Six hours are allotted in high school to study World War II. Unfortunately, beyond the framework of a cursory acquaintance with the main events, facts and battles, there are portraits of real war heroes, examples of the feat and dedication of ordinary people. For example, such as Pavlov Yakov Fedotovich, whose name is the House of Soldiers' Glory in Volgograd (former Stalingrad).
Not one step back
In July 1942, the Nazis reached the Volga, from where, after the conquest of Stalingrad, they planned to rush to the Caucasus. Two weeks in the Fuhrer's plans were allotted for the capture of the city, which was of great strategic importance during the hostilities. An order came from Stalin: to defend Stalingrad at any cost. In history, he is known under the slogan: "Not a step back!".
At that time, Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov, whose photo is presented in the article, served as a sergeant in the division of A. I. Rodimtsev, who arrived at the citadel on the Volga before the start of the heroic defense of the city. Based in Kamyshin, the military conducted exercises, realizing the importance of the upcoming battles. Unable to immediately break into the city, the Nazis began shelling it. On the day of August 23 alone, they dropped so many bombs on Stalingrad that there was no longer a single building left in it, and burning oil from railway tanks poured into the Volga in a stream. The defenders saw a terrible sight - a flaming river, covering the coast with a fiery avalanche.
Street fighting
On September 13, 1942, the Germans broke into the city. General Rodimtsev miraculously managed to stop the onslaught of the enemy a hundred meters from the coastline. The battle was fought for every street and building on 9th January Square (now Defense Square). Here, any solid building turned into a stronghold capable of holding all-round defense.
It was the end of September. One of the four-story brick buildings facing the square had a serious tactical advantage: it opened up an excellent view of the part of the city occupied by the Nazis and the path of their possible breakthrough to the Volga bank. Squad commander Pavlov Yakov Fedotovich received from the company commander the task to reconnoiter the situation in the specified house at the address: Penza, 31. With three fighters, he managed to force the Germans out of the captured building and hold it for two days. In the basement, they found local residents hiding from the fire. Among them was the architect of the house with his pregnant wife, who died during the shelling.
On the third dayreinforcements arrived consisting of 24 people: a group of armor-piercers and machine gunners, led by senior lieutenant I. F. Afanasyev. The garrison managed to turn the object into an impregnable fortress for the Nazis. It was for these heroic events that Sergeant Pavlov Yakov Fedotovich became known to the world community.
Feat of the defenders
The battle of Stalingrad lasted 200 days and nights, 58 of which the defenders of the house, known in history as the "Pavlov's House", fought steadfastly. The soldiers held out until the Red Army went on the offensive on 1942-19-11, losing only three of their comrades: Private I. T. Svirin, Sergeant I. Ya. Khait and Lieutenant A. N. Chernyshenko. On the personal map of General Paulus, the object was marked as a fortress, which is defended by a whole battalion.
In fact, 24 people, representatives of 9 nationalities, covered their names with glory, hitting the enemy with their courage and heroism. The garrison mined the approaches to the house, breaking through a trench through which communication was maintained with the command. Provisions and ammunition were delivered along it, a field telephone cable passed and the wounded were evacuated. The Nazis stormed the building several times a day, but failed to break through above the first floor.
Each fighter was worth a whole platoon, firing through embrasures punched into the brick walls. On the third floor, a round-the-clock observation post was equipped, tracking any enemy movements and opening heavy machine-gun fire when it approached.
A handful of Soviet soldiersbecame a symbol of resistance to the enemy that conquered all of Europe. Pavlov Yakov Fedotovich, who fought heroically in the battles for the liberation of Stalingrad, was wounded in the leg on November 25. He was sent to the hospital. Subsequently, together with the 3rd Ukrainian and 2nd Belorussian fronts, he will go from Stalingrad to the Elbe, receiving the Star of the Hero of the USSR in June 1945.
Pavlov Yakov Fedotovich: biography of the hero
Born in October 1917, on the eve of the Great October Revolution, Yakov Fedotovich connected his whole life with his small homeland - the Novgorod region. The place of birth is the village of Krestovaya, from where in 1938, after working in agriculture, he will be drafted into the army. Here, in the city of Valdai, he will return after mobilization in 1946, having received the rank of officer.
His career path will be connected with the party and economic activities after the end of the Higher School under the Central Committee of the CPSU. Repeatedly the hero of the Great Patriotic War will represent his region in the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, having earned a government award in peacetime. In 1963, together with his wife Nina Aleksandrovna and son Yuri, he moved to Veliky Novgorod, where he would work at the Kometa plant. Public activities will lead him to Stalingrad more than once. Here he will meet with the inhabitants, restoring it from the ruins. Among the awards of Ya. F. Pavlov is the title of Honorary Citizen of this legendary hero city. Unfortunately, in 1981, the heart of a brave man stopped right on the operating table.
Memory
Pavlov Yakov Fedotovich is buried onWestern cemetery of his native city, where a kind of alley of heroes was created. The monument represents a symbolic brick wall with its bas-relief. A memorial plaque was installed on a house in Veliky Novgorod, and a ship and a boarding school were named after the legendary man. In the post-war years, millions of citizens from all over the world visited the restored so-called Pavlov's House, paying tribute to the courage and dedication of its defenders.
