Alexander Matrosov - reality and fiction
Every generation has its idols and heroes. Today, when film and pop stars are put on the podium, and the scandalous representatives of Bohemians are examples to follow, it's time to remember those who really deserved eternal memory in our stories. It will be about Alexander Matrosov, with whose name Soviet fighters went to the Great Patriotic Meat Grinder in an effort to repeat his heroic feat, sacrificing their lives for the sake of Motherland independence. Over time, the memory erases small details of events and makes the colors more faded, making their own adjustments and explanations of what happened. Only after many years it became possible to reveal some mysterious and unspoken moments in the biography of this young man, who left such a significant mark on the glorious annals of our Motherland.
Anticipating the angry reactions of those who are inclined to leave the facts in the form in which they were presented by the Soviet media, it is necessary to make a reservation that the studies conducted by historians and memoirs do not in any way detract from the merits of a person whose name has been around for more than half a century cities. No one set his goal to denigrate him, but the Truth requires the establishment of justice and the disclosure of the true facts and names that were distorted at one time or were simply ignored.
After a long search and research work of people studying the biography of Alexander Matrosov, it became obvious that only the date of birth of the future hero of the USSR and the place of his death deserve confidence. All other information was quite contradictory, and therefore deserved closer examination.
The first questions arose when the official request for the place of birth indicated by the hero in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, came a clear answer that the birth of a child with that name and surname in 1924-th year was not registered by any VPS. Further searches in Soviet times, the main investigator of Matrosov’s life, Rauf Khaevich Nasyrov, led to the public censure of the writer and his accusation of revisionism of the heroic pages of wartime. Only much later he was able to continue the investigation, which resulted in a number of interesting discoveries.
Following the barely noticeable "bread crumbs", the bibliographer initially, based on eyewitness accounts, suggested, and then practically proved that the real name of the hero is Shakiryan, and the small village of Kunakbaevo, which is located in Uchalinsky district of Bashkiria, is the true place of his birth. The study of documents in the Uchalinsky City Council made it possible to find a record about the birth of a certain Mukhamedyanov Shakiryan Yunusovich on the very day indicated by the official biographical version of Alexander Matrosov’s life, February 5 of 1924. Such a discrepancy in the data on the place of birth of the famous hero suggested the authentication of the other biographical data.
None of the close relatives of Shahiryan at that time was no longer alive. However, in the course of further searches, children's photos of the boy were found, which miraculously survived from former fellow villagers. A detailed examination of these images and their comparison with later photographs of Alexander Matrosov allowed scientists from the Research Institute of Forensic Examinations in Moscow to give a final conclusion about the identity of the people depicted in them.
During conversations with fellow soldiers Alexander Matrosov, as well as residents of the village where he was born, and former pupils of orphanages, the picture of the life of this famous person gradually began to take shape. Shakiryan Mukhamedyanov’s father returned from the Civil War as an invalid and could not find a permanent job. In this regard, his family experienced great financial difficulties. When the boy was only seven years old, his mother died. It became even harder to survive, and often the father, along with his young son, begged for money, wandering around the neighboring courtyards. Very soon a stepmother appeared in the house, with which young Shahiryan could not get along with the characters after running away from home.
Short wanderings ended with the boy getting to the receiving center for children through the NKVD, and from there he was sent to modern Dimitrovgrad, which was then called Melekess. It is in this orphanage that he first appears as Alexander Matrosov. But in official documents under the given name, he was recorded when he entered the colony located in the village of Ivanovka, 7 in February of 1938. In the same place, the boy called the fictional place of birth and the city in which, in his own words, he had never been. On the basis of the documents issued to him in all sources, later this information about the place and date of birth of the boy was indicated.
Both fellow villagers and alumni of the orphanage spoke of Sasha as a lively and cheerful guy who liked to play guitar and balalaika, knew how to tap the tap and best of all played “grandma”. They even remembered the words of his native mother, who said at the time that, because of his dexterity and excessive activity, he would become either a good young man or a criminal.
The generally accepted version of the hero’s biography states that for some time Matrosov worked as a woodworker in a furniture factory in Ufa, but he was never told how he got into the labor colony to which the company was attached. But this segment of his biography contains colorful references to what an excellent example for peers was Alexander at the time, as he became one of the best boxers and skiers of the city, what beautiful wrote poetry. To create a heightened effect in a fictional story, much is said about the active work of Matrosov as a political informer, and also about the fact that the father of the hero, being a communist, was killed by a fist bullet.
In fact, in the 1939 year, Matrosov was sent to work at the Kuybyshev Car Repair Plant. However, he soon escaped from there due to unbearable working conditions. Later, for noncompliance with the regime, Sasha was arrested along with a friend. The following documentary evidence about the life of a guy appears almost a year later. According to archival data, 8 of October 1940 of the year Alexander Matrosov was sentenced by the Frunzensky District People’s Court to two years of imprisonment under article 192 of the RSFSR Criminal Code for violation of the subscription terms that he would leave Saratov within 24 hours. An interesting fact is that on May 5 of the USSR Supreme Court 1967 returned to the cassation consideration of Matrosov’s case and annulled the sentence, apparently so as not to blacken the name of the hero with unflattering details of his life.
Actually, after a court decision, the young man ended up in the labor colony of Ufa, where he fully served his time. At the very beginning of the war, seventeen-year-old Alexander, like thousands of his peers, sent a letter to the Defense Commissar asking him to send him to the front, expressing his passionate desire to defend the Motherland. But he only got to the front line at the end of February 1943 of the year, along with other cadets of the Krasnokholmsky school, where the Sailors were enrolled in October 1942 after the colony. Due to the difficult situation on all fronts, the fledged non-shot cadets with their full complement were sent as reinforcements to the Kalininsky front.
Here follows a new discrepancy of real facts with the official biography of this person. In accordance with the documents, Alexander Matrosov was enrolled in a rifle battalion that was part of the 91-th separate Siberian volunteer brigade, named after Joseph Stalin, February 25. But the Soviet press states that Alexander Matrosov accomplished his February 23 feat. After reading about this later in the newspapers, Matrosov’s brother-soldiers were extremely surprised by this information, because in reality the memorable battle in Pskovshchina, not far from the village of Chernushki, which the battalion had to beat off the Germans, in accordance with the order of the command, took place on February 27 of the February .
Details of exactly how events developed on that terrible February day, when a courageous nineteen-year-old boy died, are described in detail in many articles and textbooks. Without dwelling on this, it is worth noting only that the feat of Alexander Matrosov in the official interpretation clearly contradicts the laws of physics. Even one bullet fired from a rifle, hitting a man, will surely knock him off his feet. What can we say about the machine-gun fire point-blank. In addition, the human body cannot serve as any serious obstacle for machine-gun bullets. Even the first notes of the front-line newspapers said that Alexander's body was found not on the embrasure, but in front of him in the snow. It is unlikely that the sailors threw themselves at her, it would be the most absurd way to overcome the enemy bunker. Trying to reconstruct the events of that day, the researchers settled on the next version. Since there were eyewitnesses who saw Matrosov on the roof of the bunker, he most likely tried to shoot or grenade machine guns through the window for ventilation. He was shot, and the body fell to the outlet, blocking the possibility of removal of powder gases. Throwing off the corpse, the Germans hesitated and ceased firing, and the comrades of Matrosov were able to overcome the sweep of space. Thus, the feat really took place, at the cost of the life of the Sailors ensured the success of the assault of his squad.
It is necessary to mention the fact that even before the end of March 1943 of the year at least thirteen people - fighters of the Red Army, inspired by the example of Alexander Matrosov, carried out such an act. Over the years of the war, a similar feat was accomplished by more than four hundred people. Many of them were posthumously awarded and received the title of Heroes of the USSR, but their names are known only to meticulous historians, as well as lovers of historical wartime articles. Most of the brave heroes remained unknown, and later generally dropped out of the official chronicles. The dead fighters of the assault groups who fought on the same day near Matrosov and managed not only to crush the enemy’s bunkers, but also, by unrolling fascist machine guns, opened fire on the enemy, were among them. In this context, it is very important to understand that the image of Alexander, in whose honor monuments were built and streets in cities across Russia were named, personifies all of the nameless soldiers, our ancestors, who gave their lives for the sake of victory.
Initially, the hero was buried where he fell in the village of Chernushki, but in 1948, his remains were reburied in the cemetery of Velikie Luki, located on the banks of the Lovat River. The name of Alexander Matrosov was immortalized by Stalin’s order of 8 of September of 1943. In accordance with this document, it was for the first time ever recorded in the list of the first company of the 254 Guards Regiment, where Sasha served. Unfortunately, the leadership of the Red Army, creating an epic image of a fighter who despised death in the name of saving his comrades, pursued another rather unpleasant goal. Neglecting the artillery preparation, the authorities urged the Red Army to go into deadly frontal attacks on enemy machine guns, justifying the senseless death of people by the example of a brave soldier.
