Nikolai Kuznetsov (scout): biography, photo

In the history of world intelligence, few can compare to the degree of damage inflicted on the enemy, with the legendary man who was the Hero of the Soviet Union scout Nikolai Kuznetsov. His biography without any embellishment is a ready-made script for a spy picture, next to which Bondiana looks faded and primitive. However, after the death of the hero, many books and articles appeared, in which the authors' fictions and their personal and not always objective view of who Nikolai Kuznetsov (the scout) was presented as reliable information.

Biography: childhood

The future genius of Soviet intelligence, which the Germans themselves took for a true Aryan from a good family, was born in 1911 in the village of Zyryanka, which today is in the Talitsky urban district of the Sverdlovsk region. His parents were simple peasants, who, in addition to Nikanor (the name of Nikolai Kuznetsov given him at birth), there were five more children.

The boy was very lucky with a German teacher who taught at a local seven-year school. In addition, he was naturally endowed with extraordinary linguistic abilities. By a lucky chance his teacher of labor was a former soldier of the Austro-Hungarian army, who after capturing during the First World War settled in the Urals. It was he who introduced Kolya to the German profanity, which later came in handy for the creation of a reliable image of the real Volksdeutsch.

Youth

In 1926, Kuznetsov Nikolai Ivanovich (scout) entered the Tyumen Agricultural Technical College for agronomy. In the first year he was accepted into the Komsomol and showed himself to be an industrious and diligent student. However, the young man had to leave his studies and return to his native village, since after the death of his father, he was forced to take care of the family.

Despite all the difficulties of life, a year later, Nikolai moved to the Talitsky Forestry College, where he began studying German, including his dialects, along with other subjects, as well as Esperanto, which was fashionable at that time.

Start of work

The gifted young man was never able to obtain a diploma, because in 1929, on charges of "whiteguard-kulak origin", he was expelled from the technical school and the Komsomol. Nikolai Kuznetsov (scout in the future) went to Kudymkar and began to work as an assistant to a taxator for the arrangement of forests of local importance. For his good work, he was reinstated in the Komsomol and in the technical school, but they did not allow him to protect the diploma by issuing a document stating that he had listened to all the courses.

During his working life, Kuznetsov discovered that many of his colleagues were engaged in postsignals, and reported this to the police. There was a court that sentenced the embezzlers to several years of imprisonment. Kuznetsov himself was again expelled from the Komsomol and sentenced. As a result, he was forced to perform correctional labor for 1 year, with a deduction of 15% of the salary.

Then, for a time, Kuznetsov worked in the "Multi-Union" as secretary of the bureau of prices and conjuncture, as well as in the "Red Hammer" promissors. There he mastered the Komi-Permian language well.

Cooperation with OGPU

During the period of work in Kudymkar, Nikolai Kuznetsov, like other servicemen, began to attract collectivization of local peasants to the organization. Visits to the villages often ended in skirmishes. The knowledge of the language of the indigenous population and the courage shown by Kuznetsov in suppressing the resistance of the kulaks who do not want to give the fruits of their labor to the state attracted the attention of the OGPU officers. Over time, it began to be used during actions to eliminate bandit groups operating in local forests. It is known that in the OGPU he was given operational nicknames "Scientist" and "Kulik".

In parallel with the events described, the personal life of the young man also changed. In particular, he met Elena Chugayeva, who worked as a nurse in the district hospital, and soon they were officially married. The couple's life together did not last long. However, when Kuznetsov left Kudymkar, he did not start a divorce.

Life in Sverdlovsk

In 1932, Nikolai Kuznetsov (he was not yet a scout) decided to get a diploma of higher education. He went to Sverdlovsk, where his family already lived, and passed the admission exams to the local Industrial Institute. Most likely, he had already been recruited by the NKVD. At least, it is known for sure that since May 1935 Kuznetsov got a job at Uralmashzavod as a design bureau of the design bureau under the pseudonym Kolonist, and he was instructed to conduct operational development of foreign specialists.

Arrest

In February 1936, Kuznetsov was fired from the factory as a truant, and after some time arrested. Since he was an expert in the field of logging, he was sent to the Komi ASSR, where he was under the staff of the NKVD People's Commissar MN Zhuravlev. He highly appreciated the abilities of the young man and recommended that his colleagues in counterintelligence in the capital take Kuznetsov to the central office of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs as a particularly gifted agent with excellent knowledge of a foreign language.

