Feats during the years of the Second World War. Ten famous selfless deeds of Soviet soldiers

More than a dozen years ago, Mikhail Efremov was born - a brilliant military leader who proved himself during the periods of two wars - Civil and Patriotic. However, the feats that he accomplished were not immediately appreciated. After his death, many years passed until he received a well-deserved title. What other heroes of the Great Patriotic War have been forgotten?

Steel Commander

At the age of 17, Mikhail Efremov joined the army. He began his service as a volunteer in an infantry regiment. Two years later, with the rank of ensign, he participated in the famous breakthrough under the command of Brusilov. Mikhail joined the Red Army in 1918. The hero gained fame thanks to armored guns. Due to the fact that the Red Army did not have armored trains with good equipment, Mikhail decided to create them on his own, using improvised means.

Mikhail Efremov met the Great Patriotic War at the head of the 21st Army. Under his leadership, the soldiers held back the enemy troops on the Dnieper, defended Gomel. Not allowing the Nazis to go to the rear of the Southwestern Front. Mikhail Efremov met the beginning of the Patriotic War, leading the 33rd Army. At this time, he participated in the defense of Moscow and in the subsequent counteroffensive.

In early February, the strike group, commanded by Mikhail Efremov, made a hole in the enemy's defenses and went to Vyazma. However, the soldiers were cut off from the main forces and surrounded. For two months, the fighters carried out raids on the rear of the Germans, destroyed enemy soldiers and military equipment. And when the cartridges with food ran out, Mikhail Efremov decided to break through to his own, asking by radio to organize a corridor.

But the hero never did. The Germans noticed the movement and defeated Efremov's shock group. Mikhail himself, in order not to be captured, shot himself. He was buried by the Germans in the village of Slobodka with full military honors.

In 1996, persistent veterans and search engines ensured that Efremov was awarded the title of Hero of Russia.

In honor of Gastello's feat

What other heroes of the Great Patriotic War were forgotten? In 1941, a DB-3F bomber took off from the airfield near Smolensk. Alexander Maslov, and it was he who flew the combat aircraft, was given the task of eliminating the enemy column moving along the Molodechno-Radoshkovichi road. The plane was hit by enemy anti-aircraft guns, the crew was declared missing.

A few years later, namely in 1951, in order to honor the memory of the famous bomber Nikolai Gastello, who rammed on the same highway, it was decided to transfer the remains of the crew to the village of Radoshkovichi, to the central square. During the exhumation, they found a medallion that belonged to Sergeant Grigory Reutov, who was a gunner in Maslov's crew.

They did not change the historiography, however, the crew began to be listed not as missing, but as dead. Heroes of the Great Patriotic War and their exploits were recognized in 1996. It was in this year that the entire crew of Maslov received the corresponding title.

The pilot whose name has been forgotten

The exploits of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War will remain in our hearts forever. However, not all heroic deeds are remembered.

Pyotr Yeremeev was considered an experienced pilot. He received his for repulsing several German attacks in one night. Having shot down several Junkers, Peter was wounded. However, having bandaged the wound, a few minutes later he again took off on another plane to repel an enemy attack. And a month after this memorable night, he accomplished a feat.

On the night of July 28, Eremeev was assigned to patrol the airspace over Novo-Petrovsk. It was at this time that he noticed an enemy bomber that was heading for Moscow. Peter went into his tail and started shooting. The enemy went to the right, while the Soviet pilot lost him. However, he immediately noticed another bomber, which went to the West. Coming close to him, Eremeev pressed the trigger. But the shooting was never opened, as the cartridges ran out.

Without thinking for a long time, Peter cut his propeller into the tail of a German aircraft. The fighter turned over and began to fall apart. However, Eremeev escaped by jumping out with a parachute. For this feat they wanted to hand him over, but they did not have time to do this. On the night of August 7, the pod was repeated by Viktor Talalikhin. It was his name that was inscribed in the official chronicle.

But the heroes of the Great Patriotic War and their exploits will never be forgotten. This was proved by Alexei Tolstoy. He wrote an essay called "Battering Ram", in which he described the feat of Peter.

