How many heroes were in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War
What can dry statistics tell you about the number of those who were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and full cavaliers of the Order of Glory
How many heroes of World War II were in the Soviet Union? It would seem a strange question. In a country that had survived the most terrible tragedy of the 20th century, everyone was a hero who defended it from weapons in the hands at the front or at the machine tool and in the field in the rear. That is, each of its 170-million multinational people, who bore the brunt of the war on their shoulders.
But if we ignore pathos and return to specifics, the question can be formulated differently. How in the USSR was it noted that man is a hero? True, the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union." And after the war 31 a year later, another sign of heroism appeared: they equated the full cavaliers of the Order of Glory with the Heroes of the Soviet Union, that is, those who received all three degrees of this award. It turns out that the question “How many heroes of the Great Patriotic War were in the Soviet Union?” Is more precise to formulate: “How many people in the USSR were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and became full holders of the Order of Glory for the exploits committed during the Great Patriotic War?”.
You can get a very specific answer to such a question: a total of 14 411 people, including 11 739 Heroes of the Soviet Union and 2672 full cavalier of the Order of Glory.
The first Heroes of the Soviet Union during the war
The number of Heroes of the Soviet Union who received this title for their exploits during the Great Patriotic War was 11 739. This title was awarded posthumously to the 3051 of them; 82 people were denied the title in the future by court order. 107 heroes were awarded this title twice (seven posthumously), three times three times: Marshal Semyon Budyonny (all awards occurred after the war), Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Pokryshkin and Major Ivan Kozhedub. And only one - Marshal Georgy Zhukov - became the Hero of the Soviet Union four times, and he won one award even before World War II, and received it for the fourth time in 1956.
Among those who were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War were representatives of all the arms and types of troops in ranks from private to marshal. And every branch of military service, be it infantrymen, pilots or sailors, is proud of its first colleagues who received the highest honorary title.
airmen
The first titles of Hero of the Soviet Union were awarded to the pilots 8 July 1941. And here the pilots supported the tradition: six pilots were the first Heroes of the Soviet Union in stories this award - and the three pilots were the first to be awarded this title during the Great Patriotic War! 8 July 1941 of the year it was assigned to the fighter pilots of the 158 th Fighter Regiment of the 41 th mixed aircraft division of the Air Force of the 23 th Army of the Northern Front. Junior lieutenants Mikhail Zhukov, Stepan Zdorovtsev and Peter Kharitonov received awards for the rams committed in the first days of the war. Stepan Zdorovtsev died the day after the award, Mikhail Zhukov died in January 1943 in a fight with nine German fighters, and Peter Kharitonov, who was seriously wounded in 1941 and returned to service only in 1944, ended the war, having 14 destroyed enemy aircraft.
Infantrymen
The first Hero of the Soviet Union among the 22 infantrymen on July 1941 was the commander of the 1-th Moscow motorized rifle division of the 20-th army of the Western Front, Colonel Yakov Kreyzer. He was awarded for successful containment of the Germans on the Berezina River and in the battles for Orsha. It is noteworthy that Colonel Kreyzer was also the first among the Jewish soldiers who received the highest award during the war years.
Tankmen
July 22, 1941 the highest awards of the country immediately received three tankmen - commander tank 1st Sergeant Regiment of the 1st Panzer Division of the 14th Army of the Northern Front Senior Sergeant Alexander Borisov, commander of the 163rd reconnaissance battalion of the 104th Infantry Division of the 14th Army of the Northern Front Junior Sergeant Alexander Gryaznov (he was awarded the posthumous rank) and the deputy commander of the tank battalion of the 115th tank regiment of the 57th tank division of the 20th Army of the Western Front, Captain Joseph Kaduchenko. Senior sergeant Borisov, a week and a half after the award, died in the hospital from serious wounds. Captain Kaduchenko managed to visit the lists of the dead, in October 1941 he was captured, tried unsuccessfully three times and was released only in March 1945, after which he fought until the Victory.
Sappers
Among the soldiers and commanders of sapper units, the first Hero of the Soviet Union was 20 November 1941, the assistant commander of a platoon of the 184 th separate sapper battalion of the 7 Army of the Northern Front, private soldier Viktor Karandakov. In the battle under Sortavala against the Finnish units, he fired three enemy attacks with his machine gun, actually saved the regiment from the environment, the next day headed the counter-attack of the squad instead of the wounded commander, and two days later carried the wounded company commander out of the fire. In April 1942, the sapper lost his arm in battle was demobilized.
Gunners
2 August 1941 was the first gunner - the Hero of the Soviet Union was the gunner of the "forty-fives" of the 680 th rifle regiment of the 169 th rifle division of the 18 th army of the Southern Front, Red Army soldier Jacob Kolchak. 13 July 1941, he managed to hit four enemy tanks in an hour of battle with his gun! But Jacob did not find out about conferring the high rank: on July 23 he was wounded and captured. He was released in August 1944 of the year in Moldova, and Kolchak reached victory in the composition of the penalty company, where he fought first with a gunner, and then as a squad leader. A high award is a former penalty box, on whose chest the Order of the Red Star and the Medal for Military Merit have already flaunted, received only 25 March 1947 of the year in the Kremlin.
partisans
The first Heroes of the Soviet Union from among the partisans were the leaders of the partisan detachment "Red October" that operated in the territory of Belarus: the commissioner of the detachment Tikhon Bumazhkov and the commander Fedor Pavlovsky. The decree awarding them was signed on 6 on August 1941. Of the two heroes, only one survived to Victory - Fyodor Pavlovsky, and the commissioner of the “Red October” detachment Tikhon Bumazhkov, who managed to receive his award in Moscow, died in December of the same year, leaving the German entourage.
Marines
On August 13, 1941, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to the commander of the Northern Marine Volunteer Detachment fleet Senior Sergeant Vasily Kislyakov. He received a high reward for his actions in mid-July 1941, when he led a platoon instead of a dead commander and, first, along with his comrades, and then alone held an important height. By the end of the war, Captain Kislyakov had several landings on the Northern Front, and participated in the Petsamo-Kirkenes, Budapest and Vienna offensive operations.
Politruki
The first decree on conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union to political workers of the Red Army was issued on August 15 1941. This document awarded the highest award to the deputy political officer of the radio communications of the 415-th separate communications battalion of the 22-nd Estonian Territorial Rifle Corps of the North-Western Front, Arnold Meri, and the secretary of the party bureau of the 245-th howitzer artillery regiment of the 37-Rifle Division of the 19-nd Army of the West X-th Union. political instructor Kirill Osipov. Mary was awarded for having twice wounded, managed to stop the battalion’s retreat and led the defense of the corps headquarters. Osipov in July-August 1941, in fact, worked as a coherent command of the division, fighting in the environment, and several times crossed the front line, delivering important information.
Doctors
Among the army medics who received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the first was Anatoly Kokorin, a sanitary instructor of the 14 motorized rifle regiment of the 21 motorized rifle division of the NKVD troops of the Northern Front. A high award was awarded to him 26 August 1941 of the year - posthumously. During the battle with the Finns, he remained the last in the ranks and blew himself up with a grenade to avoid being captured.
Border guards
Although the Soviet border guards were the first to take on the 22 enemy june 1941, the heroes of the Soviet Union appeared among them only two months later. But just six people at once: junior sergeant Ivan Buzytskov, lieutenant Kuzma Vetchinkin, senior lieutenant Nikita Kaymanov, senior lieutenant Alexander Konstantinov, junior sergeant Vasiliy Mikhalkov and lieutenant Anatoly Ryzhikov. Five of them served in Moldova, senior lieutenant of the Caymans - in Karelia. All six received awards for their heroic actions in the first days of the war - which, in general, is not surprising. And all six reached the end of the war and continued service after the Victory — in the same border troops.
Connectors
The first Hero of the Soviet Union among telecom operators appeared 9 November 1941 of the year - they became the commander of the radio department of the 289 th anti-tank regiment of the Western Front junior sergeant Peter Stemasov. He was awarded for his feat 25 of October near Moscow - during the battle he replaced the wounded gunner of the gun and, together with the calculation, knocked out nine enemy tanks, after which he took the fighters out of the encirclement. And then he fought until Victory, which he had already met as an officer.
Cavalrymen
On the same day as the first communication hero, the first trooper hero appeared. 9 November 1941 was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously to the commander of the 134 Cavalry Regiment of the 28 Cavalry Division of the Reserve Army of the Southern Front, Major Boris Krotov. The highest award he was awarded for feats during the defense of Dnepropetrovsk. How difficult those battles were, you can imagine for yourself one episode: the last feat of the regiment was the undermining of an enemy tank that broke through into the depths of the defense.
Paratroopers
Winged infantry gained their first Heroes of the Soviet Union on November 20 1941. They were the commander of the reconnaissance company squadron of the 212 airborne brigade of the 37 th army of the South-Western Front, sergeant Yakov Vatomov and the gunner of the same brigade Nikolai Obukhov. Both received an award for feats in August-September 1941, when the paratroopers fought hard battles in eastern Ukraine.
Sailors
After all - only 17, January 1942, the first Hero of the Soviet Union appeared in the Soviet Navy. Posthumously, the gunner Ivan Sivko of the 2 Volunteer Detachment of Seamen of the Northern Fleet was awarded the highest award. Ivan accomplished his feat, which was so highly appreciated by the country, as part of a notorious landing party in the Bay of the Great Western. Covering the waste of his colleagues, he, fighting alone, destroyed the enemies 26, and then blew himself up with a grenade along with the Nazis who surrounded him.
Generals
The first to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union by the Red Army General was 22 July 1941, the commander of the 19 Panzer Division of the 22 Mechanized Corps of the 5 Army of the South-Western Front, Major General Kuzma Semenchenko. His division took an active part in the largest tank battle of the Great Patriotic War - the battle of Dubno - and after heavy fighting got surrounded, but the general was able to withdraw his subordinates through the front line. By mid-August, 1941 had only one tank left in the division, and it was disbanded in early September. But General Semenchenko fought to the end of the war and in 1947 he retired in the same rank in which he began to fight.
"The battle is not for the sake of glory ..."
During the Great Patriotic War, there was the most honorable soldiers award - the Order of Glory. Both her tape and her statute very much resembled another soldier's award — the insignia of the Order of Saint George, the “soldier Yegoriy” who was especially revered in the army of the Russian Empire. In total, more than a million people were awarded with the Order of Glory in a year and a half of the war - since its establishment on November 8 and before the Victory - and in the post-war period. Of these, almost a million are of the order of the third degree, over 1943 of thousands are of the second, and 46 of the person are of the first degree; they have become full holders of the order.
Of the 2672 holders of the Order of Glory, 16 people in the future for various reasons were deprived of the award by the court. Among those deprived was the only holder of five orders of Glory - 3, three 2 and 1. In addition, 72 people were presented to the four Orders of Glory, but, as a rule, did not receive a "redundant" award.
The first full men of the Order of Glory were the sapper of the 1134 Infantry Regiment of the 338 Infantry Division Corporal Mitrofan Pitenin and the commander of the 110 Separate reconnaissance company 158 Infantry Division, Sergeant General Shevchenko. Corporal Pytenin was introduced to the first order in November 1943 for the battles in Belarus, to the second in April 1944, and the third in July of the same year. But I did not manage to receive the last award: on August 3 he died in battle. And Senior Sergeant Shevchenko received all three orders in 1944 year: in February, April and July. He ended the war in 1945 with the rank of petty officer and was soon demobilized, returning home not only with three orders of Glory on his chest, but also with orders of the Red Star and World War II of both degrees.
And there were four people who received both marks of the highest recognition of military heroism - both the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the title of full holder of the Order of Glory. The first is the senior pilot of the 140th guards assault aviation regiment of the 8th guards assault aviation Divisions of the 1st Assault Aviation Corps of the 5th Air Army Guard Senior Lieutenant Ivan Drachenko. He received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1944, and became the full holder of the Order of Glory after re-awarding (double awarding with the Order of the 2nd degree) in 1968.
The second is the commander of the 369-th separate anti-tank artillery battalion of the 263-th rifle division of the 43-th army of the 3-th Belarusian front, sergeant-general Nikolai Kuznetsov. In April, 1945, he received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and after re-awarding in 1980 (double awarding of the 2 degree) he became a full holder of the Order of Glory.
The third was the gun crew commander of the 175 Guards Artillery Mortar Regiment of the 4 Guards Cavalry Division of the 2 Guards Cavalry Corps of the 1 Belorussian Front, Sergeant Major Aleshin. He became the hero of the Soviet Union at the end of May 1945 of the year, and the full holder of the Order of Glory - after re-awarding (double award of the 3 degree) in 1955 year.
Finally, the fourth is a company officer of the 293-th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 96-th Guards Rifle Division of the 28-th Army of the 3-th Belorussian Guard Front, elder Pavel Dubinda. He is perhaps the most unusual fate of all four heroes. Sailor, he served on the cruiser "Chervona Ukraine" on the Black Sea, after the death of the ship - in the marines, defended Sevastopol. Here he was taken prisoner, from which he fled and in March 1944 of the year was again enlisted in the army, but already in the infantry. The full holder of the Order of Glory became by March 1945 of the year, and in June of the same year he received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. By the way, among his awards was the rare Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky of the 3 degree - a kind of “soldier’s” commander’s order.
Multinational heroism
The Soviet Union was indeed a multinational country: 1939 nationalities appear in the data of the last pre-war 95 census, not counting the “others” (other peoples of the North, other peoples of Dagestan). Naturally, among the Heroes of the Soviet Union and full gentlemen of the Order of Glory were representatives of almost all Soviet peoples. Among the first - 67 nationalities, among the second (according to clearly incomplete data) - 39 nationalities.
The number of heroes marked by higher ranks among a given nationality as a whole corresponds to the ratio of the number of fellow tribesmen to the total number of the pre-war USSR. So, the leaders in all lists were and remain the Russians, followed by the Ukrainians and Belarusians. But then the situation is different. For example, in the top ten awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians are followed (in order) by Tatars, Jews, Kazakhs, Armenians, Georgians, Uzbeks and Mordvinians. And in the top ten full gentlemen of the Order of Glory, after the Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, go (also in order) Tatars, Kazakhs, Armenians, Mordovians, Uzbeks, Chuvash and Jews.
But judging by these statistics, which people were more heroic, and which one less, is meaningless. Firstly, many nationalities of heroes were accidental, or even deliberately indicated incorrectly or were absent (for example, Germans and Jews often concealed their nationality, and the “Crimean Tatar” option was simply not present in the 1939 census documents). And secondly, even today, far from all the documents relating to the awarding of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War have been brought together and taken into account. This colossal topic is still waiting for its researcher, who will certainly confirm: heroism is a property of every single person, and not of this or that people.
The national composition of the Heroes of the Soviet Union who received this title for feats during the Great Patriotic War *
Russians - 7998 (including 70 - twice, 2 - three times and 1 - four times)
Ukrainians - 2019 (including 28 - twice),
Belarusians - 274 (including 4 - twice),
Tatars - 161
Jews - 128 (including 1 - twice)
Kazakhs - 98 (including 1 - twice)
Armenians - 91 (including 2 - twice)
Georgians - 90
Uzbeks - 67
Mordva - 66
Chuvash - 47
Azeris - 41 (including 1 - twice)
Bashkirs - 40 (including 1 - twice)
Ossetians - 34 (including 1 - twice)
Mariys - 18
Turkmen - 16
Lithuanians - 15
Tajiks - 15
Latvians - 12
Kirghiz - 12
Karels - 11 (including 1 - twice)
Komi - 10
Udmurti - 11
Estonians - 11
Avars - 9
Poles - 9
Buryats and Mongols - 8
Kalmyks - 8
Kabardians - 8
Adyghe - 7
Greeks - 7
Germans - 7
Komi - 6
Crimean Tatars - 6 (including 1 - twice)
Chechens - 6
Yakuts - 6
Moldovans - 5
Abkhazians - 4
Laktsy - 4
Lezgins - 4
French - 4
Czechs - 4
Karachays - 3
Tuva - 3
Circassians - 3
Balkars —2
Bulgarians - 2
Dargins - 2
Kumyki - 2
Finns - 2
Khakasy - 2
Abazinets - 1
Ajaretz - 1
Altai - 1
Assyrian - 1
Veps - 1
Spanish - 1
Chinese (Dunganin) - 1
Korean - 1
Kurd - 1
Swann - 1
Slovak - 1
Tuva - 1
Tsakhur - 1
Gypsy - 1
Soretz - 1
Evenk - 1
* The list is incomplete, compiled using data from the project “Heroes of the Country” (http://www.warheroes.ru/main.asp) and data from the writer Gennady Ovrutsky (http://www.proza.ru/2009/08/16/ 901).
The national composition of full cavaliers of the Order of Glory, who received this title for feats during the Great Patriotic War **
Russians - 1276
Ukrainians - 285
Belarusians - 62
Tatars - 48
Kazakhs - 30
Armenians - 19
Mordva - 16
Uzbeks - 12
Chuvash - 11
Jews - 9
Azeris - 8
Bashkirs - 7
Kirghiz - 7
Udmurti - 6
Turkmen - 5
Buryats - 4
Georgians - 4
Komi - 4
Mariys - 3
Poles - 3
Adyghe - 2
Karels - 2
Latvians - 2
Moldovans - 2
Ossetians - 2
Tajiks - 2
Khakasy - 2
Abazinets - 1
Greek - 1
Kabardian - 1
Kalmyk - 1
Chinese - 1
Crimean Tatar - 1
Kumyk - 1
Lithuanian —1
Romanian - 1
Meskhetian Turks - 1
Chechen - 1
Yakut - 1
** The list is incomplete, compiled using data from the project "Heroes of the country" (http://www.warheroes.ru/main.asp).
- Sergey Antonov
- http://rusplt.ru/society/skolko-geroev-byilo-v-sssr-v-godyi-velikoy-otechestvennoy-voynyi-17773.html
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