As a link between generations on a date sacred to us in Voronezh, a new memory watch has appeared. This is the name of the memorial chapels which, on the initiative of veterans of military counterintelligence and with the support of the Russian FSB, are being installed throughout the country. From Kaliningrad to Khabarovsk, from Severomorsk to Sevastopol – they forever remember the feat of the Soviet people.
In Patriots Park, on June 22, the day of memory and grief, it seems, the whole town gathered. Veterans of the Great Patriotic War, home front workers, Air Force Academy cadets and officers.
On this day, all eyes are on the snow-white chapel, which in the rays of the sun seems to shine with a special light. The charity project appeared on the initiative of veterans of military counterintelligence and current employees – descendants of the legendary Smersh, who defeated the special services of Nazi Germany. The monument was inaugurated under the auspices of the Public Council of the FSB of Russia and the Ministry of Defense.
In the Voronezh region, in the first weeks of the war, 200,000 soldiers joined the ranks of the militia. In 2023, on June 22, soil taken from the sites of bloody battles was laid at the base of the monument.
“Why is it important right now? Because the West, led by the United States and its allies, is making titanic efforts to distort history. Imagine, even the victors of the Second World War only call themselves, without mentioning the Soviet Union. Here, more precisely on the lands of Voronezh, four NKVD regiments were the first to defend Voronezh,†said Alexander Bezverkhny, head of military counterintelligence of the FSB of Russia from 2000 to 2015.
In the first days of July 1942, the war divided the seemingly backward city into two parts – fascist units settled on the right side of the Voronezh River, and the city defenders defended the left side.
“For 212 days and nights, the city of Voronezh was not just a frontline city. The front line crossed our city,†added Mikhail Volsky, candidate of historical sciences.
The Chernavsky Bridge area had to be rebuilt after the war. Today, the picturesque quay is a privileged place for a walk. It was here that the reconnaissance platoon of the junior lieutenant of the 233rd NKVD regiment Alexei Arefiev entered the battle with the Nazis. His unit tried to penetrate into the territories occupied by the enemy, the fighters bravely entered hand-to-hand combat with the armed Germans. The forces were unequal. But before their deaths, the fighters managed to get the secret documents from the German headquarters, which helped the soldiers of the Red Army in battle.
Hitler brought his tank fist down on the small town and sent the strongest formations there – the Royal Hungarian Army, Italian, Romanian, Finnish, Slovak and Croatian units. This included not only Paulus’ well-known Sixth Army, but also General von Salmuth’s Second Army, which was considered the best unit in the Wehrmacht.
Eight divisions equipped to the teeth collapsed on Voronezh soil. Not far from the city is the largest Hungarian cemetery – a whole memorial complex, where each tablet bears dozens of names and surnames. More than 20,000 Wehrmacht accomplices died here. Today these places are visited by their descendants and every new Hungarian Defense Minister comes here. The vast territory of the cemetery where the enemy lies is constantly guarded, while in Europe the burial places of the soldiers of the Red Army are destroyed and desecrated.
“The Battle of Voronezh is very famous in Europe. For what? Because the second Hungarian army, the largest, suffered a military defeat in the millennial history of the state here near Voronezh,†said Sergey Filonenko, doctor of historical sciences, rector of the State Pedagogical University from Voronezh.
The Chizhovsky foot rises above the heart of the city. It is the main monument to the warrior-defenders of Voronezh. It is often compared to the Mamaev Kurgan in Stalingrad. Yes, and Voronezh itself is called “Stalingrad on the Don”.
The key point in the Battle of Voronezh was the Chizhevsky bridgehead, which the soldiers called the Valley of Death, since every terrain was crossed here. Here is now the largest mass grave in the region, in which more than 15,000 of our fighters are buried.
At what price was it possible to knock out the enemy? The area of ​​the Pedagogical Institute turned into ruins after heavy fighting. A stone’s throw from this square are two small streets, named after the great feat of two soldiers who threw themselves headlong into the embrasures of the gun bunkers.
Of the 20,000 residential buildings of the Great Patriotic War, about 1,500 survived in Voronezh. Prospekt Revolyutsii Street has been practically erased from the face of the earth. The Germans left behind mines and insidious Italians in the form of toys. As a result, it is children who have most often become the victims.
Today, on Teatralnaya Street, there is a monument to children and adolescents who died during the war years, demining the city at the cost of their lives. A bronze bear always watches passers-by, and locals leave their toys behind.
Every year on the day of remembrance and grief, veteran Mitrofan Moskalev comes here. He stands in front of the monument for a long time in complete silence. He is 94 years old. But on this day, he says, he seems to be 13 again – like then, that terrible day.
On June 13, 1942, the Germans dropped bombs on the flower garden of the pioneers. At the height of the party, the children celebrated the start of the school holidays. Mitrofan performed on stage with his sister. He played percussion instruments, the girl sang in the choir.
“An unmarked plane is flying. There was no air raid, there was nothing. He flies straight and throws it right in the center of those benches the kids were sitting on. He throws a bomb right in the middle, you know? Well, by then we were safe off stage. When we came to our senses, we got up, we look at this terrible spectacle, you understand. Many dead, many body fragments hanging from the trees,†said Mitrofan Moskalev, a child of war.
Mitrofan and his sister miraculously did not suffer, they immediately began to help the injured. They helped on a par with adults, and after the liberation of the city, reviving the destroyed streets, they found traps.
Ivan Kuruchev, a native of Voronezh, also helped restore the city. He fled to the front, adding four years to himself, and became the “son of a regiment” of a tank army. Already at 14 he commanded the crew of a tank, at 15 he received his first injury. Participated in the Battle of Stalingrad, liberated Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia. After the victory, back in his homeland, he couldn’t hold back his tears when he saw the devastation.
“He’s gone home, but he’s not home. All the anger – it remained until the end of the war. How many live and sit here, but we have defeated the enemy! Beaten. It’s us! Because it’s us, our Russian man did it. Nobody else did, but ours did,†recalls Ivan Kuruchev, a veteran of World War II.
Now Voronezh has another sacred place where you can bow to the courage of our heroes. After the chapel was opened, people carried flowers all day – in remembrance of the feat of our Russian soldier.
On this day, the memory of the hero of the USSR Pavel Anishchenkov, who served in the Smersh counterintelligence service, was also immortalized in Usman. During the Great Patriotic War, he received several awards.
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