Mikhail Ilyich Kossa ( 1921 - 1950 ) - ace pilot , major of the Soviet Army , participant in the Great Patriotic War , Hero of the Soviet Union ( 1946 ), repressed, rehabilitated posthumously.
| Mikhail Ilyich Kossa | ||||||||
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| Date of Birth | October 20, 1921 | |||||||
| Place of Birth | Malokaterinovka village, Melitopol district , Zaporizhzhya province , Ukrainian SSR | |||||||
| Date of death | April 20, 1950 (28 years old) | |||||||
| Place of death | Moscow | |||||||
| Affiliation |  the USSR | |||||||
| Type of army |  Air Force | |||||||
| Years of service | 1940-1949 | |||||||
| Rank |  | |||||||
| Battles / wars | The Great Patriotic War | |||||||
| Awards and prizes |
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Biography
Mikhail Kossa was born on October 20, 1921 in the village of Malokaterinovka (now a village in the Zaporizhzhya district of the Zaporizhzhya region of Ukraine ) in a peasant family. He graduated from seven classes of a school in his native village, after which he worked as a retoucher in a photo studio, at the same time he studied first in Zaporizhzhya aero club, and later in Dnepropetrovsk . In 1940, Kossa was called up for service in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army . In 1941, he graduated from the Kachin Military Aviation Pilot School . Since May 1942 - on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. He flew on the aircraft " I-16 ", " I-153 ", " Yak-1 ." On August 2, 1942 he was shot down over enemy territory, lived in one of the villages of Ukraine under the guise of the husband of one of the local residents, was arrested twice by the police, but both times he was released. After his release, he returned to the front [1] .
By the spring of 1944, Guard Lieutenant Mikhail Kossa was deputy squadron commander of the 42nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 269th Fighter Air Division of the 4th Air Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front . By that time, he had made 324 sorties, took part in 94 air battles, in which he shot down 14 aircraft. He was introduced to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. While the documents went to the authorities, he managed to take part in the battles to eliminate the enemy group in the region of Gdynia - Danzig , to force the Oder . He shot down his last plane on May 1, 1945 . By the end of the war, he made 377 sorties, took part in 113 air battles, having shot down 15 planes in person and 4 in the group, and 4 more were damaged. He took part in the Victory Parade [1] .
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 15, 1946, for the “exemplary performance of command missions on the front line against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown” of the guard, Senior Lieutenant Mikhail Kossa was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Medal Star ” under the number 8100 [1] .
In 1949, Kossa graduated from the Air Force High School of Navigator Officers with the appropriate qualifications . In May 1949, instead of further service in the aviation units, he was discharged from the Armed Forces to the reserve and was appointed commander of the air link of the DOSAAF training center, located in the village of Rotmistrovka, Kiev Region, Ukrainian SSR . On September 24, 1949, on Saturday, he had an argument with his wife (Anastasia Savelyevna Kossa), whom he said: “Well, remember today's date,” he drank the wine, kissed his daughter, drove off to the airfield and lifted the Yak-9 T plane into the air belonging to the center, and headed towards the State border of the USSR. When the fuel ran out of the tanks, he landed at the Romanian airfield Suceava , was arrested and extradited to the Soviet Union. Later, on December 11, 1949, the wife wrote in a letter to Stalin : "The husband appeared at the airport very drunk and upset."
On September 26, 1949, Cosse was charged with treason . During the investigation, he pleaded guilty, but in court he refused to testify, referring to the application of physical measures (torture) to him and saying that he crossed the border while intoxicated (which was confirmed by the results of a medical examination), and to the Romanian airfield sat down to ask to refuel his plane for an immediate return to his unit. The state prosecutor demanded 25 years of forced labor camps for Kossa with confiscation of property , but the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced former Major Mikhail Koss to capital punishment on April 20, 1950 . The verdict was not subject to appeal and was carried out on the same day. The body was buried in the Donskoy cemetery in Moscow [1] .
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 7, 1951, Kossa was posthumously deprived of all ranks and awards. By a resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the USSR of June 1, 1966, he was posthumously rehabilitated. Restored to the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union [1] .
He was also awarded three orders of the Red Banner (10/14/1942, 04/05/1943, 04/15/1944), orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st (07/01/1943) and 2nd (08/08/1945) degrees, as well as a number of medals [1] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kossa, Mikhail Ilyich . Site " Heroes of the country ".
Literature
- Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium I. N. Shkadov . - M .: Military Publishing , 1987.- T. 1 / Abaev - Lyubichev /. - 911 p. - 100,000 copies. - ISBN comp., Reg. RCP No. 87-95382.
- Bortakovsky T. Shot Heroes of the Soviet Union. - M. Veche, 2012 - ISBN 978-5-9533-6190-3 .
- Zvyagintsev V. Tribunal for heroes. - M. OLMA-PRESS, 2005.
- Konev V. Heroes without golden stars. - M. "Yauza", 2008.
- Pavlov G. R. Fellow soldiers. - M .: DOSAAF, 1985.