One of the most famous child heroes of the Great Patriotic War is Valya Kotik. Feat ( summary his biography and military activities are the subject of this review) this boy is probably known to every schoolchild. This work provides a description of his life and participation in battles in the partisan detachment. His personality became an example of the courage and heroism of the Soviet people shown during the years of the German invasion of our Motherland. The child's fate was all the more tragic because he died at the age of fourteen, however, despite his young age, he did a lot to liberate his native city, for which he was awarded the highest military award.
Childhood
In 1930, Valya Kotik was born into the family of an employee. The feat (a brief summary of which will be described below) of this boy had great importance not only in a practical, but also in an ideological sense, since his actions became an example to follow. He was the youngest in the family and was in the sixth grade at the time of the enemy invasion.
At first, the child began to pay attention to fascist posts and distribute propaganda leaflets calling for a fight against the invaders. Thus, the schoolboy attracted the attention of the head of the local underground organization, who settled in his house. At first, the little hero of the big war, Valya Kotik, mistook him for an enemy spy and traitor, but after learning the truth, he became a member of his group. They began to give him small assignments: to monitor German officers, to obtain and guard weapons. The capable child showed courage, quickness and ingenuity, so that he began to be given more responsible and serious assignments.
Participation in the partisan movement
The boy quickly learned how to handle weapons and explosives. He was able to mine the roads and highways along which patrols passed. One day, a child noticed the head of the local gendarmerie in a passing car, who was driving to his hometown of Shepetivka. The student threw a grenade and the car exploded.
Thus, Valya Kotik made a great contribution to the liberation of the city. Feat (summary of it military biography reflects the tragic fate of many child partisans) the boy lies in the fact that he combined physical dexterity with ideological conviction, thanks to which he did not leave his detachment even at a time when he was offered to cross to safe areas of the country.
1942-1944
At first, the student served as a liaison in an underground group, but soon began to participate in battles. An important step In his military biography, he came under the command of Lieutenant Muzalev, who led the occupied territories. The teenager actively fought on the side of the Red Army and was wounded twice.
In 1943, Valya Kotik interrupted Warsaw’s connection with the main German headquarters. The feat, a brief summary of which allows us only to approximately judge the significance of this step, facilitated the actions of the members of the underground organization in the liberation of the conquered territory. The boy also took part in undermining German trains. In addition to his powers of observation and skillful organizational skills, he also proved himself to be an excellent patrolman. One day, he, alone from the entire group of partisans, noticed an impending raid on his comrades and raised the alarm in time, thus saving all the people.
Death
Valya Kotik, feat, biography of which in mandatory studied in all Soviet schools, fought on Ukrainian territory. As mentioned above, he was offered to move to a safer area, but he did not want to leave his home unit. He took part in the liberation operation to lift the occupation from the city of Izyaslav. According to one version, the boy was sent on reconnaissance, noticed a German patrol, raised the alarm, but was mortally wounded, after which he quickly died. Some scientists believe that the young hero's wound was minor, but he died due to shelling during the evacuation. He was buried in his hometown. Many streets in Russian cities are named after him, as well as pioneer camps, schools, and squads. Several monuments have been erected to him, including in the capital of our country. A number of films are dedicated to his life.
Confession
Among the many partisans who made a significant contribution to the victory, Valya Kotik, a pioneer hero, stands out. Heroes of Russia and the USSR have always received the highest awards and orders. So the boy initially received partisan medals, and in 1958 he was awarded the country's main honorary title. As mentioned above, a film was made about him.
According to the plot of the film, the character, a young schoolboy, sacrifices his life by blowing himself up with a grenade so as not to be captured by the enemy. It is significant that many young fighters became famous after their tragic death. In this series, Kotik occupies an honorable place, as he carried out a number of actions of strategic importance. The destruction of the connection with the headquarters was a step whose significance went beyond local success. Therefore, in school history lessons, attention should be paid to the importance of his underground activities in the liberation of Ukraine from German occupation.
During Soviet times, the name of the pioneer hero Valya Kotik was familiar to every schoolchild. It was associated primarily with patriotism, loyalty and courage. The youngest Hero Soviet Union, who did not spare his life for the sake of his beloved Motherland, was an example for many boys and girls. On February 11, Valentin Kotik would have turned 84 years old. On this date, let us remember his military exploits.
Valentin Kotik was born in the small Ukrainian village of Khmelevka on February 11, 1930. His father Alexander Fedoseevich was a carpenter, his mother Anna Nikitichna was a collective farmer. There was a roller youngest child, always tried to imitate his older brother Vita. It is enough to give such an example. When Vita was 7 years old, his parents sent him to school. Valya also wanted to become a first-grader, but his father took pity on the boy, who still had whole year. So that Valya would not be upset, his mother bought him a pen and a notebook, and when his older brother came home from school, they studied together. Valya repeated after Vitya everything the teacher asked. And three months later he couldn’t stand it and came to school, like Tolstoy’s Filipok. The teacher allowed him to study with everyone else. Valya became one of the best students in the class and at the end of the year received a certificate of merit.
In the summer of 1937, the Kotik family moved to Shepetovka. When the mother was enrolling her sons in school, the director was perplexed: the youngest was only 7, and he was already applying for second grade - nevertheless, Valya was accepted. At the end primary school he was given a book by N. Ostrovsky “How the Steel Was Tempered.” Her hero Pavka Korchagin became an idol for Valentin.
On November 7, 1939, on the anniversary of the October Revolution, Valik was accepted into the pioneers. At the ceremonial gathering, he pronounced an oath in an adult manner, which included the following lines:“...I promise to passionately love my Motherland. Live, study and fight, as the great Lenin bequeathed, as the Communist Party teaches. Sacredly observe the Laws of Pioneerism of the Soviet Union" , that is, to be an example for the younger ones, to look up to the heroes of struggle and labor, to prepare to become a defender of the Motherland, to honor the memory of the dead, to be an honest comrade.And Valik was very sensitive to the grief of others. When a classmate is at the front Soviet-Finnish War his father died, the boy offered to chip in to buy him shoes.
When the Great Patriotic War began, people began to evacuate from Shepetivka. The Kotik family was no exception. Before leaving home, Valik decided to let his pet squirrel. And when he said goodbye to the animal, he noticed four impeccably dressed “policemen” speaking German. Valya took off running. On the outskirts of the city he met Red Army soldiers, who tied up the German saboteurs.
The Kotik family was unable to evacuate - their escape routes were cut off; and they returned home. Shepetovka, which was ruled by the Nazis, looked terrible: N. Ostrovsky’s house-museum was burned to the ground, the school was turned into a stable, all Jews were driven into a ghetto and were not allowed to leave this area of the city. Heart young pioneer filled with hatred for those who committed outrages on his land.
Valik thought about how he could be useful not only to the partisans, but also to ordinary people. When they flew over Shepetivka soviet planes and dropped appeal leaflets, Valik collected them and posted them around the city. And then a strange man, Stepan Didenko, settled with the Kotiki, who, as it turned out later, escaped from captivity. He created an underground organization in Shepetovka, which included Vitya Kotik and his close friends Kolya and Styopa, and later Valya joined, becoming a liaison for the Shepetovka underground workers.
Together with other guys, he collected cartridges and weapons at the site of recent battles, hid them in caches, made inquiries about the location of German troops and posts, recorded the time of guard changing, found out where their food and ammunition depots were located, and kept records of their tanks and guns. A light machine gun was buried in the meat processing plant. Roller dug it up, took it apart, put it in a basket and transported it on a bicycle across the city to the forest. Another time, he was tasked with escorting sixteen Polish prisoners of war who had escaped from the camp to a partisan detachment.
Together with other underground fighters, Valya participated in mining the highway connecting Shepetovka with Slavuta. But when a peaceful peasant died on the road, the demolition work was stopped. The guys ambushed the police. One day, the head of the Shepetovsk gendarmerie, Chief Lieutenant Fritz König, was driving along the highway, an incredibly cruel man, whose very name aroused hatred. The guys could not miss this opportunity - to destroy the main enemy of the city. It was Valya who crawled up to the road like a snake and threw a grenade at the car.
The death of König at the hands of the underground seriously worried the Nazis, and although they arrested several partisans, the underground did not stop its work. Valik and his comrades, having disarmed the guards, plundered a German warehouse with food and set fire to the building. And another time, the guys let loose a red rooster at the oil depot and lumberyard.
Every day it became more and more dangerous to stay in Shepetovka. Didenko took all the underground fighters and their families to the partisans, from where women and children were sent to the rear. And Valik, who was only 12, flatly refused great prospects, considering that his job is to defend the Motherland and mercilessly take revenge on the enemy. He was accepted into the partisan detachment. He had to take “tongues”, mine roads, and blow up bridges. Six trains with ammunition, equipment, and manpower of the enemy were derailed by the pioneer. And one day he cut the telephone cable connecting the Minister of Eastern Lands von Rosenberg with Hitler’s headquarters in Warsaw. Communication was paralyzed for a whole week.
Valya Kotik received his first medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War”, II degree, for the fact that in a battle with punitive forces he not only destroyed several Nazis, but also covered his commander with his chest, received gunshot wound in the chest. And having recovered, he returned to duty. In the detachment he was called a Korchagin man, and he proudly wore this title, risking his life, looking into the face of danger every day, without thinking at all about the praise of his senior comrades in arms. And one day Valik fell into the hands of punitive forces, but he did not lose his head and threw a grenade at the enemies - he killed the traitors and informed the partisans about the danger.
V.V. Yudin. Illustration for the book by G. Najafarov “Valya Kotik”When Valik turned 14, Soviet army liberated Shepetivka. He could have returned to his hometown, but he refused - the neighboring city of Izyaslav was still under Nazi rule. But Valya Kotik was not destined to return home - in the hot battles for Izyaslav, while guarding an ammunition depot and shooting at the enemy, he was mortally wounded in the stomach.
V.V. Yudin. Illustration for the book by G. Najafarov “Valya Kotik”The young partisan was buried in the kindergarten in front of Shepetivka school No. 4. Valya Kotik was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree. In the city park of Shepetovka and in Moscow, at VDNKh, monuments to the pioneer hero were erected.
Monuments to Valya Kotik in Moscow(left) and in Shepetivka(on right)Motor ships, schools, pioneer squads, streets, etc. were named after him. Valya Kotik became one of the prototypes of the hero Valya Kotko from the film “Eaglet” (1957).
And the Soviet poet Mikhail Svetlov dedicated poems to the young partisan:We remember the recent battles,
More than one feat was accomplished in them.
Joined the family of our glorious heroes
Brave boy - Valentin the Cat.
He, as in life, boldly asserts:
"Youth is immortal,
Our business is immortal!”
Valentin Aleksandrovich Kotik (Valya Kotik) was born on February 11, 1930, a young partisan reconnaissance officer. partisan detachment named after Karmelyuk, who operated in the temporarily occupied territory of the Kamenets-Podolsk region of the Ukrainian SSR; the youngest Hero of the Soviet Union.
You don’t choose times, says the well-known wisdom. Some people experience a childhood with pioneer camps and collecting waste paper, others with game consoles and accounts on social networks.
The generation of children of the 1930s suffered a cruel and terrible war, which took away relatives, loved ones, friends and childhood itself. And instead of children's toys, the most persistent and courageous took rifles and machine guns into their hands. They took it to take revenge on the enemy and fight for the Motherland.
War is not a child's business. But when she comes to your house, the usual ideas change radically.
In 1933, the writer Arkady Gaidar wrote “The Tale of the Military Secret, the Boy-Kibalchish and his firm word.” This work by Gaidar, written eight years before the start of the Great Patriotic War, was destined to become a symbol of memory of all the young heroes who died in the fight against German fascist invaders.
Valya Kotik, like all Soviet boys and girls, of course, heard the fairy tale about Malchish-Kibalchish. But he hardly thought that he would have to be in the place of the brave hero Gaidar.
Valya Kotik was born on February 11, 1930 in Ukraine, in the village of Khmelevka, Kamenets-Podolsk region, into a peasant family.
Valya had an ordinary childhood as a boy of that time, with the usual pranks, secrets, and sometimes bad grades. Everything changed in June 1941, when war broke into the life of sixth-grader Valya Kotik.
The rapid Hitlerite blitzkrieg of the summer of 1941, and now Valya, who by that time lived in the city of Shepetivka, together with his family was already in the occupied territory.
The victorious power of the Wehrmacht instilled fear in many adults, but did not frighten Valya, who, together with his friends, decided to fight the Nazis. To begin with, they began to collect and hide weapons that remained at the sites of battles that raged around Shepetivka. Then they grew bolder to the point that they began to steal machine guns from unwary Nazis.
And in the fall of 1941, a desperate boy committed real sabotage - setting up an ambush near the road, he used a grenade to blow up a car with Nazis, killing several soldiers and the commander of a field gendarmerie detachment.
The underground members learned about Valya's affairs. It was almost impossible to stop the desperate boy, and then he was involved in underground work. He was tasked with collecting information about the German garrison, posting leaflets, and acting as a liaison.
For the time being, the nimble boy did not arouse suspicion among the Nazis. However, the more successful actions became on the account of the underground, the more carefully the Nazis began to look for their assistants among the local residents.
In the summer of 1943, the threat of arrest hung over Valya’s family, and he, along with his mother and brother, went into the forest, becoming a fighter in the Karmelyuk partisan detachment.
The command tried to take care of the 13-year-old boy, but he was eager to fight. In addition, Valya showed himself to be a skilled intelligence officer and a person capable of finding a way out of the most difficult situation.
In October 1943, Valya, who was on a partisan patrol, ran into punitive forces preparing to attack the base of a partisan detachment. They tied up the boy, but, deciding that he did not pose a threat and could not provide valuable intelligence, they left him under guard right there, on the edge of the forest.
Valya himself was wounded, but managed to get to the hut of the forester who was helping the partisans. After recovery, he continued to fight in the detachment.
Valya participated in the undermining of six enemy echelons, the destruction of the Nazi strategic communications cable, as well as in a number of other successful actions, for which he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and the medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree.”
On February 11, 1944, Valya turned 14 years old. The front was rapidly moving to the West, and the partisans helped the regular army as best they could. Shepetovka, where Valya lived, had already been liberated, but the detachment moved on, preparing for its last operation - the assault on the city of Izyaslav.
After it, the detachment had to be disbanded, the adults had to join the regular units, and Valya had to return to school.
The battle for Izyaslav on February 16, 1944 turned out to be hot, but it was already ending in favor of the partisans when Valya was seriously wounded by a stray bullet.
They broke into the city to help the partisans Soviet troops. The wounded Valya was urgently sent to the rear, to the hospital. However, the wound turned out to be fatal - on February 17, 1944, Valya Kotik died.
Valya was buried in the village of Khorovets. At the request of his mother, the son’s ashes were transferred to the city of Shepetivka and reburied in the city park.
A large country that survived a terrible war could not immediately appreciate the exploits of all those who fought for its freedom and independence. But over time, everything fell into place.
For his heroism in the fight against the Nazi invaders, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 27, 1958, Valentin Aleksandrovich Kotik was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In history, he never became Valentin, remaining simply Valya. The youngest Hero of the Soviet Union.
His name, like the names of other pioneer heroes, whose feats were told to Soviet schoolchildren in the post-war period, was subjected to defamation and mockery in the post-Soviet period.
But time puts everything in its place. A feat is a feat, and betrayal is betrayal. Valya Kotik, in a difficult time of testing for the Motherland, turned out to be more courageous than many adults, who to this day are looking for justification for their cowardice and cowardice.
Eternal memory to him!
Soviet children, pioneers and others, who fought along with adults for the freedom of our country, who died in the fight against the enemy, who lived to see the Victory - they are all in the Immortal Regiment of a thousand years of Russian history.
Kotik Valentin Aleksandrovich (Valya Kotik) - a young partisan scout of the Karmelyuk partisan detachment, operating in the temporarily occupied territory of the Kamenets-Podolsk region of the Ukrainian SSR; the youngest Hero of the Soviet Union.
Born on February 11, 1930 in the village of Khmelevka, Shepetovsky district of Kamenets-Podolsk since 1954 and now in the Khmelnytsky region of Ukraine in the family of an employee. Ukrainian. Pioneer. Graduated from 5 classes high school in the regional center - the city of Shepetovka.
During the Great Patriotic War, being on the territory of the Shepetovsky district temporarily occupied by Nazi troops, Valya Kotik worked to collect weapons and ammunition, drew and posted caricatures of the Nazis. Since 1942, he had connections with the Shepetivka underground party organization and carried out its intelligence orders.
Since August 1943, the young patriot was a scout in the Shepetovsky partisan detachment named after Karmelyuk.
In October 1943, a young partisan scouted the location of the underground telephone cable of Hitler's headquarters, which was soon blown up. He also participated in the bombing of six railway trains and a warehouse.
On October 29, 1943, while at his post, Valya noticed that the punitive forces had staged a raid on the detachment. Having killed a fascist officer with a pistol, he raised the alarm, and the partisans managed to prepare for battle.
Valya Kotik in childhood
On February 16, 1944, in a battle for the city of Izyaslav, Kamenets-Podolsk, now Khmelnitsky region, a 14-year-old partisan scout was mortally wounded and died the next day. He was buried in the center of the park in the city of Shepetivka, now in the Khmelnitsky region of Ukraine.
For his heroism in the fight against the Nazi invaders, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 27, 1958, Valentin Aleksandrovich Kotik was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and the medal “Partisan of the Great Patriotic War,” 2nd degree.
Shepetovka. Monument to the pioneer hero Valya Kotik
Streets were named after Valya Kotik (in Bor, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Kyiv, Krivoy Rog, Korosten, Nizhny Novgorod, Donetsk, Shepetovka),
pioneer squads, schools, a motor ship, a pioneer camp (in Tobolsk and Astrakhan). In 1957, the film “Eaglet”, dedicated to Valya Kotik, was shot at the Odessa Film Studio
and Marat Kazei.
Monuments to the hero were erected:
in Moscow in 1960 (at VDNH now the All-Russian Exhibition Center)
in Shepetivka in 1960 (sculptors L. Skiba, P. Flit, I. Samotes).
in Bor
Every Soviet child and schoolchild knew about the pioneer hero Valya Kotik. And now schools are massively purchasing books about VVP’s childhood...
Soviet ideology was too rigid and sometimes too intrusive. But what was most harmful about it was that some facts were either made up or embellished. And in the case of the pioneer children, much was also unclear, but the children of the Soviet Union needed an example, they needed a guideline of honor and conscience, courage and bravery. And that is the only reason why children of the war years were especially celebrated. Nowadays, with our humanity and tolerance, people are increasingly reading old stories or stories about such heroes with disapproval. “You have to fight like that at the age of 14!!! Can't be!!!" - you can hear indignant exclamations. Yes, today's children are hardly capable of feats for the sake of their Motherland. But there was this Valentin Aleksandrovich Kotik (Valya Kotik).
He was born in Ukraine on February 11, 1930 in the village of Khmelevka, Shepetovsky district, Kamenets-Podolsk (from 1954 to the present - Khmelnitsky) region of Ukraine in the family of an employee, in the very country where today they hate everything that he loved. He actually fought there and was mortally wounded there. By the way, he was buried there in the city of Shepetovka. Now everything Soviet there is being destroyed, so it is quite possible that his grave will be razed to the ground. So, Kotik was the youngest of those who were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Receiving such a title at the age of 14 is very honorable. But he didn’t see it himself; the award was given posthumously. So what is this award for? Can you imagine that a boy, together with the partisans, could kill the head of the gendarmerie? He did this by throwing a grenade at the head's car. Further, the boy was a liaison in the Shepetovsky underground organization (oh, how he would be cursed now!), and participated in battles. It was he who deprived Hitler’s headquarters of communication with Warsaw by completely accidentally discovering an underground telephone cable. And he also participated in the bombing of trains with military equipment, blew up warehouses.
Especially in Soviet time, celebrated his feat, which he accomplished in the fall of 1943. Then, while on patrol, he noticed punitive forces who were clearly heading towards the partisans. And now attention: Valya Kotik not only raised the alarm, but killed the officer, causing a fuss. The partisans naturally came to his aid and repulsed the enemy. In this case, everything seems a little “far-fetched”: the boy unmistakably chose the officer from the entire squad and killed him. By the way, from what? He couldn't run up to him and shoot? Did the guy really have a sniper rifle?
Awards
- Hero of the Soviet Union (June 27, 1958);
- The order of Lenin;
- Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree;
- Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" II degree.
Memory
- Streets were named after Valya Kotik (in the cities of Bor, Donetsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Kiev, Krivoy Rog, Korosten, Nizhny Novgorod, Onatskovtsy, Rovno, Starokonstantinov, Shepetovka), pioneer squads, schools (in Yekaterinburg), a motor ship, pioneer camps (in Tobolsk, Berdsk and Nizhny Novgorod).
- In 1957, the film “Eaglet”, dedicated to Valya Kotik and Marat Kazei, was shot at the Odessa Film Studio.
- Monuments to the hero were erected:
- in Moscow in 1960, on the territory of the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy (now the All-Russian Exhibition Center) at the entrance to pavilion No. 8, a bust was installed (sculptor N. Kongisern);
- in Shepetivka in 1960 (sculptors L. Skiba, P. Flit, I. Samotos);
- in the city of Bor;
- in the village of Yagodnoye near Togliatti, the territory of the former pioneer camp “Scarlet Sails”;
- in Simferopol on the Alley of Heroes in the Children's Park.
- In Tashkent, before the collapse of the USSR, there was a park named after Vali Kotik; after the declaration of independence of Uzbekistan, it was renamed the Zafar Diyor Park.
- He was the prototype for the character in the Russian-Japanese-Canadian animated fantasy film “The First Squad”.