It was in the early 90s. On TV, I saw how the monument to the Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Kuznetsov was removed from the pedestal on the square of the city of Lviv. A thick metal cable was wrapped around his neck, and for a moment the concrete statue swayed in the air. The spotlight whipped out the monument's eye sockets, and an eerie feeling seized me. Among the shouts of the hooting crowd, it suddenly seemed that Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov was being executed as if he were alive.
What can a journalist do against this raging crowd? I decided to find the veterans who knew N. I. Kuznetsov, fought with him so that they would help me revive the memory of him.
I met with Vladimir Ivanovich Stupin. Before the war, he was a student at the Moscow Institute of Architecture. As a volunteer, he joined the paratrooper detachment, who flew out near Rovno in July 1942. He said: “At the end of August 1942, the commander of the detachment, D. N. Medvedev selected a group of paratroopers, warned that we would carry out a particularly important task, which no one should talk about. It turned out that we were going to receive a group of parachutists. It was a familiar thing, but why the task was surrounded by such strict warnings, we understood only later. We waited a long time for one of the stragglers. Having landed, the paratrooper lost his boots in the swamp, and so he came to us in one boot. This was Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov. Behind him was a large duffel bag, in which, as we later learned, there was a German officer's uniform and all the necessary ammunition. He was to go to the city of Rivne under the guise of German lieutenant Paul Siebert and conduct reconnaissance there.
The better we got to know Nikolai Kuznetsov, the more we were surprised - how gifted this man was
He could be an outstanding athlete. He had instant reaction, stamina and strong physical conditioning. He had outstanding linguistic skills. He not only knew several dialects of German. Before our eyes, he began to speak Ukrainian. Poles appeared in the detachment. After a while, he began to speak with them in their native language. We had Spanish internationalists. And he showed interest in the Spanish language. Kuznetsov possessed an extraordinary gift. After all, he “played” the German officer so skillfully that no one in the German milieu noticed this game. He could become a scientist. His main weapon was not a pistol in his pocket - although he shot perfectly. We were amazed by his deep analytical mind. From the phrases he heard by chance, he built information chains, extracting important information of a strategic nature."
He was a mysterious man
After the war, V. I. Stupin began to collect materials to recreate the biography of his famous fellow soldier. He generously shared these documents with me.
“You know, he seemed to us a mysterious person,” said V. I. Stupin. “Even after years, I find it difficult to describe the expression on his face. He was often sad. He looked at people somehow probingly and distantly. Maybe it was due to what he had to experience in his youth?"
Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov was born in 1911 in the village of Zyryanka (now the Sverdlovsk Region) into a peasant family. His parents Ivan Pavlovich and Anna Petrovna were able to put together a strong farm. A small library was assembled in the house. They tried to teach children - there were four of them. Elder Agafya became a teacher. Kolya Kuznetsov entered the 1st grade in 1918. The teachers drew attention to the boy's rare abilities. He was ahead of his peers in all subjects. But what was especially surprising was that he was carried away by the study of the German language. Several German families settled in Zyryanka. Kolya Kuznetsov visited them, picked up German words on the fly.
During the Civil War, events took place that will subsequently "emerge" in the fate of Nikolai Kuznetsov. Kolchak's troops passed through the village. Yielding to agitation, the father of the family put the children on a cart, loaded their belongings, and they left for the east. Together with the White Guards. They were not on the road for long. The Kolchakites took the horses away from the Kuznetsovs, and the family returned to Zyryanka.
After graduating from a seven-year school, Nikolai Kuznetsov entered a forestry technical school in the regional center of Talitsa. Joined the Komsomol. But someone who knew the Kuznetsov family told at the technical school how they left the village with the Kolchak people. Nikolai was then only 8 years old, the father of the family was no longer alive. But nobody listened to Nikolai Kuznetsov. At a noisy meeting, he was expelled from the Komsomol and from the technical school. Could his persecutors have imagined that the time will come when the monument to Kuznetsov will be erected in the center of Talitsa.
