List of hero cities in the Great Patriotic War

The honorary title “Hero City” was awarded by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to those cities of the Soviet Union whose residents showed massive heroism and courage in defending the Motherland during the Great Patriotic War. Here is a list of hero cities, indicating the year in which this title was awarded:

Leningrad (St. Petersburg) – 1945*;

Stalingrad (Volgograd) - 1945*;

Sevastopol -1945*;

Odessa - 1945*;

Kyiv -1965;

Moscow -1965;

Brest (hero-fortress) -1965;

Kerch - 1973;

Novorossiysk -1973;

Minsk -1974;

Tula -1976;

Murmansk -1985;

Smolensk -1985.

*Leningrad, Stalingrad, Sevastopol and Odessa were named hero cities in the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief dated May 1, 1945, but this title was officially assigned to them in the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the approval of the Regulations on the honorary title “Hero City” dated 8 May 1965.

The city awarded the highest degree of distinction “Hero City” was awarded the highest award of the Soviet Union - the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal, which were then depicted on the city’s banner.

Our Heroic Motherland has always attracted the attention of enemies, many wanted to seize our lands, make slaves of the Russians and the peoples living in Russia, this was the case in ancient times, and this was also the case quite recently, when Nazi Germany attacked our country. Russian cities stood in the way of the Nazi invaders and bravely defended themselves. We mourn the dead soldiers, the elderly, women and children who fell defending our cities. Hero cities are our story about them.

Hero City Moscow

In the plans of Nazi Germany, the capture of Moscow was of primary importance, since it was with the capture of Moscow that the victory of German troops over our country would be considered. To capture the city, a special operation codenamed “Typhoon” was developed. The Germans launched two major attacks on the capital of our Motherland in October and November 1941. The forces were unequal.

In the first operation, the Nazi command used 74 divisions (including 22 motorized and tank), 1.8 million officers and soldiers, 1,390 aircraft, 1,700 tanks, 14,000 mortars and guns. The second operation consisted of 51 combat-ready divisions. On our side, a little more than a million people, 677 aircraft, 970 tanks and 7,600 mortars and guns stood up to defend the hero city.

As a result of the fierce battle that ensued, which lasted more than 200 days, the enemy was thrown back 80-250 km west of Moscow. This event strengthened the spirit of our entire people and the Red Army, and shattered the myth of the invincibility of the Nazis. For the exemplary performance of combat missions, 36 thousand defenders of the city were awarded various orders and medals, and 110 people were awarded the title “Hero of the Soviet Union.” More than a million soldiers were awarded the medal “For the Defense of Moscow”.

Hero City Leningrad (St. Petersburg)

The Nazis wanted to completely destroy Leningrad, wipe it off the face of the earth and exterminate its population.

Fierce fighting on the outskirts of Leningrad began on July 10, 1941. Numerical superiority was on the enemy’s side: almost 2.5 times more soldiers, 10 times more aircraft, 1.2 times more tanks, and almost 6 times more mortars. As a result, on September 8, 1941, the Nazis managed to capture Shlisselburg and thus take control of the source of the Neva. As a result, Leningrad was blocked from land (cut off from the mainland).

From that moment on, the infamous 900-day blockade of the city began, which lasted until January 1944. Despite the terrible famine that began and the continuous attacks of the enemy, as a result of which almost 650,000 residents of Leningrad died, they showed themselves to be real heroes, directing all their strength to the fight with the fascist invaders.

More than 500 thousand Leningraders went to work on the construction of defensive structures; they built 35 km of barricades and anti-tank obstacles, as well as more than 4,000 bunkers and pillboxes; 22,000 firing points are equipped. At the cost of their own health and lives, the courageous Leningrad heroes gave the front thousands of field and naval guns, repaired and launched 2,000 tanks, produced 10 million shells and mines, 225,000 machine guns and 12,000 mortars.

The first breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad occurred on January 18, 1943 through the efforts of the troops of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts, when a corridor 8-11 km wide was formed between the front line and Lake Ladoga.

A year later, Leningrad was completely liberated. On December 22, 1942, the medal “For the Defense of Leningrad” was established, which was awarded to about 1,500,000 defenders of the city. In 1965, Leningrad was awarded the title of Hero City.

City Hero Volgograd (Stalingrad)

In the summer of 1942, fascist German troops launched a massive offensive on the southern front, trying to capture the Caucasus, the Don region, the lower Volga and Kuban - the richest and most fertile lands of our country. First of all, the city of Stalingrad came under attack.

On July 17, 1942, one of the greatest and largest battles in the history of World War II began - the Battle of Stalingrad. Despite the Nazis' desire to capture the city as quickly as possible, it continued for 200 long, bloody days and nights, thanks to the incredible efforts of the heroes of the army, navy and ordinary residents of the region.

The first attack on the city took place on August 23, 1942. Then, just north of Stalingrad, the Germans almost approached the Volga. Policemen, sailors of the Volga Fleet, NKVD troops, cadets and other volunteer heroes were sent to defend the city. That same night, the Germans launched their first air raid on the city, and on August 25, a state of siege was introduced in Stalingrad. At that time, about 50 thousand volunteers – heroes from among ordinary townspeople – signed up for the people’s militia. Despite the almost continuous shelling, the Stalingrad factories continued to operate and produce tanks, Katyushas, ​​cannons, mortars and a huge number of shells.

On September 12, 1942, the enemy came close to the city. Two months of fierce defensive battles for Stalingrad caused significant damage to the Germans: the enemy lost about 700 thousand people killed and wounded, and on November 19, 1942, the counter-offensive of our army began.

The offensive operation continued for 75 days and, finally, the enemy at Stalingrad was surrounded and completely defeated. January 1943 brought complete victory on this sector of the front. The fascist invaders were surrounded, and their commander, General Paulus, and his entire army surrendered. During the entire Battle of Stalingrad, the German army lost more than 1,500,000 people.

Stalingrad was one of the first to be called a hero city. This honorary title was first announced in the order of the Commander-in-Chief dated May 1, 1945. And the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad” became a symbol of the courage of the city’s defenders.

Hero City Sevastopol

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the city of Sevastopol was the largest port on the Black Sea and the main naval base of the country. His heroic defense against the Nazis began on October 30, 1941. and lasted 250 days, going down in history as an example of the long-term defense of a coastal city deep behind enemy lines. The Germans failed to capture Sevastopol immediately, since its garrison numbered 23 thousand people and had 150 coastal and field guns. But then, until the summer of 1942, they made three more attempts to capture the city.

The first time Sevastopol was attacked was on November 11, 1941. The Nazi army tried for 10 days in a row to break through to the hero city with the strength of four infantry divisions, but to no avail. They were opposed by our naval and ground forces, united in the Sevastopol defensive region.

The Nazis made a second attempt to capture the city from December 7 to December 31, 1941. This time they had at their disposal seven infantry divisions, two mountain rifle brigades, over 150 tanks, 300 aircraft and 1,275 guns and mortars. But this attempt also failed; the heroic defenders of Sevastopol destroyed up to 40,000 fascists and did not allow them to approach the city.

By the end of spring 1942, the Germans had amassed 200,000 soldiers, 600 aircraft, 450 tanks and more than 2,000 guns and mortars to Sevastopol. They managed to blockade the city from the air and increased their activity at sea, as a result of which the courageous defenders of the city were forced to retreat. Despite this, the heroic defenders of Sevastopol inflicted serious damage on the forces of the Nazi troops and disrupted their plans on the southern wing of the front.

