Mystical stories of the Second World War 1941 1945. The most terrible secrets of the Great Patriotic War are revealed

Each soldier had his own path to victory. Private Sergey Shustov tells the readers about what his military road was like.

I was supposed to be drafted in 1940, but I had a reprieve. Therefore, he got into the Red Army only in May 1941. From the regional center we were immediately brought to the "new" Polish border to the construction battalion. There was an awful lot of people there. And all of us, right before the eyes of the Germans, built fortifications and a large airfield for heavy bombers.

I must say that the then "construction battalion" was not like the current one. We were thoroughly trained in sapper and explosives. Not to mention the fact that the shooting took place constantly. I, as a city guy, knew the rifle "in and out." Back in school, we shot from a heavy combat rifle, we knew how to assemble and disassemble it “for a while”. The guys from the village, in this regard, of course, had a harder time.

From the first days in battle

When the war began - and on June 22 at four o'clock in the morning our battalion was already in battle - we were very lucky with the commanders. All of them, from the company commander to the divisional commander, fought in the Civil War, they did not fall under the repressions. Apparently, that's why we retreated competently, we did not get into the environment. Although they retreated with battles.

By the way, we were well armed: each fighter was literally hung with pouches with cartridges, grenades ... Another thing is that from the very border to Kyiv, we did not see a single Soviet aircraft in the sky. When we, retreating, passed by our frontier airfield, it was full of burnt planes. And there we got only one pilot. To the question: “What happened, why didn’t they take off ?!” - he replied: “Yes, we are still without fuel! Therefore, half of the people went on vacation for the weekend.”

First big loss

So we retreated to the old Polish border, where, finally, we “hooked”. Although the guns and machine guns had already been dismantled and the ammunition taken out, excellent fortifications remained there - huge concrete pillboxes, into which the train freely entered. For defense then used all improvised means.

For example, from high thick pillars, around which hops curled before the war, they made anti-tank gouges ... This place was called the Novograd-Volynsky fortified area. And there we detained the Germans for eleven days. At the time, that was considered a lot. True, most of our battalion perished in the same place.

But we were still lucky that we were not in the direction of the main attack: German tank wedges were moving along the roads. And when we had already retreated to Kiev, we were told that while we were in Novograd-Volynsk, the Germans bypassed us to the south and were already on the outskirts of the capital of Ukraine.

But there was such a general Vlasov (the same one - author), who stopped them. Near Kiev, I was surprised: for the first time in our entire service, we were loaded onto cars and taken somewhere. As it turned out - to urgently plug holes in the defense. It was in July, and a little later I was awarded the medal "For the Defense of Kyiv".

In Kyiv, we built bunkers, bunkers in the lower and basement floors of houses. We mined everything that was possible - we had mines in abundance. But we did not fully participate in the defense of the city - we were transferred down the Dnieper. Because they guessed: the Germans could force the river there.

Certificate

From the very border to Kyiv, we did not see a single Soviet aircraft in the sky. The pilot was met at the airport. To the question: “Why didn’t they take off ?!” - he replied: “Yes, we are still without fuel!”

Timeline of the Great Patriotic War

As soon as I arrived at the unit, I was armed with a Polish carbine - apparently, during the hostilities of 1939, the trophy warehouses were captured. It was the same our "three-ruler" model of 1891, but shortened. And not with an ordinary bayonet, but with a bayonet-knife similar to a modern one.

The accuracy and combat range of this carbine was almost the same, but it was much lighter than the "progenitor". The bayonet-knife was generally suitable for all occasions: they could cut bread, people, cans. And in construction work, it is generally indispensable.

Already in Kyiv, I was given a brand new 10-shot SVT rifle. At first I was delighted: five or ten rounds in a clip - this means a lot in battle. But I fired it a couple of times - and my clip jammed. Moreover, the bullets flew anywhere, but not at the target. So I went to the foreman and said, "Give me back my carbine."

From near Kyiv, we were transferred to the city of Kremenchug, which was on fire. They set the task: to dig a command post in the coastal steep overnight, disguise it and give communication there. We did it, and suddenly the order was: straight along the impassability, along the corn field - to retreat.

Through Poltava near Kharkov

We went, and all - already replenished - the battalion went to some station. We were loaded onto a train and taken inland from the Dnieper. And suddenly we heard an incredible cannonade to the north of us. The sky is on fire, all enemy planes are flying there, we have zero attention.

So in September the Germans broke through the front, went on the attack. And we, it turns out, were again taken out in time, and we did not get into the encirclement. Through Poltava we were transferred to Kharkov.

Before reaching it 75 kilometers, we saw what was happening above the city: the fire of anti-aircraft guns "lined" the entire horizon. In this city, for the first time, we came under heavy bombing: women, children rushed about and died before our eyes.

In the same place we were introduced to the engineer-colonel Starinov, who was considered one of the main specialists in the Red Army for laying mines. Later, after the war, I corresponded with him. I managed to congratulate him on his centenary and get an answer. And he died a week later...

From the wooded area north of Kharkov, we were thrown into one of the first serious counteroffensives in that war. There were heavy rains, it was to our advantage: aviation could rarely rise into the air. And when it rose, the Germans dropped bombs anywhere: visibility was almost zero.

Offensive near Kharkov - 1942

Near Kharkov, I saw a terrible picture. Several hundred German cars and tanks were stuck in the soggy black soil. The Germans simply had nowhere to go. And when they ran out of ammunition, our horsemen cut them down. All to one.