Nikolai Kuznetsov tried to get away from his native places. He found a job in the city of Kudymkar. He began to work as a taxator in the forestry department of the land administration. And here Kuznetsov was overtaken by unexpected events. A control commission arrived in Kudymkar. A criminal case was opened against the heads of the land administration, who committed the embezzlement. And although Kuznetsov occupied a modest place in the chain of command, he also found himself among the accused. One of the state security officers who was in charge of the case in Kudymkar drew attention to the entry in Kuznetsov's documents: "Fluent in German."
It will happen more than once in the life of Nikolai Kuznetsov that his extraordinary abilities, knowledge of the German language will drastically change his fate
A few months later, Kuznetsov appeared in Sverdlovsk at the construction site of Uralmash. He was ordered to carry out a special assignment. A large group of specialists from Germany worked at Uralmash. In the spirit of the time when the society was gripped by spy mania, Kuznetsov had to identify hostile persons among the Germans.
And suddenly again fate takes an unexpected turn. Nikolai Kuznetsov was transferred to Moscow. He is given documents in the name of Rudolf Schmidt, a Russified German who allegedly works at a defense plant. One of the leaders of Soviet intelligence P. A. Sudoplatov later recalled: “We prepared Kuznetsov to work against the German embassy in Moscow. In conversations with the embassy staff, he seemed to accidentally blur out information about defense production. The Germans even offered him to draw up documents for moving to Germany. We discussed this option as well. But then the war began."
Please send me to the front
Nikolai Kuznetsov writes one report after another with a request to send him to the war. “The endless waiting depresses me terribly. I have the right to demand that I be given the opportunity to benefit my Fatherland in the fight against the worst enemy,”he wrote to his leaders.
Kuznetsov scout 2.0.jpgFor Kuznetsov they came up with such a legend. With documents addressed to Lieutenant Paul Siebert, as if after treatment in the hospital, he will appear in Rivne as a commissioner for economic affairs. Allegedly, he is from East Prussia. His father served as a manager of a wealthy estate. To prepare for the assignment, Nikolai Kuznetsov, using photographs, “walked” the streets of Keningsberg, memorized street names, read German newspapers, learned popular German songs, memorized the names of football teams and even the score of matches. But you never know what else will be useful in a conversation to a German officer. Experienced teachers studied German with him. Kuznetsov successfully completed his "practice" under the guise of a German officer in one of the prisoner-of-war camps near Moscow.
Why exactly Kuznetsov had to get to the city of Rivne? Here, in a quiet town, there was the residence of the walker of Ukraine - Erich Koch, as well as many administrative occupation institutions, headquarters and rear units.
Before leaving Moscow, Nikolai Kuznetsov wrote a letter to his brother Viktor, who fought at the front:
“Vitya, you are my beloved brother and comrade in arms, so I want to be frank with you before going on a combat mission. And I want to tell you that there is very little chance that I will come back alive … Almost one hundred percent that I will have to go on self-sacrifice. And I consciously go for it, because I deeply realize that I give my life for a holy, just cause. We will destroy fascism, we will save the Fatherland. Keep this letter as a keepsake if I die …"
How Hitler's rate was found
As it turned out, N. I. Kuznetsov possessed extraordinary intuition, which helped him find strategically important information in the enemy's lair.
“I remember one operation that we carried out under his leadership,” V. I. Stupin. - Detachment commander Medvedev selected 25 paratroopers. We boarded the carts. Each has a policeman's armband. Let's go to the road. Suddenly someone shouted: "Germans!" The commander ordered: "Set aside!" We saw that Kuznetsov in German uniform had jumped from the chaise and came up to us. With a rod on the ground, he drew a route. We learned about the meaning of the operation later. " Kuznetsov learned that somewhere near Vinnitsa is one of Hitler's underground residences. To establish the place of this Hitlerite headquarters, he decided to capture the imperial adviser to the signal troops, Lieutenant Colonel Reis. He met his adjutant. He told Kuznetsov that he could not come to him for dinner, because he was meeting his boss. He named the time of arrival and the make of his car.
