Partisan General Orlenko. Hungarian invaders in the ussr: the main "thugs" in the great patriotic war. Return to the past

Actually, there was already a story about him, three years ago, but everything changes, people come, it is not always possible to keep up with everything. So let's repeat.

First, a little history.

Already on June 27, 1941, Hungarian aircraft bombed Soviet border posts and the city of Stanislav. On July 1, 1941, the border of the Soviet Union was crossed by parts of the Carpathian group with a total number of more than 40,000 people. The most efficient unit in the group was the Mobile Corps under the command of Major General Bela Danloki-Miklos.

The corps consisted of two motorized and one cavalry brigade, support units (engineering, transport, communications, etc.). The armored divisions were armed with Italian Fiat-Ansaldo CV 33/35 tankettes, Toldi light tanks and Hungarian-made Csaba armored vehicles. The total strength of the Mobile Corps was about 25,000 soldiers and officers.

By July 9, 1941, the Hungarians, having overcome the resistance of the 12th Soviet army, advanced 60-70 km deep into the enemy's territory. On the same day, the Carpathian group was disbanded. The mountain and border brigades, which could not keep up with the motorized units, had to perform security functions in the occupied territories, and the Mobile Corps became subordinate to the commander of the German Army Group South, Field Marshal Karl von Rundstedt.

On July 23, Hungarian motorized units launched an offensive in the Bershad-Gayvoron area in cooperation with the 17th German Army. In August, a large group of Soviet troops was encircled near Uman. The encircled units were not going to surrender and made desperate attempts to break through the encirclement. The Hungarians played an almost decisive role in the defeat of this group.

In connection with the growth of losses, the warlike ardor of the Hungarian command decreased. On September 5, 1941, General Henrik Werth was removed from his post as Chief of the General Staff. His place was taken by infantry general Ferenc Szombathely, who believed that it was time to curtail the active hostilities of the Hungarian troops and withdraw them to defend the borders. But Hitler managed to achieve this only by promising to allocate Hungarian units to guard the supply lines and administrative centers in the rear of the German army.

Meanwhile, the Mobile Corps continued to fight at the front, and only on November 24, 1941, the last of its units went to Hungary. The losses of the corps on the Eastern Front amounted to 2,700 killed (including 200 officers), 7,500 wounded and 1,500 missing. In addition, all tankettes, 80% of light tanks, 90% of armored vehicles, more than 100 vehicles, about 30 guns and 30 aircraft were lost.

At the end of November, "light" Hungarian divisions began to arrive in Ukraine to carry out police functions in the occupied territories. The headquarters of the Hungarian "Occupation Group" is located in Kiev. Already in December, the Hungarians began to be actively involved in anti-partisan operations. Sometimes such operations turned into very serious military clashes. An example of one of such actions is the defeat on December 21, 1941 of the partisan detachment of General Orlenko. The Hungarians managed to surround and completely destroy the enemy base. According to Hungarian data, about 1,000 partisans were killed.

In early January 1942, Hitler demanded that Horthy increase the number of Hungarian units on the Eastern Front. Initially, it was planned to send at least two-thirds of the entire Hungarian army to the front, but after negotiations, the Germans reduced their requirements.

To send to Russia, the 2nd Hungarian Army was formed with a total number of about 250,000 people under the command of Lieutenant General Gustav Jan. It consisted of the 3rd, 4th and 7th Army Corps (each has three light infantry divisions, similar to 8 conventional divisions), the 1st Panzer Division (actually a brigade) and the 1st Air Force (actually a regiment ). On April 11, 1942, the first units of the 2nd Army went to the Eastern Front.

On June 28, 1942, the German 4th Panzer and 2nd Field Armies went on the offensive. Their main target was the city of Voronezh. The offensive was attended by the troops of the 2nd Hungarian Army - the 7th Army Corps.

On July 9, the Germans managed to break into Voronezh. The next day, to the south of the city, the Hungarians came out to the Don and established a foothold. During the battles, only one 9th Light Division lost 50% of its personnel. The German command set the task for the 2nd Hungarian army to eliminate the three bridgeheads that remained in the hands of the Soviet troops. The Uryvsky bridgehead posed the most serious threat. On July 28, the Hungarians made the first attempt to throw its defenders into the river, but all attacks were repulsed. Fierce and bloody battles broke out. On August 9, Soviet units launched a counterattack, pushing back the advance units of the Hungarians and expanding the bridgehead near Uryv. On September 3, 1942, the Hungarian-German troops managed to push the enemy back beyond the Don near the village of Korotoyak, but in the Uryv area, the Soviet defense held out. After the main forces of the Wehrmacht were transferred to Stalingrad, the front here stabilized and the fighting took on a positional character.

On January 13, 1943, the positions of the 2nd Hungarian Army and the Alpine Italian Corps were struck by the troops of the Voronezh Front, supported by the 13th Army of the Bryansk Front and the 6th Army of the Southwestern Front.

The very next day, the defense of the Hungarians was broken through, some parts were seized by panic. Soviet tanks entered the operational space and smashed headquarters, communications centers, ammunition and equipment depots. The entry into battle of the 1st Hungarian Panzer Division and units of the 24th German Panzer Corps did not change the situation, although their actions slowed down the pace of the Soviet offensive. During the battles in January-February 1943, the 2nd Hungarian Army suffered catastrophic losses.

All tanks and armored vehicles were lost, virtually all artillery, the level of losses in personnel reached 80%. If this is not a rout, then it is difficult to call it anything else.

Hungarians inherited great. To say that they were hated more than the Germans is to say nothing. The tale that General Vatutin (a deep bow to him and eternal memory) gave the order “not to take the Hungarians prisoner” is absolutely not a fairy tale, but a historical fact.

Nikolai Fyodorovich could not remain indifferent to the stories of the delegation of residents of the Ostrogozhsky region about the atrocities of the Hungarians, and, perhaps, in his hearts, he dropped this phrase.

However, the phrase spread through parts with lightning speed. This is evidenced by the stories of my grandfather, a soldier of the 41st Rifle Corps of the 10th NKVD Division, and after being wounded - 81 Rifle Corps of the 25th Guards. page division. The soldiers, being aware of what the Hungarians were doing, took it as a kind of indulgence. And they treated the Hungarians accordingly. That is, they were not taken prisoner.

Well, if, according to the grandfather, they were "especially smart", then the conversation with them was also short. In the nearest gully or forest. "We pinned them up ... When trying to escape."

As a result of the battles on Voronezh land, the 2nd Hungarian army lost about 150 thousand people, in fact, all the equipment. What was left was already rolled out on the ground of Donbass.

Today, there are two mass graves of Hungarian soldiers and officers on the territory of the Voronezh region.

These are the village of Boldyrevka of the Ostrogozhsky district and the village of Rudkino Khokholsky.

More than 8 thousand Honved soldiers are buried in Boldyrevka. We have not been there, but by the 75th anniversary of the Ostrogozh-Rossosh operation we will definitely visit. As well as the town of Korotoyak, whose name in Hungary is known to virtually every family. As a symbol of sorrow.

But we stopped at Rudkino.

The memorial is always closed, it is only opened when delegations from Hungary arrive. But there are no obstacles for the aircraft, and we used the drone.

How many Hungarians lie here is difficult to say. Each slab contains 40-45 names. How many plates can be counted, but difficult. I tried. It turned out that approximately 50 to 55 thousand were laid to rest here. And plus 8.5 thousand in Boldyrevka.

Where are the others? And all in the same place, along the banks of the Don-Father.

The moral here is simple: whoever comes to us with a sword will bend anyway.

Some are unpleasant that this is how cemeteries of Hungarians, Germans, Italians exist. Well-groomed such.

But: we Russians are not at war with the dead. The Hungarian government maintains (albeit with our hands) the cemeteries of its soldiers. And there is nothing so shameful in this. All within the framework of a bilateral intergovernmental agreement on the maintenance and care of military graves.

So let the Hungarian warriors lie, under marble slabs, in a rather beautiful corner of the Don bend.

As an edification to those who suddenly still come to mind utter nonsense.

Return to the past

From Stalingrad I traveled to Moscow for six days: some by a plywood U-2 airplane, some by a passing car, and some by just walking. The capital met with severe concentration, calmness and some kind of special silence after the battles on the Volga. November 1942 was drawing to a close. Winter has already come into its own. The snow, however, was cleared away, but it was not taken out of the streets, as in peacetime, and it lay on the sidewalks in high snowdrifts. Frost whitened the glass, sealed crosswise with paper tapes, the wind squeezed tears from his eyes.

How strikingly different this picture was from Stalingrad! The streets there were red with brick dust, and the soot-covered skeletons of houses mournfully blackened against their background. In the lobby of the Moscow Hotel, the sentry asked me to show an identity card. I studied the seals carefully.

Who are you going to?

The regimental commissar comrade Bazhan summoned me.

The sentry picked up the phone, dialed the number and said to the invisible interlocutor: "The senior political instructor, the photojournalist of the newspaper" For Radianska Ukrasha "Davidzop has arrived."

After that he returned my identity card, took it under a visor and pointed to the left, in the direction of a wide marble staircase. I looked embarrassedly from the battered, burnt-out felt boots, which served me faithfully in Stalingrad, to the floor that was sparkling clean.

But the sentry nodded his head encouragingly: they say, bolder, bolder ...

The famous Ukrainian poet Mykola Bazhan lived in a small private room. On top of a thin hotel blanket lay a gray soldier's greatcoat, and a writing desk was littered with manuscripts and reprints of articles.

So your dream is coming true, Yakov Borisovich, - he said.

What dream? - I was confused.

The call from Moscow fell unexpectedly, in the midst of the battle on the Volga. Honestly, he didn't make me happy at first, but rather annoyed me. The hour of the final defeat of the Nazis in Stalingrad was approaching, and I was preparing to shoot the heroic epic on film. But an order is an order.

I had to obey and leave for Moscow.

Do you have any idea why you were called? - Bazhan slyly screwed up his eyes.

No, - I honestly admitted.

The events of a year ago flashed before my eyes. It seems that in July 1941, after returning from Ternopil, as a military photojournalist, I was sent to Brovary. There I met with Mikola Bazhan. He immediately offered me to work in the new newspaper "For Radianska Ukrashu" ...

Do you remember? - asked Bazhan impatiently.

How could I not remember!

So - to the partisans? - I exclaimed delightedly and almost rushed to hug Bazhan.

You must report to the headquarters of the partisan movement today,

to comrade Strokach ...

The chief of staff of the partisan movement - tall, broad-shouldered, with a handsome, but somewhat stern face - Timofey Amvrosievich Strokach, looking at me point-blank, asked:

Aren't you afraid to go to the rear, to the Germans? If you, a photojournalist, arrived

to record the heroism of the partisans for posterity, you will fall into the hands of the Nazis ...

In violation of the charter, I jumped out of my chair and almost shouted:

I'm a soldier! My weapon may be a camera, but I am a soldier ... and I must be there among the partisans!

Probably my behavior amused Strokach. He smiled, looked at me for a long time and said:

I asked this question on my own initiative. Order about your

sidor Artemyevich Kovpak's secondment to the partisan unit was signed.

Even today I remember how my breath caught and my heart beat joyfully: my dream was beginning to come true! ..

Day after day flew by, and my vigils from dark to dark under the door of Strokach's office remained fruitless. Kovpak's compound moved into a raid along the enemy rear, and the short stops that the partisans made did not allow the construction of at least a temporary airfield. And soon from one kind of duffel bag with photographic film and chemicals I was overcome with melancholy and despondency ...

On that day, sitting, as usual, closer to the office of the chief of staff, I waited hopefully for the doors to open and the adjutant shout out:

"Comrade Davidzon, the car is downstairs!"

But no one remembered me, strangers scurried past, not paying any attention to me.

However, I did not notice anyone either. I also watched the appearance of a man in a solid Romanovs sheepskin coat and astrakhan kubanka with a bright red ribbon obliquely.

Hello, - said the stranger, pausing beside me.

what connection?

I hurriedly got up, straightened up and answered sadly:

Yes from any ... I'm going to fly to Kovpak. I am a photojournalist

newspapers "For Radianska Decorate".

And I am Fedorov! Fly with me!

The name of the first secretary of the underground Chernigov regional party committee, the commander of the largest partisan unit "General Orlenko" was covered in legends.

"These are the kind of people I had to meet!" - I thought happily. We felt the front line with our ... sides. German antiaircraft artillery opened barrage. The plane threw, as if on bumps, orange, red, white balls of fire flashed behind the windows. At any moment, the splinter could pierce the thin metal. But no one even sighed and gave out his excitement. I was afraid of only one thing - that the pilot would not turn back.

But the plane did not change course, and soon the front line was left behind by thick clouds hiding us from the German fighters.

I dozed off unnoticed. I woke up with a strong jolt that almost threw me to the floor. A sack of some kind fell into my lap, preventing me from getting up.

Parade in honor of the fortieth anniversary of Soviet Ukraine. The column of former partisans is led by the legendary commanders Alexei Fedorovich Fedorov, Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak, Timofey Amvrosievich Strokach.

The commander of the partisan unit twice Hero of the Soviet Union AF Fedorov.

Lilya Karastoyanova among the partisans (far left). No one knew at that moment that the days of her life were already numbered.

It was dark, and the ceiling light was off. The motors roared, but the pilots opened the door. We saw people running towards us in the snow. The pilots stood at the exit, holding their machine guns at the ready. Fedorov was also on his feet. Someone loudly shouted the password on the run, the pilots lowered their machine guns and threw the gangway.

A narrow long clearing in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Kletniansky forests served as an airfield for the partisans. Tall spruce trees, heavy with fluffy white clothes, frosty air sparkling under the beams of flashlights with myriads of snowflakes, sensitive forest silence - all this did not even remotely remind that we were in the deep German rear.

People in sheepskin coats and greatcoats, in caps with earflaps and ordinary caps, girded crosswise with machine-gun belts, with short German machine-gun "Schmeisers" and rifles, hurried to the plane. “Here we are, comrades, in Lesograd,” said Fedorov excitedly, addressing us.

The commander of the partisan unit S.A. Kovpak (April 1943).

During the war, he was twice awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Commander of the Chernigov partisan unit, Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Nikitich Popudrenko (January 1943).

Semyon Vasilyevich Rudnev, commissar of the Sumy partisan formation, Hero of the Soviet Union. Killed in a battle with the invaders.

It really was a real city, in which over ten thousand people lived: partisans and civilians who fled into the forest from punishers, peasants from villages burned to the ground. It had its own streets, along which there were good, warm dugouts, detachment kitchens, a hospital, workshops, haystacks, carts, and a stable.

Those who arrived from the mainland were greeted warmly, asked for a long time about Moscow, about the affairs at the front. They vied with each other to invite to the dugouts, promising "world conveniences." I looked at the partisans eagerly, for these were not ordinary people - they were real heroes. I wanted to immediately take out my camera and start shooting. Only one circumstance upset me: it was too dark.

The partisans went on a campaign ...

On September 21, 1943, at 16.00 Moscow time, N.N. Popudrenko's partisan formation met with the advanced units of the Soviet Army. These were the first minutes of this long-awaited meeting.

The plane was quickly unloaded, and from everywhere they were already carrying the wounded on sleds, drawn by horses, and simply on sleds. They were sent to Moscow. “And I thought that the partisans were lying in the snow, in ambush ... and the Germans were visible with the naked eye,” Lilya Karastoyanova told me in secret. Her large dark eyes burned with delight, she often looked around, as if she was afraid to miss something important. I confessed to her that I also imagined our arrival somewhat differently.

Nothing, Lily, - I reassured Karastoyanova, - enough for our share

How was I then to know that our plane would be the last, that a day later the Nazis would go to storm Lesograd and bullets would again begin to strike indiscriminately adults and children ...

All who arrived were invited to the commander's dugout - a large, spacious, with a long wooden table. They offered a modest treat - uniforms of potatoes, pickles, onions and a piece of bread for each. The bread sprinkled with ash gave off a unique aroma. But there was plenty of talk. We sat up until the morning. To my disappointment, guerrilla life was the least talked about. But with unflagging attention they listened to our stories about the affairs at the front, about life on the mainland. I was the only one who got into the forest directly from Stalingrad, and I had to recall in more detail the events I witnessed. Lilya Karastoyanova talked about Bulgaria, how the Bulgarian communists are waging an underground struggle.

When I got out of the dugout, the dim winter sun was shining. Snow creaked underfoot. A brown-eyed smiling boy came up to me.

Hello, he said. You arrived at night, didn't you? Misha, - he introduced himself and immediately corrected himself: - Mikhail, surname Davidovich.

Is that your camera?

I am a photojournalist, Misha. If you don't mind, I'll take you off first.

So I met a boy-partisan and fell in love with him with all my heart for his cheerful, cheerful disposition, for the sonorous voice with which he sang his favorite song "Eaglet, Eaglet ..."

A day later, I had already forgotten what silence is. The fascist command, having pulled together large forces - army units, the Gestapo, the police - began the siege of Lesograd. Fighting broke out on the distant approaches to the partisan capital, but that is why they did not become less tragic and bloody. And more than forty years later, I remember the rustling sound of bombs rushing to the ground, and the roar, from which eardrums almost burst. I remember the faces of the guys, your peers. There was no fear in them. Yesterday's schoolchildren dreamed of only one thing - retribution ...

In this book, friends, I want to tell about them - about your peers, about the young eagles of the partisan forests. I lay out the pictures on the table and begin my story ...

The Hungarian Mobile Corps continued the offensive along with the troops of the 11th German Army, participating in heavy battles near Pervomaisk and Nikolaev. On September 2, German-Hungarian troops captured Dnepropetrovsk after fierce street fighting. Hot battles flared up in the south of Ukraine in Zaporozhye. Soviet troops repeatedly launched counterstrikes. So, during the bloody battle on the island of Khortitsa, an entire Hungarian infantry regiment was completely destroyed. In connection with the growth of losses, the warlike ardor of the Hungarian command decreased. On September 5, 1941, General Henrik Werth was removed from his post as Chief of the General Staff. His place was taken by infantry general Ferenc Szombathely, who believed that it was time to curtail the active hostilities of the Hungarian troops and withdraw them to protect the borders. But Hitler managed to achieve this only by promising to allocate Hungarian units to guard supply lines and administrative centers in the rear of the German army. Meanwhile, the Mobile Corps continued to fight at the front, and only on November 24, 1941, the last of its units went to Hungary. The losses of the corps on the Eastern Front amounted to 2,700 killed (including 200 officers), 7,500 wounded and 1,500 missing. In addition, all tankettes, 80% of light tanks, 90% of armored vehicles, more than 100 vehicles, about 30 guns and 30 aircraft were lost. At the end of November, "light" Hungarian divisions began to arrive in Ukraine to perform police functions in the occupied territories. The headquarters of the Hungarian "Occupation Group" is located in Kiev. Already in December, the Hungarians began to be actively involved in anti-partisan operations. Sometimes such operations turned into very serious military clashes. An example of one of such actions is the defeat on December 21, 1941 of the partisan detachment of General Orlenko. The Hungarians managed to surround and completely destroy the enemy base. According to Hungarian data, about 1,000 partisans were killed. In early January 1942, Hitler demanded that Horthy increase the number of Hungarian units on the Eastern Front. Initially, it was planned to send at least two-thirds of the entire Hungarian army to the front, but after negotiations the Germans reduced their requirements. For sending to Russia, the 2nd Hungarian Army was formed with a total number of about 250,000 people under the command of Lieutenant General Gustav Jan. It consisted of the 3rd, 4th and 7th Army Corps (each has three light infantry divisions, similar to 8 conventional divisions), the 1st Panzer Division (actually a brigade) and the 1st Air Force (actually a regiment ). On April 11, 1942, the first units of the 2nd Army went to the Eastern Front. On June 28, 1942, the German 4th Panzer and 2nd Field Armies went over to the offensive. Their main target was the city of Voronezh. The offensive was attended by the troops of the 2nd Hungarian Army - the 7th Army Corps. On July 9, the Germans managed to break into Voronezh. The next day, to the south of the city, the Hungarians came out to the Don and established a foothold. During the battles, only one 9th Light Division lost 50% of its personnel. The German command set the task for the 2nd Hungarian army to eliminate the three bridgeheads that remained in the hands of the Soviet troops. The Uryvsky bridgehead posed the most serious threat. On July 28, the Hungarians made the first attempt to throw its defenders into the river, but all attacks were repulsed. Fierce and bloody battles broke out. On August 9, Soviet units launched a counterattack, pushing back the advance units of the Hungarians and expanding the bridgehead near Uryv. On September 3, 1942, the Hungarian-German troops managed to push the enemy back beyond the Don near the village of Korotoyak, but the Soviet defense held out in the Uryv area. After the main forces of the Wehrmacht were transferred to Stalingrad, the front here stabilized and the fighting took on a positional character. On January 13, 1943, the positions of the 2nd Hungarian Army and the Alpine Italian Corps were struck by the troops of the Voronezh Front, supported by the 13th Army of the Bryansk Front and the 6th Army of the Southwestern Front.

SK Timoshenko devoted himself to this noble task. In October 1921, he enters the Higher Academic Courses, brings theoretical knowledge under his rich combat experience, which he uses in his further activities to train and educate troops.

In 1933 S.K. Timoshenko was sent abroad, where he got acquainted with the armies of the capitalist states.

In the thirties, the Soviet Armed Forces, on the basis of the achievements of the socialist industry, were equipped with advanced military equipment and weapons. New regulations and instructions were developed and adopted, the command personnel of the Red Army were improved. As one of the capable military leaders, Tymoshenko is promoted to top command posts. He was deputy commander and commander of a number of military districts, including the largest Kiev Special Military District.

