YURIJ ABRAMOVICH SHANDALOV
1923 – 1945
Hero of the Soviet Union
Yuri Shandalov was born in 1923 in the suburb of Gomel - Novobelica in the family of a worker. The family lived in their house on Leshchinskaya Street, 112. Yura Shandalov studied at school 2. Of all the subjects he was most attracted by history. Jura liked to read about battles and events of the past centuries, about the life and feats of long-gone heroes. Therefore, in 1939, when it was time to choose a profession after completing ten grades, he entered the Gomel Pedagogical Institute for a historian. He received his diploma two years later and immediately went to the place of distribution in Western Belarus. With the outbreak of the war, Yuri Shandalov was called up to the Red Army. He returned to the Fascist-occupied Gomel. Sneaking into town by order of the command, in plain clothes. His task was to gather intelligence on the German troops stationed in Gomel.
As early as 1941, Yuri Shandalov wrote a front-line newspaper about his bravery. The next year, in 1942, he crossed the front line with a reconnaissance detachment. In the rear of the enemy, the fighters collected data on all activities and movements of the Wehrmacht. The scouts had to act with great caution. In one of the fights, Shandalov’s intelligence group of seven took on 200 Nazis. The reconnaissance group suffered no casualties and the Nazis left 60 dead on the battlefield. For this fight Corporal Yuri Shandalov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. After this battle Yuri Shandalov was given the rank of officer.
In 1944 he graduated from the Junior Lieutenant Course. He participated in the liberation of the Pskov Oblast, the Baltic Sea (Regitsko-Dvinskaya and Madonia operations), Poland (Warsaw-Poznan and Vistula-Oder operations). The company commander, Senior Lieutenant Shandalov, joined the company on 17 April 1945 to defend the enemy in the Der area. GrosNeuendorf (east of Vricen, GDR) and repulsed several enemy counterattacks. He died in the battle.In Gomel, a street is named after Shandalov. The memorial plaque in his honor is installed on the building of secondary school 2. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded posthumously in 1946. Decorated with Orders of Lenin, Red Banner, Patriotic War, 2nd degree, Red Star.