Alexander batyan scout biography. Alexey Botyan: “He worked as an engineer and head waiter. But he remained a scout. But you actually deprived her of a choice
Alexei Nikolaevich Botyan - one of the prototypes of the cinema major Vortex - was just a lieutenant when he saved Polish Krakow with his squad. The Germans were preparing to blow up the city, but 28 fighters of the "partisan Alyosha", as the Poles called Botyan, prevented the explosion. He was even introduced to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but somehow it did not work out. Probably, because from the point of view of harsh personnel officers a young guy - a subordinate of the NKVD General Sudoplatov recruited not at all those. Yes, and the biography of Alexei was in doubt, it is very atypical for a scout.
When Botyan turned 90, he was partially removed from the table. A photo: Sergey Kuksin
His father lived first in Germany and then in Argentina. And in the autumn of 1939, Alexei served as an anti-aircraft gunner in the Polish army that was unfriendly to us that year. Even then, it was remarkable for its amazing accuracy. The gunner’s calculation of gunner Botyan shot down three German Junkers. And then the young non-commissioned officer was captured by the Red Army, which occupied, there was such, part of the territory of Poland. Only two weeks in the camp, but after all he served. And he escaped directly from the train carrying Polish prisoners of war: he jumped out of the car at full speed. But where did he appear - in Soviet Belarus. Here, as I believe, the attention of the Chekists, who understood that we would soon fight against Hitler, drew attention. Otherwise, how can we explain that in 1941 elementary school teachers Alyosha Botyan were sent to a specialized school of the NKGB in Moscow, where a diligent Belarusian stood out against the background of his comrades with marksmanship and a serious attitude to his favorite subject - reconnaissance and sabotage training. But his studies quickly ended, and with the beginning of the war he was transferred to the Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Special Purpose Motorized Rifle Brigade.
And then the usual fate of a scout: combat missions in the German-occupied territories of Belarus and Ukraine, and then Poland and Czechoslovakia. He was introduced to the title of Hero for the blown up headquarters of the Nazis, which brought together fascist specialists in the fight against partisans. Then for the saved Krakow, but something did not grow together. For example, in Poland he found a common language not only with the Communists, but also with the chiefs of combat units of the Craiova Army, which was subordinate to the Polish government in London, which was looked askance in Moscow, oh so askance. It is good that the young lieutenant was so smart and diplomatic. But how did he take people recorded by the top Soviet leadership as alien accomplices? Or, how, for example, did you manage to penetrate large transport hubs not in Plastuno style, but in full uniform of a Polish railwayman? After such his “visits” large stations, clogged with German equipment, flew into the air. He knew languages, and depending on the circumstances, a Belorussian from the village of Chertovichi posed as a Pole, Ukrainian, Russian, then Czech ... According to harsh fighting canons, an officer-saboteur, abandoned with a combat mission behind enemy lines after a month of preparation, a month of life was released . Botyan went through the whole war without a single wound, with only one scratch from a German bullet that hit the temple. He loves and with good reason to repeat: "How lucky I am." It was impossible not to celebrate the exploits of the true Hero, and he was twice encouraged by the military orders of the Red Banner.
Feel what a collision? Saboteur sniper turned into a scout. This became clear to the leaders of Botyan. And the saboteur Alexei Botyan disappeared for many years, becoming, apparently, an illegal intelligence officer. These long pages from the biography of Aleksei Nikolaevich are not declassified. Well, and if you guess, then why not assume that he could work somewhere in Eastern Europe or west of her. Maybe in Germany? Judging by the awards received, Botyan’s activities there were successful. At least it is known that after the war he graduated from a machine-building college abroad and got a job as an engineer at uranium mines very interested in Soviet intelligence in the Sudetenland. But even from there Leo Dvorak, aka Botyan, went somewhere far away from his native land. He was accompanied by a pretty Czech - Galina, whose permission to marry was not given immediately by the strict bosses of Botyan. But, as it turned out, the Center was worried in vain. Only when they were in Moscow did Mrs. Dvorak and daughter Irina learn with surprise what their husband and father actually did. Here is such a conspiracy.
