February 14 marks 73 years since that momentous day when Rostov-on-Don was liberated from the Nazi invaders in 1943. The "Gates of the Caucasus" were occupied by the Nazis and their allies twice. The first time, in the fall of 1941, the Nazis were able to capture Rostov for just a week. However, even these days were remembered by the local population for the bloody murders of civilians. So, on November 28, 1941, young Viktor Cherevichkin was shot by the Nazis, whose fame later spread throughout the Soviet Union. Already on November 28, 1941, Soviet troops under the command of Marshal S. K. Tymoshenko was able to free Rostov-on-Don. This was the first large-scale victory of the Red Army at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War.
However, in July 1942, the German command again launched a massive offensive against the Kuban and the Caucasus. On July 24, 1942, units of the 17th Hitlerite Army of the Wehrmacht entered Rostov-on-Don. Rostov-on-Don again found itself under the rule of the invaders, which this time stretched out for many months. The most tragic page in the history of the occupation of Rostov-on-Don was the destruction of more than 40 thousand residents of the city, 27 thousand of whom were killed on the outskirts of the then Rostov - in the Zmievskaya Balka. Among those killed were persons of Jewish and Gypsy nationality, members of their families, party and Komsomol workers, prisoners of war of the Red Army. The Nazis were also noted for the killings of civilians in other parts of the city; among the victims of the invaders there were many children and adolescents. Some of the young Rostovites tried to resist the invaders to the best of their ability, tried to deploy underground work, for which they paid with their lives.
Five pioneer boys, who were only 11-12 years old - Kolya Kizim, Igor Neigof, Vitya Protsenko, Vanya Zyatin and Kolya Sidorenko picked up on the streets and under the rubble of buildings up to forty soldiers of the Red Army wounded during the defense of Rostov. All the wounded boys dragged away and hid in the attic of their house. For two weeks, the pioneers took care of the wounded. But it was not without betrayal. German soldiers and officers entered the courtyard of house No. 27 on Ulyanovskaya Street. A search was organized, during which the wounded Red Army soldiers hiding in the attic were found. They were thrown from the attic into the courtyard and finished off with bayonets. The Nazis ordered all residents of the house to line up and said that if they did not hand over those who were hiding the Red Army soldiers, then all residents of the house would face the death penalty. Five young pioneers themselves went out of action and said that they did it - to save the rest of the residents of the house. The Nazis dug a hole in the courtyard of the house, filled it with quicklime and threw five young heroes into it. Then they poured water into the pit. The guys died slowly. Their execution became indicative for all residents of Rostov - the occupation authorities wanted to show their cruelty and readiness to deal with all recalcitrant Soviet people in the most barbaric ways.
The Rostov Rifle Regiment of the People's Militia, assembled in 1941 and heroically defending its hometown, covered itself with unfading glory. Despite the fact that yesterday's civilians served in the regiment, before the invasion of the Nazis, they peacefully worked in various spheres of the Soviet economy, during the defense and assault of Rostov in the fall of 1941, during the defense of Rostov in July 1942, the militia regiment demonstrated miracles of heroism. The streets and lanes of Rostov-on-Don are named after many of the militias, there is a square named after Rostov Rifle Regiment of the People's Militia.
Legendary commander
The second liberation of Rostov began with the transition of the troops of the Southern Front to the offensive on January 1, 1943. In two weeks of fighting, Soviet troops were able to break through to the Manych basin, and a week later - to reach the banks of the Seversky Donets and Don. First of all, units of the 28th Army attacked Rostov. From September 1942 to December 1943, the 28th Army, which fought as part of the Southern Front, was commanded by Lieutenant General Vasily Filippovich Gerasimenko (1900-1961). A talented and brave military leader, Vasily Gerasimenko was from the village of Velyka Buromka, which is now located in the Chernobaevsky district of the Cherkasy region of Ukraine. At the age of eighteen, in 1918, Vasily joined the Red Army. He went through the Civil War - first as a machine gunner, then became an assistant commander and a platoon commander. Choosing for himself the path of a professional soldier, Vasily Gerasimenko entered and in 1924 graduated from the Military Academy of the Red Army. He also graduated from the Minsk United Military School and the Frunze Military Academy in the period between the Civil and World War II. In 1935 Gerasimenko was promoted to chief of staff of a rifle division, in August 1937 he became a corps commander. In 1938-1940. Gerasimenko served as deputy commander of the Kiev Special Military District, and in July 1940 was appointed commander of the Volga Military District. In June-July 1940 Gerasimenko commanded the 5th Army of the Southern Front, then, already during the Great Patriotic War, commanded the 21st and 13th armies. In October-December 1941, Gerasimenko held the position of Assistant Chief of the Rear Services of the Red Army, and in December 1942 he became Commander of the Stalingrad Military District.
