This is a unique three-volume publication dedicated to the Heroes of the Soviet Union, the Heroes of Russia, the holders of the Order of Glory: those who were born in Nizhny Novgorod and the Nizhny Novgorod region, studied, worked and were called up. the front, and those who returned from the Great Patriotic War and are buried in the Nizhny Novgorod land. The head of the team of authors of the book is the historian, local historian and winner of the Nizhny Novgorod Prize Olga Viktorovna Bukova.
The book was created on the initiative of the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, vice-president Shantsev, the government of the Nizhny Novgorod region and the chairman of the Regional Council of Veterans (Pensioners) of War, Labor, Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies Nizhny Novgorod Law. Yu.E. Kirilyuk with funds received from voluntary donations from businesses, organizations and residents of the region as part of a charity fundraiser announced by the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region in 2015. More than four million rubles were raised for the publication of the book , so it is correct to call Nizhny Novgorod the book of people’s memory.
To create the book, the author’s research team carried out large-scale work to collect, summarize and analyze documentary materials about the heroes in the archives of Moscow, Podolsk, St. Petersburg, Kostroma, Vladimir, Murom, Ivanov. Archives, military registration and enlistment offices, registry offices, district and school museums, veterans’ organizations of Nizhny Novgorod and the Nizhny Novgorod region, as well as local archivists and historians of the Republics of Chuvashia, Mordovia, Mari El, Belarus took part and Kazakhstan. in book work.
As part of the implementation of this multi-year project, the team of authors collected biographies of 722 residents of Nizhny Novgorod: Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of Russia and holders of the Order of Glory.
In September 2018, the first volume of the Nizhny Novgorod book was published in memory of 168 residents of the Nizhny Novgorod region who received the highest state awards.
All organizations and individuals who donated their money as part of the charity fundraiser are published in the Book of Memory and have the opportunity to receive a copy of the second and third volumes as a gift.
For Vladimir and Alexandra Kurguzov, the scrapbook is now a family heirloom. His parents came to Berlin and their grandchildren should know and remember their history.
– Kurguzov Ivan Efimovich – holder of three Orders of Glory. This is my husband’s father. Grishin Alexander Efimovich also holds three Orders of Glory. This is my dad,” said Alexandra and Vladimir Kurguzov.
– On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Victory, the archives of World War II veterans who served in special units were declassified: SMERSH, domestic and foreign intelligence officers and KGB officers. And today, in connection with this search work, the number of Heroes of the Soviet Union and full holders of the Order of Glory has increased – about 200 people,” shared Andrei Zakharov, president of the Regional Council of War Veterans. , Labor, Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies of the Nizhny Novgorod region
The book contains more than just names. Many rare photographs, stories from the lives of heroes. Thus, it was possible to establish a unique fact about the former resident of Vyksa, Ilya Kuzin. He was a partisan during the Great Patriotic War.
– This hero was awarded in the same decree as Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. He was awarded the title of Hero. These are the first heroes of the war,” said Olga Buková.
He has been collecting information about the heroes of Nizhny Novgorod for more than ten years. Literally, little by little, in central archives and museums. He says that he has already traveled through the Nizhny Novgorod region five times. Currently, the team of authors led by Olga Bukova is working on the preparation of three more volumes (IV, V, VI).
