The last living liberator of Auschwitz: how the Poles fell out of love with the Red Army men who saved them

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp and the 5th World Holocaust Forum, WWII veteran Ivan Martynushkin told KP how and why the Poles loved and stopped loving the Red Army soldiers who saved them, and what to do about it.

On January 18, Ivan Stepanovich Martynushkin turned 96 years old. But it’s impossible to believe. Such energy, such a sharp mind, a keen interest in everything and excellent physical shape can envy people half a century younger. He would have been ready, even according to tradition, to go to the celebrations in Poland in January, if the local authorities had not now done what they have done …

"IT'S STILL DREAMING THAT IN BATTLE THE AUTOMATIC DOESN'T SHOOT"

Ivan Stepanovich, where did the war find you?

- I was in the village and I was not yet 18 years old. But by the end of September, they began to take children of my age. My aunt packed my knapsack, and I walked 15 km to the recruiting office. For the villagers, such distances are familiar. There they told me: your age does not fit, especially since you are not ours (I was listed in the Moscow military registration and enlistment office), come back home and wait for someone to pick you up. I refused, took a train to Ryazan and showed up at the assembly point. They brought us not to the front, but to the extreme point of the Far East, Lake Khanka. There I studied at a communications school, then I was offered to go to a tank school. Before the war, I went to the Moscow flying club - then all the guys wanted to become pilots, and not least because of their beautiful shape. Now he agreed to join the tank. We were enrolled in quarantine, and at night the noise, the roar … In the morning the school is gone! Then there was a very difficult situation near Moscow and, apparently, it was completely loaded overnight and sent to the capital. And we were told: either you return to your unit, or to the machine-gun and mortar school in Khabarovsk. I chose the second path. After college I was sent to the Siberian Military District, and in September 1943 I went to the front. We were being prepared for the crossing of the Dnieper. We arrived in Kiev when he was already taken. The city was burning, there was shooting …

What is your worst memory of the war?

- The commander of our division wrote his memoirs "From battle to battle". Starting from the Dnieper and ending with Czechoslovakia, we advanced on foot, crawling, somewhere running. It is difficult to single out something from the huge chain of constant battles and death. Everything that could be experienced, we experienced. Once a bomb went off near us and went into the swamp, we fell, lay and wait for it to explode. But she did not jerk! There were many such moments. And the most memorable one is my first battle near Zhitomir. I was the commander of a machine-gun platoon, and I had a carbine with me as a personal weapon. We went on the attack, and at some point I threw my carbine, taking the machine gun from the wounded soldier who was lying down. We see how half-naked Germans run out of the village. I am trying to shoot, but the machine gun does not fire. I still have dreams that they are attacking me, I grab a weapon, press and nothing happens, my heart squeezes. In this state I wake up …

If we talk about difficult moments, then I recall the road to the front when I passed the occupied regions. Such devastation! There are only stoves from the villages. And the most important thing is the children who came out onto the platform. It was October outside, and they were barefoot, in quilted jackets donated by someone. We gave them everything we could, down to the footcloths.

HOW SEEED THE DEATH CAMP

How did you liberate Auschwitz? How do you remember him?

- We did not know that we were going to liberate Auschwitz. After the liberation of Krakow, there were battles for the villages, and the Germans resisted terribly. We entered a huge field, completely fenced off by a powerful barbed wire fence. Then we learned that this was a camp. We carried out the task of the unit to clean up the area, check every house, basement, cellar. During the movement of our chain, prisoners began to be noticed. We had 20-30 minutes left, and the officers and I entered the same barrack. A group of people stood near him, we did not understand each other, but the main thing they realized was that the liberators had come. There was joy in their eyes. They pointed at themselves and said: Hungary. They turned out to be from Hungary.

The scale of the horror was not realized then?

- No, we saw only a small piece of this "death factory". We looked into the barrack, felt that there were people in the dark. And in such a state that they cannot rise. Before our arrival, all who could move, the Germans gathered in a column and drove deep into the territory of Germany. This is about 8-10 thousand prisoners. That campaign was nicknamed "the death march". And we all learned about the scale of the camp from the materials of the commission for the Nuremberg trials. It was a shock. Then I, in particular, learned that in October 15,000 of our soldiers arrived there, on which the Germans tested the Cyclone B gas for the first time, and by February 60 of them remained.

BEFORE POLAND WAS SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS

How did the Poles meet the Red Army?

