The Great Patriotic War - the most bloody and ruthless in world history, it took away millions of human lives, including the lives of many young children who boldly defended their homeland. Golikov Leonid Alexandrovich - one of the heroes of his country.
This is an ordinary boy, whose childhood was carefree and happy, he was friends with the guys, helped his parents, graduated from seven classes, after which he worked at a plywood factory. The war found Lenya at the age of 15, instantly breaking off all the boy’s youthful dreams.
Young partisan
The village in the Novgorod region, where the boy lived, was captured by the Nazis and, trying to establish their new order, began to commit atrocities. Lenya Golikov, whose feat is inscribed in history in a red line, did not come to terms with the horrors created around him and decided to fight against the Nazis; after the liberation of the village, he went into the formed partisan detachment, where he fought alongside the adults. True, at first the guy was not mistaken for a young age; help came from a partisan teacher. He vouched for the boy, saying that that reliable person would show himself perfectly and would not fail. In March 1942, Lenya became a scout in the Leningrad partisan brigade; a little later he joined the Komsomol.
Fight against the Nazis
The fascists were afraid of the partisans, because they mercilessly destroyed German officers and soldiers, blew up trains, attacked enemy columns. Elusive partisans seemed to enemies everywhere: behind every tree, house, turn, - so they tried not to walk one at a time.
There was even such a case: Lenya Golikov, whose feat became
an example of patriotism for young people of different generations, was returning from intelligence and saw five Nazis looting in an apiary. They were so passionate about getting honey and fighting with bees that they threw weapons to the ground. The young scout took advantage of this, destroying three enemies; the two managed to escape.
The boy who had grown up early had a lot of military merits (27 military operations, 78 enemy officers; several bombings of enemy vehicles and bridges), but Leni Golikov’s feat was not far off. It was 1942 ...
Fearless Lenya Golikov: feat
A summary of it we will now state.
Highway Luga-Pskov (near the village of Varintsy). 1942 year. August 13th. Being with a partner in reconnaissance, Lenya blew up a passenger enemy car, which, as it turned out, was Richard von Wirtz - major general of German engineering troops. His portfolio contained very important information: reports to his superiors, minefield diagrams , detailed drawings of some samples of German mines and other data that were of great value to the partisans.
The feat of Leni Golikov, the brief content of which is described above, was evaluated by the Golden Star medal and the assignment of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union; true, posthumously. In the winter of 1942, a partisan detachment, in which Golikov was a member, fell into German surroundings, but after fierce battles he was able to break through and change his location. Fifty people remained in service, the cartridges were running out, the walkie-talkie was broken, food was running out. Attempts to reconnect with other units were unsuccessful.
In ambush
In January 1943, 27 exhausted, exhausted pursuit of partisans occupied three extreme huts of the village of Ostraya Luka. Preliminary intelligence found nothing suspicious; the nearest garrison of Germans was quite far away, a few kilometers away. Patrols were not displayed, so as not to attract too much attention. However, a “good man” was found in the village - the owner of one of the houses (a certain Stepanov), who informed the elder Pykhov, who, in turn, told the punitive about what guests had come to the village at night.
Pykhov received a generous reward from the Germans for this treacherous act, but at the beginning of 1944 he was shot as a traitor to the Motherland. Stepanov, the second traitor, was only a year older than Leni, and in times of trouble for himself (when the turn of the war became clear) he was resourceful: he left for the partisans, and from there to the Soviet Army. Stepanov even managed to earn awards and return home almost as a hero, but the hand of justice overtook this traitor to the motherland. In 1948, for treason, he was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison, and with the deprivation of all received awards.
They are no more
On this unkind January night, sharp Luke was surrounded by 50 punishers, among whom were local residents who collaborated with the Nazis. Partisans, taken by surprise, had to fight back and, under the bullets of enemy shells, urgently went back to the forest. Only six people managed to escape from the environment.
In that unequal battle, almost the entire partisan detachment was lost, including Lenya Golikov, whose feat remained forever in the memory of his associates.
Sister instead of brother
Initially, it was believed that the original photograph of Leni Golikov was not preserved. Therefore, to reproduce the image of the hero, the image of his sister Lydia was used (for example, for a portrait painted in 1958 by Viktor Fomin). Later, a partisan photo was found, but Lida’s usual face, acting as a brother, adorned the biography of Leni Golikov, who became a symbol of courage for Soviet teenagers. Indeed, the feat accomplished by Leni Golikov is a vivid example of courage and love for the motherland.
In April 1944, Leonid Golikov was awarded (posthumously) the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his heroism and courage in the fight against fascist invaders.
In the heart of everyone
In many publications, Leonid Golikov is spoken of as a pioneer, and he is on a par with the same fearless young personalities as Marat Kazey, Vitya Korobkov, Valya Kotik, Zina Portnova.
However, during the perestroika period, when the heroes of the Soviet era were subjected to “mass revelations”, a claim arose to these children that they could not be pioneers, because they were older than the prescribed age. The information was not confirmed: Marat Kazei, Zina Portnova and Vitya Korobkov really were pioneers, but with Lenya it turned out a little differently.
He got into the list of pioneers thanks to the efforts of people who are not indifferent to his fate and, apparently, from good intentions. The first materials about his heroism speak of Lena as a Komsomol member. The feat of Leni Golikov, a brief summary of which was described by Yuri Korolkov in his book Partisan Lenya Golikov, is an example of the young man’s behavior in the days of mortal danger hanging over his country.
The writer, who went through the war with a front-line correspondent, reduced the hero's age by just a couple of years, making him a 14-year-old pioneer hero from a 16-year-old boy. Perhaps this writer wanted to make Leni’s feat brighter. Although everyone who knew Lenya was aware of the current state of affairs, believing that this inaccuracy fundamentally does not change anything. In any case, the country for the collective image of a pioneer hero needed a suitable person who would also be a Hero of the Soviet Union. Optimally for the image came Lenya Golikov.
His feat is described in all Soviet newspapers, many books have been written about him and the same young heroes. In any case, this is the story of a great country. Therefore, the feat of Leni Golikov, like himself - the man who defended his homeland - will forever remain in everyone’s heart.