As an Azerbaijani master of sabotage, the Germans considered their own, and worked for the USSR: Mehdi Ganifa

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

Azerbaijani Mehdi Ganifa oglu Huseynzadeh under the fictitious nickname "Mikhailo" in the literal sense of the word terrified the German fascists within the borders of Yugoslavia. The number of enemies he eliminated can be compared with the losses that the Nazis and their allies suffered in clashes with full-fledged partisan detachments. At the same time, since childhood, Mehdi was known as a versatile and creative personality. He dreamed of the craft of an artist, was professionally engaged in literature, spoke several foreign languages. But he went down in history as a master of military sabotage.

Art school graduate, student of the French faculty and future literary critic

Mehdi Huseynzadeh was born into the Azerbaijani family of Ganifa Huseynov, the country's chief police officer since the establishment of Soviet power there. Having lost his father and mentor at the age of two, Mehdi was guided in making decisions by inner motives. Perhaps, the iconic figures that met along the way had their imprint on the worldview. The pro-Soviet writer Suleiman Akhundov led the school where Mekhti studied. The first teacher of the future hero is the authoritative composer of Soviet Azerbaijan Said Rustamov. Future famous artists studied in one group of a music school with a young man.

In 1936, Mekhti Huseyn-zadeh successfully completed his studies at the Baku artist, and in the capital the book "On the Combat Ways" was published, the cover of which was Mekhti. After unsuccessful attempts to enter the Leningrad Academy of Arts, he became a student of the French faculty at the Leningrad Institute of Languages. In 1940 he transferred to the pedagogical institute at the literary faculty, deciding to try himself in the field of poetry.

Prisoner of Berlin, the school of counterintelligence and a daring escape to their

The outbreak of the Great Patriotic War prevented Mehdi from following the creative path. In August 1941, the 22-year-old Komsomol member joined the Red Army ranks, graduated from the military infantry school and went to the front. After being seriously wounded, Mehdi was taken prisoner by the Germans. Once in Berlin, he began a thorough preparation for the escape and the subsequent fight against fascism. Natural ability to foreign languages played into the hands of the future saboteur. Having easily mastered German at the courses of translators, Huseynzade, at the direction of the German gentlemen, went to Shtrans, where the 162nd Turkestan German Division was being formed. Mehdi, as a particularly gifted one, ended up in the propaganda department and, at the same time, in the counterintelligence school to improve his qualifications.

Guzeinadze, without much difficulty, managed to convince the Germans of their intention to fight on their side until victorious. The knowledge gained in the bosom of the enemy later became the basis for a successful struggle for the Motherland. After the capitulation of the Italians in 1943, Mehti's division was sent to suppress the partisan movement in Italy, from where the enterprising Azerbaijani fled, joining the partisans of the Yugoslav-Italian corps. From that time on, Mehdi surprised his associates with the talents of a military strategist who thoroughly studied the German war machine and, based on valuable experience, brilliantly planned subversive operations.

Brilliant sabotage and an award for the head of the Azerbaijani "Mikhailo"

The military exploits of the Azerbaijani hero, who managed to smash the Germans in the very heart of Europe, amaze with their audacity. In the winter of 1944, Mikhailo and his soldiers stole valuable topographic maps from the enemy. A month later, in the uniform of a German officer, he made his way to the barracks and, having thrown a mine into the fire extinguishers, destroyed the premises. In the spring, Huseyn-zade blew up a cinema in Villa Opchin, killing 80 and wounding 110 German soldiers, 40 of whom later died in hospitals. A few days later, he carried out a sabotage in Trieste, blowing up a soldier's house. The losses of the Gestapo reached 450 people killed and wounded. Then the first reward was awarded for the head of a fugitive saboteur.

At the end of the spring of the 44th, Mekhti and a group of comrades in arms destroyed a railway bridge, which is why a fascist train of 24 cars crashed. Already at the beginning of summer, an Azerbaijani organized the explosion of an officer's Gestapo casino. As a result, 150 Germans were killed and about 350 wounded. This was followed by a similar liquidation of the military hotel "Deyche Ubernachtungheim" with no less impressive consequences - about 250 killed and wounded. During the first half of 1944, German losses in personnel at the hands of the Mikhailo sabotage unit exceeded a thousand people. Then the Hitlerite command increased the reward for the capture of the elusive Mehdi several times - up to 400 thousand Reichsmarks.

An annoying environment, an unequal fight and the last bullet for yourself

Once Mehdi was captured by the Gestapo team. The Germans did not have direct evidence against him, and the saboteur talentedly played the role of a wanderer artist, professionally painting portraits of the Germans. Mekhti was not released, but they did not shoot him either, putting him behind bars. He spent no more than 2 weeks in captivity, killing the sentry and fleeing. But on November 16, 1944, luck left the guerrilla group led by Mehdi Huseyn-zade. Mehdi made his way to his own people after a failed operation to liquidate a German warehouse. The Germans, having obtained information about the whereabouts of the saboteur, surrounded the Slovenian village of Vitovl. Realizing that more such a case may not be presented, the Nazis approached the matter as seriously as possible. Gathering all the local residents and demanding the extradition of the demolitionist, for greater persuasiveness, the Nazis began to set fire to houses and shoot peasants who did not want to cooperate.

Either by coincidence, or on a tip, the Germans approached the building where Mekhti and his comrades were hiding. Realizing that there were few chances to get out, he entered into an unequal battle. The underground fighter fired back as much as he could, killing more than 20 Gestapo men, and letting the last cartridge go straight into his heart. When the fighting there died down, the commander of the partisan corps ordered to deliver the hero's body to the headquarters. The soldiers found Mekhti and reburied the body according to all Azerbaijani canons in the village of Chepovan in Slovenia. Nine bullet holes were found on the lieutenant. The day of his funeral was declared a mourning day in the corps. In those places today there is a stone with a commemorative inscription carved on it in honor of the hero.

Not only men in Azerbaijan demonstrated courage and prowess. But women also distinguished themselves on the fields of the Great Patriotic War. Actress Ziba Ganieva killed 130 fascists and became a doctor of oriental studies.