And the highest justice triumphed 57 years after the end of the war. In 2007, by decree No. 614 of President Putin, Alexei Nikolayevich Botyan was awarded the title Hero of Russia. But, pay attention, for the deeds committed in the Great Patriotic War. We have not reached the rest yet. However, at the age of 90, Alexei Nikolayevich was allowed to communicate with journalists. He is pleased to talk about military operations. And - the point.
Botyan is retired. More than once I saw him pondering a move behind a chessboard. Once, the young colleagues of "Major Whirlwind" in the Foreign Intelligence Service invited him to the shooting range. And Alexei Nikolaevich, who had already crossed the 95-year milestone at that time, knocked out 29 of 30 from the pistol - the best result. He played volleyball, traveled, met with the younger generation, posed for the artist Shilov for a successful portrait ... Closer to the century, health gave a clear glitch: the colonel moved into a stroller. And suddenly a transformation. I got up again. Yes, today it’s not my favorite volleyball, but it walks, communicates, rearranges chess pieces ... “Major Whirlwind”, aka Colonel Alexei Botyan, does not give up.
The book of Julian Semenov and the film "Major Whirlwind" tell only about one episode of the war - the salvation of Polish Krakow. At the heart of it are genuine facts from the life of special services. The image of the hero himself, the fearless Soviet intelligence, became collective. However, among several sabotage groups working in Krakow in January 1945, the detachment of Lieutenant Botian was recognized as the most effective. 
FROM THOSE WHO Fought FOR
The prototype of the hero of the film “Major Whirlwind” - Alexei Botyan - which has been “leaving” in the woods for a year in the spring — has moved to the cottage in Lyubuchany, in the Chekhov district. Local residents do not know who lives with them in the neighborhood. Not because the former intelligence officer is “encrypted” by virtue of the profession. He is simply not a public person by nature. Modesty did not allow the colonel of state security, who saved thousands of lives in the war and even the whole city - Polish Krakow, to defend well-deserved awards in due time. Twice they represented Alexei Botyan to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, twice, by some hasty decisions, they replaced the highest state award with the Order of the Battle, and then the Red Banner of Labor. Only at the beginning of the XXI century justice triumphed. On May 9, 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on awarding, and then handed Alexei Botyan the Star of the Hero of Russia. 62 years after the feat.
TRACK VORTEX
Alexei got to the Second World War when his native Vilnius province, at that time part of Western Belarus, belonged to Poland. Drafted into the Polish army, served in the air defense and even shot down three "Junkers". When the Red Army occupied Eastern Poland in September 1939, he returned to his village of Chertovichi, which again became Belarusian. And just before the start of the Great Patriotic War, a young elementary school teacher who had completed pedagogical courses and was elected secretary of the Komsomol organization was sent to the NKVD sabotage and intelligence school in the capital. In November 1941, as part of a special group, Botyan acts behind enemy lines in the suburbs, participates in the defense of Moscow, then falls into the partisan formations of Belarus and Ukraine and for many years into Europe.
“Everywhere I participated in battles, but I am restless,” says Alexei Nikolaevich. “But during the whole war, it didn’t even hurt me.” Lucky!
The professional qualities of a personnel scout are confirmed by victories in the most complicated multi-pass operations. In September 1943, Alexei Botyan organized an explosion in the anti-guerrilla center near Zhitomir, killing more than 80 punishers. In January 1945, a group of scouts under the command of Lieutenant Botyan thwarted a major enemy operation to destroy the city of Krakow. The monstrous plan of the Germans became known to Botyan through operational agents and “languages”. In the castle of Nowy Sacz there was a huge explosive depot, which supplied the German army, including the latest anti-tank grenades - Faustpatrons. Krakow, along with other settlements, and two more dams on mountain rivers was destined to become ruins. The agony of the enemy could cost the lives of thousands of Soviet soldiers and civilians. If not for the English mine, skillfully laid in the warehouse by Botyan’s group.
