Interesting facts about the Great Patriotic War. History of the Second World War

What is the Great Patriotic War is known to everyone, because this terrible period left an indelible imprint on world history. , о которых редко упоминается в привычных источниках. Today we will consider the most amazing historical facts about the Great Patriotic War , which are rarely mentioned in the usual sources.

Victory Day

It is difficult to imagine, but in the history of the USSR there was a 17-year period when Victory Day was not celebrated. Since 1948, May 9 was a simple working day, and on January 1 (since 1930, this day was a worker) made a weekend. In 1965, the holiday was again returned to its place and marked by a wide celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Soviet victory. Since then, May 9 is again a day off. Many historians associate such a strange decision of the Soviet authorities with the fact that she was afraid of active independent veterans on this significant day off. The official order said that people need to forget about the war and abandon all their forces for the reconstruction of the country.

Women in War

Imagine, 80,000 officers of the Red Army of the Second World War were women. In general, in different periods of military operations at the front, there were 0.6 to 1 million women. стрелковая бригада, 3 авиационных полка и запасной стрелковый полк. Of the representatives of the weaker sex who voluntarily came to the front, were formed: a rifle brigade, 3 aviation regiments and a reserve rifle regiment. In addition, a women's school of snipers was organized, whose pupils not only once entered the history of Soviet military achievements. A separate company of women sailors was also organized.

выполняли боевые задачи не хуже мужчин, о чем свидетельствуют 87 званий Героя Советского Союза, присвоенных им во времена ВОВ. It is worth noting that women in the war performed combat missions no worse than men, as evidenced by the 87 titles of the Hero of the Soviet Union, appropriated to them during the Great Patriotic War. In world history this was the first time such a mass struggle of women for their country. представительницы слабого пола овладели едва ли не всеми военными специальностями. In the ranks of soldiers of the Great Patriotic War, representatives of the weaker sex took possession of almost all military specialties. Many of them carried the service shoulder to shoulder with their husbands, brothers and fathers.

"Crusade"

Hitler regarded his attack on the Soviet Union as a Crusade in which one can resort to terrorist methods. In May 1941, when the "Barbarossa" plan was implemented, Hitler relieved his servicemen of any responsibility for their actions. Thus, his charges could do anything they wanted about civilians.

Four-footed friends

During the Second World War on different fronts, the service passed more than 60 thousand dogs. Due to four-legged saboteurs, dozens of Nazi echelons went under the escarpment. Dog fighter tanks destroyed more than 300 units of enemy armored vehicles. Dogs-signalmen extracted for the USSR about two hundred reports. On ambulance wagons, the dogs were taken from the battlefield by at least 700,000 wounded soldiers and Red Army officers. Thanks to sapper dogs, 303 settlements were cleared. In total, four-legged sappers surveyed more than 15 thousand km ^{2 of} land. They found more than 4 million units of German mines and landmines.

Masking the Kremlin

, мы не единожды столкнемся с изобретательностью советских военных. Considering interesting facts about the Great Patriotic War , we will not once encounter the ingenuity of the Soviet military. During the first month of the war, the Moscow Kremlin literally disappeared from the face of the earth. At least, it seemed from the sky. Flying over Moscow, the fascist pilots were in despair, as their maps did not coincide with reality. The thing is that the Kremlin carefully disguised: the stars of towers and crosses of cathedrals were covered with covers, and the domes were painted black. In addition, three-dimensional models of residential buildings were built around the perimeter of the Kremlin wall, beyond which even the battlements were not visible. The Manege Square and the Alexander Garden were partially forced by the plywood decorations of the buildings, the Mausoleum received two additional floors, and a sandy road appeared between the Borovitsky and Spassky Gates. The facades of the Kremlin buildings changed their color to gray, and the roofs to red-brown. The palace ensemble has never looked so democratically during its existence. By the way, during the war Lenin's body was evacuated to Tyumen.

The feat of Dmitri Ovcharenko

многократно иллюстрировали торжество храбрости над вооруженностью. Soviet feats in the Great Patriotic War have repeatedly illustrated the triumph of courage over armament. July 13, 1941 Dmitry Ovcharenko, returning with ammunition to his company, was surrounded by five dozen enemy soldiers. The rifle was taken from him, but the man did not lose heart. Snatching an ax from his wagon, he cut off the head of the officer who interrogated him. Then Dmitry threw in the enemy soldiers three grenades, which killed 21 soldiers. The rest of the Germans fled, except for the officer, who Ovcharenko caught up with and also beheaded. For the bravery shown, the soldier was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

The main enemy of Hitler

не всегда об этом рассказывает, но своим главным врагом в Советском Союзе лидер нацистов считал не Сталина, а Юрия Левитана. The history of the Second World War does not always tell about this, but the leader of the Nazis considered Stalin's leader, Yuri Levitan, his main enemy in the Soviet Union. For the head of the announcer Hitler offered 250 thousand marks. In this regard, the Soviet authorities guarded Levitan in the most thorough way, misinforming the press about his appearance.

Tanks from tractors

, нельзя обойти вниманием тот факт, что из-за острой нехватки танков, в экстренных случаях, ВС СССР делали их из простых тракторов. Considering interesting facts about the Great Patriotic War , one can not ignore the fact that because of the acute shortage of tanks, in emergency cases, the USSR Armed Forces made them from simple tractors. During the Odessa defensive operation, 20 tractors covered with sheets of armor were thrown into battle. Naturally, the main effect of this decision is psychological. Attacking Romanians at night with sirens and lanterns turned on, the Russians forced them to flee. As for weapons, many of these "tanks" were equipped with models of heavy guns. в шутку называли такие машины НИ-1, что означает «На испуг». The Soviet soldiers of the Great Patriotic War jokingly called such machines NI-1, which means "To the fright."

Son of Stalin

In the war Stalin's son Yakov Dzhugashvili was captured. The fascists offered Stalin to exchange his son for Field Marshal Paulus, who was imprisoned by the Soviet troops. The Soviet commander-in-chief refused, saying that the soldier was not being changed to the field marshal. Shortly before the arrival of the Soviet army, Jacob was shot. After the war, his family was exiled as a prisoner of war. When Stalin was notified about this, he said that he would not make exceptions for relatives and overstep the law.

The fate of prisoners of war

становятся особенно неприятными. There are historical facts that make memories of the war particularly unpleasant. Here's one of those. In captivity to the Germans got about 5.27 million Soviet soldiers, who were kept in terrible conditions. This fact is confirmed by the fact that less than two million Red Army soldiers returned to their homeland. The reason for the cruel treatment of prisoners by the Germans was the USSR's refusal to sign the Geneva and Hague Conventions on prisoners of war. The German authorities decided that if the other party did not sign the documents, they may not regulate the conditions of detention of prisoners with world standards. In fact, the Geneva Convention regulates the treatment of prisoners regardless of whether the countries have signed an agreement.

350 тысяч немецких пленников, а остальные 2 миллиона благополучно вернулись домой. The Soviet Union treated enemy POWs much more humanely, as evidenced, at a minimum, by the fact that 350,000 German prisoners were killed in the Great Patriotic War , and the remaining 2 million safely returned home.

Feat of Matvey Kuzmin

которой мы рассматриваем, 83-летний крестьянин Матвей Кузьмин повторил подвиг Ивана Сусанина, который в 1613 году завел поляков в непроходимое болото. During the Great Patriotic War, interesting facts about which we are considering, 83-year-old peasant Matvey Kuzmin repeated the feat of Ivan Susanin, who in 1613 led the Poles into an impenetrable swamp.

In February 1942, in the village of Kurakino, a German mountain battalion was quartered, tasked with breaking through to the rear of the Soviet troops, planning a counter-offensive in the Malkin heights. In Kurakino lived Matvey Kuzmin. The Germans asked the old man to act as their guide, offering food and rifles in return. Kuzmin agreed to the proposal and, having notified the nearest part of the Red Army through his 11-year-old grandson, went with the Germans on his way. After leading the Hitlerites in detour, the old man led them to the village of Malkino, where they were waiting for an ambush. Soviet soldiers met the enemy with machine-gun fire, and Matvei Kuzmin was killed by one of the German commanders.

Air ram

June 22, 1941 Soviet pilot Ivanov decided on an air ram. This was the first military feat, marked by the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

The Best Tankman

The most qualified tank ace of the Great Patriotic War was rightly recognized as Dmitry Lavrinenko, who served in the 40th Tank Brigade. During three months of battles (September-November 1941) he took part in 28 tank fights and personally destroyed 52 German tanks. In November 1941, a brave tankman died near Moscow.

Losses in the period of the Battle of Kursk

– тяжелая тема, которую всегда стараются не затрагивать. The loss of the USSR in the war is a difficult topic, which they always try not to touch. Thus, official data on losses of Soviet troops during the Battle of Kursk were published only in 1993. According to the researcher BV Sokolov, the German losses in Kursk amounted to approximately 360,000 killed, wounded and captured soldiers. Soviet losses were seven times higher than the fascist ones.

The exploit of Yakov Studennikov

July 7, 1943, in the midst of the Battle of Kursk, Yakov Studennikov - machine gunner 1019 regiment - independently led the fight for two days. The rest of the soldiers from his calculation were killed. Despite the injury, Studennikov repulsed 10 enemy attacks and killed more than three hundred Nazis. For this feat he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The feat of the 1378th regiment of the 87th Division

On December 17, 1942, not far from the village of Verkhne-Kumskoye, soldiers of company of senior lieutenant Naumov defended the height of 1372 m with two calculations of anti-tank rifles. They managed to repel three enemy tank and infantry attacks on the first day and several more attacks in the second. During this time, 24 soldiers neutralized 18 tanks and about a hundred infantry. As a result, Soviet brave men died, but went down in history as heroes.

Brilliant tanks

During the fighting at Lake Hassan, Japanese soldiers decided that the Soviet Union, using their weapons, was using plywood tanks. As a result, the Japanese fired Soviet equipment with ordinary bullets in the hope that this would be enough. Returning from the battlefield, the tanks of the Red Army were so densely covered with molten lead from the impact on the armor of lead bullets that literally shone. Well, their armor was unscathed.

Help the camels

об этом редко говорится, но у 28-резервной советской армии, сформированной в Астрахани во время сражений под Сталинградом, в качестве тягловой силы для транспортировки пушек использовали верблюдов. In the history of the Second World War , this is rarely said, but the 28-reserve Soviet army, formed in Astrakhan during the battles at Stalingrad, used camels as a draft force for the transportation of guns. To catch wild camels and to tame them to the Soviet soldiers it was necessary because of sharp shortage of automobile technics and horses. Most of the 350 tamed animals died in various battles, and the survivors were transferred to economic units or zoos. One of the camels, who were given the name Yashka, went along with the soldiers to Berlin.

Export of children

вызывают искреннюю скорбь. Many little-known facts about the Great Patriotic War cause sincere sorrow. During the Second World War, the Nazis took out thousands of children of "Nordic appearance" from Poland and the Soviet Union. The Nazis took children from two months to six years of age and took them to a concentration camp called Kinder KC, where the "racial value" of the kids was determined. Those children who passed the selection were subjected to "initial Germanization". They were called German names and taught the German language. The new citizenship of the child was confirmed by forged documents. Germanized children were sent to local shelters. Thus, a lot of German families did not even guess that the children adopted by them have a Slavic origin. After the war, no more than 3% of such children were returned to their homeland. The remaining 97% grew and aged, considering themselves to be full-fledged Germans. Most likely, their descendants will never know about their true origin.

Minor heroes

In conclusion, to consider interesting facts about the Great Patriotic War, we should say about the children-heroes. Thus, the title of Hero was awarded to 14-year-old Lenya Golikov and Sasha Chekalin, as well as 15-year-old Marat Kazey, Valya Kotik and Zina Portnova.

The Battle of Stalingrad

In August 1942, Adolf Hitler ordered his troops to Stalingrad to "leave no stone unturned." In fact, the Germans succeeded. When the brutal battle was over, the Soviet government concluded that building a city from scratch would be cheaper than restoring what was left. Nevertheless, Stalin unconditionally ordered the restoration of the city literally from the ashes. During the clearing of Stalingrad, so many shells were thrown at Mamayev Kurgan, so that for the next two years even the weeds did not grow there.

For an unknown reason, it was in Stalingrad that opponents changed their methods of fighting. The Soviet command from the very beginning of the war adhered to tactics of flexible defense, retreating in critical situations. Well, the Germans, in turn, tried to avoid mass bloodshed and bypassed large fortified areas. In Stalingrad, both sides seem to have forgotten about their principles and tripled the most severe battle.

It all began on August 23, 1942, when the Germans massively attacked the city from the air. As a result of the bombing, 40 thousand people died, which is 15 thousand more than during the Soviet raid on Dresden in early 1945. The Soviet side in Stalingrad used methods of psychological influence on the enemy. From the loudspeakers set directly on the frontline, popular German music sounded, which was interrupted by reports of successes of the Red Army on the fronts. But the most effective means of psychological pressure on the Nazis was the knocking of a metronome, which, after seven blows, was interrupted by a message: "Every seven seconds, one Nazi soldier perishes at the front." After 10-20 such messages included tango.

и, в частности, о Сталинградской битве, нельзя обойти вниманием подвиг сержанта Нурадилова. Considering interesting facts about the beginning of the Great Patriotic War and, in particular, about the Battle of Stalingrad, one can not ignore the exploit of sergeant Nuradilov. On September 1, 1942, the machine gunner Khanpasha Nuradilov independently destroyed 920 enemy soldiers.

Memory of the Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad is remembered not only in the post-Soviet space. In many European countries (France, Britain, Belgium, Italy, and others) in honor of the Battle of Stalingrad called the streets, squares and squares. In Paris, "Stalingrad" is the metro station, square and boulevard. And in Italy, in honor of this battle, one of the main streets of Bologna is named.

Banner of Victory

. The true Banner of Victory is kept in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces as a sacred relic and one of the most vivid memories of the war . Because the flag is made of brittle satin, it can only be stored in a horizontal position. The true banner is shown only in special cases and in the presence of the guard. In other cases, it is replaced with a duplicate, which is 100% identical to the original and even ages the same way.