General Berezin - commander of the 119th Krasnoyarsk division, deputy commander of the 22nd army during the Second World War. After prolonged bloody battles on the Kalinin front, returning from the front line, he was surrounded, nothing more was known about him. Until the end of the 1960s, he was considered missing. This explains the long silence about him, which gave rise to the most incredible conjectures, even to the point of betrayal. His grave was discovered by trackers in the forest. He was identified by the general's uniform and the Order of the Red Star, issued in 1942.
Biography of A.D. Berezin 1895-1917
In 1895, a boy was born in the family of a Vladimir worker, who was given the name Alexander at birth. About his childhood, there was practically no information left. He graduated from the parish school, worked in a tailor workshop, then in the printing house. In all likelihood, he was a capable young man, since he, not studying in the gymnasium, was able to pass exams and receive a certificate of completion.
In 1915, Alexander Dmitrievich Berezin graduated from the ensign school and was sent to one of the fronts of the First World War. His service went well, as he rose to the rank of staff captain. Participated in fraternization with the Germans. He was seriously injured and was being treated in the hospital of Vladimir, after which he was demobilized.
The period from 1918 to 1940.
In May 1918, the future Major General Berezin joined the ranks of the CPSU (B.). We, a century later, know with accuracy that he makes an informed choice in favor of the Bolsheviks. Even at the front of World War 1, he was a propagandist among soldiers. In the same year, by party appeal, he was mobilized into the Red Army and actively participated in the Civil War. In 1919, he was appointed assistant commander of the battalion of the Cheka. Participates in the fight against gangs in Yuryev-Polsky district.
After the end of the Civil War, he remained in the army. In 1923 he graduated from the Higher Shooting Courses, in 1928, Special Courses under the command of the headquarters of the Red Army. In August 1939, he was appointed to the post of commander of the 119th Infantry Division, which under his leadership was formed in the city of Krasnoyarsk. In June 1940 he received the title of Major General.
Participation in the Great Patriotic War
The general arrived at the front with 119 divisions at the end of June 1941, where she took up defense in the Olenin area and participated in the construction of the Rzhev-Vyazemsky fortified area. As part of the 31st Army of 634, the infantry regiment of the division took part in its first battle in the Dudkino area, located south of Olenino. This was at the beginning of October 1941.
In December of the same year, the division under the command of General Berezin crossed the Volga and took part in the liberation of the city of Kalinin. In January 1942, for this operation, the division was one of the first to be awarded the honorary title of the 17th Guards Division (GSD). At the same time, the general received the Order of the Red Banner. At the end of May 1942, the division entered the 39th Combined Arms Army. On June 6, 1942, Berezin became deputy commander of the 22nd army.
The death of a general
During heavy protracted battles in the area of ​​the city of Bely, several regiments of the 17th Guards Division of Siberians fought in encirclement. Knowing the plight of his former subordinates, who had run out of ammunition, General Berezin decided to personally go to one of the regiments of his former division in order to understand the situation on the spot and mentally support fellow soldiers.
As the eyewitnesses of these events showed, having arrived at the place and having studied the current situation in detail, he gave the last order in his life - to hold out at all costs until the evening to give other units in an even more difficult situation the opportunity to retreat. Only after that, in an organized manner, retreat to the Kukuisky forest area. He stayed almost until the evening with his fellow soldiers, after which he left in the direction of Shizderev. No one else saw him or his companions.
The situation on the Kalinin front
The disappearance of the general is undoubtedly an emergency. But what was happening at that time on the Kalinin front pushed this incident to the background. The fact is that the German command of Army Group Center undertook a private military operation called Seidlitz, against the 39th Army of the Kalinin Front, which led to the enemy defenses with a bulge. It was launched by the 9th German Army on July 2, 1942.
