Rosa Shanina is a beautiful sniper from the Arkhangelsk region. Women snipers of the Great Patriotic War

The best Soviet women snipers of the Great Patriotic War.

Beautiful sniper Rosa Shanina.

A sniper is a person who is fluent in the art of marksmanship, camouflage and observation; usually hits the target with the first shot. The sniper's task is to destroy important emerging, moving, open and camouflaged single targets.
On April 3, 1924, in a small Soviet village called Edma in the Arkhangelsk region, Rosa Shanina was born, who earned several high awards and the eternal memory of her descendants during her short and heroic life.
A beautiful, stately girl with blond wavy hair and huge blue eyes became one of the most formidable lone snipers of the Great Patriotic War. Today we can judge her character from the memoirs of her contemporaries and loved ones, as well as excerpts from the diary that Shanina herself kept while at the front. She wrote letters from the front lines, mostly to her friend correspondent Molchanov, who published several works about this amazing brave northerner.
Rosa was born into a large Soviet family. Her father Yegor Mikhailovich worked in logging, and her mother Anna Alekseevna worked as a milkmaid on a local collective farm.
The girl was alone in the family; four brothers Fedor, Mikhail, Sergei and Marat were raised with her. Of all the children, only Marat returned home from the war.
Already at the age of fourteen, Rosa showed all the strength of her character and, despite the protests of her parents, she went to study at the Pedagogical School in Arkhangelsk. According to biographers, a little girl walked 200 km alone to realize her dream of studying. After completing her studies, Shanina was sent to work in a kindergarten, which she protected from fires during aerial bombings. In Arkhangelsk, residents kept voluntary watch on the roofs, and they tried to immediately eliminate fires and destruction from German bombs. The actions of the townspeople saved Arkhangelsk from destruction, since the buildings in the city were predominantly wooden. One of the books dedicated to Shanina describes an episode with a destroyed confectionery shop, in which the young teacher Rosa begs the unfortunate children not to eat melted sugar mixed with dirt and combustion products.
The war began when the future girl sniper was only 17 years old; she immediately reported to the military registration and enlistment office to go to the front line as a volunteer. However, the girl was not taken to the front due to her age. After persistent demands, tears and persuasion, Rosa was accepted into the All-Education detachment, and then underwent training at a sniper school in Podolsk.
Shanina’s character can be judged by the reviews of her Arkhangelsk friend Maria Makarova. Makarova remembers Rosa as a kind and sympathetic girl who gave her food out of compassion during the difficult years of hunger. The young teacher was eager to go to war, all actions were aimed only at achieving the goal. Shanina’s strong-willed character made it possible to achieve respect at the front. From the diary and letters published by Rosa’s friend, correspondent Molchanov, one can understand how eager this young and beautiful northern woman was to fight. She called the battle with the Germans nothing more than revenge for the fallen and tortured compatriots.
On April 2, 1944, Rosa, who had reached the age of twenty, arrived in the 184th Infantry Division. The command assigned Shanina to a women's sniper platoon, whose tasks were limited to searching for and destroying individual enemy soldiers, as well as his snipers. For the first time, sniper Rosa had to shoot at a living target on April 5, 1944, the girl’s hand did not waver, and the account of revenge for those who died at the hands of the invaders was opened. The division was then stationed southeast of Vitebsk.
In Rosa's diaries you can find entries dated mid-summer 1944. Before Shanina began recording her thoughts and writing letters to Molchanov, she had already earned the respect of the command with her skill not only in accurately shooting, but also in finding the enemy’s position. Ever since the days of sniper school, it became known for its double shot or, as it was called at the front, a doublet. Shanina fired two accurate shots in one breath, instantly destroying two intended targets at once. The commanders spoke of her as the best sniper in the division and compared her to heroes. During the first month of the “hunt,” as the girls called their assignments, Shanina already had more than a dozen killed fascists; according to some sources, their number was 17 people. The total number of fascists killed has not yet been established and varies from 54 to 75 (including 12 German snipers). The fame of the girl sniper spread not only in the division; publications about Rosa were even published in the Moscow magazine Ogonyok. Posters and newspaper articles with patriotic slogans and a photograph of the northern beauty were published regularly.
On June 18, Shanina was awarded her first award - the Order of Glory, 3rd degree. An interesting fact is that in the award sheet, worn out by time and made on an old typewriter, found in one of the military archives, the patronymic of Corporal Shanina is indicated as Georgievna. This contradiction can be explained by the fact that the names Yegor and Georgy in the forties in the Union were considered paired and interchangeable. With the breakthrough of the German Fifth Defense Army, a female sniper platoon is sent to the rear for rest, which outrages Shanina. She writes with frustration in her diaries about her forced removal from battles, and then tries to get her sent to the battlefield. The value of such a skilled marksman for the army is quite understandable, so the behavior of the command was dictated more by expediency than by pity for the girl.
Particularly interesting are the records of unauthorized absences from the front line and the struggle with commanders for the right to fight on the front line on “legal” grounds. On August 8, Shanina, returning from another unauthorized absence, captured three healthy, experienced Germans. Realizing how valuable Shanina was as a sniper, the commanders regularly reprimanded her for such attacks, but finally gave up. By August 31, Rosa’s personal count reached 42 killed fascists. On September 22, Shanina was awarded the Order of Glory, 2nd degree. Rosa became the first girl to receive such an award of 2nd and 3rd degrees at once. Literally a month before her death, Shanina was awarded the medal “For Courage”.
On December 13, Rosa was wounded by a bullet in the shoulder; in her diary she said that she felt practically no pain and was annoyed at having to leave the front line. Shanina was very reserved about fame, as can be seen from her reasoning. For example, in an entry dated December 13, she is perplexed by the exaggerations and attention paid to her person at a gathering of army snipers. She considers her merits only as the share of participation that every citizen of the country should contribute to liberation from the occupiers. Rosa never recognized herself as a hero, although she considered her dead and wounded friends to be such.
In January 1945, the entries in the diary took on a sad tone; in one of the last letters, Shanina asked to forward what she had written to her mother in the event of her death. At this time, she takes part in fierce battles on the territory of East Prussia, sees how entire battalions are mowed down by the frenzied Ashists of Russian soldiers. The premonition did not deceive the brave northerner; an enemy bullet overtook her on January 28, 1945, on the third kilometer from the village of Ilmsdorf. The girl, who was still alive, was taken to the hospital, but the wound turned out to be fatal; she died before her pen pal Molchanov arrived.
The lines of the diary convey not only an amazing desire to avenge their native land, there are also truly feminine thoughts and experiences. For example, the entry dated October 10 sounds particularly girlish. Rosa complains about the absence of a close friend and talks about the strange dreams that have been haunting her lately. Later in the diary the name of a certain Nikolai is mentioned, although soon Shanina
I wrote about breaking up with this person. Judging by the girl’s rare remarks, no relationship with this guy was ever established. Rose herself admits in her letters that she wanted to love, she was looking for only that one, but did not have time to find him.
At home they were proud of Rosa and her front-line successes; her photograph hung on the honor board of the Arkhangelsk Regional Komsomol Committee. Ease of communication, a lively sparkle in her eyes and an open smile made Shanina much more beautiful than those images in the photo that remained after her death. A young girl from a northern village became a symbol of the Patriotic War. Her name is associated with many stories and legends that inspired new heroes to glorious deeds. Such works as “I’ll Return After the Battle” by Zhuravlev and “Thirst for Battle” by Molchanov, as well as their joint creative work entitled “Snowdrops on a Minefield” are dedicated to the memory of Rosa Shanina. There are inaccuracies in the works; many of the characters are collective and carry the features of several prototypes at once. Nevertheless, the works of these authors convey general information about the fate and characters of Rosa Shanina quite accurately.
Excerpts from works.
***
“...The less territory remained under the control of the fascists, the more fiercely they clung to it. Relying on the concrete fortifications of farmsteads, towns and railway stations, the German command concentrated equipment and manpower around them, mobilizing the civilian population capable of holding weapons.
Such a fortified defense stood in the way of the 5th Army near the village of Rihau. The Nazis concentrated tanks, mortars, artillery and large infantry forces here. For 2 days there had been bloody battles on the approaches to Rihau. Heavy Baltic winds, wet snow, mud - everything seemed to be turned against the attackers, and yet on the 3rd day several rifle battalions broke through the first line of trenches.
It was not possible to advance further. The battalions lay down under heavy mortar fire. Katyusha rockets hit enemy fortifications.
“After these volleys, we’ll go on the attack,” the platoon commander warned.
And at this time the battalion commander’s messenger crawled up to Rosa:
- A note to you, Comrade Shanina.
“Return to the rear immediately. Recall ordered. Urgent,” she read and looked questioningly at the soldier.
- The division commander ordered. “I heard it myself,” the messenger clarified.
- Okay, I'll be back after the fight...
...Twice this estate passed from hand to hand, and twice a mortal battle began at dawn. Now these hills are ours, and behind the stone walls of the main house, behind the walls of the stables are the Nazis. On the right is a road that runs in a half arc towards the forest, and there... Who knows what is there. There are few people left, one is the only field cannon, that’s all the firepower of Lieutenant Vetoshkin’s division. Few shells and few people remained in the division. And the battle goes on, goes on in riffles, from edge to edge, from the grove to the hills.
- Back! Get down! - the soldier screams heart-rendingly, waving his machine gun over his head.
Rosa doesn’t hear, she runs to the road, presses herself against a tree trunk, and raises her rifle. There is a black chain in front of the forest. The chain is alive, the chain snakes, then breaks up into links, then again appears as a black line on the snow-covered field. A splash of fire, smoke, earth!
The chain is broken. Vetoshkin saw the Germans, if only he had enough shells, if only others didn’t fall out of the forest. One gun on direct fire. As a last resort, because there are only so many shells. Rosa lowers the rifle, the last cartridge, the last shot in the chain. And again he runs across the road, without bending down, at full height.
- Soldiers! Give me some cartridges!..
The submachine gunners have no rifle cartridges, and the artillerymen have no rifle cartridges. Discs and store boxes. She ran up to Vetoshkin, extended her hand to the abandoned machine gun and only now saw the Germans behind the poplars, very close...
So, is he blind or something, Vetoshkin! He leaned against a tree and didn’t even look at the road.
She grabbed the sleeve, wanted to say something evil to the lieutenant, and her voice broke... She pulled Vetoshkin by the gun shield, and, falling to the wheel, she threw out the entire contents of the disk into the crowd of Germans. She didn’t see how many of them there were behind the poplars. She now saw nothing of what was happening on this earth. Nothing. The sky was before her eyes. Cold, alien, gray sky. And for some reason the stars. Many, many stars.
Then the stars went out..."
***
On January 27, 1945, the commander of an artillery unit was wounded in one of the battles. While covering him, senior sergeant Roza Shanina was seriously wounded in the chest by a shell fragment. Rosa was taken to the hospital of the 205th separate medical battalion of the 144th Vilna Red Banner Order of Suvorov rifle division near the Reichau estate, three kilometers northwest of the village of Ilmsdorf, where on January 28 she died from her wounds. As reported by nurse Ekaterina Radkina, in whose arms Shanina died, Rosa said that she regretted that she had done so little.
According to the Memorial OBD data, namely the diagrams of the location of the graves of the 205th separate medical battalion of the 144th Vilna Red Banner Order of Suvorov Rifle Division, Rosa Shanina was buried in the town of Reichau (German: Reichau, now the village of Cherepanovo, Pravdinsky district, Kaliningrad region ), in the fifth grave in the direction of Ilmsdorf (now the village of Novo-Bobruisk, Pravdinsky district, Kaliningrad region). Subsequently, according to information from the Memorial OBD, the burial was moved to the village of Znamensk, Gvardeysky District, Kaliningrad Region, and the name of Rosa Shanina was immortalized on the military memorial “Mass Grave of Soviet Soldiers.” The memorial slab above Rosa’s separate burial place is located on Brovkov Alley, in the park near the Znamensk military unit. Whether the reburial actually took place is unknown.
According to the publications of the Arkhangelsk journalist and writer Lydia Melnitskaya, in 1965 she visited the site of Shanina’s death and discovered that Rosa was the only one of the dead soldiers whose remains were not transferred to Znamensk during reburial in 1953, since neither the members of the special commission nor the soldiers Those from the neighboring military unit who opened the graves did not know who she was, where she came from, or how she died.
It should be noted that Melnitskaya conducted her research in the town of Richau (German: Richau, now the village of Telmanovo in the Gvardeysky district of the Kaliningrad region). On May 4, 1965, the site identified by Melnitskaya as the grave of Rosa Shanina was resurfaced and fenced off by local pioneers. As a result of this confusion, some sources mention that Rosa Shanina’s grave was located on the banks of the Lava River, which flows near Richau.
Reviews and memory of Rose.
Maria Antonovna Krotova, the same age as Rosa Shanina, remembers her fellow countrywoman and friend with a special, slightly hidden feeling of sadness and pride: “She left us for the city and it seemed quiet in Bogdanovsky. True, true, that’s how it was.” .
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“Shanina was very authoritative among her friends,” writes Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General A. A. Kazaryan. “She was eager to go to the front line. There she acted excellently... She died while covering the commander of an artillery division.”
***
“They were nice girls. Especially Rosa Shanina,” recalled Marshal of the Soviet Union N.I. Krylov. “I remember her in a combat situation. Shanina was the first of the girls of the 3rd Belorussian Front to be awarded the Order of Glory of the 3rd and 2nd degrees.” .
In the 5th Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front, sniper Shanina somehow immediately, as they say, immediately became a noticeable, famous warrior. In the army newspaper, in combat leaflets, on the pages of Ogonyok, and in the front-line press, the name of the brave girl appeared at very small intervals. Here's a little about Rose in print.
“Honor and glory to the fearless fascist fighter Roza Shanina!”, “In the area where sniper Roza Shanina is on combat duty, the enemy is retreating into a den” (“Krasnoarmeyskaya Pravda”, July 11 and October 5, 1944).
“Let the Russian mother rejoice, who gave birth to and raised a glorious, noble daughter for the Motherland!”, “Yesterday, sniper Rosa Shanina in one exit
destroyed 5 fascists. With military success, Comrade Shanina! Now the fearless girl has 51 killed Nazis and 3 captured by her personally” (“Let’s Destroy the Enemy”, September 17 and 24, 1944).
***
One could continue excerpts from newspapers from the war years, but these few are convincing evidence of recognition of the courage, bravery, and military skill of a 20-year-old warrior girl.
She loved life so much. Perhaps more, many times more than those who, like the devil from incense, fled from the war. She hoped to reach Berlin and after the victory return to Arkhangelsk, to the children of the kindergarten.
She's back. She lives in the affairs of Timurov's (pioneer) squads and detachments, in the patriotic initiatives of youth, in the solemn promises of schoolchildren to be the first. In her homeland there are spacious, bright classrooms in the new school building named after Rosa Shanina. There is also a Timurov detachment named after Rosa Shanina. In the Beryozka kindergarten, where Rosa worked, there hangs a large portrait made by the artist from life when Rosa came to Arkhangelsk from the front on leave. The children know well who Rose is. She loved kids very much. In Arkhangelsk, traditional DOSAAF shooting competitions for the prize named after Rosa Shanina have been held annually for several decades.
And all this - more than 70 years after the death of the person. This is immortality - the lot of the strong in spirit, devoted to their homeland to the last blood.
A street in Arkhangelsk, in the villages of Shangaly and Stroevskoye was named after Rose. A memorial plaque was also installed in Arkhangelsk.
Under the patronage of the Eden rural school, where Rosa studied from 1931 to 1935, a museum dedicated to Shanina was organized. There is a commemorative plaque installed at the school itself. In 2011, for many years of work on developing the museum and organizing exhibitions about the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, students and teachers of the school were awarded a government award - the badge of honor “For active work in the patriotic education of citizens of the Russian Federation.” On March 28, 2014, at the next session of the district Assembly of Deputies, it was unanimously decided to assign the school the honorary name of the MBOU “Eden Basic Secondary School named after Rosa Shanina, holder of the Order of Glory of two degrees.”
Every year in Arkhangelsk traditional DOSAAF shooting competitions are held for the prize named after Rosa Shanina.
In the village of Malinovka, Ustyansky district, annual cross-country ski races named after Rosa Shanina are held.
In 2004, Novodvinsk held competitions in
bullet shooting dedicated to Shanina.
In 2010, in the village of Bogdanovsky, which also claims to be the birthplace of Rosa Shanina, a monument was erected to three holders of the Order of Glory, III and II degrees, who were born in the village: Rosa Shanina, military
intelligence officers Alexander Shanin (namesake) and Pyotr Kozlov.
The memorial was built thanks to a grant from the regional competition of rural initiatives, with money from the district and donations from fellow countrymen.
The PomorFilm studio, as part of the series “Arkhangelsk - the city of military glory,” shot a short report dedicated to Rosa Shanina.

Awards.
Order of Glory III degree (April 18, 1944)
Order of Glory, 2nd class (September 22, 1944)
Medal "For Courage" (December 27, 1944)
Partial holder of the Order of Glory.
As of 2014, only four women from the entire Soviet Union ended the war as full holders of the Order of Glory. Roza Shanina could have been fifth. According to the memoirs of the former commander of the 215th Infantry Division, Major General Andranik Kazaryan, for valor in the battles for Schlossberg. On October 26, 1944, Shanina was nominated by the command to be awarded the Order of Glory, 1st degree. Instead, Rose was awarded the Medal of Courage in December. On December 29, for military services, Rosa was again nominated for the Order of Glory, 1st degree, but after her death, the award sheet was lost.
Publications about Rosa Shanina:
Shanina Roza Egorovna // Snipers. - M.: Young Guard, 1976.
Aleshina A., Popysheva K. Sniper Rose // Fatherland: Local History Almanac. - 2010. - No. 8. - P. 14-17.
Bronnikova E. Unknown letter // News of the Russian North. - 2010. - No. 3 (5). - P. 26-31. Archived from the original on August 17, 2012.
Zhuravlev N. I’ll be back after the battle... - M.: DOSAAF, 1985. - 189 p. - (For the honor and glory of the Motherland). - 100,000 copies.
Mamonov V., Poroshina N. She bequeathed to us songs and dew. - Ustyansky Museum of Local Lore, 2011. - 75 p. - 150 copies.

