[烛光生存狂]-【卫国战争老兵回忆】尼古拉·热列兹诺夫(Nikolai Zheleznov)

- A. D. Please tell us how the war started for you.

When the war started I was, to tell you the truth, only a boy, just seventeen and a half years old. When it started, we all hoped with that patriotism, with that spirit of the times which lived in us, we hoped that the war would be over in 2-3 months, that the enemy would be defeated and victory would be ours. That's how all of us thought. But the enemy turned out to be far stronger and craftier than we had believed, and when the Germans captured Minsk, father told me: "Son, let's somehow arrange for your future," because that summer I graduated from school after finishing 10 grades.

- A. D. You're a Muscovite?

Yes, I was born and grew up in Moscow. All my childhood I lived at Zastava Il'icha, it used to be called Rogozhskaia Zastava. That was near the Hammer and Sickle Factory. The life in our lane was like in a bouquet of flowers: The Hammer and Sickle Factory here, hardware plant there, and a woodworking factory... Our window overlooked the courtyard of the Central Labor Institute (TsIT), and its subsidiary experimental factory, where newest machine tools, engines, and so on, were being developed. We literally "grazed" on the TsIT waste dump: there were many discarded experimental machine tools and equipment that hadn't passed the trials.

There was one Iasha [Iakov] Manokhin among us, he was older that us, born in 1920. He was a good specialist, worked at TsIT. He didn't get drafted into the army. Why? There were different rumors: either because he was a valuable specialist and got a waiver, or because he was found unfit for service due to some physical problems.

Soon after the war began father told me "Come on, son, go work in a factory, otherwise life will get hard." So I went to our neighbor, Uncle Kostia [Konstantin]. He worked at the military factory No.205, which manufactured anti-aircraft fire control devices -- PUAZO. I talked to him, and he found me a job at that factory as his apprentice. I diligently performed all tasks required of me, and after three months he told me: "Well, why don't you start working on your own now! They are going to test you in our assembly shop right now and give you your professional grade." I diligently took the test and they gave me fourth grade (the grades were first through sixth depending on the qualification of the worker -- sixth grade was given to most qualified workers -- V.P.).

- A. D. What were you manufacturing?

PUAZO -- it was a very complex mechanism for aiming the fire of an AA battery. The honor of the invention belonged to Czechoslovakia, our intelligence stole it. The device consisted of several parts: the central apparatus with sighting devices, at which a person sat and looked into the eyepieces. He aimed the device at a target, and it automatically calculated the altitude, velocity, and range to the target, and sent these data through a wire to receivers installed at every gun of the battery. We manufactured PUAZO-6, which worked with the new 85mm anti-aircraft guns (the first domestic 85mm gun was accepted into service in 1939, so in 1941 it was really new -- V.P.). PUAZO coped with their task very well, AA guns equipped with them hit their targets accurately. It is interesting how the PUAZO were tested: a glider was attached to a plane, and it was supposed to be destroyed by a battery of four AA guns.

And so I acquired the profession of a metal worker/assembler of the PUAZO devices. At that time Germans were already approaching Smolensk. Our family got a notice that my older brother Mikhail had been killed in battle. Brother had a great gift for poetry, to me he was a second Esenin. Misha's poems were printed in the district newspaper of the Pervomaiskii District, and in the factory newspaper of the Sickle and Hammer Factory called "Martenovka". When we received that notice of his death, it was such a loss for our family, you can't imagine!

Sometime by October 16 Germans were already approaching Moscow. By that time there was a decision made to evacuate our Factory No.205 from Moscow to Saratov. I was going to stay in Moscow, but it turned out to be not that simple. When I told the director of our shop about my wish, he replied: "No one is going to ask you, young man! And if you disagree, go to the personnel department." So I went to the personnel department. It used to be in the past, when I would visit that place, there sat Uncle Vania [Ivan] in civilian dress. But when I came that time, I was surprised to see how Uncle Vania transformed: he had a military uniform on, four "ties" on the collar tabs, the rank of a colonel, and not a simple colonel, but with a sword and dagger in an ornament -- the NKVD emblem. That was Uncle Vania for you! I somehow became timid from the start, because I saw a military man before me, so I stood there silently.

"What do you want?" he asked. We were all boys and respected Uncle Vania very much. He had been in the cavalry, commanded a squadron in the First Cavalry Army, raided all the way to Warsaw, where we had been soundly defeated. In general, we treated the older generation with respect. He explained to me that the times were harsh now, so there couldn't be any objections.

"Now go back to work, and in a week, on the twenty-second, our train will depart. You'll ride in it into the evacuation. If you decide to do as you please, then, despite my good regard for you, I will have to report you to the proper authorities. You will be put on trial and then you won't be able to avoid a penal company, because it's war now, wartime laws are in effect, and you are obliged to comply with them."

So I went to my father, and said that I have to go to Saratov. He also asked if there was any way I could stay. I told him about my conversation with the director of the personnel department. There was nothing we could do, so the family started preparing me for the road. Sewed a knapsack from tarpaulin. There weren't many rucksacks back then, they were expensive, and salaries were low. So I was all set, and on October 22 by 4pm I was already at the factory, and at 8pm our train departed for Saratov.

- A. D. Do you remember the panic in Moscow caused by the German offensive?

Yes, it happened while I was still there. Panic started on October 15. I saw how the workers from the Hammer and Sickle Factory went to the Il'ich Square, from which the famous Vladimirskii Way, and now the Enthusiasts Highway, begins. That was the road along which various officials fled Moscow, abandoning their enterprises and workers to their fates. They fled with their families and all their possessions. For that purpose many took trucks that belonged not to them, but to the factories, filled them up with gas, took many gas canisters with them as well, loaded all their possessions, and rushed east.

But the workers prevented that: "How can that be right? The managers flee, and abandon us without leadership?!" Workers started stopping those trucks, throwing out those officials with screaming families, discarding their things into the middle of the road, from where they would be immediately looted.

Very quickly this disturbance spread through the city. People started looting stores. I saw how an out of control mob looted a three story supermarket on the Il'ich Square. They grabbed everything and carried it to their homes.

Soon my classmate Zhorka Prorokov received a draft notice from the military commissariat: he was a little older, and was already 18. We, Zhorka's friends, decided to see him off nicely, but couldn't get any vodka, so Zhorka's father gave us an idea to get some varnish, a colorless liquid to polish furniture, which was based on alcohol and sold in half liter bottles. You had to put about two tablespoons of salt into each bottle, stick some cotton in there, and shake well, so the salt would dissolve. Because of salt all solidified into precipitate and glued itself to the cotton, but the alcohol remained. And so during Zhorka's send-off we drank that alcohol. But we were still boys, our organisms weren't that strong yet, and, apparently, we drank too much. Got poisoned. On top of that, red rash broke out all over my body.

It was that rash that saved me! Of course, the Moscow leadership could not let the cases of looting and robbery go unpunished, many of my comrades who took part in the looting of the supermarket on the Il'ich Square were arrested. They came to get me as well, but after seeing what I looked like, they didn't arrest me. My parents said that I was poisoned when seeing off a comrade and staid sick at home throughout the day when the looting took place. My rash saved me. As they say, there was no fortune, but a misfortune saved me from such trouble!

Soon, on the twenty-second, I left for Saratov into the evacuation. Later, in December 1941, I read in a Moscow newspaper an article about that case. It turned out that my comrades were put on trial and each got 10 years in the camps. They wrote in the article that something like, "here, on the dock, sit 10 degenerates who disregarded all Soviet law and turned into robbers," and so on. It was a harsh article. My friend Sashka Prytkin, with whom I went to school, was also among those ten convicted. He was out of town on the day we saw Zhorka off, so he didn't get poisoned and sick, and was arrested. Later, their camp sentences were replaced with a year in a penal battalion at the front. Sasha Prytkin survived miraculously, but returned as an invalid from the front, he lived on for a little while, about ten years, and then died. His wound was very serious: the arm was broken in such a way that fingers moved, but the smashed bones didn't grow together, the arm hung on muscles alone. Such was his fate.

Upon arrival to Saratov, we quickly reassembled our Factory No.205. In order for you to understand how fast it was all done, I'll mention that on the fifth day after our arrival we were already assembling first devices! Of course, we didn't build any walls, we were allocated a prepared building of the former agricultural institute. Our territory was right across from the 1st and 2nd Tank Academies, on the other side of the road! We worked and lived at the factory.

Without exaggeration, we worked day and night. Somewhere in the end of February or the beginning of March 1942 a factory directive to put beds right in the workshops came out. We went out to eat in the cafeteria or to shower. We worked around 14-16 hours per day, and maybe even more. No days off. You would sleep for four or five hours, then they would wake you up, you would get up and go to work. We lived and worked with the thought of giving the front everything necessary, as quickly as possible. And it was not a slogan or propaganda! We really lived that way, and even though it might seem incredible now, but a man can get used to and live through much.

- A. D. Was your work tested? Did the technical control departments exist?

Of course! All of that took place! Before April 1942 it was even stricter, since we had military acceptance tests, led by the senior military representative Colonel Fokht. Besides him, there were other military representatives whose names I don't remember, with the exception of Karpinskii. When in April 1942 Karpinskii left for Moscow into the disposal of GAU (Main Artillery Directorate -- V.P.), I sent through him my overcoat and suit to my mother and sisters, since at the time I was planning to go into the army. Those things were useless in the army, I would've had to abandon them anyway, and that way my family got them. I also sent my shoes. They were excellent, very much in vogue at that time. I even remember that they cost me 110 rubles. So that you would understand if that's expensive, I can tell you that at that time I was paid 400-450 rubles [per month]. Expensive shoes! Mom got all these things and exchanged them for food, bread during the times of hunger. Back then a loaf of bread cost 300 rubles at the market.

- A. D. Did you have bread ration cards in Saratov?

Yes, of course! All food was given out strictly through ration cards. If anyone lost them, it was such tragedy! Of course, they were fed in the cafeteria for free, but only with the leftovers! But sometimes there were no leftovers! In any case, it was completely insufficient to survive and keep your strength to work in the factory. Soap was also rationed. If you lost your ration card and did not have soap -- you were on your own. Even if you didn't wash for a month.

- A. D. Have you ever lost ration cards?

No, I haven't, but my comrade -- Kolia [Nikolai] Volkov -- has. We had been classmates, and worked at the same factory, and then had been evacuated together. Actually, it was me who brought him to our factory, to Uncle Vania. I said that here, this is my friend, a good man, I vouch for him. They hired him as a metal worker as well. We took the qualification test together. At first, he only got the third grade, but soon he realized that his salary depended on the grade, so he retook the test and go the fourth. Or maybe because he wasn't as watched over as I was. Uncle Kolia, whose apprentice I had been, watched over me and, if anything happened, told my father. My father, may he rest in peace, strapped me! He was strict. In general, my father was kind, but sometimes he had to use such harsh measures, after all, he had five children: Mikhail, Vera, me, Ania [Anna], and Valentina. I worship him even now.

- A. D. Who was your Dad?

He was a chef in the cafeteria of the TsAGI aviation engine factory. Since he was a chef of the highest qualification, he was often invited to all sorts of occasions. For example, sometimes Sergo Ordzhonikidze personally called him at home, asked him to come to the Kremlin to serve the guests invited there. He was called to the Kremlin very often and sometimes would work for a month there. Besides the official wage at TsAGI, in the Kremlin they gave him a can of condensed milk, a pack of "Kushka" cigarettes, a large chocolate bar, a can of meat preserves, a can of barley with meat, everyone called it "shrapnel" back then.

- A. D. But that was before the war started?

No, also during the war. Every day that he worked in the Kremlin cafeteria, they gave him an additional ration and 20 rubles. In general, it was a very profitable and fat position. Any time he was called to the Kremlin, he went there gladly. You know, my father smoked very little, two-three cigarettes per day, and one pack was enough for half a month for him. He put the remaining cigarettes into a chest, a small one, that we had in our house. And so, after a month or two of working at the Kremlin, this chest would be half filled with packs of these cigarettes. You know, before the war cigarettes were usually sold singly, not in packs. Boys-hawkers walked the streets and sold them. Once they found out about this, they would often come to him:

"Uncle Iasha [Iakov], sell us some cigarettes!"

And Dad sold them. A pack of such cigarettes cost one ruble and twenty-two kopecks back then, it was a lot of money! As a comparison, I can say that our Mom daily spent up to three-four rubles on the entire family, and we had meat dishes almost every day on the table: soup, and porridge with meat. Always had milk...

Returning to the main story. So, I worked in Saratov at the factory. In the spring of 1942 I was allowed to have my own stamp. That is, every device I made I stamped with my own stamp, sort of like a signature on a document. In April Colonel Fokht called me, Kolia Volkov, Tolia [Anatolii] Smirnov, and Mukhamedzha Sharidzhanovich, and asked:

"Would you like to become military representatives? You will work in the military acceptance testing, we will give you the qualification of a military acceptance technician."

I objected that we didn't have the required education, but the colonel replied that since we had the grade, we were pretty much prepared for such work. I asked about the salary. He said that we would earn as much as we earned before. And by that time I was already getting more than a thousand rubles, probably even 1500 [per month].

- A. D. Probably, there was steep inflation?

Inflation was apparent only in the market prices, but in the state stores prices practically didn't change.

- A. D. But you couldn't buy anything in those stores, they probably stood empty?

Well, not completely empty, but there was little choice, you could buy only what you had ration cards for. After all, a ration card is not a coupon, it is simply the right to buy something in a strictly limited quantity, but in order to buy, you needed money as well as the cards. That is, officially it was as if there was no inflation, but on the other hand it existed, because a person had to go to the market, since not enough food was sold through ration cards.

Be it as it may, but we agreed to the colonel's offer, and as we would soon find out, we made a mistake. It turned out that in order to test the devices we had to drive to the range regularly, which was located almost 500 km away. And the road there was bad, mostly potholes and bumps. In this manner we suffered for a couple of months.

In May I said to the guys I worked with, "Let's go to the front, enough feeding lice here!" Back then patriotism was not like now! Nowadays no one wants to serve in the army, but back then everyone yearned to go into the army! And they wanted it not because life was bad at the home front, but because they wanted to finish off the fascists! Things we read, saw in photographs, but most importantly, what refugees told us, they were simply horrible!

And so in May we agreed and went to the military commissariat together. Colonel Smirnov listened to us there and said:

"Here's the deal, guys. I looked through your personnel files, they are signed by Scherbakov (secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee -- V.P.), that's why I can't draft you, I could be put on trial for that. So you need to go to your factory management, let them give you permission."

So we went to our Colonel Fokht, told him about the nature of our business. He asked:

"Where am I going to send you? There is no draft now, it will only be in June."

But he was sympathetic to our situation, went with us to the military commissariat. There it turned out that there was some accelerated course for infantry NCOs, and that's where they placed us.

After a month and a half we finished the course, they gave us the rank of sergeants, two triangles on the collar tabs.

On the day of the graduation we were formed up on the parade ground, some officers came, colonels. The commander of our course read from the podium the order on conferring the rank of sergeant on us, then came down and commanded:

"Listen to my command! Attention! Anyone who has higher or incomplete higher education -- ten steps forward! Anyone who has secondary technical or incomplete secondary technical education -- five steps forward! Anyone who finished ten years of school -- three steps forward! March!"

We all spread out, some three, some five, and some even ten steps. They formed us up into columns and led us to the military commissariat. Our "buyers" stood there: a tanker officer, an officer from a military political academy (VPU), and an air force officer. All of them had four "ties" on their collar tabs -- colonels. First they asked for volunteers: who wanted to go where? Well, Mukhamedzha Sharidzhanovich turned to us and said:

"Guys, let's go become tankers! It's prestigious! You drive, the entire country is under you! And you're on an iron steed!"

Well, I agreed. And just as soon as we started toward the tanker officer, I heard the officer from the VPU call me. I approached, reported -- "Junior Sergeant Zheleznov arrived at your order". He told me:

"Do you want, Comrade Junior Sergeant, to go to the military political academy?"

I replied that no, I didn't want that, I already decided to become a tanker. He said, "You'll be sorry! It'll be hard for you, I'm saying that seriously, service as a tanker is hard. Become a political worker! You'll graduate from the academy, become a company political officer, and if you show talent, even a battalion commissar!"

But I didn't yield to his exhortations:

"Comrade Colonel, I already decided. I'll go become a tanker with all the guys."

And so I left. They put us into the 1st Saratov Tank Academy. It was somehwere around 25 June 1942. Immediately after we got there, all new arrivals went through quarantine.

In general, in those times education of 10 years was considered good, it was very valuable, since the majority of guys had 4-7 years of education. Many went to technical schools after the seventh grade, or to factories, or after 1940 -- trade schools (better known as FZO schools -- V.P.), from which, after six months, they would leave as qualified workers.

So I found myself in the Saratov Tank Academy. Sometime in June the academy got T-34 tanks, before that we were trained on English Matildas and Canadian Valentines with 57mm guns. Incidentally, the gun on the Valentine was really excellent! It could easily penetrate Tiger's side armor! And Valentine itself turned out to be a very successful vehicle, low, literally human height.

- A. D. Our tankers didn't like the Matilda at all, is that right?

Matilda was simply a huge target! It had thick armor, but its gun was only 42mm with an obsolete sight. The tank in general was clumsy, not maneuverable, since it was moved by two weak 90 hp Layland engines, 180 hp total for its 15 ton weight. The tank could barely move at 25kph and only on a highway, and on an unpaved road -- even slower than that!

Valentine was a more successful tank, small in size, with good maneuverability. Sometimes you could approach a Tiger unnoticed on a Valentine. There was such a case during the Kamenets-Podol'skii Operation. A tank platoon went to reconnoiter -- three T-34 tanks. In the bushes, they ran into a German Tiger in an ambush, which shot them up after letting them approach to the distance of 500 meters. Then we sent a 57mm Valentine, which outflanked the Tiger, moved stealthily through the bushes to the distance of 250-300 meters, and destroyed it with only one round. The Tiger burst into flames, and the way forward was open! Otherwise, an entire tank brigade might've been held up for three or four hours. Although, we had acquired that Valentine by accident, in some manner it found its way into the motorcycle battalion of the brigade, with the scouts.

- A. D. Were you taught on T-34 tanks or Valentines?

Starting in the of end June and up to August we were taught on T-34.

- A. D. Were you trained to be a tank commander?

A tank platoon commander, he commands not one, but three tanks.

- A. D. What did the training consist of?

First of all, learning the equipment -- gun, transmission, engine. We already had some understanding of the turret, hull, etc, but we knew nothing of the tank diesel engine. T-34 engines were very powerful, the V-2V had 450hp, and the V-2K -- 500hp. The latter had a cylinder head that was somewhat different, and its compression ratio was significantly higher than that of the V-2V. Correspondingly, there was different fuel consumption. If with the V-2V we spent 50-60 liters (if my memory doesn't fail me) for 100 km, with the V-2K it turned out to be somewhere around 70 liters.

- A. D. Were you taught "interoperability", that is, ability to replace a killed crew member?

We were taught to be platoon commanders. When we started crew training, I, as a platoon commander, had to make sure that the crew members could replace each other. It had to be that way, since the loader was supposed to be the gun commander.

- A. D. Did two men sit in the turret?

No, three men: tank commander, gun commander/gunner, loader.

- A. D. But you are talking of later T-34. In 1942 there were no tanks with such turrets yet.

Yes, that's right! Five men in the turret were when T-34-85 tanks appeared, but we were trained on tanks with the 76mm guns, where gun commander/tank commander and loader/gunner were in the turret. And two men in front: the driver and his second/machine gunner/radio operator. The machine gunner had a front machine gun, although you couldn't see anything through it, but if he fired, he fired at the direction of the tank commander.

- A. D. Were there radios on the tanks you received?

Yes. There were 71-TK-3, 9R, or 9RM installed on T-34-76, and either 9RM or 9RS on T-34-85. The radio was necessary in battle, command and control is an integral part of battle. Platoon commander observes the battlefield and gives commands to tank commanders of his platoon. For example, "Ponomarev, advance in the direction of such and such landmark and open fire, let's say, on a hill, or a house, or a separate tree, or a group of trees, with an HE, or let's say, AP round." But in general all crew members observed and often opened fire on their own, because sometimes there was no time to give commands. And if you spent too much time commanding others, you could miss your own death.

- A. D. What specifically did platoon commander training consist of?

First of all, we studied rules of battle and the field manual with respect to tactics. Secondly, practiced combat maneuvers, tank interoperability, and thirdly -- driving a tank.

- A. D. And live fire?

Live fire, of course!

- A. D. Did you study the characteristics of German tanks?

No, we didn't study the characteristics of German tanks, it wasn't necessary. Large posters were hung up in hallways all over the academy. They showed German tanks and all their vulnerable spots. There were Germany Pz.III, Pz.IV, Pz.V Panther, Pz.VI Tiger, self-propelled guns Ferdinand, StuG. So willy-nilly we learned all that.

The schedule at the academy was the following. There were classes from 9am until 1400. Then until 1600 -- dinner and personal time. We walked in uniform around the academy, and you had to look neat, so that the undercollar was white, all buttons in place. You could easily get extra duty for looking untidy. Despite the equality in ranks, familiarity with squad commander was not allowed.

I was appointed a squad commander of the 7th Cadet Company of the 2nd Tank Battalion. By tat time, the cadets of the 5th and 6th Companies became lieutenants and had been sent to the front.

I graduated from the academy with excellence. Right at that time the order about abolishing the institute of military commissars came out (the order came out on 9 October 1942 -- V.P.). Before that time all political workers had the rank of junior - politruk, politruk, battalion commissar, and so on. Now they were all reevaluated and given regular military ranks. Our graduation took place right when the reevaluation began. Everyone who graduated with "excellent" grade was offered to stay for another three months, then they could become a deputy battalion commander for political work. They offered that position to me. I agreed.

Political workers were reevaluated together with me, and I was 19 back then. Still a boy! And next to me grown men with high military ranks sat behind their desks. And they even made me platoon commander! Now there were people in my platoon with two "cubes", three, and even with "ties" ("cubes" and "ties" were Red Army insignia until 1943. Three "cubes" -- senior lieutenant, one "tie" -- captain, two -- major, etc. -- V.P.)! They could've been my fathers. I remember one time I was the battalion duty officer, went to the barracks, and there were only three men out of the entire platoon sleeping (there was a total of 42 men in my platoon). I asked where the rest were. It turned out that thirty-nine men were AWOL. Went to see women. Husbands at the front, and they went to their wives. So I went to Senior Lieutenant Bochastyi, reported that I found such business when I was on duty. He asked me if I reported that to anyone else. I replied that no, I didn't report. He said, "Good job, don't report this!"

Later, when everyone returned, Bochastyi formed up our platoon and said that "This won't do, it's enough that we give you days off on Sundays. And so that everyone of you would feel the responsibility, we'll do the following: every week each one of you will take turns being the platoon commander. Because otherwise sooner or later there will be an inspection, they'll find out about the AWOL, and the platoon commander will be found unfit for the position. That will be the end of his military career." Such was the story, and I'm still proud that I was brave enough to report it, because men had been going AWOL before that, but no one reported.

Some time later they sent us to Gor'kii, where the 3rd Training Tank Brigade was deployed. The 3rd Reserve Training Tank Regiment, where I was placed, was located in Bolokhna. That was where we received the personnel and the equipment -- T-34 -- and started combat training, tactical exercises of platoons and companies.

Tactical exercises took place in the field. For example, during the exercises of a platoon, we practiced missions such as an attack by the platoon, platoon in defense, platoon on the march. Company exercises were the same, only with the entire tank company. After the tactical exercises, we did live fire exercises from tanks on the firing range.

I also want to note that we were taught on training tanks. When we were sent to the front, they gave us new tanks. It would seem that the tanks were the same T-34, but that's only at first glance, that of a dilettante. Every vehicle, every tank, every tank gun, every engine had its unique characteristics. You couldn't find them out beforehand, you had to figure them out only in the process of daily use. In the end we ended up with unfamiliar vehicles at the front. The gunner didn't know his gun, the driver didn't know what his diesel engine could and could not do, and so on. What had to be adjusted, and how much: the gun, the sight, what else? We had to go into combat in unfamiliar vehicles. Of course, at the factory they adjusted tank guns and made a 50 km drive, but that was completely insufficient. Obviously, we tried to familiarize ourselves with our tanks before battle, used every opportunity for that.

And then we were sent to the front as replacements into the 30th Guards Ural Volunteer Tank Regiment...

To be continued

Interview by:

Artem Drabkin

Transcription by:

Valera Potapov

Translated by:

Oleg Sheremet

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