Telegram to the Secretary of the Tambov Oblast Committee of the VKP(b), I.A. Volkov (December 1942)

Source: Tom 18

Convey to the kolkhoznik of the "Stakhanovets" collective farm of Novopokrovsky district, Comrade Ferapont Petrovich Golovaty, who has contributed 100,000 rubles from his personal savings for the construction of a combat aircraft, the fraternal greetings and gratitude of the Red Army.

I. Stalin

Note

Ferapont Petrovich Golovaty (1890-1951) was a beekeeper at the "Stakhanovets" kolkhoz in Saratov Oblast. In December 1942, he brought 100,000 rubles in cash — savings from the sale of honey — to a local airfield, requesting that a fighter plane be built with his money. The aircraft, a Yak-1 fighter, was inscribed "From the kolkhoznik Golovaty for the defense of Stalingrad" and was presented personally to Guard Senior Lieutenant B.N. Yeremkin. In 1944, Golovaty again contributed 100,000 rubles, this time for a Yak-3, also presented to Yeremkin. Golovaty's example sparked a nationwide movement of voluntary donations for military equipment. By the end of the war, private citizens' contributions to the defense fund exceeded 100 billion rubles.