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Biography
Soon after the start of the war, the division in which Kasaev served was surrounded and destroyed. At the end of August 1941, having reached the Belynichi district of the Mogilev region of the Belarusian SSR, a group of fighters and commanders, among whom was Kasaev, decided to begin hostilities as a partisan formation. Kasaev was elected first as a commissar and then as a commander of a partisan detachment, which was assigned the number 121. The detachment successfully operated in the Mogilev region, destroying garrisons, punitive detachments, warehouses, motor depots, and commandant's offices. By the end of 1943, there were already more than 1,200 partisans in the detachment, and then it was transformed into the 121st partisan regiment, of which Kasaev became the commander. By February 1944, the regiment took part in 70 battles, destroyed more than 1,000 enemy soldiers and officers, and blew up 33 German trains. On February 17, 1944, during the transition between settlements in the Berezinsky region, a column of partisans was attacked by German aircraft. Kasaev was seriously injured and died 18 hours later, on February 18, 1944. He was initially buried in the village of Khripelevo, Belynichi district, but in August 1948 he was reburied in a mass grave on Lazarenko Street in Mogilev.
In honor of Kasayev, the village of Sermyazhenka, Belynichi district, was renamed Osman-Kasaevo. Also, streets in Mogilev and Cherkessk, a school in the village of Zapolye, Belynichi district, were named in his honor, an obelisk was installed in the village of Ugolshchina and a bust in the village of Uchkulan.
Also, a pass beyond the Western Caucasus is named in his honor.
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Notes
Literature
- Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium I. N. Shkadov. - M.: Voenizdat, 1987. - T. 1 /Abaev - Lyubichev/. - 911 p. - 100,000 copies. - ISBN ex., Reg. No. in RKP 87-95382.
- National wrestling in Belarus. In 3 volumes. "Minsk. "Belarus". 1984.
- People of legends. Issue 4. M., 1971.
- Forever in the people's heart. 3rd ed., add. and corr. Minsk, 1984.
Excerpt characterizing Kasaev, Osman Musaevich
- Pe... Petya... Come, come, she... she... is calling... - And he, sobbing like a child, quickly mincing with weakened legs, walked up to the chair and fell almost on it, covering his face with his hands.Suddenly, like an electric current ran through Natasha’s entire being. Something hit her terribly painfully in the heart. She felt terrible pain; It seemed to her that something was being torn away from her and that she was dying. But following the pain, she felt an instant release from the ban on life that lay on her. Seeing her father and hearing her mother’s terrible, rude cry from behind the door, she instantly forgot herself and her grief. She ran up to her father, but he, helplessly waving his hand, pointed to her mother’s door. Princess Marya, pale, with a trembling lower jaw, came out of the door and took Natasha by the hand, saying something to her. Natasha didn’t see or hear her. She entered the door with quick steps, stopped for a moment, as if in a struggle with herself, and ran up to her mother.
The Countess lay on an armchair, stretching out strangely awkwardly, and banging her head against the wall. Sonya and the girls held her hands.
“Natasha, Natasha!..” shouted the countess. - It’s not true, it’s not true... He’s lying... Natasha! – she screamed, pushing those around her away. - Go away, everyone, it’s not true! Killed!.. ha ha ha ha!.. not true!
Natasha knelt on the chair, bent over her mother, hugged her, lifted her with unexpected strength, turned her face towards her and pressed herself against her.
- Mama!.. darling!.. I’m here, my friend. “Mama,” she whispered to her, without stopping for a second.
She did not let her mother go, gently struggled with her, demanded a pillow, water, unbuttoned and tore her mother’s dress.
“My friend, my dear... mamma, darling,” she whispered incessantly, kissing her head, hands, face and feeling how uncontrollably her tears flowed in streams, tickling her nose and cheeks.
The Countess squeezed her daughter's hand, closed her eyes and fell silent for a moment. Suddenly she stood up with unusual speed, looked around senselessly and, seeing Natasha, began squeezing her head with all her might. Then she turned her face, wrinkled in pain, towards her and peered at it for a long time.
“Natasha, you love me,” she said in a quiet, trusting whisper. - Natasha, won’t you deceive me? Will you tell me the whole truth?
Natasha looked at her with tear-filled eyes, and in her face there was only a plea for forgiveness and love.
“My friend, mamma,” she repeated, straining all the strength of her love in order to somehow relieve her of the excess grief that was oppressing her.
And again, in a powerless struggle with reality, the mother, refusing to believe that she could live when her beloved boy, blooming with life, was killed, fled from reality in a world of madness.
Natasha did not remember how that day, that night, the next day, the next night went. She did not sleep and did not leave her mother. Natasha’s love, persistent, patient, not as an explanation, not as a consolation, but as a call to life, every second seemed to embrace the countess from all sides. On the third night, the Countess fell silent for a few minutes, and Natasha closed her eyes, resting her head on the arm of the chair. The bed creaked. Natasha opened her eyes. The Countess sat on the bed and spoke quietly.
– I’m so glad you came. Are you tired, do you want some tea? – Natasha approached her. “You have become prettier and more mature,” the countess continued, taking her daughter by the hand.
- Mama, what are you saying!..
- Natasha, he’s gone, no more! “And, hugging her daughter, the countess began to cry for the first time.
Princess Marya postponed her departure. Sonya and the Count tried to replace Natasha, but they could not. They saw that she alone could keep her mother from insane despair. For three weeks Natasha lived hopelessly with her mother, slept on an armchair in her room, gave her water, fed her and talked to her incessantly - she talked because her gentle, caressing voice alone calmed the countess.
The mother's mental wound could not be healed. Petya's death took away half of her life. A month after the news of Petya’s death, which found her a fresh and cheerful fifty-year-old woman, she left her room half-dead and not taking part in life - an old woman. But the same wound that half killed the countess, this new wound brought Natasha to life.
Like many other graduates of the Karachay Pedagogical Workers' Faculty and Pedagogical College, Osman Kasaev in 1937. voluntarily joined the ranks of the Red Army.
He met the Great Patriotic War in Western Belarus, in the city of Slonim, as the chief of artillery of the 383rd Infantry Regiment of the 121st Infantry Division. O. Kasaev distinguished himself in the very first battles. However, under the pressure of superior enemy forces, the division suffered defeat. Many commanders and soldiers died, some were captured.
The groups of Red Army soldiers remaining behind enemy lines walked east at night with the goal of joining the Red Army. O. Kasayev’s group passed by Baranovichi, Bobruisk and in early August reached the Belynichi district of the Mogilev region. Here Kasaev and his comrades, having learned that the front was far away, decided to organize a partisan detachment to continue the armed struggle against the Nazis and their minions. On August 10, 1941, in the Sipailov forest, near the village of Wolytsina, lieutenants Osman Kasaev and Mikhail Abramov created a partisan detachment number 121 of seven people. The commander of the detachment was M. Abramov, the commissar O. Kasaev. Soon, the detachment, thanks to hiding Soviet soldiers and local residents, as well as Germans and Vlasovites who had gone over to the partisans, grew to 50 people.
