How the Kremlin was hidden during the Great Patriotic War and other tricks that history textbooks do not tell about

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

This operation was not included in the history books, and it is not considered particularly heroic, but it was the cunning that helped defend the Kremlin and the mausoleum from an air attack by the enemy during World War II. It is no secret that the main goal of the enemy's aviation was the heart of the country and the center of government of the country - the Kremlin, but the fascist pilots who reached Moscow simply did not reveal their main goal. Where did you manage to put almost 30 hectares of territory?

Nikolai Spiridonov, who in 1939 was the commandant of the Moscow Kremlin after the outbreak of World War II, proposed his own plan for camouflaging the country's main building, as reported in a note to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. He was confident that in an air attack, the Kremlin would be the # 1 target. But the country's leadership did not take into account the initiative, and by the time the war became Patriotic, Moscow was shining golden-headed. In January 1941, air defense means were brought to Moscow, all 54 positions, they were placed near the Kremlin to repel possible air strikes.

When Germany had already officially unleashed a war with the USSR, Spiridonov again repeats his letter, this time insisting that it be handed over directly to Beria. In his letter, he speaks of the need to immediately develop a plan to disguise the Kremlin, creating conditions under which it would be extremely difficult to identify it from the air. The letter was written on the 4th day after the German attack on the USSR. Attached to the appeal were sketches by Boris Iofan, which he developed with his team of architects.

It was proposed to move in two directions: • remove the crosses, repaint all gilded details - so as not to shine, repaint the roof and facades so that they visually resemble ordinary city blocks; • create layouts that would again create the illusion of ordinary city buildings, including false bridge across the Moskva River; Both options were united by the fact that they had to disorient the enemy, who would not be able to orient himself and shoot at detached buildings, since the effect of a very dense urban development would be created.

Hasty disguise under the onslaught of the enemy

Despite the fact that the commandant insisted, the plan was presented, the country's leadership was in no hurry to hide the Kremlin. Yes, the air defense was aimed at protecting the capital, but no one could provide a 100% guarantee. By the beginning of July, the final plan was developed, according to which especially important objects were to “disappear” from the face of the city. This is not only the Kremlin, but also defense plants, waterworks, telegraph, oil storage facilities, bridges. It was decided to use both camouflage options.

The Russian archives still contain models that were used for camouflage, they reach a length of 5 meters. It is noteworthy that this information was classified until 2010. Now these drawings, which have saved the capital, can be seen at exhibitions.

All buildings in Red Square were repainted as residential buildings, domes were painted gray, green roofs were also repainted gray and lined up like roads. Buildings made of plywood appeared on Red Square, a huge cover was sewn for the mausoleum, similar to a three-story house …

The walls of the Kremlin were also painted under the windows and driveways, the stars were turned off and covered with covers, plywood roofs were laid on top of the battlements, in some places there were stretched panels on which the roofs of houses were painted.

Soldiers were involved in the work, a specific object and scope of work was assigned to each regiment. The Ivan the Great Bell Tower was painted, for example, with the help of climbers, however, they were involved in all work at altitude. If it was about some particularly important objects, then architects worked on the spot.

Considering that the camouflage project assumed a complete violation of the original city plan, there was a lot of work, utilities were involved, which changed the city's landscape, all parks, squares, squares were built up with ghost houses, which could be used to restore a map of the city. The roofs of the houses imitated roads, and over the real ones there were canvases painted under the roofs. They even built a false bridge across the river.

The mausoleum was camouflaged to the maximum, it was completely "rebuilt" with plywood, two more floors appeared on top, but even an accidental bomb would have been enough to destroy both the Mausoleum itself and the body of the leader of the world proletariat. Therefore, at the beginning of July, Vladimir Ilyich was sent on a special flight to Tyumen, brought back only in the early spring of 1945, when it became clear that Victory was not far off.

First raid and its results

Considering the fact that the camouflage project was not completed by the time of the first bombing, it turned out that it was still a very winning venture. A month after the start of the war, the planes managed to break through the barrier to Moscow. Yes, only a few from the Smolensk side. It was a targeted attack, consisting of 220 aircraft, piloted by the best pilots who had experience bypassing air defenses during the bombing of other cities.

The fact that Moscow, in 5 hours of bombing, lost 37 buildings and retained all key positions, suggests that the camouflage worked. Several bombs fell on the territory of the Kremlin, there were no serious violations. One of the bombs that fell into the Kremlin Palace, breaking through the roof, did not explode. Later, another bomb was found in the attic of the Kremlin, which also did not work, it seems that not only air defense, camouflage, but also some higher forces stood protecting the Kremlin. A few meters from the Kremlin, a land mine weighing half a centner fell and exploded, leaving a gaping hole, but without destroying any buildings. Several more bombs were quickly extinguished immediately after the fall.

After this bombing, the concealment plan was promptly completed, and at the end of July, the top officials of the army personally flew over Moscow in order to assess the results. They, I must say, were impressive, but, of course, there were comments. So, the already painted buildings were positively assessed, but those that remained intact differed greatly against their background, so it was decided to paint over both the Great Kremlin Palace and the first building. At the same time, it was decided to remake the Alexander Garden, divide it into massifs, make roads and build up with fake buildings. The remarks were taken into account, and soon the whole area began to look completely different.

The disguise has intensified and changed

After the first attack, it became clear that from now on they would be regular, and this happened, if there were practically no raids during the day - the air defense was very powerful, then in the late afternoon and before dawn there were up to 5 raids. Usually, incendiary bombs were dropped first, and then, already, guided by the illumination received from them, they dropped a land mine. With this method, it is, in principle, quite difficult to determine the target and hit it, but the German pilots eventually began to orient themselves. For example, painted "buildings" did not cast shadows.

Lighting bombs were immediately knocked down by machine guns or other weapons, the pilots were blinded with ordinary searchlights, besides, the anti-aircraft gunners carried out constant shelling, so there was no need to talk about some kind of systematic bombardment, most of the bombs were dropped chaotically, without a specific target. Muscovites independently illuminated some of the dummy buildings, making them bait for fascist aircraft.

Moscow continued to be built up with plywood buildings, they were modified, moved, every now and then the nets were stretched, trees were planted, the roads were closed with canvases. However, the German pilots, especially the most trained ones, were able to recognize the location of the Kremlin, even though it was camouflaged by its triangular shape and the relatively noticeable turn of the Moskva River. In addition, the Nazis by this time had a very detailed map of the city, made from the air. Reconnaissance planes constantly circled over the capital, conducting aerial surveys in order to obtain up-to-date information on the location of special objects. Therefore, we can say with confidence that the German side knew not only about the location of the Kremlin, but also that it was disguised, that changes are constantly being made to the buildings.

On the other hand, the Germans enjoyed success with false objects of industrial enterprises, which were specially highlighted to create greater persuasiveness. So, in Pletnikha, the false elevator collected more than 3 thousand bombs.

How many airstrikes Moscow withstood

During the war, the Kremlin came under bombardment 8 times. Moreover, the overwhelming number of airstrikes was inflicted at the very beginning of the war - in 1941 - 5 times, the Kremlin was bombed three more times in 1941. The building was most severely damaged in 1941, and there were human casualties. The Germans did not particularly trust the reports of their pilots on the results of airstrikes; a reconnaissance plane was always sent after. Thus, the results of the latter were very different from the reports of the former. Despite the fact that pilots reported destroyed special facilities, bombs often destroyed plywood structures in stadiums and parks.

During the war years, they broke through to Moscow 141 times, more than 1600 bombs were dropped. Of all the planes sent to the capital, only 3-4% reached the goal. More than 15% were shot down by air defense and anti-aircraft gunners.

Do not underestimate the role of the citizens themselves, who defended their homes and the city as a whole, preventing fires. After an air raid alarm sounded throughout the city, not a single roof was left without an attendant. Moreover, these were volunteers who were selected from among the population, as a rule, according to the duty schedule. For clarity: out of 45 thousand fires that arose as a result of the aerial bombardment, almost 44 thousand were extinguished by the townspeople themselves.

Londoners, for example, fled in panic, seeing even a lighting bomb; Muscovites also managed to extinguish them with rags and other improvised means. For example, London firefighters did not go to the call during the bombing, they waited for its end, but their Moscow colleagues rushed to the call immediately.

1945 Victory Parade

The camouflage ceased to be updated and built up by the end of 1942, but was finally removed only by the 1945 Victory parade. At the same time, Lenin's body was returned to the Mausoleum, but then the utilities and architects had to face another problem - the paint had eaten into the walls of buildings, and especially into the domes, so in order to return the capital to its original appearance, they had to try. But this problem was negligible compared to the fact that, in part, thanks to these measures, the Victory Parade was held in Moscow, practically untouched by the war.

Of course, if we compare the effectiveness, the camouflage of the capital does not compare with the work of the air defense and anti-aircraft gunners, who covered the capital from the air and twice prevented German tanks from reaching the heart of the country. But the camouflage also made its contribution and complicated the work of the pilots, who were already disoriented without it, and in combination it gave excellent results.

Not all decisions made during the war were so successful, most of them were taken hard, despite the fact that they had good reasons, for example, Stalin forbade calling some peoples to war, and even resettled some. What caused this act?