Battle of Stalingrad. heroic defenders of the “house of Pavlov”
Pavlov's house in Volgograd. Photo from www.wikipedia.org
It just so happened that over the course of the year, a private (by war standards) defense facility and its defenders became the object of attention of two creative teams at once. Director Sergei Ursulyak directed the wonderful multi-part television film “Life and Fate” based on the novel of the same name by Vasily Grossman. Its premiere took place in October 2012. And in February of this year, the TV movie is shown on the Kultura TV channel. As for the blockbuster “Stalingrad” by Fyodor Bondarchuk, which was released last fall, this is a completely different creation, with a different concept and approach. It is hardly worth dwelling on its artistic merits and fidelity to historical truth (or rather, the lack thereof). This has been discussed plenty, including in the very sensible publication “Stalingrad without Stalingrad” (“NVO” No. 37, 10/11/13).
Both in Grossman’s novel, and in its television version, and in Bondarchuk’s film, the events that took place in one of the strongholds of the city’s defense are shown - albeit in different volumes, albeit indirectly. But literature and cinema are one thing, and life is another. Or more precisely, history.
THE FORTRESS DOES NOT SURRENDER TO THE ENEMY
In September 1942, fierce battles broke out in the streets and squares of the central and northern parts of Stalingrad. “A fight in the city is a special fight. Here the issue is decided not by strength, but by skill, dexterity, resourcefulness and surprise. City buildings, like breakwaters, cut the battle formations of the advancing enemy and directed his forces along the streets. Therefore, we held tightly to especially strong buildings and created a few garrisons in them, capable of conducting an all-round defense in the event of encirclement. Particularly strong buildings helped us create strong points from which the city’s defenders mowed down the advancing fascists with machine gun and machine gun fire,” the commander of the legendary 62nd Army, General Vasily Chuikov, later noted.
Unparalleled in world history in scale and ferocity Battle of Stalingrad, which became a turning point during the entire Second World War, ended victoriously on February 2, 1943. But street fighting continued in Stalingrad until the end of the battle on the banks of the Volga.
One of the strongholds, the importance of which was spoken by the commander of Army 62, was the legendary Pavlov’s House. Its end wall overlooked the January 9 Square (later Lenin Square). The 42nd Regiment of the 13th Guards Rifle Division, which joined the 62nd Army in September 1942 (divisional commander General Alexander Rodimtsev), operated at this line. The house was occupied important place in the defense system of Rodimtsev’s guards on the approaches to the Volga. It was a four-story brick building. However, he had a very important tactical advantage: from there he controlled the entire surrounding area. It was possible to observe and fire at the part of the city occupied by the enemy by that time: up to 1 km to the west, and even more to the north and south. But the main thing is that from here the paths of a possible German breakthrough to the Volga were visible: it was just a stone’s throw away. Intense fighting here continued for more than two months.
The tactical significance of the house was correctly assessed by the commander of the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment, Colonel Ivan Elin. He ordered the commander of the 3rd Rifle Battalion, Captain Alexei Zhukov, to seize the house and turn it into a stronghold. On September 20, 1942, soldiers from the squad led by Sergeant Yakov Pavlov made their way there. And on the third day, reinforcements arrived: a machine-gun platoon of Lieutenant Ivan Afanasyev (seven people with one heavy machine gun), a group of armor-piercing soldiers of Senior Sergeant Andrei Sobgaida (six people with three anti-tank rifles), four mortar men with two mortars under the command of Lieutenant Alexei Chernyshenko and three machine gunners. Lieutenant Ivan Afanasyev was appointed commander of this group.
The Nazis conducted massive artillery and mortar fire on the house almost all the time, carried out air strikes on it, and continuously attacked. But the garrison of the “fortress” - this is how Pavlov’s house was marked on the headquarters map of the commander of the 6th German Army, Paulus - skillfully prepared it for all-round defense. The fighters fired from different places through embrasures, holes in bricked-up windows and holes in the walls. When the enemy tried to approach the building, he was met by dense machine-gun fire from all firing points. The garrison steadfastly repelled enemy attacks and inflicted significant losses on the Nazis. And most importantly, in operational and tactical terms, the defenders of the house did not allow the enemy to break through to the Volga in this area.