Medvedev V. To get the wind in your face. - M.: Soviet Russia, 1974. - 144 p.
Molchanov P. Thirst for battle // Snipers / E. Nikiforova, G. Evstigneev. - M.: Young Guard, 1976. - 158 p.
Molchanov P., Zhuravlev N. Snowdrops on a minefield. - Arkhangelsk: North-
Western book publishing house, 1974. - 83 p.
Ovsyankin E. Sniper Rosa Shanina // Arkhangelsk Pedagogical College. - 2nd ed. add. - Arkhangelsk: JSC "Arkhconsult", 2004. - 312 p. -ISBN 5888670197.
Ovsyankin E., Popov M. Sniper Rosa Shanina // In my lifetime: memories, family traditions, reflections. - Arkhangelsk: Pravda Severa, 1996. - 238 p.
Poroshina N. Her youth was torn by shells // We brought this day closer as best we could...: ustyaks at the front and in the rear. - Ustyansky District Museum of Local Lore, 1995.
Pegler Martin. Out of Nowhere: A History of the Military Sniper. - Osprey Publishing, 2006. - 352 p. - ISBN 9781841768540.
Brayley Martin, Ramiro Bujeiro. World War II Allied Women's Services. - Osprey Publishing, 2001. - 48 p. - ISBN 9781841760537.
Melnitskaya L. Forever - twenty years old (part 1). Truth of the North. Press of the Arkhangelsk region (February 9, 2006). Retrieved June 23, 2014.
Melnitskaya L. Forever - twenty years old (part 2). Truth of the North. Press of the Arkhangelsk region (February 16, 2006). Retrieved June 23, 2014.
Skosyreva O. Rosa Shanina and 5 other outstanding Soviet women snipers of the Second World War. History of modern times. Komsomolskaya Pravda in Samara (January 27, 2014). Retrieved July 16, 2014.
Sniper Rosa Shanina. Armory-online.ru. Retrieved June 19, 2014. Archived from the original on August 17, 2012.
Video.
Report “Forgotten Hero – Roza Shanina.” Studio "PomorFilm". Retrieved July 14, 2014. Archived from the original on August 17, 2012.
Natalie Sklobovskaya. Rose (Story of the girl sniper) (2011). Retrieved July 14, 2014.
Report "Forgotten Hero - Roza Shanina"
On one of the nondescript houses in Arkhangelsk there hangs a modest sign “street named after Rosa Shanina.” Who was this girl, why is the street named after her, who keeps her memory? Only a war diary, still completely unclassified... This is a report from the series “Arkhangelsk - the city of military glory” about a girl sniper, a northerner, who heroically died at the age of 20.
Production company - youth edition of the studio "Pomorfilm"
Journalist - Anna Antonova
Cameraman, editing - Artem Kirilkin
Editor - Tamara Statikova
From the diary of Shanina Roza Egorovna.
We invite you to get acquainted with some excerpts from the letters and diaries of Shanina Roza Egorovna. Despite their well-known dispersion, they will speak best about their author, who without hesitation left a distant city in the rear to the front, knowing that here you could lose the most precious thing - life.

* * *
July 29, 1944. Please pass it on and help me. If you only knew how passionately I want to be with the fighters at the very forefront and destroy the Nazis. And now, imagine, instead of the front line - in the rear. And recently we lost 4 more blacks and 1 very red. (In order to preserve military secrets about losses, Rosa writes allegorically, “blacks” are killed, “red” are wounded. We are talking about snipers). I want to take revenge for them. I ask you to talk to whoever you should, although I know that you are very busy.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
8 August. I recently went AWOL. Accidentally fell behind the company at the crossing. And she didn’t bother looking for her. Good people said that going from the rear to the front line is not a crime. And I knew that our training company would not go on the offensive, but would trail behind. I need to be on the front line, to see with my own eyes what a real war is like. And then, how was it to look for your company? All around, in the forests and swamps, the Germans were wandering. It's dangerous to walk alone. I followed the battalion, which was heading to the front line, and on the same day I was in battle. People were dying next to me. I shot, and successfully. And after 3, I captured... such healthy fascists.
I'm happy! Although I was reprimanded for going AWOL, I even received a Komsomol punishment - they made me look out.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
12th of August. The commander did not allow his battalion to go further. Said: “Get back, girl, to the rear.” Where to go? It's getting light. I see a sentry looming in the distance. But whose? She crawled closer through the rye. Our! They sleep, tired, after the battle. And the sentry dozes while standing. Scared him. He asked who I was and why I had come. He advised me to rest. Under the cloak I immediately fell asleep. They woke me up and said: a German counterattack is expected. This is true. Team. Took a cell. At first I didn’t see, then I saw: fascist tanks with landing troops were sliding down the hill about 100 meters away. Our artillery struck. I shoot at the paratroopers. One tank broke through to our positions, but without landing troops. Next to me, a few meters away, a senior lieutenant and a soldier were crushed by the tracks. My shutter jammed. I sat down, eliminated the delay and fired again. Here is a tank coming straight towards me, about 10 meters away. I feel the belt on which the grenades were hung. No grenades. I probably lost it while crawling in the rye. And it wasn't scary. I sat down and the tank passed by. The tanks ran into our artillery and turned back. I continued to knock down the Nazis as they jumped out of the burning tanks. In total, 8 tanks were knocked out, the rest were returned back. After everything, when I saw the dead and wounded, it became creepy. But I pulled myself together. The point is clear - we must fight, avenge our fallen comrades.
I rested a little and went to look for our women’s platoon, hidden somewhere in the rear. She went out onto the road. I accidentally looked towards the ravine and saw a German standing there. She shouted: “Hyunda hoch!” 6 hands went up: that means there are three of them. One mumbled something, I didn’t understand. Just know I shout: “Faster, forward!”, and I showed with my rifle - crawl, they say, towards me. They crawled out. She took the weapon away. We walked a little, and I saw a German wearing only one boot. This means he asked permission to put on the second boot. She led them to the village. One asks: "Gut or kaput?" I say: “Gut” - and lead them further, rifle in hand; there are grenades and a fin in his belt - well, like a real warrior. She handed over the prisoners to whomever she should.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
August 31, 1944. Thank God we are finally back in action. Everyone went to the front line. The score increases. I have the largest - 42 killed Nazis, Ekimova - 28, Nikolaeva - 24.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
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October 10. I saw my brother Fedya in a dream. My heart is heavy, I’m 20 years old, but I don’t have a close friend, why? And there are plenty of guys, but my heart doesn’t trust anyone.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
17 October. Ready to run to the front line again. Some force draws me there. How can I explain?.. Some people think that I am striving for a guy I know. But I don’t know anyone there. I want to fight! I want to see a real war. I'm leaving. What a pleasure it is to “travel” along the front lines! Our platoon is in reserve, no one is watching it, especially since they think that I am wounded and in the hospital.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
October 18. Attacks. Finally crossed the German border. We are advancing on German territory. Prisoners. Killed. The wounded. They attacked the pillbox. They took another 27 prisoners: 14 officers. They resisted strongly. I’m going “home” to my platoon.
Today I visited General Kazaryan, then the head of the political department. She asked to go to the front line. I cried that they didn’t let me in.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
The 20th of October. Yesterday I was on the run again, going on the attack. They were advancing. But we were stopped. Rain, mud, cold. Long nights.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
October 21. Again I’m complaining to you that they don’t transfer me to intelligence. They finally refused. And yet I am constantly with the scouts. The management doesn’t kick me out to the rear, and I’m happy. The mood is as good as ever. Here is the command “Forward!” again.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
October 24. There were no conditions for writing, I was at war. She walked along with everyone. Wounded, killed. Returned from the front line at the request of the regiment commander. He ordered us to sit in the rear. Inaction again.
Oh God, so much gossip about my absence. Even my friends greeted me with irony: who had it? If they knew the truth, they would be jealous. But I am silent. If they decide to follow my example, my free life will come to an end. Let them think what they want.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
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the 25th of October. It’s still so good to have a girlfriend. Sasha, sometimes I have fun with you even when I’m sad. I share with you everything that is on my soul (Note: Alexandra Ekimova is a friend of Rosa Shanina).
The head of the political department called me about my letter, where I asked to be sent to the front line and criticized the officers for their insults. I remember my mother. Dear Mom! How I want to come to you!
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
28 of October. She fought legally for the place near Pilcalleon. This time they let me go. We took the city. When repelling one of the most furious enemy attacks, I seemed to shoot especially successfully. She shot a lot at close range. We were lying on the edge of the forest behind an embankment. When the Nazis crawled, only their helmets were visible. 200 meters - I shoot. 100 meters. The fascists rose to their full height. And only when we were separated by 20 meters did we move away. Captain Aseev, Hero of the Soviet Union, died nearby.
In the evening, tired, I went to the regiment command post and ate for the first time that day. She fell asleep soundly. Suddenly there was shooting, the Germans crept up to the checkpoint. The artillerymen were the first to notice the enemy and drove them away.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
Nov. 1. On the third day they buried their friend in arms Sasha Koreneva. Two more of our girls were wounded: Valya Lazorenko and Zina Shmeleva. Maybe you remember them?
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
the 3rd of November. I returned from the front line completely exhausted. I will remember this war. The place changed hands 4 times. I escaped from under the very nose of the Nazis 3 times. Actually, war on enemy territory is a serious matter.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
November 7. I was on the front line again. And at this time, it turns out, a photo reporter came from Moscow. The general called me, and I didn’t know where. Today I met the general, and he scolded me.
I received a letter from Arkhangelsk. My fellow countrymen saw my portrait in a magazine and wrote that they were proud of my exploits. But I was too overrated. I am only doing what every Soviet soldier is obliged to do. The Order of Glory is too much for me (note: Roza Shanina was the first of the girls who fought in the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front to be awarded the Order of Glory of the 3rd and 2nd degree).
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina)
***
15th of November. I don’t go “hunting” now. I'm sitting without boots. There is a lot of traffic at the front. Our girls have been awarded. Yesterday Sasha and I were presented with Certificates of Honor from the Komsomol Central Committee.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
November 18th. I'm in a bad mood. I saw Nikolai. The first time I met him was when I was running to the front line. I like him a little, although he does not shine with his upbringing and education. But I respect him for his courage. For some reason I get it into my head that I love him. Maybe because it's hard to be alone. I would like to have a close person, a good friend nearby.
I don't think about marriage. Now is not the time. I wrote a letter to a front-line soldier - a stranger. (The diary contained an unsent letter to a certain Masha.)
"Hello, Masha!
Sorry for calling you that, I don’t know your middle name. I decided to write when I accidentally found out about your letter to Klavdia Ivanovna.
You write that you are madly in love with Claudia’s husband. And she has a 5-year-old child. You ask her forgiveness not for allowing yourself an impermissible thing, but for the fact that you are going to build a life with her husband in the future. You justify yourself by saying that you cannot raise a child who is about to appear alone, and that you allegedly did not know before whether N.A. had a wife and children.
You write: “What will I answer to my child when he asks where daddy is?” And what will Claudia Ivanovna answer to her son, who already knows his father well? He will ask after the war: “Why doesn’t dad come?”
If it’s hard for you to stop loving a person you accidentally met on the roads of war, then how will Claudia Ivanovna forget her beloved husband?
Who am I? Like you, I came to the front. I'm a sniper. Recently I was in the rear. On the way, on the train, I often felt the gratitude of people looking at my awards. But I also had to hear some unpleasant words. Why? Why do others look askance at a girl in a gymnast? It's your fault, Masha. I couldn’t find a place for myself then, and I still can’t calm down now, having returned to the front.
I often wonder how we, military girls, will return from the war? How will we be greeted? Really with suspicion, despite the fact that we risked our lives and many of us died in battles for our Motherland. If this happens, then those who fought off other people's husbands will be to blame.
Think that not only Klavdia Ivanovna will not forgive you, but all of us, and there are many of us. That's all I wanted to say. Rosa Shanina.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
20 November. Yesterday there were so many invitations to the evening in honor of Artillery Day - Katyushniks, scouts, the 120th battery and many, many more. I went to Nikolai. I explained to him, wrote him a note in the sense of “but I was given to someone else and I will be faithful to him forever.” And she went to the artillerymen. As they escorted me home, dueling fire broke out.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
November 23. I received a letter from the tankers. It turns out that they remember me and how I laughed fervently with them and sang “The Germans stomped, they darned their uniforms.” They write that they saw my photograph in a magazine. And I haven’t seen her yet.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
November 26. Now in the reserve regiment. Let's rest again. Soon we will completely forget how advanced it is. Understand, the thirst for my life is a fight. And what? I can't get my way. They send you to places where they rarely even shoot. And now they have invented a vacation. Sasha and Lida lie on their bunks and sing: “An hour and an hour at a time the day passes.” The song spoils my mood even more.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
November 27. Yesterday there was dancing. I don't care about dancing. And today we washed ourselves in the bathhouse. We remembered how the Germans captured our girls. This was in May. During a search at the front line, fascist scouts captured 2 snipers - Anya Nesterova and Lyuba Tanailova. Where are they now? Are they alive? In the hands of executioners...
For the first time I saw German Frau. To take revenge on them for their friends? No. I have no hatred towards them. But I hate fascists and kill them in cold blood. And this is what I see as the purpose of my life now. And my future is uncertain. Options: 1 - to college; 2 - if the first one fails, then I will devote myself entirely to raising orphans.
And what just doesn’t come to my mind! I decided here, in the reserve regiment, to study communications and Morse code. Signal courses behind the wall. It's good to have several different specialties.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
December 2nd. Boredom. An accordion is playing behind the wall. I want to go where the battle is. It is forbidden. Why? How irresponsible these bosses are.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
5th of December. I changed my mind about my life, about justice, about the girls. I sometimes regret that I was not born a man. No one would pay attention to me now, no one would feel sorry for me, and I would fight with all my heart, as I would like. The strangest thing. But in battle I'm not afraid of anything. After all, I wasn’t afraid of the tank that drove over my head. And yet it’s still in stock.
I'm used to Sasha and Kaleria, and I'm bored without them. I respect them very much, more than other girls. Life is easier with friends. The three of us are from different families. We have different characters. But there is something in common. We are friends, and strong ones. Kaleria is a good girl. Brave, without a shadow of selfishness. This is what I appreciate most in people. Sasha is smart. He understands all issues. Her memory is golden. Sasha, Kaleria and me - "The Wandering Three". How will I live without them when the war ends and we go in different directions?
I also like Eva Novikova and Masha Tomarova. Eva is a little hot-tempered, but still a world girl. Clean, modest, independent. Masha never loses heart, and when she’s sad, she sings songs.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
December 7. I saw a photo of our snipers, Nesterova and Tanailova, in a German newspaper. They say they were tortured by the Nazis, but they didn’t say anything...
I often remember my beloved, dear Arkhangelsk - the Dynamo stadium, the theater, the cinema "Ars" and "Victory" ...
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
December 13th. The day before yesterday there was a gathering of army snipers. They also talked about me: they say, I’m setting a good example. Yesterday I was wounded in the shoulder. Interestingly, 2 days ago I had a dream as if I was wounded, also in the shoulder. Yesterday I was sitting at a firing point and remembered a dream. And after a few minutes she shuddered. A fascist sniper’s bullet hit me in the very place where I saw the wound in my dream. I didn’t feel any pain, I just felt something hot pour over my entire shoulder. The operation was painful. But it seems that the wound is not dangerous - 2 small holes, although they cut it in such a way that it probably won’t heal for a month. Lie. The joint aches. I’ll run away soon, but I don’t know what will happen next...
From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
December 17. While I'm recovering. The wound is still bothering me. I am sent to an army rest home. It's generally good there. But I want to get some advice. Isn't it better to ask to go to the hospital? From the hospital they can be sent to a battalion, and not to a sniper platoon. Why do I want to leave the platoon? Not because it didn’t catch on. I have a good character, I’m friends with everyone, although, of course, I can’t do without arguments. But it's still too quiet here. I want cod at work. This is my need, my instinct. How can I explain it to you? Well, you know, I crave combat every day, every minute. I can be more useful for our common cause.
(From a letter to P. Molchanov)
***
December 18. Every day I see Sasha and Kalya in my dreams. How I miss them. They bring me letters from friends and strangers. I just came from the cinema. The film "Lermontov" was on. Lermontov's character is mine. I decided to follow his example to do what I think is necessary and right. And I really want to be the first in something. How I like Lermontov's character...
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
27th of December. When life is good, you don’t want to write. I read "Sister Carrie" and "Bagration". Good books. “Oh, Kerry, Kerry! Oh, the blind dreams of the human heart! “Forward, forward,” it repeats, striving to where beauty calls it.”
I read and thought - these words of Theodore Dreiser apply to you. And Bagration too: “What glory means is either to split your own skull in the name of the Motherland, or to crush someone else’s…” - these are the words. I will do so, by God.
I saw a lot of pictures: “In Old Chicago”, “Wait for Me”, “Submarine No. 9”. I especially liked the last one. The rest are so-so...
Yesterday I was walking and a guy pestered me. “Let me kiss you,” he says. “I haven’t kissed a girl for 4 years.” And he asked so convincingly that I became emotional. And really, he’s so cute, it’s not disgusting, but pleasant. “To hell with you,” I say, “kiss me, just once.” And she almost cried from incomprehensible pity...
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
January 8, 1945. There was no paper, and I hadn’t written anything down for a long time. After resting, I went to a member of the Military Council to achieve my goal - to get to the front line. Then I visited the army commander. With great difficulty I convinced them to let me go on the next offensive. Finally. Good mood. For repelling a counterattack in the first battle, she received the medal "For Courage".
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
13th of January. I didn't sleep all night. I feel bad. I got sick. The German shoots hard. Today our artillery preparation lasted from 9:00 to 11:30. The Katyushas started. Wow, they gave the fascists some pepper. The situation is still unclear. The dugout has just been built, and the mood is already like a suitcase. We are waiting for our offensive... Forward, only forward...
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina).
***
January 14. Behind us are Belarus and Lithuania. And here is Prussia. On the left flank, ours advanced far. But you can still hear shooting. The cannonade roars all morning. Everyone went ahead, but there wasn’t enough supply for our platoon. We didn't have dinner or breakfast.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
January 15. We arrived with the rear of the division in Eidkunen. In the morning I put on a white camouflage coat, kissed everyone and went. I'll be at the front line in an hour.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
January 16. I got to the self-propelled guns. When we went on the attack, I was in the car. From the self-propelled gunners I went to the regiment and reported that I was allowed to be on the front line. They believed it, but with difficulty. And they accepted me only because they know that I am a sniper. Unbearable wind. Blizzard. The ground is damp. Dirt. The camouflage suit is already unmasking me - it’s too white. The smoke gives me a headache. They advise me - it’s better to return to the platoon. And my heart repeats: “Forward! Forward!” I am submissive to him. Come what may!
There were so many victims yesterday, but I still moved forward. I sit and think about fame. They call me a famous sniper in the newspaper “Let’s Destroy the Enemy!”, in the magazine “Ogonyok” my portrait was on the first page. But I know that I have done little yet, no more than I am obliged to do as a Soviet man who stood up to defend his Motherland. Today I agree to go on the attack, even hand-to-hand. No fear. Ready to die in the name of the Motherland.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
January 17. She went on the offensive with the infantry. We moved forward several kilometers. The violinists hit us. (that’s what the soldiers called German six-barreled mortars). Nearby people were torn to pieces. We had to shoot and bandage the wounded. She stormed a German house. During the assault, she killed two fascists: one near the house, the second when he leaned out of a self-propelled gun. It's a pity that she was of little use as a sniper.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
January 17. Sorry for the long silence. There was absolutely no time to write. My combat life was going on on the real front. The fighting was severe, but by some miracle I remained alive and unharmed. She went on the attack in the first ranks. Please forgive me for not listening to you. I don’t know myself, but some force draws me here, into the fire.
I just came to my dugout and immediately sat down to write a letter to you. I’m tired, after all, 3 attacks a day. The Germans resisted terribly. Especially near the old estate. It seems that everything is up in the air from bombs and shells; they still have enough fire to not let us get close. Well, it’s okay, we’ll defeat them by morning anyway. I shoot at the fascists who stick out from behind houses, from the hatches of tanks and self-propelled guns.
Perhaps they will kill me soon. Please send my mother a letter. You may ask why I was going to die. In the battalion where I am now, out of 78 people, only 6 remain. And I’m not a saint either.
Well, dear comrade, be healthy, sorry for everything. Rose.
(From the last letter to P. Molchanov)
***
January 24, 1945. I haven’t written for a long time, I had no time. There were terrible battles for two days. The Nazis filled the trenches and defended themselves madly. Because of the heavy fire, we have to ride in self-propelled guns, but we rarely manage to shoot. It is impossible to lean out of the hatch.
Only a few times did I crawl onto the armor of the vehicle and shoot at enemy soldiers running away from the trenches.
By the evening of January 22, we finally knocked the Nazis out of the estate. Our self-propelled gun successfully crossed the anti-tank ditch. In our excitement, we moved far forward, and since we did not report our location, we were mistakenly hit by our own Katyusha. Now I understand why the Germans are so afraid of Katyushas. This is a light!
Then she went on the attack, and in the evening she met her divisional scouts. They offered to go with them on reconnaissance. Let's go. 14 fascists were captured.
We are moving forward quite quickly now. The Nazis are running without looking back.
We have the equipment!.. And the whole army is moving. Fine!
The large iron bridge across the river passed without interference. The highway is beautiful. There were felled trees lying near the bridge - the Germans did not have time to make a blockage...
(Last entry in the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
***
This is where the diary ends.
On January 27, 1945, Rosa Shanina was mortally wounded 3 km southeast of the village of Ilmsdorf in the Richau district (East Prussia). She has 75 (according to other sources - 54) confirmed killed enemy soldiers and officers, including 12 snipers.
(From the collection - "Snipers". Publishing house "Young Guard", 1976.)

