In terms of examples of mass heroism, the Great Patriotic War had no equal in Russian, and, probably, in world history. The exploits of V. Talalikhin, N. Gastello, Z. Kosmodemyanskaya, F. Klochkov, Panfilov heroes, A. Matrosov served as an example of military valor and heroism for all soldiers of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War. Neither our allies nor our opponents had such examples of self-sacrifice.
In the wake of the “perestroika” of the entire life of the country, “perestroika” began in historical science, in historical consciousness. A reassessment of the exploits of the military generation, the events of the Great Patriotic War, the debunking of ideological “myths”, the discovery of “new information”, “new sources” also began. Examples of true heroism are called into question and declared ideological propaganda and myths.
One of the objects of “reevaluation” and “revision” was the heroic act of the guard private Alexander Matrosov, who accomplished his immortal feat on Pskov land.
70 years have passed since the death of A. Matrosov. But controversy about it still does not subside. Everything is subject to revision - the name of the hero, his biography, the circumstances of his last battle, the date of the feat, the “primacy” of the feat, even the circumstances and details of the feat itself, the expediency of such an act, etc.
Yes, indeed, during the Great Patriotic War, A. Matrosov was not the first who covered the bunker embrasure with his body, drowned out the enemy’s firing point with his body, thereby ensuring the success of the offensive. Before Matrosov, 70 soldiers of the Red Army had already committed similar heroic deeds. The first of them was an officer of the 125th Tank Regiment of the 28th Tank Division, junior political instructor Alexander Pankratov. On August 24, 1941, in the battle for the village of Spas-Nereditsa near Novgorod, during the assault on the Kirillov Monastery, Pankratov covered an enemy machine gun with his body. On March 10, 1942, A. Pankratov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - the first for such a feat.
Why then are “Matrosovtsy” and not “Pankratovtsy”? No one will answer for sure. Much in those days depended on who became the symbol of any feat, whether there was a “popularizer” next to this or that hero. Matrosov's feat, earlier than the feat of other heroes, became known to the whole country, to every soldier of the Red Army.
Matrosov's feat became known thanks to the order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 269 of September 8, 1943:
“On February 23, 1943, guard private of the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 56th Guards Rifle Division, Alexander Matveevich Matrosov, at the decisive moment of the battle with the Nazi invaders for the village of Chernushki, breaking through to the enemy bunker, covered the embrasure with his body, sacrificed himself and that ensured the success of the attacking unit.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 19, 1943, guard private comrade. Matrosov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The great feat of Comrade Matrosov should serve as an example of military valor and heroism for all soldiers of the Red Army.”
By the same order, the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment was named after Alexander Matrosov, and Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Matrosov was forever included in the lists of the 1st company of this regiment (the first in the country).
This order was read out on all fronts, in active units of the Red Army. On these same days, leaflets dedicated to the feat of A. Matrosov appeared on the fronts. From that time on, everyone who accomplished a feat similar to Matrosov’s was called “sailors.”
Very little information has been preserved about many of the “sailors”, and not much is known about Alexander Matrosov himself. There is one official biography of the hero and several unofficial ones. The discrepancies in the biographies relate primarily to the pre-war period. All versions are almost unanimous in further facts of the biography: September 1942 - Sailor cadet at the Krasnokholmsky Infantry School near Orenburg; November 1942 (January 1943?) - the entire cadet staff of the school was sent as privates to replenish front-line units.
A. Matrosov ended up in the 91st separate rifle brigade (since May 1943, 254th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 56th Guards Rifle Division). After leaving the encirclement, the brigade as part of the 22nd Army of the Kalinin Front was in reserve.
On February 12, 1943, the brigade unloaded at the Zemtsy station in the Kalinin region near the city of Nelidov and, after a many-kilometer march, entered the Pskov land. The area in this area is sparsely populated and has many wetlands.
In the area of the villages of Lyubomirovo, Chulinino, Chernushki, an offensive was being prepared to cut the Nasva-Loknya railway. In the battle for the village of Chernushki, Private A. Matrosov accomplished a feat - he closed the bunker embrasure with himself. The agitator of the political department of the brigade, senior lieutenant P.I. Volkov, a witness to the feat, wrote on the same day in a report to the political department: “... I am in the 2nd battalion... We are advancing... In the battle for the village of Chernushki, Komsomol member Sailors committed a heroic act - he closed the bunker embrasure with his body, which ensured the advancement of our riflemen forward. Chernushki are taken. The offensive continues. I’ll report the details upon my return.” He was unable to provide details - Volkov died on the same day, in the evening.
In May 1943, the Military Council of the Kalinin Front petitioned for the nomination of Alexander Matrosov to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The first memories of the participants in the memorable battle at Chernushki appeared in the same 1943 - they were published in the newspaper of the 22nd Army “Forward for the Motherland” dated October 13, 1943.
There is an opinion that this battle took place not on February 23, the birthday of the Red Army, but on February 27, 1943. And the feat was “postponed” to February 23 for ideological reasons. Or maybe there was a simple typo here? But did the change of date cease to be such a feat? In the report on irretrievable losses, the date of A. Matrosov’s death is indeed February 27. And senior lieutenant Volkov died on the same day, February 27. By the way, then Volkov was buried in the village of Chernushki, but at the moment he is not listed in any burial place.
Alexander Matrosov was buried near the village of Chernushki. In 1948, his ashes were transferred to Velikiye Luki. A monument was erected at his grave in 1954. Monuments to A. Matrosov were also erected in Ufa, Krasnoyarsk, Ulyanovsk, and St. Petersburg.
Despite what propaganda did to Alexander Matrosov during the Soviet, perestroika and post-perestroika times, the feat remained a feat. How the exploits of other “sailors” remained the greatest examples of courage and self-sacrifice.
In the battles during the liberation of the Pskov region, several fighters performed feats similar to Matrosov’s. The names of V. Smirnov, A. Kozhevin, G. Gafiyatullin, P. Avramkov, I. Korovin are widely known.
During the Nevel operation on October 6, 1943, troops of the Kalinin Front liberated the city of Nevel, a powerful enemy defense center at the junction of two groups - “North” and “Center”. After the end of the operation, the Kalinin Front went on the defensive. Defensive battles were fought to the west and north-west of Nevel. On November 11, 1943, in the battle for the Nevel-1 railway station, junior sergeant Vyacheslav Smirnov, a machine gunner of the 153rd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 52nd Guards Rifle Division of the Guard, accomplished a feat. At the cost of his life, he silenced the enemy bunker. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated June 4, 1944, V.V. Smirnov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).
In January 1944, during the Leningrad-Novgorod operation, the Novgorod and Leningrad regions, the northern and eastern regions of the Pskov region were liberated. Units of the 2nd Baltic Front went on the offensive in the Novosokolniki area. The fighting in this area was extremely fierce. The 2nd Baltic Front pinned down the forces of the enemy's 16th Army and prevented the transfer of its units to Leningrad and Novgorod, to the aid of the 18th Army.
On January 14, 1944, in the battle for the village of Ovsishche, the deputy squad commander of the 20th Infantry Regiment of the 37th Infantry Division, Sergeant Gazinur Gafiyatullin, together with the soldiers of the unit, destroyed one enemy bunker. Having approached the second bunker along the trench and having used up all the ammunition, Gafiyatullin, ensuring the success of the offensive, rushed to the embrasure of the bunker and covered it with himself. The hero was buried in the village of Ekimovo, then his ashes were transferred to a mass grave in the village of Myakotino, Velikoluksky district.
On January 22, 1944, near Novosokolniki, the squad commander of the 1344th Infantry Regiment of the 319th Infantry Division, Sergeant Prokopiy Avramkov, in the battle for the village of Omshary, having used up his ammunition, closed the embrasure of the enemy bunker with his body, paving the way for the advancing units. The hero was buried in the village of Zabolotye and reburied in the village of Terenino.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated June 4, 1944, both Gazinur Gafiyatullin and Prokopiy Avramkov were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The fighting near Novosokolniki continued throughout January 1944. After the liberation of Novosokolniki on January 29, the command of the 2nd Baltic Front developed the offensive further - in the area of the villages of Zazhogino and Starosokolniki. On February 1-2, the advancing units encountered machine-gun fire from two bunkers on the outskirts of the village of Zazhogino. The squad commander of the 94th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 30th Guards Rifle Division, Junior Sergeant A. Kozhevin, who was awarded the medal “For Courage” in these battles, volunteered to destroy the bunkers. We managed to crawl closer to the first bunker and throw a grenade at it. A. Kozhevin was wounded by a machine-gun burst from the second bunker. Bleeding, he approached the second firing point and, with a grenade in his hand, rushed to the embrasure. There was an explosion - A. Kozhevin blew up the machine gun along with the crew.
Guard junior sergeant Alexei Kozhevin was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, by order of the 10th Guards Army on February 18, 1944. His name is immortalized in the village of Starosokolniki, Novosokolniki district. Only in the lists of “sailors” is his patronymic “Olitrievich” indicated, but in fact “Petrovich”.
In the history of the Great Patriotic War, there is a case when Matrosov’s feat was “repeated” by a rifle regiment - the regiment named after Alexander Matrosov.
This happened on Pskov land in the spring of 1944, in the area of Novosokolniki and Pustoshka on the 2nd Baltic Front. After the liberation of Pustoshka, the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment named after Alexander Matrosov of the 56th Guards Rifle Division liberated the villages of Myatskovo, Bolshoye and Maloe Makoveytsevo. The enemy transferred reserves from near Idritsa here and brought them into battle. The pace of the regiment's advance dropped noticeably.
In the first days of March 1944, the regiment received an order to penetrate the enemy’s defenses and take the heights near the village of Kryakovo, holding them until the second echelon of the 19th Guards Rifle Corps arrived. On the night of March 7, without artillery preparation, the regiment's soldiers removed the enemy's combat guards, passed the front line, suddenly attacked the enemy from the rear, and captured the heights. The enemy began to pull additional forces into the breakthrough area, trying to regain tactically advantageous heights.
On March 7, continuous enemy counterattacks began. The sailors repulsed 4 attacks. On March 8-9, enemy attacks did not stop. On March 9, Kryakovo changed hands six times, leading to hand-to-hand fighting. The enemy brought fresh forces into the battle, supported by tanks, artillery and mortar fire. On this day, the regiment suffered huge losses - the chief of staff, all his assistants, battalion commanders and their deputies, almost all company and platoon commanders were out of action.
On March 10, the regiment repelled nine enemy counterattacks. On this day, everyone who could hold a weapon participated in repelling enemy counterattacks. On the same day, the commander of the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment, 25-year-old guard Lieutenant Colonel E. Roshchupkin, died. The regiment continued to hold positions near the village of Kryakovo, diverting significant enemy forces from near Novorzhev and Pushkinskiye Gory.
After the main forces of the division approached the Kryakov heights, the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment was withdrawn to the second echelon for rest and replenishment. Of the 680 soldiers and officers who entered the battle for the Kryakov heights, only 12 combat-ready fighters remained in the regiment. Arriving at the heights, Marshal of the Soviet Union A.I. Eremenko assessed the feat of the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment named after Alexander Matrosov this way: “Here the regiment repeated Matrosov’s feat.”
Marina Safronova
Everyone knows the 19-year-old boy, submachine gunner of the Siberian Volunteer Rifle Corps of the 22nd Army of the Kalinin Front, Alexander Matrosov. On February 27, 1943, he blocked the embrasure of a German bunker with his chest. But there were dozens of others whose names are known to only a few.
Rimma in love
17-year-old partisan Rimma Shershneva also gave her life to save her comrades. This happened on December 5, 1942. The partisans operated in the Polesie region. While performing a combat mission, they were fired upon from a camouflaged German bunker.
