Children of Vasily Zaitsev. Vasily Zaitsev - legendary sniper, hero of the Soviet Union

Zaitsev's life path is typical of his contemporaries, for whom the interests of the Motherland are above all. The son of a Ural peasant, he served in the Pacific Fleet as an anti-aircraft gunner since 1937. The diligent, disciplined sailor was accepted into the Komsomol. After studying at a military economic school, he was appointed head of the financial department in the Pacific Fleet, in Preobrazhenye Bay. While working as a quartermaster, Zaitsev lovingly studied weapons and pleased the commander and colleagues with excellent results in shooting.

It was the 2nd year of the bloody war. Foreman 1st Article Zaitsev has already submitted 5 reports with a request to be sent to the front. In the summer of 1942, the commander finally granted his request and Zaitsev left for the active army. Together with other Pacific Islanders, he was enlisted in the division of N.F. Batyuk, crossed the Volga on a dark September night and began to participate in the battles for the city.

One day, the enemies decided to burn alive the daredevils who broke into the territory of the Metiz plant. With an air strike, German pilots destroyed 12 gas storage facilities. Literally everything was burning. It seemed that there was nothing alive left on the Volga land. But as soon as the fire subsided, the sailors again rushed forward from the Volga. Fierce battles continued for five days in a row for every factory workshop, house, and floor.

Already in the first battles with the enemy, Vasily Zaitsev showed himself to be an outstanding shooter. One day the battalion commander called Zaitsev and pointed out the window. The fascist was running 800 meters away. The sailor took careful aim. A shot rang out and the German fell. A few minutes later, 2 more invaders appeared in the same place. They suffered the same fate.

In October, from the hands of the commander of his 1047th regiment, Metelev, he received sniper rifle and a medal "For Courage". By that time, Zaitsev had killed 32 Nazis from a simple “three-line rifle”. Soon people in the regiment, division, and army started talking about him.

During the battles for Stalingrad, the front-line press took the initiative in developing the sniper movement, which arose at the front at the initiative of the Leningraders. She talks widely about the famous Stalingrad sniper Vasily Zaitsev, about other masters of accurate fire, and called on all soldiers to mercilessly exterminate the fascist invaders.

On November 4, 1942, the newspaper of the 284th Infantry Division “For Victory” published correspondence on the front page under the title “Beat the Germans angrier and more accurately, exterminate them like the sniper V. Zaitsev.”

“The courageous defender of Stalingrad,” the correspondence said, “Vasily Zaitsev, whose fame resounds throughout the entire front, is tirelessly increasing his combat score. Entering the pre-October competition, V. Zaitsev pledged to exterminate at least 150 invaders by the 25th anniversary of the October Revolution. V. Zaitsev conscientiously fulfills his obligation. In less than a month he killed 139 Germans."

In conclusion, the editors cited the battle account of Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev:

5.X. - destroyed 5 Germans, 6.H. - 4, 8.X. - 3, 10.H. - 10, 11.H. - 5, 13.H. - 6, 14.H. - 4, 16.H. - 3, 21.H. - 12, 22.H. - 9, 24.H. - 15, 25.H. - 2, 26.H. - 10, 27.H. - 4, 28.H. - 7, 29.H. - 11, ZO.H. - 7, 31.H. - 6, 1.XI. - 6, 2.XI. - 7, 3.XI. - 3.

At the end of November 1942, a telegram came from the editor of a front-line newspaper to the Pacific Fleet: “Your student, Chief Petty Officer Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev is fighting on the streets of Stalingrad. He behaves like a hero, like a true Russian warrior. Zaitsev is a sniper. In just a month of fighting in Stalingrad, he destroyed "149 Nazi sniper rifles. In addition, Zaitsev trained 10 snipers directly in battle. Each of his students opened a combat account of the extermination of the Nazis. The entire Stalingrad Front knows about Zaitsev's affairs."

The division newspaper worked creatively and with initiative. As a result, the division grew to 62 snipers who tirelessly hunted for enemies. The leader of the snipers was Vasily Zaitsev. During the 3 months of fighting for Stalingrad, the division destroyed 17,109 enemy soldiers and officers, including 3,037 snipers.

The commander of the 62nd Army, General V.I. Chuikov, wrote: “I personally met with many famous snipers of Stalingrad, talked with them, helped them in any way I could. Vasily Zaitsev, Anatoly Chekhov, Viktor Medvedev and other snipers were on my special account, and I often consulted with them."

Zaitsev combined all the qualities inherent in a sniper - visual acuity, sensitive hearing, restraint, composure, endurance, military cunning. He knew how to choose the most best positions, mask them; usually hid from the Nazis where they could not and assuming a Soviet sniper. The famous sniper hit the enemy mercilessly. Only in defensive battles near Stalingrad, from November 10 to December 17, 1942, he destroyed 225 Nazis, including 11 snipers (among whom was Erwin König), and his comrades in arms in the 62nd Army - 6,000.

One day Zaitsev made his way to a burnt house and climbed into a dilapidated black stove. From this unusual position, two entrances to the enemy dugouts and the approach to the basement of the house where the Germans were preparing food were clearly visible. A sniper killed 10 fascists that day.

Night. Vasily made his way along a narrow path to the front line. Somewhere not far away a fascist sniper took refuge; it must be destroyed. For about 20 minutes Zaitsev examined the area, but could not find the hidden enemy “hunter”. Pressing himself tightly against the wall of the barn, the sailor stuck out his mitten; she was violently torn from her hand. Having examined the hole, he moved to another place and did the same. And again the shot. Zaitsev clung to the stereo tube. I began to carefully scan the area. A shadow flashed on one of the hills. Here! Now we need to lure the fascist out and take aim. Vasily lay in ambush all night. At dawn the German sniper was killed.

