Rosa Egorovna Shanina was born in 1924, on April 3, in the Vologda province. During the Second World War, she was a single sniper. Shanina participated in the war as part of a female platoon of snipers of the 3 Belorussian Front . She could shoot at a moving enemy with a doublet - two shots following each other.
Origin
A sniper was born in the village of Elma in a large family of peasants. In some sources, the place of birth is listed as pos. Bogdanovsky. In it, in 2010, a monument was even erected in honor of the Knights of the Order of Glory. Among the last names there is also her last name. As the results of research by some modern historians have shown, Roza Egorovna Shanina was born in the village of Zykovo, on the bank of the river. The mouth. At that time, the village belonged to the Eden environs, where in 1889 her grandfather, Mikhail Savelyevich, came after service.
From 1919 to 1920 a commune was formed in Zykovo, the first in the county. It was combined 5 households. The first chairman was appointed the organizer of the commune, father Shanina, Egor Mikhailovich.
Rosa's mother, Anna Alekseevna, was a milkmaid in the commune. In 1928, the family lived in Zykovo. This is confirmed by Rosa’s memoirs, in which she mentions a clipping from the newspaper “Plowman”, preserved by her father, dated September 15, 1928, in which their house is described.
Shanina was named after R. Luxembourg. In addition to her, 6 native children were brought up in the family. She had a sister Julia, brothers Sergey, Mikhail, Pavel, Fedor and Marat. In addition to them, the family raised orphans Stepan, Reason and Elena Butorins.
Short biography of Rosa Egorovna Shanina
After graduating from grade 4 of elementary school, Rosa entered a secondary school in the village of Bereznik, located 13 km from the house. Besides the fact that she went to school every day on foot, on Saturdays she looked after a sick aunt who lived in the same village.
After graduating from the 7th grade, in 1938 Rosa went to Arkhangelsk to enter the pedagogical school. She had almost no property and money. Before moving into a dormitory at the school, she lived with her brother Fedor. In the same year, 1938, Rosa joined the Komsomol. Arkhangelsk, she began to consider her hometown. In her diary there are references to the Dynamo stadium, the Pobeda and Ars cinemas.
Work
Before the war, training was paid. Many students had to earn extra money. Rosa refused the help of her brother and parents and settled in 1941 (already in her 3rd year) in the evening group of kindergarten No. 2 of the Pervomaisky district of Arkhangelsk, at which she received housing.
The young teacher was in good standing: her parents appreciated her, the children loved her. After completing her studies at the school, she remained to work in a kindergarten.
Joining the service
At the beginning of the Second World War, Fedor and Mikhail joined the army as volunteers. According to front-line records, the Rosa brothers went missing. Some documents contain information about the death of his elder brother Sergey Shanina. According to data, in July 1943 he was the head of the NKVD special detachment. For successful operations behind enemy lines, Sergey received the Order of the Red Star. However, he was subsequently arrested and, in accordance with the decision of the Special Meeting, was shot on February 3, 1945. This decision was canceled in 2000, May 17.
At the beginning of 1942, intensive training of female snipers began. The command believed that they have great tenacity, cunning, easier to tolerate cold and stress. In addition, they have a more flexible body, which allows them to move faster. In February, women 16-45 years old could go to the front.
Rosa Egorovna Shanina was called up for service in June 1943. She was sent from the Pervomaisky district military enlistment office to TsZhShPS - the central school for the training of women snipers. Here she meets with Kaleria Petrova and Alexandra Ekimova. Subsequently, these three women on the war fronts fought together and were friends. Only Kaleria was able to return from the war.
After graduating from a sniper school, Rosa abandoned her instructor position and achieved direction to the front. In April 1944, she arrived at the 338th Infantry Division. A special female platoon was created in its composition.
Chronicle of war
Rosa made her first shot three days after arriving at the division’s location. Then it was located southwest of the city of Vitebsk.
The surviving documents contain Rosa's recollections of this incident, recorded by an unknown author. Shanina was shocked by what had happened. She threw herself into the trench with the words: "She killed a man." Soon, friends ran up to her, reassured and said that she had finished off the fascist, there was nothing to worry about.
