In February 1945, the 286th Fighter Aviation Division of the 16th Air Army, operating in the Berlin direction, received a new commander. Young, energetic, but not quite ordinary.
Firstly, he was very young - young even for that war, in which Ivan Chernyakhovsky in three years went from colonel to army general and front commander and which, very likely, he would have ended up as a marshal, if not for a German fragment that cut off his life in the winter of 1945.
The new commander of the 286th Fighter Aviation Division (IAD) ended this war as a colonel. However, he also started it as a colonel. This happens in war too. Especially when your last name is in a special place and under special control.
A WORTHY START
The surname of the young division commander was Stalin.
First and patronymic – Vasily Iosifovich.
Year of birth: 1921.
Place of birth: Moscow.
Last thing military rank– Lieutenant General of Aviation, awarded in 1947.
Vasily Stalin is most often presented today as a stupid fellow and a drunkard, with whom his father could not do anything, but still ensured some kind of career. And if, supposedly, it weren’t for his father, this “mediocre” would never have received command of a squadron...
But who really was the unusual “Berlin” division commander of 1945?
To understand this better, we will have to start from afar.
From the autumn of 1923 to the spring of 1927, Vasily Stalin lived in orphanage. Stalin's adopted son Artem Sergeev, Timur and Tatyana Frunze, the son of People's Commissar of Justice Dmitry Ivanovich Kursky - Evgeny, and the children of People's Commissar of Food Alexander Dmitrievich Tsyurupa also lived there. In total - 25 children of party leaders. Plus – 25 street children.
Artem Sergeev has the best memories of this house. Like all his other students. An interesting example... Doctor Nathanson gave vaccinations to children. And the children decided that when they grew up, they would kill Nathanson - that’s how these vaccinations got them...
But the doctor was changed. And the new doctor said that vaccinations will not be given to everyone, but only to those who want to join the army. And here not only boys, but also girls raced to get injections. With a cry: “And I’ll get an injection!”
They are asked:
- Why do you need an injection?
- I want to join the army! I will be a Red Army soldier...
It is unlikely that not only today’s children, but also many of today’s adults will understand the essence of what is written above.
But that's how it was.
And in such an atmosphere Stalin’s son grew up.
Firstly, the foundations of character are laid in early childhood, and Vasya had it in a smart orphanage, through which it was a blessing for the development of an extraordinary personality.
Secondly, Vasily then studied at a normal school, and he was raised by the school and teachers, and not the notorious street. There is a known case when mathematics teacher Martyshin wrote to Stalin about the shortcomings of his son, and the father responded, recommending that he be stricter with Vasily.
Thirdly, the father himself raised his son - not with lectures, but by personal example, although he could have given a severe reprimand. Stalin raised his son and his adopted brother Artem Sergeev and through conversations during home life... After all, Stalin had it too. And Stalin spoke to the boys as to adults. And he touched on a variety of topics. For example, in 1930, after Repin's death, he talked to them about Repin.
In addition, his grandson was raised by his maternal grandfather, Sergei Yakovlevich Alliluyev.
And everyone was raised well.
Here is the situation described by Artem Sergeev. After the death of Vasily’s mother, Nadezhda Alliluyeva, Artem and Vasily caught crucian carp on her birthday at the dacha in Zubalovo.
Vasily says:
“We’ll send it to my father, he loves crucian carp.”
Artem asks:
– Will you take the fish yourself?
- No, my father didn’t call me.
Doesn't look like the capricious offspring of an all-powerful tyrant, does it? Then Vasily took a bucket with a lid, put the fish in it, sealed the bucket and said:
- This is order. It doesn't hurt to be careful.
That is, Vasily Stalin, already as a teenager, fully understood what self-discipline was when it was vitally important.
Zalessky writes that Vasily was allegedly “a capricious, weak-willed, weak person.” But here’s a photo of a boy jumping from the high side of a longboat. Let a weak and weak-willed person try to do this. Since childhood, Vasily was fond of horse riding and loved to jump from a parachute tower - also not an activity for the faint of heart. The main thing is - where did Konstantin Zalessky see weak-willed combat pilots?!
Before the war, after completing the Lipetsk courses, Vasily was appointed to a group of pilot inspectors; with the beginning of the war, he was a squadron commander in a fighter regiment, and then - for some time - the head of the Red Army Air Force inspection.
There is a group photograph taken near Stalingrad in the summer of 1942 of the pilots of the 434th Fighter Aviation Regiment, commanded by Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Kleshchev. Autumn steppe, under a haystack - 19 people, seventh from the right - Kleshchev, and left hand from him - Vasily Stalin.
The 434th Fighter Wing (IAP) was subordinate to the Air Force Inspectorate. It was commanded by Kleshchev, but was supervised by Vasily Stalin from July 13, 1942. At the end of October 1942, the 434th IAP was renamed the 32nd Guards, and on December 31, 1942, Kleshchev died in a plane crash.
Vasily became the regiment commander.
Konstantin Zalessky writes about him: “In January 1943 he was transferred to the Active Army and appointed commander of the 32nd Guards Fighter Regiment. On May 26, 1943, by order of his father, he was removed from the post of regiment commander “for drunkenness and riotous behavior.”
But it wasn't like that.
More precisely, not quite like that.
BOTH HEROICITY AND SILENCE
The 32nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (GvIAP), commanded by Vasily Stalin, was transferred to the Kalinin Front, and in March 1943 the regiment became part of the High Command Reserve aviation group under the command of General Sergei Ignatievich Rudenko.
Officially, Guard Colonel Vasily Stalin flew 27 combat missions throughout the war, but most likely their number was greater. Although the flight book is a strict document, some flights of the regiment commander may not have been recorded.
On March 5, 1943, in a battle over Semkina Gorushka, Stalin shot down an Fw-190 fighter plane. To some this may seem like a small victory, but Stalin always flew in a group as a regiment commander, and his first task was not to shoot down enemy planes, and not to lose control of the battle. This is the first thing.
Secondly, you need to know Stalin's character. In an air battle, you don’t always understand who shot down, and pilots sometimes wrote down personal victories, pointing out who should get credit for the next one. Vasily Stalin would rather give the plane he shot down to his subordinates than take at least one from them for himself.
This one personally shot down plane of Vasily Stalin clearly shows and proves what kind of person he was and how he took care of the honor of his name. And his, and - even more - his father. Vasily could have fallen under unkind influence, but this was in everyday life, in peacetime. He could have committed a serious sin - and, as we will see, he committed it. But not in battle, not when his military honor would be called into question!
Much later, Vasily Stalin’s fellow soldier Fyodor Prokopenko recalled: “Vasily shot down four planes... In one battle, I personally saw how he set fire to a Fokker... Somehow I helped him out - they could have shot him down...”
