On May 20, 1906, Alexander Nikolaevich Komarovsky was born - an outstanding engineer, organizer, military leader, Hero of Socialist Labor, holder of seven Orders of Lenin. During his lifetime, he simply described himself as a builder.

Alexander Nikolaevich was born in St. Petersburg into the family of a civil engineer. Shortly before the First World War, the Komarovskys moved to Cherepovets, where the head of the family participated in the construction of the Mariinsky water system. After the February Revolution, my father was appointed to the post of head of the Moskvoretsko-Oka waterways district in Moscow. The Great October Socialist Revolution, which Komarovsky Sr. accepted, did not change the state of affairs and position. The family settled in Moscow.

Soon, young Alexander was sent to the experimental demonstration school named after Fridtjof Nansen with, as they say now, a physics and mathematics focus. After graduating from school in 1922, Komarovsky decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a civil engineer; in the same year he successfully entered the Moscow Institute of Transport Engineers.

Six years later, the young engineer graduated from college and started working. He designed hydraulic structures and headed the hydraulic bureau of the Gidrotechstroy trust. He coped with his work brilliantly, and as confirmation of this, in 1931, twenty-five-year-old Komarovsky was appointed head of the hydraulic engineering sector of the design department for the construction of the Moscow-Volga canal. And three years later, he became the deputy head of work in the Moscow canal construction region. It was a responsible and difficult job, to which the young specialist devoted himself entirely and worked almost for days.

"...We are young and full of strength. Most of us came to this gigantic construction site straight from school. Many of the engineers and technicians who created the canal were still Komsomol age. We proudly report to our great Motherland that the grandiose canal, everything its remarkable structures and mechanisms were built without foreign assistance..."
From Komarovsky’s speech at a rally dedicated to the opening of the Moscow-Volga canal.

In May 1937, construction of the canal was completed. After the completion of the work, Komarovsky was appointed head and chief engineer of the canal department, but soon he received an unexpected offer from the People's Commissariat of Defense - to act as a consultant in matters of military construction. Alexander Nikolaevich agreed and for a year successfully combined work with consultations. In 1938, his contribution to strengthening the country's defense capability was appreciated, and he was awarded the rank of brigade military engineer.

From this moment on, Komarovsky’s life will be inextricably linked with the army; in 1939, he was appointed Deputy People’s Commissar of the USSR Navy for the construction and mechanization of ports, and then the head of Glavspetsgidrostroy, whose tasks included the creation and modernization of ports for the needs of the navy. However, it turned out to be impossible to fully implement the plan; the work was interrupted by the Great Patriotic War.

Komarovsky, like many other talented organizers, was transferred to one of the most important areas - the evacuation of industry. However, in the conditions of the outbreak of war, not only the organizational talents of the thirty-five-year-old brigade engineer were in demand. Under his leadership, restoration teams were organized in the shortest possible time, formed to minimize the destruction in Moscow caused during Nazi air raids.

On August 5, 1941, Alexander Nikolaevich was appointed head of the fifth directorate of defensive works, responsible for the construction of fortifications in the Southern and Southwestern directions, in Ukraine near Kharkov. A new appointment soon followed; Komarovsky became deputy head of the Main Directorate of Defense Construction of the People's Commissariat of Defense. However, this did not make the work any less; the brigade engineer disappeared on the lines of defense; during one of the flights, his plane was intercepted by an enemy fighter, but the pilot managed to land the damaged aircraft. Komarovsky survived, having been wounded in the leg.

German armored personnel carrier and Soviet. October 1941, somewhere near Kharkov

Soviet troops desperately clung to the defense lines, but in November Kharkov was abandoned by order of Headquarters. And Komarovsky was summoned to the People's Commissariat of Defense, where he received a new assignment to build defensive lines near Stalingrad. Having taken leadership of the fifth sapper army, Alexander Nikolaevich began work. Despite the harsh winter, people literally dug into the ground and solved the most difficult problems every day in order to prepare the frontiers to meet the enemy.

In January 1942, work on the Stalingrad line was completed. And here in the life of Komarovsky, who, it would seem, should have continued to work as a fortifier, another sharp turn took place. By order of the State Defense Committee, the brigade engineer and the “liberated” fifth engineer army were ordered to arrive at the Bakalstroy (later Chelyabmetallurgstroy) unfolding near Chelyabinsk. Alexander Nikolaevich was supposed to lead the construction of a metallurgical plant, the famous ChMZ.

Having arrived at the site, Komarovsky came to the conclusion that despite the urgency, it was necessary to start not with the construction of the plant, but with providing the builders with the necessary conditions - high-quality housing, communications, and ancillary facilities. This was a huge responsibility; failure to build a strategic enterprise could result in a very severe punishment. However, Alexander Nikolaevich insisted on his own, and only in the spring of 1942, when the main everyday problems were solved, the construction of the first stage of the plant began.

The construction of a huge enterprise in war conditions is an unprecedented feat, which, like many other feats of that time, was spat upon. The fact is that most of the work was carried out by captured and labor-mobilized Germans, who, for obvious reasons, were at the disposal of the NKVD. The accusers said traditional words about thousands of dead, inhumane conditions, cruelty and lawlessness. The only thing not said is how, in an “atmosphere of constant fear,” it was possible to build a huge industrial enterprise in a year (!) and produce the first melt in a year and a half. Enthusiasm is never born from slavery, as said a representative of the English company Gartel, who visited Soviet construction sites in the 30s. And without him, it is simply impossible to do something like this. Cutting down forests - yes, building factories in the shortest possible time - no.

Chelyabmetallurgstroy (Bakalstroy)

"...In the defeat of Hitler's hordes at Stalingrad there is a share of the heroic work of soldier-builders. Many of them - the creators of the Stalingrad defensive lines - work in our ranks. The time is not far when our current work will also be reflected in the victories of the Soviet troops.. "
From Komarovsky’s speech at a rally dedicated to the victory at Stalingrad

On February 7, 1943, the Chelyabmetallurgstroy team reported the completion of construction. Two weeks later, Komarovsky was awarded the rank of major general of the engineering and technical service.

On April 19, the first melting was carried out at the plant, in the fall of the same year the construction of a thermal power plant was completed, and the construction and commissioning of second-stage plant facilities began. Upon completion of the work, Alexander Nikolaevich was summoned to report to the Central Committee of the Party, after which he was appointed to manage the construction of a metallurgical plant in Rustavi. In May, Komarovsky left Chelyabinsk and went to Transcaucasia.

In 1945, Komarovsky was again summoned to Moscow. The Great Patriotic War is over, the time has come to restore the national economy destroyed by the Nazis.

A talented organizer led the restoration of industrial, civilian and military facilities throughout the Soviet Union that suffered from the occupiers. However, in addition to this work, new, sometimes very unusual tasks arose; in 1948, he was entrusted with organizing the construction of Moscow State University. Five years later it accepted its first students. Under the leadership of Alexander Nikolaevich, a synchrophasotron and a synchrocyclotron were built.

The work on the design and construction of military and defensive facilities has not gone away either. At the end of 1963, Komarovsky was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR for Construction. In November 1972, he was awarded the rank of army general. He was the first army general from the engineering corps.

Unfortunately, this man's life span was only 67 years. On November 19, 1973, after a serious illness, Alexander Nikolaevich Komarovsky died. The Hero of Socialist Labor, holder of the orders: Lenin (seven times), Red Banner (twice), Red Star (twice), Patriotic War, 1st degree, was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

In honor of Alexander Nikolaevich, the Army General Komarovsky medal was established in 2006, which is awarded to military personnel of the cantonment and accommodation service for excellent service.

