To this day, the soldiers who defended our Motherland from enemies are remembered. Those caught up in these cruel times were children born in 1927 to 1941 and in the subsequent years of the war. These are the children of war. They survived everything: hunger, death of loved ones, backbreaking work, devastation, children did not know what it was scented soap, sugar, comfortable new clothes, shoes. All of them are old people for a long time and teach the younger generation to value everything they have. But often they are not given due attention, and for them it is so important to pass on their experience to others.

Training during the war

Despite the war, many children studied, went to school, whatever they needed.“Schools were open, but few people studied, everyone worked, education was up to 4th grade. There were textbooks, but no notebooks; the children wrote on newspapers, old receipts, on any piece of paper they found. The ink was soot from the furnace. It was diluted with water and poured into a jar - it was ink. We dressed for school in what we had; neither boys nor girls had a specific uniform. The school day was short because I had to go to work. Brother Petya was taken by my father’s sister to Zhigalovo; he was the only one in the family who finished 8th grade” (Fartunatova Kapitolina Andreevna).

“We had an incomplete secondary school (7 grades), I already graduated in 1941. I remember that there were few textbooks. If five people lived nearby, then they were given one textbook, and they all gathered together at one person’s house and read and prepared their homework. They gave one notebook per person to do homework. We had a strict teacher of Russian and literature, he called us to the blackboard and asked us to recite a poem by heart. If you don’t tell, then they will definitely ask you at the next lesson. That's why I still know the poems of A.S. Pushkina, M.Yu. Lermontov and many others" (Vorotkova Tamara Aleksandrovna).

“I went to school very late, I had nothing to wear. There was poverty and a shortage of textbooks even after the war” (Alexandra Egorovna Kadnikova)

“In 1941, I graduated from the 7th grade at the Konovalovskaya school with an award - a piece of calico. They gave me a ticket to Artek. Mom asked me to show me on the map where that Artek was and refused the ticket, saying: “It’s too far away. What if there’s a war?” And I was not mistaken. In 1944, I went to study at Malyshevskaya secondary school. We got to Balagansk by walks, and then by ferry to Malyshevka. There were no relatives in the village, but there was an acquaintance of my father’s – Sobigrai Stanislav, whom I saw once. I found a house from memory and asked for an apartment for the duration of my studies. I cleaned the house, did laundry, thereby earning money for the shelter. Products before the New Year included a bag of potatoes and a bottle vegetable oil. This had to be stretched out until the holidays. I studied diligently, well, so I wanted to become a teacher. At school great attention devoted to the ideological and patriotic education of children. In the first lesson, the teacher spent the first 5 minutes talking about events at the front. Every day a line was held where the results of academic performance in grades 6-7 were summed up. The elders reported. That class received the red challenge banner; there were more good and excellent students. Teachers and students lived as one family, respecting each other.” (Fonareva Ekaterina Adamovna)

Nutrition, daily life

Most people during the war faced acute problem food shortages. They ate poorly, mostly from the garden, from the taiga. We caught fish from nearby bodies of water.

“We were mainly fed by the taiga. We collected berries and mushrooms and stored them for the winter. The most delicious and joyful thing was when my mother baked pies with cabbage, bird cherry, and potatoes. Mom planted a vegetable garden where the whole family worked. There wasn't a single weed. And they carried water for irrigation from the river and climbed high up the mountain. They kept livestock; if they had cows, then 10 kg of butter per year was given to the front. They dug up frozen potatoes and collected the remaining spikelets on the field. When dad was taken away, Vanya replaced him for us. He, like his father, was a hunter and fisherman. The Ilga River flowed in our village and was inhabited by good fish: grayling, hare, burbot. Vanya will wake us up early in the morning, and we will go pick different berries: currants, boyarka, rosehip, lingonberries, bird cherry, blueberry. We will collect, dry and sell them for money and for storage to the defense fund. They collected until the dew disappeared. As soon as it’s okay, run home - you have to go to the collective farm hayfield, rake the hay. They gave out very little food, small pieces just to make sure there was enough for everyone. Brother Vanya sewed “Chirki” shoes for the whole family. Dad was a hunter, he caught a lot of fur and sold it. Therefore, when he left, a large amount of reserves remained. They grew wild hemp and made pants from it. The older sister was a needlewoman; she knitted socks, stockings and mittens” (Fartunatova Kapitalina Andreevna).

“Baikal fed us. We lived in the village of Barguzin, we had a cannery. There were teams of fishermen, they fished both from Lake Baikal and from the Barguzin River, different fish. Sturgeon, whitefish, and omul were caught from Baikal. There were fish in the river such as perch, sorog, crucian carp, and burbot. The canned goods were sent to Tyumen and then to the front. The frail old people, those who did not go to the front, had their own foreman. The foreman was a fisherman all his life, had his own boat and seine. They called all the residents and asked: “Who needs fish?” Everyone needed fish, since only 400 g were given out per year, and 800 g per worker. Everyone who needed fish pulled a net on the shore, the old people swam into the river on a boat, set the net, then brought the other end to the shore. A rope was evenly selected from both sides and the seine was pulled to the shore. It was important not to let go of the joint. Then the foreman divided the fish among everyone. That's how they fed themselves. At the factory, after the canned food was made, they sold fish heads; 1 kilogram cost 5 kopecks. We didn’t have potatoes, and we didn’t have any vegetable gardens either. Because there was only forest around. Parents went to neighboring village and exchanged fish for potatoes. We didn’t feel severe hunger” (Vorotkova Tomara Aleksandrovna).

“There was nothing to eat, we walked around the field collecting spikelets and frozen potatoes. They kept livestock and planted vegetable gardens” (Alexandra Egorovna Kadnikova).

“All spring, summer and autumn I walked barefoot - from snow to snow. It was especially bad when we were working in the field. The stubble made my legs bleed. The clothes were the same as everyone else’s - a canvas skirt, a jacket from someone else’s shoulder. Food - cabbage leaves, beet leaves, nettles, oatmeal mash and even the bones of horses who died of starvation. The bones steamed and then drank salted water. Potatoes and carrots were dried and sent to the front in parcels” (Ekaterina Adamovna Fonareva)

In the archive I studied the Book of Orders for the Balagansky District Health Department. (Fund No. 23 inventory No. 1 sheet No. 6 - Appendix 2) I discovered that there were no epidemics of infectious diseases among children during the war years, although by order of the District Health Department of September 27, 1941, rural medical obstetric centers were closed. (Fund No. 23, inventory No. 1, sheet No. 29-Appendix 3) Only in 1943, in the village of Molka, an epidemic was mentioned (the disease was not specified). Health questions Sanitary doctor Volkova, local doctor Bobyleva, paramedic Yakovleva were sent to the site of the outbreak for 7 days . I conclude that preventing the spread of infection was a very important matter.

The report at the 2nd district party conference on the work of the district party committee on March 31, 1945 sums up the work of the Balagansky district during the war years. It is clear from the report that the years 1941,1942,1943 were very difficult for the region. Productivity declined catastrophically. Potato yield in 1941 – 50, in 1942 – 32, in 1943 – 18 c. (Appendix 4)

Gross grain harvest – 161627, 112717, 29077 c; grain received per workday: 1.3; 0.82; 0.276 kg. From these figures we can conclude that people really lived from hand to mouth. (Appendix 5)

Hard work

Everyone worked, young and old, the work was different, but difficult in its own way. We worked day after day from morning until late at night.

“Everyone worked. Both adults and children from 5 years old. The boys hauled hay and drove horses. No one left until the hay was removed from the field. Women took young cattle and raised them, and children helped them. They took the cattle to water and provided food. In the fall, during school, the children still continue to work, being at school in the morning, and at the first call they went to work. Basically, the children worked in the fields: digging potatoes, collecting ears of rye, etc. Most people worked on the collective farm. They worked in the calf barn, raised livestock, and worked in collective farm gardens. We tried to remove the bread quickly, without sparing ourselves. As soon as the grain is harvested and the snow falls, they are sent to logging. The saws were ordinary with two handles. They felled huge trees in the forest, cut off branches, sawed them into logs and split firewood. A lineman came and measured the cubic capacity. It was necessary to prepare at least five cubes. I remember how my brothers and sisters and I were carrying firewood home from the forest. They were carried on a bull. He was big and had a temper. They began to slide down the hill, and he carried away and made a fool of himself. The cart rolled and firewood fell out onto the side of the road. The bull broke the harness and ran away to the stable. The herdsmen realized that this was our family and sent my grandfather on horseback to help. So they brought the firewood home already after dark. And in winter, the wolves came close to the village and howled. They often killed livestock, but did not harm people.

The calculation was carried out at the end of the year by workdays, some were praised, and some remained in debt, since the families were large, there were few workers and it was necessary to feed the family throughout the year. They borrowed flour and cereals. After the war, I went to work on a collective farm as a milkmaid, they gave me 15 cows, but in general they give 20, I asked that they give it like everyone else. They added cows, and I exceeded the plan and produced a lot of milk. For this they gave me 3 m of blue satin. This was my bonus. They made a dress from satin, which was very dear to me. On the collective farm there were both hard workers and lazy people. Our collective farm has always exceeded its plan. We collected parcels for the front. Knitted socks and mittens.

There weren't enough matches or salt. Instead of matches, at the beginning of the village, the old people set fire to a large log, it slowly burned, smoking. They took coal from her, brought it home and fanned the fire in the stove.” (Fartunatova Kapitolina Andreevna).

“The children worked mainly in collecting firewood. Pupils of 6-7 grades worked. All the adults fished and worked at the factory. We worked seven days a week.” (Vorotkova Tamara Aleksandrovna).

“The war began, the brothers went to the front, Stepan died. I worked on a collective farm for three years. First as a nanny in a nursery, then at an inn, where she cleaned the yard with her younger brother, carried and sawed wood. She worked as an accountant in a tractor brigade, then in a field crew, and in general, she went where she was sent. She made hay, harvested crops, cleared fields of weeds, planted vegetables in the collective farm garden.” (Fonareva Ekaterina Adamovna)

Valentin Rasputin's story “Live and Remember” describes similar work during the war. Same conditions (Ust-Uda and Balagansk are located nearby, stories about the common military past seem to be copied from the same source:

“And we got it,” Lisa picked up. - That's right, women, you got it? It's sickening to remember. On a collective farm, work is okay, it’s yours. As soon as we remove the bread, there will be snow and logging. To the end of my life I will remember these logging operations. There are no roads, the horses are torn, they can’t pull. But we cannot refuse: the labor front, help for our men. They left the little guys in the first years... But those without kids or those who were older, they didn’t leave them, they went and went. Nasten, however, did not miss more than one winter. I went there twice and left my kids here with my dad. You will pile up these forests, these cubic meters, and carry them with you in the sleigh. Not a step without a banner. Either it will carry you into a snowdrift, or something else - turn it out, little ladies, push. Where you will turn it out and where you won’t. He won’t let the wall be torn down: the winter before last, a praying little mare rolled downhill and at the turn couldn’t handle it - the sleigh landed on one side, almost knocking the little mare over. I fought and fought, but I can’t. I'm exhausted. I sat down on the road and cried. The wall approached from behind - I began to roar like a stream. — Tears welled up in Lisa’s eyes. - She helped me. She helped me, we went together, but I just couldn’t calm down, I howled and howled. — Succumbing even more to the memories, Lisa sobbed. - I roar and roar, I can’t help myself. I can not.

I worked in the archive and looked through the Book of Accounting of Workdays of Collective Farmers of the “In Memory of Lenin” Collective Farm for 1943. It recorded the collective farmers and the work they did. In the book, entries are kept by family. The teenagers were recorded only by last name and first name - Nyuta Medvetskaya, Shura Lozovaya, Natasha Filistovich, Volodya Strashinsky, in total I counted 24 teenagers. The following types of work were listed: logging, grain harvesting, hay harvesting, road work, horse care and others. The main working months for children are August, September, October and November. I associate this time of work with making hay, harvesting and threshing grain. At this time, it was necessary to carry out cleaning before the snow, so everyone was involved. The number of full workdays for Shura is 347, for Natasha – 185, for Nyuta – 190, for Volodya – 247. Unfortunately, there is no more information about the children in the archive. [Foundation No. 19, inventory No. 1-l, sheets No. 1-3, 7,8, 10,22,23,35,50, 64,65]

The decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks dated September 5, 1941 “On the beginning of collecting warm clothes and linen for the Red Army” indicated a list of things to be collected. Schools in the Balagansky district also collected things. According to the list by the head of the school (last name and school not established), the parcel included: cigarettes, soap, handkerchiefs, cologne, gloves, hat, pillowcases, towels, shaving brushes, soap dish, underpants.

Celebrations

Despite hunger and cold, as well as such hard life people in different villages tried to celebrate holidays.

“There were holidays, for example: when all the grain was harvested and the threshing was finished, the “Threshing” holiday was held. During the holidays they sang songs, danced, played different games for example: gorodki, jumped on a board, prepared a kochulya (swing) and rolled balls, made a ball from dried manure. They took a round stone and dried the manure in layers to the required size. That's what they played with. The older sister sewed and knitted beautiful outfits and dressed us up for the holiday. Everyone had fun at the festival, both children and old people. There were no drunks, everyone was sober. Most often on holidays they were invited home. We went from house to house, since no one had much food.” (Fartunatova Kapitalina Andreevna).

« Celebrated New Year, Constitution Day and May 1st. Since the forest surrounded us, we chose the most beautiful Christmas tree, and played it in the club. The residents of our village brought whatever toys they could to the Christmas tree, most were homemade, but there were also rich families who could already bring beautiful toys. Everyone took turns going to this Christmas tree. First first graders and 4th graders, then 4th-5th graders and then two graduating class. After all the schoolchildren, workers from the factory, shops, post office and other organizations came there in the evening. During the holidays they danced: waltz, krakowiak. They gave gifts to each other. After festive concert, women arranged gatherings with alcohol and various conversations. On May 1, demonstrations take place, all organizations gather for it” (Tamara Aleksandrovna Vorotkova).

The beginning and end of the war

Childhood is the most best period in life, from which the best and brightest memories remain. What are the memories of the children who survived these four terrible, cruel and harsh years?

Early morning June 21, 1941. The people of our country sleep quietly and peacefully in their beds, and no one knows what awaits them ahead. What torment will they have to overcome and what will they have to come to terms with?

“As a collective farm, we removed stones from the arable land. An employee of the Village Council rode as a messenger on horseback and shouted “The War has begun.” They immediately began to gather all the men and boys. Those who worked directly from the fields were collected and taken to the front. They took all the horses. Dad was a foreman and he had a horse, Komsomolets, and he was also taken away. In 1942, dad’s funeral came.

On May 9, 1945, we were working in the field and again a Village Council worker was riding along with a flag in his hands and announced that the war was over. Some cried, some rejoiced!” (Fartunatova Kapitolina Andreevna).

“I worked as a postman and then they called me and announced that the war had begun. Everyone was crying in each other's arms. We lived at the mouth of the Barguzin River, there were many more villages further downstream from us. The Angara ship came to us from Irkutsk; it could accommodate 200 people, and when the war began, it collected all the future military personnel. It was deep-sea and therefore stopped 10 meters from the shore, the men sailed there on fishing boats. Many tears were shed!!! In 1941, everyone was drafted into the army at the front, the main thing was that their legs and arms were intact, and they had a head on their shoulders.”

“May 9, 1945. They called me and told me to sit and wait until everyone got in touch. They call “Everyone, Everyone, Everyone,” when everyone got in touch, I congratulated everyone, “Guys, the war is over.” Everyone was happy, hugging, some were crying!” (Vorotkova Tamara Aleksandrovna)

Before the war, these were the most ordinary boys and girls. We studied, helped elders, played, scored

CHILDREN - HEROES OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR 1941-1945 AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS

 23:09 08 May 2017

Before the war, these were the most ordinary boys and girls. They studied, helped their elders, played, raised pigeons, and sometimes even took part in fights. But the hour of difficult trials came and they proved how huge an ordinary little child’s heart can become when a sacred love for the Motherland, pain for the fate of one’s people and hatred for enemies flares up in it. And no one expected that it was these boys and girls who were capable of accomplishing a great feat for the glory of the freedom and independence of their Motherland!

Children left in destroyed cities and villages became homeless, doomed to starvation. It was scary and difficult to stay in enemy-occupied territory. Children could be sent to a concentration camp, taken to work in Germany, turned into slaves, made donors for German soldiers, etc.

Here are the names of some of them: Volodya Kazmin, Yura Zhdanko, Lenya Golikov, Marat Kazei, Lara Mikheenko, Valya Kotik, Tanya Morozova, Vitya Korobkov, Zina Portnova. Many of them fought so hard that they earned military orders and medals, and four: Marat Kazei, Valya Kotik, Zina Portnova, Lenya Golikov, became Heroes Soviet Union.

From the first days of the occupation, boys and girls began to act at their own risk, which was truly fatal.

"Fedya Samodurov. Fedya is 14 years old, he is a graduate of a motorized rifle unit, commanded by Guard Captain A. Chernavin. Fedya was picked up in his homeland, in a destroyed village Voronezh region. Together with the unit, he took part in the battles for Ternopil, with machine-gun crews he kicked the Germans out of the city. When almost the entire crew was killed, the teenager, together with the surviving soldier, took up the machine gun, firing long and hard, and detained the enemy. Fedya was awarded the medal "For Courage".

Vanya Kozlov, 13 years old, he was left without relatives and has been in a motorized rifle unit for two years now. At the front, he delivers food, newspapers and letters to soldiers in the most difficult conditions.

Petya Zub. Petya Zub chose an equally difficult specialty. He decided long ago to become a scout. His parents were killed, and he knows how to settle accounts with the damned German. Together with experienced scouts, he gets to the enemy, reports his location by radio, and the artillery, at their direction, fires, crushing the fascists." ("Arguments and Facts", No. 25, 2010, p. 42).

A sixteen year old schoolgirl Olya Demesh with her younger sister Lida At the Orsha station in Belarus, on the instructions of the commander of the partisan brigade S. Zhulin, fuel tanks were blown up using magnetic mines. Of course, girls attracted much less attention from German guards and policemen than teenage boys or adult men. But the girls were just right to play with dolls, and they fought with Wehrmacht soldiers!

Thirteen-year-old Lida often took a basket or bag and went to the railway tracks to collect coal, obtaining intelligence about German military trains. If the guards stopped her, she explained that she was collecting coal to heat the room in which the Germans lived. Olya’s mother and little sister Lida were captured and shot by the Nazis, but Olya continued to fearlessly carry out the partisans’ tasks.

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School in the partisan region.

T. Cat. ,From the book “Children-Heroes”,
Getting stuck in a marshy swamp, falling and getting up again, we went to our own - to the partisans. The Germans were fierce in their native village.
And for a whole month the Germans bombed our camp. “The partisans have been destroyed,” they finally sent a report to their high command. But invisible hands again derailed trains, blew up weapons warehouses, and destroyed German garrisons.
Summer is over, autumn is already trying on its colorful, crimson outfit. It was difficult for us to imagine September without school.
- These are the letters I know! - eight-year-old Natasha Drozd once said and drew a round “O” in the sand with a stick and next to it - an uneven gate “P”. Her friend drew some numbers. The girls were playing school, and neither one nor the other noticed with what sadness and warmth the commander of the partisan detachment Kovalevsky was watching them. In the evening at the council of commanders he said:
“The kids need school...” and added quietly: “We can’t deprive them of their childhood.”
That same night, Komsomol members Fedya Trutko and Sasha Vasilevsky went out on a combat mission, with Pyotr Ilyich Ivanovsky with them. They returned a few days later. Pencils, pens, primers, and problem books were taken out of their pockets and bosoms. There was a sense of peace and home, of great human care, from these books here, among the swamps, where a mortal battle for life was taking place.
“It’s easier to blow up a bridge than to get your books,” Pyotr Ilyich flashed his teeth cheerfully and took out... a pioneer horn.
None of the partisans said a word about the risk they were exposed to. There could have been an ambush in every house, but it never occurred to any of them to abandon the task or return empty-handed. ,
Three classes were organized: first, second and third. School... Pegs driven into the ground, intertwined with wicker, a cleared area, instead of a board and chalk - sand and a stick, instead of desks - stumps, instead of a roof over your head - camouflage from German planes. In cloudy weather we were plagued by mosquitoes, sometimes snakes crawled in, but we didn’t pay attention to anything.
How the children valued their clearing school, how they hung on every word of the teacher! There were one textbook, two per class. There were no books at all on some subjects. We remembered a lot from the words of the teacher, who sometimes came to class straight from a combat mission, with a rifle in his hands, surrounded by a belt with cartridges.
The soldiers brought everything they could get for us from the enemy, but there was not enough paper. We carefully removed birch bark from fallen trees and wrote on it with coals. There has never been a case where someone did not comply homework. Only those guys who were urgently sent to reconnaissance skipped classes.
It turned out that we only had nine pioneers; the remaining twenty-eight guys had to be accepted as pioneers. We sewed a banner from a parachute donated to the partisans and made a pioneer uniform. Partisans were accepted into pioneers, and the detachment commander himself tied ties for new arrivals. The headquarters of the pioneer squad was immediately elected.
Without stopping our studies, we built a new dugout school for the winter. To insulate it, a lot of moss was needed. They pulled it out so hard that their fingers hurt, sometimes they tore off their nails, they cut their hands painfully with grass, but no one complained. No one demanded excellent academic performance from us, but each of us made this demand on ourselves. And when the hard news came that our beloved comrade Sasha Vasilevsky had been killed, all the pioneers of the squad took a solemn oath: to study even better.
At our request, the squad was given a name dead friend. That same night, avenging Sasha, the partisans blew up 14 German vehicles and derailed the train. The Germans sent 75 thousand punitive forces against the partisans. The blockade began again. Everyone who knew how to handle weapons went into battle. Families retreated into the depths of the swamps, and our pioneer squad also retreated. Our clothes were freezing, we ate flour boiled in hot water once a day. But, retreating, we grabbed all our textbooks. Classes continued at the new location. And we kept the oath given to Sasha Vasilevsky. In the spring exams, all the pioneers answered without hesitation. The strict examiners - the detachment commander, the commissar, the teachers - were pleased with us.
As a reward, the best students received the right to participate in shooting competitions. They fired from the detachment commander's pistol. This was the highest honor for the guys.

Introduction

This short article contains only a drop of information about the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. In fact, heroes great amount and collecting all the information about these people and their exploits is a titanic work and it is already a little beyond the scope of our project. However, we decided to start with 5 heroes - many have heard about some of them, there is a little less information about others and few people know about them, especially the younger generation.

Victory in the Great Patriotic War was achieved Soviet people thanks to his incredible effort, dedication, ingenuity and self-sacrifice. This is especially clearly revealed in the war heroes who committed incredible feats on the battlefield and beyond. These great people should be known to everyone who is grateful to their fathers and grandfathers for the opportunity to live in peace and tranquility.

Viktor Vasilievich Talalikhin

The story of Viktor Vasilyevich begins with the small village of Teplovka, located in the Saratov province. Here he was born in the fall of 1918. His parents were simple workers. After graduating from college, which specialized in producing workers for factories and factories, he himself worked at a meat processing plant and at the same time attended a flying club. Afterwards he graduated from one of the few pilot schools in Borisoglebsk. He took part in the conflict between our country and Finland, where he received a baptism of fire. During the period of confrontation between the USSR and Finland, Talalikhin carried out about five dozen combat sorties, while destroying several enemy aircraft, as a result of which he special achievements and fulfillment of assigned tasks, they were awarded the honorary Order of the Red Star in the fortieth year.

Viktor Vasilyevich distinguished himself with heroic feats already during the battles in the great war for our people. Although he was credited with about sixty combat missions, the main battle took place on August 6, 1941 in the skies over Moscow. As part of a small air group, Victor flew out on an I-16 to repel an enemy air attack on the capital of the USSR. At an altitude of several kilometers, he met a German He-111 bomber. Talalikhin fired several machine-gun bursts at him, but the German plane skillfully dodged them. Then Viktor Vasilyevich, through a cunning maneuver and subsequent shots from a machine gun, hit one of the bomber’s engines, but this did not help stop the “German”. To the chagrin of the Russian pilot, after unsuccessful attempts to stop the bomber, there are no live cartridges left, and Talalikhin decides to go for a ram. For this ram he was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

During the war there were many such cases, but as fate would have it, Talalikhin became the first who decided to ram, neglecting his own safety, in our skies. He died in October 1941 with the rank of squadron commander, while performing another combat mission.

Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub

In the village of Obrazhievka, he was born into a family of simple peasants. future hero, Ivan Kozhedub. After graduating from school in 1934, he entered the Chemical Technology College. The Shostka Aero Club was the first place where Kozhedub acquired flying skills. Then in 1940 he enlisted in the army. In the same year, he successfully entered and graduated from the military aviation school in the city of Chuguev.

Ivan Nikitovich took direct part in the Great Patriotic War. He has more than a hundred air battles to his name, during which he shot down 62 aircraft. From large quantity There are two main combat sorties - a battle with a Me-262 fighter with a jet engine, and an attack on a group of FW-190 bombers.

The battle with the Me-262 jet fighter took place in mid-February 1945. On this day, Ivan Nikitovich, together with his partner Dmitry Tatarenko, flew out on La-7 planes to hunt. After a short search, they came across a low-flying plane. He flew along the river from Frankfurt an der Oder. As they got closer, the pilots discovered that it was a new generation aircraft, the Me-262. But this did not discourage the pilots from attacking an enemy plane. Then Kozhedub decided to attack on a collision course, since this was the only opportunity to destroy the enemy. During the attack, the wingman fired a short burst from a machine gun ahead of schedule, which could have confused all the cards. But to the surprise of Ivan Nikitovich, such an outburst by Dmitry Tatarenko had a positive effect. The German pilot turned around in such a way that he ended up in Kozhedub’s sights. All he had to do was pull the trigger and destroy the enemy. Which is what he did.

Ivan Nikitovich performed his second heroic feat in mid-April 1945 in the area of ​​the capital of Germany. Again, together with Titarenko, carrying out another combat mission, they discovered a group of FW-190 bombers with full combat kits. Kozhedub immediately reported this to the command post, but without waiting for reinforcements, he began an attack maneuver. German pilots saw two Soviet planes take off and disappear into the clouds, but they did not attach any importance to this. Then the Russian pilots decided to attack. Kozhedub descended to the Germans’ flight altitude and began shooting them, and Titarenko from a higher altitude fired in short bursts at different directions, trying to give the enemy the impression of the presence of a large number of Soviet fighters. The German pilots believed at first, but after several minutes of battle their doubts were dispelled, and they moved on to active action to destroy the enemy. Kozhedub was on the verge of death in this battle, but his friend saved him. When Ivan Nikitovich tried to get away from the German fighter that was pursuing him and was in the firing position of the Soviet fighter, Titarenko, with a short burst, got ahead of the German pilot and destroyed the enemy aircraft. Soon a support group arrived and German group aircraft was destroyed.

During the war, Kozhedub was twice recognized as a Hero of the Soviet Union and was elevated to the rank of marshal of Soviet aviation.

Dmitry Romanovich Ovcharenko

The soldier’s homeland is a village with the telling name Ovcharovo, Kharkov province. He was born into the family of a carpenter in 1919. His father taught him all the intricacies of his craft, which later played an important role in the fate of the hero. Ovcharenko studied at school for only five years, then went to work on a collective farm. He was drafted into the army in 1939. I met the first days of the war, as befits a soldier, on the front line. After a short service, he received minor damage, which, unfortunately for the soldier, became the reason for his transfer from the main unit to service at an ammunition depot. It was this position that became key for Dmitry Romanovich, in which he accomplished his feat.

It all happened in the middle of the summer of 1941 in the area of ​​​​the village of Pestsa. Ovcharenko was carrying out orders from his superiors to deliver ammunition and food to a military unit located several kilometers from the village. He came across two trucks with fifty German soldiers and three officers. They surrounded him, took away his rifle and began interrogating him. But the Soviet soldier was not taken aback and, taking the ax lying next to him, cut off the head of one of the officers. While the Germans were discouraged, he took three grenades from a dead officer and threw them towards the German vehicles. These throws were extremely successful: 21 soldiers were killed on the spot, and Ovcharenko finished off the remaining ones with an ax, including the second officer who was trying to escape. The third officer still managed to escape. But even here the Soviet soldier was not at a loss. He collected all the documents, maps, records and machine guns and took them to the General Staff, while bringing ammunition and food to exactly fixed time. At first they didn’t believe him that he single-handedly dealt with an entire platoon of the enemy, but after detailed study place of the battle, all doubts were dispelled.

Thanks to the heroic deed of soldier Ovcharenko, he was recognized as a Hero of the Soviet Union, and he also received one of the most significant orders - the Order of Lenin along with the Gold Star medal. He did not live to see victory for only three months. The wound received in the battles for Hungary in January was fatal for the fighter. At that time he was a machine gunner in the 389th Infantry Regiment. He went down in history as a soldier with an axe.

Zoya Anatolyevna Kosmodemyanskaya

Zoya Anatolyevna’s homeland is the village of Osina-Gai, located in the Tambov region. She was born on September 8, 1923 in Christian family. As fate would have it, Zoya spent her childhood in dark wanderings around the country. So, in 1925, the family was forced to move to Siberia to avoid persecution by the state. A year later they moved to Moscow, where her father died in 1933. Orphaned Zoya begins to have health problems that prevent her from studying. In the fall of 1941, Kosmodemyanskaya joined the ranks of intelligence officers and saboteurs Western Front. Behind short term Zoya underwent combat training and began to carry out her assigned tasks.

She accomplished her heroic feat in the village of Petrishchevo. By order, Zoya and a group of fighters were instructed to burn a dozen settlements, including the village of Petrishchevo. On the night of November twenty-eighth, Zoya and her comrades made their way to the village and came under fire, as a result of which the group broke up and Kosmodemyanskaya had to act alone. After spending the night in the forest, early in the morning she set out to complete the task. Zoya managed to set fire to three houses and escape unnoticed. But when she decided to return again and finish what she started, villagers were already waiting for her, who, seeing the saboteur, immediately informed the German soldiers. Kosmodemyanskaya was captured and tortured for a long time. They tried to extract information from her about the unit in which she served and her name. Zoya refused and didn’t say anything, and when asked what her name was, she called herself Tanya. The Germans felt that they could not get more information and hung it up in public. Zoya met her death with dignity, and her last words went down in history forever. Dying, she said that our people number one hundred and seventy million people, and they cannot be outweighed in all. So, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya died heroically.

Mentions of Zoya are associated primarily with the name “Tanya”, under which she went down in history. She is also a Hero of the Soviet Union. Her distinguishing feature- the first woman to receive this honorary title posthumously.

Alexey Tikhonovich Sevastyanov

This hero was the son of a simple cavalryman, a native of the Tver region, and was born in the winter of 1917 in the small village of Kholm. After graduating from technical school in Kalinin, he entered the military aviation school. Sevastyanov finished it successfully in 1939. In more than a hundred combat sorties, he destroyed four enemy aircraft, of which two each personally and in a group, as well as one balloon.

He received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously. The most important sorties for Alexei Tikhonovich were battles in the skies over the Leningrad region. So, on November 4, 1941, Sevastyanov patrolled the skies over the Northern capital in his IL-153 aircraft. And just while he was on duty, the Germans carried out a raid. The artillery could not cope with the onslaught and Alexei Tikhonovich had to join the battle. The German He-111 aircraft managed to keep away the Soviet fighter for a long time. After two unsuccessful attacks, Sevastyanov made a third attempt, but when the time came to pull the trigger and destroy the enemy with a short burst, the Soviet pilot discovered a lack of ammunition. Without thinking twice, he decides to go for the ram. A Soviet plane pierced the tail of an enemy bomber with its propeller. For Sevastyanov, this maneuver turned out well, but for the Germans it all ended in captivity.

The second significant flight and the last for the hero was an air battle in the skies over Ladoga. Alexey Tikhonovich died in an unequal battle with the enemy on April 23, 1942.

Conclusion

As we have already said in this article, not all the heroes of the war are collected; there are about eleven thousand of them in total (according to official data). Among them are Russians, and Kazakhs, and Ukrainians, and Belarusians, and all other nations of our multinational state. There are those who did not receive the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, having committed an equally important act, but due to a coincidence of circumstances, information about them was lost. There was a lot in the war: desertion of soldiers, betrayal, death, and much more, but the most great importance had exploits - these are the heroes. Thanks to them, victory was won in the Great Patriotic War.

Volodya Dubinin
Marat Kazei
Lenya Golikov
Zina Portnova
Sasha Borodulin
Galya Komleva
Valya Kotik

IN Soviet time When the pioneer organization was the only one uniting the younger generation of our country, the names of the guys who died heroically defending our Motherland during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 were on everyone’s lips. Pioneer detachments, which united each class of each Soviet school, often bore the name of the pioneer hero. Their names were given to streets, for example in Nizhny Novgorod there is Vali Kotika street. Films were made about them. Who were these pioneer heroes? Five of them were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union: Lenya Golikov, Marat Kazei, Valya Kotik and Zina Portnova. Others have also received great honors. There are a lot of hero guys. Today we will remember several of them.

Volodya Dubinin

The pioneer hero Volodya Dubinin was one of the members of the partisan detachment that fought in the quarries near the city of Kerch. He fought along with adults: he brought ammunition, water, food, and went on reconnaissance missions. Since Volodya was still very small, he could get to the surface through the very narrow passages of the quarry and, unnoticed by the Nazis, and scout out the combat situation.

The boy died on January 2, 1942, while helping to clear the passages to the quarries. Volodya is buried in mass grave partisans in the center of the Kamysh-Burun port in Kerch. Posthumously young hero awarded the "Order of the Red Banner".

Was filmed in 1962 Feature Film"Street youngest son" It was a film adaptation novel of the same name Lev Kassil and Max Polyanovsky, dedicated to the pioneer hero Volodya Dubinin.

Marat Kazei

The Nazis burst into the Belarusian village where Marat lived with his mother, Anna Aleksandrovna Kazeya. In the fall, Marat no longer had to go to the fifth grade of school. Building educational institution The Nazis turned it into their barracks.

Marat's mother, Anna Aleksandrovna, was captured for her connection with the partisans, and the boy soon learned that his mother had been hanged in Minsk. The boy's heart was filled with anger and hatred for the enemy. Together with his sister, Komsomol member Ada, the pioneer Marat Kazei went to join the partisans in the Stankovsky forest. He became a scout at the headquarters of a partisan brigade. He penetrated enemy garrisons and delivered valuable information to the command. Using this data, the partisans developed a daring operation and defeated the fascist garrison in the city of Dzerzhinsk.

The boy took part in battles and invariably showed courage and fearlessness; together with experienced demolition men, he mined the railway.

Marat died in battle, fighting to the last bullet, and when he had only one grenade left, he let his enemies get closer and blew them up along with himself.

For his courage and bravery, pioneer Marat Kazei was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. And in the capital of Belarus, Minsk, a monument to the young hero was erected.

Lenya Golikov

Lenya grew up in the village of Lukino in the Novgorod region, on the banks of the Polo River, which flows into the legendary Lake Ilmen. When his native village was captured by the enemy, the boy went to the partisans.

More than once he went on reconnaissance and brought important information into a partisan detachment, enemy trains and cars were flying downhill, bridges were collapsing, enemy warehouses were burning.