On April 3, Rosa Egorovna Shanina, a Soviet single sniper, holder of the Order of Glory II and III degrees, would have turned 82 years old. She lived a short life: only 21 years old. She didn’t live to see the Victory for just over three months.

Rosa was born in the village of Elma, Vologda province (today it is the Bereznitskoye rural settlement of the Arkhangelsk region). There were nine children in the Shanin family. Six (two daughters and four sons) are related. And three are orphans whom Rosa’s parents, Yegor Mikhailovich and Anna Alekseevna, took in to raise them. The family was strong, friendly and cheerful. They knew how to work, and relax, and stand up for each other.

People, learning that their daughter was named Rose, were surprised: why? Mother explained: in honor of Rosa Luxemburg.

Fate did not spoil the girl with easy successes. She graduated from primary school and decided to study further - in secondary school. True, this school was located thirteen kilometers from home and had to be reached only on foot. Well, you need to study! And Rose studied. And she practically never missed classes. There was such a case: the road partially ran through the forest, and in winter we had to be wary of wolves. Rose took with her thick branches - as many as she could carry. When leaving school, I lit them and continued walking for the entire 13 kilometers.

After graduating from high school, the fourteen-year-old girl went alone to Arkhangelsk to enroll in a pedagogical school. In several sources I found the following fact: Rosa traveled 200 kilometers through the taiga alone to the railway station...

In Arkhangelsk, Rosa was given a room in a hostel. Thus began a new life, no less difficult. To make ends meet, the girl began working as a teacher in kindergarten No. 2 in the Pervomaisky district. Here she was provided with housing. I must say that Rosa turned out to be a very good teacher. She adored children, and the feelings were mutual.

Probably, if not for the war, Rosa would have actually found her calling in teaching. But the fiery year of 1941 broke out...

Three brothers immediately went to the front: Mikhail, Fedor and Sergei. And in the very first year of the war, two funerals came to the Shanin family. Mikhail died defending Leningrad. Fedor - in the battle for Crimea. In the future, Sergei will also die; of the five children who left, only his son Marat will return home from the front. But for now, at the end of 1941, Rosa was fired up with a desire to take revenge on the enemy. What held me back was that I first had to graduate from a pedagogical school: I still had more than a year to study. But, perhaps, much more than this was restrained by her young age: at the military registration and enlistment office they did not even want to listen to a sixteen-year-old girl.

Meanwhile, the training of female snipers has begun in our country. Oddly enough, in this matter the weaker sex showed more restraint, cunning, and flexibility. And in July 1943, Rosa, who had already completed general training, was sent to Podolsk. There was a sniper school here, from which the girl graduated with honors. It must be said that the future fighter Shanina was sent to sniper school only thanks to unprecedented perseverance. She went to the military registration and enlistment office every day. She convinced, begged, cried, screamed, even stayed overnight under the doors.

And here Rosa is at the front, in the 184th Infantry Division. Just three days after arriving, she had already fired her first shot. Here are the lines from Sergeant Shanina’s diary: “ I will remember my first shot for the rest of my life. Immediately on the spot. He was a fascist, a reptile, a murderer, a looter. But my hands trembled and my legs gave way. I remembered my dead brothers. But it did not help. “You killed a man, you killed a man!” - pounding in my head…»

It took the young sniper several months to fight with himself. Rosa dealt with the fascists (already in the first month of service there were 17 of them), but she felt like a criminal. However, seven months later, in the girl’s diary (she kept it throughout her entire life at the front), words appeared that Rosa was now destroying the Nazis in cold blood. And if time could turn back, she would enter sniper school again and again to bring our Victory closer.

Rosa shot not just accurately, but masterfully. She hit even moving targets without missing a beat. In just five days - from April 6 to April 11, 1944, sniper Shanina destroyed thirteen fascists under artillery and weapons fire. Soon she was appointed platoon commander. On April 18, 1944, Rosa was presented with the Order of Glory, III degree.

The summer of 1944 came - the Soviet offensive Operation Bagration began. Rosa received an order: to move west, but not to go into the thick of it, not to join the infantry detachments, to give the girls a break. But Rose disobeyed the order. She didn’t risk her girls in vain, but she herself desperately rushed into the thick of things - she went AWOL.

At the end of June, Rosa accidentally fell behind her team and went after the battalion, which was fighting on the front line. Together with this battalion, Shanina took part in the battles near Vitebsk and single-handedly captured three fascists!

« ...I knocked down the Nazis when they jumped out of the burning tanks. After everything, when I saw the wounded and killed, it became creepy. But I pulled myself together... I rested a little and went to look for our women’s platoon, hidden somewhere in the rear. She went out onto the road. I accidentally looked towards the ravine and saw a German standing there. She shouted: “Hyunda hoch!” — six hands suddenly rose. So there are three of them. One mumbled something, I didn’t understand. Just know I’m shouting: “Faster, forward!” And she showed me with a rifle, crawl towards me. They crawled out. She took the weapon away. We walked a little, and I saw a German wearing only one boot. This means he asked permission to put on the second boot. She led them to the village. One asks: “Gut or kaput?” I say: "Gut." And I lead them further, a rifle in my hand, a grenade and a gun in my belt - well, like a real warrior. She handed over the prisoners to whomever she should...»

On that day, the girl received a Komsomol punishment for violating the order. And for courage and heroism - Order of Glory, II degree. Rosa was going to be sent to the rear, but she turned to the commander of the 5th Army and again asked to go to the front line. It’s easy to say: I turned to Commander Krylov. In fact, she first turned to the commander of the 144th division, who refused her. Rosa asked permission to contact the general. The commander didn’t think that the thin, light-eyed girl would have the courage to do this, so he allowed it. And she had both courage and determination. And from that day on, she fought only on the front line.

« ...Some force draws me there. How to explain? Some people think that I am striving for a guy I know. But I don’t know anyone there. I want to fight! I want to see a real war! I'm leaving. What a pleasure it is to “travel” along the front lines!..»

In July of the same year, Rosa fought for Vilnius. During her duties, she not only guarded the Nazis - she very skillfully lured them into the line of fire. It must be said that the girl was scolded for this by her fellow soldiers, who feared for her life. But Rose was stubborn. Every day her personal account of killed Germans was replenished. By August 1944 there were already more than forty of them.

But, like any soldier, Rose missed home very much. She wanted to go to Arkhangelsk at least for a day to see her mother. “Just to look beyond your land with one eye,” the girl wrote, “and it would give you more strength...” She was granted leave - Rosa only for one day, but she visited home and saw her mother. By that time, the girl was awarded another Order of Glory, II degree. They wrote about her in front-line newspapers. Fair-haired, blue-eyed, with an open face, the girl herself looked like the heroine of a patriotic poster.

« I sit and reflect on my glory... They call me the best sniper in the newspaper “Let's Destroy the Enemy,” and Ogonyok placed my portrait on the front page. It’s strange to even imagine how those I know look at this illustration... I know I haven’t done that much before. I did no more than a Soviet person is obliged to do, standing up for the defense of the Motherland...»

But the fellow countrymen actually “looked at this illustration.” And they read it and were proud. The sniper received many letters from her native land in those days.

Rosa was the first female sniper to be awarded the medal “For Courage.”

...There were heavy battles in East Prussia. The advance of our soldiers took place under heavy mortar fire from the Nazis. Rose was transferred to the 203rd Army Reserve Infantry Regiment. Of the seventy soldiers in the battalion where the girl served, seventy-two died in mid-January 1945. Rose was not afraid of death, although she understood that she was closer to it than ever. She, like all our soldiers, wanted to live to see Victory. Rosa dreamed of becoming a teacher and devoting herself to orphans. But it didn't come true.

Here are the lines from her last diary entry: “ On January 22, our self-propelled gun successfully passed the anti-tank ditch. In our excitement, we moved far forward, and since we did not report our location, we were mistakenly hit by our own Katyusha. Now I understand why the Germans are so afraid of them. This is a light!

Then she went on the attack, and in the evening she met her divisional scouts. They offered to go with them on reconnaissance. 14 fascists were captured. We are moving forward quite quickly now. The Germans are running without looking back. We have the technology! And the army is moving - good! The large iron bridge across the river passed without interference. The highway is beautiful. There were felled trees lying near the bridge - the Germans did not have time to make a blockage..."

The girl had a few days to live...

On January 27, 1945, during one of the battles near the village of Ilmsdorf in the Richau district, the commander of an artillery unit was wounded. Rose hastened to help. While covering him, she was seriously wounded in the chest and died in hospital a few days later. Her last words were: “I still did so little...”.

Rosa Egorovna Shanina- Soviet single sniper. She has 54 confirmed killed soldiers and officers, including 12 snipers. She was awarded two Orders of Glory and a medal "For Courage". Died at the age of 20.

Rosa Shanina was born on April 3, 1924 in the village of Edma (Ustyansky district of the Arkhangelsk region) into a large peasant family. Mother, Anna Alekseevna, worked as a milkmaid on a collective farm. Father, Egor Mikhailovich, works in logging.

At the age of 14, Rosa went to Arkhangelsk to study at a pedagogical school. From September 11, 1941, she worked as a teacher in kindergarten No. 2 of the Pervomaisky District Department of Public Education (RONO).

After the start of the war, Shanina left the pedagogical college in Arkhangelsk and, having completed general education and then the Central Women's Sniper School in Podolsk (graduated with honors), volunteered for the front. On April 2, 1944, Sergeant Shanina arrived at the 184th Infantry Division, where a separate women's sniper platoon was formed.

Report from squad commander Rosa Shanina:

I report that the first section of the female sniper platoon disabled 32 fascists in 6 days. All snipers opened accounts of revenge against the German occupiers. The fascists were destroyed: Sasha Ekimova - 4, Masha Klimova - 2, Taisiya Kotelkina - 2, Anna Kuznetsova - 2, Olga Mokshina - 2, Kaleria Petrova - 3, Valya Nikonova - 4, Eva Novikova - 2, Masha Tomarova - 3, Masha Rozhkova - 2, Shanina Roza - 6.

During the Great Patriotic War, according to various sources, she destroyed from 54 to more than a hundred opponents, including 12 enemy snipers in the battle for Vilnius, one of the first female snipers awarded the Order of Glory 3rd and 2nd degree (June 18 and September 22, 1944 ). On December 12, 1944, Shanina received a bullet wound in the shoulder, and on December 27 she was also awarded the Medal “For Courage.”

Killed in battle on January 28, 1945, 3 km southeast of the village of Ilmsdorf, Richau district, East Prussia.

Photos by Rosa Shanina

In the 1980s, the DOSAAF publishing house published two books dedicated to R. E. Shanina: V. E. Medvedeva - “To let the wind in your face” and N. A. Zhuravleva - “I’ll be back after the battle...” .

Some excerpts from these publications are offered to your attention. Read more excerpts.

The third attempt of the Germans to return the Goat Mountains was repulsed. The living rolled back out of the forest, back to their starting points, while the dead remained on the swampy approaches to the heights. There were at least a hundred of them, silent witnesses to the senseless undertaking of the German command. Having firmly established themselves on the Goat Mountains, two companies of Captain Snegov now held the entire earthly space under fire from the crest of the height to the distant forest. To the right of the Goat Mountains, soldiers of the 3rd company settled in German trenches; to the left, the possessions of the neighboring battalion began. The fiery ring of encirclement slowly but surely tightened around the Vitebsk group of Germans.

The night was ending, a gloomy morning was coming, dark, heavy clouds hung over the ground. No one in the companies slept a wink; they were waiting for the 4th morning attack by the stunned Nazis, who had completely lost their sense of reality. The last order from Hitler's headquarters promised the generals the most terrible punishments for surrendering strategically important positions.

Well, why are they climbing, where are they climbing, sons of bitches,” grumbled Captain Snegov, smoothing out the kilometer map with his palms.

Snegov had not yet heard anything about the latest, most secret order from Hitler’s headquarters. He was recognized in the army intelligence department in the morning, during the interrogation of a captured chief lieutenant, seized by tankers along with a headquarters vehicle. Some sharp, sixth sense of an experienced officer told Snegov that the Goat Mountains were of no use to the Germans today, that the Goat Mountains would do them no more good than a dead person from a warming compress. Snegov was firmly convinced that this time the Germans would not attack the Goat Mountains head-on. They got burned three times, they won’t risk it the 4th time, no matter what force pushes them to do it. Most likely, Snegov thought, they will climb onto the wing, but which wing?

The chief of staff came in and immediately:

Look, comrade captain, - handing Snegov the latest issue of the army newspaper.

Snegov ran his eyes over several lines underlined in pencil. They reported on the new successes of sniper Shanina: “Yesterday she destroyed 3 fascists.”

Snegov remembered how it was yesterday, before the battle. Shanina appeared on Goat Mountain at the moment when the chains of Nazis going on the attack had already separated from the forest. He shouted: “Go away, Shanina!” - but his voice was drowned out by the roar of battle.

According to reviews from the command of the Central Sniper School, Shanina stood out among other girls for her high skill as a sniper. And she enjoyed great authority among them. In the division, Shanina, from her first trips to the front line, somehow immediately firmly and powerfully identified herself among the experienced soldiers who had drank in war. After the 4th hunt, in Corporal Shanina’s sniper book, the number of exterminated invaders was already two-digit, and in the column where the distance from the sniper’s ambush to the target is noted in meters, “200” was written twice by the observer’s hand. That’s why, when Shanina appeared in infantry combat formations, it was alarming: any fighter could replace her there, and in a sniper ambush she had few equals.

Only towards night did the division commander have free time so that he could re-read all 12 award sheets in silence, in detail, line by line. And not at his desk, - in bed, in the dim light of a battery lamp, the division commander peered at every line of the award sheet, and then living people appeared before his eyes. Still very young and so, over 40. Different. The division commander treated the text of the report meticulously, meticulously, and strictly. He couldn’t stand pink water and didn’t forgive, as he said, “puppy blindness” when describing the soldier’s feat. He returned wordy reports to the regimental commanders with the invariable inscription in blue pencil: “You can’t see the forest for the wood.”

Well, here’s what the regiment commander writes about the courage and bravery that senior sergeant Shanina showed in two battles for the Goat Mountains:

“The sniper - trainee comrade Shanina, despite the enemy’s artillery and machine-gun fire, persistently tracked down the enemy and, when he appeared, destroyed him with her sniper rifle. Thus, from 04/06/1944 to 04/11/1944, being in the defense area of ​​the 2nd of the rifle battalion of the 1138th Rifle Division, she destroyed 18 enemy soldiers. The commander of the 1138th Rifle Regiment of the Guard, Major Degtyarev, is worthy of the government award of the Order of Glory, 3rd degree.

The general signed this award sheet with great satisfaction...

On the eve of May Day 1944, a general regimental formation was announced. The fighters were presented with awards. Sergeant Roza Egorovna Shanina received the Order of Glory, 3rd degree. Corporals Ekimova Alexandra Maksimovna and Nikonova Valentina Petrovna - medals "For Courage"...

Life in the positions, as before the holiday, went on as usual. In the morning, snipers went out “hunting”, tracking down unwary fascists. They, in turn, kept our trenches and trenches under close attention. Shots thundered and bullets whistled. Everything seemed to be the same, but one could feel the approach of change. There was something impatient in the air itself, thickening. Everyone felt it because they wanted and expected change. Both the fighters and the commanders were disgusted with the positional confrontation. Everyone was alert and alert, expecting active action. In every order of the senior commanders they looked for a hidden thought about an imminent offensive.

And soon she had to fight a duel with a German sniper. All his shots were recorded in the afternoon, when the sun was blinding his eyes. He shot at the soldiers who were at the command and observation post. He had to be moved to another place. The hunt has begun...

Rosa came to an overturned stump where the checkpoint used to be. For a long time I looked at the enemy’s defenses through the gaps in the rhizome, mentally drawing the behavior of a fascist sniper. Where did he shoot from? Here you can hit the target from anywhere - an open field right up to the enemy trenches. Rosa felt terrible, and she left the former checkpoint.

Execution place! - she said, returning to her comrades. - The most novice sniper would not ignore this stump.

The platoon commander, looking at the preoccupied Rosa, suggested:

Let's go to headquarters. Comprehend what you saw there and plan how to act. One sniper I know told me that your brother needs to have his own strategy.

And who is this strategist? - Rose asked with a smile.

You must know him if the whole front knows the person. That sniper’s name is Juman Esirkeev.

“We’ve heard,” Rose became interested. - 90 fascists on his combat account. He destroyed about a dozen German snipers alone...

To be exact, 12,” the platoon commander clarified. - Now, maybe even more than that. Hero of heroes - Juman!

Rose is serious. Very serious. People are dying without coming into direct contact with the enemy, but she spent half a day walking through positions and doesn’t know where to start. There is nothing to grab onto.

For the 4th day now the sniper has not shown his presence. What could this mean?

Rose breaks off a twig from the dry pine flooring on an earthen ledge and, crouching, draws the number “4” on the compacted clay floor.

Why is he silent? Resting, sick, transferred to another place? There is something intricate here!

Or maybe our new KNP is looking for? - Sasha Yakimova sat down next to her. - Now it has been successfully transferred and camouflaged. The fascist's task is to find.

Rose looked up at her friend with questioning eyes:

Perhaps... But, judging by the facts, he does not miss the opportunity to take aim at anyone in our positions. The guys, of course, became more careful, but...

There is a guest here for you. - At the entrance to the dugout, a fighter stopped with an armful of fresh grass. He let the artillery sergeant go ahead of him.

Efficient assistants managed to find this sergeant, who had the misfortune of being targeted by a fascist “hunter.” They found him and brought him to headquarters: tell me everything as it happened.

How was it? Usually. I was sitting on the shell box and suddenly I heard “zhi-i-hik!” - bullet. I involuntarily looked around - where did it come from in the trench? Meanwhile, I get a click on my helmet. He instantly disappeared into the trench. I took off my helmet, and there was a dent on it. A bullet ricocheted. Here. - He put his helmet on the table.

That was a long time ago?

Yesterday. We had just had lunch.

The smoking room is alive! - Rose looked meaningfully at Sasha...