And in Chelyabinsk, a small street in the Metallurgical District, located in a place still unofficially called “Bakal,” bears his name. It was here that the first buildings of the plant’s builders were laid, around which an entire urban area grew up.

Komarovsky Alexander Nikolaevich - Head of the Main Directorate of Forced Labor Camps for Industrial Construction of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) of the USSR, Major General of the Engineering and Technical Service.

Born on May 7 (20), 1906 in St. Petersburg in the family of a civil engineer. Russian. In 1914-1917 he lived with his parents in the city of Cherepovets, now the Volgograd region, and from the second half of 1917 - in Moscow.

He studied at the Moscow Experimental Demonstration School named after Fridtjof Nansen, from which he graduated in 1922. He received higher education in 1928, graduating from the Moscow Institute of Transport Engineers, and worked in engineering and technical positions in the Moscow Bureau of Svirstroy and the Vodokanalstroy, Gidrotekhstroy and Spotsstroyproekt trusts.

Since November 1931 A.N. Komarovsky - in the organs of the OGPU of the USSR, directed to the construction of the Moscow Canal (Moscow - Volga Canal): head of the hydraulic sector, deputy head of the technical construction department and deputy head of work in the Southern (Moscow) region, and from May 1936 - head of the Central region. In 1937, head and chief engineer of the canal operation department.

The next stage of Komarovsky's career was the design and construction of the Kuibyshev hydroelectric complex, where he was the head of the capital construction sector of the People's Commissariat of Water Resources of the USSR.

Since the end of 1938 - Deputy People's Commissar of the USSR Navy, and since May 1939 - Deputy People's Commissar of the USSR Navy for construction. In this position, he headed the design, construction and mechanization of ports, ship repair facilities and naval bases. Member of the CPSU(b)/CPSU since 1939.

During the Great Patriotic War, from August 1941 - head of the Directorate for the Construction of Defensive Structures (5th Directorate) of the Main Directorate of Defense Works of the NKVD of the USSR, responsible for the construction of defensive structures in the zone of the Southern and Southwestern Fronts. Since November 1941 - commander of the 5th Engineer Army and deputy head of the Main Directorate of Defense Works of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR. Deservingly occupying these positions, A.N. Komarovsky organized the construction of a number of defensive lines on the Southern and Southwestern fronts, as well as near Stalingrad.

Since January 1942, brigade military engineer Komarovsky A.N. - Head of the Bakalstroy NKVD of the USSR, which was created in the Glavuralstroy system for the construction of a plant for processing Bakal ores, and then the entire Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant. The launch day of the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant was April 19, 1943, when the first metal was smelted, further construction of the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant continued in the conditions of existing production.

In 1943 A.N. Komarovsky was appointed head of the Construction Department of the Transcaucasian Metallurgical Plant.

In May 1944-1951 and in 1952-1953 - head of the Main Directorate of forced labor camps for industrial construction of the NKVD of the USSR. In 1948, he led the construction of Moscow State University on the Lenin (now Vorobyovy) Hills. In 1951–1952 - head of the Main Directorate of forced labor camps for the construction of oil refineries and artificial liquid fuel enterprises of the NKVD of the USSR. In 1953-63 - Head of Glavpromstroy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, and since 1955 - Head of Glavpromstroy of the Ministry of Medium Engineering (Deputy Minister).

In 1945–1963 A.N. Komarovsky supervised the design and construction of nuclear industry facilities, including he personally determined the location and construction of the first-born of the nuclear industry - “Object No. 859” now - the Mayak chemical plant and the first “atomic city” - “Chelyabinsk-40” (“Chelyabinsk -65", now the city of Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk region). Since 1954, he led the construction near the Obninskaya station (now the city of Obninsk, Kaluga region) of the world's first nuclear power plant with an energy capacity of five thousand kilowatts.

Under the direct leadership of Major General of the Engineering and Technical Service A.N. Komarovsky. were built: an elementary particle accelerator (synchrocyclotron) in the city of Dubna, Moscow region, as well as the Serpukhov Synchrophasotron, the world's largest ring proton accelerator.

On August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union exploded the first atomic bomb. This was a response to the aggressive actions of the United States, which by that time possessed nuclear weapons, which they had already tested several times, both for experimental and military purposes, exploding a plutonium bomb on July 16, 1945, and then using these deadly weapons at the end of the 2nd World War II, dropping a uranium bomb on Japanese cities: Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Now the whole world has learned that the USSR also possesses this “hellish” weapon, but capable of deterring any aggressor.

By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 29, 1949 “On conferring the title of Hero of Socialist Labor to scientific, engineering and technical and managerial workers of research, design organizations and industrial enterprises” (with the stamp: “Not subject to publication”) “for exceptional services to state, when performing a special task,” Major General of the Engineering and Technical Service Alexander Nikolaevich Komarovsky was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.

General Komarovsky A.N. made a great personal contribution to the construction of scientific centers of the USSR, and at the same time, from 1958 to 1973, he headed the department at the Moscow Institute of Civil Engineering named after V.V. Kuibysheva. Doctor of Technical Sciences (1956), Professor (1958).

Since December 1963, Lieutenant General of the Engineering and Technical Service A.N. Komarovsky. - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR for the construction and quartering of troops. In this high and responsible position, he proved himself to be a major specialist and organizer.

Under the leadership of A.N. Komarovsky, important measures were taken to improve the structure of military construction bodies and the technical equipment of military construction units, and a large number of important military facilities were built. He conducted extensive scientific work in the field of defense, industrial and hydraulic engineering, published 19 scientific papers and a large number of articles on these issues. Under his leadership, a number of collective scientific works were created, including “Design and Construction of Nuclear Installations” (M., 1962), “Application of Atomic Energy in the National Economy” (M., 1979).

November 2, 1972 to Colonel General of the Engineering and Technical Service A.N. Komarovsky. awarded the military rank of Army General. Before him, not a single military engineer in our country had such a title.

He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 8th convocation (1970-1973). Deputy of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR.

Army General A.N. Komarovsky died on November 19, 1973 after a short serious illness. He was buried in the hero city of Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery (site 7).

Military ranks:
military engineer 1st rank (1938),
brigengineer (1939),
Major General of Engineering and Technical Service (02/22/1943),
Lieutenant General of Engineering and Technical Service (02/22/1963),
Colonel General of the Engineering and Technical Service (06/16/1965),
General of the Army (11/2/1972).

Awarded 7 Orders of Lenin (07.14.1937, 04.29.1943, 05.16.1945, 10.29.1949, 09.11.1956, 03.07.1962, 05.19.1966), 2 Orders of the Red Banner (02.21.1942, 12.30. 1956), Order of the Patriotic War war of the 1st degree (02/27/1946), 2 orders of the Red Star (01/30/1951; 02/22/1968), medals, foreign awards.

Lenin Prize (1968). Stalin Prize (1951).

By Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of December 25, 1973, the name of Army General A.N. Komarovsky. was assigned to the Leningrad Higher Military Engineering Red Banner School. A street in the Metallurgical district of Chelyabinsk is named after Komarovsky. In 1984, to encourage advanced production workers of PSMO Chelyabmetallurgstroy, the A.N. Prize was established. Komarovsky. A memorial museum of the famous military builder has been created at the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical College. In Moscow, a memorial plaque was installed on the house in which the Hero lived.

Composition:
Notes from a builder. - M.: Voenizdat, 1972.

Generals and military leaders of the Great Patriotic War-2 Kiselev (Compiled) A N

Army General Alexander KOMAROVSKY

“My military specialty is construction,” Army General Alexander Nikolaevich Komarovsky wrote about himself. At first glance, there is something contradictory in these words. War is always associated with destruction, and a builder, by his very essence, is a creator, a creator. But if you think about it, there is no contradiction here. The need to protect the Soviet socialist Motherland, to provide conditions for the construction of a new society - communism, forces people of the most peaceful professions to direct their knowledge and talent to the service of military affairs, ensuring the defense of the country. Revealing the secrets of nature for the benefit of peaceful life, physicists and chemists are forced to create formidable weapons. Facilitating human labor, making it more and more powerful, designers and engineers at the same time create a variety of military equipment.

This is how the life of Alexander Nikolaevich Komarovsky developed. As a civil engineer, the manager of large construction projects, as a construction theorist, Alexander Nikolaevich did a lot for the happy peaceful life of the Soviet people, to fulfill the plans for the economic development of our Motherland. At the same time, as a Soviet military leader, Army General Komarovsky made a great contribution to achieving our victory in the Great Patriotic War, and played an important role in strengthening the defense and military power of the Soviet socialist state.

Alexander Nikolaevich Komarovsky was born on May 20, 1906 in St. Petersburg. His father, civil engineer Nikolai Aleksandrovich Komarovsky, shortly before the First World War, moved with his family to the city of Cherepovets, where he worked on the construction of locks and dams of the Mariinsky water system. After the fall of the autocracy, the Provisional Government appointed him head of the Moskvoretsko-Oka waterways district.

We got to Moscow by water. We sailed along the Upper Volga, the narrow, winding Moscow River. For eleven-year-old Alexander it was a most exciting journey. But he was worried about the mood of the adults. They spoke with excitement about the events in Petrograd, the words “revolution...”, “Bolsheviks”, “people’s commissars...” sounded mysterious. The confusion of the adults was transmitted to the boy; there was a feeling that they were sailing not to Moscow, but to some mysterious and therefore frightening unknown.

In Moscow, the Komarovsky family settled on Nikitsky Boulevard. And the very next day the word “revolution” became for Alexander not some abstract, mysterious concept. Fierce battles began between the Red Guards and revolutionary soldiers led by the Bolsheviks and the forces of the counter-revolution that opposed the Soviet power proclaimed in Petrograd. Not far from the Nikitsky Gate near Arbat Square, the fighting became especially stubborn. Barricades were erected across the boulevard, and machine guns were installed on the roofs of some houses. Here, for five days, the Bolsheviks kicked violently resisting officers and cadets out of the building of the Alexander Junker School.

When the resistance to the counter-revolution was broken and a revolutionary order was established in the city, the meaning of the events that had taken place reached Alexander through the conversations of adults: the people's socialist revolution won, power passed into the hands of the Soviets. My father responded favorably to the revolution. However, he, like the colleagues who came to him, was worried about his own future.

The Bolsheviks will not get down to business soon, but will they need us? “They regard us more as bourgeois,” one of my father’s acquaintances said worriedly.

“I heard something else,” answered Nikolai Alexandrovich. - We are called “proletarians of mental labor.” A little flamboyant, but right. Our brothers - engineers are also workers, and not some kind of owners. I think that everything will work out. Just when?

Contrary to doubts, everything came together quite quickly. In the very first month of the establishment of Soviet power, N.A. Komarovsky was approved as the head of the Moskvoretsko-Oka district of waterways.

Alexander's position was also determined. He was admitted to the Fridtjof Nansen Experimental Demonstration School. It was a kind of school. Its director A. S. Barkov and many teachers were simultaneously professors at Moscow University; the curriculum at the school was focused on the exact sciences, in particular mathematics and physics.

The main thing: you need to learn to think independently, be able to generalize and analyze the material, Barkov often told his students. He widely practiced preparing and reading abstracts for high school students. One day, Alexander Komarovsky read his first report, “Is there life on Mars?”

The focus of the school's program, strong teaching staff, and creative teaching method brought remarkable results: many of Alexander's classmates, like himself, later became engineers and scientists.

It was hard to study. The lack of the most basic things, especially food, was felt in every family. To help their parents, high school students were hired to clear snow from roofs, chop wood, and worked as apprentices in various private workshops. It was a shame to waste time on this, but every time Alexander brought the money he earned in this way, he felt a sense of pride. My father encouraged: “Difficulties have their reasons - they develop character.”

In 1922, Alexander graduated from school. The question “who to be?” that confronts young people when they embark on an independent path in life did not exist for him. Since childhood, Alexander dreamed of being a civil engineer. Over time, the dream became a deeply thought-out, mature decision. And in the fact that this happened, of course, the example of his father played a significant role. Nikolai Alexandrovich passionately wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, and skillfully directed his son’s inquisitive mind. He often took him to construction sites, showing him what skilled human hands could do, combined with the knowledge and talent of an engineer. The young man saw with his own eyes the great meaning, romance, and difficulties of the construction profession. His family, his father’s example and help became his first construction school, where, in addition to unsystematized but solid knowledge, he received the main thing, without which he cannot do anything - a love for his chosen profession. After graduating from school, Alexander applied to the Moscow Institute of Transport Engineers (MIIT) for the construction department of the water department. He wasn’t particularly worried about the exam results, since he had thoroughly prepared for them, but he was not yet 18 years old, and this was worrying.

He’s a little short in age, but he’s shown excellent knowledge. I recommend accepting,” said the chairman of the examination committee, and Alexander Komarovsky became a student at MIIT.

On the evening of the same day, on the occasion of Alexander’s admission to university, the family had a festive dinner. Nikolai Alexandrovich began to daydream:

Believe me, your time is a time of colossal construction. Look: we are building Kashirskaya, we are building Shaturskaya! And how many more are planned! None of us, old engineers, even thought of such a grandiose plan as GOELRO. You will work, son, to your heart’s content.

Remembering later these words of his father, Alexander Nikolaevich smiled every time: after all, by the end of 1935, the GOELRO plan for electricity generation was exceeded almost four times!

And then, at the festive dinner, Alexander thought with satisfaction: “How my father and his friends, the old engineers, have changed. In 1917, they were wary and expectant about Soviet power, and now they are passionate about it, although they live meagerly financially, worse than before the revolution.” .

Later, on some occasion, he shared this thought with his father.

You see, Alexander,” answered Nikolai Alexandrovich, “it is truly said: man does not live by bread alone.” Yes, my colleagues and I lived better financially. But the current difficulties are understandable and can be overcome. But what space for work, for great useful work! As a hydraulic engineer, I always think about the GOELRO plan. Such a plan can only be developed and implemented on a national scale. Soviet power is just such a state. Think about how Lenin defined: GOELRO is the second program of the party! Lenin is a great man. Every true engineer will raise both hands for this program of his. And these hands were yearning for real work. And we are beginning to understand the political program of Lenin and his party and we already understand the main thing: a society is being created where labor will be the ruler. And we, engineers, are working people. Who should we serve if not this ruler?

The conversation took place in the evening. And on the morning of January 22, 1924, the sad news spread throughout the world: Lenin died! For the rest of his life, Alexander remained in the memory of the cold January days full of popular grief, bonfires in the streets and seemingly endless streams of people rushing to the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions. Alexander also passed by Ilyich’s coffin. Staring into the waxen face of the leader, he, like everyone else then, thought: “How can we live now, what will we do without Lenin?” Alexander Komarovsky will forever remember the hysterical, soul-chilling solemn mourning whistles of factories, factories and locomotives on the day of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin’s funeral.

