SMERSH in film and in reality
Recently, quite a few war films have appeared in Russia, featuring enkavedeshniki, Smerzhevists, security officers, special forces, border guards, and other comrades in uniform and without them.
All this fraternity, through the efforts of directors and producers, is engaged, as a rule, in that it creates a lot of problems for our army and for the people who are exhausted in the struggle against the fascists. It is even strange that we were able to defeat the enemy on the battlefield at all — Beria and his assistants hindered us so much.
The myth that the war, they say, was won by the people, and not the ruling regime, of which the special services were a stronghold, is strenuously driven into the mind of the average man by means of a simple film language. It was the Red Army (of course, having filled up the fascists with corpses) that defended Moscow and took Berlin. And all sorts of security officers and special persons at best did nothing, and at worst - put sticks into the wheels.
Meanwhile, the artificial opposition of the people and the government, the army and the special services loses all meaning as soon as you begin to study more closely history of war. Interesting facts are being found that are obstinately ignored by modern cinema. For example, such. In the very first days of the war in Moscow, the formation of a separate special-purpose brigade, later deployed to the division, began at the Dynamo Stadium.
The task of this unit is the organization of sabotage behind enemy lines. The personnel of the brigade consisted exclusively of employees of the internal affairs bodies, as well as members of the Dynamo sports society. In addition to raids on the enemy’s rear, brigade fighters participated in military operations on the fronts, especially during the defense of Moscow.
Few people know, for example, that the advanced group of Germans, which broke through on October 16 to the bridge over the railway in Khimki, destroyed tank company of the Dzerzhinsky internal forces division under the command of senior lieutenant Nikolai Strebko. Now at the site of this battle, without exaggeration, who decided the fate of Moscow, there is a memorial complex in the form of anti-tank hedgehogs. By the way, the contribution of Dzerzhins to the victory near Moscow is not limited to participation in hostilities.
In the engineering service of one of the regiments of the division, a recipe for the manufacture of a combustible mixture, later called the Molotov cocktail, was invented. The recipe was so cheap and effective that the know-how instantly scattered across all fronts and was actively used not only in the battle of Moscow, but also in other battles of the Great Patriotic War.
From the very first days of the war, partisan detachments began to be created in the territory occupied by the Germans. At first, almost all of them consisted of personnel officers from the NKVD, who were specially left behind enemy lines for these purposes. Then, by 1943, the partisan movement became truly widespread: people understood that nothing good could be expected from the German “new order”, and entire villages began to go into the forests to partisans. And in the first months of the war, when a significant part of the population still harbored some illusions about the Germans, the guerrilla movement consisted mainly of Chekists and policemen. So far from all the NKVD employees, contrary to popular opinion, were fixed in special departments and received an additional ration, many also risked their lives in the rear of the Germans.
Finally, the only ones who met the enemy of 22 on June 1941 of the year by organized resistance were the border troops of the NKVD of the USSR. Almost all the outposts delayed the onset of enemy columns for several hours, or even days. The famous Russian writer Ivan Shevtsov, the author of many sensational novels and short stories, served in the summer of 1941 on the Romanian border. His outpost for seven days (!) Hindered the attacks of the Nazis. And this is despite the fact that, in contrast to the regular units of the Red Army, the border guards were armed only with light rifle troops. weapons.
However, most border outposts managed to organize decent resistance to a numerically superior enemy, while the majority of army units, by contrast, showed absolute unpreparedness for effective hostilities.
The same Ivan Shevtsov, for example, recalls that the 22 of June commanders of rifle formations stationed near his outpost were completely at a loss and stupidly awaited orders from above. Shevtsov, then a very young lieutenant of the NKVD, had to take command and direct the actions not only of his outpost, but also of the whole infantry battalion with an artillery battery. And only when the front rolled back far to the east, an order came: leave the positions and retreat. A few more days Shevtsov and colleagues made their way to their own. All those who managed to escape from this hell were again asked to go to the front and then they fought well as part of various units and formations of the internal troops of the NKVD of the USSR.
For some reason, these and many other facts of real history are stubbornly ignored by those who are slapping one after the other war films. As a result, an employee of state security or internal affairs bodies appears on the screen only in the guise of such a beater, for whom the only consolation in life is to shoot as many compatriots as possible. And this stamp wanders from one film to another, without being subjected even to elementary correction. Cinema generally consists of clichés and conventions, but in the case of security officers and special agents, this goes beyond the limits of common sense.
Well, okay, modern directors do not like the fact that the NKVD officers also fought, and not just shot their fighters in the back of the head. Such is the active citizenship of modern directors, for which they probably pay well. However, it is necessary to observe at least the external similarity with the realities of that time: this, as they say, is the immutable law of the genre. Meanwhile on the screen now reigns complete chaos. Each filmmaker obviously thinks he is a genius and considers it beneath his dignity to know the form of clothes, insignia, military ranks and similar “trifles”.
And now another masterpiece called “Cadets” is born. The plot of the TV movie is this: young lieutenants are trained in one of the rear military schools. They cook, naturally, somehow, hastily, feed half-starving, but local special people, as usual, are chewing, almost chewing black caviar from cans and cheating unhappy cadets regularly. It happens in the winter of the year 1943. On the cadets buttonholes, on their commanders too, the evil special people also flaunt in brand new jackets with cubes in buttonholes. And now the training is over, freshly baked lieutenants are sent to the front. The form on them is still the same: buttonhole, only now they are lieutenant "Kubari".
Did the authors of this wonderful film never even have the idea to ask: when did the epaulettes appear in our army? And they appeared in January 1943: first, a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 6 was issued, and then, on January 15, an order of the Supreme Commander, that is, Comrade Stalin. In accordance with these documents, the personnel of the army, fleet and power structures were ordered to change into a new uniform until February 15, 1943. And only the heroes of the "Cadets", even those who are sent to the army, for some reason flaunt without shoulder straps, ignoring the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
Here is another example of disregard for historical realities. Recently, Channel One showed a tele-epic "House of Exemplary Content." The action of some of the film series takes place during the Great Patriotic War. Of course, in addition to the positive heroes - some metropolitan intellectuals - there are also heroes in the film, to put it mildly, questionable, for example, employees of the internal affairs bodies. So, the agency in which these people serve, the authors of the film persistently call the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In any textbook of the modern history of the Russian language it is written that during the years of the Great Patriotic War there was no Ministry of Internal Affairs, because there were no ministries at all. Instead, with the 1917, there were people's commissariats - abbreviated commissariats. And only in the 1946 year, that is, after the war, did Stalin revive the ministries, and the department in which the film characters served were called the Ministry of the Interior, or the Interior Ministry.
Now with regard to military ranks. Here, modern screen geniuses do not bother themselves with anything at all: what came into their head is what they think is true. And therefore, very often, the officers of the Soviet special services are called commissars for them, and the German ones are sturmbanführer. Meanwhile, the NKVD system had its own special ranks, which did not always coincide with the army.
There were ten of them in total: state security sergeant, junior lieutenant r \ b, lieutenant r \ b, senior lieutenant r \ b, captain r \ b, major r \ b, senior major r \ b, state security commissioner 3 rank, state security commissioner 2 rank and commissioner of state security 1 rank. Finally, they have come up with a special title for the highest leaders: the General Commissioner of State Security. The commissar General Commissar wore only three people at different times: Heinrich Yagoda, Nikolai Yezhov, and Lavrenti Beria.
Note that we are talking only about the state security organs, which from 1934 to 1941 were part of the NKVD for a year. Border guards, policemen, firemen, military personnel of the internal troops, GULAG employees, who were also part of the NKVD, had, however, the same ranks as in the Red Army. The Navy traditionally had its own rank system. In addition, there were special ranks for military medics, military lawyers, military engineers, and in addition, in the system of political bodies and quartermaster services of the Red Army.
