Hero of the Battle of Stalingrad Seryozha Aleshkov. Seryozha Aleshkov: The youngest guardsman of the Great Patriotic War. Let her be my mother

Aleshkov (Aleshkin) Sergei Andreevich (1934 or 1936, Gryn, Ulyanovsk district, Western region, RSFSR, USSR - 1990, Chelyabinsk, RSFSR, USSR) - participant in the Great Patriotic War, son of the regiment. Took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. Seryozha Aleshkov was the youngest defender of Stalingrad, the son of the 142nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 47th Guards Rifle Division.
In April 1943 awarded the medal "For Military Merit" From the order of the 142nd Guards. joint venture No. 013/P dated April 26, 1943 on awarding medals “For Courage” and “For Military Merit.”

... During his stay in the regiment from September 8, 1942, he went through a responsible combat path with the regiment. On November 18, 1942 he was wounded... With his cheerfulness, love for his unit and those around him, in extremely difficult moments he inspired cheerfulness and confidence in victory. Comrade ALESHKIN is the favorite of the regiment.

Do you think there is a report to the political commander? No. Although, in a sense, perhaps, yes.

... The dust raised by the explosion cleared away. Comrade Aleshkin realized with horror that the shell hit exactly the dugout of the regiment commander, Mikhail Vorobyov, who replaced Seryozha’s own father. Having run up, he realized that he could not cope with the rolling logs alone, and rushed to the sappers. Sappers quickly dismantled the ceiling; the overwhelmed regiment commander was alive and even intact, only stunned. And the fighter Alyoshkin stood nearby and, without hiding his joy, roared into three streams.

When you lose your second father, and your heart, out of despair, quickly falls into the already familiar abyss, and then flies up, because this time - happiness, he remained alive - it’s no wonder to burst into tears. And of course there is no shame, even for a seasoned fighter.

Especially at six years old.

On September 8, 1942, a reconnaissance group of the 142nd Guards Rifle Regiment (more precisely, at that time - still the 510th “simple”; it will become a guards regiment in December following the renaming of “its” 154th Guards Rifle Regiment into the 47th Guards) in the forest in the Ulyanovsk district of the Oryol (now Kaluga) region, she discovered an extremely emaciated, scabbed, half-naked child who looked to be about five years old, and brought him to her location.

Regiment commander Mikhail Danilovich Vorobyov recalled: Seryozha could barely stand on his thin legs and looked fearfully, pleadingly. Everyone in the dugout seemed speechless. I wanted to rush there, to the line of trenches, to grab the throat of the first fascist that came across. I walked up to him, stroked his head and asked:
- What is your name?
- Seryozha.
- And do you remember the last name?
- We are Alyoshkin.

Seryozha got a little confused with his last name, which became clear later: in fact, he was Aleshkov. And his story was ordinary at that time.

He lived with his mother and older brothers in the remote village of Gryn, almost in the middle between Kaluga and Orel, near the border with the Tula region. When he was 5 years old, the war began. Two older brothers went to the front. The Germans have arrived. It is not known why ten-year-old Petya Aleshkov, the last of Seryozha’s older brothers, did not like them, but the German soldiers who were establishing a new order in the village killed him. And the mother who rushed to her murdered son was also killed. And they spared the bullets for Seryozha, who was frozen in shock, and simply kicked him aside so as not to get in the way.

The people ran from the Germans into the forest, Seryozha ran with the people, but quickly got lost. How long he wandered through the forest, he never remembered; maybe five days, or maybe a whole week. If it weren’t for wild berries, he would have perished there; when the scouts found him, he couldn’t even cry.

The regiment commander, not unreasonably, reasoned that, even though it was dangerous at the front, the child would get stronger, be well-fed, clothed, and under the constant supervision of his elders.

Sergei became a student of the regiment (the term “son of the regiment” would come into use later, towards the end of the war, apparently at the suggestion of the writer Kataev), in which everyone knew his sad story. Personally, of course, I didn’t sit on the front line and didn’t shoot at the Germans (although I dreamed about it). But he was not ballast either: every morning he came to headquarters and reported on his arrival for duty. And there were many things to do, including those that he could do. He carried mail and ammunition to the soldiers, read poetry and sang songs in between marches and battles. And, I think, it strengthened the morale of the regiment’s fighters in a way that no political officer or detachment could simply do.