Lenin died, but his ideas were immortal, and the party and Soviet state he created remained. “He is no longer among us,” the government message said, “but his cause will remain unshakable...” An indelible impression made on Alexander by the way the country rallied in a single, popular desire to bring Lenin’s work to the end. Later, he acutely experienced this impression again and again, listening to the poems of Vladimir Mayakovsky: “Even Ilyich’s death itself became the greatest communist organizer!”

Yes, Lenin's work lived on. The foundation of a socialist society was laid in all spheres of life. A creative surge was also felt at MIIT. Students sought to gain as much knowledge as possible and better master their chosen specialties. Professors and teachers understood their responsibility: after all, they were preparing the first cadres of the new Soviet technical intelligentsia, which was to implement Lenin’s ideas of industrialization of the country. They boldly involved students in the research work carried out at the departments, primarily in that which was related to the urgent needs of industry, energy and transport. To expand the technical interests and knowledge of students, the students practiced reading reports on topics not covered by the curriculum.

Alexander also made several such reports. He worked with enthusiasm in the “Water Cabinet” created at the Department of Hydraulic Structures and in the hydraulic engineering laboratory formed somewhat later. At that time there were almost no specialized research institutes in the country, and their current functions were largely assigned to university departments. At the Department of Hydraulic Structures of MIIT, research was carried out on assignments from various hydraulic engineering organizations. Participation in the scientific activities of the Department of Hydraulic Structures was for Alexander Komarovsky a great school of research work. Here almost no allowance was made for the fact that he was just a student: the results of the research were needed by production.

Another, no less important school was industrial practice. Alexander Nikolaevich subsequently wrote:

“And we were not just trainee observers. Each of us was appointed to a specific position with clearly defined responsibilities and was fully responsible for the pace and quality of work. I, in particular, first had to be a senior worker for the preparation of piles and sheet piles. Then - a technician by driving them with steam pile drivers and concreting the foundation (flutbet) of the dam. Needless to say, how this confirmed us in our own eyes!"

In February 1928, Alexander Nikolaevich graduated from MIIT, receiving the title of communications engineer. His graduation project “Don Staircase of the Volga-Don Canal Locks” was regarded as a serious scientific work. The chairman of the qualification commission - the head of the waterways department of the NKPS, the largest hydraulic engineer at that time, K. N. Akulov, imposed a resolution on the project: “Keep the project in the fundamental library of the institute.” This was the highest grade, above five.

Directly at the examination committee, Alexander Nikolaevich was asked to remain a graduate student at the institute. “You are already almost an established scientist,” said Akulov.

Of course, it was flattering to hear such an opinion about yourself. But the young engineer had his own deliberate plan. The example of prosperous young people who had gone through the path of student - graduate student - assistant professor did not appeal to him. Having already become a venerable civil engineer and scientist, Alexander Nikolaevich never tired of repeating to students of military academies and university students that such a path does not shape either a scientist, much less a practitioner. And such a teacher can teach little.

At the family council, it was decided without hesitation: to engage in design for three or four years in order to consolidate the theoretical knowledge acquired, and then go into production,

And how could it be otherwise, son! - Nikolai Alexandrovich fussed joyfully. - The Dnieper hydroelectric power station has been under construction for the second year! Look, you'll be late! And Komarovsky Sr. said seriously: “You won’t be late.” Now is the time for the builder to begin. And you need to match the time. Then you will be of no use.

Alexander Nikolaevich began his career in the Moscow design bureau of Svirstroy, which developed parts of a large hydraulic engineering complex on the Svir River according to the GOELRO plan, then he worked at Vodokanalproekt, and soon became the head of the hydraulic bureau of the Gidrotekhstroy trust of the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR. Here the young engineer learned something without which, as he believed, it was impossible to become a true civil engineer - he acquired experience in designing construction projects.

Already in the first years after graduating from the institute, Alexander Nikolaevich began to generalize the experience of his own and his colleagues, meticulously analyze it, and think about unsolved problems. As a result of four years of work, he wrote three major monographs on the issues of the impact of ice on hydraulic structures, which were almost not covered at that time. Pleased with his son’s success, Nikolai Alexandrovich joked: “You’ve been making ice cream all your free time for years now!”

In the future, summarizing the accumulated experience, analyzing miscalculations and mistakes, thinking about ways to more effectively solve pressing problems in construction production and sharing all this with his colleagues through books and articles became an urgent need for Alexander Nikolaevich. He devoted most of his leisure time to her: he wrote during vacations, in the evenings, on trains and planes, during business trips.

On June 15, 1931, the Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution on the construction of the Moscow-Volga canal. Reading the text, Alexander Nikolaevich rejoiced, while simultaneously experiencing a feeling of envy. I was glad that a dream that had been nurtured by different people for many centuries would finally come true. He knew that back in 1674 there was a proposal to connect the Upper Volga with the Moscow River by an artificial waterway; there were many projects of this kind under Peter I, and in 1825 even work began on the construction of a canal, which lasted almost 25 years without success. He also understood the enormous importance of the canal. I understood and envied those who would build it. And when he learned that the former head of the Department of Hydraulic Structures at MIIT, Professor Alexander Ivanovich Fridman, who always distinguished the promising student Komarovsky, had been appointed head of the canal construction, then hope flashed: “What if!”

And “suddenly” it happened. Alexander Nikolaevich was invited by Friedman. The conversation was short. Alexander Ivanovich knew his former student well, saw in him an undisclosed, but for him already undoubted talent as a civil engineer, capable of eventually becoming a skillful manager of critical sections of a large construction project. At the beginning of November 1931, Alexander Nikolaevich Komarovsky was appointed head of the hydraulic engineering sector of the design department for the construction of the Moscow-Volga canal.

The primary task of the designers was to select the most appropriate from a national economic point of view and economic scheme and route of the future canal. It was studied both on the map and on the ground. Together with other designers, Alexander Nikolaevich visited the Upper Volga and examined many sections of the Moscow River. I remembered my childhood impressions when he sailed through these places from Cherepovets to Moscow. Could he then imagine that he would return here as a hydraulic engineer, one of the transformers of this region, the creators of a majestic structure - the Moscow-Volga canal!

The final version of the canal project was reviewed and approved by the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Immediately, survey, design and first construction work began on a broad front. Komarovsky persistently strived “to the front line” - directly to construction, and in April 1934, as a result of urgent requests, he was appointed deputy head of work in the Southern (Moscow) region, and in May 1934, head of the Central region of the Moscow-Volga canal. It was necessary to demonstrate versatile knowledge and great organizational skills in order to earn such trust. After all, each canal construction area was a significant object in itself. Suffice it to say that the hydraulic structures of the Southern District alone were larger in scale than such a large construction project as Volkhovstroy.

Construction was carried out at a rapid pace, around the clock. Komarovsky's working day began at 6-7 o'clock and often ended late in the evening. It was often necessary to stay at construction sites at night. It happened that fatigue overcame her, and youth demanded its toll. Who will not be touched by the words of Komarovsky himself, when he, already a gray-haired general, wrote about that distant time: “After all, I was only twenty-seven years old, I wanted songs and smiles.”

But it was in countless affairs and production concerns that Alexander Nikolaevich saw the main joy of his life. He often recalled his father’s words: “You will work, son, to your heart’s content, from your heart.” Indeed, despite the difficulties, we worked to our heart's content. It was joyful to see how quickly what was on the designers’ drawings just a year or two ago became reality and became firmly established for centuries. And it was no less gratifying to feel like a member of a team of thousands of enthusiasts, inspired by the desire to perfectly fulfill the responsible task of the party and government.

Like any other big undertaking, the construction of the Moscow-Volga canal was for its participants not only a technical, professional, but also a great political school. Active mass political work was carried out at the construction site. The non-party engineer Komarovsky was an indispensable participant. On assignments from the party organization, he held conversations with workers and spoke at meetings and rallies.

In February 1937, Alexander Nikolaevich Komarovsky was admitted to the ranks of the Communist Party. He was especially touched by how warmly the communist workers spoke about him at the meeting. After all, let’s be honest, in the heat of everyday construction he was harsh and demanding of the workers, and could not always satisfy their urgent needs. It turned out that the workers understood everything correctly, they saw that their engineer did not spare himself, and devoted everything to the construction site.

The construction of the Moscow-Volga canal attracted the attention of the whole country and the whole world. Foreign correspondents were bothering me. Those of them who represented reactionary bourgeois newspapers could not believe that work on the canal was being carried out using a variety of construction equipment and that almost all of this equipment was their own, domestic, created by Soviet designers and in Soviet factories. After all, at Volkhovstroi and Dneprostroi, construction mechanisms were mainly of foreign origin. Alexander Nikolaevich had to explain and show all this. Articles appeared in the foreign press recognizing technical progress in Soviet mechanical engineering.

There were also guests, whose appearance worried all the builders and remained in their memory for the rest of their lives. On one of the August days of 1934, Alexei Maksimovich Gorky came to the construction site. He was interested in everything. He asked in detail about the life of the workers. Someone shouted: “Everything is fine, even great!” Alexey Maksimovich smiled:

I know what “good and even excellent” means. I understand: it's hard. But the fact that, despite all the difficulties, you are doing such a great thing and at the same time are vigorous and cheerful - this is really good and even excellent.

In Dmitrov, at the builders' club, a meeting of production shock workers with the great proletarian writer took place. Alexey Maksimovich spoke excitedly and heartfeltly:

This construction is a great school in which you learn the science of changing the appearance of our Motherland in the shortest possible time, which we have never known before in Russia.

In 1936, Komarovsky had to show the lock and pumping station to Marshal of the Soviet Union V.K. Blucher. All participants in the conversation drew attention to Vasily Konstantinovich’s broad erudition in matters that went beyond his purely military competence. Alexander Nikolaevich found a convenient reason to tell Blucher about this.

“And you are in no hurry to establish the line between peaceful and military,” answered Vasily Konstantinovich. - It may happen that your peaceful profession will become the most divided. Look what's happening abroad. We kicked the Japanese military in the teeth. But this is just an episode for now. How long will this “for now” last? Hitler is preparing for an open big war and does not hide that he will fight with the Soviet Union. We must always be prepared to repel imperialist aggression. Your channel is needed for this too. It multiplies the economic power of our country. And the economy is the material foundation of the power of our army and navy. As you can see, even now you are not separated from what you call purely military.

On April 22, 1937, Komarovsky and a group of engineers were checking the readiness of lock No. 4. Suddenly a line of cars appeared around the bend. Having approached the top head of the lock, they stopped. Stalin and other leaders of the party and government got out of the cars. Komarovsky ran up to Stalin and, almost in a military style, briefly and clearly reported the situation.

When the guests inspected the knot and, as it seemed, were about to leave, Komarovsky turned to Stalin:

Comrade Stalin, we ask you to inspect the other node, nearby, at the third gateway. There, scaffolding has already been removed from some architecturally designed structures.

“Well, we’ll have to give in to the builders,” said Stalin.

While the guests were touring the structure, the segmental gate was opened and water flooded the lock chamber. Stalin was interested in the canal's equipment, especially the already installed pumps, the largest in the world at that time.

“Our own, domestic,” he told his companions with satisfaction. - Well done to our designers, they learned how to do it themselves. And, as you can see, they are the largest in the world. The time will come, they will still learn from us. Hydraulic engineering in our country has great prospects.

Then Stalin asked:

Where is the Volga water in the canal now?

Here,” answered Komarovsky, “I have already approached the lower head of lock No. 3.

Immediately everyone went to the lower head of the lock to look at the Volga water.

Already heading to the car, Stalin said to one of his companions:

How much more we could have built if not for the capitalist environment. And you have to hurry in everything. Otherwise they will crush it.

By May 1937, the Moscow-Volga canal with all its various structures was put into operation. The government commission accepted it with high praise. On the day of the wonderful workers' holiday - May 1, 1937, the first Volga steamships passed through the canal.

The enormous work was completed in record time - in 4 years and 8 months. The most important structures were built in two to two and a half years. This was a genuine massive labor feat of builders, forever included in the chronicle of the great achievements of the Soviet people.

On May 2, 1937, a flotilla of snow-white motor ships approached the pier of the Khimki River Station. They brought a delegation of canal builders to the capital. Komarovsky was instructed to speak on behalf of engineering and technical workers at a rally that took place right there in the port. The podium was the balcony of the river station.

Alexander Nikolaevich spoke excitedly, tears clouded his eyes from the solemnity of the moment and the consciousness of what had been accomplished. He ended his speech with the words:

We are young and full of strength. Most of us came to this gigantic construction site straight from school. Many of the engineers and technicians who created the channel were still Komsomol members. We proudly report to our great Motherland that the grandiose canal, all its wonderful structures and mechanisms, were built without foreign help.

And in the evening the government gave a banquet in honor of the canal builders. In the halls of the restaurant and the entire river station, festive tables were laid, and until the morning greetings were made, speeches were made, and songs were sung.

In the development of every person there are stages that forever determine his entire life and reveal all his possibilities. Everything that follows comes from this stage - both what a person will become and what he will do. For Komarovsky, such a stage was participation in the construction of the Moscow-Volga canal. Here he went through a huge industrial and political school, which revealed in him the qualities of an outstanding organizer of large-scale construction work and versatile engineering talent. Here his will was strengthened, here he learned a very difficult task - the art of leading people. From here came what would later always distinguish Komarovsky’s activities: clarity and efficiency in work, goodwill and respect for his subordinates and fellow workers.

With the completion of construction, Komarovsky was appointed head and chief engineer of the Moscow-Volga canal department. When he became somewhat accustomed to his new job as an exploiter, an unexpected invitation to the People's Commissariat of Defense followed. There, Komarovsky was asked to advise on the construction of a defense facility. Then he was invited again, and soon Komarovsky, if asked, could not say for sure what took more of his time and effort - managing the canal or consulting on the construction of defense facilities. Returning from one of the consultations, Komarovsky mentally imagined the costs of the defense facilities he was consulting on, and was horrified. “How much good can be built with these funds!”, he thought with annoyance. Stalin’s words about the capitalist encirclement immediately came to mind. He even repeated to himself: “And you need to hurry in everything. Otherwise they will crush you."

The People's Commissariat of Defense was pleased with Komarovsky's help. He was again instructed to take part in the design and construction of a number of defense facilities. This activity of his acquired even greater scope when Komarovsky, appointed deputy head of the construction of the Kuibyshev hydroelectric complex, moved to Kuibyshev.

