The Battle for Voronezh in the memory of the younger generation (based on the materials of a sociological study)

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Introduction. Knowledge of the history of the liberation of Voronezh and the names of outstanding commanders in our difficult times, in the face of constant attempts to falsify history, allows us to understand the city's contribution to the defeat of fascism. Victory in the battle for Voronezh contributed to the return of a number of significant Soviet territories previously captured by the enemy. In addition, the study of history based on documents of the Ministry of Defense and open archives helps to judge the events of that time objectively and balanced.
The aim of the work is to study the ideas of students of the Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko about the battle for Voronezh, as one of the least known pages of the Great Patriotic War.
Materials and methods of research. The work used methods of voluntary questioning and statistical processing of the results. The questionnaire included 13 questions, which were answered by young men and women aged 17 to 28 years. A total of 100 people were interviewed. The purpose of the survey is to identify the knowledge of modern youth about the history of the liberation of the city of Voronezh during the Great Patriotic War. The study was conducted during 2024.
Results of the study. The Battle of Voronezh, which began on June 28, 1942, became one of the key events of the Great Patriotic War, lasting as long as 212 days. This period was filled with intense defensive and offensive battles for the strategically important city, which became the first front-line city in this war. Voronezh found itself in the center of military action, and its fate was decided in the context of a large-scale Wehrmacht operation called "Blau". The command of this operation was carried out by Field Marshal von Weichs, who sought to capture the city and use it as a springboard for a further offensive to the south.
At the beginning of the battle, there were about 200 thousand civilians in Voronezh, whom the authorities did not have time to evacuate. This created additional difficulties for the city's defenders, as they had to not only fight the enemy, but also ensure the safety of the civilian population. During the offensive on the city, which was carried out by the 4th Panzer Army of the Wehrmacht, as well as the 2nd German and 2nd Hungarian armies, the resistance of the Soviet troops was courageous, but not always successful [1, 2]. As a result, the city was divided into two parts: the left bank, controlled by the Soviet troops, and the right bank, captured by the enemy. On July 7, 1942, the Voronezh Front was formed under the command of General Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin. This decision was an important step in organizing the defense of the city. In August 1942, Soviet troops occupied strategically important positions on the Chizhovsky bridgehead, which they held until the complete liberation of Voronezh. A mass grave was created on this bridgehead, where 15 thousand Red Army soldiers who gave their lives to defend the city are buried. At this time, Voronezh became known as "Stalingrad on the Don", which emphasized its importance in the context of the entire war [3].
The Voronezh Front, interacting with neighboring fronts, conducted an operation codenamed "Little Saturn" in the winter of 1942-1943. This operation became part of the Battle of Stalingrad and played an important role in driving the occupiers out of the Voronezh land. As a result of "Little Saturn", more than 200 settlements in the region were liberated, which significantly strengthened the positions of Soviet troops and created the preconditions for further successful operations.
The Ostrogozhsk-Rossoshan operation, which took place from January 13 to 27, 1943, was a logical continuation of the successful actions of the Soviet troops. It allowed not only to finally liberate Voronezh, but also to create a threat to German positions in other areas. During this operation, Soviet troops were able to build on their success by striking at the enemy's rear and depriving it of the ability to effectively organize defense [4].
Thus, the Battle of Voronezh became a symbol of the heroism and fortitude of Soviet soldiers, as well as an important stage in the course of the Great Patriotic War. It demonstrated how courage and unity can withstand even the most powerful armies. Voronezh, which survived severe trials, became a place of memory for the fallen heroes and a symbol of victory that will forever remain in the history of Russia [5].
A study conducted among 100 students of the Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko (VSMU), we studied the level of knowledge of doctors about the Battle of Voronezh and its participants. Students of the medical, medical and preventive faculties and the Institute of Nursing Education (ISO) took part in the study. 100 students took part in the study, of which 30 people (30%) were male and 70 people (70%) were female. The age range of the participants varied from 17 to 28 years, with an average of 22.5 years. The research method was anonymous questionnaires, which ensured the objectivity of the data obtained.
The first two questions concerned gender and age, the results of which are presented above.
