Heroes of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and their exploits
The battles have long died down. The veterans leave one by one. But the heroes of the Second World War of 1941-1945 and their exploits will forever remain in the memory of grateful descendants. This article will tell about the brightest personalities of those years and their immortal deeds. Some were still quite young, while others were no longer young. Each of the characters has its own character and its own destiny. But all of them were united by love for the Motherland and a willingness to sacrifice themselves for its good.Alexander Matrosov
Orphanage pupil Sasha Matrosov went to war at the age of 18. Immediately after the infantry school, he was sent to the front. February 1943 turned out to be "hot". Alexander's battalion went on the attack, and at some point the guy, along with several comrades, was surrounded. It was not possible to break through to our own - enemy machine guns fired too densely.
Soon Matrosov was left alone. His comrades perished under the bullets. The young man had only a few seconds to make a decision. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the last in his life. Wanting to bring at least some benefit to his native battalion, Alexander Matrosov rushed to the embrasure, covering it with his body. The fire is silent. The attack of the Red Army was ultimately successful - the Nazis retreated. And Sasha went to heaven as a young and handsome 19-year-old guy ...
Marat Kazei
When the Great Patriotic War began, Marat Kazei was only twelve. He lived in the village of Stankovo with his sister and parents. In the 41st he was in occupation. Marat's mother helped the partisans, providing them with her shelter and feeding them. Once the Germans found out about this and shot the woman. Left alone, the children, without hesitation, went to the forest and joined the partisans.
Marat, who had completed only four classes before the war, helped his senior comrades as much as he could. He was even taken on reconnaissance; and he also participated in undermining the German trains. In the 43rd, the boy was awarded the medal "For Courage", for the heroism shown during the breakthrough of the encirclement. The boy was wounded in that terrible battle.
And in 1944, Kazei was returning from intelligence with an adult partisan. They were noticed by the Germans and began to fire. The older comrade died. Marat fired back to the last bullet. And when he had only one grenade left, the teenager let the Germans get closer and blew himself up along with them. He was 15 years old.
Alexey Maresyev
The name of this man is known to every inhabitant of the former Soviet Union. After all, we are talking about a legendary pilot. Alexei Maresyev was born in 1916 and dreamed of the sky since childhood. Even the transferred rheumatism did not become an obstacle on the way to the dream. Despite the prohibitions of doctors, Alexei entered the flight - they took him after several futile attempts.
In 1941, the stubborn young man went to the front. The sky was not what he dreamed of. But it was necessary to defend the Motherland, and Maresyev did everything for this. Once his plane was shot down. Wounded in both legs, Aleksey managed to land the car on the territory occupied by the Germans and even somehow get through to his own.
But time has been lost. The legs were "devoured" by gangrene, and they had to be amputated. Where to go to a soldier without both limbs? After all, she was completely crippled ... But Alexei Maresyev was not one of those. He remained in the ranks and continued to fight the enemy.
As many as 86 times the winged car with the hero on board managed to take to the skies. Maresyev shot down 11 German planes. The pilot was lucky to survive that terrible war and feel the heady taste of victory. He died in 2001. "The Tale of a Real Man" by Boris Polevoy is a work about him. It was the feat of Maresyev that inspired the author to write it.
Zinaida Portnova
Born in 1926, Zina Portnova met the war as a teenager. At that time, a native resident of Leningrad was visiting relatives in Belarus. Once in the occupied territory, she did not sit on the sidelines, but joined the partisan movement. Pasted leaflets, established contact with the underground ...
In 1943, the Germans grabbed the girl and dragged her to their lair. During the interrogation, Zina somehow managed to take a pistol from the table. She shot her tormentors - two soldiers and an investigator.
It was a heroic act that made the attitude of the Germans towards Zina even more brutal. It is impossible to convey in words the torment that the girl experienced during the terrible torture. But she was silent. Not a word could be squeezed out by the Nazis from her. As a result, the Germans shot their captive without getting anything from the heroine Zina Portnova.
Andrey Korzun
Andrei Korzun turned thirty in 1941. He was immediately called to the front, sent to the artillerymen. Korzun took part in the terrible battles near Leningrad, during one of which he was seriously wounded. It was November 5, 1943.As he fell, Korzun noticed that the ammunition depot was on fire. It was necessary to urgently put out the fire, otherwise an explosion of enormous force threatened to take many lives. Somehow, bleeding and in pain, the gunner crawled to the warehouse. The artilleryman did not have the strength to take off his overcoat and throw it on the flame. Then he covered the fire with his body. The explosion didn't happen. Andrei Korzun failed to survive.
Leonid Golikov
Another young hero is Lenya Golikov. Born in 1926. Lived in the Novgorod region. With the outbreak of war, he left to partisan. The courage and determination of this teenager was not to take. Leonid destroyed 78 fascists, a dozen enemy trains and even a couple of bridges.
The explosion that went down in history and claimed the German General Richard von Wirtz was his doing. The car of an important rank flew into the air, and Golikov took possession of valuable documents, for which he received the star of the Hero.
A brave partisan died in 1943 near the village of Ostraya Luka during a German attack. The enemy significantly outnumbered our fighters in number, and they had no chance. Golikov fought until his last breath.
These are just six of the great many stories that permeated the entire war. Everyone who passed it, who even for a moment brought victory closer, is already a hero. Thanks to such as Maresyev, Golikov, Korzun, Matrosov, Kazei, Portnova and millions of other Soviet soldiers, the world got rid of the brown plague of the 20th century. And the reward for their deeds was eternal life!
The war demanded from the people the greatest exertion of strength and huge sacrifices on a national scale, revealed the steadfastness and courage of the Soviet man, the ability to sacrifice himself in the name of the freedom and independence of the Motherland. During the war years, heroism became widespread, became the norm for the behavior of Soviet people. Thousands of soldiers and officers immortalized their names during the defense of the Brest Fortress, Odessa, Sevastopol, Kyiv, Leningrad, Novorossiysk, in the battle of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, in the North Caucasus, the Dnieper, in the foothills of the Carpathians, during the storming of Berlin and in other battles.
For heroic deeds in the Great Patriotic War, over 11 thousand people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (some of them posthumously), 104 of them twice, three three times (G.K. Zhukov, I.N. Kozhedub and A.I. Pokryshkin ). During the war years, this title was first awarded to Soviet pilots M.P. Zhukov, S.I. Zdorovtsev and P.T. Kharitonov, who rammed Nazi planes on the outskirts of Leningrad.
In total, over eight thousand heroes were brought up in the ground forces in wartime, including 1800 artillerymen, 1142 tankmen, 650 engineering troops, over 290 signalmen, 93 air defense soldiers, 52 soldiers of the military rear, 44 doctors; in the Air Force - over 2400 people; in the Navy - over 500 people; partisans, underground workers and Soviet intelligence officers - about 400; border guards - over 150 people.
| Representatives of the nations | Number of heroes |
|---|---|
| Russians | 8160 |
| Ukrainians | 2069 |
| Belarusians | 309 |
| Tatars | 161 |
| Jews | 108 |
| Kazakhs | 96 |
| Georgian | 90 |
| Armenians | 90 |
| Uzbeks | 69 |
| Mordovians | 61 |
| Chuvash | 44 |
| Azerbaijanis | 43 |
| Bashkirs | 39 |
| Ossetians | 32 |
| Tajiks | 14 |
| Turkmens | 18 |
| Lithokians | 15 |
| Latvians | 13 |
| Kyrgyz | 12 |
| Udmurts | 10 |
| Karelians | 8 |
| Estonians | 8 |
| Kalmyks | 8 |
| Kabardians | 7 |
| Adyghe | 6 |
| Abkhazians | 5 |
| Yakuts | 3 |
| Moldovans | 2 |
| results | 11501 |
Among the military personnel awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, privates, sergeants, foremen - over 35%, officers - about 60%, generals, admirals, marshals - over 380 people. There are 87 women among the Wartime Heroes of the Soviet Union. The first to receive this title was Z. A. Kosmodemyanskaya (posthumously).
About 35% of the Heroes of the Soviet Union at the time of awarding the title were under the age of 30, 28% - from 30 to 40 years old, 9% - over 40 years old.
Four Heroes of the Soviet Union: artilleryman A. V. Aleshin, pilot I. G. Drachenko, commander of a rifle platoon P. Kh. Dubinda, artilleryman N. I. Kuznetsov - were also awarded Orders of Glory of all three degrees for military exploits. More than 2,500 people, including 4 women, became full holders of the Order of Glory of three degrees. During the war, over 38 million orders and medals were awarded to the defenders of the Motherland for courage and heroism. The motherland highly appreciated the labor feat of the Soviet people in the rear. During the war years, the title of Hero of Socialist Labor was awarded to 201 people, about 200 thousand were awarded orders and medals.
Viktor Vasilievich Talalikhin
Born September 18, 1918 in the village. Teplovka, Volsky district, Saratov region. Russian. After graduating from the factory school, he worked at the Moscow meat processing plant, at the same time he studied at the flying club. He graduated from the Borisoglebokoe military aviation school for pilots. He took part in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. He made 47 sorties, shot down 4 Finnish aircraft, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star (1940).
In the battles of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. Made more than 60 sorties. In the summer and autumn of 1941, he fought near Moscow. For military distinctions he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner (1941) and the Order of Lenin.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal was awarded to Viktor Vasilievich Talalikhin by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 8, 1941 for the first night ramming of an enemy bomber in the history of aviation.
Soon Talalikhin was appointed squadron commander, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant. The glorious pilot participated in many air battles near Moscow, shot down five more enemy aircraft personally and one in a group. He died a heroic death in an unequal battle with Nazi fighters on October 27, 1941.
Buried V.V. Talalikhin with military honors at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. By order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR dated August 30, 1948, he was forever enrolled in the lists of the first squadron of the fighter aviation regiment, in which he fought the enemy near Moscow.
Streets in Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Borisoglebsk, Voronezh region and other cities, a sea vessel, GPTU No. 100 in Moscow, and a number of schools were named after Talalikhin. An obelisk was erected on the 43rd kilometer of the Varshavskoye Highway, over which an unprecedented night duel took place. A monument was erected in Podolsk, in Moscow - a bust of the Hero.
Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub
(1920-1991), air marshal (1985), Hero of the Soviet Union (1944 - twice; 1945). During the Great Patriotic War in fighter aviation, the squadron commander, deputy regiment commander, conducted 120 air battles; shot down 62 aircraft.
Three times Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub on La-7 shot down 17 enemy aircraft (including the Me-262 jet fighter) out of 62 shot down by him during the war on La fighters. One of the most memorable battles Kozhedub fought on February 19, 1945 (sometimes the date is February 24).
On this day, he flew out on a free hunt paired with Dmitry Titarenko. On the traverse of the Oder, the pilots noticed an aircraft rapidly approaching from the direction of Frankfurt an der Oder. The plane was flying along the riverbed at an altitude of 3500 m at a speed much greater than the La-7 could develop. It was Me-262. Kozhedub instantly made a decision. The Me-262 pilot relied on the speed qualities of his car and did not control the airspace in the rear hemisphere and below. Kozhedub attacked from below on a head-on course, hoping to hit the jet in the belly. However, Titarenko opened fire before Kozhedub. To the considerable surprise of Kozhedub, the premature firing of the wingman was beneficial.
The German turned to the left, towards Kozhedub, the latter had only to catch the Messerschmitt in the sight and press the trigger. Me-262 turned into a fireball. In the cockpit of the Me 262 was non-commissioned officer Kurt-Lange from 1. / KG (J) -54.
On the evening of April 17, 1945, Kozhedub and Titarenko flew their fourth combat sortie to the Berlin area in a day. Immediately after crossing the front line north of Berlin, the hunters discovered a large group of FW-190s with suspended bombs. Kozhedub began to gain altitude for the attack and reported to the command post about establishing contact with a group of forty Focke-Vulvof with suspended bombs. German pilots clearly saw how a pair of Soviet fighters went into the clouds and did not expect that they would appear again. However, the hunters showed up.
Behind from the top, in the first attack, Kozhedub shot down the leader of the four fokkers that closed the group. The hunters sought to give the enemy the impression of the presence of a significant number of Soviet fighters in the air. Kozhedub threw his La-7 right into the thick of the enemy aircraft, turning Lavochkin left and right, the ace fired cannons in short bursts. The Germans succumbed to the trick - the Focke-Wulfs began to free them from bombs that prevented air combat. However, the Luftwaffe pilots soon established the presence of only two La-7s in the air and, taking advantage of the numerical advantage, took the guards into circulation. One FW-190 managed to get into the tail of the Kozhedub fighter, but Titarenko opened fire before the German pilot - the Focke-Wulf exploded in the air.
By this time, help had arrived - the La-7 group from the 176th regiment, Titarenko and Kozhedub were able to get out of the battle on the last remaining fuel. On the way back, Kozhedub saw a single FW-190, which was still trying to drop bombs on Soviet troops. Ace dived and shot down an enemy plane. It was the last, 62nd, German aircraft shot down by the best Allied fighter pilot.
Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub also distinguished himself in the Battle of Kursk.
Kozhedub's total score does not include at least two aircraft - American R-51 Mustang fighters. In one of the battles in April, Kozhedub tried to drive off German fighters from the American Flying Fortress with cannon fire. US Air Force escort fighters misunderstood the intentions of the La-7 pilot and opened barrage fire from a long distance. Kozhedub, apparently, also mistook the Mustangs for Messers, left the fire with a coup and, in turn, attacked the “enemy”.
He damaged one Mustang (the plane, smoking, left the battlefield and, after flying a little, fell, the pilot jumped out with a parachute), the second R-51 exploded in the air. Only after a successful attack did Kozhedub notice the white stars of the US Air Force on the wings and fuselages of the planes he shot down. After landing, the regiment commander, Colonel Chupikov, advised Kozhedub to keep quiet about the incident and gave him the developed film of the photo-machine gun. The existence of a film with footage of burning Mustangs became known only after the death of the legendary pilot. Detailed biography of the hero on the website: www.warheroes.ru "Unknown Heroes"
Alexey Petrovich Maresyev
Maresyev Aleksey Petrovich fighter pilot, deputy squadron commander of the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Guards Senior Lieutenant.
Born on May 20, 1916 in the city of Kamyshin, Volgograd Region, in a working class family. Russian. At the age of three, he was left without a father, who died shortly after returning from the First World War. After graduating from the 8th grade of secondary school, Alexei entered the FZU, where he received the specialty of a locksmith. Then he applied to the Moscow Aviation Institute, but instead of the institute, he went to build Komsomolsk-on-Amur instead of the institute on a Komsomol ticket. There he sawed wood in the taiga, built barracks, and then the first residential quarters. At the same time he studied at the flying club. He was drafted into the Soviet army in 1937. He served in the 12th Aviation Border Detachment. But, according to Maresyev himself, he did not fly, but "wafted his tails" at the planes. He really took to the air already at the Bataysk Military Aviation Pilot School, which he graduated in 1940. He served as a flight instructor.
He made his first sortie on August 23, 1941 in the Krivoy Rog region. Lieutenant Maresyev opened a combat account at the beginning of 1942 - he shot down a Ju-52. By the end of March 1942, he brought the number of downed Nazi aircraft to four. On April 4, in an air battle over the Demyansky bridgehead (Novgorod region), Maresyev's fighter was shot down. He tried to land on the ice of a frozen lake, but released the landing gear early. The plane began to quickly lose altitude and fell into the forest.
Maresyev crawled to his own. He had frostbite on his feet and had to be amputated. However, the pilot decided not to give up. When he got the prostheses, he trained long and hard and got permission to return to duty. He learned to fly again in the 11th reserve aviation brigade in Ivanovo.
In June 1943, Maresyev returned to service. He fought on the Kursk Bulge as part of the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, was a deputy squadron commander. In August 1943, during one battle, Alexei Maresyev shot down three enemy FW-190 fighters at once.
On August 24, 1943, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Senior Lieutenant Maresyev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Later he fought in the Baltic States, became a regiment navigator. In 1944 he joined the CPSU. In total, he made 86 sorties, shot down 11 enemy aircraft: 4 before being wounded and seven with amputated legs. In June 1944, Major Maresyev of the Guards became an inspector-pilot of the Office of Higher Educational Institutions of the Air Force. The legendary fate of Alexei Petrovich Maresyev is the subject of Boris Polevoy's book "The Tale of a Real Man".
In July 1946, Maresyev was honorably discharged from the Air Force. In 1952 he graduated from the Higher Party School under the Central Committee of the CPSU, in 1956 - postgraduate studies at the Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the CPSU, received the title of candidate of historical sciences. In the same year, he became the executive secretary of the Soviet Committee of War Veterans, in 1983 - the first deputy chairman of the committee. In this position, he worked until the last day of his life.
Retired Colonel A.P. Maresyev was awarded two Orders of Lenin, Orders of the October Revolution, Red Banner, Patriotic War 1st degree, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, Orders of Friendship of Peoples, Red Star, Badge of Honor, "For Merit to the Fatherland" 3rd degree, medals, foreign orders. He was an honorary soldier of a military unit, an honorary citizen of the cities of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Kamyshin, Orel. A minor planet in the solar system, a public foundation, and youth patriotic clubs are named after him. He was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Author of the book "On the Kursk Bulge" (M., 1960).
Even during the war, Boris Polevoy's book "The Tale of a Real Man" was published, the prototype of which was Maresyev (the author changed only one letter in his last name). In 1948, director Alexander Stolper shot a film of the same name based on the book at Mosfilm. Maresyev was even offered to play the main role himself, but he refused and this role was played by a professional actor Pavel Kadochnikov.
He died suddenly on May 18, 2001. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery. On May 18, 2001, a gala evening was scheduled at the Theater of the Russian Army on the occasion of Maresyev's 85th birthday, but an hour before the start, Alexei Petrovich had a heart attack. He was taken to the intensive care unit of a Moscow clinic, where he died without regaining consciousness. The gala evening nevertheless took place, but it began with a moment of silence.
Krasnoperov Sergey Leonidovich
Krasnoperov Sergey Leonidovich was born on July 23, 1923 in the village of Pokrovka, Chernushinsky district. In May 1941, he volunteered for the Soviet Army. For a year he studied at the Balashov Aviation School of Pilots. In November 1942, attack pilot Sergei Krasnoperov arrived in the 765th assault aviation regiment, and in January 1943 he was appointed deputy squadron commander of the 502nd assault aviation regiment of the 214th assault air division of the North Caucasian Front. In this regiment in June 1943 he joined the ranks of the party. For military distinctions he was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner, the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded on February 4, 1944. Killed in action June 24, 1944. "March 14, 1943. Attack pilot Sergei Krasnoperov makes two sorties one after another to attack the port of Temrkzh. Leading six" silts ", he set fire to a boat at the pier of the port. In the second flight, an enemy shell hit the engine. A bright flame for a moment, like it seemed to Krasnoperov, the sun eclipsed and immediately disappeared in thick black smoke. Krasnoperov turned off the ignition, turned off the gas and tried to fly the plane to the front line. However, after a few minutes it became clear that it would not be possible to save the plane. And under the wing - a solid swamp. There is only one way out As soon as the burning car touched the swamp bumps with its fuselage, the pilot barely had time to jump out of it and run a little to the side, an explosion rumbled.
A few days later, Krasnoperov was back in the air, and in the combat log of the flight commander of the 502nd assault aviation regiment, junior lieutenant Krasnoperov Sergey Leonidovich, a brief entry appeared: "03/23/43". With two sorties, he destroyed a convoy in the area of \u200b\u200bst. Crimean. Destroyed vehicles - 1, created fires - 2 ". On April 4, Krasnoperov stormed manpower and firepower in the region of a height of 204.3 meters. On the next flight, he stormed artillery and firing points in the area of Krymskaya station. At the same time, he destroyed two tanks, one gun and mortar.
One day, a junior lieutenant received a task for a free flight in pairs. He was leading. Covertly, on a low-level flight, a pair of "silts" penetrated deep into the rear of the enemy. They noticed cars on the road - they attacked them. They discovered a concentration of troops - and suddenly brought down destructive fire on the heads of the Nazis. The Germans unloaded ammunition and weapons from a self-propelled barge. Combat entry - the barge flew into the air. The regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov, wrote about Sergei Krasnoperov: “Such heroic deeds of Comrade Krasnoperov are repeated in every sortie. The pilots of his flight became masters of the assault business. created for himself military glory, enjoys well-deserved military authority among the personnel of the regiment. And indeed. Sergei was only 19 years old, and for his exploits he had already been awarded the Order of the Red Star. He was only 20 years old, and his chest was adorned with the Golden Star of a Hero.
Seventy-four sorties were made by Sergei Krasnoperov during the days of fighting on the Taman Peninsula. As one of the best, he was entrusted 20 times to lead a group of "silts" to attack, and he always carried out a combat mission. He personally destroyed 6 tanks, 70 vehicles, 35 wagons with cargo, 10 guns, 3 mortars, 5 points of anti-aircraft artillery, 7 machine guns, 3 tractors, 5 bunkers, an ammunition depot, a boat, a self-propelled barge were sunk, two crossings across the Kuban were destroyed.
Matrosov Alexander Matveevich
Matrosov Alexander Matveyevich - rifleman of the 2nd battalion of the 91st separate rifle brigade (22nd Army, Kalinin Front), private. Born February 5, 1924 in the city of Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk). Russian. Member of the Komsomol. He lost his parents early. 5 years was brought up in the Ivanovo orphanage (Ulyanovsk region). Then he was brought up in the Ufa children's labor colony. At the end of the 7th grade, he remained to work in the colony as an assistant teacher. In the Red Army since September 1942. In October 1942 he entered the Krasnokholmsk Infantry School, but soon most of the cadets were sent to the Kalinin Front.
