Devyataev Mikhail Petrovich - flight commander of the 104th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 2nd Air Army, 1st Ukrainian Front), guard senior lieutenant.

Born on July 8, 1917 in the village of Torbeevo (now a town in Mordovia) in a peasant family. Mordvin. He was the thirteenth child in the family. When he was 2 years old, his father died of typhus. In 1933, he graduated from the 7th grade of high school and went to Kazan, intending to enter an aviation technical school. Due to a misunderstanding with documents, he had to study at the Kazan River Technical School, which he graduated in 1938. At the same time he studied at the Kazan flying club.

In 1938, the Sverdlovsk district military registration and enlistment office of the city of Kazan, Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, was drafted into the Red Army. In 1940 he graduated from the Chkalov Military Aviation School named after K.E. Voroshilov. Sent to serve in the city of Torzhok. Later transferred to the city of Mogilev to the 237th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Western Special Military District).

Participant of the Great Patriotic War since June 22, 1941. Already on the second day, junior pilot M.P. Devyatayev took part in an air battle in his I-16. He opened his combat account on June 24, shooting down a Ju-87 dive bomber near Minsk. Then he defended the sky of Moscow. In one of the air battles in the Tula region, together with J. Schneier, he shot down a Ju-88, but his Yak-1 was also damaged. Devyatayev made an emergency landing and ended up in the hospital. Having not fully recovered, he fled to the front to join his regiment, which at that time was based west of Voronezh.

On September 23, 1941, while returning from a mission, Devyatayev was attacked by Messerschmitts. He knocked down one of them, but he himself was wounded in the left leg. By this time, he had flown 180 combat missions and personally shot down 9 enemy aircraft in 35 air battles.

After the hospital, the medical commission assigned him to low-speed aviation, where he commanded a flight of U-2 communications aircraft and made 280 sorties to communicate with advanced units. Since September 1943, he served in the 1001st separate medical regiment, carried out 80 combat missions to forward landing sites, transported 120 wounded soldiers, delivered 600 liters of blood and 1,500 kilograms of medicine and other cargo.

After a meeting in May 1944 with A.I. Pokryshkin, he again became a fighter. Flight commander of the 104th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 2nd Air Army, 1st Ukrainian Front) Guard, Senior Lieutenant M.P. Devyatayev. on the evening of July 13, 1944, he flew out as part of a group of P-39 fighters under the command of Major V. Bobrov to repel an enemy air raid. In an unequal air battle in the Lvov area, he was wounded in the right leg, and his plane was set on fire. At the last moment, the falling fighter left with a parachute. Captured with severe burns.

Interrogation followed interrogation. Then he was sent by transport plane to the Abwehr intelligence department in Warsaw. Having failed to obtain any valuable information from Devyatayev, the Germans sent him to the Lodz prisoner of war camp. Later transferred to the New Königsberg camp. Here, in the camp with a group of comrades, Devyatayev began to prepare an escape. At night, using improvised means - spoons and bowls - they dug a tunnel, pulled out the earth on a sheet of iron and scattered it under the floor of the barracks (the barracks stood on stilts). But when there were already a few meters left to freedom, security discovered the tunnel. Based on a denunciation from a traitor, the organizers of the escape were captured. After interrogation and torture, they were sentenced to death.

Devyatayev and a group of suicide bombers were sent to Germany to the Sachsenhausen death camp (near Berlin). But he was lucky: in the sanitary barracks, a hairdresser from among the prisoners replaced his death row tag with the tag of a penalty prisoner (No. 104533), who was killed by the guards of a teacher from Darnitsa, Grigory Stepanovich Nikitenko. In the group of “toptuns” he wore out shoes made by German companies. Later, with the help of underground workers, he was transferred from a penal barracks to a regular one. At the end of October 1944, as part of a group of 1,500 prisoners, he was sent to a camp on the island of Usedom, where the secret Peenemünde training ground was located, where rocket weapons were tested. Since the site was secret, there was only one way out for the concentration camp prisoners - through the crematorium pipe. In January 1945, when the front approached the Vistula, Devyatayev, along with prisoners Ivan Krivonogov, Vladimir Sokolov, Vladimir Nemchenko, Fyodor Adamov, Ivan Oleynik, Mikhail Yemets, Pyotr Kutergin, Nikolai Urbanovich and Dmitry Serdyukov, began preparing an escape. A plan was developed to hijack a plane from an airfield located next to the camp. While working at the airfield, Devyatayev secretly studied the cockpits of German aircraft. Instrument plaques were removed from damaged aircraft lying around the airfield. In the camp they were translated and studied. Devyatayev assigned responsibilities to all participants in the escape: who should remove the cover from the pitot tube, who should remove the chocks from the landing gear wheels, who should remove the clamps from the elevators and steering wheels, who should roll up the cart with batteries.