On November 18, 1942, Seryozha and his soldiers came under artillery fire and were wounded in the leg by shrapnel. After treatment, to the joy of the entire regiment, he returned to his own. And then, when the Battle of Stalingrad ended, the commander, much to Seryozha’s joy, decided to adopt him. Soon he also had a new mother - the division commander allowed Lieutenant Colonel Vorobyov to marry his chosen one, foreman of the medical service Nina Andreevna Bedova (on the recommendation of Seryozha, who really liked “Aunt Nina”.

And they lived a long and happy life together. And Seryozha had to be sent to the rear - the command (up to the Supreme Commander) was not enthusiastic about the presence of minors in the combat zone. And in 1944, he was included in the first intake of cadets at the Tula Suvorov Military School. Together with him, in November 1944, 83 Leningraders and more than 30 sons of the regiment and young partisans began their studies. Sergei graduated from the school in the sixth graduating class, in 1954 (and in 1960 it was disbanded).
From school, Serezha often came to Chelyabinsk, where Mikhail and Nina Vorobyov, who officially adopted the boy, were waiting for him. Having subsequently graduated from the Kharkov Law Institute, he finally moved to the Southern Urals. In the Chelyabinsk region, Sergei Aleshkov served in the prosecutor's office in the Uysky, Kizilsky and Agapovsky districts, and after his dismissal he worked as a lawyer in Chelyabinsk. Aleshkov died in 1990 (the war years had an impact)..
His adoptive parents were very famous in Chelyabinsk. Mikhail Danilovich Vorobyov, who ended the war with the rank of colonel, worked at the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant. In 1984, his book of memoirs “In Heart and Memory” was published.
Both the Aleshkovs and Vorobyovs now live in Chelyabinsk. These are the daughter, son and grandchildren of Sergei Aleshkov, as well as children born to Mikhail and Nina Vorobyova, and their children. They are all very proud of their heroic ancestors.

From the order for 142 Guards joint venture No. 013/P dated 04/26/1943 about awarding medals "For courage" And "For military merit" :

Do you think there is a report to the political commander? No. Although, in a sense, perhaps, yes.

... The dust raised by the explosion cleared away. Comrade Alyoshkin realized with horror that the shell had hit the regiment commander’s dugout exactly. Having run up, he realized that he could not cope with the rolling logs alone, and rushed to the sappers. Sappers quickly dismantled the ceiling; the overwhelmed regiment commander was alive and even intact, only stunned. And the fighter Alyoshkin stood nearby and, without hiding his joy, roared into three streams.

When you lose your second father, and your heart, out of despair, quickly falls into the already familiar abyss, and then flies up, because this time - fortunately, he remained alive - it is no wonder. And of course there is no shame, even for a seasoned fighter.

Especially at six years old.

September 8, 1942 reconnaissance group of the 142nd Guards Rifle Regiment (more precisely, at that time - still the 510th "simple"; he will become a guard in December following the renaming "his" The 154th Infantry Division in the 47th Guards) in the forest in the Ulyanovsk district of the Oryol (now Kaluga) region discovered an extremely emaciated, scabbed, half-naked child who looked to be about five years old, and brought him to their location.

Regiment commander Mikhail Danilovich Vorobyov recalled:

Seryozha could barely stand on his thin legs and looked scared and pleading. Everyone in the dugout seemed speechless. I wanted to rush there, to the line of trenches, to grab the throat of the first fascist that came across. I walked up to him, stroked him on the head and asked

What should I call you?

And do you remember the last name?

We are Alyoshkin.

Seryozha got a little confused with his last name, which became clear later: in fact, he was Aleshkov. And his story was ordinary at that time.

Soldier Alyoshkin at the award ceremony for distinguished soldiers of the 142nd Guards. sp. Far right is regiment commander M.D. Vorobyov. 1943

Soldier Alyoshkin at the award ceremony for distinguished soldiers of the 142nd Guards. sp. Far right is regiment commander M.D. Vorobyov. 1943

Sergei became a student of the regiment (term "son of the regiment" will come into use later, towards the end of the war, apparently at the suggestion of the writer Kataev), in which everyone knew his sad story. Personally, of course, I didn’t sit on the front line and didn’t shoot at the Germans (although I dreamed about it). But he was not ballast either: every morning he came to headquarters and reported on his arrival for duty. And there were many things to do, including those that he could do. He carried mail and ammunition to the soldiers, read poetry and sang songs in between marches and battles. And, I think, it strengthened the morale of the regiment’s fighters in a way that no political officer or detachment could simply do.

Mikhail Danilovich Vorobyov, who replaced Seryozha Aleshkova’s father. In the Red Army since 1929, he entered the first battle on June 25, 1941 as a captain, head of the brigade school for junior commanders. In 1945, Guard Colonel Vorobyov took Berlin as deputy division commander.

There is little information about the further fate of Sergei Andreevich Aleshkov. We only know that he always came to visit his adoptive father during the holidays and then on vacation, served in the army, and recently lived in Chelyabinsk and met with schoolchildren. The youngest guardsman and medal holder died "For military merit" early, in 1990.

PS: While preparing this note, I discovered that one of his photographs was posted on the Internet by Andrei Sergeevich Aleshkov. So life goes on!

Materials

Those terrible, cruel days of bombing and hunger. Millions of tortured people executed by the Nazis. Children and adults side by side against the German occupiers. One of these Gavroshes of the former Soviet Union was then Aleshkov Seryozha. The small, fearless son of the regiment. Data about him is stored in the Kursk Museum "Young Defenders of the Motherland." Once upon a time in the 60s they talked a lot about him, but now they have already forgotten the youngest defender of Stalingrad, as Seryozha was once nicknamed. Aleshkov, or rather Aleshkin Sergey Andreevich, was born in 1934 or 1936, in the forest village of Gryn, which is located in the Kaluga region, a participant in the Battle of Stalingrad, was wounded, saved his commander, and for this, by order No. 013 of April 26, 1943, he was awarded a medal.” For military merits." Seryozha died in Chelyabinsk in 1990.

He was barely six years old when Seryozha lost what was most precious to him, his family. His mother and brother were sentenced to death by the Nazis for aiding the partisans, and he lost his father before the war; two more brothers were already at the front. This happened in the Kaluga region. Seryozha was saved by their neighbor, and the boy rushed into the forest. It was the fall of 1942. He injured his leg and got lost; it is not known exactly how long the hungry and exhausted child wandered through the forest until scouts from the 154th Rifle Regiment, later renamed the 142nd Guards Regiment, stumbled upon him. As soon as the battle died down, the enemy was driven out of a small settlement and a hilly forest area. There, in a forest torn by shells and bombs, they found a frightened and hungry child covered with scabs. The boy told deputy commander Vorobyov that his name was Seryozha, and his last name was Alyoshkin, which was what Aunt Nastya from the partisan detachment called him. The boy was recovering, the soldiers were drawn to him, warming their battle-hardened hearts, everyone fell in love with little Seryozha. The hardest part was finding size 30 boots and a small uniform. And yet they found it. They dressed and put on military shoes, everything as it should be. Mikhail Vorobyov became his father and subsequently actually adopted the boy. At the same time, the boy also found a second mother, when Vorobyov married a nurse from their squad, Nina Andreevna Bedova. The wedding was celebrated modestly, they spread a tarpaulin on the grass instead of a wedding table, lit a fire and baked pies on it, poured vodka into cans and aluminum mugs. Seryozha was no less happy than everyone else, because now he has both a mom and a dad. There were toasts to the victory and to the young people. But in war as in war, it does not give a break and again for weapons.

Some of them were transferred to Stalingrad. What is Stalingrad in the autumn and winter of 1942? These are bloody battles for every piece of Volga land. Seryozha, of course, could not take direct participation in the battles, but he helped his senior comrades in every way he could; in between battles, he brought letters and cartridges, and sang songs to the soldiers. He had a very calm and cheerful character, he never whined over trifles and always raised the morale of his senior comrades. True, on November 18, the kid was unlucky; he came under artillery fire with the soldiers and was wounded in the leg. After which he was sent to the hospital for treatment. After treatment, he returned to his regiment to the great joy of everyone.

