The faces of WWII Heroes

Rank: Sergeant. Branch of service: Artillery. Anatoly Maksimovich Karsaev came from an ordinary peasant family. He was born on January 04, 1924, in the village of Mokrovka, Saratov region. He had three brothers and a younger sister, and when they moved to the village of Borono-Mikhaylovka during the hungry year of 1933, his father married into a family with three more children. Thus, they lived: as a large family, indulged in labor and worries. To help the household, my grandfather added an extra year to his age to get a job. He started with the simplest work: collected sacks for sowing, then became a tractor refueller, and in the spring of 1941 my grandfather finished the tractor driver's course and mastered the "iron horse". In the spring of 1942, the Red Army soldier Karseev took up arms. He took up just one line in the red army book: "called up by the Makarov District Military Commissariat on April 28, 1942". My grandfather was sent from Balashov to Borisoglebsk, where the field school of sergeants was established. "About 400 guys were chosen - those who were younger. We lived in tents in the woods. We were trained to be commanders of machine-gun crews. Every day, from morning to evening, classes following a crash course." And again, he was in Balashov, from here on August 26, 1942, the newly minted machine-gun sergeants were sent to Stalingrad. We went on foot, at night time, and even carrying a machine gun on our backs – that was almost 70 kilograms of weight: the machine gun rack was 32 kg., the barrel was 26 kg., a box with bullets was 9 kg. My grandfather recalled: "On September 8, we were on the outskirts of Stalingrad. We did not even have time to get to the starting line when we were bombed. It was hell for us, eighteen-year-olds, who haven't been under fire. It made our hair stand on end." Anatoly Karseev, a sergeant in an independent machine-gun battalion of the Red Banner 99th guards’ division of the 66th army, fought as part of the Don frontline troops commanded by General Konstantin Rokossovsky. The frontline occupied a defensive line along the Don river to Yerzovka on the Volga. "When we entered Stalingrad at the end of January 1943, it was nothing but ruins." My grandfather survived these battles, having received only two scratches from bullets. But he was not as lucky in the summer of 1943, when a new offensive began: "The "Messer" spotted our servicing division and slammed us with shrapnel shells. The commander - a guy from the Zhytomyr region – died. Both my legs were broken. One of them was saved by medics. And the other was cut off. Afterwards, it was amputated knee-deep in a field hospital. " In the spring of 1944, Guard Sergeant Anatoly Karseev, with two military orders - of the Patriotic War and the Red Star - on his tunic, returned to his dear Borono-Mikhailovka. In May, he already got a job at the state farm as a driver on a powerplant. Here he met his soulmate, my grandmother, Valentina. At the time, she was 17 years old. A week before her birthday in July 1944, they got married. They lived together for 60 years, lived to see their “diamond” wedding. They created a big strong family: raised 5 children. There were twice as many grandchildren: 10. And 18 great-grandchildren! Despite the fact that my grandfather lost a leg during the war, he worked all his life both on the collective farm, and at home, where they had a large farm with cows, goats, sheep, chickens, geese, ducks. He had to swing a scythe, dig a vegetable garden, and there were many things to do in the yard as well. My grandfather had a very cheerful character, he was a master storyteller, played the balalaika. He was very fond of fishing. My grandfather died shortly before the 60th anniversary of the Great Victory. He died at the age of 81 in March 2005.

He was born on June 3, 1876 in the village of Kamenka, Nizhnelomovsky district of Penza province in a poor family. He studied at Kamensk primary school. In 1904, at the height of the Russian-Japanese war (1904-1905), he volunteered for a medical team, and, under fire, carried out the wounded from the battlefield. He participated in the suppression of outbreaks of typhus, smallpox, scarlet fever. In 1906, the medical faculty of the University of Yuriev (Tartu) awarded Burdenko the diploma of "Doctor with Honors". Like many students, Burdenko shared the revolutionary mood of the time, participated in gatherings and demonstrations. In 1909, he defended his dissertation and in 1910 held the position of assistant professor of the Department of Surgery at his university. Since 1917, Burdenko has been an ordinary professor at the faculty surgical clinic. At the beginning of the First World War, he worked as a consultant surgeon for various fronts of the active army, participated in the creation of field hospitals and dressing and evacuation centers, and operated on the wounded. Burdenko drew up the first Provision on the Military Health Service of the Red Army; he took care of the necessary medicines and equipment for military doctors. In 1924, he became the superintendent of the surgical clinic of Moscow State University, and in 1929 - the superintendent of the neurosurgical clinic at the X-Ray Institute, on the basis of which the Central Neurosurgical Institute (now the Burdenko Institute of neurosurgery in Moscow) was established in 1934. In the first days of the Great Patriotic War, Burdenko was appointed chief surgeon of the Red Army and personally inspected hospitals. The collected material formed the basis of his teaching on battle wounds. Being at the head of the team of doctors, he tested and introduced new drugs for wide use in frontline hospitals: streptocide, sulfidine, penicillin. In 1939, Burdenko became an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1941, when crossing the Neva river, Burdenko was bombed and suffered a concussion. After returning from the war, he continued to work, but as a result of his concussion, he suffered two consecutive brain hemorrhages, and in the summer of 1946, a third. He died on November 11, 1946 in Moscow.