There was a battle in his life that Lenya fought one on one with a fascist general. A grenade thrown by a boy hit a car. A Nazi man got out of it with a briefcase in his hands and, firing back, began to run. Lenya chased after him. He pursued the enemy for almost a kilometer and finally killed him. The portfolio contained very important documents. The partisan headquarters immediately transported them by plane to Moscow.

There were many more fights in his short life, and he never wavered, fighting shoulder to shoulder with adults. Lenya died in a battle near the village Spicy Luka Pskov region in the winter of 1943. On April 2, 1944, a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was published conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on pioneer partisan Lena Golikov.

Zina Portnova

The war found the Leningrad pioneer Zina Portnova in the village of Zuya, where she came for vacation, not far from the Obol station in the Vitebsk region. An underground Komsomol-youth organization “Young Avengers” was created in Obol, and Zina was elected a member of its committee. She took part in daring operations against the enemy, in sabotage, distributed leaflets, and conducted reconnaissance on instructions from a partisan detachment.

In December 1943, Zina was returning from a mission. In the village of Mostishche she was betrayed by a traitor. The Nazis captured the young partisan and tortured her. The answer to the enemy was Zina’s silence, her contempt and hatred, her determination to fight to the end. During one of the interrogations, choosing the moment, Zina grabbed a pistol from the table and fired at point-blank range at the Gestapo man. The officer who ran in to hear the shot was also killed on the spot. Zina tried to escape, but the Nazis overtook her.

The brave young pioneer was brutally tortured, but until the last minute she remained persistent, courageous, and unbending. And the Motherland posthumously celebrated her feat with its highest title - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Sasha Borodulin

Enemy bombers were constantly flying over the village where Sasha lived. The Nazis trampled our native land. The young pioneer Sasha Borodulin could not put up with this; he decided to fight the Nazis. Having killed a fascist motorcyclist, he took his first battle trophy - a real German machine gun. Day after day he conducted reconnaissance. More than once he went on the most dangerous missions. He was responsible for many destroyed vehicles and enemy soldiers.

Punishers tracked down the partisans. The detachment escaped them for three days, twice broke out of encirclement, but the enemy ring closed again. Then the commander called for volunteers to cover the detachment’s retreat. Sasha was the first to step forward. Five took the fight. One by one they died. Sasha was left alone. It was still possible to retreat - the forest was nearby, but the detachment valued every minute that would delay the enemy, and Sasha fought to the end. He, allowing the fascists to close a ring around him, grabbed a grenade and blew them up along with him.

For carrying out dangerous tasks, for demonstrating courage, resourcefulness and courage, Sasha Borodulin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in the winter of 1941.

Galya Komleva

When the war began, and the Nazis were approaching Leningrad, for underground work in the village of Tarnovichi - in the south Leningrad region- the counselor was left high school Anna Petrovna Semenova. To communicate with the partisans, she selected her most reliable pioneers, and the first among them was Galina Komleva. Cheerful, brave, inquisitive girl. For six of yours school years She was awarded books six times with the signature: “For excellent studies.”

The young messenger brought assignments from the partisans to her counselor, and forwarded her reports to the detachment along with bread, potatoes, and food, which were obtained with great difficulty. Once, when a messenger from a partisan detachment did not arrive at the meeting place on time, Galya, half-frozen, snuck into the detachment herself, handed over a report and, having warmed up a little, hurried back, carrying a new task to the underground fighters.

Together with Komsomol member Tasya Yakovleva, Galya wrote leaflets and scattered them around the village at night. The Nazis tracked down and captured the young underground fighters. They kept me in the Gestapo for two months. They beat me severely, threw me into a cell, and in the morning they took me out again for interrogation. Galya did not say anything to the enemy, did not betray anyone, and for this the young patriot was shot.

The Motherland celebrated the feat of Galya Komleva with the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.

Valya Kotik

He was born on February 11, 1930 in the village of Khmelevka, Shepetovsky district, Khmelnitsky region. He studied at school No. 4 in the city of Shepetovka, and was a recognized leader of the pioneers, his peers. When the Nazis burst into Shepetivka, Valya Kotik and his friends decided to fight the enemy. The guys collected weapons at the battle site, which the partisans then transported to the detachment on a cart of hay. Having taken a closer look at the boy, the communists entrusted Valya with being a liaison and intelligence officer in their underground organization. He learned the location of enemy posts and the order of changing the guard.

The Nazis planned a punitive operation against the partisans, and Valya, having tracked down the Nazi officer who led the punitive forces, killed him.

When arrests began in the city, Valya, along with his mother and brother Victor, went to join the partisans. The pioneer, who had just turned fourteen years old, fought shoulder to shoulder with adults, freeing native land. He is responsible for six enemy trains blown up on the way to the front.

Valya Kotik was awarded the order Patriotic War 1st degree, medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 2nd degree.

Valya Kotik died as a hero, and the Motherland posthumously awarded him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. A monument to him was erected in front of the school where this brave pioneer studied. And today the pioneers salute the hero.

In 1957, the feature film “Eaglet” was shot, the main character of which was the young partisan Valya Kotko (prototype of Hero of the Soviet Union Valya Kotik).

All events in Nizhny Novgorod, dedicated to the Day Victory,