Dragunsky David Abramovich family. Biography. - Then who

The name of David Abramovich Dragunsky, a prominent military leader, warrior-hero, who, by the will of fate, took up politics in the last years of his life, is known throughout the world.

Of course, David Dragunsky, even without politics, would have remained in the history of the Soviet state (there are not many twice Heroes of the Soviet Union) and in the history of the Jewish people (only David Dragunsky and Yakov Smushkevich were awarded two gold stars for military merits).

I will begin this story about D. Dragunsky with a brief summary of his biography, in order to lead the further story without attaching much importance to chronology.

So, the date of birth is February 15, 1910. Place of birth - the town of Svyatsk, Oryol province. After graduating from high school (1928), he studied at a technical school, then served in the Red Army (1933), studied at two military educational institutions - the Saratov Armored School (1936) and the Military Academy. M.V. Frunze (1941). Between these dates, he took part in the battles near Lake Khasan, where General (then still Colonel) N.E. drew attention to the courage of the young officer and his ingenuity during military operations. Berzarin.

Since July 1941, David Dragunsky has been on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Since November 1943, he has commanded the Guards Tank Brigade, about whose exploits much has been said and written. “The tank brigade under the command of Colonel D.A. acted decisively in the battles. Dragunsky,” Marshal I.S. wrote in his memoirs. Konev

From the memoirs of D.A. Dragunsky: “As part of the corps under the command of General Katukov, he took part in the Battle of Kursk, crossed the Dnieper at the head of the 55th Guards Tank Brigade, and fought on the right bank of Ukraine. There in December 1943 he was seriously wounded. Even doctors considered this wound fatal. But I survived and returned to my native brigade. By this time I already knew about the execution of my entire family by the Nazis.”

July 30, 1944 brigade D.A. Dragunsky was one of the first to cross the Vistula River, and in August 1944, in difficult battles, it pushed back fascist troops in Poland. September 23, 1944, D.A. Dragunsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Subsequently, his brigade fought in Poland and Germany.

The small town of Wieluń turned out to be a tough nut to crack, through which the route to the Oder lay, which determined its important strategic importance. During the night, Dragunsky's tank brigade, with infantry support, liberated Wieluń. On this occasion, the army commander, General P.S., arrived in the city. Rybalko to congratulate the participants of the Wielun operation and their commander on the great victory. The war correspondent and poet Alexander Bezymensky, who happened to be there on the day of the liberation of Wielun, wrote an impromptu poem to Dragunsky

Count Jedrzejowski,

Prince Wieluński,

Hero of the Zaoderov Plains

David Abramovich Dragunsky,

A simple Soviet citizen.

On the way to Berlin there was a most difficult obstacle, the last water obstacle - the Teltow Canal. Dragunsky's brigade was ordered to take this barrier. On April 24, 1945, the brigade crossed the canal with minimal losses in equipment and manpower.

After crossing the Teltow Canal, brigade commander Dragunsky received an order from General V.V. Novikov, commander of the 7th Panzer Corps, ordered the capture of Zehlendorf, a southwestern suburb of Berlin leading to the city center. “This is the key to Berlin,” said the general. “And by night it should be in our hands.” Try not to get involved in street fights. Clear?" But Dragunsky knew that the enemy would not give up an inch of the region’s land without a fight. This was one of the most difficult battles for the 55th Tank Brigade, which he commanded. May 31, 1945 D.A. Dragunsky became twice Hero of the Soviet Union.

At the end of the war, D. Dragunsky ended up in the east of the country, from where he was sent to study at the Academy of the General Staff, which he graduated in 1949. In the same year he was awarded the rank of major general. Note that this was not the best year for such a promotion for a Jewish officer.

From 1949 to 1965, General Dragunsky commanded military formations in Transbaikalia, Ukraine, and Armenia. In 1965-1969, he was the first deputy commander of the Transcaucasian Military District. In 1969, after the death of Army General Ya.G. Kreiser is appointed head of the Higher Officer Courses “Vystrel” (David Abramovich served in this position for more than 15 years - it was the commandant’s office of the CPSU Central Committee). In 1985, he ended up, as they said then, in the “paradise company” - a group of inspectors general of the USSR Ministry of Defense.

David was interested in social work from his youth. At the age of 19, he was already a deputy of the Krasnopresnensky district of Moscow. At the end of the war, he took part in the work of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC). But there was no reason to believe that the time would come when public activity would become his “profession,” although in the 50s he quite often represented our country abroad. Subsequently, his signatures appeared more than once under articles and statements against the aggression of the State of Israel. He was among those who condemned Zionism long before the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public (AKSO) came into being. But D. Dragunsky became most famous for his negative attitude towards the right of Soviet Jews to aliyah. “For the absolute majority of Soviet Jews, there is no doubt that their homeland is the great and mighty Soviet Union, a multinational socialist state, the first in world history to proclaim the friendship of peoples as the cornerstone of its foreign and domestic policy,” the legendary general wrote (or signed) in 1984, at a time when the price of this “friendship” was completely obvious.

As the sage and scholar Moses Gaster said, “The Jewish heroes were not heroes of battle, but of faith.” But David Dragunsky, a true hero in the battles against fascism, turned out to be an obedient slave of the Soviet system in peacetime. Why did it happen so? It's difficult to explain. Joseph Brodsky, perhaps, answered this question most accurately:

Sleep! The history of the Russian page

Enough for those in the infantry

I'm building.

They boldly entered foreign capitals,

But they returned in fear to their...

...I was at the funeral of David Abramovich. In the Red Banner Hall of the House of the Soviet Army, thousands of soldiers and officers marched in honorary formation at the tomb of the twice Hero of Dragoon. However, it seems to me that most of them heard this name only on the day of the funeral.

I remembered the lines from the poem by the Jewish poet P. Markish “Mikhoels is an unquenchable lamp”:

The stream of people flows - and there is no counting

friends,

To those who mourn you at the funeral

wake.

They rise from their ditches to honor you

and stinking pits

Six million victims

tortured, innocent...

Per. D. Sternberg

There was a completely different “flow of people” at Dragunsky’s coffin, and prominent military leaders replaced each other in the honor guard: Defense Minister Marshal Shaposhnikov and former KGB chief General Chebrikov, members of the AKSO presidium, prominent public figures, writers, and journalists.

The funeral was held according to all the rules of the political games of that time, but it was somehow unnoticed, everyday. There weren't many obituaries. And only the “newspaper of the spiritual opposition” paid tribute to the memory of the former leader of the AKSO: “Despite two decisions of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee to close the Anti-Zionist Committee, despite the endless attacks of the Zionist centers and their agents, despite the streams of lies and slander in the so-called “democratic” press , Dragunsky did not break down and did not “rebuild” - he challenged all these Yakovlevs, Shevardnadzes, Kozyrevs and Bronfmans... He defended the interests of his Motherland, remaining a faithful son of Russia” (“Day”, No. 42/92).

The most terrible punishment fell on David Abramovich, fortunately for him, after his death. In late 1992, the Palestinian government in exile awarded him posthumously the defunct state's highest honor and provided a pension for his family.

At the end of his life D.A. Dragunsky, apparently, already guessed that his last “service” was not the best crown of his life... But all this is discussed below.

The General and his Committee

AKSO was created in the spring of 1983 according to a scenario known in those years: on April 1, the Pravda newspaper informed readers that the “initiative group” intended to create a new public organization. This news did not turn out to be an April Fool's joke at all - on April 21 of the same year, on the eve of the “red date”, the birth of AKSO was announced.

The reason for the emergence of AKSO at that moment is easy to explain today. From Jerusalem, where the World Congress in Defense of Soviet Jews took place in March 1983, a voice of alarm was heard throughout the world: in the USSR, the third largest country in the world with a Jewish population, there is not a single Jewish public organization (except for the not entirely public department of the KGB , more than conscientiously dealing with the “Jewish question”). Is there any doubt that the voices of alarm heard in Jerusalem reached the then KGB chief V. Chebrikov. Soon (03/29/1983) a resolution of the secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee on the creation of the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public was issued in Moscow. The first paragraph of this resolution (at that time, of course, top secret) confirms that the newly emerged organization is truly “public”: “Agree with the proposal of the propaganda department of the CPSU Central Committee and the KGB on the creation of AKSO.”

From the moment of the creation of AKSO (April 21, 1983) until the last day of his life (October 12, 1992), David Abramovich Dragunsky was the permanent leader of this “peaceful” and “venerable” organization.

Since the AKSO had no internal enemies at that time (the Zionist organization Irgun Tsioni appeared in the USSR only in 1989), the official task of this brainchild of the CPSU and the “eternally living” KGB was considered to be the fight against international Zionism. One of the committee’s tasks was such a noble one as “the struggle for peace throughout the world” and in the Middle East in particular. The committee approached the last assignment with exceptional diligence: judging by the literature published by the AKSO, there is hardly any other organization in the world that has done so much to discredit the State of Israel. Still would! The personnel of the AKSO was selected very carefully - according to its founding fathers (remember, the propaganda department of the CPSU Central Committee and the KGB), the Jews themselves should fight Zionism first of all.

Why was D.A. “elected” as chairman of the AKSO? Dragunsky? After all, among the Jews of the USSR at that time there were people no less famous, even famous, respected. Both on Novaya Square and on Lubyanka they understood that a new “Jew No. 1” was needed, a new Mikhoels. They knew there was no such thing. The makers of destinies had enough common sense not to invite everyone’s favorite people’s artist Arkady Raikin to this role. But at that time there were many political figures suitable for the position of chairman of the AKSO. Probably the candidacy of Mark Borisovich Mitin, an academician who at one time headed the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, former editor of the newspaper “For a Lasting Peace, for People’s Democracy”, the magazine “Problems of Philosophy”, who was repeatedly elected to the CPSU Central Committee , arose in the corridors of power. But apparently he was too intelligent for this position. Perhaps, a more suitable candidate would be another academician, historian Isaac Izrailevich Mints, a participant in the civil war, commissar of the Air Force Academy of the Red Army, long-term head of the departments of history at the most authoritative universities in the country, including the Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. Academician Mints had all the titles necessary for the head of the AKSO. He is a laureate of two USSR State Prizes (1943, 1946), the Lenin Prize (1974), and Hero of Socialist Labor (1976). Moreover, Isaac Izrailevich was the head of the team of authors of the sensational book “Zionism: Theory and Practice” published in 1973. (This is confirmation that the Jews themselves must fight Zionism!) But during the years of the struggle against cosmopolitanism, the academician was deprived of all positions. Those who dismissed him in the late 40s and early 50s could not have taken him into their service in the 80s.

At that time, General Dragunsky was perhaps the only real candidate for this role. We partially find confirmation of this in Veniamin Kaverin’s article “Before Stalin’s Death”: “However, this brave officer (Dragunsky - M.G.), who commanded one of the best tank divisions, according to Vs. Ivanov (who knew him) was never Socrates.”

The creation of the AKSO was preceded by the release of a huge amount of anti-Zionist, essentially anti-Semitic, literature. There are hundreds of books on this topic published in the 60s and 70s. Let's name some of them: Yu. Ivanov, “Caution: Zionism!” (M., Politizdat, 1969), it is not without interest to note that the author of this book, which was reprinted several times and translated into many languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR, was an employee of the CPSU Central Committee; V. Bolshakov, “Zionism in the Service of Anticommunism” (M., Politizdat, 1972) the book became a textbook, fundamental in the “literature” of this direction; books by Evseev, Begun, Modzhorian, and Semenyuk were published in different cities of the country. V. Bolshakov, in his articles published in the Pravda newspaper, argued that a person who became a Zionist is an enemy of the Soviet people. In 1971, the famous scientist, historian and economist, in the near future academician and candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee, Georgy Arkadyevich Arbatov, expressed the idea that 90% of Jews remaining in the USSR appear “in an unfavorable light.” What the scientist meant is not entirely clear, but most Soviet people took these words literally.

Probably one of the main reasons for anti-Zionist hysteria was the brilliant victory of Israel in the Six-Day War, which aroused pride among Jews all over the world, and among Soviet Jews in particular. The Jews of “silence” (as Elie Wiesel said about Soviet Jews) began to speak, made noise, and rose to aliyah. This was the beginning of a large emigration, essentially the Exodus of Jews from the USSR to Israel. It was this phenomenon that most excited the Soviet leadership. In the late 70s, CPSU ideologists intensified the “fight of the Jews” against Zionism.

In preparing the ground for the creation of the notorious AKSO, the Jews, alas, were not indifferent. The touchstone for its “architects” was the famous press conference of representatives of the Jewish community of the USSR with the participation of various layers of this “national minority.” We will not list the names, we will only say that in addition to Jews - representatives of the working class and peasantry (and such were found) prominent scientists, famous actors, and writers took part in this “show”. And after that everything went on and on... Hundreds of Jews of different professions, as if competing with each other, wrote letters to newspapers, telling about the heavenly life “here”, in the USSR, and the unbearable life “there”, in Israel.

An Israeli journalist I know researched more than 200 “signatories” of that time, including the authors of the first White Book, patriots of their socialist homeland, and found out that most of them had long been outside the former USSR, many in Israel.

And at that time General Dragunsky, accompanied by other “full-fledged and happy” Soviet Jews, traveled to many countries of the world, declaring everywhere that those who wanted to leave had already done so long ago. There are no more people willing. He knew he was telling a lie. But he tried to convince listeners of something that he himself did not believe.

AKSO guide vector

The hidden, but essentially main goal of the AKSO was to prevent or at least limit the emigration of Jews to Israel. And thereby prove that no national problem, in particular the “Jewish question,” exists in the country of victorious socialism.

It would be possible today not to remember the AKSO if this organization had not turned out to be such an odious page in the history of Russian Jewry. In 1984, the APN published a brochure by D. Dragunsky “What the Letters Say.” Of course, the author’s task was to demonstrate the universal support provided by the Jews of the former USSR to the Anti-Zionist Committee. Reading these letters, one never ceases to be amazed at the chameleonism and double-dealing of many, many Jews. Were they really provoked and forced to write such unworthy letters? Who could force Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor A. Stolyar from Mogilev to write: “I am proud that, together with millions of compatriots of different nationalities, I can say in the words of a poet - “I am Soviet by nationality.” That says it all!"

Undoubtedly, the Soviet government did a lot for the Jews of former Tsarist Russia. One can understand how sincerely grateful Professor Stolyar is to her. Of course, he undividedly loves his Motherland - the Soviet Union. But why would the professor support an organization that defined Zionism as an ideology that “concentrates extreme nationalism, chauvinism, racial intolerance, encouragement of territorial seizures and annexations... Zionism as a form of racism”? The quote is taken from an appeal by an initiative group of famous Soviet Jews (among them D.A. Dragunsky, academician M.I. Kabachnik, Professor S.L. Zivs, Professor G.O. Zimanas, writer

Yu.A. Kolesnikov and others), published in Pravda on April 1, 1983. Don’t scientists A. Stolyar and S. Zivs realize that Zionism expresses the desire of Jews to return to their historical homeland? This is a dream that has not left them throughout the two thousand years of diaspora. If Professor Stolyar from Mogilev considers himself “Soviet” by nationality and is proud of it, then a certain Grigory Lipman from Moscow issues a warning to the Zionists, perhaps even a sentence in poetic form:

Now Beirut, yesterday Suez...

Death is again at the Palestinian door.

Who are you? Madmen or animals?

Stop, finally!

Get away from other people's borders

Don't covet other people's fortunes,

So that you don’t cry for your loved ones

On the black marble of the tombs...

I read these “poems,” or rather, retold them in Yiddish to Elie Wiesel when I visited him in Boston. He thought for a moment and said in Yiddish: “After such verses (it seems they were written by a Jewish informer), any anti-Semite will want to take a gun and go to a Palestinian terrorist detachment to fight the Israelis. There are Jews worse than anti-Semites.”

Lieutenant General Matvey Vainrub, Hero of the Soviet Union, wrote the following to the Anti-Zionist Committee: “Imperialism has its own shock column, which is already methodically destroying an entire people. The name of this column is Zionism. Is it possible to put up with what the Israeli aggressors are doing on the land of tormented Lebanon?! The darkest pages of the history of Hitlerism seem to come to life again in the sad ruins of Sabra and Shatila.” Matvey Vainrub’s thoughts are “illustrated” in his film “Babi Yar” by one of the “pillars of democracy,” editor of “Ogonyok” Vitaly Korotich. His film with such an advertising title tells the least about the atrocities of the Nazis in Kyiv at the beginning of the war, but emphatically demonstrates at length the “atrocities” of the Israelis in Lebanon. Could Matvey Vainrub imagine that a few years after this letter his brother, also a Hero of the Soviet Union, would go to Israel, to Ashdod, where he still lives today? Did Korotich imagine that he would soon end up in Boston?

With all the scope of anti-Zionist propaganda in the USSR, the main role in it was still assigned to Jews. In 1984, General Dragunsky wrote: “As you know, Zionism is not only the ideology of the big Jewish bourgeoisie, but also the policy of militant anti-communism... Praising in every possible way the benefits of the Zionist “paradise” that Jews will supposedly find by leaving their homeland and moving to Israel, the Zionists they shout about “national inequality” and the persecution of Jews in the USSR.” Next, the general tries to expose the lies of these slogans, citing dozens of letters received by the AKSO.

To leave or not to leave the USSR, to admit or deny the existence of anti-Semitism is the business of every person. One can even agree with those who consider the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 “illegal.” It, according to others, should be revived with the advent of Moshiach. But it is not possible to agree with General Dragunsky that Zionism concentrates in itself all the evils of the world (chauvinism, national strife, terrorism).