DESTINY OF THE RESIDENT
Botyan in Belarusian means Stork. The native speaker of this soaring surname besides his native Russian, Polish, German and Czech languages \u200b\u200bperfectly owned. In the midst of people and events, he absorbed them easily. The abilities were transferred from his father, who left for work in Germany before the war, and from there by ship to Argentina. The son saved the war in Krakow, and the father - his village. The Nazis wanted to burn its inhabitants alive, allegedly for communication with the partisans, but Nikolai Botyan boldly stepped forward from among the doomed and in pure German stood up for the elderly and children. I managed to convince. About what fell on the lot of Alexei Botyan (and we know only part of the declassified), you can create more than one scenario. Artists would probably be interested in the ability to transform from one image to another, psychologists - the strength of mind, motivated by a heightened sense of duty. And how many professions Botyan himself mastered in almost 40 years of intelligence! Before becoming a “Major Whirlwind,” he was an anti-aircraft gunner and teacher. After the war, “returning” as a Czech repatriate from Western Ukraine to Czechoslovakia, got a job as a fitter on a railway, graduated from a engineering school, in Czech, worked as a mechanic, a foreman, then in uranium mines ... There were business trips to other countries ...
THE WHOLE WORLD REMEMBER THEM IN THE FACE
Alexey Nikolaevich does not surrender to age. Every week she plays volleyball with veterans. Shoots a target without a miss. Meets with schoolchildren, cadets, cadets. At one time, Botyan participated in the creation of the Vympel anti-terrorist special forces. Recently, the great-grandson of Alexei tried on a soldier’s beret in the military-patriotic center. Now he serves in the Presidential Regiment, and Colonel Botyan, looking at him, sometimes recalls the film “Officers”, where the cadet’s granddaughter also wanted to look like his grandfather ... He himself was always eager for the front line. At one time, already at a very advanced age, he wrote a report on his readiness to serve in Afghanistan, suggesting his own experience of partisan work. Relatives protested. For many years, on the May holidays, according to tradition, Alexei Nikolaevich meets with veterans of the Motorized Rifle Brigade, a separate motorized rifle brigade for special purposes, in which he had a chance to fight. There is also Partizanskaya Polyana, where veterans gather, and the Presidential reception in the Kremlin, where a military intelligence officer is always invited. When they handed Botyan the Prize of St. Andrew the First-Called, he went out to thank for the high award, and the speech came down to one thing - if the Motherland calls, he is ready to stand up again.
Dossier
Alexei Nikolayevich Botyan - Soviet intelligence officer, veteran of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, Hero of Russia, one of the savior of the city of Krakow. In 1940 he was sent to serve in the bodies of the NKVD of the USSR, in 1941 he graduated from the intelligence school. In July 1941 he was enlisted in the Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade for Special Purpose, subordinate to the 4th Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR (Head of the Directorate - P. A. Sudoplatov). In November 1941, as a commander of an intelligence and sabotage group, he was transferred over the front line. Participated in the defense of Moscow. In 1942 he was sent to the deep rear of the enemy, to the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus. He acted there both independently and as part of large partisan detachments. He was deputy intelligence officer of the commander of the partisan formation of the Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Alexandrovich Karasev.
In January 1945, Alexei Nikolayevich Botyan, with his sabotage group, saved the Polish city of Krakow from destruction. In the three-part film "Major Whirlwind" (1967), this feat is performed by major-reconnaissance officer of the Red Army Andrei Burlakov. But unlike the movie hero and the character of the story of the same name, Julian Semenov, the real scout Botyan did not break into the Nazi bunker and did not undermine the cable, "in which was the death of Krakow." His story has a different plot. Which one? Retired Colonel Alexei Botyan, who will celebrate 90 years on February 10, told Izvestia about this. Georgy Stepanov talked with him.
- Question: Did the filmmakers invite you as a consultant?