The girls went to the artillery position, to the very place where the sergeant almost died. They set up an ambush. But soon they themselves almost found themselves in the enemy’s sights.

Shots fast! - exclaimed the platoon commander. - Has he discovered our presence and is holding him at gunpoint?

It's quite possible. And, probably, you correctly judged that he knows about our presence and is looking for us.

Rose spoke without looking up from the optical sight of her rifle. It seemed to her that they were shooting from the depths of the forest.

Sasha also believed that the sniper was entrenched in the forest. He dug in, because Ekimova was convinced: the bullet passed from below.

“Automatic cover is a good camouflage for a sniper. We must take this into account,” thought Shanina.

It seems to me that the fascist is shooting from a height. But let Sasha look for a hole.

She herself started looking for the cuckoo's nest. She had heard many different stories about the tricks of these forest marksmen, but this was the first time she encountered a “cuckoo”.

“Even more interesting,” she decided. “What tree is the nest on?”

Just in case, I counted the spruce and pine trees along the edge of the forest. The figure turned out to be respectable - 70 trees. Which of them is fraught with danger? Carefully examining each crown, she began to sort: “This is not suitable for a nest - the trunk is exposed high. This one has a translucent crown. But this one is suitable... Not suitable... Not suitable... Suitable...”

Only 20 trees out of 70 turned out to be quite suitable for ambush. Now all attention is on them: we need to find the one thing where the enemy is hiding. The eye of the sight increasingly stops in front of a dense spruce, which has raised the peak of its dark peak above the wide dome of the pine.

“I would set up an ambush right here: the spruce is reliably camouflaged by the pine crown, hopeless.” He aims the optical device at other trees and returns here again.

The trees are silent. “Maybe Sasha is right - there’s a fascist sitting in a hole? But a fighter in the next trench was wounded through a hole in the parapet. You can’t see it from the hole...”

She called the assistant:

Walk through the layout where your shooter was wounded. Just be careful. Don't go there yourself.

Rose's attention is focused on the dense spruce. All muscles are tense. Stop! The finger captures the steel chill of the trigger. The branches moved slightly. It seemed. No, the shot cracked dryly, and the machine gun burst into patter.

"Here he is!" - as if in a pipe, hiding in the depths of the dark branches. Actually, Rose doesn’t see him as such: only a dark spot. And the finger slowly, so as not to disturb the aim, presses the trigger. Shot. The thick spruce paws spread wider and wider, and a dead body slowly rolls down them.

Ready! - Sasha flew into Shanina’s trench like a whirlwind.

“Ready,” Rose answered calmly, moving away from the loophole.

After his shot, I accidentally turned my sight to the trees and saw him roll along the branches. Well done, Rose! Congratulations! - Sasha hugged her friend.

A few days later, Rosa received a letter from a friend, the editor of the division newspaper:

“Greetings, fellow countrywoman! Last night a member of the Military Council called and said: “Show the sniper Shanin immediately and in close-up. She won the duel with the fascist sniper ace." Even my nose turned up a little from this command. Know ours!

Heartiest congratulations! I think that the second “George”, that is, the Order of Glory, 2nd degree, is guaranteed to you. I’ll find a reason to come personally to congratulate you when this happens. I hope soon. You made me happy. Oh yes fellow countrywoman! I shake your hand tightly. P. Molchanov. May 28, 1944."

In September 1944, just before reaching the German border, Rosa wrote a statement to the party organization. Soon she was given a candidate card.

Having entered East Prussia, the troops moved forward more and more slowly. The German command mercilessly threw manpower and firepower into the inferno in order to delay the inevitable, even for a day or an hour. According to the old cadet tradition, every settlement, every farm was prepared for war ahead of time. And now the enemy has set up firing points in the basements of residential buildings. The Nazis clung to every opportunity to hold on with increasing frenzy.

The city of Pilkallen changed hands twice, for which the division fought fierce battles. The 707th regiment, in which Shanina now served, fought in the suburbs, near the railway. Before the start of the fighting, snipers, as usual, were left in the second echelon. This time they helped the medical battalion evacuate the wounded. The losses were heavy, and gradually all combat-ready forces from the rear moved to the firing line. Rose also equipped herself for battle. No one was holding her back this time, no one was demanding a return to the rear. Apparently, the regimental command had no time for this in the hot turmoil.

Through a wheat field, through the thickets above a nameless river, Rose made her way to the railway embankment - to the front edge. She immediately took a position in the sparse line of fighters and put her hand to the eyepiece of her sniper rifle. Counterattack chains of fascists approached the railway track from the nearby hazel grove. And from the fact that they were crawling and not walking at full height, as usual, Rose realized that this was not the first counterattack they had launched here during the day.

In the optical sight of the Rosina rifle, the figures of the Nazis kept getting larger. “200 meters,” she estimated. “For my rifle, the shot is quite confident...” She turned her head left, right, looking for someone from whom she could ask permission to shoot without a command. But everyone was looking intently over the embankment, and she pulled the trigger. One fascist helmet poked lifelessly into the grass - froze, a second later - another.

Well done, sniper! - a familiar voice encouraged her.

And the distance kept getting shorter. When 100 meters remained, the Nazis opened desperate machine-gun fire and rose to their full height.

“They really don’t skimp on cartridges!” Rose thought for some reason. “They fire blindly, but apparently there is an effect. They boldly stand up to their full height...”

The chains rose one after another, and Rosa, without a choice, in order, shot at those walking.

Fire! - the command finally sounded.

They shot together, for sure, but it was impossible to resist such pressure of lead and forces, and the commander ordered to retreat. For the first time, Rose had to retreat. This is a bitter thing. The feeling of powerlessness interferes with the concentration of thought: hasty decisions are more likely to cause confusion than to organize fighters.

With losses, they retreated to the stream under the cover of thickets of willow and alder, through which Rosa had recently made her way to the front line. The Germans did not dare to move further than the embankment and lay down. The private success of their company did not promise any hope of a breakthrough. Behind the creek are the rear of the Soviet troops, and who knows how else things might turn out.

Meanwhile, reinforcements moved into the alder forest.

Prepare to attack! - the command sounded.

The battle lasted the whole day. Only in the evening, staggering from fatigue, did Shanina reach the command post and eat for the first time that day. But even here, without having time to go on vacation, she found herself in the line of fire. Under cover of darkness, fascist scouts approached the command post. A shootout ensued, which cost several more lives of her fellow soldiers.

“The war will be remembered,” Shanina later noted in her diary. “Three times I escaped from under the noses of the Nazis. In fact, a war on enemy territory is a serious matter.”

Together with other soldiers and commanders of the regiment, Rosa was presented with an award. The commander of a separate platoon of snipers - girls of the Guard, Junior Lieutenant Kolsin, was confident that the draft award sheet he had drawn up for Senior Sergeant Shanina fully met the requirements of the division command. Everything on the award sheet was accurate and everything was in place:

"Year of birth 1925, number of the Order of Glory 3rd degree "38018", candidate card number "7521560", at the front since April 2, 1944. During her short period of stay at the front, senior sergeant Shanina showed herself to be a courageous, fearless warrior. Participated in the liquidation surrounded by an enemy group in the Vitebsk region, personally captured 3 enemy soldiers. Shanina destroyed 26 enemy soldiers and officers near the borders of East Prussia.

On October 26, 1944, at the site of the 707th Infantry Regiment near the city of Pilkallen, comrade. Shanina showed examples of courage and bravery. With her presence, she inspired the fighters and she herself fired at the enemy, destroying several fascists.

For the courage and bravery shown in the fight against the German invaders, Kamenie deserves a government award - the Order of the Red Star."

From letters and diaries of Rosa Shanina

12th of August. The commander did not allow his battalion to go further. Said: “Get back, girl, to the rear.” Where to go? It's getting light. I see a sentry looming in the distance. But whose? She crawled closer through the rye. Our! They sleep, tired, after the battle. And the sentry dozes while standing. Scared him. He asked who I was and why I had come. He advised me to rest. Under the cloak I immediately fell asleep. They woke me up and said: a German counterattack is expected. This is true. Team. Took a cell. At first I didn’t see, then I saw: fascist tanks with landing troops were sliding down the hill about 100 meters away. Our artillery struck. I shoot at the paratroopers. One tank broke through to our positions, but without landing troops. Next to me, a few meters away, a senior lieutenant and a soldier were crushed by the tracks. My shutter jammed. I sat down, eliminated the delay and fired again. Here is a tank coming straight towards me, about 10 meters away. I feel the belt on which the grenades were hung. No grenades. I probably lost it while crawling in the rye. And it wasn't scary. I sat down and the tank passed by. The tanks ran into our artillery and turned back. I continued to knock down the Nazis as they jumped out of the burning tanks. In total, 8 tanks were knocked out, the rest were returned back. After everything, when I saw the dead and wounded, it became creepy. But I pulled myself together. The point is clear - we must fight, avenge our fallen comrades.

I rested a little and went to look for our women’s platoon, hidden somewhere in the rear. She went out onto the road. I accidentally looked towards the ravine and saw a German standing there. She shouted: “Hyunda hoch!” 6 hands went up: that means there are three of them. One mumbled something, I didn’t understand. Just know I shout: “Faster, forward!”, and I showed with my rifle - crawl, they say, towards me. They crawled out. She took the weapon away. We walked a little, and I saw a German wearing only one boot. This means he asked permission to put on the second boot. She led them to the village. One asks: "Gut or kaput?" I say: “Gut” - and lead them further, rifle in hand; there are grenades and a fin in his belt - well, like a real warrior. She handed over the prisoners to whomever she should.
(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)

August 31, 1944. Thank God we are finally back in action. Everyone went to the front line. The score increases. I have the largest - 42 killed Nazis, Ekimova - 28, Nikolaeva - 24.

(From a letter to P. Molchanov)

October 10. I saw my brother Fedya in a dream. My heart is heavy, I’m 20 years old, but I don’t have a close friend, why? And there are plenty of guys, but my heart doesn’t trust anyone.

(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)

17 October. Ready to run to the front line again. Some force draws me there. How can I explain?.. Some people think that I am striving for a guy I know. But I don’t know anyone there. I want to fight! I want to see a real war. I'm leaving. What a pleasure it is to “travel” along the front lines! Our platoon is in reserve, no one is watching it, especially since they think that I am wounded and in the hospital.

(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)

October 18. Attacks. Finally crossed the German border. We are advancing on German territory. Prisoners. Killed. The wounded. They attacked the pillbox. They took another 27 prisoners: 14 officers. They resisted strongly. I’m going “home” to my platoon.

Today I visited General Kazaryan, then the head of the political department. She asked to go to the front line. I cried that they didn’t let me in.

(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)

The 20th of October. Yesterday I was on the run again, going on the attack. They were advancing. But we were stopped. Rain, mud, cold. Long nights.

(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)

October 21. Again I’m complaining to you that they don’t transfer me to intelligence. They finally refused. And yet I am constantly with the scouts. The management doesn’t kick me out to the rear, and I’m happy. The mood is as good as ever. Here is the command “Forward!” again.

(From a letter to P. Molchanov)

October 24. There were no conditions for writing, I was at war. She walked along with everyone. Wounded, killed. Returned from the front line at the request of the regiment commander. He ordered us to sit in the rear. Inaction again.

Oh God, so much gossip about my absence. Even my friends greeted me with irony: who had it? If they knew the truth, they would be jealous. But I am silent. If they decide to follow my example, my free life will come to an end. Let them think what they want.

(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)

the 25th of October. It’s still so good to have a girlfriend. Sasha, sometimes I have fun with you even when I’m sad. I share with you everything that is in my soul [Note: Alexandra Ekimova is a friend of Rosa Shanina].

The head of the political department called me about my letter, where I asked to be sent to the front line and criticized the officers for their insults. I remember my mother. Dear Mom! How I want to come to you!

(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)

November 18th. I'm in a bad mood. I saw Nikolai. The first time I met him was when I was running to the front line. I like him a little, although he does not shine with his upbringing and education. But I respect him for his courage. For some reason I get it into my head that I love him. Maybe because it's hard to be alone. I would like to have a close person, a good friend nearby.

I don't think about marriage. Now is not the time. I wrote a letter to a front-line soldier - a stranger. (The diary contained an unsent letter to a certain Masha.)

"Hello, Masha!

Sorry for calling you that, I don’t know your middle name. I decided to write when I accidentally found out about your letter to Klavdia Ivanovna.

You write that you are madly in love with Claudia’s husband. And she has a 5-year-old child. You ask her forgiveness not for allowing yourself an impermissible thing, but for the fact that you are going to build a life with her husband in the future. You justify yourself by saying that you cannot raise a child who is about to appear alone, and that you allegedly did not know before whether N.A. had a wife and children.

You write: “What will I answer to my child when he asks where daddy is?” And what will Claudia Ivanovna answer to her son, who already knows his father well? He will ask after the war: “Why doesn’t dad come?”

If it’s hard for you to stop loving a person you accidentally met on the roads of war, then how will Claudia Ivanovna forget her beloved husband?

Who am I? Like you, I came to the front. I'm a sniper. Recently I was in the rear. On the way, on the train, I often felt the gratitude of people looking at my awards. But I also had to hear some unpleasant words. Why? Why do others look askance at a girl in a gymnast? It's your fault, Masha. I couldn’t find a place for myself then, and I still can’t calm down now, having returned to the front.

I often wonder how we, military girls, will return from the war? How will we be greeted? Really with suspicion, despite the fact that we risked our lives and many of us died in battles for our Motherland. If this happens, then those who fought off other people's husbands will be to blame.

Think that not only Klavdia Ivanovna will not forgive you, but all of us, and there are many of us. That's all I wanted to say. Rosa Shanina.

(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)

20 November. Yesterday there were so many invitations to the evening in honor of Artillery Day - Katyushniks, scouts, the 120th battery and many, many more. I went to Nikolai. I explained to him, wrote him a note in the sense of “but I was given to someone else and I will be faithful to him forever.” And she went to the artillerymen. As they escorted me home, dueling fire broke out.

(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)

November 23. I received a letter from the tankers. It turns out that they remember me and how I laughed fervently with them and sang “The Germans stomped, they darned their uniforms.” They write that they saw my photograph in a magazine. And I haven’t seen her yet.

(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)

November 26. Now in the reserve regiment. Let's rest again. Soon we will completely forget how advanced it is. Understand, the thirst for my life is a fight. And what? I can't get my way. They send you to places where they rarely even shoot. And now they have invented a vacation. Sasha and Lida lie on their bunks and sing: “An hour and an hour at a time the day passes.” The song spoils my mood even more.

(From a letter to P. Molchanov)

November 27. Yesterday there was dancing. I don't care about dancing. And today we washed ourselves in the bathhouse. We remembered how the Germans captured our girls. This was in May. During a search at the front line, fascist scouts captured 2 snipers - Anya Nesterova and Lyuba Tanailova. Where are they now? Are they alive? In the hands of executioners...

For the first time I saw German Frau. To take revenge on them for their friends? No. I have no hatred towards them. But I hate fascists and kill them in cold blood. And this is what I see as the purpose of my life now. And my future is uncertain. Options: 1 - to college; 2 - if the first one fails, then I will devote myself entirely to raising orphans.

And what just doesn’t come to my mind! I decided here, in the reserve regiment, to study communications and Morse code. Signal courses behind the wall. It's good to have several different specialties.

(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)
December 13th. The day before yesterday there was a gathering of army snipers. They also talked about me: they say, I’m setting a good example. Yesterday I was wounded in the shoulder. Interestingly, 2 days ago I had a dream as if I was wounded, also in the shoulder. Yesterday I was sitting at a firing point and remembered a dream. And after a few minutes she shuddered. A fascist sniper’s bullet hit me in the very place where I saw the wound in my dream. I didn’t feel any pain, I just felt something hot pour over my entire shoulder. The operation was painful. But it seems that the wound is not dangerous - 2 small holes, although they cut it in such a way that it probably won’t heal for a month. Lie. The joint aches. I’ll run away soon, but I don’t know what will happen next...

(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)

December 17. While I'm recovering. The wound is still bothering me. I am sent to an army rest home. It's generally good there. But I want to get some advice. Isn't it better to ask to go to the hospital? From the hospital they can be sent to a battalion, and not to a sniper platoon. Why do I want to leave the platoon? Not because it didn’t catch on. I have a good character, I’m friends with everyone, although, of course, I can’t do without arguments. But it's still too quiet here. I want cod at work. This is my need, my instinct. How can I explain it to you? Well, you know, I crave combat every day, every minute. I can be more useful for our common cause.

(From a letter to P. Molchanov)

December 18. Every day I see Sasha and Kalya in my dreams. How I miss them. They bring me letters from friends and strangers. I just came from the cinema. The film "Lermontov" was on. Lermontov's character is mine. I decided to follow his example to do what I think is necessary and right. And I really want to be the first in something. How I like Lermontov's character...

(From the diary of R. E. Shanina.)

27th of December. When life is good, you don’t want to write. I read "Sister Carrie" and "Bagration". Good books. “Oh, Kerry, Kerry! Oh, the blind dreams of the human heart! “Forward, forward,” it repeats, striving to where beauty calls it.”

I read and thought - these words of Theodore Dreiser apply to you. And Bagration too: “What glory means is either to split your own skull in the name of the Motherland, or to crush someone else’s…” - these are the words. I will do so, by God.

I saw a lot of pictures: “In Old Chicago”, “Wait for Me”, “Submarine No. 9”. I especially liked the last one. The rest are so-so...

Yesterday I was walking and a guy pestered me. “Let me kiss you,” he says. “I haven’t kissed a girl for 4 years.” And he asked so convincingly that I became emotional. And really, he’s so cute, it’s not disgusting, but pleasant. “To hell with you,” I say, “kiss me, just once.” And she almost cried from incomprehensible pity...

January 17, 1945, 11 days before death. Sorry for the long silence. There was absolutely no time to write. My combat life was going on on the real front. The fighting was severe, but by some miracle I remained alive and unharmed. She went on the attack in the first ranks. Please forgive me for not listening to you. I don’t know myself, but some force draws me here, into the fire.

I just came to my dugout and immediately sat down to write a letter to you. I’m tired, after all, 3 attacks a day. The Germans resisted terribly. Especially near the old estate. It seems that everything is up in the air from bombs and shells; they still have enough fire to not let us get close. Well, it’s okay, we’ll defeat them by morning anyway. I shoot at the fascists who stick out from behind houses, from the hatches of tanks and self-propelled guns.

Perhaps they will kill me soon. Please send my mother a letter. You may ask why I was going to die. In the battalion where I am now, out of 78 people, only 6 remain. And I’m not a saint either.

Well, dear comrade, be healthy, sorry for everything. Rose.

(From the last letter to P. Molchanov)

By the evening of January 22, we finally knocked the Nazis out of the estate. Our self-propelled gun successfully crossed the anti-tank ditch. In our excitement, we moved far forward, and since we did not report our location, we were mistakenly hit by our own Katyusha. Now I understand why the Germans are so afraid of Katyushas. This is a light!

Then she went on the attack, and in the evening she met her divisional scouts. They offered to go with them on reconnaissance. Let's go. 14 fascists were captured.

We are moving forward quite quickly now. The Nazis are running without looking back.

We have the equipment!.. And the whole army is moving. Fine!

The large iron bridge across the river passed without interference. The highway is beautiful. There were felled trees lying near the bridge - the Germans did not have time to make a blockage...

(Last entry in the diary of R. E. Shanina.)