The Communist Party and the Soviet people show SK Timoshenko high confidence. He was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviets of the USSR and the Ukrainian SSR, a member of the Central Committee and the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. At the XVIII Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), he was elected a member of the Central Committee of the party. For his great contribution to the strengthening of the Red Army, S.K. Timoshenko is awarded the Order of Lenin.

In the late thirties, the international situation sharply aggravated, a wave of acts of aggression swept in Europe, Asia and Africa. The most dangerous hotbed of aggression flared up in Western Europe, where fascist Germany, with the connivance of other imperialist powers, unleashed the Second World War. By the middle of September 1939, under the blows of the German fascist troops, the Polish landlord was defeated. Western Ukraine and Western Belarus were facing the threat of Hitler's occupation. In this regard, the Soviet government decided to take under its protection the fraternal peoples of these western regions. SK Timoshenko was appointed commander of the Ukrainian Front. He completed the mission entrusted to him successfully. On September 17, 1939, Red Army units crossed the border and liberated Western Ukraine and Western Belarus. Then these areas were reunited with Soviet Ukraine and Soviet Belarus. I, a participant in this liberation campaign, remember how much Semyon Konstantinovich paid attention to political work in the troops and among the population.

At the end of 1939, the imperialists provoked the Finnish military to wage war against our country. In March 1940, the Finnish troops were defeated. The commander of the North-Western Front S.K. Timoshenko played an important role in organizing their defeat. For exemplary fulfillment of the tasks of the Soviet government in commanding the troops, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 7, 1940, S. K. Timoshenko was appointed People's Commissar of Defense. At the same time, he was awarded the military rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union.

Military glory and high official position did not turn SK Timoshenko's head. As before, he remained kind-hearted, considerate and approachable. Marshal of the Soviet Union K. K. Rokossovsky, talking about his meeting with Semyon Konstantinovich in 1940, wrote: “I remembered the beginning of the thirties - the 3rd cavalry corps, which was then commanded by S. K. Timoshenko and where I was the commander of the 7th Samara named after the English proletariat of the cavalry division. The corps commander passed everyone, horsemen, was respected. Moreover, with love. And at the high post of People's Commissar, he retained the same ease of communication and comradely availability. "

Occupying a large post, Semyon Konstantinovich made a lot of efforts to strengthen the defense capability of the Soviet state and increase the combat readiness of the Red Army. Under his leadership, modern combat experience was mastered. In all the districts, and above all in the western military districts, exercises and maneuvers of troops were conducted.

In those years, the People's Commissariat of Defense did a great job of mobilizing resources, showing concern for re-equipping the army with the latest types of tanks and aircraft, and the best examples of artillery pieces.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Soviet government closely followed the actions of Germany and took into account the possibility of an attack on the USSR. People's Commissar for Defense S.K. Timoshenko was well aware of this.

On June 22, 1941, Hitlerite Germany treacherously violated the non-aggression pact and German fascist troops invaded the territory of the Soviet Union. People's Commissar for Defense S.K. Timoshenko went to the front. By decision of the State Defense Committee, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Western direction and at the same time the commander of the Western Front. The situation was extremely difficult. Under the pressure of the armored hordes of the enemy, the Soviet troops retreated. In the course of hostilities, S.K. Timoshenko had to create front-line command and control, establish communications with the troops, and with all his might to contain the rapid offensive of the enemy superior in numbers and combat equipment.

In September, Semyon Konstantinovich took over command of the Southwestern Front. And here the situation was difficult. The front troops were retreating. After a while, the front commander managed to slow down the enemy's offensive and carry out a number of offensive operations: defeat Kleist's German tank army near Rostov, smash the right wing of the enemy grouping in the Efremov area and liberate Yelets, as well as deliver a counterstrike in the area of \u200b\u200bLozovaya station.

By the fall of 1942, the situation on the North-Western Front became more complicated, which was instructed to command S.K. Timoshenko. Here he led the troops that surrounded the Nazi grouping in the Demyansk salient, which threatened to strike at Leningrad and in the Moscow direction. By March 1943, enemy troops in the Demyansk area were defeated.

Subsequently, the Headquarters of the Supreme Command instructed Semyon Konstantinovich to coordinate the actions of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. In June 1943, he was sent on the same mission to the Kuban, where he interacted with the North Caucasian Front and the Black Sea Fleet. With the active help of S.K. Timoshenko, Soviet troops defeated the Nazis in the Kuban and the Taman Peninsula, crossed the Kerch Strait by landing operations and captured the coast of Crimea.

Taking into account the experience acquired by S.K. Timoshenko in coordinating the actions of the fronts, the Headquarters of the Supreme Command in 1944 sent him as its representative to the 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts. In July, he was sent to coordinate the actions of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ukrainian fronts, which launched a powerful offensive in the Ukraine and Moldova. Here SK Timoshenko also successfully coped with the tasks assigned to him and remained on these fronts until the victorious end of the Great Patriotic War. An old communist and an experienced military and political figure, Semyon Konstantinovich did a lot to strengthen fraternal friendship and international solidarity of the peoples liberated from fascism.

For outstanding services to the Motherland in the years of the struggle against the German fascist invaders, SK Timoshenko was awarded the Order of Victory, three Orders of Suvorov of the 1st degree and many medals.

After the defeat of Nazi Germany, Marshal of the Soviet Union Timoshenko commanded the troops of a number of military districts. From 1963, for seven years, he was chairman of the Soviet Committee of War Veterans.

The Soviet people are proud of such people as Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko. In 1965, on his 70th birthday, he was awarded the second Gold Star medal. In the homeland of Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, a bronze bust was erected as a tribute to the people's honor to the talented commander, patriot and communist.

V. Pavlov, Hero of the Soviet Union

General Orlenko

FEDOROV ALEXEY FEDOROVICH

Alexey Fedorovich Fedorov was born in 1901 in Dnepropetrovsk. Ukrainian by nationality. Member of the CPSU since 1927. An active participant in the civil war.

In 1938 he was elected first secretary of the Chernigov regional committee of the CP (b) U. In this post he was found by the Great Patriotic War.

From the very first days of Hitler's occupation, A.F. Fedorov, by decision of the Central Committee of the CP (b) U, remained behind enemy lines. At first he was the secretary of the Chernigov, then the Volyn underground regional party committee. The partisan detachments and formations he commanded carried out a number of bold operations behind enemy lines. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 18, 1942, A.F. Fedorov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In April 1943 he was awarded the rank of Major General, and on January 4, 1944 he was awarded the Gold Star medal for the second time. He was also awarded many orders and medals.

After the war, AF Fedorov studied at the Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the CPSU. He currently lives in Kiev, works as the Minister of Social Security of the Ukrainian SSR. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the seventh, eighth and ninth convocations. He is the author of the book "The Underground Regional Committee Works."

Now I don't remember exactly when I first saw the commander of our unit, partisan general Alexei Fedorovich Fedorov ...

The most dear people to us, comrades of difficult war years, we remember by the hours and minutes spent side by side - albeit in silence - but in battle.

In these endlessly long hours and minutes of terrible tension, without any questions or stories, we learned all the details about each other, penetrated into the most intimate corners of the soul ...

It seems that here it is, before our eyes, that clear summer morning, which found our partisan unit in the small town of Perelyub in the Chernihiv region.

