Maria Denisovna iron lady. “I returned from the war alone ...
An amazing woman Maria Denisovna Koltakova lives in Belgorod. Her life was extremely eventful - there was a place for exploits and a quiet life. But the most amazing thing began to happen to my grandmother after 93 years. It was then that she entered the Russian Book of Records for the first (but not the last) time - despite her advanced age, she jumped with a parachute.
Maria Denisovna Koltakova was born on Stary New Year- January 14, 1922. During the war, she was a nurse and was part of the 121st Rylsko-Kyiv rifle division from Voronezh to Prague. She carried the wounded Kursk Bulge, participated in fierce battles in Voronezh, in the liberation of Kharkov, Sumy, Kyiv. Maria Denisovna has many awards on her account, and the war definitely became a landmark event for a woman, but by no means the last one on which she had to show her courage.
The first time newspapers talked about Maria Koltakova three years ago. Then my grandmother - and she was then 93 years old - jumped with a parachute in tandem with an instructor. Maria dedicated this jump to the memory of her brother, who died during the Kuril landing operation in 1945.
Zhenya [brother] was five years older than me, - says Maria Denisovna, - Before the war, he was engaged in parachuting. December 25, 1937 he was drafted into the army. He served in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. And with the outbreak of war with Japan, he was sent to the Kuril Islands.
During the war, Maria's mother received two funerals - both for Maria and for her brother. When Maria crossed the front line with scouts, she was wounded, and the girl was left to wait for her comrades in a certain place. But the bombing began, and Maria had to hide, so the returning colleagues did not find her and sent a message to the headquarters about her death. Two days later, the girl found her. But what exactly happened to Zhenya, her brother, no one knew whether he was buried or not, how he died and where exactly. “The thought of making a jump in memory of him haunted me,” says Maria Denisovna.
“I’m not afraid of anything anymore,” the grandmother comments on her risky decision, “But I’ve never been afraid either.” Then, in 2014, Maria Denisovna remembered her desire to jump with a parachute and visit Prague again. And that same summer, the Council of Veterans of the Kirovsky District and the Para-Krym sports club helped her realize her dream. And next spring, on Victory Day, Maria Denisovna was already in Prague and Berlin.
Another dream of Maria Denisovna was to walk through the battlefields, along which she walked along with her division. And this dream also became a reality for her - together with the military-patriotic club "Red Carnation", she began to study this path. “Maria does not miss the events that we hold in Kursk. She is a regular guest of all our rallies and congresses,” comments the head of the club.
When Maria was 95 years old, she again took to the skies - this time on a non-powered plane. Together with the pilot, she felt for herself what it is like to be on the plane during the execution of a spin, a loop and a coup. After the flight, when asked if she was scared, Maria Denisovna said that “It’s fine. Didn't flinch, didn't stutter."
And this year, for the first time in her life, my grandmother drove on the map. She completed five laps of 400m each. To do this, she had to put on a gear (“Like a superhero,” Grandma commented) and then drive at high speed around the karting track. Before that, my grandmother flew in a balloon, hang glider and dived into the pool with scuba gear.
It is also worth remembering a Japanese pensioner who, after his retirement, fulfilled his old dream - he learned to draw on a computer, and now he creates in Excel spreadsheets
The Belgorod House of Officers celebrated the 95th anniversary of Maria Denisovna Koltakova, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, who set Russian records three times. Members of the government came to congratulate Maria Denisovna on her birthday Belgorod region, deputies of the City Council, friends and acquaintances.
Photo postcardsfromrussia.com
- There are people who are called legends. I think that everyone present in this hall will agree that Maria Denisovna is a legendary person, a legendary woman. At all stages of life, Maria Denisovna was a role model, showing how to live with dignity, showing how to love your country, how to love your family, - said the Deputy Head of the Belgorod Administration for Internal and Personnel Policy Olga Medvedeva.
At the beginning of the war, Maria Denisovna signed up as a volunteer, and then, after completing medical courses, she went to the front. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, she entered the medical institute, but then she had to abandon this undertaking in order to pay due attention to the family. She worked as a nurse kindergarten, headed the personnel department of a geological exploration expedition, worked in the pension department of the Oktyabrsky district executive committee, and after retirement, at a vitamin plant.
Maria Denisovna was awarded the Order of Glory III degree, Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, medals "For Courage", "For the Liberation of Kyiv", "For the Liberation of Prague", commemorative signs "Defender of the City of Voronezh" and "For Services to the City of Belgorod". For her work for the good of the Motherland, she was awarded the title of labor veteran.
Maria Koltakova, photo by Yulia Timofeenko
In 2015, she fulfilled her old dream - for the first time, in the same year she did, and in 2016 she already set her third record, having flown at an altitude of 608 meters on a hot air balloon in the Prokhorovsky district.
According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Maria Denisovna plans to jump with a parachute again, but this time from a height of 5 kilometers.
If everyone were in the city like Maria Denisovna, there would be no unsolvable tasks for our city, - the deputy chairman of the council of deputies quoted the mayor of Belgorod Larisa Goncharova.
The hero of the day was congratulated by creative teams - ensembles BGIIK, secondary school No. 19, Nezhegol. One of the highlights of the evening was the performance of the Shebekin sailors' choir "Albatross", which performed "By the Black Sea" and "Serve Russia" under the direction of Mikhail Ardagin.
The participants of the event have repeatedly noted the courage and determination of the veteran, wished her success and victories. The Lantern editors join in the congratulations and, in turn, also wish Maria Denisovna health, happiness and good luck in new endeavors.
Maria Denisovna Koltakova in Belgorod is called the "iron grandmother" - at 96 she was "noted" eight times in the Russian Book of Records. She jumped with a parachute, scuba dived, rose into the skies in a balloon and a hang glider - before that, none of her peers had dared to do such things. And now Maria Koltakova is the most mature kart racer in the country.
"Ahead - Kursk!"
The veteran of the Great Patriotic War devoted this record to the anniversary of the Red Army, the 75th anniversary of Battle of Kursk and brother - who died in Russo-Japanese War in the Kuril Islands. By the way, it is about him that Maria Denisovna remembers almost after every resonant act. At these moments, tears well up in her eyes, but - a second, and they were gone.
We have ahead - Kursk! - the veteran exclaims, reminding: soon - the 75th anniversary of his release. - I participated in the Battle of Kursk, the Prokhorovsky tank battle and reached Prague - in a plastun way.
Maria Koltakova carried more than three hundred wounded from the field. She received her first award - the "Medal for Courage" - after she carried 25 soldiers with weapons from the battlefield in Voronezh. Handed over by the commander Ivan Chernyakhovsky. And at home they received a funeral for her: of all the girls in the division, she was the only one who survived, but the commander did not know about it. In Prague, Maria Denisovna saved 57 soldiers, now she recalls how she "dragged them to the hospital", showing the Order of Glory - they were awarded precisely for this act.
Actually, in Prague, Koltakova met Victory: the foreman of the medical service did not reach Berlin - due to a wound. And as soon as she returned home, she tore the funeral.
Maria Denisovna always shares her memories of the war years with restraint, but she prefers not to talk about her glory at all. She went from Voronezh to Prague, liberated not only Kursk, Oboyan, Belgorod, but also Kyiv, but she always emphasizes: "I was not a hero, but I am proud that I was a soldier."
"That's speed!"
Why jump with a parachute now? “I dreamed all my life,” the “iron grandmother” admitted before the first jump. Crimea, 3,000 meters high, an instructor and a video camera - Maria Denisovna's first "air" record was filmed from the first to the last second. On her face - the whole gamut of feelings: from excitement to delight.
Maria Koltakova promises to mark more than one record. And for some reason you believe her! A photo: Anton Vergun/RG
Then Maria Koltakova was 93. She landed, and immediately - hello to her beloved Belgorod and all Belgorod residents. Later, celebrating her 95th birthday, she will promise to break her own record and make a second jump, but from a height of five thousand meters.
Supergrandmother has mastered a hang glider and a balloon. She flew over the Prokhorovsky field: each act is symbolic.
"Iron Grandmother" is true to herself: before each "record" she carefully watches the briefing, thoughtfully prepares for the start. And now, resolutely, Maria Denisovna fastens her karting suit, puts a three-dimensional helmet on her head, leaning on a cane, goes to the kart. "I'm like a superhero," he smiles. She rode the 400-meter-long track five times with a breeze. 46 seconds is the best lap result. But this is not the main thing for the front-line soldier.
It feels like I was flying on an airplane, and not riding a typewriter, - then she admits with a smile. - Such a speed that it seemed - I'm in heaven.
- Well, granddaughter, the flight is normal! Photo from the personal archive of Maria Koltakova
DO NOT MOAN, DO NOT COMPLAINT
Maria Denisovna Koltakova was born near Penza on January 14, 1922. When the girl turned one and a half, the family decided to move to Siberia. While crossing the Yenisei, a baby wrapped like a doll was accidentally dropped into cold water. Saved by her father, who rushed after her. After this incident, my mother, holding back her tears, joked: “Now she definitely won’t drown in the water.”
After school, Masha entered the nurse. The war began - had to go crash course. In 1942 - to the front. Started the war in the 303rd Siberian Volunteer Division. In the first battle, she showed herself as a hero. A 20-year-old fragile girl pulled 27 wounded out of the fire. Immediately they gave the first award - the medal "For Courage".
How many lives saved - did not count. Just over three hundred. She didn't complain, she didn't feel sorry for herself. She just did what was in her power. And a little more.
My credo is not to moan, not to complain, but to rejoice in every day given by fate and won by our Red Army and the Soviet people. I would like people to appreciate this fragile world and remember at what cost we got it, - Maria Denisovna admits.
Maria Denisovna visited the inferno of the Battle of Kursk, liberated Auschwitz. She survived and pulled out the wounded from the other world. With a sanitary battalion she walked to Prague - there she met Pobeda.
On her front tunic there are many honorary awards, in addition to the very first one - the medal "For Military Merit", the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Order of Glory of the 3rd degree and others.
In civilian life, she continued to work as a nurse. All her life she was super active and went in for sports. And as a member of DOSAAF, she promoted it among young people.
IN BERLIN70 YEARS LATER
Maria Koltakova did not leave the dream of getting to the Reichstag. She was destined to come true a few years ago. Caring people threw a cry on the Internet and collected the amount for the front-line soldier for the trip. After 70 years, the "iron grandmother" signed on the banner of Victory brought with her at the Reichstag.
And shortly before that, in 2015, Maria Denisovna visited Belarus - in Brest Fortress and in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. There, in the residence of Santa Claus, she whispered to the wizard the cherished desire of childhood - to make a parachute jump. And it was fulfilled in the same autumn!
The “iron grandmother” made her first jump from heaven to earth in the Crimea, on Mount Klementyev. Siganula in tandem with an instructor from a height of three thousand meters! She dedicated this fearless and a little reckless (according to her daughter) act to her brother, parachutist Yevgeny Shamaev. He died on the Kuril Islands after Great Victory, August 18, 1945. But on Far East were still going on fighting with Japan...
Zhenya was five years older than me. Before the war, he was engaged in parachuting. In December 1937 he was drafted into the army. How and where he is buried, we still do not know. So all my life I thought about making a jump in memory of him, - shared Maria Denisovna.
BATTLE GIRLFRIEND
But it would not be Maria Denisovna if she stopped at one jump. Last year, the Belgorod front-line soldier was included in the Russian national team for parachuting among the disabled in tandem and invited to the 2nd International Parachuting Dance Festival in Minsk. The event is big and beautiful. Athletes from Russia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and European countries came together. French Ambassador to Belarus Didier Caness arrived to support his countrymen. He insisted on getting to know Maria Koltakova personally and said that even in France he had heard a lot about her. And the President of the French Parachuting Federation, Marie-Claude Feydeau, invited her to visit Paris. Maria Denisovna immediately agreed - she is easy-going!
The participants of the festival took to the skies from the DOSAAF Borovaya airfield. And our “iron grandmother” jumped from a height of 2.5 thousand meters in tandem with instructor Boris Nebreev. This time, Maria Denisovna dedicated her brave act to her fighting friend from Polotsk, the Hero Soviet Union Zinaida Tusnolobova-Marchenko.
grandfather from Belovezhskaya Pushcha kept his word. Photo from the personal archive of Maria Koltakova
Doesn't get old in spirit
HANG-GLIDING, AEROSTAT, SCUBA...She is often asked about her age. She just shrugs.
I don't feel it at all! How old you are depends on the state of your soul, not on your passport. Nobody knows how much is given to anyone. You can get tired of life, feeling like an old man at twenty or forty. And at seventy, in general, most of them lie on the couch and think what to lie in the coffin in. And after all, at 95 you can dream about the sky, travel! Everything in this life is possible, everything is achievable. The main thing is to want it very much and go towards your dream! - Maria Denisovna inspires.
From 2015 to 2017, the name of Maria Koltakova appeared seven times (!) in the Russian Book of Records. She managed to fly a hang-glider, a balloon, a glider, drive a car, dive under water with scuba gear (at the same time, she was terribly afraid of water - remember that incident with crossing the river in her childhood?). And she did all this for the first time in her age group.
In November last year, she was invited as a heroine to the show "Older than All" with Maxim Galkin- the ether came out, as they say now, fire! And in March of this year, the record holder again visited Moscow for the Field of Miracles program. Of course, I took a selfie on Red Square. They are waiting for her both on the “Fashionable Sentence” and on the talk show “The Fate of a Man”.
Returning to Belgorod, without thinking twice, she made her eighth Russian record, becoming the oldest woman to fly in a wind tunnel. The air flow speed is under 200 kilometers per hour. But who is afraid of such loads?
I didn’t even know what kind of pipe it was, but today they showed it, and I really, really liked it! - Maria Denisovna admitted after the jump. - I even asked for a second time - taller and longer. Fabulous! Although, honestly, it doesn't compare to free fall.
The plans of the famous grandmother to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belgorod in August ... already with a ten-time record shift. What these records will be, she has not yet decided. But ready for any adventure.
Belgorod resident Maria Koltakova is preparing to jump with a parachute. This will be her first jump. She also dreams of visiting Prague. In this city, on May 9, 1945, the foreman of the medical service Koltakova met Pobeda.
“A trip to the Czech Republic is expensive, I, unfortunately, don’t have that kind of money,” Maria Denisovna sighs. “But I will definitely jump with a parachute.”
And it will jump. Last year, Maria Denisovna already flew a hang glider.
Goodbye beloved city
Outside the window of a small kitchen of a nine-story panel building, peaceful life is noisy with the wheels of imported cars. The kettle groans on the stove. Maria Denisovna, stroking the clean tablecloth of the kitchen table with her wrinkled hand, recalls her life.
“Tosya Berezina, Shura Shalamova, Shura Akimova, Liza Markova, Nina Vlasova, Masha Zaplatkina, Mila Zyuzikova and Anya Rybnikova came to the district military enlistment office with me. And I returned from the war alone ... "
Stops talking. And he continues his story only after I awkwardly coughed.
“That Sunday, June 22, relatives came to visit us. There was a feast, music was playing from the loudspeaker, and suddenly it was interrupted. Molotov announced that the war had begun. The next day, we went to the military registration and enlistment office as a whole class.
In 1941, Maria and her classmates were not taken to the front, but they were registered. For a whole year, the girls studied at the nursing school, and in the 42nd they were enrolled in a sanitary platoon.
“In April, we were loaded into freight cars and sent to war,” recalls Maria Denisovna. - The composition moved, and we sang "Farewell, beloved city." It was not only the pain of separation from the native Kemerovo, but also a farewell to the life left behind the wheels of the departing train.
For a month, replenishment was carried to the southern front of the country. The train was bombed several times.
“The German comes in from the sky, and we jump out of the cars and scatter. Some under the tree, some under the wagon, and some in the field, in the grass. In the end, we arrived in Lipetsk. We were told that Stalingrad was in danger and that in order to stop the German offensive, Voronezh had to be liberated.”
From Lipetsk to Voronezh, the replenishment went on for three days. On foot.
“We fell off our feet. To rest for a couple of days, but there was an order to storm the city from the march. We did not even have time to deploy a field hospital. So the wounded were piled right in the field, in funnels. And the field was scarlet from bloodied bandages.
For a week, the Red Army fought for the Voronezh Botanical Garden, the Agricultural Institute and the regional hospital.
“Our guys drove the Germans onto the roof of the hospital, and at that time I was bandaging the wounded on the first floor, under the stairs.”
- Was it terrible?
“There was no fear,” Maria Denisovna answers after a short pause. - There was anger, pain from the fact that a friend was dying nearby, and I could not help. That was painful. And there was no fear. And then I was not afraid of death. If we were afraid of death, we would not have won, probably. After all, we fought for Voronezh, so that it would be easier for our guys near Stalingrad.
Wrong funeral
In the division where Koltakova served, there were 258 girls, and after the Voronezh battles she was left alone.
“And I was once buried,” continues Maria Denisovna. - I went to reconnaissance, and the Germans began mortar shelling. I remember an explosion, fire, earth in my face. I woke up in some kind of funnel, it's dark and I don't feel my hand. She crawled towards hers. But it turned out that the commander had already sent a funeral to my parents. It was October 19, 1942."
Did you save the funeral?
- Not. After the war, it was torn to shreds. Instead, there was an award - the medal "For Courage", which was presented to me by the commander of the 60th Army, Ivan Chernyakhovsky.
- Was it awarded for intelligence?
- For 25 soldiers taken from the battlefield along with weapons. And the second award - the Order of Glory - I received in the Czech Republic. Then I dragged 57 fighters to the hospital ... Would you like me to show you the photos?
Victory
Maria Denisovna gets up heavily from the table.
“It’s hard for me to walk already,” she complains. “Age and wounds are taking their toll. Legs do not obey.
She slowly reaches the front door, takes the crutch and goes into the only room. After a while, three plump photo albums appear on the kitchen table.
“This is me in 1943,” says Maria Koltakova, carefully pulling out one of the many photographs. Black and white.
In the yellowed picture, a long-haired girl with a sanitary bag smiles slyly into the camera.
“And this is me in Prague. Then the girls and I went to the hairdresser's and for the first time in the whole war we got curls. And these are my fellow soldiers. While everyone was alive, we met every year on May 9th. Now there’s no one left,” Maria Denisovna sighed. “I’m just still living.”
In 1944, Maria Denisovna was seriously wounded and shell-shocked. And another misfortune happened: she almost had her arm amputated due to the onset of gangrene. Upon learning of the upcoming operation, she fled from the medical unit to the regiment. Familiar doctors came out of the girl, saved her hand.
Koltakova met the victory in Prague.
“I remember our scouts running and shouting: “Victory! Fritz capitulated! Oh what happened then! Everyone rejoiced, danced, sang. Our soldiers even staged a salute. And I sat down on the sidelines and burst into tears.
- From happiness?
- Not. I was bitter and hurt for those who did not live to see the Victory. For my girlfriends, fellow soldiers. So, everyone rejoices, and I sit and sob ... Well, okay, - she returns to today. “Do you want dumplings?”
I refused dumplings, and drank tea.
After the war
Maria Koltakova was demobilized in August 1945: the girls were the first to go home. She went home to Kemerovo region but stayed there for a very short time. She says she could not tune in to a peaceful life and returned to the army. She continued to serve as a civilian nurse in one of the military units in western Ukraine. Then she worked in the supply department, in a store, at a potash plant in the personnel department. lived in Central Asia, and in 1972 came to Belgorod.
“I freed him, and my girlfriend lived here,” she explains. - So I came here. She worked in the social security, and in 1977 she retired. In part, by the way, in Ukraine, I met my future husband Alexander Vasilyevich. But she got married a little later. I remember he came to my parents and told me to pack my things. He is going to marry me."
– How did you react?
– What was I to do? There were few grooms. She got married and got married. So they lived together for 25 years. You will probably laugh, - my interlocutor suddenly says, - but I flew a hang glider last year. Such is the fighting old woman. Now I'm trying to fulfill my desires.
- How many wishes do you have? I'm interested.
- There are two left. Now I'm getting ready to skydive, and I would also like to visit Prague. Look at the city that was liberated.
We finish our tea and finish studying the photo album. Time to say good-bye.
“I’ll definitely jump with a parachute,” says Maria Denisovna, seeing me off. “I will try to do it on May 9th.”
I didn't wait for the elevator and went down the stairs. On the third floor, a schoolboy met me. He soon jumped over several steps and loudly, without hesitation, sang: “Victory Day, how far it was from us ...”
Evgeny Filippov