On the trail of a gang of teenagers. Documentary

Proximity to strong of the world this did not bring her happiness

For the first time, the Tymoshenko family provided its archive to tell this story. tragic story. In 1945, Catherine married Stalin's son, Vasily. This marriage was not only her drama, it brought a lot of bitter experiences to her family, caused emotional trauma to the children of Vasily Stalin from his first wife Galina Burdonskaya and led to the tragic death of Catherine’s children: her daughter Svetlana died alone, forgotten by everyone, even her own mother, and the son committed suicide under the influence of drugs. In 1972, Vasily, intoxicated by another dose, shot himself...

Catherine, being in a state of shock, did not allow doctors to see him for five days. When they finally managed to get through to the wounded man, it was already too late - the grandson of Stalin and Timoshenko died on the way to the hospital in an ambulance. Sixteen years after the death of her son, Catherine also died. She lived very alone and was reluctant to communicate with her family. Therefore, they learned about her death only a month and a half later. Katya was found dead and her apartment was looted. Exactly a year later, her daughter Svetlana also died completely alone - she lived separately. Her death was also not immediately discovered.

The thirst for power and a luxurious life led to tragedy for a woman to whom fate had given so much: beauty, abilities, children, caring relatives, a loving father and mother. The paradise she so strived to get to during her life turned out to be poisoned...

...In the first post-war summer, Marshal Semyon Timoshenko with his wife and children went south with their whole family. Sochi, sea. I wanted to laugh all the time, splash in the waves, and in the evening at dusk among the cypress trees to dream about the future. happy life. All worries seemed far away. The Marshal had no idea that this serene vacation was about to become the beginning of the tragedy of his eldest and most difficult daughter, Catherine...

...Late in the evening, in the dark, a car drove up to the Sochi state dacha. The door creaked and the marshal looked into the crack in the room. younger son Kostya to make sure his father is asleep. Light footsteps ran up the steps and the car sped away. The marshal did not hear how his daughter Katya ran away from home in order to become the wife of Vasily Stalin, against the will of her father. The next day they returned as husband and wife...

Semyon Timoshenko was a brave and successful marshal

Once upon a time, Tymoshenko himself married Katya’s mother in much the same way - he simply put her on a horse and brought her to his division. Semyon Timoshenko was then 26, and his chosen one was 16. Soon Katyusha gave birth to Semyon’s daughter, she was also named Katya. The girl was born on December 21, Stalin's birthday. Much later this will seem like an omen to her. When his daughter was one year old, Semyon found out that his wife was not faithful to him. Out of anger, he lost control of himself, hit her with the butt of his gun, so much so that he broke it.

Tymoshenko's rival turned out to be the military commissar of Belarus Leonov. He immediately took away the woman he loved. Semyon crossed out the traitor from his life and did not remember her for 13 long years, until one day in 1937 he received news: his own daughter was waiting for him in an orphanage in Rostov-on-Don. The NKVD officers found out the girl’s real name when they found the registration certificate during a search of the apartment of the former military commissar Leonov...

Then Katya was 14, a transitional age. It seemed as if the world was collapsing around her, her mother and stepfather, such influential person, were arrested. She lost everything. And suddenly a new shock: she has a real father, he is a famous commander, a comrade-in-arms of Semyon Budyonny. The NKVD members abruptly changed their tone: “Katya, do you have any requests, wishes?” She raised her chin: “Give me back the watch - it’s mine, personal.” The investigator immediately wrote a statement in his own hand; Katya only had to sign it. For the first time she wrote in a child's handwriting real name: "Tymoshenko." The watch was immediately returned...

In his youth, the marshal was handsome, but he did not save his first wife

Her father brought her to his family and explained to Katya: he has a new wife, and Katya now has a new mother, Anastasia Mikhailovna, and she must be indicated in all applications. At the age of 14, coming to terms with this was not easy. Katya had hysterics and outbursts of rage. The stepmother felt sorry for her - the girl had to go through so much - and attributed the difficulties to adolescence. Tymoshenko’s second wife worked as a teacher at school, she realized: she had got a difficult student, perhaps the most difficult in her life...

By that time, Semyon Konstantinovich already had two children from his second marriage, daughter Olga and son Kostya. But there was not enough time to educate Tymoshenko. The commander of the Kyiv Special Military District, he disappeared for days on duty. In 1939, the war with Finland began, Stalin called all the commanders of the military districts and asked the question: “Who is ready to take command?” There was silence. And then Tymoshenko stood up: “I hope I won’t let you down.”

For exemplary performance of tasks, courage and heroism in the summer of 1940, Semyon Timoshenko was awarded the rank of Marshal and awarded the Star of Hero Soviet Union and was appointed People's Commissar of Defense. The family moved from Kyiv to Moscow, they received an apartment in a marshal's house on Granovsky Street. This is how Katya Tymoshenko found herself in a world in which the country’s elite lived. Here, a watch on a schoolgirl’s wrist did not surprise anyone; luxury cars, furs, jewelry and beautiful women, not like the builders of communism and leaders of production. Katya liked to imitate them.

Catherine (in the center) went to the front to visit her father as a young lady. Even if it’s Soviet...

In June 1941, Katya graduated from school and entered the Institute foreign languages. She was on the verge of her prime and lived in anticipation of happiness when war fell on the country. The Germans were rushing to the capital. Marshal Timoshenko commanded the Western Front, his troops held back the enemy's onslaught near Smolensk. These days, his wife wrote to Semyon Konstantinovich: “Katya is taking courses for radio operators, caring for the wounded in the hospital. Olga and Kostya collect bottles for the tank destroyer teams being formed in Moscow, and are on duty on the roof of a house as part of a team fighting incendiary bombs.”

A year later, a turning point came in the war, the Germans retreated from Moscow. The family celebrated New Year 1943 together. During the calm days, Anastasia Mikhailovna brought the children to her husband at the front. Photos from family archive. Olya and Kostya look like ordinary schoolchildren in them, and Katya looks like a marshal’s daughter, in an astrakhan fur coat with a fashionable muff. How similar she is to her mother! Semyon Konstantinovich looked and thought: “Where is she now, his first love?” He knew nothing about her since that very 1937...

