“"O field, field! Who has strewn you with dead bones?!". From the memoirs of the defender of Stalingrad, political officer P. V. Tkachenko. August 1942

Print PDF

Scientific article

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-2-566-578

For citation

Solov'eva, Svetlana V., Bolotova, Elena Yu. (2024), “"O field, field! Who has strewn you with dead bones?!". From the memoirs of the defender of Stalingrad, political officer P. V. Tkachenko. August 1942”, Herald of an Archivist, no. 2. pp. 566-578. doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-2-566-578

Solov'eva, Svetlana V., Bolotova, Elena Yu., Volgograd State Social and Pedagogical University, Volgograd, Russia

“"O field, field! Who has strewn you with dead bones?!". From the memoirs of the defender of Stalingrad, political officer P. V. Tkachenko. August 1942

Abstract

In the personal fund R-2808 "Boris Sergeevich Abalikhin - Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor" of the State Archive of the Volgograd Region (SAVR) the authors identified a personal letter from the academic secretary of the regional center of the Saratov State Pedagogical Institute, Associate Professor Pyotr Vasilievich Tkachenko to the rector of the Volgograd State Pedagogical University V. I. Danilchuk and Academician B. S. Abalikhin. S. Abalikhin, dated by postmark November 18, 1993. On the envelope on the diagonal large "V. I. personally” was diagonally written. It was received in Volgograd on November 21, 1993. The letter bears the rector's visa - "to Vice-Rector N. K. Sergeev, to Academician B. S. Abalikhin.” Most likely, the letter was written after the regional meeting on vocational guidance work, at which V. I. Danilchuk spoke. The meeting with his colleague from Volgograd revitalized P. V. Tkachenko's Stalingrad memories associated with the Great Patriotic War. In his letter, the events of the Battle of Stalingrad and the battles for Orlovka come to life in his memory. Biographical information is drawn from the personal file of Associate Professor P. V. Tkachenko, kept in the archive of the N. G. Chernyshevsky Saratov National Research State University. It contains an autobiography, personal record sheet, certificate of school department of Krasnokutsk Pedagogical College, diploma of Saratov State Pedagogical Institute, diploma of candidate of sciences and certificate of associate professor, characteristics, list of scientific works, award list, certificates, statements, decision of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR on awarding, excerpt from the order on declaring gratitude to the participants of the Battle of Stalingrad. The Book of Memory of the Saratov region contains information about the military service of P. V. Tkachenko. In 2023 Volgograd and the whole country celebrated a significant event, a landmark for the historic victory in the Great Patriotic War - the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi troops by Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad. In the state plan of celebration, approved by the President of the Russian Federation V. V. Putin, special attention was paid to the activities associated with the personification of the great feats of the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad. It seems that the introduction of this letter into scientific circulation will complete the picture of the Battle of Stalingrad through the prism of the memories of 79-year-old political officer of the 7th company of the 724th rifle regiment of the 315th Siberian rifle division Pyotr Vasilievich Tkachenko. The letter is autograph, has a handwritten form and is written on yellowed paper. The date of writing is missing.

Keywords

Private letter, Battle of Stalingrad, Great Patriotic War, 724th rifle regiment, political officer, 315th rifle division, Orlovka, Book of Remembrance.

Download the article: soloveva_bolotova_doi

References

Aravin, I. L. (2005), “Siberian Rifle Volunteer Corps”, Voprosy istorii Sibiri XX veka. Vyp. 7. [Issues of Siberian history of the XX century. Issue 7], NGU, Novosibirsk. Russia, pp. 92-111.

Ashcheulov, O. E. (2007), “"Entire battalions knelt down and prayed to God, asking for salvation": the final stage of the Stalingrad battle”, Voenno-istoricheskii zhurnal, no.6, pp.14-17.

Gareev, M. A. (2012), “The greatest battle of the Second World War: to the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory at Stalingrad”, Modern and contemporary history, no.5, pp.7-20.

Dorofeev, G. A. and Mikhtunets, K. M. (1982), 315-ya Sibirskaya v boyakh za Stalingrad [315th Siberian in the battles for Stalingrad], Altaiskoe knizhnoe izd-vo, Barnaul.

Drabkin, A. V. (2013), Stalingrad. Otkroveniya vyzhivshikh [Stalingrad. Revelations of survivors], Yauza; Eksmo, Moscow, Russia.

