Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev: Encyclopedia - Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev

Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev

Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev (Russian: Васи́лий Григо́рьевич За́йцев) (23 March 1915 – 15 December 1991) was a Soviet sniper during World War II who between 10 November and 17 December 1942 during the Battle of Stalingrad killed 225 soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht and other Axis armies, including 11 snipers (in Junior Lieutenant military rank).

Prior to 10 November he had already killed 32 Axis soldiers with the ordinary Mosin rifle ("tryokhlineyka", three line rifle) [1]. It is estimated that the 28 snipers he had trained killed more than 3000 enemy soldiers. Some sources claim that Zaitsev's performance was not unique and that an unknown Soviet soldier, identified only as Zikan, also killed 224 German soldiers by 20 November.

Zaitsev served until January 1943, when he suffered an injury to his eyes. Professor Filatov restored his sight. After that he returned to the front and finished the war on the Dniestr river with the military rank of Captain. After the war, Zaitsev managed a factory in Kiev.

According to Anthony Beevor's book Stalingrad, some Soviet sources claimed that the Germans brought in the chief of their sniper school, Major Heinz Thorvald (recent fictional media has created the belief that his last name was König, and that therefore he was termed "Major König"), to assassinate Zaitsev. Zaitsev, after a hunt of several days, allegedly spotted his opponent hiding under a sheet of corrugated iron, and shot him dead. This supposed duel is depicted in the fictionalized film Enemy at the Gates.

The telescopic sight from Thorvald's rifle, allegedly Zaitsev's most treasured trophy, is still exhibited in the Moscow armed forces museum. However, the entire story remains essentially unconfirmed. There is absolutely no mention of it in any Soviet military reports, including those to Aleksandr Shcherbakov, even though almost every act of sniperism was reported with relish.

Zaitsev was born in Yelino, grew up in the Ural Mountains and learned marksmanship by shooting deer. Zaitsev means of hare in Russian. The snipers he trained were nicknamed zaichata, meaning "leverets" (baby hares). Anthony Beevor writes in Stalingrad that this was the start of the "sniper movement" in the 62nd Army. Conferences were arranged to spread the doctrine of "sniperism" and exchange ideas on technique and principles that was not limited to marksmanship skills. Zaitsev died at age 76 in Kiev.

Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev - Awards and honors

• Title of Hero of the Soviet Union (22 February 1943).
• Title of "Honorary Citizen of the Hero City Volgograd" (7 May 1980).
• Order of Lenin
• 2 Orders of the Red Banner
• The Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class
• Various medals

See also

• Other Soviet snipers from World War II:
  • Zikan perhaps, the only mention of this person is in Anthony Beevor's book.
  • Nina Alexeyevna Lobkovskaya (female)
  • Lyudmila Pavlichenko (female)
  • Ivan Sidorenko
  • Vasiliy Golosov

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki