Does anyone know more about the man in this photo? What Battalion did he command, where was he killed, has he got a marked grave, where was he born? Battalion commander Alexei Yeremenko who died in battle in 1942. TopFoto Gallery - RIA Novosti 1961-1990
Owen Found this on another site. 12. Juli 1942. 220th regiment, 4th rifle division. Batallion commander Alexei Yeremenko raising his men to attack. Few minutes after the photo he was dead. Hopefully a start to find out where they were on that date. Cheers - Robert
Cheers Rob, Found this on wiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_Rifle_Division_(Soviet_Union) In July 1941 the Division was part of the 3rd Rifle Corps of the 46th Army, in the Transcaucasian Military District. In the middle of April 1942 the Division under Colonel I.P.Roslogo was fighting as part of the 12th Army. In August 1942 it participated in the Battle of the Caucasus.
According to russian sources photo made at 12 of july 1942 on positions of 220th Regiment of 4th Rifle Division at village Khorosheye, Lugan' area. The man is definitely Aleksey Gordeyevich Yeremenko, born 1906. He was political worker and raised men to attack after commander of regiment were wounded and wasn't able to command the men. That day 220th regiment were defending its position and managed to held 12 enemy attacks, Aleksey raised soldiers to hold against 13th attack.
Please, try this automatically translated article: Google ðÅÒÅ×ÅÓÔÉ EDIT: another automatically translated article, put the light on story of man on photo: Google ðÅÒÅ×ÅÓÔÉ
Cheers Alex, have you got a map of that area? both of those articles says he was in 285th Division. He received a referral to the 285 th Infantry Division. In summer 1942 the division conducted heavy defensive fights, suffered heavy losses. Colonel Vasily stock Verezubchik then fought in the same battalion with the youngest political director Eremenko and witnessed his death in battle for the village of Good. It happened on July 12. The first battalion repulsed the attack, but during the second shook right flank. Political leader Eremenko rushed there to stop fighters and decided to counterattack to restore the situation. During the counterattack, and he died. To find out when the hero died, there was only one possibility - to appeal to veterans of the 285 th Division.
Cheers Alex, have you got a map of that area? one of those articles says he was in 285th Division. Yes, found that one article differs from another but most of 'em say that it was 220th regiment of 4th Rifle Division. Link to the map: Ñëàâÿíîñåðáñê, Ñëàâÿíîñåðáñêèé, Ëóãàíñêàÿ îáëàñòü, Óêðàèíà - Êàðòû Google note title 'Хорошее' - the village which were defending Yeremenko's unit.
From Alex's post, I would think that Aleksey was a political commissar attached to a front line fighting unit.Captured as POWs, and indentified as PCs,these people were seen as the ideological enemy of Nazism and would be subject to immediate execution under Hitler's Bullet decree/Commissar Order.As Hitler stated in March 1941,"German soldiers guilty of breaking international law will be excused.Russia has not participated in the Hague Convention and therefore has no rights under it" One of the features of the German screening of Russian POWs was the interrogations to weed out those PCs who were thought to be otherwise normal POWs,against the Geneva and Hague Conventions, of course, in a conflict of ideologies where excesses were the order of the day.
that village translate as Khoroshe Ukraine - correct? Slovyanoserbsk - Google Maps Exactly, centered it for you Slavyanoserbsk, Slovianoserbs'kyi, Luhans'ka, Ukraine - Google Maps
Where was the place he was born? Harry so he was doomed to die anyway , whether in combat or as a PoW.
Where was the place he was born? Harry so he was doomed to die anyway , whether in combat or as a PoW. Had he been recognised as a PC and the the problem was that the Germans interrogated Russian POWs to denounce their PCs who had managed to appear as normal POWs,he would have been murdered.Incidentally,the reason,among others why so many German Generals spent time,post war, in Russia because while protesting about the practice, did nothing positive to stop it. Having paid a trip to Mauthausen, I noticed that a large number of Russian POW NCOs were murdered there under the Hitler Bullet decree.Execution was usually by the bullet in the nape of the neck through a small hole in a wall with the prisoner standing against the wall in a room, the "execution chamber" unsuspecting anything terminal was afoot.
Where was the place he was born? Harry so he was doomed to die anyway , whether in combat or as a PoW. He was born in Ukraine, area called Zaporozh'ye, place called Voln'yansk.
Cheers just looked that up Vol'n'ansk, Vil'nians'kyi, Zaporiz'ka, Ukraine - Google Maps I suppose he has no known grave. If he did I expect it would be quite well visited.
I think he has influenced the designers of model soldier when they do a Soviet Officer. Plastic Soldier Review - Revell Soviet Infantry Plastic Soldier Review - Esci Russian Soldiers
Great thread, even being Russian, I always wondered who that man was, the photo's so symbolic, nevertheless so few know about the soldier that was depicted there. That photo is synonymous to the whole Great Patriotic War, it's been in so many articles, books, films etc. about it. Everyone in Russia knows about the picture, literally everyone, however, a select few can actually say who the man in the picture is. Alexei Yeremenko. Again, cheers. Here's another iconic photo of that era - who is this man?
Great thread, even being Russian, I always wondered who that man was, the photo's so symbolic, nevertheless so few know about the soldier that was depicted there. That photo is synonymous to the whole Great Patriotic War, it's been in so many articles, books, films etc. about it. Everyone in Russia knows about the picture, literally everyone, however, a select few can actually say who the man in the picture is. Alexei Yeremenko. Again, cheers. Here's another iconic photo of that era - who is this man? Nice picture Tovaritsch. One question, is that a German Pak36 behind the soldier? It certainly looks like it.