Even when clarifying the true story of the hero, whom many generations of our country's inhabitants know as Alexander Matrosov, after clarifying his personality, place of birth, individual pages of the biography and the essence of the most heroic act, his feat is still undeniable and remains a rare example of unprecedented courage and valor! The feat of a very young young man who stayed at the front for only three days. Madness of the brave we sing a song ...
Information sources:
-http: //www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp? Hero_id = 597
-http: //izvestia.ru/news/286596
-http: //ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/
-http: //www.pulter.ru/docs/Alexander_Matrosov/Alexander_Matrosov
Anticipating the angry reactions of those who are inclined to leave the facts in the form in which they were presented by the Soviet media, it is necessary to make a reservation that the studies conducted by historians and memoirs do not in any way detract from the merits of a person whose name has been around for more than half a century cities. No one set his goal to denigrate him, but the Truth requires the establishment of justice and the disclosure of the true facts and names that were distorted at one time or were simply ignored.
According to the official version, Alexander was from Dnepropetrovsk, who passed Ivanovsky and Melekessky orphanages of the Ulyanovsk region and the Ufa labor colony for children. 23 February 1943 of the year his battalion received the task of destroying a fascist stronghold near the village of Chernushki in the Pskov Region. However, the approaches to the village covered three machine-gun calculations, covered in bunker. Special assault groups were sent to suppress them. Two machine guns were destroyed by the joint forces of machine gunners and armored soldiers, but attempts to silence the third were unsuccessful. In the end, ordinary Peter Ogurtsov and Alexander Matrosov crawled to him. Soon, Ogurtsov was seriously injured, and the Sailors got to the embrasure already alone. He threw a couple of grenades and the machine gun fell silent. But as soon as the Red Guards climbed into the attack, as the shooting rang out again. Saving their comrades, the Sailors in one swift throw appeared at the bunker and closed the embrasure with their body. The received moments were enough for the soldiers to come closer and destroy the enemy. On the feat of the Soviet soldier was told in newspapers, magazines and cinema, his name became a phraseological unit in the Russian language.
After a long search and research work of people studying the biography of Alexander Matrosov, it became obvious that only the date of birth of the future hero of the USSR and the place of his death deserve confidence. All other information was quite contradictory, and therefore deserved closer examination.
The first questions arose when the official request for the place of birth indicated by the hero in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, came a clear answer that the birth of a child with that name and surname in 1924-th year was not registered by any VPS. Further searches in Soviet times, the main investigator of Matrosov’s life, Rauf Khaevich Nasyrov, led to the public censure of the writer and his accusation of revisionism of the heroic pages of wartime. Only much later he was able to continue the investigation, which resulted in a number of interesting discoveries.
Following the barely noticeable "bread crumbs", the bibliographer initially, based on eyewitness accounts, suggested, and then practically proved that the real name of the hero is Shakiryan, and the small village of Kunakbaevo, which is located in Uchalinsky district of Bashkiria, is the true place of his birth. The study of documents in the Uchalinsky City Council made it possible to find a record about the birth of a certain Mukhamedyanov Shakiryan Yunusovich on the very day indicated by the official biographical version of Alexander Matrosov’s life, February 5 of 1924. Such a discrepancy in the data on the place of birth of the famous hero suggested the authentication of the other biographical data.
None of the close relatives of Shahiryan at that time was no longer alive. However, in the course of further searches, children's photos of the boy were found, which miraculously survived from former fellow villagers. A detailed examination of these images and their comparison with later photographs of Alexander Matrosov allowed scientists from the Research Institute of Forensic Examinations in Moscow to give a final conclusion about the identity of the people depicted in them.
Few people know that there is another Alexander Matrosov, the namesake of the main person of the article, who also became the Hero of the Soviet Union. Born 22 on June 1918 in the city of Ivanovo, during the Great Patriotic War, he served as a senior sergeant, platoon commander of a reconnaissance company. In the summer of 1944, Matrosov, together with other scouts, seized a bridge on the Belarusian River Svisloch, a tributary of the Berezina. For more than a day, a small group held him, repelling the attacks of the fascists, until the main forces of our troops approached. In that memorable battle, Alexander survived, successfully ended the war and died in his native Ivanovo 5 on February 1992 of the year at the age of seventy-three.
