Wars on Elbrus. What did the Nazis do on Elbrus? Secret unit under an avalanche

The bodies of German soldiers were found in the ice of the Elbrus region. Most likely these are German huntsmen from the Edelweiss division. This sensational news was reported by local historian and publisher from Kabardino-Balkaria Viktor Kotlyarov.
“Knowing that in addition to publishing work we also do research, people come to our office to talk about interesting artifacts found in Kabardino-Balkaria, unusual phenomena, little-known sights. This time, a guy who came to the publishing house brought several identification tags of German soldiers. He found them together with two comrades in the highlands and showed them exactly where on the map,” Kotlyarov said. It turned out that the tokens were only a small part of what the guys found. In one of the gorges - narrow, steep, shaded - last summer they discovered a group of several dozen German soldiers who, apparently, had been caught in an avalanche.
In recent years, active melting of glaciers has begun; the snow cap lying on top of them has melted, exposing the ice, and in it - at a depth of just over a meter - the bodies of German soldiers. They are scattered over a fairly long area - at least 250-300 meters. Groups of 5-7 people, en masse, one on one - only the general gray-green mass is visible. There are several such groups.
Many lie separately. Even faces can be seen through the icy mirror among the gray-greenish mass. It is very difficult to calculate the total number of soldiers, but we are talking about tens, maybe even hundreds of people. From the picture seen through the ice, we can conclude that they died instantly. There is no doubt that it was from an avalanche. She came down from the left side and buried everyone in this rather narrow gorge under a huge mass of snow. The snow was compressed by time and temperature, immuring the soldiers for many years, but also keeping them the same as they were in September-November 1942. Preserving the bodies and, naturally, everything that was with living people - documentation, personal belongings...
“If this message is true, and there is no reason to doubt it (the names of the guys are known, their personal interest is visible, the location is specified), then it is truly sensational. So that after more than 70 years the fate of such a large group of German soldiers becomes clear, this has never happened before and is hardly possible. Moreover, all the bodies have been preserved, and therefore identification tags are available,” Kotlyarov noted. In his opinion, it is now necessary to look up German staff documents in order to understand what kind of group this is, what goals were set for it, and what is known about its disappearance. Kotlyarov involved foreign friends on Facebook in the search; one of them helped to attribute to what type of troops the found tokens belonged. However, many of them are from another burial - located nearby.
Kotlyarov also involved in the study of the situation a prominent specialist in the battles for the Caucasus, the author of the book “The Transcendent Front of Elbrus” Oleg Opryshko. But he expressed doubt that such a large group of German soldiers could end up in the mountains and disappear without a trace, said that he had not heard anything about it; assumed that these were our fighters.

“Nevertheless, we must talk specifically about German soldiers, moreover: Alpine rangers, perhaps about Romanian mountain hunters. Through the mirror of ice you can see that they are dressed in jackets and have caps on their heads. Our troops did not have such uniforms,” Kotlyarov is convinced.
It is known that the fighting in these places in the fall of 1942 was very fierce. Kashif Mamishev, one of the leading organizers of tourism in Kabardino-Balkaria, who has traveled the length and breadth of the Elbrus region for five decades, also confirms the presence in these places of numerous evidence of military operations, including the bodies of dead soldiers. He believes the group may have disappeared between September and November 1942. By and large, even these limits should be expanded - from August 20 to the end of December, because this place is also accessible in winter. This is incredibly difficult, but nevertheless possible.
History does not know the subjunctive mood. The Germans came here as conquerors and they will remain so. But today, when hatred has passed and understanding of the common tragedy has come, we must fulfill our human duty - to bury those whose faces and destinies Elbrus revealed to us. In the year of the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory, there is an opportunity not only to remember those who defended the honor and independence of our homeland, but also the soldiers of the other side. This is not an act of reconciliation, it is an understanding: wars end, life goes on.
Vladimir Vysotsky composed a song about Alpine shooters, which was heard in the famous film “Vertical”: “You are here again, you are all collected, / You are waiting for the cherished signal. / And that guy, he’s here too. / Among the shooters from Edelweiss. / They must be thrown off the pass!”

The alarm verse of this song is perceived today as the quintessence of the feat of Soviet soldiers who fought for the Caucasus: “Stop talking / Forward and upward, and there... / After all, these are our mountains, / They will help us!”
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And finally. As a kid in 1988, I was in the Elbrus region, climbing the left peak of Elbrus, with guides, of course. And in the Baksan Valley, where my father and I lived, I had the opportunity to talk with a local resident. He was then nearly 90. Pleased that he had found a listener, he told me how before the war the climber Otto from Germany stayed with him and his comrades more than once. And in 1942, Otto appeared here again. As part of "Edelweiss". The Germans immediately took “guardianship” of their pre-war “acquaintances”. This means that when the Gestapo guys tried to “check” the mountaineers, the guys from Edelweiss turned them away.
However, one should not idealize mountain shooters. After the North Caucasus, they committed a lot of atrocities.

In the last year, climbers unexpectedly began to find the remains of Soviet soldiers on the Elbrus glacier. How they were able to reach almost the top of Elbrus without any climbing equipment is anyone's guess. It was as if some unknown force had transported an entire company here straight from the plain. But who are these people? What kind of battle was this? Historical sources claim that there were no serious military operations in these particular places during the war.

Even the initial results of the investigation undertaken by local climbers and mountain rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations were shocking: perhaps one of the secrets of the Great Patriotic War rested here for 70 years - why Hitler’s carefully worked out plan “Edelweiss” to capture the Caucasus could have failed.

It is known that it was on Elbrus that the famous detachment of German mountain rangers “Edelweiss” stopped, which was tasked with immediately overcoming the Main Caucasus Range, going to the rear of the Soviet troops and starting a sabotage war there.

Our units were not in the Elbrus region. This was a strategic miscalculation of our command, which the Germans took advantage of. However, the Nazis also made a grave military mistake. Instead of following Hitler’s order - without slowing down, to follow to the Black Sea and the oil-bearing regions of the Caucasus - they ... set off to conquer the highest peak in Europe in order to hoist the banner of the Reich. It was Elbrus that Nazi ideologists considered the sacred mountain of the Aryans, in which the entrance to the legendary Shambhala was hidden. But in this way the German mountain special forces revealed themselves. The surprise effect was lost.

A categorical order came from Moscow to destroy the Edelweiss at any cost, but there was no one to do it. In fire order, a company was formed from... cavalrymen and rear troops. Its commander was Lieutenant Grigoryants, who had recently been a ladies' hairdresser. It was these people who, at the cost of their lives, stopped the elite mountain units of the Wehrmacht.

To restore the picture of the events, the film crew, together with the Elbrus detachment of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, for the first time undertook a targeted mountain expedition to the sites of these unknown battles. The authors of the film discovered the remains of soldiers of this heroic company, who were later buried with full military honors, and also visited Germany, where they managed to find two veterans of the Wehrmacht mountain special forces who participated in this campaign.

For the last few years, a special purpose mountaineering reconnaissance company of the 34th reconnaissance battalion of the Southern Military District (SMD) has been working in the Elbrus mountains, searching for the remains of soldiers of the Great Patriotic War with the help of the local search team “Memorial Elbrus”.
Over the course of several years, they discovered what was left of the bodies of hundreds of Soviet soldiers, their weapons, and ammunition. Many defenders of the Elbrus region have already been buried with military honors in a mass grave in the village of Terskol.
And, most importantly, the remains of the legendary Lieutenant Grigoryants were found and identified, who with his company on September 28, 1942 entered an unequal battle with superbly trained, armed and equipped Germans near the high-mountain hotel “Shelter 11”. This find made it possible to say with confidence that the ladies' hairdresser from Baku, who became a scout during the war, did not surrender to the Nazis, as German sources testified, but heroically accepted death in battle.