In September 1942 Gerasimenko was appointed commander of the 28th Army. Under his command, the army took part in the Battle of Stalingrad, in the Miusskaya, Donbass and Melitopol operations. Before the start of the assault on Rostov-on-Don, the Military Council of the 28th Army, commanded by Gerasimenko, issued the following appeal: actively helped the Red Army to drive the fascists out of the city. Our urgent sacred duty is to wrest them from the clutches of the Hitlerite pack … We will take Rostov! " At a meeting of the Military Council, Vasily Filippovich Gerasimenko stressed that the army under his command had never faced such a significant and difficult task - to take Bataisk, and then continue the offensive on Rostov-on-Don and liberate this large southern city. The conditional signal for the start of the offensive - "Hello to the heroes" - was transmitted to all formations that were part of the 28th Army at about 01.30 on February 8, 1943. Every day, at about 21.35 in the evening, General Gerasimenko reported to the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Joseph Stalin on the direct during the battles for Rostov-on-Don.
Having played an important role in the liberation of Rostov-on-Don and the Rostov region from the Nazi invaders, General Gerasimenko continued to serve in the Red Army. In January 1944, he was appointed commander of the Kharkov military district, and two months later - the people's commissar of defense of the Ukrainian SSR (this post existed in 1944-1946 and was later canceled) and the commander of the Kiev military district. From October 1945 to 1953, General Gerasimenko served as deputy deputy commander of the Baltic Military District. Grateful residents of Rostov named a street in the Oktyabrsky district of Rostov-on-Don after General Gerasimenko.
The Nazis fiercely defended Rostov, not wanting to lose control over this large, strategically important center. Therefore, the capture of the city by Soviet troops was a complex and costly operation. The names of those people who were the first to break into the "capital of the South of Russia", freeing the city from the invaders, are doubly valuable for us. The 159th Rifle Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel A. I. Bulgakov, attacked from the left bank of the Don River in the area of the historical center of Rostov. On the evening of February 7, 1943, the rifle battalion of the 159th separate rifle brigade received a combat mission from the higher command - to capture part of the Rostov-on-Don station - the most important railway junction in the North Caucasus. The assault group included soldiers and officers of three battalions of the 159th Infantry Brigade. They were given the task of secretly crossing the frozen Don River on the ice, making their way to the city located on the right bank of the river.
The operation was scheduled for 01.30 am. There was a strong wind and the Red Army men came up with a very effective way to quickly cross the frozen river, using the weather elements. The soldiers dipped their shoes into the ice hole, which were covered with a crust of ice. After that, having thrown open the floors of their raincoats, the Red Army men, as if on skates, driven by the wind, crossed the Don. The reconnaissance unit under the command of Lieutenant Nikolai Lupandin was able to silently cross the ice-covered Don and remove the German sentries. After that, the submachine gunners quickly destroyed two German machine-gun points on the bridge and the control room. After that, Soviet soldiers were able to seize a site in the area of Privokzalnaya Square, including Dolomanovsky and Bratsky lanes. But the darkness of the night still could not hide the passage of Don with so many soldiers. The Nazis noticed the movement of the Red Army. Machine guns began to work. Already in the center, to which the Red Army men who had crossed over to the Don, they were met by a large detachment of Nazis from 200 submachine gunners and 4 tanks. In the battle, the commanders of two rifle battalions were seriously wounded - the commander of the 1st battalion, Major M. Z. Dyablo and the commander of the 4th battalion captain P. Z. Derevyanchenko, the personnel of three battalions crossing the river suffered very heavy losses. The command was taken over by the surviving commander of one of the three battalions - Senior Lieutenant Ghukas Madoyan.
