What was an important event in 1943. See what "1943" is in other dictionaries. Liberation of Moldova, Romania, Slovakia
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Developed by the editors of the publication "Science. Society. Defense" in order to cover the events of 1943 during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, information support for the preparation and holding of other patriotic events related to the 75th anniversary of the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad, the Battle of Kursk, air battles in the Kuban, the battle for the Dnieper, the end of the battle for the Caucasus, the foundation of the Suvorov military and Nakhimov naval schools, the Tehran Conference, the establishment of the European Advisory Commission, other events of the Great Patriotic and World War II.
By the second half of November 1942, the situation in the USSR remained difficult. The enemy stood at Voronezh, Stalingrad and the foothills of the Caucasus, captured the most important economic regions of the country, was located 150-200 km from Moscow, blockaded Leningrad. length front reached 6200 km. The second front was not opened, which allowed the German command to transfer about 80 divisions to the East during the summer and autumn of 1942.
As a result, the Soviet troops were opposed by 258 divisions and 16 brigades (over 6.2 million people, about 52 thousand guns and mortars, more than 5 thousand tanks and assault guns, 3.5 thousand combat aircraft and up to 200 warships ). Soviet active army and navy counted approx. 6 million people, 78 thousand guns and mortars, 7 thousand tanks, more than 3.2 thousand combat aircraft; fleets - 440 thousand people, St. 300 warships and 757 aircraft. In the Baltic and Black Sea theaters of war Soviet fleets outnumbered the enemy, but the latter had a great advantage in basing and air supremacy. In the Barents and Norwegian Seas, the German fleet had a significant overall superiority.
The main tasks that faced the Soviet Union in the second period of the war (November 19, 1942 - the end of 1943) were: seizing the strategic initiative and creating a turning point in the war, liberating Soviet territory, the political struggle for the opening of a second front, the activation of anti-fascist forces around the world. This period included winter campaign 1942/43, summer-autumn campaign 1943 and operational-strategic pause (1.4 - 30.6.1943).
By the autumn of 1942, due to the growth of technical equipment Red Army and fleet, on the basis of a generalization of the experience of the war, their organization was also improved. A single staff of a rifle division was established, the formation of tank and mechanized corps and tank armies of mixed composition began according to the new staff. Artillery divisions were created RVGK, guards heavy mortar divisions, anti-aircraft artillery divisions. The formation of air armies was completed. AT Navy increased the number of aircraft, torpedo boats, patrol ships, means of coastal defense and air defense. Improved structure Air Defense Forces of the country. The task of creating strategic reserves was successfully solved. undergone a radical reorganization engineering troops and Signal Corps. New guidelines were put into effect.
One of historical stages on the way to victory Soviet Union above Nazi Germany came Battle of Stalingrad 1942–43, the victory in which marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War and the entire Second World War. The strategic initiative passed to the Soviet Armed Forces. This victory was of great international significance: thanks to it, the struggle of the peoples of Europe against the invaders intensified, Turkey and Japan abandoned their original intention to oppose the USSR, and the anti-Hitler coalition strengthened.
In January 1943, the Red Army went on the offensive in the North Caucasus and advanced 500-600 km, liberating most of this region (see. Battle for the Caucasus 1942–43). In January-February, having defeated the Italian-German-Hungarian grouping on the Upper Don, the formations of Soviet troops pursued the retreating enemy in the Donbass. At the same time, their communications turned out to be excessively stretched, they broke away from the supply bases, which was not taken into account in the Voronezh-Kharkov direction, where the Red Army offensive was developing in order to reach the Dnieper. As a result, having gained superiority in forces and undertaking successive counteroffensives in these directions, the enemy again captured Kharkov and Belgorod.
At the cost of heavy losses, Soviet troops stopped the enemy. With approach reserves The stakes of the front stabilized, forming the southern face of the Kursk salient. By February 1943, part of the troops that had taken part in the liquidation of the enemy group near Stalingrad had arrived in the area northwest of Kursk. In the second half of March, an offensive began in the direction of Bryansk, covering the right flank of the central German grouping. As a result, the northern face of the Kursk Bulge was formed. Active military operations were also carried out in other directions. In the period from 12 to 18 January was carried out breaking the blockade of Leningrad. The enemy was forced to leave the Demyansky bridgehead and the Rzhev-Vyazma ledge. In February - March 1943, the Krasnodar operation was carried out.
To make up for losses, the command Wehrmacht transferred to the East St. 34 divisions, part of the aviation, a significant amount of weapons and military equipment. Active actions of the Soviet Armed Forces made it easier for the Anglo-American troops to advance in North Africa, landing on Sicily and southern Italy.
The operational-strategic pause that came in the spring of 1943 was used by the Soviet command to prepare for the struggle to hold the initiative and complete the radical turning point in the war.
The army received more and more military equipment and weapons. By July 1943, compared with April, the number of guns and mortars increased by almost 23 thousand, tanks and self-propelled guns - by more than 5 thousand, combat aircraft - by more than 4.3 thousand.
The reorganization of the army continued. Rifle troops were transferred to a corps organization, tank armies were created, consisting only of tank and mechanized corps. In the artillery of the RVGK, breakthrough artillery corps and destroyer anti-tank artillery brigades were formed. By the end of 1943, 12 RVGK aviation corps and 15 separate air divisions were additionally created. By summer, there were 8 combined arms, 3 tank and 1 air armies in the strategic reserve. At the same time, formations were created on the territory of the USSR from representatives of the peoples of European countries (see. Foreign military formations).
The enemy by this time still possessed great power. Germany and its allies conducted a total mobilization, sharply increased the output of military products. The vast majority of human and material resources were directed to Soviet-German front. However, the balance of power was already in favor of the USSR.
The German command, seeking to seize the strategic initiative again, decided to conduct a major offensive operation in the summer of 1943 in the area of the Kursk salient. It intended to defeat the Soviet troops here, and then, developing success in the northeast direction, to go deep in the rear of the central grouping of Soviet troops and create a threat to Moscow.
Having information about the impending attack of the enemy, VGK rate in April adopted a preliminary, and in June the final decision on the transition to a deliberate defense on the Kursk salient (see. Battle of Kursk 1943). It was planned to break the enemy tank groups, and then go to counteroffensive and crush him. Further, a general offensive was planned in the western and southwestern strategic directions. From April to June 1943, active military operations were not conducted by ground troops on the Soviet-German front. However, major air battles unfolded on the southern sector of the front (see Fig. Air battles in the Kuban 1943). In May-June there were air operations with the aim of defeating German aviation in the central and southwestern directions, in which the enemy suffered significant losses. As a result, at the beginning of the summer of 1943, objective prerequisites were created for gaining strategic air supremacy.
The main hostilities on the Kursk Bulge began with the enemy offensive on July 5. Stubbornly defending, the Soviet troops stopped the enemy strike groups and on July 12-15 launched a counteroffensive in the Oryol, and on August 3 in the Belgorod-Kharkov direction. As a result, the enemy was thrown back to the west by 140–150 km. Germany's last attempt to seize the strategic initiative in the war against the Soviet Union failed. This victory was of great military and political significance. If a Battle of Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical turning point in the war, the Battle of Kursk was its further development, marked the final collapse of the offensive strategy of the Wehrmacht. The Soviet command retained the strategic initiative and did not let it go until the end of the war.
As a result of the Battle of Kursk, Russian military art was enriched with the experience of organizing a deliberate defense, as well as conducting a major counter-offensive with its advance preparation. As a result of the heavy losses suffered by the fascist German bloc, especially in aviation and tanks, the situation in all other theaters of the Second World War also changed dramatically. Favorable conditions were created for the landing of Anglo-American troops in Italy and its withdrawal from the war.
