Olga Firsova is a girl-climber, who was known in person by all the besieged Leningrad. She stormed all the skyscrapers of the city to save people. And it was a real feat that a fragile girl performed every day.
Biography
Olga Afanasyevna Firsova was born in 1911. Then her family lived in Switzerland - her father served there. Later, he headed the design bureau in Kharkov, where tanks were developed. His ideas were realized in the production of BT-5 and BT-7 tanks. He also participated in the design of the famous T-34, but in 1936 Afanasy Osipovich was removed from work, in 1937 he was arrested and declared an enemy of the people. There is still no reliable information about his death: there is a version that he was shot almost immediately after his arrest. According to other sources, he died in prison. He was rehabilitated only in 1956, but Olga never gave up her name, despite the threats.
The family ended up in Leningrad in 1929, here they stayed completely. Just before the start of World War II, Olga graduated from the conservatory, she was engaged in choral conducting. At the same time, she was passionately carried away by mountaineering, which in the end she had the second category, and ski slalom. In her piggy bank there is an ascent to the mountains of Elbrus and Kazbek. When climbing Kazbek, Olga froze her legs, gangrene began, amputation was avoided only by a miracle.
After the outbreak of hostilities, Olga worked in the Leningrad port, where she performed the work of a loader. Among other things, she had to carry boxes of mines. Here she met N. Ustvolskaya, an architect who selected a team of climbers to work on the high-rises of Leningrad. Tall buildings and spiers of houses and palaces served as excellent landmarks for German pilots. After hiding, they partially merged with the gloomy Leningrad sky, complicating the work of the enemy.
Four young climbers soon received their first assignment - it was necessary to mask the spire of the Admiralty. Olga was very light, only 39 kg. But even such a weight missed some designs. Here, an incident occurred, which can be called a baptism of fire for Firsova. Olga was on the spire, doing work, and then a German plane appeared from the clouds. The pilot noticed Olga and gave the line to the girl. She was lucky then and she was not hurt, only a protective cover and a roof broke through.
"Four brave" - the so-called team of Leningrad climbers. 1943, work at the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
Each new object of young climbers had its own special design and unique shape. The technique familiar in the mountains had to be adjusted to new conditions.
Materials for the protection of various spiers and structures at the time left much to be desired. They quickly burst, after getting wet and drying, they spread. In addition, they were constantly vomited by fragments during the bombing. Climbers had to climb objects over and over again and rebuild the entire structure, stitching covers in the wind, in the rain, in uncomfortable poses.
At the end of the war, Olga Firsova took off her disguise. And this work was much easier and more enjoyable.
Olga Firsova performs the dismantling of the protective cover, 1945.
After the war
After the victory, Olga began to teach young people what she knew and knew best. She worked as a trainer in the DSO "Art" in three areas: mountaineering, rock climbing and skiing. Namely "Art" she herself learned all the basics of her difficult profession.
Then she led choral groups and raised children - in clubs at the University, in the Palace of Culture. Lensoviet. This business will also be one of the main in her life.
Already in 1946, she began performing at sports competitions. She took second place in the championship of Leningrad. With her first husband M. Shestakov she conquered the Caucasian peak of Bashkara.
Mikhail Shestakov, the first husband of Olga Firsova.
Olga worked in sports camps, conquered the peaks. For 10 years of its work, not a single emergency occurred. She took part in rescue operations, for example, on the peak of Bzhedukh (then several Muscovites died).
Awards
For the salvation of the monuments of Leningrad and historical buildings, Olga Firsova was awarded the Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga.
In 1971, her many years of pedagogical work were appreciated. For musical education of youth she was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor. And only almost half a century after the Great Victory, she was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples for her blockade feat.
