Vasily Zakharovich Korzh - Hero of the Soviet Union. During the Second World War he was the commander of the "Komarovtsev" - a detachment of partisans, taking the post of major general. In 1950 he became chairman of the collective farm. Vasily Zakharovich Korzh, whose exploits will not forget the country, participated in the war, was awarded orders and medals.
Biography of the Hero of the Soviet Union
Korzh Vasily Zakharovich, whose biography is filled with many events, was born on January 1, 1899 in Belarus, in the village of Khorostovo.
In 1921, Vasily took part in the battles with the White Guard detachments that opposed the Soviet Union. The partisan detachment, which included Korzh, fought against the anti-Soviet Socialist Revolutionary Party.
In 1931 he graduated from special courses at the Orenburg State Pedagogical University. After receiving his education, Vasily Zakharovich Korzh received the honorary position of head of the partisan movement.
To preserve conspiracy, Vasily was considered an instructor of the Society for the Assistance to Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction, but in reality he was responsible for guerrilla activities in six border regions.
The beginning of a military career
In November 1936, Vasiliy Zakharovich Korzh was called up to Spain, where military operations with the Francoists began at that time. Already at this time, Vasily was the commander of the partisan detachment. In December 1937, Vasily returned to his homeland, where he received awards for his courage and courage.
Dark time
Vasily Zakharovich Korzh was suspected of espionage. It was assumed that he transferred all the collected information to Poland so that it could conduct active hostilities against the USSR.
As a result, Korzh was arrested and sent to a Minsk prison, where he spent more than a month. Prison conditions were very difficult, the prisoners were bullied, but Vasily Zakharovich Korzh did not even sign confession for espionage against the Soviet Union for his release.
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Leaving the prison, Vasily went to the Pinshchina. It was there that he created his partisan detachment. Vasily Zakharovich Korzh changed his surname to Komarov, it was she who later became his pseudonym to avoid another arrest.
June 22, 1941 Germany invaded the territory of the USSR, attacking the country from Belarus. It was here that the largest partisan movement in Europe was formed, in the forefront of which Korzh stood.
First successes
For the Soviet Union, Belarus was an important element that could not be ceded to German troops. It was on this territory that there were impassable forest jungles and deep swamps, which was the main advantage for the development of partisan movements here.
Already on June 28, 1941, Korzh and his partisan detachment were able to ambush the Pinsk-Logishin route, where an enemy convoy of military equipment was passing. After the first well-aimed grenade throws into tanks, the head vehicle was defeated. It was this ambush that went down in history as the first partisan attack. In this battle, the Komarovites did not lose a single fighter.
Good luck in further actions.
In the first months of the war, the territory of Belarus was occupied. In the winter of 1942, a partisan detachment led by Korzh made a sleigh trip to the German rear. During this raid, several dozen enemy garrisons were defeated. The Komarovites attacked not only enemy garrisons, but also railway stations, German echelons with soldiers and military supplies, and destroyed telephone lines. The partisan detachment was lucky in everything, but not one of the partisans could have thought that the walk would drag on for such a long time - the detachment had been in this raid for more than three years.
Family relationships
During the war, both daughters of Vasily also participated in hostilities and attacks on the Nazis. Vasily Zakharovich Korzh, whose family was also inevitably involved in the war, was very worried about his daughters - women captured were suffering terrible torture from the side of enemy soldiers. However, the youngest daughter Zinaida, who inherited the character of her father, went to the battle with confidence in the victory over the enemy. At the end of the war, Zinaida Korzh was awarded many medals and orders for her courage and steadfastness. Zinaida received the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War of the second degree.
Olga, Vasily's eldest daughter, held the position of medical instructor in the cavalry squadron. As Olga herself recalled, during the war she thought that everything she saw could be left in the past, but she could not forget so much the faces distorted by pain and mutilated bodies.
Despite the fact that the men who were comrades-in-arms for the Korzh sisters during the war, laughed at women, did not believe that young girls could really be useful, Olga and Zinaida for a long time participated in hostilities. However, Vasily Zakharovich persuaded the girls to go to the Cossacks on the collective farm, where they would be safe.
Only in 1941, Zinaida and Olga succumbed to the persuasion of his father to leave the war. They left for the village of Tbilisi, where they began to live and work on a collective farm, among the Cossacks.
Zinaida, having entered the society of women participating in the war, became the chairman of this society.
Korzh's life in the post-war
In 1946, Vasily Zakharovich graduated from the Military Academy of the Military Staff. In the same year, Korzh resigned, being in the rank of major general.
At the end of the war Korzh was awarded two Leninist orders, the Order of the Patriotic War of the first degree.
In the same year, Vasily began working as deputy minister of the forest industry. After working on the spot for four years, Korzh was able to get the position of chairman of the Partisansky Krai collective farm in his native land, in the village of Khorostovo. Vasily Zakharovich worked at this post until his death.
In the postwar years, Vasily Zakharovich was in close friendship with Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov. Having met back in Slutsk, the military leaders converged in many respects and maintained contact until the end of their lives. Spending time together, they hunted ducks in the swamps, Zhukov often stayed overnight in Korzh's parents' house. Already in the post-war peace time, Korzh often visited his disgraced friend in the capital.
Creative way
Vasily Korzh had a desire to write and publish an autobiographical book that could tell about all those terrible events that had occurred on the way of the Hero of the Soviet Union. For a long time working on memoirs that were based on the events of the partisan struggle, Korzh was able to convey the whole atmosphere prevailing in the terrible days that flowed into months and years.
In the post-war period, the book was banned by censors, because much of what Vasily Korzh wrote about was too harsh, this could show the actions of the authorities of the Soviet Union in a bad light. Everyone knows that even in times of war, power in the USSR was too cruel. Joseph Stalin, who had already missed the moment of the attack of the German troops on the territory of the Soviet Union, was too biased towards Korzh, which influenced the attitude of the military leader to the whole war as a whole. Censors believed that most of what Korzh described in his writings did not coincide with reality, but Vasily Zakharovich described all events truthfully. To date, the reliability of the book can be verified by relying on historical facts.
The book was published only in 2008, which was facilitated by the youngest daughter of Vasily, Zinaida. It was she who transferred the works of her father to the National Archive of Belarus.
Kinship of the warlord
According to some reports, it is believed that Vasily Zakharovich Korzh and Max Korzh are relatives. The entertainer himself says that Vasily Zakharovich is his great-grandfather's cousin. Much of what is known about the life of Vasily was told by Max Korzh himself. Vasily Zakharovich Korzh, whose photographs can be seen in this article, really bears a resemblance to a young singer.
A few words about Korzh's life
Vasily Korzh is a great military leader, thanks to whom the partisan movement gained such significant momentum. It was with his help that the USSR managed to preserve such strategically important lands of Belarus, which were necessary not only for the Soviet Union, but also for the German invaders. Having raised his daughters as worthy fighters who inherited their fatherly disposition, Vasily Zakharovich was proud of them all the post-war years. For many years he maintained friendly relations with Marshal Zhukov, it was clear to everyone that they were connected - a constant disgrace on the part of the authorities. Both, having been in disgrace, perfectly understood each other. Having earned the respect of his associates, Vasily Korzh has forever remained in the memory of all who honor the great victory of the Soviet Union.