General, general, recant!

With sincere appeal to David Abra

On the day of his anniversary, a group of front-line soldiers approached Movich. Participants in the Great Patriotic War Yuri Sokol, Efim Gokhberg, Ilya Lakhman wrote: “On February 15, 1990, you are turning 80 years old. Are you really going to celebrate this date while remaining at the head of the Anti-Zionist Committee, which has compromised itself in the eyes of the world community?

Our people were proud of you. Having shown unparalleled heroism in the battles against Nazi Germany, after the war you allowed yourself to be drawn into a wave of slander against the Jewish state and the Jewish national liberation movement - Zionism...

We would be extremely pleased to celebrate your anniversary if, on this significant date, you announced the dissolution of the Anti-Zionist Committee, as an organization that opposed itself to the interests of the Jewish people..."

This letter, like my article “Pharisees in the Law” (E.G., 1992, No. 1), apparently did not make an impression on the addressee. Let me quote a few lines from my article: “I am addressing you, twice Hero of the Soviet Union D.A. Dragunsky! I deeply respect you and bow before your true heroism during the Great Patriotic War. But find the courage to admit that heroes make mistakes too! In the fast flow of life, ambitions and delusions are inevitable. But life has left us with a great truth – Repentance.”

During Yom Kippur services in synagogues, prayers are read in which Jews ask forgiveness from the Almighty for sins, even forced ones, and apostasy. “For the sin we committed before You, forgive us, excuse us, redeem us...” David Abramovich Dragunsky did not receive a traditional Jewish education as a child and probably did not know about the existence of these prayers. Otherwise, he would have asked for forgiveness from G-d at least for the fact that, albeit indirectly, he was involved in the training of terrorists who fought against Israel. A terrorist killed in the Lebanese War (1982) was found with a certificate confirming his training at the Higher Officer Course "Vystrel" with the signature of Colonel General Dragunsky.

Has General Dragunsky ever thought that by committing actions against Israel, including verbal actions, he was committing a sin against his people? …“Forgive us, Almighty, for the sin that we committed before You, knowingly or unknowingly”...

Hasidic General

As you know, the word “Hasid” is interpreted as “doing good.” One can see something like this in the activities of Mr. Dragunsky. Hundreds of people, the leaders of the Jewish organizations that arose at that time, turned to him for help, and he provided this help to many.

It is impossible not to note the real good deeds that the AKSO performed for the development of Jewish culture in the former USSR. Thus, he petitioned for the State Prize in Literature to be awarded to the Jewish writer Ilya Gordon for the novel “Under the Hot Sun.” Only thanks to the efforts of the leadership of AKSO on the stage of the Moscow Drama Theater. K.S. Stanislavsky staged a play based on the play by Arkady Stavitsky “St. Sholom Aleichem, 40.” Dragunsky personally appealed to the commander of the Transcaucasian Military District with a request to positively resolve the issue of sending senior lieutenant Oleg Rosenberg to serve in Mongolia (as is known, Jews at that time, as a rule, were not sent to serve abroad, even to Mongolia).

Gratitude to Dragunsky for his help was expressed by the editor-in-chief of the Birobidzhaner Stern newspaper L. Shkolnik, the artistic director of the Chamber Jewish Musical Theater Mikhail Gluz, the chairman of the Drobitsky Yar public committee P. Sokolsky and others. True, the general was not always so responsive. In the mid-80s, war participant Kachubievsky from Kharkov approached him. He interceded for his son Felix, a candidate of sciences from Novosibirsk, who was sentenced to two and a half years of strict regime for creating the Soviet-Israeli Friendship Society in Novosibirsk and attempting to carry out work in this direction. Dragunsky replied to the old front-line soldier that the court itself would sort out these issues. This is not the function of the AKSO.

For many years, D. Dragunsky argued that there is no anti-Semitism in the USSR. But we can assume that at the end of his life he guessed that not everything was so simple. In his interview with the AiF newspaper on February 17, 1989, David Abramovich blurted out: “You know as well as I that manifestations of anti-Semitism have recently begun to take organized forms in a number of cases... I believe that not a single instance of anti-Semitism should be left unpunished.” . And then, as if having come to his senses, he continues: “Ideological work to expose anti-Semitism, like Zionism, must be balanced and thoughtful...” And even in perestroika 1989, Dragunsky equates anti-Semitism with Zionism. But being a man of military training, remaining a convinced communist until the end of his days, he never ceases to take care of his brainchild, which was obviously stillborn. On September 1, 1992, Dragunsky sent a letter to the mayor of Moscow Yu. Luzhkov with a demand to cancel the Moscow government’s decree on the transfer of the premises occupied by AKSO to the Moscow Jewish Cultural and Educational Society. The general is indignant at the decision of the Moscow authorities to transfer the premises of the AKSO to “certain Zionist organizations”... and warns the mayor: “Such a practice inevitably leads to inciting ethnic hatred...”, expressing the hope that

Yu.M. Luzhkov will understand the seriousness and responsibility of this issue and will make the right decision. But Dragunsky’s efforts were already belated and in vain. As it turned out, if you believe the Sputnik newspaper (March 16, 1989), back in the summer of 1988, the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee decided to dissolve the Anti-Zionist Committee and create the Society of Jewish Culture in its place. Another thing is that this decision was kept secret for the time being.

The old general, the first chairman of the AKSO, outlived the organization he headed.

David Dragunsky about time and himself

It so happened that I turned out to be the last interviewer in his life. I admit, I did not hope that David Abramovich would ever agree to meet with me after my, frankly speaking, not very flattering articles about AKSO in our and foreign press. In the article “AKSO - yesterday; WORLD – Today”, published in the Israeli newspaper “Time” (Jerusalem, 07/12/91), I wrote: “... having headed the AKSO, D.A. Dragunsky not only denied the existence of anti-Semitism in the USSR, but also shared the opinion of those who identified Zionism with fascism...” To be honest, I myself did not strive for this meeting. But an almost mystical event happened. When asked by an Israeli radio correspondent which press covers the activities of AKSO, I replied that mainly only in collections published by this organization, but I think it will soon be reflected in newspapers such as Russian Resurrection and Den. And indeed, soon a large publication “Zionism is expansion (based on materials from AKSO)” appeared in the newspaper “Den” (No. 37/92).

After reading this publication, I realized that my meeting with D.A. Dragunsky is inevitable, even with any of his “resistance”. Oddly enough, he agreed to meet quite easily.

I came to see him on September 29 in his office at 46 Frunzenskaya. Having received my book “Solomon Mikhoels” as a gift, the general was delighted and began to look at the photographs with frank, somewhat childish impatience.

“What a pity that we didn’t know each other before the publication of your book: I have many photographs of me and Mikhoels,” he told me.

- Is there such a thing?“I handed him a photograph in which Mikhoels, with his hand on the young colonel’s shoulder, is talking with him.

- So it’s me and Mikhoels!– David Abramovich was delighted. – Why didn't you put this photo in the book? Did you just find her? Or did they decide, by publishing a photograph of Mikhoels with General Kreiser, that the photograph with Colonel Dragunsky was no longer suitable? – he asked, smiling. - In vain! We were friends with Yakov Grigorievich. I replaced him as head of the Higher Courses “Vystrel”.

Photographs, as well as copies of letters from D.A. Dragunsky to Mikhoels have been with me for a long time. But how can I explain to David Abramovich why they are not in the book?.. To admit at the very beginning of the conversation that in my concept, Army General Ya.G. is a Hero of the Soviet Union. Kreiser committed his perhaps most courageous act not in July 1941, when he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but in January 1953, when he refused to sign a letter inspired by the authorities from “outstanding” Soviet Jews to the government of the USSR, which set out the demand for execution “killers in white coats”?

David Abramovich, perceiving my confusion, said:

- Well, God willing, you will publish this photograph in the second edition. Do you know what the word "gesunt" means?

I answered in the affirmative and suggested that we continue our conversation in Yiddish.

- With great pleasure! Unfortunately, I almost forgot mama loshn (mother’s language - Hebrew), but let’s try.

Listening to the recording of our conversation at home, I realized how successful this “invention” of mine turned out to be. David Abramovich “warmed up” and became completely unofficial.

“I was born in 1910,” he began his story, “in the small town of Svyatsk, then it was the Oryol province, now it is the Bryansk region. My great-grandfather, grandfather, father, grandmother, mother were all tailors. And the older brothers were trained in this craft. But my mother said: “Dovid must become an intellectual!” At that time, in all of Svyatsk there was one Jewish intellectual - the general store accountant Dominker. According to my mother, I should have become the second “sacred intellectual”...

But life decreed differently: an unremarkable Jewish boy was destined to become a prominent Soviet military leader and, at the same time, one of the most notable and odious personalities in the history of Soviet Jewry.

“In my youth, I “raved” about journalism,” continued David Abramovich, “and at the age of nineteen I came to Moscow to study as a journalist... The first nights in Moscow I was a “stage subject” - I spent the night on the stage in Sokolnichesky Park, and during the day I sat in the library on Mokhovaya , was preparing for entrance exams. I did not enter the institute and, with a permit from the Krasnopresnensky district committee of the Komsomol, went to work in Mosstroy. Today, when many are renouncing their Komsomol past, I fondly remember the years of the first five-year plans... At the same time, working as a simple construction worker, I joined the ranks of the party. I was elected as a deputy of the Krasnopresnensky district council, and soon, among the twenty-five thousand people, I was sent to the village for collectivization. This may seem strange to you, but at a meeting in the village of Akhmatovo, I, a twenty-year-old guy, was elected chairman of the village council by the peasants... From Akhmatovo, I was drafted to serve in the army.

– David Abramovich, I read your memoirs, read many of your publications and articles about you. Is there anything left beyond what was published?

– I see that you are an experienced and cunning journalist. All your brothers want "unpublished"!

(I did not dare admit that I am not at all an experienced journalist and am mostly a “night” journalist - every day I go to work that is far from journalism.)

- However, - David Abramovich smiled slyly, - I’ll tell you one “secret”. Do you know who invented the amphibian? This was “done” in the summer of 1938 by Lieutenant David Dragunsky. After serving in the army, I was sent to a military school, and upon graduation, to the Far East. It was uneasy there then; the Japanese were preparing for war. I was appointed commander of a tank company. Nowadays, few people remember the T-26 tank. It was a good car. But I wanted it, and I realized that it was necessary for it to walk not only on land, but also on water. Almost everyone ridiculed me for this “idea”. But nevertheless, the guys and I began preparations: we coated it, puttyed it, covered it with red lead - in a word, we sealed the tank, experimentally strengthened the engines, adjusted the pipes so that exhaust gases would exit through them and air would flow in, while the height of the pipes was adjusted from the cabin. We decided to cross the Suifun River. Nobody allowed us to do this, and you know who helped? Colonel Nikolai Erastovich Berzarin - he was then the commander of our division. And when we successfully crossed the river (not without incident - due to a hole at the bottom of the river, the tank skidded a little to the left, and we arrived on the opposite bank with a slope from the intended route), Nikolai Erastovnch was already waiting for us and ran towards us. “Well done, lads!” - he said and gave me a personalized watch. This was my first award.

- And the first fight?

“I wrote about him in detail in my book “Years in Armor.” You've probably read this. I'll tell you about another event. I haven’t told anyone about this yet... It was in July 1942 near Smolensk. I was then a battalion commander. In my battalion there were people of 30-40 nationalities. We were united by love for our homeland and a thirst for revenge on the enemy. I already knew that the Germans killed all my relatives - 74 people. And the battalion found out about this. Suddenly in the morning leaflets with the following text rained down on our location from an airplane: “Take a twig and drive the Jews to Palestine!” The soldiers, having read them, came to me and said: “Stop waiting, commander! Lead us into battle!” And with exclamations of “We will avenge the Dragunsky family!” rushed to the location of the fascists, and soon we liberated several villages...

– Why are you talking about this for the first time?

– I haven’t told you a lot yet...

In 1956, D. A. Dragunsky naturally and deservedly represented Soviet Jewry in Paris at the opening ceremony of a memorial in memory of the dead Jews - victims of the fascist genocide. The opening day of the memorial coincided with the beginning of the second Arab-Israeli war in the Middle East, called in our press “triple aggression” (troops of England, France and Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula). At the reception on the occasion of the opening of the memorial, General Dragunsky, a professional military man who not only understood well, but also knew the origins of this “aggression”, answering a reporter’s question, did not find other words except: “For trying to bring such ideas to life (resolution of territorial disputes by military means. - M. G.) the world has already paid with millions of lives...” Was there really at least a grain of sincerity in these words?

– David Abramovich, you wrote to Mikhoels about anti-Semitism in our country back in 1946. Have you experienced anti-Semitism directly?

- And how! After graduating from the General Staff Academy, everyone was distributed, but I was the only one “detained” and not even given a position. Marshals Rybalko and Vasilevsky helped me. These commanders knew me from the war, and in general they were real internationalists. And even with their help, where do you think they sent me? In Transbaikalia, in those places where the Decembrists were. How long have I waited for the rank of general!..

– Judging by your story, even such an outstanding person as you experienced first-hand what it meant to be a Jew in the USSR.

-What did you think? I am sure that in the early 50s I was not imprisoned for two reasons. Firstly, I was “far from Moscow” and they forgot about me. Secondly, my name was known all over the world - a Jew, twice a Hero...

- Well, what about Yakov Vladimirovich Smushkevich?

“But then, in 1949, he had long been gone. I knew this man back in the Far East. You probably know that he was the chief of aviation for the entire Red Army. He was arrested at the very beginning of the war and was soon shot...

Under Khrushchev, the “bar of anti-Semitism” was lowered somewhat. But anti-Semitism remained. I commanded a division, an army, and more than once, when it was necessary to promote someone in rank, or especially when deciding on transfer to service abroad, personnel officers said: “Comrade general, comrade commander, just not a Jew...”

I already realized that Dragunsky was telling me much that was “unpublished”, and decided to go “on the attack”:

– So, David Abramovich, if personnel officers allowed themselves such “revelations”, you were considered “their Jew”?

– I don’t think that’s true. While studying at the Academy, I went to a sanatorium in Kislovodsk and soon noticed that I was under surveillance, that is, I was “under the hood.”

- KGB?

- Certainly!

– In this regard, I have the following question: how did you, having experienced surveillance by the KGB, hire a former KGB general as your first deputy?

– As for General Smolyaninov, my deputy, he was essentially fired from the KGB as an undesirable person there.

– Since we touched on the topic of the KGB, which was until recently taboo, let me ask one more question: did you know about the role of the KGB in the creation of AKSO? About the fact that in the resolution of the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee on this matter there was a clause: “The Propaganda Department of the CPSU Central Committee shall consider, jointly with the KGB of the USSR, the committee’s work plans and provide the necessary assistance in their implementation”?

– I will answer this question this way: at that time, any public organization, even, say, the Society for the Rescue of Drowning People, could not arise without the participation of the KGB. You understand this perfectly well.

– In development of the conversation about AKSO, I would like to ask why the first Jewish organization in the USSR in the post-war years became anti-Zionist? Did we really have more Zionists than anti-Semites in 1983?

- That's not the point. And it's not even in the name. In the late 70s and early 80s, there was a tendency towards an increase in anti-Semitism. It was necessary to give some kind of antidote and show that Jews are people with their own history, their age-old customs, their national pride. I'll give you an example about myself. In Novy Mir they were preparing a chapter from my book for publication, and the writer Paderin told me that the author’s name would be Dmitry Aleksandrovich Dragunsky. Think: the whole world knows me as David, son of Abram, and he wanted to publish Dmitry Alexandrovich! I ordered the manuscript to be taken down immediately. I have witnesses! Now do you understand?

- I understood something. But still, it seems to me that the main reason for the creation of the AKSO was not the “antidote to anti-Semitism,” but the “antidote” to the increased self-awareness of the Jewish masses and, as a consequence of this, the increased emigration of Jews from the USSR.

David Abramovich thought about it and asked me a question:

– But you remember that in creating the AKSO we were supported by scientists, writers, artists - and even such outstanding ones as Raikin, Bystritskaya, Plisetskaya?.. True, there were also those who did not support us, who did not want to understand us.

- What? Is it that anti-Semitism was hardened and strengthened in the fight against mythical Zionism? I must confess to you that before the noisy propaganda campaign around Zionism unleashed by the AKSO - I am sure, not without prompting - I did not even think about the meaning of this word, this concept. What do you think Zionism is?

– Zionism... This is the same concept as Marxism, socialism and any other “isms”...

– That is, if I understand you correctly, then Zionism is a kind of ideology. How do you feel today about the words written in 1985 by you together with Sukharev (S. A. Sukharev, Prosecutor General, was then vice-president of the AKSO - M. G.)? In the preface to the White Book, you compared Zionism with fascism, wrote that “among the friends and allies of the Zionists are the military-fascist dictatorship in Chile, ... the Nicaraguan Contras, the racists of South Africa,” and in this regard you came to the conclusion that “Today the struggle against Zionism, its ideology and political practice is the spirit of the times.”

– I didn’t write this.

– But under the preface is your name. And since we remembered this, in the same preface there is the following phrase: “The threat of fascism is constantly growing in Israel.” What does this mean, David Abramovich: in Israel “the threat of fascism is growing,” but here it has now become a reality... Are Israel and its agents in Russia also to blame for this?

- I already told you, I didn’t write this...

- Then who?

-Zivs. Please look for him! Let him be responsible for these words. And then he wrote all this, and then disappeared.

– Did he really go to Israel?

- No, he left our committee, or rather, we left him, but I don’t know where.

