Semen "Alexander" Zolotarev (Семен "Александр" Золотарёв) was born on February 2nd, 1921. 37 years old. Not married.
Semen Zolotarev or Alexander Zolotarev was born in 1921 in Udobnaya village of Krasnodar region in the South Russia. He was son of a doctor.
He was the oldest and also the most mysterious member of the Dyatlov group. A native of North Caucasian Kuban Cossacks he survived the Great Patriotic War
Semen Zolotarev served in the active duty from October 1941 till May 1946 in the 48th army of the Second Belorussian Front
Some researches point a strange inconsistency between him joining the Red Army on October 10th 1941 and reaching the front on May 10th 1942. And these months were marked by some of the heaviest fighting between Soviet Red Army and German Wehrmacht. He should have been fighting within a week or so. Is it possible that he was trained as a ranger or a special forces soldier? We don't have a proof for that, but judging by official reports of his officers he was one hell of a soldier. No fear, no hesitancy, yet very disciplined and thoughtful.
Survival rate for generation born in 1921- 22 was 3% so Semen Zolotarev was very lucky man. Additionally he received four medals including the Order of the Red Star, "For the Defense of Stalingrad", "For the capture of Konigsberg" (today Kaliningrad), "For the Victory over Germany".
Below is an official document stating one of his feats for which he was awarded government award (Order of the Red Star).
Sergeant S. (! Semen) Zolotarev crossed the river along with his nine men during the night from 21 to 22 April 1945 on a pantone raft. As he was crossing his raft was targeted by artillery and mortar fire from the side of the enemy.
One he got to the other side he managed to construct a ferry for transport of more troops. Enemy zeroed on the group with mortar fire and machine gun fire. One of his soldiers was wounded and Zolotarev took his place in an attempt to secure the ferry. His fearless example inspired other troops to complete the task as soon as possible. One of the piece of destroyed ferry laid about 300 meters from the group landing. Zolotarev left security of the landing site at the river and ventured into a deep swamp to retrieve it. Another of his men (private Korneev) followed him with out his order and helped his commanding officer to retrieve necessary piece of the ferry from the swamp.
The task was completed and ferry started to operate. Badly needed ammunition and tanks were transported across the river on the other bank of the river.
For the skillful and brave command of his unit, for the bravery and courage that he showed in a combat mission Sergeant Zolotarev was awarded government medals.
One of the most strange aspects of this man is his unexplained choice of introducing himself under a fake name. His real name was Semen while everyone called him "Sasha" or "Alexander". There is no credible evidence of why he chose to introduce himself by a different name.
It is known whether he joined a Communist party after the war or not. In April 1946 Zolotarev transferred to Leningrad Military Engineering University. Here he completed two years of college in physical education. Later he transferred to Mink Institute of Physical Education (GIFKB). In the yearly 50's he worked as a guide for a tourist base of "Artybash" in Altai in South Siberia.
Although his carrier might seem usual it is hard to explain certain points in his biography. He could have stayed in the army, but left it. He could have stayed and work as a tourist guide at one tourist base and yet he moves across the country repeatedly without explanation. Additionally being a Cossack from the South it is highly unusual that he never got married, never had any kids and had numerous strange tattoos that he hid under his clothing. Family members who knew him were surprised to find out that he even had them. So either Zolotarev was so good in hiding them or he added them just recently.
These tattoos included his birth year "1921", letters "Г.С." and letters Г+С+П=Д" on the rear left forearm. The last was common among Soviet soldiers who served together for a long time. Russian letter "Д" stands for "дружба" or "friendship". Three letters were first letters of the three soldiers who served with Semed Zolotarev. "С" stood for "Семен" or "Semen" in Russian. Although some suggested that Russian letter "C" might also stand for Sasha (Саша) Zolotarev. Sasha is a more casual name for Alexander. Others two names are unknown. We can only make guesses. On his rear right forearm he had a tattoo of a heart and a letter "C". Another tattoo "ДАЕРММУАЗУАЯ" seems like a complete gibberish. No body knows what it stands for, but there have been many theories. We will probably will never know the true meaning of these letters.
At the rear of the right hand at the base of the big toe a tattoo read "Gena". It is a Russian name, short for Genady. It is plausible that one of the letters in the "Г+С+П=Д" combination was Genady.
Ironically he was supposed to celebrate his 38th birth day on February 2nd. This also becomes the date of his death.
Speaks fluently Ukrainian, Belorussian, Polish. Basic German.
He was buried in Yekaterinburg on the Ivanovo cemetery
On the left picture Semen Zolotarev with his friend during World War II, right picture Zolotarev with his parents.