Alexey Ivanovich Shakhurin: biography. People's commissars and ministers of the aviation industry of the ussr people's commissar of the aviation industry

Publisher's abstract: Aleksey Ivanovich Shakhurin - People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. His recollections of both his activities in this post and the work of the country's aviation industry as a whole can clarify some issues of the air war on the eastern front.

Unexpected appointment

What came before

Before the war - a year and a half

Do everything to be in time

The hour of testing has come

To the East

Planes go to the front

Bigger and better

Life of aircraft manufacturers

Proven in battle

Notes (edit)

Unexpected appointment

The appointment as People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry, with which I want to start my memories, was a complete surprise to me. In early January 1940, Gorky, where I worked as secretary of the regional party committee, received a call from the Central Committee. I was asked one question:

Comrade Shakhurin, can you leave for Moscow today?

I replied that the session of the Regional Council of Working People's Deputies is now underway, I am presiding over it, it will last all today, and possibly tomorrow.

Then, Comrade Shakhurin, - they told me, - explain to your comrades that you are urgently summoned to the Central Committee.

Is there an opportunity to leave immediately?

The train leaves in two hours.

Then get out.

From my experience of working as a secretary of the regional committee in Yaroslavl and in Gorky, I knew that if they did not say why they were summoning, then there was no point in finding out. However, without asking the caller about anything, I thought: "How can I explain this completely unexpected challenge? What to prepare for?" I began to sort out in my mind which questions might cause discontent, which ones might particularly interest the Central Committee, and I could not find an answer. On the whole, things were going well; in my opinion, there were no problems requiring urgent discussion or solution.

I called home and said that I was going to Moscow urgently. Then he began to select materials that might be needed for various kinds of inquiries.

Very good, - they told me, - stay here. If in

Wings of victory in the departments you have any business, take care of them, but so that we know where you are and can find you at any time.

Nothing is clear. This means that the question on which I was called will be decided not here or here, only at a different time. But why was the challenge so urgent then? I went into one department, another, talked with my comrades about various matters, but the thought of why they had called me haunted. Almost the whole day passed in this way. Finally, at about five o'clock, I was told that I needed to go to the Kremlin to see Comrade Stalin.

The path from Staraya Square to the Kremlin, where Stalin worked, is short, but it's not hard to imagine how many thoughts flashed through my head in those short minutes.

The car dived into the gates of the Spasskaya Tower, and we drove up to the building we needed. We went up to the second floor and entered the reception area. They were already waiting for us and without delay they led us into the office. It was a long room, in which there was a large blue cloth-covered table with chairs pulled back, and a little further off there was a desk and a table with telephones. Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov and other members of the Politburo were in the office. Everyone, except for Stalin, who walked around the room, was sitting.

Stalin invited us to sit down and for some time continued to walk in silence. Then he stopped beside me and said:

We want to appoint you People's Commissar of the aviation industry. We need fresh people, good organizers and knowledgeable, moreover, of the aviation business. How do you look at it?

The offer was unexpected. I didn't know what to say. He replied: I can hardly cope with this matter. Moreover, I was recently in Gorky, it is interesting to work there, there are many plans for the future that I would like to implement.

What area do you manage and you can handle it, ”Voroshilov said good-naturedly.

Molotov asked me to clarify where I had worked before, was especially interested in working at the Air Force Academy. We asked more questions. At this time, Stalin's secretary, Poskrebyshev, approached and reported something. Stalin said:

Let him come in!

Poskrebyshev went out and returned with a young man in military uniform. Addressing me, Stalin asked:

do you know each other?

No, I replied.

Then get acquainted. This is the constructor Yakovlev. And he pointed at me:

And this is the new People's Commissar of the aviation industry, Comrade Shakhurin.

I realized that the question of my appointment has been resolved. Stalin asked me:

How old are you?

Thirty-five, I replied.

Well, you see, ”he threw to Yakovlev.“ What a young people's commissar you have. It's good.

I noticed that with the arrival of Yakovlev, Stalin had a playful tone. Before that, it seemed to me, there were notes of doubt and concern in his voice.