– David Abramovich, I remember back in the 60s, I think you wrote in Pravda that you respected the State of Israel. And now?

- Of course, with respect. Whoever wants to, let him go to Israel. But we must also think about those Jews who will remain in Russia... If they remain at all...

– You didn’t talk about those leaving like that before.

“It was before, but now everything has changed.”

– At this rate of aliyah, there will soon be no Jews left in Russia.

- This can’t be! There have always been and will always be Jews in Russia.

Last words of D.A. Dragunsky spoke with the confidence of a general.

This is a holiday with tears in our eyes

In March 1945, Dragunsky's tank brigade was transferred to reserve. Doctors strongly recommended that the brigade commander immediately go to the hospital. There was a need for serious treatment - the received wounds were making themselves felt. David Abramovich did not want to hear about the hospital, but General Rybalko intervened. “I insist so much on your repairs,” he told Dragunsky, “so that by the final assault on Berlin we will be together again.” And on April 21, 1945, hastily “repaired”, he was already in Zossen near Berlin, where his tank brigade was located. The rest of the events are already known to us.

Another episode from the biography of General Dragunsky. Behind the lines of his troops were the Germans, or more precisely, a German officer’s hospital with wounded, abandoned to their fate. Two German women approached the brigade commander asking for help. “Calm down,” the brigade commander told them, “of course, we will help with everything we can, even with medical personnel.” And he helped.

Of course, D. Dragunsky was not a believer, but how can one not recall the biblical saying: “We are a God-fearing people, and it does not become for us to repay evil for evil. Let us heal the wounds of our enemies."

After the storming of Berlin, Dragunsky's brigade took part in the rescue of Prague. As you know, the Germans wanted to destroy this beautiful city. Here he was met with the long-awaited news: “The war is victoriously over!” And then there was the Victory Parade, in which twice Hero of the Soviet Union David Dragunsky led a battalion of tankers as part of the combined regiment of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

This could be the end of the story about the brave warrior and not-quite-fulfilled politician David Dragunsky. But after listening to the recording of the conversation with him again, I drew attention to my question: “Has the general ever cried?” Here is his answer: “I’ll say again what I haven’t told anyone. This is my mood today. When I walked ahead of the battalion at the Victory Parade, it suddenly seemed to me that I saw my mother, whom the Germans were dragging to be shot - she did not have the strength to reach the place of execution on her own. At some point I felt dizzy and I was afraid that I would fall. It was worse than the hardest battles."

I remember David Abramovich's face. There were tears in his thoughtful eyes... That was the end of our conversation. We parted warmly and agreed to meet.

Another fragment of my conversation with Dragunsky.

– Did you happen to meet the legendary General Chernyakhovsky during the war?

– Who did I meet during the war years... In 1942, after a short study in Ufa, I was sent to the disposal of Marshal Budyonny. Now God knows what they say about him, but believe me, he understood military affairs. He was a simple, good man.

In June 1942, I found myself subordinate to Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky, then a general. He immediately recognized me and asked: “Comrade former Frunze member, do you recognize the teachers?” This is also what I remember about Malinovsky. In rare moments of calm, he liked to remember the past. His youth, the First World War, during which he reached all the way to Paris. One day he suddenly asked me: “Tell me, Major, are you not from Odessa?” I answered: “No.” “Very strange,” said the general for some reason. Later I found out that he would live in Odessa.

– They say that Malinovsky is from the Karaites, aren’t they almost Jews?

- I do not know this. But let’s get back to how I didn’t meet Chernyakhovsky.

In October 1943, the most difficult battles for the liberation of Kyiv took place. And my brigade was temporarily placed at the disposal of Lieutenant General Chernyakhovsky. I've heard about this hero. There were legends about him. On the same day he contacted me from KP. He set very specific combat missions. I remember it was immediately after the liberation of Kyiv. I will not talk about the battles near the Teterev River. I wrote about this. After the battle, Chernyakhovsky called me and thanked me for the brave and correct actions of my tankers. He invited me to his command post at 20:00 that same day. But I didn’t get to Chernyakhovsky. On the way to his command post, a fragment of a stray shell hit me and reached all the way to my liver. Yes, yes to the liver.

And then the unexpected happened. David Abramovich stripped to the waist and showed me traces of his many wounds.

- But the worst thing was this,” he pointed his finger to his right side.

The photographer Yu. Mironov, who was with me, was confused. But Dragunsky said:

– Take pictures, I’m not ashamed of my wounds. There are some smart people who think that I immediately became a general. How many times have I miraculously survived! And this time it passed. Later I was told that Pavel Sergeevich Rybalko himself brought medicine to the mobile hospital where I ended up. But my meeting with Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky never took place. This was the only time in my life when I failed to carry out the order of a senior commander.

Let me remind you that Army General I.D. Chernyakhovsky died in battle in 1945.

Reflecting on the fate of D.A. Dragunsky, I remember the poems of the front-line poet A.P. Mezhirova:

They walked, accompanied by explosions,

Through your own and other people's fault.

Oh, how happy we would be

If we were killed in the war...

Dragunsky David Abramovich (1910-1992) is not only a participant in the Great Patriotic War and the Victory Parade. Since 1969, he became the head of the higher command courses "Vystrel", which trains not only Soviet officers, but also military personnel of our various allies, including Arabs. And who knows, maybe the current Arab terrorists blowing themselves up in Israeli supermarkets are students of graduates of the Shot courses, which, as stated above, were led by the Jew Dragunsky. True, he was a somewhat unusual Jew, namely an anti-Zionist. In the year of Andropov’s reign, it was Dragunsky who was put at the head of the organization, which for several decades subsequent rulers for some reason preferred not to remember, as if it never existed. It was the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public, abbreviated as AKSO. Andropov died, Chernenko was replaced by perestroika Gorbachev, and Dragunsky had no intention of dissolving the committee he headed. As long as he was alive, as long as this organization continued to work, it continued to fight Zionism as a type of fascism. Eternal memory to the hero of the Great War, Parade participant, fighter against Zionism David Dragunsky!

Vyacheslav Rumyantsev

from the site http://world.lib.ru/g/gruppa_t/050512kasta1.shtml

Yehuda YERUSHALMI

The topic I am writing about today is extremely delicate and unpleasant, but I still cannot remain silent. In the Hyde Park section of the News of the Week newspaper, on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Victory over Nazism, a skirmish between readers, mainly WWII veterans, began and has been going on for several weeks about General D.A. Dragunsky, twice a hero of the Soviet Union (1910-1992). It began when one of the readers remembered the unseemly role of D.A. Dragunsky as the chairman of the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Jewish Community of the USSR (ASKEO USSR). In response, the Chief Veteran of the Second World War of Israel, A. Cohen, gave a merciless and military-style laconic rebuke to the author, which boils down to the thesis: “He is a hero, he is ours, and therefore don’t touch him!” Further, other veterans joined the campaign in defense of Dragunsky, repeating A. Cohen’s theses in different ways.

Without relying on the aging man’s own memory, which has preserved individual fragments of propaganda television programs with the participation of the leadership of ASKEO of the USSR, from which I remember well D. Dragunsky, familiar from the memoirs “At the End of the War” in the still “Tvardov” “New World” and the beautiful movie star E .Bystritskaya, I decided to consult on the Internet. On most of the sites, the biographical information about D. Dragunsky ASKEO USSR is not mentioned at all, as if it did not exist, but on Russian-Jewish sites the emphasis is on the Hero’s Jewishness, for example:

“On April 30, 1945, the tank brigade of the Jew David Dragunsky united with the tank corps of the Jew Semyon Krivoshein. Berlin was surrounded. For these battles, Dragunsky will receive the second Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, and Krivoshein the first. David Dragunsky took part in the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945.”

The text of the letter-manifesto of the “founding fathers” of ASKEO USSR was also found in Pravda dated April 1, 1983. Here is a list of hero-signatories:

Best of the day

Dragunsky D.A. - Colonel General, twice Hero of the Soviet Union;

Kabachnik M.I. - Academician, Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes;

Goffman G.B. - Member of the USSR Writers Union, Hero of the Soviet Union;

Zivs S.L. - Professor, Doctor of Law, Honored Scientist of the RSFSR;

Sheinin B.S. - Member of the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR;

Bondarevsky G.L. - Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Honored Scientist of the RSFSR;

Zimanas G.O. - Professor, Doctor of Philosophy;

Kolesnikov Yu.A. - Member of the Writers' Union of the USSR.

On the assessment of the activities of D.A. Dragunsky as chairman of ASKEO of the USSR was most found in the Russian National Patriotic Newspaper on the Alex-inform website. 14 from 07.27.99.

http://www.alex-co.ru/gazeta/index.phtml?&article=02-1.DOC&path=gazeta/1999/14-99

I guess that the following quotes from a newspaper affiliated with the Slavic Union of Journalists, headed by the famous Judeophobe Boris Mironov, will cause a flurry of anger (naturally, at MY address - since ancient times the messenger has been the culprit of bad news!), but I think that the grain there are truths in them. Therefore, nevertheless, to soften the blows to my mortal body, I will interrupt the quotes with my commentary. So, the text (in italics):

"JEWS ABOUT...JIKES

"THERE ARE JEWS AND THERE ARE KIKES. SO I, A JEW, ARE AGAINST THE KIKES!"

David Dragunsky, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General, Chairman of the Anti-Zionist Committee of the USSR. Summer 1992

Comment: I don’t know whether it’s fake or true. I didn’t hold the candle, that is, I didn’t hold the microphone. However, I have encountered representatives of similar views more than once, including in Eretz Israel..

"From the editors of Press of RUSSIA:

We consider it necessary to say something special about David Abramovich Dragunsky. For this purpose, we are once again reprinting the obituary, which tells in a concise form about the life path of the outstanding son of Russia. By the way, and this is very important to note, the obituary was published in the newspapers "Den", "Soviet Russia", "Press of Russia", but not in any (!) of the so-called "democratic" newspapers..."

A comment. Tell me who is your friend...

"...On October 16, 1992, Moscow said goodbye to the faithful son of Russia, David Abramovich Dragunsky. Colonel General of the TANK troops, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, David Dragunsky once said: “I am proud and happy that I belong to the generation that fought and crushed fascism ".

In 1938, Dragunsky had the opportunity to participate in battles near Lake Khasan. He met the war in the early morning of June 22, 1941 on the western border and ended it on May 9, 1945 in Prague. He fought near Moscow and Smolensk.

He was seriously wounded in the battle of Kursk and in battles in Ukraine. His Guards Tank Brigade held a bridgehead on the Vistula and stormed Berlin. On April 27, 1945, on the western outskirts of Berlin, the 55th Guards Tank Brigade of Colonel Dragunsky joined forces with units of the 2nd Guards Tank Army. This led to the dissection of the enemy garrison into two isolated parts and the fall of the capital of the Third Reich.

David Dragunsky took part in the Victory Parade. His books “Years in Armor” and “At the End of the War” are widely known, which depict bright images of patriotic warriors, courageous fighters against fascism.

David Dragunsky was a member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. For the last 10 years he has been the permanent chairman of the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public. "

A comment. An interesting transformation is from the JAC, almost all of whose members were repressed in one way or another, and many were simply exterminated, to ASKEO.

“Despite two decisions of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee to close the Anti-Zionist Committee, despite the endless attacks of the Zionist centers and their agents, despite the streams of lies and slander in the so-called “democratic” press, Dragunsky did not break down and did not “reform” - he challenged all of this Yakovlev, Shevardnadze, Kozyrev and Bronfman... He defended the interests of his Motherland, remaining a faithful son of RUSSIA."

A comment. A. Cohen, defending D. Dragunsky in the above-mentioned letter, argued that he simply could not, under the existing conditions, refuse the chairmanship of ASKEO.

For some reason General Grigorenko could be in conflict with that government, but General Dragunsky was forced to comply? But from the above quote it still appears that when the Politburo (apparently already Gorbachev’s) closed ASKEO, Dragunsky actively resisted the closure.

“The last, insidious blow at the instigation of the Zionists was dealt by the mayor of Moscow Luzhkov, who transferred Dragunsky’s office to one of the militant pro-Zionist organizations. Addressing his comrades, Dragunsky said: “I can’t imagine Zionists sitting in my office under the Israeli flag.”

On October 12, it became known that the shameful decision of the Moscow mayor had come into force, and on the same day the heart of General Dragunsky could not stand it. He passed away calmly and with dignity, as befits people of a special type who do not recognize the categories of moral slavery, “democratic” rudeness, fawning on foreign masters and their agents, before the international political mafia, establishing a new world order on the land where our grandfathers and fathers.

The glorious son of our Fatherland has passed away. Left undefeated.

Eternal memory to you, David Abramovich!"

I wonder what David Dragunsky would have become if he had been born in another time or in another place. In the reality we know David Abramovich Dragunsky - Soviet military and political figure, colonel general, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. During the Great Patriotic War - commander of the Guards Tank Brigade.

David Dragunsky was born in 1910 into a poor Jewish family of tailors. After graduating from school in Novozybkov, Bryansk region, he went on a Komsomol voucher to a construction site in Moscow, then to the Kalinin region. In 1936 he graduated with honors from the Saratov Armored School and was sent to serve in the Far East.

After just a year of service, he commanded a tank company; was one of the first in the Far East to drive his T-26 tank (absolutely not intended for the role of an amphibian) underwater through the stormy Seifun River and after 15 minutes brought it to the opposite bank. To do this, Dragunsky previously equipped the tank with two pipes, and coated the leaky areas with red lead and grease. For this initiative, Dragunsky received his first award - a personalized watch from the division commander.

As commander of a tank company, he took part in the battles near Lake Khasan in 1938. There D. A. Dragunsky was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Battle.

YES. Dragunsky (sitting third from left) with his school teachers and childhood friends. February 10, 1939 in the village of Svyatsk, Novozybkovsky district, Bryansk region

At the beginning of 1939, Dragunsky became a student at the Military Academy. Frunze. The beginning of the war found him in the Osovets fortress on the western border, where, as part of the 2nd Belarusian Division, Dragunsky, along with other students of the Academy, underwent camp training and internship. For a short time, the students returned to Moscow, where soon Senior Lieutenant Dragunsky was appointed to the Western Front as commander of a tank battalion.

Near Smolensk and on the approaches to Moscow, the tankmen of the battalion, commanded by D. A. Dragunsky, inflicted crushing blows on the enemy.

At the recommendation of the command, Dragunsky, with the rank of major, was sent to the Academy of the General Staff, where he studied until April 1942. After studying, he was sent as the chief of reconnaissance of the 3rd mechanized corps, and from 1943 - as the commander of the 55th Guards Brigade of the Tank Corps under Colonel General Rybalko, and took part in the Kyiv offensive operation in November 1943. When, at a critical moment in the tank battle in the Malin area near Zhitomir on December 9, 1943, Dragunsky’s tank took the lead (which was generally typical for a brave tanker), brigade commander Dragunsky was seriously wounded.

While in the hospital, I learned: in his homeland, the Nazis destroyed all his relatives - 74 people, including his father, mother, two sisters, and two brothers died in battles at the front. After the hospital, D. A. Dragunsky, “with the blessing” of the famous tank army commander P. S. Rybalko, who knew him well from previous battles, returned to the brigade. During fierce fighting at the end of July 1944, his brigade reached the Vistula. The means of crossing were delayed on the way, and the brigade commander (for the umpteenth time!) showed resourcefulness by ordering the assembly of rafts from logs and planks, on which they managed to transport the tanks. Thanks to this, the Sandomierz bridgehead on the opposite bank of the Vistula was captured. Subsequently, long stubborn battles took place on this bridgehead with varying success, but in the end, Dragunsky himself led the decisive counterattack.

For the heroism shown during the crossing of the Vistula and for holding the Sandomierz bridgehead, the commander of the 55th Tank Brigade, Dragunsky, was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The severe wounds he received at the front increasingly reminded of themselves, and by order of Army Commander P.S. Rybalko, despite the resistance of Dragunsky, in March 1945, David Abramovich was sent for treatment.

But he arrived in time for the decisive battle for Berlin, forcing doctors to speed up the course of treatment. And by mid-April 1945 he was again in the 55th Brigade. His tank crews became famous during the crossing of the Teltow Canal, in the battles for Berlin and for the liberation of Prague. On April 27, 1945, on the western outskirts of Berlin, the 55th Guards Tank Brigade of Colonel Dragunsky joined forces with units of the 2nd Guards Tank Army.

This led to the dissection of the enemy garrison into two isolated parts and the fall of Berlin. For his skillful leadership of the brigade's actions during the storming of Berlin and the courage and bravery shown, as well as for the brigade's swift rush to Prague, Guard Colonel Dragunsky became twice Hero of the Soviet Union.

As a particularly distinguished participant in the Second World War, D. A. Dragunsky took part in the historical Victory Parade on June 24, 1945.

In 1949, Dragunsky graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff and was awarded the military rank of major general.

In 1957-1960 commanded a division and army.

In 1965-1969, he was first deputy commander of the Transcaucasian Military District.

Since 1970, he has been Colonel General of the tank forces.

In 1985-1987 D. A. Dragunsky in the group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense.

Since 1987 - retired.

David Dragunsky was a member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. The JAC newspaper "Einikait" ("Unity") published a note in December 1945 about a meeting of JAC members, Jewish front-line soldiers, heroes of the Soviet Union, where Dragunsky's surname is indicated.

Dragunsky was interested in social work from his youth. At the age of 19, he was already a deputy of the Krasnopresnensky district of Moscow. At the end of the war, he took part in the work of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee of the JAC. Back in 1945, David Dragunsky set the EAK the task of perpetuating the memory of his fallen relatives and fellow countrymen in the Bryansk region, as well as erecting monuments and memorials in other cities of the USSR. His signature appears on most of the JAC's appeals, although he was not a member of the presidium.