At the same time, Lieutenants Afanasyev, Chernyshenko and Sergeant Pavlov established fire cooperation with strong points in neighboring buildings - in the house defended by the soldiers of Lieutenant Nikolai Zabolotny, and in the mill building, where the command post of the 42nd Infantry Regiment was located. The interaction was facilitated by the fact that an observation post was equipped on the third floor of Pavlov’s house, which the Nazis were never able to suppress. “A small group, defending one house, destroyed enemy soldiers more than the Nazis lost during the capture of Paris,” noted Army 62 commander Vasily Chuikov.
INTERNATIONAL SQUAD
DEFENDERS
Pavlov's house was defended by fighters of different nationalities - Russians Pavlov, Alexandrov and Afanasyev, Ukrainians Sobgaida and Glushchenko, Georgians Mosiashvili and Stepanoshvili, Uzbek Turganov, Kazakh Murzaev, Abkhaz Sukhba, Tajik Turdyev, Tatar Romazanov. According to official data - 24 fighters. But in reality - up to 30. Some dropped out due to injury, some died, but they were replaced. One way or another, Sergeant Pavlov (he was born on October 17, 1917 in Valdai, Novgorod region) celebrated his 25th birthday within the walls of “his” home together with his military friends. True, nothing has been written about this anywhere, and Yakov Fedotovich himself and his military friends preferred to remain silent on this matter.
As a result of continuous shelling, the building was seriously damaged. One end wall was almost completely destroyed. To avoid losses from the rubble, some of the firepower was moved outside the building by order of the regiment commander. But the defenders of the House of Sergeant Pavlov, the House of Lieutenant Zabolotny and the mill, turned into strong points, continued to firmly hold the defense, despite the fierce attacks of the enemy.
One cannot help but ask: how were Sergeant Pavlov’s fellow soldiers not only able to survive in the fiery hell, but also to defend themselves effectively? Firstly, not only Lieutenant Afanasyev, but also Sergeant Pavlov were experienced fighters. Yakov Pavlov has been in the Red Army since 1938, and this is a considerable period of time. Before Stalingrad, he was the commander of a machine gun squad and a gunner. So he has plenty of experience. Secondly, the reserve positions they equipped helped the fighters a lot. In front of the house there was a cemented fuel warehouse; an underground passage was dug to it. And about 30 meters from the house there was a hatch for a water supply tunnel, to which an underground passage was also made. It brought ammunition and meager supplies of food to the defenders of the house.
During shelling, everyone, except observers and combat guards, went down to shelters. Including the civilians who were in the basements, who were various reasons They couldn’t evacuate right away. The shelling stopped, and the entire small garrison was again in its positions in the house, again firing at the enemy.
The garrison of the house held the defense for 58 days and nights. The soldiers left it on November 24, when the regiment, along with other units, launched a counteroffensive. All of them were awarded government awards. And Sergeant Pavlov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. True, after the war - by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 27, 1945 - after he had joined the party by that time.
For the sake of historical truth, we note that most At the time, the defense of the outpost house was led by Lieutenant Afanasyev. But he was not awarded the title of Hero. In addition, Ivan Filippovich was a man of exceptional modesty and never emphasized his merits. And “at the top” they decided to present to high rank junior commander, who, together with his fighters, was the first to break through to the house and take up defense there. After the fighting, someone made a corresponding inscription on the wall of the building. Military leaders and war correspondents saw her. The object was initially listed under the name “Pavlov’s House” in combat reports. One way or another, the building on January 9 Square went down in history as Pavlov’s House. Yakov Fedotovich himself, despite being wounded, fought with dignity even after Stalingrad - already as an artilleryman. He ended the war on the Oder wearing the epaulets of a foreman. Later he was awarded the rank of officer.
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF PARTICIPANTS
DEFENSE OF STALINGRAD
Now in the hero city there are about 8 thousand participants of the Great Patriotic War, of which 1,200 were direct participants in the Battle of Stalingrad, as well as 3,420 combat veterans. Yakov Pavlov could rightfully be on this list - he could have stayed in the restored city that he defended. He was very sociable by nature; he met many times with residents who survived the war and restored it from the ruins. Yakov Fedotovich lived with the concerns and interests of the city on the Volga, participated in events for patriotic education.