January 24, 1945. I haven’t written for a long time, I had no time. There were terrible battles for two days. The Nazis filled the trenches and defended themselves madly. Because of the heavy fire, we have to ride in self-propelled guns, but we rarely manage to shoot. It is impossible to lean out of the hatch.

Only a few times did I crawl onto the armor of the vehicle and shoot at enemy soldiers running away from the trenches.

During the Second World War she was a solo sniper. Shanina took part in the war as part of a female sniper platoon 3rd Belorussian Front. She could fire at a moving enemy with a doublet - two shots following each other.

Origin

The sniper was born in the village of Yelma into a large peasant family. Some sources list the village as the place of birth. Bogdanovsky. In 2010, a monument was even erected there in honor of the holders of the Order of Glory. Among the surnames, her surname is also present. As the results of research by some modern historians have shown, Rosa Egorovna Shanina born in the village of Zykovo, on the banks of the river. Mouths. At that time, the village belonged to the Eden environs, where her grandfather, Mikhail Savelyevich, came after service in 1889.

From 1919 to 1920 A commune was formed in Zykovo, the first in the district. It united 5 farms. The organizer of the commune, Shanina’s father, Yegor Mikhailovich, was appointed the first chairman.

Rosa's mother, Anna Alekseevna, was a milkmaid in the commune. In 1928, the family lived in Zykovo. This is confirmed by Rosa's memoirs, in which she mentions a clipping from the Plowman newspaper, saved by her father, dated September 15, 1928, which describes their house.

Shanina was named after R. Luxemburg. In addition to her, the family raised 6 children. She had a sister, Yulia, and brothers, Sergei, Mikhail, Pavel, Fedor and Marat. In addition to them, the family raised orphans Stepan, Razum and Elena Butorin.

Brief biography of Rosa Egorovna Shanina

After graduating from the 4th grade of primary school, Rosa entered secondary school in the village of Bereznik, located 13 km from home. In addition to walking to school every day, on Saturdays she cared for a sick aunt who lived in the same village.

After graduating from 7th grade, in 1938 Rosa went to Arkhangelsk to enter a pedagogical school. She had almost no property or money. Before moving into the dormitory at the school, she lived with her brother Fyodor. In the same year, 1938, Rosa joined the Komsomol. She began to consider Arkhangelsk her hometown. Her diary contains mentions of the Dynamo stadium, the Pobeda and Ars cinemas.

Job

Before the war, education became paid. Many students were forced to work part-time. Rosa refused the help of her brother and parents and got a job in 1941 (already in her 3rd year) in the evening group of kindergarten No. 2 in the Pervomaisky district of Arkhangelsk, where she received housing.

The young teacher was in good standing: her parents appreciated her and her children loved her. After completing her studies at the school, she remained to work in a kindergarten.

Entering the service

At the beginning of the Second World War, Fedor and Mikhail entered the army as volunteers. According to front-line records, the Rose brothers went missing. Some documents contain information about the death of Shanina’s older brother Sergei. According to the data, in July 1943 he was the head of the NKVD special detachment. For successful operations behind enemy lines, Sergei received the Order of the Red Star. However, he was subsequently arrested and, in accordance with the resolution of the Special Meeting, executed in 1945. This resolution was canceled in 2000, on May 17.

At the beginning of 1942, intensive training of female snipers began. The command believed that they had great tenacity, cunning, and could more easily endure cold and stress. They also had a more flexible body, which allowed them to move faster. In February, women aged 16-45 could go to the front.

Rosa Egorovna Shanina was called up for service in June 1943. From the Pervomaisky district military registration and enlistment office she was sent to the TsZhShPS - the central school for training female snipers. Here she meets Kaleria Petrova and Alexandra Ekimova. Subsequently, the three fought together and were friends. Only Kaleria was able to return from the war.

After graduating from sniper school, Rosa refused an instructor position and was sent to the front. In 1944, on April 2, she arrived at the 338th Infantry Division. A special women's platoon was created within it.

Chronicle of the war

Rosa made her first shot three days after arriving at the division’s location. Then it was located southwest of Vitebsk.

The surviving documents contain Rosa's memories of this incident, written down by an unknown author. Shanina was shocked by what happened. She rushed into the trench with the words: “I killed a man.” Soon her friends ran up to her, calmed her down and said that she had finished off the fascist, there was nothing to worry about.

7 months later, Rosa wrote in her diary that she now shoots at the Germans in cold blood and only sees the meaning of her life in this. Moreover, she writes that if she could rewind time, she would still enroll in sniper school.

Rosa Egorovna Shanina from April 6 to April 11, while under weapons and artillery fire, she was able to destroy 13 fascists. This is evidenced by the report of the rifle regiment commander Degtyarev.

For this feat Roza Egorovna Shanina received the Order of Glory, III class, becoming the first recipient of this award among girls who fought in the units of the 3rd Belorussian Front.

Soon she was transferred from the rank of corporal to squad commander. In May 1944, her sniper record book listed 18 killed fascists. At the beginning of June, the military newspaper "Let's Destroy the Enemy" published a portrait Russian sniper Shanina on the front page.

Participation in Operation Bagration

The offensive of the Soviet troops began in 1944, on June 22. Shanina’s platoon was supposed to move west in the second line: the command did not want to risk their lives women. In World War II Women's battalions were a common occurrence, but fellow soldiers tried to protect the girls from death.

Over the previous 1.5 months, the platoon was very tired. Therefore at the beginning Belarusian operation an order was given to make maximum use of any rest stops and not to participate in battles along with the infantry. However, Shanina was eager to fight, despite the order.

Rosa sought assignment from the command to a reconnaissance company or battalion, but was refused. The fact is that in the ranks of the infantry any soldier could replace her, but in a sniper ambush - not. In addition, she was cherished for her skill. After the fourth release in the sniper book Roza Egorovna Shanina the number of destroyed fascists became double-digit; in the column for the distance to the target, “200 m” was written twice.

"AWOL"

In the midst Belarusian operation Rosa and her friends from the front took part in the liquidation of the German group. At the beginning of August, falling behind the company at the crossing, it followed the battalion, which was moving to the front line. There she took part in the battle, and upon her return she captured three Krauts. For failure to comply with the order, Rosa received a Komsomol punishment, but the matter did not reach the tribunal.

After some time, Shanina was nominated for the Order of Glory, II class. The list of her merits included the capture of prisoners.

At the end of August, the 338th Rifle Brigade was withdrawn from the 45th Rifle Corps and was included in the 39th Army, which was heading to Suwalki and Kaunas. However, a separate platoon of female snipers, which included Rose and Egorovna Shanina, remained in the 5th Army and became part of the 184 Dukhovshchinsky Red Banner Division.

Fighting in East Prussia

In September, battles began to liberate the banks of the river. Sheshupe. The girls made forays almost every day and destroyed enemies. They fought with German snipers.

In the chronicle of the war, published in Allied newspapers, it was reported that Shanina killed 5 Germans in a day.

In 1944, on September 16, Rosa received the Order of Glory, II class. for their courage in the fight against fascism. Shanina's award list indicated 53 killed Germans, 26 of whom were destroyed on the border with Prussia. A congratulatory article was published in the next issue of the newspaper “Let’s Destroy the Enemy.”

It is known from the documents that at the end of September Shanina received her leave and went to Arkhangelsk for three days, where she managed to see friends and family. On October 17, she returned to the front.

Battle near Schlossberg

For her abilities, Shanina was considered one of best snipers. However, she always strove to go to the front line and asked to be transferred to a reconnaissance company as a rifleman. She even complained to the commander of the 5th Army, Colonel General Krylov, about the commanders who sent her to the rear. Moreover, twice she wrote to Stalin himself with a request to send her as an ordinary soldier to a rifle company.

Having received refusals from everywhere, Shanina continued to go AWOL. However, at the end of October, she was still sent to the front line as part of the 707th Infantry Regiment.

The fighting took place near Schlossberg. The area changed hands several times. Subsequently, Rosa will write in her diary how she saw the death of Captain Aseev.

For steadfastness and courage in battle as one of the best snipers Shanina was presented with the Order of Glory, 1st class. Schlossberg was finally recaptured only at the beginning of 1945, on January 16. December 27 '44 assistant platoon commander R. Shanina received the medal "For Courage".

Wound

In November, Shanina was again sent to the reserve rear regiment. But, ignoring orders, Rosa still went to the front line. On December 12, she was wounded in the right shoulder. The Germans considered it a matter of honor to kill Russian sniper. However, Shanina's wound was not fatal. In her diary she describes it as "two small holes." The injury seemed minor to her, but the command sent her to the hospital.

Direction to the front line

At the beginning of January 1945, Krylov officially issued Shanina permission to participate in battles. On the 13th, fighting began as part of the East Prussian operation. By January 15, the division reached the city of Eidtkunen. The offensive took place under enemy mortar fire.

Death

On January 17, Shanina wrote that she might soon die, since out of 78 people in the battalion there were only 6 left. The last entry says that she could not leave the self-propelled gun due to artillery fire from the Nazis.

On January 27, the unit commander was wounded in battle. Roza Shanina, covering him, was also seriously wounded. She was taken to a hospital near the Reichau estate. The next day, Roza Egorovna Shanina died.

As Ekaterina Radkina, the nurse in whose arms she was dying, later recalled, Rosa regretted that she had done very little to win.

According to some accounts, on the field while being wounded, Rosa screamed and asked to be shot. The wound was very serious; a fragment hit the abdominal area. Under the conditions existing at that time, it was impossible to save a life after such a wound.

Of the four children who left the Shanin family for the war, none returned home.

Achievement list

The number of Germans destroyed by Shanina varies in different sources. In Rosa’s award list for 1944, 59 fascist officers and soldiers were listed on her account: 12 people were killed in battle for Vilnius, and 26 are on the Prussian border.

Some sources indicate the number 54. It is clarified that 12 Germans themselves were snipers. According to modern research, Shanina’s sniper book at the time of her death included 62 people.

Meanwhile, many believe that the real number of Germans killed was much higher. After all, Shanina often went “AWOL” to the front line, and the situation did not always allow for keeping records. There were times when the rifle cartridges ran out, and Rosa used a machine gun.

According to historical data, only four women were Rose could be the fifth. As the former commander of the 215th Infantry Division Kazaryan recalled, Shanina was nominated for an award for her courage in the battles for Schlossberg, but received the medal “For Courage.” Nevertheless, on December 29 of the same year, the award sheet was again sent to the command. But later, after her death, it was lost. So Shanina stayed incomplete holder of the Order of Glory.

In 1985, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Victory, the Council of Veterans of the Central ZhShSP raised the issue of awarding Rose the Order of Glory, 1st class. posthumously. However, the Supreme Council then left it without consideration. Subsequently, this issue was raised again, including by a member of the Union of Journalists, Marat Shanin, Rosa’s brother.

Character

Rose was taller than average, had blue eyes and light brown hair. Shanina spoke with a North Russian accent. Pyotr Molchanov, who appeared during the Second World War, often met Rosa at the front. He describes her as a person with incredible will, a bright and original character.

Rose herself described herself as recklessly and boundlessly talkative. Lidiya Vdovina, Shanina’s colleague, recalled that she loved to sing the song “Oh, the fogs, the fogs,” whenever she was cleaning weapons.

Rose dressed modestly. She named volleyball as her favorite sport. Shanina was an open person, she valued courage in people, and did not like selfish people.

Personal life

During the war, Rose saw her happiness in the struggle for the happiness of others.

According to the diary entries, her loved one, Misha Panarin, died. She called him a well-mannered, simple, handsome guy.

In November 1944, an entry appeared in the diary about a certain Nikolai. Rosa writes that “for some reason she got it into her head that she loves him.” At the same time, she notes that she is not thinking about marriage - the time is not right.

After the end of the war, Rosa wanted to go to university, and if she had not succeeded, she would have been raising orphans.

Rose's Diary

Shanina often wrote to friends and family who remained in Arkhangelsk. Keeping diaries during the war was prohibited, although there were some exceptions. For example, Muzagit Narutdinov led the “Chronicle of War”, Israel Kukuev - “Front Diary”.

In Shanina’s diary, to preserve military secrets, the killed were called “black” and the wounded “red.” Rosa made her last entry in 1945, on January 24, 4 days before her death. She wrote about fierce battles and the difficulty of shooting under enemy fire.

After Rosa’s death, the diary, which consisted of 3 thick notebooks, was taken by her friend Pyotr Molchanov. He was the editor of the newspaper Let's Destroy the Enemy. Having learned about Shanina’s injury, he came to the hospital, but it was too late.

Subsequently, Pyotr Molchanov said that he took the diary because he and Rosa were friends. She trusted him with many of her secrets and shared her thoughts.

The diary was in Kyiv for about 20 years. In 1965, Molchanov published several fragments from it in the magazine "Youth". Only after this, Rosa Shanina’s notes were transferred to the Arkhangelsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. In the spring of 2010, a copy of the diary with the right to publish was transferred to the Ulyanovsk muse. Today, everyone can familiarize themselves with Rosa Shanina’s records.

Publications

The feats that Rosa Shanina accomplished during the war were highly appreciated by the writer and correspondent of “Red Star” Ilya Erenburg. He called her one of the best shooters of his time. Ehrenburg noted that many of his colleagues were inferior in accuracy to defeating the enemy. There were publications about Shanina in foreign newspapers.

Rosa herself did not attach much importance to mentions of herself in the press. She even noted once that many people overestimate her work. 10 days before her death, she wrote in her diary that she believed that she had done very little, had done no more than she should, like any Soviet person standing in defense of the Motherland.

After Molchanov’s publication in 1965, other publications began to write about Rose. So, in “Northern Komsomolets” correspondents turned to Shanina’s colleagues with a request to tell about her.

Literary works

In memory of Rosa Shanina, the books “I’ll be back after the battle” (N. Zhuravlev), “Thirst for battle” (P. Molchanov) and “Snowdrops on a minefield” were published. Despite the fact that there are some inaccuracies in these works, and some characters are, rather, they are collective images and reflect the traits of several people at once; general information about Shanina’s character and fate is conveyed quite accurately.

In 2012, a collection dedicated to Rose was published. It was published. It included Rosa's front-line diary, as well as documentary evidence from people who knew her. Shanina’s fellow countrymen Natalya Poroshina and Vladimir Mamonov were involved in the preparation and processing of the material.

Logvinov's book

It was published in 1972. The book by the historian Logvinov contains a chapter about Rosa Shanina. According to the information contained in it, Rosa was the daughter of a communist from the Krasnoyarsk Territory and received her education at the Siberian Forestry College (today Siberian State Technical University).

However, researchers were unable to establish how Rosa, being a native of the Arkhangelsk region, ended up in Krasnoyarsk. Employees of the scientific library of Siberian State Technical University discovered several publications that contain an excerpt of text from Loginov’s book or information about the Siberian Rose.

Conclusion

During the Great Patriotic War, women fought equally with men. Nobody wanted to give up their homeland to the enemy. All forces were thrown into the fight. Children and old people worked in the rear, young women and men were on the front line.

Women made a huge contribution to the victory over fascism. Their hatred of the occupiers, their thirst to destroy anyone who encroaches on the freedom of Soviet people, inspired everyone. The exploits of Shanina and many other women are a clear example of this. People fought not for glory, but for the sake of a free and peaceful sky above their heads.

Many researchers believe that Rosa could have survived if she had not asked so persistently to go to the front line. She didn't live long enough to see victory.

Shanina's diary, like the records of other military men, is the most valuable materials about the war. From them, pictures of many events and schemes of operations were reconstructed. They helped keep records of captured and destroyed enemies and German equipment.

Rose Shannina is rightfully included among the heroes that children are taught about at school. Such people are forever immortalized in the memory of the Russian people. The people who preserved front-line records played a big role in this. Thanks to them, today you can learn about many events of those years and feel a sense of pride for everyone who fought. This is important, first of all, for future generations. The memory of the war must be preserved, if only to prevent it from happening in the future.

Streets in the city of Arkhangelsk, village, are named in honor of Rosa Shanina. Stroevskoe and Shangaly. In addition, a memorial plaque was created in Arkhangelsk. Under the patronage of the rural school where Rosa studied, a museum dedicated to her was created. There is also a memorial plaque on the school building itself.

Born on April 3, 1924 in a large peasant family in the Vologda province, she received her name in honor of Rosa Luxemburg. After finishing 7th grade, the girl, against the wishes of her parents, went to Arkhangelsk to enter a pedagogical school. When the war began, Rose was 17 years old. Her three brothers went to the front and died at the very beginning of the war. In the summer of 1943, Rosa came to the military registration and enlistment office to sign up as a volunteer. She was sent to a women's sniper school, which she graduated with honors in 1944, and went to the front as part of a women's sniper platoon.

Rosa Shanina was famous for her ability to accurately fire at moving enemy targets. On her account 59 (according to other sources - 75) killed Wehrmacht soldiers and officers, 12 of them were snipers. Allied newspapers called Shanina “the invisible horror of East Prussia,” Soviet newspapers and magazines printed photos of the sniper with a charming smile. Rosa became the first female sniper to be awarded the Order of Glory II and III degrees, and the medal “For Courage.” Despite the ban, she kept diaries at the front, in which she wrote about her unexpected popularity: “I sit and think about my fame. They call me the best sniper in the “Let’s Destroy the Enemy” newspaper, and Ogonyok placed my portrait on the front page. It’s strange to even imagine how those I know look at this illustration... I know that I haven’t done so much until now...”

Rosa Shanina not only had to sit in a sniper ambush, the girl went on the attack on the front line and on reconnaissance. Shanina's last battle was the battle in East Prussia. Rosa wrote in her diary that she might soon die - the Germans were conducting heavy mortar fire, and their battalion lost 72 out of 78 people. On January 25, Rosa was seriously wounded in the chest while rescuing the commander of an artillery unit wounded in battle. 21-year-old Rosa Shanina died in hospital on January 28, 1945, several months before the Victory.

Front diary of Rosa Shanina

Roza Egorovna Shanina is a Soviet girl sniper who destroyed about 6 dozen fascists in single sniper “hunts” in the last year of the Great Patriotic War, not counting those killed by her in battles. She did not live to see victory for only 3 months, dying on January 28, 1945 in East Prussia. While very little information remains about many Soviet female snipers, the life of Rosa Shanina is known quite well, and first-hand, because. At the front, Rosa kept a diary, which was preserved and published. The most complete version of Rosa Shanina’s front-line diary was published in 2011 in her small homeland - in the Ustyansky district of the Arkhangelsk region in the collection “She bequeathed to us songs and dew.”

I met Gudkov, who was with Sergei in the forests of Belarus, he asked to remind Sergei of the place Kosino, where he was bombed while drinking. Now in the editorial office. It’s somehow strange when they imagine so stupidly about the front line (Olga), although they are only 25 km from the front. Yes, how hard it is to live in such an environment! (Near the Shushupa River).

I rode with Gudkov for the first time in my life on an airplane. Now we are in the 215th Infantry Division (RD) under Kazaryan. I miss 338. The people there seem to be completely different. I can’t do a bad job, it kills my conscience, but it’s good, this newspaper red tape, the girls are covered in gossip out of envy, it’s morally killed.

The German retreated, we go forward, to the left. I met Kazyaryan. Everyone says: he’s kind to girls, let him be unkind, but not such a “womanizer.” I remember Gorodovikov, there’s no comparison, how hard it is...

Come what may, but I will not be the simpleton that is expected. I saw my brother Fedya in a dream. My heart is heavy, I’m 20 years old and don’t have a good friend, why? And there are plenty of guys, but my heart doesn’t trust anyone.