In the army since November 1942. He served in the 2nd Battalion of the 91st Separate Rifle Brigade. For some time the brigade was in reserve. Then she was transferred near Pskov to the area of \u200b\u200bthe Big Lomovaty Bor. Right from the march, the brigade entered the battle.
On February 27, 1943, the 2nd battalion received the task of attacking a stronghold near the village of Chernushki (Loknyansky district, Pskov region). As soon as our soldiers passed through the forest and reached the edge of the forest, they came under heavy enemy machine gun fire - three enemy machine guns in bunkers covered the approaches to the village. One machine gun was suppressed by an assault group of machine gunners and armor-piercers. The second bunker was destroyed by another group of armor-piercers. But the machine gun from the third bunker continued to shell the entire hollow in front of the village. Efforts to silence him were unsuccessful. Then, in the direction of the bunker, Private A.M. Matrosov crawled. He approached the embrasure from the flank and threw two grenades. The machine gun fell silent. But as soon as the fighters went on the attack, the machine gun came to life again. Then Matrosov got up, rushed to the bunker and closed the embrasure with his body. At the cost of his life, he contributed to the combat mission of the unit.
A few days later, the name of Matrosov became known throughout the country. The feat of Matrosov was used by a journalist who happened to be with the unit for a patriotic article. At the same time, the regiment commander learned about the feat from the newspapers. Moreover, the date of the death of the hero was moved to February 23, coinciding the feat with the day of the Soviet Army. Despite the fact that Matrosov was not the first to perform such an act of self-sacrifice, it was his name that was used to glorify the heroism of Soviet soldiers. Subsequently, over 300 people performed the same feat, but it was no longer widely reported. His feat has become a symbol of courage and military prowess, fearlessness and love for the Motherland.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Matveyevich Matrosov was posthumously awarded on June 19, 1943. He was buried in the city of Velikiye Luki. On September 8, 1943, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, the name of Matrosov was assigned to the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment, he himself was forever enrolled (one of the first in the Soviet Army) in the lists of the 1st company of this unit. Monuments to the Hero were erected in Ufa, Velikiye Luki, Ulyanovsk, etc. The Museum of Komsomol Glory in the city of Velikiye Luki, streets, schools, pioneer squads, motor ships, collective farms and state farms bore his name.
Ivan Vasilievich Panfilov
In the battles near Volokolamsk, the 316th Infantry Division of General I.V. Panfilov. Reflecting continuous enemy attacks for 6 days, they knocked out 80 tanks and destroyed several hundred soldiers and officers. Enemy attempts to capture the Volokolamsk region and open the way to Moscow from the west failed. For heroic actions, this unit was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and transformed into the 8th Guards, and its commander, General I.V. Panfilov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He was not lucky enough to witness the complete defeat of the enemy near Moscow: on November 18, near the village of Gusenevo, he died a heroic death.
Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov, Major General of the Guards, commander of the 8th Guards Rifle Division of the Red Banner (former 316th) Division, was born on January 1, 1893 in the city of Petrovsk, Saratov Region. Russian. Member of the CPSU since 1920. From the age of 12 he worked for hire, in 1915 he was drafted into the tsarist army. In the same year he was sent to the Russian-German front. Voluntarily joined the Red Army in 1918. He was enrolled in the 1st Saratov Infantry Regiment of the 25th Chapaev Division. Participated in the civil war, fought against Dutov, Kolchak, Denikin and the White Poles. After the war, he graduated from the two-year Kyiv United Infantry School and was assigned to the Central Asian Military District. He took part in the fight against the Basmachi.
The Great Patriotic War found Major General Panfilov at the post of military commissar of the Kyrgyz Republic. Having formed the 316th rifle division, he went with it to the front and in October - November 1941 fought near Moscow. For military distinctions he was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner (1921, 1929) and the medal "XX Years of the Red Army".
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov was awarded posthumously on April 12, 1942 for his skillful leadership of division units in the battles on the outskirts of Moscow and his personal courage and heroism.
In the first half of October 1941, the 316th Division arrived in the 16th Army and took up defensive positions on a wide front on the outskirts of Volokolamsk. General Panfilov was the first to widely use the system of in-depth artillery anti-tank defense, created and skillfully used mobile barrier detachments in battle. Thanks to this, the stamina of our troops increased significantly, and all attempts by the 5th German Army Corps to break through the defenses were unsuccessful. Within seven days, the division, together with the cadet regiment S.I. Mladentseva and dedicated units of anti-tank artillery successfully repelled enemy attacks.
Attaching great importance to the capture of Volokolamsk, the Nazi command sent another motorized corps to this area. Only under pressure from superior enemy forces, parts of the division were forced to leave Volokolamsk at the end of October and take up defenses east of the city.
On November 16, fascist troops launched a second "general" offensive against Moscow. A fierce battle broke out near Volokolamsk again. On this day, at the Dubosekovo junction, 28 Panfilov soldiers under the command of political instructor V.G. Klochkov repelled the attack of enemy tanks, and held the occupied line. The enemy tanks also failed to break through in the direction of the villages of Mykanino and Strokovo. The division of General Panfilov firmly held its positions, its soldiers fought to the death.
For the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command, the mass heroism of the personnel, the 316th division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on November 17, 1941, and the next day it was transformed into the 8th Guards Rifle Division.
Nikolai Frantsevich Gastello
Nikolai Frantsevich was born on May 6, 1908 in Moscow, in a working-class family. Graduated from 5 classes. He worked as a mechanic at the Murom Locomotive Plant of Construction Machines. In the Soviet Army in May 1932. In 1933 he graduated from the Lugansk military pilot school in bomber units. In 1939 he participated in the battles on the river. Khalkhin - Gol and the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. In the army since June 1941, the squadron commander of the 207th long-range bomber aviation regiment (42nd bomber aviation division, 3rd bomber aviation corps DBA), captain Gastello, on June 26, 1941, carried out another flight on a mission. His bomber was hit and caught fire. He directed the burning aircraft at a concentration of enemy troops. From the explosion of the bomber, the enemy suffered heavy losses. For the accomplished feat on July 26, 1941, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Gastello's name is forever listed in the lists of military units. On the site of the feat on the Minsk-Vilnius highway, a memorial monument was erected in Moscow.
Zoya Anatolyevna Kosmodemyanskaya ("Tanya")
Zoya Anatolyevna ["Tanya" (09/13/1923 - 11/29/1941)] - Soviet partisan, Hero of the Soviet Union was born in Osino-Gai, Gavrilovsky district, Tambov region, in the family of an employee. In 1930 the family moved to Moscow. 
She graduated from 9 classes of school number 201. 
In October 1941, the Komsomol member Kosmodemyanskaya voluntarily joined a special partisan detachment, acting on instructions from the headquarters of the Western Front in the Mozhaisk direction.
Twice sent to the rear of the enemy. At the end of November 1941, while performing the second combat mission in the area of the village of Petrishchevo (Russian district of the Moscow region), she was captured by the Nazis. Despite severe torture, she did not give out military secrets, did not give her name.