Coming up to me again, Stalin said:

Comrade Yakovlev will be your deputy for experimental aircraft construction. We'll talk about other deputies later, but now tell me, whom would you recommend as the secretary of the regional committee in Gorky instead of yourself?

I named the chairman of the regional executive committee Mikhail Ivanovich Rodionov, who had previously worked as the third secretary of the regional committee and was engaged in agriculture.

I know him well.

And he characterized Mikhail Ivanovich. A native of Gorky. A teacher by education. For a long time he worked as a secretary of the district committee, knows people well. He enjoys their trust and authority. In a word, in all respects a person is the most suitable for this work.

And I was not wrong. Throughout the war, Mikhail Ivanovich was the secretary of the regional committee, and a good secretary, and after the war he headed the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR (1).

The conversation came to an end. I asked permission to go to Gorky to hand over the cases. Stalin hesitated a little, and then said that this was unlikely to be done:

The cases must be handed over in Moscow. The work that awaits you is urgent. We will invite everyone who is needed here. And we will send a representative of the Central Committee to Gorky, who will report to the regional committee on the decision taken. You must not waste a single day and not a single hour.

SHAKHURIN Alexey Ivanovich (12 (25) February 1904,from. Mikhailovskoe, Moscow province - July 3, 1975, Moscow) —First Secretary of the Yaroslavl Regional Committee and the City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks from June 1938 to January 1939.

A. I. Shakhurin was born into a peasant family. From 1917 he was an apprentice of an electrician, in 1919 -1921. worked as an electrician of the Podolsk city department of communal services, since 1921 - as a milling machine operator at the "Manometer" plant in Moscow.

In 1925 he joined the Communist Party. In 1925-1927. was the head of the political and educational department, the secretary of the Bauman district committee of the Komsomol in Moscow. Since 1927 - a representative of the Central Committee of the Komsomol and deputy chairman of the All-Russian Committee for the Promotion of Industrial and Economic Education under the People's Commissariat of Foreign and Internal Trade of the USSR. Simultaneously in 1927-1932. was a student of the Moscow Engineering and Economic Institute. Upon graduation, he began to work as the head of the production organization department of the aircraft plant number 82 in Moscow, from 1933 he was a senior engineer, then - the head of the research department of the Air Force Academy named after V.I. N.E. Zhukovsky. Since 1937 - Party organizer of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of the Aviakhim Plant No. 1 in Moscow

From June 1938 - First Secretary (the first two months - acting) of the Yaroslavl Regional Committee and the City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. From January 1939 to January 1940 - the first secretary of the Gorky regional committee of the CPSU (b). Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st convocation (1938). Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) in 1939 - 1946. January 1940 to January 1946 was the people's commissar of the aviation industry of the USSR. He established the production of aircraft, ensured the introduction of new types of military equipment, made a significant contribution to achieving victory in the Patriotic War.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 8, 1941, for outstanding services in the organization and implementation of serial production of new types of combat aircraft, Alexei Ivanovich Shakhurin was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle Gold Medal.

In 1944, Shakhurin was awarded the rank of Colonel General of the Aviation Engineering Service.

In February 1946 he was appointed deputy chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

In April 1946 he was arrested on trumped-up charges of "abuse of power" and "the release of non-standard, substandard and incomplete products." In the verdict, A. I. Shakhurin was accused of allegedly “for a long time had been producing aircraft and engines with large design and production defects and in conspiracy with the command of the Air Force ordered them into service with the Air Force, as a result of which there was a large number of accidents and disasters, pilots died, and many defective aircraft accumulated that could not be used in battles with the Germans ... ". May 11, 1946 sentenced to 7 years in labor camp.

Rehabilitated and released on May 29, 1953. On June 2, 1953, all awards and titles were returned. Since August 1953 - Deputy Minister of the Aviation Industry of the USSR. In 1954-1956. - First Deputy Minister of the Aviation Industry of the USSR. May-July 1957 - Deputy Head of the Main Directorate for Economic Relations with People's Democracies. Since July 1957 - Deputy Chairman of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for Foreign Economic Relations. Since 1959, he has been a personal pensioner of federal significance.