Again, you are going to deliver another blow to the capitalist encirclement,” joked construction chief S. Ya. Zhuk when Komarovsky went on his next business trip on instructions from the People’s Commissariat of Defense.

Komarovsky's activities as a military engineer - consulting, design, construction of defense facilities - were highly appreciated by the command. In 1938, he was awarded the title of military engineer of the first rank, and soon brigade engineer.

Trying on the newly sewn military uniform, which, however, there was no need to wear yet, Komarovsky grinned: “Here I am, a general.” Blucher’s words came to mind: “It may turn out that your peaceful profession will become the most de-military.”

In May 1939, when Komarovsky had just turned 32 years old, he was appointed Deputy People's Commissar of the USSR Navy for the construction and mechanization of ports, as well as the naval dredging fleet. However, he was unable to concentrate on this work. It was obvious that in the emerging international situation, what was needed above all was a large Navy. Its creation was successful. More and more new warships were entering service. The urgent task was the urgent construction of new and modernization of old naval bases. On the proposal of the People's Commissariat of the Navy of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, they approved a program for the construction of naval bases in the Baltic, Northern, Black Sea and Pacific fleets. To implement this program, a specialized main department, Glavspetsgidrostroy, was formed under the People's Commissariat for Construction, headed by the Deputy People's Commissar. By a decision of December 5, 1939, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR appointed Alexander Nikolaevich Komarovsky to this position.

Concentrated and internally collected, Komarovsky left the building of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, where he was invited to a conversation before his appointment to the post of head of Glavspetsgidrostroy. Although the entire tone of the newspapers and radio, all the information that he came across in one way or another indicated that the fiery wave of the Second World War was rolling towards the Soviet borders, Alexander Nikolaevich did not imagine that the threat of a military attack on the USSR was so obvious. The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) did not tell him anything specific. But the entire nature and content of the conversation, the tasks that were put forward to the new commander-in-chief, and, most importantly, the insistent demand to “finish the research as quickly as possible and begin the construction of facilities on a broad front” spoke for themselves.

Soon Komarovsky was received by the People's Commissar of the Navy N.G. Kuznetsov. In the People's Commissar's office were the Chief of the Main Naval Staff L.N. Galler and Deputy People's Commissar G.I. Levchenko. The People's Commissar introduced those present to Komarovsky and, introducing him to Levchenko, said:

Gordey Ivanovich is my deputy for basic construction. Your direct customer.

The People's Commissar spoke about the upcoming replenishment of the Navy with new warships, which were becoming “crowded” due to the lack of new and insufficient capacity of existing naval bases.

A lot of funds have been allocated for construction, but time is running out, and we don’t know how much time is left,” the People’s Commissar thought aloud and, getting down to business, said: “So far we only have decisions where the fleet basing areas are fixed, and these are not yet specific points on the map and especially on the spot. And you, Comrade Komarovsky, as far as I know, have not yet created a central administration, and so far there is only one resolution. It's difficult, very difficult.

Where is it easy now? - Haller inserted.

Nowhere, of course. In a word, we have to work,” the People’s Commissar continued. - And we need even higher rates than you had, Comrade Komarovsky, on the Moscow-Volga canal.

Glavspetsgidrostroy and the People's Commissariat of the Navy carried out a huge and complex job of selecting locations and designing naval bases, and delivering construction materials to these places. In the Baltic and Pacific fleets - where fascist Germany and militaristic Japan were preparing for war near the borders of the USSR, construction and installation work was launched on a large scale.

“I’m ready to do everything to help you,” said the People’s Commissar of the Navy N.G. Kuznetsov to the construction managers. - But pick up the pace. Time is running out.

However, fate was already counting down the cut-off limit. The attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR interrupted the construction of naval bases and made adjustments to all the plans and undertakings of the Soviet people. A new page has begun in the history of the Soviet country, in the life of every citizen.

Focused on the evacuation of builders and equipment from the Baltic states, Komarovsky at first did not immediately understand the meaning of the task entrusted to him when, on an urgent call, he found himself in the office of the People's Commissar for Construction S. Z. Ginzburg.

You are entrusted with leading the work of the restoration teams of our People’s Commissariat in the capital,” Ginzburg said. - The government is considering this matter very seriously, and I was asked to entrust it to you. True, the first fascist air raid on Moscow turned out to be a bluff. But who knows what will happen in the future.

The People's Commissar showed excerpts from the fascist press and radio broadcasts about the preparation of the “total defeat of Moscow by air bombing,” and acquainted Alexander Nikolaevich with information about the concentration of very significant enemy bomber aircraft at airfields aimed at Moscow.

We must be prepared for anything,” he said. - And no matter what the bombing, the capital must work efficiently.

A few days later, Komarovsky reported to the People's Commissar that restoration teams had been created, equipped with equipment and were ready to carry out the tasks assigned to them.

However, contrary to the boastful threats of fascist propaganda, Moscow was the only capital in Europe where all-out fascist air raids were virtually ineffective. They did not reach their goal thanks to powerful air defense, the courage and skill of Soviet fighter pilots and anti-aircraft gunners. The activities of the restoration teams were reduced only to the elimination of individual rubble.

Meanwhile, the situation at the front became more and more complicated. Having unleashed a blow of unprecedented force on the Soviet country, the fascist troops sought to realize the successes they had achieved, regardless of the huge losses, and stubbornly rushed into the depths of Soviet territory.

At the beginning of August 1941, Komarovsky received a call from Ginzburg.

The military command has its sights on you,” said the People’s Commissar. - Contact the General Staff.

The People's Commissar said who exactly needs to be contacted, and, unable to resist, admitted: “I'm afraid that we will have to part. You are a brigade engineer, and now, alas, there is war. Report to the People's Commissariat of Defense in uniform.”

Indeed, the military department’s “views” of Komarovsky were the most direct. On August 5, 1941, Komarovsky was appointed head of the fifth directorate of defensive works, which was entrusted with the construction of defensive lines for the Southern and Southwestern fronts. The General Staff explained to him: the total length of the borders is over a thousand kilometers. Work must begin immediately. The situation on the Southern and Southwestern fronts is very difficult. The enemy has approached Kyiv and continues its offensive in the direction of Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye. Headquarters ordered the army command to create a defense line along the Dnieper from Kyiv to Kherson. In the rear areas of this line, the creation of a defensive line is entrusted to the Fifth Directorate of Defense Works.

Feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the task, Komarovsky nevertheless delved into everything that was said to him. And then, already at night, having once again comprehended the full depth of responsibility, the colossal volume of essentially new and not entirely clear activity for him, he realized: now millions of people must take on increased responsibility and be able to do what is little familiar to them .

The next morning, Komarovsky began his new duties. He visited the necessary services in the Main Military Engineering Directorate of the People's Commissariat of Defense, the corresponding departments of the People's Commissariat for Construction, and visited the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. Issues were resolved everywhere clearly, in a military manner. Since Komarovsky remained Deputy People's Commissar for Construction, he, as he was told in the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, could use the personnel and equipment of the construction organizations of the People's Commissariat, located in the south, primarily in the regions of Donbass and Kharkov. On the ground - to the regional party committees and the front command of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks - he gave instructions on all possible assistance to the Fifth Directorate of Defense Works. To quickly resolve all issues on the ground, Komarovsky was given a special mandate from the State Defense Committee.

The People's Commissariat of Defense also took into account the lack of theoretical training and experience in fortification construction among the engineering and technical workers of the department. As a representative and consultant on field defensive structures of the Main Military Engineering Directorate of the People's Commissariat of Defense, a highly qualified fortifier, associate professor of the Military Engineering Academy named after V.V. Kuibyshev, brigade engineer V.F. Shperk, was attached to him.