Prokopenko flew 126 combat missions and had 9 personal victories. He is sometimes mistakenly presented as a Hero of the Soviet Union, but this is not so. Prokopenko had the Order of Lenin and two Orders of the Red Banner.
In an official document from 1945, Vasily Stalin is listed as having shot down two planes. At the same time, not all ordinary combat pilots during the war could boast of at least one personally shot down aircraft.
By the way, commanding the 32nd regiment, Stalin could have died - and with a guarantee, on the precisely designated day of March 2, 1943. That day, during a pre-flight inspection of the Yak-9 command aircraft, an aircraft technician discovered an awl stuck in the connection of the first depth control rod from the tail, which jammed the control. The last flight was on February 26, after which the plane was checked for landing gear and gas tanks. If it were not for the thoroughness of the check of senior technician-lieutenant Povarenkin, everything could have ended badly.
And this is how Stalin was removed from the regiment...
On March 23, 1943, his regiment was supposed to fly to the Malino airfield near Moscow to be supplemented with people and equipment. But when the regiment landed on the way at an intermediate airfield, an emergency occurred. Colonel Stalin, four Heroes of the Soviet Union - Lieutenant Colonel Vlasov, captains Baklan, Kotov and Garanin, as well as flight commander Shishkin and regiment weapons engineer engineer-captain Razin went to the Selizharovka River to kill fish with grenades and rockets. When throwing the last RS, Captain Razin made a mistake - he hurried to turn out the chickenpox. Result: one person was killed, one was seriously wounded, one was slightly wounded. Vasily himself was seriously wounded - a large fragment of MS hit his left foot, damaging the bone. The second fragment easily touched the left cheek.
On April 4, 1943, Vasily was taken to the Kremlin hospital, he was operated on under general anesthesia by Professor Alexey Dmitrievich Ochkin - the one who three years later operated on Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin with stomach cancer, strangely “not noticed” by the Kremlin’s therapists. But this is by the way.
Interestingly! Joseph Stalin did not immediately find out about the emergency, but upon learning, he ordered the regiment commander, Colonel V.I. Stalin. removed from office with the wording: “For drunkenness and riotous behavior.” It’s said harshly, but nothing can be done about it - that’s what the Supreme Commander ordered! He also ordered that his son not be given any command posts without his order.
After the hospital, Vasily Stalin was appointed an ordinary pilot-instructor of the 193rd air regiment. Moreover, the long break in his combat biography - from April 1943 to January 1944 - was so long because the wound turned out to be difficult, with a complex heel injury.
On January 16, 1944, he took up his duties as an inspector-pilot for piloting techniques in the same 1st Guards Fighter Aviation Corps (GvIAK), in which he fought before the emergency. That is, his former command did not try to “fend off” him.
In Vasily’s nomination for the position of division commander, the commander of the 1st Guards Fighter Air Corps, Lieutenant General Evgeniy Mikhailovich Beletsky, wrote: “In the position of pilot inspector since January 1944. During this time, he proved himself to be a very energetic, agile and proactive commander... He has excellent piloting technique, he loves flying... He is tactically competent, he can organize the combat work of aviation regiments and divisions well. He knows how to work with people, but sometimes he shows excessive ardor and short temper...”
On May 18, 1944, Colonel Vasily Stalin took command of the 3rd Guards Fighter Aviation Bryansk Division. By that time he had 3,105 flight hours. For 23 years old - a huge amount of time. And this alone made Vasily an experienced aerobatic pilot.
They grew quickly then. Here, for example, are three photographs of Artem Sergeev: April 1943 - captain; June 1943 – major; October 1943 – lieutenant colonel, commander of an artillery regiment. And this despite the fact that Sergeev was surrounded in 1941, was captured, fled and until September 1941 commanded a partisan detachment in Belarus. Then, after being wounded, he was evacuated to " Mainland" Moreover, the participation of Stalin the father in the fate of the named son was zero - during the war, Artem fell out of sight of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, which is understandable.
Another example. The brilliant air fighter Evgeniy Yakovlevich Savitsky became division commander at the age of 28 - in 1938. In 1942, he was already a general and commander of the air corps. Vasily Stalin became a major general of aviation only in 1947 - after three performances, which Joseph Stalin turned back.
“I AM ACCURATE IN FOLLOWING ORDERS...”
It is sometimes claimed that Vasily Stalin “did not possess any abilities as a commander.” But whether Vasily Stalin was a competent division commander can be judged by his 1944 report to the corps commander about actions in the face of a threat to the division at the Slepyanka airfield from a group of German troops breaking through to the west in the Minsk region.
Vasily Stalin promptly ordered the evacuation of the equipment, guards banners and secret documents of the headquarters to the north-eastern outskirts of Minsk, instructed the division chief of staff to organize ground defense and prepare a night launch, and he himself flew to the Dokukovo airfield in a U-2 to organize a night launch there too. Then he returned to Slepyanka and in the morning led the division to attack the breaking through Germans, and after the attack he planted the division in Dokukovo, thereby removing it from attack. He acted quite competently, and without having the skills to organize ground combat.
By the end of the summer of 1944, Stalin’s division added “Red Banner Order of Suvorov II degree” to the name “Bryansk”. And from February 1945, Vasily Stalin commanded the 286th Fighter Aviation Division, which was part of the corps of the above-mentioned General Savitsky.
The fact that Evgeny Savitsky and Vasily Stalin were friends after the war was recorded in photographs where both were taken in a decidedly informal setting. Alas, in one of the books about Vasily Stalin there are “memoirs”, which are cited in the issue of Moskovskaya Pravda dated January 29, 1989 and submitted on behalf of Air Marshal E.M. Savitsky: “And then the order comes: to appoint Vasily Stalin... to my corps. I admit that I was somewhat intimidated: the son of such a father... A despot and a clown, like his father, during his lifetime he was ultimately left completely alone...”
Marshal Savitsky died, like Vasily Stalin’s commander, Marshal Sergei Ignatievich Rudenko, in 1990 - April 6, 80 years old. So I could give an interview in 1989. However, I can’t believe that twice Hero of the Soviet Union, a former street child, raised Soviet power to the marshal's height, this is how he spoke about his military friend and, most importantly, about his Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
Air Chief Marshal A.E. spoke very harshly about Vasily Stalin. Golovanov. Alexander Evgenievich is a figure I respect. But they were very much, as I understand it, different people with Vasily Stalin on psychological drawing of nature.
Golovanov, who appreciated his father with reverence and collaborated with him a lot, writes about his son as a “moral monster” who had absorbed “so much badness that it would be enough for a thousand scoundrels.” This is clearly a biased and unfair assessment, and I don’t know why it was given. During the war, Marshal Golovanov could not have known Vasily at all... And after the war, they hardly crossed paths much.
Little truth has been written about Vasily Stalin. All the more valuable is the testimony of his former army commander, Hero of the Soviet Union, Air Marshal Rudenko, who commanded the 16th Air Army at the end of the war. In his memoirs “Wings of Victory,” published in 1985, he wrote: “On the evening before the last assault, we organized a radio listening to the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief... And again we heard the familiar names of the commanders of distinguished aviation formations and units: E.Ya. Savitsky, A.Z. Karavatsky, B.K. Tokarev, I.V. Krupsky, G.O. Komarov, E.M. Beletsky, I.P. Skok, V.V. Sukhoryabov, Yu.M. Berkal, V.I. Stalin, K.I. Rasskazov, P.A. Kalinin, G.P. Turykin, P.F. Chupikov, A.G. Tips..."
And further Sergei Ignatievich personally noted General Beletsky and Vasily Stalin: “Colonel V.I. Stalin arrived at our front a little earlier from the 1st IAK. A graduate of the Kachinsky School, Vasily Iosifovich began the war as an inspector-pilot, at Stalingrad he commanded the 32nd Guards Air Regiment, then the 3rd Guards Division. During the battles near Berlin, he led the 286th Fighter Division. For successful actions he was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner, the Orders of Alexander Nevsky and Suvorov, 1st degree (more precisely, 2nd degree - S.B.), the Polish Cross of Grunwald...”
If Rudenko had bad memories of Vasily Stalin, if he had not treated him with respect, he would hardly have remembered him like that many years after the war. Rudenko died in 1990, at the age of 86.
And on July 20, 1945, Colonel General Rudenko signed a certification for the commander of the 286th Nizhyn Red Banner Order of Suvorov Fighter Aviation Division of Colonel Stalin's Guard. The certification stated that Stalin flies Po-2, UT-1, UT-2, I-15, I-5, I-153, Li-2, I-4, MiG-3, LaGG-3, Yak-1, Yak-7 and Yak-9, Hurricane, IL-2, Boston-3, DS-3, La-5, La-7. Total flight time - 3145 hours 45 minutes, 27 official sorties, 2 downed aircraft.
Rudenko assessed Stalin quite adequately: “Comrade. Stalin has good organizational skills, as a trained pilot, he can pass on his combat experience to his subordinates... He is precise in carrying out orders...”
MAN IS STYLE
Vasily’s named brother, Artem Sergeev, said that Vasily was power-hungry, but in material terms he was absolutely selfless. And such a person cannot help but be internally noble. In the post-war 40s, he commanded the aviation of the Moscow Military District, and most of Vasily Stalin’s subordinates remember him kindly.
A good indicator here can be the air parades that took place annually in Tushino just when Vasily Stalin was the commander of the district’s aviation. He organized them and commanded them himself. After Vasily was removed, they faded away. But there you have to be able to take on a lot.
Vasily often appointed disabled pilots to staff positions. And when they were surprised at this, he replied that a combat pilot would master staff work, but a staff officer who did not understand the essence of flight work could make a mess.
Vasily was clearly a good organizer with a quick reaction and, as they say, “threw a hedgehog” by the collar of many, and it’s unlikely that many liked this. In our country, energetic people are rarely liked - few bosses are like Stalin Sr., who valued energy when it was combined with competence and responsibility.
They say that Vasily drank a lot and even allegedly suffered from a chronic form of alcoholism. Anyone who writes like this doesn’t know very well what a chronic alcoholic is. Vasily Stalin spent many years in solitary confinement in prison, and this is not a camp; you can’t get alcohol here secretly. Nevertheless, Vasily did not experience alcohol withdrawal.
I think he didn’t drink that much - while he was “in the saddle.” In addition, judging by a number of memoirs, both Air Force Commander Alexander Aleksandrovich Novikov and Air Force Commander Pavel Fedorovich Zhigarev drank a lot. They are not known as alcoholics. Or the English journalist Alexander Werth recalled how Western diplomats got drunk at a reception hosted by the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (NKID) of the USSR in 1943 on the occasion of the anniversary of the October Revolution. The English ambassador got so drunk that he fell face down on the table into the dishes and cut his face with fragments.
Soon after the death of his father, Vasily was arrested - even at a time when the Ministry of Internal Affairs was headed by Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria. However, it is possible that by arresting Stalin’s son, Beria was simply saving Vasily’s life! This assumption is confirmed by the fact that Vasily Stalin was arrested under Beria, but he continued to sit in prison even after Beria’s arrest. If Vasily suspected Lavrenty Pavlovich as his father’s murderer, then it would seem that it would be better - after Beria’s arrest, to release another “innocent victim” of his “tyranny,” and that would be the end of it. And let Vasily, having gotten tipsy, once again publicly send curses to the vile murderer. But no! Stalin's son sat under Beria and continued to sit under Khrushchev. The question is: who did Vasily Stalin blame for his father’s death?
There are memoirs of a certain Stepan S., a former warden of the Vladimir prison, about how Vasily Stalin was brought to prison in the spring of 1953. Not everything in these memories is reliable, but I am sure of one exact detail: “Vasily amazed us with his discipline and neatness. He was absolutely withdrawn, thinking about something all the time...”
They say that a person is a style. So, the style of Vasily Stalin’s letters, especially letters from prison, reveals an active, systematically thinking nature, absolutely not arrogant and... And psychologically in some ways similar to the young Stalin the father.
In any case, Vasily Stalin’s letter to his daughter Lina dated June 10, 1956, in its entire style, can be confused with letters from Joseph Stalin to his daughter Svetlana. Interesting detail: Vasily also calls his daughter “mistress” - as his father called his sister Svetlana.
And here is what Vasily wrote to his wife on October 1, 1956: “Can these scoundrels understand that the most difficult thing is happening, the most difficult struggle for existence, for life, for love. Will the wits, the lovers of sensations, understand that not under all circumstances the form of this struggle is benign..."
Stalin's son died on March 19, 1962 in Kazan. He couldn't win his fight for life at that time. But he was in the Berlin sky and that battle - he won.
Just like his comrades.
Vasily Stalin is a notable personality in the history of the USSR, they talked a lot about him, attributed various crimes to him, most of which turned out to be untrue. Political activity, biography, personal life, connections with the wives and children of Vasily Stalin - all this interests many people. By and large, this is the history of our country.
Vasily Stalin is one of the favorite sons of the head of the USSR Joseph Stalin. The boy was born in the capital in 1920 on March 24. At that time, my father worked as a commissioner and was not so famous. Mom - Nadezhda Alliluyeva, about whom many people talk, was half Gypsy, half German. The age difference with my father was significant, almost 20 years, so quarrels arose between them more than once.
Mom also worked in the field of government affairs and edited a newspaper. The boy grew up, one might say, alone; his parents were constantly at work. In 1932, a tragedy happened that completely changed the life of both Joseph Stalin and the boy.
Nadezhda committed suicide, which entailed dramatic changes in psychological and emotional state Joseph.
The boy was provided with security guards who were responsible for his education. One might say he lived under the strictest conditions and restrictions.
The Kachin aviation school became an opportunity for the boy to escape from this life. In 1938, he became a cadet and began to master flying. After the start of the Great Patriotic War, Vasily immediately submits an application to go to the front, but it is rejected. Stalin did not want to lose his beloved son, who reminded him of his mother. In addition, Stalin’s eldest son had already died at that time.
Of course, the guy suffers for a very long time from the fact that everyone is sent to the front, but he remains on the sidelines. In 1942, he received approval and was sent to the Stalingrad Front. He is appointed commander of a regiment, where he has proven himself on numerous occasions.
Many of his students said that he was a risky and brave person who was never afraid of anything. He always covered his fighters and carried them away from the battlefield.
While working at the front, he more than once became involved in legal proceedings due to his risky actions. As a result, the time came when he was finally sent back to the capital. In fact, Joseph Stalin himself was glad that his son came back. The head of the USSR felt that an attempt on his life would soon be prepared, and more than once told his son about this. This was the reason for his arrest.
Stills from the film “Son of the Father of Nations”
In 1943, Vasily received disciplinary punishment and was sent to a training base to work as an instructor. He received the punishment as a result of an incident that happened while killing fish. Due to improper planting of the explosive device, people were injured and killed. Vasily never received permission to participate in battles again. During his year of work at the front, he received more than a dozen awards.
After the end of the war, Vasily is appointed commander of the Air Force central district. His work was more than once appreciated by both his wards and senior officials. Subsequently, by his decree and initiative, a sports complex for pilots was built. He was actively involved in training the military in the field of physical exercise. He understood how difficult it was to control an airplane in the air. Therefore, under his command, football and hockey teams were created, which more than once became prize-winners of competitions. All subordinates and soldiers received housing, which was built for their needs.
Information about the tragic incident of 1950 was obtained from the archives. The created football team of pilots crashed during the flight. Vasily was supposed to be on this flight, but he was removed on instructions from Joseph Stalin. As the sources say, Wolf Messing warned that a tragedy would happen. In order to hide this incident, a new team, who quickly arrived at the match.
Tragic events often haunted Vasily. He was a risk taker and never listened to anyone. In 1952, during the parade, on his instructions, fighter planes were launched into the air. As the report says, the weather was unflyable. As a result, two pilots died during landing and crashed. As a result, Vasily was removed from all serious work and his position.
It will be very difficult to find photos of Vasily Stalin’s children and wives, information about his personal life and biography on the Internet. By various reasons some information was destroyed during the USSR. Most of the information remained secret for a long time. Speaking about Vasily’s personality, one cannot fail to note his services to the USSR Air Force. He made a considerable amount of effort to improve military training.
After the death of Joseph Stalin, Vasily begins to actively talk about the fact that an assassination attempt was made. As a result, an investigation was carried out, after which Vasily went to prison. Of course, the son was right, and the case against him was also fabricated. The article under which he was detained is embezzlement of public money, where he ends up under the name Vasily Vasiliev. During the 8 years of prison, he largely took care of his health, mastered working professions, in particular, learned to work on a lathe.
His detention was planned; Vasily himself expected such a moment to come soon. In general, he did not resist, realizing that if he did not cooperate, he would simply be shot. Later, the city of Kazan, which was closed to foreigners, awaited him. Many political prisoners were sent here. He again begins to get involved in alcohol, which ruined his health.
Today, the wives and children of Vasily Stalin, his personal life and biography have great importance. Of course, having power and being the son of the head of state, he was not always a moral person.
In addition to the fact that he had four official marriages, he also had at least a dozen different novels. Relations with the wives of prominent politicians, have repeatedly become the cause of scandals.
Today we know about four of his natural children and three adopted ones. The first wife is Galina Burdonskaya, she worked in a managerial position at an aviation garage. They lived together for 4 years and took part in amateur performances more than once.
Ekaterina Timoshenko, the daughter of the famous marshal, became Vasily’s second wife. They had a son, but his life was not long, as he was a drug addict and died of an overdose young. Also, sometimes articles appear that there was a second daughter, Svetlana.
Despite his official marriage, Vasily begins dating a famous athlete. Vasilyeva subsequently became the reason for the divorce. After breaking up with Tymoshenko, they lived for three years and separated. The most important thing is that after Vasily was detained, all the spouses constantly came to see him in prison. This is exactly how his wives and children influenced the biography and personal life of Vasily Stalin.
The fourth marriage was with the unattractive and little-known nurse Maria Nusberg. They got engaged on the eve of Stalin's death. Vasily himself adopted her two daughters from her first marriage. The meeting with Maria became a new milestone in his life, but he could not contain his emotions and subsequently drank himself to death. Many say that this was a planned action, he was simply poisoned so that he would not tell anyone about anything. The events of that time remained hidden.
Stills from the film “Son of the Father of Nations”
Vasily Stalin died due to an alcohol overdose. After his release, he is sent to Kazan, where he films one-room apartment and starts drinking very heavily. As a result, intoxication occurs. Vasily was first buried in Kazan under the name Dzhugashvili, and subsequently his remains were transported to a cemetery in Moscow. All charges against this man were dropped posthumously.
Much information about his life can be obtained from documentaries, which are dedicated personally to Vasily Stalin. Many facts that were obtained from the archives became a sensation. The film tells about the biography and personal life of Vasily Stalin, about his children and wives; it is this information that interests the audience. By and large, he received 8 years in prison undeservedly on a fabricated case. Many reliable facts became open to ordinary people and to Stalin’s family. One of these paintings is “Reckoning”.
The fate of Vasily Stalin
Three weeks after the death of the leader, on March 26, 1953, by order of the Minister of Defense Marshal Bulganin, Aviation Lieutenant General Vasily Iosifovich Stalin was transferred to the reserve without the right to wear a military uniform. And a month later, on April 28, the son of the leader, from whom dust had previously been blown away, was arrested.
The arrest order was signed by the head of the investigative unit for special important matters Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lieutenant General Lev Emelyanovich Vlodzimirsky.
Why was Stalin's son treated so harshly?
The machinations of Lavrenty Pavlovich, who took revenge on his son for his father? But Beria himself was arrested two months later. General Wlodzimirski followed him. But Vasily Stalin continued to sit. He was accused of being a drunkard and “not showing up for work. He received reports from his subordinates at his apartment or dacha. He instilled servility in the apparatus subordinate to him.” But they don’t go to prison for this. Accused of squandering public funds. But this is not the most serious crime. The real charge was brought against him under the notorious 58th article of the Criminal Code - for anti-Soviet statements.
They were tried according to the accelerated procedure adopted after the murder of Kirov in December 1934: without a lawyer and without a prosecutor. His father came up with this idea to quickly send “enemies of the people” to the next world.
