Until recently, the topic related to the participation of Soviet air aces in the Great Patriotic War on the side of the Germans was one of the most closed. Even today it is called a little-studied page in our history. These issues are most fully set out in the works of J. Hoffmann ("History of the Vlasov Army". Paris, 1990. And "Vlasov against Stalin. Moscow. AST, 2005.) and K. M. Aleksandrov (" Army Officer Corps General - Lieutenant A. A. Vlasov 1944-1945 "- St. Petersburg, 2001;" Russian soldiers of the Wehrmacht. Heroes and traitors "- Yauza, 2005)
Russian aviation units of the Luftwaffe were formed from 3 categories of pilots: recruited in captivity, emigrants and voluntary defectors, or rather "pilots" to the side of the enemy. Their exact number is unknown. According to I. Hoffmann, who used German sources, quite a lot of people voluntarily flew to the side of Germany. Soviet pilots- in 1943 there were 66, in the first quarter of 1944 another 20 were added.
I must say that escapes of Soviet pilots abroad happened before the war. So, in 1927, the commander of the 17th squadron Klim and the senior mechanic Timashchuk fled to Poland in the same plane. In 1934, G. N. Kravets flew to Latvia from one of the airfields of the Leningrad Military District. In 1938, the head of the Luga flying club, Senior Lieutenant V.O. Unishevsky, flew to Lithuania on a U-2 plane. And during the Great Patriotic War, under the influence of German propaganda and our failures at the front, such flights increased many times over. In the historical literature, among the Russian "pilots" are mentioned career officers of the Red Army Air Force Lieutenant Colonel B. A. Pivenstein, Captains K. Arzamastsev, A. Nikulin and others.
The bulk of those who joined the Luftwaffe were pilots shot down in air battles and recruited while in captivity.
The most famous "Stalinist falcons" who fought on the side of the Germans: Heroes of the Soviet Union Captain Bychkov Semyon Trofimovich, Senior Lieutenant Antilevsky Bronislav Romanovich, as well as their commander - Red Army Air Force Colonel Viktor Ivanovich Maltsev. Various sources also mention those who collaborated with the Germans: Acting Commander of the Air Force of the 20th Army Western Front Colonel Vanyushin Alexander Fedorovich, who became deputy and chief of staff at Maltsev, chief of communications of the 205th fighter air division, Major Sitnik Serafima Zakharovna, squadron commander of the 13th air regiment of high-speed bombers Captain F.I.Ripushinsky, Captain A.P. Mettl (real name - Retivov), who served in the aviation of the Black Sea Fleet, and others. According to the calculations of the historian K.M. Aleksandrov, there were 38 of them in total.
Most of the captive air aces were convicted after the war. So, on July 25, 1946, the military tribunal of the Moscow Military District sentenced Antilevsky to death under Art. 58-1 p. "B" of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. A month later, under the same article and to the same punishment, the district court convicted Bychkov.
In archival outfits, the author had a chance to study other sentences passed against Soviet pilots shot down during the war, who then served in aviation on the side of the Germans. For example, on April 24, 1948, the military tribunal of the Moscow Military District considered in a closed court hearing case No. 113 against the former pilot of the 35th high-speed bomber regiment Ivan (in the works of K. Alexandrov - Vasily) Vasilyevich Shiyan. According to the verdict, he was shot down while performing a combat mission on July 7, 1941, after which he was recruited by German intelligence agencies in a prisoner of war camp, after graduating from the espionage and sabotage school "for reconnaissance and sabotage purposes, he was thrown into the location of the troops of the 2nd Shock Army", in the fall 1943 and until the end of the war "served in the aviation units of the traitorous so-called Russian Liberation Army", first as deputy commander of the "1st Eastern Squadron, and then as its commander." Further in the verdict it was said that Shiyan bombed partisan bases in the area of the cities of Dvinsk and Lida, for active assistance to the Germans in the fight against partisans he was awarded three German medals, received the military rank "Captain", and after being detained and filtered, he tried to hide his treasonous activities , calling himself Snegov Vasily Nikolaevich. The tribunal sentenced him to 25 years in the camps.
The court also measured the same amount for Lieutenant I. G. Radionenkov, who was shot down on the Leningrad front in February 1942, who, in order to "disguise his personality, acted under the fictitious name and name of Mikhail Gerasimovich Schvets.
"At the end of 1944, Radionenkov betrayed his Motherland and voluntarily entered the service of the traitors' air unit, the so-called ROA, where he was awarded the rank of Lieutenant of the ROA Aviation ... was part of a fighter squadron ... performed training flights on Messerschmitt-109."
Due to the scarcity of archival sources, it cannot be categorically asserted that all the pilots repressed after the war really served in the German aviation, since MGB investigators could force some of them to give "confessionary" testimonies using well-known methods of that time.
Some of the pilots experienced these methods themselves in the pre-war years. For V. I. Maltsev, staying in the basements of the NKVD was the main motive for going over to the side of the enemy. If historians still argue about the reasons that prompted General A.A. Vlasov to betray his homeland, then with regard to the commander of the air force of his army V.I.Maltsev, everyone agrees that he really was an ideological anti-Soviet and pushed him to accept such a decision, the application of unreasonable repressions against the former Colonel of the Red Army Air Force. The story of his transformation into an "enemy of the people" was typical of that time.
Victor Ivanovich Maltsev, born in 1895, one of the first Soviet military flights. In 1918, he voluntarily joined the Red Army, the next year he graduated from the Yegoryevsk school of military pilots, and was wounded during the Civil War. Maltsev was one of the instructors of V.P. Chkalov, during his training at the Yegoryevsk Aviation School. In 1925, Maltsev was appointed head of the Central Aerodrome in Moscow, and 2 years later he became assistant to the head of the Air Force of the Siberian Military District. In 1931, he became the head of the district's aviation and held this position until 1937, when he was withdrawn to the reserve, receiving the post of head of the Turkmen Civil Aviation Directorate. For the successes achieved in his work, he was even presented for the award of the Order of Lenin.
But on March 11, 1938, he was unexpectedly arrested as a participant in a "military - fascist conspiracy" and only on September 5 next year released for lack of evidence of the charges. During his confinement in the basements of the Ashgabat NKVD department, Maltsev was repeatedly tortured, but he did not admit any of the trumped-up charges. After his release, Maltsev was reinstated in the party and in the ranks of the Red Army, having been appointed head of the Aeroflot sanatorium in Yalta. And on November 8, 1941, on the very first day of the occupation of Crimea by German troops, in the form of a Colonel of the Red Army Air Force, he appeared at the German military commandant's office and offered his services to create an anti-Soviet volunteer battalion.
The fascists appreciated Maltsev's zeal: they published his memoir "Conveyor of the GPU" in 50,000 copies for propaganda purposes, and then appointed him burgomaster of Yalta. More than once he spoke to the local population with calls for the need to actively fight Bolshevism, and personally formed the 55th Punitive Battalion to fight the partisans for this purpose. For the diligence shown at the same time, he was awarded the bronze and silver badges for the Eastern peoples "For Bravery" II class with swords.
A lot has been written about how Maltsev got along with Vlasov and began to create the ROA aviation. It is known that back in August 1942, in the area of the city of Orsha, on the initiative and under the leadership of the former Soviet officers Major Filatov and Captain Ripushinsky, a Russian air group was created under the so-called Russian National People's Army (RNNA). And in the fall of 1943, Lieutenant Colonel Holters came up with a similar initiative. By that time, Maltsev had already submitted a report on joining Vlasov's army, but since the formation of the ROA had not yet begun, he actively supported Holters' idea of creating a Russian volunteer air group, which he was asked to lead.
During interrogations in SMERSH, he testified that at the end of September 1943, the Germans invited him to the town of Moritzfelde, where the camp of aviators recruited to serve Vlasov was located. There were by that time only 15 pilots - traitors. At the beginning of December of the same year, the German General Staff of the Air Force allowed the formation of Russian prisoners of war pilots who had betrayed their Motherland, an "eastern squadron", the commander of which was appointed the White emigrant Tarnovsky. On him, Maltsev, the Germans entrusted the leadership of the formation and selection of flight personnel. The squadron was formed, and in the first half of January 1944, he escorted it to the city of Dvinsk, where he handed it over to the command of the Air Force commander of one of the German Air Armies, after which this squadron took part in combat operations against the partisans. Upon his return from the city of Dvinsk, he began to form "ferry groups" from captured Soviet pilots to ferry aircraft from German aircraft factories to operating German military units. At the same time, he formed 3 such groups with a total number of 28 people. The pilots were handled personally, recruiting about 30 people. Then, until June 1944, he was engaged in anti-Soviet propaganda activities in a prisoner of war camp in the city of Moritzfeld.
Maltsev was unstoppable. He tirelessly rode through the camps, picking up and treating captured pilots. One of his addresses said:
"I have been a communist all my conscious life, and not in order to wear a party card as an additional food card, I sincerely and deeply believed that this way we will come to a happy life. But now the best years have passed, my head turned white, and together with This led to the most terrible thing - disappointment in everything I believed and worshiped. The best ideals turned out to be spat upon. But the most bitter thing was the realization that all my life I had been a blind instrument of Stalin's political adventures ... Let it be hard to disappointment in my best ideals , even if the best part of life is gone, but the rest of my days I will devote to the fight against the executioners of the Russian people, for a free, happy, great Russia. "
The recruited pilots were transported to a training camp specially created by the Germans in the Polish city of Suwalki. There, the "volunteers" were subjected to comprehensive testing and further psychological treatment, trained, sworn in, and then sent to East Prussia, where an air group was formed in the Moritzfelde camp, which in historical literature received the name of the Holters-Maltsev group ...
J. Hoffmann wrote:
"In the fall of 1943, Lieutenant Colonel of the General Staff, Holters, head of the Vostok intelligence processing point at the Luftwaffe Command Headquarters (OKL), who processed the results of interrogations of Soviet pilots, proposed to form a flight unit of prisoners ready to fight on the side of Germany. At the same time, Holters enlisted the support of the former Colonel. Soviet aviation Maltsev, a man of rare charm ... "
In the nets of the "charming" Maltsev, the captured "Stalin's Falcons" - Heroes of the Soviet Union Captain S. T. Bychkov and Senior Lieutenant B. R. Antilevsky soon found themselves.
Antilevsky was born in 1917 in the village of Markovtsy, Ozersk district, Minsk region. After graduating from the technical school of national economic accounting in 1937, he joined the Red Army and the next year he successfully graduated from the Monino school of special aviation, after which he served as a gunner - radio operator of a long-range bomber DB-ZF in the 21st long-range bomber aviation regiment. As part of this regiment, he participated in the Soviet - Finnish war, in an air battle he shot down 2 enemy fighters, was wounded and for his heroism on April 7, 1940 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In September 1940, Antilevsky was enrolled as a cadet in the Kachin Red Banner Military Aviation School named after Comrade. Myasnikov, after which he received the military rank of "Junior Lieutenant" and from April 1942 participated in the Great Patriotic War as part of the 20th Fighter Aviation Regiment. He flew on "Yaks", showed himself well in the August battles of 1942 near Rzhev.
In 1943, the regiment was included in the 303rd Fighter Aviation Division, after which Antilevsky became deputy squadron commander.
Major General of Aviation G.N.Zakharov wrote:
"The 20th fighter specialized in escorting bombers and attack aircraft. The glory of the pilots of the 20th regiment is a low glory. They were not particularly praised for downing enemy aircraft, but they were strictly asked for their lost ones. They were not relaxed in the air to the extent that seeks any fighter in open battle, could not throw the "Ily" or "Petlyakovs" and headlong rush at the enemy aircraft. literally of this word, and only pilots - bombers and pilots - attack aircraft could fully pay tribute to them ... The regiment performed its tasks in an exemplary manner, and in this work it, perhaps, had no equal in the division. "
The summer of 1943 was going well for Senior Lieutenant BR Antilevsky. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and then, in the August battles, he shot down 3 enemy aircraft in 3 days. But on August 28, 1943, he himself was hit and ended up in German captivity, where at the end of 1943 he voluntarily entered the Russian Liberation Army, received the rank of Lieutenant ...
Hero of the Soviet Union Captain S. T. Bychkov became a particularly valuable acquisition of Maltsev.