After 7 months, Rosa wrote in a diary that she now shoots Germans in cold blood and only in this sees the meaning of her whole life. Moreover, she writes that if she could rewind time, she would still go to the school of snipers.
Rosa Egorovna Shanina from April 6 to 11, being under arms and artillery fire, was able to destroy 13 fascists. This is evidenced by the report of the commander of the rifle regiment Degtyarev.
For this feat, Roza Egorovna Shanina received the Order of Glory of the 3rd century, becoming the first winner of this award among the girls who fought in units of the 3rd Belorussian Front.
Soon from the corporal rank she was transferred to the squad commanders. In May 1944, in her sniper book there were 18 annihilated fascists. In early June, the military newspaper "Destroy the Enemy" posted a portrait of a Russian sniper Shanina on the front page.
Participation in Operation Bagration
The offensive of the Soviet troops began in 1944, on June 22. Shanina's platoon was supposed to move west in the second stage: the command did not want to risk the lives of women. In World War II, women's battalions were commonplace, but fellow soldiers tried to protect the girls from death.
In the previous 1.5 months, the platoon was very tired. Therefore, at the beginning of the Belarusian operation , an order was made to use as much as possible any rests for rest, not to participate in battles along with infantry. However, Shanina was eager for battle, despite the order.
Rosa sought the direction of the reconnaissance or battalion from the command, but was refused. The fact is that any soldier could replace her in the ranks of the infantry, but not in the ambush of snipers. In addition, she was cherished for her skill. After the fourth exit in the sniper book of Roza Egorovna Shanina, the number of Nazis killed became double-digit, “200 m” was twice written in the graph of the distance to the target.
"AWOL"
In the midst of the Belarusian operation, Rosa and her front-line friends participated in the liquidation of the German group. In early August, lagging behind the company at the crossing, she went after the battalion, which was heading for the front line. There she participated in the battle, and upon her return captured three Fritz. For failure to comply with the order, Rosa received a Komsomol penalty, but the matter did not reach the tribunal.
After a while, Shanina was presented for the award with the Order of Glory II Art. In the list of her merits was including the capture of prisoners.
At the end of August, 338 rifle brigades were withdrawn from the 45 rifle corps and were included in the 39th army, heading for Suwalki and Kaunas. However, a separate platoon of girl snipers, which included Roz a Egorovna Shanina , remained in the 5th army and became part of the 184 Dukhovshchinsky Red Banner Division.
Fights in East Prussia
In September, battles began to liberate the banks of the river. Sheshupe. Girls almost every day made sorties and destroyed enemies. They fought with German snipers.
In the chronicle of the war, published in the newspapers of the Allies, it was reported that Shanina killed 5 Germans in a day.
In 1944, on September 16, Rosa received the Order of Glory, II art. for courage in the fight against fascism. In the award sheet, Shanina indicated 53 killed Germans, 26 of which were destroyed on the border with Prussia. A congratulatory article was placed in the next issue of the newspaper “Destroy the Enemy”.
From the documents it is known that at the end of September, Shanina received a leave and went for three days to Arkhangelsk, where she managed to meet with friends and relatives. October 17, she returned to the front.
Battle of Schlossberg
Shanina was considered one of the best snipers for her abilities. However, she always aspired to the forefront, asking for a shooter to transfer to intelligence. She even complained to the commander of the 5th Army, Colonel General Krylov, about the commanders who sent her to the rear. Moreover, twice she wrote to Stalin himself with a request to send her an ordinary soldier in a rifle company.
Having received refusals from everywhere, Shanina continued to leave for “autonomy”. However, at the end of October she was nevertheless sent to the forefront of the 707 rifle regiment.
The fighting was near Schlossberg. The terrain passed from hand to hand several times. Subsequently, Rosa writes in her diary how she saw the death of Captain Aseev.
For steadfastness and courage in the battle, as one of the best snipers, Shanina was presented for the award with the Order of Glory of the 1st Art. Finally, Schlossberg was recaptured only at the beginning of 1945, on January 16. On December 27, the 44th assistant platoon commander R. Shanin received the medal “For Courage”.
Wound
In November, Shanina was again sent to the reserve rear regiment. But, ignoring the orders, Rose still went to the front. On December 12, she was wounded in the right shoulder. The Germans considered it a matter of honor to kill a Russian sniper . However, Shanina’s wound was not fatal. In her diary, she describes it as "two small holes." The wound seemed insignificant to her, but the command sent her to the hospital.
Heading Forward
In early January 1945, Krylov officially issued Shanina permission to participate in the battles. On the 13th, fighting began as part of the East Prussian operation. By January 15, the division reached the city of Eidtkunen. The offensive was under mortar fire of the enemy.
Death
On January 17, Shanina wrote that she could die soon, because of the 78 people left in the battalion 6. The last record says that she can’t leave the self-propelled gun due to Nazi artillery fire.
On January 27, the unit commander was injured in battle. Rosa Shanina, covering him, was also seriously wounded. She was taken to a hospital near the Reichau estate. The next day, Roza Egorovna Shanina died.
As Yekaterina Radkina later recalled, the nurse in whose arms she was dying, Rosa regretted that she had done very little to win.
According to some accounts, Rose screamed on the field during the wound and asked her to be shot. The wound was very serious, the splinter hit the abdomen. Under the conditions existing at that time, it was impossible to save a life after such an injury.
Of the four children who left the Shanin family for war, no one returned home.
Achievement list
The number of Germans destroyed by Shanina varies in different sources. In the Rosa award sheet for 1944, she counted 59 fascist officers and soldiers: 12 people were killed in the battle for Vilnius , and 26 on the Prussian border.
Some sources indicate the number 54. It is specified that 12 Germans themselves were snipers. According to modern research, in the sniper book of Shanina at the time of her death, 62 people were counted.
Meanwhile, many believe that the real number of Germans killed was much greater. After all, Shanina often went into the "AWOL" on the front line, and the situation did not always allow keeping records. There were times when rifle cartridges ran out and Rosa used an assault rifle.
According to historical data, only four women were full holders of the Order of Glory. Rose could be the fifth. As the former commander of the 215th rifle division Ghazaryan recalled, Shanina was presented for reward for her courage in the battles for Schlossberg, but she received the medal “For Courage”. Nevertheless, on December 29 of that year, the award sheet was again sent to the command. But later, after her death, he was lost. So Shanina remained an incomplete holder of the Order of Glory .
In 1985, on the occasion of the Victory Day at the Council of Veterans of TsZhShSP, the question was raised of awarding the Rose with the Order of Glory of Art. posthumously. However, the Supreme Council then left it without consideration. Subsequently, this issue was raised again, including by a member of the Union of Journalists Marat Shanin, the brother of Rosa.
Character
Rosa's height was above average, her eyes were blue, and her hair was light brown. Shanina spoke with a North Russian accent. Pyotr Molchanov, who was a war correspondent during the Second World War, often met Rosa at the front. He describes her as a person with incredible will, a bright and distinctive character.
Rosa herself spoke of herself as reckless and infinitely talkative. Lydia Vdovina, a colleague of Shanina, recalled that she loved to sing the song “Oh fogs, fogs” every time she cleaned her weapons.
Rose dressed modestly. Of her favorite sports, she called volleyball. Shanina was an open person, valued courage in people, did not like egoists.
Personal life
During the war, Rosa saw her happiness in the struggle for the happiness of others.
According to the diary, her beloved man - Misha Panarin - died. She called him a well-mannered, simple, pretty boy.
In November 1944, a diary entry appeared about some Nicholas. Rosa writes that "for some reason she drove into the head that she loved him." At the same time, she notes that she does not think about marriage - the time is not right.
After the war ended, Rosa wanted to go to university, and if she did not succeed, she would be engaged in raising orphans.
Diary of a Rose
Shanina often wrote to friends and relatives who remained in Arkhangelsk. It was forbidden to keep diaries in the war, although there were separate exceptions. For example, Muzagit Narutdinov led the Chronicle of War, Israel Kukuev led the Front Diary.
In the diary of Shanina, to preserve military secrets, the dead were called "black", wounded by "red". Rosa made her last record in 1945, on January 24, 4 days before her death. She wrote about fierce battles, the difficulties of firing under enemy fire.
After the death of Rosa, the diary, which consisted of 3 thick notebooks, was taken by her friend Pyotr Molchanov. He was the editor of the newspaper “Destroy the Enemy”. Upon learning of Shanina’s wound, he arrived at the hospital, but it was too late.
Subsequently, Pyotr Molchanov said that he took the diary because they were friendly with Rosa. She trusted him with many of her secrets, shared her thoughts.
About 20 years the diary was in Kiev. In 1965, Molchanov published several fragments from him in the journal Yunost. Only after this, the recordings of Rosa Shanina were transferred to the Arkhangelsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. In the spring of 2010, a copy of the diary with the right to publish was transferred to the Ulyanovsk Muse. Today, everyone can read the notes of Rosa Shanina.
Publications
The exploits that Roza Shanina performed during the war were highly appreciated by Ilya Ehrenburg, writer and correspondent of Red Star. He called her one of the best shooters of his time. Ehrenburg noted that Rosa was inferior in accuracy to the defeat of the enemy by many colleagues. There were publications about Shanina and in foreign newspapers.
Rosa herself did not attach special mention to the press about herself. She even noted once that many overestimate her work. 10 days before her death, she wrote in her diary that she believes that she did very little, did no more than she should like any Soviet person standing on the defensive side of the Motherland.
After the publication of Molchanov in 1965, other publications began to write about Rosa. So, in the "Northern Komsomolets" correspondents turned to Shanina's colleagues to tell about her.
Literary works
In memory of Rosa Shanina, the books “I Will Return After the Battle” (N. Zhuravlev), “The Thirst for the Battle” (P. Molchanov) and “Snowdrops on a Minefield” were published. Despite the fact that there are some inaccuracies in these works, and some characters are rather, by collective images they reflect the traits of several people at once, general information about the character and fate of Shanina is conveyed quite accurately.
In 2012, a collection dedicated to Rosa was published. It was published by the Ulyanovsk Museum of Local Lore. It included Rosa's front-line diary, as well as documentary evidence of people who knew her. The preparation and processing of the material was done by fellow countrymen Natalya Poroshina and Vladimir Mamonov.
Logvinov's book
It was published in 1972. The book of the historian Logvinov contains a chapter on Rosa Shanina. According to the information contained in it, Rosa was the daughter of a communist from the Krasnoyarsk Territory and was educated at the Siberian Forestry Technical School (today SibGTU).
However, the researchers failed to establish how Rosa, being a native of the Arkhangelsk region, ended up in Krasnoyarsk. Employees of the scientific library of SibGTU have found several publications that contain excerpts from the text from Loginov’s book or information about the Siberian woman Rose.
Conclusion
During the years of World War II, women fought along with men. No one wanted to give their homeland to the enemy. All forces were thrown into the struggle. Children and the elderly worked in the rear, young women and men were at the forefront.
A huge contribution to the victory over fascism was made by women. Their hatred of the invaders, the thirst to destroy anyone who encroaches on the freedom of the Soviet man, inspired everyone. The exploits of Shanina and many other women are a vivid example of this. People fought not for glory, but for the sake of a free and peaceful sky above their heads.
Many researchers believe that Rose could have survived if she hadn’t asked for such persistence on the front lines. Before the victory, she did not live quite a bit.
Shanina’s diary, as well as records of other military men, are the most valuable materials about the war. Pictures of many events, schemes of operations were restored from them. They helped keep a record of captured and destroyed enemies, German technology.
Rosa Shannina is rightfully included in the number of heroes that children are told about at school. Such people are forever immortalized in the memory of the Russian people. A large role in this was played by people who retained front-line records. Thanks to them, today you can learn about many events of those years, experience a sense of pride for everyone who fought. This is important, first of all, for future generations. The memory of the war should be preserved, if only in order to prevent it in the future.
In honor of Rosa Shanina, the streets in the city of Arkhangelsk, pos. Stroyevsky and Shangaly. In Arkhangelsk, in addition, a memorial plaque was created. Under the patronage of the rural school in which Rosa studied, a museum dedicated to her was created. The building of the school itself also has a memorial plaque.