General Berezin - commander of the 119th Krasnoyarsk division, deputy commander of the 22nd army during the Second World War. After long bloody battles on the Kalinin front, returning from the front line, he was surrounded, nothing more was known about him. Until the late 1960s, he was considered missing. This explains the long silence about him, which gave rise to the most incredible speculation, up to betrayal. His grave was discovered by the rangers in the forest. He was identified by his 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 into the family of a Vladimir worker, who was given the name Alexander at birth. Little is known about his childhood years. He graduated from the parish school, worked in a tailor's workshop, after thatin the printing house. In all likelihood, this was a capable young man, since he, without studying at the gymnasium, was able to pass exams externally 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 wounded and was 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 joins the ranks of the CPSU (b). We, a century later, know for sure that he makes a conscious choice in favor of the Bolsheviks. Even at the front of the 1st World War, he was a propagandist among the soldiers. In the same year, on the basis of a party call, he was mobilized into the Red Army and actively participated in the Civil War. In 1919, he was appointed to the post of assistant commander of the Cheka battalion. Participates in the fight against gangs in the 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 he graduated from Special Courses under the Directorate of the Red Army Headquarters. In August 1939, he was appointed to the post of commander of the 119th Infantry Division, which was formed under his leadership in the city of Krasnoyarsk. In June 1940 he was promoted to major general.
Participation in the Great Patriotic War
The general arrived at the front with the 119th division at the end of June 1941, where she took up defense in the areaOlenin and participated in the construction of the Rzhev-Vyazemsky fortified area. As part of the 31st Army, the 634th Infantry Regiment of the division took part in its first battle in the Dudkino area, located south of Olenino. This was in early October 1941
In December of the same year, a 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.
Death of the General
During heavy protracted fighting near the city of Bely, several regiments of the 17th Siberian Guards Division fought in encirclement. Knowing the plight of his former subordinates, who ran out of ammunition, General Berezin decided to personally go to one of the regiments of his former division in order to sort out the situation on the spot and provide moral support to fellow soldiers.
As eyewitnesses of these events showed, having arrived at the scene and having studied the situation in detail, he gave the last order in his life - to hold out until the evening at any cost in order to give other units that were in an even more difficult situation the opportunity to withdraw. Only after that, retreat in an organized manner to the Kukuy forest area. He stayed almost until the evening with his brother-soldiers, after which he left in the direction of Shizdereva. Neither him nor his escortsno one saw.
The situation on the Kalinin front
The disappearance of the general is undoubtedly an emergency. But what was going on at that time on the Kalinin front pushed this incident into the background. The fact is that the German command of the Army Group "Center" undertook a private military operation "Seidlitz", against the 39th Army of the Kalinin Front, which went into the enemy's defenses with a ledge. It was launched by the German 9th 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 location of the Germans, and there was a bottleneck - the “throat”, through which communication with the Soviet territory was carried out. The Germans, speaking from both sides, closed the ring, in which 39 A turned out to be, as well as units 41 A and 22 A. It was in the 39 A regiment, which included the 17 GSD, that Major General Berezin drove in.
Division Encirclement
On the way the Germans got 17 GSD 39 A from the left flank and units of 22 A from the right. It was they who prevented 39 A and 11 Cavalry Corps from being slammed into the cauldron. According to the German archives, two German divisions (2 Panzer and 246 Infantry) came out against 17 GSD. The forces were too unequal. According to fascist reports, on June 5, 1942, 39 A was completely surrounded. The remnants of the Soviet units, which were surrounded, broke through in small groups, reaching the Patrushino-Laba area.
According to official data, on 1942-09-07, 1759 (not counting the wounded) soldiers and officers of the 17th Guards Rifle Division left the encirclement. Tot althe loss of the division in the wounded, killed and taken prisoner amounted to 3822 people. There are memoirs of division veterans who describe all the horror and doom of those surrounded, the rage and hope of those leaving the encirclement. Yes, Operation Seidlich is a German victory. It was not customary to remember such failures in the Soviet Union.
Discovery of the burial site
The burial place of the general was discovered in the late 60s by his fellow soldiers. A group of Siberian veterans of the division made a trip to the places where the battles took place in the summer of 1942. Former battalion commanders, commissars, military intelligence officers met here. Of course, the question arose about the missing general. When visiting military graves, the gray-haired veterans tried to find the name of Berezin, but their efforts were in vain. Just before leaving, the conversation turned to the fact that no traces of the missing commander could be found.
A local resident who took part in the conversation said that in the village of Demyakhi there is a grave of some general. All participants in the campaign decided to urgently go there. There were cars and attendants. Arriving at the place, they heard the story that the trackers in the forest found a small mound. Their attention was attracted by a star woven from twigs. When they dug up the grave, they found the remains of a man in a general's uniform, with the Order of the Red Star. The remains were transferred to a military burial in Demyakhi and buried next to it. So the grave of the commander was found. Thanks to the efforts of fellow soldiers, the honest name of Berezin was restored. There are streets of General Berezin in Krasnoyarsk, Bely.
Feedback from fellow soldiers
He was remembered by many as a good commander, an experienced military leader. These are the commander of the 31st Army, Major General V. N. Dolmatov, the commissar of one of the regiments of the division 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 remembered him as a competent commander, a fair and honest person.
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. This realization came after the war, when people remembered their colleagues with warmth.
Missing Person
War is not about ranks. Both soldiers and generals died on it. But it’s one thing to die in front of your fellow soldiers, another thing is to “go missing.” What happened in the forest on that distant June day in 1942 is unknown. We can only assume that the Germans closed the ring, and the general and his escorts stumbled upon them. And the escorts, having buried him, did not appear anywhere, most likely, they shared the fate of their divisional commander.
If a hero dies in front of everyone, it 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 to go missing - is to receive, at best, oblivion, at worst - blasphemy, reproach and accusation of all sins. This time was not easy. terrible fatewas waiting for the servicemen of the 39th Army, who were surrounded on the Kalinin Front, most of the soldiers and officers who died and were taken prisoner, went into the category of missing.
After the war, many memoirs of direct participants in the breakthrough from the encirclement were written. Reading them chills the blood in the veins. These are the memoirs of a war veteran V. Polyakov, a signal officer of the 26th State Fire Service of the 17th State Rifle Division. Burakov A. described the sad fate of the medical battalion of the division, many medical workers died or replenished the number of prisoners in Rzhevsky and other concentration camps.
Roly commander
These are notes from the memories of AI Shumilin, a former platoon commander, then a company during the Kalinin operation. Probably, this is an honest and courageous officer, his order and medals speak about this. Wounded five times, but survived. And at the beginning of the war, a simple boy, junior lieutenant. After the war, he writes his notes “Vanka company commander.”
Shumilin at that 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 died. There are no authorities for him. Constant skirmishes with seniors, discussion of any order, constant objections and bickering.
Shumilin in "Vanka of the Company" exposed all his feelings that he had to experience at that time and remained with him forever. Fear, pain, resentment, despair, hopelessness, a feeling of endless, somechildish injustice. Hatred for all officers older than a lieutenant, staff workers is read in his every line. Everyone is to blame for his flaws, starting from the foreman, who did not confirm his words when he and the soldier overslept 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 they simply took pity on the boy. For a second, more serious offense, he is no longer forgiven.
Unfair, in his words, conviction, when he, for leaving the Volga bank 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, sorry. In his work, from the moment when his platoon was assigned to the battalion of the 17th Guards Rifle Division, it is constantly said that he was threatened with trial and execution. His conclusion is that the 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 a meeting with the general already surrounded, when he tries to stop the fleeing soldiers and orders to take the village. Shumilin does not come out of hiding, thinking that if he comes out, then they will hang "responsibility for the defeat of the Kalinin Front" on him, frankly rejoices that the general does not always manage to stop the soldiers, threatening them with execution. This company commander, in fact, an offended child, is a pity.
The court broke him, impressed him more than anythingtragic events on the Kalinin front. "Everyone lies, don't believe them." He claims that the general walked across the front line, carried information to the Germans. One gets the impression that he served as his adjutant and knew his every step. In his book, he conveys the conversations of officers at the headquarters of the front in all details, as if he personally attended them. But, as can be seen from his "work" he did not even communicate with them. Hating staff officers, this "Company Vanka" subsequently serves in the headquarters of some unit.
In war, as in war
Here everyone does their job. Some are responsible for everything and draw arrows on the map, developing their operations that will bring them glory or blasphemy, shame and oblivion. The task of the soldier is to sit in the trenches, go on the attack and follow the orders of the commanders, being essentially "cannon fodder". Accusing a general of a terrible crime - betraying his subordinates, knowing that he will not be able to answer in his defense, is at least not fair.
The General speaks for his brother-soldiers who have been with him for more than one year. They left the encirclement, went on the offensive. Berezin at the time of his death was the deputy commander of 22 A and could have sat quietly at the command post. But he goes to his division, which, being part of 39 A, being on the left flank, took the blow of the Germans as part of two divisions, including a tank one.
The dire state of the division is not his direct fault. The fact that the general was not a coward is obvious. Confirmsthis is Shumilin himself, describing how he sought to raise soldiers to storm the village, in the midst of general panic and flight. He did not sit at the headquarters, but was at the forefront. But even this the author of the notes finds his explanation that he appeared there to “put on a soldier’s overcoat, go to the city” and surrender to the Germans. But what about the remains in the form of a general, his order, the fact that his brother-soldiers even after the war were looking for traces of him, not believing that he had gone to the Germans?