The escape was scheduled for February 8, 1945. On the way to work at the airfield, the prisoners, choosing the moment, killed the guard. So that the Germans would not suspect anything, one of them put on his clothes and began to pose as a guard. Thus, they managed to enter the aircraft parking lot. When the German technicians went for lunch, Devyatayev’s group captured a He-111H-22 bomber. Devyatayev started the engines and began to taxi to the start. To prevent the Germans from seeing his striped prison clothes, he had to strip naked. But it was not possible to take off unnoticed - someone discovered the body of the murdered guard and raised the alarm. German soldiers were running towards the Heinkel from all sides. Devyatayev began his takeoff run, but the plane could not take off for a long time (later it was discovered that the landing flaps had not been removed). With the help of his comrades, Devyatayev pulled the helm with all his might. Only at the end of the runway did the Heinkel take off from the ground and fly over the sea at a low altitude.

Having come to their senses, the Germans sent a fighter in pursuit, but it failed to detect the fugitives. Devyatayev flew, guided by the sun. In the area of ​​the front line, the plane was fired upon by our anti-aircraft guns. I had to go forced. The Heinkel made a belly landing south of the village of Gollin at the location of the artillery unit of the 61st Army.

Special officers did not believe that concentration camp prisoners could hijack the plane. The fugitives were subjected to a harsh check in the NKVD filtration camp in the city of Nevel, Pskov region, which was long and humiliating. Then they were sent to penal battalions. In November 1945, Devyatayev was transferred to the reserve. He was not hired. In 1946, with a captain's diploma in his pocket, he found a job as a loader at the Kazan river port, then as an attendant at the river station. They didn't trust him for 12 years. He wrote letters addressed to Stalin, Malenkov, Beria, but all to no avail. The situation changed only in 1957, when the first article about him was published in March.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 15, 1957, for the courage, bravery and heroism shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders during the Great Patriotic War, senior lieutenant Devyataev Mikhail Petrovich awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

In 1957, the brave fighter pilot became one of the first captains of the Raketa hydrofoil passenger ships. In 1959 he joined the CPSU. Later he drove Meteors along the Volga and was a captain-mentor. After retiring, he actively participated in the veterans’ movement, created the Devyatayev Foundation, and provided assistance to those who especially needed it.

Awarded the Order of Lenin, 2 Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd degrees, and medals. Honorary citizen of the Republic of Mordovia, the cities of Kazan (Russia), Wolgast and Tsinovichi (Germany).

A museum of the Hero has been opened in the village of Torbeevo, a memorial plaque has been installed on the house where he lived, and a bust is located near the house. In February 2010 in Kazan, on the house where the Hero lived (Sechenova Street, 5), a memorial plaque was unveiled. The monument “Escape from Hell” was erected in Saransk on the Memorial to the soldiers of Mordovia who fell during the Great Patriotic War.

Essays:
Flight to the sun. - M.: DOSAAF, 1972.
Escape from Hell. - Kazan: Tatar book. ed., 1988.

What happenedFebruary 8, 1945can be safely called an amazing miracle and an example of incredible repeated luck. Judge for yourself.

Fighter pilot Mikhail Devyatayev was able to understand the controls of an enemy bomber that was completely unfamiliar to him, at the helm of which he had never sat before.

The airfield security could have prevented the hijacking of the top-secret plane, but it didn’t work out.

The Germans could have simply blocked the runway, but they did not have time to do this.

The fire from anti-aircraft guns covering the military base and airfield could have stopped the escape attempt instantly, but this did not happen.

German fighters could have intercepted the winged car flying east, but they also failed to do so.