...And Ekaterina, Tymoshenko’s first wife, first spent about a year in ALZHIR - the Akmola camp for the wives of traitors to the motherland in Kazakhstan. The pampered wives of party officials and generals could not stand it there, they committed suicide and froze to death. But the Don Cossack Ekaterina did not give up - she wanted to return to her daughter and wrote to her from everywhere. After Akmola, Marshal Timoshenko’s first wife was transferred to Solikamsk to build a plant. Here, through friends, she finally received a letter from her daughter: “Mommy, my dear, how could you write such words? And if you have forgotten me and don’t want to know, it’s very cruel of you. All my life I have been an orphan: at first there was a mother, but there was no father, but now it’s the other way around. Mommy, answer me as soon as possible - now you and I can be happy, since we have again found a connection with each other. I kiss you, my dear, dear and only. Your Katerina."

A letter to his daughter for the marshal's first wife was the most expensive treasure

This letter became the most expensive property of the powerless prisoner. She kept it until the end of her life as her only treasure. The only one, because Ekaterina Tymoshenko never wrote to her disgraced mother again. She met a man with whom she decided to start new life, and in this life there was no place for blemishes in the biography.

On August 20, 1945, Timoshenko's daughter married Stalin's son. The next morning, the two of them arrived at the state dacha, where the marshal’s family was vacationing. Katya said: “Dad, we signed.” Semyon Konstantinovich shook his head, the words stuck in his throat. It seemed to him that he had never experienced such bitterness as now...

...Why was the marshal against this marriage? Semyon Konstantinovich himself could not explain. In any case, he did not expect anything good from Katya’s marriage and he turned out to be right. But this will become clear only years later. And then, in August 1945, without receiving the marshal’s blessing, Vasily Stalin and his young wife went to Germany, where the son of the leader of the people commanded the group’s aviation Soviet troops. His children from his first marriage, Sasha and Nadya, also lived there. After the divorce, Vasily did not give them to his first wife. So, ironically, Katya herself became a stepmother. Vasily Stalin's son Alexander Burdonsky says that his stepmother beat him and his sister severely, they were not fed for several days and were not allowed to go outside. Catherine knew from her own experience what it was like to be an orphan, and yet she could not contain her anger. These other people's children were unnecessary in her new life...

Outwardly, Catherine and Vasily Stalin were a beautiful couple

...Ekaterina became very friendly with Stalin’s eldest daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva and even named her daughter in her honor - she was born in 1947. So the leader of the peoples had two Svetlanas - a daughter and a granddaughter. And then in 1949 there were two Vasilys - a son and a grandson. Catherine always tried to emphasize that she was not just a mother, but a member of the leader’s own family. The Father of Nations rarely remembered that he was just a father, and rarely saw his children. They usually reported to Stalin about how Vasily lived if he committed some kind of offense. Stalin did not meet his daughter-in-law, did not invite her to visit, and did not come himself. But after her marriage, Katya was told: “He personally asked his assistants to find a worthy wife for his son from a good family and approved her candidacy.” Tymoshenko has always been Stalin's favorite...

... Semyon Konstantinovich, unlike his daughter, knew well: the leader’s position was fragile and deceptive. The cunning and suspicious Stalin could deal with anyone who was too close to power; family ties meant nothing. Timoshenko decided to himself: for Stalin he was only a marshal. But Catherine wanted more than to be just a wife, a beautiful companion. She was overcome with excitement at the thought of how close she was to those who play with other people's destinies. Marshal Timoshenko had no idea what his daughter was interested in, otherwise he would have been seriously scared. At that time he lived in Minsk, commanded the Belarusian Military District and was far from Kremlin gossip and gossip. Semyon Konstantinovich could finally devote a lot of time to his hunting passion. This peaceful flow of life was disrupted only once.

Tymoshenko received a call from her first wife 25 years after their breakup. She served her sentence and returned to Rostov: “Semyon, I have nowhere to live. Help me buy a small house. I won't bother you anymore." The marshal immediately sent the money. Now Ekaterina Svyatoslavovna lived with only one dream - to see her daughter. But how? Katya married the son of Stalin himself, lives behind a triple cordon of security, with servants hovering around her, all from the organs. The mother decided: nothing would stop her, neither fences nor the NKVD. She wrote to her son-in-law, Vasily Stalin. How this letter reached the addressee is a mystery. But the fact remains: Vasily sent a plane for his mother-in-law. Catherine arrived in Moscow. Further versions of the development of events diverge. One by one, she met with her daughter Ekaterina Semyonovna, they talked all night, and the next morning she was put on a plane and sent back to Rostov. According to another version, she waited for her daughter for several hours near the dacha on Rublevskoye Highway, and then asked the pilot to take her back...

Sasha and Nadya Burodonsky did not please Catherine. She was a tough stepmother...

...Which of these versions is true is unknown. But the fact remains: Ekaterina Svyatoslavovna did not look for more meetings with her daughter. Katya made it clear: for her, like for Stalin himself, family ties do not matter. She now had a completely different life. Trophies from Germany, luxurious fur coats, porcelain, and jewelry with diamonds were brought by truck to the mansion on Gogolevsky Boulevard, where she lived with Vasily. For her, these were symbols of high status. But soon Catherine made an unpleasant discovery: Vasily does not love her and does not need her. She was so proud of her women's victory(conquered Stalin’s son himself), but it turned out that Vasily is carried away by every beauty he meets and at any moment can change his wife, like a car, for new model. Jealousy, resentment, wounded pride did not give Katerina peace. More and more often, the same little animal that had lived inside her since childhood woke up inside. She hated everyone, the whole world and especially her stepchildren, Vasily’s children from his first marriage. The brilliant marriage did not bring happiness to Catherine; she simply found herself in a golden cage...

Catherine realized late how right her father was. To enter the family of the almighty Stalin - this thought once turned her head, she imagined that she would receive at least a drop of the same power over people, because she was born on the same day as the leader. But she was deceived, cruelly deceived: Stalin, who himself chose her as his son’s wife, did not let her close to him. There was no trace left of her husband’s love, and there were only spies around who wrote denunciations about her every step. She realized late that she had ended up not in a palace, but in a prison and there was not a single real person nearby. loved one. Loneliness and hopelessness led Catherine to prolonged depression.

The little daughter also did not please Katya: Svetlana grew up as a sickly girl, she had disabilities mental development, problems with the thyroid gland. The second child, son Vasya, was born when Ekaterina had already settled in a dacha on Rublevskoye Shosse, separately from her husband, and he remained in a mansion on Gogolevsky Boulevard. Another woman appeared in the life of Vasily Stalin, but his father did not like it...



Grandfather Semyon loved his grandchildren very much...