On July 26, 1942, M. Abramov died, and Lieutenant Osman Mussaevich Kasaev took command of the 121st partisan detachment. By order of the military operational group at the Mogilev underground regional committee of the Communist Party of Belarus dated November 27, 1943, the 121st partisan detachment was transformed into the 121st partisan regiment. It had 3 rifle battalions, a battalion - 3 rifle companies, a company - 3 rifle platoons, as well as a reconnaissance platoon, a demolition platoon, a utility platoon, and a medical unit. On November 1, 1943, the detachment's personnel numbered 841 people. The detachment was armed with 513 rifles, 44 light machine guns, 52 machine guns, 2 mortars, 1 cannon, 2 anti-tank rifles. By the end of 1942, there were over 1,200 people in the 121st partisan regiment.
The area of operation of the detachment, then the regiment - Belynichi district (villages of Ugolytsina, Khripilevo, etc.), Mogilev district and the city of Mogilev. Scouts and separate groups of the detachment-regiment constantly operated in Mogilev, where they obtained intelligence information, “languages”, and carried out explosions. Osman Kasayev and his partisans terrified the invaders. The commandant of Mogilev, Major General Emansdorf, wrote in a report to his superiors: “Partisan agents are everywhere. There are especially many of them in Mogilev... In Khripelev, Ugolytsin, Peschanka and in other villages west of Mogilev, 121 Red Partisan regiments, about which we previously reported, settled. a certain Caucasian Osman is a treacherous, experienced in military affairs, Bolshevik commissar. In essence, we control only regional centers, and partisans have strengthened themselves in the villages... Large forces are needed against them..."
Hitler's command was forced to send additional forces. In mid-February 1944, the occupiers launched a fifth punitive operation against the 121st Regiment. Several enemy military units numbering more than 2 thousand officers and soldiers with guns and mortars, supported by 20 tanks and many aircraft, began to surround Kasayev’s partisan bases. Since the forces were unequal, Kasaev’s partisans, leaving their bases, headed to another place. When on February 17, 1944, the partisans walked through open terrain (there was no other way), they were attacked by enemy planes, who began to shoot the partisans with machine guns and bomb them. The partisans responded with machine-gun fire. Kasaev himself bravely entered the battle. When he fired at an enemy plane, a fascist pilot seriously wounded him in the chest. In total, Osman received 8 wounds. On February 18 at 12 o'clock he died, having bequeathed to be buried in the village of Khripelevo, Mogilev district, and then in Mogilev. He was buried in the forest near the village of Zhalin.
In March 1944, the body of Osman Kasaev was transported and buried with full partisan honors in a cemetery in the village of Khripelevo. In addition to representatives of the partisan regiments and detachments of the Mogilev and Belynichesky districts, more than 5 thousand civilians gathered for the funeral.
In the order of the military operational group at the Mogilev underground regional committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Belarus No. 40 dated April 27, 1944 on perpetuating the memory of the deceased commander of the 121st partisan regiment, Captain Osman Mussaevich Kasayev, it was noted that the partisan detachment during its existence and the fight against The Nazi invaders inflicted the following defeats on the Germans: more than 4 thousand soldiers and officers were killed and wounded, German police garrisons were destroyed - 27, cars - 112, motorcycles - 13, bicycles - 150, tanks and armored vehicles - 3, railway bridges - 3 , bridges on highways - 66, railway rails broken - 1351, wire communications - 34 kilometers, gasoline burned - 32.5 tons, wagons and platforms with military equipment destroyed - 380, steam locomotives - 15, traffic on railways delayed - 660 hours, 13 different warehouses were burned and destroyed, 10 kilometers of highway were destroyed, 6 planes were shot down, etc. Trophies: light machine guns - 39, heavy machine guns - 6, cannons - 1, mortars - 7, machine guns - 40, rifle cartridges - 57,625, various rifles - 350, revolvers - 160, grenades - 73, binoculars - 10, telephone booths - 5 , typewriters - 2, cars - 10, bicycles - 25, uniforms - 371, radios - 7, etc. 49 Nazis were captured.
It is also known that the partisan regiment of Osman Kasaev, during its combat activities from 1941 to 1944, liberated 44 settlements in the Belynichesky and Mogilevsky districts of the Mogilev region of Belarus.
In addition, the Kasaevites provided the peasants with livestock, draft power, and helped carry out sowing work in the spring of 1942 and 1943. in villages that were actually under the rule of partisans. After the arrival of Major Naumovich’s reconnaissance group from Moscow, the partisans through it had contact with the capital, received information about the situation at the fronts, and carried out explanatory work among the population. O. Kasaev, who became a captain at the end of 1943, organized rallies in villages and himself repeatedly spoke to the partisans and the population.
Osman Mussaevich Kasaev - the son of Karachai - Hero of Belarus rallied not only the Soviet people in the fight against the enemy. In the 121st partisan regiment there were representatives of various nationalities: Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, Kazakhs, Mordvins, Tatars and all those who hated fascism. For example, an international group was formed in the detachment: Czechs, French, Austrians, Luxembourgers, Germans, etc. Lieutenant Balabenko, who spoke German, was appointed its commander, and the Czech Jan Patochka was appointed political instructor.
This group was often sent behind enemy lines to perform the most difficult tasks. Internationalists often acted by cunning. The soldiers put on German uniforms, harnessed tailless trophy horses to sleighs or carts, and skillfully rode around the occupied territory. They acted either under the guise of inspectors or under the guise of soldiers and officers who had lagged behind their unit. In German or police garrisons, they disarmed the enemy, blew up fortifications, burned buildings, etc. In the above-mentioned order, noting his merits, it was written: “In honor of the deceased, heroically acting commander of the 121st partisan regiment” Captain O.M. Kasaev. I order:
1. Give the 121st partisan regiment a name and henceforth call it “121st partisan regiment named after Osman Kasaev.”
2. Upon the liberation of the city of Mogilev, Mogilev region, submit a petition to the Mogilev regional council and the regional committee of the Communist Party to erect a monument in honor of the memory of the deceased commander Kasayev in the village of Khripelevo, Mogilev region. In the future, the body of Comrade Kasaev will be transported to the city of Mogilev and a monument will be erected on his grave. ...comrades partisans and partisans, avenge the death of your beloved commander Osman Kasayev."
For military exploits accomplished during the Great Patriotic War, Captain Osman Mussaevich Kasayev, commander of the 121st Partisan Regiment, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and the medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War,” 1st degree. For courage and heroism O.M. Kasaev was nominated three times for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. However, again, due to belonging to the repressed Karachay people, Osman Kasayev did not receive this high award either during his lifetime or immediately after his death. It was awarded to him posthumously only in May 1965 at the request of the governing bodies of Belarus.
After the death of the hero, the 121st regiment - the regiment named after Osman Kasaev - began to be called after him. This name is given, in addition to the village of Khripelevo, to a street in Mogilev, a state farm in the hero’s native village, a school, and streets in Karachaevsk and Cherkessk. An international prize has been established in his name, which is awarded to the winner of the annual freestyle wrestling competition in Karachaevsk. Many scientific works, essays, articles have been written about him, films have been made, and songs have been composed. Kasaev O.M. in 1997, a monument was erected in the village of Uchkulan.
Osman Kasaev
Hero of the Soviet Union, major of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, commander of a partisan detachment of the Great Patriotic War
Also awarded:
Medal "Gold Star"
Order of Lenin
Order of the Red Banner
Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree
Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st degree.
At the time of his death he was only 28 years old!
“Partisan agents are everywhere. There are especially many of them in Mogilev... In Khriplev, Ugolshchina, Peschanka and other areas west of Mogilev, 121 Red Partisan regiments, about which we previously reported, settled. The regiment is commanded by a certain Caucasian Osman- treacherous, experienced in military affairs, Bolshevik commissar. In essence, we control only the regional centers, and the partisans have strengthened themselves in the villages... Large forces are needed against them..."
Osman Mussaevich Kasaev was born on October 11, 1916 in the high-mountainous Karachay village of Khurzuk, Uchkulansky district of the Karachay Autonomous Region into a peasant family. In 1931 he graduated from a seven-year school in his native village, and in 1936 he graduated from the pedagogical workers' faculty in Mikoyan-Shakhar (Karachaevsk).
In 1937 he voluntarily joined the Red Army. At first he studied at the Penza Cavalry Military School, and from November 1938 to the summer of 1939 he continued his studies at the Kiev Artillery School, which he graduated with first class. In the same year in the fall, Lieutenant Kasaev took part in the annexation of Western Belarus to the Belarusian SSR as part of the 209th anti-tank division of the 121st rifle division. In 1940, being a battery commander in the 383rd regiment of the same division, he participated in the Red Army campaigns in Latvia and Lithuania. Kasaev devoted himself entirely to the task assigned, and his efforts brought good results: during inspector assessments, his subordinates received the best marks in all types of combat training.
Osman Kasaev was promoted to chief of artillery of the 383rd regiment of the 121st Infantry Division. This happened in 1940. The division was stationed near the western border.
He met the war in Western Belarus, in the city of Slonim, Baranovichi region, as the chief of artillery of the 383rd Infantry Regiment of the 121st Infantry Division.
Osman Kasaev distinguished himself in the very first battles. However, under the pressure of superior enemy forces, the division suffered defeat. Many commanders and soldiers died, some were captured. The groups of Red Army soldiers remaining behind enemy lines walked east at night with the goal of joining the Red Army. O. Kasaev’s group passed by Baranovichi, Bobruisk and in early August reached the Belynichi district of the Mogilev region. Here Kasaev and his comrades, having learned that the front was far away, decided to organize a partisan detachment to continue the armed struggle against the Nazis and their minions. On August 10, 1941, in the Sipailov forest, near the village of Ugolshchina, lieutenants Osman Kasaev and Mikhail Abramov created a partisan detachment number 121 of seven people. The commander of the detachment was M. Abramov, the commissar O. Kasaev. Soon, the detachment, thanks to hiding Soviet soldiers and local residents, as well as Germans and Vlasovites who had gone over to the partisans, grew to 50 people.
On July 26, 1942, M. Abramov died, and Lieutenant Osman Mussaevich Kasaev took command of the 121 partisans, and political instructor Ivan Martynovich Ivanov became commissar. By order of the military operational group at the Mogilev underground regional committee of the Communist Party of Belarus dated November 27, 1943, the 121st partisan detachment was transformed into the 121st partisan regiment. It had 3 rifle battalions, a battalion - 3 rifle companies, a company - 3 rifle platoons, as well as a reconnaissance platoon, a demolition platoon, a utility platoon, and a medical unit.
On November 1, 1943, the detachment's personnel numbered 841 people; by the end of 1943, there were over 1,200 people in the partisan regiment.
The area of operation of the detachment, then the regiment - Belynichi district, Mogilev district and the city of Mogilev. Scouts and separate groups of the detachment-regiment constantly operated in Mogilev, where they obtained intelligence information, “languages”, and carried out explosions.
Osman Kasayev and his partisans terrified the invaders. The commandant of Mogilev, Major General Emansdorf, wrote in a report to his superiors: “Partisan agents are everywhere. There are especially many of them in Mogilev... In Khriplev, Ugolshchina, Peschanka and other areas west of Mogilev, the 121 Red Partisan regiment, about which we previously reported, settled. The regiment is commanded by a certain Caucasian Osman - a treacherous, experienced in military affairs, Bolshevik commissar. In essence, we control only the regional centers, and the partisans have strengthened themselves in the villages... Large forces are needed against them..."
Hitler's command was forced to send additional forces. In mid-February 1944, the occupiers launched a fifth punitive operation against the 121st Regiment. Several enemy military units numbering more than 2 thousand officers and soldiers with guns and mortars, supported by 20 tanks and many aircraft, began to surround Kasayev’s partisan bases. Since the forces were unequal, Kasaev’s partisans, leaving their bases, went to another place. When on February 17, 1944, the partisans walked through open terrain (there was no other way), they were attacked by enemy planes, who began to shoot the partisans with machine guns and bomb them. The partisans responded with machine-gun fire. Kasaev himself bravely entered the battle. When he fired at an enemy plane, a fascist pilot seriously wounded him in the chest. In total, Osman received 8 wounds.
On February 18 at 12 o'clock he died, having bequeathed to be buried in the village of Khriplevo, Mogilev region, and then in Mogilev. He was buried in the forest near the village of Zhalin.
In March 1944, the body of Osman Kasaev was transported and buried with full partisan honors in a cemetery in the village of Khripelevo.
In the above-mentioned order, noting his merits, it was written:
“In honor of the deceased, heroically acting commander of the 121st partisan regiment, Captain O.M. Kasaev.
Orders:
Heavy, mustachioed ears of corn sway on thin whitish legs. The ear, filled to capacity with grains, bent low to the ground. A gusty wind shook it, and a black horn of ergot opened. It sticks out like a scorpion's sting. Bread and poison! Good and evil! Life and death!The rye turned out great. Behind it are cannons on a sandy hill, hidden as if behind a fortress wall. Predatory aerial vultures with crosses fly overhead with a piercing roar. Bombs fall and raise fountains of earth. What kind of absurdity is this? The ripening rye smells like explosions.
Tanks! Tanks! - someone shouted in warning.
Lieutenant Kasaev rises on his toes, cranes his neck - the rye is tall, and he is short in stature - and puts a stereo scope to his eyes. The tunic he was wearing was faded, streaked with sweat and salt. Black, coarse hair comes out from under his cap. Below, the river meanders serpentinely. A cloud of dust rises above the road. Tanks! Behind the rippling sea of rye, they look like monstrous turtles. The lieutenant is trying to count the tanks. Counts by clouds of dust. More than a dozen. The lead tank reached a single curly oak tree in the middle of a field.
Tanks on the left!.. Sight forty-five, mark the point of the first gun!.. Fire!..
Runaway... Fire!
The front tank near the oak tree began to smoke.
Fire! Fire!
Three tanks have been knocked out, and smoke trails above them like a mournful trail. But six tanks rushed forward, ironed the position of the neighboring battery, and a column of motorcyclists appeared.
Shells are running out! - they reported to the chief of artillery of the regiment, Lieutenant Kasaev.
Leave one per gun.
Did he decide to do the right thing? The escape is cut off. Yesterday and the day before yesterday they managed to break through. Today?
Blow up the guns!
The gunners jammed their barrels. They tied the telephone cable to the trigger mechanisms. They ran for cover. One, second and third explosions. The mine screams disgustingly. Lieutenant Kasaev fell to the ground. But some force tore it off and then covered it with earth...