And at the end of the heroic flight Heinkel-111 with German crosses on the wings, Soviet anti-aircraft gunners could have shot him down - they shot at him and even set him on fire, but luck that day was on the side of the brave fugitives.

Now I’ll tell you in more detail about HOW IT WAS.

After the war, Mikhail Devyatayev in his book "Escape from Hell" I remembered it this way: “I don’t know how I survived. In the barracks - 900 people, bunks on three floors, 200 gr. bread, a mug of gruel and 3 potatoes - all the food for the day and exhausting work.”

And he would have perished in this terrible place if not forfirst case of fateful luck - a camp hairdresser from among the prisoners replaced Mikhail Devyatayev with his suicide bomber badge on his camp uniform. The day before, a prisoner named Grigory Nikitenko died in Nazi dungeons. In peaceful life, he was a school teacher in Kyiv Darnitsa. His patch number, cut off by the hairdresser, not only saved Devyatayev’s life, but also became his pass to another camp with a “lighter” regime - near the town of Peenemünde, which was located on the island of Usedom in the Baltic Sea.

So the captured pilot, senior lieutenant Mikhail Devyataev, turned into the former teacher Grigory Nikitenko.

The development of German V-missiles was led by a talented engineer Wernher von Braun , who later became the father of American astronautics.

The Germans called the Peenemünde military base, located on the western tip of the island of Usedom "Goering Nature Reserve" . But the prisoners had a different name for this area - "Devil's Island" . Every morning, the prisoners of this devilish island received work orders. The airfield brigade had the hardest time: prisoners of war carried cement and sand, mixed the solution and poured it into craters from British air raids. But it was precisely this brigade that “teacher from Darnitsa Nikitenko” was eager to join. He wanted to be closer to the planes!

In his book he recalled it this way: “The roar of the planes, their appearance, their proximity with enormous force stirred up the idea of ​​escaping.”

And Mikhail began to prepare his escape.

At the dump of damaged and faulty aircraft, Devyatayev studied their fragments, tried to understand the design of unfamiliar bombers, and carefully examined the cockpit instrument panels. Mikhail tried to understand how the engines start and in what sequence the equipment should be turned on - after all, the time count during capture will go by seconds.

And here is Devyatayev lucky again. And it turned out to be very funny : the noble German pilot, being in a good mood and in a good mood, HIMSELF showed the wild barbarian and subhuman HOW the Aryan celestials start the engines of a flying car.

It was like this, I quote the memoirs of Mikhail Petrovich: “The incident helped trace the launch operations. One day we were clearing snow near the caponier where the Heinkel was parked. From the shaft I saw the pilot's cockpit. And he noticed my curiosity. With a grin on his face - look, they say, Russian onlooker, how easily real people cope with this machine - the pilot defiantly began to demonstrate the launch: they drove up, connected the cart with batteries, the pilot showed his finger and let it go straight in front of him, then the pilot specially for me I raised my leg to shoulder level and lowered it - one motor started working. Next is the second one. The pilot in the cockpit laughed. I, too, could barely contain my jubilation - all phases of the Heinkel launch were clear”...

While working at the airfield, the prisoners began to notice all the details of his life and routine: when and how the planes were refueled, how and at what time the guards changed, when the crews and servants went to lunch, which plane was most convenient for capture.

After all the observations, Mikhail chose Heinkele-111 with a personalized monogram on board "G.A." , which meant "Gustav-Anton" . This Gustav-Anton took off on missions more often than others. And what was also good about it was that after landing it was immediately refueled again. The prisoners began to call this plane nothing more than "our Heinkel".

February 7, 1945 Devyatayev’s team decided to escape. The prisoners dreamed: “Tomorrow at lunch we’ll slurp some gruel, and then we’ll have dinner at home, among our own people.”

The next day, in the afternoon, when the technicians and staff were heading out for lunch, ours began to act. Ivan Krivonogov neutralized the guard with a blow from a steel rod. Pyotr Kutergin took off his greatcoat and cap from the lifeless sentry and put them on himself. With a rifle at the ready, this disguised watchman led the “prisoners” in the direction of the plane. This is so that the guards at the watchtowers don’t suspect anything.

