We, Ossetians, are deservedly proud of the heroism of our countrymen, who showed great miracles of courage and resourcefulness, defending their homeland in the Great Patriotic War. We are proud of the number of Heroes of the USSR and awarded with state awards for their exploits. Like a balm for the soul of each of us are the words of General Tyulenev, that "the word =the Ossetian proudly sounded on all fronts" of the war.
Every warrior of the Great Patriotic War who died or survived is a hero who laid his life on the altar of Victory. Some were more fortunate, others less. But here, as the poet said, "... everyone will go into battle, and fate will decide the battle."
I will tell about my close relative who perished in the first months of the war, whose whole life and even death is permeated with love for the Motherland, a duty to her. I mean Dzhioev Sergey (Dzhambol) Mikhailovich, lieutenant colonel, chief of staff of the 208 motorized rifle division, a long time during the war and after it was considered missing.
Sergey (Dzhambol) Mikhailovich was born in 1902 in the village of Buzala. In 1919, he became one of the first members of the Komsomol-youth organization “Spartak” created on the basis of the Dzau school. He was an active participant in the resistance of South Ossetians against the troops of the Georgian Menshevik government, periodically invading South Ossetia in 1918-1920. Sergey Dzhioev was one of the 30 young defenders of South Ossetia who, on June 24, 1920, headed by Mate Sanakoev, after the battle near Ruck, were the last to cross the Ruck ridge to the north.
In North Ossetia, Sergei Dzhioev joined the Ossetian brigade, in which he participated in the battle near Burgustan. Since 1920, he remained in the ranks of the Red Army, where he served from the Red Army man to lieutenant colonel. Most of his service took place in Belarus. In the years 1939-1940. he was one of the first among the natives of South Ossetia to graduate from the Frunze Academy (with him at the same time studied a native of the village of Tbet Dzhioev Samson, with whom he was fighting near Burgustan, and with whom the military fate again brought him together in their last days in 1941.)
In 1940 Sergei Mikhailovich participated in the strengthening of Soviet power in the Baltic republics. But wherever he served, he was always vividly interested in affairs in his native South Ossetia, and supported his relatives. In a letter to his brother Tsitsa dated September 8, 1940, he wrote: “... Tell me what is the news with us?” I read in the newspaper that a railway was built to Tskhinval. This is good ... A few words about myself.
After graduating from the academy, I was given the rank of major, and on the 8th of August, when I was in Riga, I was given the rank of lieutenant colonel, so you can congratulate me on the new rank. As a souvenir, I am sending my photographic card with the rank of lieutenant colonel ... Tsitsa, Vera, all are agitating me to give you my watch or get the others In general, the watch will be for you. So far, all the best, warm greetings to all my brothers, sisters, sister-in-law, children and friends.”
The war found Lieutenant Colonel Dzhioev, chief of staff of the 208th motorized infantry division, in Western Belarus. The division in the Western Front had to retreat with heavy defensive battles, but in the Minsk region it was surrounded and found itself in the enemy rear. The command staff and soldiers had to go to an illegal position, dressed in civilian clothes. It was decided, with the help of the Minsk underground workers, to withdraw personnel in parts to the forest in order to continue the partisan struggle. One of these days, Sergei Dzhioev met on the street a namesake and friend Samson Dzhioev and with him two officers - the Ukrainian Kuchma and the Armenian Ayrapetov.
They also ended up in Minsk, retreating from the western border (Major Samson Zakharovich Dzhioev was the outpost commander near Bialystok). They agreed to act together, got settled even in one house, which turned into the headquarters of underground work. On September 17, it was decided to withdraw the rest of the fighters to the forest and leave themselves,too. However, in the evening of the same day the police came to the house, arresting the Dzhioevs, Kuchma and Ayrapetov. The commander of the division, Colonel Vladimir Ivanovich Nichiparovich, who lived in another place, who, having learned about the arrest of his colleagues, organized the withdrawal of soldiers into the forest. Subsequently, these warriors of the 208th division, headed by commander V.I. Nichiparovich became the basis of the 208th partisan detachment, named after Stalin, who acted in the Mogilev and Pinsk regions of Belarus.
Many years later, we learned about the fate of Sergei Mikhailovich Dzhioev and Samson Zakharovich Dzhioev from the memoirs of Vaak Martysovich Airapetov, who was able to escape from the Nazi dungeons, go into the woods and become the chief of staff of the 208th partisan detachment. Later, he himself managed to learn about the fate of his comrades who remained in prison from the words of the underground workers, who for some time established contact with the guards. It turned out that after the first interrogation, Sergei Mikhailovich hanged himself in a cell at night. For the last time, the underground workers saw Samson Dzhioev and Fedor Kuchma in November 1941.
So, at the age of 39, the life of a patriot and officer was cut short. History does not know the subjunctive mood, especially during the war, but if everything had turned out differently, perhaps today we would have been proud of another Ossetian general.
I am deeply convinced that the last step of Lieutenant Colonel Dzhioev is the feat of a brave man. To shameful fascist captivity he preferred death. I am not a fan of high words and historical comparisons, but in this case the words of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus come to mind that the son of the famous Massagetan (ancient Ossetian) Queen Tamiris Spargapif “took his life”, being captured by the Persian king Cyrus. As Tamiris subsequently threw the head of the murdered Cyrus into the waterskins with blood, so the Soviet troops finished off the Nazis in their own den.
Sergei Mikhailovich left his wife Vera and son Ruslan, who were able to evacuate. In the 70s, Vera still lived in Yeisk. Ruslan lived and died in Moscow. He had a son and a daughter. But it so happened that after the death of Uncle Vasya (Vasily Mikhailovich, Sergey’s brother, lived in Moscow), we lost contact with them. The story of Sergei Mikhailovich would be incomplete if I had not mentioned that his younger brother Danil was also at the front and went missing. And out of our large family, 9 people perished in the war, and residents of our village were 13.
Authorship:
Murat Dzhioev
