Arkady Ivanovich Zenkovsky, Hero of the Soviet Union, was born

On February 9, 1920, Arkady Zenkovsky, a participant of the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union (1945), was born in the village of Bolshoy Kuseryak (according to other sources in the village of Bakhaley) in the Aromashevsky district of Tyumen region.

After graduating from the seventh grade, A. I. Zenkovsky worked on a collective farm. Shortly before the Great Patriotic War, he and his family moved to the village of Karsakpai in the Karaganda region (now a village in the Ulytau district of the Ulytau region of Kazakhstan), from where he was mobilized into the Red Army in February 1943.

Since May 1943, he took part in the battles. On August 15, 1944, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star for his courage and heroism during the crossing of the Vistula River. By January 1945, Senior Lieutenant A. I. Zenkovsky commanded a company of the 10th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 6th Guards Rifle Division of the 13th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

On January 12, 1945, during the Sandomierz-Silesian offensive operation in Poland, A. I. Zenkovsky's company broke through the German defenses and began to pursue the retreating enemy units. On January 26, the company was the first to cross the Oder River south of the city of Steinhau (now Scinawa) and repelled German counterattacks for three days. During one of them, on January 31, 1945, A. I. Zenkovsky died in battle.

Senior Lieutenant A. I. Zenkovsky was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 10, 1945, for exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the struggle against the German invaders and his bravery and heroism. The award list describes the details of the tragic battle: "On the night of January 27-28, 1945, the company was unexpectedly attacked by enemy infantry supported by tanks. The enemy made every effort to destroy his company. Skilfully commanding the company, Comrade Zenkovsky repelled the attacks of superior enemy forces. In these battles, Zenkovsky's company killed up to 150 German soldiers and officers."

After the death of A.I. Zenkovsky on 2 February 1945, a document was received awarding him with the second Order of the Red Star, which was awarded during his lifetime.
 

Lit.: Герои земли Тюменской: [сборник] / Сост. Н. Данилин, А. Поторочин, Н. Д. Радченко. Свердловск, 1968; Герои земли Тюменской: историческая литература / Сост.: М. М. Никифирова, Н. Д. Радченко, А. Поторчин, 1975. Свердловск, 1975; Герои земли Тюменской: сборник / Сост. Н. Т. Вокуев. Тюмень, 1991; Герои земли Тюменской / автор-сост. Бажин А. И. Тюмень, 2023; Полещук И. Н. Герои Советского Союза земли Тюменской. Тюмень, 2023; Ожгибесова О. А. Аромашево: о прошлом для будущего. Очерки по истории Аромашевского района. Курган; Тюмень, 2013; Перечень наград Аркадия Ивановича Зенковского // Подвиг народа [электронный ресурс]. Режим доступа: https://podvignaroda.ru/?#id=1265390158&tab=navDetailManCard

Based on the Presidential Library's materials:

Зенковский Аркадий Иванович [биографическая статья] // Герои Советского Союза: Краткий биографический словарь: [В 2 т.]. Т. 1: Абаев – Любичев. М., 1987. С. 546 (доступно в электронном читальном зале)

Fatherland Defenders // Memory of the Great Victory: [digital collection]

The article was prepared by the Tyumen branch of the Presidential Library