Answer: No. I was an employee of the 4th Directorate of the NKVD. It was created during the war years for guerrilla and sabotage reconnaissance operations behind enemy lines. He was headed by the legendary Chekist Pavel Sudoplatov. Julian Semenov wrote his story based on the materials of the General Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff, and not according to ours. The film is undoubtedly wonderful. Major Whirlwind is a collective image; several groups participated in the rescue of Krakow. Both mine and Evgenia Bereznyak (another prototype of the Whirlwind, now lives in Kiev. - Izvestia). We faced a single task - to ensure the rapid advance of Soviet troops to Krakow. We can say that we were doing a common thing with Major Whirlwind.
"They called me" partisans Alyosha "
- Q: How did you end up in occupied Polish territory?
A: In the spring of 1944, the front advanced west. It was decided to move several partisan formations there. The border was crossed on April 4 with a detachment of partisan "father", chief of staff Viktor Karasev. I was his assistant. Due to the continuous bombing, they went at night. Problems arose when someone was injured: they had to seek help from local people, mainly priests. It was easier for me - I knew the language, literature, history, realities of the country. I was called "Alyosha Partisan" in Poland. Sometimes he put on the uniform of a railway worker - they didn’t touch me. Karasev had 400 fighters. They split into three groups and, having dispersed, reached the vast swampy forests in late April.
- Q: How did you get in the vicinity of Krakow?
A: On May 1, Karasev received a command from the Center - to send me to this area with a small group. I picked up 28 people, including two radio operators. Once we came across Akovtsy (a detachment of the Craiova Army, which was subordinate to the London government of Stanislav Mikolaychik. - Izvestia). We were very unfriendly. Their commander, lieutenant, having heard Polish speech from my lips, still did not believe that I was Belarusian. “We do not need you,” he repeated. “Without you, we will free ourselves from the Germans.” Then he softened. The Akovites even shared their cigarettes with bread. But much more loyal to us were the partisans of the BH — the peasant Battalions of Khlopsky. Not to mention the fighters led by the Communists of the Army Ludova ...
- Q: Did you help them?
A: It happened. In the district town of Ilzha, there was a German garrison. People from the Ludova Army asked us to help release the underground members of the local prison. At first I doubted: the group was faced with the task of going out to Krakow without loss. They carried out reconnaissance, cut off the telephone connection to the Germans, and entered the city at nightfall. Machine gun fire my guys locked the Nazis in the barracks. And the Poles pulled out their comrades from prison, smashed mail, a bank, emptied warehouses. The whole night the city was in our hands. Then they moved on - to Czestochowa. On the 20th of May the group crossed the Vistula. In Ilzh, by the way, there is an obelisk. On it is a bronze tablet with a mention of the group "Lieutenant Alyosha".
- Q: You were preparing an operation to destroy Gauleiter Krakow Hans Frank, the “executioner of Poland” ...
A: We managed to recruit his valet - Jozef Puto. He was given a pistol with a silencer and an English mine of chemical action. But literally on the eve of the assassination attempt, parts of the Red Army broke through the front, and Frank hastily fled to Czestochowa. Lucky Gauleiter. My reconnaissance group relocated to Nowy Sacz - a city in the Polish Tatras. He was called the "key to Krakow."
"A historical monument, of course ... But what else remained?"
- Q: How did the plan for saving Krakow come about?
A: Initially, the task was different. It was necessary to ensure the unhindered offensive of the Red Army. Every day, Germans were attacked, ambushed, and trains were blown up wherever possible - south and east of Krakow. We were helped by the Polish partisans. At the end of 1944, my group accidentally captured a cartographer from the headquarters of the rear units of the Wehrmacht - Pole Sigmund Ogarek. With him - maps of the defenses of Nowy Sacz.
It turned out that in the local Jagiellonian castle, the ancient residence of the Polish kings, the Germans set up a huge ammunition depot. They brought in wagons explosives, shells, faustpatrons. They were going to mine bridges across the Dunajec river, Rozhnovsk
th dam and cultural monuments of Krakow. And when retreating - blow up. As a result, everything would be flooded, and the Red Army would not pass.
- Q: In a word, did you decide to destroy the castle itself?
A: A historical monument, of course ... But what else remained? Ogarek, who was turned over by us, found a Polish communist, who, under the guise of a loader, brought a mine into the castle and put it into stacks with shells. The explosion rang out on January 18, 1945 early in the morning. Hitlerites died - hundreds. Along the surviving bridges, in the unspoiled area, the Red Army entered Krakow unhindered. His salvation is the most important thing I have done in my life.
"The party workers were embarrassed that in 1939 I was a non-commissioned officer in the Pilsudski army"
- Q: But you have not been awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Why?
A: The first time I was introduced to the Star back in 1943. That summer, the Nazis decided to create a powerful anti-partisan center. A group of "specialists" arrived from Berlin to the town of Ovruch in the Zhytomyr region. Punishers stayed in the building of a well-guarded gebite commissariat (in German, “gebite” means the region. - “News”). We were helped by a man named Yakov Kaplyuk, who served as a stoker there. The Germans unconditionally trusted him. For weeks, he and his wife smuggled explosives into the Gebit commissariat - only 150 kilograms. Laid in three places. The explosion thundered on the night of September 9th. Under the ruins, more than 80 Nazis died - all representatives of the command staff.
In Moscow, they began to check all this. They pulled for a long time and eventually gave the Order of the Red Banner. The second time, in 1965, a group of former partisans and military leaders made a collective request to the KGB about me - a total of 200 signatures. And again I received the Order of the Red Banner. Our party workers were embarrassed that in 1939 I was a non-commissioned officer in the Pilsudski army. By the way, in the winter of 1941, I, as part of the OMSBON (a separate motorized rifle brigade for special purposes. - Izvestia), participated in the defense of Moscow. I took the language.
"The Poles are more likely to be friends with the Germans, but - against Russia"
- Q: The current Polish authorities do not favor Russia too much ...
A: From time immemorial it has been so. Rather, they will be friends with the Germans, but against Russia. They see us as the only culprits of the partition of Poland under Catherine II.
- Q: In Estonia, they are going to demolish a monument to a Soviet soldier ...
A: Barbarians. I would get rid of them in a partisan way. As with the bandits.
- Q: What are you doing now?
A: In 1983, I quit my organs, but until 1989 I helped and collaborated. I thought the referent to go to someone. Decided: "Why? The pension is not bad, enough for a living." Now I play volleyball, twice a week. I'm afraid to fall - doesn’t it matter what? And so, when necessary, I’ll take the ball, I dissolve ... The tempering is preserved. The year in 1978, the former partisans invited me to Ukraine, and to hunt ducks in Cherkasy. Captured a gun, 25 rounds. They settled on the islet, and they put me in the reeds. I furnished them all, these hunters. 25 ducks shot down. And during the war he used a 9 mm parabellum, not a TT, which was too heavy. For me, the main thing is accuracy, precision shooting.
Alexey Nikolaevich Botyan
Born February 10, 1917 in the Belarusian village of Chertovichi, Vilnius province (80yakilometrov west of Minsk). In March 1921, this part of Western Belarus was transferred to Poland. After leaving school, Botyan was drafted into the Polish army, in which, commanding the calculation of anti-aircraft guns, in September 1939 he participated in battles with the Germans. Near Warsaw shot down three "Junkers". When the eastern regions of Poland were occupied by Soviet troops, Botian became a citizen of the USSR. He worked as a teacher in elementary school. Then he was sent to study at the NKVD intelligence school. In November 1941, he was transferred over the front line. On the territory of Belarus and Ukraine, his special group conducted reconnaissance and sabotage work behind enemy lines.
After the war, Botyan worked in the central apparatus of foreign intelligence. Repeatedly involved in tasks abroad, particularly in the Czech Republic. Advised Vympel special forces. He was awarded two orders of the Red Banner and World War I degree, medals, the badge "Honorary State Security Officer".
He speaks German, Polish and Czech. Alexei Nikolaevich has two great-grandchildren - 12 and 4 years old.
The legendary scout, a true hero, the pride of Russia - that’s how the president of our country, Vladimir Putin, appreciated the merits of Alexei Botyan, who is celebrating his centenary today. Many pages of his biography are still hidden under the heading "top secret." But about those exploits that are known, multiseries films were shot. His main successful operation is known not only in Russia. Colonel Botian is a prototype of the legendary Major Whirlwind, which saved Polish Krakow from destruction.
Having picked up a gun, Alexey Botyan, even despite his advanced age, is immediately transformed. The legend of domestic intelligence has always been distinguished by marksmanship, and from any type of weapon.
“My favorite“ parabellum ”was. Very well, I shoot him. He always wore, always went with him. And I shot well, I shoot. Even so far, ”the veteran says.
But in the scout’s case, says Alexei Nikolayevich, weapons are used in the very least. So it was during the operation to save Polish Krakow in January 1945. This story became the basis for the famous novel by Julian Semenov "Major Whirlwind" and the film of the same name. Alexei Nikolaevich became the prototype of this famous movie hero. But the events in the film are somewhat different from the real story.
In the picture, the Nazis mined Krakow, and the major saves the city at the cost of his life. But in reality, Alexei Botyan not only developed and carried out a very complicated operation, as a result of which a warehouse was destroyed where ammunition was stored for the destruction of Krakow, but he remained alive.
“We, the partisans and I, together we helped the Soviet army disarm the Germans and thereby save Krakow. They didn’t let the Germans blow up. Everything was whole, all bridges were whole, everything was whole, ”says Alexei Botyan.
Some operations of this scout surprise with their audacity. For example, the release of the arrested members of the Polish resistance in Ilge in the spring of 1944. The city was occupied by the Nazis, which Botyan’s reconnaissance squad simply took by surprise.
“There was a school, there were policemen and some Germans in this school. I had two light machine guns. As soon as they started to leave from there, we immediately began to shoot at the windows, at the doors. And no one left there, ”the veteran recalls.
Of course, courage, admits Alexei Nikolaevich, is needed by a scout. But much more important is endurance and the ability to understand people. This is what made legendary scout out of Private Botyan. Like phenomenal luck, comparable only with a miracle.
“I fought from the age of 39, from the first of September. And he ended the war, and was not even wounded. And in the battles he went with all the partisans, ”says Alexei Botyan.
In intelligence, Alexei Nikolaevich remained after the war. Now he does not hide the fact that he worked abroad for many years. But he didn’t tell what he was doing. Indeed, on this part of his biography there is still a signature stamp. But even when he retired, he couldn’t sit at home calmly. And he visited the building of the Foreign Intelligence Service more than once. He was a consultant. I came here today. The head of the department Sergey Naryshkin congratulated the veteran on his anniversary. From myself, my colleagues and the president.
““ Dear Alexei Nikolayevich, I congratulate you on the significant centenary. Legendary intelligence officer and true hero, you have dedicated your life to serving the motherland. I wish you good health, good spirits and all the best. President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, ”the director of the Foreign Service read out the telegram intelligence services of the Russian Federation Sergey Naryshkin.
“Thank you for your great attention, for appreciating my feat and work, because the task was to fulfill the duty of soldiers. And I think that I did everything I could, ”said Alexei Botyan.
The book was presented as a keepsake to the hero of the day It contains documentary evidence of the exploits of a scout. True, if not for secrecy, there would be much more pages in this publication.
The Second World War began for anti-aircraft gunner, non-commissioned officer Alexei Botyan on September 1, 1939. He was born on February 10, 1917, back in the Russian Empire, but in March 1921, his small homeland, the village of Chertovichi, Vilna Province, was transferred to Poland. And so the Belarusian Botyan became a Polish citizen.
His calculation managed to bring down three German Junkers near Warsaw when Poland, as a geopolitical unit, ceased to exist. The native village of Botyan became Soviet territory, became a citizen of the USSR and Alexei.
In 1940, the NKVD drew the attention of a modest teacher of elementary school. A former non-commissioner “Pilsudchik”, fluent in Polish as a native ... no, he is not shot as an enemy of the working people, but quite the contrary: he is admitted to a reconnaissance school, and in July 1941 he was admitted to the OMSBON of the 4th Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR.
So for Alexei Botyan, a new war began, which ended only in 1983 - the resignation.
