This showcase displays the photo of Grigory Ivanovich Penezhko, Hero of the Soviet Union, whose name is etched in gold in the history of the Second World War. Grigory was born in December of 1912 in the village of Valeryanovka, Mariupol District, into a close-knit well-to-do peasant family.
The Russian Civil War followed by a surplus appropriation system put an end to their well-being. Wishing to help his parents as much as he could, young Grigory left school when he was twelve years old to work in the mines alongside adults. The authorities honored his diligence and perseverance by sending him to an agricultural technical college. Grigory received a specialty of zootechnician upon his graduation from college. He initially worked in Kyrgyzstan, and he later moved to Kazakhstan.
In the mid-1930s, young Grigory was drafted into the army and sent to Leningrad to study at a tank technical school. After graduating from the school, he moved to Odessa and became a military representative at the January Uprising Factory. Grigory Penezhko was on the front line at the beginning of the war. On June 22, he was near Peremyshl. Due to the responsibilities of his position, he transported T-37 tanks to the station of the 34th tank division and the 8th mechanized corps. The column encountered an airstrike on its way, but Grigory Penezhko managed to deliver the machines off the firing line to the military unit.
Penezhko continued to fight after his baptism of fire, and although he had been injured multiple times, he always returned back in line. In July of 1943, he participated in the famous Battle of Prokhorovka during the Battle of Kursk. Later, he received a promotion to adjutant and started to supply the battalion and organize staff work in complex combat situations. When furious battles raged near Bogodukhov, he personally controlled and ensured the transportation of ammunition, fuel and products to the front line.
In January of 1944, Grigory was injured after bloody conflicts for the village of Karlovka, and was evacuated to the home front, in a hospital of Tbilisi. He escaped from the hospital, and in August of the same year, he participated in the liberation of Kaunas among his home unit, being one of the first soldiers to reach the coast of the Baltic Sea. Later that month, he received word about his future title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
Grigory Penezhko used his intimate diary to write all the events he had participated and witnessed in detail. After the war, a two-volume edition based on these notes was published. It was titled Soviet Officer Notes. After the defeat of fascists, Grigory Ivanovich continued his service at the rank of Colonel, obtaining a position under the staff of the Northern Group of Forces located in Liegnitz. After his military discharge in 1961, Grigory moved to Moscow and applied for a job at an automotive college.
Penezhko published his second book in 1976. This time, it was a road-traffic safety manual for college students taking motor transport classes. Grigory Penezhko, the front-line soldier and educator, died in an accident in March of 1992.
The Russian Civil War followed by a surplus appropriation system put an end to their well-being. Wishing to help his parents as much as he could, young Grigory left school when he was twelve years old to work in the mines alongside adults. The authorities honored his diligence and perseverance by sending him to an agricultural technical college. Grigory received a specialty of zootechnician upon his graduation from college. He initially worked in Kyrgyzstan, and he later moved to Kazakhstan.
In the mid-1930s, young Grigory was drafted into the army and sent to Leningrad to study at a tank technical school. After graduating from the school, he moved to Odessa and became a military representative at the January Uprising Factory. Grigory Penezhko was on the front line at the beginning of the war. On June 22, he was near Peremyshl. Due to the responsibilities of his position, he transported T-37 tanks to the station of the 34th tank division and the 8th mechanized corps. The column encountered an airstrike on its way, but Grigory Penezhko managed to deliver the machines off the firing line to the military unit.
Penezhko continued to fight after his baptism of fire, and although he had been injured multiple times, he always returned back in line. In July of 1943, he participated in the famous Battle of Prokhorovka during the Battle of Kursk. Later, he received a promotion to adjutant and started to supply the battalion and organize staff work in complex combat situations. When furious battles raged near Bogodukhov, he personally controlled and ensured the transportation of ammunition, fuel and products to the front line.
In January of 1944, Grigory was injured after bloody conflicts for the village of Karlovka, and was evacuated to the home front, in a hospital of Tbilisi. He escaped from the hospital, and in August of the same year, he participated in the liberation of Kaunas among his home unit, being one of the first soldiers to reach the coast of the Baltic Sea. Later that month, he received word about his future title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
Grigory Penezhko used his intimate diary to write all the events he had participated and witnessed in detail. After the war, a two-volume edition based on these notes was published. It was titled Soviet Officer Notes. After the defeat of fascists, Grigory Ivanovich continued his service at the rank of Colonel, obtaining a position under the staff of the Northern Group of Forces located in Liegnitz. After his military discharge in 1961, Grigory moved to Moscow and applied for a job at an automotive college.
Penezhko published his second book in 1976. This time, it was a road-traffic safety manual for college students taking motor transport classes. Grigory Penezhko, the front-line soldier and educator, died in an accident in March of 1992.