On May 1, 1952, a plane crashed during a parade on Red Square. Stalin removed his son from the post of commander of aviation in the Moscow Military District and demanded that he quit his carousing and return to his legal wife. Vasily was mortally afraid of his father, so he immediately returned to Catherine and even decided to improve relations with the Tymoshenko family. Katya and Vasily went to meet the marshal - they had not seen each other for 7 years. The Marshal and Anastasia Mikhailovna recently celebrated their silver wedding. Looking at their faces, Katya for the first time envied her father and his wife: 25 years together - and they can’t even imagine life without each other. For Catherine, everything was different: no love, no family warmth. Vasily was still only interested in carousing...

...Then Katya did not even imagine that real trials and troubles were yet to come. On March 5, 1953, Stalin died. Together with Vasily, Catherine, as the official wife, stood at the leader’s coffin and felt: Vasily was truly scared. A month and a half after Stalin’s funeral, Vasily was arrested. Ekaterina went to see him at the Vladimir Central, brought tools for the locksmith workshop at the request of her husband and consoled him: “This is a mistake. You will be released soon." But she was wrong. Soon Catherine was summoned to Nikolai Bulganin, he was Nikita Khrushchev’s right hand. She was offered to file for a divorce from Vasily or share his fate. In the silence that followed, Katya clearly heard the clock ticking on her wrist. Then, in 1937, she lied to the investigator - it was not her watch, but her mother’s. Katya always liked them. Now she is 32, as her mother was then, and now she, like her mother, can follow her husband to prison. Ekaterina moved a piece of paper and signed “Tymoshenko” under the application. The divorce was filed in 10 minutes - so she abandoned the father of her children and put an end to the history of her brilliant marriage...

...Katya’s life changed: Vasily’s children from his first marriage were returned to their mother Galina Burdonskaya. I had to say goodbye to the dacha on Rublyovka and the mansion on Gogolevsky Boulevard. Ekaterina was given an apartment in building 19 on Gorky Street, Svetlana and Vasya were given a pension as Stalin’s grandchildren. They lived on this money...

The children of Galina Burdonskaya were taken away from Catherine. Loneliness has begun...

...Now Katya had only one desire - to hide from the world. It seemed to her that everyone around her was gloatingly discussing her unsuccessful marriage. She avoided her family and friends. Her mother, having lost hope of restoring her relationship with her daughter, moved to Leningrad to live with a close friend, with whom she was serving time together. Katya knew the address, but did not go to her mother and did not write. My father called from Minsk more than once, offering to move in with him - the marshal missed his grandchildren - but Katya refused...

...In February 1956, at the 20th Party Congress, Khrushchev announced from the rostrum that Stalin was to blame for all crimes. The country began to fight the cult of personality. Now Stalin’s daughter-in-law and grandchildren were persecuted by former repressed people, their relatives and simply fighters for truth. Ekaterina Tymoshenko stopped answering knocks on the door and phone calls; she lived in a state of siege. This went on for four years...

...When in 1960 Marshal Timoshenko returned from Minsk to Moscow and settled in his dacha, Ekaterina began to come here, although even in a guarded marshal’s uniform holiday village didn't feel safe. Sometimes it seemed to those close to her that she was losing her mind...

A happy childhood in a marshal’s family has become a thing of the past, deeper and deeper...

...The combat marshal had no idea how much unspent tenderness he had. He did not have time to be a father - the children grew up while he was in various wars, and now Tymoshenko wanted to make up for lost time with his grandchildren. He raised them according to his own method. Katya brought her grandchildren, Svetlana and Vasya, to her grandfather, but rarely. They were older than their cousins, they behaved shyly, but gradually they became interested in playing with the kids and even became attached to their brothers. The boys in this family played with adult toys. The marshal was convinced that a weapon was a worthy object in the hands of a future man, and he taught each of his grandchildren to shoot. The grandson of Stalin and Timoshenko, Vasya, adored weapons and did not part with them even in the city. Of course, grandfather Semyon did not allow me to store cartridges and firearms in the apartment, but he gave me a wind gun. Vasily did not let go of the rifle from his hands for hours...

...At the school where Catherine’s children studied, each student in his family had someone who was repressed. But Stalin's grandchildren were not touched. Children with big names got it the most from their teachers. Svetlana often missed classes, but studied well. Vasya studied very poorly and barely finished school. Friends suggested that Catherine send her son to study in Tbilisi. She grabbed it like a straw: this is where her son will get an education. And they won’t persecute you for having a big name. She left her son in Georgia with a calm heart and returned to Moscow, not suspecting what a terrible tragedy this decision would turn into. In Tbilisi, a seventeen-year-old teenager was hit with a flurry of admiration and adoration. In Georgia, Stalin was still a cult figure, and everyone was eager to express their feelings to the leader's grandson. In the room at the Iveria Hotel, where Vasily lived, cognac flowed like a river. Every morning, whole boxes of offerings from unknown admirers were waiting at the door. It wasn't limited to alcohol. He's addicted to drugs...

...They carefully concealed from Tymoshenko what was happening to his grandson. Relatives tried to protect the marshal from unnecessary worries. Semyon Konstantinovich has noticeably declined since the time he buried his faithful Anastasia Mikhailovna in 1962. In 1969, when Catherine found out that her son was not being transferred to the next year, but was being left for the second year, she did not tell her father anything, but rushed to Tbilisi. Until now, she had shrugged off the warnings. But when I saw my son, I realized: everything is true. Tbilisi acquaintances did not leave Vasily alone in Moscow, where Katya urgently brought him. They were on duty at the house, guarding at the entrance. Life has turned into a nightmare. His mother hid him in the country...

Grandson Vasily Vasilyevich Stalin died from drugs...

...On November 7, 1972, left alone at the dacha, Stalin’s grandson Vasily, intoxicated by another dose of drugs, decided to celebrate the anniversary in a military way October revolution saluting from the weapons he found in the house. The young man aimed the first shot at his own head. Catherine did not go to the doctors, brought her son to Moscow and hid her in her house. Relatives found a bloody stain at the dacha and rushed to get Katya to Moscow. But no matter how much they rang the doorbell, she didn’t open it for anyone. Someone called an ambulance, but the doctors were not allowed in either. Catherine was simply distraught. She only opened it to the doctor Korchagin, who delivered her child. But they couldn’t save Vasily - he died in the car...

...The family did not have time to recover from the suicide of one grandson when another, Kostya’s son, Semyon Timoshenko, the marshal’s namesake, died. Ninel and Kostya Timoshenko could not survive the loss of their first child together; they broke up. Everyone was left alone with their grief. Katya knew well: no words of consolation could help Ninel cope with the pain. Catherine herself had already been experiencing her grief alone for two years, often coming to the Novodevichy cemetery and sitting among the graves. She was of little interest to the living, even her own daughter...