“… Kuznetsov was driving in the chaise in front. He told us to sing loudly, '' V. I. Stupin. - Let us be mistaken for policemen. Suddenly Kuznetsov raised his hand - a car was driving towards him. As ordered in advance, two of our partisans jumped off the carts, and when the car caught up with us, they threw grenades under its wheels. The car fell on its side. We pulled out of it two frightened German officers, as well as their briefcases full of maps and documents. We put the officers on the cart, covered them with straw and sat on top ourselves. We arrived at the farm of a Polish underground worker. Kuznetsov in the farmhouse carefully studied the captured maps. One of them showed a communication line that ran from the inconspicuous village of Strizhavka to Berlin. When Kuznetsov went to the prisoners, they began to reproach him: "How could he, a German officer, contact the partisans?" Kuznetsov replied that he had come to the conclusion that the war had been lost, and now German blood was being shed in vain.
We learned about the results of the interrogation when we returned to our camp. Nikolai Kuznetsov managed to establish the location of Hitler's underground headquarters, built near Vinnitsa. Russian prisoners of war worked there, who were shot after the end of the construction.
There were many brave, desperate guys in the squad. But the actions and courage of Nikolai Kuznetsov amazed us, they went beyond the capabilities of an ordinary person
So he saved our radio operator Valentina Osmolova. This happened during the days of the Battle of Stalingrad. From Rovno, the underground workers transmitted to the detachment information about the advance of German troops to the east. But this information was outdated, since the path to the partisan camp took a long time. Commander Medvedev decided to send the radio operator Valya Osmolova to Rovno together with Kuznetsov. The underground workers got hold of a carpet, which they covered the chaise, brought smart clothes for Vali. In the villages, policemen greeted them.
On the outskirts of Rovno, it was necessary to cross a bridge over the river and climb an icy hill. And then the unexpected happened. Suddenly the cart, in which Kuznetsov and Valya were traveling, fell on its side. And a walkie-talkie, spare batteries and a pistol fell out at the feet of the guard, who was standing by the bridge. Barely jumping to his feet, Kuznetsov began shouting at the guards: “Why didn't they clear the road? Flip the wagon! Put the radio back! I'm taking an arrested partisan for interrogation. Get the road in order! I'll come - check!"
This episode reflected the special character traits of Kuznetsov. At dangerous moments he displayed such courage and instant reaction that distinguished him from ordinary partisans.
He saved my brother
“Nikolai Kuznetsov was a good friend. He was ready to take risks to help out a comrade. This is how he saved my brother,”his driver Nikolai Strutinsky told me. They were together for months. Strutinsky knew Kuznetsov like no one else. He said: “My brother Georges met in Rovno with two prisoners of war who told him that they were officers of the Red Army. They hinted that they would like to fight. Georges told them that he would come to the same place tomorrow. We were interested in new fighters coming to the squadron. Before Georges left for Rovno, I had a dream that he was walking along the dam and suddenly fell down. The next day, the underground workers reported that Georges had been arrested and taken to prison. I was desperate. I said I didn't want to live anymore."
And then Kuznetsov came up with a cunning plan - how to save Georges. The commander of the detachment summoned one of our partisans - Peter Mamonets. He said that he needed to get a job in the prison guard. Peter refused, but we convinced him.
Rivne is a small town. There were people who recommended Petr Mamonets to guard the prison. He tried, currying himself out with all his might. Once he said to his boss: “Why are we feeding these traitors for nothing? Let's drive them to work. " And soon those arrested in prison were told: "You will go to work!" Those arrested under escort began to be taken out to repair roads and public utilities. Once Pyotr Mamonets reported through the underground that he would lead a group of prisoners into the courtyard near the cafe. Georges knew about the planned plan. At the appointed time, he grabbed his stomach: "I have an upset stomach …" They passed two checkpoints and went out into the street.
Kuznetsov was already standing at the exit. He ordered: "Hurry!" They got into the car, and we rushed to the exit from the city. Georges was brought to the partisan camp. “For the rest of my life I remained grateful to Nikolai Kuznetsov for saving my brother,” Nikolai Strutinsky said.
“Nikolai Kuznetsov fell in love with the Ukrainian language,” V. I. Stupin. - Quite quickly, he mastered a considerable vocabulary and he got a clean accent. We often had clashes with Ukrainian nationalists. In the villages, they were subordinate to different chieftains. And that's what we noticed, Nikolai Kuznetsov in Ukrainian skillfully negotiated with them. He offered to disperse without firing shots. He clearly did not want to shed the blood of “deceived peasants,” as he said. Unfortunately, they did not spare him when he fell into the trap.