The case of Vasily Stalin was considered by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court. On September 2, 1955, she sentenced him to eight years in prison. He was supposed to be sent to a camp, but he was kept in the Vladimir prison, away from people. Why such a severe punishment? For drunkenly promising to go to foreign correspondents and say everything he thinks about the current leaders of the country?
The verdict included: “For illegal expenditure and appropriation of state property” (abuse of official position under especially aggravating circumstances - Article 193–17 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR) and for “hostile attacks and anti-Soviet slanderous fabrications against the leaders of the CPSU and the Soviet state” (and this already deadly article 58–10).
His sister, Svetlana Stalina, recalled that Vasily was arrested after a drinking session with foreigners. During the investigation, fraud, embezzlement, and abuse of official position came to light. The investigation lasted more than two years. The security officers arrested Vasily's adjutants and his colleagues, and they signed the necessary testimony.
But the main thing is different - we returned from places not so distant people, who ended up in prison with the light hand of Vasily Stalin. And these were not simple people, and the marshals and generals... And not only the major military, but also the party leaders really had reason to hate the leader’s son. First of all, Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov, whose career Vasily almost ruined.
In 1946, Stalin sent a letter to members of the Politburo stating that the aviation industry had opened major crimes- factories supplied unusable aircraft, and the air force command turned a blind eye to this. It is believed that Aviation General Vasily Iosifovich Stalin complained to his father about the bad planes.
The curator of the aviation industry was Politburo member and Secretary of the Central Committee Malenkov. On May 4, 1946, Stalin, by a special resolution of the Politburo, deprived him of the position of Secretary of the Central Committee: “To establish that Comrade Malenkov, as the chief of the aviation industry and of the aircraft acceptance - of the air force, is morally responsible for the outrages that are revealed in the work of these departments (production and acceptance of low-quality aircraft), that he, knowing about these outrages, did not signal them to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).”
In the Ministry state security began to collect evidence against Malenkov, preparing for his arrest. Aviation investigators said, not without pleasure: “Malenkov got burned.” But the leader got used to the amazingly efficient Georgy Maximilianovich. I decided that he had already been punished enough and returned Malenkov to his favor.
So, it turns out that Vasily Stalin was punished because he once complained to his father about generals and party officials? Got revenge? This is one reason. There is another - he ceased to be a celestial being and he was no longer allowed those liberties that were forgiven to the son of a leader.
Vasily was not liked by the Minister of War, Marshal Bulganin, with whom the younger Stalin behaved familiarly, if not boorishly. After the death of the leader, everything changed, but Vasily Iosifovich continued to talk with Bulganin, and with other members of the Presidium of the Central Committee in the same way as before.
He publicly said about the minister:
Killing him is not enough!
Vasily’s words were recorded and reported to the party leadership.
Vasily Iosifovich was called by the head of the Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense and handed a copy of the order of dismissal from the armed forces. Vasily began to ask to be given some work.
Bulganin accepted him. Offered:
Will you go as head of the flying club to Morshansk?
Vasily exploded:
This position is for a first lieutenant. I won't go to it.
Bulganin said:
Then I have no place for you in the army...
Apparently there was another motive. Subconsciously, by imprisoning the younger Stalin, members of the Presidium of the Central Committee were freed from the mystical fear of this name.
Stalin's son-in-law, Yuri Andreevich Zhdanov, who headed a department in the CPSU Central Committee, was also expelled from Moscow. After the death of the leader, three secretaries of the Central Committee held a conversation with him at once - Suslov, Pospelov and Shatalin. Suslov asked for show:
Where did you work before the Central Committee apparatus?
He was an assistant at Moscow University.
Apparently, it would be advisable for you to return there,” Suslov stated.
But they didn’t want to leave him in the capital. A week later, Zhdanov was called again, and Pyotr Pospelov made him a different offer:
The Central Committee believes that you should gain experience in local party work. It would be useful to work in the science department of the Chelyabinsk or Rostov regional committee.
Yuri Zhdanov chose Rostov, where he remained. They didn't touch him anymore.
Today Vasily Stalin with his unfortunate fate perhaps evokes sympathy. At the age of eleven he was left without a mother and, in essence, grew up without a father, who had neither the time nor the desire to take care of children that no one needed.
Vasily could not bear this heavy burden - being the son of a great leader. Too much hope was placed on him. And too quickly his father became disillusioned with him. He saw that he would not make an heir. The father looked at the children with regret. Neither son nor daughter could awaken fatherly love in him. Or maybe Stalin did not have access to these feelings at all. He remembered Vasily only when appointing him to the next high position or removing him from it.
Vasily was raised by Stalin's guards. He showed early impudence and arrogance, a reluctance to learn anything and a habit of enjoying life. Fortunately, he was one of the few in the country who was allowed to do this. And until his father’s death, he was surrounded by sycophants and drinking buddies.
In the summer of 1948, Vasily became commander of the air force of the Moscow Military District. He was only twenty-seven years old. In May 1949, his father promoted him to lieutenant general. Assignment high rank became a reason for endless drinking.
On December 9, 1950, the head of the Kremlin Medical and Sanatorium Directorate, Professor Pyotr Ivanovich Egorov, reported to Stalin:
“I consider it my duty to report to you about the state of health of Vasily Iosifovich.
Vasily Iosifovich suffers from exhaustion nervous system, chronic gastric catarrh and anemia. The cause of these diseases is excessive alcohol abuse.
November 16th Vasily Iosifovich suddenly (at home, around one in the morning, while watching a movie) developed an epileptic seizure - complete loss of consciousness, general muscle spasms of the body, tongue biting and foamy fluid discharge from the mouth... Unfortunately, over the past seven to ten days Vasily Iosifovich again began to drink a lot, and in connection with this, symptoms of severe intoxication reappeared (aversion to food, weight loss, increased irritability, poor sleep).
The doctors' persuasion and demands to stop drinking alcohol led to nothing. I ask for your assistance..."
On July 27, 1952, a parade was held in Tushino on the occasion of the holiday of the air fleet; General Stalin commanded it. A reception was held in the evening. Vasily Iosifovich appeared already drunk. In the presence of his father, he behaved boorishly and cursed the commander-in-chief of the country's air force in public.
Stalin Sr. was angry: his son was disgracing him. On August 13, 1952, Vasily was seconded to the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, and on September 5 he was enrolled as a student at the Military Academy of the General Staff. He did not go to classes, sat in the country and drank. This continued until he was arrested...
In the Vladimir prison, the leader’s son was kept under the name Vasiliev. He, still a very young man, was ill - apparently due to excessive consumption of strong drinks. And the Soviet prison quickly destroys health.
Khrushchev asked KGB Chairman Shelepin:
How does Vasily Stalin behave? Talk to him, consult with Svetlana.
Stalin Jr. swore to Shelepin that he would behave with dignity.
“I am in favor of releasing him,” Khrushchev said.