Only in 2010 he was recognized as a hero

In the Volgograd region there is a monument on which the names of the Red Army soldiers who died in these parts are written. All of them are heroes of the Great Patriotic War, and their exploits will forever remain in history. On that monument is the name Maxim Passar. The corresponding title was awarded to him only in 2010. And it should be noted that he fully deserved it.

He was born in the Khabarovsk Territory. Hereditary hunter has become one of the best among snipers. He showed himself back in By 1943, he destroyed about 237 Nazis. The Germans set a significant reward for the head of the well-aimed Nanai. He was hunted by enemy snipers.

He accomplished his feat at the very beginning of 1943. In order to liberate the village of Peschanka from enemy soldiers, it was necessary first to get rid of two German machine guns. They were well fortified on the flanks. And it was Maxim Passar who had to do it. 100 meters before the firing points, Maxim opened fire and destroyed the crews. However, he failed to survive. The hero was covered by enemy artillery fire.

Underage Heroes

All of the above heroes of the Great Patriotic War and their exploits were forgotten. However, all of them must be remembered. They did everything possible to bring the Victory Day closer. However, not only adults managed to prove themselves. There are some heroes who are not even 18 years old. And it is about them that we will talk further.

Along with adults, several tens of thousands of teenagers participated in the hostilities. They, like adults, died, received orders and medals. The images of some were taken for Soviet propaganda. All of them are heroes of the Great Patriotic War, and their exploits have been preserved in numerous stories. However, five teenagers should be singled out, who received the corresponding title.

Not wanting to surrender, he blew himself up along with enemy soldiers

Marat Kazei was born in 1929. It happened in the village of Stankovo. Before the war, he managed to finish only four classes. Parents were recognized as "enemies of the people." However, despite this, Marat's mother, back in 1941, began to hide partisans at home. For which she was killed by the Germans. Marat and his sister joined the partisans.

Marat Kazei constantly went to reconnaissance, took part in numerous raids, undermined the echelons. He received the medal "For Courage" in 1943. He managed to raise his comrades to attack and break through the ring of enemies. At the same time, Marat was wounded.

Talking about the exploits of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, it is worth saying that a 14-year-old soldier died in 1944. It happened while doing another job. Returning from reconnaissance, he and his commander were fired upon by the Germans. The commander died immediately, and Marat began to shoot back. He had nowhere to go. And there was no opportunity as such, since he was wounded in the arm. Until the cartridges ran out, he held the defense. Then he took two grenades. He threw one immediately, and kept the second until the Germans approached. Marat blew himself up, killing several more opponents in this way.

Marat Kazei was recognized as a Hero in 1965. The underage heroes of the Great Patriotic War and their exploits, stories about which are widespread in a fairly large number, will remain in memory for a long time.

Heroic deeds of a 14-year-old boy

The partisan scout Valya was born in the village of Khmelevka. It happened in 1930. Before the capture of the village by the Germans, he graduated from only 5 classes. After that, he began to collect weapons and ammunition. He passed them on to the partisans.

Since 1942 he became a scout for the partisans. In the fall, he was given the task of destroying the head of the field gendarmerie. The task was completed. Valya, together with several of his peers, blew up two enemy vehicles, killing seven soldiers and the commander Franz Koenig himself. About 30 people were injured.

In 1943, he was engaged in reconnaissance of the location of an underground telephone cable, which was subsequently successfully blown up. Valya also took part in the destruction of several trains and warehouses. In the same year, while on duty, the young hero noticed the punishers, who decided to round up. Having destroyed the enemy officer, Valya raised the alarm. Thanks to this, the partisans prepared for battle.

He died in 1944 after the battle for the city of Izyaslav. In that battle, the young warrior was mortally wounded. He received the title of hero in 1958.

A little short of 17

What other heroes of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 should be mentioned? Scout in the future Lenya Golikov was born in 1926. From the very beginning of the war, having obtained a rifle for himself, he joined the partisans. Under the guise of a beggar, the guy went around the villages, collecting data on the enemy. He passed all the information to the partisans.

The guy joined the detachment in 1942. During his entire military career, he took part in 27 operations, destroyed about 78 enemy soldiers, blew up several bridges (railway and highway), blew up about 9 vehicles with ammunition. It was Lenya Golikov who blew up the car in which Major General Richard Witz was driving. All his merits are fully listed in the award list.

These are the underage heroes of the Great Patriotic War and their exploits. Children sometimes performed such feats that even adults did not always have the courage. It was decided to award Lenya Golikov with the Gold Star medal and the title of Hero. However, he was never able to get them. In 1943, the combat detachment, which included Lenya, was surrounded. Only a few people got out of the encirclement. And Leni was not among them. He was killed on January 24, 1943. Until the age of 17, the guy never lived.

Killed by a traitor

The heroes of the Great Patriotic War rarely remembered themselves. And their exploits, photos, images remained in the memory of many people. Sasha Chekalin is one of those. He was born in 1925. AT partisan detachment joined in 1941. He served no more than a month.

In 1941, the partisan detachment inflicted significant damage on the enemy forces. Numerous warehouses were on fire, cars were constantly undermined, trains went downhill, sentries and enemy patrols regularly disappeared. The fighter Sasha Chekalin took part in all this.

In November 1941, he caught a bad cold. The commissioner decided to leave him in the nearest village with a trusted person. However, there was a traitor in the village. It was he who betrayed the underage fighter. Sasha was captured by partisans at night. And finally, the constant torture was over. Sasha was hanged. For 20 days he was forbidden to be removed from the gallows. And only after the liberation of the village by the partisans, Sasha was buried with military honors.

The corresponding title of Hero was decided to be awarded to him in 1942.

Shot after prolonged torture

All of the above people are heroes of the Great Patriotic War. And their exploits for children are the most the best stories. Then we will talk about a girl who, in courage, was not inferior not only to her peers, but also to adult soldiers.

Zina Portnova was born in 1926. The war found her in the village of Zuya, where she came to rest with her relatives. Since 1942, she has been posting leaflets against the invaders.

In 1943 she joined a partisan detachment, becoming a scout. In the same year, she received her first assignment. She was supposed to uncover the reasons for the failure of the organization called "Young Avengers". She was also supposed to establish contact with the underground. However, at the moment of returning to the detachment, Zina was seized by German soldiers.

During the interrogation, the girl managed to grab a pistol lying on the table, shoot the investigator and two more soldiers. While trying to escape, she was captured. She was constantly tortured, trying to force her to answer questions. However, Zina remained silent. Eyewitnesses claimed that once, when she was taken out for another interrogation, she threw herself under a car. However, the car stopped. The girl was taken out from under the wheels and taken away for interrogation. But she was silent again. That's what the heroes of the Great Patriotic War were like.

The girl did not wait for 1945. In 1944 she was shot. Zina at that time was only 17 years old.

Conclusion

The heroic deeds of soldiers during the fighting numbered several tens of thousands. No one knows exactly how many brave and courageous deeds were committed in the name of the Motherland. This review described some of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War and their exploits. Briefly, it is impossible to convey all the strength of character that they possessed. But there is simply not enough time for a full story about their heroic deeds.

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Zina Portnova, Alexander Matrosov and other heroes

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 orphanage and 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 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.

(1926-1944)

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 in 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.

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.

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.

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. She glued 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 the explosion of huge 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!

During the years of the Great Patriotic War, not much was known about the incredible feat of a simple Russian soldier Kolka Sirotinin, as well as about the hero himself. Perhaps no one would have ever known about the feat of a twenty-year-old artilleryman. If not for one case.

In the summer of 1942, an officer of the 4th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht, Friedrich Fenfeld, died near Tula. Soviet soldiers discovered his diary. From its pages, some details of that very last battle of Senior Sergeant Sirotinin became known.

It was the 25th day of the war ...

In the summer of 1941, the 4th tank division of the Guderian group, one of the most talented German generals, broke through to the Belarusian city of Krichev. Parts of the 13th Soviet Army were forced to retreat. To cover the retreat of the artillery battery of the 55th Infantry Regiment, the commander left artilleryman Nikolai Sirotinin with a gun.

The order was brief: to hold up the German tank column on the bridge over the river Dobrost, and then, if possible, catch up with our own. The senior sergeant carried out only the first half of the order...

Sirotinin took up a position in a field near the village of Sokolnichi. The cannon sank in high rye. There is not a single noticeable landmark for the enemy nearby. But from here the highway and the river were clearly visible.

