The monument to the pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union Nurken Abdirov was installed in Karaganda on the initiative and with funds raised by local Komsomol members. Modern youth, like all residents of the city, honors the name of the hero, remembers his feat. Near the monument located in the center of Karaganda, wreaths stand in winter, flowers bloom in summer. Kazakhstan is proud of its compatriot and is preparing to solemnly celebrate his anniversary.
Monument in the city center
In 1958, the city authorities announced a competition for the best design of a monument to Nurken Abdirov, a native of the Karaganda region who died near Stalingrad. The work of young sculptors A. P. Bilyk and Yu. V. Hummel, a German by birth, was chosen for execution. L. E. Vorobyov worked as an architect in the project.
The authors raised the figure of a pilot sitting at the helm of an aircraft, high above the ground. The pedestal, made of marble, soars up. The pilot, making a sortie, looks around, assessing the situation. Monument heightis 9 meters.
The monument is visible from afar, as there is a lot of open space around. A high pedestal on the city square, at the beginning of Nurken Abdirov Avenue, organically blends with the environment, emphasizing the architectural ensemble of the city complex.
High above the ground
The monument is a landmark of Karaganda. In 1982, it was included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of Kazakhstan of republican significance. Guests of the city often come here, and local residents come to city events and take a walk in the well-groomed park.
The question often arises why the figure of the pilot is so high above the ground. Unfortunately, there is no documented answer about the authors' idea. But there are assumptions of people who visited the monument to the Hero of the Soviet Union Nurken Abdirov.
"He saw the earth from above, just as he sees it now," says the veteran of the Patriotic War. And the schoolboy, who came with his class to the monument, answered this question for himself as follows: “He is higher than us in terms of his level of sacrifice. And then, he made the most important decision of his life, being high above the ground. This is how it should be remembered." Better not say.
Biography of Nurken Abdirov
Born in the village, which today is a state farm named after him, May 17, 1919. The family was engaged in cattle breeding, and Nurken went to a local school. When the time came for the guy to choose a profession, his parents moved to Karaganda. After a shift at the mine, he fled to the flying club, where he studied the device of aircraft and the basics with pleasure.piloting.
At the age of twenty he was drafted into the ranks of the Soviet army and was trained at the Chkalovsky military flight school. When the war began, he was sent to the place of formation of the 267th assault air division in the city of Chapaevsk. The Komsomol member took his first fight over the Don steppes.
Feat of a hero
Nurken Abdirov fought for several months, from September to December 1942. For sixteen sorties, he destroyed about 20 enemy tanks, about 30 vehicles, 3 bunkers, fuel tanks, cargo, enemy manpower.
On December 19, together with his gunner-radio operator Alexander Komissarov, he carried out a combat mission of the command as part of the four attack aircraft. Their task was to strike at the fortified section of the German defense in the Bokovskaya-Ponomarevka area, not far from Stalingrad. Abdirov's crew closed the line.
The car was hit by a German anti-aircraft shell almost at the very target of the flight. Realizing that he would not be able to bring the car either to the enemy’s fortifications or to the base, the commander ordered the radio operator to jump. He refused. Then the pilot directed the burning plane to a column of tanks and fuel trucks, repeating the feat of Nikolai Gastello.
Gold Star Hero Nurken Abdirovich Abdirov received posthumously, radio operator Komissarov was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree. The pilots were buried on Rostov land, not far from the village of Bokovskaya, on the Konkov farm. In addition to the Star of the Hero, the pilot was awarded the Order of Lenin. Residents of Karaganda, having learned about the perfect feat of a fellow countryman,collected money for a combat aircraft and named it "Nurken Abdirov".
The memory of heroes is immortalized not only in Karaganda, where a plaque with the name of Alexander Komissarov is attached to the pedestal of the monument. A bust was erected at the burial place of the heroes, and Nurken's mother was elected an honorary Cossack woman of the village of Bokovskaya. There is a monument to the pilot in the capital of Kazakhstan, Alma-Ata, a marble slab with the name of Abdirov Nurken is installed on Mamayev Kurgan.
His name in gold letters is included in the list of defenders of the motherland of the Moscow Museum on Poklonnaya Gora.