During conversations with fellow soldiers Alexander Matrosov, as well as residents of the village where he was born, and former pupils of orphanages, the picture of the life of this famous person gradually began to take shape. Shakiryan Mukhamedyanov’s father returned from the Civil War as an invalid and could not find a permanent job. In this regard, his family experienced great financial difficulties. When the boy was only seven years old, his mother died. It became even harder to survive, and often the father, along with his young son, begged for money, wandering around the neighboring courtyards. Very soon a stepmother appeared in the house, with which young Shahiryan could not get along with the characters after running away from home.
Short wanderings ended with the boy getting to the receiving center for children through the NKVD, and from there he was sent to modern Dimitrovgrad, which was then called Melekess. It is in this orphanage that he first appears as Alexander Matrosov. But in official documents under the given name, he was recorded when he entered the colony located in the village of Ivanovka, 7 in February of 1938. In the same place, the boy called the fictional place of birth and the city in which, in his own words, he had never been. On the basis of the documents issued to him in all sources, later this information about the place and date of birth of the boy was indicated.
Why Shakiryan recorded under this name? His fellow villagers recalled that at the age of fifteen, in the summer of 1939, he came to his small homeland. The teenager was wearing a peaked cap and striped vest under his shirt. Even then he called himself Alexander Matrosov. Apparently, he did not want to indicate his real name in the colony because he knew about the general unfriendly attitude towards the natsmen. And with his sympathy for the naval symbolism, it was not difficult to come up with an appropriate name you like, as many street kids did at that time. However, the shelter still remembered that Sasha was called not only Shurik-Sailor, but also Shurik-Shakiryan, as well as “Bashkir” because of the dark skin of the teenager, which again confirms the identity of the two personalities in question.
Both fellow villagers and alumni of the orphanage spoke of Sasha as a lively and cheerful guy who liked to play guitar and balalaika, knew how to tap the tap and best of all played “grandma”. They even remembered the words of his native mother, who said at the time that, because of his dexterity and excessive activity, he would become either a good young man or a criminal.
The generally accepted version of the hero’s biography states that for some time Matrosov worked as a woodworker in a furniture factory in Ufa, but he was never told how he got into the labor colony to which the company was attached. But this segment of his biography contains colorful references to what an excellent example for peers was Alexander at the time, as he became one of the best boxers and skiers of the city, what beautiful wrote poetry. To create a heightened effect in a fictional story, much is said about the active work of Matrosov as a political informer, and also about the fact that the father of the hero, being a communist, was killed by a fist bullet.
An interesting fact related to the accomplished fighter is the presence of at least two almost identical Komsomol tickets in the name of Alexander Matrosov. Tickets are stored in different museums: one - in Moscow, the other - in Velikiye Luki. Which of the documents is genuine, has remained unexplained.
In fact, in the 1939 year, Matrosov was sent to work at the Kuybyshev Car Repair Plant. However, he soon escaped from there due to unbearable working conditions. Later, for noncompliance with the regime, Sasha was arrested along with a friend. The following documentary evidence about the life of a guy appears almost a year later. According to archival data, 8 of October 1940 of the year Alexander Matrosov was sentenced by the Frunzensky District People’s Court to two years of imprisonment under article 192 of the RSFSR Criminal Code for violation of the subscription terms that he would leave Saratov within 24 hours. An interesting fact is that on May 5 of the USSR Supreme Court 1967 returned to the cassation consideration of Matrosov’s case and annulled the sentence, apparently so as not to blacken the name of the hero with unflattering details of his life.
Actually, after a court decision, the young man ended up in the labor colony of Ufa, where he fully served his time. At the very beginning of the war, seventeen-year-old Alexander, like thousands of his peers, sent a letter to the Defense Commissar asking him to send him to the front, expressing his passionate desire to defend the Motherland. But he only got to the front line at the end of February 1943 of the year, along with other cadets of the Krasnokholmsky school, where the Sailors were enrolled in October 1942 after the colony. Due to the difficult situation on all fronts, the fledged non-shot cadets with their full complement were sent as reinforcements to the Kalininsky front.
Here follows a new discrepancy of real facts with the official biography of this person. In accordance with the documents, Alexander Matrosov was enrolled in a rifle battalion that was part of the 91-th separate Siberian volunteer brigade, named after Joseph Stalin, February 25. But the Soviet press states that Alexander Matrosov accomplished his February 23 feat. After reading about this later in the newspapers, Matrosov’s brother-soldiers were extremely surprised by this information, because in reality the memorable battle in Pskovshchina, not far from the village of Chernushki, which the battalion had to beat off the Germans, in accordance with the order of the command, took place on February 27 of the February .