After the defeat in the Battle of Kursk, the fascist leadership tried to give the war protracted, positional forms. An important role in this was assigned to the boundary along the river. Dnieper, where it was supposed to create an insurmountable defense. Battle for the Dnieper 1943 began in August and consisted of several operations united by the general idea of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. At the end of September, Soviet troops reached the Dnieper on the front from Dnepropetrovsk to Zaporozhye. The offensive was successfully developing in the Gomel, Chernigov, Kiev and Poltava-Kremenchug directions, where from September 21 to 30, Soviet troops reached the Dnieper at a front of 700 km and forced it on the move. In October, the main actions were transferred to the right bank of the Dnieper. On November 6, Soviet troops liberated Kyiv, advanced westward up to 150 km, then repulsed the enemy counteroffensive in the area of Korosten, Zhytomyr and Fastov. On the right bank of the Dnieper, a strategic foothold of St. 500 km along the front. Advancing in the Kirovograd and Kryvyi Rih directions and in Northern Tavria, Soviet troops liquidated the enemy's Zaporozhye bridgehead, liberated Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk and blocked his grouping in the Crimea. An attempt by the Nazis to stabilize the front at the turn of the Dnieper failed.
Soviet troops also successfully advanced in other directions: in October they liberated the Taman Peninsula, reached the Kerch Strait and captured a bridgehead northeast of the city of Kerch; in the western strategic direction (see Smolensk operation 1943) Soviet troops advanced 200-250 km, liberated Smolensk, part of the Kalinin region. and launched the fight for the liberation eastern regions Belarus.
In the second period of the war, the Red Army advanced 500-1300 km during the offensive, crossed the Dnieper, liberated about half of the territory of the USSR occupied by the enemy, defeating 218 divisions. At the same time, the Soviet Armed Forces lost approx. 8.5 million people (Irretrievable losses amounted to approx. 2.5 million, sanitary - approx. 6 million). Losses of military equipment amounted to: approx. 830 thousand units small arms, St. 16 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, more than 20 thousand guns and mortars, 4720 combat aircraft. The struggle in the enemy's rear acquired a huge scale: 24 underground regional, 222 district, county, district, city committees of the party operated, under whose leadership, by the end of 1943, approx. 250 thousand partisans and underground workers; created partisan territories and districts (cf. Partisan movement; Underground).
The victories of the Red Army demonstrated the increased military and economic capabilities of the Soviet Union. At the same time, Germany began to feel a shortage of human and material resources. The fundamental turning point achieved by the USSR in the economic confrontation became the material basis for the radical turning point in the course of hostilities. Economy). The successes of the Soviet Armed Forces and the country's national economy were largely due to the selfless work of the Soviet people, the active work of government authorities, parties, work public organizations, trade unions, Komsomol.
The inevitability of the collapse of the fascist bloc became more and more obvious. In September 1943, Italy capitulated, and many of Germany's remaining allies were looking for a way out of the war. The neutral countries (Turkey, Portugal, Sweden) were finally convinced that they should not bind their fate with Germany. Received further development resistance movement. In Germany, disbelief in the victory of the Reich grew, and the anti-fascist struggle expanded. The actions of the allies of the USSR on other fronts of World War II intensified. At the same time, the absence of a second front in Europe continued to affect the course of the Great Patriotic War.
Soviet foreign policy in the second period of the war was aimed at solving important international problems. At the Moscow Conference in October 1943, a Declaration of four states (USSR, USA, England and China) was drafted on the issue of universal security, the determination was proclaimed to wage war until the unconditional surrender of the countries of the fascist-militarist bloc, to continue after the war joint actions to maintain world peace and to establish an international organization for this purpose.
An important stage in the development of international and inter-allied relations was Tehran Conference 1943. During its implementation, an agreement was reached with our main allies the US and the UK to open second front in May 1944, the USSR declared its readiness to fulfill its allied obligations and enter the war with Japan after the defeat of Germany.