From combat report 214 kp:
“Lieutenant Grigoryants’ detachment moved forward across a snowy field and was stopped by strong enemy rifle and machine-gun fire from commanding heights in the area of ​​shelter “eleven”. Having encountered enemy fire, Grigoryants turned his detachment on the move and led the attack, leaving no reserves.
The enemy concentrated the entire mass of fire on the detachment, frustrating the main forces of the detachment. Grigoryants, disdaining death and shouting “Hurray” “For Stalin,” attacked the enemy twice, moving forward and only having lost three-quarters of his personnel, he lay down and fought until 14.00 on September 28.
Taking advantage of their superiority in manpower and equipment, the enemy managed to surround the remnants of the detachment. Three wounded arrived at the location of the 897th Guards Regiment... Lieutenant Grigoryants, wounded in both legs, remained in the enemy’s defense position.”

They found bodies, ammunition, weapons, even a numbered VSNKh medal and a FED photo camera, the film of which, unfortunately, had become completely unusable. But none of the found fighters could be identified, although it was clear that they were most likely soldiers from the Grigoryants company.
But then one day they found a well-preserved body, with the remains of ammunition and clothing, frozen into the Garabashi glacier. He had no documents with him, but judging by the found pistol holster, the remains of a sword belt, and most importantly the lieutenant's headwear, it became clear that he was a junior officer.
By a strange coincidence, of the 42 remains found, only these remains, a junior officer, were mummified - the body was well preserved, including the skin.
The clue was numerous tattoos of an obviously criminal nature on the hands and forearms, and this was already a lot - an officer with tattoos!

After the Podolsk archive, the list of irretrievable losses included three officers and three of their registration cards:
Belozerov Georgy Timofeevich, born 1906, battalion, lieutenant, platoon commander 214 kp, 63 kd.
Kiselev Pavel Ivanovich, born in 1902, member of the All-Union Communist Party of Belarus, junior. lieutenant, platoon commander 214 k.p., 63 k.d.
Grigoryants Guren Agadzhanovich born 1908 candidate member of the All-Union Communist Party of Belarus, lieutenant, deputy commander of squadron 214 k.p., 63 k.d.

An error was practically excluded - the body of the officer with tattoos belonged to Lieutenant Grigoryants Guren Agadzhanovich, and before the war, the head of the hairdressing salon of the Ashgabat bath and laundry plant. Father of two children. According to his record card, he is the only one of the three who has been convicted.
He served his sentence from 1929 to 1933, and the nature of his numerous tattoos spoke precisely of this. He was convicted of a serious crime, but it is quite obvious that there were mitigating circumstances in his case, since he served a sentence of only four years, and then the conviction was dropped by decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
But no details of this episode in the life of Gurgen Grigoryants could be established - the file was not preserved. A few years ago, his daughter received the Order of the Red Star, which her father was awarded back in 1942.

In 2012, at the Donguz-Orun pass at an altitude of 2800 meters, five German-style guns of 76 mm caliber were found. Eight shells for guns, four grenades, three mines, and 500 rounds of ammunition were also preserved here.

Elbrus is the highest peak in Russia and Europe, one of the most popular peaks among climbers around the world. During the Great Patriotic War, there were desperate battles for Elbrus, and Hitler wanted to name the mountain after himself.

The height of Elbrus was first determined in 1813 by Russian academician Vikenty Vishnevsky. The first ascent to the eastern peak (5621 meters) of Elbrus took place in 1829. It was accomplished by a group led by General Georgy Emmanuel; guide Kilar Khashirov was the first to climb to the top. The higher western peak (5642 meters) was conquered in 1874 by an English expedition led by Florence Grove. And again, the first to reach the peak was the guide - the Balkar Akhii Sottaev. Russian military topographer Andrei Vasilyevich Pastukhov climbed the western peak in 1890, and six years later - the eastern one. Thus, he became the first person to conquer both peaks. In addition, he compiled detailed maps of both peaks. Today Elbrus is one of the most popular peaks among climbers. According to the mountaineering classification, the mountain is rated as 2A snow-ice, the passage of both peaks is 2B. There are other, more difficult routes, for example, Elbrus (W) along the NW edge 3A.

"Hitler's Peak"

On August 21, 1942, a group of the best climbers of the 1st Mountain Division, led by Captain Heinz Groth, conquered both peaks of Elbrus. The purpose of the ascent was to plant flags of the Third Reich. Goebbels's propaganda did not miss the opportunity and presented this event as an almost unconditional conquest of the Caucasus. The German press then wrote: “The German flag flutters at the highest point of Europe, the peak of Elbrus, and soon it will appear on Kazbek.” As the fact that the Caucasus belongs to Germany, the German authorities intended to name the western peak of Elbrus after the Fuhrer. All participants in the ascent were awarded Iron Crosses, as well as special tokens depicting the contours of Elbrus and the inscription “Hitler’s Peak.” But the joy of climbing did not last long, already in the winter of 1942-1943 the Nazis were knocked out from the slopes of Elbrus, on February 13 and 17, 1943, Soviet flags were planted on both peaks.

"Shelter of Eleven"

In 1909, the chairman of the Caucasian Mountain Society, Rudolf Leitzinger, stopped with a group of ten schoolchildren at a rest stop at an altitude of 4130 meters. On this site in 1932 a hotel-transit point for climbers was built, which became the highest mountain hotel in Europe. In 1938, a new three-story building was built on the site of the wooden hotel, which stood for 60 years. During World War II, on September 28, 1942, a battle took place near the “Shelter of Eleven” between NKVD troops and a German mountain rifle unit. In memory of this, enthusiasts set up a museum on the third floor of the hotel. On August 16, 1998, the Shelter of Eleven burned down due to careless handling of fire. Today, a new hotel is being built on this site, albeit very slowly, and tourists can stay in a building built in 2001 on the site of a diesel station, as well as in the Liprus shelter, located at an altitude of 3912 meters, or in the acclimatization shelter " Barrels" at an altitude of 3750 meters. A cable car leads to it.

The battles on Elbrus in 1942 were part of a large-scale battle for the Caucasus. At first, the German army managed to take strategic positions on Elbrus and plant its flags on the peaks, but after a few months, Soviet troops returned the captured territories.

Battle for the Caucasus

Hitler's plan was to take over the Caucasus and deprive the USSR of its resources - oil, coal and steel. After victories near Kharkov, Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don, the Germans opened the way to the Main Caucasus Range.

In July 1942, Hitler approved the plan to capture Elbrus. This task was assigned to the rangers of the special division "Edelweiss". The division was distinguished by the fact that it was recruited from among the best military climbers, and their pennant and uniform featured a mountain flower - edelweiss.

There was no guard at the Khotyu-tau pass, through which the German rangers headed to the Shelter of the Eleven. There were only two people there, so the Germans began to freely occupy the dominant heights. Huts were built at the bases and communications were established.

On August 21, mountain rangers climbed Elbrus and placed canvases with Nazi symbols on the top.

The first battles on Elbrus

And before the war, a German guy took this slope with you! He fell down, but was saved, But now, perhaps, he is preparing his machine gun for battle.

V. Vysotsky, 1966

On September 3, the company of G. Grigoryants received an order to liberate the Shelter of the Eleven, the 105th picket and the Ice Base. The soldiers went to the glacier in infantry uniforms, which were not suitable for fighting in the mountains. The company was not assigned any number; the fighters had neither sports training nor terrain plans.

The Edelweiss Division, on the contrary, was impeccably prepared and provided with mountaineering equipment, skis, mortars and maps.

When the Red Army soldiers set out to storm Shelter 11, they encountered thick fog as they approached and at first went unnoticed. But suddenly the white veil dissipated, and the soldiers found themselves in front of the Germans in full view. They did not have time to shoot back or retreat: everyone was destroyed.

A combat report has been preserved that the company came under heavy rifle and machine-gun fire, but Lieutenant Grigoryants shouted “Hurray for Stalin!” made two more offensive attempts.

