How and where did Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev die: history and interesting facts

Where did Chapaev die and how did this happen? Alas, there is no definite answer to this question. Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev is a legendary person during the Civil War. The life of this person, starting from a young age, is full of riddles and secrets. Let's try to solve them, based on some historical facts.

Mystery of birth

The hero of our story lived only 32 years. But what! Where Chapaev died and where Chapaev is buried is an unsolved mystery. Why did it happen so? Everyone has their own truth. Eyewitnesses of those distant times disagree in their testimonies.

Chapaev Vasily Ivanovich (1887–1919) - this is how historical reference books present the date of birth and death of the legendary commander.

It is only a pity that the history has preserved more reliable facts about the birth of this person than about death.

So, Vasily was born on February 9, 1887 in the family of a poor peasant. The very birth of the boy was marked by the seal of death: the midwife, who took birth with the mother of a poor family, having seen a premature baby, prophesied him a quick death.

A sickly and half-dead boy, a grandmother came out. Despite the disappointing predictions, she believed that he would get out. The crumbs were wrapped in a piece of cloth and warmed near the stove. Thanks to the efforts and prayers of his grandmother, the boy survived.

Childhood

Soon the Chapaev family moved in search of a better life from the village of Budaiki, in Chuvashia, to the village of Balakovo in the Nikolaev province.

Family affairs went a little better: Vasily was even given to study science at a parish educational institution. But the boy was not destined to receive a full education. A little more than in 2 years, he learned only to read and write. The training ended after one case. The fact is that parish schools practiced the punishment of students for wrongdoing. This fate did not pass Chapaev. In the cold winter, the boy was sent to a punishment cell with almost no clothes. The guy was not going to die from the cold, so when the frost was already unbearable, he jumped out of the window. The punishment cell was very high - the guy woke up with broken arms and legs. After this incident, Vasily did not go to school anymore. And since the training for the boy was closed, his father took him to work with him, taught him carpentry, and together they built buildings.

Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev, whose biography every year was surrounded only by new and incredible facts, was remembered by contemporaries after another incident. It was like this: during work, when it was necessary to establish a cross on the very top of the newly built church, showing courage and dexterity, Chapaev Jr. took up this task. However, the guy could not resist and fell from a great height. Everyone saw the true miracle in that after Basil’s fall there was not even a small scratch.

In the service of the Fatherland

At the age of 21, Chapaev began military service, which lasted only a year. In 1909 he was fired.

According to the official version, the reason was in the illness of a military man: Chapaev was found to have an eyesore. The unofficial reason was much more serious - Vasily’s brother, Andrei, was executed for speaking out against the tsar. Vasily Chapaev himself after this began to be considered "unreliable."

Chapaev Vasily Ivanovich, whose historical portrait looms as an image of a man prone to courageous and decisive actions, once decided to start a family. He got married.

The chosen one of Vasily - Pelageya Metlin, was the daughter of a priest, so the elder Chapaev opposed these marriage ties. Despite the ban, the young were married. In this marriage, three children were born, but the union broke up due to the betrayal of Pelagia.

In 1914, Chapaev was again called up for service. The First World War brought him awards: St. George medal and St. George's Crosses of the 4th and 3rd degree.

In addition to awards, the soldier Chapaev received the rank of senior non-commissioned officer. All achievements were gained by him for six months of service.

Chapaev and the Red Army

In July 1917, Vasily Chapaev, recovering from a wound, finds himself in an infantry regiment, whose soldiers support revolutionary views. Here, after active communication with the Bolsheviks, he enters the ranks of their party.

In December of the same year, the hero of our story becomes the commissar of the Red Guard. He suppresses peasant uprisings and goes to study at the Academy of the General Staff.

For the sensible commander, a new assignment is soon found - Chapaev is sent to the Eastern Front to fight with Kolchak.

After successfully liberating Ufa from enemy troops and participating in a military operation to unblock Uralsk, the headquarters of the 25th division, commanded by Chapaev, was suddenly attacked by the White Guards. According to the official version, on September 5, 1919, Vasily Chapaev died.

Where did Chapaev die?