Many details of this war, for the exploits on which he presented himself three times to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, are still secret. But some well-known episodes say a lot about this person.
For the first time he was in the German rear in November 1941 near Moscow, becoming the commander of an intelligence and sabotage group. In 1942 he was sent to the deep rear of the enemy, in the regions of Western Ukraine and Belarus.
Under his leadership, a major sabotage is carried out: on September 9, 1943, the Nazi commissariat was blown up in Ovruch of the Zhytomyr region, and 80 Nazi officers were killed in the blast, including the gebite commissioner Wenzel and the chief of the local anti-partisan center Siebert. 140 kilograms of explosives, along with dinners, was dragged to his wife, Maria, by the supply manager of the KGB commissariat, to Yakov Kaplyuk. To insure against searches at the entrance, she always took with her the two smallest of her four children.
After this operation, Kaplyuki was taken to the forest, and Botyan was first introduced to the Hero - but received the Order of the Red Banner.
At the beginning of 1944, the detachment received an order to move to Poland.
It should be recalled: if on the Ukrainian land the Soviet partisans had problems with Bandera, which had to be solved when by negotiations, and when by arms, then there were three different anti-Nazi forces on Polish soil: the Krai Army (“Akovtsy” formally subordinated to the emigrant government), the Army lyudova (“Alovtsy”, supported by the Soviet Union) and fairly independent Khlop battalions - that is, peasant. For the successful solution of the challenges that were required, they needed the ability to find a common language with everyone, and Botyan was able to do this superbly.
On May 1, 1944, a group of 28 people headed by Botyan sent to the vicinity of Krakow. On the way to the night of May 14-15, together with the AL unit, Botyan’s detachment takes part in the capture of the city of Ilzhi and releases a large group of arrested underground workers.
Alexey Botyan
On January 10, 1945, in a detonated headquarters car, one of the Soviet reconnaissance groups operating in the Krakow region discovered a briefcase with secret documents on mining facilities in Krakow and the neighboring town of Nowy Sacz. Botyan’s group captured a cartographer, a Czech national, who reported that the Germans kept a strategic supply of explosives in the Royal (Jagiellonian) castle in Nowy Sacz.
The scouts went into the envoy of a major of the Wehrmacht Ogarek. After talking with Botyan, he hired another Pole, who carried a time-bombed mine into his warehouse. January 18, the warehouse exploded; more than 400 Nazis died and were wounded. On January 20, Konev’s troops entered almost the whole of Krakow, and the second performance for the Hero went to Botyan. (Subsequently, Botyan became one of the prototypes of “Major Whirlwind” from the novel of the same name by Julian Semenov and a television movie shot in his script.)
After the war, Alexei Botyan became Czech Leo Dvořák (he did not know the Czech language; he had to learn it vigorously using the “immersion method”, fortunately, his legend explained his poor command of his “native” language) and graduated from a higher technical school in Czechoslovakia. There, by the way, he met a girl who became his faithful companion of life - not yet knowing about the multi-layered life of Mr. Dvorak.
The post-war activity of the scout is covered in understandable fog. According to the open information of the Foreign Intelligence Service and the scanty (“permitted”) stories of Botyan, he performed special tasks in Germany and other countries, worked in the central office of the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, participated in the creation of the special-purpose group of the KGB of the USSR “Vympel”. And after the resignation, as a civilian specialist, he helped to prepare “young specialists” for another six years.
Alexey Botyan was awarded two orders of the Red Banner, orders of the Red Banner of Labor and World War II, high Polish and Czechoslovakian awards. In post-Soviet Russia, he was awarded the Order of Courage, and in 2007, President Putin handed him the golden star of the Hero of Russia.
A session of simultaneous play with cadets of the Vympel Military-Patriotic Club, 02/20/2010
Alexei Botyan with his vigor and optimism still surprises everyone who knows him. He plays chess great, does exercise on a stationary bike, remembers to the smallest details the details of his eventful life (but, of course, he doesn’t talk about what you can’t talk about). He is proud of the fact that during the entire “work” he was only once struck by an enemy bullet across his temple - without even leaving a scar.
