in the destruction of fascism and the Third Reich. Like other republics of the USSR, Kazakhstan during the Second World War did everything for the front. More than a million ordinary soldiers volunteered for the battlefields. 50 regiments and battalions, 7 rifle brigades, 4 cavalry and 12 rifle divisions were mobilized. The Kazakhs were among the first who broke into the Berlin City Hall, painted the walls of the Reichstag. Many of them, without thinking about themselves, covered enemy pillboxes with their bodies and threw off their planes on German "freight trains".

Five of them received the highest award several times. Twice heroes of the Soviet Union, Kazakhs: Leonid Beda, Sergey Lugansky, Ivan Pavlov. For example, the first on this list, the ace attack aircraft, shot down hundreds of enemy aircraft. There are legends about the pilot Begeldinov even today. Another Kazakh, Vladimir Dzhanibekov, became the fifth in this list, but after the war. He became famous as an outstanding astronaut. In addition, during the war years, about 500 representatives of this nation once became heroes of the USSR, and their exploits will also never be forgotten.

Svetlana Savitskaya

The list of Heroes of the USSR includes 95 names of the fair sex. But only one of them managed to receive the highest award several times. A woman, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, she absorbed the desire to be the best with her mother's milk. Many qualities of character were passed down through the genes, many of which this strong personality brought up in herself.

Her father Evgeny Savitsky, by the way, is also twice a Hero, during the war he was an air marshal. Behind my mother there are also many sorties and downed Nazi planes. It is not surprising that the daughter of such parents entered the flight school. But the woman never used her father's connections, but she achieved everything herself. She became the second female cosmonaut after Tereshkova. More than once she worked in outer space, wiping her nose to American astronauts. She has nine world records in jet aircraft, three in group jumps from the stratosphere with a parachute. Savitskaya received the title of world champion in aerobatics on piston aircraft.

Amet Khan Sultan

The famous pilot is remembered and revered in his native Dagestan. The airport, streets, squares and parks are named after him. But Soviet citizens many years ago claimed that twice Amet-khan-Sultan had another homeland: the city of Yaroslavl. He was recognized as an honorary citizen of this settlement, and a monument was erected to him. The old-timers remember this young 21st boy who was not afraid to ram with an enemy plane right over the roofs of houses and thereby save the city from bombing.

The ejected pilot was picked up by local residents and bandaged his wounds. And the German messer he had shot down was dragged to the center and put on public display as an example of the valor and courage of a simple Soviet youth. Throughout the war, he showed his heroism more than once, so the awards he received are absolutely deserved. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union reached Berlin itself and fought his last battle on April 29, 1945, just a week before the Great Victory.

Ivan Boyko

Heroes were not only among the pilots. In the Great Patriotic War, tankmen also distinguished themselves more than once, among them Ivan Boyko. He fought in Belarus, in the Smolensk direction and commanded a tank regiment, which distinguished itself on the Ukrainian front during the Zhytomyr-Berdychiv operation. After driving almost 300 kilometers, the tankers liberated a hundred cities. They captured 150 Germans with all their guns and fighting vehicles. They defeated several enemy echelons, from which they captured a strategically important cargo.

The second time the tank regiment distinguished itself near the Ukrainian cities of Chernivtsi and Novoselitsa. The fighters under the leadership of Boyk not only liberated these settlements, but also captured many enemy soldiers and officers. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union ended the war on the ruins of the Reichstag. In the city of Kazatin, a commemorative bust was erected to the valiant tankman, he became an honorary citizen in Chernivtsi. He has many medals, orders and other awards. He died in 1975 in Kyiv.

Sergey Gorshkov

The title of "Hero of the Soviet Union" among the brethren received not so many soldiers and officers. But Sergei Gorshkov succeeded. He led the landing of the first amphibious assault on the Black Sea, which further contributed to the successful counteroffensive of the Red Army units in this area. He commanded the Azov and Danube military flotillas. In 1944 he rose to the rank of Vice Admiral.

Sergei Gorshkov took part in the battles for the liberation of Hungary from the invaders. His last military operation was the capture of Gerjen, which he called an ideal springboard for an offensive towards Balaton. After all, having reached the lake, the Red Army could surround Budapest and drive the enemy out of there. The operation was successful. And in early 1945, Gorshkov was assigned to command the Black Sea Fleet. In this rank, he met the victory over the Third Reich. He received the highest awards for exceptional courage, courage and valor during the struggle against the invaders, for the skillful leadership of the troops entrusted to him.