The actions of the Soviet snipers alarmed the enemies, and they decided to take urgent measures. On a dark September night, our scouts captured a prisoner. He reported that the European champion in bullet shooting, the head of the Berlin sniper school, Major König, was flown from Berlin to the Stalingrad area from Berlin, and was given the task of killing, first of all, the “main” Soviet sniper.

The division commander, Colonel N.F. Batyuk, called the snipers to him and said:

I think that a fascist super-sniper arriving from Berlin is nothing to our snipers. Right, Zaitsev?

That’s right, Comrade Colonel,” answered Vasily.

Well, we need to destroy this super sniper,” said the division commander. - Just act carefully and smartly.

The fascist sniper who appeared on the front was experienced and cunning. He often changed positions, settled in water tower, sometimes in a damaged tank, sometimes in a pile of bricks.

“I knew the “handwriting” of fascist snipers,” recalls Vasily Zaitsev, “by the nature of fire and camouflage, I could easily distinguish more experienced shooters from beginners, cowards from stubborn and determined ones. But the character of the head of the school of enemy snipers remained a mystery to me. Daily observations our comrades were not given anything definite.It was difficult to say where the fascist was.

But then an incident happened. My friend Morozov from the Urals was defeated by the enemy optical sight, and wounded soldier Shaikin. Morozov and Shaikin were considered experienced snipers; they often emerged victorious in complex and difficult battles with the enemy. There was no longer any doubt - they had stumbled upon the fascist “super sniper” I was looking for.”

Zaitsev went to the position previously occupied by his students and friends. With him was his faithful front-line friend Nikolai Kulikov. On the leading edge, every bump, every stone is familiar. Where could the enemy be hiding? Zaitsev's attention was drawn to a pile of bricks and a sheet of iron next to it. It was here that the Berlin “guest” could find refuge.

Nikolai Kulikov was constantly waiting for the order to shoot in order to attract the enemy’s attention. And Zaitsev watched. The whole day went by like this.

Before dawn, the warriors again went into ambush. Zaitsev in one trench, Kulikov in another. Between them there is a rope for signals. Time dragged on agonizingly. Planes were buzzing in the sky. Somewhere nearby shells and mines were exploding. But Vasily did not pay attention to anything. He did not take his eyes off the iron sheet.

When it dawned and the enemy positions were clearly visible, Zaitsev pulled the rope. At this conditioned signal, his comrade raised the mitten he was wearing on the board. The expected shot did not come from the other side. An hour later, Kulikov raised his mitten again. The long-awaited crack of a rifle shot rang out. The hole confirmed Zaitsev’s assumption: the fascist was under an iron sheet. Now we had to take aim at him.

However, you can’t rush: you can get scared. Zaitsev and Kulikov changed their position. They watched all night. We also waited out the first half of the next day. And in the afternoon, when the direct rays of the sun fell on the enemy’s position, and our snipers’ rifles were in the shadows, our combat friends began to act. Something sparkled at the edge of the iron sheet. A random piece of glass? No. It was the optical sight of a fascist sniper's rifle. Kulikov carefully, as an experienced sniper can do, began to lift his helmet. The fascist fired. The helmet fell. The German, apparently, concluded that he had won the fight - he had killed the Soviet sniper, whom he had been hunting for 4 days. Deciding to check the result of his shot, he stuck half his head out of the cover. And then Zaitsev pulled the trigger. He hit it straight. The fascist’s head sank, and the optical sight of his rifle, without moving, glittered in the sun until the evening...

As soon as it got dark, our units went on the attack. Behind a sheet of iron, the soldiers found the body of a fascist officer. This was the head of the Berlin sniper school, Major Erwin Konig.

When presenting the first government award, Vasily Zaitsev was asked what he would like to convey to Moscow.

Tell me,” Zaitsev answered, “that until the enemy is defeated, there is no land for us beyond the Volga!”

In these in simple words, which became the motto for the defenders of Stalingrad, expressed the unyielding determination of Soviet soldiers to achieve the complete defeat of the fascist invaders.

Vasily Zaitsev was not only a great master of sniper craft, but also an excellent instructor. Directly at the forefront, he taught sniper training to soldiers and commanders, and trained 28 snipers.

A sniper, he taught young fighters, must develop keen powers of observation. When occupying new positions, he should not rush. We must first carefully study the area, establish what, where and when the enemy is doing, and then, armed with this data, begin the hunt for the Krauts... Once, I and a group of comrades were instructed to take new positions. There were six of us. At the new location, the Germans were little afraid, and some of the snipers were impatient.

“My hands are itching,” they said, “to waste time.”

But I followed a different tactic. We spent a whole lot just exploring the area. We went through the entire line of defense and established how the Germans behaved in this sector. And although it was possible to kill more than one fascist that day, I ordered not to shoot. In the evening, some comrades said: “The day has passed in vain.”

In fact, the day was not in vain. Studying the terrain and the enemy allowed us to outline the most advantageous positions. During the night, more than a dozen embrasures were equipped, and the next morning the real hunt began. In one day we destroyed 45 Germans. And if we had immediately scared the Fritzes by shooting from random positions, then such an effect, of course, would not have happened.

