The message on "VO" that the Minister of Defense of Hungary came to Voronezh on a visit aroused interest. Some of the readers expressed surprise at both this fact and the fact that there are burials of Hungarian soldiers on the territory of the region.
We will tell you about one of these burials.
Actually, there was already a story about him, three years ago, but everything is changing, people come, it is not always possible to keep up with everything. So let's repeat ourselves.
First, a little history.
Already on June 27, 1941, Hungarian aircraft bombed Soviet border posts and the city of Stanislav. On July 1, 1941, the border of the Soviet Union was crossed by parts of the Carpathian group with a total number of more than 40,000 people. The most efficient unit of the group was the Mobile Corps under the command of Major General Bela Danloki-Miklos.
The corps consisted of two motorized and one cavalry brigades, support units (engineering, transport, communications, etc.). Armored units were armed with Italian Fiat-Ansaldo CV 33/35 tankettes, Toldi light tanks and Hungarian-made Csaba armored vehicles. The total strength of the Mobile Corps was about 25,000 soldiers and officers.
By July 9, 1941, the Hungarians, having overcome the resistance of the 12th Soviet Army, advanced 60-70 km deep into enemy territory. On the same day, the Carpathian group was disbanded. The mountain and border brigades, which could not keep up with the motorized units, had to perform guard functions in the occupied territories, and the Mobile Corps became subordinate to the commander of the German Army Group South, Field Marshal Karl von Rundstedt.
On July 23, Hungarian motorized units launched an offensive in the Bershad-Gayvoron area in cooperation with the 17th German Army. In August, a large group of Soviet troops was encircled near Uman. The encircled units were not going to surrender and made desperate attempts to break through the encirclement. The Hungarians played an almost decisive role in the defeat of this group.
The Hungarian Mobile Corps continued the offensive along with the troops of the 11th German Army, participating in heavy battles near Pervomaisk and Nikolaev. On September 2, German-Hungarian troops captured Dnepropetrovsk after fierce street fighting. Hot battles broke out in the south of Ukraine in Zaporozhye. Soviet troops repeatedly launched counterstrikes. So, during the bloody battle on the island of Khortitsa, an entire Hungarian infantry regiment was completely destroyed.
In connection with the growth of losses, the warlike ardor of the Hungarian command decreased. On September 5, 1941, General Henrik Werth was removed from his post as Chief of the General Staff. His place was taken by infantry general Ferenc Szombathely, who believed that it was time to curtail the active hostilities of the Hungarian troops and withdraw them to defend the borders. But Hitler managed to achieve this only by promising to allocate Hungarian units to guard supply lines and administrative centers in the rear of the German army.
Meanwhile, the Mobile Corps continued to fight at the front, and only on November 24, 1941, the last of its units went to Hungary. Losses of the corps on the Eastern Front amounted to 2,700 killed (including 200 officers), 7,500 wounded and 1,500 missing. In addition, all tankettes, 80% of light tanks, 90% of armored vehicles, more than 100 vehicles, about 30 guns and 30 aircraft were lost.
At the end of November, "light" Hungarian divisions began to arrive in Ukraine to carry out police functions in the occupied territories. The headquarters of the Hungarian "Occupation Group" is located in Kiev. Already in December, the Hungarians began to be actively involved in anti-partisan operations. Sometimes such operations turned into very serious military clashes. An example of one of such actions is the defeat on December 21, 1941 of the partisan detachment of General Orlenko. The Hungarians managed to surround and completely destroy the enemy base. According to Hungarian data, about 1,000 partisans were killed.
In early January 1942, Hitler demanded that Horthy increase the number of Hungarian units on the Eastern Front. Initially, it was planned to send at least two-thirds of the entire Hungarian army to the front, but after negotiations, the Germans reduced their requirements.
To send to Russia, the 2nd Hungarian Army was formed with a total number of about 250,000 people under the command of Lieutenant General Gustav Jan. It consisted of the 3rd, 4th and 7th Army Corps (each has three light infantry divisions, similar to 8 conventional divisions), the 1st Panzer Division (actually a brigade) and the 1st Air Force (actually a regiment). On April 11, 1942, the first units of the 2nd Army went to the Eastern Front.
On June 28, 1942, the German 4th Panzer and 2nd Field Armies went on the offensive. Their main target was the city of Voronezh. The offensive was attended by the troops of the 2nd Hungarian Army - the 7th Army Corps.
On July 9, the Germans managed to break into Voronezh. The next day, to the south of the city, the Hungarians came out to the Don and consolidated their foothold. During the battles, only one 9th Light Division lost 50% of its personnel. The German command set the task for the 2nd Hungarian army to eliminate the three bridgeheads that remained in the hands of the Soviet troops. The Uryvsky bridgehead posed the most serious threat. On July 28, the Hungarians made the first attempt to throw its defenders into the river, but all attacks were repulsed. Fierce and bloody battles broke out. On August 9, Soviet units launched a counterattack, pushing back the advance units of the Hungarians and expanding the bridgehead near Uryv. On September 3, 1942, the Hungarian-German troops managed to push back the enemy beyond the Don near the village of Korotoyak, but the Soviet defense held out in the Uryv area. After the main forces of the Wehrmacht were transferred to Stalingrad, the front here stabilized and the fighting took on a positional character.
On January 13, 1943, the positions of the 2nd Hungarian Army and the Alpine Italian Corps were attacked by the troops of the Voronezh Front, supported by the 13th Army of the Bryansk Front and the 6th Army of the Southwestern Front.
The very next day, the defense of the Hungarians was broken through, some parts were seized by panic. Soviet tanks entered the operational space and smashed headquarters, communications centers, ammunition and equipment depots. The entry into battle of the 1st Hungarian Panzer Division and units of the 24th German Panzer Corps did not change the situation, although their actions slowed down the pace of the Soviet offensive. During the battles in January-February 1943, the 2nd Hungarian Army suffered catastrophic losses.
All tanks and armored vehicles were lost, virtually all artillery, the level of personnel losses reached 80%. If this is not a rout, then it is difficult to call it anything else.
Hungarians inherited great. To say that they were hated more than the Germans is to say nothing. The tale that General Vatutin (a deep bow to him and eternal memory) gave the order “not to take the Hungarians prisoner” is absolutely not a fairy tale, but a historical fact.
Nikolai Fedorovich could not remain indifferent to the stories of the delegation of residents of the Ostrogozhsky district about the atrocities of the Hungarians, and, perhaps, in his hearts, he dropped this phrase.
However, the phrase spread through parts with lightning speed. This is evidenced by the stories of my grandfather, a soldier of the 41st Rifle Corps of the 10th NKVD Division, and after being wounded - the 81st Rifle Corps of the 25th Guards. page division. The soldiers, being aware of what the Hungarians were doing, took it as a kind of indulgence. And they dealt with the Hungarians accordingly. That is, they were not taken prisoner.
Well, if, according to the grandfather, they were "especially smart", then the conversation with them was also short. In the nearest gully or forest. "We pinned them up … When trying to escape."
As a result of the battles on Voronezh land, the 2nd Hungarian army lost about 150 thousand people, in fact, all the equipment. What was left was already rolled out on the ground of Donbass.
Today, there are two mass graves of Hungarian soldiers and officers on the territory of the Voronezh region.
These are the village of Boldyrevka of the Ostrogozhsky district and the village of Rudkino Khokholsky.
More than 8 thousand Honved soldiers are buried in Boldyrevka. We have not been there, but we will definitely visit by the 75th anniversary of the Ostrogozh-Rossosh operation. As well as the town of Korotoyak, whose name in Hungary is known to virtually every family. As a symbol of sorrow.
But we stopped at Rudkino.
The memorial is always closed, it is opened only when delegations from Hungary arrive. But there are no obstacles for the aircraft, and we used the drone.
How many Hungarians lie here is difficult to say. Each slab contains 40-45 names. How many plates can be counted, but difficult.
I tried. It turned out that approximately 50 to 55 thousand were laid to rest here. And plus 8, 5 thousand in Boldyrevka.
Where are the others? And still there, along the banks of the Don-Father.
The moral here is simple: whoever comes to us with a sword will be bent anyway.
Some people are unpleasant that this is how cemeteries of Hungarians, Germans, Italians exist. Well-groomed such.
But: we Russians are not at war with the dead. The Hungarian government maintains (albeit with our own hands) the cemeteries of its soldiers. And there is nothing so shameful in this. All within the framework of a bilateral intergovernmental agreement on the maintenance and care of military graves.
So let the Hungarian warriors lie, under marble slabs, in a rather beautiful corner of the Don bend.
As an edification to those who suddenly still come to mind utter nonsense.