The feat of the battalion commander Madoyan
By the time of the operation to capture Rostov-on-Don, Gukas Karapetovich Madoyan was no longer young for a senior lieutenant - he was 37 years old. He was born on January 15, 1906 in the village of Kers, Kara region, which is now in Turkey, into an Armenian peasant family. During the First World War, Gukas's parents died - the events of a century ago are still remembered with horror by Armenians around the world: too many of their fellow tribesmen were killed or died during deportation organized by the Ottoman command. Nevertheless, Gukas himself was lucky enough to survive, although he received only an incomplete secondary education. When Soviet power was established in Armenia, Ghukas Madoyan volunteered for the Red Army. He was then only 14-15 years old. A young boy from a peasant family took part in battles on the territory of Georgia and Armenia, and then decided to become a professional military man - however, what else could he do? In 1924 Ghukas Madoyan graduated from an infantry school, and in 1925 he became a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). However, Gukas Madoyan's military career did not work out. He left for civilian life and worked for fifteen years in Yerevan in the field of trade and cooperation. In 1928-1930. Madoyan headed the production department of one of the workers' cooperatives in Yerevan. In 1933-1937. Madoyan was the head of the Yerevan department of arms trade, and in 1937-1940. worked as the head of the department in the Yerevan grocery store. Nevertheless, when the international military-political situation became complicated, Ghukas Madoyan returned to military service. In 1940, 34-year-old Madoyan graduated from the "Shot" command personnel course, where he updated his knowledge of military affairs, acquired 16 years ago in an infantry school and during his service in the Red Army. From the first days of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Ghukas Madoyan was in the active army - as a company commander of a mountain rifle regiment. November 19, 1942Senior Lieutenant Madoyan was appointed commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 159th Separate Rifle Brigade, which was part of the 28th Army. Ghukas Madoyan showed himself during the Battle of Stalingrad, as well as during the liberation of Elista (now the capital of the Republic of Kalmykia).
When the Red Army soldiers of the rifle battalions of the 159th brigade crossing the Don faced fire from the superior enemy, it seemed that the plan to seize part of the Rostov-on-Don railway station was doomed to failure. Moreover, the 1st and 4th battalions were left without commanders. And then Senior Lieutenant Madoyan took command. About 800 people gathered under his command - the surviving fighters of three battalions. With a decisive attack, Madoyan and the fighters drove the Nazis out of the building of the Rostov railway station and established themselves on its territory. Right at the station, the Red Army managed to capture seven echelons of ammunition, four howitzers and several vehicles. The heroic defense of the Rostov railway station began, which lasted six days. The Red Army under the command of Gukas Madoyan repulsed 43 enemy attacks. In just one day, on February 10, Nazi units launched twenty attacks on the railway station, aiming to regain control over it, but they could not knock the Red Army soldiers out of the building. And this despite the fact that from the side of the Nazis artillery guns and tanks were beating at the station. Desperate to break the resistance of the Red Army with tank and artillery shelling, the Nazis on February 11 set fire to the buildings of the station square with the help of aerial bombs. The coal stored in the square caught fire.
In this situation, Ghukas Madoyan gave an order to his subordinates to immediately move to another defense sector, to the foundry of the plant named after. IN AND. Lenin. The detachment overcame the area in one throw, after which the Red Army men settled in the foundry of the Lenzavod, from where they continued to fire on the territory of the station square. Two days later, on the evening of February 13, Madoyan's fighters again managed to seize the building of the Rostov-on-Don railway station and take positions in it. The defense of the Rostov railway station went down in history as one of the unique examples of such operations. For a week, Madoyan's small detachment, deprived of the support of the main part of the troops, managed to keep the station building under control, repelling dozens of attacks from superior enemy forces. During the defense of the station, Madoyan's fighters managed to destroy up to 300 people - soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht, 35 cars and 10 motorcycles of the enemy, knock out 1 tank, and also capture a significant amount of weapons and ammunition in the cars stuck at the station. 89 steam locomotives and over 3,000 wagons with various cargoes ended up in the hands of the Red Army.
At about 02.00 am on February 14, 1943, formations of the troops of the Southern Front broke into Rostov-on-Don. They managed to suppress the resistance of the Nazis. The remaining soldiers of Madoyan's detachment moved in formation to join the main part of the Soviet troops. At the crossroads of Engels and Budennovsky Avenue, in the very center of Rostov-on-Don, Madoyan's fighters met with servicemen of the 51st Army of the Southern Front. The commander of the Southern Front, Colonel-General Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky, member of the Military Council of the Front Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev and the commander of the 28th Army, Lieutenant General Vasily Filippovich Gerasimenko, drove up to Madoyan's detachment in cars. General Gerasimenko, embracing Madoyan and thanking him for his bravery, introduced the officer to General Malinovsky. The feat of the heroic senior lieutenant and his soldiers did not go unnoticed by the Soviet command. The front and army commanders petitioned for conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on Senior Lieutenant Ghukas Madoyan. On March 31, 1943, Senior Lieutenant Ghukas Madoyan was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the courage and courage shown in the battles for the liberation of Rostov-on-Don. It is noteworthy that the whole world learned about the feat of Senior Lieutenant Ghukas Madoyan. In 1944, US President Franklin Roosevelt ordered Madoyan to be awarded the US Army Distinguished Service Medal. By the way, in the entire history of World War II, only twenty Soviet servicemen in the ranks from senior sergeant to colonel received this American medal. One of them was, in particular, Captain Alexander Pokryshkin, a renowned pilot, three times Hero of the Soviet Union. So, the humble senior lieutenant Madoyan found himself among a very narrow circle of Soviet soldiers, about whose deeds even the American leadership had heard a lot.
After the liberation of Rostov-on-Don, Ghukas Madoyan continued to fight the enemy in the ranks of the active army. In 1944, after graduating from the Military Academy. M. V. Frunze, Ghukas Madoyan was appointed commander of the 1194th Infantry Regiment of the 359th Infantry Division, which was part of the 38th Army, which fought on the 1st Ukrainian Front. However, in October 1944, during the liberation of Poland, Gukas Madoyan was seriously wounded in the battles near the city of Dembice. After the treatment, it became clear that health would not allow the heroic officer to remain in the ranks of the active army. With the rank of lieutenant colonel, Gukas Karapetovich Madoyan was demobilized. He returned to Armenia, where in 1945 he became the head of a department in the Yerevan City Council of Deputies. Then Gukas Karapetovich returned to his pre-war profession. In 1946 the honored veteran took the post of Deputy Minister of Trade of the Armenian SSR, and in 1948 he became Deputy Minister of Social Security of the Armenian SSR. Since 1952, Ghukas Madoyan held the post of the Minister of Social Security of the Armenian SSR, and since 1961. - Advisor to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Armenian SSR. In 1946-1963. Gukas Karapetovich Madoyan was a deputy of the 2-5 convocations of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR. The grateful Rostov-on-Don did not forget about Gukas Madoyan. Gukas Karapetovich became an Honorary Citizen of the city of Rostov-on-Don. A large street in the Zheleznodorozhny district of Rostov-on-Don was named after the Hero of the Soviet Union Madoyan, and on the territory of the Rostov electric locomotive repair plant (Lenzavod) a monument to the soldiers of Madoyan's detachment who heroically held the Rostov railway station was erected. In 1975, at the age of 69, Gukas Karapetovich Madoyan died.
The Red Army crossed the Don
While Madoyan's heroic fighters defended the Rostov railway station, Soviet troops approached the city ever closer. At about 01.30 am on February 8, an assault began from the south of the eastern regions of Rostov - the former Armenian city of Nakhichevan. 152nd separate rifle brigade under the command of Major I. E. Hodosa advanced through the famous Green Island. One battalion of the brigade managed to cross the channel and capture a bridgehead in the coastal districts of Nakhichevan. West of the Khodos brigade, the 156th Infantry Brigade under the command of Lieutenant Colonel A. I. Sivankov. Her battalion was also able to gain a foothold on a small piece in the Andreevsky district of the city (now - the territory of the Leninsky district of Rostov-on-Don). However, having expended ammunition, within a day the battalions of the 152nd and 156th rifle brigades were forced to leave the captured bridgeheads and again retreat to the left bank of the Don River. Attempts at new attacks, during which the Red Army crossed the ice-covered Don, were choked up, suppressed by the fire of German artillery and machine guns. During these days, from 8 to 13 February 1943, hundreds of soldiers and officers of the Red Army died on the outskirts of Rostov.
On the night of February 9, also crossing the River Dead Donets - one of the Don branches in its delta, units of the 11th Guards Cossack Cavalry Don Division broke into the territory of the village of Nizhne-Gnilovskaya (now part of the Zheleznodorozhny and Soviet districts of Rostov-on-Don) under the command of General S. I. Gorshkov. The Cossacks managed to gain a foothold in Nizhne-Gnilovskaya and hold it until the arrival of the main reinforcement - the rifle units of the Red Army. To the west of the railway bridge across the Don Rostov River, units of the 248th Infantry Division under the command of Lieutenant Colonel I. D. Kovalev. Despite the fierce resistance of the Nazis, on the morning of February 10, units of the 899th, 902nd and 905th rifle regiments of the division managed to break into the city. A detachment of two regiments of the 248th Infantry Division of Lieutenant Colonel Kovalev and the reserve units of the 159th Infantry Brigade, commanded by the chief of staff of the brigade, Major A. D. Olenin, entrenched in the area of the slate plant and were able to capture several quarters of the village of Verkhne-Gnilovskaya between the Don River and Portovaya Street. For four days, the Red Army fought fierce battles in the Portovaya area with superior Wehrmacht forces. On the evening of February 13, the Portovaya Street area and the adjacent quarters were liberated from the Nazis. Parts of the 248th division tried to break through to the Rostov-on-Don railway station, in which the detachment of Gukas Madoyan was entrenched, but faced strong resistance from Hitler's troops. At the same time, units of the 34th Guards Rifle Division under the command of Colonel I. D. Dryakhlova, who were assigned the 6th Guards Tank Brigade and the 98th Separate Rifle Brigade. After bloody battles, the Red Army managed to break into the village. Together with units of the 52nd separate rifle brigade of Colonel I. S. Shapkin and the 79th separate rifle brigade of Colonel Rogatkin, units of the 34th Guards Division managed to capture the southwestern outskirts of Rostov-on-Don. In the floodplains of the Don and Dead Donets, Hitler's aviation dealt serious blows against the advancing units of the 4th Kuban and 5th Don Guards Cossack Cavalry Corps, commanded by generals N. Ya. Kirichenko and A. G. Selivanov. Since the Soviet cavalrymen had nowhere to hide on the snow-covered ice of the floodplain, the corps suffered heavy losses - the Luftwaffe planes, using the airfields of Taganrog, which was in the hands of the Nazis, inflicted airstrikes on the advancing corps.
In the area of the Semerniki farm in the village of Nizhne-Gnilovskaya (now the Sovetsky District of Rostov-on-Don), a battery of the 2nd Guards Separate Cavalry Artillery Division of the 4th Guards Cavalry Corps of the Southern Front was consolidated. At first glance, it seemed very difficult to cross the Don and drag heavy artillery pieces across the ice. The horses could not pull artillery on the slippery ice, so the soldiers put on their greatcoats and the horses dragged two 45-mm anti-tank guns across them. The battery had only 20 people and 2 artillery pieces instead of the required four. Only incredible heroism helped the Soviet soldiers take positions on the right bank of the Don and engage in battle with superior enemy forces - only Wehrmacht tanks against the battery were 16 pieces. The artillerymen, commanded by the Guard Senior Lieutenant Dmitry Mikhailovich Peskov (1914-1975), managed not only to gain a foothold, but also heroically repel enemy tank attacks. The fire was conducted along the railway line in the area of the Zapadny junction - to prevent the possibility of a retreat of the Nazis from Rostov. Peskov's battery was able to repel enemy attacks, destroying three enemy tanks, and the battery commander himself, despite being wounded, did not leave the battlefield and continued to direct the fire. In the battle with the Nazis, the entire battery died, only four fighters managed to survive, among whom was the commander of the artillerymen Peskov. For the courage shown by the guard, Senior Lieutenant Dmitry Peskov was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union in March 1943 with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. After retiring in 1946, Dmitry Peskov did not leave for his native Leningrad, but remained in the Rostov region - he worked in the Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Rostov region, as Madoyan was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of the city of Rostov-on-Don. May 21, 1975 Dmitry Mikhailovich Peskov died. He was only 61 years old. And in 1978 on the map of Rostov-on-Don, in the Soviet district of the city, a street appeared named after the heroic participant in the liberation of Rostov.
The fierce battle for Rostov went on until February 14, 1943. The formations of the 2nd Guards and 51st armies on February 12-13, 1943 were able to liberate Novocherkassk and the village of Aksayskaya from Nazi troops, and on the morning of February 14 they reached the eastern outskirts of Rostov-on-Don - on the Rodionovo-Nesvetayskaya - Voloshino line - Kamenny Brod - the eastern outskirts of Rostov. Four Nazi divisions and auxiliary units defended Rostov from the advancing units of the Red Army. They were surrounded by Soviet formations on three sides. On the night of February 14, 1943, the Nazis, unable to withstand the onslaught of the advancing Soviet troops, began to retreat to the northwest. On February 14, 1943, the formations of the 28th and 51st armies managed to completely clear the territory of Rostov-on-Don and the surrounding area from the Nazi invaders. At about 14:00 on February 14, the last points, at which Nazi soldiers and officers were still trying to resist, were suppressed by units of the 28th Army. A telegram was sent to the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander: “The troops of the 28th Army of the Southern Front against the German invaders marched from the Caspian to the Sea of Azov. Your order has been fulfilled - Rostov-on-Don was captured by the army on February 14.
The liberation was attended by underground workers
A great contribution to the liberation of Rostov-on-Don, in addition to units of the regular army, was made by the underground workers operating in the city, as well as ordinary residents of Rostov-on-Don. So, it is known that an ordinary Rostov girl named Lydia brought food and water to Madoyan's fighters. During the offensive of the Nazis, Madoyan's fighters were led to the foundry by a machinist who worked on the railway - then he was killed by a Nazi sniper. The only thing known about the man is that he lived on Republican Street. Major M. I. Dubrovin, who served in the 159th Rifle Brigade, recalled: “I remember with great love … the inhabitants of the city who helped us break the resistance of the Nazis. I especially remember the boys. They knew about the enemy, it seems, everything: where, how many fascists, what kind of weapons they had. They showed us roundabout ways, and we inflicted surprise attacks on the enemy from the flanks and from the rear."
Organized underground fighters, who inflicted considerable damage to the Nazi troops during the occupation, also acted on the territory of Rostov-on-Don. By January 1943, the largest underground group on the territory of Rostov-on-Don were the so-called "Yugovtsy" - an extensive organization led by "Yugov" - Mikhail Mikhailovich Trifonov (pictured), a former border guard lieutenant, later transferred to military intelligence … As a military intelligence officer, Yugov-Trifonov was entrusted with the creation of an underground organization in Rostov-on-Don for sabotage, reconnaissance and propaganda work.
Yugov successfully coped with this task - during the months of its existence and vigorous activity, Yugov's underground organization was never exposed. By January 1943, Yugov's underground workers had killed more than 200 soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht and other Hitlerite structures, destroyed 1 mortar, 1 artillery gun and 24 cars, blew up the brewery's water purification filter, burned down the electric motor, which supplied water to the location of the Wehrmacht units. Immediately before the liberation of Rostov, the Nazis, who were preparing to retreat from the city, drew up a plan to destroy the city infrastructure. It was planned to blow up several buildings of the Rostselmash plant, known throughout the country, a bakery, and a paper mill. It was Yugov's underground workers who then entered into direct combat contact with the Nazis, not allowing them to carry out their planned sabotage. As you know, Yugov's detachment was based in the private sector in the east of Rostov-on-Don - in the villages of Mayakovsky and Ordzhonikidze. There, the underground workers began to destroy the Nazi soldiers and officers.
On the night of February 14, 1943, the underground fighters entered into battle with the Nazis in the area of the Zapadny railway crossing. The battle of the poorly armed underground fighters, among whom the majority were civilians, with the Hitlerite unit lasted six hours. The battle ended with the victory of the underground, who managed to destroy 93 German soldiers and officers, three Nazi mortars, and also to blow up the Wehrmacht ammunition depots. A detachment of underground workers, commanded by Vasily Avdeev - a man with a difficult fate (he served in the NKVD, where he rose to the rank of major of state security - that is, a brigade commander by analogy with the army, and then was repressed, was imprisoned for three years, but asked to go to the front, where served as a simple paramedic), managed to surround the prisoner of war camp, destroy the Nazi guards and release Soviet soldiers and officers.