Afanasy Shilin

For the first time he received the highest award in the winter of 1944 for a successful one. Here he showed courage, which helped our soldiers to keep a foothold on the right bank. In this battle, Shilin independently managed to eliminate two machine-gun crews of the Germans, two officers and 11 soldiers. When the Fritz surrounded him, he did not hesitate to call fire on himself. Thanks to this, our troops managed to gain a foothold on the bridgehead and push the enemy far back.

The second time he was awarded as the head of a group that successfully reconnoitred the territory and destroyed the weapons of the Nazis. As a result, the enemy's plan to take the Magnushevsky bridgehead was thwarted. He personally stormed the enemy's strongholds, and in the battles on Polish soil, being wounded and almost unconscious, he threw a bunch of grenades into the bunker and destroyed it. Thanks to this, the Red Army launched an offensive.

Twice Heroes of the Soviet Union... The list includes the names of pilots and cosmonauts, sea wolves and tankers, gunners and partisans. But there are even more of those who, having shown exceptional courage, lay down unknown, were exiled or repressed, despite their merits and faithful service to the Fatherland. It is necessary to remember not only the awarded participants in the war, but all the privates and officers without exception, each of whom is a Hero.

The highest degree of distinction in the USSR was the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. It was awarded to citizens who accomplished a feat during military operations or distinguished themselves by other outstanding services to the Motherland. As an exception, it could be assigned in peacetime.

The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was established by the Decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of April 16, 1934. Later, on August 1, 1939, as an additional insignia, for the Heroes of the USSR, it was approved in the form of a five-pointed star fixed on a rectangular block, which was issued to the awarded along with the diploma of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces. At the same time, it was established that those who have performed a repeated feat worthy of the title of Hero are awarded the second Order of Lenin and the second Gold Star medal. When the award was repeated in the homeland of the hero, his bronze bust was installed. The number of awards with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was not limited.

The list of the first Heroes of the Soviet Union was opened on April 20, 1934 by polar explorers: A. Lyapidevsky, S. Levanevsky, N. Kamanin, V. Molokov, M. Vodopyanov, M. Slepnev and I. Doronin. Participants in the rescue of passengers in distress on the legendary Chelyuskin steamer.

The eighth in the list was M. Gromov (September 28, 1934). The crew of the aircraft headed by him set a world record for the flight distance along a closed curve at a distance of more than 12 thousand kilometers. The following pilots became Heroes of the USSR: crew commander Valery Chkalov, who together with G. Baidukov, A. Belyakov, made a long non-stop flight on the route Moscow - the Far East.

It was for military exploits that for the first time 17 commanders of the Red Army (Decree of December 31, 1936) who participated in the Spanish Civil War became Heroes of the Soviet Union. Six of them were tankers, the rest were pilots. Three of them were awarded the title posthumously. Two of those awarded were foreigners: Bulgarian V. Goranov and Italian P. Gibelli. In total, during the battles in Spain (1936-39), the highest distinction was awarded 60 times.

In August 1938, this list was supplemented by 26 more people who showed courage and heroism in the defeat of the Japanese invaders in the area of ​​Lake Khasan. Approximately a year later, the first presentation of the Gold Star medal took place, which was received by 70 fighters for their exploits during the fighting in the area of ​​the river. Khalkhin-Gol (1939). Some of them at the same time became twice Heroes of the Soviet Union.

After the start of the Soviet-Finnish conflict (1939-40), the list of Heroes of the Soviet Union increased by another 412 people. Thus, before the start of the Great Patriotic War, 626 citizens received the Hero, among whom were 3 women (M. Raskova, P. Osipenko and V. Grizodubova).

More than 90 percent of the total number of Heroes of the Soviet Union appeared in the country during the Great Patriotic War. This high title was awarded to 11,657 people, 3,051 of them posthumously. In this list, 107 fighters who became twice heroes (7 were awarded posthumously), also included 90 women (49 posthumously) in the total number of awardees.

The attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR caused an unprecedented rise in patriotism. The Great War brought a lot of grief, but it also opened up the heights of courage and firmness of character, it would seem, of ordinary ordinary people.

So, who would have expected heroism from the elderly Pskov peasant Matvey Kuzmin. In the very first days of the war, he came to the recruiting office, but they dismissed him there - he was too old: "Go, grandfather, to your grandchildren, we'll figure it out without you." Meanwhile, the front moved inexorably to the east. The Germans entered the village of Kurakino, where Kuzmin lived. In February 1942, an elderly peasant was unexpectedly summoned to the commandant's office - the battalion commander of the 1st mountain rifle division found out that Kuzmin was an excellent tracker who knew the area perfectly and ordered him to assist the Nazis - to lead a German detachment to the rear of the forward battalion of the Soviet 3rd shock army . “If you do everything right, I’ll pay well, and if not, blame yourself ...”. “Yes, of course, of course, don’t worry, your honor,” Kuzmin pretended to whine. But an hour later, the cunning peasant sent his grandson with a note to ours: “The Germans ordered a detachment to be brought to your rear, in the morning I will lure them to a fork near the village of Malkino, meet me.” That same evening, the fascist detachment set off with its guide. Kuzmin led the Nazis in circles and deliberately exhausted the invaders: he forced them to climb steep hillsides and wade through thick bushes. “What can you do, your honor, well, there is no other way here…”. At dawn, tired and frozen Nazis were at the fork in Malkino. "All right, guys, come." "How did you come!?" “Well, let’s rest here, and then we’ll see…”. The Germans looked around - they walked all night, but moved away from Kurakino only a couple of kilometers and now stood on the road in an open field, and twenty meters in front of them was a forest, where, now they understood it for sure, there was a Soviet ambush. “Oh, you…” - the German officer pulled out a pistol and discharged the entire clip into the old man. But at the same second, a rifle volley burst out of the forest, then another, Soviet machine guns chirped, a mortar hooted. The Nazis rushed about, shouted, fired randomly in all directions, but not one of them left alive. The hero died and took 250 Nazi invaders with him. Matvey Kuzmin became the oldest Hero of the Soviet Union, he was 83 years old.

And the youngest cavalier of the highest Soviet rank, Valya Kotik, joined the partisan detachment at the age of 11. At first he was a liaison for an underground organization, then he took part in military operations. With his courage, fearlessness and firmness of character, Valya amazed his worldly older comrades. In October 1943, the young hero saved his detachment, noticing the approaching punishers in time, he raised the alarm and was the first to enter the battle, killing several Nazis, including a German officer. On February 16, 1944, Valya was mortally wounded in battle. The young hero was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. He was 14 years old.

The whole nation, young and old, rose up to fight the fascist infection. Soldiers, sailors, officers, even children and the elderly selflessly fought against the Nazi invaders. Therefore, it is not surprising that the vast majority of awards with the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union fall on the years of the war.

In the post-war period, the title of GSS was awarded quite rarely. But even before 1990, awards for feats during the Great Patriotic War, which were not made at one time for various reasons, continued, scout Richard Sorge, F.A. Poletaev, the legendary submariner A.I. Marinesko and many others.

For military courage and dedication, the title of the GSS was awarded to combatants who performed international duty in North Korea, Hungary, Egypt - 15 awards, in Afghanistan 85 internationalist soldiers received the highest distinction, 28 of them - posthumously.

A special group, awarding test pilots of military equipment, polar explorers, participants in the exploration of the depths of the oceans - a total of 250 people. Since 1961, the title of GSS has been awarded to cosmonauts, for 30 years it has been awarded to 84 people who have made a space flight. Six people were awarded for the liquidation of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

It should also be noted that in the post-war years, a vicious tradition of conferring high military distinctions for "office" achievements dedicated to anniversary birthdays appeared. This is how the repeatedly marked heroes like Brezhnev and Budyonny appeared. The Golden Stars were also awarded as friendly political gestures, due to this, the list of Heroes of the USSR was replenished by the heads of the allied states Fidel Castro, Egyptian President Nasser and some others.

Completed the list of Heroes of the Soviet Union on December 24, 1991, captain of the 3rd rank, underwater specialist L. Solodkov, who participated in a diving experiment on long-term work at a depth of 500 meters under water.

In total, during the existence of the USSR, 12 thousand 776 people received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Of these, 154 people were awarded it twice, 3 people three times. and four times - 2 people. Military pilots S. Gritsevich and G. Kravchenko became the first twice Heroes. Thrice Heroes: Air Marshals A. Pokryshkin and I. Kozhedub, as well as Marshal of the USSR S. Budyonny. There are only two Heroes on the list four times - these are Marshals of the USSR G. Zhukov and L. Brezhnev.

In history, there are cases of deprivation of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - a total of 72, plus 13 canceled Decrees on conferring this title, as unfounded.

Biographies and exploits of Heroes of the Soviet Union and holders of Soviet orders: