His voice was well known to everyone, and the phrase “Attention! Moscow speaks!” recognizable even to those who were born after the collapse of the USSR. Yuri Levitan was the most famous announcer of Soviet radio, it was his voice that announced the beginning of the Second World War, the victory over the Nazis, the first flight into space, etc. In the 1970s he suddenly disappeared from the radio air, although at one time he was famous even outside the USSR, and Hitler placed a reward of 250 thousand marks on his head.
Yuri (Yudka) Levitan was born on October 2 (Old Style - September 19), 1914 in the family of a tailor. Since childhood, he was distinguished by a strong and beautiful voice, unique in timbre and expressiveness. After the 9th grade, the boy decided to enter the State Film Institute in Moscow, as he dreamed of becoming an artist, but turned out to be too young to enroll. Then he accidentally saw an advertisement for a competitive recruitment of radio announcers, and unexpectedly for him, he was accepted as an intern. Soon he was even allowed to read out small messages at night.
One day, Levitan’s voice was heard on the night air by Stalin, who often worked at night. The young announcer was assigned to read on the radio a report prepared for the 17th Party Congress. The young man read the 5-hour report without a single mistake or reservation. After this, Stalin ordered that all the most important documents from now on be voiced only by this announcer. So at the age of 19, Yuri Levitan became the main announcer of Soviet radio.
The text that sounded flawlessly on air was given to Levitan at the cost of many hours of training and exercises to improve his diction. But the result was worth it: soon his voice began to be recognized in every home. It was he who announced to the country about the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, and during the Second World War he read out Sovinformburo reports on the radio.
The offensive in the first days of the war took place so rapidly that the Nazis had no doubt about their imminent victory over the USSR. Goebbels came up with the idea that Yuri Levitan should read out the message about Germany’s victory on the radio. Then a plan was developed to kidnap the announcer, for whose head a considerable price was set - 250 thousand marks. Soon the blitzkrieg had to be forgotten, and Hitler promised a reward not for the capture, but for the destruction of the announcer. But even the bombing of the Radio Committee was unsuccessful, and in 1945 Levitan’s voice became the voice of victory for the USSR: “Moscow speaks! Nazi Germany is completely defeated..."
After the war, Yuri Levitan's voice sounded less and less on the radio - it was believed that he could not read out ordinary news, since everyone was already accustomed to hearing information from him only about the most important events. But when Yuri Gagarin flew into space, Levitan, of course, was assigned to report this. In addition, the announcer often spoke to veterans, students, and work groups. He was the first Soviet announcer to be awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR. In total, at that time, Levitan conducted 60 thousand radio programs, most of them live.
In the 1970s Levitan participated in several television programs, but virtually disappeared from the radio airwaves - the management considered that the audience associated his voice only with tragic events and did not correspond to a peaceful era. The outstanding announcer had to limit himself to working in the field of speech art with young radio trainees.
In 1978-1983 Levitan read the text in the TV show “Minute of Silence.” In August 1983, he was invited to perform at a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Kursk. After speaking at the rally, Levitan suffered a heart attack and passed away on August 4.
“Yuri Levitan’s voice was equivalent to an entire division,” - this is what Marshal Rokosovsky will say about the legendary announcer after the war. This happened later, and in 1931, when Levitan came to audition for the radio committee, he was not accepted. The voice was a let down. Levitan did not give up. He lived in the editorial office, in the back room, and corrected his diction in his free time. One night he was asked to read an excerpt from Pravda on air. Coincidence of circumstances - this release was heard by Stalin himself. And he was shocked. So overnight Yuri Levitan became the main announcer of the Soviet Union.
On June 22, 1941, at 12 noon, Levitan announced the beginning of the war. This is how the announcer himself talks about it. “I remember turning on the microphone. When I said “Moscow speaking!”, I felt that I could not speak further. A lump stuck in my throat. They’re already knocking from the control room: “Why are you silent? Continue." He clenched his fists and continued: “Citizens and women of the Soviet Union...”
“He listed Stalin as enemy No. 2, and Levitan as enemy No. 1. And a reward for his head was promised, according to some sources, 100,000 marks, according to others - 200,000. At that time, a paradoxical amount,” says Efrem Kozlov, director of the information department of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise MGRS.
A month later - an artillery attack on a Moscow radio studio. German radio reports: Levitan has been killed. But after a few minutes a familiar voice is heard on the air. The bomb landed in the sewer and did not explode. Levitan is guarded around the clock. His appearance is a closely guarded secret. Announcer Anna Shatilova recalls that incredible rumors even spread among the people.” For some reason, there was a rumor that Levitan had no legs. That he can’t reach the microphone and they give him a bench.”
Once they asked Stalin: “When is the victory?” “When will Levitan announce,” the commander-in-chief joked. Early in the morning of May 9, 1945, a crowd of people crowded into the control room. Everyone was waiting for the long-awaited report about the Victory to be brought. The special communications colonel handed him the package. He opened it and finally read the joyful message that all Soviet people and all over the world had been waiting for.
After the war, Levitan became a beloved announcer. But fame worries him little. The announcer's responsiveness was legendary.
“They even said that if someone doesn’t have money, you can borrow from Levitan, he will never refuse. And I remember we were standing in ASK-3. And suddenly an engineer came up: “Oh, excuse me, Yuri Borisovich, can I see you for a minute?” And I look - Yuri Borisovich gives him money,” recalls Anna Shatilova.
For outsiders - Yuri Borisovich. And for colleagues on the radio - just YurBor. He continued to work until his last days. At the end of his life he once admitted that he remembered by heart every word, every intonation of his military broadcasts.
Despite his thin physique, Yuri Levitan was distinguished by a deep and expressive voice from childhood. Thanks to his talent in his youth, he ends up on the radio, where he is initially trusted to read out short messages on nightly broadcasts.
Stalin heard one of these radio messages, radically changing the future of the legendary announcer. After the first reading of the report for the party congress, Levitan was appointed the country's main announcer. He was only 19 years old, but already at this age he read out the most important documents. Everyone knows the phrase “Attention! Moscow speaks!” forced the Soviet people to listen to the essence of his messages. Levitan's voice, unique in its timbre, was familiar to everyone. Even those who were born after the collapse of the Soviet Union will recognize its expressive and deep flavor. Naturally, he also reads out the official message about the German attack and subsequently reports from the Sovinformburo, informing the people about the events taking place on the fronts. Throughout the war, his voice motivates people to victory, raising their spirits and instilling faith in them.
Levitan - Hitler's personal enemy
Initially, when attacking the USSR, Hitler counted on a very quick victory. In the first days of the offensive, Goebbels voiced to the Fuhrer the idea that Levitan should be the one to report Germany’s victory.
The decision to kidnap the announcer was made almost instantly. But apparently there was no trial. Soviet troops put up strong resistance, dispelling Hitler's dreams of an unopposed victory. Listening to Levitan's reports, Hitler realized what terrible power his voice had. Soon the Fuhrer gives the order “Destroy.”
Levitan becomes a personal enemy for Hitler, as evidenced by many archival documents. For the destruction of the announcer, the Fuhrer assigns a huge reward - in different sources this amount ranges from 250 to 100,000 marks. Along with the announcement of a reward for Levitan's head, the German commanders in chief are developing sabotage plans, making every effort to destroy the Soviet announcer.
But the Soviet authorities sacredly protected Yuri Borisovich, clearly realizing the value he represented for the Soviet people. He was assigned a guard who was on duty around the clock. Hitler's plan to capture Levitan did not work - already in May 1945, the great Soviet announcer reported on the victory of our people over the German invaders.
Post-war years
After the victory, Yuri Borisovich began to appear on the radio less and less. Believing that Soviet citizens associated his voice with tragic events, the leadership practically removed him from radio broadcasts. He periodically appeared on television programs and worked extensively with young trainees.
In the early thirties, a seventeen-year-old young man, Yuri Levitan, arrived from Vladimir to Moscow. The young man firmly decided to become a famous film actor. Alas, Levitan’s provincial dialect made the members of the selection committee laugh, and he failed to become an actor.
Yuri accidentally saw an advertisement for a recruiting course for announcers and went to the Radio Committee. Here he was more fortunate: despite the blatant speech, Levitan had a very strong voice and was accepted into the group of trainees.
One night, Yuri Levitan was reading an article from the Pravda newspaper on the radio, and the young announcer was heard by Stalin, who worked at night and did not turn off the receiver in his office. Stalin immediately called the chairman of the Radio Committee and said that the text of his speech at the 17th Party Congress should be read by this young announcer. So the 19-year-old guy became an announcer for the Soviet Union.
During the Great Patriotic War, it was Levitan who read the Information Bureau reports. His voice was known to every resident of the Soviet Union. People froze at the loudspeakers, listening to the latest events at the front. No wonder Rokossovsky once said that Levitan’s voice is worth an entire division.
But Yuri Levitan was known not only in our country. Hitler himself stated that Levitan was his personal enemy No. 1. Stalin was named second on the list of main enemies. Hitler promised to hang the announcer as soon as German troops entered Moscow.
The fascist intelligence services developed a plan to destroy Levitan, and a reward was promised for his head. Various sources call the amount from 100 to 250 thousand German marks.
True, from the fall of 1941 Levitan no longer worked in Moscow, but in Sverdlovsk, and in 1943 he was transferred to Kuibyshev. It was impossible to report from the capital at that time - radio towers were dismantled, since they were landmarks for Nazi aviation.
At the very beginning of the war, when Levitan was still in Moscow, a German air bomb fell in the yard of the Radio Committee, but did not explode. Hitler's radio hastened to report the death of announcer Levitan. But after 15 minutes, Yuri Borisovich’s voice was heard on the air.
Due to the “secrecy regime,” envelopes with many of the texts delivered by the courier officer could only be printed just before going on air. So Levitan had to sight-read. Therefore, he used a little trick: he pronounced the first phrase, deliberately drawing out the words, and at this time he managed to skim the next fragment of the text with his eyes in order to understand whether the conversation would be about joyful or tragic events, and to give his voice the appropriate intonation.
In August 1943, he read on the radio the first order during the entire war to hold a fireworks display - in honor of the liberation of Orel and Belgorod. And he made the mistake of saying “The capital of our homeland will salute...”, whereas according to the rules of Russian speech the emphasis should have been put differently: “salute.” However, no scandal followed: “at the top” they simply decided from now on to use this word “as amended” by Levitan.
Levitan himself recalled that he had seen leaflets more than once with a promised reward for his destruction. They even said that Goebbels was developing a plan to kidnap the announcer. Fascist propagandists dreamed that Levitan would be the one to read the message about the fall of Moscow in Berlin. It is interesting that Levitan was seriously guarded. Even his photographs were not published anywhere: the appearance of the “main announcer of the country” was a secret.
In total, during the war, the announcer read about two thousand reports and 120 emergency messages. Once Stalin was asked: “When will victory come?” The leader replied: “When Levitan announces.”
Stalin turned out to be right, order 369 with the message about victory in the war was read by Yuri Borisovich Levitan.
Write to us
He wanted to become an artist and do his best to enter the film technical school in Moscow, but was not accepted.
So he could have gone back to his hometown of Vladimir if he had not seen an advertisement for recruitment to a group of radio announcers.
On October 2, 1914, Yuri Borisovich Levitan was born in Vladimir - Soviet announcer of the All-Union radio, People's Artist of the USSR.
So Yuri Borisovich was included in the group of trainees of the Radio Committee.
One day Stalin heard him and said that Levitan should read the text of his report at the opening XVII Party Congress on the radio.
During this five-hour reading of the report into a microphone from a sheet of paper, Levitan did not make a single mistake and never faltered.
The next day, 20-year-old Yuri Levitan became the main announcer of the Soviet Union and the official voice of the Kremlin.
On June 22, 1941, it was Levitan who uttered terrible words about the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.
After the start of the war, he was evacuated to Sverdlovsk, and Hitler declared a separate war on him, as he wanted to drown out the “voice of the Soviet Union.”
The location of the announcer was always kept secret; the radio broadcast was always carried out by several stations, so that the true source of the broadcast could not be determined.
In the early spring of 1943, Levitan was transported to Kuibyshev.
On May 9, 1945, none other than Levitan announced the surrender of Nazi Germany and the Victory of the Soviet Union.
After the war, Yuri Borisovich became the official announcer of the USSR government.
He commented on parades and congresses of people's deputies, reported from the Kremlin and Red Square, and hosted the program “Veterans Speak and Write” on All-Union Radio.
He also worked on television - he took part in dubbing films, and in 1965-1983 he read the text in the television program “A Minute of Silence.”
People's Artist of the USSR and Honored Artist of the RSFSR Levitan was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the October Revolution, the Badge of Honor and medals.
The great announcer Yuri Borisovich Levitan died on August 4, 1983 in the village of Bessonovka, Belgorod Region, during a meeting with veterans of the Battle of Kursk, and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.
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