Later, Hauptmann Heinz Groth, who led the Edelweiss, said: “I could not understand the Russians: why, knowing that they could not take these positions, they rolled in waves and rolled onto the glacier, and we laid them on the snowy slopes. Despite heavy losses, they continued this senseless assault.”

Battle for Elbrus

By the end of 1942, the Soviet command concentrated the forces of aviation, the Red Army and the NKVD on Elbrus. In January, the troops of General Tyulenev and the liberation group of Lieutenant Gusak, a master of sports in mountaineering, were sent there. The warriors were trained to walk on ice and rocky slopes, ford rivers and climb steep cliffs. They received all the necessary equipment, uniforms and weapons. Soon the Germans on Elbrus lost influence. They hastily left the area, leaving behind the wounded.

Secret activities of the Germans on Elbrus

Not far from the Djily-Su tract there is a large flat area, which is popularly called the German airfield. An old resident of the village of Bylym Musa said that during the war he was grazing cattle and saw a German plane land there. Officially, the airfield did not exist there, so there are opinions that one of the secrets of the Third Reich was the mystical SS laboratory on Elbrus.

There were rumors that shaven-headed people of Asian appearance were flying to the airfield. Allegedly, Hitler sent Tibetan monks to meditate on Elbrus in order to find the entrance to the mystical country of Shambhala and see the outcome of the war. They said that there was a grave of executed monks who “saw” the victory of the USSR. These secrets of the airfield on Elbrus interested modern researchers and they began to search for the sources of these rumors.

Historian Oleg Opryshko found a report in the archives of the Ministry of Defense. It said that the Nazis were using the site on Elbrus to land Focke Wulf aircraft. This information was checked by publisher Viktor Kotlyarov. He found out from local residents that there was a man from the village associated with the airfield.

At first, the study of history came to a standstill. Old Musa claimed that he was talking with a passenger on a German plane, and he was asked a caustic question - in what language? He replied that it was in Kabardian.

Kotlyarov thought that Musa was engaged in myth-making. But one day Boris Kunizhev, doctor of sciences from KBSU, called him and said that it was his uncle Anatoly Kunizhev who was landing at the airfield. The publisher went to the village to interview relatives. They said that Anatoly was born in the village of Nartan, went to Turkey in his youth and became an officer. In 1941 he ended up in the German army, flew over the Caucasus and landed at Elbrus.

In the nineties, Boris Kunizhev applied to the KGB with a request to release information about the future fate of his uncle. He was advised to withdraw the application, since the details of those military events could not be made public - Hitler’s secret operation on Elbrus, if it existed, was carefully guarded from disclosure.

In 2017, private pilot Andrei Ivanov published a report on the study of a German airfield. He photographed it from the air, then made measurements and calculations directly on the spot. As a result, he concluded: it is possible to land and lift a plane at this place.

After the defeat of the Germans on Elbrus, enemy flags remained on both peaks. In February 1943, the authorities gave the order to immediately reset them and install Soviet banners. Although this is the most dangerous and cold season on the mountain, the ascent was successful. On February 17, the Soviet Banner fluttered on the eastern peak, and then on the western one.

On Victory Day, Elbrus donated the bodies of soldiers

In 2009, sliding layers of ice discovered the remains of Grigoryants’s dead company. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the start of search work to identify and bury Soviet soldiers. Military personnel and climbers began working on the slopes.

Fragments of bodies, remains of uniforms and ammunition were found on the glacier and in cracks. The body of Lieutenant Grigoryants was discovered in 2013; it was located in a crack at a depth of 70 meters. The remains of an officer's uniform were found with the skin still preserved, and tattoos were visible on the arms.

Archivists found that only one officer from the fallen company had tattoos. This is how the remains of Lieutenant Guren Grigoryants were identified.

Over three years, fragments of 192 bodies were found. Before the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory, the soldiers were duly buried in Terskol - at the monument to the heroes who participated in the defense of the Elbrus region.

The article is based on materials from the website of the Elbrus municipal district, the book “Zacloudy Front” by A. Gusev, the blog of the pilot A. Ivanov, the portal “North Caucasus News” and Wikipedia.