from the V Kontakte page of Elena Bagira
The events that will be discussed took place in the winter of 1943-44, when the Nazis made a brutal decision: to use the pupils of the Polotsk Orphanage No. 1 as donors. German wounded soldiers needed blood. Where to get it? In children.
The first to defend the boys and girls was the director of the orphanage, Mikhail Stepanovich Forinko. Of course, pity, compassion and, in general, the very fact of such atrocity did not matter to the occupiers, so it was immediately clear: these were not arguments. But the reasoning became weighty: how can sick and hungry children give good blood? No way. They do not have enough vitamins in their blood, or at least the same iron. In addition, there is no firewood in the orphanage, the windows are broken, it is very cold. Children catch colds all the time, and the sick - what kind of donors are they?
First, children should be cured and fed, and only then used. The German command agreed with such a "logical" decision. Mikhail Stepanovich offered to transfer the children and employees of the orphanage to the village of Belchitsy, where there was a strong German garrison. And again, iron heartless logic worked. The first, disguised step to save the children was taken...
And then began a big, thorough preparation. Children were to be transferred to the partisan zone, and then transported by plane. And on the night of February 18-19, 1944, 154 pupils of the orphanage, 38 of their teachers, as well as members of the Fearless underground group with their families and partisans of the Shchors detachment of the Chapaev brigade left the village. The children were from three to 14 years old. And everything is everything! They were silent, afraid to even breathe. The older ones carried the younger ones. Those who did not have warm clothes were wrapped in scarves and blankets. Even three-year-olds understood the mortal danger - and were silent...
In case the Nazis understood everything and went in pursuit, partisans were on duty near the village, ready to join the battle. And in the forest, a sledge train awaited the children - 30 carts. The pilots were very helpful. On the fateful night, knowing about the operation, they circled over Belchitsy, diverting the attention of the enemies. The kids were warned: if suddenly flares appeared in the sky, they should immediately sit down and not move. During the journey, the column landed several times. Everyone got to the deep partisan rear. Now the children had to be evacuated behind the front line.
It was necessary to do this as quickly as possible, because the Germans immediately discovered the “loss”. Being with the partisans became more and more dangerous every day. But the 3rd Air Army came to the rescue, the pilots began to take out the children and the wounded, while delivering ammunition to the partisans. Two aircraft were allocated, special cradle capsules were attached under their wings, where several additional people could fit. Plus, the pilots took off without navigators - this place was also cherished for passengers. In general, more than 500 people were taken out during the operation. But now we will talk about only one flight, the last one.
It took place on the night of April 10-11, 1944. Lieutenant Alexander Mamkin was carrying the children of the guard. He was 28 years old. A native of the village of Krestyanskoye, Voronezh Region, a graduate of the Orel Financial and Economic College and the Balashov School. By the time of the events in question, Mamkin was already an experienced pilot. Behind him - at least seventy night flights to the German rear. That flight was for him in this operation (it was called "Asterisk") not the first, but the ninth. Lake Vechelye was used as an airfield. I had to hurry also because the ice was becoming more and more unreliable every day. Ten children, their teacher Valentina Latko and two wounded partisans fit into the R-5 plane.
At first, everything went well, but when approaching the front line, Mamkin's plane was shot down. The front line was left behind, and the R-5 was on fire ... If Mamkin was alone on board, he would have gained altitude and jumped out with a parachute. But he did not fly alone. And he was not going to give the death of boys and girls. Not for this, they, who had just begun to live, on foot at night escaped from the Nazis in order to crash. And Mamkin was flying the plane...
The flames reached the cockpit. Flight goggles melted from the temperature, sticking to the skin. Clothes, a headset were on fire, it was hard to see in the smoke and fire. From the legs slowly remained only the bones. And there, behind the pilot, there was a cry. Children were afraid of fire, they did not want to die. And Alexander Petrovich flew the plane almost blindly. Overcoming the hellish pain, already, one might say, legless, he still stood firmly between the children and death.
Mamkin found a platform on the lake, not far from the Soviet units. The partition that separated him from the passengers had already burned out, and some of the clothes began to smolder. But death, waving a scythe over the children, could not lower it. Mamkin didn't. All passengers survived. Alexander Petrovich, in a completely incomprehensible way, was able to get out of the cab himself. He managed to ask: “Are the children alive?” And I heard the voice of the boy Volodya Shishkov: “Comrade pilot, don’t worry! I opened the door, everyone is alive, we leave ... "
And Mamkin lost consciousness. The doctors were never able to explain how a man could drive the plane and even safely land it, glasses were melted into his face, and only bones remained from his legs? How could he overcome pain, shock, with what efforts did he keep his consciousness? The hero was buried in the village of Maklok in the Smolensk region. From that day on, all the fighting friends of Alexander Petrovich, meeting already under a peaceful sky, drank the first toast “For Sasha!” ... For Sasha, who grew up without a father from the age of two and remembered his childhood grief very well. For Sasha, who loved boys and girls with all his heart. For Sasha, who bore the surname Mamkin and himself, like a mother, gave life to children.