A feat captured on canvas. V. Gnarovskaya
Gnarovskaya Valeria Osipovna - medical instructor of the 907th Infantry Regiment of the 244th rifle division 12th Army of the Southwestern Front, private.
She was born on October 18, 1923 in the village of Modolitsy, Plyussky District, Pskov Region, in the family of an employee. Russian. Graduated from Podporozhskaya secondary school named after A.S. Pushkin.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War her father was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army, and as the German troops approached Leningrad, the Gnarovsky family was evacuated to Ishim, Tyumen region. There they were sent to the village of Berdyuzhie, where Valeria, together with her mother, began to work at the local post office.
From the very beginning of the war, Valeria repeatedly appealed to the local military enlistment office with the requirement to send her to the front, but each time she was refused. In the spring of 1942, the Komsomol members of the village of Berdyuzhye went to the Ishim station and secured their enrollment in the 229th rifle division that was being formed there. Valeria, together with her friends, underwent military training, studied sanitary engineering.
In July 1942, the division was sent to the Stalingrad front and immediately entered into heavy battles, in which Valeria Gnarovskaya showed courage, raising the Red Army soldiers to attack and carrying the wounded from the battlefield.
According to the memoirs of her front-line friend E. Doronina:
On the approaches to the front, in the heat, along a dusty road, in full gear, we walked day and night ... Not far from the Surovikino station, our unit went into action. There were strong battles. .. I was anxious in my soul, especially in the first minutes. We were so confused that we were afraid to get out of cover on the battlefield. The strikes of artillery shells, the explosions of bombs - everything mixed into a continuous roar. Everything on the ground seemed to be crumbling and the earth crumbling underfoot.
As I remember now, Valeria was the first to run out of the trench and shouted: “Comrades! It's not scary to die for the Motherland! Went!" - And without the slightest hesitation, everyone left the trenches, rushed to the battlefield.
For 17 days, the division fought incessant battles with the enemy, was surrounded and within a week made its way to its own. Valeria courageously performed the duty of a physician. But soon she fell ill with typhoid fever. The soldiers, breaking through the encirclement, carried a barely living girl in their arms. She was awarded the medal "For Courage". After recovering again at the front.
In the summer of 1943, Valeria Gnarovskaya was again admitted to the hospital with a concussion, but soon returned to the unit. In a letter to her mother dated August 22, 1943, she wrote that she was alive and well, she went to the hospital for the second time, after the concussion she had difficulty hearing, but hoped that it would go away:
From 15.08 to 21.08.1943 there was a heated battle with the Fritzes. The Germans rushed to the high-rise where we were, but all their attempts to break through were in vain. Our fighters - all my dear and lovely comrades - fought steadily and bravely ... Many of them died a heroic death, but I survived and I owe you, my dear ones, to tell you that I did a great job. She carried about 30 seriously wounded soldiers from the battlefield.
During the period of offensive battles, V.O. Gnarovskaya saved the lives of over 300 wounded.
On September 23, 1943, in battles near the village of Ivanenki, now the village of Gnarovskoe in the Volnyansk region of the Zaporozhye region of Ukraine, a sanitary instructor of the 907th rifle regiment of the 244th rifle division, Private Valeria Gnarovskaya, pulled out the wounded and brought them to the dressing station. At this time, two German "tigers" broke through in the direction of the dressing station. Rescuing the wounded, Valeria Gnarovskaya with a bunch of grenades threw herself under one of them and blew it up, the second was hit by the Red Army men who arrived in time. She was buried in the village of Gnarovskoe.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 3, 1944, for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command and shown courage and heroism in battles with the Nazi invaders, the Red Army soldier Gnarovskaya Valeria Osipovna was posthumously awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union.
She was awarded the Order of Lenin and a medal.
In the city of Podporozhye, Leningrad Region, Hero of the Soviet Union V.O. a monument was erected, and a memorial plaque on the school building. The streets in the cities of Podporozhye and Tyumen bear the name of the Heroine. In the center of the village of Gnarovskoe there is a bust of V.O. Gnarovskaya, at the place of death - commemorative sign.
From performance to award
... Only in the battle for the city of Dolitsa near the Seversky Donets River, she carried 47 wounded soldiers and officers with their weapons from the battlefield ... I personally destroyed 28 German soldiers and officers. Under the Ivanenkovo state farm, 2 enemy tanks of the "Tiger" type broke through our line of defense - rushed to the location of the regiment's headquarters. At this critical moment, the tanks approached 60-70 meters to the headquarters location. Gnarovskaya, grabbing a bunch of grenades and standing up to her full height, rushed to meet the enemy tank in front and, sacrificing her life, threw herself under the tank.
As a result of the explosion, the tank was stopped ...
The commander of the 907th Infantry Regiment of the 244th Zaporozhye Red Banner Division, Colonel Pozhidaev, March 21, 1944.
The feat of medical instructor Valeria GnarovskayaMarat Samsonov The feat of medical instructor Valeria Gnarovskaya 1984
Gnarovskaya Valeria Osipovna - medical instructor of the 907th Infantry Regiment of the 244th Infantry Division of the 12th Army of the Southwestern Front, private.
She was born on October 18, 1923 in the village of Modolitsy, Plyussky District, Pskov Region, in the family of an employee. Russian. Graduated from the Podporozhskaya secondary school named after A.S. Pushkin.
After the start of the Great Patriotic War, in September 1941, she was evacuated to the city of Ishim, Tyumen region. She worked as a telephone operator in the Istoshinsky post office of the Berdyugsky district of the Tyumen region and in the Berdyugsky post office.
In the Red Army since 1942. She graduated from the courses of medical instructors. In the army since July 1942.
I.M.Penteshin The feat of the Hero of the Soviet Union, sanitary instructor Valeria Gnarovskaya on September 23, 1943. 1961 g.
Medical instructor of the 907th Infantry Regiment (244th Infantry Division, 12th Army, South-Western Front), Red Army Komsomol member Valeria Gnarovskaya saved the lives of many soldiers and officers. Only in the battle near the village of Golaya Dolina, Slavyansky District Donetsk region Ukraine, she carried 47 wounded from the battlefield. Defending the wounded, she destroyed over 20 enemy soldiers and officers.
On September 23, 1943, in the vicinity of the village of Ivanenki, now the village of Gnarovskoye, Volnyanskiy district, Zaporozhye region of Ukraine, a brave girl with a bunch of grenades threw herself under a tank and blew it up.
"Valeria, together with the wounded, was at the sanitary point, near the headquarters dugout. When she bandaged the wound to one of the soldiers, his neighbor shouted:
Sister, run! Tanks on the left!
Valeria, seeing the approaching "tigers", commanded:
Who can take shelter! Pomegranates to me!
Firing incessantly from cannons and machine guns, the tanks approached the sanitary point.
Seraphim Volodin Sketch for the painting "Valeria" dedicated to the feat of the 20-year-old nurse Valeria Gnarovskaya 1970
Running out to meet the tank, Valeria threw a grenade and fell. Explosion! But the lead tank was moving. The wounded were already thirty ... twenty ... ten meters away. Dead zone! A bunch of grenades ... Stand up! Throw! And ... And under the track of the tank! Explosion roar, clang, black smoke!
The stunned wounded looked in dismay. The Tiger was on fire. And Valeria ?! Valeria was not there ...
People were saved. And Valeria died. The soldiers who came to the rescue knocked out the second tank. The breakthrough was eliminated. Night has come.
Radio Moscow reported: “On September 23, in all sectors of the front, forty-nine German tanks". Rescuing the wounded, one of them was destroyed by Valeria Gnarovskaya. Thus the victory was forged.
Fighting friends - fellow soldiers of Valeria Gnarovskaya wrote to her father: “Every time we go into battle, we remember your daughter, Osip Osipovich. Her feat calls us forward! Forward to the final victory! " "
She was buried in the village of Gnarovskoe.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 3, 1944, for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command and the shown courage and heroism in battles with the Nazi invaders, the Red Army soldier Gnarovskaya Valeria Osipovna was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
She was awarded the Order of Lenin and a medal.
In the city of Podporozhye, Leningrad Region, Hero of the Soviet Union V.O. a monument was erected, and a memorial plaque on the school building. The streets in the cities of Podporozhye and Tyumen bear the name of the Heroine.
V. MALYSHEV
Feat "Swallows"
Small houses of the village of Yandeba are freely spread out near a shallow transparent river. The river is surrounded by dense Karelian forests, and a fragrant bird cherry grows on its banks near the village itself. White heaps of fragrant crowns delight old and small. At this time, the village is filled with the scent of spring. And a smile appears on the faces of even gloomy people.
In the middle of the village, a liquid wooden bridge is thrown across the river. This is the favorite place of the big-eyed Vavusi and all the Yandebsky kids.
Vavusya, that was the name of Valeria Gnarovskaya at home, she had not yet gone to school, but she knew the alphabet and read Murzilka by syllables ... Once, together with her mother, Evdokia Mikhailovna, Vavusya read a story. It was called "Kinuli". She was very sorry for the little lion cub, whom the lioness mother did not allow her to. And he had to be raised by a zoo employee.
But all this is behind us. Behind and the secondary school named after A.S. Pushkin in the village of Podporozhye, which Valeria Gnarovskaya graduated from successfully ...
A beautiful dress was made for Valeria's prom. There were many flowers in the school, especially lilies of the valley. They stood in vases, jars, pots, and even buckets. The classrooms and the corridor looked smart and festive. They have passed their final exams, but the tenth graders are still excited.
Tall, slender, with curly blond hair, slightly touched by reddish hair, Valeria did not know what to do with a blush that filled not only her cheeks, but also a snub nose with specks of freckles. She did not know what to do with her blue radiant eyes. A lot of guys, holding their hopes, looked in her direction.
On prom a lot of people came. The guys greeted the guests with bouquets of lilies of the valley. And the teachers? For some reason, teachers today are emphatically unhurried and a little sad.
But the string orchestra unanimously brought out: "The moon is shining, the clear is shining ..." Graduates, furtively glancing at the teachers and parents, invited their classmates. And the constraint was gone. Then everything went according to the program and without it. Songs, dances, speeches, promises ... The teachers admonished: “Don't forget school! Learn further! "
And the pets chanted in response:
"Not for-boo-dem, not for-boo-dem, not for-boo-dem!"
The evening was warm and calm. The school ball spread to the shore of the bright Svir. Valeria was having fun with everyone. Until dawn, along the banks of the river, ringing young voices sang: "Three tankmen, three cheerful friends ...", "Apple trees and pears were blossoming ...", "If tomorrow is war, if tomorrow is on a campaign ..."
The guys did not know that the war had already begun, that already that morning there were fierce battles on the border of our Motherland ...
Valeria's father, Osip Osipovich, went to the front in the very first days of the war. She also asked - they refused. Together with her mother, grandmother and sister, Victoria, she had to leave native home... In September 1941, the entire population of Yandeba went into the forest. At first they lived in huts, then they had to leave them too.
The explosions of shells and bombs forced people to go deeper and deeper into the forest. Heavy knots with household belongings. Blood scars from them. Fear, constant fear for the life of my sister, grandmother and mother. All dreams have collapsed. The ordeal began. What will lie ahead? The forest life had been going on for the second month. Colds set in. But finally, the salutary wilderness. And what happiness! - lumberjack barracks. For several days the whole village lived quietly in this barrack. But the enemy was advancing.
The shells began to explode here as well. Valeria wanted to join the partisan detachment, but when she saw the tears of her grandmother and Vika, she stayed with them. After some time, the Gnarovskys, together with others, reached the city of Tikhvin. From here, with the last echelon, they left for the interior of the country.
On the way, Valeria saw how fascist planes bombed and shot trains with women and children. Once their train was fired upon. Burning hatred filled the girl's heart at the sight of the suffering and torment of innocent people.
- Mom, will they take me to the front?
- What are you, Vavusenka, what a front! Now partisans, then to the front. You never know fear already seen! Thank God, at least they stayed alive.
“That’s why, Mommy, I’m going to ask.
- But you're not a guy! Who will take you? The Gnarovskys ended up in the Omsk region. Evdokia
Mikhailovna had to work for three. Valeria also went to work and helped the family. But the thought of the front did not leave her. She went to the district military commissar for the umpteenth time. It was set up demandingly. Seeing a soldier with a black bandage on his left eye and an empty left sleeve of his tunic, Valeria turned calmly:
- Please tell me why they returned the application to me? I want to go to the front.
- The time has not come yet, - the military commissar answered sharply.
- But I'm eighteen years old! I've been in the Komsomol for two years ... And I saw what the Nazis were doing, ”Valeria said, barely holding back her tears.
- Early, early, - the military commissar kept repeating.
“If you don’t send it, I’ll run away myself!” - A treacherous tear rolled down Valeria's cheek. The military commissar got up from the table.
- Uh-uh ... We cry ... And we also ask to fight.
But the major spoke in a different tone. And his one eye looked kinder.
- Okay, we'll enroll you in nursing courses. And there it will be seen.
Saying: "Thank you", Valeria quickly left the military registration and enlistment office. A few months later, she and her Siberian friend, teacher Katya Doronina, were already in soldier's greatcoats.
Even at nursing courses, Valeria often heard: “Remember, friends! Our whole country is looking at a soldier with a sanitary bag bending over a wounded comrade! " Valeria knew that these words belonged to the largest Soviet scientist, the chief surgeon of the army, N.N.Burdenko, who himself was an orderly during the Russo-Japanese war. Now Private Gnarovskaya is also an orderly ...