In military affairs in general, and in sniper in particular, great importance has savvy. The enemy indulges in all sorts of inventions. The Germans, for example, put out models of soldiers from trenches and show false targets in order to force the sniper to shoot and thus pinpoint his location. Our task is to outwit the Krauts, to be able to distinguish a false target from a true one...

A copy of the award sheet for Junior Lieutenant Vasily Zaitsev, signed on December 25, 1942 by Lieutenant General V.I. Chuikov, states the outstanding merits of the sniper. Vasily Zaitsev already had 225 killed enemy soldiers and officers. It was a Stakhanovite great battle. His daily trophy reached 10 - 15 ruined souls. But who then thought about souls and their salvation? “Kill the German,” this slogan of Soviet military propaganda, invented by Ilya Ehrenburg, was successfully implemented in World War II by the son of a Far Eastern hunter, Vasily Zaitsev.

But he and his students were not the cold-blooded killers who serve the criminal world today. Museum employee says Battle of Stalingrad Svetlana Argastseva: “Short, plump, very modest person. Very silent person. Never stood in the front row when taking photographs.” However, through the sight of his rifle, kept in the Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad, death itself looked at the Germans.

Vasily Zaitsev did not have the opportunity to celebrate the victorious completion of the grandiose Battle of Stalingrad with his military friends. In January 1943, following the order of Divisional Commander N.F. Batyuk to disrupt a German attack on the right-flank regiment of the division by Zaitsev’s sniper group, which at that time consisted of only 13 people, Zaitsev was seriously wounded and blinded by a mine explosion. Only on February 10, 1943, after several operations performed in Moscow by Professor Filatov, his vision returned.

After being cured in the hospital, having received the rank of Junior Lieutenant and the “Gold Star” of Hero, he returned to the front.

Throughout the war, the sailor served in the army, in whose ranks he began his combat career, headed a sniper school, commanded a mortar platoon, and then was a company commander. He crushed the enemy in the Donbass, participated in the battle for the Dnieper, fought near Odessa and on the Dniester. This is what V.I. Chuikov writes in his book “The Guardsmen of Stalingrad Go West”:

“The famous Stalingrad sniper Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev acted bravely in the spring of 1944 in the battles for Odessa. He commanded an anti-aircraft company of the 79th Guards Division. Calculations anti-aircraft machine guns from Zaitsev's company defended the vanguard units from enemy aircraft. Many times they engaged in battle with enemy infantry and armored cars. On the approaches to the southwestern outskirts of the city - in the area of ​​the jute factory - Zaitsev led his anti-aircraft company into the attack as a rifle unit and, interacting with the rifle company, captured the airfield. The attack was so swift that the fighter squadrons did not have time to take off: 18 serviceable aircraft became trophies for anti-aircraft gunners."

During the war, Zaitsev wrote two textbooks for snipers, and also invented the still used technique of sniper hunting with “sixes” - when 3 pairs of snipers (a shooter and an observer) cover the same battle zone with fire. May 1945 Captain V. Zaitsev met in Kyiv - again in the hospital.

He visited Berlin after the end of the war. There I met with friends who had gone through the battle route from the Volga to the Spree. In a solemn ceremony, Zaitsev was presented with his sniper rifle with the inscription: “To the Hero of the Soviet Union, Vasily Zaitsev, who buried more than 300 fascists in Stalingrad.” Nowadays this rifle is kept in the Volgograd Museum of City Defense. Next to it there is a sign: “During the period of street fighting in the city, sniper of the 284th Infantry Division V.G. Zaitsev used this rifle to destroy more than 300 Nazis, taught 28 Soviet soldiers the art of sniper. When Zaitsev was wounded, this rifle was passed on to the best snipers of the unit.” .

All post-war years Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev lived and worked in Kyiv. This is where he graduated high school. Then he worked and studied by correspondence at the All-Union Institute of Textile and light industry, became an engineer and worked as the director of a technical school.

The former sniper carried on extensive correspondence with soldiers and sailors, and was often invited to military units and ships. He wrote a book that helps young warriors learn marksmanship.

Several decades after the end of the war, Vasily Zaitsev became the protagonist of the film “Enemy at the Gates,” which shows in detail his long and stubborn duel with the German sniper ace Erwin Koenig.

January 31, 2006, - on the eve of the 63rd anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, 15 years after his death, the ashes of the legendary Stalingrad sniper Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev were solemnly transferred from the Lukyanovsky military cemetery in Kiev and with appropriate military honors reburied in Volgograd on the Mamayev Kurgan at the foot of the main monument “The Motherland is Calling!”

Additional information about V. G. Zaitsev can be found in various materials website: "http://stabrk.livejournal.com/39384.html", as well as in books:

Collection - "Heroes and exploits". Moscow, 1965, book 3 (pp. 198 - 208);
- Fedorov G.F. - “About your father.” Moscow, 1965 (pp. 54 - 59).

The legendary sniper of the Great Patriotic War Vasily Zaitsev during the Battle of Stalingrad in a month and a half, destroyed more than 200 German soldiers and officers, including 11 snipers.

Warrior

The war found Vasily Zaitsev serving in the Pacific Fleet as head of the financial unit, to which he was appointed thanks to his education. But Vasily, who received his first hunting rifle as a gift from his grandfather at the age of 12, did not even think about working in the accounting department. He wrote five reports asking to be sent to the front. Finally, the commander heeded the requests, and Zaitsev left for the active army to defend his homeland. The future sniper was enlisted in the 284th Infantry Division.

Deserved a "sniper"

After a short military training Vasily, together with other Pacific soldiers, crossed the Volga and took part in the battles for Stalingrad. From the very first meetings with the enemy, Zaitsev proved himself to be an outstanding shooter. Using a simple “three-ruler”, he skillfully killed an enemy soldier. During the war, his grandfather’s wise hunting advice was very useful to him. Later Vasily will say that one of the main qualities of a sniper is the ability to camouflage and be invisible. This quality is necessary for any good hunter.
Just a month later, for his demonstrated zeal in battle, Vasily Zaitsev received the medal “For Courage”, and in addition to it a sniper rifle! By this time, the accurate hunter had already disabled 32 enemy soldiers.

Sniper savvy

A good sniper is a living sniper. The feat of a sniper is that he does his job again and again. To succeed in this difficult task, you need to perform a feat every day and every minute: beat the enemy and stay alive!

Vasily Zaitsev firmly knew that the pattern was the path to death. Therefore, he constantly came up with new hunting models. Hunting another hunter is especially dangerous, but even here our soldier always rose to the occasion. Vasily, as if in a chess game, outplayed his opponents. For example, he made a realistic sniper doll, and he disguised himself nearby. As soon as the enemy revealed himself with a shot, Vasily began to patiently wait for his appearance from cover. And time didn't matter to him.

From ingenuity to science

Zaitsev commanded sniper group and, caring about the growth of them and his professional skills, he accumulated considerable didactic material, which later made it possible to write two textbooks for snipers. One day, two riflemen, returning from a firing position, met their commander. The punctual Germans have gone to lunch, which means they can take a break themselves - anyway, you won’t be able to catch anyone in your crosshairs. But Zaitsev noted that now is the time to shoot. It turns out that even when there was no one to shoot at, the smart hunter calmly calculated the distances to the places where the enemy might appear and wrote them down in a notebook, so that on occasion, without wasting a second, he could hit the target. After all, there may not be another chance.

Duel with a German "super sniper"

The Soviet marksman greatly annoyed the German “machine,” so the German command sent its best marksman from Berlin to the Stalingrad front: the head of the sniper school. The German ace was given the task of destroying the “Russian hare”. In turn, Vasily received an order to destroy the German “super sniper”. A game of cat and mouse began between them. From the actions of the German, Vasily realized that he was dealing with a seasoned professional. But as a result of several days of mutual hunting, Vasily Zaitsev outwitted the enemy and emerged victorious.

This duel made our sniper famous worldwide. This plot is reflected in modern cinema: in the 1992 Russian film “Angels of Death” and in the Western “Enemy at the Gates” (2001).

Group hunt

Unfortunately, there was no time to celebrate the victory in the principled duel. Division commander Nikolai Batyuk congratulated Vasily and assigned his group of snipers a new important task. It was necessary to disrupt the impending German offensive on one of the sections of the Stalingrad front. “How many fighters do you have at your disposal?” asked the commander. - "Thirteen". - “Well, I hope you can handle it.”

In carrying out the task, Zaitsev’s group used a new combat tactic at that time - group hunting. Thirteen sniper rifles took aim at the most attractive points in the enemy's position. The calculation is this: Hitler’s officers will come out for a final inspection of the offensive line - fire!
The calculation was completely justified. The offensive was disrupted. True, the experienced fighter Vasily Zaitsev, in the heat of battle, launched an open attack on the German infantry, not expecting that German artillery will fire a salvo at friends and foes.

Exactly a year ago, the remains of the famous Stalingrad sniper, about whom the feature film “Enemy at the Gates” was filmed overseas, were reburied with honors in Volgograd on Mamayev Kurgan next to the graves of his comrades. February 2 marks 64 years since the end of the Battle of Stalingrad - the greatest battle , which decided the outcome of World War II. If the Nazis captured the city on the Volga, Turkey and Japan would enter the war on the side of Germany, and a direct road to Caucasian oil and Ural metal would open before Hitler. But, exhausted in fierce battles enemy, the defenders of the Volga stronghold surrounded and destroyed a 300,000-strong enemy group, and its commander, Field Marshal von Paulus, along with tens of thousands of soldiers and officers, were captured. He also contributed to the Stalingrad victory famous sniper Vasily Zaitsev, who destroyed more than 300 fascists, including the Berlin supersniper Major Koenig. He lived most of his life in Kyiv. The widow of the hero, Zinaida Zaitseva, tells the FACTS correspondent about some of her little-known pages.

“American filmmakers got almost everything wrong”

Zinaida Sergeevna, have you watched the American feature film “Enemy at the Gates”, shot in 2001, after the death of Vasily Grigorievich? How do you like it?

But no way! It is built on complete lies. The only true episode tells how Vasya’s grandfather taught him to shoot wolves as a boy. But everything else! According to the creators of the film, the soldiers with whom Zaitsev went to the front were locked in the NKVD cars so that they would not desert. Then, during the crossing of the Volga, almost half of the division allegedly died from artillery shelling and bombing; they were driven into battle almost by force, giving rifles to only every second person, and telling the rest: “You will take it from a dead comrade.”

Not true! Before Stalingrad, Vasily Grigorievich served in the Pacific Fleet in the Marine Corps for five years. What kind of men are these, you know. From the first day of the war, both Vasya and his comrades were eager to go to the front. But only at the end of the summer of 1942 did the command satisfy the sailors’ reports, for which they had initially been imprisoned, and formed a division of volunteers. And the Pacific Islanders rode to the front, each with his own service weapon.

Their entire division crossed to the burning Stalingrad completely without losses. At night, secretly, without noise. The attack of the sailors stunned the Nazis. They nicknamed the Marines "Black Devils." True, with nautical uniform The guys soon had to part ways: the black peacoats were too noticeable. But the sailors left their vests under their tunics.

