A monument marks the spot where Gagarin landed in Russia’s Saratov region The Soviet Union The Soviet Union was made up of Russia and 14 countries surrounding it The communist Soviet governments were strict secretive and severe in their punishments for disobedient citizens The United States was the Soviet Union’s arch enemy especially from 1947 to 1991 a period known as the Cold War
CHILD OF WAR Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was born on March 9 1934 in the village of Klushino in Russia’s Smolensk region His parents worked on the local farm which provided food for the state In the communist Soviet Union everyone was expected to work together for the common good Then in 1941 Nazi Germany declared war on the Soviets and its armies invaded By 1942 Klushino was caught in the middle of the fighting and shells rained down on the village Soon after German tanks rolled into Klushino and the Nazis took over UNDER OCCUPATION Under the Nazis Gagarin and his family were forced out of their home and had to live in a mud hut in the yard Yuri did everything he could to fight back He smashed glass on the roads to puncture German tires and dropped dirt into the Germans tank engines One day a Russian fighter plane crashed in the fields near Klushino Gagarin and his friends ran to help The pilot handed out chocolate bars to the boys Gagarin stood transfixed by the plane We understood immediately the price that had to be paid for military decorations We boys all wanted to be brave and handsome pilots Gagarin said
V-2 rocket During World War II the Nazis developed the V-2 rocket a terrifying long-range missile that traveled at the speed of sound After the war Allied soldiers captured the Nazi V-2 factories the rocket plans and the scientists working on them Later scientists in both the United States and the Soviet Union developed the V-2 into a larger rocket that could reach space
Nazi V-2 rockets like this one were shipped to the United States after World War II so that they would not fall into Soviet hands LEARNING TO FLY
