Kholzunov, Viktor Stepanovich

Born 1905, in Tsaritsyn, now Volgograd; died July 28, 1939. Military pilot; division commander (1937). Hero of the Soviet Union (June 27, 1937). Member of the CPSU from 1927.

The son of a worker, Khol’zunov took part in the defense of Tsaritsyn during the Civil War of 1918–20. In 1922 he began working in a sawmill. In 1925, however, he joined the Red Army again. Khol’zunov graduated from the Leningrad Military and Theoretical Flight School in 1925, the Borisoglebsk Military School for Pilots in 1928, the Higher Tactical Flight School in 1936, and the Academic Courses at the General Staff Academy in 1939. In 1936 and 1937 he fought as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. Khol’zunov assumed command of a bomber brigade in May 1937 and became an air army commander in November of the same year. He died in the line of duty. He was a deputy to the first convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Khol’zunov was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner.