During World War II, the German POW camp was a lifeless place, but even though it was in that half-dead place, there were always people with their own beliefs who tried to find their way home in the dark.
During the German-Soviet War during World War II, Devyataev, who was unfortunately arrested for saving his teammates, was sent to the German death camp, and he finally escaped from that hellish place after much effort.
Dviataev in front of the plane
People are always full of curiosity about how Devyataev escaped from the so-called German "death camp".
In July 1944, the senior lieutenant of the Soviet fighter aviation regiment, Devyataev was flying his fighter jets at high altitudes with the German fighters, although the fighters piloted by Devyataev were not as advanced as the fighters piloted by the German pilots, and these fighters were overwhelmed by the original owners, the Americans, but the Soviets played these overwhelmed old fighters to the extreme, and let these fighters become the lingering shadow of the German Air Force.
- Unfortunately captured
As his teammates were shot down by German fighters one by one, the only remaining Devyataev became the only enemy in the eyes of the German Air Force, so Devataev was caught by the German fighters, and Devyataev was outnumbered, so he was in a hurry and came up with a solution.
He began to lower the altitude of the fighter he was flying, in the mode of ultra-low altitude flight, flying against the surface of the river, and then suddenly turning sharply in the curved river channel, and in the face of this sudden situation, the German pilot could only follow Dviataev
However, the German drivers in the rear did not know the road conditions ahead, and Devyataev took advantage of this blind spot of the German drivers to rise urgently when he was about to hit the bridge, so a German fighter crashed into the bridge in front of him, successfully sending away an enemy who was holding on to him.
German planes crashed into bridges
Then, he shrugged off the enemy and tried to take advantage of the time when he was not chased to ask about his teammates, but no one replied to him for a long time. But at this moment, through the thick clouds, two warplanes roared over Devyataev's head
Deviataev took a closer look, it turned out that his teammates were being chased and intercepted by The German pilot, so Devataev showed what he had learned before, he began a 360-degree backflip, attacking behind the enemy, and because of the cloud, the German fighter did not know that deVyataev was behind him, so under the attack of Devyataev, another German fighter was successfully shot down.
Devataev and his teammates then headed higher into the clouds, because their ultimate target was a German heavy bomber without a fighter escort, and Devyataev and his teammates began a battle plan against the target.
German bombers
First by Devyataev's teammates to attract the attention of the target bomber, and then by Devyataev to the target bomber fatal blow, the two cooperated tacitly, the bomber was successfully hit, but the bomber fragments hit the fuselage of the fighter piloted by Devyataev, the oil instantly spewed out and splashed all over the hatch, and gradually the plane also began to spark and be ignited. The task was finally completed, but Devyataev could not return safely.
Splashed oil all over the hatch
In the face of this situation, Devyataev naturally could not wait for death in the fighter, and now his only way to survive was to abandon the plane and parachute, just when he jumped out of the fighter, he unfortunately hit the tail wing of the fighter, and the more unfortunate thing was still behind, after landing safely, Devyataev did not return to his own country, but fell to the enemy, that is, the area occupied by the German side.
At this moment, Devyataev took out the small pistol he was carrying and began to shoot forward, because not far from him, a small group of German soldiers were moving towards him, but his bullets were limited, and after the fight, there was no chance of suicide in the face of the enemy in front of him, so Devataev was unfortunately captured.
Land in Devyataev in the German theater
- Entering a prisoner-of-war camp
In August 1944, Vyataev was sent to a German prisoner-of-war camp dedicated to pilots, where pilots from various countries were captured and all concentrated here.
Soldiers sent to prisoner-of-war camps
What made Vyataev unbelievable was that in this pilot's prisoner-of-war camp, he actually met his good friend Koria, who had fought with him in the past, but the identity of the two was no longer the former comrade-in-arms
Because here, Koria is wearing a German military uniform, and there are also many medals on the shoulder straps, and he is still a lieutenant in the German army, and his former comrades are now fighting each other, which makes Vyataev unable to accept it for a long time.
Just when Vyataev could not believe that this was true, Kolya also recognized him, and also vigorously persuaded him to work for the German side with him, and after surrendering, Vyataev's demands would be met, including the liberation he now expected, but Vyataev did not agree to Koria, because Vyataev did not want his country and family to be disgraced.
Persuading Koria of Vyataev
In the evening, Vyataev and several other pilots tried to escape from this place, but they did not implement any plan, just fled, the end can be imagined, not only was he arrested, but Also Korya, in order to warn the rest, actually shot and killed one of his own compatriots, which also made Vyataev see Koria's cruelty. And their consequences were not far off, and they were ordered to carry out the death penalty.
- Entering a death camp and meeting "nobles"
In September 1944, Vyataev and his party were sent to the Sachsenhausen death camp, where, as the name suggests, people faced only a dead end.
Death camps are in a tragic situation
Perhaps Vyataev's fate should not be extinguished, here he met the "nobleman" of his life, rebalichenko, who was responsible for recording archives and acting as a barber, and this person's identity is very special, so far the information has not been fully disclosed, only that after the war he worked in the secret department of the Soviet side and the position was not low. It was he who helped Devyataev tamper with the file and then handed him the id card of a deceased teacher, and this made Devyataev suddenly convert from a Soviet to a Ukrainian, and in this way, Vyataev was transformed from a death row prisoner to an ordinary prisoner, and he escaped the disaster.
- Access to secret German military bases
In October 1944, Devyataev, as Nikitanko, was sent by the German army to the island of Usedom in the Baltic Sea, which was then a secret military fortress of the German army, and the German missile center Penemünde, was also here, and new weapons were being developed here, which were cruise and ballistic missiles, so it can be said that it was heavily guarded.
Prisoners of war who are about to be sent to the island of Usedom
Because of the lack of manpower to study the reasons for the production of new weapons, countless prisoners of war were forced to work here. And the conditions of their survival do not need to be known, they can only die here, of course, it is okay to die, and then let a new batch of prisoners of war come in, replace them batch by batch, and these prisoners of war eat a piece of bread and vegetable soup with meat every day.
Forced to work
After eating, the German officers began to assemble the prisoners, and they told the new prisoners that the island was surrounded by the sea, and that if they wanted to escape, there was only one way, and that was to turn into a wisp of smoke and drift out of the chimney of the crematorium.
- The germ of escape begins to appear
In this place, the rise and fall of airplanes is not a rare thing, but Devyataev has other ideas about this rarity, that is, at this time, the budding of the desire to hijack the bomber to escape begins to appear. On this day, Devyataev was sent to repair the railway, and he was surprised to find that the place where he repaired the railway was close to the airfield of the German bombers, which made the idea of hijacking the plane and escaping even more urgent.
After a tiring day, Devyataev and his party thought they could take a good rest, but it always backfired. The Germans gathered all the prisoners of war and said that they had arranged for everyone to sing together, but coincidentally, they often tested the missiles they had studied at night, and this time, the missiles failed to fly again, and the prisoners of war saw these oncoming missiles and fled in fright, and just when Devyataev wanted to see what it was, the missiles landed straight in the camp, and in a flash, smoke rose, and the raging fire began to burn, followed by a cry of mourning.
People waiting to sing
The German officers in the camp did not react to this scene, they seemed to have become accustomed to it, perhaps this was a very common thing for them
After the quelling, the German officers asked the surviving prisoners of war to collect the bodies that had been killed or injured, and as for why the wounds were also called corpses, it was because for the German officers, the blow wounds were equivalent to blowing up.
And when Devataev was disposing of a corpse, he found that the corpse still had vital signs, although the injury was more serious, but the mouth shouted to save me, I know how to escape from this place, and this small voice caught the attention of Devyataev, and also attracted the attention of the overseer Krinov, and he seemed to want to hide something, and urged Devataev to work quickly.
Devyataev felt that Krinov had reacted strangely, so he went to look for the man of the previous night again the next day, and also got a man's name from his mouth, Roskov.
After much inquiry, Devyataev finally found this man, and at this time, the overseer Krynov also appeared behind him, needless to say, they were together, and from their mouths, they knew that they wanted to get a boat, and then use this boat to escape from this hellish place, but this difficulty was equivalent to ascending to heaven, almost unfeasible, and once discovered, the only thing waiting for them was death.
The tragic situation in the concentration camp at that time
- The escape plan begins
In order to escape from this place, they must venture forward. After a long time together, Devyataev gradually opened his heart and told him about his plan to hijack a bombing plane and fly back to the Soviet side, but the plane alone could not make the plane take off, and it needed a group of people to control it at the same time to start, and Devyataev wanted Krynov to find a way to bring himself and his team into the bomber's airfield.
Just as Krinov was wondering how to bring Devyataev and his team in, the opportunity came. Because the bomber's airfield was bombed by other countries in turn, resulting in the aircraft's runway being bombed and unable to take off, it needed to be cleaned up manually, so Krinov took the opportunity to bring Dviataev and his team inside.
Devyataev went through many obstacles and finally encountered the plane, but the close guard made it impossible for Devyataev to go inside to check the specific situation of the plane, so Krinov would go to the sentry to make small talk to attract the attention of the sentry, and then give Devyataev a chance to get close to the plane.
Aircraft in German bomber airfields
On this day, when Krynov attracted the attention of the sentry, Devyataev sneaked into the interior of the plane on the grounds of looking for firewood, although the control levers of the aircraft were the same, but after all, it was a German plane, and the words marked must also be in German, and The Devyataev composition Soviets could not understand it at all, and had no choice but to pry off the sign text on the plane, and figured out the location of the guard post here at the airport and the time of the change of guard, so as to prepare for the next hijacking of the aircraft.
After prying off the logo text and translating it, Devyataev recited the logo text on these planes almost all the time, and with Krynov's help, Devyataev finally memorized the meaning of the words on these cards, and everything was ready.
- In the event of a sudden situation, the operation is temporarily terminated
When everything was ready, they also decided to launch their own escape operation, taking advantage of the lack of air defense after work, and Devyataev and his party prepared to solve the only guard and escape, just as Krynov was ready to go forward and chat with the sentries
When Roskov was preparing to sneak attack in the rear, it was a coincidence that the air forces of other countries carried out air raids at this time, and there was no way, the operation could only be temporarily terminated.
In an instant, countless bombs poured down from the sky, and the airfield was bombed unbearably, and at this time, the enemy fighters dropped a bomb on the hangar where the bomber was located, but the bomb did not explode as scheduled, but hung directly above the bomber, and in the face of this bomb that could explode at any time, not only the German officers were afraid, but Dviataev was even more afraid in their hearts, because once the bomber was destroyed, then their escape plan would also fail.
A bomb hanging directly above the bomber
Just as the German officer was contemplating who to remove the dangerous object, Devataev went, and his comrades in the camp could not understand Devyataev's behavior, nor did they know what he was trying to do.
In the middle of Devyataev's bomb disposal, the bomb suddenly sank, although everyone did not understand why Devyataev had to help the German officers remove the bomb, but everyone knew that if Devyataev died, it would mean that no one could drive the bomber and lead them out of this place, so Roskov rushed forward to help, and the bomb was successfully dismantled.
Later, Devyataev looked tired, but used his spare time to continue to observe the plane, and when he came out of the hangar trembling, the German officials admired his courage and rewarded him.
But the other comrades in the barracks did not understand him and insulted him as a traitor, and the next words made him humiliated and wrestled together, and Dviataev killed him by mistake, and he was punished accordingly, that is, he was beaten by the Germans and told to end his life in ten days.
Faced with this sudden news, Devyataev and his men could only carry out the plan quickly within ten days, leaving them little time, and although Devyataev was to be punished by the German officers at night, he still had to continue to work during the day.