Location 39 A made it possible for the German troops to enclose it in a ring, since it had gone far into the Germans' location, and there remained a bottleneck - the "throat" through which communication with Soviet territory was made. The Germans, speaking on both sides, closed the ring, which turned out to be 39 A, as well as units 41 A and 22 A. It was in regiment 39 A, which included 17 GSD, that Major General Berezin drove in.
Division environment
On the way the Germans stood 17 GSD 39 A from the left flank and 22 A units from the right. It was they who prevented the 39 A and 11 cavalry corps from slamming into the boiler. According to the German archives, two German divisions (2 tank divisions and 246 infantry divisions) spoke out against 17 GSD. The forces were too unequal. According to the fascist reports of 06/05/1942 39 A was completely surrounded. The remnants of the Soviet units, who were surrounded, broke through in small groups, leaving for the Patrushino-Laba area.
According to official figures, on 17/07/1942, 1759 (not counting the wounded) soldiers and officers of 17 GSDs left the encirclement. In total, the loss of the division to the wounded, killed and captured was 3822 people. There are memories of division veterans who describe the horror and doom of those around them, the fury and hope of those around them. Yes, Operation Zeidlich is a German victory. It was not customary to recall such failures in the Soviet Union.
Burial Site Detection
The general’s burial place was opened in the late 60s by his fellow soldiers. A group of Siberian veterans of the division made a trip to places where battles took place in the summer of 1942. Here met former combatants, commissars, military intelligence. Of course, the question arose about the missing general. Visiting military graves, the gray-haired veterans tried to find the name of Berezin, but their efforts were in vain. Just before the departure, they started talking about the fact that they could not find the traces of the missing commander.
A local resident participating in the conversation said that there was a grave of some general in the village of Demyakhi. All participants in the campaign decided to urgently go there. There were cars and accompanying. Arriving at the place, they heard the story that the trackers in the forest discovered a small mound. Their attention was drawn to a star woven from rods. When they dug up the grave, they discovered the remains of a man in general uniform, with the Order of the Red Star. The remains were transferred to a military grave in Demyakhi and buried next to it. So the grave of the divisional commander was found. Thanks to the efforts of fellow soldiers, the honest name of Berezin was restored. In Krasnoyarsk, Bely there are streets of General Berezin.
Reviews fellow soldiers
Many remembered him as a good commander, an experienced military leader. This is the commander of the 31st army, Major General V.N. Dolmatov, the commissar of one of the division regiments I. Senkevich, the veteran of the 119th division M. Maistrovsky, the reserve colonel V.V. Molchanov and others. Many of those who survived after heavy fighting recalled him as a competent commander, fair and honest man.
These people worked closely with General Berezin. The Great Patriotic War made people more open, but behind the blood, pain, tears, all the troubles that the war brought to people, the best human qualities - kindness, compassion, were not always visible. Awareness of this came after the war, when people warmly remembered their colleagues.
Missing
War does not make out ranks. It killed both soldiers and generals. But it’s one thing to die in front of your fellow soldiers, another thing is “the abyss.” What happened in the forest on that distant June day of 1942 is unknown. We can only assume that the Germans closed the ring, and the general and his attendants came across them. And those accompanying him, having buried him, did not appear anywhere, most likely, they shared the fate of their divisional commander.
If he died the death of a hero in front of everyone - this is to preserve his honor and dignity. And the abyss without a trace, to die or die from wounds in the forest, or somewhere else an abyss - is to receive, at best, oblivion, at worst - blasphemy, reproach and accusation of all sins. This time was not easy. A terrible fate awaited the servicemen of the 39th Army, who were surrounded on the Kalinin Front, most of the soldiers and officers who died and were captured were transferred to the category of missing persons.
After the war, many memoirs were written of the direct participants in the breakthrough from the environment. Reading them, the blood runs cold. These are the memoirs of a war veteran V. Polyakov, a communications officer of 26 GPS and 17 GSD. A. Burakov described the sad fate of the division’s medical battalion, many medical workers died or replenished the number of prisoners in the Rzhevsky and other concentration camps.
"Vanka company"
These are memoirs of A. I. Shumilin, a former platoon commander, then a company during the Kalinin operation. Perhaps this is an honest and courageous officer, his order and medals speak about this. Five times wounded, but still alive. And at the beginning of the war, a simple boy-junior lieutenant. After the war, he writes his notes "Roly Company."
Shumilin in this terrible time was only 20 years old. He is from Moscow, as can be seen from his book, did not agree in character with the Siberians, considering himself more intelligent and educated. Take even the first meeting with them. Muscovites looked with pity at the wounded horse, and the Siberians came and slaughtered it for meat, until it got sick. There are no authorities for him. Constant skirmishes with senior in rank, discussion of any order, constant objections and bickering.
Shumilin in Vanka Rotnoy laid bare all his feelings, which he had to experience at that time and remained with him forever. Fear, pain, resentment, despair, hopelessness, a sense of endless, some kind of childish injustice. Hatred of all officers older than the lieutenant, staff officers is read in every line of it. His flaws are to blame for everything, from the foreman, who did not confirm his word, when he slept with a soldier in the trench, and his platoon retreated. He was saved only by the fact that the Germans did not have time to take these positions. He came from the enemy only on the second day. He was forgiven for the first time, most likely due to the fact that he simply felt sorry for the boy. For the second, more serious misconduct, he is no longer forgiven.
An unjust criminal record, in his words, when he, for leaving the Volga coast without an order at a time when his fellow soldiers crossed and participated in bloody battles, is put on trial and sentenced to five years probation, again, most likely, regretting. In his work, from the moment when his platoon was assigned to the 17th State Duma Battalion, it is constantly said that he is being threatened with a court, execution. His conclusion is that the division commander who arranged all this is to blame.
What does the general have to do with it?
He claimed that the general spoke with a German accent, although he had only seen him once. Shumilin describes the meeting with the general already surrounded, when he tries to stop the escaping soldiers and orders to take the village. Shumilin does not leave the shelter, thinking that if he leaves, they will be hanged up with “responsibility for the defeat of the Kalinin Front,” he is frankly glad that the general does not always succeed in stopping the soldiers, threatening them with execution. This company, essentially offended child, is a pity.
The court broke him, impressed him more than all the tragic events on the Kalinin front. "Everybody lies, don't believe them." He claims that the general walked across the front line and carried information to the Germans. One gets the impression that he served as his adjutant and knew him every step. He in his book conveys the conversations of officers at the front headquarters in all details, as if he were personally present at them. But, as can be seen from his "work", he did not even communicate with them. Hating staff officers, this "Vanka company" later serves himself in the headquarters of some unit.
In war, as in war
Here everyone carries out their task. Some are responsible for everything and draw arrows on the map, developing their operations that will bring them fame or blasphemy, shame and oblivion. The soldier’s task is to sit in the trenches, attack and fulfill the orders of the commanders, being essentially “cannon fodder”. Accusing the general of a terrible crime - the betrayal of his subordinates, knowing that he will not be able to answer in his defense, is at least not fair.
His general is told by his fellow soldiers who have been with him for more than a year. We went out of our surroundings, went on the offensive. Berezin at the time of his death was the deputy commander of 22 A and could calmly sit out at the command post. But he was going to his division, which was part of 39 A, while on the left flank, he took the blow of the Germans in two divisions, including the tank.
In the terrible situation of the division there is no direct fault. The fact that the general was not a coward is obvious. This is confirmed by Shumilin himself, describing how he sought to raise a soldier to storm the village, in the midst of general panic and flight. He did not sit at the headquarters, but was on the front line. But the author of the notes finds his explanation for this, too, that he appeared there to "put on a soldier's greatcoat, go into the city" and surrender to the Germans. But what about the remains in the form of a general, his order, the fact that his fellow soldiers and after the war were looking for his tracks, not believing that he had gone to the Germans?