He was born on May 15, 1918 in the village of Petrovka, Khokholsky district, Voronezh province. In 1936 he graduated from the Voronezh flying club, after which he stayed to work as an instructor. In September 1938, Bychkov graduated from the Tambov School of the Civil Air Fleet and began working as a pilot at the Voronezh airport. And in January 1939 he was drafted into the Red Army. Studied at the Borisoglebsk Aviation School. Served in the 12th Reserve Aviation Regiment, 42nd and 287th Fighter Aviation Regiments. In June 1941, Bychkov graduated from the courses for fighter pilots of the Konotop military school. He flew an I-16 fighter.
He fought well. During the first 1.5 months of the war, he shot down 4 Nazi aircraft. But in 1942, the deputy squadron commander, Lieutenant S. T. Bychkov, first appeared under the tribunal. He was found guilty of committing an aircraft accident and sentenced to 5 years in forced labor camps, but on the basis of note 2 to Art. 28 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, the sentence was postponed with the sending of the convicted person to the army. He himself was eager to fight and quickly atoned for his guilt. Soon, his criminal record was removed.
1943 was a good year for Bychkov, as well as for his future friend Antilevsky. He became a famous air ace, received two Orders of the Red Banner. His conviction was no longer remembered. As part of the fighter aviation regiments of the 322nd fighter division, he took part in 60 air battles, in which he destroyed 15 aircraft personally and 1 in a group. In the same year, Bychkov became deputy commander of the 482nd Fighter Regiment, on May 28, 1943, he was given the Captain, and on September 2, the Golden Star.
The submission for awarding him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union said:
"Participating in fierce air battles with superior enemy air forces from Muehl 12 to August 10, 1943, he proved himself to be an excellent fighter pilot, whose courage is combined with great skill. to the enemy ... "
Luck changed Semyon Bychkov on December 10, 1943. By anti-aircraft artillery fire, his fighter was shot down in the Orsha region. Shrapnel also wounded Bychkov, but he jumped out with a parachute, and after landing was captured. The hero was placed in a camp for captured pilots in Suwalki. And then he was transferred to the Moritzfelde camp, where he joined the Holters-Maltsev aviation group.
Was this decision voluntary? There is no unequivocal answer to this question even today. It is known that in the court session of the military collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR in the case of Vlasov and other leaders of the ROA, Bychkov was interrogated as a witness. He told the court that in the Moritzfelde camp, Maltsev offered him to join the ROA aviation. After refusal, he was severely beaten by Maltsev's henchmen and spent 2 weeks in the infirmary. But Maltsev did not leave him alone there, continuing to intimidate him with the fact that in his homeland he would still be "shot as a traitor" and that he had no choice, since if he refused to serve in the ROA, he would make sure that he, Bychkov, was sent in a concentration camp where no one comes out alive ...
Meanwhile, most researchers believe that no one actually beat Bychkov. And although the arguments are convincing, they still do not give grounds to unequivocally assert that after the capture Bychkov was not processed by Maltsev, including with the use of physical force.
Most of the captured Soviet pilots faced a difficult moral choice. Many agreed to cooperate with the Germans to avoid starvation. Someone hoped at the first opportunity to go over to their own. And such cases, contrary to I. Hoffmann's assertion, did take place.
Why did Bychkov and Antilevsky not do this, who, unlike Maltsev, were not ardent anti-Sovietists? After all, they certainly had such an opportunity. The answer is obvious - at first they, young 25-year-olds, were subjected to psychological treatment, convincing, including with specific examples, that there was no turning back, that they had already been sentenced in absentia and that upon returning to their homeland they would face execution or 25 years in camps. And then it was too late.
However, all these are assumptions. We do not know how long and how Maltsev Heroes was processed. The established fact is only that they not only agreed to cooperate, but also became his active assistants. Meanwhile, other Heroes of the Soviet Union from among the Soviet air aces who were in German captivity, refused to go over to the side of the enemy, showed examples of unparalleled stamina and unbending will. They were not broken by the sophisticated torture and even death sentences passed by the Nazi tribunals for organizing the escapes from the concentration camps. These little-known pages stories deserve a separate detailed story. Here we will name only a few names. Heroes of the Soviet Union passed through the Buchenwald concentration camp: deputy squadron commander of the 148th Guards Special Purpose Fighter Regiment Senior Lieutenant N.L. Chasnyk, long-range bomber pilots Senior Lieutenant G.V. Lepekhin and Captain V. Ye. Sitnov. The latter also visited Auschwitz. For escaping from the camp near Lodz, he and the captain - attack aircraft Viktor Ivanov were sentenced to be hanged, but then replaced by Auschwitz.
In captivity were 2 Soviet aviation Generals M. A. Beleshev and G. I. Tkhor. The third - the legendary I.S.Polbin, shot down on February 11, 1945 in the sky over Breslau, is officially considered dead as a result of a direct hit by an anti-aircraft shell on his Pe-2 attack aircraft. But according to one of the versions, he was also taken prisoner in grave condition and killed by the Nazis, who only later established his identity. So, M.A.Beleshev, who commanded the aviation of the 2nd Shock Army before his capture, was without sufficient grounds found guilty of cooperation with the Nazis and convicted after the war, and the deputy commander of the 62nd Bomber Aviation Division, Major General of Aviation G. I. Tkhor, whom both the fascists and the Vlasovites repeatedly persuaded to go to serve in the Nazi army, was thrown into the Hammelsburg camp for refusing to serve the enemy. There he headed an underground organization and, for preparing an escape, was transferred to the Gestapo prison in Nuremberg, and then to the Flossenburg concentration camp, where he was shot in January 1943. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union G.I. Tkhor was awarded posthumously only on July 26, 1991.
Mauthausen held Major A. N. Karasev of the Guard. In the same concentration camp, the prisoners of the 20th penalty officer's block - the "death block" - were Heroes of the Soviet Union Colonel A. N. Koblikov and Lieutenant Colonel N. I. Vlasov, who, together with former aviation commanders Colonels A. F. Isupov and K. M. Chubchenkov in January 1945 became the organizers of the uprising. A few days before it began, they were captured by the Nazis and destroyed, but on the night of February 2 to 3, 1945, the prisoners still rebelled and some of them managed to escape.
They behaved with dignity in captivity and did not cooperate with the enemy. Heroes of the Soviet Union, pilots I. I. Babak, G. U. Dolnikov, V. D. Lavrinenkov, A. I. Razgonin, N. V. Pysin and others. Many of them managed to escape from captivity and after that they continued to smash the enemy as part of their air units.
As for Antilevsky and Bychkov, they eventually became Maltsev's close associates. At first, planes were ferried from factories to field airfields. Eastern Front... Then they were entrusted to speak in prisoner of war camps with anti-Soviet propaganda speeches. Here is what, for example, wrote Antilevsky and Bychkov in the newspaper "Volunteer" published by the ROA since the beginning of 1943:
"Shot down in a fair battle, we were captured by the Germans. Not only did no one torture us or torture us, on the contrary, we met from the German officers and soldiers the warmest and comradely attitude and respect for our epaulettes, orders and military merits." ...
In the investigative and judicial documents in the case of B. Antilevsky it was noted:
"At the end of 1943, he voluntarily entered the Russian Liberation Army (ROA), was appointed commander of an air squadron and was engaged in ferrying aircraft from German aircraft factories to the front line, and also trained ROA pilots in piloting techniques on German fighters. For this service, he was awarded two medals, personalized watches. In addition, he signed a "appeal" to Soviet prisoners of war and Soviet citizens, in which they slandered Soviet reality and the leaders of the state. He also repeatedly spoke on the radio and in the press with appeals to Soviet citizens to fight against Soviet power and go over to the side of the German - fascist troops ... "
The Holters-Maltsev air group was disbanded in September 1944, after which Bychkov and Antilevsky arrived in the city of Eger, where, under the leadership of Maltsev, they took Active participation in the creation of the 1st KONR Aviation Regiment.
The formation of the ROA aviation was authorized by G. Goering on December 19, 1944. The headquarters is located in Marienbad. Aschenbrenner was appointed as the representative of the German side. Maltsev became commander of the Air Force and was promoted to Major General. He appointed Colonel A. Vanyushin as the chief of his staff, and Major A. Mettl as the chief of the operational department. At the headquarters was also General Popov with a group of cadets of the 1st Russian Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of the cadet corps, evacuated from Yugoslavia.
Maltsev again developed a vigorous activity, began to publish his own newspaper "Our Wings", attracted many officers of the Imperial and White armies, in particular General V. Tkachev, who commanded the aviation of Baron Wrangel during the Civil War. Soon the number of the Vlasov army's air force, according to Hoffmann, reached about 5,000 people.
The first aviation regiment of the ROA Air Force, formed in Eger, was headed by Colonel L. Baidak. Major S. Bychkov became the commander of the 5th Colonel A. Kazakov Fighter Squadron. The 2nd Assault Squadron, later renamed the Night Bomber Squadron, was led by Captain B. Antilevsky. The 3rd reconnaissance squadron was commanded by Captain S. Artemiev, the 5th training squadron was commanded by Captain M. Tarnovsky.
On February 4, 1945, during the first review of aviation units, Vlasov presented his "falcons", including Antilevsky and Bychkov, with military awards.
In the publication of M. Antilevsky about the pilots of the Vlasov army, you can read:
“In the spring of 1945, several weeks before the end of the war, fierce air battles were raging over Germany and Czechoslovakia. was heard from both sides - in the sky over the center of Europe in fierce battles of life and death, the Russians came together. "
In fact, the "falcons" of Vlasov did not have time to fight in full force. It is only known for certain that on April 13, 1945, the planes of the antilevsky bomber squadron entered the battle with the units of the Red Army. They supported the advance of the 1st Division of the ROAN with fire, the Soviet bridgehead Erlengof, south of Fürstenberg. And on April 20, 1945, by order of Vlasov, Maltsev's aviation units had already moved to the city of Neyern, where, after a meeting with Aschenbrenner, they decided to start negotiations with the Americans about surrender. Maltsev and Ashenbrenner arrived at the location of the headquarters of the 12th American Corps for negotiations. The corps commander, General Kenya, explained to them that the issue of granting political asylum was not within his competence and offered to surrender weapons. At the same time, he gave guarantees that he would not give the Vlasov "falcons" to the Soviet side until the end of the war. They decided to surrender, which they did on April 27 in the Langdorf area.
An officer group of about 200 people, which included Bychkov, was sent to a prisoner of war camp in the vicinity of the French city of Cherbourg. All of them were transferred to the Soviet side in September 1945.
Major General Maltsev was taken to a prisoner of war camp near Frankfurt am Main by soldiers of the 3rd American Army, and then also transported to the city of Cherbourg. It is known that the Soviet side repeatedly and persistently demanded his extradition. Finally, the Vlasov General was nevertheless handed over to the NKVD officers, who, under escort, took him to their camp, located not far from Paris.
Maltsev twice tried to commit suicide - at the end of 1945 and in May 1946. While in a Soviet hospital in Paris, he opened the veins in his arms and cut his neck. But he could not avoid retribution for the betrayal. On a specially flown "Douglas", he took off for the last time and was taken to Moscow, where on August 1, 1946, he was sentenced to death and soon hanged along with Vlasov and other leaders of the ROA. Maltsev was the only one of them who did not ask for mercy and pardon. He only reminded the judges of the military collegium in his last word about his unfounded conviction in 1938, which undermined his faith in Soviet power. In 1946, Colonel A. F. Vanyushin, who served as chief of staff of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of the KONR, was also shot by the verdict of the military collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR.
S. Bychkova, as we have already said, "saved" the main trial over the leadership as a witness. They promised that if they were given the necessary testimony, they would save their lives. But soon, on August 24 of the same year, the military tribunal of the Moscow military district sentenced him to death. The verdict was carried out on November 4, 1946. And the decree depriving him of the title of Hero took place 5 months later - on March 23, 1947.
