Where did Chapaev die and how did it happen? Unfortunately, there is no single answer to this question. Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev is a legendary figure during the Civil War. The life of this man, starting from a young age, is full of mysteries and secrets. Let's try to solve them, based on some historical facts.
Mystery of Birth
The hero of our story lived only 32 years. But what! Where Chapaev died and where Chapaev is buried is an unsolved mystery. Why did it happen so? Everyone has their own truth. Eyewitnesses of those distant times differ in their testimony.
Chapaev Vasily Ivanovich (1887–1919) - this is how historical reference books give the date of birth and death of the legendary commander.
It is only a pity that history has preserved more reliable facts about the birth of this person than about death.
So, Vasily was born on February 9, 1887 in the family of a poor peasant. The very birth of the boy was marked by the seal of death: the midwife, who took birth from the mother of a poor family, sawpremature baby, prophesied his quick death.
Stunted and half-dead little boy came out of the grandmother. Despite the disappointing forecasts, she believed that he would get through. The baby was wrapped in a piece of cloth and warmed near the stove. Thanks to the efforts and prayers of his grandmother, the boy survived.
Childhood
Soon the Chapaev family, in search of a better life, moves from the village of Budaiki, in Chuvashia, to the village of Balakovo, Nikolaev province.
Family affairs went a little better: Vasily was even sent to study science at a parish educational institution. But the boy was not destined to receive a full education. In a little more than 2 years, he only learned to read and write. Ended training after one case. The fact is that in parochial schools the punishment of students for misconduct was practiced. This fate did not escape Chapaev either. In the cold winter, the boy was sent to the punishment cell with practically no clothes. The guy was not going to die from the cold, so when the frost was unbearable, he jumped out of the window. The punishment cell was very high - the guy woke up with broken arms and legs. After this incident, Vasily no longer went to school. And since the school was closed for the boy, his father took him to work, taught him carpentry, and they built buildings together.
Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev, whose biography every year acquired only new and incredible facts, was remembered by his contemporaries after another incident. It was like this: during work, when to the very top of the just builtthe church needed to install a cross, showing courage and skill, Chapaev Jr. took on this task. However, the guy could not resist and fell from a great height. Everyone saw a true miracle in the fact that Vasily did not even have a small scratch after the fall.
In the service of the Fatherland
At the age of 21, Chapaev began military service, which lasted only a year. In 1909 he was fired.
According to the official version, the reason was the illness of a serviceman: Chapaev was found to have an eyesore. The unofficial reason was much more serious - Vasily's brother, Andrei, was executed for speaking out against the tsar. Vasily Chapaev himself after that began to be considered "unreliable".
Chapaev Vasily Ivanovich, whose historical portrait looms as the image of a man prone to bold and decisive actions, once decided to start a family. He got married.
Vasily's chosen one, Pelageya Metlina, was the daughter of a priest, so the elder Chapaev opposed these marriage bonds. Despite the ban, the young people got married. Three children were born in this marriage, but the union broke up due to Pelagia's betrayal.
In 1914, Chapaev was again called up for service. The First World War brought him awards: the St. George medal and St. George's crosses of the 4th and 3rd degrees.
In addition to the awards, the Chapaev soldier received the rank of senior non-commissioned officer. All the achievements were gained by him for half a year of service.
Chapaev and the Red Army
In July 1917, Vasily Chapaev, recovering from his wound,falls into the infantry regiment, whose soldiers support revolutionary views. Here, after active communication with the Bolsheviks, he joins the ranks of their party.
In December of the same year, the hero of our story becomes the commissar of the Red Guard. He suppresses peasant uprisings and enters the Academy of the General Staff.
A new assignment is soon coming for the sensible commander - Chapaev is sent to the Eastern Front to fight Kolchak.
After the successful liberation of Ufa from enemy troops and participation in the military operation to unblock Uralsk, the headquarters of the 25th division, commanded by Chapaev, was suddenly attacked by the White Guards. According to the official version, Vasily Chapaev died on September 5, 1919.
Where did Chapaev die?
There is an answer to this question. The tragic event took place in Lbischensk, on the Ural River. But about how the famous commander of the Red Guard died, historians are still arguing. There are many different legends about the death of Chapaev. The mass of "eyewitnesses" tells their truth. Nevertheless, researchers of Chapaev's life are inclined to believe that he drowned while swimming across the Urals.
This version is based on an investigation conducted by Chapaev's contemporaries shortly after his death.
The fact that the grave of the division commander does not exist and his remains were not found, gave rise to a new version that he escaped. When the Civil War ended, rumors began to circulate among the people about the salvation of Chapaev. It was rumored that he, having changed his surname, lived in the Arkhangelsk region. The first version is confirmed by the film, which was released on Soviet screens in the 30s of the last century.
A film about Chapaev: myth or reality
In those years, the country needed new revolutionary heroes with a spotless reputation. Chapaev's feat was exactly what Soviet propaganda felt was necessary.
From the film we learn that the headquarters of the division commanded by Chapaev was taken by surprise by the enemies. The advantage was on the side of the Whites. The Reds fired back, the battle was fierce. The only way to escape and survive was to cross the Urals.
Crossing the river, Chapaev was already wounded in the arm. The next enemy bullet killed him and he drowned. The river where Chapaev died became his burial place.
However, the film, which was admired by all Soviet citizens, caused indignation among the descendants of Chapaev. His daughter Claudia, referring to the story of Commissar Baturin, claimed that her comrades-in-arms took her father to the other side of the river on a raft.
To the question: "Where did Chapaev die?" Baturin answered: "On the bank of the river." According to him, the body was buried in the coastal sand and camouflaged with reeds.
Already the great-granddaughter of the red commander initiated the search for the grave of her great-grandfather. However, these plans were not destined to come true. At the place where, according to legend, the grave should have been, a river now flowed.
Whose testimonies were used as the basis for the film's script?
How Chapaev died and where, told after the end of the war cornet Belonozhkin. From his words it becameit is known that it was he who fired a bullet at the floating commander. A denunciation was written against the former cornet, he confirmed his version during interrogation, which was also the basis of the film.
The fate of Belonozhkin is also shrouded in mystery. Twice he was convicted, and the same number of times amnestied. He lived to a very old age. He fought during the Second World War, lost his hearing due to shell shock, and died at the age of 96.
The fact that Chapaev's "murderer" lived to such an advanced age and died a natural death suggests that the representatives of the Soviet government, taking his story as the basis for the film, did not believe in this version themselves.
Version of the old-timers of the village of Lbischenskaya
How Chapaev died, history is silent. We can draw conclusions, referring only to eyewitness accounts, conducting all kinds of investigations and examinations.
The version of the old-timers of the village of Lbischenskaya (now the village of Chapaevo) also has the right to life. The investigation was conducted by Academician A. Cherekaev, and he wrote down the history of the defeat of Chapaev's division. According to eyewitnesses, the weather on the day of the tragedy was cold in autumn. The Cossacks drove all the Red Guards to the banks of the Urals, where many soldiers really threw themselves into the river and drowned.
The victims were due to the fact that the place where Chapaev died is considered enchanted. No one has yet been able to swim across the river there, despite the fact that local braves, in honor of the memory of the deceased commissar, annually arrange such swims on the day of his death.
About the fate of Chapaev, Cherekaev learned that he was caught, and after interrogation under guard was sent to Guryev to the atamanTolstov. This is where Chapaev's trail ends.
Where is the truth?
The fact that Chapaev's death is indeed shrouded in mystery is an absolute fact. And the answer to this question is yet to be found out by the researchers of the life path of the legendary divisional commander.
It is noteworthy that Chapaev's death was not at all reported in the newspapers. Although then the death of such a famous person was considered an event that was learned from the newspapers.
The death of Chapaev began to talk after the release of the famous film. All eyewitnesses of his death spoke at almost the same time - after 1935, in other words, after the film was shown.
In the encyclopedia "Civil War and Military Intervention in the USSR" the place where Chapaev died is also not indicated. The official, generalized version is indicated - near Lbischensk.
Let's hope that with the power of the latest research, this story will someday be cleared up.
