The Kashirin brothers are a vivid example of how in a moment glory and honor can turn into their opposite. Their story is a series of difficult trials that made them imperishable heroes of the motherland. Therefore, let's go back in time in order to personally see the life path of these glorious Cossacks.
The history of the Kashirin clan
The Kashirin family lived in the small village of Forshtadt, in the Orenburg province. The head of the family, Dmitry Ivanovich Kashirin, was the chieftain of the local Cossack regiment. He also taught general subjects in a small rural school. He was a strong and intelligent man, who enjoyed great respect both among his subordinates and among his fellow countrymen. Given this, it is not surprising that he was elected ataman of the village for 28 consecutive years.
Together with his wife, he raised six children: four boys and two girls. The oldest child was Nikolai. It was he who took over most of his father's responsibilities when he left on behalf of the king. It should be noted that all the sons of the chieftain were originally adherents of the monarchy, but subsequently with their father went over to the side of the Bolsheviks. But why did the Kashirin brothers do this? Perhaps the answer is in their biographies?
Kashirin Nikolay Dmitrievich
Nikolai was the eldest son - he was born in February 1888. He often had to replace his father, so from a boy he quickly turned into a real man. So, at the age of 14, senior Kashirin already worked as a teacher in a local school, teaching children the basics of literacy. At 18, he joined the Russian army and soon fell into the Orenburg Cossack troops.
In 1912 he was expelled from the army for spreading revolutionary ideas among soldiers. However, World War I soon broke out, and he was returned to duty again. It is worth noting that during the hostilities he received six orders for his courage and valor. Ultimately, his merits led to the fact that the top leadership promoted him to the rank of subheading.
The beginning of the October Revolution, Nikolai Dmitrievich met with obvious enthusiasm. He was one of the first to join the Red Army and created in it his own Cossack units. An important point is that most of the Orenburg Cossacks did not recognize the Bolshevik government. Therefore, the Kashirin brothers were forced to fight against their own comrades, which in itself was a difficult moral choice.
As for Nikolai Dmitrievich, he made a significant contribution to the victory over the chieftain Alexander Dutov. Moreover, after the defeat of the enemy army, he pursued the enemy for a long time, as long as he did not hide on the border of the Turgai steppes. Such dedication led to the fact that in the postwar years, his career rapidly went up, replacing one military rank with another.
Kashirin Ivan Dmitrievich
Ivan Kashirin was born in January 1890. Like his elder brother, the young man followed in his father's footsteps and became a soldier. In general, Ivan was very similar to Nicholas. Having great potential, he continually got into all sorts of troubles associated with the failure to comply with the military regulations. It is not surprising that in 1912 he was expelled from the army, since such fighters greatly decompose discipline.
But as soon as the first shots of the approaching war were heard, the brave Cossack was returned to duty again. During the fighting, he showed his best side, for which he received a silver sword directly from the hands of the commander in chief. In the Russian army he managed to rise to the podsaul, but with the advent of the revolution, without a doubt, he passed to the anarchists. Unlike his brother, he did not immediately join the Bolsheviks, as he was far from their ideology. He just did not want to oppose his brothers, and the service to the king was clearly not to his liking.
Perhaps, precisely because of his political detachment, Ivan Kashirin was inferior in authority to Nikolai. Nevertheless, the talent of the military leader was in him, therefore, the leadership considered it loyal to award him the rank of commander of the Special Cossack cavalry brigade of the Turkestan army.
Kashirin Petr Dmitrievich
Peter was born on April 20, 1892. He was a Cossack, like the rest of the Kashirin brothers. The biography of Peter Dmitrievich is a series of difficult trials, because he spent most of the war in captivity: first with the Germans, then with the White Guards. It is noteworthy that he managed to escape from the enemy’s hands, while retaining personal belongings, documents and service weapons.
In the post-war period, he was mainly engaged in political rather than military activities. The last position held was the manager of a communal bank in Orenburg. You should also be aware that it was with him that the tragic sequence of events began that forever changed the fate of the Kashirin family.
Kashirin brothers: repression
In 1937, a certain citizen declared to the NKVD that, starting in 1931, an underground counter-revolutionary organization of Cossacks existed in Orenburg. And according to his testimony, they have been planning a coup for a long time. The leader of this gang is none other than the Kashirin brothers. Photos of the conspirators are immediately transferred to the local government, and soon a real hunt begins for them.
The first to be arrested was Pyotr Dmitrievich, as they believed that he was the leader of the group. It happened on June 6, 1937. Two weeks later, Ivan Kashirin was imprisoned, and on August 19 of that year, the “funnel” came to the liking of Nikolai. As a result, the court found all the Kashirin brothers guilty of high treason and sentenced to capital punishment - execution.
Kashirin brothers: rehabilitation
After the death of Stalin, the Supreme Court of the USSR reviewed the cases of the majority of repressed prisoners. Thanks to this, the Kashirin brothers were acquitted and rehabilitated posthumously. The sad thing about this story is that, as heroes, they knew the shame of an unfair accusation of betrayal. And although their fame still rose from the ashes, alas, the brothers themselves did not live to see this day.