He woke up in the evening. What about him? How long did he sleep? Did you sleep? He raised his head. How heavy it is! Is it really wounded? I felt myself. Arms and legs are intact. There is sand in my hair, on my body, everywhere. There is so much sand on Belarusian soil. And why does my ears ring so unpleasantly?
 |
Got to his feet. A blood-colored sky hung over a darkened sea of rye. The dull roar of cannonade came from the opposite direction. Got my bearings. Staggering, he approached the guns and looked around. The breech is torn. He pressed his chest against the still warm trunks. I said goodbye. My heart ached. Without sleep or rest, retreating, he walked hundreds of difficult kilometers with these guns. I became related. They have always been a reliable protection for him. Now the guns have served their purpose, one consolation is that they did not fall to the enemy.
I took the direction east. The guns are thundering there, his comrades are fighting there, there is salvation. He made his way along forest paths, bypassing villages. My mouth was dry. I swallowed droplets of thick saliva and could not swallow. Red strawberry beads and blue blueberry peas did not quench my thirst. For breakfast, lunch and dinner he had one dish: grains of ripening rye.
I remembered my native village of Khurzuk in the mountains of Karachay-Cherkessia. Inaccessible rocks, swift mountain rivers, dashing horses. How far his military fate had taken him! But here, in Belarus, he fought for his native village and will continue to fight as long as he lives. If only he had a horse! I would have galloped to my own in an instant... Dreams, dreams! We must go, go east. And he goes.
Along the way, he met with soldiers from his unit, who, like him, were making their way to the east. Among them were officers from other formations - senior lieutenant Konstantin Belousov and junior lieutenant Mikhail Abramov.
At the end of August 1941, they approached the village of Ugolshchina, Belynichi district, lost among the forests. Everyone was exhausted. Skin and bones. Lieutenant Kasaev volunteered to find out if there were Germans in the village.
He lay down behind the bushes at the edge of the forest, watching what was happening in the village. Wooden log huts under thatched eaves stretched in two rows along the curved dusty road. The sonorous voices of children were inaudible, the well cranes rarely creaked, and dogs barked here and there. There were no Germans in the village, but the lieutenant decided to wait until dusk and then go into the last blind hut. He was overcome by weakness, his eyelids were sticking together... He opened his eyes when he felt a gentle female hand on his stubbled cheek.
Who? - The lieutenant jumped to his feet.
“Pile, love, pile,” the elderly woman assured, looking good-naturedly into his face. “I’m collecting firewood... I look - a chalavek...
Are there any Germans in the village?
Yuma! Yes, they rarely visit us. - And she asked: - Qi is not from the Akruzhenians?
I'd like a piece of bread.
Theta is possible... Let's go...
The woman led him not to the village, but deep into the forest. He did not ask where she was leading him, but followed her cautiously, clutching the handle of the revolver in his pocket.
Suddenly the woman whistled like a bird. Several soldiers without insignia or buttonholes jumped out from behind the bushes onto the path...
There was a lively conversation going on in the dugout.
It was not possible to get through to our own... It's time to act; There’s no point in waiting for us to turn our heads like chickens... The police have already caught wind that we’re hiding in the forest,” Mikhail Abramov fervently convinced and turned to Sergeant Shchekolyuk: “If you want, we’ll partisan together... That’s how Belousov’s detachment ...
We need not only to enlarge the detachment at the expense of the soldiers and officers remaining in the rear, but also to establish contacts with local residents,” said Osman Kasayev. “We must have eyes and ears everywhere.” Only under this condition will we be able to successfully defeat the enemy.
Mikhail Abramov was elected commander of the detachment, and communist Osman Kasayev was elected commissar. This is how a partisan detachment was created.
His fighters dispersed to nearby villages. They established contact with local residents. Fekla Naumovich and her father, grandfather Mikhail, had a chance to work especially actively. They went around the surrounding villages, selected reliable people who agreed to help the partisans and wage a merciless fight against the Nazi occupiers. Connections were also established with Mogilev. For this purpose, the detachment commander, Mikhail Abramov, repeatedly went to the city.
The detachment grew in numbers. It was joined by Sergeant Kirill Matirinko, signal soldier Nikolai Leonenko, resident of the village of Bolshie Belevichi Ivan Barbarchik, Mogilev residents Boris Gorya-yain, fourteen-year-old Pavlik Efremenko and many others. And with the black trail, active hostilities began. In a month, 15 police garrisons were defeated, the partisans became real masters in the villages at the junction of the Mogilev and Belynichi regions.
May 1942 turned out to be sunny. The country roads quickly dried out and became stronger. The partisans were no longer satisfied with such a means of transportation as bicycles seized from the police.
We wish we had cars,” said Mikhail Abramov, “serviceable cars.” “If only the bastards would tremble!”
This is amazing! - Commissioner Osman Kasaev approved the proposal. He looked dashing, clean-shaven, with a thin black mustache under his aquiline nose. - But we need to reconnoiter and develop an operation plan.
What a plan! Ambush on the highway, and order! - Abramov argued. A perky light flashed in his blue eyes. He conquered his comrades with his outward charm and selfless courage.
The detachment went on bicycles to the Mogilev-Minsk highway. The partisans lay down in the fir trees near the bridge over the Lakhva River.
Carts slowly trudged from Mogilev. Finally, a semi-truck appeared: in the back there were several passengers with white bands on their sleeves - policemen. Abramov commanded: “Follow me!” and ran out onto the asphalt. The partisans blocked the road with a chain and, with weapons at the ready, ran towards the car with the police. The driver stopped, jumped out of the cab and raised the hood.
What are you doing, you bastard! - Kirill Matirinko yelled at him and wrapped up the feeding tube, from which gasoline flowed in a stream.
At this time, the partisans disarmed the confused policemen; out of fear they did not dare fire a single shot.
Let's ride with the breeze! - suggested Abramov. - Let's give a concert!
Not enough gasoline! There's barely enough time for camp! - Kirill Matirinko said after examining the car.
Nothing! We'll get it!
The weapons and bicycles were loaded into the back. Osman Kasayev with the partisans and disarmed policemen were also stationed there. Kirill Matirinko got behind the wheel, next to him in the cockpit was Mikhail Abramov.
The car rushed in the direction of the regional center of Belynichi. A German Oppel and a truck with armed policemen are coming towards us. Here they are already one hundred and fifty meters away. Azerbaijani Shahali, installing a light machine gun, knocked on the roof of the cabin. Not understanding what was going on, Abramov ordered Matirinko to stop in the middle of the highway. Oncoming cars also stopped. They began to turn around under machine-gun fire. One after another, the partisans jumped out of the back and also fired at the enemies. But still, the vehicles managed to turn around and escape to Belynichi.
Abramov was indignant:
Hurry up, we should have let him get closer.
Yes, this is the result of haste and lack of agreement,” the commissioner noted.
The partisans returned to their camp in a car. And the news spread throughout the Mogilev region that a landing of Soviet troops had landed near the village of Knyazhitsy, which had defeated a German convoy, captured several vehicles and disappeared in an unknown direction. This, of course, was one of the first legends about the famous partisan detachment, of which many were later created.
Soon the detachment acquired another car. She was brought to the partisans by his contact Sapryko. The partisans acted more quickly in two vehicles. The impression was created of the large number of the detachment and its combat effectiveness.
After the village elder Novikov was shot by popular verdict in the village of Peschanka, shot where three Soviet officers handed over to him were once executed, local policeman Feklistov, nicknamed Fedul, began to visit the detachment’s liaison officer, the wife of a Soviet officer, Maria Kovaleva.
Take me to yours. I know you are connected with them. If I were an enemy, I would have betrayed you long ago,” he urged.
The woman believed him and conveyed his request to the detachment commander.
Fedul came to the forest with a light machine gun and a bottle of moonshine.
Osman Kasaev examined the machine gun. It was faulty: the stock was split, the disk was rusty, and there were no cartridges.
Fight with such weapons? - Osman Kasaev flared up. - What kind of machine guns are there in the police garrison? And moonshine? For what? Do not accept, but shoot!
Fedul turned pale and trembled.
I hid the machine gun, and the moonshine, as a reward, was expensive. You sent Deputy Commandant Mogilev and his adjutant to the next world in a car, and three policemen in a truck...
Is it true? - Abramov was delighted.
Don't let me leave this place!
I heard you, Osman! Yes, with such news... Fedul became bolder.
I can help defeat the princely garrison; If you want, I’ll go on reconnaissance... What forest are you living in? I’m rooting for you, dear ones... Near Shcheglitsa there is a real forest; and there are roads in it for cars, what is needed, and the Princes are closer...
You know, Osman, Fedul speaks his mind. I was also thinking about moving to the Szczeglitsky Forest... The forest is huge... and four roads intersect, there is plenty of room for us!
The commissioner agreed with the commander’s arguments, and soon the camp was relocated to the Shcheglitsky forest.
What a beauty! - Abramov said admiringly. - Shishkin has a painting “Ship Grove”. Ship Grove indeed. And the spruce undergrowth! Ten steps away you can disguise yourself and not find it, and there is plenty of building material for huts...
And you can sneak up on the enemy! - Osman noted.
Will he really come here?
They settled firmly in the new place. They built huts for housing and kitchens, and green carports for cars. Fekla Mikhailovna was in charge of the kitchen, serving the partisans hearty dishes prepared from fresh pork - a ten-pound boar was confiscated from the Pesti village elder. Fedul behaved impatiently and nervously. He either persuaded Abramov to go together on reconnaissance of the Knyazhitsky garrison, or asked:
In Rakuzovka near Mogilev I have a heavy machine gun, five boxes of belts; I’ll bring it, you don’t have a single machine operator...
After consulting with the commissar, the commander allowed Fedul to go to Rakuzovka to get a machine gun.
You'll have time on the cart in two days!..
“I’ll hurry, dear ones,” Fedul assured and asked: “I would like some pork for the road and for payback, for appeasement, so to speak.”
By order of Abramov, Fedul was given twenty kilograms of pork. Whistling a cheerful tune, he urged the frisky horse.
From the village of Peschanka, Maria Kovaleva came to the camp with local residents Filipp Mulerov and Mitrofan Alistov. Having learned that Fedul had gone to Rakuzovka, Philip Mulerov assured:
A dark personality, he will betray... He is capable of anything. Kovaleva didn’t know him well, but we do... So we rushed to warn him... And the garrison in Peschanka was on alert all these days.
Here you see! - Osman Kasaev reproached Abramov.
Come back, we'll figure it out!
The sun was setting to the west, Fedul was not there for the third day. Abramov also began to worry. He called Kirill Matirinka and asked:
Are the cars fully fueled?
Not enough fuel.
Let's go to the car depot!
The motor depot was the name given to the forest fuel depot, where the faulty semi-truck was located.
Fekla Naumovich asked to be driven to Ugolshchina; she wanted to visit her family.
We managed to refuel the car and take a barrel of gasoline with us, but returned to camp at dawn with bad news. A large detachment of punitive forces raged on Ugolytsya. They burned the village and shot most of the inhabitants. Mikhail’s grandfather and Fekla Naumovich’s father also died. She cried all the way. Abramov reassured her:
Don't cry, mother! We will take full revenge on the Nazis for everything! The messenger Maria Tsumareva came from Mogilev.
The fascists are up to something... Punishers, SS men, policemen are gathering... Lots of cars, tankettes... They say they will go against the partisans...
Thank you, Masha! - the squad leader thanked her. - Go and rest in the hut.
The detachment commander and the commissar went to check the posts. Underfoot lay mosses and blueberries, covered with a matte muslin of dew. The disturbed magpies chirped loudly, their white sides shining and their long tails waving.
What's wrong with them today? They're inviting trouble! - said Osman.
Don't be superstitious. You and I will drink more than one mug of wine in your village...
We need to get out of here, Misha!
The cars are moving, we'll take off any minute!
Is it worth the wait?
I agree, but we need to give people a little rest, they sleep well at dawn, and you didn’t sleep a wink... And in the morning we’ll decide where to move.
The sentries kept a vigilant watch. Nikolai Leonenko lit a fire in the kitchen, and as duty officer he helped Fekla Naumovich prepare breakfast. The commander was pleased with the order in the camp.
You can rest peacefully until breakfast. - And climbed into his hut.
Osman also lay down on the spruce legs. The heady smell of pine very quickly calmed him down. The harsh forest life hardened me. He could stay awake for days and fall asleep instantly when the slightest opportunity arose. And even without sleep, he was always fresh and cheerful. Daily morning exercises, acrobatic exercises, and horse racing always stimulated his energy. But this time the routine was disrupted.
Suddenly a shot rang out. Everyone jumped out of the huts.
To the gun!
The sentry Luka Lukich Gukov, the former director of the Ugolytsin school, came running to the camp.
The Germans are on their way in cars and motorcycles! Abramov led the detachment into the birch forest at the edge of the forest. Only women remained in the camp.
In a meadow near the forest, SS men were unloading from four vehicles. The chief lieutenant, who jumped out of the cockpit, unfolded a topographic map.
Fire at the officer! - Osman Kasaev commanded.
There was a crackle of shots, and the officer, falling to the ground, let go of the map. She floated, caught by the wind, like a sail.
Two SS men with a light machine gun stopped about forty meters from the birch tree, but while they were installing the machine gun, they were overtaken by partisan bullets. Only the third SS man managed to open fire. They lay down in the tall, uncut grass and the machine gunners began to shoot back. The battle lasted until one o'clock in the afternoon. The partisans held back the enemy's onslaught, but the forces were unequal; tankettes approached the edge of the forest.
A dog barked. This is the signal to leave. Abramov ordered Osman Kasayev and a group of partisans to detain the enemy and allow them to load property onto the vehicles. The young Bereznik man was crushed by wedge heels, and the path to the camp for Osman Kasaev’s group was cut off.
The cars were hastily started. On one, Kirill Matirinko sat behind the wheel, on the other - Nikolai Leonenko. Shots were approaching the camp. Without waiting for the commissar, Abramov ordered to take the forest road to Dubinka. Suddenly, in the spruce forest, he noticed helmets sparkling in the sun. The road was cut off and there was an ambush ahead. We stopped. Abramov jumped out of the car and lay down by the side of the road with a machine gun.
Light up the cars!
Kirill Matirinko turned off the sump and held a match to the stream of gasoline. A fire broke out, and soon the entire car was engulfed in flames. Nikolai Leonenko had no matches. With the back of his seat doused in gasoline, he rushed towards the burning car. He held her like a shield. The bullets, one after another, destroyed the back. I had to give up the idea of setting fire to the car and lie down. Abramov, firing back, led the partisans to the side. He instructed Leonenka to find Osman Kasaev and get out of the encirclement.
