Poem with heroes

The exhibition "People at War" opened at the Central Museum of the Armed Forces

“People at War” is the name of the exhibition at the Central Museum of the Armed Forces (CMAF), which opened today, April 22. The first person to look at the exhibits on the eve of the opening of the exhibition was the military observer of Vremya Novostei. His guides and guides were the chief curator of the Central Museum of Military History Tatyana Kuvaeva and the museum's senior researcher, candidate of historical sciences Sergei Kozhin.

The exhibition shows not only the army, but also the people who fought the Nazis. There is a section that has never been in the exhibitions of the Central Museum of the Armed Forces - “People of Art”. Actors, directors, writers, poets, composers, who were mostly soldiers or junior commanders during the war. But even when it comes directly to the army, the exhibits tell not about trench life, but about the life of a soldier. The exhibition is also interesting because it tells previously unknown things about famous people. This is, in fact, a whole collection of fascinating stories. We will briefly dwell on some of them.

Unlike today, representatives of the state elite, even the children of Politburo members, took part in that merciless war. For example, Khrushchev's son Leonid. In contrast to persistent rumors and even the testimonies of some honored veterans, there is not a single document that would indicate that Leonid was in captivity, much less worked for the Germans, Sergei Kozhin is sure. About a year ago, a plane was found on which Leonid Khrushchev allegedly flew. Apparently, he died in an air battle.

Both sons of Stalin fought, the sons of candidate member of the Politburo Alexander Shcherbakov, member of the Politburo Anastas Mikoyan. Vladimir Mikoyan served in the 434th regiment - a regiment of aces, and became a Hero of the Soviet Union. Killed near Kotlubanya. His plane was not found. The museum contains the pilot's uniform given to him by his mother. Air Force inspector Vasily Stalin fought in the same regiment. Frunze's son Timur, also a fighter pilot, died in early 1942 in the Staraya Russa region. His plane was found, the pilot was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery. And in the fall of 1941, Klim Voroshilov gave Timur a very expensive Spanish pistol of the Astra system with excellent finishing: ivory, gilding and blackening. This weapon is exhibited extremely rarely. But this time it can be seen, as well as front-line photographs of the sons of the Soviet elite.

But lower-ranking commanders did not restrain their children, who were rushing to the front. The son of the famous pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Kamanin, Arkady flew combat missions on a U-2 at the age of 14! He died shortly after the war, in 1947, from a serious rare disease. The squadron commander of the 11th Cossack Division, Konstantin Nedorubov, became a full Knight of St. George during the First World War, and during the Great Patriotic War he received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. His son Nikolai fought with him in his squadron.

Much less is known about women in war than they deserve. And in the years of perestroika, “soldiers in skirts” were completely vulgarized, reducing their war to the role of PPZh - field wives. This is far from true.

Sniper Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko fought in the famous 25th Chapaev Division and shot 309 fascists. She was seriously wounded and was taken out of Sevastopol by submarine in the last days of the defense. That's why she remained alive. But little is known that at the end of 1942, Stalin sent Lyudmila to the Congress of Democratic Students in England and the USA. There she spoke to a large crowd of people, she was received by President Roosevelt, and American newspapers and magazines published her portraits. She died in Kyiv in 1974.

Two assistants to the famous militant intelligence officer Nikolai Kuznetsov, Lidiya Lisovskaya and Maria Mikota, survived the war; in October 1945, both went to Kyiv to receive awards and were killed in the Rivne region. Could not be determined by whom. We know about Anna Morozova from the film “Calling Fire on Ourselves.” Everything in it is as it was in life. But there is also a continuation. At the end of 1944, as part of a reconnaissance group, Anna Morozova was thrown into Poland, where she was ambushed and, in order to avoid being captured, blew herself up with a grenade.

The war also produced the world's first female steelmaker. This is the forge master of the blast furnace shop of the Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Works, Filisat Sharunov. One day she received severe burns, but recovered and continued to work. Filisata is a student of steelmaker Alexander Chalkov, who was the first in the world to master high-speed melting of armor steel. For this he received the Stalin Prize, all of which he donated to the production of machine guns for the Siberian Rifle Corps. Moreover, he welded the steel for these machines himself - during non-working hours. Each copy (at least 5 thousand) had a sign “To the Siberians from steelmaker Chalkov.”

The wife of the deceased regimental commissar, Maria Oktyabrskaya, sold all her property, including rare embroideries of her own work, and sent Stalin a telegram asking him to build a T-34 tank with her money and allow her to fight in this tank. Stalin allowed it and even sent thanks. Maria Vasilievna graduated from college and became a driver. At the beginning of 1944, she was seriously wounded and died in hospital. Front commander Chernyakhovsky nominated her for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. She was buried in the Smolensk Kremlin, next to the monument to the heroes of 1812. The words of Kutuzov are carved on this monument: “These are the Russians.”

After the war, Maria Oktyabrskaya was forever included in the lists of her unit. This honor was considered even higher than the title of Hero. There are just over 300 of these people, their names are carved in gold on white marble in the Victory Hall of the Central Museum of the Armed Forces. This tradition, by the way, originated even before the revolution. There were only 12 people included in the lists of units at that time. Their names were carved in gold in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. These inscriptions were not reproduced in the restored temple. After 1917, the tradition died out, but was revived in 1943. The first to be chosen was Alexander Matrosov, who covered the embrasure. The order for his enrollment was read out in all units of the armed forces and published in all newspapers.

During the years of the Great Patriotic War, it turns out that only three were enlisted: infantryman Matrosov, tankman Shalandin and Dmitry Nikolaevich Tyapin. This is the only hero enlisted during his lifetime. Moreover, Tyapin is not a military man, a peasant from the village of Anyutino, Mogilev region. In 1943, he saw the Germans kill several Soviet soldiers and commanders. Tyapin decided to bury them at night. On the chest of one of the dead, he found the banner of the 24th Motorized Rifle Samara-Ulyanovsk Berdichevskaya Triple Red Banner, the Orders of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky of the Iron Division. The peasant kept the cloth and handed it over to the command in 1943, when the Germans were driven out.

Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Vasilevsky issued an order: to revive the division (without a battle flag, according to the regulations, the unit is disbanded), and to forever enlist the savior Tyapin on the unit's lists. First as a soldier, then as a sergeant major. Until his death, Dmitry Nikolaevich was on the pay of the unit, often came there, told the soldiers about saving the banner.

Both those who fought at the front and those who worked on the home front needed rest and emotional release. Poets, writers, composers worked for this. Konstantin Simonov then wrote the famous “Wait for me,” dedicated to the actress and beloved woman Valentina Serova. Her wartime photo, Simonov’s letter to the actress from Stalingrad, a cup made for the anniversary of the Maly Theater, and a mother-of-pearl necklace given by Serova’s daughter are on display. Here are the proofs of Simonov's poetry collection, published in 1942, which he gave to his beloved woman.

Senior Sergeant Anatoly Papanov, commander of an anti-aircraft artillery platoon, was seriously wounded in the leg near Kharkov, a disabled person of the 3rd group. In the film based on Simonov’s novel “The Living and the Dead,” he played brigade commander Serpilin. A photograph of the man who served as his prototype is in the exhibition. In the summer of 1941, Simonov ended up in Mogilev, which was held for a long time by the regiment under the command of Colonel Kutepov. He was a peasant, rose to the rank of second lieutenant in the First World War, fought in the Civil War, and survived the years of repression. When many fled from the Germans at the beginning of the war, tearing off their insignia and burning party cards, Kutepov said: “I will stay here at all costs.” And the entire regiment, looking at the commander, behaved the same way. The Germans were never able to dislodge them from their positions.

Throughout the war, Simonov was tormented by the thought: he should have stayed with this dying regiment. In his will, the writer asked his ashes to be cremated and scattered over the Buinichesky field in Belarus, where Kutepov’s regiment died. Simonov's daughters and son fulfilled his will. Now there is a memorial there. The wife of actor Anatoly Papanov also fought - on a hospital train. She donated the artist’s awards to the museum, even the gold badge of the People’s Artist of the USSR.

Mikhail Pugovkin went to the front on June 24 at 17 years old, straight from the filming of the film “The Artamonov Case.” He fought in front-line reconnaissance. Was wounded. The bullet went from the foot to the thigh, and gangrene began. He was discharged and returned to the Russian Drama Theatre. Georgy Yumatov was a cabin boy on a torpedo boat in 1942, then became a helmsman and took part in many operations, including Malozemelskaya. In Hungary, during a hand-to-hand fight, he was seriously wounded with a knife. Sergei Gurzo volunteered, Valentin Zubkov served in aviation.

Yuri Nikulin has been in the army since 1939, served in anti-aircraft artillery, and spent the war in besieged Leningrad. Stanislav Rostotsky fought in the Guards Cavalry Corps. The museum displays the talisman of the famous director - a cane on which are carved the names of all the films he shot and the dates of filming. Evgeny Vesnik has been in the army since 1942, fought in Karelia and the Baltic states, lieutenant. Vladimir Etush was a military translator from German, assistant to the chief of staff of the regiment. Alexey Smirnov (the famous rude man from the film “Operation Y”) was the commander of a mortar crew, went through the entire war, was awarded two Orders of Glory and medals. I could not survive the death of my beloved director Leonid Bykov, with whom he starred in the film “Only Old Men Go to Battle.” Senior Sergeant Innokenty Smoktunovsky had been at the front since January 1943, fought on the Kursk Bulge, was captured near Zhitomir in 1944, escaped, and fought as a partisan.

The poet Mikhail Isakovsky, the author of poems for the great war songs “Katyusha”, “Enemies burned their home” and many others, had a “white ticket”. The museum shows the lenses of the glasses he wore - "minus 24". The poet Alexey Fatyanov (“Nightingales”, “Where are you now, fellow soldiers”) came to the front with the ensemble, but was surrounded and took part in battles, and was wounded. After recovery, he was accepted into the Alexandrov ensemble, where, for far-fetched reasons, he was convicted and sent to a penal company. As part of it, at the end of the war, he was the first to break into the city on a tank, was wounded, rehabilitated, and awarded. He died at the age of 40. Leonid Utesov and Lidiya Ruslanova did not fight, but they traveled in front-line brigades of artists, transferred money - he for the construction of aircraft, she purchased a Katyusha battery.

At the exhibition you can find out that the first Soviet film to win an Oscar was a documentary - “The Defeat of German Troops near Moscow.” It was released at the end of winter 1942. The directors of the film are Leonid Varlamov and Ilya Kapalin. And the Oscar statuette was brought from the USA by cinematographer Vladislav Mikosha. There he filmed the actions of the Allies - bombings, convoys, and showed his film "Black Sea Men", which was a great success among the Americans. On display at the museum is a suitcase in which the first Soviet Oscar was transported across the ocean. The suitcase was handed over by Mikoshi's widow, the famous director Dzhema Firsova. The prize itself is not there, it is somewhere in the Ministry of Culture, and instead of it there is a copy.

In America, Mikosha became friends with Charlie Chaplin. He gave the operator his photo, drawing a caricature of himself on it. The photograph is presented in the exhibition. Mikosha died at the age of 95 in 2004. Although he expected to live to be a hundred years old, he even kept the treasured bottle for such a date, but then he caught a cold and...

A front-line operator is a heroic profession. Viktor Muromtsev ran out of film, he got out of the tank, ran after it, a shell exploded nearby... Another cameraman, Vladimir Sushchinsky, filmed the explosion that killed his comrade. The photo can be seen in the museum. Boris Vakar died during a partisan raid by Kovpak’s detachment.

Small discoveries are also presented in the exhibition. The widow of Vladimir Bogomolov, among other things, gave the museum a piece of paper on which the writer’s handwritten names of people who served as prototypes for the heroes of “In August ’44” (“Moment of Truth”). In the letter, Vladimir Osipovich explains why he refused the State Prize and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

Another discovery is partisan Yuri Antonovich Kolesnikov. He received the title of Hero already in the 1990s. Previously, few people knew about him, since Kolesnikov served in the 4th Directorate of the NKVD of General Pavel Sudoplatov, who served time under Khrushchev and after 17 years in the camps. Kolesnikov is alive and promised to come to the opening of the exhibition.

Nikolay POROSKOV