On the morning of July 17, a column of 59 tanks and armored vehicles with infantry appeared on the highway. When the lead tank reached the bridge, the first - successful - shot rang out. With the second shell, Sirotinin set fire to an armored personnel carrier at the tail of the column, thereby creating a traffic jam. Nikolai fired and fired, knocking out car after car.

Sirotinin fought alone, he was both a gunner and a loader. He had 60 shells in his ammunition load and a 76-millimeter cannon - an excellent weapon against tanks. And he made a decision: to continue the battle until the ammunition runs out.

The Nazis rushed to the ground in a panic, not understanding where the shooting was coming from. The guns were fired at random, in squares. Indeed, on the eve of their intelligence could not detect Soviet artillery in the vicinity, and the division advanced without any special precautions. The Germans made an attempt to clear the blockage by pulling the wrecked tank off the bridge with two other tanks, but they were also knocked out. The armored car, which tried to ford the river, got bogged down in the swampy bank, where it was destroyed. For a long time the Germans failed to determine the location of the well-camouflaged gun; they believed that a whole battery was fighting them.

This unique battle lasted a little over two hours. The crossing was blocked. By the time Nikolai's position was discovered, he had only three shells left. Sirotinin refused the offer to surrender and fired from a carbine to the last. Having entered the rear of Sirotinin on motorcycles, the Germans destroyed a lone gun with mortar fire. At the position they found a lone cannon and a soldier.

The result of the battle of Senior Sergeant Sirotinin against General Guderian is impressive: after the battle on the banks of the Dobrost River, the Nazis lost 11 tanks, 7 armored vehicles, 57 soldiers and officers.

The stamina of the Soviet fighter aroused the respect of the Nazis. The commander of the tank battalion, Colonel Erich Schneider, ordered to bury a worthy enemy with military honors.

From the diary of Lieutenant Friedrich Hönfeld of the 4th Panzer Division:

July 17, 1941. Sokolnichi, near Krichev. In the evening they buried an unknown Russian soldier. He alone stood at the cannon, shot a column of tanks and infantry for a long time, and died. Everyone was amazed at his bravery… Oberst (colonel – editorial note) said in front of the grave that if all the Fuhrer’s soldiers fought like this Russian, they would conquer the whole world. Three times they fired volleys from rifles. After all, he is Russian, is such admiration necessary?

From the testimony of Olga Verzhbitskaya, a resident of the village of Sokolnichi:

I, Verzhbitskaya Olga Borisovna, born in 1889, a native of Latvia (Latgale), lived before the war in the village of Sokolnichi, Krichevsky district, together with my sister.

We knew Nikolai Sirotinin and his sister until the day of the battle. He was with my friend, bought milk. He was very polite, always helping older women to get water from the well and in other hard work.

I remember well the evening before the fight. On a log at the gate of the Grabsky house, I saw Nikolai Sirotinin. He sat and thought about something. I was very surprised that everyone was leaving, and he was sitting.

When the fight started, I was not at home yet. I remember how tracer bullets flew. He walked for about two or three hours. In the afternoon, the Germans gathered at the place where the Sirotinin gun stood. We, the locals, were also forced to come there. To me, as knowing German, the chief German of about fifty with orders, tall, bald, gray-haired, ordered to translate his speech to local people. He said that the Russian fought very well, that if the Germans had fought like that, they would have taken Moscow long ago, that this is how a soldier should defend his homeland - fatherland.

Then a medallion was taken out of the pocket of our dead soldier's tunic. I remember firmly that it was written there “the city of Orel”, to Vladimir Sirotinin (I don’t remember his patronymic), that the name of the street was, as I remember, not Dobrolyubova, but Freight or Lomovaya, I remember that the house number was two digits. But we could not know who this Sirotinin Vladimir was - the father, brother, uncle of the murdered man or someone else - we could not.

The German chief told me: “Take this document and write to your relatives. Let a mother know what a hero her son was and how he died.” Then a young German officer who was standing at the grave of Sirotinin came up and snatched a piece of paper and a medallion from me and said something rudely.

The Germans fired a volley of rifles in honor of our soldier and put a cross on the grave, hung up his helmet, pierced by a bullet.

I myself saw the body of Nikolai Sirotinin well, even when he was lowered into the grave. His face was not covered in blood, but the tunic on the left side had a large bloody stain, his helmet was pierced, and there were many shell casings lying around.