Gathering at the Gerbil. Password up to ten!
The detachment commander decided to leave the Shcheglitsky forest and cross the rye to the Peschansky forest. But even in the rye they came across an enemy chain. There is nowhere to retreat.
Behind me! - Abramov shouted and threw a grenade to where the enemies were hiding. But when he stood up, he was shot through by machine gun fire. Maria Tsumareva ran up to him.
Mishenka? “For the first time, she called the commander by name and raised his head. In the motionless eyes, death was approaching like a dark wave.
Misha!
Abramov tried to remove the machine gun from his neck.
How are you! - Maria lamented.
The commander's gaze glazed over. He was coming from where they no longer expected an answer. Maria kissed the commander on the cold cheek, took the machine gun from his neck and opened fire on the enemy. A mine exploded nearby. A hot stream of blood burned her chest, but, mortally wounded, she helped her comrades break through the enemy chain.
Gathering disparate groups of the detachment, Osman Kasaev knew all the details of the Shcheglitsky tragedy and analyzed its causes. The detachment commander, Mikhail Abramov, was brave and selflessly devoted to the Motherland, but this was not enough to successfully fight the enemy.
Having taken command of the detachment, Osman Kasaev carefully developed each operation in order to avoid unnecessary losses. Without a single casualty, the police garrisons in the villages of Peschanka, Ermolovichi, Padevichi were destroyed, and the burgomaster councils of Khripelevskaya, Vendorozhskaya volosts of the Mogilev region and Ugolytsinskaya of the Belynichi region were destroyed.
The detachment grew in numbers. Many villages and individual families joined it. The detachment is assigned the number 121 - the number of the division in which Osman Kasaev served, and the people simply called him the Ottomanites. In this way, the local residents expressed their love and respect for the detachment commander.
The punishers went berserk. They sent expeditions against the Ottomans. But the partisans were elusive. Through numerous contacts, they knew about the enemy’s every move and, at opportune moments, unexpectedly dealt him brutal blows. Many combat operations were carried out jointly with other units.
In July 1942, an enemy cavalry squadron occupied the village of Tehtin in the Belynichi district in the partisan zone. The commanders and commissars of the 113th, 121st and 600th detachments decided to liberate the village captured by the enemy in a joint blow. The commander of the 113th detachment, Konstantin Belousov, was entrusted with command of the overall combat operation.
On a short summer night, the detachments walked 18-20 kilometers and surrounded the village of Tehtin. According to the previously developed plan, it was decided to make an ambush at the edge of the forest along the Tekhtin - Kalinovka road in order to cut off the squadron’s retreat route and prevent a sudden approach of reinforcements from the regional center of Belynichi. Osman Kasaev was entrusted with commanding the ambush.
Only 8 people were assigned to the ambush. Osman Kasaev placed them in the bush, where the road passed through a wetland, forming a narrow defile. In the center with the commissar of the 113th detachment 3. P. Gaponov, Osman Kasaev, on the right and left, about fifty meters from the road in the forest, three partisans.
When the sun rose above the forest, rifle and machine-gun fire, grenade and mine explosions were heard from the direction of the village of Tekhtin.
On the right, the partisans gave the signal: “They are coming.”
Three horsemen in German uniforms were approaching from the direction of the village of Kalinovka. They drove at an accelerated pace, looking around anxiously. Osman Kasayev met them with a long burst of machine gun fire. Three riders and one horse fell dead. Two horses with saddles ran out onto the field.
By order of Osman Kasayev, the partisans picked up their weapons, carried the corpses off the road and took their places again.
After some time, a cavalry patrol appeared from the forest - six horsemen. Kasaev and Gaponov killed four horsemen with machine gun fire, but two dismounted and lay down in the bushes.
Grenades against the Nazis! - Kasaev commanded.
The partisans destroyed the firing Nazis with two lemons.
After some time, the roar of engines was heard. There were strong enemy reinforcements with tanks and armored personnel carriers. The ambush of Osman Kasaev, having completed its task, united with its troops with large trophies. The enemy cavalry squadron was defeated. It later turned out that this was the vanguard of Hitler’s formation, which was sent to block the partisans.
The junction of the Mogilev and Belynichi districts became a partisan zone. In the villages of Dubinka, Zhuravets, Khripelevo, Mikhalevo, Vendorozh, the owners were partisans. Here they were located and from here they expanded the radius of their actions more and more.
In the fall of 1943, a partisan detachment of the military operational group of the Mogilev underground district party committee was tasked with defeating the enemy garrison in the village of Bolshaya Moshchanitsa and destroying the guards of the bridge over the Oslik River.
September turned out to be rainy. We walked 40 kilometers. It was night on the way. Darkness, rain, thunderstorm. In order to keep up with each other and not disturb the column, the partisans picked up fireflies and attached them to the backs of those in front.
Inclement weather slowed the advance of the partisan columns. It was decided to postpone the defeat of the garrison for a day, to allow the people in the forest to rest and dry themselves. The 121st partisan detachment set up an outpost towards the village of Korytnitsa and established surveillance of the highway in the direction of the Berezina
The morning turned out to be sunny. The partisans rested and put their equipment in order. Suddenly a red rocket soared above the forest. The Ottoman outpost gave a signal that the enemy was approaching. A convoy was moving along the highway. Seven trucks, with 15-16 soldiers in their bodies.
The lead vehicle approaches the established line. The command is heard: “Fire!” The forest silence was broken by the crackle of machine guns, machine guns and rifles. A shower of lead fell on the enemy from all sides. The first three cars caught fire and blocked the path of the convoy. Enemy soldiers jumped out of the trucks and began to shoot back. There was a short pause. Osman Kasaev rises and gives the command:
Follow me, attack!
The partisans rushed forward. The enemy's resistance was broken. Osman Kasayev seizes the surviving car with the radio station. The partisans returned to their camps with rich trophies.
Osman Kasayev's detachment soon grew in size into a regiment. It had three battalions, a headquarters company, sabotage and utility platoons and a reconnaissance platoon. Osman Kasayev's regiment began to destroy not only police garrisons, but also large concentrations of enemy troops. People created new legends about the fearless regiment commander.
Partisan contacts reported that a military unit had arrived from the front in the village of Ermolovichi (25 kilometers from Mogilev): 500 personnel, armed with machine guns and machine guns. Some arrived on vacation and were awaiting reinforcements. The partisans decided to finish off this German unit, and the headquarters of the military operational group developed a plan for this operation.
All detachments were supposed to take their starting positions by two o'clock in the morning. The signal for a general attack was given to Osman Kasayev with a red rocket.
Osman Kasayev led the assault group of his detachment, burst into the village and wanted to secretly capture the Nazi headquarters. But he collided with a patrol, destroyed it with a burst of machine gun fire and gave the signal for a general attack.
Taken by surprise, the enemy was unable to offer serious resistance. On October 30, 1943, another enemy garrison ceased to exist. It was a worthy gift for the 26th anniversary of October.
By January 1944, the partisan regiment of Osman Kasayev destroyed more than 3,000 enemy soldiers and officers, 2 tanks, 108 cars, 12 motorcycles, blew up 3 railway bridges and 36 highway bridges. 7 enemy and 20 police garrisons were defeated, and on January 24, the 121st partisan regiment attacked a punitive detachment of SS troops in the villages of Golynets-I and Golynets-II and destroyed about 200 enemy soldiers and officers.
Osman Kasayev rallied not only the Soviet people to fight the enemy - the detachment included representatives of the most diverse nationalities: Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Azerbaijanis, Kazakhs, Mordvins, Tatars - but also all those who hated fascism. Often, scouts and messengers brought soldiers and officers of the German army to the regiment. The overwhelming majority were forcibly mobilized Czechs, French, Austrians, Luxembourgers, and Germans. Osman Kasaev created an international group from them. Lieutenant Balabenko, who spoke German, was appointed its commander, and the Czech Jan Patochka was appointed as its commander.
The most fortified objects, numerous garrisons, the defeat of which could cost great casualties, were destroyed by the international group by cunning. The group's fighters put on German uniforms, harnessed tailless trophy horses to sleighs or carts and boldly rode around the area. Either under the guise of inspectors, or under the guise of soldiers and officers who had fallen behind their units, they stayed in German or police garrisons. They quickly navigated the situation, disarmed the enemy, blew up fortifications, and destroyed buildings.
The police garrison on the Mogilev-Bobruisk highway near the village of Mezhisetki constrained the actions of the partisans in the vicinity of Mogilev. It was not possible to defeat it with a frontal attack; the garrison was heavily fortified. Special bunkers were built along the highway, from which all approaches were shot through. Osman Kasaev developed a plan to defeat this garrison by an international group.
9 partisans - Balabenko, Patochka and the German Hans in the uniform of SS officers, the rest with police armbands went out on the Mogilev - Bobruisk highway near the village of Krasnitsa.
It was getting dark. A covered truck is rushing along the asphalt from Mogilev in the direction of Mezhi-setki. Balabenko, in the uniform of a chief lieutenant, walked out into the middle of the highway and raised his hand. The car stopped. There are three Germans in it.
What's happened? - asked one of them.
Give me a ride! - Balabenko asked in German. And when he saw that his comrades surrounded the car, he commanded: - Hyundai hoch!
The partisans disarmed the Germans, tied them up and threw them into a truck loaded with uniforms and shoes.
The trophies are good! - Balabenko was delighted.
The German Hans got behind the wheel and drove the car. In the village of Mezhi-setki I stopped near a bunker. The policeman sentry raised the alarm. The head of the garrison, a German, ran out. Balabenko introduced himself to him as an inspector checking the readiness of garrisons to fight partisans.
The head of the garrison checked the documents - they were in order (done by a liaison officer who worked in the SD) - and led the “inspectors” to the barracks. Jan Patocka paused near the weapons pyramid and picked up a self-loading rifle.
Dirt! - he said, wincing, in German. Balabenko turned to him, looked at the rifle, and took another from the pyramid.
Dirt! - he confirmed and began to sternly reprimand the head of the garrison: “How do you take care of the weapons entrusted to you by the valiant Fatherland.” What, are you at a resort? There are partisans around!
The garrison commander babbled something incomprehensible in his defense.
Clean your weapons! Now! - ordered the enraged Balabenko.
The head of the garrison is not. could have disobeyed. A few minutes later the policemen, crowded around a huge table, were dismantling their rifles and machine guns.
What about the weapons in the bunkers? How are the machine guns?
There are posts, there are sentries! - the head of the garrison repeated.
Temporarily replace! I bet my own!
And this order was carried out unquestioningly. And then Balabenko barked menacingly:
Hyundai hoh! Vir zind partisans!
Confused policemen and the head of the garrison raised their hands up. The partisans poured the disassembled weapons into a mattress bag, from which they shook out the straw. They took the tied up policemen into the yard. Then they blew up the bunkers and burned the barracks.
The international group also penetrated into Mogilev. From there, “tongues,” secret military documents, were delivered to the headquarters of the partisan movement.
The local population fully supported the Ottomans. Warned of impending danger, supplied food and salt. The regiment commander was especially respected.
Our Osman, they talked about him in the Mogilev and Bslynichsky regions.
Residents of many villages knew Osman Musaevich. There was not a hut in the detachment’s area of operation that he did not enter and inquire about the needs of the owners. In the village of Khripelevo, Olga Velskaya remained a widow with two children. Her husband, a partisan, died while performing a combat mission. Osman Musaevich considered it his duty to take care of his comrade’s family.
A cow is missing; “I don’t know what to do with the kids,” the widow complained to him.
Let's help, we'll help out! - the regiment commander promised.
And when they carried out a business operation and recaptured a herd of cows from the invaders, Osman Musaevich ordered that the best dairy cow be allocated to the Velsky family.
In the partisan villages there were not enough horses to work the land. The detachment commander tried by any means to get horses and distribute them to the population. To ensure that the tax was used correctly, a commandant was appointed. So in the village of Nikolaevka, Belynichi district, headman Tit Apatov was elected partisan commandant. The partisans placed six horses at his disposal. They carried out field work in a timely manner not only in Nikolaevka, but also in Dubinka, Malinovka and Khripelevo. In gratitude for this, the partisans received food.
The Ottomans protected the local population from bullying and deportation to Germany. In January 1944, 120 Nazis surrounded the village of Peschanka and began to drive the residents into the threshing floor to burn them there. Having learned about this, regiment commander Osman Kasaev personally led one of his battalions against the punitive forces. Help came in a timely manner: the villagers were saved and the punitive detachment was defeated. More than twenty SS men were killed in this battle, the rest fled to the city in panic.
At the beginning of February there was a long thaw. The snow was filled with water, melt water flooded the lowlands and swamps. Then it froze slightly and snowstorms began. The wind howled in the forest, driving fresh snow over the icy crust. Off-road, neither walk nor pass. But the partisans were not idle, they carried out operations on the railroad and highway, and disrupted the enemy’s communications.
Soviet troops were approaching. The Belarusian fronts were preparing for a decisive offensive. For the partisans this was the long-awaited hour, and they tried with all their might to help the army. The enemy found himself between two fronts. Hitler instructed the commander of Army Group Center to destroy the partisans at any cost, secure the rear, and restore traffic on railways and highways. The calculation was simple: drive the partisans into the swamps, surround and destroy them with aircraft, tanks and artillery.
The 102nd German Infantry Division, the 35th SS Division, nine separate battalions of field gendarmerie and police, with a total number of 35 thousand soldiers and officers, were urgently withdrawn from the front...
Osman Kasayev's regiment was heading to the Usakinsky forests, or Terebol, the largest forests in the Mogilev region. The bases of all partisan detachments were located there and the wounded were usually treated there. The Usaka forests were located at the junction of the Klichevsky, Berezinsky, Mogilevsky and Belynichisky districts, in close proximity to the Kirovsky and Bykhovsky districts.
On the hilly forest roads, the horses lost their hooves and quickly got tired. But there was no time to waste; the partisans moved without sleep or rest. However, Terebol greeted them unfriendly. The dugouts were flooded with water at the beginning of February. Exhausted partisans collapsed onto wet bunks and instantly fell asleep. But the rest was short-lived. They announced the rise. The partisans left the dugouts sluggish and depressed.
What, brother? - Osman Musaevich clapped one or two partisans on the shoulder in a friendly manner. He was clean-shaven, as always, with low sideburns and a mustache trimmed evenly. He began to tell a funny Caucasian joke, but this time he did not evoke an infectious and encouraging laugh.