Anti-Hitler coalition increased from 26 to 33 states.
Despite major military successes and changes in the general strategic situation on the Soviet-German front in the second period of the war, the enemy was still strong. A significant part of the territory of the USSR remained under occupation.
November 1, 1943. 863rd day of the war
November 2, 1943. 864th day of the war
November 3, 1943. 865th day of the war
The Kyiv offensive troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which lasted until November 13, 1943 (see map - Kyiv offensive and defensive operations of 1943 (112 KB)) .
On the morning of November 3, the 38th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched an offensive against Kyiv from the Lyutezh bridgehead. The Soviet units broke through the first position of the enemy's defense and slowly continued to move forward. fighting were carried out mainly in the forests, which stretch for many kilometers near Kyiv. The enemy offered strong resistance. Already on the first day of the offensive, he brought his 20th motorized division into battle against parts of the 38th Army.
Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, giving great importance launched an offensive from the Lyutezhsky bridgehead, on the evening of November 3 ordered the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front “not to delay the operation launched on the right wing of the front, since every extra day only gives the enemy an advantage, allowing him to concentrate his forces here, using good roads, then how our roads destroyed by the enemy make it difficult and restrict maneuver. The headquarters demanded that Kyiv be captured no later than November 5-6. The directive stated that the Kyiv bridgehead was the most important and most advantageous bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper River, which was of exceptional importance for the expulsion of the Germans from the Right-Bank Ukraine.
November 4, 1943. 866th day of the war
Kyiv offensive operation. On the morning of November 4, the fighting took on an exceptionally tense character. The second echelon and army reserves were brought into the battle. The 1st Czechoslovak separate brigade, commanded by Colonel Ludwik Svoboda, entered the struggle for the liberation of Kyiv. However, the advancing troops could not achieve decisive success. On this day, the weather worsened, drizzling rain began to fall. Poor visibility made it difficult to fire artillery and completely ruled out the use of aviation. The roads became almost impassable. In order to quickly complete the breakthrough of the enemy defenses, the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front was forced on November 4 to bring the 3rd Guards Tank Army into battle. In the middle of the day, its tank corps overtook the infantry and advanced 8 kilometers deep. Breaking the resistance of the Nazi troops, they continued their movement after dark. The tanks went on the attack with headlights on, sirens blaring, heavy cannon and machine gun fire. The night tank attack had a stunning effect on the enemy.
November 5, 1943. 867th day of the war
Kyiv offensive operation. By the morning of November 5, the 3rd Guards Tank Army of P. S. Rybalko had deeply bypassed the enemy troops defending Kyiv from the west and entered the Svyatoshino region, cutting off the Kyiv-Zhitomir highway. On the same day, the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps of V.K. Baranov was introduced into the battle. At the same time, units of the 38th Army, advancing 25 kilometers by the end of November 5, started a battle on the outskirts of Kyiv. The German command, fearing the encirclement of its troops in Kyiv, began their withdrawal from the Ukrainian capital. At the same time, it began to transfer forces to Kyiv from the region of Veliky Bukrin.
November 6, 1943. 868th day of the war
Kyiv offensive operation. Throughout the night of November 6, street fighting went on in Kyiv. At midnight, units of the 51st Rifle Corps of the 38th Army broke through into the city center, onto Kirov Street. By 4 o'clock in the morning on November 6, the troops of the 38th Army completely liquidated the enemy's resistance in Kyiv. On the evening of November 6, Moscow saluted the Soviet troops who had liberated the capital of Soviet Ukraine.
November 7, 1943. 869th day of the war
Kyiv offensive operation. On November 7, formations of the 3rd Guards Tank Army liberated Fastov, a large railway junction that connected the enemy grouping, defending southwest of Kyiv, with troops operating in the Krivoy Rog and Kirovograd region.
November 8, 1943. 870th day of the war
Kyiv offensive operation. On November 8, strong counterattacks of German troops began on the front from Fastov to the Dnieper. The enemy sought to capture Fastov again and at the same time break through along the right bank of the Dnieper, go to the Kyiv region and to the rear of the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front. The fighting was exceptionally stubborn. Separate settlements several times passed from hand to hand.
November 9, 1943. 871st day of the war
November 10, 1943. 872nd day of the war
Gomel-Rechitsa operation. The Gomel-Rechitsa offensive operation of the troops of the Belorussian Front began, which lasted until November 30, 1943 (see map - Gomel-Rechitsa offensive operation (35 KB)) .
Before the Belorussian Front acted German troops army group "Center" (4th, 9th and 2nd armies), seeking to prevent the breakthrough of the Eastern Wall. The 11th army of I. I. Fedyuninsky, together with the troops of V. Ya. Kolpakchi, continuously attacked the enemy north of Gomel, riveting his attention to this area. And the main blow by the Soviet troops was prepared from the Loev bridgehead. Frontal reserves were transferred to the Loevsky bridgehead - the 1st Don Guards Tank Corps of M.F. Panov, the 9th Tank Corps of B.S. Bakharov, the cavalry corps of V.V. Kryukov and M.P. Konstantinov, the artillery corps of the breakthrough N V. Ignatova. The 48th Army continued to cross its main forces to the western bank of the Dnieper, improving the starting position for an attack on Rechitsa. On November 10, Soviet troops went on the offensive and broke through the enemy defenses on the very first day.
November 11, 1943. 873rd day of the war
Gomel-Rechitsa operation. On the second day of the operation, tank and cavalry corps entered the gap. They rapidly moved forward, destroying the enemy units that tried to resist. The troops of the 48th Army successfully operated along the western bank of the Dnieper to Rechitsa.
November 12, 1943. 874th day of the war
Kyiv offensive operation. The Soviet troops, repelling the enemy's counterattacks, firmly held Fastov in their hands and at the same time continued to develop the offensive in a westerly direction. On November 12, the regional center of Ukraine, Zhitomir, was liberated. Our units went to the front Chernobyl - Malin - Zhytomyr - Fastov - Tripoli.
November 13, 1943. 875th day of the war
Kyiv offensive operation. The Kyiv offensive operation, which took place from November 3 to November 13, 1943, ended. The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in the course of a swift offensive liberated the capital of Ukraine - Kyiv and formed a strategic bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper, which played an important role in further operations to liberate Right-Bank Ukraine.
The duration of the operation was 11 days. The width of the combat front is 320-500 km. The depth of advance of the Soviet troops is 150 km. The average daily advance rate is 12-14 km. The number of troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front at the beginning of the operation was 671,000 people. Human losses in the operation: irretrievable - 6491 people (1.0%), sanitary - 24078 people, total - 30569 people, average daily - 2779 people.
November 14, 1943. 876th day of the war
November 15, 1943. 877th day of the war
November 16, 1943. 878th day of the war
November 17, 1943. 879th day of the war
November 18, 1943. 880th day of the war
Gomel-Rechitsa operation. On the night of November 18, the 65th army of P. I. Batov cut railway Gomel - Kalinkovichi. P. I. Batov turned two rifle divisions and two tank brigades of Panov's corps, which had escaped forward, to the rear of the Germans defending in Rechitsa. As a result of this strike, on November 18, the city was liberated.
Developing success, the 48th Army crossed the Berezina with part of its forces at its confluence with the Dnieper and entrenched itself on the bridgehead south of Zhlobin. Pursuing the enemy, the troops of the 61st Army of P. A. Belov were approaching Mozyr. The enemy defense was broken through by the troops of the left wing of the Belorussian Front over a distance of 120 kilometers.
