There is such a profession - to protect the homeland
There is such a profession - to protect the homeland. Perhaps the only one with no age restrictions. During the years of the Great Patriotic War, not only young people, but also many old people, who had long been removed from military and labor registration, did not remain aloof from the national struggle. One of them was grandfather Talash - a man-legend, a national hero, familiar to each of us from school through the story of Yakub Kolas “Drygva”.Vasily Isaakovich Talash was born 25 December 1844 of the year in the village of Belka, Petrikovsky district of the Gomel region, in a poor peasant family. His father worked all his life on the ground, bent his back, but he did not get rich. He could not even allocate the allotment of land to his son after marriage, so Basil was forced to go to the primaks in the neighboring village of Novoselka. Hope for a better life crossed the Polish occupation. The invaders mocked and robbed the peasants. More conscious of the inhabitants began to protest, unite, rise to fight. One of the first on this path was the peasant from the village of Novoselki Vasily Talash. He understood that you need to take on weapon, to save not only their own good, but also their dignity, their homeland.
Before the arrival of the Poles in the village there was a detachment of Red Guards, whose commander lodged with Vasily Talash. He often sent Basil for information in the camp of the enemy. All that Poleshka had learned about was commanded by the commander to Petrikov, where the main forces of the Red Army were stationed. With the help of the Red Guards a partisan detachment was organized. Talash was unanimously elected commander.
In addition to being directly involved in combat operations, Vasily Isaakovich carried out important assignments for the Red Army command to distribute underground literature behind the front line and among Polish soldiers. Talash knew the left bank of the Pripyat, the location of settlements and repeatedly went to explore in Novoselki, Kuritichi and Petrikov. Several times he was captured by the Poles, and only because of natural ingenuity and cunning was left free.
The first combat operation to liberate the native village from the Poles was successful. The detachment with its own forces knocked out the White Poles from Novoselok, which provided valuable assistance to the advancing Soviet troops.
In 1920, the squad joined one of the units of the Red Army. Talash could not serve for health reasons (he suffered typhoid fever) and returned to his native village.
In the surrounding villages dominated by poverty and hunger. The authoritative grandfather Talash was elected chairman of the Novoselkovsky Village Council. At that time he was already 77 years old. New worries fell on his shoulders, but he energetically set to work, became a delegate to the Eighth Congress of the Soviets of the Petrikov Volost, where issues of the restoration of the village were discussed. Vasily Isaakovich helped his fellow countrymen to build a new life, and found ways out of the most difficult situations. In a short time, he acquired grain for sowing, with his help firefighters were given free wood for the fire victims to rebuild burnt houses. Grandfather Talash was a member of the commission for drawing up a plan for the development of livestock and poultry farming in the region. He did a lot to open and then expand the ship repair shops in Petrikov, schools, medical center.
The Belarusian government highly appreciated the heroic deeds of the Polesye nugget. Here is an excerpt from the resolution of the Presidium of the CEC of the BSSR from February 6 1928: “For accomplishment of the achievement, award Talash Vasily Isaakovich, a peasant from the village Belka of the Petrikov District of the Mozyr District, with the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.” This award in those days was rare and weighty.
The Polessian peasant came to Minsk twice to meet with Yakub Kolas. Just at that time, the story "Drygva" was published. Grandfather Talash carefully read and reread the work. Among the heroes he recognized his comrades in arms, despite the fact that the names were changed.
The first meeting of Talash with Yakub Kolas took place in Minsk, the grandfather Talash who read the story decided to personally meet the writer. At that time, Yakub Kolas was the vice-president of the Academy of Sciences, and one day the door of his office opened, the grandfather Talash appeared on the threshold. The writer received the guest cordially, showed him Minsk, invited him to his home. In general, Vasily Talash was pleased with the artwork about himself. However, he expressed at their first meeting and some comments. Especially Talash insisted that he fled from the Polish soldiers who had detained him in the forest, and not from three, as was written in the story. And Kolas in the next reissue of the book amended.
In 1939, Talash and Kolas met for the second time. When the opera “In the Forests of Polesye” was staged at the Minsk Opera and Ballet Theater, Yakub Kolas led Vasily Isaakovich to one of the rehearsals and carefully sat him down in an easy chair. Grandfather Talash was very surprised that his playing artist sings all the time. The director of the performance had to explain to him the essence of the operatic genre. Talash, as they say, came to taste and willingly attended subsequent rehearsals. He especially liked the aria "I love the freedom ...". Talash helped in the creation of one of the scenery of the play - the partisan forest. The artist made dozens of sketches before that, but it was not that. When the drawings showed Talash, he prompted: "And here, in a clearing, lay a huge dumped oak tree." Without knowing it, he helped the artist to create the necessary scenery.
When the Great Patriotic War began, Vasily Talash was almost 100 years old. The attack of the Nazi invaders Vasily Isaakovich felt very hard. He was still physically relatively strong, vigorous, agile. It was felt that the misfortune that befell the people, greatly agitated him, pain in her heart. The life of grandfather Talash became especially unbearable with the arrival of enemies in Novoselki. And he again took the weapon and went to the partisans. He asked to fight, but in the squad they took care of this unique person, whose name alone was already a weapon against the enemy. Talash knew the secrets of the local relief, which the partisans used during the battles and blockades. He even made an operational-strategic map of the deployment of enemy fortifications in the garrisons, which he reconnoitered during the search for partisans. The rumor that Vasily Isaakovich was fighting in the ranks of the people's avengers, spread throughout all the formations and caused a rush of new forces, a desire to see him in his troops.
Talash passed on his rich experience to the fighters, held meetings with residents of the surrounding villages, distributed newspapers and leaflets, for which he was arrested by the invaders, imprisoned in Petrikov prison. After his release he collaborated with the Minsk Underground Regional Committee of the CP (B) B.
Then it was decided to ship Talash to Moscow to the headquarters of the partisan movement, which was headed by Panteleimon Ponomarenko. At the beginning of 1943, from a partisan airfield, which was located among forests and swamps on a small island of Zyslav, grandfather Talash was transported to the mainland. There Vasily Isaakovich was organized a warm meeting, settled in the best hotel of that time - “Moscow”. My grandfather was dressed in a new military uniform, but he was in it for no more than a week, and then he hid it in a bag to bring his grandchildren and sons as a gift.
In Moscow, Vasily Talash visited factories, factories, government offices, military units, met with people of different professions, told them about the military exploits of the Belarusian partisans. He performed in front of the warriors who went to the front. In Moscow, Vasily Isaakovich was actively involved in providing Belarusian partisans with clothing, ammunition and food. At the same time, grandfather Talash met with Mikhail Kalinin with a petition for issuing him a duplicate of the Order of the Red Banner, which the Nazis had taken from him. His request was granted.
Leaflets calling for Talas to fight against the enemies spread in the occupied territory of Belarus. The famous partisan didn’t pass by their attention to the newspaper-poster “Distributing Fashysk Gadzіnu”, where the portrait of grandfather Talash was placed. Artist Ivan Akhremchik showed him courageous, thoughtful and focused. In the eyes of the old partisan - sadness in expensive places, in the sweet heart of Pripyat.
Grandfather Talash acted and on the radio. His fiery appeals reached the warriors and partisans, found a lively response in the hearts of the people. At the same time, Yakub Kolas arrived in Moscow at the Pan-Slavic Committee from Tashkent, where he was evacuated. This meeting was the third in stories relations of the famous writer and his grandfather Talash. She was filmed on a movie camera - Talash says something to Kolas, who listens with a smile. This is not surprising - Vasily Isaakovich was a good story-teller, a colorful man, with humor.
The third meeting of Kolas and Talash in Moscow, immortalized in the picture, was the last. After the Pan-Slavic Committee, Kolas returned to Tashkent, while Talash remained in Moscow. He returned to Belarus with the advancing units of the Red Army. Saying goodbye to grandfather Talash, Ponomarenko said: “If you need help, come to Minsk.”
Talash returned to his native Novoselki and saw a hard picture there: people are starving, there is not a single horse in the whole village, not to mention cars and tractors. I had to use the invitation and go to Minsk for help. The distinguished partisan was given a horse, drove along with him in a freight car to Gomel. From Gomel, Talash went astride, and strangers attacked him in the forest - they wanted to take away the horse. However, grandfather Talash gave battle to the attackers, and although at that time he was already a hundred years old, he again emerged victorious, defending the crow.
This horse helped survive in the difficult postwar years and Talash, and his fellow villagers, whom he never refused to help. Grandfather Talash to the last resisted the years, got a job in Petrikov forestry forester. He was very responsible about his business, he loved the forest, he brought order to him. But the years have taken their toll. 23 August 1946 on the 103 year of life Vasily Isaakovich died in Minsk during the operation.
In Belarus, much has been done to perpetuate the memory of the famous partisan. Streets in Minsk and Petrikov are named after him. In the center of Petrikov there is a small park with avenues of heroes, where a monument to Vasily Talash is erected. On the Yakub Kolas Square in Minsk there is a sculpture and architectural complex. The figure of the writer Yakub Kolas and the sculptural group of his literary heroes are immortalized in bronze, among them grandfather Talash with his son. In 1989, the house-museum of grandfather Talash was opened in the native village of the famous partisan. In 2012, a four-part feature film “Talash” based on the story “Drygva” by Yakub Kolas was released, the author of the script and production director is Sergey Shulga.
Many fiery lines dedicated to grandfather Talash and writers. Novikov-Priboy wrote a large front essay "The Centenary Partisan". Vasily Isaakovich, the Russian poet Alexei Surkov and the Belarusian Mikhas Mashar, dedicated their poems to Vasily Isaakovich.
Grandfather Talash
Dedicated to the Belarusian partisans
Over the woodlands of the night are misty
Walking horror, rustling grass,
German fascists are sleeping
In the new hut Talash.
Pine log cabin dry as gunpowder
Evil fire is stronger than lead.
Sentry can not hear rustle
For the fence and the porch.
The flames hit the dusk gray,
A shadow darted away.
Do not tell the officers
What they dreamed that night.
* * *
Stars smolder over the fields
Blue haze forest dressed.
With partisans, sons
He lay in ambush the old grandfather.
At night the shots thundered,
The enemy horsemen are crushing.
We heard ate on the road
The angry voice of Talash.
On the way, where the forest and pastry,
The corpses are laid out in a row.
What was there? Who will tell?
Dead men do not speak.
Where the woods rustles green,
Where is the green life,
Dark night trains
Flew down the slope.
On a deserted station
The sentry lies in the dust.
Enemy Partisans Tanks
In the parking lot set on fire.
* * *
Past the dog past the apiaries
Avenger walks - gray grandfather,
Light shadow grandson Mijasik
Covers grandfathers trail.
In the swamps, in ravines,
That in the dugout, then in the hut,
Young fighting step
Old grandfather Talash walks.
Because of Pripyat and Sozh,
Undecided and formidable
Old men and young people
The tread of the avenger is audible.
Grandfather Talash does not hunch his back,
Flames beat out from under eyebrows
In the battle for native Krajina
Grandfather clicks sons.
Alexey Surkov. ACTIVE ARMY
15 August 1941, "Izvestia", USSR *.
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