Awards: Hero of Socialist Labor (1941), two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov I degree, the Order of Kutuzov I degree, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, medals.

The son of A. I. Shakhurin, Vladimir (born in Moscow in 1928), studied at the elite school No. 175, where the children of high-ranking Soviet officials and party functionaries studied. Vladimir's closest friends were Sergo and Vano Mikoyan (sons of Politburo member Anastas Mikoyan), Leonid Redens (son of the executed 1st Rank State Security Commissioner Stanislav Redens, brother-in-law of Joseph Stalin), Artyom Khmelnitsky (son of General Raphael Khmelnitsky Bakuliru) (son of General Rafail Khmelnitsky Bakuliryu), Pyot Alexandra Bakuleva), Felix Kirpichnikov (son of the Deputy Chairman of the USSR State Planning Committee Pyotr Kirpichnikov).

During the war years (!) This high-ranking lads invented an organization called ... "The Fourth Reich". Members of the organization created a "shadow government" of the USSR, with Volodya Shakhurin as its "head". Members of the "government" called each other Reichsfuehrer and Gruppenfuehrer.

Adults learned about the "Fourth Reich" thanks to a tragic incident. On June 3, 1943, on the stairs of the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge, Vladimir Shakhurin shot from a Walter pistol the daughter of diplomat Konstantin Umansky, Nina, his classmate, according to some sources, was also a member of the Fourth Reich organization. There is a version that Vladimir was in love with Nina and did not want her to leave for Mexico with her parents. Then Shakhurin shot himself from the same pistol. Vladimir and Nina were buried at the Novodevichy cemetery. Their graves are not far from each other.

Investigators established that the Walter pistol, from which Shakhurin fired, belonged to Anastas Mikoyan's son, Vano. He and his younger brother Sergo were arrested, confessed to creating an "anti-Soviet" organization and named all its members. Those were also arrested.

All members of the "Fourth Reich" declared that "organization" was just child's play. However, on July 23, 1943, eight members of the organization were placed in the internal prison of the NKGB. The investigator in their case was Lev Wlodzimirsky. On December 18, 1943, the Mikoyan brothers, Leonid Barabanov, Armand Hammer, Pyotr Bakulev, Leonid Redens, Artem Khmelnitsky and Felix Kirpichnikov were sentenced without any trial to deportation to various cities of the Urals, Siberia and Central Asia for a period of one year. The verdict was signed by the People's Commissar for State Security Vsevolod Merkulov and the USSR Prosecutor General Konstantin Gorshenin.

Born on February 12, 1904 in the village of Mikhailovskoye, Podolsk district, Moscow province (now the Moscow region). The son of a peasant.

Since 1919 he worked as an electrician in Podolsk, since 1921 as a milling machine operator at the Manometer plant in Moscow. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1925. In 1925 he was transferred to the Komsomol work - the secretary of the Bauman district committee of the Komsomol of the city of Moscow, then he worked in the People's Commissariat of Trade of the RSFSR.

Graduated from the Moscow Engineering and Economics Institute in 1932. Since 1933 in military service. In 1933-1938 he served in the research and training department of the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy. Since February 1938 he was a party organizer at the plant of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry.

1937 year.Shakhurin Alexey Ivanovich

In 1938-1939, the first secretary of the Yaroslavl regional committee of the CPSU (b). He normalized the socio-political situation in the region, established party work after mass repressions.

In 1939-1940, the first secretary of the Gorky regional committee of the CPSU (b).

In 1940-1946 the People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry. In summer

1941 year. Shakhurin Alexey Ivanovich

November 7, 1941 Kalinin, Voroshilov, Andreev, the new commander of the troops of the district, General A. Kalinin, and many others, incl. and A.I. Shakhurin, attended the parade of troops in Kuibyshev. The ground parade was commanded by M.M. Popov is the commander of the 61st Army, which was soon transferred to Moscow. An air parade was also held, in which 600 aircraft participated. It was commanded by Colonel V.A. Sudets (future Air Marshal, Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces).

