Enemies of the people: rewriters of the history of the Great Patriotic War today
I want to say right away that the Voronezh region is by no means an isolated example. It’s just that she seems to be the closest, but this will be followed by stories about other cities whose authorities are carrying out actions that are, to put it mildly, inadequate, such as the authorities’ fierce resistance to the demolition of monuments to Italian fascists. But the war with the Italians on Russian soil has been going on for more than ten years, and the Italian fascists and their Russian minions are still gaining the upper hand.
But, I repeat, there is something to talk about besides them. About that very rewriting stories, which is handled by the authorities of Russian cities. The reasons for this process are sometimes not entirely clear, and sometimes transparent to the point of disgrace. And we’ll talk about some of them today.
But I would like to start with quotes.
“For Russia, May 9 is the greatest and holiest holiday... Our memory is not only a tribute to the historical past, it serves our future, it consolidates our unity. We must defend the truth about Victory, otherwise what will we tell our children if lies spread like an infection throughout the world? We will have to counter blatant lies and attempts to change history with facts.”
V.V. Putin, 2020
“I’m sure we will preserve this memory, this truth about the war. We are doing and will do everything so that our country, our homeland will always be a great and powerful power, and we will always be grateful to the victors who stepped into immortality, to those who gave us, future generations, life and peace.”
V.V. Putin, 2021
“Attempts by a number of states to rewrite and reshape world history are becoming more and more aggressive, and by and large have an obvious goal in relation to our society, at a minimum: to divide us, deprive us of guidelines, weaken and influence its sovereignty, in fact, shake up sovereignty. Distortion of history, propagation of myths, it is with these myths that the swing of states and peoples begins... The basis of our national identity has been and remains the continuity of generations, loyalty to traditions, high spiritual and moral guidelines. As you know, the foundations of state policy for the preservation and strengthening of traditional values were recently approved. These, of course, include historical memory.”
V.V. Putin, 2022
There is an understanding that the president is hammering away at the same thing year after year, but somehow it doesn’t get through. Moreover, as in that proverb about the cat, where “Vaska listens and eats,” the similarity is one to one. Local officials listen to the president, nod in agreement, express their readiness to follow the announced course, and so on. But in fact, the rewriting of history continues.
And today, those who deliberately distort history, for some reason they do not always fall into the ranks of those who need to be checked by the relevant departments. In terms of compliance with the very voiced course, even if not by the party.
So, about distortions of history using the example of the city of military glory Voronezh.
1. What is celebrated on January 25?
Every year on January 25, the so-called “Voronezh Liberation Day” is celebrated with some kind of manic persistence. Historians, who are real, protest, but, as they say, “the banquet is paid for,” so it is more convenient for officials to believe that Voronezh was captured and liberated.
Was the city of Voronezh captured? Of course not.
In general, how do you consider whether a city has been captured by the enemy or not? It's simple. The area of the city within the city limits has been captured, there are no enemy units in it, and there is an administration in the city. This, oddly enough, is a very important point: presence of occupation administration.
We look:
1. Voronezh was not completely captured. Scoundrels from history squeal that, they say, no one lived on the left bank of the Voronezh River, everything was on the right. And for some reason they forget that it was on the left bank that there were huge factories: the Telman car repair plant and aviation plant.
Even the semi-fascist Wikipedia admits that during the Great Patriotic War there were TWO cities where the front line ran through the city. Voronezh and Stalingrad.
Moreover, I give a quote from the famous Order No. 227 of the People's Commissar of Defense, Comrade Stalin:
ORDER OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR OF DEFENSE OF THE USSR
On measures to strengthen discipline and order in the Red Army and the prohibition of unauthorized withdrawal from combat positions
№ 227
Moscow
The enemy is throwing more and more forces to the front and, regardless of the great losses for him, climbs forward, rushes into the depths of the Soviet Union, captures new regions, devastates and ruins our cities and villages, rapes, robs and kills the Soviet population. Fighting is taking place in the Voronezh region, on the Don, in the south at the gates of the North Caucasus. The German occupiers are rushing towards Stalingrad, towards the Volga and want to capture Kuban and the North Caucasus with their oil and grain riches at any cost. The enemy has already captured Voroshilovgrad, Starobelsk, Rossosh, Kupyansk, Valuiki, Novocherkassk, Rostov-on-Don, half of Voronezh. Part of the troops of the Southern Front, following the alarmists, left Rostov and Novocherkassk without serious resistance and without orders from Moscow, covering their banners with shame.
On measures to strengthen discipline and order in the Red Army and the prohibition of unauthorized withdrawal from combat positions
№ 227
July 28, 1942
Moscow
The enemy is throwing more and more forces to the front and, regardless of the great losses for him, climbs forward, rushes into the depths of the Soviet Union, captures new regions, devastates and ruins our cities and villages, rapes, robs and kills the Soviet population. Fighting is taking place in the Voronezh region, on the Don, in the south at the gates of the North Caucasus. The German occupiers are rushing towards Stalingrad, towards the Volga and want to capture Kuban and the North Caucasus with their oil and grain riches at any cost. The enemy has already captured Voroshilovgrad, Starobelsk, Rossosh, Kupyansk, Valuiki, Novocherkassk, Rostov-on-Don, half of Voronezh. Part of the troops of the Southern Front, following the alarmists, left Rostov and Novocherkassk without serious resistance and without orders from Moscow, covering their banners with shame.
I emphasize boldly: “half of Voronezh.” What other evidence is needed there?
But attention!
Those who believe that the front line crossed the river are also mistaken! On the seemingly captured right bank part in the area of the Agricultural University, the soldiers clung to the ground with a stranglehold, and two days after the Germans entered the city, on July 10, 1942, they successfully carried out a counterattack and gained a foothold on the right bank. Combined regiment of the NKVD (border guards, this is the place of their strength and honor!), part of the forces of the 121st Infantry Division, the 796th Regiment of the 141st Infantry Division and a separate battalion of heavy tanks Hero of the Soviet Union I. I. Makovsky. And the Germans failed to knock them out of there until the winter offensive of the Soviet troops.
So points 1 and 2 are not fulfilled.
Point number 3 also goes there. There was no German occupation administration in the city. There was only a military commandant's office, and this is a completely different institution.
And on January 26, 1943, in the daily report of the Sovinformburo, Yuri Borisovich Levitan reported:
“On January 25, the troops of the Voronezh Front, going on the offensive in the Voronezh region, overthrew German units and completely captured the city of Voronezh! The eastern bank of the Don River in the area west and southwest of the city was also cleared of Nazi troops. The number of prisoners taken near Voronezh by the end of January 24 increased by eleven thousand soldiers and officers. Thus, the total number of prisoners taken in the Voronezh Front region reached 75 thousand soldiers and officers!”
Completely mastered. They didn't release me. “Liberated” is for many other cities that are not so lucky, although... 212 days on the front line, 95% of the housing stock destroyed...
Total: Voronezh was not captured, and accordingly, there was nothing to liberate. Someone tell me, when do we celebrate the Day of the Liberation of Stalingrad? That's right, never. There is no such day in the calendar of our past. There is a day when the Battle of Stalingrad ends. So where did these scoundrels from history get some kind of “day of liberation” if the city was not captured?
There may only be a day when the battle for Voronezh ends. Any other interpretation is a discredit to our memory. Although Governor Gusev. Speaking at the “Russia” forum, he spoke three times specifically about the “liberation” of Voronezh.
But this is just a saying. The tale will continue.
2. What do the Voronezh authorities worship?
By the way, it was timely to remember the governor and his performance at “Russia”. It's in the title.
What's behind Gusev's back? What does it look so good against?
And against the backdrop of an unknown crap, built I don’t understand how, but which everyone rubs in as a “monument to glory.” And today this flawed practice has reached the point that young people, younger generations, when asked “Do you know where our Monument of Glory is,” confidently answer: “So that’s it!” Pyramid!".
And yes, there has been a change in concepts in the city. Instead of the Monument of Glory, with a monument and a bas-relief, an Eternal Flame and the names of soldiers and officers buried in a mass grave - here you go, a plastic crap that doesn’t even have the status of a monument! The pyramid is generally not clear on whose balance sheet it is located, which is why it often has a corresponding appearance.
But it is she who is mistaken for a monument. And the real monument is nearby, but in the shadows.
The author of this... pyramidal structure, let's call it that, was Leonid Yanovsky, an undoubtedly talented man who has done many interesting projects for the city. Yanovsky was for a long time the city's chief artist and deputy chief architect. But the man had a weak point - he loved pyramids. There are a lot of buildings in the city with pyramidal decoration. This was the best way to get a visa from Yanovsky.
And this construction, which has no historical background and value, born in the fire of the thoughts of the then triumvirate Shabanov (governor) - Tsapin (mayor) - Yanovsky, was registered at the entrance to the city. At first it was simply red, and then the letters “Voronezh - City of Military Glory” appeared after the city was awarded this title.
Gradually, the red pyramid began to displace everything else from the souvenir symbolism. Yes, I agree that it looks bright, and the author of the project also put up an assortment of small pyramids. The people themselves called them “Lenka’s carrots”. Some of it is already there, but there is still a little left.
Well, the man loved the pyramid, what can you do...
But in general, it is a filthy idol and a citadel of false substitutions. Pyramid. It’s really a shame for the city, because if Voronezh were a sort of “Foolish City”, with monuments to a beer mug and a three-liter can, it wouldn’t even be like that. But the city has simply a lot of beautiful, including modern, monuments. One military postman is worth something, a masterpiece, but there are also beautiful monuments to internationalist soldiers, special forces, sailors...
But the main “masterpiece” is the pyramid. But, you know, it’s cheap. According to the recollections of Ivan Obraztsov, the then head of the district, this construction cost the city less than a million rubles. Like a Chinese SUV instead of a Land Rover.
3. Unnecessary monuments
Yes, there are some. There are also those that frankly demand attention. It should be noted that after our intervention, a major overhaul of Mass Grave No. 15 was carried out several years ago, but at another point even a bunch of media outlets turned out to be powerless.
We are talking about how, with the full connivance of the authorities, a monument to the workers of the Comintern plant who died on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War was destroyed. It and the plant were destroyed and sold. Really, why does Russia need excavators? You can buy Chinese ones, they are so productive and reliable...
By the way, the supports for the pyramid structure were welded at the Comintern plant.
“Voronezh – the birthplace of the New Year”
Sometimes what the Voronezh authorities do is touching. This year, all of Russia (who was in the know) laughed like a horse at the fact that “Voronezh is the birthplace of the New Year.” I don’t know from what motives they began to construct this title, they say, the decree on the transition to a new celebration of the beginning of the year from September to January and the celebration was signed by Peter the Great in 1699. It is reliably known that this year he lived in Moscow and Voronezh. So there is a possibility that the decree was signed in Voronezh. Or in Moscow. Or in a carriage between Moscow and Voronezh. It doesn’t matter anymore (this will become clear later - a “trick” of Voronezh officials).
The main thing is that the grants have already been issued, which means that Voronezh will be the birthplace of the New Year. The “real Santa Claus” has already signed the corresponding order.
In general, it’s sucking out something that’s unclear, and it’s not clear why. We haven’t had a proper winter for a long time, winter tourism means laughter and tears in the mud. Why this is is not at all clear.
But how cleverly our leaders erased the plant named after the Comintern and its most famous brainchild from history... As if by order.
But it was at the Comintern plant that the first Izdeliye K-2 machines were assembled, which later received the terrible name “Katyusha” for some. And it was from the gates of the plant that the first cars left and went under their own power to Moscow, yes, to where that very battery of Captain Flerov was formed. And it was our Voronezh “Katyushas” that terrified the Germans for the first time. The first, but far from the last.
And in the end? The memorial wall was destroyed, the plaques were housed in a building that now belongs to a medical company, and the monument with the original launch guide system was also destroyed.
The guides say that a Voronezh reenactor managed to take him out and save him.
The birthplace of the New Year is, of course, more interesting than the birthplace of Katyusha, isn’t it?
It turns out that way.
And you can’t say that the mayor and governor are doing nothing at all. Yes, of course, they are far from ideal, like the victory in 1941, but they actually do some things as they should. I really liked the monument that was installed to replace the one that had practically fallen into disrepair in Malaya Gribanovka.
Two pilots. A gorgeous monument. They did it by order of the governor. But here there is only one question: what, without the governor? Well, okay, no way. Then yes, it’s better to do the same with the governor.
So it turns out that the president is repairing roads, and the governor is erecting monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. That's how we live.
With a red fig at the entrance.
But in the city of a normal person, the entrance group could be beautiful. Like in Lipetsk, for example. Showing attitude to the issue.
And in Voronezh there could be something no less, and even more significant. Because “Katyusha”, because Il-2, because mortars at six factories, armored trains, because the homeland of the Airborne Forces.
But for some reason, the unrecognized Hero City (and Voronezh’s contribution to the Victory was greater than that of Kyiv and Minsk, no offense) continues to be humiliated. And now we move on to the last part. Which, I suspect, will cause a great response among those who care.
4. The story of a strange feat
In general, I will give this story briefly, since a larger investigation is underway for consideration by higher authorities. When the investigation is completed, a material will be released that will give a complete picture of what was done. For now it’s just the beginning.
There is a monument in Voronezh. It is called the “Rotunda” because this round structure is the remains of a four-story building of the therapeutic building of the regional clinical hospital, built in 1940. Conservation was completed in 2020 (after the roof collapsed in 2008), and now there is no access to the territory.
A monument was erected next to the “rotunda”. A wonderful monument, one of those the city can be proud of, it is truly so spiritual. Not requiring the slightest decoding, it is immediately clear what the sculptor wanted to say. A very worthy creation.
The monument is dedicated to three soldiers, let’s say: the predecessors of Alexander Matrosov. Today, all such heroes are called Sailors, who repeated the feat of Alexander Matrosov, but the fact is that in Voronezh the soldiers accomplished their feats much earlier than Sailors did. For half a year. In July 1942.
Red Army soldier Gennady Sergeevich Vavilov from the Vladimir region. 1923 - July 15, 1942.
Posthumously awarded the Order of Lenin.
Lieutenant Bovkun Mikhail Kuzmich from the Poltava region. 1921 - July 17, 1942.
Posthumously awarded the Order of Lenin. The commander of the platoon in which the Red Army soldier Vavilov served.
Foreman Abyzov Mikhail Petrovich from the Kemerovo region. April 7, 1910 - July 20, 1942.
Posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
For the sake of historical justice, I note that all three heroes did not cover the machine gun embrasures. They undermined enemy machine-gun crews with grenades along with themselves, thus destroying firing points. All three.
As you can see, the exploits of the soldiers did not go unnoticed even in the terrible conditions of 1942. The two Orders of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner are, of course, not the stars of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, but nonetheless. Grateful Voronezh residents immortalized the exploits of Soviet soldiers with memorial plaques on the streets of the city, which were named after heroes. That's all, perpetuating the memory of the fighters is over. Let me note that everything is in accordance with the canons.
Nothing, as they say, foreshadowed...
Honestly, I was aware, but when I approached the monument, I saw THREE names. But I knew that there were more of them. This is a kind of sabotage from Voronezh tour guides, as I understand it. I apologize, but I had to dig up the fourth name. Lazar Dzotov.
Lazar Dzotov, a native of North Ossetia, died on August 15, 1942 in the battles for Voronezh. He simply died in the attack, as tens of thousands of soldiers and officers died on Voronezh land. True, eyewitness accounts have been preserved about how he died after the battle. Worthy, like a real son of the Caucasus.
In that battle, Dzotov (the commander of the machine gun platoon) led his machine gunners along with the advancing infantrymen, covering them and clearing the way for them. In the attack he was wounded in the chest. His soldiers, who clearly respected their commander, rushed to his aid, but Dzotov drove them forward to do their job, while he stayed behind. After the battle, the soldiers returned for the commander, but he was already dead. In his hand, Dzotov clutched his Komsomol card with a note enclosed in it, which became known as the “Testament of Lieutenant Dzotov.”
That's all. Dzotov was not awarded any awards, let’s face it, like most of the 400 thousand Soviet soldiers who died in the battles for Voronezh. He simply fulfilled his duty to the people, giving his life for freedom. Dot. Respect and memory!
All this is taken from the materials of the most famous Voronezh chronicler of the Great Patriotic War, participant in the war, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Ivanovich Grinko.
Alexander Ivanovich (1915 - 1991) devoted most of his life to perpetuating the military exploits of soldiers and officers on Voronezh soil.
Author of the books: “Two Hundred Heroic Days” (Voronezh, 1965), “Heroes of the Voronezh Land” (Voronezh, 1965; together with G.F. Ulaev), “Soldiers in Stone Overcoats” (Voronezh, 1969), “In the Battles for Voronezh "(Voronezh, 1985), "Line of Military Glory" (Voronezh, 1988) and others.
A street in the city of Voronezh is named after Grinko, and a memorial plaque was installed on house No. 42 on Moiseev Street.
The description of the end of Dzotov’s life is taken specifically from Grinko’s book “In the Battles for Voronezh.” And from 1942 to 2012 (approximately) everything was exactly as Grinko described.
And in 2012, a whole campaign began, as a result of which Dzotov’s name appeared on the monument, along with the names of Abyzov, Bovkun and Vavilov. Moreover, a street in Voronezh was named after Dzotov.
And the top of everything is the bust. Which, we note, was awarded only to Twice Heroes of the Soviet Union and now to Heroes of Russia.
Not only is it overkill, but moreover, it is an obvious forgery.
Now, while the historical investigation is underway, which Voronezh historians are helping me do, one thing can be said: there is a distortion of history for the sake of a certain group of “respected people” from the Ossetian diaspora.
Indeed, back in 2015, the chairman of the Ossetian community of the Voronezh region, Uruzmag Bestaev, complained that:
“The site for the monument has been allocated. This is a triangle on the Right Bank in front of the Vogresovsky Bridge. But there are no funds for its installation yet, because of the crisis. I contacted the Ministry of Defense, maybe they will help with the monument. It would also be nice that Lazar Dzotov, at least 73 years later, was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia. After all, this is a huge injustice. A man accomplished such a feat, but he was not awarded the title, a monument was not erected and a memorial plaque was not hung. We are not asking for this monument for ourselves. All Voronezh residents need it. We need to install it and constantly bring schoolchildren there by bus and tell them about Dzotov’s feat!”
Link to the original source at the end of the article.
You see, a man accomplished SUCH a feat, but nothing to him: not the title of Hero, nothing. What feat did Dzotov accomplish? Why is the respected person Uruzmag Bestaev demanding the hero of Russia?
You know, there really is a Sabbath of blood there. The North Ossetian media simply indulged in publishing unscientific but fantastic stories about Dzotov’s feat. A certain Laura Dzotova was the first to start. Then the others joined in. It had already reached the point of ugly insanity, they began to write that the mortally wounded Dzotov wrote his note with a birch branch, knocked down by a bullet and his own blood. And then he still fired at the bunker with a machine gun, then ran up to it with a grenade...
There will be a detailed analysis. There's a lot of interesting stuff there, if it weren't all so sad.
Is this written on a branch? Blood? On a "piece of paper"? In my opinion, with a chemical pencil, on a piece of paper from a notebook that every commander should have had. And it was clearly written in a calm atmosphere, before the battle. Many people did this back then.
For myself, I still cannot understand one thing: why was it necessary to slander the memory of an absolutely honest soldier so much with fiction? Who was clearly loved and respected by his fighters, despite his youth? He really doesn’t need this bust, or the plaque, or the mention. Memory is the best reward.
No, this bust had to be made in Ossetia, brought to Voronezh and installed here with honors. Without legal grounds, but who would refuse such “respected people”?
And they need it all just like air, “respected people.” So that Voronezh schoolchildren are taken by bus to “their” soldier, so that they know to whom they owe everything. Ossetian Dzotov. Vavilov, Abyzov, Bovkun are not entitled to busts. They don’t have “respected people” in their family, they have only people’s memory for them, and that’s all.
Total. What we have?
1. An incomprehensible structure at the entrance to the city, which is now being passed off as a “monument to Glory.”
2. The memory of Katyusha has been completely wiped from the streets.
3. It is absolutely illegal to honor with the perpetuation of memory. Those who so hastily stamped Dzotov’s name on the monument and erected a bust of him would do well to familiarize themselves with Decree of the President of Russia No. 665 of November 19, 2021. Yes, the Decree is more liberal than Soviet statutes, but everything that was done by the Voronezh authorities and “respected people” from the Ossetian diaspora was done illegally and contrary to this Decree.
4. A ten-year war in Rossosh to remove monuments to Italian fascism from Russian soil, in which individual patriots fight with Voronezh officials and “respected people” only now from Italy.
Against this background, the celebration of the “liberation of Voronezh” simply looks like a historical inaccuracy. As well as “the birthplace of the New Year”.
In general, things are going so-so in the city of military glory, Voronezh. Year after year, the President talks about preserving, respecting and enhancing memory, but here there are complete freemen and “respected people” who, without the President, decide to whom we erect monuments and to whom we remove them.
P.S. While I was poking around in all this, an SOS arrived from Lipetsk. And there the authorities decided to do something weird. So to be continued, as I understand it, no matter what city you take, the same thing is going on.
Links:
Order of the NPO of the USSR of 28.07.1942 No. 227
On behalf of the governor, a monument to the pilots who died in the Second World War was reconstructed in the Voronezh region
Voronezh. Streets of winners. Lazar Dzotov
Information