Failed assassination attempt
Every day, cars and convoys with Ukrainian residents walked near Rivne, who were taken to hard labor in Germany. During the years of occupation, the Germans took out more than 2 million Ukrainian citizens. Coal, wheat, cows, sheep were transported in freight cars to Germany, and even black soil was taken out.
The command of the detachment developed an operation to destroy the Gauleiter of Ukraine Erich Koch, who was in charge of the plundering of Ukraine. The act of retaliation was to be carried out by Kuznetsov. He was to get an appointment with a Gauleiter. But how to do that? Valentina Dovger, a German by nationality, lived in Rivne. She was declared the bride of the German lieutenant Paul Sieber - Nikolai Kuznetsov. She was associated with the underground. Valentina Dovger, like her neighbors, received a summons, which contained an order to appear at the mobilization point. Nikolai Kuznetsov decided to take advantage of this and made an appointment with Gauleiter Koch.
He came to the Gauleiter's office with Valentina Dovger. First they called the girl. She asked to leave her in Rivne. After all, their wedding with a German officer is approaching. Then Nikolai Kuznetsov came in. He left his pistol at the entrance. But there was another pistol, which he attached with a rubber band to his leg under the leg. In the office, Nikolai Kuznetsov saw a serious guard. Two officers stood behind his chair. Another stood beside the Gauleiter. There are two shepherd dogs on the carpet. Assessing the situation, Kuznetsov realized that he would not have time to get his pistol and fire. This takes a few seconds. During this time, they will have time to grab him, knock him to the floor.
Nikolai Kuznetsov presented his request to the Gauleiter: "They want to mobilize my bride, like some local …" There were military awards on Kuznetsov's chest. Gauleiter asked the military officer where he had fought. Kuznetsov instantly came up with combat episodes, in which he allegedly took part, said that he dreamed of returning to the front as soon as possible. And then Kuznetsov heard the words that amazed him. Gauleiter suddenly said: “Get back to the front as soon as possible. Where is your part? Under the Eagle? You can earn new combat rewards. We will arrange Stalingrad for the Russians!"
It would seem that nothing concrete was said. But Kuznetsov, as he knew how, connected in one chain every word he heard in the office, the intonation with which the Gauleiter spoke about the upcoming battles.
While developing the operation to assassinate the Gauleiter, Kuznetsov was sent to certain death. And he understood that. He left a farewell letter to the commander of the detachment.
The brave scout decided to rush to the detachment in order to quickly convey the information he had heard from Koch.
“This time Nikolai Kuznetsov went through difficult days in the detachment,” V. I. Stupin. - He was reproached for not even trying to shoot the Gauleiter. Kuznetsov, who risked his life every day, was called a coward. He was very upset by the insults inflicted …
The Battle of Kursk began two months later.
Tehran. 1943 year
Back in Moscow, Kuznetsov was provided with such reliable documents that he successfully passed through many checks. He visited cafes and restaurants, always with money, skillfully made acquaintances. Throwing parties. Among his friends was officer von Ortel, who in conversations often mentioned the famous in Germany Otto Skorzeny, who, on Hitler's orders, was able to take the arrested Mussolini out of captivity in a mountain castle. Von Ortel repeated: "A detachment of brave guys can sometimes do more than a whole division." For some reason, von Ortel drew attention to Kuznetsov. In conversations, Ortel liked to quote Nietzsche's words about the superman, whose mighty will is capable of influencing the course of history. Kuznetsov said that he was an ordinary infantry officer, and his job was to command the trench soldiers. Kuznetsov also drew attention to the fact that von Ortel started talking about Iran, about its culture, traditions, and economy. The Rovno underground workers reported that Ortel was taking a group of German soldiers to a forest clearing. There are classes. In the clearing, the military take turns collecting parachutes.
Nikolai Kuznetsov, with his subtle intuition, tied together von Ortel's conversations about supermen and the secret training of some kind of detachment. Soon von Ortel disappeared from Rovno. The sign on his door also disappeared: "Dentistry". Whether Kuznetsov had anything to do with his sudden disappearance - the partisans did not know. He could not know what important events were being prepared in Tehran. In November 1943, the leaders of the three great powers met in Tehran - I. V. Stalin, F. D. Roosevelt and W. Churchill.