As for B. Antilevsky, almost all researchers of this topic claim that he managed to avoid extradition by hiding in Spain under the protection of Generalissimo Franco, and that he was sentenced to death in absentia. For example, M. Antilevsky wrote:
“Traces of the regiment commander Baidak and two officers of his staff, Majors Klimov and Albov, were never found. and was sentenced to death in absentia by a court decision of the Moscow Military District immediately after the war, for another 5 years he retained the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and only in the summer of 1950 the authorities, who came to their senses, deprived him of this award in absentia. "
The materials of the criminal case against BR Antilevsky do not provide grounds for such allegations. It is difficult to say where the "Spanish trace" of B. Antilevsky originates from. Perhaps for the reason that his plane Fi-156 "Storch" was prepared for departure to Spain, but he was not among the officers captured by the Americans. According to the materials of the case, after the surrender of Germany, he was in Czechoslovakia, where he joined the "pseudo-partisan" detachment "Krasnaya Iskra" and received the documents of a participant in the anti-fascist movement in the name of Berezovsky. With this certificate in hand, when trying to get into the territory of the USSR, he was arrested by the NKVD on June 12, 1945. Antilevsky - Berezovsky was repeatedly interrogated, fully exposed of treason and on July 25, 1946, was convicted by a military tribunal of the Moscow Military District under Art. 58-1 p. "B" of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR to capital punishment - execution - with confiscation of personally owned property. According to the archival books of the military court of the Moscow Military District, the sentence against Antilevsky was approved by the military board on November 22, 1946, and on November 29 of the same year was carried out. The decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on depriving Antilevsky of all awards and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union took place much later - on July 12, 1950.
To what has been said, it remains only to add that, by a strange irony of fate, according to a certificate confiscated from Antilevsky during a search, Berezovsky, a member of the Krasnaya Iskra partisan detachment, was also called Boris.
Continuing the story about the Soviet air aces, who, according to available data, while in captivity, collaborated with the Nazis, it is worth mentioning two more pilots: V.Z. Pivenstein.
The fate of each of them is unique in its own way and is of undoubted interest for researchers. But information about these people, including because of the "black fad" recorded in their profiles and track records, is extremely stingy and contradictory. Therefore, this chapter was given to the author the most difficult and it should be immediately noted that the information given on the pages of the book needs further clarification.
There are many mysteries in the fate of the fighter pilot Vladimir Zakharovich Baido. After the war, one of the Norillag prisoners cut a five-pointed star out of yellow metal for him, and he always wore it on his chest, proving to those around him that he was a Hero of the Soviet Union and that he was among the first to be awarded the Golden Star, having received it for No. 72 ...
For the first time the surname of this person came across to the author in the memoirs of the former "prisoner" of the Norilsk resident S.G. Golovko - "Days of the Victory of the Cossack", recorded by V. Tolstov and published in the newspaper "Zapolyarnaya Pravda". Golovko claimed that in 1945, when he got to the camp point at the 102nd kilometer, where the Nadezhdinsky airport was being built and became a foreman there, in the brigade he "had Sasha Kuznetsov and two pilots, Heroes of the Soviet Union: Volodya Baida, who was the first after Talalikhin made a night ram, and Nikolai Gaivoronsky, ace fighter. "
More detailed story about the prisoner of the 4th department of the Gorlag, Vladimir Baido, can be read in the book of another former "prisoner" G.S.Klimovich:
“... Vladimir Baida, in the past was a pilot - an aircraft designer. Baida was the first Hero of the Soviet Union in Belarus. hometown of Mogilev, when he arrived there, the streets were strewn with flowers and crowded with jubilant people of all ages and positions. the best side... But soon the war began. She found him in one of the aviation formations of the Leningrad Military District, where he served under the command of the future Air Marshal Novikov, and on the second day of the war, Baida was a direct participant in the war. Once he and his squadron bombed Helsinki and was attacked by Messerschmitts. There was no cover for the fighters, I had to defend myself myself, the forces were unequal. Baida's plane was shot down, he himself was captured. In an open car with the inscription "Soviet vulture" on the board, he was taken through the streets of the Finnish capital, and then sent to a prisoner of war camp - first in Finland, and in the winter of 1941 - in Poland, near Lublin.
For more than 2 years he strengthened himself, endured all the hardships of the fascist concentration camp, waited for the allies to open a second front and the end of the torment would come. But the allies hesitated, they did not open a second front. He got angry and asked to fight in the Luftwaffe on the condition that he would not be sent to the Eastern Front. His request was granted, and he began to beat the allies over the English Channel. He, as it seemed to him, took revenge on them. For his courage, Hitler personally at his residence presented him with the Knight's Cross with diamonds. He capitulated to the Americans, and those, taking away from him the "Gold Star" and the Knight's Cross, handed over to the Soviet authorities. Here he was tried for treason to the Motherland and, having been sentenced to 10 years in prison, was convoyed to Gorlag ...
Such a sentence was perceived by Baida as an insulting injustice; he did not feel guilty, believed that he had not betrayed his Motherland, but she had betrayed him; that if at the time when he, outcast and forgotten, languished in a fascist concentration camp, the Motherland showed even the slightest care about him, there would be no talk of any betrayal, he would not have had anger towards the allies, and he would not to sell myself to the Luftwaffe. He shouted about this truth to everyone and everywhere, wrote to all authorities, and so that his voice would not get lost in the Taimyr tundra, he refused to obey the administration. Attempts to call him to order by force met with due resistance. Baida was decisive and had very trained hands - with a direct blow of his fingers he could pierce a human body in self-defense, and with the edge of his palm he could break a 50-mm board. Unable to deal with him in Gorlag, the MGB brought him to Tsemstroy. "
This is such an incredible story. It is based, apparently, on the stories of Baido himself and, perhaps, somewhat embellished by the author of the book. It is far from easy to figure out what was true and what is fiction in this story. How, for example, can one assess the assertion that V. Baido was the first Belarusian to receive the title of Hero of the Soviet Union? After all, they officially list the brave tanker P. Z. Kupriyanov, who in the battle near Madrid destroyed 2 enemy vehicles and 8 guns. And the "Gold Star" number 72, as it is easy to establish, was awarded on March 14, 1938 not to Captain V.Z. Baido, but to another tanker - Senior Lieutenant Pavel Afanasyevich Semyonov. In Spain, he fought as a mechanic - the driver of the T-26 tank as part of the 1st separate international tank regiment, and during the Great Patriotic War he was deputy battalion commander of the 169th tank brigade and died a heroic death at Stalingrad ...
In general, there were many unanswered questions. And today there are still a lot of them. But we will still answer some of them. First of all, it was possible to establish that V. Baido was indeed a fighter pilot. He served in the 7th Fighter Aviation Regiment, heroically showed himself in air battles with the Finns and Germans, was awarded two military orders, and on August 31, 1941, while performing a combat mission, he was shot down over the territory of Finland.
Before the war, the 7th IAP was based at the airfield in Maisniemi, near Vyborg. On the second day of the war, the commander of the 193rd air regiment, Major G.M. Galitsin, was instructed to form an operational group from the remnants of the defeated air units, for which the number of the 7th IAP was retained. On June 30, the updated regiment began to carry out combat missions. In the first months of the war, it was based at the airfields of the Karelian Isthmus, then at the suburban airfields of Leningrad, protecting it from the north and northwest. By the time of his capture, Baido was one of the most experienced pilots, and his regiment became one of the advanced units of the Leningrad Front Air Force. The pilots performed up to 60 combat missions daily, many of them were awarded orders and medals.
V. 3. Baido was awarded the military orders of the Red Star and the Red Banner. But there was no information about awarding him with the "Golden Star". The materials of the archival investigative and judicial case, or at least the supervisory proceedings, could bring some clarity. But it was not possible to find any traces of this case either in the Supreme Court of Russia or in the Main Military Prosecutor's Office.
But the missing information from the personal file of V. Z. Baido No. B-29250, which is kept in the departmental archive of the Norilsk Combine, was reported to the author in her letter by Alla Borisovna Makarova. She wrote:
"Vladimir Zakharovich Baida (Baido), born in 1918, on July 12, native of the city of Mogilev, Belarusian, higher education, design engineer at TsAGI, non-partisan. Contained in places of confinement from July 31, 1945 to April 27, 1956 in two cases , according to one of which he was rehabilitated, and on the other he was sentenced to 10 years in prison ... Released "for the termination of the case by the decision of the Commission of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on April 25, 1956 in connection with the groundlessness of the conviction ..."
It followed from the letter that after the release of Baido, he remained in Norilsk, worked as a turner at an underground mine, a design engineer, head of an assembly site ... From 1963 until his retirement in 1977, he worked in the laboratory of the Mining and Metallurgical Experimental Research Center ... Then he moved with his wife Vera Ivanovna to Donetsk, where he died.
Regarding the awarding of the Golden Star to Baido, A. B. Makarova wrote that in Norilsk very few people believed in it. Meanwhile, his wife confirmed this fact in a letter that she sent to the museum of the Norilsk Combine ...
The mountain camp in Norilsk, in which Baido was kept, was one of the Special Camps (Special Camps) created after the war. Especially dangerous criminals were sent to these camps, convicted of "espionage", "treason", "sabotage", "terror", for participation in "anti-Soviet organizations and groups." The majority were former prisoners of war and members of national rebel movements in Ukraine and the Baltic states. Baido was also convicted of "treason". It happened on August 31, 1945, when a military tribunal sentenced him under Art. 58-1 p. "B" of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR for 10 years in the camps.
For the prisoners of the Gorlag, a particularly strict hard labor regime was established, the institution of early release for shock work did not function, there were restrictions on correspondence with relatives. The names of the prisoners were abolished. They were listed under the numbers indicated on the clothes: on the back and above the knee. The duration of the working day was at least 12 hours. And this is in conditions when the air temperature sometimes reached minus 50 degrees.
After Stalin's death, a wave of strikes and uprisings swept through several Special Camps. It is believed that one of the reasons for this was the amnesty of March 27, 1953. After its announcement, more than 1 million people were released from the camps. But it practically did not affect the prisoners of the Special Camp, since it did not apply to the most serious points of Article 58.
In Norillag, the immediate cause of the uprising was the killing of several prisoners by the guards. This caused an explosion of indignation, fermentation began, resulting in a strike. As a sign of protest, the "convicts" refused to go to work, mourning flags were hung on the barracks, a strike committee was created, and they began to demand the commission's arrival from Moscow.
The uprising in Norilsk in May - August 1953 was the largest. Riots engulfed all 6 camp departments of the Gorlag and 2 departments of the Norillag. The number of rebels exceeded 16,000. Baido was a member of the insurrectionary committee of the 5th branch of the Gorlag.
The demands in Norillag, as in other camps, were similar: abolish hard labor, stop the arbitrariness of the administration, reconsider the cases of the unreasonably repressed ... S.G. Golovko wrote:
"During the uprising in Norillag, I was the head of security and defense of the 3rd Gorlag, formed a regiment of 3000 people, and when Prosecutor General Rudenko came to negotiate, I told him:" There is no riot in the camp, the discipline is perfect, you can check it out. " walked with the head of the camp, twisted his head - indeed, the discipline was perfect.In the evening Rudenko lined up all the convicts and solemnly promised that he would personally convey all our demands to Soviet government that Beria is no longer, he will not allow the law to be violated, and that with his power he gives us 3 days to rest, and then offers to go to work. I wished all the best and left. "
But no one was going to fulfill the demands of the prisoners. The next morning after the departure of the attorney general, the camp was cordoned off by soldiers and the assault began. The uprising was brutally suppressed. The exact death toll is still unknown. The researcher of this topic A.B. Makarova wrote that in the cemetery book of Norilsk for 1953 there is an entry about 150 nameless dead buried in a common grave. The clerk of the Schmidtiha cemetery told her that this particular record refers to the victims of the massacre of the rebels.
New cases were opened against 45 of the most active rioters, 365 people were transferred to prisons in a number of cities, 1500 people were transferred to the Kolyma.
By the time the uprising took place in the camp, one of its participants - V. Z. Baido - had already 2 convictions behind him. In February 1950, the camp court sentenced him under Art. 58-10 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR for 10 years in prison for libelous statements "to one of the leaders of the Soviet government, to Soviet reality and military equipment, for the praise of life, military equipment of the capitalist countries and the existing system there."
Having information that V. Z. Baido had been rehabilitated in this case by the Krasnoyarsk Regional Prosecutor's Office, the author turned for help to Sergey Pavlovich Kharin, who works in this Prosecutor's Office, his colleague and longtime friend. And soon he sent a certificate, which was compiled on the basis of the materials of the archival criminal case No. P-22644. It said:
"Baido Vladimir Zakharovich, born in 1918, a native of Mogilev. In the Red Army since 1936. On August 31, 1941, as an assistant squadron commander of the 7th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Captain V.Z. the territory of Finland and captured by the Finns.
Until September 1943, he was held in the 1st officer's camp at the station. Peinochia, after which he was handed over to the Germans and transferred to a prisoner of war camp in Poland. In December 1943 he was recruited as a German intelligence agent under the pseudonym "Mikhailov". He gave appropriate subscriptions on cooperation with the Germans and was sent to study at the intelligence school.
In April 1945, he voluntarily joined the ROA and was enlisted in the personal guard of the traitor to the Motherland Maltsev, where he was awarded the military rank of Captain.
On April 30, 1945, he was captured by US troops and subsequently transferred to the Soviet side. On August 31 of the same year, he was convicted by a military tribunal of the 47th Army under Art. 58-1 p. "B2 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR by 10 years in a labor camp with a loss of rights for 3 years without confiscation of property.
He served his sentence in the Mountain camp of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs in the city of Norilsk, worked as a labor engineer, head of the 1st column in the 2nd camp department, a dental technician in the 4th camp department (1948 - 1949).
Arrested on December 30, 1949 for carrying out anti-Soviet activities. On February 27, 1950, a special camp court of the Mountain Camp of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR was convicted under Art. 58-10 h. 1 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR to 10 years of imprisonment with serving in a correctional labor camp with deprivation of rights for 5 years. Unserved punishment on the basis of Art. 49 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR absorbed.
On March 30, 1955, the appeal for re-examination of the case was denied. On May 23, 1997, he was rehabilitated by the Krasnoyarsk Prosecutor's Office. "
S.P. Kharin also said that, judging by the materials of the case, the reason for its termination and Baido's rehabilitation for anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda was the fact that, expressing critical remarks, he did not call anyone to overthrow the existing system and weaken Soviet power. But for treason to his homeland, he was not rehabilitated. It followed from this verdict that the military tribunal in 1945 filed a petition to deprive V. Z. Baido of the Orders of the Red Banner and the Red Star. There was no information in the materials of the criminal case that Baido was a Hero of the Soviet Union.
A negative response to the author's request came from the Office of Personnel Affairs and State Awards of the Presidential Administration of Russia. The conclusion is unambiguous: V. 3. Baido was never awarded and, accordingly, was not deprived of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. It can be assumed that he was only nominated for the Golden Star award. And, having learned about this from the command, he considered himself an already accomplished Hero of the Soviet Union. But this idea was not realized for some reason.
No less interesting is the fate of the hero of the Chelyuskin epic, Lieutenant Colonel Boris Abramovich Pivenstein, who was born in 1909 in the city of Odessa. In 1934 he took part in the rescue of the crew of the Chelyuskin steamer on the P-5 aircraft. Then 7 pilots became the first Heroes of the Soviet Union. Pivenstein, for sure, would have also become a Hero, if not for the squadron commander N. Kamanin, who, after the breakdown of his plane, expropriated the plane from him and, having reached the Chelyuskin ice camp, received his Golden Star. And Pivenstein, together with the mechanic Anisimov, remained to repair the command plane and in the end was awarded only the Order of the Red Star. Then Pivenstein participated in the search for the missing plane of S. Levanevsky, arriving in November 1937 on Rudolf Island to replace Vodopyanov's detachment on the ANT-6 plane as a pilot and secretary of the party committee of the squadron.
Before the war B. Pivenstein lived in a notorious house on the Embankment. There is a museum in this house, where he is listed as dead at the front.
At the beginning of the war, Lieutenant Colonel B.A. According to some information that needs clarification, in April 1943, the Nazis shot down his Il-2 attack aircraft in the sky of Donbass. Lieutenant Colonel Pivenstein and air gunner Sergeant Major A. M. Kruglov were captured. At the time of his capture, Pivenstein was wounded and tried to shoot himself. Kruglov died while trying to escape from the German camp.
According to other sources, as already mentioned, Pivenstein voluntarily flew to the side of the Nazis. The historian K. Aleksandrov names him among the active employees of Lieutenant Colonel G. Holters, the head of one of the reconnaissance units at the headquarters of the Luftwaffe.
The author was able to find in the archives materials of the court proceedings in the case of B.A. But soon the state security bodies established that Pivenstein, "until June 1951, living on the territory of the American zone of occupation of Germany in the city of Wiesbaden, being a member of the NTS, served as the secretary of the Wiesbaden émigré committee and was the head of the temple, and in June 1951 he left for America ".
On April 4, 1952, B.A.Pivenstein was convicted in absentia by the military collegium under Art. 58-1 p. "B" and 58-6 h. 1 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR and sentenced to death with confiscation of property and deprivation of military rank. The verdict stated:
"Pivenstein in 1932 - 1933, while on military service in the Far East, had a criminal relationship with the resident of German intelligence Waldmann. In 1943, being the commander of an air squadron, he flew on a combat mission to the rear of the Germans, from where he did not return to his unit ...
While in the POW camp in Moritzfeld, Pivenstein worked in the Vostok counterintelligence department, where he interviewed Soviet pilots who had been captured by the Germans, processed them in an anti-Soviet spirit and persuaded them to treason.
In January 1944, the German command sent Pivenstein to the counterintelligence department stationed in the mountains. Königsberg ... "
Further in the verdict, it was noted that Pivenstein's guilt in treason and cooperation with German counterintelligence was proved by the testimony of arrested traitors to the Motherland V.S. Moskalts, M.V. Tarnovsky, I.I.
The author does not know how B.A.Pivenstein's further fate developed after his departure to America.
(From the materials of V. E. Zvyagintsev's book - "Tribunal for" Stalin's falcons". Moscow, 2008)During the Great Patriotic War, more than 11 thousand soldiers of the Red Army were awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Soviet Union. They were pilots, sappers, tankmen, artillerymen. But acquiring an honorary title is a reversible process. 72 Hero of the Soviet Union were deprived of their status for serious misconduct, and with it freedom, respect, and some of their lives. What crimes were unforgivable in the USSR, even for heroes?
Theft of socialist property
The events in which Lieutenant Nikolai Arsenyev showed himself as a hero are worthy of creating an action-packed film. He participated in the crossing of the Dnieper River in the Zaporozhye region. The Nazis defended this area especially fiercely, since behind the defensive line there were approaches to the most important economic regions.
At the end of October 1943, soldiers of the Soviet landing force, among whom was Arsenyev, captured and held the island of Khortitsa in boats. During the first day, while Soviet soldiers defended the occupied bridgehead, intensively fired at from German machine guns, many were killed or injured.
Further, Arsenyev, who became the commander of a rifle battalion due to the injury of his predecessor, received a new task - to expand the bridgehead. After several difficult battles, in which they used not only firearms, but also sapper shovels and stones, the task was achieved. The bridgehead has been expanded to 250 meters along the front. The Nazis desperately tried to reclaim their territory, making 16 counterattacks over the next few days. Large losses among Soviet soldiers became the reason for the order to leave the island. The Nazis destroyed the ferry and tried to kill all the retreating Red Army soldiers who were swimming away from the island, among them was the surviving battalion commander Arsenyev.
Fierce battles for the island of Khortitsa on the Dnieper, and with it the approaches to important economic regions
After these events, when the ability to lead a battle in the most difficult circumstances was demonstrated, Nikolai received the title of Hero of the USSR. Subsequently, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.
General Arseniev in 1962 lost the title of Hero and all awards, and was also sentenced to 8 years in a corrective labor colony with confiscation. Such a severe sentence was due to the theft of state property for a large amount - 4,700 rubles. In addition, the severity was explained by the desire to prevent subsequent economic crimes, which in the Soviet Union were among the most serious.
Betrayal of the Motherland
Collaboration with the occupiers was considered a very serious crime that could not be redeemed by heroic deeds. The story of the hero of the USSR is known, who, after the end of the war, ceased to be a respected citizen, at the moment he turned into a traitor.
Such a personality was Ivan Dobrobabin, one of 28 Panfilov's men, who, without proper anti-tank weapons, confronted a powerful tank group at the Dubosekovo junction (7 km from Volokolamsk). After the indicated battle of 1941, Dobrobabin was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
But the fighter survived - he received a shell shock and was captured, from where he successfully fled to his native village, which at that moment was under the control of the Germans. Here he worked in the police - it was this fact of the guardsman's biography that was regarded as an indelible shame. Although after this episode, Dobrobabin again fled to territory controlled by the Soviet Union, honestly served in the Red Army, participating in battles and risking his life until the end of the war.
Panfilov, a guardsman of the division, was arrested in 47, for cooperation with the Germans he was imprisoned for 15 years, like all well-deserved awards.
Murder
Murder was considered a less serious crime in comparison with betrayal of the Motherland or theft of socialist property. The title of Hero of the USSR in such cases served as a mitigating circumstance. There is only one known case of a sentence to capital punishment of a hero of the Great Patriotic War for murder “in civilian life”. This fate befell the pilot Pyotr Poloz.
He was a participant in many battles, including during the defense of Odessa, during the Izyum-Barvenkovo operation (it was carried out at the same time as Battle of Kursk and largely determined its favorable outcome). Also Poloz participated in the Khalkin-Golsk battle.
Poloz took part in a spectacular action on May 1, 1945, when a group of Soviet planes dropped scarlet banners instead of bombs on the defeated Reichstag as a sign of the triumph of the USSR. These canvases contained inscriptions glorifying the Soviet soldiers who had installed the red banner over Berlin.
In 1962, Pyotr Poloz committed a deliberate double murder, the motives of which have not been clarified. The victims were Fomichev (Khrushchev's head of security) and his wife. There is an opinion that it was the high status of the victims that became the reason for the death sentence. The brave pilot was posthumously deprived of all awards.
According to lawyer Semyon Ostrovsky, Peter was forced to commit a bloody crime by his wife. In an interview for Telegraph, he made it clear that the wife of the accused was not the first time instigating her husband to murder, abusing his mental instability and love for her.
Defense of Odessa, in which the pilot of the Red Army Pyotr Poloz took part
A dashing disposition is inappropriate in a peaceful life
The problem of self-realization in a peaceful life was also relevant for the participants in the Second World War. Many Red Guards, who with dignity passed all the hardships of the war, showed themselves to be brave heroes, could not get used to it when the sounds of sirens and the noise of tank tracks fell silent.
This happened with the sergeant of the Red Army Vladimir Pasyukov, who by 1943 received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star. Pasyukov performed his main feat during the crossing Kerch Strait(1943). Being in the forefront among the Red Army men who landed on the shore, he destroyed a German cannon firing at the boats.
In the course of the same events, Pasyukov took an active part in repelling several counterattacks by the enemy, numerically superior to the forces of the USSR. And again the soldier showed extreme dexterity and courage, destroying the German machine gun, even engaging in hand-to-hand combat.
After the war, he continued to serve in the military, but discipline weighed down on him. Cases of desertion became more frequent and prolonged, Pasyukov often ignored the orders of the leadership, and regularly drank. Hooligan antics - fights and insults - performed by Pasyukov have become commonplace. In 1947, a soldier was sentenced to serve a sentence in forced labor camps for 7 years, for actions "incompatible with the status of an order bearer" he was stripped of his titles and awards received in the war.
No matter how bitter it is to admit it, there were collaborators among the Heroes of the Soviet Union as well. Even the "Panfilov hero" turned out to be the enemy's accomplice. It is known that the fighters of the 316th Infantry Division (later the 8th Guards) under the command of Major General Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov, who participated in 1941, were called Panfilovites.
In the defense of Moscow. Among the soldiers of the division, 28 people ("Panfilov heroes" or "28 Panfilov heroes") from the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th rifle regiment received the greatest fame. According to the widespread version of events, on November 16, when the enemy launched a new offensive against Moscow, the soldiers of the 4th company, headed by political instructor V.G. Klochkov in the area of the Dubosekovo junction, 7 kilometers southeast of Volokolamsk, performed a feat, destroying 18 enemy tanks during a 4-hour battle. All 28 heroes died (later they began to write "almost all"). The official version of the feat was studied by the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office of the USSR and recognized as a literary fiction. According to the director of the State Archives of Russia, Professor Sergei Mironenko, "there were no 28 Panfilov heroes - this is one of the myths that were implanted by the state." At the same time, the very fact of heavy defensive battles of the 316th rifle division against the 2nd and 11th German tank divisions in the Volokolamsk direction on November 16, 1941 is beyond doubt. The conclusion of the investigation by the Main Military Prosecutor's Office: “Thus, the materials of the investigation established that the feat of 28 Panfilov guardsmen, highlighted in the press, was the fiction of the correspondent Koroteev, the editor of Krasnaya Zvezda Ortenberg, and especially the literary secretary of the newspaper Krivitsky” (47).
The fate of the "Panfilov hero" Dobrobabin (Dobrobaba) Ivan Evstafievich turned out to be unusual. On November 16, 1941, Dobrobabin, being part of the outpost at the Dubosekovo junction, was covered with earth in a trench during the battle and was presumed dead. Finding himself behind enemy lines, he was captured by the Germans and placed in the Mozhaisk prisoner of war camp, from which he escaped or was released as a Ukrainian. At the beginning of March 1942, he arrived home in the village of Perekop, Valkovsky district of the Kharkov region, which had by that time been occupied by the Germans.
In June, Dobrobabin voluntarily entered the police and until November of the same year served as a police officer at the Kovyagi station, where he guarded the railway line, ensuring the movement of fascist echelons. Then he was transferred to the police in the village of Perekop, where until March 1943 he served as a policeman and head of the guard shift. In early March, when the village was liberated by Soviet troops, Dobrobabin and other police officers were arrested by a special department, but in connection with the retreat of our army, he was released. After the second occupation of the village by the Nazis, he continued to serve in the police, was appointed deputy chief, and in June 1943 - chief of the rural police. He was armed with a carbine and a revolver.
While serving in the police, Dobrobabin participated in sending Soviet citizens to forced labor in Germany, conducted searches, confiscated livestock from peasants, detained persons who violated the occupation regime, and participated in interrogating detainees, demanding to extradite the communists and Komsomol members of the village. In July 1943, a former Soviet soldier Semyonov was detained and sent to a concentration camp by his subordinate policemen. During the retreat of the Nazis in August 1943, Dobrobabin fled to the Odessa region and when the Soviet troops liberated the occupied territory, hiding his police service, he was drafted into the army. In 1948, he was sentenced to 15 years for cooperation with the German-fascist invaders, and in relation to him the decree on conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was canceled. In 1955, the term of imprisonment was reduced to 7 years, and Dobrobabin was released. He sought rehabilitation, but he was denied rehabilitation. He was rehabilitated by the decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine dated March 26, 1993. He died in 1996 in the city of Tsimlyansk.
How difficult the fate of the "fascist accomplices" was during the war, can be seen in the example of Pyotr Konstantinovich Mesnyankin (1919-1993) - a lieutenant of the Soviet Army, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union (1943), stripped of his title and awards in connection with condemnation. Mesnyankin was born in the village of Komyakino (now the territory of the Ivaninsky district of the Kursk region) in the family of a wealthy peasant. In the 1930s. the Mesnyankin family was subjected to dispossession and deportation to the Arkhangelsk region. A few years after the expulsion, she managed to move to Kharkov, where Mesnyankin graduated from high school in 1939 and entered a technical school. In the fall of 1939 he was drafted into the army and served in the 275th artillery regiment. From June 1941 - at the front, took part in the Smolensk battle, the Yelninsky operation. In November 1941, Mesnyankin's unit was surrounded and he was captured. He was kept in the Oryol prison, from where he escaped in early 1942 and returned to his native village. In February 1942, without a livelihood, he joined the police. He held the positions of assistant chief of police, investigator of the magistrates' court at the district council, and from December 1942 - chief of police. During his service in the police, he earned the respect of the local population by the fact that "he did not commit atrocities, but, on the contrary, arrested only police officers and chiefs who committed outrage against the residents." After the liberation of the area by units of the Red Army, he did not flee the village, he was arrested and interrogated in a special department of one of the formations. At the request of local residents, he escaped the death penalty, and by order of the Military Council of the 60th Army, he was sent to a penal company for a period of three months. He served his sentence in the 9th separate army penal company. During his stay in a penal company, he was wounded three times and early released from punishment. Upon returning to the unit, at the request of the SMERSH employees, he was re-sent to the penal unit - the 263rd separate army penal company. After his release from the penal company, Mesnyankin fought in the 1285th rifle regiment of the 60th rifle division of the 65th army, was the commander of the crew of a 45-millimeter gun. Distinguished himself during the battle for the Dnieper. On October 17, 1943, near the village of Radul, Repkinsky district, Chernihiv region, Mesnyankin, using improvised means, together with his gun crew, crossed the Dnieper and, consolidating on the right bank, with artillery fire destroyed several enemy firing points, "which facilitated the crossing of other units to the bridgehead" ( 48).
October 30, 1943 by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for "exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the struggle against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time" Red Army soldier Pyotr Mesnyankin was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the medal " Gold Star "number 1541, becoming the first hero in the regiment. After the end of the war, he remained to serve in the Soviet Army. He graduated from an artillery school, received the rank of lieutenant, commanded a training platoon of the 690th artillery regiment of the 29th separate guards rifle Latvian brigade. April 5, 1948 Hero of the Soviet Union Lieutenant
Mesnyankin was arrested and urgently transported to Moscow. In the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence of the Ministry of State Security of the USSR, he was charged with treason, expressed in the fact that he “... as he came from a kulak family, surrendered to the Germans and collaborated with them on the territory of the temporarily occupied Kursk region ... Living in the village of Komyakino Ivaninsky district, Mesnyankin began to restore his former kulak economy, moved into a house previously confiscated from them, summoned his relatives, and in February 1942 voluntarily entered the service of the German punitive authorities ... carried out searches, took food and belongings from local residents , arrested Soviet citizens, interrogated them and carried out pro-fascist agitation; the property taken from the collective farmers was handed over to the kulaks who had returned to the region through a “magistrate” court; handed over to German punitive organs 10 communists and Komsomol members, in respect of whom he conducted an investigation; took part in the shooting former chairman the communist collective farm Rassolov ... ".
By the resolution of the Special Meeting at the USSR Ministry of State Security dated August 21, 1948, Mesnyankin was sentenced to 10 years in forced labor camps. He served his sentence in the Vorkuta camps, worked in the medical unit. In 1954 he was released early from the camp. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 7, 1955, the conviction was removed. He lived in Kharkov, worked in a state farm as a foreman of a vegetable-growing brigade. He repeatedly sent requests for reinstatement in the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but they were all rejected. Pyotr Mesnyankin died on July 14, 1993. He was buried at the 3rd city cemetery in Kharkov (49).
The fate of the Stalinist and Vlasov "falcon" Semyon Trofimovich Bychkov (1918-1946), a Soviet military pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union (1943), stripped of titles and awards in 1947 for participation in the "Vdasov" movement during the Great World War II. He was born on May 15, 1918 in the village of Petrovka, Nizhnedevitsky District, Voronezh Region. Graduated from the flying club (1938), Borisoglebsk Aviation School named after V.P. Chkalov (1939). From 1939 he served in the 12th Reserve Aviation Regiment. From January 30, 1940 - junior lieutenant, from March 25, 1942 - lieutenant, then senior lieutenant, from July 20, 1942 - deputy squadron commander. In 1942, for committing an accident, he was sentenced by a military tribunal to 5 years in forced labor camps with a sentence after the war. In the same year, the conviction was removed. From May 28, 1943 - captain. In 1943 - navigator of the 937th fighter aviation regiment, deputy commander of the 482nd fighter aviation regiment of the 322nd fighter division. For distinction in battles, he was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner. On September 2, 1943, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal for personally shot down 15 enemy aircraft (in addition, one aircraft was shot down by him in the group).
In the presentation for the award, it was noted that Bychkov “proved himself to be an excellent fighter pilot, who combines courage with great skill. He enters the battle boldly and decisively, conducts it at a high pace, imposes his will on the enemy, using it weak sides... He proved himself to be an excellent commander-organizer of group air battles. " December 10, 1943 Bychkov was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft artillery fire and was taken prisoner wounded. Contained in prisoner of war camps. In early 1944, Colonel Viktor Maltsev, who had worked with the German authorities since 1941, convinced him to join the Ostland aviation group.
During the investigation in 1946, Bychkov claimed that he took this step under the strongest pressure, since another Hero of the Soviet Union, Bronislav Antilevsky, who by that time had already collaborated with the Germans, allegedly beat him. According to other sources, Bychkov made the decision to go over to the side of the enemy voluntarily, and they were friends with Antilevsky. He took part in ferrying aircraft from aircraft factories to field airfields of the Eastern Front, as well as in anti-partisan hostilities in the Dvinsk region. Together with Antilevsky, he addressed the captured pilots in writing and orally with calls to cooperate with the Germans. After the disbandment of the Ostland group in September 1944, Bychkov, under the command of Maltsev, took an active part in the formation of the 1st Aviation Regiment of the ROA Air Force, became the commander of the 5th Fighter Squadron, which was armed with 16 aircraft. On February 5, 1945 he was promoted to major. At the end of April 1945 he surrendered to the American troops, together with other "Vlasov" pilots was interned in the French city of Cherbourg and in September 1945 handed over to the Soviet authorities. On August 24, 1946, he was sentenced to be shot by a military tribunal of the Moscow Military District. The verdict was carried out in Moscow on November 4 of the same year (50: 22-30).
Stalin's and Vlasov's "falcon" was Bronislav Romanovich Antilevsky (1916-1946) - Soviet military pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union (1940), stripped of titles and awards in 1950. Born in 1916 in the village of Markovtsy, Uzdensky district, Minsk area in a peasant family. Pole. Graduated from a technical school (1937), a special aviation school in Monino (1938), and the Kachinskoye Red Banner Military Aviation School (1942). From October 1937 he served in the Red Army. During the Soviet-Finnish war he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. From April 1942 - junior lieutenant, participated in the Great Patriotic War as part of the 20th Fighter Regiment of the 303rd Fighter Division of the 1st Air Army.
On August 28, 1943, the deputy squadron commander, Senior Lieutenant Antilevsky, was shot down in an air battle and taken prisoner. Contained in prisoner camps. At the end of 1943 he joined the Ostland aviation group. Like Semyon Bychkov, he took part in ferrying aircraft and in anti-partisan hostilities, urging captured pilots to cooperate with the Germans. After the disbandment of the Ostland group, he took an active part in the formation of the 1st Aviation Regiment of the ROA Air Force. From December 19, 1944 he was the commander of the 2nd assault squadron of night attack aircraft. On February 5, 1945 he was promoted to captain. He was awarded two German medals and a personal watch. In April 1945, Antilevsky's squadron took part in the hostilities on the Oder against the Red Army.
There is information that at the end of April 1945 Antilevsky was supposed to fly the plane on which General Andrei Vlasov was supposed to fly to Spain, but Vlasov refused to flee.
He was interned from the American sector of Germany in September 1945. On July 25, 1946, he was sentenced to be shot by a military tribunal of the Moscow Military District under Article 58-1 "b" of the RSFSR Criminal Code. The sentence was carried out on the same day (51: 17-22).
It is believed that the third Hero of the Soviet Union in the ROA may have been Ivan Ivanovich Tennikov, a career pilot, Tatar by nationality. Fulfilling a combat mission to cover Stalingrad on September 15, 1942 over Zaikovsky Island, he fought with enemy fighters, rammed the German Messerschmitt-110, shot it down and survived. There is a version that he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for this feat, but his surname is not in the list of persons who were deprived of this title. Tennikov served in Soviet aviation until the fall of 1943, when he was shot down and was reported missing.
While in a prisoner of war camp, he entered the service of German intelligence and was then transferred to the Vlasov army. For health reasons, he could not fly and served as a propaganda officer. Nothing is known about the further fate of this person after April 1945. According to the documents of the Main Directorate of Personnel of the Ministry of Defense, he is still listed as missing (104).
The fate of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, father and son Sokolov, turned out to be difficult. Emelyan Lukich Sokol was born in 1904 on the Pomeki farm in the Lebedinsky district of the Sumy region of Ukraine. He graduated from six classes. In 1941-1943. Sokol lived with his family in the territory temporarily occupied by German troops. After his release, he was drafted into the army and became a machine gunner in the 1144th Infantry Regiment of the 340th Infantry Division of the 38th Army of the Voronezh Front. Together with him, his son Grigory, born in 1924, served in one machine-gun crew. Both were awarded medals "For Courage". Father and son distinguished themselves during the battle for the Dnieper, on October 3, 1943, when repelling the attack of enemy units, they cut off the infantry from the tanks with machine-gun fire, and then destroyed the tank and the armored personnel carrier. After that, Grigory Sokol with a grenade interrupted the track of the second German tank.
After the end of the battle, it was reported to the headquarters that Emelyan and Grigory Sokoly had died, and on January 10, 1944, by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "for courage and heroism shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders" they were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After the war, it turned out that the Sokoly father and son survived, it turned out that they had changed the "mortal medallions" of the killed soldiers and surrendered. According to some reports, Emelyan Sokol, while in captivity, served as the headman of a prisoner of war barrack, and then joined the police and became the head of the department. On May 5, 1945, he was released from captivity by Czechoslovak partisans. After passing the check, he was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. In 1945, Emelyan Sokol was transferred to the reserve, returned to his native village, and worked on a collective farm (52).
According to some reports, in captivity, Sokol Jr. served as the head of the investigation department in the police. On May 5, 1945, like his father, he was released from captivity by Czechoslovak partisans. After passing the check, he was also awarded the Gold Star medal and the Order of Lenin. He continued to serve in the army as a foreman in a military bakery. In April 1947, Grigory Sokol was transferred to the reserve, returned to his native village and also began working on a collective farm (53). In 1947, Sokol's father and son were arrested by officers of the USSR Ministry of State Security on charges of voluntarily surrendering. The court sentenced the father to 10 and the son to 8 years in forced labor camps. On November 14, 1947, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of January 10, 1944 on awarding them the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union was canceled. After serving their sentence, they both returned to their native village. The father died in 1985, and the son in 1999.
Heroes of the Soviet Union Ivan Kilyushek, Pyotr Kutsyi, Nikolai Litvinenko and Georgy Vershinin also turned out to be accomplices of the enemy. Ivan Sergeevich Kilyushek was born on December 19, 1923 in the village of Ostrov, Roven region of Ukraine. At the beginning of the war, he ended up in the occupied territory. After his release in March 1944, Kilyushek was drafted into the army and three months later distinguished himself during the crossing of the Western Dvina River. On July 22, 1944, Kilyushek was awarded the title of Hero, awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal for “courage and courage shown during the capture and holding of the bridgehead on the banks of the Western Dvina River”. On July 23, 1944, Kilyushek received a month's home leave, and on August 10, militants of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army broke into his house and kidnapped him. It is not known for certain whether Kilyushek voluntarily agreed to an armed struggle against the "Muscovites", or was forcibly held by the militants, but on March 14, 1945, he was arrested in the attic of his house with a submachine gun in his hands. He was accused of counter-revolutionary activities, participation in the execution of the family of a partisan of five people, including two children, and the recruitment of youth into the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
During the investigation, Kilyushek pleaded guilty, but justified himself by the fact that he was forcefully involved in the formation of the UPA and remained there only under the threat of reprisals against his family. On September 29, 1945, a military tribunal of the 13th Army sentenced Kilyushek to 10 years in prison with disqualification for 5 years and confiscation of property. In 1958 he was released and lived in the Irkutsk region. In 2009, during the opening of a bunker in the Volyn region, in which the UPA formation was based during the war, Kilyushek's Gold Star medal was discovered (54).
Kutsyi Peter Antonovich at the beginning of the war also ended up in the occupied territory. In the spring of 1942, Kutsyi joined the police commandant's office in the neighboring village of Veliky Krupol, Zgurovsky district, Kiev region, which was headed by his father, and his uncle was the secretary. He took part in the hijacking of Soviet citizens to Germany and raids on partisans, during which he was twice wounded. After the liberation of the region, he was called up to serve in the Red Army, where he held the post of squad commander of the 1318th Infantry Regiment. On the night of October 1 to 2, 1943, Kutsyi with his squad crossed over to Zhukovka Island near the southern outskirts of Kiev, recaptured it from German units, thereby ensuring the crossing for other units of his regiment. October 29, 1943 by decree
The Red Army soldier Pyotr Kutsyi was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for the "exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command on the front of the struggle against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time."
At the beginning of 1953, together with two comrades, Kutsyi arrived in his native village and started a fight there in a club, during which he beat up the chairman of the village council. In February 1953 he was arrested. Petro Kutsyi was sentenced to 5 years in prison by the Berezansky District Court of the Kiev Region. A few days later, he was released under the "Beria amnesty", but during the investigation, testimony against him was given by fellow villagers who fought in partisan detachments during the war. On their basis, a petition was written, and by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 30, 1954, for "misconduct defaming the title of the order bearer", Pyotr Kutsyi was deprived of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (55).
Litvinenko Nikolai Vladimirovich at the beginning of the war also ended up in the territory occupied by the Germans. In December 1941, he began to cooperate with the occupation authorities. At first he worked as an extra in an agricultural community in his native village, then as a secretary of the village council. From March 1942 Litvinenko served in the German police. As a policeman, he took part in punitive operations against partisans of Sumy, Chernigov and Poltava regions, and also guarded from partisans settlements... In August 1943, during the offensive of the Red Army, he was evacuated to the Vinnitsa region, to the rear of the German troops, where he was until the arrival of Soviet troops, and in January 1944 he was mobilized into the active army. On September 23, 1944, Junior Sergeant Nikolai Litvinenko was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union for "exemplary performance of command assignments and displayed courage and heroism in battles against the Nazi invaders". In January 1945, Sergeant Major Litvinenko was sent to study at an infantry school in Riga, and in June 1946, the facts of his betrayal were revealed. In August 1946, Litvinenko was arrested, and on October 11 of the same year, by a military tribunal of the South Ural Military District, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison with disqualification for 3 years. On October 14, 1947, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Litvinenko was stripped of all titles and awards. Nothing is known about his further fate (56).
Vershinin Georgy Pavlovich served as a squad leader in the bomb disposal company of the 23rd airborne brigade of the 10th airborne corps. He distinguished himself during operations in the German rear, when on May 29 - June 3, 1942, the 23rd airborne brigade in the amount of 4,000 people was landed on the territory of the Dorogobuzh district of the Smolensk region. The brigade was tasked with providing the exit from the encirclement of the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps of Major General Belov and the 4th Airborne Corps of Major General Kazankin.
On the night of June 3, 1942, the battalion of the airborne brigade, in which Vershinin served, secretly approached the village of Volochek, destroyed the German patrols, broke into the village, destroyed more than 50 German soldiers and officers and captured 2 armored personnel carriers and 4 mortars. A German tank column was passing near the village, the tankers of which made a halt next to the ambush of the paratroopers. The tankers who got out of the vehicles were destroyed and 22 tanks were captured. Fighting off the attack, Vershinin's squad destroyed the bridge across the river along with three German tanks on it. Holding back the enemy until darkness fell, the paratroopers withdrew, having completed the main task - to pull off part of the enemy's forces in order to enable the encircled corps to break through from the encirclement. Junior Sergeant Vershinin was presumed dead in the explosion of the bridge, and on March 31, 1943, by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for "courage and heroism shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders". In fact, Vershinin survived and was taken prisoner by the Germans. On interrogation, he gave out all the information he knew about the landing, expressed a desire to serve in the German armed forces, and in June 1942 he was enlisted in the auxiliary guard battalion. He served as a guard on a railway bridge in the rear of the German troops. For sleeping while on duty, he was arrested and sent to a prisoner of war camp, where he contracted typhus. After recovering in May 1943, he again entered the service of the Germans in the workers' sapper battalion. He collaborated with the Germans until June 1944, and when the German troops were defeated in Belarus, he went over to the partisans. When joining partisans with units of the Red Army, he was handed over to the SMERSH bodies, was checked in a filtration camp in the Murmansk region, where he worked as a driller at the Severonikel plant. On February 28, 1945 Vershinin was arrested. On July 6, 1945, the military tribunal of the NKVD troops of the Murmansk region sentenced him to 10 years in forced labor camps with disqualification for 5 years with confiscation of property and deprivation of awards. He died on January 1, 1966 (57).
In history, it is often not the names of heroes that remain, but the names of traitors and defectors. These people do great harm to one side, and benefit to the other. But all the same, they are despised by both. Naturally, one cannot do without confusing cases when a person's guilt is difficult to prove. However, history has preserved several of the most obvious and classic cases that do not raise any doubts. We will tell below about the most famous traitors in history.
Judas Iscariot. The name of this man has been serving as a symbol of betrayal for about two thousand years. At the same time, the nationalities of people do not play a role. Everyone knows biblical story when Judas Iscariot betrayed his teacher Christ for thirty pieces of silver, dooming him to torment. But then 1 slave cost twice as much! The kiss of Judas has become a classic image of duplicity, meanness and betrayal. This man was one of the twelve apostles who were present with Jesus at his last supper. There were thirteen people and after that this number was considered unlucky. There was even a phobia, fear of this number. The story goes that Judas was born on April 1, also on a rather unusual day. But the traitor's story is rather unclear and full of pitfalls. The fact is that Judas was the keeper of the cash register of the community of Jesus and his disciples. There was much more money there than 30 pieces of silver. Thus, in need of money, Judas could simply steal it without betraying his teacher. Not so long ago, the world learned about the existence of the "Gospel of Judas", where Iscariot is depicted as the only and faithful disciple of Christ. And the betrayal was committed precisely on the orders of Jesus, and Judas took responsibility for his action. According to legend, Iscariot committed suicide immediately after his deed. The image of this traitor has been repeatedly described in books, films, legends. Different versions of his betrayal and motivation are considered. Today the name of this person is given to those who are suspected of treason. For example, Lenin called Trotsky a Judas back in 1911. The same man found his "plus" in Iscariot - the struggle against Christianity. Trotsky even wanted to erect monuments to Judas in several cities of the country.
Mark Junius Brutus. Everyone knows the legendary phrase of Julius Caesar: "And you, Brutus?" This traitor is known, albeit not as widely as Judas, but also one of the legendary ones. Moreover, he committed his treason 77 years before the history of the Iscariot. The two traitors are also related by the fact that they both committed suicide. Mark Brutus was Julius Caesar's best friend, according to some data, this could even be his illegitimate son. However, it was he who led the conspiracy against the popular politician, taking a direct part in his assassination. But Caesar showered his favorite with honors and titles, endowing him with power. But Brutus's entourage forced him to participate in a conspiracy against the dictator. Mark was among several conspiratorial senators who pierced Caesar with their swords. Seeing in their ranks and Brutus, he bitterly and exclaimed his famous phrase, which became his last. Wanting happiness for the people and power, Brutus made a mistake in his plans - Rome did not support him. After the streak civil wars and defeat Mark realized that he was left without everything - without a family, power, friend. Betrayal and murder took place in 44 BC, and just two years later, Brutus threw himself on his sword.
Wang Jingwei. In our country, this traitor is not so famous, but he has a notoriety in China. It is often incomprehensible how ordinary and normal people suddenly become traitors. Wang Jingwei was born in 1883, when he turned 21, he entered a Japanese university. There he met Sun-Yat Sen, a famous revolutionary from China. He influenced the young man so much that he became a real revolutionary fanatic. Together with Sen, Jingwei became a regular participant in anti-government revolutionary uprisings. Unsurprisingly, he soon ended up in jail. There Wang served several years, leaving us freedom in 1911. All this time, Sen kept in touch with him, mentally supporting and taking care of him. As a result of the revolutionary struggle, Sen and his associates won a victory and came to power in 1920. But in 1925, Sun-Yat died, and it was Jingwei who replaced him as the leader of China. But soon the Japanese invaded the country. It was here that Jingway committed the most real betrayal. In fact, he did not fight for the independence of China, giving it over to the invaders. National interests were trampled in favor of the Japanese. As a result, when the crisis erupted in China, and the country needed an experienced manager most of all, Jingway simply left it. Wang clearly joined the conquerors. However, he did not have time to feel the bitterness of defeat, since he died before the fall of Japan. But the name Wang Jingwei got into all Chinese textbooks, as a synonym for betrayal towards his country.
Hetman Mazepa. This man in modern Russian history is considered the most important traitor, even the church has anathematized him. But in modern Ukrainian history, the hetman, on the contrary, is a national hero. So what was his betrayal or was it still a feat? For a long time, the hetman of the Zaporozhye Army was one of the most loyal allies of Peter I, helping him in the Azov campaigns. However, everything changed when the Swedish king Charles XII came out against the Russian tsar. He, wishing to find himself an ally, promised Mazepa Ukrainian independence in case of victory in the Northern War. The hetman could not resist such a tasty slice of the pie. In 1708, he went over to the side of the Swedes, but just a year later their united army was defeated near Poltava. For his treason (Mazepa swore allegiance to Peter) Russian empire stripped him of all awards and titles and subjected him to civil execution. Mazepa fled to Bendery, which then belonged to the Ottoman Empire, and soon died there in 1709. According to legend, his death was terrible - lice ate him.
Aldrich Ames. This high-ranking CIA officer has had a brilliant career. Everyone predicted him a long and successful work, and then a highly paid pension. But his life turned upside down, thanks to love. Ames married a Russian beauty, it turned out that she was a KGB agent. The woman immediately began to demand from her husband to provide her beautiful life to fully match the American dream. While the officers in the CIA make good money, it was not enough for the constantly required new jewelry and cars. As a result, the unfortunate Ames began to drink too much. Under the influence of alcohol, he had no choice but to start selling secrets from his work. A buyer quickly appeared on them - the USSR. As a result, during his betrayal, Ames gave the enemy of his country information about all secret agents who worked in the Soviet Union. The USSR also learned about a hundred covert military operations conducted by the Americans. For this, the officer received about 4.6 million US dollars. However, all the secret someday becomes apparent. Ames was discovered and sentenced to life in prison. The special services experienced a real shock and scandal, the traitor became their biggest failure in their entire existence. The CIA has long retreated from the harm done by one single person. But he only needed funds for an insatiable wife. That, by the way, when everything was clarified, was simply deported to South America.
Vidkun Quisling. The family of this man was one of the most ancient in Norway, his father served as a Lutheran priest. Vidkun himself studied very well and chose a military career. Having risen to the rank of major, Quisling was able to enter the government of his country, holding the post of defense minister there from 1931 to 1933. In 1933, Vidkun founded his own political party "National Accord", where he received a membership card for the first number. He began to call himself Fuehrer, which was very reminiscent of the Fuehrer. In 1936, the party gathered quite a lot of votes in the elections, becoming very influential in the country. When the Nazis came to Norway in 1940, Quisling suggested that the locals submit to them and not resist. Although the politician himself was from an ancient respected family, the country immediately dubbed him a traitor. The Norwegians themselves began to wage a fierce struggle against the invaders. Then Quisling came up with a plan in response to remove Jews from Norway, sending them directly to the deadly Auschwitz. However, history rewarded the politician who betrayed his people what he deserved. On May 9, 1945, Quisling was arrested. While in prison, he still managed to declare that he was a martyr and sought to create great country... But the justice found otherwise, and on October 24, 1945, Quisling was shot for treason.
Prince Andrey Mikhailovich Kurbsky. This boyar was one of the most loyal associates of Ivan the Terrible. It was Kurbsky who commanded the Russian army in the Livonian War. But with the beginning of the oprichnina of the eccentric king, many hitherto loyal boyars fell into disgrace. Among them was Kurbsky. Fearing for his fate, he left his family and in 1563 defected to the service of the Polish king Sigismund. And already in September of the next year, he marched together with the conquerors against Moscow. Kurbsky knew perfectly well how the Russian defense and the army were organized. Thanks to the traitor, the Poles were able to win many important battles. They set up ambushes, took people prisoner, bypassing the outposts. Kurbsky began to be considered the first Russian dissident. The Poles consider the boyar a great man, but in Russia he is a traitor. However, we should not talk about treason to the country, but about treason personally to Tsar Ivan the Terrible.
Pavlik Morozov. This boy had a heroic image for a long time in Soviet history and culture. At the same time, he passed under the first number, among the children-heroes. Pavlik Morozov even got into the book of honor of the All-Union Pioneer Organization. But this story is not entirely unambiguous. The boy's father, Trofim, was a partisan and fought on the side of the Bolsheviks. However, after returning from the war, the servant left his family with four small children and began to live with another woman. Trofim was elected chairman of the village council, while leading a stormy everyday life - drinking and rowdy. It is quite possible that in the history of heroism and betrayal there are more domestic than political reasons. According to legend, Trofim's wife accused him of hiding bread, however, they say that the abandoned and humiliated woman demanded to stop issuing fictitious certificates to fellow villagers. During the investigation, 13-year-old Pavel simply confirmed everything that his mother said. As a result, the unbelted Trofim went to prison, and in revenge the young pioneer was killed in 1932 by his drunken uncle and godfather. But Soviet propaganda created a colorful propaganda story out of everyday drama. And the hero who betrayed his father did not inspire somehow.
Henrikh Lyushkov. In 1937, the NKVD fought, including on far east... It was Genrikh Lyushkov who headed this punitive body at that time. However, a year later, the cleansing began in the "organs" themselves, many of the executioners themselves were in the place of their victims. Lyushkov was suddenly summoned to Moscow, allegedly to be appointed head of all the camps in the country. But Heinrich suspected that Stalin wanted to remove him. Fearing reprisals, Lyushkov fled to Japan. In an interview with the local newspaper Yomiuri, the former executioner said that he really does recognize himself as a traitor. But only in relation to Stalin. But Lyushkov's subsequent behavior suggests just the opposite. The general told the Japanese about the entire structure of the NKVD and the residents of the USSR, about exactly where the Soviet troops are located, where and how defensive structures and fortresses are being built. Lyushkov passed military radio codes to the enemies, actively urging the Japanese to oppose the USSR. The traitor himself tortured Soviet intelligence officers arrested on the territory of Japan, resorting to cruel atrocities. The pinnacle of Lyushkov's activity was his development of a plan to assassinate Stalin. The General personally set about implementing his project. Historians today believe that this was the only serious attempt to eliminate the Soviet leader. However, she did not have any success. After the defeat of Japan in 1945, Lyushkov was killed by the Japanese themselves, who did not want their secrets to fall into the hands of the USSR.
Andrey Vlasov. This Soviet lieutenant general was known as the most important Soviet traitor during the Great Patriotic War. Even in the winter of 41-42, Vlasov commanded the 20th Army, making a significant contribution to the defeat of the Nazis near Moscow. Among the people, it was this general who was called the main savior of the capital. In the summer of 1942, Vlasov took the post of deputy commander of the Volkhov front. However, soon his troops were captured, and the general himself was captured by the Germans. Vlasov was sent to the Vinnitsa military camp for the captives of the highest military ranks. There the general agreed to serve the fascists and headed the "Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia" created by them. On the basis of KONR, even a whole "Russian Liberation Army" (ROA) was created. It included captured Soviet servicemen. The general showed cowardice, according to rumors, since then he began to drink a lot. On May 12, Vlasov was captured by Soviet troops in an attempt to escape. The trial over him was closed, as he, with his own words, could inspire people dissatisfied with the government. In August 1946, General Vlasov was stripped of his titles and awards, his property was confiscated, and he himself was hanged. At the trial, the accused admitted that he pleaded guilty, as he had become weak in captivity. Already in our time, an attempt was made to justify Vlasov. But only a small part of the charges were dropped from him, while the main ones remained in force.
Friedrich Paulus. There was also a traitor on the part of the fascists in that war. In the winter of 1943, the 6th German Army under the command of Field Marshal Paulus surrendered at Stalingrad. His subsequent history can be considered a mirror image in relation to Vlasov. The captivity of the German officer was quite comfortable, because he joined the anti-fascist national committee "Free Germany". He ate meat, drank beer, received food and parcels. Paulus signed a proclamation "To prisoners of war German soldiers and officers and to the entire German people." There, the field marshal announced that he was calling on all of Germany to eliminate Adolf Hitler. He believes that the country should have a new state leadership. It must end the war and ensure the people restore friendship with their current adversaries. Paulus even made a revelatory speech at the Nuremberg trials, which surprised his former associates a lot. In 1953, grateful for the cooperation Soviet authority freed the traitor, especially since he was beginning to fall into depression. Paulus moved to live in the GDR, where he died in 1957. Not all Germans accepted the field marshal's act with understanding, even his son did not accept his father's choice, shooting himself in the end because of mental anguish.
Victor Suvorov. This defector made a name for himself as well as a writer. Once the intelligence officer Vladimir Rezun was a resident of the GRU in Geneva. But in 1978 he fled to England, where he began writing highly controversial books. In them, the officer, who took the pseudonym Suvorov, quite convincingly argued that it was the USSR who was preparing to strike Germany in the summer of 1941. The Germans simply preempted their enemy by a few weeks, delivering a preemptive strike. Rezun himself says that he was forced to cooperate with British intelligence. They allegedly wanted to make him an extreme for failure in the work of the Geneva department. Suvorov himself claims that in his homeland he was sentenced to death in absentia for his treason. However, the Russian side prefers not to comment on this fact. The former intelligence officer lives in Bristol and continues to write books on historical topics. Each of them causes a storm of discussion and personal condemnation of Suvorov.
Victor Belenko. Few lieutenants make history. But this military pilot was able to do it. True, at the cost of his betrayal. We can say that he acted as a kind of bad boy who just wants to steal something and sell it to his enemies at a higher price. On September 6, 1976, Belenko flew on a top-secret MiG-25 interceptor. Suddenly, the senior lieutenant abruptly changed course and sat down in Japan. There the plane was disassembled in detail and subjected to a thorough study. Naturally, it was not without American specialists. The plane was returned to the USSR after careful study. And for his feat "for the glory of democracy" Belenko himself received political refuge in the USA. However, there is another version, according to which the traitor was not such. He simply had to land in Japan. Eyewitnesses say that the lieutenant fired a pistol into the air, not allowing anyone to approach the car and demanding a cover for it. However, the investigation carried out took into account both the behavior of the pilot in everyday life and the manner of his flight. The conclusion was unambiguous - the landing on the territory of an enemy state was deliberate. Belenko himself was crazy about life in America, he even found canned cat food tastier than those sold in his homeland. From official statements it is difficult to assess the consequences of that escape, the moral and political damage can be ignored, but the material damage was estimated at 2 billion rubles. After all, in the USSR it was necessary to hastily change all the equipment of the "friend or foe" recognition system.
Otto Kuusinen. And again, a situation where a traitor for some is a hero for others. Otto was born in 1881 and joined the Social Democratic Party of Finland in 1904. Soon and leading it. When it became clear that the communists in the newly independent Finland did not get a chance, Kuusinen fled to the USSR. There he worked for a long time in the Comintern. When the USSR attacked Finland in 1939, it was Kuusinen who became the head of the country's puppet government. Only now his power extended to the few lands captured by Soviet troops. It soon became clear that it would not be possible to capture the whole of Finland and the need for the Kuusinene regime disappeared. Later, he continued to hold prominent government posts in the USSR, having died in 1964. His ashes are buried at the Kremlin wall.
Kim Philby. This scout has lived a long and eventful life. He was born in 1912 in India, in the family of a British official. In 1929, Kim entered Cambridge, where he entered a socialist society. In 1934, Philby was recruited by Soviet intelligence, which, given his views, was not difficult to implement. In 1940, Kim joined the British secret service SIS, soon becoming the head of one of its departments. In the 50s, it was Philby who coordinated the actions of England and the United States in the fight against the communists. Naturally, the USSR received all the information about the work of its agent. From 1956, Philby served already in MI6, until in 1963 he was illegally transferred to the USSR. Here the scout-traitor and lived for the next 25 years on a personal pension, sometimes giving consultations.
In the spring of 2016, the Cheboksary court made a historic decision. Awarded with the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, he was deprived of it by court verdict.
Yevgeny Borisov, who received the title of Hero of Russia during the Second Chechen Campaign, was deprived of it and punished with a fine of 10 million rubles and imprisonment for 6.5 years for organizing an underground casino and attempting to bribe an official. This case is the first reliably known deprivation of the title of Hero of Russia.
Although the Heroes of Russia have previously appeared in court as defendants in criminal cases (and there are about a thousand Heroes of Russia in total), in previous cases the courts did not deprive them of this title - only cases of deprivation of the Order of Courage are known. In the Soviet Union, there were much more such cases. We studied for what and how the heroes were punished in those days.
Throughout the history of the USSR, the title of Hero was received by 12.8 thousand people (12,776, with the exception of those who were stripped of their rank or who were canceled for other reasons). In total, more than 70 cases of deprivation of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the discrepancy of the actions of the awarded to the high title are known. Another 61 people were stripped of their rank, but later it was restored. As a rule, this happened if their cases were related to political repression, and all awards were returned to the person after his rehabilitation (often posthumously).
For convenience, we will divide all cases of deprivation of awards - which means a whole package of benefits and surcharges - into separate categories and cite the most curious stories.
Defectors
Even heroes could not always withstand the hardships of captivity. Some of them agreed to cooperate with the Germans. Two Soviet hero pilots Bronislav Antilevsky and Semyon Bychkov in 1943 were shot down during combat missions and were captured. Both later joined the Vlasov ROA, which fought against the USSR. The pilots were real masters, and Bychkov, before going over to the side of the enemy, had 15 shot down planes and a whole "iconostasis" on his chest: two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Courage, the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star.
If for other defendants the availability of awards and, moreover, the title of Hero was, as a rule, a mitigating factor, then in the case of defectors and traitors, this was clearly seen as an aggravating factor. Both pilots were shot, although they did not really take part in hostilities on the side of the enemy.
One of the Panfilov heroes Ivan Dobrobabin, who participated in the battle at the Dubosekovo junction, was posthumously awarded the title of Hero for this battle. Later it turned out that the journalists significantly embellished the events of that day - and even buried him ahead of time. In fact, he survived, having received a shell shock, and was taken prisoner. He fled from captivity and returned to his native village, which was then occupied by the Germans. At home, Dobrobabin became a headman and served in the police. After the liberation of the village, he fled to his relatives in another village, where he was again drafted into the Soviet army, after which he fought in good faith until the end of the war.
In 1947 he was arrested on suspicion of collaboration with the Germans. As a result, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and deprivation of all awards. Later, the term was reduced to 7 years. Until the end of his life, Dobrobabin tried to challenge the deprivation of awards, proving that he did not commit any crimes in the service of the Germans, and was forced to serve under duress, but the awards were never returned to him.
But Ivan Kilyushek lost his awards because of his own perseverance. He distinguished himself in battle two months after being drafted into the army. In honor of the feat, Kilyushek, awarded the Star of the Hero, received a month's leave and ended up at home in the ranks of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which also fought for the Reich. At the very end of the war, Kilyushek was arrested in the attic of his own house with weapons in his hands. He himself tried to prove that he was kidnapped and forced to serve in the UPA under the threat of reprisals against his family. The court sentenced him to 10 years in prison, but did not deprive him of any awards. Having freed himself, Kilyushin tried to appeal the verdict for several years, but this only worsened the situation. In 1972 he was stripped of the title of Hero of the Union.
Artilleryman Alexei Kulak was awarded the Golden Star of the Hero after the war. After serving in the army, he went into science, and then went to work in the KGB, where he worked for almost 20 years. He was in good standing with the secret service, worked in the United States, and had many awards. He died of cancer in 1984 and was buried with all due honors. And only after his death it turned out that Kulak had collaborated with American intelligence for at least 10 years, transferring secret information and data to Soviet intelligence officers in the United States. In 1990, Kulak was posthumously stripped of all awards and titles. This is the only case of posthumous deprivation of the title of Hero in Soviet history. Nevertheless, it is still indicated on the tombstone that he is a Hero of the Soviet Union.
A slightly more romantic story happened with the Hero of the USSR, Major Georgy Antonov. After the war, he remained to serve in the Soviet garrison in Austria, where he met a local resident. Since relations between them were impossible for political reasons, Antonov, who was going to be transferred from Austria to the USSR, fled to the American sector of Vienna with his beloved in 1949. For this he was sentenced in absentia to 25 years in the camps and stripped of his awards. In the future, he, most likely, changed his name and his traces were lost.
Breaking Bad
Not all heroes were able to adapt to a peaceful life. Often, soldiers who went to the front at the age of 18 after the war could not find use for their abilities and got along with great difficulty "in civilian life."
Nikolai Artamonov was drafted in 1941 at the age of 18 and went through the entire war to the end. But he did not fit into a peaceful life, in the three post-war years he received three convictions, and the last crime overwhelmed the patience of the Soviet court, and Artamonov was sentenced to 18 years for participation in gang rape. He was also stripped of all his awards and titles.
Vasily Vanin also went through the entire war and was unable to return to normal life. After demobilization, Vanin, who had many awards, tried to work in a Stalingrad bakery, but soon quit his job, began to lead an asocial lifestyle, committed several thefts and robberies, as well as rape, for which he was deprived of all awards and sent to prison for 10 years.
The brave one-eyed tankman of the Guard, Senior Lieutenant Anatoly Motsny, who had many awards and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, did not find himself after being discharged from the army for health reasons. After the war, he married, but soon kicked his pregnant wife out of the house and remarried. He was able to avoid punishment for bigamy thanks to numerous awards. He drank a lot, wandered around the country, hid from paying alimony and in the end brutally killed his own five-year-old son for an unknown reason. He received 10 years in prison, but was deprived of awards after his release, after numerous complaints from neighbors, whom he "terrorized every day." He died shortly after being deprived of all awards and titles.
After demobilization, senior sergeant Alexander Postolyuk worked on a collective farm, from where he began his journey along the criminal road. Postolyuk was sent to prison four times for petty theft, each time getting off with a term of about a year. But he lost all the awards after the first crime.
Junior Lieutenant Anatoly Stanev returned to his native state farm, where he began to abuse alcohol, went to prison and lost all awards. After his release, he worked as a tractor driver, continued to abuse alcohol and died in a drunken brawl in 1953.
Egen Pilosyan went through the entire war and had no problems with discipline. Shortly before the victory he received the title of hero, after the war he had the title of captain. Then Pilosian's long criminal path began. First, he stole a car in the Allied occupation zone. Then another one, then another. For theft, he received 4 years in prison and was deprived of all awards. After that, he was convicted 4 more times for theft and arson, having spent almost 20 years in prison. In the 70s, he unsuccessfully applied for the return of the awards, after which his traces are lost.
A kind of record was set by Vasily Grigin. He also went through the entire war and lost his eyes at the front. After demobilization, he was convicted 10 times: for hooliganism, fights and petty theft. At the same time, he managed to maintain his title of Hero for a long time, which he was deprived of only after his sixth conviction.
Nikolay Kulba, who even before the war led a criminal lifestyle and was convicted twice, stands apart. Actually, from the camps, he begged to let him go to the front, where he fought very bravely. He was one of the best snipers in the division, repeatedly distinguished himself in battles and after another wound was awarded the title of Hero. But due to an error in the documents, it was not immediately possible to find him, and Kulba did not even know about his award. They found him only in the late 50s. Then it turned out that after the war he returned to his former craft and was convicted twice more for committing serious crimes. As a result, by decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, he was deprived of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Service crimes
A significant part of the Soviet army after the end of the war was demobilized and returned home. However, some soldiers continued to serve in the Soviet garrisons in Europe and the USSR, where they committed acts unworthy of their high title of Hero.
By the end of the war, Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Kukushkin had one and a half hundred sorties on an Il-2 attack aircraft, was shot down over enemy territory and was able to get to his own. After the war, he continued to serve in Hungary. In 1948, a division officer noticed him drunk in the company of a local girl. The conflict ended with Kukushkin taking out a pistol and shooting the lieutenant colonel, after which he shot himself in the head, but only wounded himself. By the verdict of the tribunal, he was stripped of awards and titles and sentenced to 25 years, later the term was reduced to 10, Kukushkin was released in 1956 ahead of schedule.
In Germany, several of our soldiers created a whole gang that robbed the local population. It included two heroes of the Soviet Union at once - Lieutenant Antonov and Sergeant Loktionov. If Antonov simply encouraged the actions of subordinates, then Loktionov directly took part in them, and also became involved in rape. Later, both were stripped of all awards and titles, but Antonov in the 60s managed to achieve the return of all awards.
Ivan Mironenko, at the age of 19, was awarded the title of Hero of the USSR. After the war, the young soldier continued to serve in Hungary, but this did not last long. In 1947, together with several colleagues, he went AWOL, they hired a taxi, after which they killed the driver, and they tried to sell the car in Budapest. Mironenko, as a hero, got off with 10 years of camps, but lost his awards.
They also took away the title of Hero for notorious hooliganism. Mironenko's peer Vladimir Pasyukov, after the war, continued to serve in the Soviet garrisons, but began to skip work, often went AWOL, drank, fought with officials, and finally, due to a combination of hooligan actions, was sentenced to 7 years in camps and deprivation of awards.
Wartime sins
Sometimes the reason for deprivation of a high rank was hard-hitting facts from the past, discrediting the Hero.
Boris Lunin commanded a partisan brigade in Belarus. In 1941 he was captured, but managed to escape and join the partisans. Despite his alcoholism and craving for arbitrariness, he was in good standing with his superiors thanks to the successful sabotage activities of the partisan group. He got away with several episodes of arbitrariness, one of which, on the basis of a personal conflict, ordered the execution of eight Soviet intelligence officers who had joined the partisan brigade after leaving Minsk. In 1944 he was awarded the Gold Star. The echo of the war overtook the hero of the Union Lunin already in 1957, when he was arrested for numerous previous episodes of lynching against Soviet citizens, including children. Considering military merits, he received not the most severe punishment - 7 years in prison plus deprivation of all awards.
Peter Mesnyankin became a Hero after he managed to serve the Germans. At the beginning of the war, his unit was surrounded and captured. Mesnyankin fled and returned to his native village occupied by the Germans, where he got a job in the police. After the liberation of the village, he was again mobilized into the Soviet army, as punishment for cooperation with the Germans, he was sent to the penal battalion, where he was wounded several times. Mesnyankin distinguished himself when crossing the Dnieper, for which he was awarded the title of Hero. However, a few years after the war, he was arrested, sentenced to 10 years in the camps and stripped of his awards for cooperation with the Germans. Later, he repeatedly tried to get the awards returned, pointing out that he had already been punished for working for the Germans by sending him to a penal battalion, but he never managed to return the awards.
A similar fate awaited Yegor Sidorenko. At the beginning of the war, the unit was surrounded, he was wounded, was able to escape captivity and returned to his village, where he became a policeman. After the liberation of the village, he was again drafted into the army, in 1944 he became a Hero of the Union. After the war, he was expelled from the party and deprived of awards for the loss of his party card and service with the Germans, but was not prosecuted.
It is appropriate here to tell why people in the occupied villages went to the police: the Germans paid a fixed salary and this was one of the few opportunities to survive, since under the occupation the economy of the villages did not actually work. Even if there was a vegetable garden, the harvest could be taken away. After the war, Russian police officers were punished for "cooperation with the occupiers": indeed, at times they were involved in searching for partisans in the forests. For service in the police after the war, they were given 7-10 years in camps, but if fellow villagers testified that the policeman helped the partisans and worked poorly for the Germans, then there was a chance to avoid jail.
Commercial crimes
A separate category of the heroes who were put on trial are business executives. If hooligan youth, as a rule, got stuck in unpleasant stories immediately after the war, not getting used to a peaceful life, then in this case the crimes were often committed many years after the Second World War. Nikolai Arsenyev, a war hero who rose to the rank of general, received 8 years in 1962 for repeated theft of state property, embezzlement and abuse of power.
Ivan Medvedev was demobilized after the war and worked as a department head in Petrovsky Passage (the store was opened in Moscow on Petrovka Street back in 1906). Soon, Medvedev was arrested for embezzlement and sentenced to 15 years in prison and stripped of the title of Hero of the USSR.
Some did "combos". Squadron commander Anatoly Sinkov served in Korea after the war, where he raped and robbed a local resident, for which he received 7 years in camps and was deprived of awards, and later in the USSR he arbitrarily appropriated 3 thousand rubles (for current money it is about 100 thousand rubles) belonging to the organization in which he worked. True, the second time he did not have to sit for a long time, in the same year he was amnestied.
It is curious that in Stalin's times, economic crimes were often punished much more seriously than crimes against the person - for embezzlement or embezzlement they sometimes gave a longer sentence than for murder or violence.
As a rule, the existence of awards greatly facilitated the fate of the defendants. Even for grave crimes, in most cases they did not receive the maximum sentences, if they were not property crimes, which were sometimes punished more severely than murder.
The most serious crime in those days was considered to be treason, and most of the heroes lost their lives because of it. Only in one case was a Hero of the Soviet Union shot for murder in civilian life. We are talking about the pilot Peter Poloz, who committed a double murder in 1962. His fate was determined by the fact that Khrushchev's personal security officer Fomichev and his wife, whom Lieutenant Colonel Poloz invited to visit, were killed. The circumstances of the crime and its motives remained unknown. The court sentenced him to death, so Poloz became the only Hero of the Union to be executed who was not executed for going over to the side of the enemy.