In the 50s, Dragunsky often represented the USSR abroad. Subsequently, his signatures appeared more than once under biased anti-Israeli articles. D. Dragunsky promoted a negative attitude towards the movement of Soviet Jews for aliyah.

“For the absolute majority of Soviet Jews, there is no doubt that their homeland is the great and mighty Soviet Union, a multinational socialist state, the first in world history to proclaim the friendship of peoples as the cornerstone of its foreign and domestic policy.”,” the general wrote in 1984.

From the moment of the creation of the AKSO (April 21, 1983) until the last day of his life, he was the permanent chairman of the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public (AKSO).

Dragunsky managed to defend the AKSO despite the fact that the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee twice considered the issue of closing it.

After the collapse of the USSR, he decided to remain in his post. Dragunsky has said many times that he sincerely considers Zionism a dangerous misanthropic ideology with fascist practices; that Zionism greatly harmed the Jews of the USSR, destroyed their social and cultural life, and greatly harmed the advancement of Jews.

“Zionism concentrates extreme nationalism, chauvinism, racial intolerance, encouragement of territorial seizures and annexations... Zionism as a form of racism”. This is c It is from an appeal by an initiative group of famous Soviet Jews (among them D. A. Dragunsky, academician M. I. Kabachnik, Professor S. L. Zivs, Professor G. O. Zimanas, writer Yu. A. Kolesnikov, etc.), published in Pravda on April 1, 1983.

In 1984, the APN published a brochure by D. Dragunsky “What the Letters Say.” The author’s task was to demonstrate the universal support provided by the Jews of the former USSR to the Anti-Zionist Committee...

David Dragunsky became two Every time Hero of the Soviet Union. Awarded: 2 Orders of Lenin, 4 Orders of the Red Banner, Order of Suvorov 2nd degree, two Orders of the Red Star, Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, Order of Friendship of Peoples 3rd degree, Order “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR” 3 th degree, medals.

- Is it true that you were invited to Israel and wanted to make you a minister of this country?

He passed away in 1992, but remained embodied in a monument in the city of Solnechnogorsk. The author of the sculpture, R. Fashayan, made the inscription on the pedestal: “The monument was built using public funds by grateful Solnechnogorsk residents”.

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General David Dragunsky, like all the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army who brought our Victory closer, no matter what nationality they were, they are all in the Immortal Regiment of a thousand years of Russian history.

Ranks

• Lieutenant (1936),
• senior lieutenant,
• captain (September 1941),
• Major (1942),
• Lieutenant Colonel (October 1942),
• Colonel (04/25/1944),

Positions

commander of a tank platoon of the 32nd separate tank battalion of the 32nd rifle division of the Separate Red Banner Far Eastern Army

tank company commander

commander of a tank battalion of the 242nd Infantry Division on the Western Front

senior assistant to the head of the operational department of the North Caucasus direction

head of the intelligence department of the headquarters of the armored department of the Black Sea group of forces of the Transcaucasian Front

Chief of Intelligence of the 3rd Mechanized Corps of the Kalilin Front

Chief of Staff of the 1st Mechanized Brigade of the 3rd Mechanized Corps of the Kalilin Front 1942-1943

commander of the 55th Guards Vasilkovskaya Tank Brigade of the 3rd Guards Tank Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front

commander of the 75th Guards Mechanized Division

commander of the 5th Guards Tank Division

deputy army commander

Commander of the 7th Guards Army

First Deputy Commander of the Transcaucasian Military District 1965-1969

Head of the Higher Officer Courses "Vystrel" named after B.M. Shaposhnikova 1969-1985

military consultant to the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense

Biography

Dragunsky David Abramovich - commander of the 55th Guards Vasilkovskaya Tank Brigade of the 3rd Guards Tank Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, guard colonel.

Born on February 2 (15), 1910 in the village of Svyatsk, now Novozybkovsky district, Bryansk region, in a large family of a tailor and handicraftsman. Jew. After graduating from the school named after M.I. Kalinin in the city of Novozybkov (now secondary school No. 1), he was sent on a Komsomol voucher to a construction site in Moscow, where he worked as a digger, a laborer, a mechanic's assistant, and a plumber for the Mosstroy trust. At the age of 19 he was elected as a deputy of the Krasnopresnensky District Council. In 1931, he was sent to the village of Akhmatovo, Kalinin region, to participate in collectivization, was in charge of a hut-reading room, was the chairman of the Akhmatovo village council, and an instructor for the district party committee. Member of the CPSU(b)/CPSU since 1931.

In February 1933, he was drafted into the Red Army, a cadet at the Saratov Armored School. Having completed his studies in 1936, he was sent to the Far East as the commander of a tank platoon of the 32nd separate tank battalion of the 32nd rifle division of the Separate Red Banner Far Eastern Army. From September 1937 - commander of a tank company in the same battalion. During his service, Dragunsky was the first of the Far Eastern tank crews to drive the T-26 tank underwater across the Seifun River and after a quarter of an hour brought it to the other side. In order for the combat vehicle, which was not suitable for crossing water obstacles, to withstand this test, Dragunsky slightly re-equipped the tank, adding two pipes and coating the leaky areas with grease and red lead. The initiative shown by the young officer was marked with a personalized watch from the division commander.

The commander of a tank company, D.A. Dragunsky, took part in the battles near Lake Khasan in 1938, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. At the beginning of 1939, he became a student at the Military Academy of the Red Army named after M.V. Frunze.

Senior Lieutenant Dragunsky met the Great Patriotic War in the Osovets fortress on the western border of the USSR, where, as part of the 2nd Belarusian Division, he, among the students of the academy, underwent an internship. Upon returning to Moscow, on July 21, 1941, he was appointed to the Western Front as commander of a tank battalion of the 242nd Infantry Division on the Western Front.

Dragunsky's battalion bravely fought against the Nazi invaders near Smolensk, inflicting crushing blows on the enemy. In September 1941, Dragunsky was appointed head of the operational department of the headquarters of the 242nd Infantry Division, which included the battalion, then, after the division left the encirclement, head of the reconnaissance group of General Khoruzhenko.

In November 1941, D.A. Dragunsky was enrolled as a student at the Higher Military Academy named after K.E. Voroshilov, and in April 1942 he completed its accelerated course. Then he was at the disposal of Marshal of the Soviet Union S.M. Budyonny, from June 1942 - senior assistant to the head of the operational department of the North Caucasus direction, from July 1942 - head of the intelligence department of the headquarters of the armored department of the Black Sea group of forces of the Transcaucasian Front. Lieutenant Colonel (October 1942).

In October 1942, D.A. Dragunsky was appointed head of intelligence of the 3rd mechanized corps of the Kalilin Front. Since November 1942 - chief of staff of the 1st mechanized brigade of the same corps. Participated in the Battle of Kursk. On August 11, 1943 he was wounded.

On October 21, 1943, Lieutenant Colonel D.A. Dragunsky was appointed commander of the 55th Guards Tank Brigade of the 7th Guards Tank Corps of the 3rd Guards Tank Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which distinguished itself in the liberation of the city of Vasilkov, the capital of Ukraine, Kiev (November 6, 1943 year) and Right Bank Ukraine.

By order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR I.V. Stalin, the 55th Guards Tank Brigade was given the honorary name "Vasilkovskaya".

On December 9, 1943, D.A. Dragunsky was seriously wounded. On this day, during a fierce battle near the city of Malin, Zhitomir region, the brigade commander’s tank took the lead and was hit. He was undergoing treatment for more than six months, having learned during this period the terrible news that in his native Bryansk region his father, mother and two sisters with their children had been shot by fascist monsters, and his two brothers had died at the front.

On July 25, 1944, Guard Colonel D.A. Dragunsky, not without the participation of the commander of the 3rd Guards Tank Army, Colonel General P.S. Rybalko, returned to his native brigade. Colonel (04/25/1944). And just two days later, on July 27, 1944, Dragunsky’s tankers took part in the liberation of the cities of Gorodok and Lvov.

During the Lviv-Sandomierz operation of the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in the last days of July 1944, the 55th Guards Tank Brigade reached the Vistula River. Since the crossing facilities and logistics support have fallen behind, brigade commander Dragunsky orders the assembly of rafts from logs and planks on which tanks and their crews are transported. Thus, the resourcefulness, ingenuity and courage of the guard of Colonel D.A. Dragunsky and his fighters contributed to the capture of a bridgehead on the opposite bank of the Vistula. Subsequently, on this bridgehead, which gained worldwide fame as Sandomierz, fierce battles took place with varying success, but as a result, the Soviet soldiers survived and moved forward.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 23, 1944, for the heroism and military skill shown during the crossing of the Vistula River and for holding the Sandomierz bridgehead, Guard Colonel Dragunsky David Abramovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

The severe wounds received by D.A. Dragunsky, which often reminded of themselves, forced the commander of the 3rd Guards Tank Army P.S. Rybalko in March 1945 to send the Hero for treatment. But, having begged the doctors to speed up the course of treatment, by mid-April 1945 he was back in his native brigade.