The battles for the liberation of Sevastopol began on April 15, 1944, when Soviet soldiers reached the occupied city. Particularly fierce battles were fought in the area adjacent to Sapun Mountain. On May 9, 1944, our army liberated Sevastopol. For military distinction, 44 soldiers who participated in those battles were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and over 39,000 people received the medal “For the Defense of Sevastopol.” Sevastopol was one of the first to receive the title of Hero City on May 8, 1965.

Hero City Odessa

Already in August 1941, Odessa was completely surrounded by Nazi troops. Its heroic defense lasted 73 days, during which the Soviet army and militia units defended the city from enemy invasion. From the mainland side, Odessa was defended by the Primorsky Army, from the sea - by ships of the Black Sea Fleet, with the support of artillery from the shore. To capture the city, the enemy threw forces five times larger than its defenders.

Nazi troops launched the first big assault on Odessa on August 20, 1941, but heroic Soviet troops stopped their advance 10-14 kilometers from the city borders. Every day, 10-12 thousand women and children dug trenches, laid mines, and pulled wire fences. In total, during the defense, 40,000 mines were planted by residents, more than 250 kilometers of anti-tank ditches were dug, and about 250 barricades were built on the city streets. The hands of teenagers who worked in factories made about 300,000 hand grenades and the same number of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. During the months of defense, 38 thousand ordinary residents-heroes of Odessa moved to the ancient Odessa catacombs, stretching for many kilometers underground, to take part in the defense of their home city.

The heroic defense of Odessa blocked the enemy army for 73 days. Thanks to the dedication of the Soviet troops and the heroes of the people's militia, more than 160,000 German soldiers were killed, 200 enemy aircraft and 100 tanks were destroyed.

But the city was nevertheless taken on October 16, 1941. From that day on, a merciless partisan struggle against the invaders began: 5 thousand soldiers and officers were destroyed by Odessa partisan heroes, 27 trains with enemy military equipment were derailed, 248 vehicles were blown up.

Odessa was liberated on April 10, 1944, and the title of City Hero was awarded in 1965.

Hero City Kyiv

German troops launched a surprise attack on the city of Kyiv from the air on June 22, 1941 - in the very first hours of the war, a heroic struggle for the city began, which lasted for 72 days. Kyiv was defended not only by Soviet soldiers, but also by ordinary residents. Huge efforts were made for this by militia units, of which there were nineteen by the beginning of July. Also, 13 fighter battalions were formed from among the townspeople, and in total, 33,000 people from the city’s residents took part in the defense of Kyiv. In those difficult July days, the people of Kiev built more than 1,400 pillboxes and manually dug 55 kilometers of anti-tank ditches.

The courage and courage of the defenders’ heroes stopped the enemy advance on the first line of the city’s fortifications. The Nazis failed to take Kyiv in a raid. However, on July 30, 1941, the fascist army made a new attempt to storm the city. On the tenth of August, she managed to break through the defenses on its southwestern outskirts, but through the joint efforts of the people's militia and regular troops they managed to give a worthy rebuff to the enemy. By August 15, 1941, the militia drove the Nazis back to their previous positions. Enemy losses near Kiev numbered more than 100,000 people. The Nazis did not undertake any more direct assaults on the city. Such prolonged resistance by the city’s defenders forced the enemy to withdraw part of the forces from the offensive in the Moscow direction and transfer them to Kyiv, due to which the Soviet soldiers were forced to retreat on September 19, 1941.

The Nazi invaders who occupied the city inflicted enormous damage on it, establishing a regime of brutal occupation. More than 200,000 Kiev residents were killed, and about 100,000 people were sent to Germany for forced labor. Residents of the city actively resisted the Nazis. An underground was organized in Kyiv that fought the Nazi regime. The underground heroes destroyed hundreds of fascists, blew up 500 German cars, derailed 19 trains, and burned 18 warehouses.

Kyiv was liberated on November 6, 1943. In 1965, Kyiv was awarded the title of Hero City.

Hero-Fortress Brest

Of all the cities of the Soviet Union, it was Brest that had the fate of being the first to encounter the Nazi invaders. In the early morning of June 22, 1941, the Brest Fortress was bombed by the enemy, in which at that time there were approximately 7 thousand Soviet soldiers and members of the families of their commanders.

The German command expected to capture the fortress within a few hours, but the 45th Wehrmacht Division was stuck in Brest for a week and, with significant losses, suppressed individual pockets of resistance of the heroic defenders of Brest for another month. As a result, the Brest Fortress became a symbol of courage, heroic fortitude and valor during the Great Patriotic War. The attack on the fortress was sudden, so the garrison was taken by surprise. With fire from the air, the Nazis destroyed the water supply and warehouses, interrupted communications and inflicted heavy losses on the garrison.

An unexpected artillery attack did not allow the heroic defenders of the fortress to provide coordinated resistance, so it was broken into several centers. According to eyewitnesses of those days, single shooting from the Brest fortress was heard until the beginning of August, but, in the end, the resistance was suppressed. But the German losses from that repulse of the heroes - the defenders of Brest - were significant - 1,121 people killed and wounded. During the occupation of Brest, the Nazis killed 40,000 civilians in the city. The city of Brest, including the famous fortress, met its heroes - liberators on July 28, 1944.

On May 8, 1965, the fortress received the title of “hero fortress.” In 1971, the hero fortress “Brest” became a memorial complex.

Hero City Kerch

Kerch was one of the first cities to come under attack by Nazi troops at the beginning of the war. During all this time, the front line passed through it four times and during the war years the city was occupied twice by Nazi troops, as a result of which 15 thousand civilians were killed, and more than 14 thousand Kerchan residents were driven to Germany for forced labor. The city was captured for the first time in November 1941, after bloody battles. But already on December 30, during the Kerch-Feodosia landing operation, Kerch was liberated by our troops.

In May 1942, the Nazis concentrated large forces and launched a new attack on the city. As a result of heavy and stubborn fighting, Kerch was abandoned again. A legendary page inscribed in the history of the Great Patriotic War was the stubborn struggle and long defense in the Adzhimushkai quarries. Soviet patriotic heroes showed the whole world an example of mutual assistance, loyalty to military duty and military brotherhood. Also, underground fighters and partisans waged an active fight against the invaders.

During the 320 days that the city was in the hands of the enemy, the occupiers destroyed all the factories, burned all the bridges and ships, cut down and burned parks and gardens, destroyed the power station and telegraph, and blew up the railway lines. Kerch was almost completely wiped off the face of the earth.

With the onset of 1943, the German command considered Crimea to be one of the most important bridgeheads, so huge forces were drawn to Kerch: tanks, artillery, and aviation. In addition, the Germans mined the strait itself to prevent the Soviet liberation troops from breaking through into the occupied lands. At night, November 1, 1943, 18 machine gunners occupied a small mound near the village of Eltigen. All these heroes died on the taken bridgehead, but did not let the enemy through. The continuous battle, which lasted 40 days, went down in history under the name “Terra del Fuego.” This feat, which began the reconquest of the Kerch Strait, marked the beginning of the liberation of the Crimean Peninsula.

So, for the defense and liberation of Kerch, 153 people were awarded the Order of Hero of the Soviet Union. The city was liberated on April 11, 1944, and on September 14, 1973, Kerch was awarded the title of Hero City.

Hero City Novorossiysk

To protect the city of Novorossiysk, on August 17, 1942, the Novorossiysk defensive region was created, which included the 47th Army, sailors of the Azov Military Flotilla and the Black Sea Fleet. People's militia units were actively created in the city, more than 200 defensive firing points and command posts were built, and an anti-tank and anti-personnel obstacle course more than thirty kilometers long was equipped.