Zdanovich, A. A. (2021), “"Conceptually we should write not about how we won, but about how we fought on a long way and through losses came to the great Victory..."”, Omskii nauchnyi vestnik. Seriya: Obshchestvo. Istoriya. Sovremennost', Vol. 6, no.4, pp. 55-61.

Ivanov, V. (2010), Moe stalingradskoe detstvo: vospominaniya [My Stalingrad childhood: memoirs], Izdatel', Volgograd, Russia.

Kogan, M. L. (1997), Altaiskie divizii v boevykh operatsiyakh Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny 1941-1945 gg Spravochnoe izdanie [Altai divisions in combat operations of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. Reference edition], Altaiskii poligraficheskii kombinat, Barnaul, Russia.

Kolesnik, A. D. (1973), O tekh, kto zashchishchal Stalingrad [About those who defended Stalingrad], Znanie, Moscow.

Makar, I. P. (2008), “From "Uranus" to "Ring". The experience of the strategic leadership in the preparation and during the Stalingrad offensive operation”, Voenno-istoricheskii zhurnal, no. 1, pp. 9-16.

Nekrasov, V. P. (2004), V okopakh Stalingrada: povest', rasskazy [In the trenches of Stalingrad: a story, stories], Terra-Knizhnyi klub, Moscow, Russia.

Nekrasov, V. P. (1991), V samykh adskikh kotlakh pobyval...: sbornik povestei i rasskazov, vospominanii i pisem [In the most hellish cauldrons visited...: a collection of stories and short stories, memoirs and letters], Molodaya gvardiya, Moscow, Russia.

Novichenko, S. L. (2014), “"The gun commander himself was for the gunner, loader, shell carrier": The Battle of Stalingrad: little-known facts of a known event”, Voenno-istoricheskii zhurnal, no. 8, pp. 36-38.

Ovchinnikova, L. P. (1985), Ulitsa sredi okopov [Street among the trenches], Molodaya gvardiya, Moscow.

Pilishvili, G. D. (2014), “Principles and methods on the organization of the people's militia on the territory of the RSFSR in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War”, Klio, no. 8 (92), pp. 50-53.

Sushko, A. V. (ed.) (2022), Rozhdennaya v Cheremushkakh: 75-ya Stalinskaya dobrovol'cheskaya otdel'naya strelkovaya brigada omichei-sibiryakov. Sbornik dokumentov [Born in Cheremushki: 75th Stalin Volunteer separate rifle brigade of Omichi-Siberians. Collection of documents]; avt.-sost. K. E. Bezrodnyi, T. V. Kaindina, A. V. Sushko, Zolotoi tirazh (Omskblankizdat), Omsk, Russia.

Sorokina, L. (1972), Deti Stalingrada: dokumental'naya povest' [Children of Stalingrad: a documentary story], Nizhne-Volzhskoe knizhnoe izdatel'stvo, Volgograd.

Simonov, K. M. (1984), Dni i nochi: povest' [Days and Nights: a story], Khudozhestvennaya literatura, Moscow.

Sul'din, A. (2013), Stalingradskaya bitva. Polnaya khronika - 200 dnei i nochei [Stalingrad Battle. Full Chronicle - 200 Days and Nights], AST; Vremena, Moscow, Russia.

Sushko, A. V. and Nagaev, I. B. (2022), “The 75th Stalin Volunteer Separate Rifle Brigade of Omichi-Sibiryaks: historiography and commemoration”, Modern history of Russia, Vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 563-580.

Chuikov, V. I. (1985), Ot Stalingrada do Berlina [From Stalingrad to Berlin], Sovetskaya Rossiya, Moscow.

Yakovlev, N. N. (1979), 19 noyabrya 1942 [November 19, 1942], Molodaya gvardiya, Moscow.

About the authors

Svetlana V. Solov'eva, PhD in History, Associate Professor, Volgograd State Social Pedagogical University, Department of National History and Local History Education, Associate Professor, Volgograd, Russia, 8-442-60-28-54, 8-937-704-77-07, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Elena Yu. Bolotova, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Volgograd State Socio-Pedagogical University, Department of National History and Local History Education, Professor, Volgograd, Russia, +7-442-60-28-54, +7-905-334-66-34, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The article was received in the editorial office on 7.01.2024, recommended for publication on 20.03.2024.

You can read completely article in the russian historic-archival magazine “The Herald of an Archivist”. Read more about terms of subscription here.

Полностью материал публикуется в российском историко-архивоведческом журнале ВЕСТНИК АРХИВИСТА. Ознакомьтесь с условиями подписки здесь.