November 19, 1943. 881st day of the war
November 20, 1943. 882nd day of the war
November 21, 1943. 883rd day of the war
November 22, 1943. 884th day of the war
November 23, 1943. 885th day of the war
November 24, 1943. 886th day of the war
November 25, 1943. 887th day of the war
Gomel-Rechitsa operation. The troops of the right wing of the Belorussian Front reached the Dnieper near Novy Bykhov. By the evening of November 25, Soviet troops approached Gomel from three sides and started fighting on the streets of the city. The fighting continued all night.
Troops of the 48th Army crossed the river. Berezina and captured a bridgehead on its western bank. At night, enemy troops began to withdraw from the interfluve of the Sozh and Dnieper rivers.
November 26, 1943. 888th day of the war
Gomel-Rechitsa operation. Output strike force of the Belorussian Front in the deep rear of the enemy troops defending in the Gomel region, the successful actions of Gorbatov's 3rd Army, which delivered a surprise blow from the right in the direction of Bykhov, and strong pressure on the enemy in the center by units of the 63rd and 11th armies forced the Gomel grouping of the enemy to a hasty retreat. November 26 Gomel was completely liberated from the enemy. On the same day in the evening, Moscow, on behalf of the Motherland, saluted the valiant troops who liberated Gomel.
November 27, 1943. 889th day of the war
November 28, 1943. 890th day of the war
From November 28 to December 1, 1943, the Tehran Conference of the leaders of the USSR, USA, Great Britain was held.
November 29, 1943. 891st day of the war
November 30, 1943. 892nd day of the war
Gomel-Rechitsa operation. The Gomel-Rechitsa operation, which took place from November 10 to 30, 1943, ended. The troops of the Belorussian Front broke through the enemy defenses and advanced, with the support of the partisans, to a depth of 130 km, reached the line west of the south of Novy Bykhov, Potapovka, Gamza, Prudok, south of Yelsk, created a threat to the southern flank of Army Group Center.
The duration of the operation was 21 days. The number of troops of the Belorussian Front at the beginning of the operation was 761,300 people. Human losses in the operation: irretrievable - 21650 people (2.8%), sanitary - 66556 people, total - 88206 people, average daily - 4200 people.
Sovinformburo. During November 30, between the SOZH and DNEPR rivers, northwest of GOMEL, our troops, overcoming enemy resistance and counterattacks, occupied several settlements; among them are REUT, DORKI, ROZOV, KIDNEYS, MIKHALEVKA, TALES.
Between the rivers DNEPR and BEREZINA, south of Zhlobin, our troops occupied several settlements with battles.
In the region of the lower reaches of the PRIPYAT river, our troops fought forward and occupied settlements Zamostye, Lozki, Kryshichi, Yurevichi, Ridge, Guta, Zarakitnoye, Knurovka.
By order of the Supreme High Command, our troops left the city of KOROSTEN and occupied more advantageous lines for defense.
In the Cherkasy region, our troops fought to expand the bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper and improved their positions.
Southwest of KREMENCHUG, as a result of stubborn battles, our troops captured the heavily fortified enemy strongholds of TABURISCHE, ZAKHARIEVKA, RAZOROPOL, YANOV, BOLSHAYA MAKARIKHA.
In the bend of the DNEPR, southwest of DNEPROPETROVSK, our troops, repulsing the enemy counterattacks, improved their positions.
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Julius Fucik made the last entry in his prison diary:"People, I loved you! Be carefull!".
***
Those who have heard at least something about this man will most likely remember that he was executed by the Nazis and wrote "Report with a noose around his neck" before the execution. Far fewer people will talk about his life. But it was his life that he deserved the right to such a death.
"A bold turn of the head, restless purple eyes. Alive as quicksilver, smart as hell, flashing like a spark. Risk-taking, adventurous, contempt for danger, and a noble youthful willingness to throw himself into the fire in the name of an idea." This is how the Czech writer Maya Pumanova remembered him.