They say that girls will not be allowed into Germany, but we are already at the border, where will fate throw us? I remember Mishka Panarin. What a nice guy. Killed... He loved me, I know, and I him. Senior sergeant, 2 years of college, well-mannered, simple, decent, nice guy. I felt very sorry for him. Blokhin and Solomatin are before our eyes. I liked them, but I knew that it was only temporary, they left and didn’t write letters - that’s proof. After 338 s.d. was in the building. At 184 s.d. I didn’t know anyone, so little, superficially and comradely.

Oh, how much injustice! Let's take the girls. S.E. my friend and sniper couple. Where there is success, she is friends, but I have no success, she has disappeared. I now enjoy great authority, and she is with me. I don't like it. I want friends like Agnia had from 5th to 7th grade and Valya Chernyaeva in 1st-3rd year of technical school. You can't find those, no.

My travels begin, just like in July. We head towards Sberki, to the left 20 km beyond Sloboda and the Shushupa river. They got into the car without permission. It broke down around 184 SD, and everyone went there to visit friends, it was late in the evening. We spent the night with a fellow countryman, the head of the political department. We were with Kaleria Petrova, ate the general’s dinner, they wanted to charge us for it, but we’re not like that. In the morning we were taken in a jeep. We're going, where? Here is an army vehicle, we found out everything for sure. The girls spent the night on the front line, there was an attack, there was fire, but they saw the guys. Yes, how I want to be on the front line, how interesting and at the same time dangerous, but for some reason I’m not afraid.

I remember the days when I went on the offensive with Solomatin, whom I loved, but did not believe in his love. He did everything for me. But death looked him in the eye, it didn’t matter who he was looking after, and he was able to do all this, perhaps just because I’m a girl and I’m fighting bravely. I only left him when a wonderful regiment commander was killed next to him. Nikolai S. began to move (command - ed.) the regiment.

I went to the front line. I met guys familiar to our girls Shura and Dusya: a battalion commander and a deputy. They were received wonderfully. I ended up in the company of a good uncle, senior lieutenant, company commander. He gave me a kiss, went on the attack with him, running through the rye, out of nowhere Blokhin. I found out that they were attacking that night and went to him.

At 3 o'clock in the morning we went on the attack, there was fire all around, and I was in the front ranks of the battle formations. Seeing this, Blokhin drew attention to me, go back. The political officer, Jew Shapiro, drove me away. It's getting light. I'm coming. Frozen. Where are ours, there are Fritz on three sides. I look: there is a sentry in the distance, but whose? I crawled across the rye and saw: our soldiers, the outpost, were sleeping tired in their cells. I run up to the sentry. Sleeps standing up. I found out that the battalion was Solomatin and lay down under the raincoats with the guys. In the morning they woke up and were surprised how I found them. We are sitting.

Suddenly a German plane streaked across the ground about 100 meters from us. Tairov said: “In 10 minutes there will be an enemy counterattack.” This is true. The command is to take the hill, I took it, I’m in the front row. At first I didn’t see it, then I saw: from under the mountain, about 100 meters away, self-propelled guns with troops were climbing out. Beat the enemy's manpower. Nearby on the left, about 8 meters away, a senior lieutenant, a captain, and soldiers were crushed. I have a spell. I sat down, eliminated the delay and fired again.

The tank is straight at me, 10 meters ahead. I felt the grenades and lost them while I was crawling. No fear. I think I'll crawl away. About 7 meters away our 76 mm cannon was blown up. Tanks are passing by, throwing grenades from them, fire of all kinds (machine gun, machine gun, shell), 8 were knocked out, the rest returned back. After everything, when I saw the dead and wounded, it became creepy. Before his death, the captain gave me a watch.

We got the trophies, NZ. I treasured the blue silk scarf for a long time; I lost it as a memory. Tairov says: “When the attack began, I remembered where you were, and you were lying in front, I was very worried.” Tairov and Solomatin quarreled. Tairov, an old warrior, ordered to hold on until the last, otherwise they will be surrounded by morning, and Solomatin: “I am the master here.” We moved away, I looked - General Babayan, - I was hiding so as not to be sent to the rear. By nightfall I arrive on horseback. All Lithuanians were taken under guard. Well, it so happened there that grandma was going to take a horse from the meadow when she was sent to our rear. And when they occupied the village where the Fritz was, the horse was found there again.

At night, surrounded by Solomatin and I, we were left alone. He was young... I wasn’t afraid to die, but I cried.

Fortunately, two days later another division liberated us. I took a rifle and grenades and went “to search the world where there is a corner for a tired feeling.” There are Germans all around, left and right. The artillery guys ask - where? I told. “Come,” they say, “with us,” and I went. It's good with them. We gave big marches, I rode cannons. I receive a letter from Blokhin, they say, I am now the boss myself, go. They gave us a 60 km march. I was tired, I had to go through the mountains. I lay down, I think the artillery guys will fall asleep and I’ll run away, otherwise they’re good guys, it’s inconvenient to leave like that. They fell asleep, and I, tired, could not stand it.

I wake up from tremors. Before my eyes are two machine gunners from a training company. I'm going to the rear, an order is an order. Next is the case. Near the town of Obukhovo, to the right, to the north and further to the west, I agreed with Blokhin and went in a different direction from where the training company had gone. She and the 1136th Regiment were surrounded by factions. I spent the night and went to look in the morning. I noticed 30 Krauts, and then ran with the scouts to catch up. Fight. Our captain was killed by two Germans with rifle butts from behind the bushes. It was about 6 steps from us, but the bushes were thick. We caught these two and shot them.

The Germans split into two groups and fled in two directions. The guys ran to catch up, but I had to go “home” to the company. Along the way I picked up a wounded man. He asked me to shoot (shoot - ed.) there some more. I went again. And in my dreams I forgot that I was in dangerous places. Walking across the bridge, I accidentally fixed my gaze on the overgrown ravine below. I see that Fritz is standing. Random: “Hyundai Hoch!” And six hands rise: there are three of them. One of them is chatting something, I don’t understand, I just know the words “faster, forward” and I shout. We crawled out of the ravine. I took away weapons, watches, cream, mirrors, etc. I walked about a kilometer and a half, and I saw one Fritz in one boot. It was he who asked in the ravine to give him a boot to put on. I didn't understand. I meet a guy - a soldier: “Do you have a watch?” I say: “Here.” - “Show me?” “Take it,” and he ran away with the watch. I bring them to the village, and the Krauts have become completely bolder. When I answered their question: “Gut or kaput?”, I answered: “They will be gud,” - they turned around and looked at me. I'm walking through a village, it's in Poland. In a camouflage suit, with a finka, with grenades, a rifle at the ready - like a bandit, the women are watching. Then everyone is invited to have lunch. So many incentives!

I met Shchekochikhin Sasha there, whom I liked. At first, Kalya Petrova and I went to Blokhin’s to have lunch, drink milk, etc., and later, I fell in love with him and began to feel embarrassed to say goodbye. It used to be that we’d go and call Blokhin to Sashka Shch., they say, this way and that, but Kalya and I both liked Sashka. Blokhin, realizing this, replies: “He is busy,” although he is free and glad of our arrival. I was the first to confess my love to Sashka in a letter, and that’s why I couldn’t reciprocate his positive response anymore - I’m ashamed. Oh, I cried. I left when I captured three Krauts, and because I thought that he didn’t love me. I got used to it, I thought: this is the last time, the Germans will kill me, since this situation is serious.

Now I can’t love anyone, although I don’t trust Solomatin, but I dream of meeting him, he’s nearby. Blokhin is already in the rear, calling to the rear. I am sure: he had Tanya there, whose letters I was not allowed to read. I correspond with Grisha, Dima, Kostya and Nikolai, but these are complete strangers, just like that, at first in a comradely way, now the guys are dreaming about something, they are bored at the front, they don’t want to offend. Dima writes a dry short one on 3 of mine, I ask you to send all my photos back. Both have their own experiences about them. There is nothing to write, but everything interesting has been rewritten. How can I explain that I quickly become disappointed in the guys? They deceive, sometimes I harass them myself and say - leave me alone.

I would like to have a girlfriend. I often think about Ana Smirnova and Masha Tisanova, I really like them, but I don’t know them yet. Not our division. How can I explain that among such a mass of guys I’m still alone? Don't know. Having a boyfriend, there will be absences and all the unpleasant things. He offered me one type 215 SD. C... perfume and whatever, but I'm not corrupt. I could fool him, but it’s not worth it, there will be troubles, he’s a big rank.

War. We spent the night with Vovik Emelyanov with Sasha and Kalya, but also accidentally fell behind, just as we found them. Breakthrough of the German border near the town of Naumistie, to the left. The tank crews invited us and introduced us to the structure of the tank. What nice, gentle guys. Everyone knows me from the newspapers.

I met the artillery guys, in whose presence 5 of our girls were killed at once near the Neman. They see that our fate is not easy. I’m ready to run to the front line again, I even cry that they won’t let me in. I want to explain how? Some force pulls me there, it’s boring here. Some people say that I want to join the guys, but I don’t know anyone there. I want to see a real war. It bothers me that I am the platoon commander, otherwise I would have run away long ago.

They looked for Eresovites, but couldn’t find them. We spent the night in another battery. “Attacks”... Broke through the border. There we met Vanyushka from regiment 3383. What a meeting! We separated again. We found our part. We are already wandering through German territory. Captured, killed, wounded. They attacked the bunker, took 27 prisoners, 14 officers, and resisted strongly. I’m going “home” to the unit. I see division headquarters. I drove closer to the front (front line - ed.), spent the night with Osmak. I like him, but he is very proud, maybe that’s why I like him?

I visited General Kazaryan and the political chief and sincerely cried when they weren’t allowed to go to the front line, how can I explain? Upon arrival “home” I received a letter from Agnia Butorina. I always remember this friend from grades 5-7 well. She writes that her life is broken and boring. I believe there are no guys, and the girl can’t live. This is how it will be after the war. It seems they are sending me to the rear, I dream of escaping to the front line.

Just yesterday I was running to the front line. I went on the attack, but here we stand, entrenched. Rain, mud, cold. The nights are long, we are approaching.

There were no conditions for writing. Fought. She walked along with everyone else, wounded and killed. Came at the request of the regiment commander. Oh, God, so much gossip. I remember I cried in the battalion, offended that they allowed me to tell a bad joke in front of me. I considered it disrespectful. I remember the comrades who died during this period. The same fate awaited me, and here is gratitude. Even my friends greeted with irony a world saturated with untruth. It seems that I don’t have enough willpower to look at this deceitful world for the rest of my life. I received 8 letters from Yashka Gudkova. Out of delicacy, I answered with one small one, because he does everything for me, I’m waiting for a photo, then I’ll receive it and won’t write it. Yashka understands military girls correctly.

Still, it’s good to have at least some kind of girlfriend. Sasha, sometimes I have fun with you. I share everything. Colonel Novozhilov called me about the letter where I asked to be sent to the front line and criticized our officers.

Battle of Pilkallen. Our people took the city and killed them all. One person returned from the penal company, alive and unharmed, the rest were killed.

I personally fought for the place near Pilkallen. How many times they took us and kicked us out. She successfully repelled one counterattack. I destroyed 15 fascists for sure, because I was at close range and shot a lot. Four artillerymen observed it through ten-power and six-power binoculars. When the Krauts crawled, only their helmets were visible, she fired at them. The bullets ricocheted, since the cartridges were tracers, you could clearly see them flying upward from the helmet. First at (a distance - ed.) 200 m, then closer and at full height we stood at 100 m, and when we were 20 m away, we ran away. We lay behind an embankment at the edge of the forest and escaped easily. We went to the house. But the “Slavs” all ran away. We were left alone. Captain Aseev, our division commander, artilleryman, Hero of the Soviet Union, died nearby. And we were the last to leave.

Order: restore the situation. We crawled up and reoccupied the house and kicked out the Fritz. Then I went to the regiment checkpoint, tired, and ate for the first time. It was late afternoon and I fell asleep soundly.

Suddenly there was point-blank shooting in the basement. The Fritz, 15 people, crawled up. They were defeated by artillerymen, who heard them while being close to the house, in the barn. The girls all turned out to be cowards and ran away. Kaleria alone was brave. The girls, seeing the danger, are ready to tear me to pieces, since I led them to the front line. This time they killed Sasha Koreneva and wounded two: Valya Lazarenko and Anya Kuznetsova. I’m afraid to go home, the girls “put all the blame” on me. The soldiers, boys and commanders are pleased with my courage. It reached the corps and was presented with the Order of Glory, 1st class, for repelling these attacks.

“In October 1944, the division received a combat order - to develop a rapid offensive and capture Pilkallen (now the village of Dobrovolsk). The fighting was fierce. Despite heavy losses, the enemy, like a trapped animal, rushed about and continued to resist.

Our advanced units reached the railway south of the settlement. In a small grove, near the forester’s house, a small group of Soviet soldiers entered into an unequal battle with an enemy landing party. Hero of the Soviet Union Igor Petrovich Avseev was also in this group. (In a note: a war veteran, retired captain Medvedev, who now lives in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, spoke about this battle and about the Hero of the Soviet Union Igor Petrovich Aseev)

In the evening, tired from fighting and sleepless nights, the infantrymen and artillerymen gathered to rest. Suddenly, volleys of six-barreled mortars were heard from Pilkallen, and about 300 machine gunners attacked the grove. The forces were unequal, the enemy was tens of times superior to a handful of our warriors, who began to slowly retreat to avoid encirclement. Captain Aseev covered the group and continuously fired from the window of the house. Sniper Rosa Shanina was with him. This was I.P. Aseev’s last fight. He covered the group's retreat.

Soon the order to advance followed. The soldiers went on the attack and knocked out the Nazis. Our soldiers saw the prone body of Captain Aseev.

An eyewitness to the last battle of I.P. Aseev was the holder of the Order of Glory, sniper Roza Shanina, who performed dozens of feats during the liberation of Prussia. Died on January 28, 1945. Only a diary has survived, in which the battle at Pilkallen is very briefly described. Not everything is known about I.P. Aseev and R.E. Shanina, so I would like the search work to be carried out by the red rangers of the Dobrovolsky village.” (EXTRACT 4)

I haven’t written for a long time, I had no time, I was on the front line. We went with the girls and Vovik. They chatted that because of me Captain Aseev died, when because of him I myself didn’t die a little. I really liked Nikolai Ilchenko, lieutenant, artilleryman, brother of the Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot Ilchenko. He is in love with me, he doesn’t look at my height, and I don’t like anyone even a little shorter than me, and so I myself suffer for him.

Spent the night with Nikolai Fedorov. Good guy. He worries about me, whatever I want will be done (suit, hat, gifts). Only I don't love him. Eh, mysterious nature, I deceive him and accept gifts when I don’t love him. "The Mysterious Nature" by Chekhov.

A holiday is coming. Invitations... We made a schedule, starting from the 5th and ending... But alas, we have working days on November 6-7, and something has collapsed. Evening on the 6th, Katyushniki. The tankers arrived, Vovka Klokov. I wanted to go to Borovik for a holiday, but the days were workdays. Katyushniks are all good guys. Only I love Vovka Letison like a little brother, but he hints at something, I don’t like it. Gave it to Finn. I don’t understand anything at all, not even life, it’s all so intertwined.

Morning of the 7th at the front line. Evening of the 6th at Nikolai Fedorov’s place, fun, but emergency. They came from Moscow. A photo reporter arrived, and the generals called me as a representative of the girls - a front-line sniper. But Nikolai did not want me to leave, and said that I was not there. On the morning of the 7th, there was a meeting with the generals, they scolded me for not coming. I say: “They didn’t report.”

"At home. Invitations, guys and darling, darling, and hell. I decided not to go anywhere because I was dirty and tired. Suddenly an invitation from the army from Molchanov. I couldn't refuse. Very good comrades and they may think that she has gone somewhere else. Cough. But I went. I arrived there, fell ill for two evenings, and spent the 7th in bed. So the 7th - half a day in Germany, half a day in Lithuania or the USSR.

I arrived home and received a bunch of letters. But there is no one that pleases.

General Kazaryan called. He scolded me for poor discipline, traveling, absences. There were none on holidays. True, they didn’t do anything for us in the division, but we need to celebrate. What to do if the “tops” don’t work with us. Our department is working fine. I come home, there is dirt on the street, Nikolai F. is sitting. He came to ask for forgiveness for a bad deed, but there were a lot of people, and he said nothing and went away sad.

I received letters from a preschool network in Moscow and Arkhangelsk. Everyone is proud of my exploits for my portrait in the magazine "Humor" of November 7. But I was too overrated. I only do what every Soviet soldier is obliged to do, that’s all. I'm famous everywhere, that's a lot.

I realize that I earned fame in the army, well, at the front, but they are spreading the word around the Soviet Union in vain, because I didn’t do much. ...? They just talk. I go to bed. Many guys are eager to see Rosa...onitsa, how can I explain? ... they paint me as a beauty or as a hero.

Oh, and the incident today. At night they gasped at 277 s.d. I met Captain Lesha, he’s handsome, but he behaves like an idiot, who does he think we are? The guy from Arkhangelsk, the chief of food, invited me. They gave me a light, ... and who are the snipers?

We transferred to the 618th Regiment, but things didn’t work out well. The car is getting better, Kalya and I will go to Nikolay’s farm platoon 711. In the evening there was a conversation on Stalin's report. It was not possible to go to Trunichev, but as he invited... The commander of the 711th regiment invited me, and where I did not expect, I ended up with the division chief of staff, a colonel.

I'm in a bad mood, why? I was just now at Nikolai’s and spent the night, and my mood there had deteriorated a little. I met a boy in the artillery. Well, what a boy, I really liked him, he’s very handsome and modest, but, alas! Nikolai is nearby.

I remembered all our relationships with Nikolai. I respect him quite a bit, but I still respect him. The girls all like him. I have no luck. After all, I became friends with him so mechanically, not by choice. I remember the first day I met in the offensive, when I “ran” to the front line. Tall, dirty, covered in mud, clay, long overcoat, like a real warrior. I respect him for his courage, he is a real Soviet warrior, but he does not shine with upbringing and education, he is a simple guy, an artilleryman. I remember the first days spent with Nikolai. Why didn't I have the courage to reject his acquaintance? The conditions were cold and dirty, I was naked, I needed help, he helped me, otherwise, in a word, it was ridiculous. So now I like him a little, and I force myself to do the rest, I get into my head the idea that I respect him deeply, which is why I miss him for a long time without seeing him. Why do I drive home the idea that I even love him? Because after Blokhin I didn’t respect anyone and I can’t, but I don’t want to be lonely, I want a friend, what else?

Now we miss the girls. Tomorrow is artillery day, a secret commission has arrived to check the behavior of the girls.

And Nikolai invites me, at least formally, to make it easier to live together, to get married. What declarations of love from Nikolai. I still don’t understand whether this is true, or whether he is such a hypocrite.

Tomorrow is artillery day, where will I go for the evening? And will I even get there? So heavy! Oh my God! On the front line, the results are disastrous, and there is no more pleasure. Fritz wanders far, it’s hard to shoot.

Dear mother, although you don’t really miss me, I’m bored not having any joy as I want to see you.

I received it from Yashka, he was only with me for 10 minutes, and during that time they managed to gossip about me with Captain Aseev. They don’t give him peace in the afterlife either - poor fellow.

