Vasily Zaytsev

Vasily Grigoryevich Zaytsev
Zaytsev in December 1942
Native name Василий Григорьевич Зайцев
Nickname(s) Vasya
Born (1915-03-23)23 March 1915
Yeleninskoye, Orenburg Governorate, Russian Empire
(now Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russian Federation)
Died 15 December 1991(1991-12-15) (aged 76)
Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Buried Mamayev Kurgan, Volgograd, Russia
Allegiance  Soviet Union
Years of service 1937–1945
Rank Captain
Battles/wars

World War II

Awards


Vasily Grigoryevich Zaytsev (Russian: Васи́лий Григо́рьевич За́йцев, IPA: [vɐˈsʲilʲɪj ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈzajtsɨf]; 23 March 1915 – 15 December 1991) was a Soviet sniper and a Hero of the Soviet Union during World War II. Prior to 10 November 1942, he killed 32 Axis soldiers with a standard-issue rifle.[1] Between 10 November 1942 and 17 December 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad, he killed 225 enemy soldiers, including 11 snipers.[1]

A feature-length film, Enemy at the Gates (2001), starring Jude Law as Zaytsev, was based on part of William Craig's non-fiction book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad (1973), which includes a "snipers' duel" between Zaytsev and a Wehrmacht sniper school director, Major Erwin König.

Early life

Zaytsev was born in Yeleninskoye, Orenburg Governorate in a peasant family of Russian ethnicity[2] and grew up in the Ural Mountains, where he learned marksmanship by hunting deer and wolves with his grandfather and older brother. He brought home his first trophy at the age of 12: a wolf that he shot with a single bullet from his first personal rifle, a large single-shot Berdan, which at the time he was barely able to carry on his back.

He graduated from seven classes of junior high school. In 1930 he graduated from a construction college in the city of Magnitogorsk, where he received the specialty of a fitter. Then he graduated from accounting courses.

From 1937 he served in the Pacific Fleet, where he was enlisted as clerk of the artillery department. After studying at the Military School, he was appointed head of the financial part of the Pacific Fleet, in Transfiguration Bay. In this post he was caught by the Great Patriotic War.

War career

Zaytsev, left, in Stalingrad, December 1942

Zaytsev served in the Soviet Navy as a clerk in Vladivostok. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Zaytsev, like many of his comrades, volunteered to be transferred to the front line. He was a chief petty officer in the Navy and was assigned the rank of senior warrant officer upon transfer to the army. He was eventually assigned to the 1047th Rifle Regiment of the 284th "Tomsk" Rifle Division, which became part of the 62nd Army at Stalingrad on 17 September 1942.[3]

World War II

During Zaytsev's career as a sniper, he concealed himself in various locations – for example, on high ground, under rubble, or in water pipes. After a few kills, he changed his position. Together with his partner Nikolai Kulikov, Zaytsev exercised his hide and sting tactics. One of Zaytsev's common tactics was to cover one large area from three positions, with two men at each point – a sniper and a scout. This tactic, known as the "sixes", is still in use today and was implemented during the war in Chechnya.[4]

Zaytsev fought in the Battle of Stalingrad until January 1943, when a mortar attack injured his eyes. He was attended to by Vladimir Filatov, who is credited with having restored Zaytsev's sight. On 22 February 1943, Zaytsev was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. He then returned to the front and finished the war at the Battle of the Seelow Heights in Germany, with the military rank of captain. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1943.

Civilian life

After the war, Zaytsev settled in Kiev, where he studied at a textile university before obtaining employment as an engineer. He rose to become the director of a textile factory in Kiev and remained in that city until he died on 15 December 1991 at the age of 76, just ten days before the final dissolution of the Soviet Union. He was initially buried in Kiev despite his final request to be buried at Volgograd.[5]

2006 commemoration

Zaytsev's grave on Mamayev Hill

On 31 January 2006, Vasily Zaytsev was reburied on Mamayev Hill in Volgograd with full military honors.[1] Zaytsev's dying wish was to be buried at the monument to the defenders of Stalingrad. His coffin was carried next to a monument where his famous quote is written: "For us there was no land beyond the Volga".

