In memory for Fyodor Poletayev
In memory for Fyodor Poletayev
February 2, the anniversary of the heroic deed of Fyodor Andrianovich Poletayev (1909 - 1945), a member of the Italian Resistance movement, Hero of the Soviet Union and National Hero of Italy, a native of the village of Katino in the Skopinsky district.
The collections of the "Museum of the History of the Youth Movement" contain photographs of the Hero's family.
Fyodor Andrianovich Poletayev is a Hero of the Soviet Union, a member of the Italian Resistance movement. Among the few holders of the highest military award of the Italian Republic, the gold medal "For Military Valour".
He fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War from November 1941. He was seriously wounded, captured by the Nazis, and repeatedly tried to escape and return to his family. In the end, F.A. Poletayev ended up in Italy among the partisans fighting the Nazis.
On February 2, 1945, while covering the withdrawal of his partisan group, Fyodor Poletayev was killed.
However, it was not until 15 years later that his feat was discovered in his homeland. Journalist Sergey Smirnov, based on the photographs and documents found, established that Fyodor Andrianovich Poletayev is the national hero of Italy. The Genoese partisans sent a letter to the hero's homeland, in which they wrote about Fyodor the Poetan, as he was called in the detachment.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated December 26, 1962, Fyodor Andrianovich Poletayev was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for heroism and courage shown in battles against the Nazi invaders as part of a detachment of Italian partisans during World War II.
Source: Museum of the History of the Youth Movement
How Soviet soldiers became heroes of Italy
Although the Red Army never reached the Apennine Peninsula during World War II, over five thousand of its soldiers fought there against the Nazis. These were Soviet prisoners of war, who had managed to escape from German camps and join the local Resistance movement.
Fedor Poletaev, nicknamed ‘Giant Fedor’ by the Italian partisans, was awarded the Italian Gold Medal of Military Valor and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The courage and wit, shown by him on February 2, 1945, in battle against the Turkestan legion (where there were collaborators from the Turkic peoples of the USSR), helped his group to overcome the enemy.
At the most difficult moment for the partisans, Poletaev jumped forward and, in a loud voice in Russian, ordered the legionnaires to drop their weapons. The soldiers, taken aback by this unexpected appearance, decided that help had arrived for the partisans and began to surrender. Only one of them had time to regain consciousness and shoot Fedor.
Daniel Avdeev escaped from the German camp in France, but soon found himself in Italy by roundabout means. Excellent fighting and leadership qualities, as well as a good knowledge of Italian (he learned the language while communicating with Italian prisoners of war in captivity) allowed Avdeev to lead his own partisan battalion named after Stalin.
Avdeev died on November 11, 1944, covering with his unit the retreat of the main forces in the Arzino Valley. Fifty years later, the Italian government posthumously awarded him the Medal for Military Valor.
Archive photo
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