Yes, I received a Certificate of Honor from the Komsomol. The letter was written by a stranger girl who, like me, is burning with the desire to be in the very fire of war. I told her everything.

There were so many invitations to the evening yesterday (Katyushniki, commander 711, Trunichev, reconnaissance guys, 120th battery and many, many), but I decided to reject everything, go to Nikolai’s for the evening, although I knew that I would spend it more modestly.

I’m sitting with the artillery major, I like him as a person, modest, kind. And Nikolai Sh. is just a child, he immediately fell madly in love with me and was already delirious in his sleep as a lieutenant, the head of artillery reconnaissance. The first time I played so cruelly on the nerves of these two guys Nikolaev and some others, the first time I was so haunted by the guys’ explanations and duels on this basis and where? On the front line.

Yesterday evening the Katyushniks arrived, I got there a short distance, jumped out of the cab and ran away, crying for a long time. I walked 15 kilometers, came to the front line, got lost because I couldn’t see anything, walked by touch and cried. Why? I don’t like this life on the road, because at the front we have to work like a front line, there’s less attention to extraneous things, but what about us now?

I cried heartily all the way, because it was hard for me, I was alone at night, only bullets were whistling, fires were burning. She came, went to bed and slept until 2 the next day.

I wrote letters last night and today, told Nikolai F. I received them from tanker Lukyanenko and from some other tankers. Everyone knows me and reminds me of my cheerful laughter with the song “The Germans stomped, their uniforms were darned” and they look at my photo in “Crocodile”, I didn’t see it. My photos from newspapers and magazines are either carried by guys in tablets or hung on the walls. It seems there are more who respect me than hate me.

Having learned about my departure, I went to spend the night with Nikolai, but not because I was sorry to part with him, but because I needed something: a cape, a book and another watch, but I didn’t take the watch. The girls are not at home. 10 people in different divisions. We are leaving for the 203rd reserve regiment. Now again there is no one, single. Handsome Nikolai Borovik will not be seen again - he is fighting southwest of Naumistis.

So we came to the rear of the division and spent the night in a training company. We settled in well, but the connections are higher than the People's Commissariat.

I met the general's retinue, had dinner, and the mood was devilish, the accordion was playing, just like in apartments. Still, a little closer to the rear, but it’s completely different, everything is like the rear, how good. Still, the girl is received well everywhere: “Here, to us...”. Oh, God, how boring, somehow boring, boring, how can I explain it? Still, no matter how there are friends, and with them it’s more fun, nice around, I wanted to run to the guys, and to Nikolai Ilchenko or Borovik, more to Shevchenko, well, I would go to Fedorov, no, perhaps not yet.

We settled in reserve 203, not bad, we are resting.

For the first time I saw German Frau, I didn’t like them.

Yesterday there was dancing, I don’t dance well, but I was inspired by concerns about K’s fashion. They wanted to go to the jalopies. Vovka came - it’s impossible, they didn’t let him in, there was surveillance and more because of jealousy.

As we were leaving the bathhouse, we remembered how our girls were kidnapped by the Fritz. Dusya Kekesheva is an eyewitness to everything. She herself escaped, Shambarova pretended to be killed, but are the two still alive somewhere? In the hands of executioners. Now it’s up to the Germans to take revenge, but I no longer have a heart. I'm cool about everything.

“Dear Rose, on the night of November 30, 1944, I had the following dream: “It was June 1947. It was a beautiful sunny day. The capital of the Soviet Union, Moscow, lived its former noisy life. Two years have passed since the end of the war. The participants in the battles returned to their native lands. The doors of universities, technical colleges, and institutes opened before them. How these people have changed over two years of peaceful life. Today it is especially noisy on the streets of Moscow - Sunday. Along the street. Two girls were walking towards Gorky. They both had a package in their hands. It was noticeable that they were in a hurry somewhere. Having reached the white house, they stopped at the entrance. A few minutes later a third girl came out of the entrance. A smile shone on her lips. A few seconds had not passed before the trio continued their march further. A discussion ensued between them. They accompanied their words with gestures. Neither of them wanted to give in to the other. Finally the argument stopped. Tired of the heat, they slowed down. There was silence. A couple was walking towards them. The girls' eyes instantly turned to this couple. A slender young man in military uniform was elegantly dressed. A child was wrapped in a light blanket in his arms. A slender brunette girl walked next to him. They were chatting merrily about something. Looking at them, one could conclude that they are happy. The young man fixed his gaze on the three girls. Their eyes crossed. Instantly, everyone’s front-line life flashed before their eyes. Their friendship is snipers and Katyushnikovs.

When they reached each other, they did not stop. They just nodded their heads in greeting. Two years of peaceful life changed these people dramatically. It was difficult to recognize them. The girls study at the institute, and the young man studies at the academy and has a wife and son. This was the first meeting in two years after the war. Over the course of two years, the relationship between them changed. And once they were great friends. So why didn’t this young man and these three girls stop when they met, didn’t remember the difficult time - the war, when they shared all the burdens and hardships together. Now they are far from it. Apparently, the young man considered it low for himself to admit that he was a friend in front of his companion. The three girls continued on their way, but in silence. If you had looked closely at their faces, you would have easily noticed that one of them was particularly gloomy. Apparently, she was hurt by this meeting. This is how good front-line friendship ends.”

Rozka, if we remain alive and well, but scatter to different lands, I ask you - do not forget Kalyushka and me, our brave wandering troika.”

A. Ekimova

Describing this dream, Sasha Ekimova read my diary. She ruined the mood for me and myself. Yes, she was now, more than ever, very dear to me, because, no matter what you say, we shared everything a soldier had with her - both grief and joy. There is no such thing as a person without sins, I do not blame her for the negative trait that I noted. Mood! Creepy.

Again at the editorial office, since it is still 7 km from it. We wanted to leave, but we couldn’t until tomorrow. Music! The best things are broadcast on the radio. I wrote from the bottom of my heart to Agnia Butorina that I don’t dream of meeting anyone, because every minute brings news.

Actually, my future is not defined, there are many options: 1) to college; 2) perhaps the first one will not succeed, then - a statesman, I will devote myself entirely to raising orphans, this is my specialty. With the second, I will learn something more and improve my level comprehensively. In general, I didn’t define the future, I didn’t think much about it, I just got crazy.

I wanted to study communications, Morse code, etc. here, since the courses are behind the wall for signalmen, but we are leaving. I want to have many different specialties, although not to work, but just to know how to help out with a fireman. Well, I’m done dreaming, I’m tired of it today.

Oh, God, how bored I became, I came to the OVS warehouse, and while waiting, I remembered everything. The main thing: before my eyes there are two pictures:

1) Pavel Blokhin is lying in a dugout in the 36th regiment of the 338th division near Vitebsk with a pipe in his hands, shouting on the phone: “Oh, you’re such a motherfucker.” I'm sitting next to him, hung up and smiles at me.

2) Nikolai Solomatin and I are running over the Neman through the forest, along the slope of the bank, through the bushes, we run quickly. I felt it: there was no scarf on my head, green, camouflage. It's a hot sunny day. I run further. Nikolai looked, it was hard to climb, there was a steep cliff, he took my hand, helped me climb, kissed me deeply, and we ran on. She tied her behind a bush, tore her camouflage coat, asked for a needle, sewed up her trousers, and we ran on. We came out to the high, high bank of the Neman - a field on the left, a forest far away, a river on the right, and beyond the river - meadows and forest. We walked quietly, looked at each other, suddenly a machine gun started firing on the left - it was a Fritz. We quickly jumped under the bank into the bushes and walked through the bushes.

I remember, at night, I walked with Nikolai to some village, to meet a German. We walked through the forest all night, the Lithuanian led. We walked around the entire forest along the stream, came out to a high mountain, there was an estate. We lay down to rest under the bushes on a raincoat, then got up, warmed up the coffee, cooked soup, ate... then I don’t even remember which direction I was going, I remembered: a fierce battle was fought for the village, but I don’t remember the rest.

I remember the big march, the rain, I didn’t even have a vest, I was soaked to the skin. He brought his cloth uniform to wear, but I didn’t take it, I only took the cape. We got wet at night and ended up in a puddle, it was so rainy. We spent the night with him in the britzka. I liked him so much, I sing a song: “Where have you been all year, where are you, where are you, where the war has taken you…”.

Boredom, the accordion is playing in the workshop, oh, how hard it is, do I want to go there now? Forward! Where the fiercest battle is, I don’t want anything else. Why can't this be done, huh? Oh, how irresponsible these bosses are! I'm finishing writing.

I lost Sh. Nikolai's address. Oh, how I worry, the one whose image still warmed me has mechanically dropped out. His hat often reminds me of him. A good day. Oh, how hard it is, it’s a pity for me to lose the addressee N.Sh. The music is wonderful, my heart skips a beat remembering everything. I’m tearing up a letter that I wrote to him and couldn’t send without knowing the address. My heart asks for affection, the guys I know and respect are no longer even on the horizon.

I’m sitting with Captain Sokol, again hoping to get into the 338th infantry division, although today, against my will, the battalion commander and company commanders were deployed, since I was annoying with this question.

The major, the captain, the battalion commander, and Major Lyapenko were with him. Sasha and I generally have an indifferent relationship with them. We sat from 6 to 11 o'clock and missed the dancing. They left us to spend the night, but did not stay, as it would have been ugly, and today they repented - it was the last evening. They played good music and waved to each other, didn’t even say goodbye, there were a lot of bosses there.

Today we walked 20 km, mud, wind and snow, we met the Katyushnikov soldiers, we went to them for the night, although the platoon commander did not allow it. But there is no food there, no overnight stay. Sashka and Kalya went to the NP to visit Vovka, and I stayed with them. What humble guys.

God! Can't you help me figure this out? Everything is so mixed up, oh my God!

I wrote 30 letters to all ends, both business and simple. Today I didn't sleep the whole night. Only in the evening, then I woke up, changed my mind about life, about all the girls, about justice.

You would know that throughout my entire front-line life there was not a moment when I did not long for battle, I want a hot battle, I want to go along with the soldiers. I regret why I’m not a boy now, no one would pay attention to me, no one would feel sorry for me, I would fight with all my heart. Now a question has arisen: I said: “I want to go on the offensive,” Kalya and Eva, who know my nature, believed, and everyone else: “Don’t make a mistake.” And Eva proved to the girls that she had heard from the soldiers how I personally lay under German tanks, and that she completely believed me, because then it was also voluntary.

I would give everything to go on the offensive with the soldiers now. Oh gods, why do I have such a mysterious nature? I just can't understand. I'm thirsty, thirsty for a fight, a hot fight. I’ll give everything and my life just to satisfy this whim, it torments me, I can’t sleep peacefully.

I'll write about the platoon. Alkimova says - I don’t believe that Rosa destroyed so many Krauts, they attributed it.

It turned out like this. In defense, sometimes you shoot a lot at targets, but it’s a dark matter whether he’s killed or not. It’s sane to think about it, I always hit the target accurately and I also hit a standing Fritz more often than miss, and in most cases I shoot at standing people and pedestrians, it’s difficult at defectors, just to scare them. Sometimes they don’t write at all, and sometimes they write at random, sometimes in vain, but on my account there is not a single killed Kraut, false. If they wrote it in vain one time, they killed it another time, but they didn’t write it down when necessary.

I remember I was on the offensive, I can say it from the heart, sincerely. She fought off counterattacks. I spent 70 rounds each. In that attack, shooting at tanks, 9 killed everyone. One of them with the driver went back, ran away, and they were hit and wounded only by the soldiers’ bullets, or something, from a Berdanka, which was covered in mud, had not been sighted for a year and was not firing accurately. And I hit from 50 to 7 meters at point-blank range. Then I boldly killed and wounded at least 20. During the offensive, we often had to shoot at close ranges and were sure not to miss.

I remember the last counterattack: the bullets hit the helmet. One head is visible, and the tracers did not penetrate it beyond 100 meters. We walked towards the sky, the ricochet was clearly visible. That’s when the guys made sure of the accuracy of my shooting, i.e. I was the only one with a weapon, and five of them watched and said: “Well done.” She hit a Fritz full-length at a distance of 20 m and clearly killed at least 15, even more. For two successful hunts - 35 Krauts. Because the sniper shoots accurately.

And in defense I often worked 50 meters away, both at Fritz’s full height and across my chest. 57 Krauts destroyed, and not a single one attributed. Let them say, I know, and that’s all Sasha Emelyanova. There is no such thing as a person without negative traits, I don’t blame her, that’s how she was raised. She got used to it: me and no one else. She has already become a little different. I got used to her, I became attached to her and Kale. I'm bored without them. I respect them more than anyone else in the platoon; after all, it’s easier to live with friends. All three of us are from different families, we each received one year of college, and we all have slightly different characters, different backgrounds, foundations, but we roughly have something in common, we are close friends.

Kaleria Petrova is also my friend. Good girl. She has no egoism at all and is brave, thinks very sensibly, understands all issues well, has a golden memory, but a little lazy. Sasha, me and Kalya are our wandering friendly trio.

All the girls are more or less nice, there are no beauties and no ugly girls. I like Sasha and Masha the most, they are not beautiful, but attractive. Only Nyuska is kind of old-fashioned. Lelya is 22 years old and Nyusya is 23 years old, the rest are 24-25 years old. Here is our department. I’ve been writing all day, I’m tired, I’ll finish it later. I wrote all the letters in the diary, and on my knees, I propped up the wall and wrote, and my back and arm were tired.

I went to the bathhouse, shot my rifle and the platoon shot it, and the whole day passed.

I wrote a letter to Comrade Stalin to transfer me to the battalion, I want to go on the offensive.

Oh, God, our Fritz is starting to smoke. From 277 s.d. They dragged away the battalion commander and his deputies - these are the tongues. In the penal battalion there is a regimental commander. A sniper, if they take him away, he’s got a good tongue, we know all armies, not just divisions, and we can find him anywhere. And yet Nesterova and Tonailova did not say anything when the Krauts tortured them - well done, although they were called help. I saw their photos in a German newspaper, only old ones, from Red Army books. I finish and go to bed.

Yes, I remember my beloved Arkhangelsk, foreign sailors, the import club, the interclub, the Dynamo stadium, the Bolshoi Theater, the Edison cinema, Ars, Pobeda - these are all the cultural entertainment centers before my eyes. Zina Andreeva from Almaty, Tosya Kot. from Kubyshev, Anya K. from TASSR, Tamara Alkh. and Kalya from Moscow, Taganka and Kropotkinskaya. The rest are Sverdlovsk, Molotovsk - Ural, Arkhangelsk, Siberia - Omsk Masha Rozhkova. I'm cumming.

Everything is fine. In the evening I went to listen to the gramophone with the major, the head of the operations department. The records are sad: “An hour and an hour”, “Coachman” and others, some kind of sadness overcame me. At first I held back, but then I couldn’t. He teased some more. I burst into tears, I cried so much and this record “An hour to an hour”, started it 10 times. Again I wrote a letter to Comrade Stalin.

Guys from neighboring places write delicate letters, explain themselves with confessions, ask to visit, but I decided - nowhere. I write to everyone: “I can’t,” delicately explaining that I’m not the same, that’s all. They don’t pay attention to them, and when I leave, the platoon commander will say: “Heroine, etc., it’s better not to get involved.” I’m sitting, sad, and I haven’t seen the guys for a long, long time, although we live nearby - 3 km. I write short letters home with photos and postcards, but often, often.

There was a gathering of women of the division. Evening, the day before yesterday. They talked a lot about me, a good example. Our snipers gave a good concert, entertainer Zoya Mikhailova. On the 12th I was wounded. It’s amazing: I had a dream, I dreamed that I was being wounded. Then I was sitting in the position behind the optics, I remembered the dream, and it seemed to me as if I was wounded in the right shoulder. Less than 5 minutes had passed when a Fritz sniper’s bullet hit me exactly in the place where I saw the wound. At the same time, I didn’t feel much pain; my entire shoulder was covered. They bandaged me, and without demanding courtship, I went home alone, I didn’t want to go to the medical battalion, they forced me. It was painful during the operation, I wanted to go home, they didn’t let me into the unit, they cut everything up. It seems that the wound is trivial - two holes, but they cut it - it won’t heal even in a month.

Now I’m in the hospital, my joint hurts, my whole shoulder hurts, but not particularly. I think I’ll run away, I don’t know what will happen next. I liked one nurse, and a woman doctor, a major, but here everyone is ignorant. There was an invitation from the sniper guys to their evening, but, alas, I’m being treated, I’m not at home, they’ll come for mine.

Every day I see my friends in my dreams: Sasha and Kalya. How I miss them. I receive a lot of letters, girls bring them (from Karshinov, Borovik, Rumyantsev). Everyone rushes into love. I write good letters from the bottom of my heart to Vanya alone. Nice guy, Staff Sergeant. I get it from the girls, we studied together, and they congratulate us on our success.

Now I came from the movie “Lermontov”. What a great impression it made on me. Lermontov's character is mine. I decided, following his example, to do it not as it was necessary for someone else, but as I liked. His silhouette on the iron bridge, the rider will remain in my memory, I also want to be the first somewhere. Now no one will convince me, and if I feel bad, I can also resolve the issue at any moment, because I don’t want my life at all, but I just exist. So, let me light a cigarette so that not only some, but many people know. Oh, how I like Lermontov’s character.

In the army rest house. Yes, I want something, not to distinguish myself, to satisfy some kind of gravity that torments me. I'm still in the same mood. Willys brought me here, some major was on his way, and they put me in prison. The driver, it turns out, lived next to me in Arkhangelsk, he promised to give me a sniper badge, which he was given by mistake. He's a tanker. Here... my portrait from the magazine “Front-line Humor” dated November 7, 1944. Oh, God, how boring. We settled in well. Now I will read the book “Sister Carrie”.

When life is good, you don’t want to write.

I was in a rest home, read “Sister Carrie”, “Bagration”. Good book. “Oh, Kerry, Kerry! Oh, blind dreams of the human heart, forward and forward - it repeats, striving to where its beauty leads.” You read and think that Dreiser Theodor or Bagration refers to you, that glory means either splitting your own skull in the name of your homeland, or crushing someone else’s. What glory! I will do so, by God. I saw a lot of films: “In Old Chicago”, “Wait for Me”, etc. “Submarine No. 9” made a better impression, which I thought about a little, but I won’t say that those were so-so good.

Now I’m sitting at Nikolai F. I’ve already come in and I think it’s the last time, because I’m not drawn here. Yes, it’s been a month since I visited him and after that I haven’t even talked to anyone. We have drawn up a document for the 1st degree of Glory award.

Yesterday a nice guy came up to me: “Let me kiss you, I haven’t kissed a girl for 4 years,” and he asked so convincingly that I got emotional, and he’s really nice, not nasty, nice, to hell with you, kiss him, just once, but I almost cried myself. Why? Out of pity.

“Love is persistent, it gives beauty where none is found, and forges chains that no spell can break.” (“Heart of a Princess”).

“Oh, passions, passions! Oh, the blind dreams of the human heart. Forward and forward, it repeats, striving to where its beauty leads. (“Sister Carrie.” Theodore Dreiser).

“Glory is either splitting your own skull in the name of your homeland, or crushing someone else’s...” (Bagration).

“Should I restrain my will in laws? The law makes the one who would soar like an eagle crawl like a snail.” (“The story of my life.” Words of the rebels).

My lovely

You write letters to me with resentment, saying that I forgot you,

But you understand, I’m at war, my beloved.