The third question of the questionnaire, “Do you know when the defensive and offensive battles for the city began?”, revealed a rather low level of awareness ty. Only 55% of respondents gave a positive answer, which indicates significant gaps in knowledge about this important historical event.
The fourth question of the questionnaire, "How many days did the battle for Voronezh last?", demonstrated slightly better results. 70% of respondents gave the correct answer, which indicates partial preservation of information about the duration of the hostilities.
To the fifth question, "Are you familiar with the name of the German operation to capture Voronezh?" 65% of medical students were unable to give an exact answer, but 35% still coped with this question.
Answers to the sixth question of the questionnaire, "What is the significance of the battle for Voronezh in the history of the Great Patriotic War?" were distributed as follows:
• 55% - the battle turned the tide of the Great Patriotic War,
• 25% - the battle prevented the enemy from entering the capital of the USSR,
• 11% - stopped the advance of the German invaders deep into the country,
• 4% - stopped the capture of oil fields in the North Caucasus and Baku,
• 3% - provided flank cover for the attack on Stalingrad,
• 1% - prevented a large-scale capture of territories of the Soviet Union.
These results clearly demonstrate that the surveyed students of the Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko have formed an idea of ​​the significant role of the battle for Voronezh in the history of the Great Patriotic War.
The seventh question of the questionnaire, "When was the Voronezh Front formed and who led it?" showed that more than half of the respondents (55%) answered correctly and chose the option: July 7, 1942, Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin.
The answers to the eighth question of the questionnaire, "What do you know about Operation Little Saturn?" were distributed as follows: unfortunately, the majority of respondents (60%) answered that they were not familiar with this operation.
To the ninth question of the questionnaire, "Are you familiar with the name Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky?", the students answered that they were familiar with this name, since he was the commander-in-chief of the 60th Army of the Voronezh Front.
To the tenth question of the questionnaire, "Dates of the Voronezh-Kastornoye offensive operation?", those (35%) who have this information were January 24 - February 2, 1943.
The results of the eleventh question showed that the names of the commander of the 6th Tank Army, Major General A.G. Kravchenko and the commander of the 40th Army, Lieutenant General K.S. Moskalenko are known to a small percentage (20%) of respondents, which was demonstrated by the answers to the 11th question, “Are you familiar with the names of Andrei Grigorievich Kravchenko and Kirill Semyonovich Moskalenko?”
The twelfth question of the questionnaire, "Are the names of Nikandr Evlampievich Chibisov and Nikolai Pavlovich Pukhov familiar to you?" allowed us to establish that information about these generals is mostly unknown to the students surveyed.
The thirteenth question of the questionnaire, "What is February 2, 1943 in Russian history?" did not cause any difficulties for the majority of respondents (55%), and therefore they correctly answered that February 2, 1943 is the Day of the victorious completion of the Battle of Stalingrad, which is also the day of the end of the Battle of Voronezh.
Conclusion. Thus, the analysis of the results of the conducted study allowed us to come to the conclusion that, in general, the majority of the surveyed students of the VSMU named after N.N. Burdenko understand the importance of the battle for Voronezh for the victory over Nazi Germany and its satellites and are familiar with the chronology of events, however, unfortunately, the knowledge of the heroes of the battle among the surveyed youth is insufficient. The most famous commanders who liberated the Voronezh region are N.F. Vatutin and I.D. Chernyakhovsky, at the same time, few respondents know about the contribution of A.G. Kravchenko, K.S. Moskalenko, N.E. Chibisov and N.N. Pukhov to the defeat of the enemy, in connection with which it is necessary to recommend the younger generation to be interested in their history. In our opinion, knowledge of the history of the liberation of their native city is necessary for young people, as it helps to strengthen historical memory, establish a connection between the past and the present, respect for the military and labor exploits of Soviet citizens, makes one think about the price of Victory and strengthen the moral potential of the younger generation.

About the authors

Roman Dmitrievich Ishutin

Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko

Email: romanisutin665@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5927-7122

студент

Russian Federation, 10 Studencheskaya str., Voronezh, 394036, Russia

Elizaveta Anatolyevna Rakova

Voronezh State Medical University named after N. N. Burdenko

Author for correspondence.
Email: elizaveta-racova@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0001-8682-4742
SPIN-code: 7947-3483

Преподаватель 

Russian Federation, 394036, Russia, Voronezh, ul. Studencheskaya, 10

References

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