My grandfather Vasily Nikitovich Kochedykov took part in the Great Patriotic War. He was born on March 31, 1912 in a family of peasants in the village of Puzyrev, Zavivalovsky district, Penza region. My grandfather studied to become a livestock specialist, completing two years of the Omsk Agricultural Institute. In 1942, he graduated from the commander's course at the Frunze Military and Political School. From June 1942 to April 1945, he participated in the battles against the Nazi invaders. He finished the war as a deputy division commander of the political department of the 7th guards’ airborne artillery regiment of the 9th guards airborne Poltava Red Banner order of Suvorov division with the rank of guard captain. During the war, my grandfather received commendations from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Marshal of the Soviet Union I. V. Stalin for his excellent combat against the German-fascist troops: 1. for the elimination of the summer offensive in the Belgorod direction; 2. for the capture of the city of Belgorod; 3.for the capture of the city of Kharkiv; 4. for the capture of the city of Poltava; 5. for the capture of the city of Kremenchug. My grandfather participated in one of the big and important battles on the Kursk bulge, directly participated in the largest tank battle in the whole war at the Prokhorovka station in the Kursk region. In this battle, under the leadership of my grandfather, seven enemy tanks were destroyed, for which he received the order of the Red Star. I remember the battle on the Kursk Bulge from my grandfather's stories; he told me about it several times. He said that the soldiers had a very difficult time, talked about how they died. How they saved him by digging a hole in the ground. I did not find out about how he, himself, shot down two tanks with direct fire until many years later. He took part in the battles to cross the Oder, Dniester, and Vistula rivers. During the war, my grandfather was also awarded orders for military services: of the Patriotic War of I and II degrees, the order of the Red Star, the military order of the Red Banner, the medal "For the Victory over Germany", and other medals. My grandfather ended his service in the war on March 16, 1945, as he was seriously wounded in the right Shin on the 1st Ukrainian front near the Neisse river, just 60 km from Berlin. Afterwards, came a hospital in the city of Lviv, a commission and dismissal from the army. It was there that Vasily Nikitovich met Budyonniy, who was then in charge of the horse breeding industry in the country. The marshal approved the appointment of yesterday's officer as director of the state stable in Lviv. Afterwards, my grandfather worked in the Rivne state procurement stable. He was director of the state stable, chairman of the collective farm "Progress" of the Nolinsky (Molotov) district of the Kirov region, created the Nolinsky poultry farm from the ground up. My grandfather was personally acquainted with Marshal Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonniy, fellow Nolinchanite Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov - both acquaintances seriously affected the economy of the district at one time or another. For the sake of the common cause, Vasily Nikitovich went to Moscow to seek an appointment with Molotov. And he got it! After their meeting, a power plant, a car, and a sawmill were delivered to the address of the “Progress” collective farm.