There are so many things I can’t count, they are waiting for letters from me,

There is one in Omsk, and there is one in Tomsk, my favorite.

And my lawful wife has been waiting for me for a long time,

I am destined to forget you, my beloved.

You write to me that there is already a daughter who looks like me,

So let it grow, because I’m not averse to it, my beloved.

Where is the father of the little one who asks you?

Say then: “He is at the front, my beloved.”

Forgive me for that joke, it’s all because of the war,

And don’t wait for me anymore, my beloved.

Although I am very proud of you, my family is waiting for me,

I will never return to you, my beloved.

***

It's midnight outside, the candle is burning out,

High stars are visible.

You write a letter to me, my dear,

To the blazing address of war.

How long have you been writing, my dear,

Having finished, you will begin again,

But, I'm sure, to the leading edge

Great love will break through.

It's been a long time since we left home, the lights of our rooms

Wars are not visible behind the smoke.

But the one who is loved and the one who is remembered

Who is at home and in the smoke of war.

Warmer at the front from affectionate letters,

Reading behind every line,

You see your beloved and hear your homeland,

We'll be back soon, I know and believe

And such a time will come,

Sadness and separation will remain at the door,

Only joy will enter the house.

And some evening with you,

To the shoulder, pressing against the shoulder,

We will sit down and the letters are like a chronicle of the battle,

Let's re-read it like a chronicle of feelings.

Beloved

Hello, my love, as before,

I don't want to hurt you,

I am just as affectionate and gentle,

He just became more stern in appearance.

It doesn’t matter that your character has become stronger,

That the language has become a little rough.

War teaches us different laws,

And I got used to its laws.

Here in battles we are not afraid of the cold,

Not the blows of heavy fire,

And just like before, I'm the same as you knew

It's easy to recognize me among everyone.

Under the chant of bullets and the whistling of shells,

I'm going into battle again today,

In that once brand new overcoat,

That we stood, remember, you and I.

Embittered with the enemy with all my heart

I'll go like our hero

To live free again,

We lived happily with you.

In the meantime, my love, believe me,

I have to go, I can already hear a rumble in the distance,

I'm going there towards death

Across the expanses of the fiery land,

And when I return to this battle,

Wait for me, don’t worry in vain,

I will reward you with another greeting,

I'll bring you a hot kiss.

***

If your soul is filled with sadness,

If a fierce battle breaks out,

May you dream, remember

Everything you and I had.

Don't let it cross your mind

That we won't meet again,

All the fun we had

Take it with you on the road

And to the edges, leaving, cursed,

The edges are stained with blood.

Know! Walking through foggy fields

My love is behind you.

Last photo of Rosa Shanina. New Year 1945 at the editorial office of the newspaper “Let’s Destroy the Enemy”

There was no paper, and I hadn’t written for a long time. After the rest home, I went to the general, member of the Military Council Ponomarev, in order to achieve a certain goal - to get to the front line. They were sent to the commander-in-chief of the 5th Army, Colonel General Krylov. With great effort, we agreed to be with him on February 5, he would give me a document so that they would let me go on the offensive. I made sure that the girls were given good uniforms, but they don’t dress well. Ponomarev ordered everything to be done, but now I see that his orders are not carried out particularly, everything is just words. I sat in Ponomarev’s waiting room all day and still managed to get accepted. I was dressed lightly, they gave me a sniper’s coat and escorted me in a jeep to the medical battalion, I’m happy. I only received fur coats, felt boots, and camouflage suits; I was freezing during the ride, but at least I achieved this, otherwise it’s cold in the trenches. The overcoat became short, I grew up over the year, and I don’t like it at all, so I exchanged it for a quilted jacket.

I ended up in 157 with the girls. I don't recognize it! My friends Sashka and Toska got married. Lord, there are four girls left, no, five out of twenty-seven. Yes, in my absence the good girl Tanya Kareva was killed. Her friend Valya L. came from the hospital after being wounded, and here’s a surprise - Tanya is not there, Valya is crying. Valya L. 25, good-looking, with character, pretty, tall blonde, loves horses terribly. She is the best independent girl in the entire platoon. In the past, she graduated from 7th grade, worked in a federal educational institution, and graduated from a federal educational institution.

Well, bye, I'm going to fix my watch. As soon as it gets warmer, I’ll run to the front line in February. For repelling the counterattack (it was hot, she risked her life) she received an award, the medal “For Courage”.

I didn’t sleep all night, I didn’t feel well, I got sick. The German hit hard. Today from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. 30 minutes. Our artillery preparation continued. [Note. The East Prussian operation began on January 13, 1945. The troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front by that time occupied their initial position along the Sudargi-Pilkallen-Goldan-Augustov line.]

The Katyushas were the first to give the signal. They gave pepper to Fritz. Now the situation is still unknown. Suitcase mood. Oh, Lord, there is noise in the dugout, earthly life is flowing, there is smoke, the two-tier bunks have been turned into one. As soon as we finished work, we moved forward again. It was freezing, it was damp in my felt boots, and it was cold in my boots. Everyone takes short fur coats, I’m a northern person, no need, it’s hard to walk.

We started with how Lithuania and Belarus went through. No, because our troops are unlikely to move far, ours took Pilikalyan on the right yesterday, and today they again constrained ours. On the left corner we walked a long way. But gun shots can still be heard. All morning we listened to the roaring cannonade. Katyushas heralded the beginning of great events. Everyone went ahead.

They didn’t leave a cart for our platoon, and when I go to bed, you’ll be without everything. We cannot carry it on ourselves, and so we are placed on foot as a matter of principle. There was no longer enough horse. Well, we are so useless, no one is rooting for us. We didn't have dinner or breakfast. It’s already 12 o’clock, we’ve been sitting.

Yesterday I wrote to Vovka Emelyanov. Congratulated you on your marriage to your friend Sasha Ekimova. And she wrote that our trio (Sasha, me and Kaleria) does not exist. I am leaving it because our interests have diverged and we have nothing to talk about. Sasha also read this. If I lived in a platoon, I would become friends with Valya Lazarenko, but I will soon go to the company. We made an agreement with Valya not to speak the front-line language and not even a single non-literary word. Whoever breaks the agreement gives sugar for half a month to the one who kept it. The girls use obscenities and you can’t argue with them. My Sasha has let go.

S. wrote to Nikolai: “Wherever you are, clear falcon, my cherished love.” I wrote that without him I don’t have a boyfriend, because if I met him now, he wouldn’t deceive me. I became more decisive, and he assured me then that he loved me, but now he has forgotten, and I even found out that he has a wife. I condemned him for flattery and hypocrisy, that he did not love me, I was not offended.

In Valya L.'s album there is a photo of the city of Chelyabinsk. A pretty young blonde, her father almost kicked her out of the house. She and I are the same, only I am less interesting, and she is more, but she is less educated. She envies me for this. “Love is persistent, it gives beauty where none is found, and forges chains that no spell can break.” (“Heart of a Princess”). On the second page, she has a boy's haircut, in trousers, a tunic, with a dog, like a boy - this is the front of the 159th SD. 1943 She loves horses terribly, she is enraptured. “To be a cavalryman is not only to love this business, you need to have the soul of a cavalryman,” - Ivan Nikunin. After the war, she dreams of remaining in the cavalry for life.

Then there are six of us standing in Lithuanian costumes, me and them. There were also three of them. Tanya was killed, Luda was wounded, she is now alone. Here they are, Lyuda and Tanya with Lyuda’s father, in Valya’s album. Here is a postcard - a beauty from a horse, I gave it to her even before she was wounded. Valya was also wounded, we left the hospital together. I wrote: “In memory of the front days of 10/24/44. Remember the march.”

They just entered East Prussia. What was our life based on, front-line girls? I concluded - there is no truth, there is lies and hypocrisy. Remember the look at us... Eh, girls, where can we go, where is the truth? She wasn’t there, even when I went forward with the fighters, and they lied to me that I behaved badly with the guys. Next - “Die, but don’t give a kiss without love.” Chernyshevsky. Here is her essay. While away the hard days. Days of separation from family. Yours.

I remember the past with longing,

Dissatisfied with her fate.

I stood out from everyone in my family

Curiosity and secret thoughts.

About races, about raids, and I'm on a horse,

And my horse is so wild and playful.

Oh, you horse, you black horse,

With a golden silk mane,

There was one zealous joy to me.

How nice it is to drive in the silence of the night,

On you, constant comrade,

Under fragments of mines and shells together

Flash among storms and fires.

If you knew, my friend, how much I believe in you,

I loved you alone.

If only I knew and could speak,

I would talk to you alone.

Now on a hospital bed (hospital)

I can't forget you

Lonely, secretly, my beloved.

I'm constantly sad for you,

Don't be jealous of me, my handsome one.

I love you alone so much

Yes, I confess to you that it’s a little

Sometimes I feel sad for Genka,

I miss him, he doesn't love me

I will share this grief with you,

He probably loves someone else.

He tells her: “I only love one.”

He told me too: “I won’t forget.”

But that couldn't happen for long

He is ready to forget forever.

I don't care - I'll forget everything

And about Genka, about the first caress.

And I will return to you, my comrade,

And I will caress you in...

E.G 3049, Kaunas, 11.12. It's frosty outside. The cannonade does not subside, getting closer and closer, on the right flank. Our orders are to leave for Eidkunen. We ate a little and brought sausages and bread. Our artillery preparation.

After that we stayed in the village of Eidkunen, in the rear of the division. The next morning everyone is going to the bathhouse, and I put on a new camouflage coat, kissed everyone, and now I’m in the rear near the headquarters of the 144th infantry division, in an hour I’ll be at the front, I’ve covered 20 km in the morning. Nikolai B. I wrote a good letter, there is no need to quarrel, maybe they will kill me.

The first night I spent the night with the general, he was received brilliantly by all the workers. I'll leave tomorrow and go look for the regiment. I met Kasimov, didn’t confess, and he didn’t recognize me.

I met self-propelled gunners who went on the attack in tanks. I was in a tank. One was shot down and there were seriously wounded. Major Tubanov died, Sasha Ekimova’s former acquaintance, who was awarded 8 times, everyone felt sorry for him.

In the evening I went to Borovik and was completely frozen. I got to Borovik’s dugout, not so much glad to see him as to be glad to see a warm dugout. It’s very cold, the smoke hurts my eyes because I’m not used to it, I can’t breathe in this fumes. I fell asleep like the dead.

Again, the general did not allow me to stay on the front line. I went to the 216th rifle regiment, reported, they accepted me, but they looked at me suspiciously and had a hard time believing that they let me go to the front line. The regiment commander won't let me in.

I finally became convinced that I was incapable of love. What a thrill arose in my heart when I first saw Nikolai B. Today I again found flaws. It's war, but my heart doesn't make any concessions. Nikolai did not have a strap on his overcoat, the shoulder strap was torn off, etc. I found him a slob, and the feeling of disgust drowned out love. He already disgusts me. He went into battle, and now he was seriously wounded, it’s a pity, what a war and that’s all.

The platoon has already been informed that I am wounded, and they are not looking for me there. But I went to the regiment without Donets’ permission*. How to explain? [Note. General Donets - commander of the 144th infantry division]

The wind outside is unbearable, the blizzard raises not only snow, but also dirt. The ground is gray, my robe already reveals me, although dirty, it is too white. Today I haven’t had a snack all day, the tank smoke gives me a headache. I’m not a caterer anywhere, since I don’t have a certificate, and I’m not registered anywhere yet. Those days I was half hungry, today I am hungry. I’m not being impudent, I’ll go hungry someday, there’s not much left.

They accept me as a noble sniper, and that’s the only reason, it seems, they accepted me. But it seems to everyone that I came to this division only because there is a guy here. The regiment commander even asked a question. I decided not to love anyone, I will still be disappointed. I came, I don’t know a single soul. I endure dirt, cold, hunger. Everyone advises (who know - tankers, general) to return to the platoon rather than endure such a war: shelling, roar, the minute-by-minute destruction of my life.

Under fire very often. The 785th regiment was also on the front line in the infantry. from commander Kasimov. Even in my presence, the girls were given underwear, fur coats, and felt boots. How beautiful and warm.

They attached the 157th infantry division to the rear. to a platoon of drivers for security, ride in cabs, see loved ones, it’s warm, light and satisfying. I want this too. But some unknown force is pulling me to the front line. Oh, passions, passions, oh, blind dreams of the human heart. Go-go! - it repeats, striving to where its beauty leads. I am humble to my heart. I like adventures, explosions, and it’s especially interesting to fight off counterattacks. Come what may, for everything, forward - the last irrevocable forward! But I want to eat, I’ve lost weight in these 3 days, I can feel it myself.

That evening, how many victims there were, we went forward again, we advanced only 10 km in 5 days. 1st Belorussian in 3 days - 60 km in depth 120 km along the front. I sat and thought, I’ll write again. Should I keep my will in laws? The law forces the one who would soar like an eagle to crawl like a snail.

I'm covered in glory. Recently, in the army newspaper “Let’s Destroy the Enemy” it was written: “Shanina, who distinguished herself during an enemy counterattack, is awarded the medal “For Courage” - this is a notable sniper of our unit.” In the Moscow magazine "Ogonyok" my portrait is on the first page, I destroyed 54, captured three Germans, two Orders of Glory - this is before. I can imagine: the whole country is reading, all my friends, and who would know what I am experiencing at this moment.

Recently, Ilya Erenburg wrote to me in a newspaper from our army, thanking Starostenko, the captain, battalion commander, who was the first to enter German territory, the same Yurgin and me, as a noble sniper. “I thank her 57 times in a row, she saved thousands of Soviet people.” And I thought to myself - is this glory? Glory is splitting your own skull in the name of the Motherland or crushing someone else’s - that’s glory (says Bagration), but is this just chatter for those in the rear, but in reality, what have I done? No more than she was obliged, as a Soviet person, to defend the Motherland. Today I agree to go on the attack, even hand-to-hand, there is no fear, I am sick of my life, I am glad to die in the name of the Motherland: how good it is that there is this opportunity, otherwise I would have to die disgustingly. How many warriors are dying!

I got up, didn’t have to have breakfast, the big bosses came. She joined the battalion. She went on the offensive with the infantry in the front ranks. We moved forward and did not report to the rear, so our Katyusha hit us and the violinist (heavy mortar - ed.), oh, and there was a mess! This was the first time I experienced so much artillery fire. The first time I experienced machine-gun fire was on July 19 across the Neman with Solomatin. And now? Today seemed like a month to me. People were being beaten and torn into pieces nearby. She bandaged the wounded and moved forward. The three of us broke into the house and completed the task. But the route of our division changed, they took a left, and the work turned out to be useless.

371 SD easily entered. behind us. You can't go any further. Fritz fires with all types of weapons. In the ravine behind the house, 100 meters away, enemy self-propelled guns stood and fired machine guns and shells. A Fritz looked out of the hatch, and I took off from the house, and there was no more good target all day.

Frost, hunger. I went to my unit. Some guys throw nasty compliments at me. Swearing everywhere. How tired I am. I went to look for my people. I ran into some friends and went to look for the regiment. I came across the division command post and settled down to spend the night. It's cold, I ate a little. I took trophies from the house, this album with paper in which I want to copy everything. So heavy! I see that I bring little benefit as a sniper: perhaps there will be moments, but death threatens. From our 2nd battalion there are 6 out of 78 left. I miss the girls, I live much worse than them.

I've been sitting and crying for three hours now. The time is 12 pm. Who needs me? What good am I? I'm not helping you with anything. Nobody needs my experiences. It looks like there are too many sympathizers, but no one will volunteer to help with anything. I don't know what to do next? I often hear nasty things. Why do I endure such unnecessary torment? Everyone shouts obscenities, swearing, I don’t speak to anyone. Suddenly he asks: “Your last name is Shanina?” I do not respond. It turned out that Blokhin’s best friend is Pavel, I knew him well. Now I don’t recognize it. What a pleasant meeting. Head of Intelligence of the 785th Rifle Division He says: “They told me why Shanina received the order,” I confess to Klava and I hear all the bad reviews. Yes, I really liked Junior Lieutenant Nikolai, who was attentive to me.

Captain Tishin.

Captain Stepanenko Vovka.

Captain Blokhin Pavel.

Senior Sergeant Panarin Mishka 2.

Senior Lieutenant Solomatin Nikolai.

Senior Lieutenant Nikolai, artilleryman of the 184th rifle division. 97 p. 1 b-n.

Major Osmak 3-4.

Lieutenant Ladyson Vovka 3.

Colonel Khorapov 3.

Captain Fedorov Nikolai.

Senior Lieutenant Borovik.

I haven't written anything for a long time. There was absolutely no time. I went to reconnaissance of regiment 785. The guys were wonderful, they received me well, but the commander began to pester me. regimental headquarters, I couldn’t bear to scold him, after that I stayed for two days and left: it was impossible anymore, the persecution intensified.

During these two days there was no time to breathe. There were terrible battles. The Germans planted and armed full trenches of infantry - they defended themselves staunchly. Ours drove through the trenches and stopped on an estate 150-200 m from the trenches. The Fritz fired at us as ours drove by. It was a real meat grinder. How many times did our troops put troops on self-propelled guns and bring them to that estate, 1-2 and no one, the rest were mowed down by fire. I rode in a self-propelled gun, but I couldn’t shoot, I couldn’t lean out of the hatch, I was wounded and killed. She walked up the hollow, crawled out and shot at the Krauts running away from the trench.

By the evening of the 22nd, they kicked everyone out, occupied the estate, and found an anti-tank ditch. I’m walking, the infantry is lying down, they’re afraid to go further. Two penalty scouts are coming. I went with them, and as a result, the three of us were the first to occupy the next estate, and everyone behind us went on the attack and began to chase on the heels of the fleeing Fritz. I, like everyone else, shot. But it turned out that these fines are neighbors on the left, 63 s.d. The commanders of the 63rd SD, seeing me, shout to the soldiers: “Take an example from this girl, learn from her.” They left me with them, but I went to look for my people. I run and shout to the soldiers on the right: “What division?” And I hear the soldiers shouting from behind: “Halt.” And to my left, from behind the bushes, two Fritzes stand up and walk towards ours with their hands raised, 4 meters from me.

I met divisional scouts. They sheltered me and said: “You will be with us.” And they walked forward as guides to the west. They took away 14 people who got lost. Fritz, let's march already. Fritz runs without looking back and suddenly ordered: back and to the right. We are driving in cars, columns are moving, we are going to the city of Shlisselburg. We passed the city, let's move on. Here the Germans abandoned everything: cows and everything, and fled into the forest. The village is being shelled. Meet Frau. Lots of Lithuanians. And we have the technology! God, the whole army is moving, swearing that they don’t follow the traffic rules.

A large iron bridge across the river, a beautiful highway, high above the meadows. Trees were cut down near the bridge - they did not have time to make a blockage. The houses are luxurious, made of stone, with luxurious furnishings everywhere: a piano, dressing table, silk, plush, tulle curtains, luxurious armchairs and all the furniture. The scouts have no time for me, they are busy with work and have no place to sleep. They left.

I was in the division. Vadim, son of colonel early. headquarters, lieutenant.

He doesn’t do anything, he’s a mummy’s boy and he’s so harmful.

March again at night, now it’s dark, soon dawn, I’m sitting by the fire and writing. How bad is it when there is no boss over me? It’s good that no one will give orders, but bad that no one will tell me what to do? I can't find satisfaction for my heart. Nobody needs me.

The end of Rose's diary.