...Svetlana was 25 when her brother died. It seemed that now her mother, the only remaining child, should love her with redoubled force. But it was the other way around. Katya was angry with her daughter - a living reminder of her mistakes. And more often than not I simply forgot about her. When psychiatrists declared Svetlana incapable of taking responsibility for her actions, her mother did not even want to become her guardian. The girl felt very lonely; Graves’ disease left its mark on her appearance. Due to her mental disorder, she was shunned by her peers. Stalin's granddaughter had no friends...

Catherine’s relationship with her daughter Svetlana also did not work out. The daughter died alone...

...Relatives helped Svetlana get separate housing, and she left her mother and moved to the famous House on the Embankment. In a large apartment on Tverskaya, Ekaterina was left all alone. And then she decided to call the only person she wanted to talk to - her stepson Sasha, Vasily Stalin’s son from his first marriage. Many years later, the stepson and stepmother met again and talked for a whole day. Catherine knew: Alexander would understand her, because he is also from Stalin’s family and knows what a terrible temptation it is - closeness to power, absolute power. Did she want to justify herself, to tell how she paid for so much in her life? She probably wanted someone to understand and maybe forgive...

...After the death of her son, Ekaterina Tymoshenko lived another 16 lonely years and died tragically in 1988. They did not immediately learn about her death. The half-sister and brother, Olga and Konstantin, got used to the fact that Katya did not always answer calls, and they became worried only after a month and a half. When they opened the apartment, it was discovered that it had been completely looted. Nothing remained of the former wealth - even the photographs were gone. Only those that were kept by relatives survived. The investigation did not produce any results. Exactly a year later, Catherine’s daughter Svetlana died. Like her mother, she lived very alone, and her death was also not immediately discovered. Only two weeks later the neighbors noticed that no one was taking newspapers out of the mailbox...

Ekaterina Tymoshenko whiled away long hours at her relatives’ graves...

... Semyon Konstantinovich passed away happy, he never learned about the tragic events in his family. He died in 1970, when everyone was still alive, and the marshal was happy. He was happy that he was able to give his children and grandchildren the most important thing - life, victory and his love. Marshal of the Soviet Union Timoshenko was buried near the Kremlin wall. Opposite is the family grave of Ekaterina Semyonovna Timoshenko, the eldest daughter of Marshal Timoshenko...

Based on materials from Channel One

Marshal Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko is one of the most famous military leaders Soviet era. The life of his eldest daughter Catherine was full of sharp turns, irrepressible ambitions and deep disappointments.

For the first time, the Tymoshenko family provided us with their archive to tell this tragic story.

In 1945, Catherine married Stalin’s son, Vasily. This marriage was not only her drama, it brought a lot of bitter experiences to her family, caused emotional trauma to the children of Vasily Stalin from his first wife Galina Burdonskaya and led to the tragic death of Catherine’s children: her daughter Svetlana died alone, forgotten by everyone, even her own mother, and the son committed suicide under the influence of drugs.

Ekaterina Timoshenko was born in 1923 on the same day as Stalin and later attached special, mystical meaning to this fact. She was the daughter from Semyon Timoshenko's first marriage. It is known that he behaved rudely with his wife and often beat her. And when he found her with someone else, he broke the butt of his gun on her back. The wife ran away from Tymoshenko, taking her daughter.

In 1937, Tymoshenko’s first wife was arrested and she was sent to the camps for eight years. And her daughter Katya ended up in an orphanage. She was 14 years old at the time; during a search, they found a certificate in her possession, which indicated the name of her real father - Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko. The father took his daughter to his new family. And he forever deleted his first wife from his biography. Katya had to indicate in the questionnaires that her mother was Anastasia Mikhailovna, the marshal’s second wife. When the family moved to Moscow, to a house on Granovsky Street, the girl was greatly impressed by its inhabitants and the accessories of their life - luxury cars, expensive jewelry, furs.

In June 1945, Marshal Timoshenko learned that Katya was dating her son Supreme Commander- Vasily Stalin. Tymoshenko was seriously scared. Stalin did not stand on ceremony with his relatives - almost all those close to his wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva were repressed. In addition, the marshal knew: Stalin’s son was already married, had two children and was famous for his penchant for drunkenness and a dissolute lifestyle. Despite her father's ban, in August 1945 Katya ran away from home with Vasily and married him, and soon gave birth to a daughter and a son. To emphasize her belonging to Stalin's family, she named her children the same as the names of the leader's children - Svetlana and Vasily. She broke off contact with her birth mother in order to be worthy of her new position. And she tried in every possible way to get closer to Stalin’s daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva. Catherine wanted more than just being a wife and mother. She was overcome with excitement at the thought of how close she was to those who play with other people's destinies.

Catherine realized late how right her father was. She imagined that she would gain at least a modicum of the same power over people. After all, she was born on the same day as Stalin. But she was cruelly deceived. Stalin, who himself chose her as his son’s wife, did not let her close to him. Catherine’s brilliant marriage also cracked. Vasily preferred the company of famous athletes and social beauties to his beautiful wife. Soon there was no trace left of her husband’s love, and there were only spies around who wrote denunciations about her every step. She realized late that she was not in a palace, but in prison. And there is not a single truly close person nearby. Katya fell into depression, did not leave the house for days on end, and took out all her resentment against her husband on his children from her first marriage.

Stalin died in 1953, and soon his son Vasily was arrested - he had drunkenly threatened more than once to expose his father’s killers. Katya was offered to divorce her husband, hinting that otherwise she would follow him to prison. Katya immediately signed a declaration of divorce. At one point she abandoned the father of her children. She was given an apartment on Gorky Street, her children were given a pension, like Stalin’s grandchildren. This is what they lived on. After the 10th Congress of the CPSU and the exposure of the “cult of personality,” Katya and her children began to be persecuted by the repressed and their relatives. She stopped answering phone calls and knocks on the door. The only outlet was trips to his father - in 1960, Marshal Timoshenko moved from Minsk to Moscow and settled in a dacha in Arkhangelskoye. Even in the guarded village, Katya did not feel safe, but the children - Vasily and Svetlana - enjoyed communicating with the Tymoshenko family. Vasily enthusiastically learned to use weapons from his grandfather and even shot in the city with a blowgun. When her son graduated from school, Katya decided to send him to study in Tbilisi - in order to avoid persecution for his big name. In Georgia, Stalin was still idolized. His seventeen-year-old grandson was unprepared for the flow of adoration, alcohol and drugs. Catherine realized late what a mistake she had made. She took her son to Moscow, but she was unable to get rid of her obsessive “friends” here either; they continued to supply Vasily with drugs.

In 1972, Vasily, intoxicated by another dose, shot himself. Catherine, being in a state of shock, did not allow doctors to see him for five days. When they finally managed to get through to the wounded man, it was already too late - the grandson of Stalin and Timoshenko died on the way to the hospital in an ambulance. Sixteen years after the death of her son, Catherine also died. She lived very alone and was reluctant to communicate with her family. Therefore, they learned about her death only a month and a half later. Katya was found dead and her apartment was looted. Exactly a year later, her daughter Svetlana died completely alone - she lived separately. Her death was also not immediately discovered.

The thirst for power and a luxurious life led to tragedy for a woman to whom fate had given so much: beauty, abilities, children, caring relatives, a loving father and mother. The paradise she so strived to get to during her life turned out to be poisoned. The following took part in the film:

1. Alexander Kapalkin - grandson of Marshal S.K. Timoshenko.
2. Natalia Timoshenko - daughter-in-law of Marshal S.K. Timoshenko.
3. Ninel Chuikova - daughter-in-law of Marshal S.K. Timoshenko.
4. Olgerd Zemaitis - journalist, reserve lieutenant colonel.
5. Alexander Burdonsky is the son of Vasily Stalin and Galina Burdonskaya.
6. Vasily Gorchakov is a classmate of Vasily, the son of Katya Timoshenko and Vasily Stalin.
7. Melor Sturua - international journalist.
8. Georgy Gigineishvili - a friend of the family of Marshal S.K. Timoshenko.
9. Gianni Cugini - head of the veterans organization partisan movement province of Parma (Italy).
10. Abel Baratta - son of a former Alpine shooter (Italy).

On this topic: Stalin and the conspirators of '41 || Who missed the beginning of the Second World War

Disgraced Marshal
February 18 marked the 120th anniversary of the birth of S.K. Timoshenko / History of WWII: facts and interpretations. Mikhail Zakharchuk

Over the years Soviet power high military rank Marshal was assigned 41 times. Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko(1895-1970) received it in May 1940, becoming the sixth and youngest Marshal of the Soviet Union at that time. No one subsequently surpassed him in age. Other

Marshal Timoshenko

The future marshal was born in the village of Furmanovka, Odessa region. In the winter of 1914 he was drafted into the army. As a machine gunner he took part in battles in the South-Western and Western fronts. Fought bravely - awarded three St. George's crosses. But he also had a cool character.

In 1917, a military court brought him to justice for daringly beating an officer. Miraculously freed from investigation, Tymoshenko takes part in suppressing the speeches of Kornilov and Kaledin. And then he decisively goes over to the Red Army. Commanded a platoon or squadron. At the head of a cavalry regiment, he participated in the defense of Tsaritsyn, where, according to some biographers of the military leader, he first came to the attention of Stalin. At the end Civil War commanded the 4th Cavalry Division in the famous 1st Cavalry Army. He was wounded five times and awarded three Orders of the Red Banner and an Honorary Revolutionary Weapon. What followed was study and simply rapid advancement up the military career ladder. In the early thirties, Semyon Konstantinovich was just an assistant to the cavalry commander of the Belarusian Military District. And after a few years, he was alternately assigned to command the troops of the North Caucasus, Kharkov, Kyiv, and Kyiv Special Military Districts. During the Polish campaign of 1939 he led Ukrainian Front. In September 1935, Timoshenko became a corps commander, two years later he became an army commander of the 2nd rank, and from February 8, 1939, he was already an army commander of the 1st rank and a holder of the Order of Lenin.

In 1939, war with Finland began. Stalin’s opinion on this matter is known: “Did the Government and Party act correctly in declaring war on Finland? This question specifically concerns the Red Army. Could it be possible to do without war? It seems to me that it was impossible. It was impossible to do without war. The war was necessary, since peace negotiations with Finland did not produce results, and the security of Leningrad had to be ensured unconditionally, because its security is the security of our Fatherland. Not only because Leningrad represents 30-35 percent of the defense industry of our country and, therefore, the fate of our country depends on the integrity and safety of Leningrad, but also because Leningrad is the second capital of our country.”

On the eve of hostilities, the leader summoned the entire Soviet generals to the Kremlin and posed the question bluntly: “Who is ready to take command?” There was an oppressive silence. And then Timoshenko stood up: “I hope that I will not let you down, Comrade Stalin” - “Okay, Comrade Timoshenko. That’s what we’ll decide.”

This situation only at first glance looks simple and artless. In fact, everything was more than complicated, and we, even now, burdened with voluminous historical knowledge, it is difficult to imagine the full extent of that complexity. At the end of the thirties, relations between the leader and those same generals became extremely strained. In those extreme conditions Tymoshenko not only showed his loyalty to the leader, which in itself is also a lot, taking into account the above, but also fully shared with him the overwhelming burden of responsibility for the course and outcome of the unprecedentedly severe Finnish campaign. By the way, it was under the direct leadership of Semyon Konstantinovich that the “Mannerheim Line” was overcome - one of the most complex engineering and fortification structures at that time.

After the Finnish campaign, Tymoshenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for “exemplary fulfillment of command assignments and the courage and heroism shown at the same time”; he was appointed People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR and became Marshal of the Soviet Union. The fact that this generosity of Stalin was not just a form of his gratitude, but was dictated by the strategic considerations of the leader, is perfectly evidenced by the following historical document, if not composed by Semyon Konstantinovich, then, of course, verified by him personally to the last dot and comma. So, before me is the “Act on the Adoption of the People’s Commissariat of Defense of the Union SSR comrade. Timoshenko S.K. from Comrade Voroshilova K.E.” This document, classified as highly classified, contains over fifty pages of typewritten text. Here are excerpts from it. “The current regulations on the People’s Commissariat of Defense, approved by the Government in 1934, are outdated, do not correspond to the existing structure and do not reflect modern tasks assigned to the People's Commissariat of Defense. The newly created departments exist under temporary provisions. The structure of other departments (General Staff, Art. Directorate, Communications Directorate, Construction and Apartment Directorate, Air Force Directorate and Inspectorate) has not been approved. The army has 1,080 existing regulations, manuals and manuals, but the regulations: field service, combat regulations of the military branches, internal service, and disciplinary regulations require radical revision. Most military units exist on temporary staff. 1400 states and tables according to which the troops live and are supplied have not been approved by anyone. Issues of military legislation are not settled. Control over the execution of orders and decisions of the Government is extremely poorly organized. There is no living, effective leadership for troop training. On-site verification as a system was not carried out and was replaced by paper reports.

There is no operational plan for the war in the West due to the occupation of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus; in Transcaucasia - due to a sharp change in the situation; By Far East and Transbaikalia - due to changes in the composition of troops. General base does not have accurate data on the state of covering the state border along its entire perimeter.

Management of operational training of senior command personnel and headquarters was expressed only in planning it and issuing directives. The People's Commissar of Defense and the General Staff did not conduct classes with senior command staff. There is no control over operational preparation in the districts. There are no firmly established views on the use of tanks, aircraft and airborne troops. The preparation of theaters of military operations for war is extremely weak in all respects. The forefield system has not been fully developed, and the districts are addressing this issue differently. There are no instructions from NGOs and the General Staff on maintaining the old fortified areas in combat readiness. The new fortified areas do not have the weapons they are supposed to have. The troops' need for maps is not met. The People's Commissariat does not have an accurately established number of the Red Army at the time of reception. The plan for dismissal of assigned personnel is in the process of development. Organizational events for rifle divisions not finished. Divisions do not have new staff. The rank and file and junior command staff are weak in their training. Western districts (KOVO, ZapOVO and ODVO) are oversaturated with people who do not know the Russian language. No new regulations have been drawn up defining the procedure for serving.

The mobilization plan has been disrupted. The People's Commissariat of Defense does not have a new plan. Re-registration of those liable for military service has not been carried out since 1927. Unsatisfactory state of accounting of horses, carts, harnesses and vehicles. The shortage of vehicles is 108,000 vehicles. The instructions on mobilization work in the troops and military registration and enlistment offices are outdated. The shortage of command personnel in the army is 21 percent. to the staffing level. The quality of training of command personnel is low, especially in the platoon-company link, in which up to 68 percent. have only a short-term 6-month training for the junior lieutenant course. To fully mobilize the army in wartime, 290,000 reserve command personnel are missing. There is no plan for training and replenishment of reserve command personnel.

Published annually People's Commissar orders for combat training tasks for a number of years repeated the same tasks, which were never fully carried out, and those who did not comply with the order remained unpunished.

The infantry is less prepared than all other branches of the military. The material part of the Red Army Air Force in its development lags behind the aviation of the advanced armies of other countries in terms of speed, engine power, armament and aircraft strength.

Airborne units have not received proper development. The availability of artillery material lags behind in large calibers. The supply of 152-mm howitzers and cannons is 78 percent, and for 203-mm howitzers - 44 percent. The supply of larger calibers (280 mm and above) is completely insufficient. Meanwhile, the experience of breaking through the Mannerheim Line showed that 203-mm howitzers are not powerful enough to destroy modern bunkers. The Red Army found itself unsupplied with mortars and unprepared to use them. The provision of engineering units with basic types of weapons is only 40-60 percent. The latest engineering equipment: trench diggers, deep drilling equipment, new road vehicles have not been put into service engineering troops. The introduction of new radio equipment is proceeding extremely slowly and in insufficient quantities. The troops are poorly supplied with almost all types of communications equipment. Of the 63 chemical weapons, only 21 have been approved and put into service. The condition and armament of the cavalry are satisfactory (Emphasis added by me – M.Z.). Issues of intelligence organization are the weakest area in the work of the People's Commissariat of Defense. Adequate protection against air attack is not provided. Over the past two years, there has not been a single special logistics exercise in the army, there have been no training sessions for commanders of the logistics service, although the People's Commissar's order suggested that not a single exercise be conducted without studying logistical issues. The rear charter is classified and the command staff does not know it. The mobilization supply of the army in basic items (hats, overcoats, summer uniforms, underwear and shoes) is extremely low. Mutual stocks for parts and carryover stocks for sub-warehouses have not been created. Fuel reserves are extremely low and provide the army only for 1/2 month of the war.

The sanitary service in the Red Army, as the experience of the war with the White Finns showed, turned out to be insufficiently prepared for big war, not enough medical personnel, especially surgeons, medical equipment and medical transport. Existing network of senior military educational institutions(16 military academies and 9 military faculties) and land military educational institutions (136 military schools), does not meet the army’s need for command staff. The quality of training both in academies and military schools requires improvement.

The existing cumbersome organization of the central apparatus with an insufficiently clear distribution of functions between departments does not ensure the successful and rapid implementation of the tasks assigned to the People's Commissariat of Defense, newly posed by modern war.

Passed - Voroshilov. Accepted - Tymoshenko. The chairman of the commission is the secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks - Zhdanov. Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party - Malenkov. Members – Voznesensky. TsAMO, f. 32, op. 11309, no. 15, no. 1-31".

And here are excerpts from Stalin’s speech to graduates of military academies on May 5, 1941: “Comrades, you left the army three or four years ago, now you will return to its ranks and will not recognize the army. The Red Army is no longer what it was several years ago. What was the Red Army like 3-4 years ago? The main branch of the army was infantry. She was armed with a rifle, which was reloaded after each shot, light and heavy machine guns, howitzers and a cannon with an initial speed of up to 900 meters per second. The planes had a speed of 400 - 500 kilometers per hour. The tanks had thin armor to withstand the 37 mm gun. Our division consisted of up to 18 thousand fighters, but this was not yet an indicator of its strength. What has the Red Army become today? We rebuilt our army, armed it with modern military equipment. Previously, there were 120 divisions in the Red Army. Now we have 300 divisions in our army. Of the 100 divisions, two thirds are tank, and one third are mechanized. This year the army will have 50 thousand tractors and trucks. Our tanks have changed their appearance. We have first-line tanks that will tear up the front. There are tanks of the second and third line - these are infantry escort tanks. Increased firepower tanks. Modern warfare has amended and elevated the role of guns. Previously, aviation speed was considered ideal 400 - 500 km per hour. Now this is already behind the times. We have sufficient quantities and produce in large quantities aircraft that give a speed of 600 - 650 km per hour. These are the first line aircraft. In case of war, these aircraft will be used first. They will also clear the way for our relatively outdated I-15, I-16 and I-153 (Chaika) and SB aircraft. If we had let these cars in first, they would have been beaten. Previously, no attention was paid to such cheap artillery, but to a valuable type of weapon like mortars. We neglected them, now we are armed with modern mortars of various calibers. There were no scooter units before, now we have created them - this motorized cavalry, and we have them in sufficient quantities. To manage all this new equipment - a new army, we need command cadres who perfectly know the modern military art. These are the changes that have taken place in the organization of the Red Army. When you come to the Red Army units, you will see the changes that have taken place.”

Tymoshenko’s merit in the “changes that have taken place” simply cannot be overestimated. Sometimes you think: what if Hitler attacked us when the army was led by Klim Voroshilov, who really only cared about the cavalry?

However, Semyon Konstantinovich had the will, knowledge and skills to radically change the situation in the Red Army.

After all, the cited document not only named the shortcomings, but also proposed radical measures to eliminate them. At the same time, the young marshal headed the People's Commissariat of Defense for only 14 months! Of course, in such a short period it was impossible to completely complete the reorganization and technical re-equipment of the troops. But still, how much he did! In September 1940, Timoshenko wrote a memo addressed to Stalin and Molotov, in which he amazingly accurately predicted how military operations would develop if Germany attacked us, which he personally did not doubt one iota.

A book could be written about the Great Patriotic War of Marshal Timoshenko. In fact, it has already been written by three authors. Unfortunately, this collective work is in the spirit of the agitprop of the fifties, although the voluminous work was published in the so-called post-perestroika period. The main thing - the Kharkov operation of 1942 or the Second Kharkov Battle - is generally spoken of in an indistinct patter. Meanwhile, this strategic offensive of the Soviet troops ultimately ended in the encirclement and almost complete destruction of the attacking forces. Because of the disaster near Kharkov, the rapid advance of the Germans with subsequent access to Stalingrad became possible. In the “Barvenkovo ​​trap” alone, our losses amounted to 270 thousand people, 171 thousand were irrevocable. The deputy commander was killed while surrounded Southwestern Front Lieutenant General F.Ya. Kostenko, commander of the 6th Army, Lieutenant General A.M. Gorodnyansky, commander of the 57th Army, Lieutenant General K.P. Podlas, commander of the army group, Major General L.V. Bobkin and several division generals. The commander-in-chief of the troops of the South-Western direction was Marshal Timoshenko, the chief of staff I.Kh. Bagramyan, member of the Military Council N.S. Khrushchev. Semyon Konstantinovich himself barely escaped captivity and, returning to Headquarters, of course, prepared for the worst. However, Stalin forgave all the surviving military leaders, including Timoshenko. Some of them, like Bagramyan, R.Ya. Malinovsky, who commanded the Southern Front, subsequently fully justified the leader’s trust. But after this, Semyon Konstantinovich experienced another front-line tragedy.

As part of the strategic offensive plan codenamed " polar Star» The North-Western Front, commanded by Timoshenko, carried out the Demyansk and Starorusskaya offensive operations. Their plan inspired considerable optimism, and Marshal of Artillery N.N. later wrote very comprehensively about what actually happened. Voronov: “Near Demyansk it was necessary to repeat, albeit on a more modest scale, what had recently been accomplished on the banks of the Volga. But even then something confused me: the operation plan was developed without taking into account the nature of the terrain, the very unimportant road network, and most importantly, without taking into account the approaching spring thaw. The more I delved into the details of the plan, the more I became convinced of the truth of the saying: “It was smooth on paper, but they forgot about the ravines and walked along them.” It would have been difficult to choose a more unfortunate direction for the use of artillery, tanks and other military equipment than what was outlined in the plan.” As a result, the losses of our troops amounted to about 280,000 people killed and wounded, while the enemy Army Group North lost only 78,115 people. Stalin no longer instructed Timoshenko to command the fronts.

In fairness, it should be noted that Semyon Konstantinovich never transferred his miscalculations to other military leaders and never cowardly humiliated himself before Stalin, as the same Khrushchev did.

He endured disgrace courageously, stoically, and until the end of the war, being a representative of Headquarters, he very skillfully, kindly and knowledgeably coordinated the actions of a number of fronts, took part in the development and conduct of several operations, such as the Iasi-Kishinev one. In 1943, he was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree, for this, and following the results of the Great Patriotic War- Order of Victory.

Regarding the marshal’s business qualities, I’m not using this as a figure of speech. “He had an unusual capacity for work,” wrote Army General A.I. Radzievsky. “He is amazingly resilient,” noted General I.V. Tyulenev. “Marshal Timoshenko worked 18-19 hours a day, often remaining in his office until the morning,” echoes G.K. Zhukov. Another time, he, a very ungenerous person with praise, admitted: “Tymoshenko is an old and experienced military man, a persistent, strong-willed and educated person both tactically and operationally. In any case, he was a much better people's commissar than Voroshilov, and during the short period that he was one, he managed to turn some things around in the army for the better. Stalin was angry with him both after Kharkov and in general, and this affected his fate throughout the war. He was a strong man. In fact, he should have been Stalin’s deputy, not me.” Tymoshenko’s special kindness is noted in their memoirs by such military leaders as I.Kh. Bagramyan, M.F. Lukin, K.S. Moskalenko, V.M. Shatilov, S.M. Shtemenko, A.A. Grechko, A.D. Okorokov, I.S. Konev, V.I. Chuikov, K.A. Meretskov, S.M. Shtemenko. Frankly, it is quite rare for military leaders to have unanimity in their assessment of a colleague.

...In April 1960, Tymoshenko, who had always been in good health, became seriously ill. Heavy smoker, he even quit the addiction and soon began to recover. He was elected chairman of the Soviet War Veterans Committee. Those responsibilities were not burdensome, so he spent most of his time at the dacha in Arkhangelskoye, next to Konev and Meretskov. I read a lot. His personal library contained more than two thousand books. The marshal was often visited by his children, grandchildren and relatives. Olga's husband served as a military attaché in France. Konstantin married the daughter of Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov. He named his son Semyon.

Tymoshenko died on his seventy-fifth birthday. Fate seemed to protect him from further tragic losses. Grandson Vasily died from drugs. Then another grandson, the marshal’s namesake, dies. Ninel Chuikova and Konstantin Timoshenko divorced. Ekaterina Tymoshenko died tragically and under unclear circumstances in 1988.

By
on the trail of a gang of teenagers

Your professional
career Ninel Vadimovna Timoschenko
started back in 1961 with the position
detective Kirovsky
ROVD. In the new team there is a young one
graduate of the first class of law school
Irkutsk State University
met with hostility. Lieutenant
everyone avoided the police and abandoned
barbs directed at her and openly
grinned. Many believed that
the girl still didn’t understand what
the police work area was hit.
This is how I had to register
Ninel Vadimovna in criminal
wanted Laughing, she remembers
Now it's the first weeks of my work
in a new place. What is true is
true: sometimes really
I felt, to put it mildly,
uncomfortable. And sometimes I got angry and
cried. But despite this,
was well aware: for indulgences
It’s clearly not possible to count here
have to. Whether you like it or not,
prove your professional suitability
need to. The persistence with which
carved out a place for herself
sun" young girl,
outright killed her colleagues.
Ability to establish clear contact with
people, honesty, integrity and
demandingness - all these traits
the aspiring detective earned
respect not only of colleagues, but also of those
who stayed with her differently
side of the law.

And what
concerned the experience of detective work, then
he came to the police lieutenant
Timoschenko in the form of precious
grains generously donated by famous
Irkutsk detective virtuosos.
Work under the supervision of such
legendary personalities like Mikhail
Kikhtenko, Ivan Potapov, Mikhail
Fomin, for Ninel Vadimovna it was
pure pleasure. They are the ones who are for
were able to train their
ward of all wisdom
opera work. Thanks to them for
just over three years old Ninel
Vadimovna managed to achieve such
indicators that many
to honored investigators from other
district departments could only scratch
backs of heads.

- At first
70s, recalls Ninel Vadimovna,
- a lot of trouble for our employees
units delivered groups
youngsters who literally
flooded the city streets. Young
criminals hooliganized, robbed,
stole, and sometimes even committed
serious crimes.

On the trail of one
from such gangs, which includes
included three minors
teenagers, in the fall of 1971 it was possible
go out to a group of detectives, work
which Ninel supervised
Vadimovna. One day in October
in the morning to the duty station of Kirovsky
The ROVD received information that
that in the fence of the Palace of Pioneers on the street.
Zhelyabov found half-burnt
mutilated corpse of a local
watchman. Arrived
operational investigation team at
the body of the murdered man then counted more than
20 stab wounds.

All
evidence of cruelty
the alleged killer. His search
was organized immediately
several directions. For many
police officers then arose
suspicion: has appeared in the center
city ​​maniac? In absence
any evidence started
the investigation threatened to drag on
for a long time. But when repeated, more
thorough inspection of the adjacent
territory attention Ninel
Vadimovna was attracted by traces from
soles of children's shoes,
left in the snow near
car parked right there in
fence.

Experienced
it became clear to the detective that after
committing murder in a car,
belonging to the auto circle, obviously
someone was leaving. And it was not
an adult, and most likely
teenager. Exactly this
circumstance later cool
changed the entire course of the investigation. IN
conversation with the head of the nursery
automobile section Timoschenko
managed to find out that about
six months ago during school
car driving lessons,
came into view
operatives, loved to ride
one of his former students.
Suspect Subject
was soon detained by operatives
and taken to the district department for a dacha
indications. In the investigator's office
the teenager said it was him
directed my friends to the garage
city ​​House of Pioneers. How
it turned out his friends wanted
just take a ride in a car, and
decided with the intractable watchman
figure it out your own way. Three others
accomplices were taken into custody
a little bit later. And not one of them
he never repented of his deeds.
Further, the investigation established
full involvement of these
scumbags to other serious
crimes. Their victims
were mostly young
women who are criminals
raped in cold blood and then
killed. For what the murderers did then
received in full, and the eldest,
19-year-old Andrei T., who was
ideological inspirer of the gang court,
sentenced to capital punishment.

However, this
it was not the most difficult criminal case
case, from among those successfully solved
the first in the history of the Irkutsk police
female detective. For my long
Ninel Vadimovna managed to serve
reveal dozens of similar
crimes. Even today she
despite his age,
continues to work in his native
team, because probably
this is a man's job without any
discounts on the "female factor"
became her destiny.

Eugene
EROFEEV,
ATC press service

Retired police major Ninel Vadimovna Timoshchenko - the first female detective in Irkutsk region, which solved many serious crimes through personal investigation.

Hundreds of sleepless nights as part of operational groups, duty, business trips, ambushes, detentions - all this male work without any discounts became her fate. Charming and sociable, Ninel Vadimovna even today calls her native criminal investigation department her very first love, to which she gave her restless heart.

However, few people know that this woman’s childhood coincided with the beginning of the siege of Leningrad. In September 1941, when the blockade closed, she was barely 13 years old.

My mother and I then lived not far from Fontanka in a communal apartment,” recalls Ninel Vadimovna. “Four other families lived there with us, and I don’t remember a single quarrel, not a single conflict. There was a special friendly atmosphere in the house. These relationships between people persisted even when the difficult days of the blockade began. Like most Leningraders, we learned what night bombing was like, dead people on the pavements, huge lines at the bakery where daily rations were issued. But even when some boy on the street snatched food cards from my hands, the neighbors helped my mother and I survive in this situation, which inevitably led to people’s deaths.

It is known that in addition to hunger, Leningrad was attacked by criminals, fires, severe frosts and... rats.

“One day I saw a gray wave rolling down a city street, and I couldn’t understand where this strange stream came from,” says my interlocutor. “And only the adults explained to me that it was hordes of starving rats migrating. It was an unforgettable, terrible sight.

In winter, the city ran out of fuel, water pipes froze - Leningrad was left without electricity and drinking water. People were dying. There was no time to bury them, so the corpses lay right on the streets.

During the blockade, nine of my relatives died,” Nineli Vadimovna’s eyes well up with tears. “Our beloved cat was stolen from us, and we understood what exactly happened to him. For us, children of the siege, the most delicious treat was cake - pressed sunflower seeds. But sometimes my friends and I, while there was still electricity, rode trams to the outskirts, where the defense line ran and army units were stationed. We knew that the soldiers would definitely feed us, or even give us some bread with them.

The evacuation of the population began in the fall of 1941, but only in January 1942 did it become possible to withdraw a large number of people, mostly women and children, across the Road of Life. 13-year-old Nineli and her mother were lucky - they were among those destined to cross to the mainland.

Mom was already so weakened that during the move they wanted to leave her on the ice of Lake Ladoga,” says Timoschenko. “And only when we ended up in a small village in the Gorky region, she slowly came to her senses, recovered, and, being a doctor, got a job as a paramedic in a hospital. Later I realized that she gave almost all of her ration of bread to me.

In January 1943, the forces of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts broke the blockade of Leningrad, but Ninel Vadimovna was able to return to her hometown only after the Victory in 1945. Soon her father and brother came from the front. A few years later the family moved to Irkutsk. There, in the capital of the Angara region, a new page began in the biography of an amazing woman, law school graduate, police major Nineli Vadimovna Timoschenko.

Arkady Kazak, press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Irkutsk Region