Why was such an important date changed not only in newspapers, but also in many historical documents describing a great feat? Everyone who grew up during the Soviet era is well aware of how the government and many other official bodies liked to coincide with different, even the most insignificant events, to anniversaries and dates. It happened in this case. The approaching anniversary, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Red Army, demanded "real confirmation" for the inspiration and elevation of the morale of the Soviet soldiers. Obviously, it was decided to coincide with the feat of the fighter Alexander Matrosov to the memorable date.
Details of exactly how events developed on that terrible February day, when a courageous nineteen-year-old boy died, are described in detail in many articles and textbooks. Without dwelling on this, it is worth noting only that the feat of Alexander Matrosov in the official interpretation clearly contradicts the laws of physics. Even one bullet fired from a rifle, hitting a man, will surely knock him off his feet. What can we say about the machine-gun fire point-blank. In addition, the human body cannot serve as any serious obstacle for machine-gun bullets. Even the first notes of the front-line newspapers said that Alexander's body was found not on the embrasure, but in front of him in the snow. It is unlikely that the sailors threw themselves at her, it would be the most absurd way to overcome the enemy bunker. Trying to reconstruct the events of that day, the researchers settled on the next version. Since there were eyewitnesses who saw Matrosov on the roof of the bunker, he most likely tried to shoot or grenade machine guns through the window for ventilation. He was shot, and the body fell to the outlet, blocking the possibility of removal of powder gases. Throwing off the corpse, the Germans hesitated and ceased firing, and the comrades of Matrosov were able to overcome the sweep of space. Thus, the feat really took place, at the cost of the life of the Sailors ensured the success of the assault of his squad.
There is also a misconception that the feat of Alexander was the first of its kind. However, it is not. Many documented facts have been preserved, as already in the first years of the war, Soviet soldiers rushed to the enemy firing points. The very first of them were Alexander Pankratov - political instructor tank companies that sacrificed themselves on August 24, 1941 during the attack of the Kirillov Monastery near Novgorod, and Yakov Paderin, who died on December 27, 1941 near the village of Ryabinikha in the Tver Region. And in the “Ballad of Three Communists” by Nikolai Semenovich Tikhonov (the author of the famous phrase: “Make nails of these people ...”), the battle near Novgorod is described on January 29, 1942, in which three fighters rushed at the enemy’s pillboxes — Gerasimenko, Cheremnov and Krasilov.
It is necessary to mention the fact that even before the end of March 1943 of the year at least thirteen people - fighters of the Red Army, inspired by the example of Alexander Matrosov, carried out such an act. Over the years of the war, a similar feat was accomplished by more than four hundred people. Many of them were posthumously awarded and received the title of Heroes of the USSR, but their names are known only to meticulous historians, as well as lovers of historical wartime articles. Most of the brave heroes remained unknown, and later generally dropped out of the official chronicles. The dead fighters of the assault groups who fought on the same day near Matrosov and managed not only to crush the enemy’s bunkers, but also, by unrolling fascist machine guns, opened fire on the enemy, were among them. In this context, it is very important to understand that the image of Alexander, in whose honor monuments were built and streets in cities across Russia were named, personifies all of the nameless soldiers, our ancestors, who gave their lives for the sake of victory.
Initially, the hero was buried where he fell in the village of Chernushki, but in 1948, his remains were reburied in the cemetery of Velikie Luki, located on the banks of the Lovat River. The name of Alexander Matrosov was immortalized by Stalin’s order of 8 of September of 1943. In accordance with this document, it was for the first time ever recorded in the list of the first company of the 254 Guards Regiment, where Sasha served. Unfortunately, the leadership of the Red Army, creating an epic image of a fighter who despised death in the name of saving his comrades, pursued another rather unpleasant goal. Neglecting the artillery preparation, the authorities urged the Red Army to go into deadly frontal attacks on enemy machine guns, justifying the senseless death of people by the example of a brave soldier.
Even when clarifying the true story of the hero, whom many generations of our country's inhabitants know as Alexander Matrosov, after clarifying his personality, place of birth, individual pages of the biography and the essence of the most heroic act, his feat is still undeniable and remains a rare example of unprecedented courage and valor! The feat of a very young young man who stayed at the front for only three days. Madness of the brave we sing a song ...
Information sources:
-http: //www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp? Hero_id = 597
-http: //izvestia.ru/news/286596
-http: //ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/
-http: //www.pulter.ru/docs/Alexander_Matrosov/Alexander_Matrosov
Information