“April 10, 1942,” says Evdokia Mikhailovna, “I said goodbye to my Vavusya for the last time. I did not notice the bright sun then. It was so hard for me. After all, she went to war ...
And here is what Valeria wrote, reassuring Evdokia Mikhailovna: “Mommy, my beloved and troublesome! Soon I will be in the same place as dad. Do not worry. Everything will be fine. I will be able to stand up for myself, for you, for all of our people. After all, I will go, mommy, to help the wounded, to save them. Could there be something nobler and more useful ... And now our girls, sitting in a pine forest, are singing:
If you hurt a friend
Will be able to girlfriend
Enemies to avenge him.
If you hurt a friend
Girlfriend will bandage
His hot brines.
You know this song, mom. Do you remember we often sang it together? All Siberian women are in good spirits. We are waiting for sending. Everything will be fine, honey. Don't worry, don't worry about me ... "
When the military train was on its way to the front, Valeria wrote a letter to Osip Osipovich:
“My dear daddy! I know it's hard for you and your friends. But how long will you retreat? You rent city by city. After all, this is how the Nazis will reach the Urals. I could no longer sit as a telephone operator in Siberia. I'm going to your front. Maybe we'll be together. Maybe a meeting of our subporozhye, yandebskie. Until now, I have done very little to drive out the accursed invaders. We did not touch them. They are to blame for everything. How much grief and suffering these savages have brought us! Dad, when the Nazis shoot shells at Leningrad, it seems to me that they shoot me when they trample our motherland(they probably burned down our school and our house), it seems to me that they trample me. And I say to myself: "Go where it is difficult if you are human." And I'm going, dad. Let it be difficult, let the frost chill to the bones, let it be terrible and scary - I will not abandon the wounded, no matter how hard it is for me ... We cannot retreat further, my dear ... "
With such thoughts and feelings, Valeria Gnarovskaya arrived at the front.
By this time, the enemy had already been defeated near Moscow, stopped near Leningrad, but now he was rushing to the Volga. In July 1942, a rifle regiment, in which Valeria served, crossed the great Russian river and took the first battle near the village of Surovikino. This was the first fight of Valeria Gnarovskaya.
- Everything was confused in a continuous roar, it seemed that everything on the ground was crumbling, the earth under your feet was crumbling too! It was a long time ago, - recalls Valeria's combat friend E. Doronina, - but, as now, I remember, Valeria was the first to run out of the trench and shouted: “Comrades! It's not scary to die for the Motherland! Went!" - And everyone left the trenches and rushed to the attack ...
The company burst into the enemy trenches, and hand-to-hand fighting ensued.
- Ses-tra-a ... - Valeria heard the groans of a young Red Army soldier. And, despite the firing of machine guns and machine guns, she rushed to the wounded.
- But-ha ... great-wa-I ...
Valeria quickly removed the tape from the fighter's shot through the leg and, applying a bandage and tourniquet, stopped the bleeding.
- Be patient. The wound is small.
Putting the soldier on a cape, Valeria got up and, half bent over, dragged him to the medical room ...
The battles were hot and bloody. The regiment fought steadfastly, but was forced to leave the battlefield to the enemy. Valeria selflessly fulfilled her duty. Already more than a dozen soldiers were saved by her life. Only at the Northern Donets, the medical instructor Gnarovskaya carried out forty-seven seriously wounded soldiers and officers from the battlefield.
Valeria really, really wanted our troops to go on the offensive as soon as possible, so that the battlefield, from which the orderlies had to carry out the wounded, was behind us. Once, with a group of wounded, she and her fighting friends were cut off from their own. Enemies were all around, but everywhere there were friends, their own - Russian and Ukrainian women and old people. To get out of the encirclement at all costs - that was the task. The seriously wounded were carried on stretchers. The lightly wounded were carrying weapons and ammunition. Nurses, orderlies and paramedics often had to pick up machine guns and use "lemon".
A little later, presenting Valery for a government award, the regiment commander wrote: "Personally participating in the battles, Gnarovskaya destroyed twenty-eight German soldiers and officers."
The path from the encirclement to our own was long and difficult. Endless skirmishes with the enemy. New wounded. Long wanderings through forests and swamps. December frosts, searches for water and bread, bandages and medicines.
- Leave us, sisters. We don't care to die. Make your way yourself, - said the wounded soldiers.
- Chu, hear! The artillery says. These are ours. We'll get there soon, a little is already left, ”Valeria affectionately encouraged the sick and wounded.
But Valeria could not reach the front line: she fell ill. Those leaving the encirclement with a fight broke through the leading edge and carefully brought Valery to the hospital, already unconscious. And then, when she began to recover, letters were sent to her. Letters from the front and from the rear. Warm, sincere, warming letters. And almost every envelope has an additional note: "To our swallow."