The prisoners opened the hatch and entered the plane. Interior Heinkel Devyatayev, accustomed to the cramped cockpit of a fighter, seemed like a huge hangar. Meanwhile, Vladimir Sokolov and Ivan Krivonogov uncovered the engines and removed the clamps from the flaps. The ignition key was in place...

This is how Mikhail Devyataev described this alarming moment: “I pressed all the buttons at once. The devices did not light up... there were no batteries!... “Failure!” - it cut me in the heart. A gallows and 10 corpses dangling from it floated before my eyes”...

But fortunately, the guys quickly got hold of the batteries, dragged them on a cart to the plane, and connected the cable. The instrument needles immediately swung. Turn the key, move your foot - and one motor came to life. Another minute - and the screws of another engine began to tighten. Both engines were roaring, but no noticeable alarm was visible on the airfield yet - because as everyone was used to: the Gustav-Anton flies a lot and often. The plane began to pick up speed and, accelerating, began to rapidly approach the edge of the runway. But the amazing thing is For some reason he couldn't get off the ground!... And he almost fell off a cliff into the sea. Panic arose behind the pilot - screams and blows in the back: "Bear, why don't we take off!?"

But Mishka himself didn’t know why. I only realized it a few minutes later, when I turned around and made a second takeoff attempt. The trimmers were to blame! The trimmer is a movable, palm-width plane on the elevators. The German pilot left it in the “landing” position. But how can you find the control mechanism for these trimmers in a few seconds in an unfamiliar car!?

And at this time the airfield came to life, bustle and bustle began on it. The pilots and mechanics ran out of the dining room. Everyone who was on the field rushed to the plane. A little more and the shooting will begin! And then Mikhail Devyatayev shouted to his friends: "Help!". The three of them, together with Sokolov and Krivonogov, piled onto the helm...

... and at the very edge of the Baltic waters Heinkel I finally got my tail off the ground!

Here it is - another stroke of luck from desperate guys - Exhausted, emaciated prisoners lifted a heavy, multi-ton machine into the air! By the way, Mikhail did find the trim control, but only a little later - when the plane dived into the clouds and began to gain altitude. And immediately the car became obedient and light.

From the moment the red-haired guard was hit on the head until he left for the clouds, only 21 minutes passed...

Twenty-one minutes of tense nerves.

Twenty-one minutes of fighting fear.

Twenty-one minutes of risk and courage.

Of course, they were chased and fighters took them into the air. A fighter piloted by a famous air ace, Chief Lieutenant, took off to intercept, among other things. Gunther Hobom, owner of two "Iron Crosses" And "German cross in gold". But, without knowing the course of the escaped Heinkel it could only be discovered by chance, and Günther Hobom did not find the fugitives.

The rest of the air hunters also returned to their airfields with nothing. In the first hours after the hijacking, the Germans were sure that the secret plane had been hijacked by British prisoners of war, and therefore the main forces of interceptors were thrown in a northwest direction - towards Great Britain. So Fate once again favored Devyatayev and his comrades.

An interesting and very dangerous meeting took place over the Baltic. Stolen Heinkel walked over the sea to the southeast - towards the front line, towards the Soviet troops. A caravan of ships was moving below. And he was accompanied by fighters from above. One Messerschmitt from the security guard left the formation, flew up to the bomber and made a beautiful loop near it. Devyatayev was even able to notice the perplexed look of the German pilot - he was surprised that Heinkel was flying with the landing gear extended. By that time, Mikhail had not yet figured out how to remove them. And I was afraid that during landing there might be problems with their release. "Messer" did not shoot down the strange bomber either due to lack of orders to do so, or due to lack of communication with the main command. So, this was another favorable coincidence that day for Mikhail Devyatayev’s crew.

The fugitives guessed that the plane had flown over the front line based on three important observations.

Firstly, below on the ground there were endless convoys, columns of Soviet vehicles and tanks.

Secondly, the infantry on the roads, seeing a German bomber, scattered and jumped into the ditch.

And thirdly, by Heinkel our anti-aircraft guns hit. And they hit very accurately: wounded appeared among the crew, and the right engine of the plane caught fire. Mikhail Devyataev saved the burning car, his comrades and himself - he abruptly threw the plane into a sideways slide and thereby knocked out the flames . The smoke disappeared, but the engine was damaged. It was necessary to sit down urgently.

Runaways-from-Hell landed on a spring field at the location of one of the artillery divisions of the 61st Army. The plane's bottom plowed most of the field, but still landed successfully. And there is a very great merit in this successful landing on a melting February field in a car that has not yet been fully mastered with only one working engine... Guardian angel Mikhail Devyatayev. This obviously could not have happened without the Higher Powers!

Soon the former prisoners heard: “Kruts! Hyundai hoh! Surrender, otherwise we’ll shoot you out of a cannon!” But for them these were Russian words that were very dear and dear to their hearts. They have replyed: “We are not Krauts! We are our own! From captivity we... We are ours...”

Our soldiers with machine guns and short fur coats ran up to the plane and were stunned. Ten skeletons in striped clothes, wearing wooden shoes spattered with blood and dirt, came out to them. The terribly thin people were crying and constantly repeating only one word: "Brothers, brothers..."

The artillerymen carried them in their arms to the location of their unit, like children, because the fugitives weighed 40 kilograms...

You can imagine what exactly happened on the devilish island of Usedom after the daring escape! At these moments, a terrible commotion reigned at the Peenemünde missile base. Hermann Goering, having learned about the emergency in his secret "Reserve" stamped his feet and shouted: "Hang the culprits!"

The heads of those responsible and those involved survived only thanks to the saving lies of the head of the unit for testing the latest technology, Karl Heinz Graudenz. He told Goering, who arrived with the inspection: “The plane was caught up over the sea and shot down.”

I repeat once again - at first the Germans believed that Heinkel-111 hijacked by British prisoners of war. But the truth was revealed after an urgent formation in the camp and a thorough check: 10 Russian prisoners were missing. And only a day after the escape, the SS service found out: one of the escapees was not school teacher Grigory Nikitenko, but pilot Mikhail Devyatayev from Alexander Pokryshkin’s division.

For hijacking a secret plane Heinkel-111 with radio equipment for range testing of ballistic missiles V-2 Adolf Hitler declared Mikhail Devyatayev his personal enemy.

For two years, starting in 1943, the British bombed the island of Usedom and its facilities, but the thing is that most often they “fought” a false airfield and fake planes. The Germans outwitted our allies - they skillfully disguised the real airfield and missile launchers with mobile wheeled platforms with trees. Thanks to the fake groves, the secret facilities of the Peenemünde base looked like copses from above.

The last rocket V-2 with serial number 4299 took off from launch pad No. 7 on February 14, 1945.

No more German missiles took off from the Peenemünde base.

The main merit of Mikhail Petrovich Devyatayev to our Motherland is that he made a great contribution to the development of Soviet rocket science.

Firstly, (As you already know) the plane he hijacked Heinkel-111 had unique missile flight control equipment V-2.

And secondly, he showed the Peenemünde base himself several times Sergei Pavlovich Korolev- the future general designer of Soviet missiles. They walked around the island of Usedom together and examined its former secrets: launchers V-1, launch pads V-2, underground workshops and laboratories, equipment abandoned by the Germans, remnants of missiles and their components.

In the 50s of the last century, Mikhail Devyataev tested hydrofoil river boats on the Volga. In 1957, he was one of the first in the Soviet Union to become the captain of a passenger ship of the type "Rocket". Later he drove along the Volga "Meteora", was a captain-mentor. After retiring, he actively participated in the veterans’ movement, often spoke to schoolchildren, students and working youth, created his own Devyatayev Foundation, and provided assistance to those who especially needed it.

P.S.

Born on July 8, 1917 in Mordovia, in the working-class village of Torbeevo. He was the thirteenth child in the family. Father, Petr Timofeevich Devyataev, a hardworking, artisan man, worked for a landowner. The mother, Akulina Dmitrievna, was mainly busy taking care of the children. At the beginning of the war there were six brothers and one sister alive. All of them took part in the battles for their homeland. Four brothers died at the front, the rest died prematurely due to front-line wounds and adversity. His wife, Faina Khairullovna, raised the children and is now retired. Sons: Alexey Mikhailovich (born 1946), anesthesiologist at the eye clinic, candidate of medical sciences; Alexander Mikhailovich (born 1951), employee of the Kazan Medical Institute, candidate of medical sciences. Daughter, Nelya Mikhailovna (born 1957), graduate of the Kazan Conservatory, music teacher at the theater school.

At school, Mikhail studied successfully, but was too playful. But one day it was as if he had been replaced. This happened after the plane arrived in Torbeevo. The pilot, who seemed like a sorcerer in his clothes, the fast-winged iron bird - all this captivated Mikhail. Unable to restrain himself, he then asked the pilot:

How to become a pilot?

You need to study well, came the answer. - Play sports, be brave, brave.

From that day on, Mikhail changed decisively: he devoted everything to studies and sports. After 7th grade, he went to Kazan, intending to enter an aviation technical school. There was some misunderstanding with the documents, and he was forced to enter the river technical school. But the dream of heaven did not fade away. She captured him more and more. There was only one thing left to do - sign up for the Kazan flying club.

Mikhail did just that. It was difficult. Sometimes I would sit until late at night in the airplane or motor class of the flying club. And in the morning I was already in a hurry to the river technical school. One day the day came when Mikhail took to the air for the first time, albeit with an instructor. Excited, beaming with happiness, he then told his friends: “Heaven is my life!”

This lofty dream brought him, a graduate of a river technical school who had already mastered the Volga open spaces, to the Orenburg Aviation School. Studying there was the happiest time in Devyatayev’s life. He gained knowledge about aviation bit by bit, read a lot, and trained diligently. Happy as never before, he took off into the sky, which he had only dreamed of just recently.

And here is the summer of 1939. He is a military pilot. And the specialty is the most formidable for the enemy: fighter. First he served in Torzhok, then he was transferred to Mogilev. There he was lucky again: he ended up in the squadron of the famous pilot Zakhar Vasilyevich Plotnikov, who managed to fight in Spain and Khalkhin Gol. Devyatayev and his comrades gained combat experience from him.

Best of the day

But war broke out. And on the very first day - a combat mission. And although Mikhail Petrovich himself failed to shoot down the Junkers, he, maneuvering, brought it to his commander Zakhar Vasilyevich Plotnikov. But he did not miss the air enemy and defeated him.

Mikhail Petrovich soon got lucky too. One day, in a break in the clouds, a Junkers 87 caught his eye. Devyatayev, without wasting a second, rushed after him and a moment later saw him in the crosshairs. He immediately fired two machine-gun bursts. The Junkers burst into flames and crashed to the ground. There were other successes too.

Soon those who distinguished themselves in battle were called from Mogilev to Moscow. Mikhail Devyatayev, among others, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

The situation became increasingly tense. Devyatayev and his comrades already had to defend the approaches to the capital. Using brand new Yaks, they intercepted planes rushing to drop their deadly cargo on Moscow. One day, near Tula, Devyatayev, together with his partner Yakov Schneier, entered into battle with fascist bombers. They managed to shoot down one Junkers. But Devyatayev’s plane was also damaged. Still, the pilot managed to land. And he ended up in the hospital. Not fully cured, he fled from there to his regiment, which was already located west of Voronezh.

On September 21, 1941, Devyatayev was assigned to deliver an important package to the headquarters of the encircled troops of the Southwestern Front. He carried out this assignment, but on the way back he entered into an unequal battle with the Messerschmitts. One of them was shot down. And he himself was wounded. So he ended up in the hospital again.

In the new part he was examined by a medical commission. The decision was unanimous - to low-speed aircraft. So the fighter pilot ended up in the night bomber regiment, and then in the air ambulance.

Only after meeting Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin did he manage to become a fighter pilot again. This was already in May 1944, when Devyatayev found “Pokryshkin’s farm.” His new colleagues greeted him cordially. Among them was Vladimir Bobrov, who in the fall of 1941 gave blood to the wounded Mikhail Petrovich.

Devyatayev took his plane into the air more than once. Repeatedly, together with other pilots of the division, A.I. Pokryshkina entered into battles with fascist vultures.

But then came the fateful July 13, 1944. In an air battle over Lvov, he was wounded and his plane caught fire. At the command of his leader Vladimir Bobrov, Devyatayev jumped out of a plane engulfed in flames... and found himself captured. Interrogation after interrogation. Then transfer to the Abwehr intelligence department. From there - to the Lodz prisoner of war camp. And there again - hunger, torture, bullying. Following this is the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. And finally - the mysterious island of Usedon, where super-powerful weapons were being prepared, which, according to its creators, no one could resist. The prisoners of Usedon are actually sentenced to death.

