Manshuk Mametova is a heroine girl who died at the age of twenty defending her homeland from the Germans during the Second World War. The feat that she accomplished gave her immortality, it is described in many historical textbooks.
At the same time, few people know that the real name of the girl is Mansia.
Birth and childhood of a young heroine
Manshuk Mametova was born in the West Kazakhstan territory, in the Urdinsky district. She was born in 1922. When she was only 5 years old, she was adopted by close relatives. She was taken in by her aunt Amina Mametova and her husband Akhmet to be brought up. A young married couple at that time was well provided for, but could not have their own children.
Arriving to visit relatives, they saw little Manshuk and asked her parents to give them the girl. The family of the future heroine had three children - she and two brothers. Despite the fact that there was only one daughter, the parents agreed to the offer of relatives, since they sincerely believed that their daughter would be better with them than in her poor native village. Photo by Manshuk Mametovashown below.
The girl was very cute. She had expressive brown eyes, and everyone who remembered her in her youth said that she had a surprisingly light character, was very cheerful and agile. For this, relatives and relatives called her “monshagylym” (which means “bead” in Russian). When asked to introduce herself, the future heroine always said that her name was Manshuk, and it was this name that stuck with her.
The girl successfully graduated from the local school number 51 and decided to continue her studies at the medical institute. This decision was influenced by the positive example of her adoptive father Ahmet. He was a famous doctor and, with his interesting stories, managed to arouse an interest in medicine in his daughter. As a student, Manshuk Mametova was engaged in social activities and worked in the secretariat at the local Council of People's Commissars.
Voluntary dispatch to the front
Manshuk Mametova, whose biography was studied in detail after she became famous for her feat, made a firm decision to go to the front immediately after she came of age. Mametova spent almost a year trying to get the military enlistment office to send her to the war. The persistent girl's desire was eventually granted.
Having joined the Red Army, she ended up at the headquarters of the 100th Kazakh brigade. At first, Manshuk Zhiengalievna Mametova worked there as a clerk, and then began to perform the duties of a nurse. But this did not suit the girl at all, and a month later, with the rank of senior sergeant, she was transferred to onefrom the rifle battalions of the Guards Rifle Division No. 21.
Hidden reasons for wanting to go to war
There is a version according to which Mametova rushed to the front and to the war not only for patriotic reasons. Her adoptive father was repressed in 1937 and shot. For a long time, her daughter did not know about the death of Akhmet, and for many years she wrote letters and appeals to various authorities with a request to release him. When the Second World War began, someone began to spread rumors that if the children of the repressed "enemies of the people" voluntarily go to the front and show courage there, then their parents will be pardoned by the power of the Soviets. So it is likely that this moment fueled the desire of a young girl to get into the very epicenter of hostilities.
The hard character of a fragile girl
Having gone to the front, Manshuk Mametova took courses for machine gunners and was assigned to the combat unit under the first number. It is said that even the most experienced machine gunners envied her tenacity and perseverance with which she learned to handle weapons.
During the hardships of World War II, local commanders did their best to pity the women and girls who came to the front. If the situation allowed, they were left at the headquarters or as nurses at the medical units. Mametova was also offered every time to stay at the headquarters as a radio operator, telephone operator, and assistant. But in her letter to her family, she herself said that she insisted on being sent to the battlefield. And this despite the fact that machine gunners duringwars were tacitly considered suicide bombers - the attacking enemy first of all tried to destroy machine-gun nests.
Military love
Those who knew the girl at that time say that at the front she was in love with her colleague Nurken Khusainov. Many remember him as a very handsome, decent and kind guy. Nurken answered Mametova in return. But since it was a very difficult time around, young people believed that it would be inappropriate to show their feelings. When there is war around, there is no room for love. They say that, despite the apparent mutual sympathy, young people never confessed their feelings to each other. By the will of fate, they died on the same day, October 15, 1943, during the defense of the Izochi station, which was located near the city of Nevel.
Day of Heroic Death
On the day when the legendary feat of Manshuk Mametova was accomplished, her battalion received an order from the headquarters to repel the enemy attack near Nevel. The enemy immediately brought down a heavy fire of mortars and artillery on the positions of the Soviet battalion. But, held back by the fire of Russian machine guns, the Germans retreated. During her shooting, the girl did not immediately notice how two neighboring machine guns subsided. She realized that her comrades were no longer alive, and began to fire from three guns in turn herself, crawling from her machine gun to the neighboring ones.
After the Nazis were able to orient themselves, they aimed their mortars at the position of Manshuk. A mine that exploded nearby overturned the girl's machine gun, and Mametova was wounded in the head. She lost consciousness. When Manshuk came to her senses, she realized that the joyful Germans had gone on the offensive. She crawled to a nearby machine gun and continued her attack. Being seriously wounded, she was able to eliminate more than 70 Nazis with her shooting, which ensured the successful further advance of our forces. From the wound received, the heroine died on the battlefield.
Memory of the feat of Mametova
At first, she was posthumously assigned to the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class. Her story was published in one of the newspapers. At the request of Malik Gabdullin (Hero of the Soviet Union), 6 months after his death, Manshuk received the well-deserved title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The Manshuk Mametova Museum in Uralsk is a place that was created to preserve the memory of this girl's feat. It is located in the house where the heroine lived with her foster parents in the 30s. The museum houses many of Manshuk's personal belongings that were kept by her foster mother. There are also letters from the girl home from the front. The museum has created a diorama "The Immortal Feat of Manshuk", which reminds visitors of the sacrifice Mametova made for the sake of peace.