Muffled shots were heard from a distance. It became known that a large column of punitive forces was moving towards the camp. We have to leave. But where? How? People and horses are tired.
Accordion player! - Osman shouted.
Evgeniy Strizhevich, hunched over from the cold, crawled out of the dugout with a button accordion.
Dear soul, Lezginka!
At first, the numb fingers did not listen well to the accordion player.
Have fun, have fun, brother!
Osman Musayevich threw the cloak to the adjutant and, slender, with his head held high, he walked in a circle, finely shuffling his feet. He looked dashing and danced dashingly, in a Caucasian way. The partisans surrounded the dancer with a wall, clapping their hands and singing along:
Assa! Assa!
Faces lit up with smiles. Osman Musaevich wiped the sweat from his brow and threw his usual burqa over his shoulders. Then he looked slyly at his soldiers and commanded:
Let's go, bros!
While the deputy commander of the regiment for ammunition harnessed the horse to the sleigh, Osman Musaevich gave the last orders to the political instructor of the international group, the Czech Jan Pa-tochka - the group was supposed to cover the retreat of the regiment.
Place a machine gun in the headquarters room, a submachine gunner in the other dugouts, and hold out as long as possible. We must distract the enemy, prevent him from discovering our hospitals, save the wounded...
The regiment set off. The fighters of the international group took their fighting positions. Soon a shootout began. Political instructor Patochka fulfilled the commander’s order with honor. He and his comrades held the line until noon. More than a hundred punitive forces were destroyed, but most of the internationalists also died in an unequal battle.
The next day, the fascist radio boastfully reported that the SS troops had completely destroyed the detachment of Osman Kasayev.
But the regiment lived and fought fierce battles. The Ottoman troops used forest roads to reach the field between the villages of Starye Naborki and Seliba. Osman Kasaev, together with his deputy for economic affairs and ammunition supply, Kirill Matirinko, went forward to discuss the route of movement with the brigade commander. It was necessary to go through the field, across the Kleva River and rest there in the forest.
Suddenly, a German reconnaissance plane emerged from behind the forest. He flew over the column and disappeared. But another one immediately appeared. Small bombs rained down on the partisan column. At the command “air”, the fighters lay down on the side of the road. One of the partisans in a hurry left a light machine gun. Osman Kasayev grabbed him and opened fire on the plane. Bomb fragments hit the regiment commander, but he, crouching on his knee, fired until the enemy vulture disappeared.
The wounded Osman Kasayev stood up and clutched his waist belt with his hands.
Osman Musaevich? - Kirill Matirinko ran up to him.
Silence. Lips are compressed, mustache is bitten. Suddenly he began to bow and fell into the arms of Kirill Matirinka. Nurse Shura ran up. Doctor Ilya Ivanovich Ostapenko was called. The fragments hit Osman Musaevich's lungs, neck, stomach, and kidneys. Doctor Ostapenko performed an operation under difficult conditions and removed the fragments, but he was unable to save the commander. A day later he died.
The partisans wrapped the body of their comrade in a Cossack burka and buried him at the edge of the forest near the village of Ulesye, Berezinsky district. Then the commander’s body was transferred to the village of Khripelevo, Mogilev region, and after the liberation of the region from the Nazi invaders - to Mogilev.
At the commander’s grave, the partisans took a sacred oath to take revenge on the enemy for the death of the best sons of the Motherland, to bring victory over the enemy closer. “Revenge for Osman” sabotage groups were created in companies and battalions. They inflicted many more attacks on enemy communications. And always with them, short, dark-haired, with brown eyes, Osman Kasaev walked into battle next to them. He forever entered the hearts of the people's avengers.
In Mogilev, on Lazarenko Street, there is an obelisk - a monument to the heroes who died in the fight against the Nazi invaders. Next to him on the grave of O. M. Kasaev is a marble slab. It is carved on it: “Osman Musaevich Kasaev - commander of the 121st Red Partisan Regiment. Born in 1916. He died in battle with the Nazi invaders on February 18, 1944.”
The working people of the Mogilev region sacredly honor the memory of Osman Musaevich Kasaev. A majestic monument to him was erected at the crossroads of the roads to Tekhtin-Kasaevo and Ugolytsina. A bas-relief of Osman Kasayev wearing a national burqa is carved on the stone. There are always fresh flowers at the foot. The son of the Caucasus mountains is forever loved by the Belarusian people.
Petr SHESTERIKOV
Osman Musaevich Kasaev (1916-1944) - major of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, commander of a partisan detachment during the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union (1965).
Osman Kasaev was born on October 11, 1916 in the village of Khurzuk (now Karachayevsky district of Karachay-Cherkessia). In 1931 he graduated from elementary school, in 1936 from the workers' faculty. In 1937, Kasaev was called up to serve in the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. He studied at the cavalry military school, but a year later he was transferred to the Kiev Artillery School. Participated in the Polish campaign. Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War - on its fronts.
Soon after the start of the war, the division in which Kasaev served was surrounded and destroyed. At the end of August 1941, having reached the Belynichi district of the Mogilev region of the Belarusian SSR, a group of fighters and commanders, among whom was Kasaev, decided to begin hostilities as a partisan formation. Kasayev was elected first as a commissar and then as a commander of a partisan detachment, which was assigned the number 121.
The detachment successfully operated in the Mogilev region, destroying garrisons, punitive detachments, warehouses, motor depots, and commandant's offices. By the end of 1943, there were already more than 1,200 partisans in the detachment, and then it was transformed into the 121st partisan regiment, of which Kasaev became the commander. By February 1944, the regiment took part in 70 battles, destroyed more than 1,000 enemy soldiers and officers, and blew up 33 German trains.
The commandant of Mogilev, Major General Emansdorf, wrote in a report to his superiors: “Partisan agents are everywhere. There are especially many of them in Mogilev... In Khripelev, Ugolytsin, Peschanka and other villages west of Mogilev, the 121st Red Partisan Regiment, about which we previously reported, settled. The regiment is commanded by a certain Caucasian Osman - a treacherous, experienced in military affairs, Bolshevik commissar. In essence, we control only the regional centers, and partisans have strengthened themselves in the villages... Large forces are needed against them...”
On February 17, 1944, during the transition between settlements in the Berezinsky region, a column of partisans was attacked by German aircraft. Kasaev was seriously injured and died 18 hours later, on February 18, 1944. He was initially buried in the village of Khripelevo, Belynichi district, but in August 1948 he was reburied in a mass grave on Lazarenko Street in Mogilev.
For his courage and heroism, Osman Kasaev was repeatedly nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, however, due to belonging to the repressed Karachay people, Osman Kasaev did not receive this high award either during his lifetime or immediately after his death. It was awarded to him posthumously only in May 1965, at the request of the governing bodies of Belarus.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 8, 1965, “on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people over Nazi Germany for special services in the fight against the Nazi invaders behind enemy lines and the courage and heroism shown,” Major Osman Kasaev was posthumously awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He was also awarded the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and a medal.
After the death of the hero, the 121st regiment, the regiment named after Osman Kasaev, began to be called after him. In honor of Kasayev, the village of Sermyazhenka, Belynichi district, was renamed Osman-Kasaevo. Also, streets in Mogilev and Cherkessk, a school in the village of Zapolye, Belynichi district, were named in his honor, an obelisk was installed in the village of Ugolshchina and a bust in the village of Uchkulan.