And all this time, the prisoners had one thought in their minds - to escape, to escape at all costs. Only on the island of Usedon did this decision become a reality. There were planes nearby, at the Peenemünde airfield. And there was the pilot Mikhail Petrovich Devyatayev, a courageous, fearless man, capable of carrying out his plans. And he did it, despite incredible difficulties. On February 8, 1945, a Heinkel with 10 prisoners landed on our soil. Devyatayev delivered strategically important information to the command about the classified Usedon, where the Nazi Reich's missile weapons were produced and tested. There were still two days left before the reprisal against Devyatayev planned by the fascists. He was saved by the sky, with which he had been endlessly in love since childhood.

The stigma of being a prisoner of war took a long time to affect. No trust, no worthwhile work... It was depressing and created hopelessness. Only after the intervention of the already widely known general designer of spacecraft, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, did the matter move forward. On August 15, 1957, the feat of Devyatayev and his comrades received a worthy assessment. Mikhail Petrovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and the participants in the flight were awarded orders.

Mikhail Petrovich finally returned to Kazan. In the river port he returned to his first profession - riverman. He was entrusted with testing the first high-speed boat "Raketa". He became its first captain. A few years later he was already driving high-speed Meteors along the Volga.

And now the war veteran can only dream of peace. He is actively involved in the veterans' movement, created the Devyatayev Foundation and provides assistance to those who especially need it. The veteran does not forget about the youth; he often meets with schoolchildren and soldiers of the garrison.

(8. 7. 1917 - 24. 11. 2002)

D Evyataev Michael Petrovich- legendary Soviet pilot. Born on July 8, 1917 in the village of Torbeevo (now a town in Mordovia) in a peasant family. Mordvin. Member of the CPSU since 1959. He was the thirteenth child in the family. When he was 2 years old, his father died of typhus. In 1933, he graduated from the 7th grade of high school and went to Kazan, intending to enter an aviation technical school. Due to a misunderstanding with documents, he had to study at a river technical school, from which he graduated in 1938. At the same time he studied at the Kazan flying club. In 1938, the Sverdlovsk RVC of Kazan was drafted into the Red Army. In 1940 he graduated from the Orenburg Military Aviation School named after. K.E.Voroshilova. Sent to serve in Torzhok. Later transferred to Mogilev to the 237th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Western OVO).

Participant of the Great Patriotic War since June 22, 1941. Already on the second day, he took part in an air battle in his I-16. He opened his combat account on June 24, shooting down a Ju-87 dive bomber near Minsk. Then he defended the sky of Moscow. In one of the air battles in the Tula region, together with Ya. Schneier, he shot down a Ju-88, but his Yak-1 was also damaged. Devyataev made an emergency landing and ended up in the hospital. Having not fully recovered, he fled to the front to join his regiment, which at that time was based west of Voronezh.

September 23, 1941 upon returning from a mission Devyataev was attacked by the Messerschmitts. He knocked down one of them, but he himself was wounded in the left leg. After the hospital, the medical commission assigned him to low-speed aviation. He served in a night bomber regiment, then in an air ambulance. Only after a meeting in May 1944 with A.I. Pokryshkin did he again become a fighter.

Flight commander of the 104th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 2nd Air Army, 1st Ukrainian Front) Guard Senior Lieutenant Devyataev M.P. In air battles he shot down 9 enemy aircraft. On the evening of July 13, 1944, he took off as part of a group of P-39 fighters under the command of Major V. Bobrov to repel an enemy air raid. In an unequal air battle near Lvov, he was wounded in the right leg, and his plane was set on fire. At the last moment, the falling fighter left with a parachute. Captured with severe burns.

Interrogation followed interrogation. Then he was sent by transport plane to the Abwehr intelligence department in Warsaw. Not having achieved from Devyataeva no valuable information, the Germans sent him to Lodz prisoner of war camp. Later transferred to the New Koenigsberg camp. Here in the camp with a group of comrades Devyataev began to prepare an escape. At night, using improvised means - spoons and bowls - they dug a tunnel, pulled out the earth on a sheet of iron and scattered it under the floor of the barracks (the barracks stood on stilts). But when there were already a few meters left to freedom, security discovered the tunnel. Based on a denunciation from a traitor, the organizers of the escape were captured. After interrogation and torture, they were sentenced to death.

Devyataev with a group of suicide bombers was sent to Germany to the Sachsenhausen death camp (near Berlin). But he was lucky: in the sanitary barracks, a hairdresser from among the prisoners replaced his death row tag with the tag of a penalty prisoner (No. 104533), who was killed by the guards of a teacher from Darnitsa, Grigory Stepanovich Nikitenko. In a group of?stompers? I wore in shoes made by German companies. Later, with the help of underground workers, he was transferred from a penal barracks to a regular one. At the end of October 1944, as part of a group of 1,500 prisoners, he was sent to a camp on the island of Usedom, where the secret Peenemünde training ground was located, where rocket weapons were tested. Since the site was secret, there was only one way out for the concentration camp prisoners - through the crematorium pipe. In January 1945, when the front approached the Vistula, Devyataev together with prisoners Ivan Krivonogov, Vladimir Sokolov, Vladimir Nemchenko, Fedor Adamov, Ivan Oleynik, Mikhail Yemets, Pyotr Kutergin, Nikolai Urbanovich and Dmitry Serdyukov began to prepare an escape. A plan was developed to hijack a plane from an airfield located next to the camp. During work at the airport Devyataev I secretly studied the cockpits of German planes. Instrument plates were removed from damaged aircraft lying around the airfield. In the camp they were translated and studied. To all escape participants Devyataev distributed responsibilities: who should remove the cover from the pitot tube, who should remove the chocks from the landing gear wheels, who should remove the clamps from the elevators and steering wheels, who should roll up the cart with batteries. The escape was scheduled for February 8, 1945. On the way to work at the airfield, the prisoners, choosing the moment, killed the guard. So that the Germans would not suspect anything, one of them put on his clothes and began to pose as a guard. Thus, they managed to enter the aircraft parking lot. When the German technicians went to lunch, the group Devyataeva captured a He-111H-22 bomber. Devyataev started the engines and began to taxi to the start. To prevent the Germans from seeing his striped prison clothes, he had to strip naked. But it was not possible to take off unnoticed - someone discovered the body of the murdered guard and raised the alarm. Towards the Heinkel? German soldiers were running from all sides. Devyataev began the takeoff run, but the plane could not take off for a long time (later it was discovered that the landing flaps had not been removed). With the help of comrades Devyataev I pulled the steering wheel with all my strength. Only at the end of the strip? Heinkel? took off from the ground and went over the sea at low altitude. Having come to their senses, the Germans sent a fighter in pursuit, but it failed to detect the fugitives. Devyataev flew, guided by the sun. In the area of ​​the front line, the plane was fired upon by our anti-aircraft guns. I had to go forced. ?Heinkel? made a belly landing south of the village of Gollin at the location of the artillery unit of the 61st Army.

Special officers did not believe that concentration camp prisoners could hijack the plane. The fugitives were subjected to a harsh test, long and humiliating. Then they were sent to penal battalions. In November 1945 Devyataev was transferred to the reserve. He was not hired. In 1946, with a captain's diploma in his pocket, he found a job as a loader in the Kazan river port with difficulty. They didn't trust him for 12 years. He wrote letters addressed to Stalin, Malenkov, Beria, but all to no avail. The situation changed only at the end of the 50s.

In 1957, he became one of the first captains of the passenger hydrofoil ship ?Rocket?. Later he drove Meteora along the Volga and was a captain-mentor. After retiring, he actively participated in the veterans movement and created the Foundation Devyataeva, provided assistance to those who especially needed it.

Awarded the Order of Lenin, 2 Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of the Patriotic War 1st and 2nd degrees, medals. Honorary citizen of the Republic of Mordovia, the cities of Kazan (Russia), Wolgast and Tsinovichi (Germany). A Hero Museum has been opened in Torbeevo.

Essays:
1.Flight to the sun. - M.: DOSAAF, 1972.
2.Escape from hell. - Kazan: Tatar book. ed., 1988.