October 5 has already hit frost. And we were all in summer uniforms. And the garrison caps had to be turned over their ears - this is how the prisoners were then portrayed.

Again, less than half of our battalion remained - we were sent to the rear for reorganization. And we walked from Ukraine to Saratov, where we ended up on New Year's Eve.

Then, in general, there was a “tradition” like this: from the front to the rear they moved exclusively on foot, and back to the front - in echelons and in cars. By the way, we almost never saw the legendary "one and a half" at the front: the main army vehicle was the ZIS-5.

Near Saratov, we were reorganized and in February 1942 were transferred to the Voronezh region - no longer as a construction, but as a sapper battalion.

First wound

And we again participated in the attack on Kharkov - the infamous one, when our troops fell into the cauldron. We, however, again passed.

I then ended up in the hospital with a wound. And a soldier ran up to me right there and said: “Get dressed urgently and run to the unit - the order of the commander! We're leaving". And I went. Because we were all terribly afraid of falling behind our unit: everything is familiar there, everyone is friends. And if you fall behind, God knows where you'll end up.

In addition, German aircraft often hit red crosses on purpose. And in the forest there were even more chances to survive.

It turned out that the Germans had broken through the front with tanks. We were given the order to mine all bridges. And if German tanks show up, blow them up immediately. Even if our troops did not have time to withdraw. That is, to throw their surrounded.

Crossing the Don

On July 10, we approached the village of Veshenskaya, took up defensive positions on the shore and received a strict order: “Do not let the Germans into the Don!”. And we haven't seen them yet. Then we realized that they were not following us. And they spun across the steppe at great speed in a completely different direction.

Nevertheless, a real nightmare reigned at the crossing of the Don: she physically could not let all the troops through. And then, as if by order, German troops appeared and smashed the crossing from the first approach.

We had hundreds of boats, but there were not enough of them. What to do? Crossing on improvised means. The wood there was all thin and was not suitable for rafts. Therefore, we began to break down gates in houses and make rafts out of them.

A cable was pulled across the river, and improvised ferries were built along it. Another thing that struck me. The entire river was littered with muted fish. And the local Cossacks caught this fish under bombardment, under fire. Although, it would seem, it is necessary to hide in the cellar and not show your nose from there.

In the homeland of Sholokhov

In the same place, in Veshenskaya, we saw the bombed-out house of Sholokhov. They asked the locals: “Is he dead?” We were told: “No, just before the bombing, he loaded the car with children and took them to the farm. But his mother stayed behind and died.”

Then many wrote that the whole courtyard was littered with manuscripts. But personally, I did not notice any papers.

As soon as we crossed, they took us to the forest and began to prepare ... back to the crossing to the other side. We say: “Why?!” The commanders replied: "We will attack elsewhere." And they also received an order: if the Germans are sent to reconnaissance, do not shoot at them - only cut them so as not to make a fuss.

In the same place, we met guys from a familiar unit and were surprised: hundreds of fighters have the same order. It turned out that it was a badge of the guards: they were among the first to receive such badges.

Then we crossed between Veshenskaya and the city of Serafimovich and occupied a bridgehead, which the Germans could not take until November 19, when our offensive near Stalingrad began from there. Many troops, including tanks, were transported to this bridgehead.

Moreover, the tanks were very different: from the brand new "thirty-fours" to the ancient ones, it is not known how the surviving "machine-gun" vehicles of the production of the thirties.

By the way, I saw the first "thirty-fours", it seems, already on the second day of the war and at the same time I first heard the name "Rokossovsky".

Several dozen cars were parked in the forest. The tankers were all like a match: young, cheerful, well-equipped. And we all immediately believed: now they are going to be fucked up - and that's it, we will defeat the Germans.

Certificate

At the crossing over the Don, a real nightmare reigned: she physically could not let all the troops through. And then, as if by order, German troops appeared and smashed the crossing from the first approach

Hunger is not an aunt

Then we were loaded onto barges and taken along the Don. We had to eat somehow, and we began to burn fires right on the barges, boil potatoes. The boatswain ran and screamed, but we didn't care - we wouldn't die of hunger. And the chance to burn out from a German bomb was much greater than from a fire.

Then the food ran out, the soldiers began to get on boats and sail away for provisions to the villages, past which we sailed. The commander again ran with a revolver, but could not do anything: hunger is not an aunt.

And so we sailed all the way to Saratov. There we were placed in the middle of the river and surrounded by barriers. True, they brought dry rations for the past time and all our "fugitives" back. After all, they were not stupid - they understood that the case smells of desertion - a firing squad. And, “feeding up” a little, they appeared at the nearest military registration and enlistment office: they say, I fell behind the unit, I ask you to return it back.

The new life of "Capital" by Karl Marx

And then a real flea market formed on our barges. From tin cans they made bowlers, they changed, as they say, "an awl for soap." And the greatest value was considered "Capital" by Karl Marx - his good paper was used for cigarettes. I have never seen such a popularity of this book before or since…

The main difficulty in the summer was to dig in - this virgin soil could only be taken with a pickaxe. Well, if the trench could be dug at least half a height.

Once a tank passed through my trench, and I only thought: will it touch my helmet or not? Didn't hurt...

I also remember then that German tanks completely "did not take" our anti-tank rifles - only sparks sparkled on the armor. This is how I fought in my unit, and I did not think that I would leave it, but ...

Fate decreed otherwise

Then I was sent to study as a radio operator. The selection was tough: those who did not have an ear for music were rejected immediately.

The commander said: “Well, to hell with them, these walkie-talkies! The Germans spot them and hit us right.” So I had to pick up a coil of wire - and go! And the wire there was not twisted, but solid, steel. While you twist it once, you will peel off all your fingers! I immediately have a question: how to cut it, how to clean it? And they say to me: “You have a carbine. Open and lower the aiming frame - and cut off. She also cleans up."

We were outfitted in winter, but I didn’t get boots. And how ferocious she was - a lot has been written.

Among us were Uzbeks who literally froze to death. I froze my fingers without boots, and then they amputated them without any anesthesia. Although I kept kicking my feet all the time, it didn't help. On January 14, I was wounded again, and this was the end of my Battle of Stalingrad ...

Certificate

Karl Marx's "Capital" was considered the greatest value - his good paper was used for cigarettes. I have never seen this book so popular before or since.

Awards found a hero

The reluctance to go to the hospital "backfired" on many front-line soldiers after the war. No documents about their injuries have been preserved, and even getting a disability was a big problem.

I had to collect evidence from fellow soldiers, who were then checked through the military registration and enlistment offices: “Did Private Ivanov serve at that time together with Private Petrov?”

For his military work, Sergei Vasilievich Shustov was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War of the first degree, the medals "For the Defense of Kyiv", "For the Defense of Stalingrad" and many others.

But one of the most expensive awards, he considers the badge "Front-line soldier", which began to be issued recently. Although, as the former "Stalingrader" thinks, now these badges are issued to "everyone who is not lazy."

DKREMLEVRU

Incredible cases in the war

Despite all the horrors of the war, the most memorable episode in his epic was the case when there was no bombing or shooting. Sergei Vasilievich tells about him carefully, looking into his eyes and, apparently, suspecting that they will not believe him after all.

But I believed. Although this story is both strange and scary.

— I have already told about Novograd-Volynsky. It was there that we fought terrible battles, and that is where most of our battalion was killed. Somehow, in between battles, we ended up in a small village near Novograd-Volynsky. The Ukrainian village is just a few huts, on the banks of the Sluch River.

We spent the night in one of the houses. The owner lived there with her son. He was ten or eleven years old. Such a thin, eternally dirty boy. He kept asking the soldiers to give him a rifle, to shoot.

We lived there for only two days. On the second night we were awakened by some noise. Anxiety for the soldiers is a common thing, so everyone woke up at once. There were four of us.

A woman with a candle stood in the middle of the hut and wept. We got excited and asked what happened? It turned out that her son was missing. We reassured mother as best we could, said we would help, got dressed and went out to look.

It was already light. We walked through the village, shouting: "Petya ..." - that was the name of the boy, but he was nowhere to be found. We returned back.

The woman was sitting on a bench near the house. We approached, lit a cigarette, said that it was not worth worrying and worrying yet, it was not known where this tomboy could have run away.

When I lit a cigarette, I turned away from the wind, and noticed an open hole in the back of the yard. It was a well. But the log house disappeared somewhere, most likely, went for firewood, and the boards with which the pit was covered turned out to be shifted.

With a bad feeling, I went to the well. I looked. At a depth of five meters, the boy's body floated.

Why he went to the courtyard at night, what he needed near the well, is unknown. Maybe he got some ammo and went to bury it to keep his childhood secret.

While we were thinking how to get the body, while we were looking for a rope, tying it around the lightest of us, while we were lifting the body, at least two hours passed. The boy's body was twisted, stiff, and it was very difficult to straighten his arms and legs.

The water in the well was very cold. The boy had been dead for several hours. I saw many, many corpses and I had no doubts. We carried him into the room. The neighbors came and said that they would prepare everything for the funeral.

In the evening, the heartbroken mother sat next to the coffin, which had already been made by a carpenter neighbor. At night, when we went to bed, behind the screen I saw her silhouette near the coffin, trembling against the background of a flickering candle.

Certificate

Despite all the horrors of the war, the most memorable episode in my epic was the case when there was no bombing or shooting.

Scary unexplained facts

Later, I was awakened by a whisper. Two people spoke. One voice was female and belonged to the mother, the other childish, boyish. I do not know Ukrainian, but the meaning was still clear.
The boy said:
- I'll leave now, they shouldn't see me, and then, when everyone leaves, I'll be back.
- When? - Female voice.
- The night after tomorrow.
Are you really coming?
- I'll be sure to.
I thought that one of the boy's friends had visited the hostess. I got up. I was heard and the voices were silent. I walked over and pulled back the curtain. There were no strangers there. The mother was still sitting, the candle burned dimly, and the body of the child lay in the coffin.

Only for some reason it lay on its side, and not on its back, as it should be. I stood in a daze and could not think of anything. Some kind of sticky fear seemed to wrap around me like a cobweb.

Me, who went under every day, could die every minute, who tomorrow had to repel the attacks of the enemy, who outnumbered us several times. I looked at the woman, she turned to me.
“You were talking to someone,” I heard that my voice was hoarse, as if I had just smoked a whole pack of cigarettes.
- I ... - She somehow awkwardly ran her hand over her face ... - Yes ... with herself ... I imagined that Petya was still alive ...
I stood a little longer, turned around and went to bed. All night I listened to the sounds behind the curtain, but everything was quiet there. In the morning, fatigue still took its toll and I fell asleep.

In the morning there was an urgent formation, we were again sent to the front line. I went to say goodbye. The hostess was still sitting on a stool ... in front of an empty coffin. I again experienced horror, I even forgot that in a few hours the battle.
- Where is Petya?
- Relatives from a neighboring village took him at night, they are closer to the cemetery, we will bury him there.

I did not hear any relatives at night, although, perhaps, I simply did not wake up. But why didn't they take the coffin then? They called me from the street. I put my arm around her shoulders and left the house.

What happened next, I don't know. We never returned to this village. But the more time passes, the more often I remember this story. After all, I didn't get it. And then I recognized Petya's voice. Mother could not imitate him like that.

What was it then? Until now, I have never told anyone anything. Why, anyway, they won’t believe or they will decide that in their old age they have gone crazy.

He finished the story. I looked at him. What could I say, I just shrugged my shoulders ... We sat for a long time, drinking tea, he refused alcohol, although I offered to drive for vodka. Then we said goodbye and I went home. It was already night, the lanterns shone dimly, and the reflections of the headlights of passing cars flickered in the puddles.

Certificate

With a bad feeling, I went to the well. I looked. At a depth of five meters the boy's body floated

Black Hot Blonde
The history of the Great Patriotic War, so familiar to many of us, is full of mystical stories, signs and visions that have remained in the background. Stories about miracles cannot be found on the pages of textbooks, and not in every book devoted to the history of the war, one can find references to mystical events in which soldiers of the warring parties became participants. The article that you are holding in your hands contains only a small part of what has yet to be told about that terrible and inhuman war, from the mystical, other side of history. And to believe in the stories of the direct participants in the events, or to attribute everything to fantasies, is a matter for each of us, moreover, a purely individual one.

Prayer on the battlefield

Ours occupied a strategically significant nameless height, dug in. Rumors immediately spread in the unit that the place was somehow special, unusual - it was felt in the gut. That battle was especially cruel, the entire neutral zone was strewn with the bodies of our and German soldiers. The battle died down only in the evening. Suddenly one of the fighters stuck his head out from behind the parapet and began to peer intently towards the German fortifications. Comrades immediately shouted a warning about the possibility of being seen by a sniper, but the warning remained unheeded. The careless fighter only said that some woman was walking on the "neutral" and sobbing sobbing! And when, from the side of the Germans, the agitation suddenly subsided and the music, inviting to surrender, was heard by everyone. The soldiers looked out of the trenches and saw a woman walking along the neutral zone in the fog, in dark and long clothes, and her height was twice as high as a human. She leaned over the bodies of the dead and cried loudly, she looked like the Mother of God! The Germans saw it all too, their helmets sticking out over the trenches. While the soldiers of the warring sides looked at the vision, a strange fog covered most of the fallen, as if covering them with a shroud. And the woman suddenly stopped crying, turned towards the Russian trenches, bowed and disappeared. They interpreted this sign as the mercy of the Virgin, which means that Victory will be ours, said one of the fighters.

heavenly signs

From time immemorial, man has characterized the mysterious heavenly actions as a harbinger of trouble or joy, both for an individual and for humanity as a whole. So, before the war, signs were again sent to mankind. Of course, much of what people called a miracle can be easily interpreted from the point of view of science, but you must admit that these ordinary physical and optical phenomena were somehow “in the hand” formed, as if really warning about something.

On June 22, 1941, in Kotelnich (Kirov region), the following happened: after an announcement from the Soviet Information Bureau, a white cloud appeared over the city spire, which gradually began to stretch and smooth out, and eventually became like a saucer, and not empty, but with a surprise. According to eyewitnesses, the severed head of Adolf Hitler flaunted on the saucer, this is how the people interpreted the vision. A few minutes later, the image dissolved, taking the previous form of a cloud, and then completely disappeared. On the August morning of the forty-first, a sign in the form of a cross appeared over Moscow. The cross shone in the rays of the rising sun, as if its surface were made of aluminum. People who observed the phenomenon thought that these were the intrigues of the Nazis, who had already put an end to Moscow, but the Muscovites were mistaken, the end was put on fascism. As you know, it was after the battles for Moscow that the countdown began, measured by Nazi Germany. May 1941 was marked by an unusual phenomenon for the inhabitants of the Oktyabrsky district (Chelyabinsk region), they saw two border posts in the sky, and a soldier's boot between them. No one had any doubts - it was a bad sign, and a month later the war began. And one day, Adolf Hitler himself became one of the eyewitnesses of the "heavenly signs"; according to the recollections of his close associates, this happened at the Eagle's Nest headquarters, located in the Alps. The sky over the "Hitler's nest" was overcast with red and black clouds. The Führer and the entire headquarters poured out into the street to look at the mysterious phenomenon, among the staff there was a Bulgarian woman, she warned Hitler that this was a bad sign, portending death. This happened on August 23, 1939, on this day in Moscow a treacherous pact was signed between Molotov and Ribbentrop on Germany's non-aggression on the USSR.

Ghosts of War.

Most often, a ghost can be encountered where a person was overtaken by a violent death. For example, you can meet ghosts in the vicinity of the village of Myasnoy Bor, located in the Novgorod region. It seems that the name itself speaks of the events that took place here during the war years. In 1942, the 2nd shock army of General Vlasov was destroyed here. Having been captured near Myasny Bor, the general went over to the side of Germany, swore allegiance to Hitler and led the Russian Liberation Army, known for its punitive actions against the civilian population of the occupied territories. According to some reports, about 27,000 soldiers from both sides died in the forest one day. The scale of the tragedy is also evidenced by the fact that search parties have been working in the forest since the 60s, digging up soldiers and burying their ashes in the ground, as it should be, burying them in mass graves. But until now, according to preliminary estimates, tens of thousands of soldiers of both armies remain unburied. According to the stories of the diggers, some kind of devilry is going on in the forest, for example, one has only to be left alone, as if the forest comes to life, rustles and someone’s speech are heard, and sometimes even shouts: “Hurrah!”, as if someone is still walking attack.

One evening, the battle began again in the forest, so the “white diggers” (officially operating search teams) thought when they heard the crackle of automatic bursts coming from the camp of the “black diggers” (looting search engines). The weapons in the forest are in excellent condition thanks to the peat bogs that create the effect of a thermos, which attracts a significant number of "blacks", because the trophies found can be profitably sold on the black market. In the morning, the leadership of the "white" search detachment decided to go to the site of the night shooting and find out what was the matter, whether everyone was safe and whether anyone needed help. Arriving at the camp, it was not possible to catch anyone on the spot. The "Blacks" left their place of deployment, leaving all their trophies and even personal belongings in a hurry. Returning back to their camp, the "white" diggers were surprised to find that two of those who had fired at night were sitting at their house. The guests behaved strangely, they were obviously frightened by something and even asked for a deal, they needed personal items, and in exchange they were offered the coordinates of the remains of Russian soldiers. When asked about what happened, the "unfortunate diggers" said that at night near their camp, a string of whitish, translucent figures passed, supposedly coming out of the fog. The guys were frightened and opened fire from the cleaned trophy weapons, but the ghostly figures moved on, absolutely not noticing them. The following night, a similar incident happened in the camp of "white searchers". Somewhere around eleven, when fog descended on the sleeping camp, the orderlies noticed a chain of ghostly figures slowly approaching from the night forest. The night was clear, so the mist covered the ground and glowed slightly in the moonlight, which made a chain of figures stand out from the night mist. I was struck by the complete unnaturalness of movement and some bewitching oddity in their gait. And then the dog of one of the searchers, dozing by the fire, suddenly woke up, threw up its muzzle, pricked up its ears, as if sensing something, howled, whined and huddled under the tent, from where it was taken out only early in the morning. The orderlies raised the alarm, without exception, all crowded around the fires, into which they threw the stock of firewood every minute, no longer caring at all about whether it would last until morning. Everyone, without exception, was frightened, looking at the row of white figures floating in front of them, some of the searchers even prayed incoherently.

They did not once die in our land, but turned into white cranes ...

It was not in vain that I began this part of the article with a line from Jan Frenkel's famous song "Cranes". Indeed, as if there is some kind of mystical connection between the fallen on the battlefields and these beautiful birds.

A few years ago, near the city of Lyuban (Leningrad region), a search party carried out the burial of two thousand remains of dead Soviet soldiers, collected by the guys during the search season. The funeral procession went on as always, veterans and local residents came to the burial place to pay tribute to the memory, mourning speeches sounded. But as soon as the ceremony itself began, and the first coffins began to be interred, a white crane suddenly appeared in the sky, and, having made several circles above the gathered, flew away. The flight of the bird caused real bewilderment and excitement, because no one could understand why the bird decided to make this “lap of honor” over the mass grave.

A similar incident occurred in the area of ​​the "Round Grove" (one of the thousands of unknown heights), the search engines found the remains of our warrior, who died a monstrous death. There was practically nothing left of the body, the explosion swept the soldier within a radius of five meters. The painstaking search for body fragments lasted several hours. And when most of the remains were collected, in the sky above the place where the fighter was found, a crane wedge appeared, accompanying its flight with a heart-rending cry, in exactly the line - they turned into white cranes ...