The operation to destroy the Nazi garrison located in this place was coming to an end. Structures set on fire in battle were burning down. Shots were fired less and less often. To the bank of the Revna River, which flowed along the outskirts, a partisan wagon train slowly pulled together almost at the very houses. The well-oiled, rag-wrapped wheels of machine-gun carts rattled on the log deck of the bridge. The wounded moaned muffledly, through clenched teeth. The prisoners walked gloomily with their heads down. The guards had difficulty holding back the crowd of villagers who were eager to deal with their tormentors.

And suddenly everyone was on their guard: they heard a sound like a mosquito squeak. The sound grew, approached, passed first into a hum, then into a roar. The dull noise of powerful motors and the sonorous clang of tracks could already be distinguished in it ...

A terrible word rumbled through the partisans: "tanks!"

A tank is terrible for the partisans when they are in the field, far from the forest! What can be opposed to an armored monster, except for light weapons - a machine gun, an assault rifle? Where to hide from the tank? But panic is a terrible enemy of tanks. And he was already fussing among us, this enemy, squeezing hearts, muddying the mind, urging us to give up everything and - to run, to run.

The first desire of everyone who stood at that moment on the outskirts of the village was to get to the forest as soon as possible. The riders hastily removed the bag of oats from the horse's muzzles, tightened the soup, the girths. There were sharp shouts from the commanders who were gathering the people. Someone, weaker in spirit, rushed to the road leading to the forest.

Stop! Get down! Take up the defense!

And people stopped: There was so much confidence, calmness, strength in these words.

The wagon train, the medical unit, the prisoners - to the forest! the same voice continued. - Faster!

Two light German tanks with black and white crosses on camouflage steel sides have already appeared on a rural street. Crimson flashes of machine guns flashed across the tank turrets. The bullets whistled and clicked. The infantry moved behind the tanks, running from house to house.

Don't shoot without an order! - another command thundered.

The tanks approached the river and moved along it, watering our bank with machine guns. And suddenly a single PTR shot slammed from the command post. Behind him - another, third ... A dazzlingly bright star flashed on the side of the head tank. A minute later, the tank was already blazing with a smoky tailed flame. Partisan machine-gun and submachine gun fires rolled out. Under a hail of bullets, the Hitlerite infantry lay down on the gentle bank, began to retreat to the gardens, huddle up to the buildings.

The engine of the second car roared. Instead of heading across the bridge, she hastily rolled back into the shelter of the village buildings.

Min are afraid! someone shouted.

In the guerrilla chain, it cheered up. There was that joyful feeling of self-confidence, which always precedes victory. In military language, this is called "seizing the initiative."

From the command post, located in the bushes, bending down, messengers ran in different directions. One of the companies on the right flank hastily withdrew and moved around somewhere, downstream. After 40 minutes, explosions were suddenly heard behind the enemy positions. The fire of the Nazis immediately weakened, and then completely died down. We saw how, running from hut to hut, they ran away from the river, to the hillock, behind which the trucks that had delivered them to the battlefield were burning down.

It's time to leave. The bushes at the command post began to stir, and a short, but stumpy broad-shouldered man in a military tunic without insignia, with straps crossed across his chest, in a protective cap with a cloth visor and with a machine gun in his hands, rose from them. It was Alexei Fyodorovich Fedorov. The horse breeder brought him his horse. But Fedorov shook his head. - No. I won't ride, ”he said slowly, wearily. - Bring the cart ...

II then I realized that the calmness and composure with which he had just commanded us in battle and which encouraged us, instilled in us confidence in our strengths and dispelled all doubts - this calmness and composure is not at all easy ...

The skill of the partisan commander, the experience of illegal work behind enemy lines did not come to the first secretary of the Chernigov regional party committee, Alexei Fedorovich Fedorov, immediately. The first steps were especially difficult. They had to be done alone, without comrades in the regional committee, with whom military fate separated for two long months when crossing the front line in an accidental skirmish with the enemy.

At every step Fedorov saw the terrible traces of the occupation's mastery - people who were hanged, shot, burned. And every meeting with the Nazis - in the village or on the road - could turn out to be death for the secretary of the regional committee.

From dawn to dawn, endless crowds of refugees and Soviet soldiers were dusting along the country roads and highways of the occupied regions.

1 Three members of the Chernigov underground KP (b) U regional committee - N.N.Popudrenko, V.E. Yaremenko and S.M. Novikov - went to the partisan camp together with the regional partisan detachment on August 26, 1941, and A.F. Fedorov , V.L.Kapranov, I.D. Kompanets and N.A. their units or those who escaped from captivity, fire victims and various other people, displaced from their place by war and forced to wander. Among this motley masses moving in all directions, Fedorov did not attract attention for the time being. Until then, until in villages and townships on the walls of houses and on fences were not filled with leaflets signed by "General Orlenko", until people recognized in an emaciated man with a beard overgrown in frayed clothes the first secretary of the regional committee, the deputy whom they elected to the Supreme Soviet THE USSR. And the rumor that Fedorov did not leave, but remained behind enemy lines along with the people, with his voters, spread throughout the district.

But it was not so much rumors as the revival of the partisan struggle in all the places where Fedorov passed that worried the Hitlerite leaders. A major award was assigned to Fedorov's head. Several people who, unfortunately, turned out to be outwardly similar to Alexei Fyodorovich, were hanged by the Nazis in the central square of Chernigov, each time attaching a board to the hanging man's chest with the inscription: "Stalin's bandit Fyodorov ..." But the real Fyodorov was elusive. People hid him everywhere. He slowly moved towards the goal - the regional partisan detachment, which, as he knew, settled in the northern regions of the region. I looked for contacts, sent them out to the surrounding villages and towns. Now this was the main thing: Fedorov saw how far from ideal both he and his comrades in the regional committee turned out to be when they were preparing the underground. The system of communication with district committees and underground district committees, thought out, it would seem, to the smallest detail, in many cases was violated. And the very structure of the underground, which actually copied the regional party organization in peacetime, as it turned out, was not well adapted to the real conditions of the enemy rear.

Some underground organizations, having lost contact with the district committee, hid and did nothing, waiting for better times. Some of the safe houses disappeared: their owners died or fled. One of the partisan detachments actually existed only during the day: the partisans came to the camp by eight in the morning, “served” until the evening, and before sunset they again went home. There was even a partisan commander who completely disbanded the detachment, believing that the main thing in this war is to survive.

All of this: communications, partisan activities, lost attendances and passwords - had to be restored, rebuilt. And Fedorov, striding from village to village, picked up people, set sign-ups and passwords, “robbed the partisans who were disbanded from their homes and studied himself, gained experience in fighting behind enemy lines. In this he was assisted by his comrades - Pavel Dneprovsky, Pavel Plevako, Vasily Zubko and Nadezhda Belyaevskaya, who formed the regional committee group under Fedorov's leadership ...

If my task was to tell only about the personal qualities of Alexei Fedorovich, everything would be much easier.

One had only to write how, laughing in his mustache, he read the announcements of the Hitlerite command pasted everywhere, which promised a large reward "for the head of the Bolshevik leader Alexei Fedorov." As, clutching a "lemon" in his pocket, he sat at village gatherings at the muzzle of German machine guns. As at a critical moment, at the head of the strike group, he broke through the ring of the enemy's encirclement. How he bypassed, without bowing to bullets and shrapnel, the liquid line of partisan defense ...

How many of them were there - similar cases passed from mouth to mouth among the partisans and among the population, cases, many of which sounded almost like a legend!

But how to tell about Fedorov the commander, about Fedorov - the partisan leader, about Fedorov - the secretary of the regional committee ?! How to tell about his activities, which took place hidden from prying eyes and outwardly almost did not appear in any way? But it is precisely this inconspicuous part of the activity of a military leader, and even a partisan one, and even a secretary of the regional committee, that constitutes the most important and most difficult part of his difficult duties. Much more important and difficult than personal courage visible to everyone!

A partisan detachment, operating deep in the enemy's rear, to some extent resembles a warship. And here and there, and for an ordinary sailor or partisan, and for the most senior commander, the degree of danger is the same. As long as the ship remains buoyant, as long as the detachment exists, both have the opportunity to continue the fight, to inflict damage on the enemy.

Fedorov understood this and always, in all cases, first of all, he was concerned about keeping our partisan formation intact.

For this, one had to take risks, sacrifice people ... It was not easy for the commander, and even more so for the party leader, to make such decisions, to withstand the questioning views of people who did not know and therefore did not understand the reasons that caused the risk and sacrifice.

In June 1942, after an unsuccessful attempt to break through the Desna into the forest partisan areas of the Bryansk region, our unit was forced to return back to the shallow, skinny Chernigov copses.

It was a difficult time. During the day, we fought with the fascist punitive detachments that followed us on our heels. At night, they made long and tedious marches to the next line. As soon as we got to the first bushes, we hastily cooked food and fell asleep with dead sleep. But the dream was short-lived. It is difficult to hide the tracks in the field, the enemies soon found them and easily guessed in which copse our bivouac was located.

By noon, the scouts reported the approach of trucks with soldiers. Half an hour later, the first automatic bursts and grenade explosions on the edges of our outposts announced that another battle had begun ... While it was light, there was no need to think about retreating: in the field, in an open place, the forces would have been too unequal. They had to stay under the protection of the green walls of the forest, repel enemy attacks one after another, and look forward to the end of a long summer day. In the evening we broke through the encirclement, carrying the wounded in our arms. And again - a long march to the next line ... Everything was repeated from the beginning.

The wounded were the hardest hit. The shaking roads, along which we had to move, ruffled their wounds, caused unbearable pain. Added to the physical suffering was the constant tension caused by the feeling of complete helplessness.

In mid-August 1942, we finally got to the so-called Sophia forest dachas - a relatively large forest located on the border of three republics: the RSFSR, Ukraine and Belarus.

In these forests we hoped to take a break, to receive planes from the mainland with weapons, ammunition, food for our faithful "Severk" - a partisan radio, medicines, letters. They hoped to send the wounded comrades.

In a word, when the vaults of the Sophia forest dachas, slightly touched by the first autumn yellowness, closed over our heads, we all breathed a sigh of relief.

And there was nothing to be happy about. We did not know that the Nazis were preparing a trap for us here. All the cities located nearby - Chernigov, Gomel, Novozybkov, Zlynka, Klimov - were flooded with Nazi troops.

Around our camp, located between the villages of Sofievka and Velikiye Lyady, the enemy ring closed. At night we made a desperate attempt to break through the small village of Novy Put, lost in the forest. According to the information brought by our intelligence, this was far from the weakest point of the enemy defense. The path through the neighboring swamp, although it, if the Germans spotted our convoy, will not save us from enemy machine guns, is much more reliable than through the village in which the Nazis dug full-profile trenches, installed artillery, heavy mortars and kept several tankettes and heavy armored vehicles, ready at any moment to take control of a forest country road. Because of this road, the commander of the formation decided to make his way through the village of Novy Put. Sixty carts, on which lay the wounded, who were silent, listening intently to the alarming silence of the forest, stood in the head of the partisan convoy stretched out in the clearing, ready, if the group was successful in breaking through, to rush into the gap formed ...

The breakthrough group - our best lads, stern, serious - gathered around the staff carriage.

Before starting to speak, Alexey Fyodorovich gazed at each of these lads for a long time, many of whom - everyone understood this - were not destined to live until morning ...

What was the commander thinking? Each of those who were to strike the first blow at the Germans after an hour is dear to him as a son, as a brother. Many experiences are connected with each.

Maybe at this last, farewell moment, Alexei Fyodorovich recalled all this? Or maybe he just wanted to postpone the issuance of a combat order for a few more minutes, which - everyone knew that too - would definitely be given. An order that will throw people dear and close to him into an unequal battle of destruction.

There is a decision of the regional committee, - Alexey Fyodorovich finally began dully, but firmly. - We selected each by name. But if anyone disagrees ... Keep in mind: only voluntarily!

An hour later, when it was completely dark, a battle broke out. The breakout group managed to knock the enemies out of the trenches and catch on to the houses of the village. But the forces were too unequal. The wagon train had not yet approached the edge when the Nazis launched a barrage of artillery on a handful of partisans. Tanks went into battle. The encirclement ring, broken with such difficulty, closed again. Breakthrough failed ...

And then a new order ran through the column:

Throw the carts, go to the packs. Carry the wounded in your arms.

God knows how we managed to somehow make packs in the pitch darkness, how we managed to make a stretcher out of poles, raincoats, blankets and homespun peasant rows! Anyway, everything was done. And so, shortly before dawn, the head outpost stepped cautiously into the swamp. A cover platoon followed her, and then 60 stretchers, each of which was carried by four.

60 stretchers - 240 porters ...

I will not tell you how we crossed the swamp. Maybe if we had stayed another day in Sofievskie dachas, our marsh march would have ended tragically. The Nazis, apparently, simply did not suspect that, having failed at the New Way, we would immediately undertake a new attempt to break out of the ring ...

The dawn found us in a small hazel grove, some dozen kilometers from the place of the night battle. The danger did not diminish in the least: the enemy was very close and did not hide his presence. Every now and then we heard the shouts of the German sentries, the clatter of tracks and the noise of tanks patrolling the roads. From the side of Novo-Sergeevka, in which, by all indications, the German headquarters was located, despite the early hour, even the sounds of music were heard. The Nazis clearly had no doubt that the destruction of our compound would be a matter of several hours.

Wet, completely exhausted, without letting go of their arms, people fell where they were caught by the "halt" command. Only the sentries did not sleep. And also the commander.

Maybe such moments are the most difficult in the life of a commander, and even more so a secretary of the regional committee? A decision had to be made, on which our unit depended whether or not to be, depended on the fate of not only the partisans, but also of many thousands of Soviet people - residents of villages, townships, cities of that vast area in which our unit was at that time the only bright island of the Soviet power in the midst of the black spill of Hitler's plague. And this islet supported the hope in people that the fascist night would definitely end, that liberation was not far off.

And Fedorov - the commander of the unit and the secretary of the regional party committee - bore full responsibility for the fate of the partisans and for the fate of the inhabitants before his conscience, before the Motherland, before the party ...

The day dragged on. I still remember endless moments of terrible tension. Every sound, the slightest rustle made us shudder and tighten our grip on the weapon. The minutes spent lying down (they could notice us while standing) and silently (speaking, and even then in a whisper, were allowed only to the commanders in the most exceptional cases), minutes in which it was forbidden to move, smoke, cough. The partisans lay and looked up into the bottomless blue sky, across which festive white cumulus clouds crawled, illuminated by the bright sun.