Rostov entered the top ten most affected cities
Having entered Rostov-on-Don, Soviet troops saw what the once flourishing city had become during the German occupation. Almost the entire city center was a solid ruin - Rostov was one of the ten cities of the Soviet Union that suffered the greatest destruction during the Great Patriotic War. If before the war there were about 567,000 inhabitants, by the time of liberation only 170,000 people remained in the city. The rest - who was drafted into the ranks of the active army, who was evacuated, who died during the bombing. Of the 665,000 inhabitants of the Don, 324,549 people did not return from the battlefields. Almost every tenth resident of the city, regardless of gender, age, nationality and social affiliation, was killed by the Nazi invaders. Over 27,000 Rostovites were killed by the Nazis in the Zmievskaya Balka, another 1,500 people were executed by executioners in the courtyard and in the cells of the famous "Bogatyanovskaya Prison" on Kirovsky Avenue, leaving the city, the Nazis preferred to destroy the prisoners. On Volokolamskaya Street, thousands of unarmed prisoners of war were killed. In the memorandum of the Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR in the Rostov region of March 16, 1943, it was said: “The wild arbitrariness and atrocities of the occupiers of the first days were replaced by the organized physical destruction of the entire Jewish population, communists, Soviet activists and Soviet patriots … In the city prison alone on February 14, 1943 - on the day of the liberation of Rostov - units of the Red Army found 1154 corpses of citizens of the city, shot and tortured by the Nazis. Of the total number of corpses, 370 were found in the pit, 303 - in various parts of the courtyard and 346 - among the ruins of the blown up building. Among the victims there are 55 minors, 122 women."
The special state commission that investigated the crimes of the Nazi invaders by a special state commission ranked Rostov-on-Don among the 15 cities of the Soviet Union that suffered the most from the actions of the aggressors. According to the commission, 11,773 buildings were completely destroyed, out of 286 enterprises operating in the city, 280 were destroyed during the bombing. After the liberation from the invaders, it was necessary to restore the city destroyed by the war in the shortest possible time, including industrial enterprises, transport and communication infrastructure, residential and administrative buildings. On June 26, 1943, a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR "On priority measures to restore the economy of the city of Rostov and the Rostov region" was adopted. Almost the entire population of the city was involved in the process of restoring the urban economy - after studying and working, having done household chores, workers and employees, students and housewives, pensioners and disabled people went to work to clear rubble, remove garbage, and restore the city infrastructure. It was also necessary to restore the infrastructure of the liberated city because the industrial enterprises of Rostov could make a serious contribution to the approach of victory over Nazi Germany. So, already in the spring of 1943.at the Rostov factories, repairs of automobile and armored vehicles, aircraft, and artillery pieces were organized.
In the period from March to September 1943, 465 aircraft, 250 tanks, 653 trucks were repaired for the needs of the Southern Front at the enterprises of Rostov-on-Don, and the production of spare parts for cars worth 6 million rubles was set up. All this information was given in the memorandum of the military department of the Rostov regional committee of the CPSU (b).
After the liberation of Rostov-on-Don, in the spring of 1943, the aviation had to repel enemy air raids on the liberated city. During one of these raids, Guard Senior Lieutenant Pyotr Korovkin (1917-1943), who served as deputy squadron commander of the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 268th Fighter Aviation Division of the 8th Air Army of the Southern Front, was killed. On March 25, 1943, Korovkin took off on alarm to repel the Nazi air raid on the liberated Rostov-on-Don. More than 200 aircraft took part in the big air battle. When Korovkin's plane ran out of ammunition, the pilot caught a German bomber in sight. Not wanting to miss the enemy, Korovkin turned his Yak-1 plane and hit the enemy with his wing. Both German and Soviet planes began to fall. Korovkin jumped out of the plane with a parachute, but the Messerschmitt arrived in time and opened fire on him. Pyotr Korovkin died and was buried in Rostov-on-Don, in the Aviator park, not far from the Rostov airport. A street in the Leninsky district of the city is also named after the pilot who died after the liberation of Rostov-on-Don. On May 5, 2008, the President of Russia V. V. Putin signed a decree conferring the honorary title of the Russian Federation "City of Military Glory" to Rostov-on-Don.
