Anatoly Pavlovich Zhivov was born in 1925 in Moscow, in the family of worker Pavel Danilovich Zhivov. At the age of 15, Anatoly became a locksmith’s apprentice at one of the Moscow plants, as after his father’s death his mother had four small children left. Anatoly quickly mastered the working profession of helping the family.
When the Great Patriotic War broke out, Anatoly Zhivov, like thousands of his peers, became a fighter of the Ministry of Defense, he climbed on the roofs of houses, dropped incendiary bombs from there, put out fires.
In August 1941, the Nazis seized the territory where the Nikopol manganese field was located. The enemy rejoiced, as our country was without manganese – the most important component in the production of armored steel.
In the summer of 1942, a large group of Moscow workers was sent to build the Zhezdinskoye manganese mine for military mobilization. Together with this group came to Zhezdy and Anatoly Zhivov. Zhezdy manganese mine was built in a very short time – 38 days. Soon our defense industry began to receive the most important strategic metal.
Working at the mine, Anatoly Zhivov, like thousands of other young patriots, rushed to the front to personally participate in the defeat of hated invaders. In May 1943, 18-year-old Anatoly went as a volunteer to the front.
On April 4, 1944, he made Anatoly Zhivov’s name immortal. In the streets of the city of Ternopil fierce battles with the enemy were started. Signalist Anatoly Zhivov was in the assault group, which attacked well fortified positions of the enemy. The fire of the enemy embrasures mortally mowed the advancing fighters. Among the volunteers who volunteered to destroy the enemy’s point of fire, was Anatoly Zhivov. Under the barrier fire of the assault team Anatoly Zhivov crawled to the loophole and threw bottles of combustible mixture. And when the fire point came back to life after a brief silence, Anatoli rushed forward, closing the embrasure with his body. The enemy’s fire point was choked. As the vortex rose to storm his comrades and took brutal revenge for the death of a fighting friend.
Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on September 23, 1944 Anatoly Pavlovich Zhivov, who repeated the feat of Alexander Matrosov, was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
The heroic deed of Anatoly Zhivov was not forgotten. Poems and songs were written about him, his name is borne by the streets in Moscow and Ternopil.
A memorial plaque has been installed on the facade of the building in the Ukrainian city, where Anatoly fought and performed his feat. “Here, in the spring of 1944, in the battles for Ternopil, 19-year-old soldier Anatoly Zhivov closed the embrasure of the fascist zoo with his body. For his courageous feat he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union”.
The material is published based on the book published in the RIO Bolashak Baspa and on the Internet.
Heroes of Karaganda [Text]: a collection of biographical information / ed. Zh. S. Akylbaev, A.A. Abdakimov, N.O. Dulatbekov, R. K. Omarbekova. – Karaganda: Bolashak-Baspa, 2000. – – 146 p.