Since our house was not far from the battlefield, next to the road to Sokolniki, the Germans were standing near us. I myself heard how they spoke for a long time and admiringly about the feat of the Russian soldier, counting the shots and hits. Some of the Germans, even after the funeral, stood at the cannon and the grave for a long time and talked quietly.

February 29, 1960

Testimony of the telephone operator M. I. Grabskaya:

I, Grabskaya Maria Ivanovna, born in 1918, worked as a telephone operator at DEU 919 in Krichev, lived in my native village of Sokolnichi, three kilometers from the city of Krichev.

I remember well the events of July 1941. About a week before the arrival of the Germans, Soviet artillerymen settled in our village. The headquarters of their battery was in our house, the battery commander was a senior lieutenant named Nikolai, his assistant was a lieutenant named Fedya, of the fighters, I remember the Red Army soldier Nikolai Sirotinin the most. The fact is that the senior lieutenant very often called this fighter and entrusted him with both tasks as the most intelligent and experienced.

He was a little above average height, dark brown hair, a simple, cheerful face. When Sirotinin and senior lieutenant Nikolai decided to dig a dugout for the locals, I saw how he deftly threw the earth, noticed that he was apparently not from the boss's family. Nicholas jokingly replied:

“I am a worker from Orel, and I am no stranger to physical labor. We, the Oryols, know how to work.”

Today, in the village of Sokolnichi, there is no grave in which the Germans buried Nikolai Sirotinin. Three years after the war, his remains were transferred to the mass grave of Soviet soldiers in Krichev.

Pencil drawing made from memory by a colleague of Sirotinin in the 1990s

The inhabitants of Belarus remember and honor the feat of the brave artilleryman. In Krichev there is a street named after him, a monument has been erected. But, despite the fact that the feat of Sirotinin, thanks to the efforts of the workers of the Archive of the Soviet Army, was recognized back in 1960, he was not awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. A painfully absurd circumstance got in the way: the soldier's family did not have his photograph. And it is necessary to apply for a high rank.

Today there is only a pencil sketch made after the war by one of his colleagues. In the year of the 20th anniversary of the Victory, Senior Sergeant Sirotinin was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, first degree. Posthumously. Such is the story.

Memory

In 1948, the remains of Nikolai Sirotinin were reburied in a mass grave (according to the military burial record card on the OBD Memorial website - in 1943), on which a monument was erected in the form of a sculpture of a soldier grieving for his dead comrades, and on the marble boards in the list of the buried is indicated surname Sirotinina N.V.

In 1960, Sirotinin was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class.

In 1961, a monument in the form of an obelisk with the name of the hero was erected at the site of the feat near the highway, next to which a real 76-mm gun was installed on a pedestal. In the city of Krichev, a street is named after Sirotinin.

A memorial plaque with brief reference about N. V. Sirotinin.

The museum of military glory in secondary school No. 17 of the city of Orel has materials dedicated to N. V. Sirotinin.

In 2015, the council of school No. 7 of the city of Orel petitioned for the school to be named after Nikolai Sirotinin. Nikolai's sister, Taisiya Vladimirovna, attended the celebrations. The name for the school was chosen by the students themselves on the basis of their search and information work.

When reporters asked Nikolai's sister why Nikolay volunteered to cover the retreat of the division, Taisiya Vladimirovna replied: "My brother could not have done otherwise."

The feat of Kolka Sirotinin is an example of loyalty to the Motherland for all our youth.

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, the Gold Star medal was approved, in the form of a five-pointed star fixed on a rectangular block, which was issued to those awarded along with the Order of Lenin and a 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 became Heroes of the Soviet Union (Decree of December 31, 1936), who participated in civil war in Spain. 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. This list includes 107 fighters who became twice heroes (7 were awarded posthumously), and 90 women were also included in the total number of awardees (49 posthumously).

The attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR caused an unprecedented rise in patriotism. Great War brought a lot of grief, but she also opened 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 military registration and enlistment 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 salvo 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 selflessness, 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.

Special Group, Test Pilot Awards military equipment, polar explorers, participants in the exploration of the depths of the World Ocean - 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 post-war years there was a vicious tradition of conferring a high military distinction for "office" achievements dedicated to anniversary birthdays. 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.