Julius Fucik was born on February 23, 1903 in Prague, in the family of a worker-turner. Later, he never forgot to proudly remark that he was born on the same day as the Red Army. When did the first World War, his father was sent to work at the Skoda automobile factory in the city of Pilsen. The war had a strong influence on the younger Julius. He stood for hours in lines for groceries, listened to conversations, witnessed demonstrations and strikes of Skoda workers. He saw how Austrian soldiers shot at hungry children, how several hundred people died in the explosion of a military factory.
"I could not help but understand that in a world where people kill each other against their will, being full of a thirst for life, something is going wrong."
The October Revolution showed how a way out of the impasse could be found. Its echo spread throughout Europe. Soviet Russia has been an inspiration to many. When the Communist Party was created in Czechoslovakia, 18-year-old Julius was one of the first to join its ranks. At the same age, Fucik became a student at the University of Prague. He chose the Faculty of Philosophy, because even at the gymnasium he was interested in culture and art, he read a lot of Czech and world literature. In Prague, a student from a working-class family had to earn his living and study on his own. He tried many professions - he was a teacher, a builder, a sports coach, but journalism became his vocation for life.
“Books and the theater opened the world to me. I looked for the truth in them and realized that there are books that speak, some that lie, and there are generally dumb ones. It seemed to me that I should say this so that there are neither false nor dumb books. I considered it my duty in the fight for a better world. So I started writing about books and theater."
Fucik could well have made a successful career in any reputable publication. But he chose the path of communist journalism with all its troubles - a small salary, a large amount of work, censorship and arrests. For many years he edited the newspaper "Rude Pravo" and the magazine "Tvorba", collaborated in a number of other publications. Newspapers and magazines were banned one after another, and Fucik had to hide from the police and write under pseudonyms.
For a long time in the Prague cafe "Roksy" next to the billiard table one could meet a certain Pan Maresh. He looked like a bank clerk or salesman, immaculately dressed, wearing horn-rimmed glasses, a bright tie and a flower in his buttonhole. No one guessed that the decent Pan Maresh, who talked with people of the theater and the press, was the editor of a communist newspaper. Only in this way could Fucik meet with his editorial comrades.
As an editor, Julius never sat at his desk, he preferred to see the most important thing with his own eyes. He visited Austria during the days of the anti-fascist uprising of the workers and Germany after the Nazis came to power, both times without documents and at considerable risk to their lives. When the Czech miners were on strike, Fucik wrote reports from the scene, and if they were not censored, he published an illegal newspaper for the workers. During one of these strikes, he became friends with Gustina Kodericheva, who became his faithful companion, comrade, first reader and critic for life.
"Life in struggle and frequent separations kept in us the feeling of the first days: not once, but hundreds of times we experienced the ardent minutes of the first embraces ... All the years we fought shoulder to shoulder, and all the years we wandered hand in hand to our favorite places. Many we experienced hardships, we also knew many great joys, we were rich in the wealth of the poor - that which is within us.
Julius Fucik visited the Soviet Union twice. The first time he traveled in 1930 at the invitation of the Czechoslovak cooperative "Intergelpo", located in Kyrgyzstan. The second time Fuchik lived in the USSR from 1934 to 1936, fleeing the threat of arrest in his homeland. In the Soviet Union, he did not feel like a foreigner. And few people took him for a foreigner, because people of various nationalities worked at industrialization construction sites, and Fucik's light accent did not bother anyone. For many workers, Julius quickly became their man, especially since he not only observed and recorded, but also worked together with everyone. He became an honorary fighter of the Kyrgyz Cavalry Division and an honorary deputy of the Frunze City Council.
In his reports, Fucik tried to write the full truth. He saw how factories and power stations appeared in a short time in the bare steppe, how the earth was transformed before our eyes by the will of man, how the previously unknown blessings of civilization and culture entered into the life of people. But I also saw a shortage of nails, soap, sugar, long queues in stores, torn workers' clothes, and a lack of housing. "Everyone is poor because wealth is being built," Fucik wrote. And he considered the most important achievement of the new world to be that working people know what they are working for, feel that they are masters of their destiny and their country.
