Ukrainians wanted to take the ashes of Beresta
On the eve of the celebration of the 70 anniversary of the Great Victory over fascism, another of the many attempts to officially commemorate Alexei Berest was undertaken - to assign him posthumously the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. This epic has been going on for more than a year, where various organizations, not only veterans, but also public ones, have been drawn. One way or another, but any mention of the beginning of the next rally to assign the title of Hero of the Soviet Union finds its responses in the press: for journalists and individual politicians it became a fertile topic. Perhaps, I will express a seditious thought, but, believe me, for many of the Rostovites, the name of Aleksei Berest became truly sacred and his feat — setting the red flag over the defeated Reichstag — too.
But there is still some great injustice in the fact that Berest has not yet been given the title of hero. Why?
There are several versions that, perhaps, can give a unified picture of what happened. This was told by the daughter of Aleksey Beresta, which I first saw at the Rostov school No. XXUMX, where a small photographic exhibition about the Great Patriotic War opened.
The daughter of the legendary hero looked very much like her father. In Irina Berest, in some incomprehensible way, her father’s prideful essence was conveyed, that special, incomparable spirit, which is called the Russian spirit and break, and understand that they have been trying for many centuries, but somehow I cannot do it.
Irina Alekseevna gladly responds to offers to speak, to tell about her father. And this her personal merit becomes another milestone along the difficult path of perpetuating the memory of her father. She responds to any proposal, any meeting, despite its busyness. For her, it is very important. However, as for us.
To understand the essence of man, you still need to look into his childhood. Aleksey Berest was born in a large family: he had sixteen brothers and sisters, and to help his father and mother, he finished seven years old and went to work as a tractor driver to a local machine and tractor brigade.
But at this time the Soviet-Finnish war began, and Alex, having added two years to himself, volunteered for the front. He got into the communications company of the Leningrad Front and ensured the uninterrupted operation of the communication line between the command post and subunits. In one of these aisles, a company of Finnish sniper "cuckoo" began to fire at their company - Berest covered his commander with himself, and a bullet pierced his greatcoat through. Berest just miraculously survived. In the meantime, the men neutralized the sniper. For this feat, Aleksei Berest was given a personal note in the personal file for saving the life of his commander.
Then there was a study at the Leningrad Military-Political School and - the front. He reached Berlin unscathed: there is not a single mention of injuries and contusions in the award documents. And in Berlin raised the red flag over the Reichstag. It was a sign that the most terrible war ended.
Irina Alekseyevna Berest, the daughter of Aleksey Prokofyevich, believes that the crystal honesty of her father is “to blame” for all of her father, who, when examining trophy values, did not allow people who had nothing to do with this very delicate process. And Irina Alekseevna says that, perhaps, the decision of the command was influenced by the fact that in the heat of the battle for Berlin, the subunits fired at one of the buildings where the embassy of the neutral state was located, which immediately complained about the Soviet fighters. The most widely known version is that Zhukov allegedly crossed out his last name on the grounds that Berest was a political worker.
And in peacetime, Berest accomplished another, his last feat — rescued a girl from under the train’s wheels, whom her parents looked badly at, who in the confusion released their child’s hand, and he was at the railway crossing at the time the train was going. It is curious that the track of this rescued girl was lost, and nothing is known about her fate. And it would be nice to find her. And, maybe, she will respond: after all, she survived thanks to Berest.
There, where the tragedy occurred, in the area of the “Selmash” stop and now it is a potentially dangerous section, but, unfortunately, nowhere is there even a memorial sign mentioning what happened here many years ago.
However, over the course of seventy years, the memory of the feat of Alexei Berest was perpetuated: schools, streets are named after him, monuments are erected. In the Rostov region last year, another monument to Alexei Berest appeared on the territory of the Neklinovsky district: at its opening, the hero’s daughter laid flowers and spent a long time telling the assembled villagers about her father. Many people could not hold back tears, because part of the feat of the legendary man became part of the feat of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers who died and survived the war, sprouted in them forever and left their mark that no one can ever destroy.
And what about politicians who are actively fighting for the official award of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union to Alexei Berest? A completely logical question arises: why, for so many years since the accomplishment of the feat, politicians and public figures have failed to bring their good intentions to the logical end? After all, several times in the press, loud statements of individuals appeared and disappeared, the ultimate goal of which was still not true, but their own personal PR, PR on patriotism, PR on the feat of Berest. I admit, I worked in one of the structures where we are instructed to come up with so-called informational occasions that could provide a particular person with free PR in various media. And so what then becomes of this very “informational occasion,” no one then fully understands. The main thing is to provide a free press here and now. One of the most common reasons was participation in the fate of veterans, each of whom could tell about his hard life. These were the "black" PR people who pulled into their stories about unsuspecting older people. what can we say about those who are no longer alive.