Stalin's speech on the evening of November 6 and the broadcast of the parade from Moscow inspired people, and, despite the inhuman working conditions and a half-starved existence in the literal sense of the open air of the Urals and Siberia, by January 1942 they began production of aircraft in line.

On January 7, 1942, Shakhurin received a call from Siberia and pronounced loud words: "Take, Motherland, the first Zaporozhye engine on Siberian soil!" Hearing these words, Alexey Ivanovich, far from being a sentimental person, felt a spasm in his throat.

Defense industry workers at the editorial office of the Pravda newspaper. Sitting (from left to right): I.I. Ivanov, B.L. Vannikov, N.N. Polikarpov, D.F. Ustinov, S.V. Ilyushin, B.G. Shpitalny. The fourth from the right is A.I. Shakhurin. October 1942.

Born on February 12, 1904 in the village of Mikhailovskoye, Podolsk district, Moscow province (now the Moscow region). The son of a peasant.

In 1938-1939, the first secretary of the Yaroslavl regional committee of the CPSU (b). He normalized the socio-political situation in the region, established party work after mass repressions.

In 1939-1940, the first secretary of the Gorky regional committee of the CPSU (b).

In 1940-1946 People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry. In the summer of 1944, Stalin instructed Shakhurin to examine everything that was possible, together with the advancing troops at the German missile range, which was to be captured by the Red Army in Poland.

In 1946, Shakhurin was repressed in the "aviation case". On May 10-11, 1946, the Military Collegium of the USSR Supreme Court chaired by V.V. Ulrich sentenced him to 7 years on charges of "abuse of power" and "the production of non-standard, substandard and incomplete products."

In the verdict, A.I.Shakhurin was accused of the following: "for a long time, he produced aircraft and engines with large design and production defects and, in conspiracy with the command of the Air Force, ordered them into service with the Air Force, as a result of which a large number of accidents and disasters, pilots died, and many defective aircraft accumulated that could not be used in battles with the Germans ... ".

May 29, 1953 rehabilitated and released. On June 2, 1953, all awards and titles were returned.

In 1953-1957, Deputy Minister of the USSR Aviation Industry, First Deputy Minister of the USSR Aviation Industry.

In 1957 - August 1959, Deputy Chairman of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for Foreign Economic Relations.

His son Vladimir (1928-1943) is known for shooting the daughter of Ambassador Konstantin Umansky, Nina, on July 3, 1943, and then shooting himself.

Awards

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 8, 1941, for outstanding services in the production of aircraft in difficult wartime conditions, Alexei Ivanovich Shakhurin was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the presentation of the Hammer and Sickle Gold Medal and the Order of Lenin.
He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov I degree, the Order of Kutuzov I degree, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of the Red Star.

People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry

Biography

Born on February 12, 1904 in the village of Mikhailovskoye, Podolsk district, Moscow province (now the Moscow region). The son of a peasant.

In 1938-1939, the first secretary of the Yaroslavl regional committee of the CPSU (b). He normalized the socio-political situation in the region, established party work after mass repressions.

In 1939-1940, the first secretary of the Gorky regional committee of the CPSU (b).

May 29, 1953 rehabilitated and released. On June 2, 1953, all awards and titles were returned.

In 1953-1957, Deputy Minister of the USSR Aviation Industry, First Deputy Minister of the USSR Aviation Industry.

In 1957 - August 1959, Deputy Chairman of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for Foreign Economic Relations.

His son Vladimir (1928-1943) is known for shooting the daughter of Ambassador Konstantin Umansky, Nina, on July 3, 1943, and then shooting himself.

Awards

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 8, 1941, for outstanding services in the production of aircraft in difficult wartime conditions, Alexei Ivanovich Shakhurin was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the presentation of the Hammer and Sickle Gold Medal and the Order of Lenin.
He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov I degree, the Order of Kutuzov I degree, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of the Red Star.