1942 went down in history as the year of the Battle of Stalingrad. It began on July 17 and was divided into two periods: defensive, which lasted until November 19, and offensive, which ended with the defeat of a large strategic group of German-fascist troops in the interfluve of the Don and Volga on February 2, 1943.

At the cost of the incredible efforts of Soviet soldiers, the enemy was stopped and drained of blood at the Volga stronghold. Priceless documents - letters from front-line soldiers who died in the second half of 1942-tell us in detail about how the defenders of our Motherland fought.

"Hello, Tamara!

I'm sorry it took me so long to write to you. You can imagine what was happening at the front. All is well, I am safe and sound. For a whole month I was in such battles that I will never forget in my lifetime. Well, that was the reason I couldn't write to you...

Volumes! Now I live only for you, in you I see myself happy. And if you keep in touch with me, I'll always be alive. I don't care about the German or his hordes. I beat them, I beat them, and I will continue to beat them. My battle score, I think I wrote you, is 19 tanks (only tanks), and how many Krauts and so on. It's not scary to die. I do everything I need to do to keep in touch with you in every possible way...

I kiss you hard. Vasya.

28.7.42"

The letter was addressed by the company commander of the 6th Guards Tank Brigade, Senior Lieutenant Vasily Ivanovich Solovyov, to his cousin Tamara Mikhailovna Trushennikova. He died on August 11, 1942, as reported to Tamara Mikhailovna by battalion commissar Mikhail Grigoryevich Tonkonog:

"I remember the last days of July, when we arrived in Stalingrad. Before that, I had just returned to the unit after the hospital and here for the first time I met Vasily, who spent all his time with the soldiers, putting them together for the upcoming battles. He made a good impression on me. And soon, at my insistence, he was promoted from deputy company commander to company commander. But we didn't have long to rest here. The enemy was frantically rushing to the city, and our unit urgently left for the front. And already on August 6, it dealt a serious blow to the German armored forces in the area of junction 74, destroying 20 enemy tanks. But the fighting in the area of the Abganerovo station flared up with renewed vigor. We were ordered to stand to the death for Stalingrad...

The enemy with a huge mass of equipment and manpower, despite any losses, climbed to Stalingrad. On one of the August days of 1942, he managed to break into our defense in the area of the Abganerovo station. Our unit was ordered to knock out the enemy. A company of tanks with infantry under the command of Senior Lieutenant Solovyov went on the attack. Having sent the tanks forward, Vasily remained with the infantry, dragging them along with him, behind the tanks to defeat the enemy. And when the fight was over, he was found in the rye with a bullet through his chest. But the fascists paid dearly that day for the death of Vasily. They were missing dozens of Krauts and Hanses in their ranks. This fight saved the day."

"Hello, Mother, Natasha! I send my best regards to Alexey, Doucet and all my relatives... I am at the front and often meet face to face with our brutal enemy, whom I smash mercilessly. I have already dropped a lot of deadly cargo on the heads of the fascists. What can I say, the fight against it is difficult, but we are confident of our victory and are fighting to the last breath for your happiness and that of our children... There is still a difficult and difficult fight ahead. It is necessary to keep the fascists out of the Don... I remain your son Nikolai.

28.7.42"

In the summer of 1942, the 275th Aviation Regiment, which included the author of these letters, the deputy squadron commander Lieutenant Nikolai Porfirievich Orlov, fought at Stalingrad. In early September, he was killed in one of the air battles.

"Good afternoon, dear parents, father and mother, sisters Valentina, Zoya, Ninochka, Aunt Marusya and Galina!.. I have already informed you that I have been at the front since July 27, 1942, directly in action.

Alive and well. The morale of the Soviet soldier is strong, or, as they say, steely. Every day I drop thousands of kilograms of steel on the heads of Fascist dogs. I already wrote to you, if I have to die, then they will put 100 Krauts ' heads for me...

I remain your son Vitaly Rumyantsev.

14.9.42"

Yes, the commander of the mortar company of the 776th Rifle Regiment of the 214th Rifle Division, Senior Lieutenant Vitaly Sergeevich Rumyantsev, brought down many kilograms of steel on the heads of the enemy. On November 17, 1942, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star for his courage, heroism and military prowess during the defense of Stalingrad. Five days later, Vitaliy Sergeyevich was fatally wounded.

"Good afternoon, dear wife Klavochka and dear sons Zhenya and Valya! First of all, I want to inform you that I am alive and well... In a short time, I shot down 5 "vultures" in air battles, for which I received a high award - the Order of the Blue Banner...

Dear Klavochka, I am proud of the award, which recognizes the best people. I am also proud that we have a combat commander - Hero of the Soviet Union Major Shishkin, for whom I am an assistant. A high reward obliges me to work even harder, to smash the lousy Krauts even more mercilessly.

Dear and sweet Klavochka, the hour will soon come when we, the defenders of Stalingrad, will drive Hitler's dogs to where Makar does not graze calves. The time will come when we will breathe easy in our beloved country, in our beloved city of Rostov, and meet again, our beloved family...

For 3 months now, we have been defending the glorious Stalingrad continuously at the battle post of our borders... Currently, we have winter, frosts of 15 degrees. We're dressed very well, so we don't mind the cold. We live very well, we have a good fighting family...

Greetings, your Yasha...

15.11.42г."

Two weeks later, on November 28, 1942, the author of this letter, Major Yakov Panfilovich Pilkin, flew out at the head of a group of fighters to attack the enemy airfield near Stalingrad. We destroyed about two dozen enemy planes on the ground and in the air, but we also suffered losses. Major Pilkin also did not return to his airfield.

The war found Senior Lieutenant Pilkin on the western border as head of the air defense of the Stanislavsky garrison. After sending his wife and sons to Rostov, he wrote a report asking them to return him to flight work. Soon he was appointed flight commander of the 581st Fighter Aviation Regiment. Shortly before his death, he became the deputy commander of the regiment. Its commander Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Ivanovich Shishkin wrote in his combat report:

"...Participating in the Patriotic War from the first day as a pilot-squadron commander, and then deputy commander-navigator of the unit, he made 99 combat sorties until the day of his death on November 28, 1942, with a combat raid of 117 hours and 50 minutes.

36 successful air battles, in which he personally shot down 7 enemy aircraft and 3 in a group with comrades, made 10 attacks on German troops surrounded near the city of Stalingrad.

In all combat missions, he was a group commander, a personal example of courage and bravery carried pilots into battle and invariably won a victory, often with a numerically superior enemy. In the last combat mission to perform a responsible task of storming the German airfield in the Stalingrad ring Ya. P. Pilkin... I personally shot down two enemy Me-109 aircraft and was shot down myself, died as a hero-defender of Stalingrad, defender of our Motherland... For his courage and bravery in battles with the enemy, T. Pilkin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad".

"Good afternoon, Brother Michael! I send you my battle greetings and wish you all the best in your life...

I inform you that I am also alive and well. After the first email, there were some changes. On November 20, 1942, after breaking through the German defense line, we launched a counteroffensive and surrounded them at Stalingrad in just 5-6 days. Now we are fighting to destroy the encircled group of Germans.

The fighting, especially at the beginning, was heavy and terrible, with heavy casualties. War, of course, does not happen without victims. Now I wonder how they survived... For the last battles, I was presented with an award, and on December 9, 1942, I was already awarded the medal "For Bravery"...

That seems to be all about me... With greetings. Your brother Salih...

December 27, 1942 "

In the new year, 1943, foreman Salih Bakhtiyevich Mulyukov was destined to live exactly ten days. And it so happened that on the day of his death, on the day of his death, by order of the commander of the 65th Army, General P. I. Batov, he was awarded the military rank of junior lieutenant.

Following the front-line letter of his son, his family received a notification of his death. Seeking to comfort his friend's mother in her grief, Senior Lieutenant Shaikh Ismagilov sent her a warm letter:

"Hello, Bibinur apa! A warm greeting is sent to you and your family by the closest friend of your son Salikh Bakhtiyevich Mulyukov, Senior Lieutenant Ismagilov.

Bibinur apa! Although this letter may cause you great grief, I decided to inform you of the following: Your son Salih Bakhtiyevich Mulyukov died at the front near Stalingrad after a serious wound, after two hours, and was buried with all honors in a mass grave near the city of Stalingrad...

In the person of your son, we have lost the best and dearest... a friend. Salih died, but the Germans paid dearly for it, spilling 100 times more black blood. We have already finished with the enemy group at Stalingrad..."

Yes, on February 2, 1943, Soviet troops liquidated the encircled group of German-fascist troops on the Volga. All divisions, individual reinforcement units, and special enemy troops caught in the ring were defeated or captured. He lost about 140 thousand soldiers and officers killed. 91,000 people were taken prisoner, including 2,500 officers and 24 generals led by Field Marshal Paulus.

The defeat of the enemy in the Battle of Stalingrad was the largest military and political event in the struggle of peoples against fascism. This battle made a huge contribution to achieving a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War and had a decisive influence on the further course of the entire Second World War.