Before the war, they were the most ordinary boys and girls. They studied, helped the elders, played, bred pigeons, sometimes even took part in fights. But the hour of hard trials came and they proved how huge an ordinary small thing can become. baby heart when sacred love for the Motherland flares up in him, pain for the fate of his people and hatred for enemies. And no one expected that it was these boys and girls who were able to accomplish a great feat for the glory of the freedom and independence of their Motherland!

Children who remained in the destroyed cities and villages became homeless, doomed to starvation. It was terrible and difficult to stay in the territory occupied by the enemy. 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, the boys and girls began to act at their own peril and risk, which was really deadly.

"Fedya Samodurov. Fedya is 14 years old, he is a graduate of the motorized rifle unit, commanded by the guard captain A. Chernavin. Fedya was picked up in his homeland, in the ruined village Voronezh region. Together with a unit, he took part in the battles for Ternopil, with a machine-gun crew he kicked the Germans out of the city. When almost the entire crew died, 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 the second year. At the front, he delivers food, newspapers and letters to soldiers in the most difficult conditions.

Petya Zub. Petya Zub chose a no less difficult specialty. He had long ago decided to become a scout. His parents were killed, and he knows how to pay off the accursed German. Together with experienced scouts, he gets to the enemy, reports his location on the radio, and artillery fires at their orders, crushing the Nazis. "(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, tanks with fuel were blown up using magnetic mines. Of course, the girls attracted much less attention of the German guards and policemen than teenage boys or adult men. But after all, it was just right for the girls to play with dolls, and they fought with Wehrmacht soldiers!

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

For the head of the young partisan Olya Demes, the Nazis promised a generous reward - land, a cow and 10,000 marks. Copies of her photograph were distributed and sent to all patrol services, policemen, elders and secret agents. Capture and deliver her alive - that was the order! But the girl could not be caught. Olga destroyed 20 German soldiers and officers, derailed 7 enemy echelons, conducted reconnaissance, participated in the "rail war", in the destruction of German punitive units.

Children of the Great Patriotic War

What happened to the children during this terrible time? During the war?

The guys worked for days at factories, factories and industries, standing behind the machines instead of the brothers and fathers who had gone to the front. Children also worked at defense enterprises: they made fuses for mines, fuses for hand grenades, smoke bombs, colored signal flares, and collected gas masks. Worked in agriculture, grew vegetables for hospitals.

In the school sewing workshops, the pioneers sewed underwear and tunics for the army. Girls knitted warm clothes for the front: mittens, socks, scarves, sewed pouches for tobacco. The guys helped the wounded in hospitals, wrote letters to their relatives under their dictation, put on performances for the wounded, arranged concerts, evoking a smile from war-torn adult men.

A number of objective reasons: the departure of teachers to the army, the evacuation of the population from the western regions to the eastern ones, the inclusion of students in labor activity in connection with the departure of family breadwinners to the war, the transfer of many schools to hospitals, etc., prevented the deployment in the USSR during the war of a universal seven-year compulsory education, which began in the 30s. In the remaining educational institutions training was conducted in two or three, and sometimes four shifts.

At the same time, the children themselves were forced to store firewood for boiler houses. There were no textbooks, and because of the lack of paper, they wrote on old newspapers between the lines. Nevertheless, new schools were opened and additional classes were created. Boarding schools were created for evacuated children. For those young people who left school at the beginning of the war and were employed in industry or agriculture, schools for working and rural youth were organized in 1943.

In the annals of the Great Patriotic War there is still a lot left little-known pages, for example, the fate of kindergartens. "It turns out that in December 1941 in besieged Moscowkindergartens worked in bomb shelters. When the enemy was driven back, they resumed their work faster than many universities. By the autumn of 1942, 258 kindergartens had opened in Moscow!

From the memories of the military childhood of Lydia Ivanovna Kostyleva:

“After the death of my grandmother, I was assigned to Kindergarten, older sister at school, mother at work. I went to kindergarten alone, by tram, when I was less than five years old. Somehow I got seriously ill with mumps, I was lying at home alone with a high temperature, there were no medicines, in my delirium I fancied a pig running under the table, but everything worked out.
I saw my mother in the evenings and on rare weekends. Children were brought up by the street, we were friendly and always hungry. From early spring, they ran to the mosses, the benefit of the forest and swamps nearby, picked berries, mushrooms, and various early grass. The bombings gradually stopped, allied residences were placed in our Arkhangelsk, this brought a certain color to life - we, the children, sometimes got warm clothes, some food. Basically, we ate black shangi, potatoes, seal meat, fish and fish oil, on holidays - seaweed marmalade, tinted with beets.

More than five hundred teachers and nannies in the fall of 1941 were digging trenches on the outskirts of the capital. Hundreds worked in logging. The teachers, who only yesterday led a round dance with the children, fought in the Moscow militia. Natasha Yanovskaya, a kindergarten teacher in the Bauman district, heroically died near Mozhaisk. The teachers who remained with the children did not perform feats. They just saved the kids, whose fathers fought, and their mothers stood at the machines.

Most of the kindergartens during the war became boarding schools, the children were there day and night. And in order to feed the children in the half-starved time, to protect them from the cold, to give them at least a modicum of comfort, to keep them occupied for the benefit of the mind and soul - such work required great love for children, deep decency and boundless patience. "(D. Shevarov " World of News”, No. 27, 2010, p. 27).

Children's games have changed, "... a new game has appeared - in the hospital. They played in the hospital before, but not like that. Now the wounded are for them - real people. But they play war less often, because no one wants to be a fascist. This role is played by trees. They shoot snowballs at them. We learned to help the injured - the fallen, the bruised."

From a letter from a boy to a front-line soldier: “We also often played war before, but now much less often - we are tired of the war, it would sooner end so that we could live well again ...” (Ibid.).

In connection with the death of parents, many homeless children appeared in the country. The Soviet state, despite the difficult war time, nevertheless fulfilled its obligations to children left without parents. To combat neglect, a network of children's reception centers and orphanages was organized and opened, and employment for adolescents was organized.

Many families of Soviet citizens began to take in orphans to raisewhere they found new parents. Unfortunately, not all educators and heads of children's institutions were distinguished by honesty and decency. Here are some examples.

“In the autumn of 1942, in the Pochinkovsky district of the Gorky region, children dressed in rags were caught stealing potatoes and grain from collective farm fields. investigations, local police officers uncovered a criminal group, and, in fact, a gang consisting of employees of this institution.

In total, seven people were arrested in the case, including the director of the orphanage Novoseltsev, the accountant Sdobnov, the storekeeper Mukhina and others. During the searches, 14 children's coats, seven suits, 30 meters of cloth, 350 meters of manufactory and other misappropriated property, allocated by the state with great difficulty during this harsh wartime, were seized from them.

The investigation found that by not giving the due norm of bread and products, these criminals only during 1942 stole seven tons of bread, half a ton of meat, 380 kg of sugar, 180 kg of biscuits, 106 kg of fish, 121 kg of honey, etc. The orphanage workers sold all these scarce products in the market or simply ate them up themselves.

Only one comrade Novoseltsev received fifteen portions of breakfasts and lunches daily for himself and his family members. At the expense of the pupils, the rest of the staff also ate well. Children were fed "dishes" made from rot and vegetables, referring to the poor supply.

For the whole of 1942, they were only once given one candy for the 25th anniversary of the October Revolution ... And what is most surprising, the director of the orphanage Novoseltsev in the same 1942 received from the People's Commissariat of Education certificate of honor for excellent educational work. All these fascists were deservedly sentenced to long terms of imprisonment."

At such a time, the whole essence of a person is manifested .. Every day to face a choice - how to act .. And the war showed us examples of great mercy, great heroism and great cruelty, great meanness .. We must remember this !! For the sake of the future!!

And no time can heal the wounds of the war, especially those of children. “These years that were once, the bitterness of childhood does not allow to forget ...”

Chapter one
THE END OF THE BLitzkrieg

BREST FORTRESS

The Brest Fortress stands on the border. The Nazis attacked it on the very first day of the war.

The Nazis could not take the Brest Fortress by storm. Passed her left and right. She remained with the enemies in the rear.

The Nazis are coming. Fights are going on near Minsk, near Riga, near Lvov, near Lutsk. And there, in the rear of the Nazis, he does not give up, the Brest Fortress is fighting.

It's hard for heroes. Bad with ammunition, bad with food, especially bad with water for the defenders of the fortress.

Around the water - the Bug River, the Mukhovets River, branches, channels. There is water all around, but there is no water in the fortress. Under fire water. A sip of water here is more valuable than life.

- Water! - rushes over the fortress.

There was a daredevil, rushed to the river. Rushed and immediately collapsed. The enemies of the soldier were killed. Time passed, another brave rushed forward. And he died. The third replaced the second. The third one did not survive.

A machine gunner lay not far from this place. He scribbled, scribbled a machine gun, and suddenly the line broke off. The machine gun overheated in battle. And the machine gun needs water.

The machine gunner looked - the water evaporated from the hot battle, the machine gun casing was empty. He looked to where the Bug, where the channels are. Looked left, right.

- Oh, it wasn't.

He crawled towards the water. He crawled in a plastunsky way, snuggled up to the ground like a snake. He is closer to the water, closer. It's right next to the coast. The machine gunner grabbed his helmet. He scooped up water like a bucket. Snake crawls back again. Closer to their own, closer. It's quite close. His friends took over.

- Bring water! Hero!

The soldiers are looking at the helmet, at the water. From thirst in the eyes of muddied. They do not know that the machine gunner brought water for the machine gun. They are waiting, and suddenly a soldier will treat them now - at least a sip.

The machine gunner looked at the fighters, at the withered lips, at the heat in his eyes.

“Come on,” said the machine gunner.

The fighters stepped forward, but suddenly ...

“Brothers, it would not be for us, but for the wounded,” someone’s voice rang out.

The soldiers stopped.

- Of course, the wounded!

- That's right, drag it to the basement!

The soldiers of the fighter were detached to the basement. He brought water to the basement where the wounded lay.

“Brothers,” he said, “voditsa ...

“Take it,” he handed the mug to the soldier.

The soldier reached for the water. I already took a mug, but suddenly:

“No, not for me,” said the soldier. - Not for me. Bring the children, dear.

The fighter carried water to the children. And it must be said that Brest Fortress along with adult fighters were women and children - the wives and children of military personnel.

The soldier went down to the basement where the children were.

“Well, come on,” the fighter turned to the guys. “Come, stand,” and, like a magician, he takes out his helmet from behind his back.

The guys look - there is water in the helmet.

The children rushed to the water, to the soldier.

The fighter took a mug, carefully poured it on the bottom. See who to give. He sees a baby with a pea next to him.

“Here,” he said to the kid.

The kid looked at the fighter, at the water.

“Papka,” said the kid. He's there, he's shooting.

- Yes, drink, drink, - the fighter smiled.

“No,” the boy shook his head. - Folder. “I never took a sip of water.”

And others refused him.

The fighter returned to his own. He told about the children, about the wounded. He gave the water helmet to the machine gunner.

The machine gunner looked at the water, then at the soldiers, at the fighters, at his friends. He took a helmet, poured water into the metal casing. Came to life, earned, zastrochit machine gun.

The machine gunner covered the fighters with fire. The daredevils have been found again. To the Bug, towards death, they crawled. The heroes returned with water. Drink the children and the wounded.

The defenders of the Brest Fortress fought bravely. But there were fewer and fewer of them. Bombed them from the sky. Cannons fired direct fire. From flamethrowers.

The fascists are waiting - just about, and people will ask for mercy. That's it, and the white flag will appear.

They waited and waited - the flag was not visible. Nobody asks for mercy.

For thirty-two days the battles for the fortress did not cease. “I am dying, but I do not give up. Farewell, Motherland! one of her last defenders wrote on the wall with a bayonet.

These were words of goodbye. But it was also an oath. The soldiers kept their oath. They did not surrender to the enemy.

The country bowed to the heroes for this. And stop for a minute, reader. And you bow low to the heroes.

LIEPAYA

The war is on fire. The earth is on fire. A grandiose battle with the Nazis unfolded over a vast area from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

The Nazis attacked in three directions at once: Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv. Unleashed the deadly fan.

The city of Liepaja is the port of the Latvian Soviet Republic. Here, on Liepaja, one of the fascist strikes was directed. Enemies believe in easy success:

Liepaja is in our hands!

The Nazis are coming from the south. They go along the sea - a straight road. The fascists are coming. Here is the village of Rutsava. Here is Lake Papes. Here is the river Barta. The city is getting closer and closer.

Liepaja is in our hands!

They're coming. Suddenly a terrible fire blocked the road. The Nazis stopped. The Nazis entered the battle.

They fight, they fight, they never break through. Enemies from the south cannot break through to Liepaja.

The Nazis then changed direction. Bypass the city now from the east. Bypassed. Here the city smokes in the distance.

Liepaja is in our hands!

As soon as they went on the attack, Liepaja bristled again with a flurry of fire. Sailors came to the aid of the soldiers. Workers came to the aid of the military. They took up arms. Together with the fighters in the same row.

The Nazis stopped. The Nazis entered the battle.

They fight, they fight, they never break through. The Nazis will not advance here, from the east either.

Liepaja is in our hands!

However, even here, in the north, the brave defenders of Liepaja blocked the way for the Nazis. Fights with the enemy Liepaja.

Days go by.

The second pass.

Third. Fourth is out.

Don't give up, keep Liepaja!

Only when the shells ran out, there were no cartridges - the defenders of Liepaja retreated.

The Nazis entered the city.

Liepaja is in our hands!

But did not reconcile Soviet people. Gone underground. They went to the partisans. A bullet awaits the Nazis at every step. A whole division is held by the Nazis in the city.

Liepaja fights.

Liepaja was remembered for a long time by the enemies. If they failed in something, they said:

- Liepaja!

We did not forget Liepaja either. If someone steadfastly stood in battle, if someone fought with enemies with great courage, and the fighters wanted to celebrate this, they said:

- Liepaja!

Even having fallen into slavery to the Nazis, she remained in combat formation - our Soviet Liepaja.

CAPTAIN GASTELLO

It was the fifth day of the war. Pilot Captain Nikolai Frantsevich Gastello with his crew led the aircraft on a combat mission. The plane was large, twin-engine. Bomber.

The plane left for the intended target. Bombed off. Completed the mission. Turned around. Started going home.

And suddenly a shell burst from behind. It was the Nazis who opened fire on the Soviet pilot. The most terrible thing happened, the shell pierced the gas tank. The bomber caught fire. Flames ran along the wings, along the fuselage.

Captain Gastello tried to put out the fire. He banked the plane sharply on its wing. Made the car seem to fall on its side. This position of the aircraft is called slip. The pilot thought he would go astray, the flames would subside. However, the car continued to burn. Dumped Gastello bomber on the second wing. The fire does not disappear. The plane is on fire, losing altitude.

At this time, a fascist convoy was moving under the plane below: tanks with fuel in the convoy, motor vehicles. The Nazis raised their heads, watching the Soviet bomber.

The Nazis saw how a shell hit the plane, how a flame immediately broke out. How the pilot began to fight the fire, throwing the car from side to side.

Fascists triumph.

- Less than one communist has become!

The Nazis laugh. And suddenly…

I tried, tried Captain Gastello to knock down the flames from the plane. He threw a car from wing to wing. Clearly - do not bring down the fire. The earth runs towards the plane with terrible speed. Gastello looked at the ground. I saw the Nazis below, a convoy, fuel tanks, trucks.

And this means: tanks will arrive at the target - fascist planes will be filled with gasoline, tanks and vehicles will be filled; fascist planes will rush to our cities and villages, fascist tanks will attack our soldiers, cars will rush, fascist soldiers and military supplies will be transported.

Captain Gastello could leave the burning plane and jump out with a parachute.

But Captain Gastello did not use the parachute. He gripped the steering wheel tighter in his hands. He aimed a bomber at a fascist convoy.

The Nazis are standing, looking at the Soviet aircraft. Happy fascists. We are pleased that their anti-aircraft gunners shot down our plane. And suddenly they understand: a plane is rushing right at them, at the tanks.

The Nazis rushed to different sides. Not everyone managed to escape. The plane crashed into a fascist convoy. There was a terrible explosion. Dozens of fascist vehicles with fuel flew into the air.

Many glorious feats were accomplished by Soviet soldiers during the Great Patriotic War - pilots, tankers, infantrymen, and artillerymen. Lots of unforgettable adventures. One of the first in this series of immortals was the feat of Captain Gastello.

Captain Gastello is dead. But the memory remains. Everlasting memory. Eternal glory.

Audacity

It happened in Ukraine. Not far from the city of Lutsk.

In these places, near Lutsk, near Lvov, near Brody, Dubno, big tank battles broke out with the Nazis.

Night. A column of fascist tanks changed their positions. They go one by one. Fill the area with motor rumble.

The commander of one of the Nazi tanks, Lieutenant Kurt Wieder, threw back the turret hatch, climbed out of the tank to the waist, admiring the night view.

Summer stars from the sky calmly look. To the right, a forest stretches in a narrow strip. On the left, the field runs into a lowland. A stream rushed like a silver ribbon. The road veered, took a little uphill. Night. They go one by one.

And suddenly. Wieder does not believe his eyes. A shot rang out in front of the tank. Wieder sees: the tank that went ahead of Wider fired. But what is? The tank hit its own tank! The downed one flared up, enveloped in flames.

Wieder's thoughts flashed, rushed one by one:

- Accident?!

– Oversight?!

- Are you crazy?!

– Crazy?!

But at that second, a shot was fired from behind. Then a third, fourth, fifth. Wieder turned. Tanks fire at tanks. Going behind those that go ahead.

Veeder sank faster into the hatch. He does not know what command to give to the tankers. Looks to the left, looks to the right, and rightly so: what command to give?

While he was thinking, another shot rang out. It resounded nearby, and immediately shuddered the tank in which Wieder was. He shuddered, clanged and flared up with a candle.

Wieder jumped to the ground. He darted into the ditch.

What happened?

The day before, in one of the battles, Soviet soldiers recaptured fifteen tanks from the Nazis. Thirteen of them turned out to be completely serviceable.

This is where we decided to use our fascist tanks against the fascists themselves. The Soviet tankers got into enemy vehicles, went out to the road and guarded one of the fascist tank columns. When the column approached, the tankers imperceptibly joined it. Then we slowly reorganized so that a tank with our tankers would follow behind each fascist tank.

There is a column. Relax fascists. All tanks have black crosses. We approached the slope. And here - our column of fascist tanks was shot.

Wieder rose from the ground to his feet. I looked at the tanks. They burn like coals. His gaze shifted to the sky. Stars from the sky prick like needles.

Ours returned to us with a victory, with trophies.

- Well, how is it in order?

- Consider it full!

Tankers are standing.

Smiles glow. Courage in the eyes. Insolence on the faces.

SPIRIOUS WORD

There is a war going on in Belarus. They rise behind the fire of the conflagration.

The fascists are marching. And here in front of them is the Berezina - the beauty of the Belarusian fields.

Berezina runs. Either it will spill over into a wide floodplain, then it will suddenly narrow to a canal, it will break through swamps, through swells, it will rumble along the forest, along the forest, along the field, it will rush to good huts at its feet, smile at bridges, cities and villages.

The Nazis came to the Berezina. One of the detachments to the village of Studyanka. Battles rumbled near Studyanka. Satisfied fascists. Another new frontier has been captured.

The places near Studyanka are hilly. The hump here is both the right and left banks. The Berezina here flows in a lowland. The Nazis went up the hill. As in the palm of your hand lies the district. Leaves fields and forest to the sky. The fascists are marching.

- Song! an officer in command.

The soldiers sang a song.

The Nazis are walking, suddenly they see a monument. At the top of the hill, by the road, stands an obelisk. The inscription at the bottom of the monument.

The Nazis stopped, they stopped bawling a song. They look at the obelisk, at the inscription. They do not understand Russian. However, it is interesting what is written here. Addressing one another:

What is it about, Kurt?

What is it about, Carl?

Kurt, Karl, Fritz, Franz, Adolf, Hans are standing, looking at the inscription.

And then there was one who read in Russian.

“Here, in this place…” the soldier began to read. And further about the fact that here, on the Berezina, near the village of Studyanka, in 1812, the Russian army under the command of Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov finally defeated the hordes of the French Emperor Napoleon I, who dreamed of conquering our country, and expelled the invaders from Russia.

Yes, it was in this place. Here, on the Berezina, near the village of Studyanka.

The soldier read the inscription on the monument to the end. I looked at my neighbors. Kurt whistled. Carl whistled. Fritz chuckled. Franz smiled. The other soldiers murmured:

- So when was it?

“Napoleon didn’t have that strength then!

Just what is it? The song is no longer a song. Quieter and quieter song.

- Louder, louder! an officer in command.

Nothing gets louder. This is where the song stops.

Soldiers are walking, remembering the year 1812, about the obelisk, about the inscription on the monument. Although it had been true for a long time, although Napoleon’s strength was not the same, but the mood of the fascist soldiers suddenly deteriorated somehow. They go and repeat:

- Berezina!

The word suddenly turned out to be prickly.

ESTATE

Enemies are marching across Ukraine. The fascists are rushing forward.

Good Ukraine. The air is fragrant like grass. The earth is fat as butter. The generous sun is shining.

Hitler promised the soldiers that after the war, after the victory, they would receive estates in Ukraine.

Walking soldier Hans Muttervater, picking up his estate.

He liked the place. The river gurgles. Rockets. Meadow next to the river. Stork.

- Good. Grace! This is where I will probably stay after the war. Here I will build a house by the river.

He closed his eyes. A handsome house has grown. And next to the house there is a stable, barns, sheds, a cowshed, a pigsty.

The soldier Muttervater broke into a smile.

- Fine! Perfectly! Let's remember the place.

- Perfect place!

Admired.

This is where I will probably stay after the war. Here, on a hillock, I will build a house. He closed his eyes. A handsome house has grown. And next to the house there are other services: a stable, barns, sheds, a cowshed, a pigsty.

Stop again.

The steppe lay open spaces. There is no end to them. The field lies like velvet. The rooks are walking across the field like princes.

Captured by a soldier boundless expanse. He looks at the steppes, at the earth - the soul plays.

“Here I am, here I will stay forever.

He closed his eyes: the field was earing wheat. There are scythes nearby. This is his field. This is in the field of his scythes. And cows graze nearby. These are his cows. And the turkeys are pecking nearby. These are his turkeys. And his pigs, and chickens. And his geese, and ducks. Both his sheep and his goats. And here is the beautiful house.

Muttervater decided firmly. Here he will take the estate. No other place is needed.

- Zer Gut! - said the fascist. “I will stay here forever.

Good Ukraine. Generous Ukraine. What Muttervater dreamed about so much came true. Hans Muttervater remained here forever when the partisans opened the battle. And it is necessary - right there, right on his estate.

Lies Muttervater in his estate. And there are others walking by. They also choose these estates for themselves. Who is on the hill, and who is under the hill. Who is in the forest, and who is in the field. Who is at the pond, and who is at the river.

The partisans look at them:

- Don't crowd. Do not hurry. Great Ukraine. Generous Ukraine. Enough space for anyone.

TWO TANKS

In one of the battles soviet tank KB (KB is the brand of the tank) rammed the fascist. The Nazi tank was destroyed. However, ours also suffered. The impact stalled the engine.

The driver-mechanic Ustinov leaned over to the engine, trying to start it. The motor is silent.

The tank stopped. However, the tankers did not stop the fight. They opened fire on the Nazis with cannons and machine guns.

The tankers are shooting, listening to see if the engine is running. Fumbling with the motor Ustinov. The motor is silent.

The fight was long and hard. And now our tank ran out of ammunition. The tank was now completely helpless. Lonely, silently stands on the field.

The Nazis became interested in a lonely standing tank. Come up. We looked - outwardly the whole car. They got on the tank. They beat with forged boots on the manhole cover.

- Hey, Russian!

- Come out, Russian!

They listened. No answer.

- Hey, Russian!

No answer.

“The tankers died,” the Nazis thought. They decided to drag the tank away like a trophy. We drove our tank to the Soviet tank. Got the rope. Attached. The rope was pulled. Pulled the colossus colossus.

“Bad things,” our tankers understand. We leaned towards the engine, towards Ustinov:

- Well, look here.

- Well, pick here.

Where did the spark go?

Ustinov is puffing at the engine.

- Oh, you stubborn!

- Oh, you, your steel soul!

And suddenly he snorted, the tank engine started. Ustinov grabbed the levers. Quickly engaged the clutch. Gave more gas. The caterpillars moved at the tank. The Soviet tank rested.

The Nazis see, a Soviet tank rested. They are amazed: he was motionless - and came to life. Turned on the strongest power. They cannot move a Soviet tank. Roaring motors. Tanks pull each other in different directions. Caterpillars bite into the ground. The earth flies from under the caterpillars.

- Vasya, press! shout the tankers to Ustinov. - Vasya!

Pushed to the limit Ustinov. And then the Soviet tank overpowered. Pulled a fascist. The fascists have changed and now our roles. Not ours, but the fascist tank is now in trophies.

The Nazis rushed about, opened the hatches. They started jumping out of the tank.

The heroes dragged the enemy tank to their own. The soldiers are watching

- Fascist!

- Completely intact!

The tankers told about the last battle and what happened.

- Overpowered, then - the soldiers laugh.

- Pulled!

- Ours, it turns out, is stronger in the shoulders.

“Stronger, stronger,” the soldiers laugh. - Give time - whether it will be, brothers, Fritz.

What can you say?

- Shall we move?

- Let's move!

There will be battles. Be victorious. But it's not all at once. These battles are ahead.

FULL-FULL

The battle with the Nazis went on the banks of the Dnieper. The Nazis went to the Dnieper. Among others, the village of Buchak was captured. The Nazis were there. There are many of them - about a thousand. Installed a mortar battery. The coast is high. The Nazis can see far from the slope. The fascist battery is hitting ours.

The defense on the left, opposite bank of the Dnieper was held by a regiment commanded by Major Muzagik Khairetdinov. Khairetdinov decided to teach the fascists and the fascist battery a lesson. He gave the order to carry out a night attack on the right bank.

The Soviet soldiers began to prepare for the crossing. They got boats from the inhabitants. Oars, poles got. We plunged. Pushed off the left bank. The soldiers went into the darkness.

The Nazis did not expect an attack from the left bank. The village on a steeper slope from ours is covered by Dnieper water. Relax fascists. And suddenly the Soviet fighters fell upon the enemies with a fiery starfall. Crushed. Squeezed. They were thrown off the steep Dnieper. They destroyed both the fascist soldiers and the fascist battery.

The fighters returned with a victory to the left bank.

In the morning, new fascist forces approached the village of Buchak. The Nazis were accompanied by a young lieutenant. The lieutenant tells the soldiers about the Dnieper, about the Dnieper steeps, about the village of Buchak.

- There are plenty of us!

He clarifies - they say that the mortar battery is on a steeper slope, the entire left bank is visible from the steep slope, the Nazis are covered by the Dnieper water like a wall from the Russians, and the soldiers in Buchak are located, like in Christ's bosom.

Fascists approach the village. Something is quiet around, silently. Empty all around, deserted.

The lieutenant is surprised:

- Yes, it was full of ours!

The Nazis entered the village. We went to the steep Dnieper. They see that the dead are lying on the steep. Looked to the left, looked to the right - and right, full.

Not only for the village of Buchak - in many places on the Dnieper at that time stubborn battles began with the Nazis. A strong blow to the Nazis was dealt here by the 21st Soviet army. The army crossed the Dnieper, attacked the Nazis, the Soviet soldiers liberated the cities of Rogachev and Zhlobin, headed for Bobruisk.

Fascists were alarmed:

- Rogachev is lost!

- Lost Zhlobin!

- The enemy is moving towards Bobruisk!

The Nazis had to urgently withdraw their troops from other sectors. They drove a huge force near Bobruisk. The Nazis barely held Bobruisk.

The blow of the 21st Army was not the only one. And in other places on the Dnieper, the fascists then got a hard time.

Since 2009, February 12 has been designated by the United Nations as the International Day of Child Soldiers. This is the name of minors who, due to circumstances, are forced to actively participate in wars and armed conflicts.

According to various sources, up to several tens of thousands of minors took part in the hostilities during the Great Patriotic War. "Sons of the regiment", pioneer heroes - they fought and died on a par with adults. For military merits, they were awarded orders and medals. The images of some of them were used in Soviet propaganda as symbols of courage and loyalty to the motherland.

Five underage fighters of the Great Patriotic War were awarded the highest award- titles of Heroes of the USSR. All - posthumously, remaining in textbooks and books as children and adolescents. All Soviet schoolchildren knew these heroes by name. Today, "RG" recalls their short and often similar biographies.

Marat Kazei, 14 years old

Member of the partisan detachment named after the 25th anniversary of October, intelligence officer of the headquarters of the 200th partisan brigade named after Rokossovsky in the occupied territory of the Byelorussian SSR.

Marat was born in 1929 in the village of Stankovo, Minsk Region, Belarus, and managed to finish the 4th grade of a rural school. Before the war, his parents were arrested on charges of sabotage and "Trotskyism", numerous children were "scattered" among their grandparents. But the Kazeev family did not become angry with the Soviet authorities: In 1941, when Belarus became an occupied territory, Anna Kazei, the wife of the “enemy of the people” and the mother of little Marat and Ariadne, hid wounded partisans in her place, for which she was executed by the Germans. And the brother and sister went to the partisans. Ariadne was subsequently evacuated, but Marat remained in the detachment.

Along with his senior comrades, he went to reconnaissance - both alone and with a group. Participated in raids. Undermined the echelons. For the battle in January 1943, when, wounded, he raised his comrades to attack and made his way through the enemy ring, Marat received the medal "For Courage".

And in May 1944, while performing another assignment near the village of Khoromitsky, Minsk Region, a 14-year-old soldier died. Returning from a mission together with the intelligence commander, they stumbled upon the Germans. The commander was killed immediately, and Marat, firing back, lay down in a hollow. There was nowhere to leave in an open field, and there was no opportunity - the teenager was seriously wounded in the arm. While there were cartridges, he kept the defense, and when the store was empty, he took the last weapon - two grenades from his belt. He threw one at the Germans immediately, and waited with the second: when the enemies came very close, he blew himself up along with them.

In 1965, Marat Kazei was awarded the title of Hero of the USSR.

Valya Kotik, 14 years old

Partisan scout in the Karmelyuk detachment, the most young Hero THE USSR.

Valya was born in 1930 in the village of Khmelevka, Shepetovsky district, Kamenetz-Podolsk region of Ukraine. Before the war he completed five classes. In a village occupied by German troops, the boy secretly collected weapons and ammunition and handed them over to the partisans. And he waged his own little war, as he understood it: he drew and pasted caricatures of the Nazis in prominent places.

Since 1942, he contacted the Shepetovskaya underground party organization and carried out her intelligence assignments. And in the fall of the same year, Valya and his fellow boys received their first real combat mission: to eliminate the head of the field gendarmerie.

"The roar of the engines grew louder - the cars were approaching. The faces of the soldiers were already clearly visible. Sweat dripped from their foreheads, half-covered with green helmets. Some soldiers carelessly took off their helmets. The front car caught up with the bushes behind which the boys hid. Valya half stood up, counting the seconds to himself "The car drove past, an armored car was already against him. Then he rose to his full height and, shouting "Fire!", threw two grenades one after the other ... Simultaneously, explosions sounded from the left and right. Both cars stopped, the front one caught fire. The soldiers quickly jumped to the ground , rushed into the ditch and from there opened indiscriminate fire from machine guns, "- this is how the Soviet textbook describes this first battle. Valya then fulfilled the task of the partisans: the head of the gendarmerie, Lieutenant Franz Koenig and seven German soldiers died. About 30 people were injured.

In October 1943, the young fighter reconnoitered the location of the underground telephone cable of the Nazi headquarters, which was soon blown up. Valya also participated in the destruction of six railway echelons and a warehouse.

On October 29, 1943, while on duty, Valya noticed that the punishers had raided the detachment. Having killed a fascist officer with a pistol, the teenager raised the alarm, and the partisans had time to prepare for battle. On February 16, 1944, five days after his 14th birthday, in the battle for the city of Izyaslav, Kamenetz-Podolsky, now Khmelnitsky region, the scout was mortally wounded and died the next day.

In 1958, Valentin Kotik was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Lenya Golikov, 16 years old

Scout of the 67th detachment of the 4th Leningrad partisan brigade.

Born in 1926 in the village of Lukino, Parfinsky District, Novgorod Region. When the war began, he got a rifle and joined the partisans. Thin, small in stature, he looked even younger than all 14 years old. Under the guise of a beggar, Lenya walked around the villages, collecting the necessary data on the location of the fascist troops and the number of their military equipment, and then passed this information on to the partisans.

In 1942 he joined the detachment. “Participated in 27 combat operations, exterminated 78 German soldiers and officers, blew up 2 railway and 12 highway bridges, blew up 9 vehicles with ammunition ... troops Richard Wirtz, heading from Pskov to Luga, "- such data is contained in his award leaflet.

In the regional military archive, Golikov's original report with a story about the circumstances of this battle has been preserved:

"In the evening of 08/12/42, we, 6 partisans, got out on the Pskov-Luga highway and lay down not far from the village of Varnitsa. There was no movement at night. we were, the car was quieter. Partizan Vasiliev threw an anti-tank grenade, but missed. The second grenade was thrown by Alexander Petrov from a ditch, hit a beam. The car did not immediately stop, but went another 20 meters and almost caught up with us. Two officers jumped out of the car. I fired a burst from a machine gun. Did not hit. The officer sitting at the wheel ran across the ditch towards the forest. I fired several bursts from my PPSh. Hit the enemy in the neck and back. Petrov began to shoot at the second officer, who kept looking back, shouting and fired back. Petrov killed this officer with a rifle. Then the two of them ran to the first wounded officer. They tore off their shoulder straps, took a briefcase, documents. There was still a heavy suitcase in the car. We barely dragged it into the bushes (150 meters from the highway). not at the car, we heard an alarm, ringing, screaming in a neighboring village. Grabbing a briefcase, shoulder straps and three trophy pistols, we ran to our own ... ".

For this feat, Lenya was presented to the highest government award- medals "Golden Star" and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. But I didn't manage to get them. From December 1942 to January 1943, the partisan detachment, in which Golikov was located, left the encirclement with fierce battles. Only a few managed to survive, but Leni was not among them: he died in battle with a Nazi punitive detachment on January 24, 1943 near the village of Ostraya Luka, Pskov Region, before he was 17 years old.

Sasha Chekalin, 16 years old

Member of the partisan detachment "Forward" of the Tula region.

Born in 1925 in the village of Peskovatskoye, now the Suvorov district of the Tula region. Before the start of the war, he graduated from 8 classes. After the occupation of his native village by Nazi troops in October 1941, he joined the fighter partisan detachment "Forward", where he managed to serve for just over a month.

By November 1941, the partisan detachment had inflicted significant damage on the Nazis: warehouses burned, cars exploded on mines, enemy trains derailed, sentries and patrols disappeared without a trace. Once a group of partisans, including Sasha Chekalin, ambushed the road to the town of Likhvin ( Tula region). A car appeared in the distance. A minute passed - and the explosion blew the car apart. Behind her passed and exploded several more cars. One of them, crowded with soldiers, tried to slip through. But the grenade thrown by Sasha Chekalin destroyed her too.

In early November 1941, Sasha caught a cold and fell ill. The commissioner allowed him to lie down with a trusted person in the nearest village. But there was a traitor who betrayed him. At night, the Nazis broke into the house where the sick partisan lay. Chekalin managed to grab the prepared grenade and throw it, but it did not explode ... After several days of torture, the Nazis hanged the teenager on the central Likhvin square and for more than 20 days did not allow him to remove his corpse from the gallows. And only when the city was liberated from the invaders, the combat associates of the partisan Chekalin buried him with military honors.

The title of Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Chekalin was awarded in 1942.

Zina Portnova, 17 years old

Member of the underground Komsomol youth organization "Young Avengers", scout of the Voroshilov partisan detachment on the territory of the Byelorussian SSR.

Born in 1926 in Leningrad, she graduated from 7 classes there and went on vacation to her relatives in the village of Zuya, Vitebsk region, Belarus for the summer holidays. There she found the war.

In 1942, she joined the Obol underground Komsomol youth organization "Young Avengers" and actively participated in the distribution of leaflets among the population and sabotage against the invaders.

Since August 1943, Zina has been a scout of the Voroshilov partisan detachment. In December 1943, she was given the task of identifying the reasons for the failure of the Young Avengers organization and establishing contact with the underground. But upon returning to the detachment, Zina was arrested.

During the interrogation, the girl grabbed the pistol of the Nazi investigator from the table, shot him and two other Nazis, tried to escape, but was captured.

From the book "Zina Portnova" by the Soviet writer Vasily Smirnov: "She was interrogated by the most sophisticated in cruel torture executioners…. She was promised to save her life if only the young partisan would confess everything, name all the underground fighters and partisans known to her. And again, the Gestapo met with the unshakable firmness of this stubborn girl, who in their protocols was called the "Soviet bandit", which surprised them. Zina, exhausted by torture, refused to answer questions, hoping that they would kill her faster this way. ... Once in the prison yard, the prisoners saw how a completely gray-haired girl, when she was being led to another interrogation-torture, threw herself under the wheels of a passing truck. But the car was stopped, the girl was pulled out from under the wheels and again taken for interrogation ... ".

On January 10, 1944, in the village of Goryany, now the Shumilinsky district of the Vitebsk region of Belarus, 17-year-old Zina was shot.

The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to Portnova Zinaida in 1958.

During the battles, the children-heroes of the Great Patriotic War did not spare their own lives and marched with the same courage and courage as adult men. Their fate is not limited to exploits on the battlefield - they worked in the rear, promoted communism in the occupied territories, helped supply troops and much more.

There is an opinion that the victory over the Germans is the merit of adult men and women, but this is not entirely true. Children-heroes of the Great Patriotic War made no less contribution to the victory over the regime of the Third Reich and their names should not be forgotten either.

The young pioneer heroes of the Great Patriotic War also acted bravely, because they understood that not only their own lives were at stake, but also the fate of the entire state.

The article will focus on the children-heroes of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), more precisely, on the seven brave boys who received the right to be called heroes of the USSR.

The stories of child heroes of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 are a valuable source of data for historians, even if the children did not take part in bloody battles with weapons in their hands. Below, in addition, it will be possible to get acquainted with the photos of the pioneer heroes of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, learn about their brave deeds during the hostilities.

All stories about the children-heroes of the Great Patriotic War contain only verified information, their full names and the names of their loved ones have not changed. However, some data may not be true (for example, the exact dates of death, birth), since documentary evidence was lost during the conflict.

Probably the most child-hero of the Great Patriotic War is Valentin Alexandrovich Kotik. The future brave man and patriot was born on February 11, 1930 in a small settlement called Khmelevka, in the Shepetovsky district of the Khmelnytsky region, and studied at the Russian-language secondary school No. 4 of the same town. Being an eleven-year-old boy who was only obliged to study in the sixth grade and learn about life, from the first hours of the confrontation he decided for himself that he would fight the invaders.

When the autumn of 1941 came, Kotik, together with his close comrades, carefully organized an ambush for the policemen of the city of Shepetovka. In the course of a well-thought-out operation, the boy managed to eliminate the head of the policemen by throwing a live grenade under his car.

Around the beginning of 1942, a small saboteur joined a detachment of Soviet partisans who fought during the war deep behind enemy lines. Initially, young Valya was not sent into battle - he was assigned to work as a signalman - a rather important position. However, the young fighter insisted on his participation in the battles against the Nazi invaders, invaders and murderers.

In August 1943, the young patriot, having shown an extraordinary initiative, was accepted into a large and actively operating underground group named after Ustim Karmelyuk under the leadership of Lieutenant Ivan Muzalev. Throughout 1943, he regularly took part in battles, during which he received a bullet more than once, but even despite this, he returned to the front line again, not sparing his life. Valya was not shy about any work, and therefore he also often went on intelligence missions in his underground organization.

One famous feat the young fighter accomplished in October 1943. Quite by chance, Kotik discovered a well-hidden telephone cable, which was not deep underground and was extremely important for the Germans. This telephone cable provided a connection between the headquarters of the Supreme Commander (Adolf Hitler) and occupied Warsaw. This played an important role in the liberation of the Polish capital, since the headquarters of the Nazis had no connection with the high command. In the same year, Kotik helped blow up an enemy warehouse with ammunition for weapons, and also destroyed six railway trains with the equipment necessary for the Germans, and in which the Kievans were stolen, mining them and blowing them up without remorse.

At the end of October of the same year, the little patriot of the USSR Valya Kotik accomplished another feat. Being part of a partisan grouping, Valya stood on patrol and noticed how enemy soldiers surrounded his group. The cat did not lose his head and first of all killed the enemy officer who commanded the punitive operation, and then raised the alarm. Thanks to such a bold act of this brave pioneer, the partisans managed to react to the environment and were able to fight off the enemy, avoiding huge losses in their ranks.

Unfortunately, in the battle for the city of Izyaslav in mid-February of the following year, Valya was mortally wounded by a shot from a German rifle. The pioneer hero died of his wound the next morning at the age of some 14 years.

The young warrior was forever rested in his hometown. Despite the significance of the exploits of Vali Kotik, his merits were noticed only thirteen years later, when the boy was awarded the title of “Hero of the Soviet Union”, but already posthumously. In addition, Valya was also awarded the "Order of Lenin", the "Red Banner" and the "Patriotic War". Monuments were erected not only in the hero's native village, but throughout the entire territory of the USSR. Streets, orphanages, and so on were named after him.

Pyotr Sergeevich Klypa is one of those who can easily be called a rather controversial personality, who, being a hero of the Brest Fortress and possessing the "Order of the Patriotic War", was also known as a criminal.

The future defender of the Brest Fortress was born at the end of September 1926 in Russian city Bryansk. The boy spent his childhood almost without a father. He was a railway worker and died early - the boy was raised only by his mother.

In 1939, Peter was taken into the army by his older brother, Nikolai Klypa, who at that time had already reached the rank of lieutenant of the spacecraft, and under his command was a musical platoon of the 333rd regiment of the 6th rifle division. The young soldier became a pupil of this platoon.

After the Red Army captured the territory of Poland, he, along with the 6th Infantry Division, was sent to the area of ​​the city of Brest-Litovsk. The barracks of his regiment were located close to the famous Brest Fortress. On June 22, Petr Klypa woke up in the barracks already at the time when the Germans began to bomb the fortress and the barracks surrounding it. The soldiers of the 333rd Infantry Regiment, in spite of the panic, were able to give an organized rebuff to the first attack of the German infantry, and young Peter also actively participated in this battle.

From the first day, together with his friend Kolya Novikov, he began to go on reconnaissance in the dilapidated and surrounded fortress and carry out the instructions of his commanders. On June 23, during the next reconnaissance, the young fighters managed to find a whole ammunition depot that was not destroyed by explosions - this ammunition greatly helped the defenders of the fortress. For many more days, Soviet soldiers fought off enemy attacks using this find.

When senior lieutenant Alexander Potapov became the commander of 333-for the time being, he appointed the young and energetic Peter as his contact. He did a lot of good things. Once he brought to the medical unit a large supply of bandages and medicines, which were badly needed by the wounded. Every day, Peter also brought water to the soldiers, which was sorely lacking for the defenders of the fortress.

By the end of the month, the position of the Red Army soldiers in the fortress became catastrophically difficult. To save the lives of innocent people, the soldiers sent children, the elderly and women as prisoners to the Germans, giving them a chance to survive. The young intelligence officer was also offered to surrender, but he refused, deciding to continue participating in the battles against the Germans.

In early July, the defenders of the fortress almost ran out of ammunition, water and food. Then, by all means, it was decided to go for a breakthrough. It ended in complete failure for the soldiers of the Red Army - the Germans killed most of the soldiers, and captured the rest. Only a few managed to survive and break through the environment. One of them was Peter Klypa.

However, after a couple of days of exhausting pursuit, the Nazis seized and captured him and other survivors. Until 1945, Peter worked in Germany as a laborer for a fairly wealthy German farmer. He was liberated by the troops of the United States of America, after which he returned to the ranks of the Red Army. After demobilization, Petya became a bandit and robber. He even had murder on his hands. He spent a significant part of his life in prison, after which he returned to a normal life and started a family and two children. Peter Klypa died in 1983 at the age of 57. His early death was caused by a serious illness - cancer.

Among the children-heroes of the Great Patriotic War (WWII), the young partisan fighter VilorChekmak deserves special attention. The boy was born at the end of December 1925 in the glorious city of sailors Simferopol. Vilor had Greek roots. His father, a hero of many conflicts with the participation of the USSR, died during the defense of the capital of the USSR in 1941.

Vilor studied well at school, experienced extraordinary love and had artistic talent - he drew beautifully. When he grew up, he dreamed of painting expensive paintings, but the events of bloody June 1941 crossed out his dreams once and for all.

In August 1941, Vilor could no longer sit back while others bled for him. And then, taking his beloved shepherd dog, he went to the partisan detachment. The boy was a real defender of the Fatherland. His mother dissuaded him from going to an underground group, since the guy had a congenital heart defect, but he still decided to save his homeland. Like many other boys of his age, Vilor began to serve in a scout.

He served in the ranks of the partisan detachment for only a couple of months, but before his death he accomplished a real feat. November 10, 1941, he was on duty, covering his brothers. The Germans began to surround the partisan detachment and Vilor was the first to notice their approach. The guy risked everything and fired a rocket launcher to warn his fellows about the enemy, but by the same act he attracted the attention of a whole detachment of Nazis. Realizing that he could no longer leave, he decided to cover the retreat of his brothers in arms, and therefore opened fire on the Germans. The boy fought until the last shot, but even then he did not give up. He, like a real hero, rushed at the enemy with explosives, blew himself up and the Germans.

For his achievements, he received the medal "For Military Merit" and the medal "For the Defense of Sevastopol".

Medal "For the Defense of Sevastopol"

Among the famous children-heroes of the Great Patriotic War, it is also worth highlighting Kamanin Arkady Nakolaevich, who was born in early November 1928 in the family of the famous Soviet military leader and General of the Red Army Air Force Nikolai Kamanin. It is noteworthy that his father was one of the first citizens of the USSR, who received the highest title of Hero of the Soviet Union in the state.

Arkady spent his childhood on Far East, but then moved to Moscow, where he lived for a short time. As the son of a military pilot, Arkady could fly airplanes as a child. In the summer, the young hero always worked at the airport, and also briefly worked at a plant for the production of aircraft for various purposes as a mechanic. When did it start fighting against the Third Reich, the boy moved to the city of Tashkent, where his father was sent.

In 1943, Arkady Kamanin became one of the youngest military pilots in history, and the youngest pilot of the Great Patriotic War. Together with his father, he went to the Karelian front. He was enlisted in the 5th Guards Assault Air Corps. At first he worked as a mechanic - far from the most prestigious job on board an aircraft. But very soon he was appointed as a navigator-observer and a flight mechanic on an airplane to establish communication between separate parts called U-2. This plane had a pair control, and Arkasha himself flew the plane more than once. Already in July 1943, the young patriot was flying without anyone's help - completely on his own.

At the age of 14, Arkady officially became a pilot and was enrolled in the 423rd Separate Communications Squadron. Since June 1943, the hero fought against the enemies of the state as part of the 1st Ukrainian Front. Since the autumn of the victorious 1944, he became part of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

Arkady took part in communication tasks to a greater extent. He flew over the front line more than once to help the partisans establish communications. At the age of 15, the guy was awarded the Order of the Red Star. He received this award for helping the Soviet pilot of the Il-2 attack aircraft, which crashed on the so-called no man's land. If the young patriot had not intervened, Polito would have perished. Then Arkady received another Order of the Red Star, and after that, the Order of the Red Banner. Thanks to his successful actions in the sky, the Red Army was able to plant a red flag in occupied Budapest and Vienna.

After defeating the enemy, Arkady went to continue his studies in high school, where he quickly caught up with the program. However, the guy was killed by meningitis, from which he died at the age of 18.

Lenya Golikov is a well-known invader killer, partisan and pioneer, who for his exploits and extraordinary devotion to the Fatherland, as well as dedication, earned the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, as well as the Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree". In addition, the homeland awarded him the Order of Lenin.

Lenya Golikov was born in a small village in the Parfinsky district, in the Novgorod region. Her parents were ordinary workers, and the boy could expect the same calm fate. At the time of the outbreak of hostilities, Lenya had completed seven classes and was already working at a local plywood factory. He began to actively participate in hostilities only in 1942, when the enemies of the state had already captured Ukraine and went to Russia.

In mid-August of the second year of the confrontation, being at that moment a young but already quite experienced intelligence officer of the 4th Leningrad underground brigade, he threw a combat grenade under an enemy car. In that car sat a German major general from the engineering troops - Richard von Wirtz. Previously, it was believed that Lenya decisively eliminated the German commander, but he miraculously managed to survive, although he was seriously injured. In 1945, American troops took this general prisoner. However, on that day, Golikov managed to steal the general's documents, which contained information about new enemy mines that could cause significant harm to the Red Army. For this achievement, he was presented to the country's highest title of "Hero of the Soviet Union".

In the period from 1942 to 1943, Lena Golikov managed to kill almost 80 German soldiers, blew up 12 highway bridges and 2 more railway ones. Destroyed a couple of food depots important to the Nazis and blew up 10 ammunition vehicles for the German army.

On January 24, 1943, the Leni detachment fell into a battle with the predominant forces of the enemy. Lenya Golikov died in a battle near a small settlement called Ostraya Luka, in the Pskov region, from an enemy bullet. Together with him, his brothers in arms died. Like many others, he was awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union" posthumously.

One of the heroes of the children of the Great Patriotic War was also a boy named Vladimir Dubinin, who actively acted against the enemy in the Crimea.

The future partisan was born in Kerch on August 29, 1927. From childhood, the boy was extremely brave and stubborn, and therefore, from the first days of hostilities against the Reich, he wanted to defend his homeland. It was thanks to his perseverance that he ended up in a partisan detachment that operated near Kerch.

Volodya, as a member of the partisan detachment, conducted reconnaissance operations together with his close comrades and brothers in arms. The boy delivered extremely important information and information about the location of enemy units, the number of Wehrmacht fighters, which helped the partisans prepare their combat offensive operations. In December 1941, during another reconnaissance, Volodya Dubinin provided comprehensive information about the enemy, which made it possible for the partisans to completely defeat the Nazi punitive detachment. Volodya was not afraid to take part in the battles - at first he simply brought ammunition under heavy fire, and then stood in the place of a seriously wounded soldier.

Volodya had a trick to lead the enemy by the nose - he "helped" the Nazis find the partisans, but in fact led them into an ambush. The boy successfully completed all the tasks of the partisan detachment. After the successful liberation of the city of Kerch during the Kerch-Feodosiya landing operation of 1941-1942. a young partisan joined a detachment of sappers. On January 4, 1942, during the demining of one of the mines, Volodya died together with a Soviet sapper from a mine explosion. For his merits, the hero-pioneer was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

Sasha Borodulin was born on the day of a famous holiday, namely March 8, 1926 in the hero city called Leningrad. His family was rather poor. Sasha also had two sisters, one older than the hero, and the other younger. The boy did not live long in Leningrad - his family moved to the Republic of Karelia, and then returned to the Leningrad region again - in the small village of Novinka, which was located 70 kilometers from Leningrad. In this village, the hero went to school. In the same place, he was elected chairman of the pioneer squad, which the boy dreamed about for a long time.

Sasha was fifteen years old when the fighting began. The hero graduated from the 7th grade and became a member of the Komsomol. In the early autumn of 1941, the boy joined a partisan detachment of his own free will. At first, he conducted exclusively reconnaissance activities for the partisan unit, but soon took up arms.

In the late autumn of 1941, he proved himself in the battle for the Chascha railway station in the ranks of a partisan detachment under the command of the famous partisan leader Ivan Boloznev. For his courage in the winter of 1941, Alexander was awarded another very honorable order of the Red Banner in the country.

Over the following months, Vanya repeatedly showed courage, went to reconnaissance and fought on the battlefield. On July 7, 1942, the young hero and partisan died. It happened near the village of Oredezh, which is in Leningrad region. Sasha remained to cover the retreat of his comrades. He sacrificed his life to let his brothers in arms get away. After his death, the young partisan was twice awarded the same Order of the Red Banner.

The above names are far, far from all the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. The children accomplished many feats that should not be forgotten.

No less than other child heroes of the Great Patriotic War, a boy named Marat Kazei committed. Despite the fact that his family was out of favor with the government, Marat still remained a patriot. At the beginning of the war, Marat and his mother Anna hid the partisans. Even when the arrests of the local population began in order to find those who harbor the partisans, his family did not give theirs to the Germans.

After that, he himself joined the ranks of the partisan detachment. Marat was actively eager to fight. He accomplished his first feat in January 1943. When there was another skirmish, he was slightly wounded, but he still raised his comrades and led them into battle. Being surrounded, the detachment under his command broke through the ring and was able to avoid death. For this feat, the guy received the medal "For Courage". Later, he was also given the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 2nd class.

Marat died along with his commander during the battle in May 1944. When the cartridges ran out, the hero threw one grenade at the enemies, and the second one blew himself up so as not to be captured by the enemy.

However, not only the photos and names of the boys of the pioneer heroes of the Great Patriotic War now adorn the streets major cities and textbooks. There were also young girls among them. It is worth mentioning the bright, but sadly cut short life of the Soviet partisan Zina Portnova.

After the war began in the summer of 1941, a thirteen-year-old girl found herself in the occupied territory and was forced to work in a canteen for German officers. Even then, she worked underground and, on the orders of the partisans, poisoned about a hundred Nazi officers. The fascist garrison in the city began to catch the girl, but she managed to escape, after which she joined the partisan detachment.

At the end of the summer of 1943, during the next task in which she participated as a scout, the Germans captured a young partisan. One of the local residents confirmed that it was Zina who then poisoned the officers. The girl was brutally tortured in order to find out information about the partisan detachment. However, the girl did not say a word. Once she managed to escape, she grabbed a pistol and killed three more Germans. She tried to escape, but she was taken prisoner again. After that, she was tortured for a very long time, practically depriving the girl of any desire to live. Zina still did not say a word, after which she was shot on the morning of January 10, 1944.

For her services, the seventeen-year-old girl received the title of Hero of the SRSR posthumously.

These stories, stories about the children-heroes of the Great Patriotic War should never be forgotten, but on the contrary, they will always be in the memory of posterity. It is worth remembering them at least once a year - on the day of the Great Victory.

Heroes of the Great Patriotic War

1. Ivan Timofeevich Lyubushkin (1918-1942)

In the autumn of 1941, fierce battles were going on in the area of ​​​​the city of Orel. Soviet tankers fought off the fierce attacks of the Nazis. At the beginning of the battle, Senior Sergeant Lyubushkin's tank was damaged by an enemy shell and could not move. The crew took an unequal battle with those who pressed on from all sides fascist tanks. Courageous tankers destroyed five enemy vehicles! During the battle, another shell hit Lyubushkin's car, the crew was wounded.

The tank commander continued to fire on the advancing Nazis, ordered the driver to repair the damage. Soon Lyubushkin's tank was able to move and joined his column.

For courage and courage, I. T. Lyuboshkin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on October 10, 1941.

In one of the battles in June 1942, Lyubushkin died a heroic death.

2. Alexander Matveevich Matrosov (1924-1943)

On February 23, 1943, fierce battles unfolded in one of the sections of the Kalinin Front near the village of Chernushki, north of the city of Velikie Luki. The enemy turned the village into a heavily fortified stronghold. Several times the fighters attacked the Nazi fortifications, but the destructive fire from the bunker blocked their path. Then the private of the Matrosov guard, having made his way to the bunker, closed the embrasure with his body. Inspired by the feat of Matrosov, the soldiers went on the attack and drove the Germans out of the village.

For the feat, A. M. Matrosov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Today, the regiment in which Matrosov served bears the name of a hero forever enrolled in the lists of the unit.

3. Nelson Georgievich Stepanyan (1913-1944)

During the Great Patriotic War, the commander of the assault regiment Stepanyan made 293 successful sorties to attack and bombard enemy ships.

Stepanyan became famous for his high skill, suddenness and audacity of strikes against the enemy. One day, Colonel Stepanyan led a group of planes to bombard an enemy airfield. The stormtroopers dropped their bombs and began to leave. But Stepanyan saw that several fascist planes remained intact. Then he sent his plane back, and approaching the enemy airfield, released the landing gear. The enemy anti-aircraft artillery ceased fire, thinking that a Soviet plane was voluntarily landing on their airfield. At that moment, Stepanyan gave gas, retracted the landing gear and dropped the bombs. All three aircraft that survived the first raid blazed with torches. And Stepanyan's plane landed safely at its airfield.

On October 23, 1942, for the excellent performance of command assignments, the glorious son of the Armenian people was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He was posthumously awarded the second Gold Star medal on March 6, 1945.

4. Vasily Georgievich Klochkov (1911-1941)

November 1941. Moscow is declared under a state of siege. In the Volokolamsk direction, in the area of ​​​​the Dubosekovo junction, 28 soldiers of the rifle division, Major General I.V. Panfilov, led by political instructor Klochkov, stood to death.

On November 16, the Nazis threw a company of submachine gunners against them. But all enemy attacks were repulsed. On the battlefield, the Nazis left about 70 corpses. After some time, the Nazis moved 50 tanks against 28 brave men. The fighters led by the political commissar courageously entered into an unequal battle. One after another, valiant warriors fell to the ground, slain by fascist bullets. When the cartridges ran out, and the grenades were running out, political instructor Klochkov gathered around him the surviving fighters and, with grenades in his hands, went to the enemy.

At the cost of their own lives, the Panfilovites did not let the enemy tanks rushing towards Moscow. 18 wrecked and burned cars were left by the Nazis on the battlefield.

For unparalleled heroism, courage and courage, political instructor V. G. Klochkov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

After the war, a monument was erected to the Panfilov heroes at the Dubosekovo junction.

5. Alexander Mikhailovich Roditelev (1916-1966)

During the battles for Koenigsberg in April 1945, the commander of a sapper platoon, junior lieutenant Roditelev, with eight sappers, acted as part of an assault group.

With a swift throw, the assault group went to the artillery positions of the enemy. Wasting no time, Parents ordered to attack the gunners. In the ensuing hand-to-hand combat, he himself destroyed six fascists. Unable to withstand the onslaught of Soviet soldiers, 25 German soldiers surrendered, the rest fled, leaving behind 15 heavy guns. A few minutes later, the Nazis made an attempt to return the abandoned guns. The sappers repelled three counterattacks and held the artillery positions until the main forces marched. In this battle, a group of sappers under the command of Roditelev exterminated up to 40 Nazis and captured 15 serviceable heavy guns. The next day, April 8, Parents with twelve sappers blew up the enemy's bunker, cleared 6 blocks of the city from the Nazis and captured up to 200 soldiers and officers.

For courage and courage shown in battles with the German fascists, A. M. Roditelev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

6. Vladimir Dmitrievich Lavrinenkov (Born 1919)

Fighter pilot Lavrinenkov spent his first battle near Stalingrad. Soon on his account there were already 16 destroyed enemy aircraft. With each flight, his skill grew and strengthened. In battle, he acted decisively and boldly. The number of enemy planes shot down increased. Together with his comrades, he covered attack aircraft and bombers, repelled enemy air raids, conducting air battles - lightning battles with the enemy, from which he always emerged victorious.

By the end of the war, the communist Lavrinenkov had 448 sorties, 134 air battles, in which he personally shot down 35 enemy planes and 11 as part of a group.

The motherland twice awarded V. D. Lavrinenkov with the Gold Star medals of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

7. Viktor Dmitrievich Kuskov (1924-1983)

The mechanic of the torpedo boat Kuskov fought throughout the war on the ships of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. The boat on which he served participated in 42 combat operations, sank 3 enemy ships.

In one of the battles, a direct hit by an enemy shell in the engine compartment smashed the left engine and damaged the oil pipe of the second engine. Kuskov himself was severely shell-shocked. Overcoming the pain, he reached the motor and covered the hole in the oil line with his hands. Hot oil burned his hands, but he opened them only when the boat left the battle and broke away from the enemy.

In another battle, in June 1944, a fire broke out in the engine room from a direct hit by an enemy shell. Kuskov was seriously wounded, but continued to remain at his post, fighting the fire and the water that flooded the engine compartment. However, the ship could not be saved. Kuskov, together with foreman Matyukhin, on life belts, launched the crew members, and the seriously wounded boat commander and officer were kept in the water in their arms for two hours until our ships approached.

For fearlessness and selflessness, a high understanding of military duty and saving the life of the ship's commander, communist VD Kuskov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on July 22, 1944.

8. Rufina Sergeevna Gasheva (Born 1921)

A school, a pioneer detachment, three years of studies at Moscow State University - this ordinary biography was drastically changed by the war. 848 sorties are recorded in the summer book of Rufina Gasheva, navigator of the squadron of the 46th Guards Taman Light Bomber Regiment. More than once she had to fall into the most difficult situations. In one of the battles in the Kuban, Gesheva's plane was shot down by a fascist fighter and fell behind the front line. For several days, the girl made her way through the enemy rear to her regiment, where she was already considered dead. Near Warsaw, jumping out of a burning plane with a parachute, she landed on a minefield.

In 1956, Rufina Sergeevna Gasheva was demobilized with the rank of major. taught English language at the Academy of Armored Forces named after R. Ya. Malinovsky, worked in the Military Publishing House. She has been retired in Moscow since 1972. For courage shown in battles with the enemy, Rufina Sergeevna Gasheva was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on February 23, 1945.

10. Evgenia Maksimovna Rudneva (1921-1944)

In the first days of the Great Patriotic War, Zhenya Rudneva, a student at Moscow State University, volunteered for the front. On the courses, she mastered the art of navigation. And then there were successful bombardments of concentrations of enemy troops, enemy equipment in the Kuban, the North Caucasus, and in the Crimea. 645 sorties were made by the navigator of the Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment, Senior Lieutenant Rudneva. In April 1944, while performing another combat mission in the Kerch region, E. M. Rudneva died heroically. On October 26, 1944, the navigator of the Guards Bomber Regiment Evgenia Maksimovna Rudneva was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

12. Manshuk Zhiengalievna Mametova (1922-1943)

The best machine gunner of the 21st Guards Rifle Division was considered a Kazakh girl Manshuk Mametova. She was an example of valor and fearlessness, the pride of the fighters of the division.

On October 15, 1943, there was a fierce battle for the city of Nevel. Manshuk supported the offensive of her unit with machine-gun fire. She was wounded in the head. Gathering the last of her strength, the girl pulled out a machine gun to an open position and began to shoot the Nazis point-blank, clearing the way for her comrades. Even dead, Manshuk clutched the handles of the machine gun...

From all over our Motherland, letters were sent to Alma-Ata, where she lived, from where Manshuk left for a great feat. And in Nevel, near the walls of which the heroine died, there is a street named after her. The courageous machine gunner was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on March 1, 1944.

13. Elena Fedorovna Kolesova (1921-1942)

On a frosty November night in 1941, near Moscow, a detachment of scout girls, headed by a twenty-year-old Muscovite Komsomol member Elena Kolesova, left behind enemy lines. For the exemplary performance of this task, Lelya Kolesova was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Since April 1942, the Kolesova group has been operating in one of the districts of the Minsk region. Under the leadership of its brave commander, the group collected and transmitted information about the location of the Nazis, the transfer of troops and military equipment of the enemy, passed the highway and railways, blew up enemy trains, bridges. On September 11, 1942, in an unequal battle with punishers near the village of Vydritsa, Minsk Region, Elena Kolesova died. The name of the heroine was carried by the pioneer team of the Moscow school No. 47, where she worked as a pioneer leader and teacher. The glorious intelligence officer, who gave her life for the freedom and independence of our Motherland, was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on February 21, 1944.

14. Anatoly Konstantinovich Avdeev, gunner fighter anti-tank artillery regiment, born in 1925.

On July 5, 1944, Avdeev's gun crew was ordered to prevent the breakthrough of fascist troops from the encirclement in the Volma region (Belarus). Having taken an open firing position, the fighters shot the Nazis point-blank. The battle lasted 13 hours. During this time, the gun crew repulsed 7 attacks. Almost all the shells ran out, and 5 people of the gun crew died with the death of the brave. The enemy is attacking again. With a direct hit by a projectile, Avdeev's gun breaks down, and the last soldier from the calculation dies. Left alone, Avdeev does not leave the battlefield, but continues to fight with a machine gun and grenades. But now all the cartridges and the last grenade have been used up. The Komsomol member grabs an ax lying nearby and destroys four more fascists.

Mission accomplished. The enemy did not pass, leaving up to 180 corpses of soldiers and officers, 2 self-propelled guns, a machine gun and 4 vehicles on the battlefield in front of Avdeev's gun.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the glorious son of the Russian people Avdeev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

15. Vladimir Avramovich Alekseenko, deputy commander of an aviation regiment, born in 1923, Russian.

Attack aircraft pilot Alekseenko made 292 successful sorties during the war years. He stormed enemy batteries shelling Leningrad, smashed the enemy on the Karelian Isthmus, in the Baltic and in East Prussia. Dozens of aircraft shot down and destroyed at airfields, 33 tanks, 118 vehicles, 53 railway cars, 85 wagons, 15 armored personnel carriers, 10 ammunition depots, 27 artillery pieces, 54 anti-aircraft guns, 12 mortars and hundreds of enemy soldiers and officers killed - such is the combat account of captain Alekseenko.

For 230 successful sorties for assault strikes against concentrations of enemy troops and equipment, for courage and courage, communist V. A. Alekseenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on April 19, 1945. On June 29, 1945, for new military exploits at the front, he was awarded the second Gold Star medal.

16. Andrey Egorovich Borovykh, aviation squadron commander, born in 1921, Russian.

During the Great Patriotic War, fighter pilot Andrei Borovoykh fought on the Kalinin Front. His combat path ran through Orel and Kursk, Gomel and Brest, Lvov and Warsaw and ended near Berlin. He flew to intercept enemy aircraft, escorted our bombers behind enemy lines, and conducted aerial reconnaissance. Only in the first two years of the war, Major Borovoy made 328 successful sorties, participated in 55 air battles, in which he personally shot down 12 enemy aircraft.

In August 1943, the communist Borovoy was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the second Gold Star medal on February 23, 1945 for another 20 enemy aircraft shot down in the next 49 air battles.

In total, during the war years, Borovoy made about 600 successful sorties.

After the Great Patriotic War, A.E. Borovoykh was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR and a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

17. Boris Aleksandrovich Vladimirov , commander of a rifle division, born in 1905, Russian.

General Vladimirov especially distinguished himself in January 1945 in the Vistula-Oder operation. As a result of a well-thought-out and skillfully organized battle, on January 14-15, his division successfully broke through the German defense in depth at the turn of the Vistula River. Pursuing the enemy, the division fought from January 16 to January 28 for about 400 km, with minor losses in personnel and military equipment. The soldiers under the leadership of General Vladimirov were among the first to enter the territory of Nazi Germany and, having made a difficult maneuver in a wooded area, with the fierce resistance of the Nazis, pushed them back from the border and defeated the five thousandth garrison of the city of Schneidemühl. In the area of ​​​​the city of Schneidemühl, the soldiers of the division captured huge trophies, including 30 echelons with military equipment, food and military equipment.

For the skillful leadership of the division in difficult battle conditions and the personal courage and heroism shown at the same time, communist B.A. Vladimirov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

18. Alexander Borisovich Kazaev , commander of a rifle regiment, born in 1919, Ossetian.

On April 13, 1945, the rifle regiment under the command of Major Kazaev, conducting offensive battles against the fascist group on the Zemland Peninsula, approached the heavily fortified line of defense of the enemy. All attempts to break through the defenses from the front were unsuccessful. The offensive of the division was suspended. Then Major Kazaev, with a daring and unexpected maneuver, blocked the enemy's main stronghold with small forces, and with his main forces broke through the defenses from the flanks and ensured the successful offensive of the entire division.

During the offensive battles from April 13 to April 17, 1945, the regiment of Major Kazaev exterminated more than 400 and captured 600 Nazi soldiers and officers, captured 20 guns and freed 1,500 prisoners languishing in concentration camps.

For the skillful leadership of the regiment's combat operations and the shown courage, A.V. Kazaev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

21. Ermalai Grigorievich Koberidze, rifle division commander, born in 1904, Georgian, communist.

Personnel soldier, Major General E. G. Koberidze on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War - since June 1941. He especially distinguished himself in battles in July 1944. On July 27, 1944, the division commander, General Koberidze, personally with the forward detachment of the division, went to the eastern bank of the Vistula and organized its forcing. Under heavy enemy fire, the fighters, inspired by the division commander, crossed to the western coast and seized a bridgehead there. Following the forward detachment, the entire division, fighting hard, within two days completely crossed to the western bank of the river and began to consolidate and expand the bridgehead.

For the skillful management of the division in the battles for the Vistula and the personal heroism and courage shown at the same time, E. G. Koberidze was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

22. Caesar Lvovich Kunikov , commander of the landing detachment of sailors of the Novorossiysk Naval Base of the Black Sea Fleet, Russian.

On the night of February 3-4, 1943, a landing detachment of sailors under the command of Major Kunikov landed on the enemy-occupied and heavily fortified coast near Novorossiysk. With a swift blow, the landing detachment knocked the Nazis out of their stronghold and firmly entrenched themselves in the captured bridgehead. At dawn a fierce battle broke out. The paratroopers repelled 18 enemy attacks during the day. By the end of the day, the ammunition was running out. The situation seemed hopeless. Then a detachment of Major Kunikov made a sudden raid on an enemy artillery battery. Having destroyed the gun crew and seized the guns, they opened fire from them on the attacking enemy soldiers.

For seven days, the paratroopers fought off the fierce attacks of the enemy and held the bridgehead until the main forces approached. During this period, the detachment destroyed over 200 Nazis. In one of the battles, Kunikov was mortally wounded.

For courage and courage, communist Ts. L. Kunikov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

24. Kafur Nasyrovich Mammadov . October 18, 1942 battalion marines The Black Sea Fleet, in which the sailor Mamedov also fought, fought a hard battle with superior enemy forces. The Nazi troops managed to break through and surround the command post of the company commander. Sailor Mammadov rushed to the rescue of the commander and covered him with his chest from the enemy zeros. The brave warrior saved the commander at the cost of his own life.

For courage, courage and self-sacrifice in battle with fascist invaders the son of the Azerbaijani people, Komsomol member K. N. Mammadov, was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

29. Maguba Huseynovna Syrtlanova , deputy commander of a squadron of night bombers, born in 1912, Tatar, communist.

Guards senior lieutenant Syrtlanova fought in the North Caucasus, the Taman Peninsula, the Crimea, Belarus, Poland and East Prussia during the Great Patriotic War. In battles, she showed exceptional courage, courage and courage, made 780 sorties. In the most difficult meteorological conditions, Syrtlanova led groups of aircraft to specified areas with great accuracy.

For the courage and courage of the Guards, Senior Lieutenant M. G. Syrtlanova was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.