Ziya Bunyadov - Life

Life

Ziya Bunyadov was born on December 21, 1923 in the town of Astara in Azerbaijan. His father, originally from Bibiheybat village of Baku, was a Custom Officer and, due to his work, the Bunyadov family changed their residence several times. After finishing secondary (high) school in Goychay in 1939, he joined Baku military school. In 1942 he was sent to World War II to fight on the Caucasus Front, near the town of Mozdok. The Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star), the official newspaper of the Soviet Army, wrote about Bunyadov in 1942: "sly, swift as a tiger, the intelligence officer Ziya Bunyadov, who under the improbable conditions, in the most complex situation could clearly orient himself, bring precise data about the number, the armament and the dislocation of the enemy. He was valued in the battalion for the romantic soul and the literary erudition" . He went on to fight on the European Front and participated in the Soviet capture of Warsaw and Berlin.

Ziya Bunyadov was awarded the Soviet Union's highest military honor, the Hero of the Soviet Union, for his action in the battle over a bridge on Pilica river in Poland on January 14, 1945, resulting in 100 enemy fatalities and 45 enemy prisoners taken. As well as this medal, for his participation and heroism in World War II Ziya Bunyadov was also awarded the honorary Red Banner, Red Star, Alexander Nevsky, and 2nd degree Patriotic War. For a year after the end of war, Lieutenant Ziya Bunyadov was deputy military commandant of the Pankow district of Berlin.