Teyfuq Amitovich Abdul (, russian: Тейфук Амитович Абдуль; 18 March 1945) was a Crimean Tatar

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

who served as the commander of the 2nd battalion of the 175th Guards Rifle Regiment during the Second World War.

Early life

Abdul was born on to a Crimean Tatar peasant family in the village of Partenit before the formation of the Soviet Union; he had five siblings. Many people in his family were veterans of the Russo-Japanese War. After graduating from eight years of school in his hometown he attended the Yalta Pedagogical College, which he graduated from in 1935 and later the M.V. Frunze Crimean Pedagogical Institute. In 1935 he began working as a schoolteacher and later as the head of a school while still studying at the pedagogical institute. After graduating from the institute in 1939 he was drafted into the Red Army in November.

World War II

After being drafted into the Red Army he attended the Orel Infantry School before being deployed to the warfront upon the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

with the rank of junior lieutenant as part of the 412th Rifle Regiment. He saw combat on the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

, South-Western and

Steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

fronts. He was seriously wounded twice during the second half of 1941, and by the end of 1941 he was promoted to position of battalion commander. After graduating from a sharpshooting course in 1942 he was continued to serve as battalion commander until he was seriously wounded again in December. That same year he joined the Communist party. After recovering from his injuries in the hospital he returned to combat and participated in the battle of the Dnieper as commander of the 2nd Rifle Battalion of the 175th Guards Rifle Regiment in the

58th Guards Rifle Division The 58th Guards Rifle Division () was an elite Guards infantry division of the Red Army during World War II. It was formed in June 1942 as the 1st Rifle Division (1st formation) and was converted into the 58th Guards Rifle Division at the end of ...

of the 57th Army on the Steppe Front with the rank of captain. On 26 September 1943 Abdul led his battalion across the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...

through a smokescreen and seized one of the first bridgeheads, doing from the strip of land near the village Verkhnedneprovsk to the small island of Pushkarevsky. They held the bridgehead for several days, permitting the transfer of the main forces of the regiment across the river and destroying large quantities of enemy equipment and manpower in the process. After leading the crossing in September he was wounded in battle again and hospitalized. While in the hospital he met Guard Lieutenant Mariya Stepanova Kochina, whom he soon married. For his success in leading the crossing he was declared a Hero of the Soviet Union on 20 December 1943. Upon returning to the front he fought in the Lvov–Sandomierz, Vistula–Oder, and Silesian offensives, and in 1944 he was appointed deputy commander of the 178th Guards Rifle Regiment. In May that year his family was deported to Central Asia because they were Crimean Tatars after the Red Army took control of Crimea; his status as a war hero did not save his mother and sisters from being considered "traitors" due to their ethnicity, and he eventually learned of their exile to the Uzbek SSR via a letter. On 18 March 1945 he was killed in action during the

Upper Silesian Offensive The Upper Silesian offensive was a strategically significant Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II in 1945. It was aimed at capturing the considerable industrial and natural resources located in Upper Silesia and involved forces ...

and was buried on the Hill of Glory in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

. The farewell address at his funeral was made by Marshal

Konstantin Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky (Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; pl, Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who becam ...

. His wife Mariya had not received a letter from him since March and was not notified of his death until 1948 when she received a letter from the chairman of the Supreme Soviet

Nikolai Shvernik Nikolai Mikhailovich Shvernik (russian: Никола́й Миха́йлович Шве́рник, – 24 December 1970) was a Soviet politician who served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 19 March 1946 until 15 March 1 ...

that he was killed in action. A street was named in his honor in Simferopol and an obelisk in his honor was built in Crimea in 2014.

Awards and honors

(20 December 1943) *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

(20 December 1943) *

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

(24 March 1945) *

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

1st class (6 August 1943) *

2nd class (4 November 1943)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdul, Teyfuq 1915 births 1945 deaths People from Alushta People from Yaltinsky Uyezd Crimean Tatar officers Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Soviet military personnel killed in World War II