- General Karbyshev became one of the symbols of the courage of a Soviet officer during the Great Patriotic War. Every Soviet schoolchild knew about his refusal to go over to the Nazis and martyrdom under torture in a concentration camp Mauthausen. However, in those years little was known about the general’s pre-revolutionary past. The fact that Karbyshev was a hereditary nobleman, that his relative Ivan Semenovich Karbyshev is considered one of the founders of the city of Verny (Alma-Ata), and his father held a high position in the Siberian Cossack army. Recalled at your home about the years of youth of Dmitry Mikhailovich?

- In Soviet times, especially after the revolution, it was not customary to talk about their noble roots. In the family, this was perceived simply as a given. Grandmother until her death in 1976 called the current government only Bolsheviks.

As for the youth of his grandfather, this is one of the little-known periods of his life. Judging by the stories, he himself preferred not to remember this, apparently, it was hard for them in those years. And this despite the fact that his mother belonged to one of the most famous and wealthy Omsk Luzgin families. The largest number of discoveries concerning the youth of Dmitry Mikhailovich, already in the late Soviet era, researchers made his life from Omsk and Pavlodar, where my great-grandmother was buried.

According to grandfather, by the beginning of World War II he had lost all his brothers and sisters. His family was the family of Lydia Vasilievna (spouse Karbyshev. - RT ), who almost all lived in Moscow on the eve of the war.

  • Young Dmitry Karbyshev
  • © Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

- Dmitry Mikhailovich brilliantly began his military career, distinguished himself during the Russo-Japanese War. And immediately after that, a denunciation was made against him for allegedly fascinating with revolutionary ideas, almost sending him to the tribunal. Already at that time, he adhered to leftist views? What influenced his worldview?

- The elder brother of Dmitry Mikhailovich was also fascinated by leftist ideas, for which the whole family suffered. It would seem that the case of Vladimir Ulyanov. But no, his actions grandfather proved loyalty to the oath and military duty. And under the court of honor he fell for the fact that he actively defended soldiers suspected of revolutionary moods. After which he left the army.

But after a few years, he not only returned to service, but received the rank of staff captain. In 1908 he entered the Nikolaev Engineering Academy and brilliantly graduated from it. In fact, this meant his full rehabilitation and unconditional restoration of the rights of an officer. Already in Brest (to the city of Brest-Litovsk, Karbyshev was sent to build forts of the Brest Fortress. - RT ) no one could accuse Karbyshev of leftist moods. So the theory of the Karbyshev rebel and revolutionary is untenable.

- Dmitry Karbyshev from the very beginning participated in the First World War ...

- During World War I, grandfather went from a captain to a lieutenant colonel. They even said that there was an order to award him the rank of colonel, but the revolution prevented. Participation in the assault on Przemysl, wounding, finding her second half - the sister of mercy Lidia Opatskaya, participation in the Brusilovsky breakthrough ... World War I was an important stage in his life.

  • © Photo from the personal archive

- Karbyshev is considered one of the first well-known noble officers who went over to the side of the Soviet government after 1917. What was the reason for this?

- He was not the first and not the last. It is important to remember that he served under the command of Brusilov, who also went over to the side of the Bolsheviks. The same choice was made by one of his teachers and direct commanders - Konstantin Ivanovich Velichko. So, to some extent, the choice of grandfather was predetermined.

- In the interwar period, Dmitry Mikhailovich gained a reputation as one of the leading world experts in the field of military engineering. At this time, he built and restored a lot: fortifications along the western border of the USSR, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra building, bridges, railways, tunnels . Did he have any favorite work he was most proud of?

- Karbyshev was a theorist and practitioner of military engineering science. He has published many works on fortification, crossing, field fortifications and the like. Whether he had his favorite works - the story is silent about this. He taught, many commanders of the Great Patriotic War attended his lectures.

  • Dmitry Karbyshev with his son Alexei
  • © Photo from the personal archive

- By the beginning of World War II, Dmitry Mikhailovich was already a doctor of sciences, lieutenant general, senior lecturer at the Voroshilov Higher Military Academy. How did it happen that in the summer of 1941 he ended up in Belarus and captured?

- He was not only a theorist, but also a practitioner. In the summer of 1941, Dmitry Mikhailovich Karbyshev was sent to the Western Special Military District, where he inspected the progress of construction of fortifications of the 68th Grodno fortified area. It turned out at the wrong time in the wrong place. He refused an immediate evacuation, believing that the officer’s place was in battle.

- All attempts by the Germans to persuade Karbyshev to their side failed. In the documents of the Main Engineering Directorate of the Hitler Army there is such an entry: “This largest Soviet fortifier, a cadre officer of the old Russian army, a person who has exceeded 60 years, turned out to be fanatically devoted to the idea of ​​fidelity to military duty and patriotism ... Karbyshev can be considered hopeless in the sense of using us as a specialist in military engineering. " Karbyshev went through several concentration camps, among them - Majdanek and Auschwitz, survived severe torture, but over the years the captivity has not been broken. What was the source of his fortitude?

- At the time of captivity, he was already 61 years old, at this age, his tempering man was not afraid of any bullying and torture, he was well aware of his situation and could not even allow the thought of betrayal. These are beliefs that have been raised for decades.

The Nazis tried in vain with a stick and a carrot to lure Karbyshev to their side. And only having finally convinced themselves of his adherence, they sent him to hard labor in the camps, thus condemning him to death. No discounts on title and age.

  • © Wikimedia commons / A.N. Mironov

- The feat of Karbyshev became known almost immediately. According to one version of his death, the Nazis poured cold water on him in the cold and literally turned it into an ice pillar, according to another - he died from beating. In 1946, General Karbyshev was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Monuments were erected in his honor, schools were called. Books were written about him. In May 2019, the airport in Omsk was named after him. What else is being done today to perpetuate the memory of Dmitry Mikhailovich?

- The last bust to the general was opened on September 2, 2019 in Tyumen. In December 2018, a school in the Nizhny Tagil district of the Sverdlovsk region was named after Karbyshev. In February 2020, his name will be given to the school at the Russian Trade Mission in Vienna, and in May to school No. 20 of the city of Togliatti.

So the process is just continuing. Little books have been written, only one film has been shot. Now there are two movie scripts in work. There was a certain period when the name of Karbyshev was forgotten and deleted from history textbooks. But while those who studied in Soviet times are alive, the general will be remembered.

  • Monument to General Dmitry Karbyshev in Tyumen
  • © tyumen-city.ru