"Girl, I have never felt as free as I do here. What I see in the USSR exceeds my wildest assumptions. Say hello to everyone and say that what I saw here is worth fighting for." (From a letter to Gusta Fuchikova, 1930)
Fucik outlined his impressions of the Soviet Union in two books and in a huge number of lectures. These lectures were dispersed, and Fuchik was tried for them and spent about eight months in prison. And then, and later, he was often reproached for idealizing Soviet life. But it must be taken into account that his assessment of the USSR was also influenced by what was happening in his homeland. It was the time of the global economic crisis. Tons of food were destroyed because they could not be sold profitably, and hungry people died in the streets. Mass demonstrations of the unemployed were shot by the police. And only at military factories they worked with might and main, neglecting safety and labor protection. World War II was getting closer and closer. Fascist states gained strength and expanded their territories. It is not surprising that Fucik left the Soviet Union with heavy and anxious feelings.
In 1938, the danger came close to Czechoslovakia. Hitler declared his claim to the Sudetenland, the main industrial region of the country. Fucik tirelessly argued in the press that the USSR was the only reliable ally of Czechoslovakia and was ready to come to her aid. But the Czechoslovak ruling circles did not want to accept this help. They were more afraid of the red threat than the brown one. England and France did the same. In September 1938, they concluded the Munich Agreements with Germany and Italy, which opened the way for the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia.
After the Munich capitulation, the activity of the Communist Party and all its press was banned. When the Nazis occupied all of Czechoslovakia in 1940, Fucik found out that the Gestapo was looking for him. Under the name of the teacher Yaroslav Horak, he was hiding in Prague in different apartments. He became one of the main figures in the underground Central Committee of the Communist Party, supervised all publishing work.
“Yes, we are underground, but not like the buried dead, but like living shoots that make their way all over the world to the spring sun. The first of May announces this spring, the spring of a free person, the spring of peoples and their brotherhood, the spring of all mankind ." (From a leaflet dated May 1, 1941)
On April 24, 1942, the Gestapo broke into the apartment where Fucik met with party comrades. All those arrested were thrown into the Pankrac prison. Despite the torture and bullying that Julius had to endure, he did not break down, did not give out names, appearances, or ciphers. Moreover, as a communist, he did not stop his work, remaining in touch with his comrades. During interrogations in the Gestapo, Fucik played a complicated game, taking the investigation aside, trying to help his comrades who were at large.
Fucik was steadfast because he was firmly convinced that he was right. And this conviction helped him to write in inhuman conditions his main book - "Reporting with a noose around his neck", the reading of which gave strength to the fighters against fascism in different countries. Until the last day, he remained full of strength and love for life and people.
"We lived for joy, we went into battle for joy, we die for it. May therefore sadness never be associated with our name."
He was executed on September 8, 1943. Now this day is celebrated as the day of international solidarity of journalists. Fuchik's books were widely known all over the world, and his name was immortalized in the names of streets, factories, parks and even a mountain peak in Kyrgyzstan. After the restoration of capitalism in Eastern Europe most of these names were erased, and the name of Fucik began to be deliberately discredited. In his homeland, the new authorities accused him of collaborating with the Gestapo and questioned the authenticity of the Noose Report. Many scientists came to the defense of Fucik's good name, and an independent commission in 1995 proved these accusations unfounded.
No more Julius Fucik peak in Kyrgyzstan either. Where he saw the friendship of peoples and joint work for the common good, now backwardness, poverty, religious fanaticism and ethnic conflicts reign again. Rereading his books now, we understand that it is even more important to keep the conquests than to achieve them. And take on a deeper meaning. famous words Fucika: "People, I loved you! Be vigilant!"