On this day, we did not have to repulse enemy attacks, cuddle up to the ground under machine-gun fire or under artillery fire, did not have to go with bayonets and shout "hurray." Not a single wounded man, let alone killed, was brought on that day. And yet, if I am asked what was the most terrible thing in the war, this day invariably rises in my memory: hazel bushes, busily moving their leaves, white clouds in the sky. And soul-eating anticipation. Waiting for the first shot. Unequal fight ...

Many, including old, seasoned partisans, did not understand why these very low bushes, barely reaching the shoulder, were chosen to stop. True, apart from the Sofievskie dachas, there were no large forests around. But there are a lot of groves and copses in which real tall trees grew. Finally, a few kilometers away, there was a small but dense Zelenitsky forest, which more than once served as a haven for small partisan groups. So why are we stopping at this hazel tree?

About eleven in the afternoon, the Nazis began artillery preparation. They fired at the place where we were located the day before. They fired for a long time: apparently, they did not want to suffer losses in the offensive, they hoped to break into our camp without a fight and take prisoner the surviving partisans. The artillery preparation launched by the enemy made us happy: it meant that the enemy did not find our night march through the swamp.

But then the guns fell silent. And then fascist tanks and armored vehicles began to scour the roads back and forth, the enemies combed each grove two, three times. But the night rain washed away our tracks. And the low bushes that served as a refuge for us did not arouse suspicion among the enemy commanders. And when evening came, everyone, including those who murmured that these frail bushes would become the site of our last battle, understood how faithful and wise the commanding crew was ...

Yes, this long day was hard.

And yet the evening was even more difficult.

At first, as always, we were relieved. The night is ahead - the most partisan time. For short night hours, you can manage to get to a safer place, choose a suitable line, a position more comfortable. And suddenly, like an electric spark, incredible news ran through the partisans: it was decided to leave without wounded.

Of course, each of us spent a long day thinking about the fate of the wounded. We understood that at night you couldn't go far with a stretcher, and even more so you couldn't get away from your pursuers. And yet it never occurred to anyone to leave our comrades in arms to their fate.

Nevertheless, the order was very clear: leave the wounded, with a small guard in place, the rest - to march immediately.

A fire burned brightly there. Two Magyars were holding the prisoner by the shoulders and legs and slowly ...

Sergey Drozdov. "Hungary in the war against the USSR".

At the end of November 1941, “light” Hungarian divisions began to arrive in Ukraine to carry out police functions in the occupied territories. The headquarters of the Hungarian "Occupation Group" is located in Kiev. Already in December 1941, the Hungarians began to be actively involved in anti-partisan operations.

Sometimes such operations turned into very serious combat clashes. An example of one of these actions is the defeat of General Orlenko's partisan detachment on December 21, 1941. The Hungarians managed to surround and completely destroy the partisan base.

According to Hungarian data, about 1000 "bandits" were killed. The captured weapons, ammunition and equipment could be loaded with several dozen railway cars.
On August 31, 1942, the head of the Political Directorate of the Voronezh Front, Lieutenant General S.S. Shatilov sent a report to the head of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army A.S. Shcherbakov about the atrocities of the fascists on the Voronezh land.

“I am reporting the facts of the monstrous atrocities of the German invaders and their Hungarian lackeys against Soviet citizens and captured Red Army soldiers.

Parts of the army, where the head of the political department, Comrade. Klokov, the village of Shchuchye was liberated from the Magyars. After the invaders were expelled from the village of Shchuchye, political instructor M. A. Popov, military assistant A. L. Konovalov and T. I. Chervintsev discovered traces of the atrocities of the Magyars over the citizens of the village Shchuchye and captured Red Army men and commanders.

Lieutenant Vladimir Ivanovich Salogub, being wounded, was captured and brutally tortured. More than twenty (20) stab wounds were found on his body.

Junior political instructor Fyodor Ivanovich Bolshakov, seriously wounded, was taken prisoner. Bloodthirsty robbers mocked the immovable body of the communist. Stars were carved on his hands. There are several stab wounds on the back ...

In front of the eyes of the whole village, citizen Kuzmenko was shot by the Magyars because they found 4 cartridges in his hut. As soon as Hitler's slaves burst into the village, they immediately began to take all men from 13 to 80 years old and drive them to their rear.

They took more than 200 people out of the village of Shchuchye. Of these, 13 people were shot outside the village. Among those shot were Nikita Nikiforovich Pivovarov, his son Nikolai Pivovarov, Mikhail Nikolayevich Zybin, head of the school; Shevelev Zakhar Fedorovich, Korzhev Nikolay Pavlovich and others.

Property and livestock were taken away from many residents. Fascist bandits stole 170 cows and more than 300 sheep taken from citizens. Many girls and women have been raped. I will send the act on the monstrous atrocities of the Nazis today. "

And here is the handwritten testimony of a peasant Anton Ivanovich Krutukhin, who lived in the Sevsky district of the Bryansk region: “Fascist associates of the Magyars entered our village Svetlovo 9 / V-42. All the inhabitants of our village hid from such a pack and they, as a sign that the residents began to hide from them, and those who could not hide, they shot them and raped several of our women.

I myself am an old man born in 1875 was also forced to hide in a cellar. Shooting was going on throughout the village, buildings were on fire, and Magyar soldiers robbed our things, stealing cows and calves. " (GARF. F. R-7021. Op. 37. D. 423. L. 561-561ob.)

On May 20, Hungarian soldiers on the 4th Bolshevik Sowing collective farm arrested all the men. From the testimony of the collective farmer Varvara Fyodorovna Mazerkova:

“When they saw the men of our village, they said they were partisans. And the same number, i.e. On 20 / V-42 they seized my husband Mazerkov Sidor Borisovich, born in 1862, and my son Mazerkov, Alexei Sidorovich, born in 1927, and tortured them and after this torture they tied their hands and threw them into a pit, then they lit straw and burned people alive in a potato pit. On the same day, they not only burned my husband and son, they also burned 67 men ”. (GARF.F. R-7021. Op. 37. D. 423. L. 543-543ob.)

Abandoned by residents who fled from the Hungarian punishers, the villages were burned out. Natalia Aldushina, a resident of the village of Svetlovo, wrote:

“When we returned from the forest to the village, the village was unrecognizable. Several old people, women and children were brutally killed by the Hungarians. Houses were burnt, cattle, large and small, were driven away. The pits in which our things were buried were dug up. There was nothing left in the village but black brick. " (GARF.F. R-7021.Op. 37. D. 423. L.517.)

Thus, in only three Russian villages of the Sevsk region, at least 420 civilians were killed by Hungarians in 20 days. And these are not isolated cases.

In June - July 1942, units of the 102nd and 108th Hungarian divisions, together with German units, took part in a punitive operation against the Bryansk partisans under the code name "Vogelsang". During the operation in the forests between Roslavl and Bryansk, the punitive forces killed 1193 partisans, wounded 1400, 498 were captured, and more than 12,000 residents were evicted.