Colonel Donald Paquette of the U.S. Sniper School was present and laid a wreath as a sign of respect to a legendary sniper. U.S. Army News quoted Colonel Paquette: "Vasily Zaytsev is a legend and every American sniper must memorize his tactics and methods. He is a legend amongst snipers. May he rest in peace."

Film

  • A feature-length film, Enemy at the Gates (2001), starring Jude Law as Zaytsev, was based on part of William Craig's book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad (1973), which includes a "snipers' duel" between Zaytsev and a Wehrmacht sniper school director, Major Erwin König. Zaytsev indicates in his own memoirs that a three-day duel did indeed occur and that the sniper he killed was the head of a sniper school near Berlin. However, there is currently no available evidence that any Major Erwin König ever existed, despite the claim made by the Armed Forces Museum of Moscow to be in possession of his telescopic sight. But as the duel claimed by Zaytsev has never officially been determined to be fiction, historians consider it neither proven nor disproven, and the subject remains open to debate. Historian Antony Beevor said that he discovered "in the Russian ministry of defence archives that the whole story of the sniper duel – portrayed by Jude Law and Ed Harris – had been a clever figment of Soviet propaganda.".[6]
  • GDH 559 was versionized in Ukrainian as an tv movie series of The 6 snipers of russia. (6 снайперів Росії). Starring of one of the greatest actors is Nong Charlie (น้อง ชาร์เลท) as himself comrade vasiley. Directed by Dmitri Topai.

Literature

  • David L. Robbins's historical novel, War of the Rats (1991) includes a sniper duel in Stalingrad, but between Zaitsev and a German adversary named Colonel Heinz Thorvald, identified in the author's introduction as an actual combatant.[7]

Gaming

  • The video game Destiny allows players to select and use a sniper rifle named No Land Beyond, in recognition of Zaytsev and his quote, "For us there was no land beyond the Volga." The rifle is stylized to look like a WWII-era Soviet sniper rifle.
  • In the video game Dirty Bomb, one of the characters is named Vassili, as a reference to Zaytsev. He also wields sniper rifles.
  • In a reference to the 2001 movie of the same name, an achievement for the Sniper in Team Fortress 2 called Enemy at the Gates is given to players who kill an enemy within the first second of a round (i.e. immediately after the gates open) as Sniper.
  • The beginning of Call of Duty World at War mission 'Vendetta', takes inspiration from the scene from Enemy at the Gates in which Zaytsev is in the fountain.

Awards and honors

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Biography: Vasily Zaytsev". Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia (in Russian).
  2. ↑ "Vasily Zaytsev". Warheroes.ru.
  3. ↑ Sharp, Charles C. Sharp (1996). "Red Swarm". Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From 1942 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II. X. p. 108.
  4. ↑ "Prominent Russians: Military: Vaily Zaitsev". Russiapedia.
  5. ↑ "Prominent Russians: Vasily Zaytsev". Russiapedia. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  6. ↑ Beevor, Antony. [we had found in the Russian ministry of defence archives that the whole story of the sniper duel – portrayed by Jude Law and Ed Harris – had been a clever figment of Soviet propaganda "My favourite war movie – and the ones I can't bear"] Check |url= value (help).
  7. ↑ Robbins, David L. (1991). War of the Rats. Bantam.

Further reading

  • Zaytsev, Vasily (2003). Thoughts of a Sniper. Trans. David Givens, Peter Kornakov, Konstantin Kornakov. Ed. Neil Okrent. Los Angeles: 2826 Press Inc. ISBN 0-615-12148-9.
  • Beevor, Antony (1998). Stalingrad. London: Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 0-14-100131-3.
  • Robbins, David L. (2000). War of the Rats. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-58135-X.
  • The Reader's Digest Illustrated History of World War II (1989). London: Reader's Digest Association Limited. ISBN 0-89577-333-3
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