Rank: guard corporal. Branch of service: Artillery. 26 guards’ cannon and artillery brigade of the reserve of the main command of the 8th cannon and artillery division of the 1st Baltic front. Extract from the article of the Besson newspaper "Nasha Gazeta" dated June 21, 1995: "Called up to the army by the Besson District Military Commissariat in 1939, he began his service in an artillery regiment in the Far East. As he already had experience in working with equipment (in Bessonovka, he worked as a tractor driver), he was enrolled in an artillery workshop. Served and worked easily and productively: the repair of artillery systems was interesting in itself. But suddenly the war broke out. The unit in which Komissarov served was urgently transferred to the frontline. They entered into battle near Vyazma. The Nazis, at that time, were incessantly climbing forward, regardless of any losses they endured. And the "gunners" had to operate under difficult and tough conditions, often changing firing positions, making marches on bad country roads and, therefore, the artillery masters had enough work on their hands. In addition to repairing guns, ordinary Komissarov had to perform guard duty, deliver shells and various military equipment to firing positions. And quiet often these trips were made under the bombing of planes or under the fire of guns. But in the summer of 1943, their place in the workshop was taken by young people who had not yet experienced war, and he and Nikolai Pokusaev were sent to an reconnaissance platoon, to one of the batteries of their home unit. Komissarov himself did not notice how he fell in love with his new profession, was proud of his soldier's work, his duties. In February 1944, Soviet troops were preparing to attack the city of Vitebsk. The artillery scouts had a lot of work to do. In the most difficult conditions, almost in an open, bare place, in the fierce crackling colds, in a hastily equipped trench, Komissarov continued his inconspicuous, but dangerous and heroic work, conducted careful surveillance of the enemy, detected its targets and sent data needed for conducting artillery fire. Vasily Vasilyevich's knee was shattered by fragments of a projectile; the heated metal sank into his arm and shoulder. Despite his injuries, he returned from the war alive and lived to be 79 years old. By order of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR on February 6, 1944, he was awarded the medal "For Bravery" (dates of the feat: December 11, 1943, December 24, 1943). On April 6, 1985, the Minister of Defense of the USSR awarded him with the order of the Patriotic War of the I degree.

In 1937, Ivan Mikhailovich was drafted into the Armed forces. He was sent to Saratov to the Red Banner collective tank school. In early June 1941, he graduated from the school and was sent for further service to the city of Vilnius in Lithuania. He arrived at the unit on June 18, and on June 20, their tank unit was already standing on the Western border and waiting for something. There was already talk that there would be a war. On June 22, 1941, at 4 o'clock in the morning, shooting began, German reconnaissance planes circled in the air. At this moment, they knew that they would fight the Germans. The Western troops were surrounded, many soldiers were captured. Ivan Mikhailovich was contused, but he was not taken to the hospital, as there was simply no hospital. Only at the end of August 1941, they managed to fight their way out of the encirclement around Bryansk. There he was received an order to go to Voronezh, and from there, to Stalingrad. His regiment participated in the defense of Stalingrad, for which all the participants were awarded the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" and a commemorative badge. The battle of Stalingrad taught many of its participants courage and bravery. After the defeat of the Germans, the regiment was sent to the city of Kurgan to train tank crews for the frontlines. Ivan Mikhailovich fought on the BT-7 tank and trained young specialists to operate it. The war was going on, the equipment was changing, and T-34 tanks were being produced. To teach people, you had to retrain yourself. In 1944, he was sent to Leningrad to the panzer school, from which he graduated in May 1945. There he got the joyful news of the long-awaited victory. Few people survived the war and returned without injuries. Ivan Mikhailovich burned twice in the tank and suffered a concussion. After the war, he served in Germany, Belarus, and Ukraine, and was discharged with the rank of major. He returned home, worked as a Chairman of the Village Council in Baldat, then the district committee sent him to Gubden as the director of forestry. In 1962, he transferred to the Kizner military unit and worked as a security chief. There, he, finally, went on his well-deserved retirement. Ivan Mikhailovich lived a long and heroic life, together with his wife they raised and supported four daughters. He died on January 28, 2002 at the age of 85. He was awarded with medals: "For bravery", "For Military Merit", "For the Defense of Stalingrad", "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"," Order of the Red Star"," Order of Lenin"," Order of the Red Banner", "Order of the Patriotic War of the II degree".

Rank: Petty officer of the 2 class. Military branch: the Soviet Navy and Naval forces of the NKVD border troops. Krasikov Nikolai Alexandrovich, guard foreman of the second degree, has gone through the entire war on the guards’ cruiser "RED CAUCASUS "(served as a machinist in the engine room). On April 22, 1939, by the Vozhegodsky District Military Enlistment Office of the Vologda region he was called up for active service in the BLACK SEA FLEET. On December 15, 1939 he was enlisted in the list of personnel of the guards’ cruiser "Red Caucasus". On it, he met the beginning of the war, went (or sailed, to be precise,) through the entire war and only on December 8, 1946 was demobilized. For almost eight long years, his family did not see their son, worrying about him, and looking forward to his return. He participated in many military operations. He liberated Kerch, Sevastopol, Novorossiysk, Feodosia, and Odessa. Participated in naval battles in the defense of the Caucasus. In one of these operations, he was injured and concussed, and had to learn to walk and speak anew. And after the hospital, he went back to the ship and back to battle! But the bullet lodged in the humerus of his left arm would bother him for many years to come. Only 4 years before his death - he died in September 1986 - the surgeon removed this enemy bullet. He did not like to talk to his relatives about the terrible days of the war, but he was often invited to school to host Memory Lessons, where students listened with great interest to his stories about these years. In sea battles, their cruiser, "RED CAUCASUS", repeatedly received serious damage from the attacks of enemy aircraft and enemy artillery. But the base was quickly repaired – and was back - advancing on the enemy! The most memorable battle for him - was the descent in Feodosia on the night of December 29, 1941. According to his memory of it, an icy wind was blowing, water waves were rolling on the decks, visibility was getting worse by the minute, the ship was beginning to prepare for artillery. Soon the command to open fire on the Feodosian port, which was occupied by the enemy, was given. The sea air shuddered, and flames leaped from the RED CAUCASUS's gun muzzles. At this moment, another ship, the RED CRIMEA, was also striking the port. The first waves of paratroopers broke the organized resistance of the enemy directly at the docks. When they were approaching Feodosia, the wind increased, changed direction - this made it difficult to moor, soon the ship "Red Caucasus" began to drift in the direction of the minefield, arranged by the enemy very close to the pier, where the ship was headed. That was the moment when the engine room sailors had to work through blood, sweat, and tears. Commands from the bridge poured in - one after the other - and above them was a wall of fire... the battle was getting worse. With great difficulty, the cruiser managed to moor, and when the light of the missiles showed the enemy that the "Red Caucasus" was in front of them, a huge number of enemy firing points entered the battle. And then, an explosion! The sailors that survived the explosion put out the fire, which burst out on the signal bridge. The German tanks that approached the shore opened fire, and then they were hit by shells of the main caliber raining from the ship and literally destroying Hitler’s tanks, the ammunition depot was blown up as well. The Germans suffered enormous damage. But not the cruiser "Red Caucasus" was not left without losses, either. The ship itself received a lot of damage. But still, under a wall of fire, at the cost of human lives, the unstoppable paratroopers were able to land ashore. And when the sailors of the engine room heard the command " Full speed ahead!", the cruiser was once again brought to sea. For the unprecedented boldness of the operation he received awards. There were many similar operations. Sometimes one had to wonder how it was possible to pass such trying tests of the war and remain such a kind soul. This is still said by everyone who once knew Nikolai Alexandrovich. He loved life very much, loved us: his wife Alevtina Alekseyevna, his four daughters, doted on his grandchildren! Dad's total work experience on railway transport was 48 years. He worked as a locomotive driver, and a depot attendant. VOZHEGA (during retirement worked as a stoker of a locomotive-heated railway houses). While he was working, for a long time he was an unreleased chairman of the Trade Union Committee of the Depot station Vozhega.

Vasily Alexandrovich Bystrov was called to the front on August 20, 1941 immediately after the end of the seven-year period by the Chebsar RVC. He began serving in the 21st motorized rifle division of the NKVD, as part of the 2nd Shock Army. He went through the entire war, starting from the cadet rank and becoming a commander of a mortar platoon, was a scout. He fought on the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts. In the Lyuban offensive on January 25, 1942, the division where Vasily fought broke through the enemy's defenses at Myasnoy Bor near Leningrad but found itself isolated in a narrow frontline. The soldiers were left without provision, the ability to establish communication, to fight further. They starved, boiled leather belts in pots. Frozen bread was dropped to them from planes. This was all they ate... Their regiment managed to break through the German forces a few weeks later, and the soldiers from the neighboring unit were all captured. Among those captives was the famous poet Musa Jalil... The isolation of the 21st division lasted until February 12, 1942. Then the 111th rifle division together with the 22nd rifle brigade expanded the front line to 13 km and improved the condition of the unit that was trapped. Thus, the task of the combat operation of the 21st division of the NKVD was completed, the defense at Myasnoy Bor was broken, but the soldiers themselves were in a tough half-starved state for several weeks. In 1943, Vasily Bystrov was awarded the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad". The 21st motorized rifle division of the NKVD, in July-August 1942 renamed into the 109th Red Banner rifle 602 regiment, where Vasily fought, bore the proud title of "The Red Banner Rifle Regiment of the Order of Alexander Nevsky". In the summer of 1942, the division, along with the 85th rifle brigade, led the enemy out of the heavily fortified point of Staro-Panovo. They advanced into the outskirts of the city of Uritsk. For several days there was relentless fighting, as a result of which the Germans suffered significant losses. Vasily Alexandrovich Bystrov was awarded the order of the Red Star in 1944 for the feat performed in the battle on March 8 near the town of Metsavakht near Narva in Estonia. Vasily commanded a mortar squad. He was seriously wounded, but continued to fight, replaced a disabled platoon commander. From the award list entry: "...Despising death, he single-handedly corrected the fire of his mortars under enemy fire. Repelling enemy attacks... destroyed three firing points and more than 20 Hitlerite soldiers. Being wounded, he continued to command the platoon until his strength left him. He is worthy of the government award, the order of the Red Star. Signed: Colonel Putyatin." In this battle, Vasily Bystrov was seriously wounded in the head; he continued to fight the enemy until he lost consciousness. He celebrated the victory in Estonia. After the war he was frequently called up for military training in Kusubu. He worked for many years at the Vologda machine-building plant in various positions: as a carpenter, then as a dispatcher in the PDO. He had been awarded the badge "25 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War", in 1971 he was awarded the title of captain of the reserve. With his wife Faina, he raised three children. Now, the memory of my grandfather is kept by 4 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren, 1 great-great-granddaughter. Vasily Aleksandrovich Bystrov was admitted to a hospital of the Leningrad region from 26.02.1942 to 22.04.1942 near Parakhino. He was admitted to hospitals in Leningrad: Evacuation Hospital No. 1250 from 18.09.1943 to 05.12.1943; hospital No. 1360 from 08.03.1944 to 05.06.1944. For the rest of his life, he had splinters in his cheek and under his shoulder blade, they could even be felt right under his skin.