The ships of the Black Sea Fleet particularly distinguished themselves in the fight for Novorossiysk. Despite the heroic efforts of the defenders of Novorossiysk, the forces were unequal, and on September 7, 1942, the enemy managed to enter the city and capture several administrative objects in it. But after four days the Nazis were stopped in the south-eastern part of the city and moved to a defensive position.

A victorious record in the history of the battle for the liberation of Novorossiysk was made by the landing on the night of February 4, 1943 of an amphibious assault led by Major Kunnikov. This happened on the southern border of the hero city, in the area of ​​​​the village of Stanichki. A kind of bridgehead with an area of ​​30 square meters. kilometers, entered the chronicle of the Great Patriotic War under the name “Malaya Zemlya”. The battle for Novorossiysk lasted 225 days and ended with the complete liberation of the hero city on September 16, 1943.

On September 14, 1973, in honor of the 30th victory over the Nazis, during the defense of the North Caucasus, Novorossiysk received the title of hero city.

Hero City Minsk

From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, Minsk found itself in the very center of the battles, as it was located in the direction of the main attack of the Germans, on Moscow. The advanced units of the enemy troops approached the city on June 26, 1941. They were met by only one 64th Infantry Division, which in just three days of fierce fighting destroyed about 300 enemy vehicles and armored vehicles, as well as a lot of tank equipment. On June twenty-seventh, the Nazis managed to be thrown back, 10 km from Minsk - this reduced the striking force and pace of the Nazis’ advance to the east. However, after stubborn and heavy fighting, on June 28, Soviet troops were forced to retreat and leave the city.

The Nazis established a strict occupation regime in Minsk, during which they destroyed a huge number of both prisoners of war and civilians of the city. But the courageous Minsk residents did not submit to the enemy; underground groups and sabotage detachments began to be created in the city. These heroes accounted for over 1,500 acts of sabotage, as a result of which several military and administrative facilities were blown up in Minsk, and the city railway junction was repeatedly disabled.

For their courage and heroism, 600 participants of the Minsk underground were awarded orders and medals, 8 people received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. On June 26, 1974, Minsk was awarded the title of Hero City.

Hero City of Tula

By October 1941, the fascist invaders, who dreamed of capturing Moscow, managed to advance quite far into Russia.

The German general Guderian was able to take the city of Orel, which was taken by surprise by the enemy, before reaching Tula. There were only 180 km left to Tula, and there were no military units in the city, except for: one NKVD regiment, which guarded defense factories operating here at full capacity, the 732nd anti-aircraft artillery regiment, covering the city from the air, and fighter battalions consisting of workers and employees.

Almost immediately, brutal and bloody battles broke out for the city, since Tula was the next step for the enemy rushing towards Moscow.

Also immediately after the capture of Orel, Tula was placed under martial law. Working extermination squads were created there. Residents of the city surrounded Tula with ribbons of trenches, dug anti-tank ditches inside the city, installed gouges and hedgehogs, and built barricades and strongholds. In parallel, active work was carried out to evacuate defense factories.

The Nazis sent their best troops to take Tula: three tank divisions, one motorized division and the “Great Germany” regiment. The heroes of the workers' guard, as well as security officers and anti-aircraft gunners, bravely resisted the enemy forces.

Despite the most fierce attacks, in which about a hundred tanks took part from the enemy, the Nazis did not manage to break through to Tula in any battle area. Moreover, in just one day, the Soviet heroes defending the city managed to destroy 31 enemy tanks and destroy a lot of infantry.

Defense life was in full swing in the city itself. The telephone exchange helped establish communications between units of the Soviet army that had emerged from encirclement, hospitals received the wounded, equipment and weapons were repaired at factories, the defenders of Tula were supplied with provisions and warm clothing.

As a result, the city survived! The enemy was unable to capture it. For the courage shown in battles and defense, about 250 of its residents were awarded the title “Hero of the Soviet Union.” On December 7, 1976, Tula received the title of Hero City and was awarded the Gold Star medal.

Hero City Murmansk

To seize the lands of the Arctic, from Norway and Finland, the Germans deployed the “Norway” front. The plans of the fascist invaders included an attack on the Kola Peninsula. The defense of the peninsula was deployed on the Northern Front, a strip 500 km long. It was these units that covered the Murmansk, Kandelaki and Ukhta directions. Ships of the Northern Fleet and ground forces of the Soviet Army took part in the defense, protecting the Arctic from the invasion of German troops.

The enemy offensive began on June 29, 1941, but our soldiers stopped the enemy 20-30 kilometers from the border line. At the cost of fierce fighting and the boundless courage of these heroes, the front line remained unchanged until 1944, when our troops launched an offensive. Murmansk is one of those cities that became front-line from the very first days of the war. The Nazis carried out 792 air raids and dropped 185 thousand bombs on the city - however, Murmansk survived and continued to operate as a port city. Under regular air raids, ordinary citizens-heroes carried out the unloading and loading of ships, the construction of bomb shelters, and the production of military equipment. During all the war years, the Murmansk port received 250 ships and handled 2 million tons of various cargo.

The hero fishermen of Murmansk did not stand aside either - in three years they managed to catch 850 thousand centners of fish, supplying both city residents and soldiers of the Red Army with food. The townspeople who worked at the shipyards repaired 645 combat ships and 544 ordinary transport ships. In addition, another 55 fishing vessels were converted into combat vessels in Murmansk. In 1942, the main strategic actions developed not on land, but in the harsh waters of the northern seas.

As a result of incredible efforts, the heroes of the Northern Fleet destroyed more than 200 fascist warships and about 400 transport ships. And in the fall of 1944, the fleet expelled the enemy from these lands and the threat of capturing Murmansk passed.

In 1944, the medal “For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic” was established. The city of Murmansk received the title “Hero City” on May 6, 1985.

Hero City Smolensk

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Smolensk found itself on the path of the main attack of the fascist troops towards Moscow. The city was first bombed on June 24, 1941, and 4 days later the Nazis launched a second air attack on Smolensk, as a result of which the central part of the city was completely destroyed.

On July 10, 1941, the famous Battle of Smolensk began, which lasted until September 10 of the same year. Soldiers of the Western Front of the Red Army stood up to defend the hero city, as well as the capital of our homeland. The enemy outnumbered them in manpower, artillery and aircraft (2 times), as well as in tank equipment (4 times).

In the hero city of Smolensk itself, three fighter battalions and one police battalion were formed. Its residents also actively helped Soviet soldiers; they dug anti-tank ditches and trenches, built take-off platforms, built barricades and cared for the wounded. Despite the heroic efforts of the defenders of Smolensk, on July 29, 1941, the Nazis managed to enter the city. The occupation lasted until September 25, 1943, but even during these terrible years for Smolensk, its residents continued to fight the enemy, creating partisan detachments and conducting underground subversive activities.

For courage and heroism shown behind enemy lines and in the ranks of the Soviet Army, 260 natives of the Smolensk region were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and 10 thousand partisans and underground fighters were awarded orders and medals.

We say the City is a hero and we understand that these people are heroes. Residents of these cities, soldiers who defended and liberated these cities. It was the people who made these cities heroes, and who became heroes themselves. No one on earth has yet managed to enslave our country, because we are the most courageous and resilient people in the world.

Our ancestors, at the cost of their lives, defended our independence more than once. We must be worthy of their memory, we must preserve our Motherland for future generations, just as our ancestors did for us. Eternal memory to all those who fell in the Great Patriotic War.

UNDEFEATABLE

Volgograd is a city in the southeast of European Russia

In the spring and summer of 1942, Stalingrad began to feel the approach of the front line. A huge flow of refugees and evacuated property from Kharkov, Rostov and other regions abandoned by the Red Army came to the city, to cross the Volga. On August 23, 1942, German aircraft bombed the central areas in the first of many.

Bombing of the center of Stalingrad. Left square - Fallen fighters, right - Lenin Square

Street fighting within the city began on August 23 with the breakthrough of the external defensive contour north of the village of Spartanovka, and the Germans reaching the Volga. This first breakthrough was liquidated by Soviet troops on August 29. On September 13, the Wehrmacht launched a new attack along the Pionerka River and at the Red October plant. Gradually, the Wehrmacht brought in new units from the adjacent steppe and attacked area after area, by October already continuously along the entire length of the city along the Volga. The battles were fierce and dense, often on the scale of a house or workshop, for an entrance, staircase, or apartment. In Stalingrad, both sides began to use, instead of the usual division into infantry platoons and companies, reinforced assault groups with mortars and flamethrowers, supported by artillery and aviation.

By the end of November, the Wehrmacht managed to capture the entire central and northern part of the city, with the exception of the last surrounded areas, which became monuments after the battle: Pavlov's House, the Mill, Lyudnikov Island. But all the offensive reserves of the Germans were spent, and the Soviet side retained and concentrated them south and north of Stalingrad and closed the encirclement on November 23 as a result of Operation Uranus. During the period December-January, the Soviet army repulsed the Wehrmacht's attempt to break through to the encircled Sixth Army (Operation Wintergewitter) and tightened the encirclement, capturing German airfields - the last sources of supply. On February 2, 1943, the Sixth Army surrendered. This victory, after a series of defeats in 1941 and the summer of 1942, became a turning point in the Great Patriotic War. Many historians consider the Battle of Stalingrad one of the bloodiest in human history.

Kerch.

Composition above the Museum of Defense of the Adzhimushkai Quarries"

Kerch- a city in Crimea on the Kerch Peninsula.

During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), Kerch became the scene of fierce battles between Soviet and German troops. The front line passed through Kerch four times. As a result of bloody battles, the city was almost completely destroyed. (more than 85% of buildings destroyed)

During the occupation, 15 thousand civilians were killed. Of these, 7 thousand were shot in the Bagerovo ditch. More than 14 thousand were stolen to Germany.

The Kerch-Eltigen landing operation and the feat of the defenders of the Adzhimushkay quarries are inscribed in golden letters in the history of the city.

In total, in the battles for Kerch, 146 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

On September 14, 1973, Kerch was awarded the title of Hero City with the presentation of the highest awards of the USSR - the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. In honor of the liberation of the city, the Obelisk of Glory and the Eternal Flame were erected on the top of Mount Mithridates.

Kyiv

Kyiv- the capital and largest city of Ukraine, a hero city.

The war resulted in a series of tragic events for Kyiv, significant human losses and material damage. Already at dawn on June 22, 1941, Kyiv was bombed by German aircraft, and on July 11, German troops approached Kyiv. The Kyiv defensive operation lasted 78 days. Having crossed the Dnieper near Kremenchug, German troops surrounded Kyiv, and on September 19 the city was taken. At the same time, more than 665 thousand soldiers and commanders were captured, 884 armored vehicles, 3,718 guns and much more were captured.

On September 24, NKVD saboteurs carried out a series of explosions in the city, which started a large fire on Khreshchatyk and in the surrounding neighborhoods. On September 29 and 30, Jews were executed at Babyn Yar by the Nazis and Ukrainian collaborators; during these 2 days alone, more than 33 thousand people died. In total, according to Ukrainian scientists, the number of Jews shot at Babi Yar was 150 thousand (residents of Kyiv, as well as other cities of Ukraine, and this number does not include young children under 3 years old, who were also killed, but were not counted). The most famous collaborators of the Reichskommissariat of Ukraine were the burgomasters of Kyiv Alexander Ogloblin and Vladimir Bagaziy. It is also worth noting that a number of nationalist figures saw in the occupation an opportunity to begin a cultural revival, freed from Bolshevism.

On November 3, the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra was blown up (according to one version, by pre-planted Soviet radio-controlled landmines). Darnitsky and Syretsky concentration camps were created on the territory of the city, where 68 and 25 thousand prisoners died, respectively. In the summer of 1942, in occupied Kyiv, a football match took place between the Start team and a team of German combat units. Subsequently, many Kyiv football players were arrested, some of them died in a concentration camp in 1943. This event was called the “Death Match”. Over 100 thousand young people were sent from Kyiv to forced labor in Germany. By the end of 1943, the city's population had dropped to 180 thousand.

During the German occupation, the Kiev City Government operated in the city.

In early November 1943, on the eve of the retreat, the German occupiers began to burn Kyiv. On the night of November 6, 1943, the advanced units of the Red Army, overcoming minor resistance from the remnants of the German army, entered an almost empty burning city. At the same time, there is a version that Stalin’s desire to meet the Soviet holiday of November 7 led to large-scale human losses: the liberation of Kyiv cost the lives of 6,491 soldiers and commanders of the Red Army.

Later, during the Kyiv defensive operation (1943), an attempt by fascist German troops to recapture Kiev was repelled (on December 23, 1943, the Wehrmacht, having stopped offensive attempts, went on the defensive).

In total, during the hostilities in Kyiv, 940 buildings of state and public institutions with an area of ​​over 1 million m2, 1,742 communal houses with a living area of ​​more than 1 million m2, 3,600 private houses with an area of ​​up to half a million m2 were destroyed; All bridges across the Dnieper were destroyed, water supply, sewerage, and transport services were disabled.

For the heroism shown during the defense, Kyiv was awarded the title of hero city (Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 21, 1961; approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, May 8, 1965).

Minsk

Square of victory

Minsk is the capital of Belarus

Already on June 25, 1941, German troops approached the city, and on June 28, Minsk was occupied (the city was the center of the General Commissariat "Belarus" as part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland).

In 1939, the population of Minsk was 238,800 people. During the war, about 70 thousand Minsk residents died. In June 1941, the city was subjected to aerial bombardment by German and in 1944 by Soviet aircraft.

In Minsk, the German occupation authorities created 3 Jewish ghettos, in which more than 80,000 Jews were tortured and killed during the occupation.

At the time of the liberation of the city by the Soviet army on July 3, 1944, only about 70 undestroyed buildings remained in the central regions of Minsk. The suburbs and outskirts suffered noticeably less.

Moscow

Moscow is the capital of the Russian Federation

During the Great Patriotic War, the State Defense Committee and the General Headquarters of the Red Army were located in the city, and a people's militia was formed (over 160 thousand people).

USSR postage stamp “Hero City Moscow” (1965).

In the winter of 1941-1942, the famous Battle of Moscow took place, in which Soviet troops won the world's first victory over the Wehrmacht since the outbreak of World War II. In October 1941, German troops approached Moscow; many industrial enterprises were evacuated, and the evacuation of government offices to Kuibyshev began. On October 20, 1941, a state of siege was introduced in Moscow. But, despite this, on November 7, a military parade took place on Red Square, for which 200 tanks were removed from the front. In December 1941, the advance of the German Army Group Center near Moscow was stopped; As a result of the successful counter-offensive of Soviet troops near Moscow, German troops were driven back from the capital.

As a sign of such a glorious and strategically important victory, on May 1, 1944, the medal “For the Defense of Moscow” was established. In 1965, Moscow was awarded the honorary title “Hero City”.

On June 24, 1945, the Victory Parade took place on Red Square. Rokossovsky commanded the parade and hosted the Zhukov parade. Then, for 20 years, no Victory parades were held. Subsequently, holding a parade on Red Square in Moscow every year on Victory Day became a tradition.

Murmansk

State awards of Murmansk on the facade of one of the buildings on Five Corners Square

Murmansk is a city in northwestern Russia

During the Great Patriotic War, Murmansk was repeatedly attacked from land and air.

The 150,000-strong German army stationed in the Arctic had Hitler's directive to capture the city and the Murmansk port, through which cargo from the allied countries was passing to supply the country and army under Lend-Lease.

According to the calculations of the German command, Murmansk was supposed to be taken within a few days.

Twice - in July and September - German troops launched a general attack on Murmansk, but both attacks failed.

After the city repelled the attacks, the enemy attacked it from the air, carrying out up to fifteen to eighteen raids on some days and dropping a total of 185 thousand bombs and carrying out 792 raids during the war years.

Among Soviet cities, Murmansk is second only to Stalingrad in terms of the number and density of bomb attacks on the city.

As a result of the bombing, three-quarters of the buildings were destroyed, wooden houses and buildings were especially damaged. The heaviest bombing was on June 18, 1942.

German planes dropped mainly incendiary bombs on the predominantly wooden city, to make it difficult to fight the fires they used mixed bombing using fragmentation and high-explosive bombs.

Due to dry and windy weather, the fire spread from the center to the northeastern outskirts of Murmansk.

On October 7, 1944, Soviet troops launched the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation in the Arctic and the threat to Murmansk was lifted.

Novorossiysk

Monument to the defenders of Malaya Zemlya.

Novorossiysk is a city in southern Russia

During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45, most of the city was captured by Nazi troops (see Novorossiysk operation (1942)). During the war, on the Sugarloaf hill near Novorossiysk, the famous poet Pavel Kogan, author of the classic poem “Brigantine,” died in battle.

1943, on the night of February 4, south of Novorossiysk, a landing force of 274 sailors landed in the Myskhako area, seizing a bridgehead (later “Malaya Zemlya”), which was held for 225 days until the city was completely liberated.

September 10 - Novorossiysk landing operation, ships of the Black Sea Fleet landed troops on the piers of the Novorossiysk port. The battle for the liberation of the city begins.

September 16 (see Novorossiysk-Taman operation) - liberation of the city. The Nazi invaders caused enormous damage to the city.

After the war, the city was restored and new residential neighborhoods were built.

1966, May 7 - for the steadfastness, courage and heroism shown by the defenders of Novorossiysk during the Great Patriotic War, the city was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.

1973, September 14 - in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the defeat of fascist troops in the defense of the North Caucasus, Novorossiysk was awarded the honorary title of Hero City with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

Odessa

The main monument of the memorial being created is the 412 battery.

Odessa is a city on the northwestern coast of the Black Sea, the administrative center of the Odessa region, the largest port of Ukraine

During the Great Patriotic War, the Odessa defensive region fought against superior enemy forces for 73 days, from August 5 to October 16, 1941. On August 8, a state of siege was declared in the city. Since August 13, Odessa was completely blocked from land. Despite the land blockade and numerical superiority, the enemy was unable to break the resistance of the defenders - Soviet troops were evacuated as planned and redeployed to reinforce the 51st separate army defending in the Crimea.

TIS terminals in the port of Yuzhny

In 1941-1944. Odessa was occupied by Romanian troops and was part of Transnistria; G. Pyntea was appointed governor of the city. At the beginning of 1944, due to the offensive of the Red Army, German troops were brought into Odessa, and the Romanian administration was liquidated. During the occupation of Odessa, the city's population actively resisted the invaders. During the years of occupation, tens of thousands of civilians in Odessa were executed.

As a result of fierce battles, on April 10, 1944, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, with the assistance of the Black Sea Fleet, liberated Odessa. The country highly appreciated the feat of its defenders. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated December 22, 1942, the medal “For the Defense of Odessa” was established, which was awarded to over 30 thousand people. 14 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 57 were awarded the Order of Lenin, and over 2,100 were awarded other orders and medals. In 1945, Odessa was among the first to become a hero city. The city was awarded the Order of Lenin.

Saint Petersburg

St. Petersburg is a city of federal significance of the Russian Federation

The heroism and resilience of Leningraders was evident during the Great Patriotic War. On September 8, 1941, the enemy reached Lake Ladoga, captured Shlisselburg, taking control of the source of the Neva, and blocked Leningrad from land. This day is considered to be the beginning of the blockade of the city, carried out by German and Finnish troops. For almost 900 days and nights, under conditions of complete blockade of the city, the residents not only held the city, but also provided enormous assistance to the front. During the years of the blockade, according to various sources, from 650 thousand to 1.2 million people died. As a result of the counter offensive of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts on January 18, 1943, the blockade ring was broken, but only on January 27, 1944, the blockade of the city was completely lifted. After the blockade was lifted, only 560 thousand inhabitants remained in Leningrad

Sevastopol

Monument to the Scuttled Ships

Sevastopol is a city of national importance in Ukraine, a hero city.

On June 22, 1941, the city was subjected to the first bombing by German aircraft, the purpose of which was to mine the bays from the air and block the fleet. The plan was thwarted by anti-aircraft and naval artillery of the Black Sea Fleet. After the German army invaded Crimea, the defense of the city began, lasting 250 days (October 30, 1941-July 4, 1942). On November 4, 1941, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command created the Sevastopol defensive region. Soviet troops of the Primorsky Army (Major General I. E. Petrov) and the forces of the Black Sea Fleet (Vice Admiral F. S. Oktyabrsky) repelled two major offensives of Manstein’s 11th Army in November and December 1941, pinning down large enemy forces. The restructuring of the entire life of the city on a military basis, work for the front of Sevastopol enterprises was led by the City Defense Committee (GKO), chairman - the first secretary of the Sevastopol City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (Bolsheviks) B. A. Borisov. In June-July 1942, the garrison of Sevastopol, as well as troops evacuated from Odessa, defended themselves against superior enemy forces for four weeks. The city was abandoned by Soviet troops only when defense capabilities were exhausted. This happened on July 9, 1942. According to the Nazi plans, the city was to be renamed Theoderichshafen (German: Theoderichshafen), but these plans were not implemented. In 1942-1944, the Sevastopol underground was led by V. D. Revyakin, a participant in the city’s defense. On May 7, 1944, troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front (Army General F.I. Tolbukhin) began an assault on German defensive fortifications on Sapun Mountain, and on May 9 they liberated the city. On May 12, Cape Chersonesus was cleared of the remnants of German troops.

Smolensk

Monument to the defenders of Smolensk in Lopatinsky Garden

Smolensk is a city in Russia

During the Smolensk operation of 1943, on September 25, the city was liberated (about 20 thousand inhabitants remained in Smolensk). 39 military units and formations were given the honorary name of Smolensk. All industrial enterprises in the city, 93% of the housing stock, hospitals, schools, power plants, water supply, railway junction, etc. were destroyed. After the liberation, over 100 thousand aerial bombs and delayed-action mines were recovered from the city within 10 days.

On May 6, 1985, Smolensk was awarded the honorary title “Hero City” and awarded the “Gold Star” medal.

Tula

Tula is a city in Russia

In October-December 1941, for 43 days, the key strategic defense point of the city of Tula was semi-surrounded, subjected to artillery and mortar fire, Luftwaffe air raids and tank attacks. However, the front line on the southern approaches to Moscow was stabilized. Retaining the city of Tula ensured the stability of the left flank of the Western Front, drawing back all the forces of the 4th Field Army of the Wehrmacht and thwarting plans to bypass Moscow from the east by the 2nd Tank Army. During the second general offensive of the German troops from November 18 to December 5, despite some successes, they also failed to make a breakthrough to Moscow in the southern direction and fulfill the tasks assigned to them.

Thus, the main goal of Operation Typhoon in October 1941 was not achieved: Moscow was not taken, and the resistance of the Soviet troops was not broken. According to the historian A.V. Isaev, the main reasons for the slowdown in the offensive on Moscow after the completion of the encirclement of the troops of three Soviet fronts near Vyazma and Bryansk were the effective countermeasures of the Soviet command - regrouping troops and conducting defensive battles using engineering structures built since the summer of 1941. Moreover, the defense system in the Moscow direction was promptly restored with forces and means from the reserves of the Headquarters and from other sectors of the front, as well as from the rear areas of the USSR. At the same time, A.V. Isaev emphasizes that the versions often expressed by German historians and memoirists about unfavorable natural factors should not be considered the main reason for the slowdown in the offensive against Moscow. In particular, impassability did not prevent Eberbach's battle group from reaching the Zusha River (north of Mtsensk) to the outskirts of Tula in 6 days.

After the activity of German troops in the Tula direction died down on December 6, 1941, the Soviet troops, having received reinforcements, launched a counterattack. The Tula offensive operation began, as a result of which the threat of bypassing Moscow from the south was finally eliminated, and the German group in the Tula direction was defeated.

And finally, not quite a city, but also worthy to bear the name of a Hero.

Brest Fortress

Memorial complex "Brest Hero Fortress"

Brest Fortress - a fortress within the city of Brest in Belarus

By June 22, 1941, 8 rifle battalions, 1 reconnaissance battalion, 1 artillery regiment and 2 artillery divisions (anti-tank and air defense), some special units of rifle regiments and units of corps units, assemblies of the assigned personnel of the 6th Oryol and 42nd rifle divisions were stationed in the fortress 28th Rifle Corps of the 4th Army, units of the 17th Red Banner Brest Border Detachment, 33rd Separate Engineer Regiment, part of the 132nd Battalion of NKVD Convoy Troops, unit headquarters (division headquarters and 28th Rifle Corps were located in Brest) , only about 9 thousand people, not counting family members (300 military families).

On the German side, the assault on the fortress was entrusted to the 45th Infantry Division (about 17 thousand people) in cooperation with units of neighboring formations (31st and 34th Infantry Divisions of the 12th Army Corps of the 4th German Army). According to the plan, the fortress should have been captured by 12 o'clock on the first day of the war.

On June 22 at 4:15 artillery fire was opened on the fortress, taking the garrison by surprise. As a result, warehouses and water supply were destroyed, communications were interrupted, and major losses were inflicted on the garrison. At 4:45 the assault began. The surprise of the attack led to the fact that the garrison was unable to provide a single coordinated resistance and was divided into several separate centers. The Germans met strong resistance at Volyn and especially at the Kobrin fortification, where it came to bayonet attacks.

By 7:00 on June 22, the 42nd and 6th rifle divisions left the fortress and the city of Brest. By the evening of June 24, the Germans captured the Volyn and Terespol fortifications, and the remnants of the latter’s garrison, realizing the impossibility of holding out, crossed to the Citadel at night. Thus, the defense was concentrated in the Kobrin fortification and the Citadel. At the Kobrin fortification, by this time all the defenders (about 400 people under the command of Major Pyotr Mikhailovich Gavrilov) were concentrated in the Eastern Fort. Every day the defenders of the fortress had to repel 7-8 attacks, and they used flamethrowers. On June 26, the last section of the Citadel’s defense fell near the Three-Armed Gate, and on June 29, the Eastern Fort fell. The organized defense of the fortress ended there - only isolated groups and single fighters remained. A total of 5-6 thousand people were captured by the Germans. One of the inscriptions in the fortress reads: “I am dying, but I am not giving up. Goodbye, Motherland. 20/VII-41" According to witnesses, shooting was heard from the fortress until the beginning of August

Heroes of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and their exploits

The fighting has long since died down. Veterans are leaving one by one. But the heroes of the Second World War of 1941-1945 and their exploits will forever remain in the memory of grateful descendants. This article will tell you about the most prominent personalities of those years and their immortal deeds. Some were still very young, while others were no longer young. Each of the heroes has their own character and their own destiny. But all of them were united by love for the Motherland and a willingness to sacrifice themselves for its good.

Alexander Matrosov

Orphanage student Sasha Matrosov went to war at the age of 18. Immediately after the infantry school he was sent to the front. February 1943 turned out to be “hot”. Alexander’s battalion went on the attack, and at some point the guy, along with several comrades, was surrounded. There was no way to break through to our own people - the enemy machine guns were firing too densely.

Soon Sailors was the only one left alive. His comrades died under bullets. The young man had only a few seconds to make a decision. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the last in his life. Wanting to bring at least some benefit to his native battalion, Alexander Matrosov rushed to the embrasure, covering it with his body. The fire went silent. The Red Army attack was ultimately successful - the Nazis retreated. And Sasha went to heaven as a young and handsome 19-year-old guy...

Marat Kazei

When the Great Patriotic War began, Marat Kazei was only twelve. He lived in the village of Stankovo ​​with his sister and parents. In 1941 he found himself under occupation. Marat's mother helped the partisans, providing them with her shelter and feeding them. One day the Germans found out about this and shot the woman. Left alone, the children, without hesitation, went into the forest and joined the partisans.

Marat, who managed to complete only four classes before the war, helped his older comrades as best he could. He was even taken on reconnaissance missions; and he also took part in undermining German trains. In 1943, the boy was awarded the medal “For Courage” for the heroism shown during the breakthrough of the encirclement. The boy was wounded in that terrible battle.

And in 1944, Kazei was returning from reconnaissance with an adult partisan. The Germans noticed them and began to fire. The senior comrade died. Marat fired back to the last bullet. And when he had only one grenade left, the teenager let the Germans get closer and blew himself up along with them. He was 15 years old.

Alexey Maresyev

The name of this man is known to every resident of the former Soviet Union. After all, we are talking about a legendary pilot. Alexey Maresyev was born in 1916 and dreamed of the sky since childhood. Even the rheumatism suffered did not become an obstacle to my dream. Despite the doctors' prohibitions, Alexey entered the flying class - they accepted him after several futile attempts.

In 1941, the stubborn young man went to the front. The sky turned out to be not what he dreamed of. But it was necessary to defend the Motherland, and Maresyev did everything for this. One day his plane was shot down. Wounded in both legs, Alexei managed to land the car in territory captured by the Germans and even somehow made his way to his own.

But time was lost. The legs were “devoured” by gangrene, and they had to be amputated. Where can a soldier go without both limbs? After all, she’s completely crippled... But Alexey Maresyev was not one of those. He remained in service and continued to fight the enemy.

As many as 86 times the winged machine with the hero on board managed to take to the sky. Maresyev shot down 11 German planes. The pilot was lucky to survive that terrible war and feel the heady taste of victory. He died in 2001. “The Tale of a Real Man” by Boris Polevoy is a work about him. It was Maresyev’s feat that inspired the author to write it.

Zinaida Portnova

Born in 1926, Zina Portnova faced the war as a teenager. At that time, the native Leningrad resident was visiting relatives in Belarus. Once in the occupied territory, she did not sit on the sidelines, but joined the partisan movement. I pasted leaflets, established contacts with the underground...

In 1943, the Germans grabbed the girl and dragged her to their lair. During the interrogation, Zina somehow managed to take a pistol from the table. She shot her tormentors - two soldiers and an investigator.

It was a heroic act, which made the Germans' attitude towards Zina even more brutal. It is impossible to convey in words the torment that the girl experienced during the terrible torture. But she was silent. The Nazis could not squeeze a word out of her. As a result, the Germans shot their captive without achieving anything from the heroine Zina Portnova.

Andrey Korzun

Andrei Korzun turned thirty in 1941. He was called to the front immediately, being sent to become an artilleryman. Korzun took part in terrible battles near Leningrad, during one of which he was seriously wounded. It was November 5, 1943.

While falling, Korzun noticed that the ammunition warehouse had started to catch fire. It was urgent to put out the fire, otherwise a huge explosion threatened to take many lives. Somehow, bleeding and suffering from pain, the artilleryman crawled to the warehouse. The artilleryman had no strength left to take off his overcoat and throw it into the flames. Then he covered the fire with his body. There was no explosion. Andrei Korzun did not survive.

Leonid Golikov

Another young hero is Lenya Golikov. Born in 1926. Lived in the Novgorod region. When the war began, he left to become a partisan. This teenager had plenty of courage and determination. Leonid destroyed 78 fascists, a dozen enemy trains and even a couple of bridges.

The explosion that went down in history and carried away the German general Richard von Wirtz was his doing. The car of an important rank went up in the air, and Golikov took possession of valuable documents, for which he received the Hero’s star.

The brave partisan died in 1943 near the village of Ostray Luka during a German attack. The enemy significantly outnumbered our fighters, and they had no chance. Golikov fought until his last breath.

These are just six stories out of a great many that permeate the entire war. Everyone who has completed it, who has brought victory even one moment closer, is already a hero. Thanks to people like Maresyev, Golikov, Korzun, Matrosov, Kazei, Portnova and millions of other Soviet soldiers, the world got rid of the brown plague of the 20th century. And the reward for their exploits was eternal life!

Before the war, these were the most ordinary boys and girls. They studied, helped their elders, played, raised pigeons, and sometimes even took part in fights. But the hour of difficult trials came and they proved how huge an ordinary little child’s heart can become when a sacred love for the Motherland, pain for the fate of one’s people and hatred for enemies flares up in it. And no one expected that it was these boys and girls who were capable of accomplishing a great feat for the glory of the freedom and independence of their Motherland!

Children left in destroyed cities and villages became homeless, doomed to starvation. It was scary and difficult to stay in enemy-occupied territory. Children could be sent to a concentration camp, taken to work in Germany, turned into slaves, made donors for German soldiers, etc.

Here are the names of some of them: Volodya Kazmin, Yura Zhdanko, Lenya Golikov, Marat Kazei, Lara Mikheenko, Valya Kotik, Tanya Morozova, Vitya Korobkov, Zina Portnova. Many of them fought so hard that they earned military orders and medals, and four: Marat Kazei, Valya Kotik, Zina Portnova, Lenya Golikov, became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

From the first days of the occupation, boys and girls began to act at their own risk, which was truly fatal.

"Fedya Samodurov. Fedya is 14 years old, he is a graduate of a motorized rifle unit, commanded by Guard Captain A. Chernavin. Fedya was picked up in his homeland, in a destroyed village in the Voronezh region. Together with the unit, he took part in the battles for Ternopil, with machine-gun crews he kicked the Germans out of the city. When almost the entire crew was killed, the teenager, together with the surviving soldier, took up the machine gun, firing long and hard, and detained the enemy. Fedya was awarded the medal "For Courage".

Vanya Kozlov, 13 years old,he was left without relatives and has been in a motorized rifle unit for two years now. At the front, he delivers food, newspapers and letters to soldiers in the most difficult conditions.

Petya Zub. Petya Zub chose an equally difficult specialty. He decided long ago to become a scout. His parents were killed, and he knows how to settle accounts with the damned German. Together with experienced scouts, he gets to the enemy, reports his location by radio, and the artillery, at their direction, fires, crushing the fascists." ("Arguments and Facts", No. 25, 2010, p. 42).

A sixteen year old schoolgirl Olya Demesh with her younger sister Lida At the Orsha station in Belarus, on the instructions of the commander of the partisan brigade S. Zhulin, fuel tanks were blown up using magnetic mines. Of course, girls attracted much less attention from German guards and policemen than teenage boys or adult men. But the girls were just right to play with dolls, and they fought with Wehrmacht soldiers!

Thirteen-year-old Lida often took a basket or bag and went to the railway tracks to collect coal, obtaining intelligence about German military trains. If the guards stopped her, she explained that she was collecting coal to heat the room in which the Germans lived. Olya’s mother and little sister Lida were captured and shot by the Nazis, and Olya continued to fearlessly carry out the partisans’ tasks.

The Nazis promised a generous reward for the head of the young partisan Olya Demesh - land, a cow and 10 thousand marks. Copies of her photograph were distributed and sent to all patrol officers, policemen, wardens and secret agents. Capture and deliver her alive - that was the order! But they failed to catch the girl. Olga destroyed 20 German soldiers and officers, derailed 7 enemy trains, conducted reconnaissance, participated in the “rail war”, and in the destruction of German punitive units.

Children of the Great Patriotic War

What happened to the children during this terrible time? During the war?

The guys worked for days in factories, factories and factories, standing at the machines instead of brothers and fathers who had gone to the front. Children also worked at defense enterprises: they made fuses for mines, fuses for hand grenades, smoke bombs, colored flares, and assembled gas masks. They worked in agriculture, growing vegetables for hospitals.

In school sewing workshops, pioneers sewed underwear and tunics for the army. The girls knitted warm clothes for the front: mittens, socks, scarves, and sewed tobacco pouches. The guys helped the wounded in hospitals, wrote letters to their relatives under their dictation, staged performances for the wounded, organized concerts, bringing a smile to war-weary adult men.

A number of objective reasons: the departure of teachers to the army, the evacuation of the population from the western regions to the eastern, the inclusion of students in labor activity due to the departure of family breadwinners for the war, the transfer of many schools to hospitals, etc., prevented the deployment of a universal seven-year compulsory school in the USSR during the war. training started in the 30s. In the remaining educational institutions, training was conducted in two, three, and sometimes four shifts.

At the same time, the children were forced to store firewood for the boiler houses themselves. There were no textbooks, and due to a shortage of paper, they wrote on old newspapers between the lines. Nevertheless, new schools were opened and additional classes were created. Boarding schools were created for evacuated children. For those youth who left school at the beginning of the war and were employed in industry or agriculture, schools for working and rural youth were organized in 1943.

There are still many little-known pages in the chronicles of the Great Patriotic War, for example, the fate of kindergartens. “It turns out that in December 1941, in besieged MoscowKindergartens operated in bomb shelters. When the enemy was repulsed, they resumed their work faster than many universities. By the fall of 1942, 258 kindergartens had opened in Moscow!

From the memories of Lydia Ivanovna Kostyleva’s wartime childhood:

“After my grandmother died, I was sent to kindergarten, my older sister was at school, my mother was at work. I went to kindergarten alone, by tram, when I was less than five years old. Once I became seriously ill with mumps, I was lying at home alone with a high fever, there was no medicine, in my delirium I imagined a pig running under the table, but everything turned out okay.
I saw my mother in the evenings and on rare weekends. The children were raised on the street, we were friendly and always hungry. From early spring, we ran to the mosses, fortunately there were forests and swamps nearby, and collected berries, mushrooms, and various early grasses. The bombings gradually stopped, Allied residences were located in our Arkhangelsk, this brought a certain flavor to life - we, the children, sometimes received warm clothes and some food. Mostly we ate black shangi, potatoes, seal meat, fish and fish oil, and on holidays we ate “marmalade” made from algae, tinted with beets.”

More than five hundred teachers and nannies dug trenches on the outskirts of the capital in the fall of 1941. Hundreds worked in logging operations. The teachers, who just yesterday were dancing with the children in a round dance, fought in the Moscow militia. Natasha Yanovskaya, a kindergarten teacher in the Baumansky district, died heroically near Mozhaisk. The teachers who remained with the children did not perform any feats. They simply saved children whose fathers were fighting and whose mothers were at work.

Most kindergartens became boarding schools during the war; children were there day and night. And in order to feed children in half-starvation, protect them from the cold, give them at least a modicum of comfort, occupy them with benefit for the mind and soul - such work required great love for children, deep decency and boundless patience." (D. Shevarov " World of News", No. 27, 2010, p. 27).

Children's games have changed, "... a new game has appeared - hospital. They played hospital before, but not like this. Now the wounded are real people for them. But they play war less often, because no one wants to be a fascist. This role is played by "They are performed by trees. They shoot snowballs at them. We have learned to provide assistance to victims - those who have fallen or been bruised."

From a boy’s letter to a front-line soldier: “We used to often play war, but now much less often - we’re tired of the war, it would sooner end so that we could live well again...” (Ibid.).

Due to the death of their parents, many homeless children appeared in the country. The Soviet state, despite the difficult wartime, still fulfilled its obligations to children left without parents. To combat neglect, a network of children's reception centers and orphanages was organized and opened, and employment of teenagers was organized.

Many families of Soviet citizens began to take in orphans to raise them., where they found new parents. Unfortunately, not all teachers and heads of children's institutions were distinguished by honesty and decency. Here are some examples.

“In the fall of 1942, in the Pochinkovsky district of the Gorky region, children dressed in rags were caught stealing potatoes and grain from collective farm fields. It turned out that the “harvest” was “harvested” by the pupils of the district orphanage. And they were not doing this out of a good life. Investigations by local police officers uncovered a criminal group, or, in fact, a gang, consisting of employees of this institution.

In total, seven people were arrested in the case, including the director of the orphanage Novoseltsev, accountant Sdobnov, storekeeper Mukhina and other persons. During the searches, 14 children's coats, seven suits, 30 meters of cloth, 350 meters of textiles and other illegally appropriated property, allocated with great difficulty by the state during this harsh wartime, were confiscated from them.

The investigation established that by failing to supply the required quota of bread and products, these criminals stole seven tons of bread, half a ton of meat, 380 kg of sugar, 180 kg of cookies, 106 kg of fish, 121 kg of honey, etc. during 1942 alone. The orphanage workers sold all these scarce products on the market or simply ate them themselves.

Only one comrade Novoseltsev received fifteen portions of breakfast and lunch every day for himself and his family members. The rest of the staff also ate well at the expense of the pupils. The children were fed “dishes” made from rotten vegetables, citing poor supplies.

For the entire 1942, they were only given one piece of candy once, for the 25th anniversary of the October Revolution... And what is most surprising, the director of the orphanage Novoseltsev, in the same 1942, received a certificate of honor from the People's Commissariat of Education for excellent educational work. All these fascists were deservedly sentenced to long terms of imprisonment." (Zefirov M.V., Dektyarev D.M. “Everything for the front? How victory was actually forged,” pp. 388-391).

At such a time, the whole essence of a person is revealed.. Every day we face a choice - what to do.. And the war showed us examples of great mercy, great heroism and great cruelty, great meanness.. We must remember this!! For the sake of the future!!

And no amount of time can heal the wounds of war, especially children’s wounds. “These years that once were, the bitterness of childhood does not allow one to forget...”

TASS-DOSSIER /Kirill Titov/. For the first time at the national level, the concept of “hero city” appeared in an editorial in the newspaper Pravda dated December 24, 1942. It was dedicated to the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the establishment of medals for the defense of Leningrad, Stalingrad, Odessa and Sevastopol. In official documents, Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Sevastopol and Odessa were named “hero cities” for the first time - in the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Joseph Stalin dated May 1, 1945. It talked about organizing fireworks in these cities. On June 21, 1961, in the decrees of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On awarding the city of Kiev with the Order of Lenin” and “On the establishment of the medal “For the Defense of Kyiv,” the capital of Ukraine was called a “hero city.”

On May 8, 1965, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Presidium of the Supreme Council (SC) of the USSR approved the provision for the honorary title “Hero City”. The main criterion according to which cities received this status was the historical assessment of the contribution of their defenders to the victory over the enemy. “Hero-cities” became the centers of the largest battles of the Great Patriotic War (for example, the Battle of Leningrad, the Battle of Stalingrad, etc.), cities whose defense determined the victory of Soviet troops in the main strategic directions of the front. In addition, this status was given to cities whose residents continued to fight the enemy during the occupation. According to the law, the “hero cities” were awarded the Order of Lenin, the Gold Star medal and a diploma from the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces. In addition, obelisks were installed in them with the text of the decree conferring the honorary title, as well as with images of the awards received.

On May 8, 1965, five decrees of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces were issued on presenting awards to the “hero cities” of Leningrad, Volgograd, Kyiv, Sevastopol, and Odessa. On the same day, Moscow was awarded the honorary title "Hero City", and the Brest Fortress - "Hero Fortress" with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. On September 14, 1973, Kerch and Novorossiysk received the title, on June 26, 1974 - Minsk, on December 7, 1976 - Tula, on May 6, 1985 - Murmansk and Smolensk.

In total, 12 cities of the former Soviet Union and the Brest Fortress were awarded the honorary title. In 1988, the practice of conferring the title was stopped by a resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

New honorary title - "City of Military Glory"

On May 9, 2006, a federal law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin established a new honorary title - “City of Military Glory.” It is assigned to cities “on the territory of which or in the immediate vicinity of which, during fierce battles, the defenders of the Fatherland showed courage, fortitude and mass heroism, including cities that were awarded the title “hero city.” Currently, there are 45 cities in Russia have the honorary title "City of Military Glory".

In Moscow, in the Alexander Garden near the Kremlin wall, near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, there is a granite alley of hero cities. There are 12 porphyry blocks here, each of which bears the name of one of the hero cities and an embossed image of the Gold Star medal. The blocks contain capsules with earth from the Piskarevsky cemetery in Leningrad and the Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, from the foot of the walls of the Brest Fortress and the Obelisk of Glory of the Defenders of Kiev, from the defense lines of Odessa and Novorossiysk, from the Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol and Victory Square in Minsk, from Mount Mithridates near Kerch, defensive positions near Tula, Murmansk and Smolensk. On November 17, 2009, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which the granite alley of hero cities near the Kremlin wall was included in the National Memorial of Military Glory, along with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a memorial sign in honor of the cities awarded the honorary title “City of Military Glory.”