Not so long ago, on duty, I had a chance to visit Uzbekistan again. I wandered the streets of the small town of Angren near Tashkent and remembered the architect Alexander Nikolaevich Zotov. I once wrote about this unique person, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, in my book "Entering the Sky". Alas, now only the memory of him remains. For example, a street named after him in the city of Angren, which he built. “I see my Angren,” a completely blind architect told me then. And now I saw his dream come true …
I remember how we drove from Tashkent to Angren. Sitting next to me was Zotov, a large, broad-shouldered elderly man, whose good-natured face was strewn with black spots like pockmarks - clear traces of burns. Alexander Nikolaevich Zotov was then the head of the architectural workshop of the department of general plans of the Institute of Urban Planning. Putting his hand out of the car window, he talked about what opened to his eyes:
- See how kenaf grows. It is a raw material for making ropes and ropes. There are only two such places in the country. When I was young, I used to go here to hunt pheasants. Have you tried the meat? Better than chicken.
- And you don't mind killing such handsome men? - I could not resist.
- A hunter is a hunter. In war, people are killed …
And Zotov suddenly began to recall episodes from his military life.
He was returning from the command post, where he received an order to mine a field in the rear of our troops. On the way I heard an explosion, felt trouble in my heart. I added a step. We met him sadly. The platoon commander Olshansky reported:
- Comrade Senior Lieutenant! An emergency occurred: all blasting caps accidentally exploded. Six soldiers were wounded.
"What to do? - flashed through Zotov's head. "The execution of the order is under threat of disruption - there is nothing to load the mines with."
- Volobuev, Tsarev! - he turned to the soldiers who were standing in a quiet formation. - Get on your horses - and to the rear. So that in two hours the primers will be.
He turned and walked towards the injured soldiers.
An hour and a half passed. It was completely dark. Checking out of habit how the fighters settled down at the halt, Zotov heard a characteristic talk nearby.
- Tsarev? he called delightedly.
- That's right, Comrade Commander. I brought detonators.
That night, Zotov set 300 minutes with his own hands. The tension was so wet that it was time to squeeze out a tunic. He did not entrust mining to the soldiers who were in a nervous state due to an accidental explosion, knowing that if the sapper was now afraid, he would definitely be blown up …
"UAZ" flew towards the sun. On the right rose the Kuraminsky ridge, on the left, not yielding to it in beauty, - the Chataysky. All these are the spurs of the Tien Shan. And between the ridges in a picturesque valley, along a green carpet, a fiery blue river rushed into the distance, overtaking us.
- Here is the town of Akhangaran, - Alexander Nikolaevich pointed forward.
And I shuddered. How did he know that we were passing through this city right now? He's blind!
“There was a small village at this place,” Zotov continued, “from which, according to the general plan developed by our institute, a large modern city should grow in fifteen years. I can already see my Angren.
He sees?..
Zotov was called the father of district planning in Uzbekistan. He created and headed the first regional planning workshop in the republic.
District planning … This is a plan for the development of cities and towns, industrial and agricultural complexes, transport, utilities, environmental protection, the creation of resorts …
The innovations introduced by Zotov in the methodology for the development of district plans, dozens of written articles, books and regulatory documents were highly appreciated even abroad. With reports on district planning, he spoke at meetings of urban planners, organized by UNESCO.
Zotov's workshop was already finishing a new project of the regional planning of the Tashkent-Angren-Chirchik region. From the point of view of design and development, this is one of the most difficult regions of the republic. Zotov made a report on this topic at a seminar of United Nations fellows held in Tashkent. His methodology for the implementation of district design in Uzbekistan, according to experts, corresponded to the dissertation for the degree of candidate of sciences.
“We collect materials on business trips,” said Zotov. - Here in this "UAZ" a team of specialists from different departments of the institute travels to the region …
- You should have seen how Alexander Nikolayevich behaves on business trips, - the driver entered the conversation. - Chest forward, does not go - runs. Everywhere we have mountainous terrain, the roads are difficult and dangerous. And he climbs into the upper reaches of the gorge on impassable roads, along the scree. If it falls, it will rise. He climbed in and carried others away.
- Why be afraid! There won't be a terrible war anyway … - war veteran Zotov turned to me with a scorched face. - After all, a sapper with danger on "you" all his life …
And he told about his "sapper" war …
Near Staraya Russa, Zotov was overtaken by a "gazik" in which the colonel and the captain were sitting.
- Lieutenant! the colonel called when the car stopped. - Surname?
- Zotov! - Said the sapper.
- Command order - mine this dam with high-explosive mines. We're moving away.
“This is the only way to the rear of our troops,” thought Zotov, looking closely at the officer unknown to him.
- You will make the explosion when the last group of our soldiers passes to the rear. They will hold white sheets of paper in their hands.
“Let me know your name,” Zotov hesitated.
“Colonel Korobov,” the officer said, and the gazik sped off, raising a column of dust.
Zotov began with his sappers in a hurry to carry out the assignment. The mines were placed in an "envelope". They planted more explosives. By nightfall, the dam was empty. And here a group of soldiers walked to the rear with white sheets in their hands.
- Who else is there? the foreman asked them.
“There’s no one,” the officer replied on the move.
The Zotov company had a rule: not just blow up the intended object, but wait for the Germans to approach. Let them get closer to destroy the enemy's manpower with an explosion. When the explosion sounds, panic arises, and you can have time to go to your own. They did not deviate from the rule this time either.
Suddenly they saw that one car with a load followed in the direction of the forward positions along the dam, followed by another. Then they began to ferry the guns. The sappers were agitated. After all, from a concussion, an explosion can occur under the car.
- Where are you going? Are we not there? - Zotov shouted anxiously to the junior lieutenant accompanying the gun.
“Ours continue to defend,” the officer replied. - The shells are running out, so we are in a hurry to help.
Zotov was confused. We urgently need to decide what to do. Fortunately, at that time a familiar employee of the headquarters was passing by in a car. Zotov ran up to him. It turned out that Colonel Korobov, who had given the order, did not work at the headquarters. Saboteur?!
That's it!.. We urgently need to clear the road. And "mines" are not easy to clear. The preparatory work for demining was carried out by the sappers of the company, the last and most responsible Zotov took upon himself, since only he knew exactly where, what and how he connected during the mining …
- We are passing the bridge, - interrupted Zotov's memories. - Look, a new bridge is being built nearby, and the road is being widened. There was no district planning before, and all this could have been foreseen when planning.
The car drove past the pioneer camp. Alexander Nikolaevich explained:
- This road was cut from the very beginning, when before the war I had to participate in the design of Angren. Then I walked dozens of paths here. And after the war, it turned out that the old villages are located in coal-bearing areas. Our institute was tasked with determining the scale of Angren's development for twenty years ahead and choosing a site for the construction of a new city. Where you saw the pioneer camp, a tent city was set up. More than two thousand young people lived in it, who came to the construction of Angren enterprises. By the fall, they built their own homes. Now their children continue to build Big Angren.
Part of this road already has a name - Yuzhnaya street, - said Zotov. - We defended this site.
"We defended" - that's putting it mildly. As he said, there was a fierce "battle".
“You have to be stubborn and persistent if you know that you are right,” said Zotov. - I believed in victory.
And it was only then that I noticed how steep and stubborn his forehead was, despite the soft and fuzzy features. Zotov came to victory thanks to enormous courage, the reserves of which in him seem to be inexhaustible. Even the war could not exhaust them.
This person does not allow himself such weakness as black glasses and a cane. He lives as if he sees. As if there was not that fatal explosion in 1941, near Moscow.
And the explosion was …
On November 19, 1941, Zotov received an order to mine the approaches to the forward edge in the area of the expected enemy offensive near Moscow. It was necessary to deliver 300 anti-tank and 600 anti-personnel mines. The sappers believed Zotov. None of those who went with him on such a mission died. And this time the sappers finished the job safely and returned to the location of their unit.
But the Germans launched their offensive earlier than expected. Having stumbled upon mines, the Nazis decided to shoot them with guns. The explosion of one German shell caused the detonation of the mine just installed by the miner Zotov. It turned out to be a double. Zotov was behind a hillock. An explosion rumbled near him. Pain burned his hand and face. The last thing he saw was a bright, bright flash on a white snowy field and a blue-blue edge of the forest not far away …
He got up and walked under fire, bleeding. He walked to his full height towards his positions. The right eye could still see it somehow. Here is a sled frozen into the river, along which we went on a mission. I barely made it to my trenches and lost consciousness.
The medical instructor picked him up, brought him to the headquarters, made the first dressing. Despite the great loss of blood, Zotov himself in the heat went out and lay down on a cart, going to the medical unit.
The mortar shelling was the beginning of a fierce battle. Troops began to move in our rear. In the confusion of the battle that had begun, the wagon got lost and returned to its original place. There was already a tank battalion there.
- Yes, this is the same Zotov who led our tanks across the minefield, - said the platoon commander. - Take him to the rear in my car.
Only sixteen hours after being wounded, Zotov was taken to the medical battalion in a state of shock. The question was - will he live? The left hand was amputated and, when he became transportable, he was sent to the hospital. Only on the 16th day did he see the first ophthalmologist.
“Time is lost,” said the doctor. - If only earlier, at least the right eye could be saved.
But the wounded man hoped for the miraculous power of Professor Filatov, who at that time was living in Tashkent.
His left arm was cut several times. Clearing the debris, they introduced the infection into the right one - it took a long time to develop the "bear's paw", until, finally, the hand began to obey a little. But he thought only of the eyes.
The journey to Tashkent was long and difficult. The fellow traveler shared with him the difficulties of the road and the soldier's ration. On the train, Zotov met his birthday and made himself a small gift - he shaved himself. He was determined to learn how to do everything on his own. Courage was required for life.
From the hospital I also wrote as best I could a letter to my father and mother. It was easier to dictate the letter to the bedmate. But Zotov decided not to give up, to fight the disease. The letter was the first test on the chosen path.
And finally, Tashkent. Many then believed that this was the end. The largest eyeball, Professor Filatov said: “You can't help. The architecture will have to be done away with."
But Zotov showed great promise! Before the war, the young architect, among others after the institute, was sent to Uzbekistan. In two years, Zotov from an ordinary worker became the chief engineer of the town-planning institute, one of the leading architects of the republic. And what? Give it up?
No! He will be an architect, whatever the cost!..
Zotov did not give up. He began to learn to live anew. Learn to walk, write, navigate through drawings, memorize entire books of standards and plump tomes of technical documentation. The most amazing thing is that he learned with his mental vision to clearly see what is being built according to his projects …
And so we entered the city of Angren. It is beautifully located on a plain surrounded by ridges, which have created a kind of microclimate in this place. Before our gaze, a wide avenue stretched out into the gorge, from where coolness and freshness breathed. Ditches filled with murmuring water glittered in the sun along the avenue. Young plane trees were noisy near the five-storey buildings.
- This quarter was built according to my project, - explained Zotov. - At one time he got the second place in the all-Union competition. And recently, the Angren project won a prize at the All-Union Review of Urban Development Projects.
His first architectural victory was at the end of 1943. Then, in Uzbekistan, a competition was announced for the creation of the best project of an apartment building and a hostel for builders and workers of the Bekabad plant - the firstborn of metallurgy in the republic. It was necessary to present projects of the most economical buildings in wartime, built from local materials. Zotov dared to participate in this republican competition. He dared when his friends thought that the end had come for him. How could, in their view, a shy, fragile, good-natured, gentle young man show incredible willpower?
But Zotov made others believe in their usefulness, and moreover, in their talent. Projects were submitted to the competition in closed packages under the motto. The winner was the project of a hostel for 50 people with the poetic motto "A box of cotton on a blue square". It was the best of 60 entries. The chairman of the jury was embarrassed when he handed the prize to a guy in a soldier's tunic with a singed smiling face who came up to him. It was Zotov.
- Victory! - he rejoiced. - So I can create!..
Then the successes multiplied. In 1951, the architect Zotov began work on the master plan for the development of the former Angren, and in 1956 the implementation of this plan began. And Zotov continued to dream about the city, step by step went to his goal. He was appointed a member of the Scientific Coordination Council under the State Planning Committee of Uzbekistan and the Coordination Council for the Development of Productive Forces under the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan. He was awarded the title of Honored Builder of the Republic
I saw how a project for the development of the experimental district of Angren was developed in his workshop. A huge drawing was laid out on the table in front of Zotov. No, he did not draw himself. Drawn under his leadership by the architect Pavel. No, he himself did not write an explanatory note, but dictated it to the architect Irina. No, he did not make a layout of the building. The layout was made by the architect Vladimir Kravchenko. For his almost forty years of work, Alexander Nikolaevich brought up many students.
- Alexander Nikolaevich gives a lot as a teacher of urban planning, a teacher of life, a teacher of courage, - Kravchenko told me. “Alexander Nikolaevich has a lot to learn,” he smiled. - It's a whole laboratory. A whole design institute. His performance is hellish. Doesn't take leave. Take away his job, and, probably, there will be no Zotov, because she is everything for him. Completely unique abilities help Alexander Nikolaevich to work. Phenomenal memory: building codes, he knows his projects by heart. Mentally multiplies and divides six to ten-digit numbers at incredible speed. Guesses the time with an accuracy of minutes. He recognizes by the voice of those whom he heard five years ago … - Kravchenko choked with excitement. - He put so much effort and energy into our city that the name of Zotov and the name of the city are inextricably linked. See the city. Everything here is decided by Zotov's heart. We consider him our fellow countryman. We have Zotov's corners in schools and boarding schools. There is Zotov Street in the microdistrict that won the prize at the All-Union competition. Now we are building an experimental microdistrict. And rest assured - the prize is in our pocket …
“I was very lucky in my life that I met a girl Galinka, who became my wife Galina Konstantinovna after the war,” Zotov decided to confess his secret. “Few people know what worries she has with me. I come to the institute with a ready-made solution, and I think over and prepare everything at home, with her.
Zotov and I walked around Angren. He showed me irrigation ditches and fountains in neighborhood courtyards. Brought to the museum, where there are exhibits dedicated to him. He took him through the halls of an art gallery - the first regional gallery in the republic. And then we went to see the quarry
- This is a grandiose, breathtaking sight, - he assured. - Just let's climb to the top of the slope.
The ascent to the steep slope was not easy. But Zotov boldly rushed up. From here, from a bird's eye view, the dam and reservoir were clearly visible. The boys were swimming in the river. And at a distance the panorama of the huge pit of the coal mine opened up. In its huge bowl, cars, excavators, steam locomotives and carriages looked like children's toys.
- Coal is mined in a gasified way. People came from abroad to study this method in Angren.
Zotov talked about the present and future of Angren. For example, that the largest reservoir in the republic will be built in the city. That in Angren about 50 thousand square meters of housing will be built. Forty thousand minks of all colors will be bred in the city …
Looking into the future, I will say that his dreams and plans have come true with interest. Today more than 175 thousand inhabitants live in Angren. On the relatively shallow river Akhangaran, which gave the city its name Angren, is the Tyyabuguz reservoir. This "Tashkent Sea" is loved by the residents of the capital. The only underground coal gasification station in Central Asia was built. The Chatkal nature reserve is located in the vicinity of the city.
- We must hurry home, - Alexander Nikolayevich caught himself, - in order to have time to watch hockey with his wife on TV.
And I was no longer surprised.
We stopped near the monument to the 30th anniversary of the Victory. The bronze soldier froze in a throw with a submachine gun in his hands.
- Do you like the monument? Zotov asked. - Here is the share of my participation.
And it sounded symbolic.
And an afterword to our conversation.
In the holiday home in Sukhanovo, near Moscow, on the pre-holiday days in May in honor of the next anniversary of the Victory, a meeting of architects with war veterans took place. Architects from all the hero cities gathered at the table. The guests made toasts. The chairman of the Union of Architects also took the floor:
- I have the last issue of the Construction Gazette, which contains the article “The Warrior and the Architect”. Let me read this article to you.
And read it out. After a short pause in the quiet feast, the chairman said:
- This architect is among us. Please stand up, Alexander Nikolaevich.
Zotov, flushed with excitement, stood up. All those present at the table also stood up and applauded the architect with a scorched face. Everyone tried to find words of admiration for Zotov's courageous life. But these people themselves went through all the circles of the hell of war.
Someone made a proposal - everyone should sign this issue of the "Construction newspaper". Zotov was handed a newspaper, all speckled with autographs of front-line architects. He will remember this day for the rest of his life …
And since then I remember his life-long feat.
Will the Republic of Uzbekistan remember on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Victory its famous war veteran, the architect of regional planning, Alexander Nikolaevich Zotov? Of course he will. After all, there is Zotov Street in Angren, and the city of Angren itself. There are his students. After all, the republic was the country's second mother. Tashkent received thousands and thousands of refugees, dozens of evacuated factories. Poets and writers, musicians from Leningrad, Mosfilm activists recalled with gratitude the friendly city that gave them shelter during the war. The title of the book by Alexander Neverov "Tashkent - the city of bread" has become a common noun.. In the Republic of Uzbekistan, as in Russia, they honor the sacred memory of people who gave their lives for their Motherland. It seems that they remember the selfless feat of the war veteran Alexander Zotov.
At least in Tashkent, in the Medical Academy at the Department of Eye Diseases, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Professor F. A. Akilov. (since 2005), in his lectures for fifth-year students of the medical, medical-pedagogical and medical-preventive faculties, gives unique examples of those who, being blind, were able to reach professional heights. And among them is the architect Alexander Nikolaevich Zotov, according to whose project the city of Angren was built.