The exploits of Seryozha Aleshkov

There were also valiant deeds on his record. This all happened on the Dnieper. Once he helped neutralize fascist German intelligence officers, noticing that two people were hiding in a stack of straw, he ran into the dugout and reported this, the soldiers captured the Germans. Those two happened to have a walkie-talkie with them and they made their way to the rear to adjust the German artillery fire. So Seryozha did not allow the enemy’s machinations to come true. Another time, he saved his then-named father from certain death. During the bombing of their positions, the bomb hit the regiment commander's dugout and tore it apart, only the boy saw that Major Vorobyov was under the rubble. The boy ran to the former dugout, shouting papa, papa, and tried to move the logs himself, but only tore all his hands bloody. Despite the bombs constantly falling from the sky, the boy was in tears and ran for help. Vorobyov was pulled out safely. And again thanks to the vigilant vigil of the young hero. Having learned about these cases, and about the daredevil boy, General Chuikov, commander of the Eighth Guards Army, now Marshal of the Soviet Union, awarded Seryozha with a military weapon - a captured Walter pistol. Well, then he was awarded the medal “For Military Merit.”

With the 142nd regiment, Seryozha reached Poland. Going to study at Suvorovskoye was Chuikov’s idea. He went to Tula, where he was to go to school, with his mother Nina, who was expecting her second child. When Nina Andreevna had Slava, Seryozha had already been enrolled in school, not immediately, of course, because the boy was weak after suffering a wound and concussion. And his subsequent treatment in the hospital. But after Chuikov’s urgent request, he was still enrolled. After staying at home for several months, the boy’s adoptive mother went back to the front, because she could not do otherwise, she definitely wanted to get to Berlin. She left her little son with her mother. The war divided her and her husband into different regiments. Their story about the battle in Stalingrad and about the turning point in the entire war with the Germans is worth highlighting, and may the reader forgive me, I cannot leave these events aside and not remember what was happening in Stalin’s city then. There are countless examples of heroism during the war. Young people played a huge role in this battle. For example, the 37th Guards Division had up to 800 Komsomol members in its ranks. There were many guys among the snipers and among the partisans, and the sons of the regiment were innumerable. How many little children almost Seryozha’s age became heroes posthumously. More than 20 million children died in this war. For whom do the bells ring? They call for children. Special words of gratitude to the women of Stalingrad. A lot of responsibility and men's work fell on the shoulders of women; they had to work for days to provide the country with everything it needed. Women are heroes - snipers, pilots, nurses. How many wounded did our nurses stretch out in their arms, risking their own lives under bullets? 30,000 participants in the Battle of Stalingrad were awarded government awards.

Defense of Stalingrad

In 1942, at the beginning of summer, the enemy began to attack Stalingrad, with the goal of cutting off the center of our homeland from the grain-producing regions of the Kuban and Baku oil. In the south, the Nazis broke through our defenses. The front line, more than 500 km long, extended from the Voronezh region. From Boguchar to Rostov, going to the side at both ends and had the shape of a horseshoe, which was disadvantageous for our troops, whose numbers were also inferior to the enemy. On July 17, bloody battles began, in which at times more than 2 million people participated on both sides. And it was then that Stalin’s order number 227 appeared, entitled “Not a step back!” It was necessary to raise the morale of the soldiers, which was then a little shaken, at any cost.

The State Defense Committee set a combat mission for the people - do not surrender Stalingrad! No step back!

Headquarters headed by commanders-in-chief: A.M. Vasilevsky, G.K., Zhukov and N.N. Voronov (they later played a major role in the implementation of this plan) developed a strategy to defeat the German invaders. In the first days of the offensive movement of the Wehrmacht, people felt like they were in hell. More than two thousand aircraft sorties by the invaders, almost forty thousand people died in one day. The city was monstrously destroyed. Oddly enough, German planes helped us in defense in one way; thanks to the resulting rubble, it was easier to camouflage anti-tank artillery. And enemy tanks also could not drive over piles of broken bricks. The soldiers hid among the ruins and threw prepared Molotov cocktails at the stuck tanks; flamethrowers literally burned German soldiers out of the basements. Our snipers caused great damage to the enemies, the most famous being Vasily Zaitsev. Somehow he was able to adapt an anti-tank sight, with which he destroyed German tanks and guns. He has 149 Germans on his account, this is the second result after “Zhigan”; the name of this fighter is still not known. He killed 224 fascists.

Large enemy reserves, after intense fighting, broke through to the Volga, in the north of Stalingrad, tearing our front in half. So the enemy reached a tractor factory off the banks of the Volga. With the help of the people's militia and soldiers of the 37th Guards, as well as the 95th Rifle Divisions of the 62nd Army, they stood there to the death. Unfortunately, the 37th was almost completely destroyed, the 114th Guards Regiment fired at 6 German tanks with anti-tank weapons and destroyed the enemy at the cost of their lives. Four soldiers and Lieutenant Gonchar repelled several attacks by Wehrmacht units with one captured machine gun. September came and again a new offensive. Having broken through the defenses, the Germans reached the center of Stalingrad and captured Mamayev Kurgan and with it height 107.5, further complicating the position of the 62nd Army.

Another combat mission was to unite with Lyudnikov’s division, kill the enemy and take possession of the mound and height in order to deprive the enemy of observation of the army’s approaches to the Volga. To do this, it was necessary to mobilize all the forces that were rapidly replenished from the recovering wounded who were rushing back to their units.

On the morning of November 19, 3,500 guns and mortars unleashed all their might on the enemy. They fired for destruction for 1 hour and 20 minutes. to suppress, for the first time in the entire war a blow of such power was delivered, causing enormous damage to the enemy. After him, rifle and tank divisions went on the offensive. By the middle of the day, the troops broke through the enemy’s defenses and brought the 8th Cavalry Corps into the resulting gap; our troops began to successfully develop the offensive. The next day, the 4th Mechanized and 13th Tank went into the breakthrough, and by the evening the 4th Cavalry followed them, advancing to the west. Then, in the evening, Paulus received information about the complete defeat of the German and Romanian units. At a distant headquarters, Hitler still consoled himself with the hope of victory in this battle and gave the order to Commander Paulus and the 6th Army to go to Stalingrad and take up a perimeter defense. Feeling the full power of our artillery, Paulus panicked and sent a message - the army is surrounded, fuel is running out, there is almost no ammunition, there is only enough food for six days. With this, Paulus asked for the opportunity to leave Stalingrad. To which Hitler responded - take the 6th Army in all-round defense and wait for outside help. This was the end of the 6th Army.

Help rushed to their comrades. The 13th Guards Rifle Division, led by General Rodimtsev, carefully crossed at this time. The station area was repeatedly filled with blood and moved from one side to the other. The battle reached its climax, enemy aircraft set fire to oil tanks and the ground literally burned under our feet. It seemed as if all living things were about to die and burn in this fire; human nerves could hardly withstand such a test, but our people stood their ground on their lines. And to this day the house, whose name is Pavlov’s House, still stands. Methodically knocking out the Krauts from every house, the fighters moved into the city. At night, Pavlov, at that time the commander of a machine-gun brigade, was ordered to seize a house in the shape of the letter “L”. Having rushed to our destination, removing the sentry and killing the enemies, we took up defensive positions and fortified positions in a four-story brick house. There were many residents in the basements, who were taken out and transported across the Volga, and the house came into the possession of the 7th company. Four fighters: Pavlov, Chernogolov, Glushchenko and Aleksandrov - four heroes. The Fritz fired at the house every half hour; they did not even suspect that there were only four people there. The fighters defended for three days until the Nazis demolished part of the house with shells, but the basement was intact and they retained an important position. They sent ammunition and reinforcements; many fascists fell near that house, and for many days in a row people withstood incessant artillery fire, but that house survived, just like our Soviet people, it was just as strong and resilient. Continuous battles continued near the Red October and Barricades factories. They then accumulated a large amount of weapons. So the quickly organized militia found something to arm itself with. Not only workers were transferred to the breakthrough site, but also troops of the 282nd infantry regiment of the NKVD Internal Troops and, even later, tankers of the 99th Tank Brigade.

In mid-November, broken ice began to flow down the Volga, making it difficult for all vessels to move and causing huge losses, up to 40% of their crew. From the end of October until the end of the defensive period, all forces were concentrated on the fight for the factory part of the city. Katyusha - Guards mortars - played a great role in the defense. We also had such aircraft - PO-2, which continuously bombed the enemy from low altitude, and mainly at night, thereby causing a lot of inconvenience to the Nazis and enormous damage.

The turning point of the Battle of Stalingrad

Hitler was confident of his victory, but the turning point in the war in our direction was inexorably approaching. It was then that the apogee of patriotism and an uncontrollable desire to drive away the fascist reptiles came. Paulus is finally left where he was, and they decide to form a new army group "Don" to release his troops. At the beginning of December, it included up to 30 divisions, of which 6 were tank divisions and the main forces were grouped in the Kotelnikovo area.

According to the plan, the strongest strike group, Hoth, which included a battalion of “tigers” with 100 mm armor and an 88 mm cannon, should break through to Paulus, advancing east of the Don River. Our command, for its part, decided to expand the outer ring to the west to 200 km and strike in the Rostov-Likhaya direction to defeat the retreating formations of German troops. Operation codenamed "Saturn". However, this could not be done in the shortest possible time; due to the weakening of our troops, the 2nd Guards Army of R.Ya. Malinovsky was sent to help. On December 12, the enemy strike force from the Kotelnikovo area began its rapid advance towards Stalingrad, suffering huge losses. In 4 days they covered half the route and crossed the Aksai and Myshkova rivers. The High Command took timely retaliatory measures, reorienting the offensive not to the south, but to the southeast, thereby forestalling the attack from Tormosin and going down in history under the code name “Little Saturn.” The troops of the Southwestern and Voronezh fronts defeated the 8th Italian and “Holidt”, reaching Tatsinsky and Morozovka 9 days later. Manstein, in order to avoid complete defeat, transferred the Tormosinskaya and 6th tank tanks to the left flank. For some time he managed to stabilize the situation, but then a blow fell from Myshkov. The Soviet High Command transferred the 2nd Guards along with the 51st Army, thereby stopping the attack on Myshkov and making it possible to introduce new forces. On December 24, our troops began to advance on Kotelnikovo together with the 5th shock, 2nd and 6th mechanized corps and 7th tank.

On December 29, the Kotelnicheskaya group disappeared. The road to Rostov was open. The December battles pushed the front line away from Stalingrad by 250 km. A new catastrophe was approaching; as our troops advanced towards Rostov, they could block the exit of German units from the Caucasus and Hitler began to retreat. The turn came to the defeat of Paulus’s army. The Germans did not even think of giving up; they hoped until the last that they would be helped to escape from the encirclement. It was decided to attack them from all flanks, and the task of the 62nd Army was under no circumstances to allow the enemy to approach the Volga if he suddenly wanted to break out of the encirclement. Until January 10, units of the 62nd Army attacked the enemy, and at the same time all units of the Don Front went on the offensive. It took the longest time to recapture Mamaev Kurgan from the enemy.

On January 26, the long-awaited connection with the units of Chistyakov and Batov that arrived from the west finally arrived. On January 31, Field Marshal Paulus was captured, along with the remnants of his units. Having eliminated the southern group, they set about attacking the northern one.

On February 2, the 62nd Army delivered its final blow to the areas of the Barrikady and Traktorny factories, firing with direct fire. The Nazis did not accept the final blow and surrendered. In November 1942, Hitler, who promised to free the encircled troops, officially admitted to the disaster and declared three days of mourning. The second part of the battle for Stalingrad was the systematic and methodical destruction of the surrounded fascists. In addition, winter had already begun, the cold contributed to the Soviet troops in destroying enemy troops. Constant attacks by tanks and artillery, hunger, and disease exhausted the Wehrmacht soldiers to the point of madness.

In January, on the 31st, Hitler awarded Paulus the rank of field marshal; officers of such a high rank had never been captured by the Germans. Many believed that with the awarding of this title, Hitler hinted to him and his officers that he should commit suicide. Paulus did not do this. Early in the morning of February 2, the department store building in which Paulus's headquarters was located was captured. A little earlier, he informed Hitler by radiogram that he was capitulating. This was the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. On the banks of the Volga, one of the most powerful groups of fascism, extremely rich in technology, was defeated. Some soldiers were lucky, and, having changed into Soviet uniforms, they managed to jump out of the cauldron, but these were isolated cases. After lengthy fighting, about 150,000 corpses were collected.