Born in 1911, far from the southern Urals. Place of birth – city of Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Region. Before the military service, he worked as a turner, and graduated from school in grades seven. Date of conscription - still a peaceful time in the USSR - February 21, 1940. He went through the war from beginning to the end, and endured many ordeals – harsh battles, partisan struggle, the horrors of the first concentration camp, and unjust exile. During his service, he received the rank of Lieutenant and served in the 457th combat regiment. During the war, Mikhail was the Political Officer of a company of the Vorobyov Partisan Detachment and in November 1942 went missing. He went to Dachau – one of the first concentration camps in Germany. All his hands and feet were scarred – because he had escaped from the camp twice, but the Nazis sent dogs on his trail, which tore him alive and dragged him back. This horror lasted for three years, until April 1945, when US soldiers broke into the camp and libirated the prisoners. For another month, he sat on the territory of the camp and waited for the documents to be made for him, so that he could finally return home. But it was not that simple. After all, if one was in a concentration camp, he could give up all his secrets and betray his homeland. Before the war, he was married, but to protect himself, his wife refused him. He walked to the Krasnodar Region, in a ragged robe, weighed only 45 kg. Only then did he learn that he no longer had a wife, and that his own sister was forbidden to talk to him. After three days, he was sent to exile in Chelyabinsk. For a half of his life he tried to prov that he was not an enemy of the people and that he was taken prisoner unconscious. In Chelyabinsk, he met his second wife. His story ended well – he had two daughters and several grandchildren. He finaly was rehabilitated. All his awards and titles were returned, for example, the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree. Died from the effects of the war. One of Dachau's favorite tortures was the vacuum. Its purpose was to study the strains that German pilots could face at high altitudes or when landing with an unexpected drop in pressure and a decrease in oxygen content. Mikhail was paralyzed for the third and last time on October 19, 1986.

Called up by the Nikolaev District Military Commissariate on June 28, 1941. Private, military unit #07284. Alexey married Maria in 1929. They had foue children, but a son and daughter died of starvation. Survived only by the Nusia and Polina. When Alexey went to the front, everyone cried, saying goodbye to him, as if they knew that he would not return. First, Alexey learned to hold a rifle, shoot, then walk to Stalingrad. They walked for a long time. They wanted to defeat the enemy. On the way to Stalingrad, Alexey found himself not far from his home. He really wanted to visit his wife and see his newborn daughter. Fate had given them the last meeting. Alexey asked for leave from the commander and promised to catch up. It was necessary to go home through the Volga. On his way back, a snowstorm started. He was late. He walked along the Volga River from Kamyshin, and then caught up with the unit that went to Stalingrad. For being late to the unit, he was sent to the front line. The city was ahead. It was impossible to let an enemy pass through it. Together with other soldiers, he stood to the last. Alexei fought at Stalingrad. He was killed in the battle of Stalingrad on January 22, 1943. The victory at Stalingrad was only ten days away. Comrades wrote that he was not afraid of anything, risked his life to save others, always joked, supported others. He was buried in the village of Voropanova (now Gorky) after the battle as a hero. Alexey's wife could not believe it, she kept writing letters to him for a long time and waited for an answer. His name is listed on the Memorial Board in memory of those killed during the Great Patriotic War in the village of Occurance.

Born on August 14, 1923 in the village of Aban, Abansky district of Krasnoyarsk Area. He was drafted to the front in 1942 at the age of 19. He was assigned to the 35th reserve regiment, in reconnaissance division. When they reached the town of Kolomna, they decided to go to the regimental school to study artillery. After a short training period, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and was a gun commander in an anti-tank fighter regiment. Then-platoon commander near the city of Kursk, fought near the city of Kalinin, Velikiye Luky. They destroyed German tanks and infantry. We were bombed by planes and fired glowing rockets. We jumped into the funnel to hide from the bomb, and there was water up to their chest or waist, so they stood or lay in this mud until the bombing stopped. After the howitzer was smashed, Ivan fell into the machine gunners. Near the city of Vitebsk, he was wounded in his leg, lay in hospitals in Gus-Khrustalny town, Vladimir. After the hospital, he fought in the 1st guards mortar brigade. He was shell-shocked, after a shell-shock, he got into the firing squad to load mines into Katyusha . Participated in the capture of Berlin and such cities as Cottbus, Fort, Retibor. "During the performance of official duties, and most importantly in battle, he spared neither his strength nor his health. But the Motherland and we-fighting friends will never forget such sons as Your son. Today, on November 19, 1945, we send him home to your mother's arms. Live, be proud of your son. Thank you for raising your son, for his endurance, endurance, and intransigence to the enemy. "(From the unit commander's letter of thanks to his mother, I. p. Golovanov) Ivan Prokopievich died on 01/14/1996. He was buried in Aban , always joked, supported others. He was buried in the vi

Yuri Alexandrovich Gorodnichev was born in Kaluga on May 4, 1924. In may 1942, eighteen-year-old Yura Gorodnichev enlisted in the 108th separate tank brigade, which was at the disposal of the 50th army. With the rank of Sergeant, he was a recon for the control company of the 108 tank brigade of the 9th tank corps. The first military award – the medal "for bravery" - Yuri Alexandrovich received in the summer of 1943 near Kursk. Despite heavy mortar fire, he personally destroyed 8 enemy soldiers personally by his gun, and promptly found a Tiger tank buried in the ground, which allowed it to be destroyed. From 10 to 14 September 1943 In the battles for Uborok village with a group of recons and 5 tanks broke through and went to the North-Western outskirts of the village, where he took up the defense: three enemy counterattacks were repulsed. Personally by Sergeant Yu. A. Gorodnichev destroyed five 5 enemies by his machine gun, two were taken prisoners. He delivered aluable documents about the enemy to headquarters of the unit. And on 11/22/1943 he was awarded the Order of Red Star for that. In battles, which lasted from 06/24/1944 to 08/04/1944 he broke through the enemy's defenses in the area of the Drut river (Belarussia) and provided accurate information about the enemy, which contributed to the implementation of the combat mission. On June 27, 1944 Yu. A. Gorodnichev together with a group of sappers of the Department built the crossing of over the river Dobysna and held it. He was slightly wounded, but did not leave the battlefield, gave himself first aid, and continued to perform the task. For these actions Yu. A. Gorodnichev was awarded the Order of glory of the III degree. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 05/09/1945, he was awarded the medal "for the Victory over Germany".

