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When shells burst in front of your eyes, a machine gun is beating in agony, and clouds of gray smoke do not let the sun's rays through, you realize how scary it is in war. But this is just a reconstruction of the tragic event of June 1941 - the treacherous attack on the USSR by Nazi Germany.

And although you understand that the mines are inert, the cartridges are blank, and the blood on the uniforms of the soldiers is fake, this does not make it more comfortable ...

Let us remind that over 500 reenactors from Belarus, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Japan, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, China and Kazakhstan took part in the reconstruction on June 21-22. For the first time, clubs of reenactors from the Czech Republic and Slovakia joined the forum.

A bit of history (from Wikipedia)

June 22 at 3:15 am(4:15 am Soviet "decree" time) a hurricane of artillery fire was opened at the fortress, taking the garrison by surprise. As a result, warehouses were destroyed, the water supply system was damaged (according to the surviving defenders, there was no water in the water supply system two days before the assault), communication was interrupted, and serious damage was inflicted on the garrison.

At 3:23 the assault began. Up to one and a half thousand infantry from three battalions of the 45th Infantry Division attacked directly on the fortress. The unexpectedness of the attack led to the fact that the garrison could not provide a unified coordinated resistance and was split into several separate centers.

The assault detachment of the Germans, advancing through the Terespol fortification, initially did not meet serious resistance and, having passed

The citadel, advanced groups went to the Kobrin fortification. However, the units of the garrison that found themselves in the rear of the Germans launched a counterattack, dismembering and almost completely destroying the attackers.

The Germans in the Citadel were able to gain a foothold only in certain areas, including the club building dominating the fortress (the former Church of St. Nicholas), the canteen for the command staff and the section of the barracks at the Brest Gate. They met strong resistance on the Volynsk and, especially, on the Kobrin fortification, where it came to bayonet attacks.

By 7:00 am on June 22nd 42nd and 6th rifle divisions left the fortress and the city of Brest, however, many servicemen of these divisions did not manage to get out of the fortress. It was they who continued to fight in it. According to the estimates of the historian R. Aliyev, about 8 thousand people left the fortress, and about 5 thousand remained in it.

According to other sources, on June 22, there were only from 3 to 4 thousand people in the fortress, since part of the personnel of both divisions was outside the fortress - in summer camps, on exercises, on the construction of the Brest fortified area (sapper battalions, an engineer regiment, one battalion from each infantry regiment and by division from artillery regiments).

By 9 o'clock in the morning the fortress was surrounded. During the day, the Germans were forced to bring into battle the reserve of the 45th Infantry Division (135pp / 2), as well as the 130th Infantry Regiment, which was originally a corps reserve, thus bringing the grouping of assaults to two regiments.

On the night of June 23 having withdrawn the troops to the outer ramparts of the fortress, the Germans began shelling, in the intervals offering the garrison to surrender. Around 1900 people surrendered. Nevertheless, on June 23, the remaining defenders of the fortress succeeded, having knocked out the Germans from the section of the circular barracks adjacent to the Brest Gate, to unite the two most powerful centers of resistance remaining on the Citadel - the combat group of the 455th rifle regiment, headed by Lieutenant A.A. Vinogradov (chief chemical services of the 455th Rifle Regiment) and Captain I.N. M. Fomin (military commissar of the 84th rifle regiment), senior lieutenant N.F. Shcherbakov (assistant chief of staff of the 33rd separate engineering regiment) and lieutenant A.K. ).

By the evening of June 24 the Germans captured most of the fortress, with the exception of the section of the ring barracks ("Officers' House") near the Brest (Three-Arched) gates of the Citadel, casemates in the earthen rampart on the opposite bank of the Mukhavets ("point 145") and the so-called "Eastern Fort" located on the Kobrin fortification - its defense, which consisted of 600 soldiers and commanders of the Red Army, was commanded by Major P. M. Gavrilov (commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment).

In the area of ​​the Terespolskiye Gates, groups of fighters under the command of Senior Lieutenant A.E. Potapov (in the basements of the 333rd Infantry Regiment's barracks) and border guards of the 9th frontier outpost of Lieutenant A.M. Kizhevatov (in the building of the border outpost) continued to fight. On this day, the Germans managed to capture 570 defenders of the fortress.

The last 450 Citadel defenders were captured on June 26 after blowing up several compartments of the circular barracks of the "House of Officers" and point 145, and on June 29, after the Germans dropped an aerial bomb weighing 1800 kilograms, the Eastern Fort fell.

However, the Germans managed to finally clean it up. only on June 30th. There were only isolated pockets of resistance and single soldiers who gathered in groups and organized active resistance, or tried to break out of the fortress and go to the partisans in Belovezhskaya Pushcha(many succeeded).

In the basements of the 333rd regiment's barracks at the Terespolskie gates, the group of A.E. Potapov and the border guards of A.M. Kizhevatov who joined it continued to fight until June 29.

June 29 they made a desperate attempt to break through to the south, towards the Western Island, in order to then turn to the east, during which most of its participants were killed or were captured. Major P. M. Gavrilov was captured wounded among the last - July 23.

One of the inscriptions in the fortress reads: “I am dying, but I am not giving up! Goodbye, Motherland. 20 / VII-41 ".

The resistance of single Soviet servicemen in the casemates of the fortress continued until August 1941, before A. Hitler and B. Mussolini visited the fortress. It is also known that the stone that A. Hitler took from the ruins of the bridge was discovered in his office after the end of the war. To eliminate the last pockets of resistance, the German high command issued an order to flood the basements of the fortress with water from the Western Bug River.

German troops in the fortress captured about 3 thousand Soviet servicemen(according to the report of the commander of the 45th division, Lieutenant General Schlieper, on June 30, 25 officers, 2877 junior commanders and soldiers were taken prisoner), 1877 Soviet soldiers were killed in the fortress.

The total losses of the Germans in the Brest Fortress amounted to 1,197 people, of which 87 were Wehrmacht officers in Eastern Front for the first week of the war.

June 22, on the Day of National Remembrance of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War, commemorative events will be held in Brest. They will start on the evening of June 21st. A march of reenactors, a peaceful evening at Sovetskaya, documentary exhibitions ... On June 22 at 3.15 a meeting-requiem will begin on the Ceremonial Square in the Brest Fortress, Vecherny Brest reports.

Upon its completion, on the territory of the Kobrin fortification, a military historical reconstruction"June, 22. Brest Fortress". The beginning is at 4:30. About 600 people will take part in the reconstruction of the defense of the Brest Fortress. True, expected " german scout"- the AN-2 plane of the Brest aeroclub DOSAAF may never appear in the sky.

Recall that the reconstruction of the beginning of the war in the Brest Fortress has been carried out since 2010. It attracts tens of thousands of spectators, despite the early hour. In 2019, 600 reenactors applied for participation. Enthusiasts of military battles from countries such as Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Baltic States, Austria, Great Britain, France, Japan will arrive in Brest. It is not the first time that many military history clubs and individuals come. Russians are especially active. Most often, the list includes such cities as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Novosibirsk, Voronezh.

"German plane" and ... drones

Great attention is paid to safety. A lot of pyrotechnics will be laid on the Kobrin fortification. But most of all, the organizers fear ... unmanned aircraft(drones). It was originally planned that the AN-2 aircraft of the Brest flying club DOSAAF would circle in the air. As planned, he was supposed to play the role of a German intelligence officer.

True, the use of the aircraft in the 2016 reconstruction has caused some controversy. Everyone is well aware of the massive artillery fire arranged by the Nazis in the early morning of June 22. But the writers assure that nothing is done for the sake of a beautiful entourage.

Aviation was used to bomb the Eastern Fort, - explained in the VIK "Garrison". - True, it was not the first day of the war. According to the current idea, the aircraft used is a German reconnaissance aircraft. Those often appeared at our borders before the war.

True, as it became known on the morning of June 19, permission to use the aircraft has not yet been received. So whether it will appear in the sky over the Kobrin fortification this year is a big question.

In the early morning of June 22, several thousand people gathered on the territory of the Brest Hero-Fortress memorial complex to watch the theatrical performance, during which an attempt was made to reconstruct the events that took place in the fortress on that day in 1941.

The prelude to the "military-historical festival" itself, as the organizers called it, was the "march of reconstructions" along the central streets of Brest on the evening of 21 June. At the same time, on the main pedestrian street of Brest - Sovetskaya - they tried to recreate the atmosphere of the last peaceful evening of 1941. With posters of those times, household items of the pre-war city, photographs. Some cafes and restaurants offered special menus based on pre-war recipes.

"War- not a reason for PR "

Local residents have mixed feelings about the trend recent years, in which the mournful anniversary becomes the occasion for theatrical performances. Doctor of Science Irina Lavrovskaya says that she was born into a family of front-line soldiers. “I was brought up to respect and sympathize with those who went through the horrors of war, so I’m sure that the memory of it should not be used for entertainment, political PR or justification for the low standard of living 70 years after the end of hostilities,” she says.

Lavrovskaya defended her dissertation on the architecture of old Brest. She is convinced that if earlier the "reconstructions" on the eve of June 22 caused only irritation, now they are simply dangerous, since they involve, among other things, representatives of the Russian "military-historical clubs" who actively participated in hostilities in the Donbass.

A similar point of view is shared by pensioner Stanislava Kucherova, who is surprised that now Memorial Day in Brest turns into a kind of holiday every year, "when they dance and sing, instead of going to church and lighting candles for those who died in that war and from its consequences ".

Not a show, but" awakening interest"

The organizers of the "military-historical reconstruction" do not make a show, but simply try to convey the idea of ​​the inadmissibility of a repetition of those events, says the secretary of the city committee of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union Pyotr Pitsko. "Our production lacks euphoria from victory and beautiful capture of enemy positions, exultation over the defeated enemy," says Pitsko. "Probably, the historical reconstruction in the Brest Fortress is the only one where this is not.

As arguments in favor of the event, officially called the "military-historical festival", the city authorities cite other arguments, including the "awakening of interest in historical events"The youth also tried to attract tourists to Brest. According to the representative of the military-historical club" Garrison "Oleg Grebennikov, every year the interest in the event is growing and the geography of the participants is expanding." This time about 500 people took part in the reconstruction of the events of June 1941 from thirteen countries, "Grebennikov clarified, adding that much more applications were received, but the organizers had to limit the number of participants.

Requiem in the shadow of reconstruction

A similar simulation has been carried out in the Brest Fortress for the sixth year in a row. Prior to that, the main, and sometimes the only event in memory of the tragic date was a requiem meeting in memorial complex... The official funeral ceremony is still being held, but it gathers where less people... It is attended by veterans, local officials and foreign delegations, as well as representatives of labor collectives in Brest, who are sent to the event "by order".

Context

In contrast to the meeting-requiem, residents and guests of the city of Brest come willingly to the theatrical performance. This is facilitated by the fact that on the night of June 22, local authorities deliver participants and spectators on buses free of charge.

The people did not fork out

Transport costs are far from the only item in the budget for the event. Nevertheless, the Brest City Executive Committee did not disclose the amount it costs.

In 2017, the initiators tried unsuccessfully to raise funds on one of the crowdfunding Internet sites. Out of the declared 5000 Belarusian rubles (in terms of about 2380 euros), only 430 rubles, or 9 percent of the required amount, were raised. As a result, as it became known to DW, the Brest authorities appealed to the heads of enterprises and organizations of the city with an insistent request to act as sponsors of the event.

As for the festival program itself, the authorities announced that they are ready to discuss its format in the future with local residents and take into account their wishes. For example, the fireworks at dawn on June 22 have already been abandoned.

See also:

• Memorial sites in Germany

  Memorials and monuments

  On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp. This day is now celebrated as the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust - six million murdered Jews, and Germany also celebrates the Day of Remembrance for all victims of National Socialism who died in concentration and labor camps, prisons, slave labor and killing centers.



Memorial sites in Germany

Berlin

The central memorial to the Jews of Europe killed during the Nazi era is located in Berlin near the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate. It was opened in 2005. In its underground part there is a documentation center. Some of the documents on its exposition in Russian are materials collected after the war during investigations of crimes committed in the "Third Reich".



Memorial sites in Germany

"Kristallnacht"

During Jewish pogroms on the so-called "crystal night" of November 9-10, 1938, more than 1,400 synagogues and houses of worship were destroyed in Nazi Germany and in parts of Austria. One of the synagogues was located on Kazernenstrasse in Düsseldorf. After the war, monuments or memorial plaques were erected here and in many other such places.



Memorial sites in Germany

Dachau

41,500 people died in the Dachau concentration camp. It was created in 1933 near Munich for political prisoners. Later, Jews, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and representatives of other groups persecuted by the Nazis began to be sent to Dachau. All other concentration camps of the "Third Reich" were organized according to his model.



Memorial sites in Germany

Buchenwald

One of the largest camps was in Thuringia near Weimar. From 1937 to 1945, about 250 thousand people were imprisoned in Buchenwald. 56 thousand prisoners died. Among them were also several hundred deserters and those who refused to serve in the Wehrmacht. After the war, they continued to be considered "traitors" and "cowards" in Germany for a long time, and the first memorial stone was erected in Buchenwald only in 2001.



Memorial sites in Germany

Roma genocide

This monument, erected in Buchenwald in 1995 on the territory of the former block number 14, is dedicated to the gypsies who died here - European Roma and Sinti. The names of all the camps of the "Third Reich" to which they were sent are engraved on the stones. Total number victims of the Roma genocide in Europe are still unknown. According to various sources, it can range from 150 thousand to 500 thousand people.



Memorial sites in Germany

Langenstein-Zwiberge death camp

Buchenwald had over 60 so-called outer camps. One of them - "Malachite" in Langenstein-Zwiberg near Halberstadt. His prisoners were building an underground plant for the Junkers. Two thousand prisoners died from disease and exhaustion, became victims of torture and execution. Another 2,500 died or were killed during the death march as the camp was evacuated due to the approaching front.



Memorial sites in Germany

Dora-Mittelbau

Another Buchenwald outer camp was formed in 1943 near Nordhausen in Thuringia to set up production at the Mittelwerk underground plant, where V-2 rockets and other weapons were assembled. In a year and a half, 60 thousand people passed through the Dora-Mittelbau camp. Most were prisoners from Soviet Union, Poland and France. Every third of them died.



Memorial sites in Germany

Bergen-Belsen

Memorial on the territory of the former concentration camp Bergen-Belsen in Lower Saxony. In total, about 50 thousand people died in this camp, among them 20 thousand prisoners of war. In April 1945, 15-year-old Anne Frank, the author of the famous diary denouncing Nazism and translated into many languages ​​of the world, died here.



Memorial sites in Germany

Sachsenhausen

"Work makes you free" - this sign on German over the gates of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Brandenburg has become a household name. In total, over 100 thousand people were killed or died in this camp, including from 13 to 18 thousand Soviet prisoners of war. Among them is Stalin's eldest son Yakov Dzhugashvili. The National Memorial, established by the GDR government, was opened here in 1961.



Memorial sites in Germany

Flossenbürg

"I heard about Dachau and Auschwitz, but never about Flossenbürg" - such a quote greets visitors in a former concentration camp on the territory of Bavaria. In this camp, 30 thousand people died. His prisoner was the famous German pastor, theologian and participant in the conspiracy against Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and among the Soviet prisoners of war was the father of the former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, Andriy.



Memorial sites in Germany

Barrack number 13

In the Berlin district of Schöneweide, there was one of the many camps for forced laborers taken from other countries for forced labor in Germany. Their total number during the years of the "Third Reich" amounted to several million people. An exposition of the documentation center in one of the surviving barracks of this camp is dedicated to the fate of forced laborers.



Memorial sites in Germany

Ravensbrück

A sculpture of a mother with a child on the shore of a lake in Ravensbrück, the largest women's concentration camp in the Third Reich. It was created in 1939 90 kilometers north of Berlin. The number of prisoners during its existence amounted to more than 130 thousand people - about 40 nationalities. 28 thousand prisoners died. Medical experiments were also carried out in the camp.



Memorial sites in Germany

Siemens barracks in Ravensbrück

The prisoners of Ravensbrück and its many subcamps were used for forced labor. In 1940, a textile production was established here, and in 1942 the electrical engineering concern Siemens & Halske AG built 20 industrial barracks. According to the testimony of the surviving prisoners, at the end of 1944, up to 3,000 women and children worked here daily for this company.



Memorial sites in Germany

Stoves for Auschwitz

Former Topf & Söhne factory in Erfurt. Here, by order of the National Socialists, ovens were produced in which people who died in Auschwitz and others were burned. concentration camps... On the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust, January 27, 2011, a documentation center was opened in a former factory building.



Memorial sites in Germany

"" Stumbling blocks ""

Such metal signs mounted on sidewalks can be seen in many cities in Germany. "Stumbling Blocks" "- Stolpersteine. The first of these was installed by the German artist Gunther Demnig in Cologne in 1995. The stones are reminiscent of the victims of National Socialism near the houses in which they lived. There are already more than 45 thousand of them in 800 German settlements and 200 outside Germany.



Memorial sites in Germany

Gestapo

Numerous documentation centers are also involved in the study of Nazi crimes in Germany. In Cologne, such a center and a museum are located in the former Gestapo building - EL-DE-Haus. In its basement there were cells for prisoners, on the walls of which there were inscriptions, including those in Russian.



Memorial sites in Germany

Homosexuals

Since 1935, the Nazis also began to persecute homosexuals. In total, more than 50 thousand of them were convicted in the "Third Reich". About 7 thousand died in concentration camps. In 1995, a monument was erected on the embankment in Cologne - the Pink Triangle. The memorial shown in the photo was opened in 2008 in Berlin's Great Tiergarten park. Another is located in Frankfurt - Frankfurt Angel (1994).

Today, at the Northern Gate of the Kobrin fortification of the Brest Fortress, thousands of people gathered - Brest residents, guests of the city to see a large-scale military-historical reconstruction “22 June. Brest Fortress". There were three times more reenactors than last year. Clubs and reenactors came from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Japan, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, France, Great Britain, Kazakhstan, China, Japan. This increase is due to the fact that this year June 22 falls on a day off.

The reconstruction consisted of two parts: a peaceful day and a battle episode. Just over an hour in time.

The spectators saw the feat of corporal Vasily Volokitin, the attack of Samvel Matevosyan, the capture of Major Pyotr Gavrilov and the families of the commanders. They also showed a "human shield" - the Germans broke through to the island, hiding behind women and children.

The reenactors used weapons provided by Belarusfilm, pyrotechnics and a 45 mm anti-tank gun.

The fortress was reconstructed for the ninth time.

What attracts reenactors on June 22 in Brest? Chairman of the Council of the public association "Military-Historical Club Garrison" Yuri Kireev believes that it is important for reenactors to live in a tent camp on a military basis:

- Preparation takes several months. We accept applications, we conduct a strict selection process. We have both the Red Army and the Wehrmacht and civilians. Today, for the first time, about 70 people are participating in the reconstruction, the rest are familiar with each other, they have come more than once. To live that era for several days, people travel hundreds of kilometers. We will be glad if the young people who have come to the Brest Fortress today become interested in history - they read books, watch films so that the picture is formed.

Brest resident Alexander Zharkov, military-historical club "Rubezh", participates in the reconstruction for the ninth time:

- You can't rewrite it on June 22. But we try to present the details in different ways. And this allows you to relive the events of that fateful morning again and again. We get used to the role and each time we experience this tragedy. Without living history, it is difficult for the current generation to show and tell how it was. Without these explosions, without these hordes of Germans, without the screams of the wounded, without those who surrendered, without women and children whom men had to send to surrender, it is not easy for the young to imagine a tragedy. For this we are here today - we are experiencing, leaving a piece of the soul. For everyone to remember. So that the tragedy does not repeat itself on our land.

"The last peaceful day". This is the name of the reconstruction carried out in Brest in memory of the victims of the Second World War. Three million residents of Belarus, or, in other words, every third did not return home. It would seem that we know almost everything about World War II, but even on the day of the 76th anniversary of Nazi Germany's attack on the USSR, there are more questions than answers.

Almost two years after the outbreak of World War II, on June 22, 1941, the war came to the USSR. In Soviet historiography, the next four years were called the Great Patriotic War.

In Brest, the beginning of the war has been remembered for several years with the help of such military-historical reconstructions. The event was named "The Last Day of the World".

As is known from the chronicles and documents, the history of Brest in World War II did not begin with the defense of the Brest Fortress. Residents of a modern city are unlikely to see joint reconstruction on the streets Soviet-German parade, which took place on September 22, 1939, after the invasion of Nazi troops in Poland.

“Compatriots from Brest, organize the reconstruction of how the NKVD officers, the prison guards, fled on June 22. Organize the reconstruction of the deportations, which the future defenders, the soldiers of the NKVD convoy regiment, which was stationed in the fortress, were engaged in, ”comments the editor-in-chief of the Nasha Niva newspaper Andrei Dynko on such reconstructions.

He calls this approach to history "half-truths to order." For Western Belarusians, the war started earlier.

“The first victims were from September 1, 1939. And then, before 1941, you know, many were captured. And these guys, from the western territories, waited until 1941. Then their fate evolved in different ways, ”notes the historian Kuzma Kozak.

But what were the first days after the attack of the Third Reich on the USSR? Many historians agree that the conscientious army was not ready, and Stalin consistently denied the possibility of an attack. The archival reports of the military leaders of that time were published today for the first time by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

“Even on the night of June 22, I personally received an order from Front Chief of Staff Klenov in a very categorical form - to withdraw troops from the border by dawn on June 22, withdraw them from the trenches, which I categorically refused to do and the troops remained in positions. In general, I felt great nervousness, inconsistency, ambiguity, fear of "provoking" a war "- this is how he described the events of those days lieutenant general Peter Sobennikov.

There are many questions about Joseph Stalin's method of waging the war. Human losses of the USSR, winning countries, amounted to almost 42 million military and civilians. Victims of Nazi Germany - 12 million

At the same time, in modern Russia, the legal successor of the Soviet Union, Stalin's military policy is criticized less and less. 20 years ago, a third of the Russians surveyed explained the colossal number of victims by cruelty generalissimo... In 2017, there are 12% of such people. For Belarus, the second world vine is the loss of three million people, every third inhabitant.

Kuzma Kozak assesses the significance of the war:

“It is destructive, it is disgusting, and on the example of a disgusting war, you can still build and educational programs, and show people that war is a disaster. "

The only question is, should the memory of the destructive war go hand in hand with the praise of militarism?