The legendary Pavlov House in the city became the first building to be restored. And he was the first to be telephoned. Moreover, some of the apartments there were given to those who came to restore Stalingrad from all over the country. Not only Yakov Pavlov, but also other surviving defenders of the house that went down in history under his name, have always been the most dear guests of the townspeople. In 1980, Yakov Fedotovich was awarded the title “Honorary Citizen of the Hero City of Volgograd.” But...
After demobilization in August 1946, he returned to his native Novgorod region. I was at work in party bodies in the city of Valdai. Received higher education. Three times he was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR from the Novgorod region. Peaceful ones were also added to his military awards: the Order of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, medals.
Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov passed away in 1981 - the consequences of front-line wounds affected him. But it just so happened that there were many legends and myths around the “House of Sergeant Pavlov,” which went down in history, and itself. Sometimes their echoes can be heard even now. So, for many years, rumors said that Yakov Pavlov did not die at all, but took monastic vows and became Archimandrite Kirill. But at the same time, he allegedly asked me to convey that he was no longer alive.
Is it so? The situation was clarified by employees of the Volgograd State Panorama Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad. And what? Father Kirill in the world really was... Pavlov. And he really took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. There was just a problem with the name - Ivan. Moreover, Yakov and Ivan Pavlov were sergeants during the Battle of the Volga, both ended the war as junior lieutenants. During the initial period of the war, Ivan Pavlov served in Far East, and in October 1941, as part of his unit, he arrived at the Volkhov Front. And then - Stalingrad. In 1942 he was wounded twice. But he survived. When the fighting in Stalingrad subsided, Ivan accidentally found a Gospel burned by fire among the rubble. He considered this a sign from above, and Ivan’s war-scarred heart suggested: keep the volume with you!
In the ranks of the tank corps, Ivan Pavlov fought through Romania, Hungary and Austria. And everywhere with him in his duffel bag was a burnt Stalingrad church book. Demobilized in 1946, he went to Moscow. At Yelokhovsky Cathedral I asked: how to become a priest? And as he was, in military uniform, he went to enter the theological seminary. They say that many years later, Archimandrite Kirill was summoned to the military registration and enlistment office of the town of Sergiev Posad near Moscow and asked what to report “up” about the defender of Stalingrad, Sergeant Pavlov. Kirill asked to be told that he was no longer alive.
But this is not the end of our story. During the search, the staff of the panorama museum (it is located just opposite the Pavlov House, across Sovetskaya Street, and I visited there many times as a student, since I studied at a nearby university) managed to establish the following. Among the participants in the Battle of Stalingrad were three Pavlovs, who became Heroes of the Soviet Union. In addition to Yakov Fedotovich, these are tanker captain Sergei Mikhailovich Pavlov and guard infantryman senior sergeant Dmitry Ivanovich Pavlov. Russia rests on the Pavlovs and Afanasyevs, as well as on the Ivanovs and Petrovs.
Volgograd–Moscow
On Lenin Square, the leader still shows the direction of a bright future.
The monument was opened in 1960, on the 90th anniversary of Lenin’s birth. The pedestal is a stylized armored car turret. Until 1934, the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker stood on this site.
2.
3. The arch behind the monument looks good 
4. Mass grave of soldiers of the 13th Guards Rifle Division and the 10th Division of the NKVD troops 
5. The stand on the right encourages education. 
6. Gerhardt's Mill. Sometimes it is confused with the legendary Pavlov's house. 
Pavlov's house is located on the other side of the street, almost nothing remains of it. That red wall is him.
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Let's return to the mill. She certainly looks strong. You can immediately imagine what the city looked like after the fighting.
This is the second version of the mill, built in 1908. The first one burned down in a fire.
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In fact, there was a whole complex here: in addition to the steam mill, there was a fish-smoking mill, an oil mill, bakery shops and warehouses.
9. It’s very good that it was preserved in this form. 
In 1911, 78 workers worked here. During construction, a new product was used - a reinforced concrete frame and brick wall cladding. This was the first such building in the city. This is probably why the building survived the battles.
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11. At the top you can still see the remains of the sign. 
The mill operated until September 1942, when it was hit by a landmine.
12. The walls are reinforced with iron ties 
13. Bullet marks? 
14. You can’t get inside, but you can see what’s there and how. 
15. But the teenagers seemed to be scratching something on the walls there. 
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17. In front of the mill – a small copy of the “Children’s Round Dance” fountain, 2013. 
18. A pipe left over from our own boiler room. 
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21. In front of the mill and the museum there is an exhibition of equipment and weapons. 
22. The development around the museum and the mill is typically Stalinist-post-war. 
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24. 
25.
Every year the number of veterans and witnesses of the Second World War becomes less and less. And in just a dozen years they will no longer be alive. Therefore, it is now so important to find out the truth about these distant events in order to avoid misunderstandings and misinterpretations in the future.
State archives are gradually being declassified, and military historians have access to secret documents, and therefore accurate facts, which make it possible to find out the truth and dispel all speculation that concerns certain points military history. The Battle of Stalingrad also has a number of episodes that cause mixed assessments by both the veterans themselves and historians. One of these controversial episodes is the defense of one of the many dilapidated houses in the center of Stalingrad, which became known throughout the world as “Pavlov’s house.”
During the defense of Stalingrad in September 1942, a group of Soviet intelligence officers captured a four-story building in the very center of the city and established a foothold there. The group was led by Sergeant Yakov Pavlov. A little later, machine guns, ammunition and anti-tank rifles were delivered there, and the house turned into an important stronghold of the division's defense.
The history of the defense of this house is as follows: during the bombing of the city, all the buildings turned into ruins, only one four-story house survived. Its upper floors made it possible to observe and keep under fire the part of the city that was occupied by the enemy, so the house itself played an important strategic role in the plans of the Soviet command.
The house was adapted for all-round defense. Firing points were moved outside the building, and underground passages were made to communicate with them. The approaches to the house were mined with anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. It was thanks to the skillful organization of defense that the warriors were able to repel enemy attacks for such a long period of time.
Representatives of 9 nationalities fought a staunch defense until Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive in the Battle of Stalingrad. It would seem, what is unclear here? However, Yuri Beledin, one of the oldest and most experienced journalists in Volgograd, is sure that this house should bear the name of the “house of soldier’s glory”, and not at all “Pavlov’s house”.
The journalist writes about this in his book, which is called “A Shard in the Heart.” According to him, battalion commander A. Zhukov was responsible for the seizure of this house. It was on his orders that company commander I. Naumov sent four soldiers, one of whom was Pavlov. Within 24 hours they repulsed German attacks. The rest of the time, while the defense of the house was being carried out, Lieutenant I. Afanasyev was responsible for everything, who came there along with reinforcements in the form of a machine-gun platoon and a group of armor-piercing men. The total composition of the garrison located there consisted of 29 soldiers.
In addition, on one of the walls of the house, someone made an inscription that P. Demchenko, I. Voronov, A. Anikin and P. Dovzhenko heroically fought in this place. And below it was written that Ya. Pavlov’s house was defended. In the end - five people. Why then, of all those who defended the house, and who were in absolutely equal conditions, only Sergeant Ya. Pavlov was awarded the star of the Hero of the USSR? And besides, most records in military literature indicate that it was under the leadership of Pavlov that the Soviet garrison held the defense for 58 days.
Then another question arises: if it is true that it was not Pavlov who led the defense, why were the other defenders silent? At the same time, the facts indicate that they were not silent at all. This is also evidenced by the correspondence between I. Afanasyev and fellow soldiers. According to the author of the book, there was a certain “political situation” that did not make it possible to change the established idea of the defenders of this house. In addition, I. Afanasyev himself was a man of exceptional decency and modesty. He served in the army until 1951, when he was discharged for health reasons - he was almost completely blind from wounds received during the war. He was awarded several front-line awards, including the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad.” In the book “House of Soldier's Glory,” he described in detail the time his garrison stayed in the house. But the censor did not let it through, so the author was forced to make some amendments. Thus, Afanasyev cited Pavlov’s words that by the time the reconnaissance group arrived there were Germans in the house. Some time later, evidence was collected that there was in fact no one in the house. Overall, his book is a true story about a difficult time when Soviet soldiers heroically defended their home. Among these fighters was Ya. Pavlov, who was even wounded at that time. No one is trying to belittle his merits in defense, but the authorities were very selective in singling out the defenders of this building - after all, it was not only Pavlov’s house, but first and foremost a house large quantity Soviet soldiers - defenders of Stalingrad.
Breaking through the defense of the house was the main task of the Germans at that time, because this house was like a bone in the throat. German troops tried to break the defense with the help of mortar and artillery shelling, and air bombing, but the Nazis failed to break the defenders. These events went down in the history of the war as a symbol of the perseverance and courage of the soldiers of the Soviet army.
In addition, this house became a symbol of the labor valor of the Soviet people. It was the restoration of Pavlov's house that marked the beginning of the Cherkasovsky movement to restore buildings. Immediately after the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, A.M. Cherkasova’s women’s brigades began restoring the house, and by the end of 1943, more than 820 brigades were working in the city, in 1944 – already 1192, and in 1945 – 1227 brigades.
Zabolotny's house and the house built in its place.Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Chuikov said: “There were dozens and hundreds of such stubbornly defended objects in the city; inside them, “with varying success,” there was a struggle for weeks for every room, for every ledge, for every flight of stairs.”
Pavlov's House is a symbol of the perseverance, courage and heroism of the Soviet people shown during the days of the Battle of Stalingrad. The house became an impregnable fortress. The legendary garrison held it for 58 days and did not give it to the enemy.. All this time, there were civilians in the basement of the building. Next to Pavlov's House stood his “twin brother” – Zabolotny House. The company commander, senior lieutenant Ivan Naumov, received an order from the regiment commander, Colonel Elin, to turn two four-story houses located in parallel into strong points, and sent two groups of soldiers there.
The first consisted of three privates and Sergeant Yakov Pavlov, who drove the Germans out of the first house and entrenched themselves in it. Second group - platoon Lieutenant Nikolai Zabolotny– took over the second house. He sent a report to the regimental command post (in a destroyed mill): “The house is occupied by my platoon. Lieutenant Zabolotny." Zabolotny's house was completely destroyed by German artillery at the end of September 1942. Almost the entire platoon and Lieutenant Zabolotny himself died under its ruins.
« Milk house“- this building went down in the history of the Battle of Stalingrad with this name. It was called so by the color of the facade. Like a number of other buildings in the city center, it had important tactical significance. To drive the Germans out of there, units of Soviet troops repeatedly went on the attack. The Germans carefully prepared for defense, and only at the cost of heavy losses were they able to capture it.
The House of Officers was built on the site of the Milk House. Abundantly watered with the blood of Soviet soldiers and The house of railway workers, the ruins of which were stormed only in early December. Now the street where this building was once located bears the name of senior lieutenant Ivan Naumov, who died defending the “milk house”. This is how he describes the storming of the Railway Workers' House participant of the Battle of Stalingrad Gennady Goncharenko:
“...The terrain conditions made it possible in one area - the south - to distract the Nazi garrison, entrenched in the House of Railwaymen, and in the other - the east - to carry out an assault after a fire raid. The last shot from the gun sounded. Available assault group just three minutes. During this time, under the cover of a smoke screen, our fighters had to run to the house, break into it and begin hand-to-hand combat. In three hours, our soldiers completed their combat mission, clearing the Railway Workers’ House from the Nazis...”
The battle of September 19, when Soviet soldiers stormed the State Bank building, cannot be erased from history. The Nazis' rifle and machine-gun fire reached the central pier - the enemy threatened to cut off the crossing. This is how General Alexander Rodimtsev recalls this episode in his book “The Guardsmen Fought to the Death.”
“...We were very much in the way, like a huge boulder on the way, by the State Bank building, almost a quarter of a kilometer long. “This is a fortress,” the soldiers said. And they were right. Durable, meter thick stone walls and deep basements protected the enemy garrison from artillery fire and air strikes. Entrance doors the building was only entered from the enemy side. The surrounding area was covered with multi-layered rifle and machine gun fire from all four floors. This building really looked like a medieval fortress and a modern fort.”
On the site of the destroyed state bank building is a residential building. But no matter how strong the fascist stronghold was, it could not withstand the onslaught and courage Soviet soldiers, who captured this most important fascist defense point in a night battle. The fiercest battle for every house, every building predetermined the outcome of the entire battle. And our grandfathers and fathers won the victory.
All of the listed buildings were part of the defense system of the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 13th Guards Rifle Division.
The legendary house of Sergeant Pavlov (House of Soldier's Glory) in the hero city of Volgograd, which in the Battle of Stalingrad became a real impregnable citadel for the Nazis thanks to the courage and fortitude of its defenders. A historical monument of national significance and an object of cultural heritage of Russia.
With an ordinary four-story residential building tied in the center heroic page in the history of the city - the legendary battle for Stalingrad, which became a turning point in the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War.
In pre-war peacetime in Stalingrad (present-day Volgograd) on January 9 Square (now Lenin Square) there were residential buildings for the so-called elite - railway workers, signalmen, and NKVD workers. Near the square, in a four-story building No. 61 with 4 entrances on Penzenskaya Street, lived specialists from the city’s tractor, metallurgical and machine-building plants, as well as employees of the city committee of the CPSU. This house and its twin - the house, which later received the name of Lieutenant N. Zabolotny who defended it, due to the fact that a railway line passed right by them to the Volga, was destined to play a role during the Battle of Stalingrad important role.
The story of one feat
Fierce fighting in July-November 1942 took place not only in the suburbs of Stalingrad, but also in the city itself. For the possession of residential areas and factory areas, the Nazis threw more and more human reserves and armored vehicles into mortal combat.
At the beginning of September 1942, during the period of the heaviest street fighting, the area of January 9 Square was defended by the 42nd Regiment as part of the 13th Guards Rifle Division of the 62nd Army, commanded by Colonel I.P. Elin. Fights took place for every piece of land, for every building, for every entrance, basement, apartment. The troops of Field Marshal Paulus, supported by fire from the air, paved their way to the Volga, sweeping away all obstacles along the way. The buildings in the square square were already destroyed, only two residential buildings and one survived. These buildings turned out to be strategically important objects not only for defense, but also for monitoring the surrounding territory - one kilometer in the western, and two kilometers in the northern and southern directions. By order of Colonel I.P. Elin, who correctly assessed the strategic importance of the buildings, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Battalion, Captain V.A. Zhukov, organized two mobile groups under the command of Sergeant Ya. Pavlov and Lieutenant N. Zabolotny to seize residential buildings. The first group - Sergeant Yakov Pavlov and three soldiers on September 22, 1942, managed to knock out the enemy and gain a foothold in one of the houses. A platoon under the command of Nikolai Zabolotny occupied the house opposite, and the regimental command post was located in the mill building. The guardsmen of N. Zabolotny's platoon courageously held the defense of the captured house, but soon the Nazis managed to blow up the building, under the rubble of which all its defenders, along with the commander, died.
And in the basement of the first house liberated from the Nazis, fighters from Sergeant Yakov Pavlov’s group found civilians - about thirty women, children and old people. These people were in the basement of the house with the soldiers until the liberation of the city, helping the soldiers in defending the house.
Having sent a report to the command post about the successful operation to capture the house and requesting reinforcements, over the next two days four brave soldiers fought off the fierce attacks of the Wehrmacht units rushing to the Volga. On the third day of defense, the defenders received reinforcements - a machine-gun platoon from the third machine-gun company under the command of Guard Lieutenant I.F. Afanasyev (seven people with a heavy machine gun), six armor-piercing men with three anti-tank rifles led by senior sergeant A.A. Sobgaida, three machine gunners and four mortar men with two 50 mm mortars under the command of Lieutenant A. N. Chernyshenko. The number of defenders of the house increased to 24 people of different nationalities, among whom, along with the Russians, Ukrainians, Armenians, Georgians, Tatars, Jews, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Tajiks held the defense. Sergeant Yakov Pavlov, wounded in the first days of defense, handed over command of the guard garrison to Lieutenant I. Afanasyev.
For a more effective defense, sappers mined all approaches to the building, along a dug trench from the Pavlov House, which appears under that name in operational reports and reports of the regiment headquarters, to the Gerhardt mill, signalmen extended radio communications, and the call sign of the heroic detachment of defenders of the house “Mayak” for as long as 58 days and nights (from September 23 to November 25, 1942) connected the defenders of the building with the headquarters of the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment.