The chief physician of the hospital, presenting Valeria with the medal "For Courage", said smiling:
- Well, swallow, enough for you to fly and crawl on the front line - you will work for us.
- What do you! What do you! Thanks. After all, now ours are advancing. Only in the regiment. And as soon as possible, - answered Valeria.
“Don't be in a hurry, rest, think,” the doctor insisted.
- While I was sick, I have already changed my mind, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. And there is only one request ...
- Yes, apparently, you cannot dissuade. Not a swallow, but a falcon will have to call you.
- She, comrade chief medical officer, with the wounded is like a swallow with chicks, and with an enemy more courageous than a falcon, - added Valeria's brother-soldier.
- If so, I give up!
In the spring of 1943, Valeria was already on the 3rd Ukrainian Front. There were many battles and many victories.
On August 22, 1943, sending a message to her father, who was now also walking forward to the west, Valeria wrote:
“Dear daddy!
Four days ago I received a letter from you, and you cannot even imagine how much joy it gave me. I received it right in the trench, there was no time to write an answer.
From 08/15/43 to 08/21/43, they were all the time on the front line ... What terrible battles these were, daddy! I can't even tell you how much I experienced during those six days. The command of the regiment noted my work. I heard that I was presented for a new award. But for me, dad, the best reward is the soldier's words: “Thank you, sister! I will never forget ”, which I often hear from the wounded.
Now we have been replaced. I don’t know what will happen next, but I’m still alive. Yesterday I received a letter from Vicki. She writes that it is very difficult for them now. I advised her to clench her teeth tightly and not give in to difficulties, but to fight. But in general, everything is in order at home. Everyone is safe and sound. Okay, goodbye for now. I hug you, daddy, tight, tight. Now it won't be long before victory.
See you, my dear.
Write often. I'm waiting.
Your Valeria Gnarovskaya. "
It was September 1943. By this time, Valeria had three hundred wounded soldiers and officers on her account, whom she carried from the battlefield.
Ahead - Dnepr, Zaporozhye, Dneproges. The enemy had previously fortified the left bank of the Dnieper. The front line of his defense passed through the villages of Georgievskoe, Verbovoe, Petro-Mikhailovka.
Verbovoe ... Big Ukrainian village. Only the name remained of it: the houses were burning, the embers of the outbuildings smoldered and the chimneys were sticking out ... It seemed that there was not a single living soul in the village. But it only seemed to be. Several times Verbovoe passed from hand to hand. A particularly fierce battle took place on September 23, 1943, when the enemy attacked our positions near Verbovoy. Captain Romanov's company held the dominant height over the terrain and anchored one hundred and fifty meters from the enemy trenches. It was not possible to knock out the enemy from the previously prepared line. There was no artillery or tank support. As soon as our attack was choking, the enemy immediately rushed into a counterattack.
The orderlies had a lot of work. Valeria and her friends carried the wounded to safe places. The residents of Verbovoy helped them. Among them was the fearless and indefatigable Maria Tarasovna Didenko, in whose house the nurses stayed. On the way back, Valeria brought food and ammunition to the soldiers ... She did not close her eyes for two days. During the day, six attacks were repulsed. Captain Romanov was wounded, but he continued to lead the battle. Reinforcements were awaiting.
Towards evening, the enemy, having concentrated two tank companies against a handful of defenders of a small height, threw them into the attack again. Two "tigers" broke through our defenses and rushed towards Verbovoy.
Valeria, together with the wounded, was at the sanitary point, near the headquarters dugout. When she bandaged the wound to one of the fighters, his neighbor shouted:
- Sister, run! Tanks on the left!
Valeria, seeing the approaching "tigers", commanded:
- Who can - to the shelter! Pomegranates to me!
Firing incessantly from cannons and machine guns, the tanks approached the sanitary point.
Running out to meet the tank, Valeria threw a grenade and fell. Explosion! But the lead tank was moving. The wounded were already thirty ... twenty ... ten meters away. Dead zone! A bunch of grenades ... Stand up! Throw! And ... And under the track of the tank! Explosion roar, clang, black smoke!
The stunned wounded looked in dismay. The Tiger was on fire. And Valeria ?! Valeria was not there ...
People were saved. And Valeria died. The soldiers who came to the rescue knocked out the second tank. The breakthrough was eliminated. Night has come.
Radio Moscow reported: "On September 23, forty-nine German tanks were hit and destroyed in all sectors of the front." Rescuing the wounded, one of them was destroyed by Valeria Gnarovskaya. Thus the victory was forged.
Fighting friends - fellow soldiers of Valeria Gnarovskaya wrote to her father: “Every time we go into battle, we remember your daughter, Osip Osipovich. Her feat calls us forward! Forward to the final victory! "
On June 3, 1944, the glorious, courageous Soviet patriot was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
More than twenty-five years have passed since the death of the Motherland's faithful daughter. Verbovoe was renamed to the village of Gnarovskoe. The state farm also bears the name of Valeria. The memory of her feat will not die. Valeria is still in combat formation. The best street of the former village, now the city of Podporozhye, bears the name of Valeria Gnarovskaya. In the park of the Verkhne-Svirskaya hydroelectric power station, a monument to the girl-hero is erected. At the school named after A.S. Pushkin, where Valeria studied, the guys sacredly honor the memory of the heroine. They want to be as honest and courageous as their glorious countrywoman was. Their motto is "To love the Motherland as Valeria loved it!"
Valeria's mother, Evdokia Mikhailovna, is often visited by boys and girls. Telling them about her daughter, she says:
- I receive letters from people who were saved by Valeria. They build in Siberia and plow on virgin soil. They invent machines and teach children. Protecting our borders and world peace. Each of them at his post works in a shock-like manner, in a fighting way. Let us also work so that there will never be a war, so that people will never die at twenty.
... Valeria's life before the war was the same as that of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Soviet girls. She was born in 1923, in the village of Modolitsy near Pskov, in the family of a postman. Father...
... Valeria's life before the war was the same as that of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Soviet girls. She was born in 1923, in the village of Modolitsy near Pskov, in the family of a postman. Father - Osip Osipovich Gnarovsky, participant Civil War- worked as the head of the post office, mother - Evdokia Mikhailovna, was engaged in housekeeping, raised children. There was a legend in the family that Osip Gnarovsky was a direct descendant of the Polish revolutionary Ignatius Gnarovsky, who was exiled to Siberia for participating in the Polish uprising of 1863-64.
In 1924, the Gnarovsky family moved to the village of Bardovskoye of the Yandebsky village council in the Podporozhsky district of the Leningrad region. Here is a girl after graduating from Yandebskaya primary school entered the secondary school named after A.S. Pushkin in the city of Podporozhye. In 1941 she graduated from the 10th grade, planned to enter a mining institute, studied in an amateur art circle, joined the Komsomol.
Valeria Gnarovskaya
With the first salvoes of the war in the summer of 1941, Valeria's father Osip Osipovich volunteered for the front. And the family of the Soviet postal worker was asked to leave for evacuation. The Gnarovskys didn’t have any more fighters, it’s not a family without a father — an old woman’s kingdom: an elderly grandmother, a toiler-mother, and two daughters, one of whom had barely crossed the school threshold, and the other was still studying. In September 1941, having collected a simple belongings, the family left with fellow villagers to the Tyumen region, to the distant Siberian village of Berdyuzhye.
What will you do with us, beauty? a one-armed, stern man from the board of a local collective farm asked Valeria. - Even though you are unfortunate refugees, and you are a prominent girl, there, there is a Komsomol badge on your jacket ... So, I'm not used to sitting around idle. And it's easier to forget grief while at work. Judging by myself. We will be familiar: Timofey Kiryanov, former soldier, according to the priest - Mikhailovich.
And Valeria decided:
Dad is at the front with us, Timofey Mikhalych. I also think to go ...
Forget it, little pig. War is not an occupation for girls. Do you see how I came from the war - a cancer with one claw? And count, if only you, beauty? .. Here, that's the same ... The war, my dear, all the wounded are winning, believe the old man, the burnt kerzhak, who has seen four of them for a lifetime, wars!
Four Wars!
What was the history of your school? .. The first was Japanese, in 1905. I was old then - as you are today, no older. The second is the Imperialist, also, as now, against the German. Then - Civil, "All to fight Denikin!" ... And for the fourth time I had to fight in Turkestan, when after the Civil War there, with the support of British agents, the Basmachi raged. And I'll tell you, girl, that you have nothing to do there, in the war. Blood, death, dirt, a louse and a trench spirit are worse than in a stable. The peasants - and even then not all can stand, but peasants are supposed to put their heads for their homeland. And we will find something for you that is more suitable for the female class. With your echelon, dozens of freak children were brought from orphanage... I placed them with Makarovna, she has a lot of places - four sons at the front, their women - in the city at the factory. Will you go to Makarovna as an assistant - a nanny, follow the kids? ..
Can. As a child, she nursed her younger sister - her parents were at work.
Okay. And all the same - forget about the war!
However, the branch of the orphanage of the collective farmer did not last long. "Bezbatyushny" orphans were quickly taken to their homes by compassionate villagers, consider, adopted. Then she helped the signalmen at the telephone exchange for several weeks. But the Sovinformburo brought news of the retreat of the Red Army in the evening reports.
And then Valery, together with several rural girls, begged the chairman to send them to Ishim - to nursing courses. And already in Ishim, Lera began to knock on the thresholds of the military registration and enlistment office, demanding that after her studies she be assigned to a military hospital or to a front-line unit - a medical instructor.
She achieved her goal just when the glow of the Battle of Stalingrad rose over the Volga steppes.
The medical instructor in battle assists the wounded
In June 1942, when the 907th Infantry Regiment of the 244th Infantry Division of the 12th Army of the Southwestern Front took up defensive positions along the eastern bank of the Seversky Donets River, a puny girl in a soldier's uniform entered the dugout of the commander of the 1st battalion and reported:
Red Army medical orderly Gnarovskaya. Arrived after training at the Ishim medical school for service.
The battalion commander looked the girl from head to toe. Thin little pig! The boots are two sizes too big, not otherwise, a tunic on narrow shoulders - like on a hanger. Not a soldier, but a yellow-mouthed chick.
So, soldier Gnarovskaya, how old are you? I suppose she lied at the recruiting office that seventeen had already hit?
I am born in 1923.
I see, - carefully examining the girl's documents, the commander said, - but you look like a schoolgirl - weak means. In addition, from the evacuees, it means that you had to starve and win. I won't let you go to the front line. Serve while at the medical center in the near rear ... Pigalitsa!
Comrade Major, don't need me to go to the infirmary! I was always short, but I can handle it. I'm strong. She was an athlete before the war.
Did you play chess?
Volleyball. And our team was the second in the area among juniors. Don't look that I am a short man, I am hardy. And in your battalion, the medical instructor was killed, I know.
Yes, they killed ... - the commander became serious, ruffled his forelock, which had already begun to turn gray, - you are right, soldier Gnarovskaya, I have no one for this position now ... I can hardly imagine how you, for example, someone like me, from the battlefield drag on a drag. I have almost eighty kilos in me, and I still have a reputation for being puny in the battalion, the other guys are still heroes.
I can do it, Comrade Commander!
The major pulled out from under the table a skinny canvas bag with a red cross on the flap.
Here, take it. But you still have to go to the first-aid post - you need to replenish it here. Take it, take it, don't look like that. Natasha's inheritance ... of the Snegireva fighter, then. What's your name?
Lera. Valeria.
If one of the fighters, out of habit, calls Natasha - do not shy away. She was a glorious maiden!
If the medical instructors were captured, the Germans could have hanged ...
| Bust in the city of Podporozhye | ||
| Monument in the village of Gnarovskoe (old photo) | ||
| Monument at the mass grave in the village of Gnarovskoe | ||
| Bust in the village of Gnarovskoe | ||
| Memorial sign in the village of Gnarovskoe | ||
| Annotation board in Tyumen | ||
| Alley of Heroes in Zaporozhye |
Gnarovskaya Valeria Osipovna - medical instructor of a company of the 907th Infantry Regiment (244th Infantry Division, 66th Infantry Corps, 12th Army, South-Western Front), petty officer.
Born on October 18, 1923 in the village of Modolitsy, Medush volost, Gatchinsky district, Petrograd province (now Volosovsky district, Leningrad region). Russian. Since 1924 (according to other sources - since 1928) lived in the village of Bardovskaya (now it does not exist; the territory of the Podporozhsky urban settlement of the Podporozhsky district of the Leningrad region). In 1938 she graduated from 7 classes of elementary school in Bardovskaya, in 1941 - 10 classes of secondary school in the city of Podporozhye. She planned to enter the Leningrad Mining Institute.
After the outbreak of World War II in September 1941, she was evacuated to the village of Peganovo (Berdyuzhsky district of the Tyumen region), where she worked as a telephone operator in the post office. In April 1942, she achieved enrollment in the 229th Infantry Division, which was being formed at the Ishim station, and soon graduated from nursing courses.
Participant of the Great Patriotic War: in July - September 1942 - a nurse of the 804th Infantry Regiment. She fought on the Stalingrad Front (July - September 1942). Participated in the defense of Stalingrad. Since August 10, 1942, with other soldiers, she was surrounded, but a week later they managed to break through to their own. Soon she fell ill with typhoid fever and was sent to the hospital.
From May 1943 he was a medical officer in a company of the 907th Infantry Regiment. Fought on Southwestern Front(August - September 1943). Participated in the Donbass operation and the liberation of the Left-Bank Ukraine. In August 1943, she was shell-shocked and lost her hearing. After a short stay in the hospital, she returned to her unit.
On September 23, 1943, in the area of the village of Verbovoe (now the village of Gnarovskoe in the Volnyansk region of the Zaporozhye region, Ukraine), two enemy Tiger tanks broke through to the rear of our troops and rushed to the location of the regiment's headquarters and the medical battalion. At this critical moment, V.O. Gnarovskaya, grabbing a bunch of grenades and standing up to her full height, rushed to meet the enemy tank in front and, sacrificing her life, blew it up. The second tank was knocked out by soldiers from an anti-tank rifle.
During the war, she helped 338 wounded soldiers and commanders.
For courage and heroism shown in battles with Nazi troops, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 3, 1944, the foreman Valeria Osipovna Gnarovskaya posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
She was buried in a mass grave in the center of the village of Verbovoe (sometimes it was called Ivanenki), which in 1945 was renamed the village of Gnarovskoye.
She was awarded the Order of Lenin (03.06.1944, posthumously).
In the city of Podporozhye and the village of Gnarovskoe, there are busts of V.O. Gnarovskaya, and at the place of her death on the outskirts of the village of Gnarovskoe - a memorial sign. Streets in the cities of Tyumen, Podporozhye ( Leningrad region), Zaporozhye (Ukraine) and Volnyansk (Zaporozhye region), as well as in the village of Berdyuzhye, Tyumen region. In the city of Podporozhye, a memorial plaque was installed at the school where she studied.
Notes:
1) A number of reference books indicate the erroneous place of birth of V.O. Gnarovskaya - the village of Modolitsy, Plyussky district of the Pskov region (which contradicts the documents). For this reason, in the village of Plyussa, a street is named after her and a monument is erected;
2) The text of the Decree erroneously states military rank- Red Army soldier;
3) In the award list of V.O. Gnarovskaya there is a medal "For Courage", but no documentary evidence this award could not be found ...Military ranks:
Red Army soldier (04.1942)
Sergeant Major (1943)
In July 1942, the 229th Rifle Division, which included the 804th Rifle Regiment, was sent to the front and immediately entered heavy fighting in the 64th Army's defense zone. On July 26, 1942, the enemy broke through the division's defenses on the right flank near the Surovikino station ( Volgograd region) and went to the Chir River. The division, retaining its combat capability, continued to hold back the enemy, who was striving to reach the railway bridge over the Don River. And on July 31, 1942, together with the 112th rifle division, with the support of ten tanks and aviation, the fighters of the 229th rifle division themselves launched a counteroffensive and threw back german troops across the Chir river.
For 17 days, the soldiers of the division fought incessant battles with the enemy, and on August 10, 1942, they were surrounded and within a week made their way to the front line (about 700 people from 5.419 crossed over to the left bank of the Don and reached their own).
All this time, Valeria performed the duty of a physician, but soon fell ill with typhoid fever and was sent to the hospital.
When breaking through the enemy's defense in the area of the village of Dolina (Slavyansky district of Donetsk region, Ukraine) on August 15-21, 1943, she carried 47 wounded soldiers and officers from the battlefield, personally destroyed several Nazis. During these battles, she was wounded and lost her hearing. After a short stay in the hospital, she returned to her unit.
From the morning of September 23, 1943, the 907th Rifle Regiment led offensive fighting in the direction of the Dnieper north of Zaporozhye. In the vicinity of the village of Verbovoe (now the village of Gnarovskoe in the Volnyansk region of the Zaporozhye region, Ukraine), the advance detachment of the regiment was ambushed by the Nazis. In the very first minutes of the battle, many killed and wounded appeared, and Valeria fearlessly rushed to where groans and calls for help were heard.
After a fierce battle, deploying guns on direct fire, the Soviet soldiers managed to knock down the enemy from their positions and continue the offensive. On the battlefield, the wounded were left lying, to whom V.O. Gnarovskaya began to provide first aid.
Valeria and the orderlies left to help her organized an impromptu field medical center, where the wounded were collected for their further sending to the rear. The headquarters of the 907th Infantry Regiment is located a few hundred meters away.
Suddenly, two enemy tanks "Tiger" broke through to the rear of our troops and rushed to the location of the headquarters of the regiment and the medical battalion. At this critical moment, V.O. Gnarovskaya, grabbing a bunch of grenades and standing up to her full height, rushed to meet the enemy tank in front and, sacrificing her life, blew it up. The second tank was knocked out by soldiers from an anti-tank rifle.