By decision of the General Staff, the leadership of the Fifth Directorate of Defense Works was stationed in Kharkov, where Komarovsky, together with Shperk and a small group of employees, flew on August 25, 1941. The city lived a harsh front-line life, almost continuously being bombed by enemy aircraft.

Komarovsky and his employees simultaneously had to solve many complex problems. Naturally, there were no pre-developed projects for defensive lines. After all, before the Nazis attacked the USSR, no one could have imagined that the war would be waged on Soviet territory, and even in such depths! In normal times, survey work alone at the highest pace would require many months. There were also no qualified personnel to carry out design work. And the construction personnel were not up to par in their training. Their core consisted of engineering and technical workers of the construction and installation departments of the People's Commissariat for Construction. They worked wonderfully in peacetime, but the construction of fortifications for them, as well as for Komarovsky himself, was a new matter.

Komarovsky and his closest assistants learned as they went. Sperk's functions as a consultant expanded to immeasurable limits. He consulted on border projects and helped department engineers master fortification work. We worked closely with frontline engineering services. And things went on. Projects of defensive lines were drawn up and reported to the chiefs of staff and commanders of the troops of the Southern and Southwestern Fronts, and at the same time construction teams were sent to the sites and immediately began work. The army command assigned them military construction battalions, local party, Soviet and Komsomol bodies mobilized the population to build defensive lines.

Komarovsky’s versatile and high engineering erudition and his ability to quickly master a new business were reflected in everything. “You no longer need my consultations,” Sperk once told him. “If everything had not happened before my eyes, I would not have believed that in such a short time it was possible to delve so deeply into the intricacies of fortification. Your reports, and especially the proposals at the Military Councils of the fronts give the impression that you are a professional fortifier.”

Sperk, of course, could only guess what it took for Komarovsky to achieve this. But this was precisely his talent: having mastered something, he immediately sought and found ways to most usefully apply new knowledge to practical matters. He made various proposals to the Military Councils of the fronts regarding how to simplify the elements of defensive structures without reducing quality, how to better use terrain conditions in order to reduce the amount of construction work, and therefore speed up the construction of defensive lines. These proposals were always justified, specific and irresistible by the accuracy of calculation. Sperk was amazed every time by the simplicity and originality of the solutions found by Komarovsky.

Studying intensely, Komarovsky immediately used the acquired knowledge in practice. He demanded this from his subordinates, especially from leaders in defensive work areas. At short meetings, when he went to the field, Alexander Nikolaevich constantly reminded the engineering and technical workers of their responsibility. “The situation on the fronts is extremely difficult and dangerous,” he said. “The enemy may be about to reach the frontiers. Every hour is precious: we simply have no right to count on additional instructions and instructions. The task in general terms is clear. Think, dare, suggest , we will always help, but do it, do it faster."

Many, many things did not satisfy Komarovsky during his field trips. As an engineer, he, of course, understood the incredible difficulties that the builders and installers who suddenly became fortifiers had to face. But he sought to “squeeze” everything possible and impossible out of himself and his subordinates. Such was the dictate of the time - formidable, unforgiving of mistakes and delays.

We will teach people on the go, in practice,” Komarovsky told Shperk after one of his construction trips. - Our installations and instructions should at the same time be teaching aids.

With the direct participation of Komarovsky, the control headquarters compiled and sent to the field detailed instructions on reconnaissance of specific sections of defensive lines, standard designs and solutions for individual units of defensive structures with detailed explanations and recommendations. A comprehensive check of the organization and progress of construction of individual lines was widely practiced. Based on the results of the inspection, detailed documents were drawn up and sent to management at all construction sites.

These documents did not talk about successes - only errors and shortcomings and measures to eliminate them were indicated. To present the nature of these documents, it is advisable to cite some excerpts from them.

“Often fire installations are erected on prominent local features, hilltops, mounds, visible from afar and often marked on maps. Such installations will be easily defeated by enemy artillery and will not be engaged by troops.”

“Structures with high embankments are erected on flat terrain, immediately revealing the location of the firing point, which becomes an easy victim of enemy artillery.”

“In some areas... the fire installations are located extremely closely together..., thanks to which the enemy has the opportunity to shoot them without changing the sight, due to the natural dispersion of the shells.”

These and other similar documents were divided into two parts. In one, practical, part it was indicated what this or that mistake was, in the second, educational, as Komarovsky called it, the principles of the art of fortification were revealed using specific examples.

Such technical directives and effective day-to-day control over their implementation contributed to the rapid acquisition of the necessary knowledge by engineering and technical workers, allowed them to avoid many mistakes and subsequently create a line of defense that generally complied with the tasks of the military command and the laws of fortification.

One day Komarovsky was called by HF from the General Staff.

“You have been appointed deputy head of the Main Directorate of Defense Construction of the People’s Commissariat of Defense, abbreviated as GUOS,” rumbled a thick bass at the other end of the line.

What does this mean exactly? - asked Komarovsky.

“Nothing yet,” answered the bass. - It has been taken into account that your department has the largest volume and scope of work compared to others. And you will have more weight for contacts with local authorities.

Returning to the department, Komarovsky was perplexed: “What else are they worried about about my weight? The matter itself weighs, and how else, everyone understands it.” Everything that had been done seemed to appear in my head at once. How could the team of the Fifth Defense Works Directorate alone, without versatile assistance from everywhere, in such a short time and at such a pace, carry out colossal work on a thousand-kilometer front? All the authorities are literally concerned about the needs of the front. This is not just the slogan “Everything for the front, everything for victory!” All possible resources of the Kharkov region, at the direction of the first secretary of the Kharkov regional party committee A. A. Epishev, were mobilized for the needs of building defensive lines. “We need to work, the harder we work, the more weight we will have if we really need it,” Komarovsky summed up his thoughts.

The intensity of work on the construction of defensive lines increased rapidly. And yet the front command urged, insistent demands to speed up the work came from Moscow.

It’s hard for the troops, very hard,” Epishev told Komarovsky. The enemy is well motorized and therefore mobile. Our troops have nothing to cling to, all around is flat steppe, there are no natural obstacles. I know that the command places great hopes on the defensive lines.

In order to be on time everywhere, Komarovsky replaced his car with a “hard worker of war” - a U-2 aircraft. Now, together with Shperk and other close employees, he managed to visit many areas of the huge “construction front” during the day, which made it possible to promptly correct mistakes that were inevitable at first and promptly influence the progress of work. One day the plane was attacked by a Messerschmitt. Trying to land quickly, the pilot miscalculated and almost threw the U-2 to the ground. The fragile airplane was seriously damaged. The passengers, as they say in such cases, “got off with fright.” Komarovsky was wounded in the leg.

The enemy was getting closer and closer to the lines being built. Having made sure that the Soviet command was not able to provide them with air defense, the Nazis sent several planes to the lines every day. Fearlessly, alone, they flew over the construction line, fired at it with machine guns, sometimes bombed it, and more often flew over the builders in low-level flight. Apparently, the Nazis believed that they would be able to disrupt the work anyway. The situation was difficult. The productivity of construction workers during the day decreased, and night shifts made up for lost time. But, having guessed the enemy’s tactics, the builders adapted to work during the day. They took cover only when the plane was aimed directly at them, and many continued to work even in these cases.

One day Komarovsky accidentally overheard a conversation.

Why didn't you go into hiding? - the engineer scolded one of the workers.

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Alexander Nikolaevich Komarovsky(May 20 (7), 1906, St. Petersburg - November 19, 1973, Moscow) - Soviet economic, statesman and military figure, army general, Hero of Socialist Labor (1949).

Youth

Born into the family of a hydraulic engineer. Russian. Father, Nikolai Alexandrovich, graduated from the St. Petersburg Institute of Railway Engineers, and for many years built locks and dams on the Mariinsky water system. He remained in the service of the Department of Railways after the October Revolution, and during the Civil War he was transferred to the Moscow-Oka Railway District, and therefore the family moved to Moscow.

In Moscow, Alexander Komarovsky graduated from the Moscow Experimental Demonstration School named after F. Nansen in 1923, and the water department of the Moscow Institute of Transport Engineers in 1928. Since 1928, he worked at the Moscow design bureau of Svirstroy, author of projects for several dams and hydraulic structures. At the same time, he was studying the influence of ice on hydraulic structures; in the early 30s he published a number of works on this topic: “Structure and physical properties of fresh water ice cover”, “Effects of ice cover on structures and the fight against it”, “Winter operation of gates” hydraulic structures."

During the construction of the Canal. Moscow and other objects

In 1931, it was sent to the construction of the Moscow Canal. At first he was the head of the hydraulic engineering sector of the Canal construction department. Since April 1934 - Deputy Head of the Southern (Moscow) Canal Construction District. Since May 1936 - head of work in the central area of ​​the canal. There he proved himself to be a talented engineer, an outstanding organizer of work and a principled leader. For his work on the construction of the canal, he was awarded his first award - the Order of Lenin.

After the completion of the construction of the Moscow Canal in 1937, A. Komarovsky was appointed deputy head of the construction of the Kuibyshev hydroelectric complex. Having studied the object, I came to the conclusion that the choice of construction site was erroneous due to unfavorable geological conditions. By that time, construction was already in full swing, for which a cluster of Gulag camps for 30,000 prisoners was built. On this occasion, Komarovsky entered into a severe conflict with the construction manager S. Ya. Zhuk. Ultimately, construction was stopped, and in the post-war period it was started in a different place.

In 1938, Komarovsky was appointed head of the capital construction sector of the People's Commissariat of Water Transport of the USSR. In the same year, he was enlisted in the Red Army and was awarded the military rank of military engineer 1st rank (corresponding to the rank of colonel). Member of the CPSU(b) since 1939.

In 1939, Komarovsky was transferred to the People's Commissariat of the USSR Maritime Fleet, appointed head of the Glavspetsgidrostroy, then - Deputy People's Commissar of the USSR Maritime Fleet for construction. He was responsible for the construction of naval bases and hydraulic structures. Brigengineer (1939).

The Great Patriotic War

In the first days of the war, Komarovsky was appointed head of the department for the construction of defensive structures of the Main Directorate of Defensive Works of the NKVD of the USSR. On August 5, 1941, brigade engineer A. N. Komarovsky was appointed head of the 5th Defense Works Directorate, which carried out the tasks of constructing defensive lines for the Southern and Southwestern Fronts. The main forces of the administration were directed to the construction of defensive lines near Kharkov. In October 1941, on the basis of the control, the 5th Engineer Army was formed, led by Komarovsky, which was aimed at building the Stalingrad defensive perimeter.

According to a version common in Soviet historiography, in January 1942, by a decree of the State Defense Committee, the Bakalstroy construction department was formed on the basis of the army - the creation of a high-quality steel plant in the Chelyabinsk region. Bakalstroy became the beginning of the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant.

The 5th Engineer Army continued to carry out work on the lines assigned to it. With Komarovsky, a group of NKVD employees arrived in Chelyabinsk at the Pershino site, 10-15 people who occupied various positions in the 5th Engineer Army, and formed the backbone of the operational-chekist department for the management of ITL and the construction of the Bakal Metallurgical Plant / Chelyabmetallurgstroy of the NKVD of the USSR.

May 20, 1906 – November 19, 1973

Soviet economic, statesman and military figure, army general, Hero of Socialist Labor

Youth

Born into the family of a hydraulic engineer. Russian. Father, Nikolai Alexandrovich, graduated from the St. Petersburg Institute of Railway Engineers, and for many years built locks and dams on the Mariinsky water system. He remained in the service of the Department of Railways after the October Revolution, and during the Civil War he was transferred to the Moscow-Oka Railway District, and therefore the family moved to Moscow.

In Moscow, Alexander Komarovsky graduated from the Moscow Experimental Demonstration School named after F. Nansen in 1923, and the water department of the Moscow Institute of Transport Engineers in 1928. Since 1928, he worked at the Moscow design bureau of Svirstroy, author of projects for several dams and hydraulic structures. At the same time, he was studying the influence of ice on hydraulic structures; in the early 30s he published a number of works on this topic: “Structure and physical properties of fresh water ice cover”, “Effects of ice cover on structures and the fight against it”, “Winter operation of gates” hydraulic structures."

During the construction of the Canal. Moscow and other objects

In 1931, it was sent to the construction of the Moscow Canal. At first he was the head of the hydraulic engineering sector of the Canal construction department. Since April 1934 - Deputy Head of the Southern (Moscow) Canal Construction District. Since May 1936 - head of work in the central area of ​​the canal. There he proved himself to be a talented engineer, an outstanding organizer of work and a principled leader. For his work on the construction of the canal, he was awarded his first award - the Order of Lenin.

After the completion of the construction of the Moscow Canal in 1937, A. Komarovsky was appointed deputy head of the construction of the Kuibyshev hydroelectric complex. Having studied the object, I came to the conclusion that the choice of construction site was erroneous due to unfavorable geological conditions. By that time, construction was already in full swing, for which a cluster of Gulag camps for 30,000 prisoners was built. On this occasion, Komarovsky entered into a severe conflict with the head of construction S. Ya. Zhuk. Ultimately, construction was stopped, and in the post-war period it was started in a different place.

In 1938, Komarovsky was appointed head of the capital construction sector of the People's Commissariat of Water Transport of the USSR. In the same year, he was enlisted in the Red Army and was awarded the military rank of military engineer 1st rank (corresponding to the rank of colonel). Member of the CPSU(b) since 1939.

In 1939, Komarovsky was transferred to the People's Commissariat of the USSR Maritime Fleet, appointed head of the Glavspetsgidrostroy, then - Deputy People's Commissar of the USSR Maritime Fleet for construction. He was responsible for the construction of naval bases and hydraulic structures. Brigengineer (1939).

The Great Patriotic War

In the first days of the war, Komarovsky was appointed head of the department for the construction of defensive structures of the Main Directorate of Defensive Works of the NKVD of the USSR. On August 5, 1941, brigade engineer A.N. Komarovsky was appointed head of the 5th Defense Works Directorate, which carried out the tasks of constructing defensive lines for the Southern and Southwestern Fronts. The main forces of the administration were directed to the construction of defensive lines near Kharkov. In October 1941, on the basis of the control, the 5th Engineer Army was formed, led by Komarovsky, which was aimed at building the Stalingrad defensive perimeter.

In January 1942, by a resolution of the State Defense Committee, the Bakalstroy construction department was formed on the basis of the army - the creation of a high-quality steel plant in the Chelyabinsk region. Bakalstroy became the beginning of the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant. Having started construction from a peg in a field, Komarovsky achieved the first melting of the plant in 1943.