Shelling and attacks by Wehrmacht units on Pavlov's House were repeated every hour, regardless of the time of day, but this did not break the spirit of the soldiers. During each offensive, the Nazis littered the approaches to the house with the bodies of their soldiers, struck down by heavy mortar, machine gun and machine gun fire, which the defenders fired from the basement, windows and roof of the impregnable building. The ferocity with which the enemy troops tried to take possession of Pavlov's House was shattered by the courage and heroism of the soldiers who defended it. Therefore, on maps of Wehrmacht military operations, Pavlov's House was marked as a fortress. Surprisingly, throughout the entire period of defense, strategically and tactically important area approach to the Volga, which became an ordinary residential building on Penzenskaya Street on the way of the Nazis, only three of its defenders died - Lieutenant A. N. Chernyshenko, Guard Sergeant I. Ya. Khait and Private I. T. Svirin. Their names, like the names of all the fighters of the House of Pavlov, are inscribed in history heroic feat unconquered city on the Volga.
As a result of one of the artillery shellings, one of the walls of the building was destroyed by a shell explosion, but even in this seemingly unpleasant fact, the fighters were able to find positive side, joking that the ventilation in the house is now much better. And in rare moments of silence, the guards wondered whether they would restore the building after the war, because no one doubted that the war would end in victory.
Restoration of Pavlov's House
Perhaps there is something mystical in the fact that the first building, the restoration of which was undertaken almost immediately after the liberation of Stalingrad, was the House of Sergeant Pavlov, also called the House of Soldiers' Glory. Thanks to the initiative of Stalingrad resident A. M. Cherkasova, who in June 1943 organized a brigade of female volunteers to clear the rubble, repair and restore city buildings, this movement, soon called Cherkasovsky, swept the entire country: in all cities liberated from the Nazis there were numerous volunteer brigades in In their free time from work, they restored destroyed buildings, put streets, squares and parks in order. And the brigade of A. M. Cherkasova continued to restore after the war hometown in his free time, dedicating a total of more than 20 million hours to this noble cause.
After the war, the square near which Pavlov’s House was located was renamed Defense Square, new houses appeared on it, with which, according to the design of the architect I. E. Fialko, the heroic house was combined with a semicircular colonnade. And the end wall facing Defense Square (renamed Lenin Square in 1960) was decorated with a memorial by sculptors A.V. Golovanov and P.L. Malkov. Its opening took place in February 1965 and was timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Volgograd from the fascist invaders.
The newly rebuilt Pavlov's House became a symbol not only of the heroic feat of its defenders, but also of the ordinary people, who on their own restored Stalingrad from the ruins. The memory of this was immortalized by the architect V. E. Maslyaev and the sculptor V. G. Fetisov, who created at the end of the building from the street. Soviet memorial wall-monument with the inscription: “In this house, military feat and labor feat merged together.” The grand opening of the memorial took place on the eve of the 40th anniversary Great Victory- May 4, 1985.
The relief memorial wall made of red brick depicts a collective image of a warrior-defender, one of the moments of the defense of the building and a tablet with text that immortalizes the names of courageous and fearless warriors who did the impossible - at the cost of incredible efforts, stopping enemy troops on the very outskirts of the Volga.
The text on the sign reads: “This house at the end of September 1942 was occupied by Sergeant Ya. F. Pavlov and his comrades A. P. Aleksandrov, V. S. Glushchenko, N. Ya. Chernogolov. During September-November 1942, the house heroically defended by the soldiers of the 3rd battalion of the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 13th Guards Order of Lenin Division: Aleksandrov A.P., Afanasyev I.F., Bondarenko M.S., Voronov I.V., Glushchenko V.S. , Gridin T. I., Dovzhenko P. I., Ivashchenko A. I., Kiselev V. M., Mosiashvili N. G., Murzaev T., Pavlov Ya. F., Ramazanov F. Z., Saraev V. K., Svirin I. T., Sobgaida A. A., Torgunov K., Turdyev M., Khait I. Ya., Chernogolov N. Ya., Chernyshenko A. N., Shapovalov A. E., Yakimenko G. AND."
The Battle of Stalingrad, which radically changed the course of the Great Patriotic War and marked the beginning of the collapse of the Third Reich, became the millstone of the giant mill for the selected forces of the Wehrmacht. The legendary garrison of the House of Pavlov also made its contribution to the liberation of the city from enemy invaders, the memory of whose feat is forever inscribed in the Book of Memory of the Hero City of Volgograd.