The tank guards of the 55th Brigade, following the example of courage and heroism from their commander, distinguished themselves during the crossing of the Teltow Canal, in the battles for Berlin and for the liberation of Prague. During the Berlin operation, the brigade destroyed 9 tanks, 3 assault guns, 7 armored vehicles, 9 guns, 37 vehicles and 705 enemy soldiers. 2,700 prisoners, 6 warehouses, 190 carriages, 4 locomotives were captured.

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 31, 1945, for the skillful leadership of the brigade’s actions during the storming of Berlin and the courage and bravery shown, as well as for the rapid rush of the brigade to Prague, Guard Colonel Dragunsky David Abramovich was awarded the second Gold Star medal.

On June 24, 1945, D.A. Dragunsky took part in the historical Victory Parade in Moscow on Red Square as part of the combined battalion of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

After the war he continued to serve in the Soviet Army. In 1949 he graduated from the Higher Military Academy named after K.E. Voroshilov. In 1950-1957, he commanded the 5th Guards Tank and 75th Guards Mechanized Divisions in Transbaikalia, was the first deputy army commander, and commanded the 7th Guards Army. In 1965-1969 - first deputy commander of the Transcaucasian Military District. In 1969-1985 - head of the Higher Officer Courses "Vystrel" named after B.M. Shaposhnikova.

Since October 1985 - military consultant to the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Since November 1987 - retired.

In 1971-1986 - member of the Central Audit Commission of the CPSU. Since 1983 (from the date of its foundation) - Chairman of the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public.

Lived in the hero city of Moscow. Died October 12, 1992. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

Military ranks:

Lieutenant (1936),

senior lieutenant,

captain (September 1941),

Major (1942),

Lieutenant Colonel (October 1942),

Colonel (04/25/1944),

Major General of Tank Forces (3.08.1953),

Lieutenant General of Tank Forces (05/09/1961),

Colonel General of Tank Forces (11/6/1970).

Awarded 2 Orders of Lenin, Order of the October Revolution, 4 Orders of the Red Banner, Order of Suvorov 2nd degree, Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, Friendship of Peoples, 2 Orders of the Red Star, Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" 3rd degree , medals, foreign orders.

Honorary citizen of the city of Novozybkov (1975).

In the Hero’s homeland, in the village of Svyatsk, a bronze bust was erected, which in 1995 was moved to the square of military glory in the city of Novozybkov. A street in the city of Solnechnogorsk is named after D.A. Dragunsky.

Essays:

The roads of exploits. - M.: Voenizdat, 1968;

Years in armor. 3rd ed. - M.: Military Publishing House, 1983.

Biography provided by Nikolai Vasilievich Ufarkin (1955-2011)

Sources Bezymensky A.I. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union D.A. Dragunsky, M., 1947 Heroes of the Soviet Union. Brief biographical dictionary. T.1. M., 1987 Zhilin V.A. Hero tankmen 1943-1945. M.: Eksmo, Yauza, 2008. People of immortal feat. Book 1. M., 1975 Liberation of cities: A guide to the liberation of cities during the Second World War 1941-1945.

The tanks were moving forward.
After the Berlin operation, the brigade D.A. Dragunsky, a native of the village of Svyatsk, Novozybkovsky district, took part in the liberation of Czechoslovakia. It was to them, the tankmen of the 55th Guards, that front-line correspondent Alexander Bezymensky dedicated his poems:
The years of war ended with victory,
Cruel years of suffering
Unprecedentedly long and difficult
My military campaigns.
Rushing forward, I smashed the Germans,
Without taking a single step back.
I stormed Berlin. And I was in Dresden.
Entered Prague as a winner...
Strictly marking the step, the combined regiment of the First Ukrainian Front marched at the Victory Parade in Moscow. In front of one of the companies walked the famous tankman of the guard, Colonel D.A. Dragunsky. For four years he walked towards this day. The Great Patriotic War found David Abramovich studying at the Academy. Frunze is in his last year. He submits several reports with a request to be sent to the front. He was refused every time. Still, he achieved his goal - he received an appointment to the Western Front. Dragunsky was ordered to form a tank battalion. Dragunsky's tankers took their first battle in July 1941 in the Smolensk region. Military fate is changeable. Today you command a tank battalion, and tomorrow...
“You will go to study at the Academy of the General Staff,” the commander said to Dragunsky, calling him to him.
The news was stunned. How can you leave the front?
- Your candidacy has been supported. Yesterday you were promoted to the rank of major.
After studying, David Abramovich served in the headquarters of the North Caucasus Front in April 1942. Soon he was appointed chief of reconnaissance of the 3rd Mechanized Corps, then - chief of staff of the First Mechanized Brigade, which, like the entire 1st Tank Army, was to participate in the Battle of Kursk as part of the Voronezh Front. “During the day of July 6, the enemy attacked the positions of the 3rd Mechanized Corps several times, simultaneously throwing up to 250 tanks and infantry against us. But the 1st, 3rd and 10th mechanized brigades of the corps held firm..."
- Dragunsky recalled. In this battle he was wounded twice, the last time seriously. Treatment in the hospital took a lot of time. "YES. Dragunsky showed himself at his best - a capable and energetic commander... he left us for the 3rd Guards Tank Army to P.S. Rybalko...” Marshal of the Armored Forces M.E. would later write in his memoirs. Katukov. In October '43, Lieutenant Colonel D.A. By decision of the Military Council of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Dragunsky was appointed commander of a tank brigade. Army P.S. Rybalko fought heavy, fierce battles a hundred kilometers south of Kyiv. Former intelligence officer of the brigade Hero of the Soviet Union N.N. Novikov in his book “Five Steps of Life” writes: “... The soldier’s mail reported: a new brigade commander with the rank of lieutenant colonel has arrived to us. ..Walks, limping, along the trenches and gets to know the commanders and soldiers as he goes. Soon David Abramovich Dragunsky - that was the name of the new brigade commander - came to our unit. His stocky, short figure, friendly face, kind humor - all this endeared him to the fighters. I remember he sat down with us, talked about this and that, and inquired about our mood. Having wished us success in the upcoming battles, he headed to another battalion. “Looks like our brigade commander is a shitty mess,” one of the soldiers said when Dragunsky left.” Getting acquainted with the personnel under enemy fire, Dragunsky clarified the condition of the units and the position of the enemy. This made it possible to confidently and effectively lead the battle and achieve success. Commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Colonel General N.F. At a meeting of commanders, Vatutin set combat missions for the troops: when the enemy throws all his reserves against the advancing troops, deliver the main blow north of Kyiv.
The order has been received. We need to go to the brigade. Suddenly, with a sweeping gait, a gallant colonel in an unbuttoned overcoat and a twisted kubanka approached Dragunsky: “Golovachev.” Let’s get to know each other,” he extended his hand and blurted out quickly. This was the commander of the 23rd Motorized Rifle Brigade, a fellow countryman of Dragunsky. Dragunsky's tankers and motorized riflemen of Golovachev's 23rd brigade, bypassing Kyiv, straddled the Kyiv-Zhitomir highway, cutting off the enemy's escape route to the west. Two days later, Kyiv was liberated. Overcoming fierce enemy resistance, Soviet soldiers quickly moved west. In the forefront was the famous army of Marshal Rybalko, and its combat vanguard was the 55th Guards Tank Brigade of Colonel Dragunsky. The brigade was among the first to cross the San River, reached the deep Vistula and, having crossed it, gained a foothold in the Sandomierz bridgehead. Our soldiers sometimes had to fight off up to twenty attacks a day. In these battles, the brigade commander's talent emerged with renewed vigor. Then there was the Teltow Canal. Berlin. On April 27 at noon, the 55th Guards Tank Brigade in the area of ​​the Berlin Hippodrome linked up with soldiers of the 1st Belorussian Front.
“A wonderful army profession - a tank driver - has become close to me, to my character. How many times have I gone on the attack and led others to attack, been wounded and burned in a tank! How many times have I found myself on the verge of life and death? And yet, if I had to start all over again and they asked me what I wanted to be, I would, without hesitation, answer: “A tank driver. Only a tanker!” - wrote D.A. in the magazine “Soviet Warrior”. Dragunsky years later.
For courage and heroism shown during the Great Patriotic War, D.A. Dragunsky was twice awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and was awarded many orders and medals. After the war, he graduated from the General Staff Academy and held various positions. For many years he was the head of the Higher Officer Courses. He did a lot of social work. He rose to the rank of Colonel General. He released his memoirs, “Years in Armor.” A bronze bust was erected to him in his homeland. He is an honorary citizen of the city of Novozybkov.