ZAITSEV Vasily Vasilyevich(April 6, 1912, the village of Veretenovo, now the Rybinsk district of the Yaroslavl region - February 14, 1994, the village of Ivanovskoye, Pereslavsky district, Yaroslavl region) - Hero Soviet Union(1944).
Born into a peasant family. Russian. In 1931 he graduated from the veterinary technical school in the village of Borisoglebsky, Mologsky district, Yaroslavl region (now flooded by the waters of the Rybinsk reservoir). He worked as the chairman of the village council, first in the Borisoglebsk village council, then in the Pavlovsky village council of the Rybinsk region. Before the Great Patriotic War, he was elected chairman of the village council.
In June 1941 he was drafted into the Red Army. In the battles of the Great Patriotic War since March 1942. Fought on the Bryansk and Central fronts. Fought in the 1181st rifle regiment 356th Infantry Division of the 61st Army.
From the spring of 1942 to the middle of 1943, the 61st Army conducted defensive and offensive battles south and southwest of the city of Belev (Tula region). In July-August 1943, as part of the Bryansk Front, she participated in the Oryol operation. For distinction in these battles, foreman Zaitsev was awarded the medal "For Courage". By the fall of 1943, Sergeant Major Zaitsev commanded a platoon.
On the night of September 23, 1943, in one of the battles on the territory of the Chernihiv region on the outskirts of the Dnieper River, foreman Zaitsev with a group of fighters, breaking away from the main forces, captured an important height. During the day, a handful of fighters held their positions. Left alone, foreman Zaitsev fought until reinforcements arrived. Repulsing enemy counterattacks, with machine gun fire, grenades and in hand-to-hand combat, he destroyed about 50 Nazis. He was seriously wounded, but did not leave the battlefield.
At order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 15, 1944 for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command for crossing the Dnieper River and the courage and heroism shown at the same time to the foreman Zaitsev Vasily Vasilievich He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
In one of the following battles he was seriously wounded. At home, along with the news of the assignment of the title of Hero, they received a funeral. But it turned out to be erroneous, in the hospital Zaitsev was literally pulled out of the next world. In 1944, he was discharged due to injury and returned home.
In 1948 he graduated from the Yaroslavl Party School. He worked as an accountant at a peat-mining enterprise in the Pereslavl region. He lived in the village of Pogost, then in the village of Ivanovskoe, Pereslavsky district. Died February 14, 1994.
He was awarded the Order of Lenin (01/15/1944), the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (03/11/1985), medals, including "For Courage" (08/06/1943).
A memorial plaque was installed on the house in the village of Ivanovskoye, Pereslavsky District, where the Hero lived.
Zaitsev Vasily Petrovich
Vasily Petrovich Zaitsev was born on March 11, 1915 in the village of Verkhnyaya Ludzia, Zavyalovsky district of the Ukrainian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, into a peasant family. Udmurt.
Before the war, he worked on a collective farm, was a postman, agronomist, salesman, secretary of the village council, since 1936 - a combine operator. Served as a border guard in the Far East. Then he lived in Izhevsk, worked at the central post office. In June 1941, he was drafted into the army by the Pastukhov District Military Commissariat.
Since July 1941, V.P. Zaitsev has been at the front. From December 1943 he commanded a rifle company of the 297th rifle regiment of the 184th rifle division. As part of the Western, 3rd Belorussian fronts, he liberated the Smolensk region, the Belarusian land. He was wounded five times, but, returning to the ranks, he continued to smash the enemy.
On August 17, 1944, Zaitsev's company was the first to reach the state border from East Prussia in the area north of the city of Naumiestis (Lithuania). V. Zaitsev took out a red cloth, tied it to a pole, and the banner rose over the border.
V.P. Zaitsev reported to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief: “I report to you according to my service and to my liking. August 17 at 7 a.m. 30 min. I had the honor of being the first to hoist our victorious Red Banner on state border socialist Fatherland with Nazi Germany ... We know that the enemy must be finished off. Everything that the struggle for the complete crushing of Germany requires from me and from my fighters, we will give without hesitation.
Vasily Petrovich was wounded in the battle for the German border town of Shirvindt. On October 22, 1944, V.P. Zaitsev died.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 24, 1945, Captain Vasily Petrovich Zaitsev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his courage and heroism in the fight against the Nazi invaders.
He was also awarded the orders of Lenin, the Red Banner, Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the Red Star.
V. P. Zaitsev was buried on Lithuanian soil, in the city of Kaunas. There is an obelisk on the grave.
In Izhevsk, a street and a lane are named after V. Zaitsev. There is also V.P. Zaitsev Street in the village of Upper Ludzia. The museum of the Podshivalovskaya school contains documents about his heroic life, a bust of the hero has been erected. The name of V. Zaitsev is immortalized on the Memorial Stele to the Heroes of the Soviet Union at eternal flame in the city of Izhevsk.
- Golubev V. V. Red flag on the border // Steps to immortality / V. V. Golubev. - Izhevsk, 1978. - S. 91-123.
- Zaitsev Vasily Petrovich // Our countrymen: Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation, Full Cavaliers of the Order of Glory. - Izhevsk, 1995. - S. 48.
- Zaitsev Vasily Petrovich // Udmurts / comp. Z. A. Bogomolova. - M., 2005. - S. 503.
- Zaitsev Vasily Petrovich: Hero of the Soviet Union, captain, commander of a rifle company: [letters, biogr. Sved.] // Letters of fiery years, 1941-1945. - Ustinov, 1985. - S. 50-52.
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Vasily Petrovich Zaitsev- participant in the Great Patriotic War, commander of the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 297th rifle regiment of the 184th Red Banner Dukhovshchinskaya rifle division of the 5th army of the 3rd Belorussian Front, Hero of the Soviet Union.
Biography
“I report to you according to my service and to my liking. On August 17, at 07:30, it fell to my lot to be the first to hoist our victorious Red Banner on the state border of the socialist Fatherland with Nazi Germany... We know that the enemy must be finished off. Everything that the struggle for the complete crushing of Germany will require from me and my fighters, we will give without hesitation.
In October 1944, upon entry Soviet troops on the territory of East Prussia was seriously wounded in battle and died a few days later in the hospital. Buried in the city of Kaunas.
Awards
- Medal "Gold Star" (decree of March 24);
Memory
By the decision of the executive committee of the Izhevsk City Council of April 28, 1965, Bessarabskaya Street was renamed Vasily Zaitsev Street.
On September 12, 2014, a monument-bust of Vasily Petrovich Zaitsev was unveiled on the central square of the village of Zavyalovo.
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Notes
Literature
- Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium I. N. Shkadov. - M .: Military Publishing, 1987. - T. 1 / Abaev - Lyubichev /. - 911 p. - 100,000 copies. - ISBN out., Reg. No. in RCP 87-95382.
- Vorobyov E.3. Thirty-three heroes. M., 1977. / pp. 157-164.
- Heroes of the Soviet Union are our countrymen. Izhevsk, 1962. / pp. 49-51.
- Golubev V.V. Steps to immortality. Izhevsk, 1978. / pp. 91-123.
- Kulemin I. G., Sentemova L. F., Islentyeva R. A. Heroes of the Soviet Union are our countrymen. Ustinov, 1985. / pp. 46-47.
Links
. Site "Heroes of the Country".
An excerpt characterizing Zaitsev, Vasily Petrovich
The gray-haired valet sat dozing and listening to the prince's snoring in the huge study. From the far side of the house, behind the closed doors, the difficult passages of Dussek's sonata repeated twenty times were heard.
At this time, a carriage and a britzka drove up to the porch, and Prince Andrei got out of the carriage, dropped off his little wife and let her go ahead. Gray-haired Tikhon, in a wig, leaning out of the waiter's door, reported in a whisper that the prince was resting, and hastily closed the door. Tikhon knew that neither the arrival of his son nor any unusual events should have disturbed the order of the day. Prince Andrei, apparently, knew this as well as Tikhon; he looked at his watch, as if to believe that his father's habits had not changed during the time in which he had not seen him, and, making sure that they had not changed, he turned to his wife:
He will be up in twenty minutes. Let's go to Princess Mary, - he said.
The little princess grew fat during this time, but her eyes and short lip with a mustache and a smile rose just as merrily and sweetly when she spoke.
- Mais c "est un palais," she said to her husband, looking around, with the expression with which they say praises to the owner of the ball. - Allons, vite, vite! ... [Yes, this is a palace! - Let's go faster, faster! ...] - She , looking around, smiled at Tikhon, and her husband, and the waiter who saw them off.
- C "est Marieie qui s" exerce? Allons doucement, il faut la surprendre. [Is Marie exercising? Hush, let's take her by surprise.]
Prince Andrei followed her with a courteous and melancholy expression.
“You have grown old, Tikhon,” he said, passing by, to the old man who was kissing his hand.
In front of a room in which the clavichords were heard, a pretty blond Frenchwoman jumped out of a side door.
M lle Bourienne seemed maddened with delight.
- Ah! quel bonheur pour la princesse,” she said. – Enfin! Il faut que je la previenne. [Oh, what a joy for the princess! Finally! I need to warn her.]
- Non, non, de grace ... Vous etes m lle Bourienne, je vous connais deja par l "amitie que vous porte ma belle soeur," the princess said, kissing the Frenchwoman. "Elle ne nous attend ras? [No, no, please ... You are Mamselle Bourienne; I already know you by the friendship that my daughter-in-law has for you. She is not expecting us?]
They went up to the door of the divan, from which a repeated passage was heard again and again. Prince Andrei stopped and grimaced, as if expecting something unpleasant.
The princess entered. The passage broke off in the middle; there was a cry, the heavy feet of Princess Marya, and the sound of kisses. When Prince Andrei entered, the princess and the princess, who had only seen each other for a short time during the wedding of Prince Andrei, clasped their hands, pressed their lips tightly to the places they had hit in the first minute. M lle Bourienne stood beside them, her hands pressed to her heart, smiling devoutly, apparently as ready to cry as to laugh.
Prince Andrei shrugged his shoulders and grimaced, as music lovers frown when they hear a false note. Both women released each other; then again, as if afraid of being late, they grabbed each other's hands, began to kiss and tear off their hands, and then again began to kiss each other on the face, and quite unexpectedly for Prince Andrei, both began to cry and began to kiss again. M lle Bourienne also began to cry. Prince Andrei was obviously embarrassed; but it seemed so natural to the two women that they wept; they did not seem to imagine that this meeting could have taken place otherwise.
- Ah! chere!…Ah! Marieie!…” both women suddenly spoke and laughed. - J "ai reve сette nuit ... - Vous ne nous attendez donc pas? ... Ah! Marieie, vous avez maigri ... - Et vous avez repris ... [Ah, dear! ... Ah, Marie! ... - And I saw it in a dream. - So you weren't expecting us?… Ah, Marie, you've lost so much weight.
- J "ai tout de suite reconnu madame la princesse, [I immediately recognized the princess,]" inserted m lle Bourienne.
“Et moi qui ne me doutais pas!…” exclaimed Princess Mary. - Ah! Andre, je ne vous voyais pas. [I had no idea!… Ah, Andre, I didn't even see you.]
Prince Andrei kissed his sister hand in hand and told her that she was the same pleurienicheuse, [crybaby,] as she always was. Princess Marya turned to her brother, and through her tears the loving, warm and meek look of her beautiful, large, radiant eyes at that moment rested on the face of Prince Andrei.
Curriculum vitae
Vasily Petrovich Zaitsev- Member of the Great Patriotic War, commander of the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 297th rifle regiment of the 184th Red Banner Dukhovshchina rifle division of the 5th army of the 3rd Belorussian Front, Hero of the Soviet Union.
Biography
Born February 26, 1916 in Izhevsk (according to other sources - March 11, 1915 in the village of Upper Ludzia, Vyatka province). By nationality - Udmurt. Finished seven classes. He worked on the collective farm as a postman, chairman of the village council.
He was drafted into the Red Army in 1937 and sent to the border troops of the NKVD of the USSR, served in the Far East. After being transferred to the reserve, he lived in Izhevsk, worked at the Central Post Office.
Great Patriotic War
On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since July 1941. In 1942 he graduated from the courses of junior lieutenants. Since December 1943, he commanded a rifle company of the 297th rifle regiment of the 184th rifle division, as part of the Western, 3rd Belorussian fronts, he liberated Smolensk, Belarus. Was wounded five times. On August 17, 1944, the Zaitsev company was the first in the Red Army to reach the state border with East Prussia in the area north of the city of Naumestit (Lithuania), in connection with which its commander sent a historical report to the Supreme Commander Joseph Stalin:
“I report to you according to my service and to my liking. On August 17 at 7:30 am, I had the honor of being the first to hoist our victorious Red Banner on the state border of the socialist Fatherland with Nazi Germany ... We know that the enemy must be finished off. Everything that the struggle for the complete crushing of Germany will require from me and my fighters, we will give without hesitation.
In October 1944, during the entry of Soviet troops into the territory of East Prussia, he was seriously wounded in battle and died in a hospital a few days later. Buried in the city of Kaunas.
Awards
- Medal "Gold Star" (decree of March 24, 1945);
- The order of Lenin;
- Order of the Red Banner;
- Order of Alexander Nevsky;
- Order of the Patriotic War II degree;
- Order of the Red Star.
Memory
By the decision of the executive committee of the Izhevsk City Council of April 28, 1965, Bessarabskaya Street was renamed Vasily Zaitsev Street.
On September 12, 2014, a monument was unveiled on the central square of the village of Zavyalovo - a bust of Vasily Petrovich Zaitsev.
Zaitsev Vasily Petrovich (1915 - 1944) - Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously) . Born on March 11, 1915 in the village of Verkhnyaya Ludzia, Zavyalovsky District, Ukrainian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. By nationality - Udmurt. Finished seven classes. He worked on the collective farm as a postman, chairman of the village council.
Other awards: Orders of Lenin, Alexander Nevsky, Red Banner, World War II degree, Red Star, medals.
He had many wounds, two were severe.
Before the war, he worked on the collective farm as a postman, secretary of the village council. He served in the border troops in the Far East. After being transferred to the reserve, he lived in Izhevsk, worked at the central post office.
From July 1941, Captain V.P. Zaitsev was at the front, commanded a rifle company of the 297th regiment of the 184th division, as part of the Western, 3rd Belorussian fronts, he liberated the Smolensk region, Belarus. Wounded five times. Together with the fighters of the company, on August 17, 1944, he reached the border with East Prussia in the area north of the city of Naumiestis (Lithuania).
Zaitsev sent a historical report to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I. Stalin: "I report to you in the service and to my liking. On August 17 at 7:30 am, I had the honor of being the first to hoist our victorious Red Banner on the state border of the socialist Fatherland with Nazi Germany ..."
Zaitsev was mortally wounded in the battle for the German city of Shirvindt. He died on 10/22/1944. He was buried at the military cemetery in Kaunas.
Zaitsev Vasily Petrovich - commander of the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 297th rifle regiment of the 184th Red Banner Dukhovshchina rifle division of the 5th army of the 3rd Belorussian Front, senior lieutenant.
Born on February 26, 1916 in the city of Izhevsk (Udmurtia) in a peasant family. Udmurt. Graduated from 7 classes. Worked as chairman of the village council.
Since October 1937 - in the Red Army. Member of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. In 1942 he graduated from the courses of junior lieutenants.
4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 297th rifle regiment (184th rifle division, 5th Army, 3rd Belorussian Front) under the command of Senior Lieutenant Zaitsev V.P. On August 15, 1944, it broke through the enemy defenses in the area north of the city of Kudirkos-Naumiestis of the Lithuanian SSR. Having inflicted great damage on the enemy in terms of manpower and military equipment, on August 17, 1944, she was the first in the Red Army to reach the border with Nazi Germany.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 24, 1945, for the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command and the courage and heroism shown in battles with the Nazi invaders, Senior Lieutenant Zaitsev Vasily Petrovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
However, the brave officer was not destined to receive the highest awards of the Motherland. Senior Lieutenant Zaitsev V.P. died a heroic death in October 1944. He was buried in the military cemetery of the Lithuanian city of Kaunas.
He was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, 2 Orders of the Red Star.
The value of cultural heritage
In our school in the 60s of the last century, they began to collect material about the participants in the Great Patriotic War and the Hero of the Soviet Union V.P. Zaitsev under the guidance of a mathematics teacher Lyudmila Vasilievna Sterkhova. The reason for collecting material was a meeting with Vladimir Vasilyevich Golubev, when he came to collect material for the book "Ludziys Batyr".
In 1965, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the pioneer squad of the Podshivalovskaya eight-year school was named after V.P. Zaitsev.
In 1965-1967, meetings were organized between apprentices-pathfinders with the father and sister of the hero, with fellow villagers; their memoirs were recorded, but much of the material has been lost. In 1967, a meeting of children with V.V. Golubev was shown on Udmurt television. Correspondence was organized with the former battalion commander G.N. Gubkin, in which V.P. Zaitsev in 1943-1944.
In 1975, at the invitation of N.G. Gubkin, a group of pathfinders was received in Moscow in the committee of the Council of Veterans of the 5th Army, during which the students reported on the work done to collect materials about V.P. Zaitsev. As a token of gratitude, the pathfinders were presented with a commemorative badge and a letter of thanks.
A street and an alley in the city of Izhevsk, in the villages of Podshivalovo and Verkhnyaya Ludzia are named after Vasily Petrovich Zaitsev. In 1973, on the Central Square of the village of Podshivalovo, in front of the House of Culture, a monument was erected to our fellow countryman - the Hero of the Secular Union. The opening of the monument was attended by former fighters of the partisan unit A.N. Saburova.
In 1976 and 1985, at the invitation of the Pathfinders, N.G. came to our school. Gubkin. During these meetings, he talked about the warrior, the brave commander V.P. Zaitsev.
On May 9, 2000, a historical museum was opened in the village of Podshivalovo, where materials about V.P. Zaitsev. In honor of our hero, events that have already become traditional are held at the school and the museum: birthdays (February 26), Days of Remembrance (October 22), cool watch, lessons of courage, history, local history, exhibitions of books about Zaitsev and his letters are organized.
On August 17, 2004, a rally dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the heroic deed of the Hero of the Soviet Union was held in the village of Podshivalovo.
The participation of children in the collection of material about V.P. Zaitsev leaves a significant mark on their memory.
Related attractions
V. P. Zaitsev was buried on Lithuanian soil, in the city of Kaunas. There is an obelisk on the grave.
In Izhevsk, a street and a lane are named after V. Zaitsev. There is also V.P. Zaitsev Street in the village of Upper Ludzia. The museum of the Podshivalovskaya school contains documents about his heroic life, a bust of the hero has been erected. The name of V. Zaitsev is immortalized on the Memorial Stele to the Heroes of the Soviet Union at the Eternal Flame in the city of Izhevsk.
I really, really don’t want the biographies of our heroes, the stories of their lives and exploits to fit in fewer and fewer lines over the years. And this is slowly happening: the years erase the details or the ability to recognize them.
Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Petrovich Zaitsev. Public information about him is rather scarce: he was born on March 11, 1915 in peasant family in the village of Upper Ludzia, Udmurt. He graduated from the seven-year plan and had to put an end to education. Before the war, he managed to master many professions, he was an agronomist, a postman, a salesman, and worked as a combine operator for a long time. He served in the Far East, then lived in Izhevsk.
Vasily Petrovich has been at the front since the summer of 1941. His military path ran through the Smolensk region, the Belarusian land. Was wounded five times. In 1942 he graduated from the courses of junior lieutenants. Since 1943 he commanded a rifle company of the 297th rifle regiment. It was Zaitsev's company that on August 17, 1944 was the first to reach the border with East Prussia near the Lithuanian city of Naumiestis. And there, on the border, Vasily Petrovich unfolded and raised our banner. Zaitsev’s report to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief has also been preserved: “I report to you according to my service and to my liking. On August 17, at 07:30, I had the honor of being the first to hoist our victorious Red Banner on the state border of the socialist Fatherland with Nazi Germany. We know that the enemy must be finished off. Everything that the struggle for the complete crushing of Germany requires from me and from my fighters, we will give without hesitation ... "
Our Victory was close, but many more lives were burned for its sake. Including - and the life of Vasily Petrovich. He died while taking German city Shirvindt on October 22, 1944, senior lieutenant Zaitsev was buried in Kaunas. In March of the victorious year, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
That's probably all...
In the photo, Zaitsev is the first on the left.
The family of Vasily Petrovich is one of those who were the first to join the collective farms. The time was difficult and hungry, the head of the family, Pyotr Efimovich, took care of the collective farm horses. He had vast experience in this matter, he recognized the disease of the horse by the tail and the position of the head. Always said "my family of horses". If he lost someone from the “family”, he was incredibly worried, considered it his fault. His wife, Uliana Sergeevna, took care of the cows, then worked as a milkmaid for a long time and also loved her job very much.
And Vasya first went to school, which is in his village of Upper Ludzia, and then to a seven-year-old school in a neighboring village, which was about 7 kilometers away. He walked in any weather and even when he was sick, which, however, rarely happened. Vasya grew up as a lively boy, lively and cheerful. Any business burned in the hands. Many children from the village were not allowed to go to school - some because of their young age, some because of the household. Vasya gathered all the brethren in the evenings and taught them to read and write. So, one might say, semi-partially, the guys received education. Vasya did not leave any of the younger ones illiterate. There was a girl Nyura in their village, so they let her go to school, but she grew up weak, and in winter long road was not able to. Vasily wore Nyura on the backs.
He himself mastered the game of the balalaika and came up with the idea of congratulating fellow villagers on various holidays in this way - he arranged whole concerts. For the guys, the balalaika was not particularly interesting, so Vasya invented something else: he trained and learned to ride, standing on the back of a horse. In general, he was an excellent rider: competitions were held between the villages more than once, and the boy came out the invariable winner.
In 1937, Zaitsev was drafted into the army. They saw off the whole village, rode horses - a great sign of honor and respect. In parting, Vasily played several songs on the balalaika, and then left the instrument to his cousin, whom he affectionately called Petrovna. And the news flew home, overcoming an increasing distance: Vasily thought that he would have to serve not far from his home, and he was sent to Far East, near the city of Blagoveshchensk.
Vasily's life did not indulge before, but now it has become very difficult at all. He missed home, it was hard to get used to the new environment and people, everything seemed alien, incomprehensible. In his letters, Vasily compared the border with an enemy who hid in the bushes and is waiting for time. Four years gave the soldier service. He returned home in the winter of 1941. He moved to Izhevsk, began to work as a courier at the post office. And he did not know that he had returned only for six months. In the summer, he changed the frontier guard's tunic for a military uniform.
Vasily Petrovich received his first wound in Velikiye Luki. He was wounded in the thigh and lost a lot of blood. In the hospital, having learned that the doctors were going to keep him for three weeks, he said: “I’ll manage in a week!” And indeed, a week later he went to serve, only limping a little. True, they were already sent to another regiment.
November 7, 1941 Zaitsev took part in the historic parade in Moscow. On that day, after the parade, they were sent to the front, near Zvenigorod. I met a fellow countryman on the train. And double the joy! - with a balalaika! Vasily asked for an instrument "for half an hour" and began to play. As a result, that fighter presented the balalaika to Zaitsev.
Vasily received a second wound on the Minsk highway. He ended up in the hospital again - along with the balalaika! Didn't leave the instrument, didn't forget about it. The wound, fortunately, was light, the young fighter quickly recovered. In the same room with him lay a mortar soldier, very heavy. Doctors took away one leg and fought for the other. Here is a coincidence: before the war, that soldier also played the balalaika, was known as the best musician in his region. And the soldier’s last name was Volkov, everyone in the hospital joked about this, it turned out to be a very funny pun. Volkov and gave Zaitsev a balalaika - for good luck. “Even if you lose both legs,” he said then, “you can give people joy with your hands!”
Vasily returned to his regiment. His front line now ran through Velikiye Luki to the Smolensk land. The company commander died in the fighting - Zaitsev replaced him.
The next wound he received while crossing the Dnieper - so much so that he spent more than two months in the hospital - this is with his character! As soon as I could get on my feet, I sent a letter home saying, sorry for the silence, I didn’t have time to write.
And again - battles, battles, battles ... On July 17, 1944, it was Zaitsev's company that was the first to cross the Neman and gain a foothold on the bridgehead. However, the Nazis managed to close the company in a ring. For more than a day, our fighters held the defense and repelled attacks. They managed to get out of the encirclement. Since then, Vasily Petrovich was called Batya.
Dad was the first to hoist our flag on the border with Germany. He was presented for the highest award, but Vasily Petrovich did not wait for it. He died in a hospital in Kaunas from a massive loss of blood on October 16, 1944.
And that fighter Volkov, to whom Vasily Petrovich gave a balalaika, turned out to be Zaitsev's countryman - originally from a village near Izhevsk. He saved his other leg. Of course, he could no longer fight. Returned home, mastered carpentry. And already years after the Victory, he sought out Zaitsev's relatives. He told his story and that Vasily Petrovich gave him faith in life.