About the heroes of bygone times: documents and diaries return to the events of the Great Patriotic War

This article presents a review of unique documents and exhibition projects reflecting the research activities of the oldest scientific and technical museum in the country.

The purpose of the study is to tell about unknown facts in the military chronicle and the heroism of representatives of the Soviet transport industry through the personal stories of the heroes of the bloodiest war of the 20th century. The painstaking work of the museum’s research staff , focused on human destinies, made it possible to identify the extraordinary events that befell engineer Pavel Alekseevich Tyumenev, who was captured by the Germans on the first day of the war, to rethink documents, rewrite the biography of a legendary figure — Ivan Georgievich Zubkov, whose contribution during the Battle of Leningrad was fateful, and most importantly — to restore the chain of events and preserve the memory of pilot Vladimir Dmitrievich Nikitov. All those in question did not think about honors, did not talk about resounding victories, did not chase titles and awards. These are probably the real heroes. It is important that their stories bring us closer to the general history of the Great Patriotic War, to millions of similar fates of Soviet people who survived a war that must not be forgotten.

1. Diaries of P.A. Tyumenev. Family archive of T. Tyumeneva. (In Russ.).

2. Konorev N.S. Railway workers in the Great Patriotic War. Moscow, Transport, 1987;208-219. (In Russ.).

3. Personal fi le of I.G. Zubkov. Archive of JSC Metrostroy. Inventory No. 1, archive No. 330. (In Russ.).

4. Alalykin P.A. Metrostroy soldier. Documentary story about Ivan Georgievich Zubkov. Moscow, MegaPrint, 2014. (In Russ.).

5. Fedorova T.V. At the top is Moscow. Moscow, Soviet Russia, 1986;235. (In Russ.).

6. Album “Construction No. 5”. 1941–1943. Museum of Russian Railways. (In Russ.).

7. Bychevsky B.V. The city is the front. Leningrad, Lenizdat, 1967;431. (In Russ.).

8. “Directorate of Military Reconstruction works No. 2. People’s Commissariat of Railways of the USSR”. Foundation No. 2. Personnel documents. Archives Department of the Oktyabrskaya Railway Affairs Management Service. (In Russ.).

9. Railway troops and special formations of the People’s Commissariat of Railways of the USSR on the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts in 1941–1944: album. The Central Museum of Railway Transport of the Russian Federation. (In Russ.).

10. Newspaper “The Builder” 1941–1945. Library Fund of the Central Museum of Railway Transport of the Russian Federation. (In Russ.).

11. Stoyan I.N. Steel highways of besieged Leningrad. St. Petersburg, 2023. (In Russ.).

12. Personal fi le of V.D. Nikitov, museum of secondary school No. 26, Arkhangelsk. (In Russ.).