Fight by the river valor. The feat of Nikolai Sirotinin - a short history of the hero. Fiction or true story

Nikolai Sirotinin, a young sergeant from Orel, in one two-hour battle, 11 tanks, 6 armored personnel carriers and armored cars, 57 German soldiers and officers. Best Great Gunner Patriotic War... His feat was highly appreciated even by his enemies.

Childhood and the beginning of the war

There are some dry facts about the childhood of Nikolai Sirotinin. Born on March 7, 1921 in the city of Oryol. He lived on Dobrolyubov Street, 32. Father - Vladimir Kuzmich Sirotinin, mother - Elena Korneevna. The family has five children, Nikolai is the second oldest. The father notes that as a child, Nikolai met him at the semaphore - Vladimir Kuzmich worked as a machinist. Mom noted his hard work, affectionate disposition and help in raising younger children. After leaving school, Nikolai went to work at the Tokmash plant as a turner.

On October 5, 1940, Nicholas was drafted into the army. He was assigned to the 55th Infantry Regiment in the city of Polotsk, Belorussian SSR. Of the documents about Nikolai, only the conscript's medical record and a letter home have been preserved. According to the medical records, Sirotinin was small in build - 164 cm and weighed only 53 kg. The letter dates back to 1940, most likely written immediately after arriving at the 55th Infantry Regiment.

In June 1941, Nikolai became a senior sergeant. The approach of war was felt more and more clearly both by the people and by the leaders, therefore, in such conditions, an intelligent and hardworking young man quickly received the rank of sergeant, and then senior sergeant.

June - July 1941

In early July 1941, Hein Guderian's tanks broke through the weak defensive line near Bykhov and began to cross the Dnieper. They easily continued to go east along the Sozh River, to Slavgorod, through Cherikov to the city of Krichev, in order to strike at the Soviet troops near Smolensk. The Soviet army retreated in front of the enemy, and took up defenses near Sozh.

The left bank of the Sozh River is steep and has deep ravines. On the way from the town of Cherikov to Krichev there were several such ravines. A group of Soviet fighters, on July 17, 1941, attacked the Wehrmacht tank division, fired at it and crossed the Sozh to inform the command about the German tank division approaching Krichev. In Krichev there were units of the 6th Infantry Division, and after the news of the tanks, an order was received - to cross the Sozh. But units of the division could not do this promptly. The second order was short: delay the Panzer Division as much as possible. Under favorable circumstances, catch up with your part. But senior sergeant Nikolai Sirotinin managed to carry out only the first part of the order.

No man is an island

Nikolay Sirotinin volunteered as a volunteer. Nikolay installed an anti-tank gun 45 mm on a low hillock, in a rye field near the Dobrost River. The cannon was completely hidden by the rye. The Sirotinin shelling point was located near the village of Sokolnichi, which is located four kilometers from Krichev. The location was perfect for invisible shelling.

The road leading to Krichev was 200 meters away. The road was clearly visible from the Sirotinin hillock, and there was a swampy area near the road, which meant that the tanks would not be able to move either to the left or to the right in case of something. Sirotinin understood what he was doing, the task was one - to hold out as long as possible in order to gain time for the division.

Sergeant Sirotinin was an experienced artilleryman. Nikolai chose the moment when it would be possible to hit the armored car going in front of the column of tanks. When the armored car was near the bridge, Sirotinin fired - and hit the armored car. Then the sergeant hit a tank that was going around the armored car to set both vehicles on fire. The next tank got stuck in the barrel, bypassing the armored car and the first destroyed tank.

The tanks began to turn towards the firing site, but the rye hid Sirotinin's point well. The sergeant turned the cannon to the left and began aiming at the tank that closed the column - he knocked it out. Shot at the infantry truck - and again at the target. The Germans tried to move out, but the tanks got stuck in the swampy area. The Germans only on the seventh destroyed tank were able to understand where the shelling was coming from, but because of the successful position of Sirotinin, heavy fire did not kill him, but only wounded him in the left side and arm. One of the armored cars began to fire at the sergeant, then after three shells Sirotinin defused the enemy armored car.
The number of shells became smaller, and Sirotinin decided to shoot less often, but more accurately. One by one, he aimed at tanks and armored cars, hit, everything exploded, flew, in the air there was black smoke from burning equipment. Angry Germans opened mortar fire on Sirotinin.

The losses of the Germans were: 11 tanks, 6 armored personnel carriers and armored cars, 57 German soldiers and officers. The battle lasted 2 hours. There were few shells left, about 15. Nikolay saw that the Germans were rolling out their weapons into position, and fired 4 times. Sirotinin destroyed the gun of the Germans. The shell would only be enough for one shot. He stood up to load the cannon - and at that moment he was shot from behind by German motorcyclists. Nikolai Sirotinin died.

After battle

Sergeant Sirotinin completed the main task: the column of tanks was delayed, the 6th Infantry Division was able to cross the Sozh River without loss.
The records of the diary of Chief Lieutenant Friedrich Hönfeld have been preserved:
“He alone stood at the cannon, shot a column of tanks and infantry for a long time, and died. Everyone was amazed at his courage ... Oberst (colonel) before the grave said that if all the soldiers of the Fuehrer fought like this Russian, they would have conquered the whole world. Three times they fired volleys from rifles. After all, he is Russian, is such admiration necessary? "
Olga Verzhbitskaya, a resident of the village of Sokolnichi, recalls: “In the afternoon, the Germans gathered at the place where Sirotinin's cannon stood. We, local residents, were also forced to come there. As someone who knows German, the main German of about fifty with orders, tall, bald, gray-haired, ordered to translate his speech to local people. He said that the Russian fought very well, that if the Germans had fought like this, they would have taken Moscow long ago, that this is how a soldier should defend his Motherland - Fatherland ... ”.
Residents of the village of Sokolniki and the Germans arranged a solemn funeral for Nikolai Sirotinin. German soldiers gave a military salute to the deceased sergeant with three shots.

Memory of Nikolai Sirotinin

First, Sergeant Sirotinin was buried at the site of the battle. Later he was reburied in a mass grave in the city of Krichev.
In Belarus, they remember the feat of the Oryol artilleryman. In Krichev, a street was named in his honor, and a monument was erected. After the war, the staff of the Archive of the Soviet Army did a great job to restore the chronicle of events. The feat of Sirotinin was recognized in 1960, but the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was not awarded due to bureaucratic inconsistencies - the Sirotinin family did not have photographs of their son. In 1961, an obelisk with the name of Sirotinin was erected on the site of the feat, and a real weapon was placed. On the 20th anniversary of the Victory, Sergeant Sirotinin was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.
In his hometown of Oryol, they also did not forget about the feat of Sirotinin. A memorial plaque dedicated to Nikolai Sirotinin was installed at the Tekmash plant. In 2015, school number 7 in the city of Oryol was named after Sergeant Sirotinin.

The story of Nikolai Sirotinin first became public knowledge back in 1958. Then the unknown to anyone librarian of the village of Sokolnichi V. Melnik described the story of the confrontation of a soldier-artilleryman against an enemy tank battalion. which remains today a shining example personal heroism of the Soviet soldier, became the protagonist of this story.

Nikolay Sirotinin: information about the fighter

In the family of Vladimir Kuzmich Sirotinin and Elena Korneevna Sirotinina, a son was born on March 7, 1921, they named him Nikolai. The boy's father worked as a steam locomotive driver, his mother was engaged in the household and raised the children, there were three more of them, besides Kolya, in the family. The family lived in the city of Oryol. After leaving school, it is known that Nikolai worked at the Tekmash plant. In 1940 he was drafted to the front. He served as an ordinary soldier of the Red Army near Polotsk.

Nikolay Sirotinin: feat

In June 1940, the Belarusian city of Krichev tried to occupy the 4th who was in the group of forces of Heinz Guderian, one of the outstanding German military leaders. Some parts of the 13th Soviet Army were forced to retreat. Artillery support was needed to cover the retreat of the column. The gun was left with two - the commander of the battery and a twenty-year-old, puny lad Sirotinin Nikolai Vladimirovich. The tool was hidden in a high rye field on a collective farm field. The dislocation of the Russians was good, the gun was on a hill, but the enemy did not see them. The artillerymen had an overview of the road and bridge over the Dobrost River.

On July 17, 1941, the convoy drove to the highway. The battery commander coordinated the firing of the guns. With the first shot, Sergeant Sirotinin knocked out the first tank on the bridge, the second hit the armored personnel carrier that was closing the column. So the young fighter managed to create a traffic jam. The enemy, in turn, decided that he was dealing with a whole battery of guns and at least a dozen soldiers.

At this time, the spotter lieutenant was wounded and retreated to the rest of the units. Nikolai was supposed to follow the example of his commander, but Sirotinin saw that he still had 60 shells, he remained to hold back the onslaught of the enemy.

A traffic jam formed on the bridge, two tanks tried to push the wrecked car, but the same fate awaited them. As a result, the hero Sirotinin knocked out 11 tanks, 6 armored personnel carriers, 57 infantry.

Only two hours later, the enemy command determined where Nikolai's gun was. By this time, he had three shells left. At the end of the battle, the artilleryman fired back from a carbine, but was not given alive, although the German commander offered this option.

Which went down in the history of the Great Patriotic War, was buried as a hero in the village of Sokolnichi by the German military. For a long time the enemies could not believe that they were opposed by only one Russian.

History was restored thanks to the notes of General Friedrich Hendlef, commander of the 4th Panzer Division. Yes, and fellow villagers from the village of Sokolnichi heard a threefold volley fired into the sky.

Fiction or Real Story?

Nikolai Sirotinin, whose feat became an example of courage and valor on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, when the enemy was strong and the Russian soldier had only a gun, became known throughout the country. This story was published by M.F. Melnikov in the magazine "Ogonyok" in 1958. Modern researchers decided to trace the reliability of the battle at Sokolnichi and found out that such a defensive operation was actually carried out and that the Soviet troops really managed to detain the enemy on the outskirts of the city.

It is also known today that this feat of the Soviet soldier Nikolai Sirotinin was republished two years later in Literaturka. In this article, the history is overgrown with facts, and there are many more damaged vehicles.

In 1987, in the book "Our land has walked the road of centuries", the same local historian published the story "The Word about the Great Soldier", in which he embellished the legend.

Was there Nikolai?

Among researchers Soviet period For some reason, such inconsistency of facts did not raise doubts. Modern historians have approached the study of this issue in more detail. They found out that in fact there was such a soldier Sirotinin Nikolai Vladimirovich, but he only served in another division, which had never been to these parts.

But be that as it may, the battle near the village of Sokolnichi took place. This is a historically accurate fact, documented.

As for the feat that Sirotinin performed, there is no documentary evidence, except for the notes of a local historian. There is no grave of the Russian soldier-hero either. According to eyewitnesses, she was moved to another place, and the remains of Nicholas were reburied in a mass grave. The legendary warrior did not receive the title of Hero of the Soviet Union due to the lack of photographs from the relatives of the deceased. He was posthumously awarded only the Order of the Great Patriotic War of the 1st degree.

One of the researchers of our time "unearthed" the real story of the battle on the Warsaw highway, which took place in those days on the outskirts of the city of Krichev. The Red Army troops began to hastily retreat across the Sozh River. The soldier was supposed to be covered by the 2nd rifle battalion under the command of Nikolai Andreevich Kim, a Korean by nationality. From the first day of the war, he joined the ranks of the Red Army, went this way to the end and remained alive. It was his fighters who fulfilled the task assigned to them, detained the enemy and made it possible for the Russian soldiers to redeploy without significant losses.

"Nikolai Sirotinin. One soldier in the field. The feat of the 41st year"

In 2013, one of the patriotic channels filmed a forty-minute film about the heroes of the Great Patriotic War (in particular, the author tried to immortalize the lone artilleryman Nikolai Sirotinin). Archival evidence of the inhabitants of the village of Sokolnichi was provided as documentary evidence. The picture turned out to be very instructive, sincere and motivating. The author tried to show that Nikolai Sirotnin accomplished his feat not because he was fearless, but because of a sense of duty and love for his homeland.

The role of lone heroes in World War II

During the years of the Great Patriotic War, there were people whose personal example made it possible to raise the morale of the Russian soldier, who in the first disastrous years of defeats on the entire front line was very weak. It was thanks to such heroes, albeit legendary, that Nazi Germany was rebuffed. Nikolai Sirotinin is a collective image of a Russian soldier, a hero who alone is able to stop a division and defeat the enemy with his bare hands.

Such legends are important for education, but do not forget about real people who performed a real feat. At the cost of their lives, they defeated the enemy, made it possible for us, future generations, to live in Peaceful time and breathe deeply.

The "Barbarossa" plan, developed by the strategists of the Third Reich, assumed the lightning-fast capture of the European part of the Soviet Union; the Germans planned to be in Moscow in August 1941.

One of the transport arteries that the Nazis used to move to Moscow was the Warsaw highway, built in the second half of the 19th century. The highway was of strategic importance, which was noted by the Russian autocrats. Now columns were walking along it to the capital of our Motherland German tanks and armored vehicles.

To delay the enemy troops and support the retreating Soviet units, the commander of the artillery battery (his name could not be determined) decided to install one gun on the 476th kilometer of the highway near the bridge over the Dobrost River, which was not blown up by an oversight.

The battalion commander himself and senior sergeant Nikolai Vladimirovich Sirotinin, the gunner of the 55 rifle regiment's gun, were included in the calculation. Sirotinin was a native of the city of Orel, was drafted into the army in the fall of 1940, served in Polotsk.

Sirotinin volunteered to cover the withdrawal of Soviet units. Near the village of Sokolnichi, in thick rye, they well disguised an anti-tank gun. German intelligence did not notice her and reported to the command that the passage was clear.

In the area of ​​the bridge Combat vehicles The 4th Panzer Division, commanded by Wilibald von Langermann, showed up at dawn on 17 July. The first shot of the anti-tank gun knocked out the head tank of the column, the second shot knocked out the armored personnel carrier, closing the column. The jam was created, and the Germans did not manage to eliminate it immediately. Sirotinin, and he was left alone with the gun after the battalion commander left, with an aimed hit destroyed the cars that were trying to clear the congestion.

For a long time the Germans could not determine the source of the fire, they were sure that a whole battery was hitting them.

Two and a half hours, until the last shell, senior sergeant Sirotinin fought with the invader, he destroyed 11 tanks, 7 armored personnel carriers, 57 soldiers and officers. When the Germans approached his position, he continued to shoot back from the carbine.

This feat became known thanks to the investigation conducted by Mikhail Melnikov, an employee of the library of the village of Sokolnichi, he collected testimonies from villagers who were eyewitnesses of that battle.

One of them, Ekaterina Puzyrevskaya, who spoke German, recalls the words of a German officer who said that every soldier should defend his Motherland in this way - Fatherland.

The memory of this selfless battle was preserved by an entry in the diary of the chief lieutenant of the 4th Panzer Division Friedrich Hönfeld, he reports that the Germans were delighted with the act of the Russian, and buried him with honor.

Senior Sergeant Nikolai Sirotinin was twenty-one. His feat is comparable to the legendary feats of Alexander Matrosov, Nikolai Gastello and the feat of 28 Panfilov's men.

During the Great Patriotic War, not much was known about the incredible feat of the simple Russian soldier Kolka Sirotinin, as well as about the hero himself. Perhaps no one would have known about the feat of the twenty-year-old artilleryman. If not for one case.

In the summer of 1942, an officer of the 4th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht, Friedrich Fenfeld, was killed near Tula. Soviet soldiers found his diary. From its pages, some of the details of that very last battle of senior sergeant Sirotinin became known.

It was the 25th day of the war ...

In the summer of 1941, the 4th Panzer Division of Guderian's group - one of the most talented German generals... Part 13 Soviet army were forced to retreat. To cover the withdrawal of the artillery battery of the 55th Infantry Regiment, the commander left the artilleryman Nikolai Sirotinin with a gun.

The order was brief: to detain tank column Germans on the bridge over the Dobrost River, and then, if possible, catch up with their own. The senior sergeant only complied with the first half of the order ...

Sirotinin took up a position in a field near the village of Sokolnichi. The cannon was drowning in the tall rye. Nearby there is not a single noticeable landmark for the enemy. But from here the highway and the river were clearly visible.

On the morning of July 17, a column of 59 tanks and armored vehicles with infantry appeared on the highway. When the lead tank reached the bridge, the first - successful - shot rang out. With the second round, Sirotinin set fire to an armored personnel carrier in the tail of the column, thereby creating a traffic jam on the road. Nikolai shot and shot, knocking car after car.

Sirotinin fought alone, both a gunner and a loader. It had 60 rounds in ammunition and a 76mm cannon - an excellent weapon against tanks. And he made a decision: to continue the battle until the ammunition runs out.

The Nazis threw themselves to the ground in panic, not understanding where the shooting was coming from. The guns fired at random across the squares. Indeed, on the eve of their reconnaissance, they could not detect Soviet artillery in the vicinity, and the division advanced without special precautions. The Germans attempted to clear the blockage by pulling the wrecked tank off the bridge with two other tanks, but they were also knocked out. The armored vehicle, which tried to wade through the river, got stuck in the swampy bank, where it was destroyed. For a long time, the Germans were unable to determine the location of the well-camouflaged gun; they believed that a whole battery was fighting them.

This unique battle lasted a little over two hours. The crossing was blocked. By the time Nikolai's position was discovered, he had only three shells left. Sirotinin refused the offer to surrender and fired from the carbine to the last. Going to the rear of Sirotinin on motorcycles, the Germans destroyed the lone gun with mortar fire. In position, they found a lone cannon and a fighter.

The result of the battle of senior sergeant Sirotinin against General Guderian is impressive: after the battle on the banks of the Dobrost River, the Nazis lost 11 tanks, 7 armored vehicles, 57 soldiers and officers.

The perseverance of the Soviet soldier earned the respect of the Nazis. The commander of the tank battalion, Colonel Erich Schneider, ordered to bury the worthy enemy with military honors.

From the diary of Chief Lieutenant of the 4th Panzer Division Friedrich Hönfeld:

July 17, 1941. Sokolniki, near Krichev. An unknown Russian soldier was buried in the evening. He alone stood at the cannon, shot a column of tanks and infantry for a long time, and died. Everyone was amazed at his courage ... Oberst (colonel - editor's note) before the grave said that if all the soldiers of the Fuhrer fought like this Russian, they would have conquered the whole world. Three times they fired volleys from rifles. After all, he is Russian, is such admiration necessary?

From the testimony of Olga Verzhbitskaya, a resident of the village of Sokolnichi:

I, Verzhbitskaya Olga Borisovna, born in 1889, a native of Latvia (Latgale), lived before the war in the village of Sokolnichi, Krichevsky district, together with my sister.

We knew Nikolai Sirotinin and his sister before the day of the battle. He was with me with a friend, buying milk. He was very polite, he always helped elderly women to get water from the well and in other hard work.

I remember well the evening before the fight. On a log at the gate of the Grabskys' house, I saw Nikolai Sirotinin. He sat and thought about something. I was very surprised that everyone was leaving, and he was sitting.

When the fight began, I was not yet at home. I remember the tracer bullets flying. He walked for about two or three hours. In the afternoon, the Germans gathered at the place where Sirotinin's cannon stood. We, local residents, were also forced to come there. As someone who knows German, the main German of about fifty with orders, tall, bald, gray-haired, ordered me to translate his speech to local people. He said that the Russian fought very well, that if the Germans had fought like this, they would have taken Moscow long ago, that this is how a soldier should defend his Motherland - Fatherland.

Then they took out a medallion from the pocket of our slain soldier's tunic. I remember firmly that it was written "the city of Oryol", to Vladimir Sirotinin (I did not remember the middle name), that the name of the street was, as I recall, not Dobrolyubov, but Gruzovaya or Lomovaya, I remember that the house number was two digits. But to know who this Sirotinin Vladimir - father, brother, uncle of the murdered man or someone else - we could not.

The German chief told me: “Take this document and write to your relatives. Let the mother know what a hero her son was and how he died. " Then a young German officer who was standing at the grave of Sirotinin came up and snatched the piece of paper and the medallion from me and said something rudely.

The Germans fired a volley of rifles in honor of our soldier and put a cross on the grave, hung up his helmet, pierced by a bullet.

I myself clearly saw the body of Nikolai Sirotinin, even when he was lowered into the grave. His face was not bloody, but his tunic on the left side had a large bloody stain, his helmet was punctured, and there were many shell casings lying around.

Since our house was located not far from the battlefield, next to the road to Sokolnichi, the Germans were standing next to us. I myself heard how they spoke for a long time and admiringly about the feat of the Russian soldier, counting the shots and hits. Some of the Germans, even after the funeral, stood for a long time at the cannon and the grave and talked quietly.

February 29, 1960

Testimony of the telephone operator M.I.Grabskaya:

I, Grabskaya Maria Ivanovna, born in 1918, worked as a telephone operator at DEU 919 in Krichev, lived in my native village Sokolnichi, three kilometers from the city of Krichev.

I remember well the events of July 1941. Approximately a week before the arrival of the Germans, Soviet artillerymen settled in our village. The headquarters of their battery was in our house, the commander of the battery was a senior lieutenant named Nikolai, his assistant was a lieutenant named Fedya, of the fighters I remember most of all was the Red Army soldier Nikolai Sirotinin. The fact is that the senior lieutenant very often called this soldier and assigned him, as the most intelligent and experienced, both tasks.

He was slightly above average height, dark brown hair, a simple, cheerful face. When Sirotinin and senior lieutenant Nikolai decided to dig a dugout for local residents, I saw him cleverly throwing the ground, noticed that he was apparently not from the parental family. Nikolay, jokingly, replied:

“I am a worker from Orel, and I am no stranger to physical labor. We, the Orlovskys, know how to work. "

Today, in the village of Sokolnichi, there are no graves in which the Germans buried Nikolai Sirotinin. Three years after the war, his remains were transferred to the mass burial place of Soviet soldiers in Krichev.

Residents of Belarus remember and honor the heroic deed of the brave artilleryman. In Krichev there is a street named after him, a monument is erected. But, despite the fact that the feat of Sirotinin, thanks to the efforts of the workers of the Archive of the Soviet Army, was recognized back in 1960, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was not awarded to him. A painfully ridiculous circumstance interfered: the soldier's family did not have a photograph of him. And it is necessary to submit documents for a high rank.

Today there is only a pencil sketch made by one of his colleagues after the war. In the year of the 20th anniversary of the Victory, senior sergeant Sirotinin was awarded the Order World War I of the first degree. Posthumously. Such is the story.

Memory

In 1948, the remains of Nikolai Sirotinin were reburied in a mass grave (according to the registration card of a military burial on the website of the Memorial WBS - in 1943), on which a monument was erected in the form of a sculpture of a soldier grieving for his dead comrades, and on marble plaques in the list of buried surname Sirotinina N.V.

In 1960, Sirotinin was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.

In 1961, a monument in the form of an obelisk with the name of the hero was erected at the place of the feat near the highway, near which a real 76-mm gun was installed on a pedestal. In the city of Krichev, a street is named after Sirotinin.

At the Tekmash plant in Oryol installed Memorial plaque with quick reference about N.V. Sirotinin.

At the Museum of Military Glory in high school№ 17 of the city of Oryol there are materials dedicated to NV Sirotinin.

In 2015, the council of school No. 7 in the city of Oryol petitioned to assign the school the name of Nikolai Sirotinin. Nikolai's sister Taisia ​​Vladimirovna was present at the ceremonial events. The name for the school was chosen by the students themselves based on their search and information work.

When reporters asked Nikolai's sister why it was Nikolai who volunteered to cover the division's retreat, Taisia ​​Vladimirovna replied: "My brother could not have done otherwise."

The feat of Kolka Sirotinin is an example of loyalty to the Motherland for all our youth.

The war with the German invaders claimed millions of lives Soviet people by carving out a colossal number of men, women, children and the elderly. Every inhabitant of our vast homeland experienced the horrors of the fascist attack. An unexpected offensive, the latest weapons, experienced soldiers - all this was in Germany. Why did Barbarossa's brilliant plan fail?

The enemy did not take into account one very important detail: he stepped on Soviet Union whose inhabitants were ready to die for every piece native land... Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Georgians and other nationalities of the Soviet state fought together for their Motherland and died for the free future of their descendants. One of these brave and valiant soldiers was Nikolai Sirotinin.

A young resident of the city of Oryol worked at the local industrial complex Tekmash, and was injured in the bombing on the day of the attack. As a result of the first air raid, the young man was sent to the hospital. The injury was not serious, and the young body quickly recovered, and Sirotinin still had the desire to fight. Little is known about the hero, even the exact date of his birth has been lost. At the beginning of the century, it was not customary to solemnly celebrate every birthday, and some citizens simply did not know it, but remembered only a year.

And Nikolai Vladimirovich was born in a difficult time in 1921... It is also known from the testimonies of contemporaries and comrades that he was modest, polite, short and thin. There are very few documents about this great man, and the events on the 476th kilometer of the Warsaw highway became known, largely thanks to the diary of Friedrich Hönfeld. It was the German chief lieutenant of the 4th Panzer Division who wrote down in his notebook the history of the heroic feat of the Russian soldier:

“July 17, 1941. Sokolniki, near Krichev. An unknown Russian soldier was buried in the evening. He alone stood at the cannon, shot a column of tanks and infantry for a long time, and died. Everyone was amazed at his courage ... Oberst (colonel) before the grave said that if all the soldiers of the Fuehrer fought like this Russian, they would have conquered the whole world. Three times they fired volleys from rifles. After all, he is Russian, is such admiration necessary?»

Immediately after the hospital, Sirotinin ended up in the 55th rifle military regiment, which was based near the small Soviet town of Krichev. Here he was identified as the gunner, which, judging by the subsequent events, clearly Sirotinin succeeded. The regiment remained on the river with the entertaining name "Kindness" for about two weeks, but the decision to retreat was nevertheless made.

Nikolai Sirotinin was remembered by the locals as a very polite and sympathetic person. According to Verzhbitskaya, he always helped the elderly bring water or scoop it up from a well. Hardly anyone could see in this young senior sergeant a brave hero who could stop a tank division. However, he nevertheless became such.

To withdraw the troops, cover was needed, which is why Sirotinin remained in position. According to one of the many versions, the soldier was supported by his commander and also stayed, but in battle he was wounded and withdrew to the main team. Sirotinin was supposed to create a traffic jam on the bridge and join his own, but this young man decided to stand to the end in order to give maximum time to his fellow soldiers to retreat. The goal of the young soldier was simple, he wanted to take as many lives of the enemy army as possible and disable all equipment.

The location of the only 76-mm gun from which the attackers were fired was well thought out. The gunner was surrounded by a dense field of rye, and the gun was not visible. Tanks and armored vehicles, accompanied by armed infantry, moved quickly through the territory under the leadership of the talented Heinz Guderian. This was still the period when the Germans hoped for a lightning-fast seizure of the country and the defeat of Soviet troops.

Their hopes were dashed thanks to such soldiers as Nikolai Vladimirovich Sirotinin. Subsequently, the Nazis more than once faced the desperate courage of Soviet soldiers, and each such feat had a serious demoralizing effect on the German troops. At the end of the war, there were legends about the courage of our soldiers even in the enemy camp.

Sirotinin's task was to prevent the advance of the tank division for the maximum period. The senior sergeant's plan was to block the first and trailing link of the column and inflict as many losses on the enemy as possible. The calculation turned out to be correct. When the first tank caught fire, the Germans tried to retreat from the line of fire. However, Sirotinin hit the trailing vehicle, and the convoy turned out to be an immobilized target.

The fascists threw themselves to the ground in panic, not understanding where the shooting was coming from. Enemy intelligence provided information that there were no batteries in the area, so the division advanced without special precautions. Fifty-seven shells were not used up by the Soviet soldier in vain. The tank division was stopped and defeated by one Soviet man... Armored vehicles tried to wade across the river, but they got stuck in the coastal mud.

During the entire battle, the Germans did not even suspect that they were faced with only one defender of the USSR. Sirotinin's position, located at the collective farm cowshed, was taken only after only 3 shells remained. However, even deprived of ammunition for a gun and the ability to continue firing, Nikolai Vladimirovich shot the enemy with a carbine. Only after his death did Sirotinin surrender his position.

The German command and soldiers were horrified when they realized that only one Russian soldier was opposing them. Sirotinin's behavior aroused genuine admiration and respect among the Germans, including Guderian. despite the fact that the division's losses were enormous.

The enemy lost eleven tanks and seven armored personnel carriers. As a result of the shelling of the enemy, 57 soldiers dropped out.
One man was worth a whole panzer division, no wonder that even the enemies fired three volleys at his grave as a sign of the highest recognition of bravery .

The feat of Nikolai Sirotinin was lost among the glorious examples of the courage of Soviet soldiers. Its history was studied and elucidated only in the early 60s. At the same time, his family learned about the heroic battle. V post-war time the grave of Sirotinin, which was made by the Germans in a village called Sokolnichi, had to be removed. The remains of the valiant warrior were reburied in a mass grave. The cannon, from which Sirotinin shot the tank division, was handed over to the scrap for processing. Today the monument has been erected, but in Krichev there is a street with his name.

The inhabitants of Belarus remember and respect the feat, although in Russia this glorious history not everyone knows. Time gradually covers the events of wartime with its raid. Despite the fact that the heroism of Sirotinin was recognized back in 1960 thanks to the efforts of the workers of the Archive of the Soviet Army, the title of Hero of the USSR was not awarded.

A painfully ridiculous circumstance interfered: the soldier's family did not have a photograph of him. A photo card has become necessary for filing documents. As a result, a person who gave his life for his country is little known in his homeland and was awarded only the Order of the Patriotic War of the first degree.

However, Sirotinin fought not for the sake of glory, and it is unlikely that, dying, he thought about orders. Most likely, this man devoted to the USSR hoped that his descendants would be free, and a man with a fascist swastika would never set foot on Russian soil. Apparently he was wrong, although it is not too late to resist the nefarious attempts to rewrite history.
In this article, we again mention his glorious name so that the memory of the war heroes is not erased. Eternal memory and glory to Nikolai Vladimirovich Sirotinin, a true patriot and brave son of his country!