Rimma was too young, so she was not taken to the front. They gave in after persistent requests to the Komsomol Central Committee, where the girl wrote with a request to send her to the front line. Rimma was sent to a partisan school, where she learned to shoot perfectly from our and captured weapons, mastered the art of sappers, and learned to jump with a parachute. Together with a detachment of the same young and brave guys, Komsomol member Shershneva was thrown behind enemy lines. Friends recalled that Rimma was the most optimistic, often sang and encouraged everyone.
During the fatal attack, many Red Army soldiers were killed. The German bunker had all-round visibility and fired almost non-stop. Then Rimma decided to silence him at the cost of her life.
More than a dozen bullets hit her, but the girl lived another nine days. She kept asking if the commander was alive. They say she was in love with him.
Gardener foreman
Hunan Avetisyan was a foreman of gardeners when he went to war. He died near Novorossiysk in September 1943. Senior Sergeant Avetisyan served as an assistant platoon commander of the 1st Infantry Company of the 390th Infantry Regiment.
The division received orders to break through the enemy's defenses on Mount Dolgaya. During the artillery preparation, several fascist firing points were not suppressed. Unan had already been to this mountain, went with his comrades on reconnaissance, so he quickly moved towards the enemy bunker. Our soldiers managed to throw grenades at it, but then they started shooting from another one. Three close comrades of Avetisyan died before his eyes. He was also wounded; he no longer had the strength to throw the grenade. And then Unan decided to close the embrasure with his chest. The machine gun fell silent. The combat mission was completed.
Peasant son
Yakov Paderin was born in 1901 into a peasant family, but he did not have to engage in peaceful labor for long. Yakov fought in the Civil War, then participated in the creation of collective farms. During the Great Patriotic War he served as an infantryman and was known as a brave soldier.
Paderin accomplished his feat during the capture of the small village of Ryabinikha in the Tver region. Our troops suffered heavy losses. It was winter, Yakov was wearing a camouflage suit. He got close to the machine gun, which did not allow our soldiers to develop their offensive. However, when Paderin prepared to destroy the firing point, it turned out that he had no ammunition left. There was only one way out. Yakov rushed at the machine gun and silenced it for a while.
Service technician
Abram Levin was born in 1918 in Kyiv in the family of a driver and a dressmaker. But he graduated from school and an auto-mechanical technical school in Moscow. On July 3, 1941, immediately after college, Abram began working as a service technician at the Moscow Likhachev Automobile Plant. He had a reservation, but already on September 1, Levin abandoned it and volunteered for the front. He fought in the 158th Rifle Division, which in February 1942, after a 100-kilometer march, entered the battle near Rzhev. Abram covered the machine gun embrasure with his chest in the battle for the village of Zhiranovo.
16-year-old partisan
Mikhail Belush died at the age of 16. He was a Belarusian partisan. Moreover, behind him were eight trains of Germans that were derailed. The guy’s last fight was in the village of Kupisk, Novogrudok district. The partisans from the “October” detachment were advancing, but their actions were complicated by the presence of two bunkers among the Nazis. Mikhail showed miracles of dexterity and heroism. He destroyed one bunker with a bunch of grenades, but the other had to be covered with his own body.
The boy's body was buried with all honors. After the war, he was reburied in a mass grave in the Korelichi region.
Caretaker and photographer
A native of the Kazakh village of Makinka, Nikita Golovnya was a jack of all trades. After serving in the army, he worked at a local school. First as a military commander, then as a supply manager. Before the war, Nikita got married and became interested in photography. He set up something like a circle in the village and taught this to children. Golovnya also played the button accordion beautifully and sang songs.
In July 1941, Nikita and his wife went to the front. In the very first months, Golovnya received two serious injuries, after which he was treated for a long time in the hospital.
Nikita died near Rzhev, and managed to accomplish two feats in one day. First, he shielded the commander from an enemy bullet, and then, being wounded, he neutralized a German bunker, covering it with his body.
It’s amazing how many heroes there were who gave their lives without hesitation: Alexander Pankratov, Cholponbai Tuleberdiev, Pyotr Gutchenko, Alexander Pokalchuk, Nikolai Serdyukov, Vladimir Ermak, Gazinur Gafiatullin, Alexander Volkov, Alexander Tipanov, Minnigali Gubaidullin, Tuichi Erdzhigitov, Dmitry Ushkov.. These were people of different ages and nationalities, professions and hobbies. They had one thing in common - love for the Motherland.
There were many more heroes
Alexander Matrosov was the 59th person to accomplish such a feat. The first was Alexander Pankratov Jr., political instructor of a tank company of the 28th Tank Division, who covered an enemy machine gun with his body on August 24, 1941 and received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously. At that time, defensive battles were taking place near Novgorod, and the Kirillov Monastery, which stood separately on the right bank of the Maly Volkhovets River, became a bridgehead. The Nazis settled in it, behind high walls. Alexander's regiment launched an attack on the monastery. However, the Germans were ready for this. The tank company commander, Lieutenant Platonov, was killed and the attack failed. Pankratov managed to crawl to the enemy machine gun. He threw several grenades at the firing point, but the attempt was unsuccessful. Then the political instructor took a desperate step... The company managed to break into the Kirillov Monastery and capture it.
“In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, 464 people closed the embrasure with their bodies. Five survived. Among those who accomplished this feat are 16 Belarusians. The first on the list is Alexey Vashchenko, a native of the village of Oskoto, Gorodok district, Vitebsk region,” said historian Boris Dolgotovich. The machine gunner of the 272nd Infantry Regiment accomplished his desperate feat on September 5, 1942. Then his regiment and one hundred cadets of the Krasnodar Military School held the defense in Stalingrad itself. When the enemy went on the offensive at six o'clock, a decision was made to launch a counterattack. A company of machine gunners attacked the enemy from the flank, but was forced to lie down under machine-gun fire. Vashchenko got close to the machine gun nest, tried to destroy the machine gunner with a grenade, but failed: he was seriously wounded by the burst. Then, overcoming the pain, he stood up with an exclamation: “For the Motherland! For Stalingrad!” and rushed to the embrasure. He was awarded the Order of Lenin (posthumously). The award sheet says: “...I closed the bunker embrasure with my body, making it possible to develop the success of the attack. Through personal self-sacrifice for the Motherland he showed his devotion and contempt for death. He died a brave death in front of his comrades, inspiring the soldiers with fearlessness and devotion to the Motherland.” One of the streets of the city of Volgograd was named in honor of our fellow countryman.
A month later, Nikolai Averyanov, a rifleman of the 7th company of the 406th rifle regiment of the 124th rifle division of the 21st army of the Don Front, did the same thing in a battle with units of the 3rd Romanian army on the southern bank of the Don near the Khovansky farm. And on December 10 of the same year, near the village of Kurinskaya, Krasnodar Territory, our fellow countryman, Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Novitsky, heroically died, Boris Dmitrievich said: “In the battles for Belarus, Matrosov’s heroic feat was repeated by 24 Red Army soldiers. And, by the way, I don’t know of a single example of Hitler’s soldiers doing the same.”
On February 27, 1943, in a battle near the village of Chernushki, a machine gunner of the 2nd separate rifle battalion of the 91st separate Siberian volunteer brigade named after I.V. Stalin of the 6th Stalinist Siberian volunteer rifle corps Alexander Matrosov closed the embrasure of the enemy bunker with his body, at the cost of his life ensuring that the unit completed its combat mission and saved the lives of his comrades.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated June 19, 1943, Red Army soldier Alexander Matrosov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union “for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism shown.”
Alexander Matrosov became one of the most famous heroes of the Great Patriotic War. About those who also sacrificed themselves in battle, they wrote “repeated Matrosov’s feat.”Sailors was not the first Red Army soldier to accomplish such a feat, but it just so happens that his name is known better than others.
In total, during the war, according to historians, more than 400 people performed similar feats.
It would seem that the death of a person who threw himself chest-first into an embrasure is inevitable. However, in reality this is not the case. At least 7 Soviet soldiers who decided to take such an action managed to survive.
Petty Officer Leonty Kondratyev
Assistant platoon commander of the 723rd Infantry Regiment of the 395th Infantry Division of the 56th Army of the Transcaucasian Front Leonty Kondratyev accomplished his feat several months before the battle near the village of Chernushki.
This happened on October 30, 1942 in battles on the outskirts of Tuapse. The 395th Division counterattacked the Nazis. The 723rd Regiment received an order to take height 403.3 southeast of the village of Fanagoriyskoye. During the attack, saving the lives of his comrades, Sergeant Major Kondratyev closed the bunker with his body.
He was seriously injured and was taken to hospital. The sergeant major survived and after four months of treatment returned to duty.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 31, 1943, for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time, Sergeant Major Leonty Vasilyevich Kondratiev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Monument to the Hero of the Soviet Union, an infantry private who accomplished a feat during the Great Patriotic War, Alexander Matrosov, near the building of the Museum of Komsomol Combat Glory named after. Alexandra Matrosova. The author of the monument is Evgeniy Vuchetich. Photo: RIA Novosti / A. Topuz
Frontline happiness is changeable. In April 1943, Leonty Kondratyev died in battle.
Private Georgy Maisuradze
On October 10, 1943, the 519th Infantry Regiment of the 81st Infantry Division of the 61st Army of the Central Front fought a heavy battle in the vicinity of the Belarusian village of Glushets. At the critical moment of the battle it was necessary to silence the enemy machine gun at any cost. Private Georgy Maisuradze, without hesitation, covered the enemy’s firing point with his body.
The combat mission was completed, and the barely alive soldier was taken to the hospital. Georgy survived, but was demobilized for health reasons.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated January 15, 1944, with the wording “for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism shown,” private Georgy Vasilyevich Maisuradze was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Maisuradze returned to his native village in Georgia and worked as a forester. The hero died in 1966 at the age of 58.
Junior Lieutenant Stepan Kochnev
On December 31, 1943, a battalion of the 66th Infantry Regiment of the 61st Infantry Division of the 28th Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front fought for height 11.9, five kilometers from the Ukrainian village of Novaya Ekaterinivka.
Platoon commander Stepan Kochnev led his soldiers into an attack when further advance was stopped by machine-gun fire from an enemy bunker.
Several attempts to throw grenades at the bunker failed. Many fighters were killed or wounded. Junior Lieutenant Kochnev tried to blow up the bunker with a grenade, but was wounded. Then he closed the embrasure with his body.Junior Lieutenant Kochnev was posthumously nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the idea was supported right up to the Military Council of the 28th Army, but by order to the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front No. 89 of February 11, 1944, Kochnev was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree.
The platoon commander, however, survived, as the Germans, who captured him, were convinced of. Kochnev passed through German concentration camps and was liberated by Red Army units at the end of April 1945.
After the war, Stepan Ivanovich Kochnev returned to his civilian profession, working as an accountant for many years.
Private Alexander Udodov
Exactly one year before the end of the war, on May 9, 1944, units of the Red Army stormed Sevastopol. The battle for height 178.2 was especially fierce. Soldier of a company of machine gunners of the 997th Infantry Regiment of the 263rd Infantry Division of the 51st Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front Alexander Udodov got close to the enemy bunker to suppress it with grenades. When the fighter saw that this did not work, he covered the embrasure with his body.
The soldier was seriously injured, but the hospital doctors literally pulled him out of the other world. After treatment in the hospital, he was demobilized.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 24, 1945, Red Army soldier Alexander Abramovich Udodov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the courage, bravery and heroism shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders.
After the war, he lived in Donetsk and worked in a mine for many years. He died on the 40th anniversary of Victory at the age of 67.
Petty Officer Vladimir Maiborsky
U Vladimir Maiborsky a dizzying biography. At the beginning of the war, he enlisted in the people's militia, fought with the Germans near Nikolaev and Kherson, then in the Crimea, where, after the defeat of the Soviet troops, he tried to become a partisan. The fighter was wounded, captured, escaped from a concentration camp in Poland on the third attempt, and returned to his native Podolia, where he became a partisan. After the arrival of Soviet troops, Maiborsky was again drafted into the Red Army.
On July 13, 1944, the 7th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division, where Vladimir Maiborsky served, had to break through the enemy’s defenses in the area of the village of Cheremkhuv. The forward movement was stopped by the fire of an enemy bunker.
Sergeant Major Maiborsky managed to approach the bunker, but when he tried to throw a grenade, both his legs were broken by a machine-gun burst. The enemy machine gunner considered him killed, which allowed Maiborsky to crawl to the dead zone. Gathering his last strength, Vladimir Petrovich leaned his chest against the embrasure, simultaneously pushing an anti-tank grenade inside the enemy fortification.
The 7th Infantry Regiment, having broken through the enemy’s defenses, went on the offensive, and the seriously wounded soldier was picked up by orderlies. After 10 months of treatment in hospitals, Vladimir Maiborsky was discharged from the army due to disability.On March 24, 1945, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Red Army soldier Vladimir Petrovich Maiborsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the war, he worked on a collective farm for many years, then served as chairman of the village council. Vladimir Maiborsky died in 1987 at the age of 75.
Sergeant Tovye Rise
Section commander of the 45th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 17th Guards Rifle Division Tovye Rise accomplished his feat on October 17, 1944.
On this day, his battalion fought on the outskirts of the city of Gumbinnen in East Prussia.
Ensuring the battalion's advance, Sergeant Rise covered the embrasure of the German firing point with his body. He received 18 wounds, but managed to survive.For this feat he was awarded the Order of Glory, III degree.
After the war, Tovye Rize graduated from the institute and worked for many years as an economist in the USSR Ministry of Health.
Tovye Haimovich Rise died in April 1982 at the age of 61.
Corporal Sabalak Orazalinov
In the late autumn of 1944, units of the 131st Infantry Division fought on the island of Saaremaa during the Moonsund offensive operation.
On November 18, 1944, the decisive offensive of the Soviet troops began. The Germans had a powerful system of fortifications, including bunkers.
One of them tried to destroy a soldier of the 482nd Infantry Regiment of the 131st Infantry Division of the 8th Army of the Leningrad Front, corporal Sabalak Orazalinov. Throwing a grenade into the bunker embrasure, the soldier was wounded, but it was not possible to silence the machine gun. At this time, the company began the attack again, and Orazalinov, saving his comrades, closed the embrasure with his body.The corporal was seriously wounded and was unconscious for fifteen days, but survived.
For this feat the soldier was not presented with a reward. Only on April 6, 1985, on the 40th anniversary of the victory, he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.
After the war, Sabalak Orazalinov worked a lot at a tea-packing factory and a railway station, and raised seven children.
Description of the presentation by individual slides:
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Heroes of the Soviet Union - Kazakhstanis who repeated the feat of Alexander Matrosov History teacher of KSU "Secondary School No. 21 of the city of Temirtau" Baltabaev Marat Bopyshevich
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NO ONE IS FORGOTTEN Heroes of the Soviet Union - Kazakhstanis who repeated the immortal feat of Alexander Matrosov: Babin Ivan Vasilievich, Baimagambetov Sultan Birzhanovich, Baltabanov Imangali Taukeshevich, Zhivov Anatoly Pavlovich, Iskaliev (Eskaliev) Sundetkali, Karakulov Juman, Karelin Pyotr Grigorievich, Moldagaliev Nysan, baev (Nsanbaev )Boran, Rustemov Tashtemir, Skuridin Ivan Kupriyanovich, Sukhambayev Agadil.
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Babin Ivan Vasilievich (1899–1944) Ivan Babin was born in 1899 in the village of Zhelezinka (now Zhelezinsky district of the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan) into a peasant family. In 1941 he was called up to serve in the Red Army. Since June 1941 - on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. By the fall of 1944, Junior Sergeant Ivan Babin commanded a section of the 5th Guards Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Guards Cavalry Division of the 1st Cavalry Corps of the 38th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front. He distinguished himself during the liberation of Poland. On September 13, 1944, during a battle near the village of Konty, 22 kilometers southwest of the city of Krosno, being in the front ranks of the advancing Soviet units, Babin approached a bunker with a machine gun nest and, having used up all the ammunition and grenades, covered the embrasure with his chest and died. This feat contributed to the successful defeat of German troops by a cavalry squadron. Babin was buried at the site of the feat. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 10, 1945, junior sergeant Ivan Babin was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
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Baimagambetov Sultan Birzhanovich (1920–July 25, 1943) Commander of the machine gun squad of the 147th Infantry Regiment, senior sergeant. In October 1940 he was drafted into the Red Army. He graduated from the regimental school. Participant of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. He fought near Leningrad. In 1942 he joined the CPSU (b). On July 22, 1943, in the battle for the Sinyavinsky Heights, he destroyed up to a dozen Nazis in enemy trenches. In the battle on July 25, the advance of our soldiers was stopped by machine gun fire from an enemy bunker. The brave warrior crawled to the firing point and threw grenades at it. But the machine gun did not stop. Then he covered the embrasure with his chest. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated February 21, 1944, for the exemplary performance of command tasks and the courage and heroism shown in battles with the Nazi invaders, senior sergeant Baimagambetov Sultan Birzhanovich was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
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Baltabanov Imangali Taukeshevich (1926–1945) Imangali Baltabanov was born in 1926 in the village of Kos-Utkel, Khobdinsky district, Aktobe region, into a family of a cattle breeder. Kazakh. In 1943 he was drafted into the Red Army. The commander of the machine gun crew, Sergeant Baltabanov, as part of the regiment, successfully crossed the Oder River. On January 25, 1945, in the battles to hold a bridgehead on the western bank, near the village of Oderfeld, he destroyed dozens of enemy soldiers and officers with machine gun fire, was wounded and shell-shocked, but did not leave the battlefield. Machine gunner Baltabanov pursued the Nazis on their heels, shooting them point blank. Suddenly one of the German soldiers turned around and fired a machine gun. Comrades saw Imangali fall a few steps from the bunker, in which the remnants of the enemy group hid. And now a machine gun fired from the embrasure of the shelter, forcing the Soviet soldiers to hug the ground. And then something happened that people, in history, call immortality. Bloody, staggering from side to side, Imangali Baltabanov rose from the ground. With a last effort of will, he made a jump to the enemy bunker - and a bunch of grenades flies into the embrasure. A friendly “Hurray” was heard from behind. But machine gunner Baltabanov did not hear this. He did not see how his fighting friends bent over him and carefully pulled out a bullet-riddled Komsomol card from the pocket of his bloody tunic. An enemy bullet passed through the heart, the hot blood of which was given to the native people to the last drop. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 10, 1945, for the exceptional self-sacrifice and heroism shown during the crossing of the Oder and holding the bridgehead, Sergeant Baltabanov Imangali was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
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Zhivov Anatoly Pavlovich (1925–1944) Born in 1925 in the village. Kuzmishchevo, Kaluga region, in a working-class family. Worked in Moscow. In the summer of 1942, a large group of workers from Moscow was sent to the construction of the Zhezdinsky manganese mine for military mobilization. Anatoly Zhivov also arrived. In May 1943, he volunteered to go to the front. On April 4, 1944, in the battle for Ternopil, Zhivov was laying a telephone line with a reel on his back. The battalion was advancing. Suddenly his progress slowed. On Mickiewicz Street, machine-gun bursts struck almost point-blank from the embrasures in the massive wall surrounding the city prison. The fire from the heavy machine gun was especially brutal. The assault groups were unable to suppress enemy points. Dozens of fighters died at the ill-fated wall. Zhivov volunteered to suppress the firing point with combustible bottles. He crawled to the embrasure and threw 2 bottles into it. The machine gun went silent, but soon started working again. And then the twice-wounded telephone operator, gathering his last strength, rushed to the embrasure and covered it with his body. Rising in a single impulse, the hero's comrades crushed the enemy and burst into the prison building, finishing off the remnants of the Nazis who had taken refuge behind the walls of the ancient casemates. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 23, 1944, Zhivov A.P. posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
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Iskaliev (Eskaliev) Sundetkali (1924–1944) Sundetkali Iskaliev was born in 1924 in the village of Sulukol, Lubeisky village council, Burlinsky district, West Kazakhstan region. Kazakh. In July 1942 he was drafted into the army. The young Komsomol soldier Sundetkali Iskaliev fought bravely. In the morning, the unit rushed into the attack with fierce determination in order to throw back the enemy and break into the village. But the fire of an enemy machine gun installed in a bunker at a height east of Lidchitsa pinned the attackers firmly to the ground. The enemy threatened to encircle us. Sundetkali, noticing an enemy machine-gun point that was hindering the company’s advance, resolutely crawled towards it and threw a grenade. The grenade exploded near the embrasure without causing any harm. He prepared the second one and suddenly felt a blow to his shoulder. The grenade fell out of his hands. Then Sundetkali, gathering his last strength, rushed and closed the bunker embrasure with his body. The machine gun choked. With a shout of “Hurray!” a company rose and crushed the counterattacking enemy. For this high feat, Komsomol member Sundetkali Iskaliev was posthumously awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
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Karakulov Juman (1921–1944) Born on June 11, 1921 in a peasant family. Kazakh. Member of the CPSU(b). Primary education. In 1942 he was drafted into the Red Army. On October 17, 1944, the unit in which the Red Army soldier Karakulov served was advancing in the direction of the village of Zvala. Ahead there was a height on which the Nazis were entrenched. Juman Karakulov was among the first to take the lead, captured the trench and for three hours, together with the company’s soldiers, held a section of the trench, repelling all enemy attacks. On the second day, during the advance of the company, Karakulov again took the lead, captured a trench in the first line of enemy defense and for several hours alone fought with a group of Nazis. At this time, a fascist machine gun hit the flank of the advancing company. Karakulov rushed with grenades in his hands to the enemy machine gun, destroyed it and at the cost of his life ensured victory for his unit. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 24, 1945, for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and the exceptional self-sacrifice and heroism of the guard, Red Army soldier Karakulov Juman was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
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Karelin Pyotr Grigorievich (1922–1944) Pyotr Grigorievich was born in 1922 in Srechinsk, Chita region. Russian, candidate member of the CPSU. At an early age, he moved with his parents to Kazakhstan, where he graduated from high school at Charskaya station. He was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army in 1941 by the Zharma district military registration and enlistment office. After studying at a military school, he took part in battles as part of the Stalingrad, Southern and 4th Ukrainian fronts. At dawn on April 8, 1944, fiery volleys of Katyusha rockets signaled the start of the offensive on Crimea. During the breakthrough of the enemy's first line of defense, the company commander, Lieutenant Karelin, was the first to break into the trench and engage in hand-to-hand combat. At this time, machine-gun fire was opened from a nearby bunker, which threatened to disrupt the attack. Lieutenant Karelin crawled to the bunker, and with his hands he moved the barrel of the machine gun to the side, and covered the embrasure with his body. He was killed by a machine gun crew using personal weapons. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 16, 1944, for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and the exceptional self-sacrifice and heroism of the guard, Lieutenant Pyotr Grigorievich Karelin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).
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Moldagaliev Zhangas (June 7, 1917 – November 1, 1943) Zhangas Moldagaliev was born on June 7, 1917 in the village of Karaaul (now Abay district) of Kazakhstan. Kazakh. He graduated from 7th grade and worked as secretary of the district executive committee. In the Red Army since 1938. At the front - since 1941. Graduated from the military infantry school. Member of the CPSU(b) since 1943. Commander of a rifle company of the 120th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 39th Guards Rifle Division (8th Guards Army, 3rd Ukrainian Front). On the night of October 24, 1943, Guard Lieutenant Moldagaliev was among the first to cross the Dnieper in the area of Dnepropetrovsk. Having reached the right bank, he roused the fighters to attack and knocked the enemy out of the defensive line, ensuring the capture of the bridgehead. For the successful crossing of the Dnieper on October 28, 1943, the regiment commander nominated him for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After crossing the Dnieper, the 120th Guards Rifle Regiment broke through the enemy’s fortified defenses in the area of the village of Chernoparovka. The advance of our units faltered. The enemy opened heavy fire. On November 1, 1943, at the most critical moment of the battle, Guard Lieutenant Moldagaliev accomplished a feat - he closed the embrasure of an enemy bunker with his body, thereby contributing to the accomplishment of the combat mission. He was buried in a military cemetery in the village of Elizarovo railway station, Dnepropetrovsk region. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded on March 19, 1944.
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Nysanbaev (Nsanbaev) Boran (1918–1943) Boran Nysanbaev was born in 1918 in the village of Kanbakty (now Indersky district, Atyrau region). Kazakh. He was drafted into the Red Army in January 1942. In the same year - at the front. Mortarman of the 771st Infantry Regiment (137th Infantry Division, 48th Army, Bryansk Front), Komsomol member of the Red Army Boran Nysanbaev, in the battle on February 6, 1943 for the village of Leski, Pokrovsky District, Oryol Region, volunteered to blow up an enemy pillbox, the fire from which was hindering the battalion’s advance. He twice crawled to the enemy’s firing point and threw grenades, but to no avail. For the third time, Red Army soldier Nysanbaev crawled close to the pillbox and threw two anti-tank grenades at the door. The pillbox was destroyed, but the brave warrior himself died. At the cost of his life, the glorious son of the Kazakh people contributed to the fulfillment of the battalion’s combat mission. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 23, 1943, Red Army soldier Nysanbaev Boran was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his courage and heroism.
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Rustemov Tashtemir (1906–1943) Tashtemir Rustemov was born in 1906 in the village of Arys (now Karabulak, Sairam district, South Kazakhstan region). Uzbek. After graduating from primary school, he worked on a collective farm. In April 1942, Rustemov was drafted into the Red Army. On August 12, 1943, during the battle for the village of Borisovka, Dorogobuzh district, Rustemov was one of the first to overcome enemy wire barriers and burst into a German trench, personally killing 14 soldiers and 1 officer. When, during a further offensive, his unit found itself pinned to the ground by machine-gun fire from a bunker, Tashtemir Rustemov volunteered to destroy it. Along the way, he destroyed 5 German soldiers who tried to stop him, but he himself was seriously wounded. By covering the bunker embrasure with his body, at the cost of his life, Rustemov ensured the successful offensive of his unit. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated June 3, 1944, for “the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism displayed,” Red Army soldier Tashtemir Rustemov was posthumously awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
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Skuridin Ivan Kupriyanovich (1914–1944) Ivan Skuridin was born in 1914 into a peasant family in the village of Otradnoye, Makinsk district, Akmola region. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he volunteered to go to the front and fought on the Volkhov Front as part of the Akmola 310th Rifle Division. After the second wound, he ended up near Leningrad with a marching company. On January 17, 1944, units of the 4th Regiment of the 98th Infantry Division stormed the village of Sokuli, about 40 kilometers southeast of the city of Lomonosov (formerly Oranienbaum). In the sector of the 6th Infantry Company, four enemy firing points pinned the advancing chains to the ground. The artillerymen quickly suppressed them with the fire of their guns, but when the company rose to attack, one bunker came to life and met the attackers with a stream of lead. The soldiers lay down again. Rising to his full height, Ivan Skuridin quickly rushed to the bunker and covered its embrasure with his body. By decree of February 13, 1944, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR posthumously awarded the Komsomol organizer of the rifle company, senior sergeant I.K. Skuridin, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
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Sukhambayev Agadil (1920–1944) Agadil Sukhambayev was born on December 16, 1920 in the village of Karasu (now the Bayzak district of the Zhambyl region of Kazakhstan). After finishing ten years of school, he worked on a collective farm. In 1940, Sukhambayev was called up to serve in the Red Army. Being at the front from the first days of the war, he especially proved himself to be a brave, skillful, disciplined soldier in the battles for Belarus, Lithuania, and Poland. The brave warrior Agadil Sukhambayev was always the first to attack. After the first battle with the enemy in which he participated, he was appointed squad commander. On July 31, 1944, during the liberation of Poland, he accomplished his last feat. Hurricane fire hindered the infantry's advance. The company lay down. Agadil decided to destroy the enemy machine gun and prepared a grenade to throw. But at this time a bullet pierced his right hand. Agadil took the second grenade with his left hand, but the next bullet pierced it too. Drenched in blood, he ran from tree to tree towards machine-gun fire. Shouting “For the Motherland!” Agadil Sukhambetov rushed to the pillbox and closed the embrasure with his chest, extinguishing the fire of Hitler’s machine gun. At the cost of his life, he contributed to the successful actions of the unit. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 24, 1945, Red Army soldier Agadil Sukhambayev was posthumously awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
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ETERNAL MEMORY TO HEROES! People! While hearts are knocking, - Remember! At what price is happiness won? - Please Remember! R. Rozhdestvensky
From school, everyone is familiar with the legend of Alexander Matrosov - the legend of how a brave Soviet soldier rushed with his chest into the embrasure of a bunker (a wooden-earthen firing point), which silenced the Nazi machine gun and ensured the success of the attack. But we are all growing up and doubts begin to appear: why rush into the bunker embrasure if there are aviation, tanks, and artillery. And what can be left of a person who has come under the aimed fire of a machine gun?
According to the version of Soviet propaganda, Private Alexander Matrosov allegedly accomplished his feat on February 23, 1943 in a battle near the village of Chernushki near Velikiye Luki. Posthumously, Alexander Matveevich Matrosov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The feat was allegedly accomplished on the day of the 25th anniversary of the Red Army, and Sailors was a fighter in the elite Sixth Volunteer Rifle Corps named after Stalin - these two circumstances played an important role in the creation of the state myth. But in fact, Alexander Matrosov died on February 27...
According to the official version, Alexander Matveevich Matrosov was born on February 5, 1924 in the city of Yekaterinoslav, and was brought up in the Ivanovsky (Mainsky district) and Melekessky orphanages of the Ulyanovsk region and in the Ufa children's labor colony. After finishing 7th grade, he worked in the same colony as an assistant teacher.
According to another version, Matrosov’s real name is Shakiryan Yunusovich Mukhamedyanov, and his place of birth is the village of Kunakbaevo, Tamyan-Katay canton of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (now Uchalinsky district of Bashkortostan). At the same time, Matrosov himself called himself Matrosov.
Contrary to popular belief, Sailors was not a fighter in the penal battalion. Such rumors arose because he was a pupil of a children's colony for juvenile criminals in Ufa, and at the beginning of the war he worked as a teacher there.
According to the official version, on February 27, 1943, the 2nd battalion received an order to attack a strong point in the area of the village of Chernushki, Loknyansky district, Kalinin region (since October 2, 1957 - Pskov region). As soon as the Soviet soldiers entered the forest and reached the edge, they came under heavy enemy fire - three machine guns in bunkers covered the approaches to the village. Assault groups of two were sent to suppress the firing points. One machine gun was suppressed by an assault group of machine gunners and armor-piercers; the second bunker was destroyed by another group of armor-piercing soldiers, but the machine gun from the third bunker continued to shoot through the entire ravine in front of the village. Attempts to suppress it were unsuccessful. Then the Red Army soldiers Pyotr Ogurtsov and Alexander Matrosov crawled towards the bunker. On the approaches to the bunker, Ogurtsov was seriously wounded, and Sailors decided to complete the operation alone. He approached the embrasure from the flank and threw two grenades. The machine gun fell silent. But as soon as the fighters rose to attack, fire was opened again from the bunker. Then Matrosov stood up, rushed to the bunker and closed the embrasure with his body. At the cost of his life, he contributed to the accomplishment of the unit’s combat mission.
The first report on Matrosov’s feat stated: “In the battle for the village of Chernushki, Komsomol member Matrosov, born in 1924, committed a heroic act - he closed the bunker embrasure with his body, which ensured the advancement of our riflemen forward. Chernushki was taken. The offensive continues.” This story, with minor changes, was reproduced in all subsequent propaganda. For decades, no one thought that Alexander Matrosov’s feat was contrary to the laws of nature. After all, it is impossible to close a machine gun embrasure with your body. Even one rifle bullet hitting the hand inevitably knocks a person down. And a point-blank machine-gun burst will throw any, even the heaviest, body from the embrasure. Front-line soldiers remember how bursts of fire from a German MG machine gun cut trees in half...
The question arises of the rationality of trying to close the embrasure with your body when there are other ways to suppress enemy fire. The human body could not serve as any serious obstacle to the bullets of a German machine gun.
A propaganda myth, of course, is not able to abolish the laws of physics, but it can make people forget about these laws. Throughout the war, over 400 Red Army soldiers accomplished the same feat as Alexander Matrosov, and some before him.
Several "sailors" were lucky - they survived. Being wounded, these soldiers threw grenades at enemy bunkers. One might say that a kind of terrible competition of units and formations was taking place, each of which considered it an honor to have its own Sailor. Fortunately, it was very easy to enroll a person as a “sailor.” Any Red Army soldier who died near an enemy bunker was suitable for this. In reality, events did not develop as reported in newspaper and magazine publications.
As the front-line newspaper wrote in hot pursuit, Matrosov’s corpse was found not in the embrasure, but in the snow in front of the bunker. What could really be happening?
It was only in post-Soviet times that other versions of the event began to be considered.
According to one version, Matrosov was killed on the roof of the bunker when he tried to throw grenades at it. Having fallen, he closed the ventilation hole to remove the powder gases, which made it possible for the soldiers of his platoon to make a throw while the machine gunners tried to throw off his body.
A number of publications have stated that Alexander Matrosov’s feat was unintentional. According to one of these versions, Matrosov actually made his way to the machine gun nest and tried to shoot the machine gunner or at least prevent him from shooting, but for some reason he fell on the embrasure (he stumbled or was wounded), thereby temporarily blocking the machine gunner’s view. Taking advantage of this hitch, the battalion was able to continue the attack.
There is a version that Sailors was hit by a machine gun burst at the moment when he stood up to throw a grenade, which for the soldiers behind him looked like an attempt to cover them from fire with his own body.
Perhaps Matrosov was able to climb onto the bunker (eyewitnesses saw him on the roof of the bunker), and he tried to shoot the German machine gun crew through the ventilation hole, but was killed. Dropping the corpse to free an outlet, the Germans were forced to cease fire, and Matrosov’s comrades during this time covered the area under fire. The German machine gunners were forced to flee. The sailors really, at the cost of their lives, ensured the success of the attack of their unit. But he didn’t throw himself at the embrasure with his chest - this method of fighting enemy bunkers is absurd. However, for the propaganda myth, the fanatical image of a fighter who despised death and threw himself at a machine gun with his chest was necessary. The Red Army soldiers were encouraged to launch frontal attacks on enemy machine guns, which they did not even try to suppress during artillery preparation. The example of Matrosov justified the senseless death of people. It seems that Stalin’s propagandists dreamed of turning Soviet people into something like Japanese kamikazes, so that they would die fanatically, without thinking about anything.
The clever scribblers from GlavPUR and front-line propaganda timed the death of Matrosov to coincide with February 23 - the 25th anniversary of the Red Army, and the fact that "Matrosov's feat" had already been accomplished by others more than 70 times before - they did not care... On the personal list of irrevocables losses of the 2nd separate rifle battalion, Alexander Matrosov was recorded on February 27, 1943, along with five more Red Army soldiers and two junior sergeants. And Sailors got to the front only on February 25...
