Matrosov, Aleksandr

Born 1924 in Dnepropetrovsk; died Feb. 23, 1943, near the village of Chernushki, Loknia Raion, Pskov Oblast. Hero of the Soviet Union (June 19, 1943, posthumously). Member of the Komsomol from 1942.

After losing his parents as a child, Matrosov was brought up in the Ivanovskii Children’s Home in Ul’ianovsk Oblast and a children’s labor colony in Ufa. In October 1942 he was drafted into the army and sent to infantry school. In November 1942 he volunteered for the front and was a private in the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 56th Guards Rifle Division (Kalinin Front). On Feb. 23, 1943, in a battle for the village of Chernushki he broke through to the enemy bunker and, covering the embrasure with his body, sacrificed himself to ensure the success of his subunit. On Sept. 8, 1943, the 254th Regiment was named in honor of Matrosov, and the dead hero’s name was permanently entered in the rolls of the regiment’s 1st Company. A monument to Matrosov was erected in Ufa.