All this rather motley picture was preserved until about the autumn of the 1942 year, after which a unified system of military ranks was gradually introduced into the army and security agencies. From then on, security officers with special guards became known not as senior majors or state security commissioners of various ranks, but simply majors, colonels, or generals.
At the same time, the word forgotten “officer” returned to use. Until that moment, we recall, the officers called only the personnel officers of the General Staff of the Red Army. All the other commanders, both in the army and in the special services, were called commanders - the word “officer” in 1920 – 1930-s was perceived by a devout Soviet man as a curse word.
Now about the signs of distinction. The sergeants of the state security wore a triangle in buttonholes, lieutenants and captains - “Kubari”, majors - “sleepers”, commissars - rhombuses and stars. In addition, only for the staff of the Main State Security Directorate of the NKVD there were sleeve insignia: for sergeants - two truncated red triangles, for junior lieutenants - three same triangles, for lieutenants - one silver stitched silver star, for starley - two stars, for captains - three, for the majors - one star embroidered with gold, for the senior major - two such stars, for the Commissioner of the 3 rank - three, for the Commissioner of the 2 rank - four, and for the Commissioner of the 1 rank - also four, but arranged about neither was one star above. Stripes worn on both sleeves. And on the left - also a sign of a special sample: "The shield and the sword." All this was clearly spelled out in the departmental instruction of the model 1935 of the year.
Naturally, it’s not enough for modern masters of the screen to delve into all these subtleties: the main thing for them is to cut the budget of the film so that there is less money left for shooting and more in your pocket. At this point, one involuntarily has to save on everything, including expert consultants. In the Soviet years, even the living classics of cinema did not disdain to consult with professional historians. The creators of the immortal film about Stirlitz, for example, were advised by a whole team of military historians with a rank not lower than Colonel.
Modern filmmakers do not dream about it in a dream. Therefore, films about war often turn out in the fantasy genre ...
All this fraternity, through the efforts of directors and producers, is engaged, as a rule, in that it creates a lot of problems for our army and for the people who are exhausted in the struggle against the fascists. It is even strange that we were able to defeat the enemy on the battlefield at all — Beria and his assistants hindered us so much.
Uniform of the employee of the Main Directorate of State Security of the NKVD of the USSR. The second half of 1930's
The myth that the war, they say, was won by the people, and not the ruling regime, of which the special services were a stronghold, is strenuously driven into the mind of the average man by means of a simple film language. It was the Red Army (of course, having filled up the fascists with corpses) that defended Moscow and took Berlin. And all sorts of security officers and special persons at best did nothing, and at worst - put sticks into the wheels.
Meanwhile, the artificial opposition of the people and the government, the army and the special services loses all meaning as soon as you begin to study more closely history of war. Interesting facts are being found that are obstinately ignored by modern cinema. For example, such. In the very first days of the war in Moscow, the formation of a separate special-purpose brigade, later deployed to the division, began at the Dynamo Stadium.
The task of this unit is the organization of sabotage behind enemy lines. The personnel of the brigade consisted exclusively of employees of the internal affairs bodies, as well as members of the Dynamo sports society. In addition to raids on the enemy’s rear, brigade fighters participated in military operations on the fronts, especially during the defense of Moscow.
Shot from the movie "Scum". According to the filmmakers, during the war, the NKVD employees were engaged in throwing adolescents into the German rear, condemning them to certain death.
Few people know, for example, that the advanced group of Germans, which broke through on October 16 to the bridge over the railway in Khimki, destroyed tank company of the Dzerzhinsky internal forces division under the command of senior lieutenant Nikolai Strebko. Now at the site of this battle, without exaggeration, who decided the fate of Moscow, there is a memorial complex in the form of anti-tank hedgehogs. By the way, the contribution of Dzerzhins to the victory near Moscow is not limited to participation in hostilities.
In the engineering service of one of the regiments of the division, a recipe for the manufacture of a combustible mixture, later called the Molotov cocktail, was invented. The recipe was so cheap and effective that the know-how instantly scattered across all fronts and was actively used not only in the battle of Moscow, but also in other battles of the Great Patriotic War.