In those days, from various sources in the intelligence center in Moscow, they received information that German saboteurs were infiltrating Tehran in order to assassinate the heads of great states. Among other messages, a radiogram from the partisan forest came to Moscow, which Kuznetsov compiled, without missing the details.
Of course, he did not know anything about the event that was being prepared in Tehran. But his conscientiousness in his work became one of the threads that helped to penetrate the plans of the enemy
The following message was printed in Pravda: “London, December 17, 1943. According to a Reuters Washington correspondent, President Roosevelt said he was staying at the Russian embassy in Tehran, not the American one, because Stalin became aware of the German conspiracy."
The shape was stroked with the butt of an ax
Nikolai Kuznetsov tried to find strategically important information in intelligence. However, I asked my interlocutors about what everyday difficulties his unusual life was connected with. Almost every week he came to the partisan detachment. And this road, and spending the night among the partisan huts, often became a difficult test.
In Moscow, I recorded the memoirs of B. I. Cherny: “I was part of a group that met Kuznetsov from Rovno and saw him off,” he said. - Local roads were dangerous. To meet Kuznetsov, we set up secret strongholds in the thickets, they were called "lighthouses". Kuznetsov knew these places. Waiting for his arrival, we hid under the trees. Both in the snow and in the heat they waited patiently. Sometimes we ran out of food, but we could not leave Nikolai Kuznetsov. I remember chewing coniferous branches from hunger. They drank water from puddles. And surprisingly, no one got sick.
Nikolai Kuznetsov usually arrived in a chaise, which we hid in the courtyard of the underground worker. We often had to go 70 kilometers to the camp”.
In the camp they lived in huts. If possible, a separate dugout was built for Kuznetsov. To make its shape look neat, it was smoothed with the butt of an ax. Kuznetsov brought cologne from Rovno. Few in the squad knew what kind of work he was doing. Only the attendants of the "lighthouses" saw him in German uniform. The cloak was ready, which Kuznetsov threw over himself and in it walked through the forest. Medvedev warned: "If someone dissolves his tongue, he will answer according to the laws of wartime."
B. I. Cherny recalled: “Before Kuznetsov got into the chaise, returning to Rovno, we examined, felt him, watched whether any leaf or blade of grass had caught on to his form. They saw him off with anxiety. Kuznetsov in the detachment was simple and friendly. There was nothing feigned, arrogant about him. But he always, as they say, kept his distance from us. He was silent, focused.
It was impossible without emotional pain to watch him leave the forest and sit in the chaise. The expression on his face quickly changed - it became harsh, haughty. He was already entering the role of a German officer."
General kidnapping
Vladimir Strutinsky told me about one of the last operations of Nikolai Kuznetsov. In Rivne there was the so-called headquarters of the Eastern troops, in which, after mobilization, Ukrainian guys or prisoners of war were often enlisted.
“We decided to capture General Ilgen, who commanded the Eastern troops, and take him to the partisan camp,” N. V. Strutinsky. - He lived in a separate mansion. In his house, Lydia Lisovskaya worked as a housekeeper, with whom we were well acquainted. Nikolai Kuznetsov rented a room in her apartment. Pani Lelia, as we called her, gave us the plan of the house in which Ilgen lived, and also named the time when he came to dinner. We rushed to his house. A soldier with a rifle stood at the entrance. Kuznetsov opened the gate and went to the door. "The General is not at home!" said the soldier, with an obvious Russian accent. It was one of the soldiers of the Eastern troops. Kuznetsov barked at him and ordered him to enter the house. Kaminsky and Stefansky - the participants in the operation disarmed the guard. He said in dismay: “I am the Cossack Lukomsky. I went to serve not of my own free will. I will not let you down. Let me return to the post. The general will be arriving soon. Kuznetsov ordered: “Go to the post! But keep in mind - we will keep you on sight! Stop in silence! " A minute later another Cossack ran into the room. He was disarmed and put on the floor. At this time, Kuznetsov and other participants in the operation were raking documents and maps into portfolios. “I sat in the car and waited for General Ilgen to appear,” I. V. Strutinsky. - When the general drove up to the house, I saw - what a large, muscular man he was. This will not be easy to deal with. And I decided to go to the aid of my friends. We were all in German uniform. When I crossed the threshold of the house, Ilgen turned to me and began to shout: "How dare you, soldier, come in!" At that moment Kuznetsov left the room. The general was taken aback: "What's going on here ?!" Kuznetsov announced to him that we were partisans, and the general was captured. We began to tie his hands with a rope. But, apparently, they did it clumsily. When Ilgen was taken to the porch, he freed his hand, hit Kuznetsov and shouted: "Help!" We took Ilgen to the car. And suddenly we saw that four officers were running towards us: "What happened here?" The hair on my head began to stir from surprise.
Here we were saved by the extraordinary composure of Kuznetsov. He stepped forward and showed the officers the Gestapo badge, which the partisans had captured in one of the battles. Kuznetsov calmly said to the officers who ran up: "Show your documents!"
And he began to write down their names in a notebook. “We captured an underground worker who was wearing German uniforms,” he said. - Which of you will go to the Gestapo as a witness? What did you see?" It turned out that they hadn't seen anything. The Gestapo did not express any desire to go. Ilgen was silent by that time. When they pushed him into the car, they had to hit him hard on the head with a pistol. We put Ilgen in the back seat and covered him with a carpet. The partisans sat on it. The Cossack asked: "Take me!" Kuznetsov ordered: "Sit down!" The car rushed out of town.
Last bow to a friend
On January 15, 1944, the partisans escorted Nikolai Kuznetsov to Lvov. Cannonade was already coming from the east. The front was approaching. German headquarters and institutions traveled to Lvov. A brave scout also had to act in this city. For the first time, he left far from the partisans and underground fighters, who could often come to his aid.
Commander Medvedev tried to hedge Kuznetsov. A detachment of partisans under the command of Krutikov followed his car through the woods. They posed as Bandera. But the disguise didn't help. The squad was ambushed. The only radio operator Burlak in the detachment was killed in the battle.
Together with Kuznetsov, the underground worker Yan Kaminsky and the driver Ivan Belov, both former prisoners of war, went to Lviv. As it was previously agreed, two partisans from Krutikov's detachment, having reached Lvov, on odd numbers went to the opera house by 12 o'clock to meet with Nikolai Kuznetsov. But he did not come to the meeting place.
The partisans bought a local newspaper, in which they read the message: “February 9, 1944. The vice-governor of Galicia, Dr. Otto Bauer, fell victim to an assassination attempt …”Reading the newspaper, the partisans thought that perhaps this daring assassination attempt was made by Nikolai Kuznetsov
Subsequently, this was confirmed. The brave intelligence officer fought to the last with those who came to Ukraine as punishers.
In mid-February 1944, Nikolai Kuznetsov and his comrades unexpectedly came to one of the "lighthouses" that had been planned in advance near Lvov. Here, on an abandoned farm, two partisans from Krutikov's defeated detachment were hiding. One of them, Vasily Drozdov, was sick with typhus, the other, Fyodor Pristupa, courted him.
Nikolai Kuznetsov said that they had to leave the car. At one of the posts, when leaving Lviv, they were detained because they did not have the necessary marks in their documents. They opened fire and escaped from Lviv. But the license plate was "lit", and besides, they could not fill up with gas anywhere.
For several days Kuznetsov stayed at the "lighthouse" together with the partisans. In the semi-darkness he was writing something. As it turned out later, he made a detailed report on his actions behind enemy lines. The partisans persuaded him to stay with them, but Kuznetsov replied that they had decided to get to the front line themselves. Drozdov and Pristupa were the last of the partisans who saw Nikolai Kuznetsov. At night, his group left, as he said, on the way to Brody.
After the liberation of Lviv, the commander of the detachment D. N. Arriving in Lvov, Medvedev began to study the archives left by the Germans. He came across documents about the sabotage of an agent who was acting in the form of a German officer.
And so Medvedev was brought a report from the head of the SD of Galicia, in which it was reported about the death of an unknown person posing as officer Paul Siebert. He died in a skirmish with Bandera. A report was found in the victim's pocket for the Soviet command
There was no doubt that Nikolai Kuznetsov was killed. Before that, knowing his resourcefulness, the partisans hoped that he would get out of the most dangerous situations and would soon make himself felt.
Now it remained to fulfill the last duty - to achieve recognition of his feat. In November 1944, a message appeared in the central newspapers: "On November 5, 1944, by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously)."
“Years passed after the war, but we still did not know where and how Nikolai Kuznetsov died,” N. V. Strutinsky. - Together with my brother Georges, we decided to find eyewitnesses. We didn't know Saturdays or Sundays. We went to the villages, asked the residents. But they could not find out anything. And then one day we were unexpectedly lucky. In the evening we caught fish, lit a fire. An old man came out to see us. And we started a conversation with him: "What did not happen in the war - there was a skirmish with a German officer, and he turned out to be Russian." And suddenly the old man said: “We also had such a case. They killed a German, and then they spoke like Russian. " "Where was that?" "In the village of Boratin". We also tried to question the old man. But he quickly packed up and left.
We went to this village as well. They said that we were working as procurers. And, by the way, they started talking about a strange German. Residents pointed to the house of the peasant Golubovich. We drove up to him. And it seems that our car has stalled. I shout at my brother: "Why didn't you prepare the car?" A tarp was spread near the house, bacon, vegetables and a bottle of vodka were taken out. I went to the gate and called the owner: "Sit with us!" Golubovich came out. And after asking about where you can prepare vegetables, we started the same usual conversation: “How many incomprehensible things happened in the war. It happened that the Russians also passed themselves off as Germans. " And Golubovich said: “My family has gone through a lot. There was a fight in the hut. And then people said that they killed a Russian in German uniform. " He told how it all happened. “They knocked on the window at night. Two men in German uniform entered. The third stayed at the door. Those who came got money and asked for potatoes, milk and bread. The one in the officer's uniform was choking with coughing. Before my wife had time to bring milk, the door swung open, and Bandera's men crowded into the hut. There were security posts around the village, and someone noticed that strangers had appeared. They demanded documents from the officer. He told them: "We are fighting together." He took out his cigarettes and bent over the kerosene lamp to light it. The local chieftain appeared. He shouted: “Grab him guys! The Germans are looking for some kind of saboteur! Let them figure it out! " The one in the officer's uniform broke the lamp and in the darkness threw a grenade towards the door. Apparently, he wanted to make his way. Bandera also opened fire. When the lights were turned on again, the officer was already dead. " The second German - obviously Kaminsky - jumped out of the window in the confusion. He was killed on the road.
Golubovich showed the place where "that German" was buried. But Strutinsky and other partisans wanted to make sure that they found the place of the death of a brave intelligence officer. They got the exhumation. We turned to the famous sculptor-anthropologist M. M. Gerasimov, who restored the appearance of a person from the skull. When a month later M. M. Gerasimov invited the partisans to his place, then they, shocked, saw the image of Nikolai Kuznetsov in the workshop.
N. V. Strutinsky showed me the photographs. Hundreds of people - war veterans, residents of the city followed the gun carriage, on which they carried the coffin with the remains of N. I. Kuznetsov. He was buried in Lvov
A majestic monument was erected, which became a landmark of the city … However, tragic events took place in the early nineties. A frenzied crowd surrounded the monument, a crane was fitted, an iron cable was thrown over the monument.
Nikolai Strutinsky, shocked by the barbarity of the angry crowd, decided to try to save the monument. In that situation in Lviv, his act can only be called asceticism. He called the administration of the Talitsa village. I found people there who took the destruction of the monument to heart. The necessary funds were collected in Talitsa. The hero's compatriots decided to buy out the monument. Strutinsky did a lot to get the monument loaded onto a platform and sent to Talitsa. With N. I. Kuznetsov, they repeatedly covered each other in battle. Now Strutinsky was saving the memory of his brave comrade.
Strutinsky in Lviv had to endure many threats. He left for Talitsa and settled near the monument. He brought valuable materials to the hero's homeland. He wrote articles in defense of the name of the intelligence officer.
The famous scientist Joliot-Curie wrote about N. I. Kuznetsov: "If I was asked who I consider the most powerful and attractive person among the galaxy of fighters against fascism, I would not hesitate to name Nikolai Kuznetsov."