On November 29, she was hanged by the Nazis. Her devotion to the Motherland, courage and selflessness have become an inspiring example in the fight against the enemy. On February 6, 1942, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Manshuk Zhiengalievna Mametova
Manshuk Mametova was born in 1922 in the Urdinsky district of the West Kazakhstan region. Manshuk's parents died early, and the five-year-old girl was adopted by her aunt Amina Mametova. Childhood Manshuk passed in Almaty.
When the Great Patriotic War began, Manshuk studied at the medical institute and at the same time worked in the secretariat of the Council of People's Commissars of the republic. In August 1942, she voluntarily joined the Red Army and went to the front. In the unit where Manshuk arrived, she was left as a clerk at the headquarters. But the young patriot decided to become a front line fighter, and a month later Senior Sergeant Mametova was transferred to the rifle battalion of the 21st Guards Rifle Division.
Short, but bright, like a flashing star, was her life. Manshuk died in the battle for the honor and freedom of her native country, when she was in her twenty-first year and had just joined the party. The short battle path of the glorious daughter of the Kazakh people ended with an immortal feat accomplished by her near the walls of the ancient Russian city of Nevel.
On October 16, 1943, the battalion in which Manshuk Mametova served was ordered to repulse the enemy's counterattack. As soon as the Nazis tried to repulse the attack, the machine gun of Senior Sergeant Mametova started working. The Nazis rolled back, leaving hundreds of corpses. Several violent attacks of the Nazis have already choked at the foot of the hill. Suddenly, the girl noticed that two neighboring machine guns fell silent - the machine gunners were killed. Then Manshuk, quickly crawling from one firing point to another, began to fire at the pressing enemies from three machine guns.
The enemy transferred mortar fire to the positions of the resourceful girl. A close explosion of a heavy mine overturned a machine gun, behind which lay Manshuk. Wounded in the head, the machine gunner lost consciousness for a while, but the triumphant cries of the approaching Nazis made her wake up. Instantly moving to a nearby machine gun, Manshuk lashed the chains of fascist warriors with a lead shower. And again the enemy attack choked. This ensured the successful advance of our units, but the girl from distant Urda remained lying on the hillside. Her fingers froze on the Maxim trigger.
On March 1, 1944, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Senior Sergeant Manshuk Zhiengaliyevna Mametova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Aliya Moldagulova
Aliya Moldagulova was born on April 20, 1924 in the village of Bulak, Khobdinsky district, Aktobe region. After the death of her parents, she was brought up by her uncle Aubakir Moldagulov. With his family, she moved from city to city. She studied at the 9th secondary school in Leningrad. In the fall of 1942, Aliya Moldagulova joined the army and was sent to a sniper school. In May 1943, Aliya submitted a report to the school command with a request to send her to the front. Aliya ended up in the 3rd company of the 4th battalion of the 54th rifle brigade under the command of Major Moiseev.
By the beginning of October, Aliya Moldagulova had 32 dead fascists on her account.
In December 1943, Moiseev's battalion was ordered to drive the enemy out of the village of Kazachikha. By capturing this settlement, the Soviet command hoped to cut the railway line along which the Nazis were transferring reinforcements. The Nazis fiercely resisted, skillfully using the benefits of the area. The slightest advance of our companies came at a heavy price, and yet slowly but steadily our fighters approached the enemy's fortifications. Suddenly, a lone figure appeared ahead of the advancing chains.
Suddenly, a lone figure appeared ahead of the advancing chains. The Nazis noticed the brave warrior and opened fire from machine guns. Catching the moment when the fire weakened, the fighter rose to his full height and dragged the entire battalion with him.
After a fierce battle, our fighters took possession of the height. The daredevil lingered in the trench for some time. There were traces of pain on his pale face, and strands of black hair broke out from under his cap with earflaps. It was Aliya Moldagulova. She destroyed 10 fascists in this battle. The wound was light, and the girl remained in the ranks.
In an effort to restore the situation, the enemy rushed into counterattacks. On January 14, 1944, a group of enemy soldiers managed to break into our trenches. A hand-to-hand fight ensued. Aliya mowed down the Nazis with well-aimed bursts of the machine gun. Suddenly, she instinctively felt danger behind her back. She turned sharply, but it was too late: the German officer fired first. Gathering the last of her strength, Aliya threw up her machine gun and the Nazi officer fell to the frozen ground...
The wounded Aliya was carried out by her comrades from the battlefield. The fighters wanted to believe in a miracle, and they offered blood to save the girl. But the wound was fatal.
On June 4, 1944, Corporal Aliya Moldagulova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Sevastyanov Alexey Tikhonovich
Sevastyanov Aleksey Tikhonovich, flight commander of the 26th Fighter Aviation Regiment (7th Fighter Aviation Corps, Leningrad Air Defense Zone), junior lieutenant. Born on February 16, 1917 in the village of Kholm, now the Likhoslavl district of the Tver (Kalinin) region. Russian. Graduated from the Kalinin Carriage Building College. In the Red Army since 1936. In 1939 he graduated from the Kachin Military Aviation School.
Member of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. In total, during the war years, junior lieutenant Sevastyanov A.T. made more than 100 sorties, shot down 2 enemy aircraft personally (one of them by ramming), 2 - in a group and an observation balloon.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Tikhonovich Sevastyanov was awarded posthumously on June 6, 1942.
On November 4, 1941, junior lieutenant Sevastyanov on an Il-153 aircraft patrolled on the outskirts of Leningrad. At about 22.00, an enemy air raid on the city began. Despite the fire of anti-aircraft artillery, one He-111 bomber managed to break through to Leningrad. Sevastyanov attacked the enemy, but missed. He went on the attack a second time and opened fire at close range, but again missed. Sevastyanov attacked for the third time. Coming close, he pressed the trigger, but there were no shots - the cartridges ran out. In order not to miss the enemy, he decided to go for a ram. Approaching behind the "Heinkel", he chopped off his tail with a screw. Then he left the damaged fighter and landed by parachute. The bomber crashed in the Tauride Garden area. The crew members who jumped out on parachutes were taken prisoner. The fallen Sevastyanov fighter was found in Baskov lane and restored by specialists of the 1st Rembaza.
April 23, 1942 Sevastyanov A.T. died in an unequal air battle, defending the "Road of Life" across Ladoga (shot down 2.5 km from the village of Rakhya, Vsevolozhsk district; a monument was erected in this place). He was buried in Leningrad at the Chesme cemetery. Forever enrolled in the lists of the military unit. A street in St. Petersburg, the House of Culture in the village of Pervitino, Likhoslavl District, are named after him. The documentary "Heroes Don't Die" is dedicated to his feat.
Matveev Vladimir Ivanovich
Matveev Vladimir Ivanovich Squadron commander of the 154th Fighter Aviation Regiment (39th Fighter Aviation Division, Northern Front) - Captain. Born October 27, 1911 in St. Petersburg in a working class family. Russian Member of the CPSU(b) since 1938. Graduated from 5 classes. He worked as a mechanic at the factory "Red October". In the Red Army since 1930. In 1931 he graduated from the Leningrad military-theoretical school of pilots, in 1933 - Borisoglebsk military aviation school of pilots. Member of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War at the front. Captain Matveev V.I. On July 8, 1941, when repelling an enemy air raid on Leningrad, having used up all the ammunition, he used a ram: he cut off the tail of a Nazi aircraft with the end of the plane of his MiG-3. An enemy plane crashed near the village of Malyutino. He successfully landed at his airport. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal was awarded to Vladimir Ivanovich Matveev on July 22, 1941.