Emelyan Gavrilovich Gavrilov was born on August 9, 1922 in the village of Dudkino in the Ilyinsky volost of Velizh district of Vitebsk province (now the territory of the Ilyinsky rural settlement of Zapadnodvinsky district of Smolensk region). Immediately after the beginning of the great Patriotic war, Emelyan Gavrilov enlisted as a volunteer and was sent to the Leningrad front. As an private Red army soldier, as an artillery gunnery officer, he took part in the defense of Leningrad from July 1941 to July 1942. After participating in the battles on the Leningrad front, he was sent to study at Leningrad artillery school. From March 1943-Lieutenant, commander of a fire platoon. Then he was sent to the 3rd Ukrainian front, where he fought as part of the 191st guards artillery regiment of the 86th guards rifle division-until the end of the war, until Victory! Awarded the order of Patriotic war of I and II degree, order of Red Star, medals "For defense of Leningrad", "For capture of Budapest", "For capture of Vienna", "For liberation of Belgrade". Extract from the award list of the order of the Patriotic war of II degree (description of the feat): "Working as a fire platoon commander, he always clearly and relentlessly fulfilled his duties to destroy the German invaders. His platoon from 08/18/1943 to 09/02/43 destroyed 4 vehicles, 1 observation post, dispersed and partially destroyed up to a company of infantry. In the battle for Fokino village on 08/31/1943 his platoon was placed in an open firing position. During the artillery and mortar bombardment and aerial bombardment, he fired at the advancing enemy tanks. In this battle, his platoon burned 2 and hit 3 German tanks. Lieutenant Gavrilov, being slightly wounded, decided not to take a step back from the occupied positions — and he did not leave, he was carried away, seriously wounded for the second time, by his own soldiers. The enemy did not pass beyond the line occupied by Gavrilov. Tanks and infantry of the enemy turned back. " after the end of the war, he lived in Leningrad, worked as Cahirman in factory shop. Actively participated in events to celebrate Victory Day, repeatedly met with his fellow soldiers. He passed away in 1997.

Our father, Andrey Tarasovich Golovko, was born in 1925 in Bolshaya Dzhalga village, Stavropol area, in a peasant family. His father, our grandfather, worked on the land, and when the Civil war began, he fought on the side of the Reds. Having the skills of a medic, he helped the wounded and sick. During collectivization, he joined a kolkhoz, had authority among the villagers, was elected as Chairman of the audit Commission, but, despite this, was arrested as an enemy of people and sent to a camp. However, thanks to the efforts of fellow soldiers, former red partisans, and our grandmother Vasilisa Stepanovna, an illiterate woman who got an appointment with Kalinin, after 1.5 years he was acquitted and returned home. All this we know from my father, my father's parents died during the war. My father's family was large and friendly, but only four survived. Parents taught their children to work, instilled love of knowledge. Senior children received special education: senior sister worked as a teacher before the war, brother was a student in a College, but the war started and he went on to study in military school and fought as an officer and returned from the war disabled. Andrey Tarasovich fought for the cavalry as a mortar, was wounded, shell-shocked, awarded military awards: two medals "for Bravery", two medals "for Military Merit", "for the capture of Konigsberg", "for the Victory over Germany". On the website of the Ministry of defense, you can read "Andrey Tarasovich Golovko in the battle for the village of Tsyulen on 05.01.1945 continuously delivered mines to an open firing position under heavy rifle and machine gun fire of the enemy. When his horses were killed, he delivered mines on himself." Then there was a meeting with the Americans on the Elbe, there was Victory. But my father returned home only in 1948, he had to serve conscription in Western Ukraine. After demobilization, he served in the anti-banditry unit in Grozny, at that time there were many more gangs in the mountains. Then he studied at the police school in the city of Kostroma and served in the police in Grozny, Achikulak, Zaterechny, Neftekumsk. Then there was party work in neftekumsky state farm, then work in NGDU. After retiring, he was constantly engaged in public work, was the Chairman of the Council of Veterans, and enjoyed authority among the population.

In January 1942, he was sent as the commander of the machine-gun crew of the machine gun to the Kalinin front, to the 91st rifle division. As part of the 117th guards rifle brigade, he took part in the Rzhev-Sychevskaya offensive operation, The Rzhev-Sychevskaya strategic offensive operation, where he bravely and skillfully supported the Riflemen during the battles from November 25 to December 2, 1942. "On November 26, I supported the Riflemen with my machine gun and broke into the enemy's trench with them. The Germans launched a counterattack, and only Grigoriev's machine gun remained in the trench. But he did not lose his head, machine-gun fire destroyed 25 Nazis. The rest lay down and retreated" - this was how his feat was described in the award list of the medal "for bravery". By the end of 1942, he received his first battle wound, fortunately it was light. A couple of months later, in February 1943, he was again wounded in the left shoulder. After receiving recognition of fitness for combat service, he returned to the battlefields, continuing to fight in the 91st rifle division. He participated in Kursk offensive operation, where in the battles for the height of 228, he received the medal "for military merit". In October 1943, he took part in Nevel operation and was wounded on October 6. Exactly a year after the first injury-a fatal combination of circumstances-he was again injured, and this time seriously. A through shrapnel wound to the face with damage to the lower jaw-this was the diagnosis, and the doctors found it was necessary to transfer him to the evacuation hospital in Kazan on December 2, 1943. Y He was in Tatar evacuation hospital until February 1944, where he was commissioned because of injury