Beginning of work in the NKVD

Despite not the most crystalline biography, Nikolai Kuznetsov (with a scout later on) in security agencies received the status of a highly classified special agent, and he was issued a Soviet-style passport.

Since 1938, he started a new life under the name of the German Rudolf Wilhelmovich Schmidt, who was ordered to infiltrate the diplomatic environment of the capital. To this end, Kuznetsov became actively acquainted with foreigners, attended social events, went out to the mistresses and friends of employees of foreign embassies, helped them conclude deals on the purchase of antiques and other valuable goods.

Preparation for exploration work

July 5, 1941 was created by the organization of sabotage work in the rear of the German army - a special group of the NKVD of the USSR. In January 1942, it was transformed into the fourth department of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, and Soviet spy Nikolay Kuznetsov entered the squad.

A legend was invented, according to which he was Lieutenant of the Luftwaffe Paul Wilhelm Siebert. Later it was decided to "transfer" him into the infantry. In the winter of 1942, Siebert was identified in a camp for German prisoners of war, where he got used to a new role and got acquainted with the order, way of life and customs of the German army. Then he received the surname Petrov and passed training in parachute jumping. After the successful completion of all the tests it was determined what further Nikolay Kuznetsov will be engaged in.

The Scout was sent to the area of the occupied city of Rivne, to the special purpose detachment "Winners".

In the rear of the enemy

From the middle of autumn of 1942 Kuznetsov under the name of Paul Siebert and with the documents of the secret police officer conducted reconnaissance work and constantly communicated with representatives of the German command, special services, officials of the occupation authorities. All the collected data he transferred to the partisan detachment.

In February 1943, Nikolai Kuznetsov, along with guerrillas, ambushed and took prisoner of the courier of the Reich Commissariat of Ukraine - Major Gahan, who had a secret card indicating the method of the secret bunker of Hitler, erected in the vicinities of Vinnitsa. After the scout carried out several successful sabotage actions, but his main goal was the physical destruction of Erich Koch, who held the post of Reichskommissar of Ukraine.

Soon Kuznetsov was promoted to lieutenant-general, which increased his chances of success. First, he planned two attempts at an attempt on the Reichskommissar: in April, during the military parade on the occasion of the birthday of Adolf Hitler and in the summer of that year on a personal reception on his possible marriage with a Volksdeutsche girl. Both of them failed, since Koch was absent from the parade, and in the second case there were too many guards in the room.

The attempt of the murder of Alfred Rosenberg, the Reichsminister for the occupied territories on June 5, 1943, was also unsuccessful.

A few months later, with active participation of Kuznetsov, several attempts were made against Paul Dargel, who served as Deputy E. Koch and Chief of Administration of his administration. The first ended with the destruction of the deputy Reichskommisar of Ukraine in finance Hans Gehl, as well as his secretary, Winter. As for the second, Dargel was seriously injured and lost both legs, after which he was taken to Berlin.

In November 1943, Kuznetsov successfully conducted an operation to seize and destroy the commander of the punitive battlelocks of Max Ilgen.

The last successful large-scale action of the scout was the abduction of the head of the legal department of the Ukrainian Reich Commissariat Oberfuhrer SA A. Funk. He received super-valuable information about the preparation of an attempt on the leaders of the USSR, the United States and Great Britain, which the German special services were planning to implement during the Tehran conference.

In early 1944, Kuznetsov and his group acted on the territory of the Lviv district and eliminated several important officials.

Death

Kuznetsov Nikolai Ivanovich - scout, all the circumstances of the death of which has not yet been uncovered. It is known for certain that in the spring of 1944, German patrols in Western Ukraine already had orientations with its description. Learning about this, Kuznetsov decided to go beyond the front line.

Not far from the battle zone in the village of Boratin, Kuznetsov's group came across a detachment of UPA fighters. Banderovtsy learned scouts, although they were in German uniform and decided to take them alive. Scout Nikolai Kuznetsov (photo see in the review) refused to surrender and was killed. There is also a version that he blew himself up with a grenade.

After death

November 5, 1944 for bravery and exceptional courage NI Kuznetsova posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. His grave remained unknown for a long time. It was discovered in 1959 in the tract of Kutyk. The remains of the hero are reburied in Lviv, on the Hill of Glory.

Now you know the biography of the scout Nikolai Kuznetsov, who heroically died in the struggle for the liberation of Ukraine from the fascist invaders.