- Before Poland, we had a lot of political training, they explained to us our policy towards this country. It was said that Poland is an ally in the fight against the fascist invader, it has suffered greatly and needs our help. Each soldier was asked: what will you say when you meet a Polish citizen? So that each soldier could explain to the population what tasks we came with. Later, from my memoirs, I learned that Stalin proposed to write the norms of behavior of the Red Army abroad. They were approved by the State Defense Committee, lowered to the fronts, and educational work was built around these documents. It was necessary to establish friendly relations with the Poles, no violence and expropriation. This is the mood we came in. We were also faced with the task of liberating Krakow without destruction, so we did not use aviation. It is known that this city was waiting for the fate of the blown up Warsaw. And Soviet intelligence officers played a big role in his rescue.

There was also one striking episode. One local resident told me: “Pan-officer, the Germans took my piano away from me. Could your soldiers bring it back? . So much for the attitude. Although the Poles then underwent a strong treatment by Goebbels: they say, the Russians will come, and you will still cry.

Goebbels would be very pleased with the current treatment. What do you say to the Poles who do not celebrate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Warsaw, do not invite the Russian president to commemorative celebrations at Auschwitz, accuse the USSR of unleashing World War II, and modern Russia of distorting history?

- You need to know Poland. At the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, the leaders of the Big Three talked a lot about Poland. Roosevelt noted: "Poland for five centuries has been Europe's sore head." And Churchill later wrote in his book World War II: “The bravest of the brave too often were led by the most vile of the vile! And yet there have always been two Polands: one fought for the truth, and the other grovelled in meanness. " This is what is happening now. Such an elite … But I don't want to say anything bad about the people of Poland: before retirement, I often talked with the Poles, on duty in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, I went there a lot, and there were never any attacks. And international song festivals in Sopot were a whole phenomenon, the Poles sang our songs with pleasure.

And now it is forbidden to sing "Dark Night" …

- In 1957, I came there with an exhibition on the peaceful atom. Budapest has just calmed down, Polish youths staged protests outside the residence of Defense Minister Rokossovsky. But all the same we were greeted normally. And the host of the concert, I remember, said: "We gave Rokossovsky to the Soviet Union, and he gave us wheat." After all, we supplied Poland with food, construction materials and much more.

How they bowed to Putin

On the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, you flew with Vladimir Putin.15 years ago was everything still worthy?

- Yes, there were more than 40 leaders of states, everything was very solemn. The then Polish President Aleksandr Kwasniewski awarded the veterans with orders, bowed to Putin for the liberation of the country and the preservation of Krakow, and paid tribute to the dead Red Army soldiers (which is 600,000 people). It was not some kind of government event: the artists read letters from prisoners, sang war songs, the atmosphere was very warm. And after 5 years I arrived in a completely different environment. An Euronews journalist approached me with a question: “Do you know that Polish schoolchildren believe that the Americans liberated Krakow and Auschwitz? ". We were surprised: “This cannot be! ". He offered to go outside and check. But my "guardians" did not let me go because of the severe frost, suggesting to take my word for it … And then I heard it myself and from adults.

We went to shoot a documentary about the liberation of Krakow, and it was impossible to convince them. The director then laid out several bills to those who were arguing with him and said: well, we will go to work, and for now you will look for information about at least one American. When we returned, they were surprised at the results. That's the kind of propaganda there. I spoke to the head of the Polish Seim and the leadership of Krakow on this matter. He asked: why do I - the liberator of your city - hear such things? In response: well, not everyone thinks so.

In fact, it all comes from the 90s. It is correct that now Russia is declassifying documents on Poland. It's time to clear out this trash.

I WASTE VICTORY IN HOSPITAL

Where did you celebrate Victory Day in 1945?

- In a hospital in Czechoslovakia. I remember how I wondered with the officers when the war would end. Someone believed that May 1, and I put on April 20. As a result, that day I was wounded and I ended up in the hospital. And they called me there with the question: “Senior lieutenant, do you know what date is today? 20 April! The war is over for you. " And on a great day in the morning, such shooting begins (and the hospital was in the front line) that I take out a pistol from under the pillow, look out from my attic, and then the captain shouts: “Get out, you slept through Victory! ". We began to get our supplies and celebrate. The glee was terrible!

FROM THE DOSSIER "KP":

Ivan Stepanovich MARTYNUSHKINwas born on January 18, 1924 in the village of Poshupovo, Ryazan Region. In 1942 he graduated from the Khabarovsk machine-gun and mortar school, in 1943 he was sent to the front. He served in the 1087th regiment of the 322nd rifle division, commander of a machine-gun platoon. Was among those who liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was wounded twice. Retired senior lieutenant.

After the war, he worked with Kurchatov's team in the Atomic Energy Committee under the leadership of Beria; at the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance.

He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War I and II degrees, the Order of the Red Star, awards for his participation in organizing the creation of atomic and hydrogen shields of the USSR, etc.