I’m terribly offended that American filmmakers made Zaitsev look like some kind of illiterate Russian bear, to whom a political instructor tells him how to write words correctly. Before the army, Vasily Grigorievich graduated well from seven-year school and accounting school. And in the navy he served as a clerk, and then as the chief of finance of a unit. Tell me, could an illiterate idiot work after the war as the director of an automobile repair plant, graduate from the Institute of Light Industry, manage the Ukraina clothing factory, become the chairman of the capital's Podolsk regional executive committee, or the director of a technical school?

“Marry me, and no bastard will dare to offend you!”

At first, Zaitsev did not admit to anyone that he was a Hero of the Soviet Union, they only knew at the military registration and enlistment office, continues Zinaida Zaitseva. - It was I who made him wear a Gold Star on his jacket when we got married.

How did you meet?

In the post-war years, I worked in the Kiev regional party committee. Vasily Grigorievich, as already mentioned, also held leadership positions. So we met at various party meetings. He was short, we were both the same height - sixty-five meters. Modest, shy. Open, sincere, sometimes naive, like a child. With such a person you can be frank and know that what you tell will not go anywhere. We became friends with him.

But, I admit, I didn’t imagine him as a husband. By that time, she was a widow; her first husband, also a front-line soldier, died after the war from stomach cancer; she was raising a teenage son.

And suddenly trouble happened - someone wrote an anonymous letter about me to the CPSU Central Committee. That I am abusing my official position, allegedly living beyond my means, and that as a woman I am this and that. In a word, the commission has arrived, let's check everything. Nothing was found. Again I am summoned to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and shown this very anonymous letter. Reading it gives me goosebumps! - and suddenly I see a familiar phrase that I told only one employee - the instructor of our department.

The fact is that I worked as a deputy head of the light industry department of the regional party committee. You understand what it was like for a woman when there was nothing in the stores. I had access to both tailoring workshops and factories By the way, the first thing I did the next day after Vasya and I signed was to take him to the workshop, where we made him the first suit in his life, a good coat Otherwise he , poor, and went to work (chairman of the district executive committee!) in an old military uniform!

And then one day I got ready to go on vacation. This instructor (not a good woman, I’ll tell you, she was an envious woman, a gossip) asks where I’m going. I say: to Gagra. “Yes, what kind of outfits are needed there!” - She seemed to widen her eyes sympathetically. But I know - she’s ready to eat me! And casually, as a joke, I throw out: “And I have panvelvet robes!..” So she even brought in these non-existent robes.

That lady was fired miserably. Well, that evening I was shaking, and out of old habit, I went to Vasily Grigorievich to cry. Zaitsev listened to me and calmly said: “Marry me. And no bastard will dare to offend you!” And I agreed. As if as a joke. In the morning, work overwhelmed me again. Suddenly, a couple of days later, he called and asked to come in. When I entered, a woman was sitting in the office near his desk with some documents. I thought: I have to wait, it will go away now. Vasily Grigorievich said: “Come and sign”

It was a registry office employee. That's how Vasya and I got married. He became friends with my son, who later became a military man and is now a retired colonel.

“Zaitsev’s life was saved by a photo of a Bandera relative who happened to be in his possession.”

“We wanted more children,” recalls the widow of the sniper-hero. - But God didn’t give it. Vasily is all wounded! In his leg, instead of part of the joint, there was a gold plate that held the bones together. Back in Stalingrad during hand-to-hand combat the fascist hit him in the back with a bayonet. Doctors later said that Zaitsev was born in a shirt: the tip of the bayonet pierced the lung, but did not reach the heart only because the heart shrank at that moment.

And he almost remained blind after one of last fights in Stalingrad. Intelligence reported that the Germans were preparing a powerful attack in their division’s sector. Having dispersed, thirteen of our snipers opened targeted fire on all enemy command and observation posts and destroyed most enemy officers.

The Germans going on the attack were confused, and our machine gunners and artillerymen cut off their path to retreat. Zaitsev decided to take the enemy prisoner. Can you imagine, during the battle he jumped out of the trench and ran towards the Nazis, shouting: “Hyunde hoch!” The Germans began to get up from the ground and raise their hands.

But at that moment, from the other side, the Nazis hit their own: they fired a volley of six-pound donkey mines - a German six-barreled rocket mortar. Vasya said that he even saw one of these fools, turning over in the air, flying straight at him. But he, you see, was embarrassed to crouch to the ground, did not want to lose his dignity in front of the enemy.

The mine fell about thirty meters from him, suddenly jumped and exploded. The face and eyes were cut by shrapnel. Darkness fell. For a long time he didn't see anything! No matter how hard the doctors fought

Zaitsev also had moments of despair. But optimism won. Vasya said that he was born on March 23, 1915 in the taiga, in a forester’s bathhouse during Holy Week. The next day, the mother discovered that the baby had two teeth. And this is a bad omen! Such a person would subsequently have to be torn apart beast of prey. Perhaps that is why Vasily’s grandfather, concerned about the future of his grandson, was cruel and merciless in his zeal to teach the boy to shoot wolves, not to be afraid of spending the night in the winter taiga, or other difficulties, to look for a way out of the most difficult situations.

Having stopped seeing, Zaitsev noticed that with blindness, hearing, smell, and memory become more acute. And he decided: if his vision did not return, he would hit the enemy by ear. But, thank God, a few weeks later, already in Moscow, his sight was saved by the famous ophthalmologist Academician Filatov.

After treatment, Vasily Grigorievich graduated from the Higher Officer Course “Vystrel”, returned to the front, commanded a sniper unit. Zaitsev's subordinates were called “bunnies,” and he himself was called the “chief Hare.” Probably because in Stalingrad he had the naval rank of “chief petty officer,” which was equivalent to land rank"staff Sergeant".

One day, soon after the liberation of Odessa, our soldiers met a boy in the Transnistrian floodplains. He said that nearby there was a German hospital where the Nazis took blood from Soviet children. Lieutenant Zaitsev gathered his guard and went there. After a short fight in one of the rooms, he saw a boy lying on a table. A thin transparent hand stuck out a needle with a tube from which the child’s blood dripped into the jar. Vasily pulled it out, took the exhausted boy in his arms and carried him to our doctors.

Years have passed. Once Vasily Grigorievich and I were relaxing in a sanatorium in Pushcha-Voditsa. Suddenly there was a knock on the door of our room, and a handsome young colonel appeared on the threshold. It turned out that this was the same boy. He visited us very often afterwards.

And Zaitsev almost reached Berlin during the war. But during the capture of the famous Seelow Heights, he was so wounded that after the front-line hospital he was sent to Kyiv for further treatment.

He drove home in a captured car. One. In the Lvov area he sees a fallen pine tree lying across the asphalt. Got out of the car, let's think about what to do. Suddenly, three young men in paramilitary uniforms appeared from behind the bushes, with German machine guns at the ready. Vasino's weapon remained in the car.

One of Bandera’s men took it out of the cab and began to disembowel the tablet. Photos of fellow soldiers fell out of it and scattered on the ground. One of them attracted the attention of a fourth armed man, apparently an older one, who appeared from the forest: “Who is this, do you know him?” “He’s from our unit, we fought together,” Zaitsev answered and gave his last name. “That’s right, this is my brother,” said the commander. He ordered his boys to collect the scattered things, gave them a guide and wished them a good journey. And if it weren’t for that photo, Vasya would not have made it to Kyiv.

Living in Kyiv, did Vasily Grigorievich miss his native Urals?

And we often went to visit his relatives. Ukraine became his second homeland. At a time when one could easily get the label of a Ukrainian bourgeois nationalist, the Russian peasant, communist Zaitsev often liked to wear an embroidered shirt on holidays. I taught him to sing Ukrainian folk songs. And he always valued people other than their nationality. After all, we forged victory together.

He lost many comrades, of very different nationalities - Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars - in Stalingrad.

Nowhere, probably, did Zaitsev experience as much as in this city. He knew and, years later, remembered every street here, every path in the Mamayev Kurgan area. And in Peaceful time him - Uncle Vasya, an honorary citizen of Volgograd - was known here to young and old.

Zaitsev was very much loved by another famous Stalingrad resident, Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, continues Zinaida Zaitseva. - During ceremonial feasts, he seated us near him. One day, I remember, we sat down - the table was full of appetizers, and next to each of us were large bowls of black caviar. I made a sandwich for my husband, Vasily Ivanovich. “Zina, why are you doing nonsense! - Chuikov suddenly barked in his commanding bass voice. “You eat caviar with a spoon, you eat it with a spoon, they won’t serve that much in Kyiv!”

Vasily Grigorievich loved young people very much, and when his health allowed, he went to meetings with schoolchildren, students, and military personnel with great pleasure. He especially liked being in military units.

Once, when he was already over seventy, the military organized a shooting competition for the prize of the sniper Zaitsev. The young soldiers seemed to shoot well. Then they asked him to remember his youth. They gave me a soldier's padded jacket, a hat, a carbine And what do you think? Vasya hit all three bullets into the center of the target! Although by that time he rarely even held a hunting rifle in his hands. The military were delighted. They gave me a crystal goblet. There it is on the sideboard.

But neither he nor I wanted to remember one meeting. They invited him to the GSVG - Group Soviet troops in Germany. Zaitsev was received with a bang in the units. Then the Berlin mayor's office suddenly invited him to speak to German civilians. They also seemed to treat him friendly. They asked me to talk about the duel with Major Koenig. And suddenly a woman stands up and says to Zaitsev: “Everything you told is not true! I am the daughter of Major Koenig"

Everyone was taken aback, of course. Vasily Grigorievich’s face turned gray from injustice. The organizers of the meeting on the Soviet side quickly put Zaitsev in a car with guards and drove him to the unit. After all, after the battle, to prove that Zaitsev killed Koenig, the scouts brought in the documents of the fascist sniper. In Stalingrad he caused serious mischief, killing two of our snipers and several officers. During the duel, Koenig shot one sniper, Zaitsev's comrade, and broke the optical sight, and wounded another. Then he wounded the political instructor, who for a second rose above the parapet of the trench. A sniper scope allows you to even see the pupils of the eyes of enemy soldiers, but you should not be distracted by them, your task is to incapacitate officers, machine gunners, snipers, Vasily Grigorievich said. The duel lasted four days. In the end, Zaitsev and his assistant Nikolai Kulikov identified, outwitted and destroyed the enemy.

When did Vasily Grigorievich die?

December 15, 1991. His heart was weak. I suffered two heart attacks, and now I have a third. They took me to the hospital. There was also a stroke there. My husband was transferred to neurology. I was really bad. I feel like this is the last night. I ask that I be allowed to stay overnight near him. They didn't allow it. Of course, I couldn’t sleep at home. In the morning she seemed to have dozed off. And suddenly I hear a terrible roar in the apartment. It seemed like all the furniture was shaking. I look into all the rooms - everything seems to be in place. And suddenly there was silence.

I look at my watch - this one strikes. They stopped and it was five in the morning. I called the hospital: they said he just died. During our last trip, when we walked along Mamayev Kurgan, Vasily Grigorievich thought and said: “Zina, I beg you very much. When I die, bury me here. All my guys are lying here"

Of course, I was indignant. They say, what kind of talk in the ranks, we’ll live a while. I jokingly say: have you decided to leave me? I just want to cry. “Yes, of course, we’ll live for a while, don’t worry” - it seemed to him that he himself was already embarrassed that he had started this conversation.

And now we have to bury it. I tell the children about Volgograd. - “Where will we go to visit the grave?” - “You are young, if you want, you can visit Volgograd, Volgograd residents will welcome you with dear souls.”

I am sending a telegram to Volgograd. I've been waiting a day for an answer. It's time to put the deceased in the coffin. But we can’t find a decent coffin! There are none at all! It was a time of shortages. Gorbachev is out of work, the Union has collapsed, my telegram, as it later turned out, did not reach Volgograd. In the end, they found some simple coffin and buried Vasily Grigorievich at the Lukyanovsky military cemetery. The monument was erected well. Volgograd residents helped. The children and I regularly visited the grave.

But I constantly thought that I had not fulfilled his will. I felt guilty. Soon I went to Volgograd and shared my grief. The Volga residents were ready to rebury, but the sanitary service said that this was possible only after 15 years!

I began to wait. And last winter, Volgograd residents came and did everything. And on the anniversary of the Stalingrad victory, February 2, our Zaitsev was solemnly buried in the land of Mamayev Kurgan. I couldn't go - I was sick. I'm already ninety years old. And now, as if a stone had been lifted from my soul, I feel better and am going to go and worship the graves of my husband and his military friends. Probably it was Vasily Grigorievich who extended my life.

Biography of V.G. Zaitseva

Vasily Zaitsev, legendary sniper , the hero of the Soviet Union about whom several films were made, was born on March 23, 1915 in the village of Elenkina, Orenburg province (Chelyabinsk region), into an ordinary peasant family. WITH early childhood was taught to shoot a hunting rifle by his grandfather Andrei Alekseevich, and at the age of 12 he received a rifle as a gift.

Vasily's incomplete secondary education fit into seven classes, after which the guy entered construction college in Magnitogorsk, from which he graduated in 1930. In 1937, he entered service in the Pacific Fleet as a clerk in the artillery department. Great Patriotic War I found him at the post of head of the financial department in Preobrazhenie Bay.

In the summer of 1942, after several reports with a request to be sent to the front, Vasily Zaitsev ended up in the 284th Infantry Division. And in September 1942 he took part in the battle for Stalingrad.

From the very beginning, Vasily Grigorievich showed himself to be a skillful and extraordinary sniper; from a distance of 800 meters he could destroy three opponents at once from an ordinary soldier’s rifle. For his courage and outstanding sniper abilities he was awarded the medal “For Courage” and a sniper rifle. The fame of the outstanding sniper spread on all fronts.

Vasily Zaitsev combined many valuable qualities for a fighter and shooter: sensitive hearing, keen vision, endurance, composure and military cunning. Accurately choosing the best positions, he knew how to perfectly camouflage them and remain invisible to the Germans. In the battle for Stalingrad alone, he accounted for 225 killed Nazis, among whom were eleven snipers.

And the whole world knows about the victorious battle with the experienced German supersniper Heinz Thorwald, sent specifically to destroy Vasily Zaitsev. Since, in turn, Zaitsev was given the task of eliminating Torvald, which was carried out successfully.

In January 1943, the brave sniper was seriously wounded by a mine explosion during the disruption of the Nazi attack on a regiment of our troops near Stalingrad by Zaitsev’s group. He went blind and only after repeated operations with Professor Filatov was able to restore his vision. At the end of February 1943, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Subsequently, Vasily Zaitsev led a sniper school, headed a mortar platoon and then commanded a company. I had the opportunity to take part in such high-profile battles as the battle for the Dnieper and the liberation of Donbass. Victory found the fighter in a Kiev hospital, where he was being treated after another injury. Vasily Zaitsev became the author of two teaching aids for snipers and one proprietary technique that is still used in sniper hunting - hunting with “sixes”, when three pairs of snipers (observers and shooters) cover the same battle zone.

When the Great Patriotic War ended, Vasily Zaitsev began to live in Kyiv and work as the commandant of the city district. At the same time I entered extramural All-Union Institute of Textile and Light Industry, then headed the “Ukraine” garment factory and directed the technical school of light industry. Zaitsev was also invited to participate in testing the Dragunov sniper rifle.

Hero of the USSR Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev died on December 15, 1991, and was buried at the Lukyanovsky cemetery (Kiev), despite his last desire to find his final refuge in the land of Volgograd. His will was fulfilled only on January 31, 2006, when the ashes of the legendary shooter were reburied on Mamayev Kurgan (Volgograd).

Two films were made about the great sniper, hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Zaitsev feature films: “Enemy at the Gates” (2001, USA – Germany – Great Britain) and “Angels of Death” (2002, Russia). Also about his biography was filmed documentary“Legendary Sniper” (2013, Russia).

Heroes of the Great Patriotic War

Zaitsev Vasily Grigorievich

Born on March 23, 1915 in the village of Elino, now Agapovsky district, Chelyabinsk region, in a peasant family. Vasily’s grandfather, Andrei Alekseevich Zaitsev, taught his grandchildren, Vasily and his, from early childhood younger brother, Maxima, hunting. At the age of 12, Vasily received his first hunting rifle as a gift.

Since 1937, he served in the Pacific Fleet, where he was assigned as a clerk in the artillery department. Graduated from the Military Economic School. The war found Zaitsev in the position of head of the financial department in the Pacific Fleet, in Preobrazhenye Bay.

Sniper rifle by Vasily Zaitsev. On the butt of a rifle metal plate with the inscription: "To the Hero of the Soviet Union, Guard Captain Vasily Zaitsev"

The Great Patriotic War

Back in 1937, when he was drafted into the army and sent as a sailor to the Pacific Fleet, he proudly wore a vest under military uniform. Zaitsev was eager to fight and asked to be assigned to a company of snipers. By the summer of 1942, Petty Officer 1st Article Zaitsev submitted five reports with a request to be sent to the front. Finally, the commander granted his request, and Zaitsev left for the active army, where he was enlisted in the 284th Infantry Division. On a September night in 1942, together with other Pacific soldiers, Zaitsev, after a short preparation for battles in urban conditions, crossed the Volga. On September 21, 1942 he ended up in Stalingrad. It was like hell. He writes in his diary that there was a thick smell in the air fried meat. His words went down in history: “For us, the soldiers and commanders of the 62nd Army, there is no land beyond the Volga. We have stood and will stand to the death!”

Zaitsev's battalion led an attack on German positions on the territory of the Stalingrad gas depot. The enemy, trying to stop the onslaught of Soviet troops, set fire to fuel containers with artillery fire and air strikes.

Already in the first battles with the enemy, Zaitsev showed himself to be an outstanding shooter. Once Zaitsev destroyed three enemy soldiers from a distance of 800 meters from a window. As a reward, Zaitsev received a sniper rifle along with the medal “For Courage”. By that time, Zaitsev had killed 32 enemy soldiers using a simple “three-line rifle”. Soon people in the regiment, division, and army started talking about him.

Vasily Zaitsev. Photo from the personal archive of Zinaida Sergeevna, widow of V. G. Zaitsev

Zaitsev was a born sniper. He had sharp vision, sensitive hearing, endurance, composure and endurance. He knew how to choose the best positions and disguise them. The famous sniper hit the enemy mercilessly. He knew how to choose the best positions and disguise them; usually hid from the Nazis in places where they could not even imagine a Soviet sniper. The famous sniper hit the enemy mercilessly. Only in the period from November 10 to December 17, 1942, in the battles for Stalingrad, V.G. Zaitsev destroyed 225 enemy soldiers and officers, including 11 snipers, and his comrades in arms in the 62nd Army - 6,000.

Particularly significant in Zaitsev’s career was the sniper duel with the German “super sniper”, whom Zaitsev himself calls Major Koening in his memoirs (according to Alan Clark - head of the sniper school in Zossen, SS Standartenführer Heinz Thorwald), sent to Stalingrad with a special task of fighting Russian snipers , and the primary task was the destruction of Zaitsev. Vasily Grigorievich wrote about this fight in his memoirs:

“It was clear that an experienced sniper was operating in front of us, so we decided to intrigue him, but we had to wait out the first half of the day, because the glare of the optics could give us away. After lunch, our rifles were already in the shadows, and direct rays of the sun fell on the fascist positions. Something sparkled from under the sheet - sniper scope. A well-aimed shot, the sniper fell. As soon as it got dark, ours went on the offensive and at the height of the battle we pulled out the killed fascist major from under the iron sheet. They took his documents and delivered them to the division commander.”

Currently, Major Koening's rifle (Mauser 98k) is on display at the Central Museum of the Armed Forces in Moscow. Unlike all standard ones, both German and Soviet rifles of that time, whose scope magnification was only 3-4 times, since only virtuosos could work with high magnification, the scope on the rifle of the head of the Berlin school had a 10-fold magnification. This is precisely what speaks about the level of the enemy that Vasily Zaitsev had to face.

V. G. Zaitsev (far left) with students (as instructor)

He was unable to celebrate the day of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad with his comrades. In January 1943, Zaitsev was seriously wounded and blinded. Professor Filatov saved his sight in a Moscow hospital. Only on February 10 did his vision return.

Throughout the war, V.G. Zaitsev served in the army, in the ranks of which he began his combat career, headed a sniper school, at the forefront, Zaitsev taught sniper work to soldiers and commanders, trained 28 snipers. He commanded a mortar platoon, then was a company commander. He took part in the liberation of Donbass, in the battle for the Dnieper, and fought near Odessa and on the Dniester. Captain V.G. Zaitsev met May 1945 in Kyiv - again in the hospital.

During the war, Zaitsev prepared two textbooks for snipers, and also developed the technique of sniper hunting with “sixes” that is still used today.

After the end of the war, he was demobilized and settled in Kyiv. He was the commandant of the Pechersk region. He studied in absentia at the All-Union Institute of Textile and Light Industry. He worked as the director of a machine-building plant, then as the director of the “Ukraine” garment factory, and headed the light industry technical school. Participated in army tests of the SVD rifle.

Published the book "There was no land for us beyond the Volga. Notes of a sniper."

Died on December 15, 1991. He was buried in Kyiv at the Lukyanovsky military cemetery, although his last wish was to be buried in the Stalingrad land that he defended.

On January 31, 2006, the ashes of Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev were solemnly reburied in Volgograd on Mamayev Kurgan.