The answer to this question just exists. The tragic event took place in Lbischensk, on the Ural River. But historians still argue about how the famous commander of the Red Guard died. There are many different legends about the death of Chapaev. The mass of "eyewitnesses" tells their truth. Nevertheless, researchers of Chapaev’s life are inclined to the fact that he drowned, sailing across the Urals.

This version is based on an investigation conducted by Chapaev’s contemporaries shortly after his death.

The fact that the grave of the commander does not exist and his remains were not found, gave rise to a new version that he was saved. When the Civil War ended, rumors began to circulate among the people about the rescue of Chapaev. It was rumored that, having changed his surname, he lived in the Arkhangelsk region. The first version is confirmed by the film, which was released on Soviet screens in the 30s of the last century.

The film about Chapaev: myth or reality

In those years, the country needed new revolutionary heroes with an unblemished reputation. Chapaev’s feat was exactly what Soviet propaganda felt the need for.

From the film we learn that the headquarters of the division, commanded by Chapaev, took the enemy by surprise. The advantage was on the side of the White Guards. The Reds fired back, the battle was fierce. The only way to save and survive was the crossing through the Urals.

Crossing the river, Chapaev was already wounded in the arm. The next enemy bullet killed him and he drowned. The river where Chapaev died, and became his burial place.

However, the film, which was admired by all Soviet citizens, provoked indignation among the descendants of Chapaev. His daughter Claudia, referring to the story of Commissioner Baturin, claimed that the comrades had taken his father to the other side of the river on a raft.

To the question: “Where did Chapaev die?” Baturin replied: "On the river bank." According to him, the body was buried in coastal sand and disguised as reeds.

Already the great-granddaughter of the red commander initiated the search for the grave of his great-grandfather. However, these plans were not destined to come true. At the place where, according to legend, the grave was supposed to be, now a river flowed.

Whose evidence was taken as the basis for the script of the film?

How Chapaev died and where, after the end of the war, the coronet Belonozhkin told. From his words it became known that it was he who fired a bullet at the floating commander. A denunciation was written about a former coruna, he confirmed his version during interrogation, and it was also the basis of the film.

The fate of Belonozhkin is also shrouded in mystery. Twice he was convicted, and amnestied as many times. He lived to a very advanced age. He fought during World War II, lost his hearing due to shell shock, and died at the age of 96.

The fact that the "killer" Chapaev lived to such an advanced age and died his death suggests that representatives of the Soviet government, taking his story as the basis of the film, themselves did not believe in this version.

Version of the old-timers of the village of Lbischenskaya

How Chapaev died, history is silent. We can draw conclusions, referring only to eyewitness accounts, conducting all kinds of investigations and examinations.

The version of the old-timers of the village of Lbischenskaya (now the village of Chapaevo) also has the right to life. The investigation was conducted by academician A. Cherekaev, and he recorded the history of the defeat of the Chapaev’s division. According to eyewitnesses, the weather on the day of the tragedy was cold in the autumn. The Cossacks drove all the Red Guards to the banks of the Urals, where many soldiers, indeed, rushed into the river and drowned.

The victims were due to the fact that the place where Chapaev died was considered to be bewitched. Nobody has managed to cross the river there, despite the fact that the local daredevils, in honor of the memory of the deceased commissar, annually arrange such swims on the day of his death.

About the fate of Chapaev, Cherekaev learned that he had been caught, and after interrogation under guard, he was sent to Guriev to the chieftain Tolstov. On this, Chapaev’s trail ends.

Where is the truth?

The fact that the death of Chapaev is really covered in mystery is an absolute fact. And the answer to this question to researchers of the life path of the legendary divisional commander has yet to be found.

It is noteworthy that the newspapers did not inform at all about the death of Chapaev. Although then the death of such a famous person was considered an event that was learned from the newspapers.

They started talking about Chapaev’s death after the release of the famous film. All the eyewitnesses to his death spoke almost at the same time - after 1935, in other words, after showing the film.

In the encyclopedia “Civil war and military intervention in the USSR”, the place where Chapaev died was also not indicated. The official, generalized version is indicated - near Lbischensk.

Let's hope that thanks to the latest research, this story will someday become clear.