Killed in air combat January 1, 1942, covering the "Road of Life" on Ladoga. Buried in Leningrad.
Polyakov Sergey Nikolaevich
Sergei Polyakov was born in 1908 in Moscow into a working-class family. He graduated from 7 classes of incomplete secondary school. Since 1930 in the Red Army, he graduated from the military aviation school. Member of the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939. In air battles, he shot down 5 Franco aircraft. 
Member of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War from the first day. The commander of the 174th Assault Aviation Regiment, Major S.N. Polyakov, made 42 sorties, inflicting precise strikes on airfields, equipment and manpower of the enemy, while destroying 42 and damaging 35 aircraft.
On December 23, 1941, he died while performing the next combat mission. On February 10, 1943, for courage and courage shown in battles with enemies, Sergey Nikolaevich Polyakov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously). For the period of service he was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner (twice), the Red Star, and medals. He was buried in the village of Agalatovo, Vsevolozhsk district, Leningrad region.
Muravitsky Luka Zakharovich
Luka Muravitsky was born on December 31, 1916 in the village of Dolgoe, now the Soligorsk district of the Minsk region, into a peasant family. He graduated from 6 classes and school FZU. Worked on the subway in Moscow. Graduated from the Aeroclub. In the Soviet Army since 1937. He graduated from the Borisoglebsk military school for pilots in 1939. B.ZYu 
Member of the Great Patriotic War since July 1941. Junior Lieutenant Muravitsky began his combat activity as part of the 29th IAP of the Moscow Military District. This regiment met the war on outdated I-153 fighters. Sufficiently maneuverable, they were inferior to enemy aircraft in speed and firepower. Analyzing the first air battles, the pilots came to the conclusion that they needed to abandon the pattern of straight-line attacks, and fight on turns, in dives, on a "hill" when their "Seagull" gained additional speed. At the same time, it was decided to switch to flights in twos, abandoning the link of three aircraft established by the official position.
The very first flights of "twos" showed their clear advantage. So, at the end of July, Alexander Popov, paired with Luka Muravitsky, returning after escorting the bombers, met with six Messers. Our pilots were the first to attack and shot down the leader of the enemy group. Stunned by the sudden blow, the Nazis hurried to get out.
On each of his planes, Luka Muravitsky painted the inscription “For Anya” on the fuselage with white paint. The pilots at first laughed at him, and the authorities ordered the inscription to be erased. But before each new flight on the fuselage of the aircraft on the starboard side again appeared - "For Anya" ... No one knew who this Anya was, whom Luka remembers even going into battle ...
Once, before a sortie, the regiment commander ordered Muravitsky to immediately erase the inscription and more so that it would not happen again! Then Luka told the commander that this was his beloved girl, who worked with him at the Metrostroy, studied at the flying club, that she loved him, they were going to get married, but ... She crashed jumping from an airplane. The parachute did not open... Even if she did not die in battle, Luka continued, but she was preparing to become an air fighter, to defend her Motherland. The commander relented.
Participating in the defense of Moscow, the commander of the 29th IAP, Luka Muravitsky, achieved excellent results. He was distinguished not only by sober calculation and courage, but also by his willingness to do anything to defeat the enemy. So on September 3, 1941, acting on the Western Front, he rammed an enemy He-111 reconnaissance aircraft and made a safe landing on the damaged aircraft. At the beginning of the war, we had few planes, and that day Muravitsky had to fly alone - to cover the railway station, where the ammunition echelon was being unloaded. Fighters, as a rule, flew in pairs, but here - one ...
At first everything went smoothly. The lieutenant vigilantly watched the air around the station, but as you can see, if there are multi-layered clouds overhead, rain. When Muravitsky was making a U-turn over the outskirts of the station, he saw a German reconnaissance aircraft in the gap between the tiers of clouds. Luka sharply increased the engine speed and rushed across the Heinkel-111. The Lieutenant's attack was unexpected, the "Heinkel" had not yet had time to open fire, as a machine-gun burst pierced the enemy, and he, descending steeply, began to flee. Muravitsky caught up with the Heinkel, opened fire on it again, and suddenly the machine gun fell silent. The pilot reloaded, but apparently ran out of ammunition. And then Muravitsky decided to ram the enemy.
He increased the speed of the plane - "Heinkel" is getting closer and closer. The Nazis are already visible in the cockpit ... Without reducing speed, Muravitsky approaches almost close to the Nazi aircraft and hits the tail with a propeller. The jerk and propeller of the fighter cut through the metal of the tail unit of the Non-111 ... The enemy plane crashed into the ground behind the railroad tracks in a wasteland. Luca also hit his head hard on the dashboard, aim and lost consciousness. I woke up - the plane falls to the ground in a tailspin. Gathering all his strength, the pilot with difficulty stopped the rotation of the machine and brought it out of a steep dive. He could not fly further and had to land the car at the station...
Having healed, Muravitsky returned to his regiment. And again fights. The flight commander flew into battle several times a day. He was eager to fight and again, as before the injury, the fuselage of his fighter was carefully displayed: "For Anya." By the end of September, the brave pilot already had about 40 air victories, won personally and as part of a group.
Soon one of the squadrons of the 29th IAP, which included Luka Muravitsky, was transferred to the Leningrad Front to reinforce the 127th IAP. The main task of this regiment was to escort transport aircraft along the Ladoga highway, cover their landing, loading and unloading. Acting as part of the 127th IAP, Senior Lieutenant Muravitsky shot down 3 more enemy aircraft. On October 22, 1941, Muravitsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command, for the courage and bravery shown in battle. By this time, 14 enemy aircraft were already downed on his personal account.
On November 30, 1941, the commander of the 127th IAP, Senior Lieutenant Maravitsky, died in an unequal air battle, defending Leningrad ... The total result of his combat activities, in various sources, is estimated differently. The most common figure is 47 (10 victories won personally and 37 as part of a group), less often - 49 (12 personally and 37 in a group). However, all these figures do not fit in with the figure of personal victories - 14, given above. Moreover, in one of the publications it is generally stated that Luka Muravitsky won his last victory in May 1945, over Berlin. Unfortunately, exact data is not yet available.
Luka Zakharovich Muravitsky was buried in the village of Kapitolovo, Vsevolozhsky District, Leningrad Region. A street in the village of Dolgoye is named after him.
During the Great Patriotic War, heroism was the norm for the behavior of Soviet people, the war revealed the resilience and courage of the Soviet people. Thousands of soldiers and officers sacrificed their lives in the battles near Moscow, Kursk and Stalingrad, during the defense of Leningrad and Sevastopol, in the North Caucasus and the Dnieper, during the storming of Berlin and in other battles - and immortalized their names. Women and children fought alongside men. Home front workers played a big role. People who worked, exhausted, to provide the soldiers with food, clothing, and thus a bayonet and a projectile.
We will talk about those who gave their lives, strength and savings for the sake of the Victory. Here they are the great people of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945.
Medical heroes. Zinaida Samsonova
During the war years, more than two hundred thousand doctors and half a million paramedical personnel worked at the front and in the rear. And half of them were women.
The working day of doctors and nurses of medical battalions and front-line hospitals often lasted several days. Sleepless nights, medical workers stood relentlessly near the operating tables, and some of them pulled the dead and wounded from the battlefield on their backs. Among the doctors there were many of their "sailors", who, saving the wounded, covered them with their bodies from bullets and shell fragments.
Not sparing, as they say, their belly, they raised the spirit of the soldiers, raised the wounded from the hospital bed and sent them back to battle to defend their country, their homeland, their people, their home from the enemy. Among the large army of doctors, I would like to name the Hero of the Soviet Union Zinaida Alexandrovna Samsonova, who went to the front when she was only seventeen years old. Zinaida, or, as her brother-soldiers cutely called her, Zinochka, was born in the village of Bobkovo, Yegoryevsky district, Moscow region.
Before the war, she went to study at the Yegorievsk Medical School. When the enemy entered her native land, and the country was in danger, Zina decided that she must go to the front. And she rushed there.
She has been in the army since 1942 and immediately finds herself at the forefront. Zina was a sanitary instructor in a rifle battalion. The soldiers loved her for her smile, for her selfless assistance to the wounded. With her fighters, Zina went through the most terrible battles, this is the Battle of Stalingrad. She fought on the Voronezh Front and on other fronts.
Zinaida Samsonova In the autumn of 1943, she took part in a landing operation to seize a bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper near the village of Sushki, Kanevsky district, now Cherkasy region. Here she, together with her brother-soldiers, managed to capture this bridgehead.
Zina took out more than thirty wounded from the battlefield and transported them to the other side of the Dnieper. There were legends about this fragile nineteen-year-old girl. Zinochka was distinguished by courage and courage.
When the commander died near the village of Holm in 1944, Zina, without hesitation, took command of the battle and raised the fighters to attack. In this battle, her fellow soldiers heard her amazing, slightly hoarse voice for the last time: “Eagles, follow me!”
Zinochka Samsonova died in this battle on January 27, 1944 for the village of Kholm in Belarus. She was buried in a mass grave in Ozarichi, Kalinkovsky district, Gomel region.
Zinaida Alexandrovna Samsonova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for her steadfastness, courage and bravery.
The school where Zina Samsonova once studied was named after her.
A special period in the activity of Soviet foreign intelligence officers is associated with the Great Patriotic War. Already at the end of June 1941, the newly created State Defense Committee of the USSR considered the issue of the work of foreign intelligence and clarified its tasks. They were subordinated to one goal - the speedy defeat of the enemy. For the exemplary performance of special tasks behind enemy lines, nine career foreign intelligence officers were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. This is S.A. Vaupshasov, I.D. Kudrya, N.I. Kuznetsov, V.A. Lyagin, D.N. Medvedev, V.A. Molodtsov, K.P. Orlovsky, N.A. Prokopyuk, A.M. Rabtsevich. Here we will talk about one of the scout-hero - Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov.
From the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he was enrolled in the fourth department of the NKVD, whose main task was to organize reconnaissance and sabotage activities behind enemy lines. After numerous trainings and studying in the camp for prisoners of war the manners and life of the Germans, under the name of Paul Wilhelm Siebert, Nikolai Kuznetsov was sent behind enemy lines along the line of terror. At first, the special agent conducted his secret activities in the Ukrainian city of Rivne, where the Reich Commissariat of Ukraine was located. Kuznetsov was in close contact with enemy officers of the special services and the Wehrmacht, as well as local officials. All information obtained was transferred to the partisan detachment. One of the notable feats of a secret agent of the USSR was the capture of the courier of the Reichskommissariat, Major Gahan, who carried a secret map in his briefcase. After interrogating Gahan and studying the map, it turned out that a bunker for Hitler was built eight kilometers from Ukrainian Vinnitsa.
In November 1943, Kuznetsov managed to organize the abduction of German Major General M. Ilgen, who was sent to Rovno to destroy partisan formations.
The last operation of the intelligence officer Siebert in this post was the elimination in November 1943 of the head of the legal department of the Reichskommissariat of Ukraine, Oberführer Alfred Funk. After interrogating Funk, the brilliant intelligence officer managed to obtain information about the preparations for the assassination of the heads of the "Big Three" of the Tehran Conference, as well as information about the enemy's offensive on the Kursk salient. In January 1944, Kuznetsov was ordered, along with the retreating fascist troops, to go to Lvov to continue his sabotage activities. Scouts Jan Kaminsky and Ivan Belov were sent to help agent Siebert. Under the leadership of Nikolai Kuznetsov, several invaders were destroyed in Lvov, for example, the head of the government office, Heinrich Schneider and Otto Bauer.
From the first days of the occupation, the boys and girls began to act decisively, a secret organization "young avengers" was created. The guys fought against the fascist invaders. They blew up a pumping station, which delayed the sending of ten fascist echelons to the front. Distracting the enemy, the Avengers destroyed bridges and highways, blew up a local power plant, and burned down a factory. Obtaining information about the actions of the Germans, they immediately passed them on to the partisans.
Zina Portnova was assigned more and more difficult tasks. According to one of them, the girl managed to get a job in a German canteen. After working there for a while, she carried out an effective operation - she poisoned food for German soldiers. More than 100 fascists suffered from her dinner. The Germans began to accuse Zina. Wanting to prove her innocence, the girl tried the poisoned soup and only miraculously survived.
Zina Portnova In 1943, traitors appeared who revealed secret information and handed over our guys to the Nazis. Many were arrested and shot. Then the command of the partisan detachment instructed Portnova to establish contact with those who survived. The Nazis grabbed the young partisan when she was returning from a mission. Zina was terribly tortured. But the answer to the enemy was only her silence, contempt and hatred. The interrogations didn't stop.
“The Gestapo man went to the window. And Zina, rushing to the table, grabbed a pistol. Obviously sensing a rustle, the officer turned around impulsively, but the weapon was already in her hand. She pulled the trigger. For some reason I didn't hear the shot. She only saw how the German, clutching his chest with his hands, fell to the floor, and the second, who was sitting at the side table, jumped up from his chair and hastily unfastened the holster of his revolver. She pointed the gun at him as well. Again, almost without aiming, she pulled the trigger. Rushing to the exit, Zina yanked open the door, jumped out into the next room and from there onto the porch. There she almost point-blank shot at the sentry. Running out of the building of the commandant's office, Portnova rushed down the path in a whirlwind.
“If only I could run to the river,” thought the girl. But the sound of the chase was heard from behind ... "Why don't they shoot?" The surface of the water seemed to be quite near. And beyond the river was a forest. She heard the sound of machine gun fire, and something sharp pierced her leg. Zina fell on the river sand. She still had enough strength, slightly rising, to shoot ... She saved the last bullet for herself.
When the Germans ran up very close, she decided that it was all over, and pointed the gun to her chest and pulled the trigger. But the shot did not follow: a misfire. The fascist knocked the pistol out of her weakening hands.
Zina was sent to prison. For more than a month, the Germans brutally tortured the girl, they wanted her to betray her comrades. But having taken an oath of allegiance to the Motherland, Zina kept her.
On the morning of January 13, 1944, a gray-haired and blind girl was taken to be shot. She walked, stumbling barefoot, through the snow.
The girl withstood all the torture. She truly loved our Motherland and died for it, firmly believing in our victory.
Zinaida Portnova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet people, realizing that the front needed their help, made every effort. Engineering geniuses simplified and improved production. Women who recently accompanied their husbands, brothers and sons to the front took their place at the machine tool, mastering professions unfamiliar to them. Everything for the front, everything for victory! Children, old people and women gave all their strength, gave themselves for the sake of victory.
This is how the call of collective farmers sounded in one of the regional newspapers: “... we must give the army and the working people more bread, meat, milk, vegetables and agricultural raw materials for industry. We, the workers of state farms, must hand over this together with the collective farm peasantry. Only by these lines can one judge how obsessed the home front workers were with thoughts of victory, and what sacrifices they were ready to make in order to bring this long-awaited day closer. Even receiving a funeral, they did not stop working, knowing that this was the best way to take revenge on the hated fascists for the death of their loved ones.
On December 15, 1942, Ferapont Golovaty gave all his savings - 100 thousand rubles - to purchase an aircraft for the Red Army, and asked to transfer the aircraft to the pilot of the Stalingrad Front. In a letter addressed to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, he wrote that, having escorted his two sons to the front, he himself wanted to contribute to the cause of victory. Stalin answered: “Thank you, Ferapont Petrovich, for your concern for the Red Army and its Air Force. The Red Army will not forget that you gave all your savings to build a combat aircraft. Please accept my regards." The initiative was given serious attention. The decision on who exactly will get the personalized aircraft was made by the Military Council of the Stalingrad Front. The combat vehicle was handed over to one of the best - the commander of the 31st Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Major Boris Nikolayevich Eremin. The fact that Eremin and Golovaty were countrymen also played a role.
The victory in the Great Patriotic War was obtained by inhuman efforts, both front-line soldiers and home front workers. And this must be remembered. Today's generation should not forget their feat.
Every day in Russia, ordinary citizens perform feats who do not pass by when someone needs help. The exploits of these people are not always noticed by officials, they are not awarded letters of commendation, but this does not make their actions any less significant.
The country should know its heroes, so this collection is dedicated to brave, caring people who have proven by deed that heroism has a place in our lives. All events took place in February 2014.
Schoolchildren from the Krasnodar Territory Roman Vitkov and Mikhail Serdyuk rescued an elderly woman from a burning house. On their way home, they saw a burning building. Having run into the yard, the schoolchildren saw that the veranda was almost completely engulfed in fire. Roman and Mikhail rushed to the shed for the tool. Grabbing a sledgehammer and an ax, knocking out a window, Roman climbed into the window opening. An elderly woman slept in a smoky room. It was possible to take out the victim only after breaking the door.
“Roma is smaller than me, so he easily entered the window opening, but he couldn’t get out the same way back with his grandmother in his arms. Therefore, we had to break open the door and only in this way managed to carry out the victim, ”said Misha Serdyuk.
Residents of the village of Altynai, Sverdlovsk Region, Elena Martynova, Sergey Inozemtsev, Galina Sholokhova, rescued children from a fire. Arson was committed by the owner of the house, while blocking the door. At that time, there were three children aged 2–4 and 12-year-old Elena Martynova in the building. Noticing the fire, Lena unlocked the door and began to carry the children out of the house. Galina Sholokhova and the children's cousin Sergei Inozemtsev came to her aid. All three heroes received certificates from the local Ministry of Emergency Situations.
And in the Chelyabinsk region, the priest Alexei Peregudov saved the life of the groom at the wedding. During the wedding, the groom lost consciousness. The only one who did not lose his head in this situation was Priest Alexei Peregudov. He quickly examined the patient, suspected cardiac arrest and provided first aid, including chest compressions. As a result, the sacrament was successfully completed. Father Aleksey noted that he had only seen chest compressions in movies.
In Mordovia, Chechen war veteran Marat Zinatullin distinguished himself by rescuing an elderly man from a burning apartment. Having witnessed the fire, Marat acted like a professional firefighter. He climbed along the fence to a small barn, and from it he climbed onto the balcony. He broke the glass, opened the door leading from the balcony to the room, and got inside. The 70-year-old owner of the apartment lay on the floor. The pensioner, who was poisoned by smoke, could not leave the apartment on his own. Marat, opening the front door from the inside, carried the owner of the house to the entrance.
Roman Sorvachev, an employee of the Kostroma colony, saved the lives of his neighbors in a fire. Entering the entrance of his house, he immediately figured out the apartment from which the smell of smoke comes. The door was opened by a drunken man, who assured that everything was in order. However, Roman called the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The rescuers who arrived at the scene of the fire were unable to enter the room through the door, and the uniform of the EMERCOM officer did not allow them to get into the apartment through the narrow window frame. Then Roman climbed up the fire escape, entered the apartment and pulled out an elderly woman and an unconscious man from a heavily smoky apartment.
A resident of the village of Yurmash (Bashkortostan) Rafit Shamsutdinov saved two children from a fire. Rafita, a fellow villager, lit the stove and, leaving two children - a three-year-old girl and a one-and-a-half-year-old son, went off to school with her older children. The smoke from the burning house was noticed by Rafit Shamsutdinov. Despite the abundance of smoke, he managed to get into the burning room and carry the children out.
Dagestan Arsen Fittsulaev prevented a catastrophe at a gas station in Kaspiysk. Later, Arsen realized that he actually risked his life.
An explosion suddenly thundered at one of the gas stations within the boundaries of Kaspiysk. As it turned out later, a foreign car driving at high speed crashed into a gas tank and knocked down a valve. A minute of delay, and the fire would have spread to nearby tanks with combustible fuel. In such a scenario, casualties would not have been avoided. However, the situation was radically changed by a modest gas station worker, who skillfully averted the disaster and reduced its scale to a burned-out car and several damaged cars.
And in the village of Ilyinka-1, Tula Region, schoolchildren Andrey Ibronov, Nikita Sabitov, Andrey Navruz, Vladislav Kozyrev and Artem Voronin pulled a pensioner out of a well. 78-year-old Valentina Nikitina fell into a well and could not get out on her own. Andrey Ibronov and Nikita Sabitov heard cries for help and immediately rushed to save the elderly woman. However, three more guys had to be called to help - Andrei Navruz, Vladislav Kozyrev and Artem Voronin. Together, the guys managed to pull an elderly pensioner out of the well.
“I tried to get out, the well is not deep - I even reached the edge with my hand. But it was so slippery and cold that I could not grab onto the hoop. And when I raised my hands, ice water was poured into the sleeves. I screamed, called for help, but the well is far from residential buildings and roads, so no one heard me. How long this went on, I don’t even know ... Soon I began to feel sleepy, I raised my head with all my strength and suddenly saw two boys looking into the well!” – said the victim.
In the village of Romanovo, Kaliningrad region, a twelve-year-old schoolboy Andrey Tokarsky distinguished himself. He saved his cousin, who fell through the ice. The incident occurred on Lake Pugachevskoye, where the boys, together with Andrei's aunt, came to ride on the cleared ice.
A policeman from the Pskov region Vadim Barkanov saved two men on. Walking with his friend, Vadim saw smoke and flames of fire escaping from the window of an apartment in a residential building. A woman ran out of the building and began to call for help, as two men remained in the apartment. Calling firefighters, Vadim and his friend rushed to their aid. As a result, they managed to carry two unconscious men out of the burning building. The victims were taken to the hospital by ambulance, where they received the necessary medical care.