According to estimates, Stalingrad cost the Germans about one and a half million people captured, wounded, killed and missing. During the entire battle, German losses amounted to a quarter of their forces, i.e. More than 800,000 soldiers were killed and wounded, and more than 91,000 Germans were captured. Most of them died in captivity. Some of the former German allies (Croats, Slovaks, Romanians) began to fight as part of the Soviet troops. 1943 - victory in the battles for Stalingrad and the beginning of the end of the Third Reich.

In the summer of 1943, Italy dropped out of the war, and already in August 1944, when our units approached Romania, King Mihai I, remembering the experience of Stalingrad, went over to the side of the USSR. This victory strengthened the anti-Hitler coalition. A turning point during the entire Second World War. After the war, even a square named after Stalingrad appeared in the vast expanses of Paris, and George VI, as a sign of steadfastness, forged a sword and presented it to the townspeople. This war was convincing proof of the collapse of fascism and the resilience of the Soviet people. As Alexander Nevsky once said, “Whoever comes to us with a sword will die by the sword.”

Epilogue.

Mikhail Danilovich went through the entire war, was wounded four times, two seriously shell-shocked. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, the Order of Lenin, has two Orders of the Red Star and three Red Banners. He personally left the inscription on the walls of the Reichstag: “We are from the Urals.” His fighting girlfriend also, as she wanted, reached Berlin. Nina Andreevna and Mikhail Danilovich lived their lives in Chelyabinsk and raised five children.

In 1944, Seryozha became a cadet at the Tula Suvorov Military School. Then, in November 1944, another 83 Leningraders and more than 30 sons of the regiment began their training with him. He graduated from his studies in the sixth class in 1954 (and in 1960 it was disbanded). Very little is known about the further life of Sergei Andreevich Aleshkov. He served in the army, graduated from Suvorov and Kharkov Law Universities. For many years he worked as a lawyer in Chelyabinsk, close to his adoptive family. Recently he worked as a prosecutor.

The smallest fighter died very early in 1990, due to the difficult years of the war.

If it weren’t for the old, shabby, black-and-white photograph of a smiling boy with his cap pulled so dashingly to the side on his head, then the story about the son of the regiment Aleshkov would seem like a legend. But this is the truth, the inexorable truth, of war. The story is about a little man who fell into the millstones of VO, who endured so many hardships for his six years.

A book was written about him by V.S. Denisenkova "Six-year-old guardsman." Here is such a simple story about one of the million little heroes of that time and about the biggest and bloodiest war.

The regiment in which Seryozha was located took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. The boy, as usual, was behind the front line, always next to the regiment commander Mikhail Vorobyov, who by this time had become like a father to him. One day he set out from the dugout, where the regimental headquarters was located, on an errand.

As soon as Seryozha moved away from the dugout, the air raid began. All the fighters hid and did not notice that one of the bombs hit right into the shelter. Only Seryozha noticed this. Despite the explosions, he ran to the destroyed dugout and began calling Mikhail. Realizing that he could not move the collapsed logs, the boy, right under the bombing, ran for help and brought sappers, who dismantled the logs and saved everyone who was under the rubble.

Mikhail Danilovich escaped with a slight concussion and was not injured. But while he was being pulled out, according to the recollections of eyewitnesses of those events, 6-year-old Guard Private Sergei Alekshkov stood nearby and roared loudly, and when they pulled out the commander, he rushed to hug him shouting “Folder-folder!” and couldn't say anything more.

After this, the boy was solemnly awarded the medal “For Military Merit.” They made a mistake on the award sheet by writing the wrong ending to his last name:

“To reward the regiment’s graduate Sergei Andreevich Aleshkin for the fact that during his stay in the regiment from September 8, 1942, he went through a responsible combat path with the regiment. On November 18, 1942 he was wounded. As a child, always cheerful, he fell in love with the regiment, the command and everyone around him. With his cheerfulness, love for his unit and those around him, in extremely difficult moments he instilled cheerfulness and confidence in victory. Comrade Aleshkin was the regiment’s favorite.”

Children of war. The youngest warrior of the Great Patriotic War, or 6-year-old guardsman

During the Great Patriotic War, more than 3,500 young front-line soldiers, whose age was less than 16 years old, served in the ranks of the Red Army. They, to the best of their small strength, brought the Great Victory closer. Today's story is about the youngest warrior of the Great War. A story about a smiling boy with the affectionate surname Aleshkov, who has had very difficult times and trials.

Here he is - six-year-old guard private Seryozha Aleshkov, a graduate of the 142nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 47th Guards Rifle Division. The youngest soldier of the Great Patriotic War.

Seryozha Aleshkov was born and lived in the forest village of Gryn, which is located in the Kaluga region. When war came to his region, the village became the base of a partisan detachment. In the fall of 1942, Nazi punitive forces staged a raid, and Seryozha’s mother and older brother were executed for connections with the partisans. The orphan boy ran into the forest and wandered there for a very long time. A hungry, exhausted and frozen child was found in the Kaluga forests by scouts of the 142nd Guards Rifle Regiment, commanded by Major Mikhail Vorobyov. Our soldiers carried the exhausted boy in their arms across the front line. This is how Seryozha Alyoshkin became the son of the regiment.

The guardsmen sewed a military uniform for their adopted son and even got some very small boots from somewhere.

The young and unmarried regiment commander Mikhail Vorobyov became a second father for Seryozha. By the way, after some time he officially adopted him. But Seryozha chose his second mother himself. He told his dad that he really liked the nurse, Aunt Nina, because she was kind and beautiful. And then the comrade major had to marry the foreman of the medical service.

So, with the light hand of a child, two front-line destinies united - Mikhail Danilovich and Nina Andreevna Vorobyov lived happily together all their lives.

What could a six-year-old boy do during the war? He was entrusted with a completely feasible service - he carried mail to the soldiers and delivered ammunition.

And in between battles, he entertained his comrades with songs and poems.

The boy turned out to have an absolutely wonderful character - cheerful, calm and flexible. Seryozhka never whined or complained over trifles. Looking at the ever-smiling son of the regiment, the soldiers warmed their hearts and thawed their souls. They remembered their families, their children and dreamed of a peaceful life. Seryozhka alone strengthened the morale of the fighters in a way that probably no political officer or propaganda brigade could have done.

The baby didn’t eat the soldier’s bread for nothing. Once he helped capture two Nazi soldiers. Big-eyed Private Aleshkov noticed that someone was hiding behind the haystacks. The commander sent scouts there. And they soon brought two “Krauts” with a walkie-talkie. It turns out that they were artillery fire spotters. For the vigilance of the guard, Private Seryozha Aleshkov received his first gratitude from the command.

Together with his unit, the little soldier took part in the defense of Stalingrad. And he even earned an award there - the medal “For Military Merit”. He saved the life of his named father and several of his officers. Here is how it was.

One day, a German bomb hit the regiment commander’s dugout, tore it open, and covered Major Mikhail Vorobyov and his staff with logs and earth. The seriously wounded officers could have suffocated and died there if the son of the regiment had not come to their aid in time. Seryozhka, right under the explosions, rushed to look for help, found it, led the sapper soldiers to the destroyed dugout, and they began to save people buried under the rubble. And next to him stood Guard Private Seryozha, and, smearing dirt and tears on his face, he sobbed at the top of his voice.

Having learned about the young hero, the commander of the 8th Guards Army, General Chuikov, awarded Seryozha Aleshkov not only the medal “For Military Merit”, but also a military weapon - a captured Walter pistol.

Seryozha in the center at the awards ceremony for distinguished fighters

In 1944, the young soldier was sent to study at the Tula Suvorov Military School. After the war, Sergei Aleshkov graduated from the Kharkov Law Institute, worked for many years as a lawyer in Chelyabinsk, and in recent years served as a prosecutor.

Until the end of his life (and the youngest “guardsman” in the history of the USSR died, unfortunately, early - in 1990), he regularly visited his adoptive father Mikhail Danilovich Vorobyov.

Vorobyov Mikhail Danilovich

Children of war. How many other such little heroes, known and unknown, have passed through the millstones of war... Before the war, these were the most ordinary boys and girls. We studied, helped elders, played, ran and jumped, broke our noses and knees. Only their relatives, classmates and friends knew their names. The weight of adversity, disaster, and grief of the war years fell on their fragile shoulders. And they did not bend under this weight, they became stronger in spirit, more courageous, more resilient.

Our task is to remember them and tell them to our children, grandchildren and future generations!

Video bonus. Excerpt from the film “Son of the Regiment”: