Poster by L. Golovanov "Let's get to Berlin", 1944

One of the most famous posters of the Great Patriotic War in perfect collectible condition. Artist L. Golovanov. Editor E. Pavolotskaya. The circulation is 50,000. Size 405*580 mm. Few people know that the poster depicts a real person — Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Ivanovich Golosov, who died in 1943 and never saw himself in the printing industry of wartime. It should be added that the poster was published twice more: in 1945 and in 1962, but already as an element of the content of other works of the artist. Guarantee of authenticity. A rarity.

Vasily Golosov was born in 1911 in the city of Belev, Tula province, graduated from five grades, got a job, worked at a drying plant before being drafted into the Red Army. After serving, he moved to Moscow, where he worked as a caretaker in one of the secondary schools. When the Great Patriotic War began, Vasily Golosov was drafted into the army again. He got into the 25th Guards Rifle Division. (Later it was the 25th Guards Rifle Sinelnikovo-Budapest Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky named after Chapaev division. Not to be confused with the 25th Chapaev Rifle Division, which heroically defended Odessa, Sevastopol and died in Sevastopol.)

In the first battles of the summer of 1942, Vasily proved himself a marksman. The command paid attention to him — and he became the instigator of the sniper movement in the division. In September 1942, Golosov went to the All-Union gathering of snipers, already the name of several dozen killed enemies. But Golosov not only shot accurately, it turned out that he had excellent skills as a teacher and educator. Soon he was already commanding a platoon of snipers, and then, having received the rank of lieutenant, already a sniper company. His unit was repeatedly sent to difficult areas of the front and performed assigned tasks. In one of the battles, Golos was wounded, but after surgery and treatment, he returned to his company. Frontline newspapers repeatedly wrote about Vasily Golosov, not only journalists, but also enemy snipers hunted him.

On August 16, 1943, during the fighting in the Izyumsky district of the Kharkiv region of the Guards, Lieutenant Vasily Golosov was killed not by a sniper, but by a fragment of a German shell. By this time, there were 422 Hitlerites killed on his personal account, of which 70 were snipers. But the main thing is that he managed to train 170 snipers, who destroyed more than 3,500 enemy soldiers and officers.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 26, 1943, Lieutenant Vasily Ivanovich Golosov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously) for courage and bravery shown in numerous battles, for the destruction of 422 Hitlerites of the Guard.

Only in 1944, the military artist Lieutenant Leonid Golovanov created a military propaganda poster "Let's get to Berlin!", on which he placed Vasily Golosov, who was well known to the artist from publications, but who was no longer alive.

After the war, Leonid Golovanov created another poster, which is well known today — "Glory to the Red Army!". And again, he placed the beloved Vasily Golosov on the poster, standing against the background of the Reichstag wall, on which the poster "Let's reach Berlin!" hangs. Among the murals of the victorious soldiers on the wall, an inscription is visible that echoes the first poster "We have reached!" and a more modest "Glory to the Russian people". Interestingly, now when playing this poster, the last inscription is sometimes removed.

In 1962, the artist Golovanov created the third poster that completes this glorious series — "And we win in labor." On it is still the same, slightly grayed, but still charmingly smiling Vasily Golos, whose chest is decorated with medals, orders and the Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Thus, the Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Ivanovich Golos, who died in 1943, gained immortality in the image of a victorious hero, a hero-worker.