An unexpected turn around the name of Berest took place in 2005. Suddenly in Ukraine it was decided that the remains of Beresta should be reburied on the grounds that he was born in the same lands as the then President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko - in the village of Khoruzhevka, Nedrigailovsky District. The Ukrainian ambassador to Russia was instructed to learn and prepare the motivational part on the basis that today Berest is a hero of Ukraine. By the way, this title was conferred on him in 2005, and the Ukrainian nationalists, the Lugansk branch of the nationalist movement Svoboda, tried to challenge this decision for a long time, but the Donetsk court refused to satisfy all claims related to the case of Berest.
And here begins the most important lie. According to archival documents, Aleksey Prokofyevich Berest was really born in the Sumy region, just like Yushenko. But the birthplace of Beresta is Akhtyrsky District, the village of Goryaistevka. Yushenko’s place of birth is precisely indicated in the official biography — Sumy Oblast, the village of Khoruzhevka, Nedrigailovsky District. These villages, as well as districts, are located hundreds of kilometers from each other and do not even have common borders. But while it was found out, a real action-provocation on the reburial of the ashes of the hero unfolded in Ukraine, and just before the celebration of the next Victory Day.
However, the relatives and friends of Aleksei Beresta categorically opposed this proposal of the then Ukrainian president, which you can’t call just another PR.
And yet in Russia, they again and again return to the subject of the feat of Berest. Year after year.
“There is such a thing - justice,” said Yury Vasilyevich Rudik, deputy chairman of the public organization Russian Cadet Brotherhood. - All our people believe that Berest is a hero. Now we are voting on the Internet for awarding the title of Hero of the Soviet Union to Alexey Prokofievich. This is what we can do now.
For many years in Rostov-on-Don, Colonel Nikolai Fedorovich Shevkunov (he served for several decades at the Rostov Institute of Missile Forces for them Marshal of Artillery MI Nedelina) has written letters and inquiries to numerous authorities at his own risk and receives requests for his almost the same answer, the meaning of which boils down to the fact that such questions are almost impossible to solve. And yet, people hope that there, “above,” there is a higher justice to which they aspire, and maybe, one can make an exception from all the established rules and pay tribute to the great feat of Alexei Berest. This is what we, his ancestors, and not him, need most of all.
In the photo: the daughter of Alexei Beresta with a copy of the flag, which her father raised over the liberated Berlin.
But there is still some great injustice in the fact that Berest has not yet been given the title of hero. Why?
There are several versions that, perhaps, can give a unified picture of what happened. This was told by the daughter of Aleksey Beresta, which I first saw at the Rostov school No. XXUMX, where a small photographic exhibition about the Great Patriotic War opened.
The daughter of the legendary hero looked very much like her father. In Irina Berest, in some incomprehensible way, her father’s prideful essence was conveyed, that special, incomparable spirit, which is called the Russian spirit and break, and understand that they have been trying for many centuries, but somehow I cannot do it.
Irina Alekseevna gladly responds to offers to speak, to tell about her father. And this her personal merit becomes another milestone along the difficult path of perpetuating the memory of her father. She responds to any proposal, any meeting, despite its busyness. For her, it is very important. However, as for us.
To understand the essence of man, you still need to look into his childhood. Aleksey Berest was born in a large family: he had sixteen brothers and sisters, and to help his father and mother, he finished seven years old and went to work as a tractor driver to a local machine and tractor brigade.
But at this time the Soviet-Finnish war began, and Alex, having added two years to himself, volunteered for the front. He got into the communications company of the Leningrad Front and ensured the uninterrupted operation of the communication line between the command post and subunits. In one of these aisles, a company of Finnish sniper "cuckoo" began to fire at their company - Berest covered his commander with himself, and a bullet pierced his greatcoat through. Berest just miraculously survived. In the meantime, the men neutralized the sniper. For this feat, Aleksei Berest was given a personal note in the personal file for saving the life of his commander.
Then there was a study at the Leningrad Military-Political School and - the front. He reached Berlin unscathed: there is not a single mention of injuries and contusions in the award documents. And in Berlin raised the red flag over the Reichstag. It was a sign that the most terrible war ended.
Irina Alekseyevna Berest, the daughter of Aleksey Prokofyevich, believes that the crystal honesty of her father is “to blame” for all of her father, who, when examining trophy values, did not allow people who had nothing to do with this very delicate process. And Irina Alekseevna says that, perhaps, the decision of the command was influenced by the fact that in the heat of the battle for Berlin, the subunits fired at one of the buildings where the embassy of the neutral state was located, which immediately complained about the Soviet fighters. The most widely known version is that Zhukov allegedly crossed out his last name on the grounds that Berest was a political worker.
And in peacetime, Berest accomplished another, his last feat — rescued a girl from under the train’s wheels, whom her parents looked badly at, who in the confusion released their child’s hand, and he was at the railway crossing at the time the train was going. It is curious that the track of this rescued girl was lost, and nothing is known about her fate. And it would be nice to find her. And, maybe, she will respond: after all, she survived thanks to Berest.
There, where the tragedy occurred, in the area of the “Selmash” stop and now it is a potentially dangerous section, but, unfortunately, nowhere is there even a memorial sign mentioning what happened here many years ago.
However, over the course of seventy years, the memory of the feat of Alexei Berest was perpetuated: schools, streets are named after him, monuments are erected. In the Rostov region last year, another monument to Alexei Berest appeared on the territory of the Neklinovsky district: at its opening, the hero’s daughter laid flowers and spent a long time telling the assembled villagers about her father. Many people could not hold back tears, because part of the feat of the legendary man became part of the feat of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers who died and survived the war, sprouted in them forever and left their mark that no one can ever destroy.
And what about politicians who are actively fighting for the official award of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union to Alexei Berest? A completely logical question arises: why, for so many years since the accomplishment of the feat, politicians and public figures have failed to bring their good intentions to the logical end? After all, several times in the press, loud statements of individuals appeared and disappeared, the ultimate goal of which was still not true, but their own personal PR, PR on patriotism, PR on the feat of Berest. I admit, I worked in one of the structures where we are instructed to come up with so-called informational occasions that could provide a particular person with free PR in various media. And so what then becomes of this very “informational occasion,” no one then fully understands. The main thing is to provide a free press here and now. One of the most common reasons was participation in the fate of veterans, each of whom could tell about his hard life. These were the "black" PR people who pulled into their stories about unsuspecting older people. what can we say about those who are no longer alive.
An unexpected turn around the name of Berest took place in 2005. Suddenly in Ukraine it was decided that the remains of Beresta should be reburied on the grounds that he was born in the same lands as the then President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko - in the village of Khoruzhevka, Nedrigailovsky District. The Ukrainian ambassador to Russia was instructed to learn and prepare the motivational part on the basis that today Berest is a hero of Ukraine. By the way, this title was conferred on him in 2005, and the Ukrainian nationalists, the Lugansk branch of the nationalist movement Svoboda, tried to challenge this decision for a long time, but the Donetsk court refused to satisfy all claims related to the case of Berest.
And here begins the most important lie. According to archival documents, Aleksey Prokofyevich Berest was really born in the Sumy region, just like Yushenko. But the birthplace of Beresta is Akhtyrsky District, the village of Goryaistevka. Yushenko’s place of birth is precisely indicated in the official biography — Sumy Oblast, the village of Khoruzhevka, Nedrigailovsky District. These villages, as well as districts, are located hundreds of kilometers from each other and do not even have common borders. But while it was found out, a real action-provocation on the reburial of the ashes of the hero unfolded in Ukraine, and just before the celebration of the next Victory Day.
However, the relatives and friends of Aleksei Beresta categorically opposed this proposal of the then Ukrainian president, which you can’t call just another PR.
And yet in Russia, they again and again return to the subject of the feat of Berest. Year after year.
“There is such a thing - justice,” said Yury Vasilyevich Rudik, deputy chairman of the public organization Russian Cadet Brotherhood. - All our people believe that Berest is a hero. Now we are voting on the Internet for awarding the title of Hero of the Soviet Union to Alexey Prokofievich. This is what we can do now.
For many years in Rostov-on-Don, Colonel Nikolai Fedorovich Shevkunov (he served for several decades at the Rostov Institute of Missile Forces for them Marshal of Artillery MI Nedelina) has written letters and inquiries to numerous authorities at his own risk and receives requests for his almost the same answer, the meaning of which boils down to the fact that such questions are almost impossible to solve. And yet, people hope that there, “above,” there is a higher justice to which they aspire, and maybe, one can make an exception from all the established rules and pay tribute to the great feat of Alexei Berest. This is what we, his ancestors, and not him, need most of all.
In the photo: the daughter of Alexei Beresta with a copy of the flag, which her father raised over the liberated Berlin.
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