From the very first days of the war, partisan detachments began to be created in the territory occupied by the Germans. At first, almost all of them consisted of personnel officers from the NKVD, who were specially left behind enemy lines for these purposes. Then, by 1943, the partisan movement became truly widespread: people understood that nothing good could be expected from the German “new order”, and entire villages began to go into the forests to partisans. And in the first months of the war, when a significant part of the population still harbored some illusions about the Germans, the guerrilla movement consisted mainly of Chekists and policemen. So far from all the NKVD employees, contrary to popular opinion, were fixed in special departments and received an additional ration, many also risked their lives in the rear of the Germans.
A shot from the movie "Shtrafbat." According to the filmmakers, during the war, the NKVD officers were exclusively engaged in sitting in barrage detachments and shooting at their
Finally, the only ones who met the enemy of 22 on June 1941 of the year by organized resistance were the border troops of the NKVD of the USSR. Almost all the outposts delayed the onset of enemy columns for several hours, or even days. The famous Russian writer Ivan Shevtsov, the author of many sensational novels and short stories, served in the summer of 1941 on the Romanian border. His outpost for seven days (!) Hindered the attacks of the Nazis. And this is despite the fact that, in contrast to the regular units of the Red Army, the border guards were armed only with light rifle troops. weapons.
However, most border outposts managed to organize decent resistance to a numerically superior enemy, while the majority of army units, by contrast, showed absolute unpreparedness for effective hostilities.
The same Ivan Shevtsov, for example, recalls that the 22 of June commanders of rifle formations stationed near his outpost were completely at a loss and stupidly awaited orders from above. Shevtsov, then a very young lieutenant of the NKVD, had to take command and direct the actions not only of his outpost, but also of the whole infantry battalion with an artillery battery. And only when the front rolled back far to the east, an order came: leave the positions and retreat. A few more days Shevtsov and colleagues made their way to their own. All those who managed to escape from this hell were again asked to go to the front and then they fought well as part of various units and formations of the internal troops of the NKVD of the USSR.
For some reason, these and many other facts of real history are stubbornly ignored by those who are slapping one after the other war films. As a result, an employee of state security or internal affairs bodies appears on the screen only in the guise of such a beater, for whom the only consolation in life is to shoot as many compatriots as possible. And this stamp wanders from one film to another, without being subjected even to elementary correction. Cinema generally consists of clichés and conventions, but in the case of security officers and special agents, this goes beyond the limits of common sense.
Well, okay, modern directors do not like the fact that the NKVD officers also fought, and not just shot their fighters in the back of the head. Such is the active citizenship of modern directors, for which they probably pay well. However, it is necessary to observe at least the external similarity with the realities of that time: this, as they say, is the immutable law of the genre. Meanwhile on the screen now reigns complete chaos. Each filmmaker obviously thinks he is a genius and considers it beneath his dignity to know the form of clothes, insignia, military ranks and similar “trifles”.
And now another masterpiece called “Cadets” is born. The plot of the TV movie is this: young lieutenants are trained in one of the rear military schools. They cook, naturally, somehow, hastily, feed half-starving, but local special people, as usual, are chewing, almost chewing black caviar from cans and cheating unhappy cadets regularly. It happens in the winter of the year 1943. On the cadets buttonholes, on their commanders too, the evil special people also flaunt in brand new jackets with cubes in buttonholes. And now the training is over, freshly baked lieutenants are sent to the front. The form on them is still the same: buttonhole, only now they are lieutenant "Kubari".
Senior Lieutenant Ivan Shevtsov. His outpost in the summer of 1941 for a whole week delayed the German offensive
Did the authors of this wonderful film never even have the idea to ask: when did the epaulettes appear in our army? And they appeared in January 1943: first, a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 6 was issued, and then, on January 15, an order of the Supreme Commander, that is, Comrade Stalin. In accordance with these documents, the personnel of the army, fleet and power structures were ordered to change into a new uniform until February 15, 1943. And only the heroes of the "Cadets", even those who are sent to the army, for some reason flaunt without shoulder straps, ignoring the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
Here is another example of disregard for historical realities. Recently, Channel One showed a tele-epic "House of Exemplary Content." The action of some of the film series takes place during the Great Patriotic War. Of course, in addition to the positive heroes - some metropolitan intellectuals - there are also heroes in the film, to put it mildly, questionable, for example, employees of the internal affairs bodies. So, the agency in which these people serve, the authors of the film persistently call the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In any textbook of the modern history of the Russian language it is written that during the years of the Great Patriotic War there was no Ministry of Internal Affairs, because there were no ministries at all. Instead, with the 1917, there were people's commissariats - abbreviated commissariats. And only in the 1946 year, that is, after the war, did Stalin revive the ministries, and the department in which the film characters served were called the Ministry of the Interior, or the Interior Ministry.
Now with regard to military ranks. Here, modern screen geniuses do not bother themselves with anything at all: what came into their head is what they think is true. And therefore, very often, the officers of the Soviet special services are called commissars for them, and the German ones are sturmbanführer. Meanwhile, the NKVD system had its own special ranks, which did not always coincide with the army.
There were ten of them in total: state security sergeant, junior lieutenant r \ b, lieutenant r \ b, senior lieutenant r \ b, captain r \ b, major r \ b, senior major r \ b, state security commissioner 3 rank, state security commissioner 2 rank and commissioner of state security 1 rank. Finally, they have come up with a special title for the highest leaders: the General Commissioner of State Security. The commissar General Commissar wore only three people at different times: Heinrich Yagoda, Nikolai Yezhov, and Lavrenti Beria.
Note that we are talking only about the state security organs, which from 1934 to 1941 were part of the NKVD for a year. Border guards, policemen, firemen, military personnel of the internal troops, GULAG employees, who were also part of the NKVD, had, however, the same ranks as in the Red Army. The Navy traditionally had its own rank system. In addition, there were special ranks for military medics, military lawyers, military engineers, and in addition, in the system of political bodies and quartermaster services of the Red Army.
All this rather motley picture was preserved until about the autumn of the 1942 year, after which a unified system of military ranks was gradually introduced into the army and security agencies. From then on, security officers with special guards became known not as senior majors or state security commissioners of various ranks, but simply majors, colonels, or generals.
At the same time, the word forgotten “officer” returned to use. Until that moment, we recall, the officers called only the personnel officers of the General Staff of the Red Army. All the other commanders, both in the army and in the special services, were called commanders - the word “officer” in 1920 – 1930-s was perceived by a devout Soviet man as a curse word.
Now about the signs of distinction. The sergeants of the state security wore a triangle in buttonholes, lieutenants and captains - “Kubari”, majors - “sleepers”, commissars - rhombuses and stars. In addition, only for the staff of the Main State Security Directorate of the NKVD there were sleeve insignia: for sergeants - two truncated red triangles, for junior lieutenants - three same triangles, for lieutenants - one silver stitched silver star, for starley - two stars, for captains - three, for the majors - one star embroidered with gold, for the senior major - two such stars, for the Commissioner of the 3 rank - three, for the Commissioner of the 2 rank - four, and for the Commissioner of the 1 rank - also four, but arranged about neither was one star above. Stripes worn on both sleeves. And on the left - also a sign of a special sample: "The shield and the sword." All this was clearly spelled out in the departmental instruction of the model 1935 of the year.
Naturally, it’s not enough for modern masters of the screen to delve into all these subtleties: the main thing for them is to cut the budget of the film so that there is less money left for shooting and more in your pocket. At this point, one involuntarily has to save on everything, including expert consultants. In the Soviet years, even the living classics of cinema did not disdain to consult with professional historians. The creators of the immortal film about Stirlitz, for example, were advised by a whole team of military historians with a rank not lower than Colonel.
Modern filmmakers do not dream about it in a dream. Therefore, films about war often turn out in the fantasy genre ...
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