Coincidentally, the SS major in the death camp in Sachsenhausen, Graudentz, discovered that Rybalichenko had modified Devyataev's documents, so Graudentz came here with Koria to recognize him, but Vyataev, as the central member of the escape team, naturally received protection from the members of the team.
Deviataev waiting to be inspected
So the German army divided the prisoners of war here into several rows, so that Koria could distinguish Dviataev, and just when he was almost exposed, his companions created a disturbance, so that Devataev took the opportunity to blend in with the people who had already been inspected by Koria, and in this way, Devyataev managed to escape under the cover of their party.
At noon on this day, also the time when the bombers' defenses were weakest, Devataev knew that their opportunity had come.
There was only one old sentry guarding the restaurant, and after checking the surrounding environment, Krinov stabbed the other side with a dagger, and due to the experience of the other side's combat effectiveness, the crisis was resolved in an instant, and Devyataev, when they saw it, rushed up to help and successfully subdued the old sentry, and then they opened the hatch and smoothly entered the warehouse where the bomber was located.
Since they didn't have keys and couldn't get inside the plane, Dviataev had to get into the bomber from below, then into the plane from where the bomb was dropped, and then into the cockpit. After a long period of study, Devyataev has already remembered how to start the aircraft, and after some preparation, the aircraft has been successfully started.
The group pushed open the hatch, and the plane began to gradually exit the hangar, and the German guards, thinking that it was a normal mission, did not pay much attention to Dviataev.
The bombers were constantly accelerating on the runway, but since they were the bombers flying the German side for the first time, the first flight was not successful. On the other side, Koria and the German officers left the concentration camp because they could not find Devataev, but on the way back they felt that something was wrong and returned to the airport, and when they returned to see the slain sentries, they understood that Devyataev wanted to hijack the bombers and flee, and immediately pursued them
But it was too late, and Devyataev, after experiencing the failure of the first test flight, had already figured out the bomber's flying skills, and the plane successfully left the runway.
As for Devataev, Koria did not intend to ignore them, so just as Devyataev was relaxing, Koria followed them with a fighter jet.
In the face of this situation, Devyataev, as an experienced air force, naturally did not panic, and immediately let everyone prepare for battle, but Koria tightly bit Deviataev and attacked Devataev's bombers, because the bombers were very bulky, so the evasion performance was not very good, although it also returned fire on Koria, but it did not have much effect
Faced with Koria's pursuit, Devataev chose to lower the altitude of the flight and rush down. Coria, on the other hand, had not prepared enough ammunition because of the haste of take-off, so he thought of a stupid way to put the wheels down and collide with the bombers, which attracted Dviataev's attack
So Coria's fighter jet rushed down in thick black smoke, and at the end, Koria used the pager to beg Dviataev not to tell his father about what he had already turned to the German side, because it would be the black mark of his father's life, and in other words, Koria's fighter plane crashed on the ground.
Coria crashed to the ground
Because the bomber piloted by Devyataev was a German bomber, it was mistaken by the Soviet Union for a German army, so it was attacked by the Soviet army, and in desperation, Devyataev could only force a landing, and it did not take long for it to be surrounded by the Soviet army, and when the Soviet army personnel approached, they stunned everyone, because what came out of the German bombers was his own compatriots.
What Dviataev did not know was that the bomber they brought back was a guided fighter, bringing back a lot of secret information about the island of Usedom and the exact location of the German missile weapons launch base, relying on these locations, the Soviet army carpet bombed the German base based on this information, and this information also promoted the development of Soviet missiles and aviation. But Dviataev's bizarre experience attracted long-term scrutiny from the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Carpet bombing at the time
Of the ten men who escaped, three, including Devyataev, were taken into custody for inspection, while five of the remaining seven prisoners of war were killed on the battlefield. This detention continued until 1957, and not long after his release from prison, Devyataev was called a "Hero of the Soviet Union" and was praised by those who had returned to the Soviet Union with him. In 2002, Dviataev died.
As the times continue to develop, I believe that more and more hidden heroes like Devyataev will gradually appear in front of the eyes of the world, and we should pay tribute to the heroes.
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