In the village of Yadrovo, Volokolamsk district, there is no museum of military equipment. But in flying weather, tourists are shown a ghost plane here. First, the hum of an aircraft engine is heard in the sky, and then out of nowhere, a WWII-era Messerschmitt appears, trying to land. The silhouette of the aircraft is not clear, but some managed to make out the pale face of the pilot, looking out from the cockpit. For the first time, a UFO was discovered by the military. The stray apparatus began to appear almost every day on the radars of the air defense military unit, which is next to the village. The military did not shoot at it, even tried to ram it - no result: the fighter that came out to intercept went through the vision, and both planes dispersed ... In general, they fly like that.
And further:
I met Alexei several years ago, but I still don’t know either his last name or address ... The only thing known for certain is that he is a Muscovite, and that every summer, together with his comrades, Alexei travels to the places of former battles of the Great Patriotic War ... Appears and Alexey suddenly disappears. And now he called unexpectedly ...
- Let's meet ... There is a conversation, Alexei said promisingly and hung up.
I’ll immediately note that Alexei and his comrades are not hunters for weapons - this type of finds in Alexei’s company is tabooed - “Don’t take weapons!”. The desired finds are: military paraphernalia, household items: knives, bottles, flasks and other trifles ... Finds unexpected in battlefields are also held in high esteem - so, the year before last, Alexei found a scattering of pre-war German badges in a dug-out dugout ... Looks like the German who lost them was avid collector!
In these campaigns in places, so to speak, of military glory, both curious and strange, and somewhere terrible cases often happen to him and his comrades ...
Half an hour after the telephone conversation, we were already sitting in a public garden near McDonald's, near the Pushkinskaya metro station.
- Alexey, how did you go this year?
- Yes, not bad ... Again, like a year ago, they worked in the Bryansk forests, in the upper reaches of the Zhizdra River, where for almost a year and a half from the winter of 1942 to the end of the summer of 1943 there was a front ...
- Were there any interesting finds?
- Our finds are traditional - our and German soldiers, forever remaining in the Russian land, and their household items ...
- And how much did you dig up this year?
- They unearthed six of ours and eleven Germans, and four Wehrmacht soldiers in a littered dugout on the banks of the Zhizdra River ... As a bomb or a shell got there, so they all remained there. We began to carefully dig ... The soil there is sandy - it is easy to work. They dug up the reel, sawed through the logs and unearthed decayed German boots with bones sticking out of them ... They began to dig more carefully ... Here are the pelvic bones, spine, ribs ... Slowly they dug up the rest ... Four ... One, apparently, was an officer - with a cross ... While they were working, it slowly became dusk ... We left the skeletons near the pit, and we ourselves settled down about two hundred meters, in a clearing ...
But at night the devil those that began to happen! We are a familiar people... Sleeping in the Forest is not the first time for us... But here... This has never happened before! At night, we were awakened by the duty officer - Valera. “Guys,” he says, “something is happening,” but I don’t understand what! We jumped up ... Listen ... And there, behind the hollow where we were digging, German speech, German marches, laughter, the clanging of caterpillars were heard ... We, frankly, were frightened ... We collected, little things and went to the river - this is from half a kilometer ... There until the morning and sat out...
- But then returned to the dugout?
- Yes, sure. In the morning we went there again... Everything is in place... Nothing has been touched... Skeletons are lying, as we left them... But we went a little further, and there... Tank pits...
- What's that?
- Shelters in which the tanks stood ... And the most striking thing - fresh traces of caterpillars !!! The moss is all cut up, as if only yesterday some “panthers” drove here!
- Maybe some local tractor drivers were having fun?
- If! There to habitation of the nearest ten kilometers! Wilderness! I don't even know what to think! The traces are clear - tanks were moving at night ... Yes, we heard the roar of engines ... Mysticism!
- And what did they do with the Germans?
- Buried properly. So they were buried in a common grave ... True, even here there were some adventures ...
- Something else?
- Yes! In general, we are all accustomed to treating the remains with respect, carefully ... But our newcomer Konstantin - the first time he was with us ... How to put it - was somewhat careless and disrespectful to the remains ...
- What was it like?
- Yes, he is a fisherman, he went everywhere with a telescopic fishing rod ... He touched the bones with this fishing rod and stirred them with his foot a couple of times, although we upset him ...
- So what?
- And the fact that when we returned to the river in the evening, he stumbled, as they say, out of the blue ... He broke the fishing rod and badly bruised his toes ... And the one that touched the bones! Still limping...
- Maybe a coincidence?
- What are the coincidences? Did you touch it with a rod? Touched! Broke! Did you touch your foot? It was business! He also injured his leg… I realized long ago that retribution is inevitable if it concerns the dead…
- Have there been any other similar cases?
- Yes ... Once again we spent the night right in the middle of the forest. It got dark ... At night, we noticed a strange glow about a hundred and fifty meters from the parking lot. We arrived at that place in the morning. They began to search. They noticed the upper part of the helmet... They dug it up... They found two of them, one on top of the other... Also Germans... One of them, apparently, dragged the other out from under the fire, but didn't report it - they killed him himself... That's it! They both buried...
- Did something like that, like the clanging of caterpillars, happen before?
- No, I've been walking for eight years, and this is the first time! But we often hear groans in the forest at night ... This is constant ... Every year this happens ... And we always find unburied soldiers somewhere nearby.
- Maybe it seems?
- Well no! People need to be buried humanly ... And where a soldier was killed, wounded ... how he fell, he still lies ... How many of them - both ours and Germans lie unburied in ravines and hollows ... Last year they found a ravine - our people are there fifteen, or maybe more, are still lying ... As they were beaten in the hollow, so they remained there ... Yes, they beat, you see, hard ... Helmets - into a cake! Dig - phalanxes of fingers, fragments of bones, decayed uniforms! And the weapons are three-line rifles. There are mine craters all around ... And next to it, on a hill, which, apparently, they were ordered to take, there is a pile of German shells, mine boxes are lying around ... And not a single crater! It turns out that with bare hands they went to machine guns and mortars! Horror!
- Where did you learn to read the "pictures" of the battle?
- Eh ... How many years have I been walking through the forests - my eye is trained ... Yes, and I'm not alone, we all “read” together.
- What plans do you have for the future?
- Next year we will go to other places ... Somewhere closer to the north ... To the area of ​​\u200b\u200bNelidov, Velikiye Luki - there were also battles, God forbid! And the places are quieter than near Bryansk ... And in general, there were too many diggers! “Blacks” can even kill… They need weapons… But we have other goals… By the way, here’s a souvenir for you! Bye!
Aleksey held out a small bundle and quickly walked towards the subway... I unfolded the paper... In my hands was an aluminum soldier's buckle with an eagle and a Gothic inscription in German: "God is with us!"...
Alexey had already disappeared into the underground passage, and I mentally wished him good luck in this strange, incomprehensible search for me. http://forum.cosmo.ru/index.php?showtopic=154857&st=3080

Kora
Here is a little more about the excavations from the places of the Second World War:
A separate story, if not a whole book, deserves the story of the Novgorodian Vasily ROCHEV. For almost 10 years, every summer he came to the Valley and worked on excavations, looking for the remains of soldiers for reburial according to Christian canons at the local cemetery.

Sometimes, in the camp in tents, we just fall asleep, - says the search engine Nikolai GROMOV, - how he jumps in the middle of the night, runs behind the bushes. He runs up to a certain place, grabs a stick, ties a neckerchief to it (all this with half-closed eyes). “Here he is,” he whispers, “here ...” He sticks a stick into the ground and goes on to sleep. And in the morning we started digging at this place and we always found a soldier, or even several at once.

Roshev said that from the age of thirty he began to have dreams about the war - attacks, battles, death.

So he ended up in the Valley, - continues Nikolai. - But at first we didn’t attach much importance to his “night searches”, we think that everything happens, it’s just a peasant’s life experience. But after those pictures...

And here's what happened. Somehow the searchers decided to take a picture. Vasily also got up. He had a funnel in the background, and then - trees. Already in the city, the guys began to show the film and see: behind Roshev, the road is clearly visible, and on it are two figures in overcoats. Since then, in all the photographs of Vasily (whoever photographed, no matter where in the Valley it happened) there was something or someone from the war. Scientists from Novgorod University even became interested in the phenomenon of Vasily Roshev, a special department was opened under the guidance of the rector to study unusual phenomena.

Igor LANTSEV, professor of NOVGU, says:

We studied the pictures of Vasily Roshev for a long time: you never know, maybe a montage or a play of chiaroscuro. We went to the Valley several times. And they came to the conclusion: indeed, something else, inexplicable from the standpoint of logic and reason, is present there. You can call it a parallel world. Unfortunately, Vasily Roshev worked with us for a very short time, about a year, then he passed away, very early and strange. Nothing hurt, just did not wake up one morning. This once again confirms that it is not worth climbing too deep into that world.

The Scary Tale of the Death Medallion

Everything found on the battlefields has a special disposition, habits and memory. It has been verified many times - these things, once saved from oblivion, do not like to return to where they were lost and found again. In the forest, rust will immediately come out on a cleaned and again blackened bayonet, an aluminum cup from a German flask will surely fall into a fire and burn without a trace, like paper, and a Red Army star attached to a baseball cap will simply be lost. Taking from the forest and restoring the finds, you rudely intrude into the natural course of events and time, change it arbitrarily, and sometimes you take on other people's sins or suffering. Retribution for frivolity comes quickly.

A friend gave me a German mortal medallion on a thick silver chain for the New Year. It looks nothing special - an oval aluminum plate, divided into two parts by a dotted notch. After the death of the owner, the medallion was broken, one part was left on the corpse, the other was transferred to the division headquarters. The former owner of this little thing was just fatally unlucky. Judging by the markings on the medallion, for some offense he was transferred from the dust-free airfield protection service of the Luftwaffe "Flieger Horst Schutze" (Fl. H. Sch.) to the reserve infantry battalion "Infanterie Ersatz Bataillon" (Inf. ers. batl.) , which eventually fell all over at the Pogostye station. This German was not found after the battle - he remained lying in a littered trench.
After receiving the gift, I did not think of anything smarter than putting the medallion on myself. Further events began to unfold dizzyingly. In a few days I, a poor student, lost everything I had. For starters, my wife left. A day later, driving someone else's rusty "penny" from the impound lot, I drove into the back of a brand new "nine". While I was dealing with the consequences of the accident, I was expelled from the institute. From the women's hostel where I lived illegally, I was asked to go outside for three days. You could safely hang yourself, but there was no suitable hook. The decision came in a dream, unconsciously: the thick chain on which the medallion hung got tangled and swept over the neck so that a crimson scar remained on the throat. I removed this curious piece of “history” from myself, away from sin, and life began to improve just as sharply. I told many people about this medallion. If they didn’t believe me, I took it out with the words: “Here, vilify a little ...”
There were no applicants. Then I got rid of the medallion, selling it for next to nothing to the first collector I came across.

Field legends

Search operations at the battlefields are rich not only in shell fragments, rusty helmets and empty cartridge cases. These places are also saturated with the pain of those people who shed their blood for them, so there are plenty of various stories, including mystical ones. I asked Alexey to tell about several of them:

“What I am about to tell you, I did not witness. But I know well many people who were present then in person. Our guys, as usual, worked in the forest. in the Tver region. In the evening, sitting near the fire, they heard a shepherd's pipe playing somewhere nearby. Everyone distinctly heard the melody, but the owner of the musical instrument was never seen.

The next day they were already ready to forget about the unpretentious melody, but in the evening the pipe began to play again, and much closer. The people became alert and the next day went to the nearest village to clarify the situation. It turned out that at the end of the war, at the place where the search group worked, the shepherd boy disappeared, some even said that he was blown up by a mine. Since then, in the forest, sometimes at night you can hear the lonely pipe of the missing shepherd boy.

The guys returned to the camp and told their comrades this story, after which the searchers decided to purposely wait for this inexplicable event. But that evening, nothing happened, but it happened the next night, at the last overnight stay. As soon as it got dark,

On June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began in the USSR. Today, on this day in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, the day of memory and sorrow is celebrated. It was on June 22 that the Nazis crossed the borders of the USSR. We have collected for you 15 creepy facts about the Second World War, from which the blood runs cold.

Leningrad blockade

The blockade of Leningrad is one of the terrible events of the Great Patriotic War, but what is most surprising is that despite the complexity of the situation and the critical situation in the city, not a single fever or virus broke out. Although people lived there without heating, sewerage and water.

Equipment repair

The front in Karelia was the only one on the territory of the USSR of all those who did not send their military equipment for repair. All repairs took place in fact in Karelia itself in special military units and factories.

Plan "Barbarossa"

Already on July 4, 1941, Hitler announced: “I always try to put myself in the position of the enemy. In fact, he has already lost the war.

Karelian Front

Only on the Karelian front, such modes of transport as reindeer and dog teams were used to transport goods.

Battle for Moscow

"Grandfather of the Soviet special forces" I. G. Starinov recalled that there was an order from Stalin to turn the Moscow region into a snowy desert. The enemy had to stumble only on cold and ashes. Its text was scattered in millions of copies in separate partisan areas. It said: "Drive the German into the cold!"

World leaders about the battle for Stalingrad

The King of Great Britain sent a gift sword to the inhabitants of Stalingrad, on the blade of which an inscription was engraved in Russian and also in English:
To the citizens of Stalingrad, strong as steel, from King George VI as a token of the deep admiration of the British people.

On behalf of the people of the United States of America, I present this charter to the city of Stalingrad to celebrate our admiration for its valiant defenders, whose courage, fortitude and selflessness during the siege from September 13, 1942 to January 31, 1943, will forever inspire the hearts of all free people. Their glorious victory stopped the wave of invasion and became the turning point in the war of the allied nations against the forces of aggression.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Sapper dog Dzhulbar

By personal order of I.V. Stalin, a service dog-sapper Dzhulbars was carried on his tunic, who discovered more than 7 thousand mines and 150 shells, wounded shortly before the end of the war. A well-worn tunic without shoulder straps was delivered to the Central School. There they built something like a tray out of it. And at the Victory Parade, the commander of the 37th separate demining battalion, Major Alexander Mazover, marched the dog past the podium with the Supreme Commander.

An infantryman hacked to death two officers and blew up 21 enemy soldiers

On July 13, 1941, in battles near the city of Balti (Moldova), when delivering ammunition to his company near the town of Arctic fox, the riding machine-gun company of the 389th rifle regiment of the 176th rifle division of the 9th Army of the Southern Front, Red Army soldier D. R. Ovcharenko unexpectedly encountered with a detachment of enemy soldiers and officers numbering 50 people. At the same time, the enemy took possession of his rifle. However, Ovcharenko did not lose his head and, snatching an ax from the wagon, cut off the head of the officer interrogating him, then threw 3 grenades at the enemy soldiers, killing 21 soldiers.

The rest began to flee in panic. Then he caught up with the second officer in the garden of the town of Arctic fox and also cut off his head. The third officer managed to escape. After the battle, a native of the Kharkov province collected documents and maps from the dead and, together with the cargo, arrived at the company.

Village of real heroes

The village of Chanlibel (Chardakhlu) became known as the birthplace of many heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Of the natives of the village, 1250 people went to the front. Of these, half were awarded orders and medals, two became marshals (Hamazasp Babadzhanyan and Ivan Bagramyan), twelve - generals, seven - Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Veliky Novgorod, which survived the occupation

Soviet troops, having liberated Veliky Novgorod on January 20, 1944, found the city completely destroyed and deserted. Of the 2,500 residential buildings, only 40 survived. Almost all architectural monuments were destroyed or badly damaged, including the St. Sophia Cathedral, as well as the Millennium of Russia monument. By the time of liberation, only 30 inhabitants remained in the city - the rest were either driven to Germany or were killed by the occupying forces.

Burning down

By order of Lieutenant General Heusinger, on March 1-2, 1943, Koriukovka (Chernihiv region) was destroyed (1390 houses were burned, more than 7000 local residents died) - the most massive massacre of civilians during World War II. In total, the invaders burned 334 settlements in Ukraine during the war.

Camels at work

In the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet troops included the 28th reserve army, in which camels acted as a draft force for guns. It was formed in Astrakhan during the battles near Stalingrad: the lack of cars and horses forced them to catch wild camels in the vicinity and tame them. Most of the 350 animals died on the battlefield in battles, and the survivors were then transferred to household units or sent to zoos.

Holocaust in Odessa

October 1941 is marked by the mass murder of Jews in Odessa. October 17-25, 1941, when 25-34 thousand Odessans were shot or burned alive. The Romanian and German troops dealt with the population. In history, this period is known as the "murder of the Jews of Odessa."

Partisan movement

In total, in 1941-1944, there were 6,200 partisan detachments and formations in the occupied territory of the USSR, the number of partisans and underground workers is estimated at 1 million people. Over 128,000 partisans and underground workers were awarded orders and medals of the USSR (248 of them received the title of Heroes of the USSR).

Famine in Leningrad

During the 872 days of the siege of Leningrad, almost 1,500,000 people died in the city. Those. during the time that you spent viewing this post, 3 people died from starvation, disease or explosions in Leningrad.