Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev
Encyclopedia : V : VA : VAS : Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev
Captain Vassiliy Grigoryevich Zaitsev (Russian: Васи́лий Григо́рьевич За́йцев) (23 March 1915 – 15 December 1991) was a Soviet sniper during World War II who between 10 November and 17 December 1942 during the Battle of Stalingrad killed 114 soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht and other Axis armies, including 11 snipers. His military rank at the time was Junior Lieutenant.
Life
Zaitsev was born in Yelino, grew up in the Ural Mountains and learned marksmanship by poaching deer with his grandfather. His surname Zaitsev means of hare in Russian.
Zaitsev served in the 1047th rifle regiment of the 284th rifle division of the 62nd Army. Zaitsev served until January 1943, when he suffered an injury to his eyes. He was attended to by Professor Filatov, who is credited with restoring his sight. After that he returned to the front and finished the war on the Dniestr river with the military rank of Captain.
After the war, Zaitsev managed a factory in Kiev.
Prior to 10 November he had already killed 32 Axis soldiers with the standard-issue Mosin-Nagant rifle ("tryokhlineyka", three line rifle) [link].
Some sources claim that Zaitsev's remarkable performance of 225 kills was not unique, and that an unknown Soviet soldier, identified only as Zikan, also killed 224 German soldiers by 20 November. This claim cannot be verified, however. Undoubtedly, though, there were numerous Soviet snipers serving during World War II who did distinguish themselves with a high number of individual kills.
The snipers he trained were nicknamed zaichata, meaning "leverets" (baby hares). Anthony Beevor wrote in Stalingrad that this was the start of the "sniper movement" in the 62nd Army. Conferences were arranged to spread the doctrine of "sniperism" and exchange ideas on technique and principles that were not limited to marksmanship skills. It is estimated that the snipers he had trained killed more than 3000 enemy soldiers. Zaitsev died at age 76 in Kiev.
Remembering
On January 31, 2006 Vasily Zaitsev was reburied on Mamayev Kurgan with full military honors. Zaitsev's dying wish was to be buried at the monument to the defenders of Stalingrad. His coffin was carried next to a monument where his famous quote is written: "There is no ground for us beyond [the] Volga."
The telescopic sight from Thorvald's rifle, allegedly Zaitsev's most treasured trophy, is still exhibited in the Moscow armed forces museum. However, the entire story remains essentially unconfirmed. There is no mention of it in any Soviet military reports, including those to Aleksandr Shcherbakov, even though almost every act of sniperism was reported with relish. The supposed duel is depicted in William Craig's Book Enemy at the Gates and fictionalized in the film of the same name, although the Thorvald character's name was changed to Major König.
Vasily is also the name of a Russian character in Activision's Call of Duty 2 for the Xbox 360. The character is never given a last name, but is an obvious acknowledgement to Vasily Zaitsev.
Awards and honors
- Titles and Orders
- Title of Hero of the Soviet Union (22 February 1943).
- Title of "Honorary Citizen of the Hero City Volgograd" (7 May 1980).
- 2 Order of Lenin
- 2 Orders of the Red Banner
- The Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class
- For the Defense of Stalingrad
- For the Victory Over Germany
- 20 years of victory in the Great Patriotic War
- 30 years of victory in the Great Patriotic War
- 40 years of victory in the Great Patriotic War
References
- Beevor, Anthony (1998). Stalingrad. Penguin Books Ltd.: London. ISBN 0-14-100131-3.
- Robbins, David L. (2000). War of the Rats. Bantam Books. ISBN 0-55-358135-X.
External links
- () [Vasily Zaitsev war hero biography] – On the website dedicated to the Heroes of the Soviet Union/Russia
- () [Василий Зайцев "За Волгой земли для нас не было.Записки снайпера"] — Vasily Zaitsev's book (Zip archive)
- [Vasily Zaitsev's autobiography] – English translation available for purchase
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.