Hungarian units of the 102nd (42nd, 43rd, 44th and 51st regiments) and 108th divisions also took part in punitive operations against the partisans "Nachbarhilfe" (June 1943) near Bryansk, and "Zigeunerbaron »In the areas of the present Bryansk and Kursk regions (May 16 - June 6, 1942).
Only during the operation "Zigeunerbaron" punitive forces destroyed 207 partisan camps, 1584 partisans were killed and 1558 were taken prisoner. "

What was happening at the front at that time, where the Hungarian troops were operating. The Hungarian army, in the period from August to December 1942, fought prolonged battles with Soviet troops in the Uryv and Korotoyak area (near Voronezh), and could not boast of any special successes, it was not to fight with the civilian population.

The Hungarians did not succeed in eliminating the Soviet bridgehead on the right bank of the Don; they failed to develop an offensive on Serafimovichi. At the end of December 1942, the Hungarian 2nd Army buried itself in the ground, hoping to survive the winter in its positions. These hopes did not come true.

On January 12, 1943, the offensive of the Voronezh Front troops against the forces of the 2nd Hungarian Army began. The very next day, the defense of the Hungarians was broken through, some parts were seized by panic.
Soviet tanks entered the operational space and smashed headquarters, communications centers, ammunition and equipment depots.

The entry into battle of the 1st Hungarian Panzer Division and units of the 24th German Panzer Corps did not change the situation, although their actions slowed down the pace of the Soviet offensive.
Soon the Magyars were utterly defeated, having lost 148,000 people killed, wounded and prisoners (among those killed, by the way, was the eldest son of the Hungarian regent, Miklos Horthy).

This was the largest defeat of the Hungarian army in the entire history of its existence. Between 13 and 30 January alone, 35,000 soldiers and officers were killed, 35,000 were wounded and 26,000 were taken prisoner. All in all, the army lost about 150,000 people, most of the tanks, vehicles and artillery, all supplies of ammunition and equipment, about 5,000 horses.

The motto of the Hungarian Royal Army "The price of Hungarian life is Soviet death" did not come true. There was practically no one to give out the reward promised by Germany in the form of large land plots in Russia for the Hungarian soldiers who distinguished themselves on the Eastern Front.

The 200,000-strong Hungarian army alone, consisting of eight divisions, lost about 100-120 thousand soldiers and officers then. How much exactly - then no one knew, and they do not know now. In January 1943, about 26 thousand Hungarians were taken prisoner by the Soviet Union.

For a country as large as Hungary, the defeat at Voronezh had even greater resonance and significance than Stalingrad was for Germany. Hungary, in 15 days of fighting, immediately lost half of its armed forces. Hungary could not recover from this catastrophe until the end of the war and never again deployed a grouping equal in number and combat capability to the lost formation.

Hungarian troops were notable for their cruel treatment not only with partisans and civilians, but also with Soviet prisoners of war. So, in 1943, when retreating from the Chernyanskiy district of the Kursk region, “the Magyar military units drove away with them 200 prisoners of war of the Red Army and 160 Soviet patriots held in a concentration camp. On the way, the fascist barbarians locked all these 360 \u200b\u200bpeople in the school building, doused them with gasoline and burned them alive. Those who tried to escape were shot. "

You can give examples of documents about the crimes of Hungarian military personnel during the Second World War from foreign archives, for example, the Israeli archive Yad Vashem of the national memorial of the Holocaust and Heroism in Jerusalem:

“On July 12-15, 1942, on the Kharkeevka farm in the Shatalovsky district of the Kursk region, soldiers of the 33rd Hungarian infantry division captured four soldiers of the Red Army. One of them, senior lieutenant P.V. Danilov, they gouged out his eyes, knocked his jaw to the side with the butt of a rifle, inflicted 12 bayonet blows in the back, and then buried him half-dead in the ground in an unconscious state. Three Red Army men, whose names are unknown, were shot ”(Archive Yad Vashem. M-33/497. L. 53.).

A resident of the city of Ostogozhsk, Maria Kaidannikova, saw how Hungarian soldiers on January 5, 1943, drove a group of Soviet prisoners of war into the basement of a store on Medvedovsky Street. Soon screams were heard from there. Looking out the window, Kaidannikova saw a monstrous picture:

“There was a bright fire burning there. Two Magyars held the prisoner by the shoulders and legs and slowly roasted his belly and legs over the fire. They then raised him above the fire, then lowered him lower, and when he was quiet, the Magyars threw his body face down on the fire. Suddenly the prisoner twitched again. Then one of the Magyars, on a grand scale, thrust a bayonet into his back ”(Archive Yad Vashem. M-33/494. Sheet 14.).

After the disaster at Uryv, the participation of Hungarian troops in hostilities on the Eastern Front (in Ukraine) resumed only in the spring of 1944, when the 1st Hungarian Panzer Division tried to counterattack the Soviet tank corps near Kolomyia - the attempt ended in the death of 38 Turan tanks and a hasty retreat 1st Panzer Division Magyars to the state border.

In the fall of 1944, all the Hungarian armed forces (three armies) fought against the Red Army, already in Hungary. But the Hungarians remained the most loyal allies of Hitlerite Germany in the war. Hungarian troops fought with the Red Army until May 1945, when ALL (!) Hungary's territory was occupied by Soviet troops.

8 Hungarians were awarded the German Knight's Crosses. During the Second World War, Hungary gave the largest number of volunteers to the SS troops. In the war against the USSR, more than 200 thousand Hungarians died (including 55 thousand who died in Soviet captivity). During the Second World War, Hungary lost about 300 thousand soldiers killed, 513 766 people were captured.

Only the Hungarian generals in the Soviet prisoner of war camps after the war, there were 49 people, including the chief of the General Staff of the Hungarian army.

In the postwar years, the USSR began the repatriation of prisoners of war of Hungarians and Romanians, apparently as citizens of countries where regimes friendly to our country were established.

OWL. SECRET 1950 Moscow, the Kremlin. On the repatriation of prisoners of war and internees citizens of Hungary and Romania.

1. Allow the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the SSR (Comrade Kruglov) to repatriate to Hungary and Romania:

a) 1270 prisoners of war and internees citizens of Hungary, including 13 generals (Appendix No. 1) and 1629 prisoners of war and internees citizens of Romania, on whom there are no compromising materials;

b) 6061 prisoners of war citizens of Hungary and 3139 prisoners of war citizens of Romania - former intelligence, counterintelligence, gendarmerie, police officers who served in the SS troops, security and other punitive units of the Hungarian and Romanian armies, captured mainly on the territory of Hungary and Romania, since they do not have materials about their war crimes against the USSR.

3. Allow the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs (Comrade Kruglova) to leave in the USSR 355 prisoners of war and internees Hungarian citizens, including 9 generals (Appendix No. 2) and 543 prisoners of war and internees Romanian citizens, including Brigadier General Stanescu Stoyan Nikolai, convicted of participation in atrocities and atrocities, espionage, sabotage, banditry and large-scale embezzlement of socialist property - until the serving of the sentence determined by the court.

4. To oblige the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs (Comrade Kruglov) and the USSR Prosecutor’s Office (Comrade Safonov) to bring 142 Hungarian prisoners of war and 20 Romanian prisoners of war to criminal responsibility for atrocities and atrocities committed by them on the territory of the USSR.

5. To oblige the Ministry of State Security of the USSR (Comrade Abakumov) to accept from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR 89 prisoners of war citizens of Hungary who served in the gendarmerie and police on the territory of the Transcarpathian and Stanislavsk regions, to document their criminal activities and bring them to criminal responsibility.