Executing the will of the first secretary, on January 5, 1960, KGB Chairman Shelepin and attorney general Rudenko was reported to the Central Committee:
“Stalin V.I. has been imprisoned for six years and eight months. During this period of time, the administration of places of deprivation of liberty was characterized positively. Currently, he has a number of serious diseases (heart disease, stomach disease, leg blood vessels and other ailments).
Taking into account the above, we ask the CPSU Central Committee to consider the following proposals:
apply a private amnesty to V.I. Stalin, release him from further serving his sentence and expunge his criminal record;
instruct the Moscow Council to provide Stalin V.I. with a three-room apartment in Moscow;
instruct the USSR Ministry of Defense to assign Stalin a pension in accordance with the law, provide him with a trip to a sanatorium for a period of three months and return the property that personally belonged to him confiscated during the arrest;
give Stalin V.I. thirty thousand rubles as a one-time benefit.”
On January 11, Vasily Stalin was released early. But he did not manage to take advantage of anything that was promised to him. He started drinking again. Just three months later, on April 16, he was arrested “for continuing anti-Soviet activities.” The story was that he visited the Chinese embassy, where he made a “slanderous statement of an anti-Soviet nature,” as stated in the KGB documents.
The chairman of the presidium talked with Vasily in a fatherly manner Supreme Council Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov. Vasily repented and asked to give him a job. The elderly marshal reproached him for drinking:
I have known you since the day you were born, I had to babysit you. And I wish you only the best. But now I will tell you unpleasant, bad things. You must become a different person. You're still young, but you're so bald. Your father did not have one, although he lived to be seventy-four years old. All this is because you lead too hectic a life, you don’t live the way you should. You bear the name of a great man, you are his son and you should not forget this...
Khrushchev did not like Voroshilov’s conversation with Vasily. And all the members of the Presidium of the Central Committee, as one, attacked Voroshilov, although Kliment Efremovich did nothing wrong. In relation to Stalin Jr., the party leaders did not mince words at all.
Vasily Stalin is an anti-Soviet, an adventurer,” Suslov, a member of the presidium and secretary of the Central Committee, formulated the accusations. - It is necessary to stop his activities, cancel the decree on early release and place him back in prison. The behavior of Comrade Voroshilov - there was no need to get involved. It seems that you support this scum.
Put him in prison,” Central Committee Secretary Nikolai Grigoryevich Ignatov supported Suslov. - Rebirth led him to treason.
Vasily Stalin turned out to be a vile, dirty person, said Nuritdin Mukhitdinov. - Why did Comrade Voroshilov need to accept him?
Vasily Stalin is a traitor to his homeland, his place is in prison, and you caressed him,” Voroshilov and Frol Kozlov scolded. - After the conversation with Comrade Khrushchev, he did not run anywhere, but after the conversation with you he ran to the Chinese embassy.
Vasily asked the Chinese embassy to allow him to go to Beijing for treatment and work. But the party leadership did not intend to let the leader’s son go to China, relations with whom were deteriorating before our eyes.
Vasily Stalin is a state criminal,” said Alexei Nikolaevich Kosygin, a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee and Khrushchev’s deputy in the government. - He needs to be isolated. But Comrade Voroshilov is behaving incorrectly.
In the decision of the Presidium of the Central Committee they wrote: “In connection with the criminal antisocial behavior of V. Stalin, cancel the resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 11, 1960 on the early release of V. Stalin from further serving his sentence and the expungement of his criminal record; place V. Stalin in prison to serve his sentence in accordance with the verdict of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR dated September 2, 1953.”
Vasily Stalin was returned to prison to serve his sentence in full. A year later the term expired. But they didn’t want to let him into Moscow. Shelepin and Rudenko proposed “as an exception to the current legislation, V. I. Stalin, after serving his sentence, should be sent into exile for a period of five years in Kazan (entry to this city is prohibited for foreigners). In case of unauthorized departure from the specified place, according to the law, he may be subject to criminal liability.”
On April 28, 1961, Vasily Iosifovich was transferred to Kazan. They took him to the chairman of the KGB of Tatarstan, who explained to the leader’s son that he could not leave the city for the next five years.
Stalin Jr., already a seriously ill man, lived free for less than a year. They found him a one-room apartment and gave him a pension of one hundred and fifty rubles. He drank constantly. He willingly told his drinking buddies, neighbors and just random people about himself, and explained meaningfully:
They put me in prison because I know too much.
I didn't receive my passport for a long time. They demanded that he change his last name to Dzhugashvili, but he flatly refused. Finally, the local KGB made a deal with him. Vasily set the conditions: give him a larger apartment, increase his pension and give him a car. Moscow agreed to his demands. On January 9, 1962, he was issued a passport with the last name Dzhugashvili. He immediately married nurse Maria Ignatievna Shevargina. She looked after him at the A.V. Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery, where he lay after prison, and followed Stalin’s son to Kazan.
The apartment was equipped with listening equipment, so the security officers knew that Vasily continued to vilify Khrushchev. He believed that they were not allowing him into Moscow because they were afraid. He drank almost every day. He was very old and looked bad. Doctors had difficulty getting him out of his drinking bout.
On March 14, 1962, a teacher from the Ulyanovsk Tank School visited him. A native of Georgia, he brought with him a large number of red wine. A three-day binge led to alcohol intoxication. Vasily Stalin's heart could not stand it.
On March 19, KGB Chairman Semichastny reported to Khrushchev: “According to preliminary data, the cause of death was alcohol abuse. Dzhugashvili, despite repeated warnings from doctors, systematically drank.”
The KGB chairman proposed burying the former general in Kazan without military honors. The proposal was accepted. Vasily's early death gave rise to rumors that he was killed. But who could do this? And for what?
In 1962, Malenkov, expelled from the party, had already been sent into retirement. Khrushchev had no personal relationship with the younger Stalin. And in general, there were already new people in power who practically did not know Vasily Iosifovich.
But maybe the KGB really had a hand in the early death of the leader’s son?
In Kazan, a nurse looked after him, who forced him to marry her and adopt her children. They claim that she was connected with the KGB and killed him - she gave him special injections... However, it is not clear why she had to kill the man whom she had married?
And who did Vasily Stalin interfere with? If they were afraid of his conversations with random interlocutors, they could simply send him back to jail. But organizing a “wet case” was no longer so easy. The chairman of the KGB had to draw up a paper, the first secretary of the Central Committee, that is, in in this case Khrushchev, sign it. Find performers who will not think that the next boss might put them in prison for this.
There were no such actions in the post-Stalin era; in any case, nothing is known about this, although after 1991 state security documents about the most odious crimes were declassified.
There were other rumors - that in fact, the nurse who cared for Vasily managed, with the help of her acquaintances in the police, to obtain a passport for him under a fictitious name and took him to Gelendzhik. And as if there were people who saw him there: he was drinking with the men in the park on a bench.
The KGB department for the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic conducted a thorough check of the circumstances of Vasily Iosifovich’s death, including a forensic medical examination. There is no reason to doubt that Stalin Jr. died a natural death. He died relatively young because he mismanaged his life. True, he is only partly to blame for this: he happened to be born into a family where no one was happy and could not give happiness to others.
“The son is not responsible for his father.” This catchphrase“Leader of the Nations” Joseph Stalin, spoken by him during the mass purges of the 1930s, saved the lives and gave hope for the future to many young people whose parents suffered from Stalin’s repressions. However, the Soviet state security agencies did not stand on ceremony with his own son, Air Force General Vasily Stalin, after the death of the leader.
Younger son dictator, Vasily Stalin, was born on March 24, 1921 in Moscow. As you know, he had a younger sister, Svetlana Alliluyeva, and an older half-brother, Yakov Dzhugashvili. According to eyewitnesses, Joseph Stalin loved his daughter very much, but treated his sons quite harshly. After the young man’s mother, Nadezhda Alliluyeva, committed suicide, communication between father and son was generally reduced to a minimum. Supervision over the upbringing of the secretary general's son was carried out by the head of Stalin's security, General Nikolai Vpasik, and his subordinate NKVD officers.
These circumstances left a noticeable imprint on the character of Vasily Stalin. He started smoking and drinking alcohol at an early age, as well as using strong language. The lack of maternal affection and female upbringing had obvious Negative consequences in the form of increased nervous excitability and some imbalance. But in general, those around him characterized Vasily Stalin as good man, whose advantages completely covered the existing shortcomings.
In the fall of 1938, Vasily Iosifovich Stalin entered the Kachin Military Aviation School, from which he graduated in March 1940. As soon as the Great Patriotic War began, Vasily found himself at the front and took part in fierce air battles. In the fall of 1941, for a bold attack on German bombers, he was awarded the Military Order of the Red Banner.
However, Joseph Stalin soon recalled him from the front line. He was very afraid that Vasily would either die or be captured by the Germans, as happened with his older brother Yakov Dzhugashvili. Therefore, until the end of 1942, Vasily Iosifovich Stalin served at the Main Headquarters of the Red Army Air Force in Moscow. Only the next year, when the situation on the fronts had stabilized, did the Soviet leader allow his youngest son to return to the active army.
Contrary to various rumors and gossip, Vasily Iosifovich Stalin did not immediately become commander of the air force. For almost two years he held the modest position of an instructor pilot, while in which he perfectly mastered all types of aircraft then available in Soviet fighter aviation. Only on May 18, 1944, Vasily Iosifovich Stalin was appointed commander of the 3rd Guards Fighter Aviation Division. Under his command, the division liberated Minsk, Vilnius, Lida and Grodno. At the same time, Vasily personally participated in air battles.
On February 22, 1945, he became commander of the 286th Fighter Aviation Division of the 1st Belorussian Front and in this capacity took part in the Berlin offensive operation. It is interesting that the leader’s son celebrated Victory Day with the modest rank of colonel, although his position could have already risen to the rank of general. He didn't even receive a Gold Star.
Hero of the Soviet Union. In total, during the war, Vasily Stalin made 26 combat missions and personally shot down five enemy aircraft. He was awarded three Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov II degree and the Order of Alexander Nevsky.
After the end of the war, Vasily Stalin served in Germany, after which he was transferred to Moscow to the position of assistant commander of the Moscow Military District Air Force. Only then did he receive the rank of major general and then lieutenant general. And in 1948 he was appointed commander of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District.
From this moment, perhaps the most eventful page of his biography began. The stern father began to control his son less, giving him significant freedom of action.
At first, Vasily Stalin gave his all in the service. He organized and supervised the combat training of pilots, mastering aviation technology, built new airfields and military camps.
Vasily Stalin paid a lot of attention to the development of sports. It was then that the famous football and hockey teams of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District appeared. And Vasily himself even became the chairman of the USSR Equestrian Federation.
However, over time, his vigorous activity acquired a negative character. Vasily Stalin clearly “caught a star”, began to abuse alcohol, and was little involved in official affairs. He was surrounded by dozens of sycophants and drinking companions who weaved various intrigues and constantly dragged their boss into various scandals.
In August 1952, after air holiday In Tushino, Vasily Stalin came to a government reception very drunk and there had an argument with the Air Force Commander-in-Chief Zhigarev. All this happened in front of my father's eyes. Stalin was furious.
He kicked Vasily out of the hall, and the next day signed an order to remove him from the post of commander of the Moscow Military District Air Force. Vasily Stalin was enrolled as a student at the Military Academy of the General Staff. But, according to eyewitnesses, he showed no interest in studying and hardly went to classes.
On March 5, 1953, Joseph Stalin died. Vasily attended his father’s solemn funeral and was unpleasantly surprised by its poor organization. He was especially struck by the wild crush in the crowd, as a result of which dozens of people were injured. He expressed his complaints to members of the Politburo. Then there was a scandal with the USSR Minister of Defense Bulganin. Vasily was offered to immediately leave Moscow and go to serve in a distant garrison. He responded with a categorical refusal. There were also rumors that Vasily appeared at the Chinese embassy, where he stated that his father had been poisoned and asked to be transported to Beijing.
As a result, on April 28, 1953, Vasily Stalin was arrested and accused of making slanderous statements aimed at discrediting the leaders of the USSR. Later, during the investigation, charges of abuse of official position were added. The case of Vasily Stalin was investigated for about two and a half years. All this time he was in custody
internal KGB prison at Lubyanka, and then in.
In September 1955, Vasily Stalin was sentenced to eight years in prison for “anti-Soviet propaganda” (Article 58-10 of the Criminal Code) and abuse of official position (Article 193-17 of the Criminal Code). There was a Khrushchev “thaw” in the yard, but the son of the “leader of the peoples” was convicted in the best traditions of the 1930s. The trial took place without a lawyer and even without a prosecutor! The convicted person was deprived of the right to file a cassation appeal and a request for pardon.
However, this was just the beginning. Vasily Stalin was not sent to a regular colony, but was imprisoned as a total repeat offender. And even there he was not listed
under your real name and surname. In prison documents, the mysterious prisoner was referred to as Vasily Pavlovich Vasiliev. And the ordinary guards did not even know that they were guarding Stalin’s son.
After serving in solitary confinement for more than a year, Vasily himself asked the prison authorities to give him a job. His request was granted by sending him to a turning workshop. There Stalin Vasily Iosifovich in short time mastered all the machines and became a qualified turner. While serving his sentence in the Vladimir Central Prison, Vasily became seriously ill and actually became disabled. While in prison, he constantly wrote letters to Khrushchev, Voroshilov and other Soviet leaders asking them to look into his case and restore justice.
On January 9, 1960, Vasily Stalin was released early from prison. From the Vladimir Central they brought him to Moscow, straight to Nikita Khrushchev’s office. They say that Nikita Sergeevich burst into tears when he saw Vasily in a prison uniform. The former prisoner was given a three-room apartment in Moscow and a good pension.
However, already on April 16, 1960, Vasily Stalin was again arrested by the KGB “for continuing anti-Soviet activities.” Allegedly, he again visited the Chinese Embassy, where he made a “slanderous statement of an anti-Soviet nature.”
Today it is difficult to judge whether such a fact took place or whether it was a provocation by the special services. One way or another, Vasily Iosifovich Stalin spent a year in Lefortovo prison, and then was exiled to Kazan. He was banned from living in Moscow and Georgia, as well as from using the surname “Stalin”. In his passport he was referred to as Vasily Dzhugashvili.
On March 19, 1962, Vasily Stalin died suddenly. According to doctors, death was caused by alcohol poisoning. However, many eyewitnesses claim that in last years Throughout his life, Vasily Iosifovich Stalin did not drink alcohol at all, as he suffered from severe stomach pain. An autopsy of the deceased was also not performed.
In this regard, a version appeared that the son of the “leader of the peoples” could well have been poisoned. After all, he was a very inconvenient figure for the then owners of the Kremlin.
Vasily Iosifovich Stalin (March 24, 1921, Moscow - March 19, 1962, Kazan) - Soviet pilot, Lieutenant General of Aviation. The youngest son of I. Stalin.
Vasily was born into the family of Joseph Stalin and his 2nd wife, Nadezhda Alliluyeva. Like all the children of the party elite, he studied at the 25th model school in Moscow. In 1932, his mother Nadezhda committed suicide. During the funeral, 11-year-old Vasya calmed his father down.
Later, Vasily’s supervision was carried out by Nikolai Vlasik, Stalin’s security chief. He admitted that he was brought up in a circle of men who were not distinguished by temperance and morality. This left an imprint on his subsequent life. Stalin's son began drinking and smoking early.
1938 – began training at the Kachin Military Aviation School. After graduating, he studied at the Air Force Academy. Until 1942 he served at the Air Force General Staff. As soon as the war began, he asked his father to send him to the front. Later, V. Alliluyev noted that Vasily was active, courageous and very worried about his rear position.
1942 - began to take part in the battles of the Great Patriotic War. Then he was awarded the rank of colonel.
1943 - becomes commander of the 32nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, operating on the Kalinin Front. With Vasily’s participation, 3 planes were shot down. He then became an instructor pilot in the 193rd Aviation Regiment. True, he was forbidden to pilot. The father was afraid of his son's capture or death.
1944 - became a pilot inspector for piloting techniques, and then commander of the 3rd Guards Aviation Division. His division took part in the battles for the liberation of Vilna, Minsk, Lida, Panevezys, Grodno, Siauliai and Jelgava.
1945 - commander of the 286th aviation division of the Belarusian Front. Under the command of Vasily, the division took part in the Berlin offensive operation. During the war, Vasily more than once received official penalties from his father and was demoted for various offenses.
1946 - commander of the 1st Guards Aviation Corps. Became a major general.
1947 – Assistant Commander of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District. Received the rank of lieutenant general.
1948 – Commander of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District. Stalin organized combat training, held military councils and was involved in organizing the life of his subordinates.
1952 - removed from his post after he came to a government reception drunk and said rude things to the Air Force Commander-in-Chief P. Zhigarev. Then his father himself kicked him out.
1952 – student of the Military Academy of the General Staff. True, Vasily did not go to classes.
1953 - after the death of his father, he received an order from the Minister of Defense Bulganin to leave the capital to command a district. But Vasily did not obey the order. As a result, he is transferred to the reserve.
Soon Vasily Stalin contacted the Chinese embassy with information that his father had been poisoned. Stalin's son asked the Chinese authorities to travel to Beijing.
At the end of April, he was arrested and accused of slanderous statements, assault and abuse of office. During the investigation, Stalin's son gave the necessary confessions. The investigation lasted more than 2 years, during which he was constantly in custody. As a result, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison for abuse of office and “anti-Soviet propaganda.”
Stalin was held in the Vladimir Central Prison under the name “Vasily P. Vasiliev.” He was appointed mechanic. The former duty officer at the central office recalled that Stalin was a good turner. But in prison, Vasily became seriously ill, effectively becoming disabled. He repeatedly wrote letters to Khrushchev, Bulganin and Voroshilov with a request to look into his case. But I never received any answers.
1960 - released and summoned to Khrushchev. He was transferred to the reserve with the right to wear a uniform and pension benefits. Vasily is given a 3-room apartment in Moscow, and the question of returning the seized property is raised. But in the same year he was arrested again “for continuing anti-Soviet activities,” which resulted in a visit to the Chinese embassy, where he allegedly again made a “slanderous statement.” He was in Lefortovo prison for a whole year.
1961 – released from prison. Vasily was forbidden to live in the capital and Georgia, and to bear the surname “Stalin”; according to his passport he was “Dzhugashvili”. Kazan became his new place of residence.
March 19, 1962 – died from alcohol poisoning. But Vasily’s third wife questioned this version, claiming that there was no autopsy. Stalin's son was buried in Kazan at the Arskoye cemetery. In 2002, his body was reburied at the Troekurovsky cemetery in Moscow, next to last wife.
Vasily Stalin was married 4 times and had 4 children of his own. His first chosen one was Galina Burdonskaya, the daughter of a Kremlin garage engineer. The marriage was registered in 1940 and lasted until 1944. From this marriage there was a son, Alexander Burdonsky, who became a theater director, and a daughter, Nadezhda.
Vasily’s second wife was Ekaterina Timoshenko, daughter of Marshal Semyon Timoshenko. They lived together only for 3 years. But there was a son, Vasily Stalin, who died in 1972 from a drug overdose, and a daughter, Svetlana. Stalin's third wife was Kapitolina Vasilyeva, a champion swimmer. This marriage also lasted 4 years. Vasily’s fourth wife was Maria Nusbeg, a nurse. The marriage was registered shortly before the death of Stalin's son.
In the early 1950s, on the orders of Vasily Stalin, construction of the Sovetskaya Hotel began in Moscow, where he lived. This hotel has apartments named after him.
Stalin was one of the youngest Soviet generals. However, it was only the 12th time that my father signed the order awarding him the rank of general.
Vasily patronized sports. He created football, hockey and other Air Force teams. The strongest athletes of other teams were transferred to their composition, so a comic decoding of the Air Force team appeared: “Vassily Stalin’s gang” or “They took all the athletes.” Stalin was the head of the Equestrian Federation.
Once Vasily organized the construction of 500 houses, in which he settled the families of pilots and technicians, who had previously huddled in barracks and barracks. It was he who forced the officers to attend evening schools.
In 1999, the Main Military Prosecutor's Office dropped all political charges against Vasily.