Member of the partisan movement of Belarussia in the special Squad, named after KIROV of Gomel connection since July 8, 1942 to November 25, 1943. Born on August 15, 1918. in the village of Bortniki, Bobruisk district, Mogilev region, in a poor peasant family. My father was a shoemaker and my mother a dressmaker. In winter she sewed clothes and in summer she worked kolkhoz in the field. She was a perfect master of the sickle during harvesting. The farm had a cow, a couple of geese, and a dozen of chickens. Her family had four children - two brothers and two sisters. In 1935 she finished Bobruisk forestry college with the profession of furniture manufacturing technology. She was a Komsomol activist in the colleege, also participated in Amateur activities and in passing the TRP standards. She got married the same year. In the spring of 1936, her son Marik was born. When he came to stay with his grandparents in the summer, he liked to feed geese by hand with his grandmother. In the end of May 1941 her daughter Mariyka was born. In spring of 1941 her husband Mikhail was mobilized and sent to the area of Belostok (possibly for the construction of defensive structures), there he died in the first week of the war. On the 3rd day of the war, thieves (future policemen) stole a cow at night, wrapping the hooves with rags. In the end of June, her mother-in-law sent a horse from Bobruisk to take her relatives to the rear, but this could not be done, since all the roads were already clogged by the Nazis. The old men decided to return home, and Lydia and her sister Sofia, along with their two children, went to distant farms and villages, because local anti-Soviets could give them to the Nazis. The peasants sympathized with the refugees: some gave a slice of bread, some poured a Cup of milk, some gave a bulbina (potato). But everyone was afraid of the punishers, everywhere there were orders not to accept refugees and hand them over to the commandant's office. All residents were supposed to have ausweiss with them. Execution For non-compliance. We had to spend the night in the woods, or in haystacks. Where there were no policemen, you could sleep in a shed or bathhouse. By mid-September, the nights were getting colder and the children's health was getting worse. Marik became ill. A peasant woman in one of the villages was persuaded to accept the boy (her husband was also in the army, everyone believed that the fascists would soon be defeated and our people would return). The informer is unknown, but when, a couple of weeks later, his mother returned to visit her son, she saw only his worn-out shoes. One night the policemen came and dragged him out from behind the stove, where he was hiding in the straw, without even allowing him to put them on. Everything was done quickly, so as not to allow the victim to react and get his bottle of schnapps from the new owners as soon as possible... In those places, in the area of the current Krasny Bereg station, a hospital for wounded German soldiers was located and the point for collecting donor and children's blood was created there. Perhaps the boy was sent to that place where he died. After the war, when I was 6-7 years old, I remember my mother's bitter tears, as she wrung her hands and remembering all this, repeated: "I wish the Germans had killed me." These memories came back to her again and again, leaving a trace in my soul. After leaving this village, having suffered such a mental trauma, my mother lost her breast milk. The baby was doomed. She died in late October or early November. The first snow has fallen... the ground was not frozen yet. When Guderian's German tanks broke into Bortniki in late June and early July, the soldiers began to Rob the peasants, depriving livestock, milk, butter, and lard, but they did not commit any atrocities yet. They were eager to capture the bridges and crossings on the Berezina faster. But a week later, the field gendarmerie, the commandant's office, and the police appeared. The hunt for Communists and Jews began. One day the order was posted: "All Jews must gather by the commandant's office. Take your valuables and food for three days.”My grandparents Vera and Simon Freitman were sent to a ghetto (possibly, in Bobruisk), where all its inhabitants were killed by the spring of 1942. She was not accepted immediately To the partisan detachment, named after Kirov. There were a lot of checks. Her knowledge of Komsomol structures helped, and she also knew German well. Her skills to sew clothes was also useful. She was Accepted as a private on July 8, 1942, where she served until the moment of liberationon by Red Army troops under the command of K. K. Rokossovsky on November 25, 1943. She was awarded the command medals: Partisan of the Patriotic War, for the Victory over Germany, for valiant labor in the great Patriotic War, as well as, in peacetime, the jubilee medal “Twenty years of Victory in the great Patriotic War” and the Jubilee Badge “25 years of Victory in the great Patriotic War”. In peacetime, she worked in regional food industry as an economist, and then in Vodokanaltrest–as a motorist of pumping stations. Her health was severely damaged by the war. She died on March 28, 1978. There is a photo from partisan life-The work of a workshop for repairing uniforms. From the memoirs of her son-Vladimir Nikolaevich Suzdalev. 04/12/2020.