It just so happened that over the course of a year, a private (by the standards of war) object of defense and its defenders became the object of attention of two creative teams at once. Director Sergei Ursulyak staged a wonderful TV serial “Life and Fate” based on the novel of the same name by Vasily Grossman. It premiered in October 2012. And in February of this year, a TV movie is shown on the Kultura TV channel. As for the blockbuster "Stalingrad" by Fyodor Bondarchuk, released last fall, this is a completely different creation, with a different idea and approach. It is hardly worth spreading about his artistic merits and loyalty to historical truth (or rather, about the absence of such). Enough has been said about this, including in the very sensible publication "Stalingrad without Stalingrad" ("NVO" No. 37, 11.10.13).
Both in Grossman's novel, and in his 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 a different volume, albeit indirectly. But literature and cinema are one thing, and life is another. Or rather, history.
FORTRESS TO THE ENEMY DOESN'T GIVE UP
In September 1942, fierce fighting broke out in the streets and squares of the central and northern parts of Stalingrad. “The fight in the city is a special fight. Here it is not strength that decides, but 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 firmly held on to especially strong buildings, created in them a few garrisons, capable of conducting an all-round defense in case of encirclement. Particularly strong buildings helped us to create strong points, from which the defenders of the city mowed down the advancing fascists with machine guns and machine guns,”- noted later the commander of the legendary 62nd Army, General Vasily Chuikov.
The Battle of Stalingrad, unparalleled in world history in scale and fierceness, which became a turning point in the course of the entire Second World War, ended victoriously on February 2, 1943. But street battles continued in Stalingrad until the end of the battle on the banks of the Volga.
One of the strongholds, the importance of which the commander-62 spoke about, was the legendary Pavlov House. Its end wall overlooked the square named after January 9 (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 occupied an important place in the defense system of Rodimtsev's guards on the outskirts of the Volga. It was a four-story brick building. However, he had a very important tactical advantage: the entire surrounding area was controlled from there. It was possible to observe and fire at the part of the city occupied by the enemy by that time: to the west up to 1 km, and even more to the north and south. But the main thing is that the paths of a possible breakthrough of the Germans to the Volga were visible from here: it was within easy reach. Intense fighting here continued for over two months.
The tactical importance of the house was correctly estimated by the commander of the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment, Colonel Ivan Yelin. 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, the soldiers of 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 officers of Senior Sergeant Andrey Sobgaida (six people with three anti-tank rifles), four mortar gunners with two mortars under the command of Lieutenant Alexei Alexei Chernyshik. Lieutenant Ivan Afanasyev was appointed the commander of this group.
The Nazis almost all the time carried out massive artillery and mortar shelling around the house, inflicted air strikes on it, and continuously attacked. But the garrison of the "fortress" - that is how Pavlov's house was marked on the headquarters map of the commander of the 6th German army Paulus - skillfully prepared him for an all-round defense. The fighters fired from different places through the embrasures pierced in the bricked 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 staunchly repulsed enemy attacks and inflicted tangible 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 interaction 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 could not suppress. “A small group, defending one house, destroyed more enemy soldiers than the Nazis lost in the capture of Paris,” noted Army-62 commander Vasily Chuikov.
INTERNATIONAL SQUAD OF DEFENDERS
Pavlov's house was defended by fighters of different nationalities - Russians Pavlov, Aleksandrov and Afanasyev, Ukrainians Sobgaida and Glushchenko, Georgians Mosiashvili and Stepanoshvili, Uzbek Turganov, Kazakh Murzaev, Abkhaz Sukhba, Tajik Turdyev, Tatar Romazanov. According to official data, there are 24 fighters. But in reality - up to 30. Someone dropped out due to injury, someone died, but they were replaced. One way or another, Sergeant Pavlov (he was born on October 17, 1917 in Valdai, in the Novgorod region) met his 25th birthday within the walls of "his" house together with his military friends. True, nothing has been written about this anywhere, and Yakov Fedotovich himself and his military friends on this matter preferred to remain silent.
As a result of continuous shelling, the building was seriously damaged. One end wall was almost completely destroyed. In order to avoid losses from debris, part of the fire resources, by order of the regiment commander, were removed outside the building. But the defenders of the House of Sergeant Pavlov, the House of Lieutenant Zabolotny and the mill, turned into strong points, continued to staunchly hold the defense, despite the fierce attacks of the enemy.
It is impossible not to ask: how did Sergeant Pavlov's fellow soldiers not only survive in the fiery hell, but also effectively defend themselves? 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 long term. Before Stalingrad, he was the commander of the machine-gun squad, gunner. So he has no experience. Secondly, the reserve positions equipped by them helped the fighters a lot. In front of the house there was a cemented fuel depot, an underground passage was dug to it. And about 30 meters from the house there was a water tunnel hatch, to which an underground passage was also made. Through it, the defenders of the house received ammunition and meager stocks of food.
During shelling, everyone, except for the observers and outposts, went down to the shelters. Including the civilians who were in the basements, who, for various reasons, could not be immediately evacuated. The shelling stopped, and the entire small garrison was again in their positions in the house, again firing at the enemy.
For 58 days and nights, the garrison held the defense at home. The soldiers left it on November 24, when the regiment, along with other units, launched a counteroffensive. All of them have received government awards. 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 of 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 introduce a junior commander to the high rank, who, together with his fighters, was the first to break through to the house and take up defensive positions there. After the battles, someone made a corresponding inscription on the wall of the building. She was seen by military leaders, war correspondents. The object was originally 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 his injury, fought with dignity even after Stalingrad - already as an artilleryman. He ended the war on the Oder in the uniform of a foreman. Later he was awarded the officer's rank.
FOLLOWING THE STALINGRAD DEFENSE PARTICIPANTS
Now in the hero-city there are about 8 thousand participants of the Great Patriotic War, of which 1200 were direct participants in the Battle of Stalingrad, as well as 3420 war veterans. Yakov Pavlov could rightfully be on this list - he could stay in the restored city that he defended. By nature, he was very sociable, many times he met 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 the first one was telephoned. Moreover, some of the apartments there were received by those who came to the restoration of Stalingrad from all over the country. Not only Yakov Pavlov, but also other surviving defenders of the house, which 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 of "Honorary Citizen of the Hero City of Volgograd." But…
After demobilization in August 1946, he returned to his native Novgorod region. Was at work in the party organs in the city of Valdai. Received higher education. Three times he was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR from the Novgorod region. Peaceful ones were 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. But it just so happened that many legends and myths circulated around the House of Sergeant Pavlov, which went down in history. Sometimes their echoes can be heard even now. So, for many years, rumor had it that Yakov Pavlov did not die at all, but took monastic vows and became Archimandrite Cyril. But at the same time, they say, he asked to convey that he was not alive.
Is it so? The situation was clarified by the staff of the Volgograd State Panoramic Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad. And what? Father Cyril in the world really was … Pavlov. And he really took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. But there was a discrepancy with the name - Ivan. Moreover, Yakov and Ivan Pavlovs were sergeants during the battle on the Volga, both ended the war as junior lieutenants. In the initial period of the war, Ivan Pavlov served in the 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 died down, Ivan accidentally found the Gospel burnt by fire among the rubble. He considered this a sign from above, and Ivan's heart burnt by the war suggested: keep the volume with you!
In the ranks of the tank corps, Ivan Pavlov fought Romania, Hungary and Austria. And everywhere with him in his duffel bag was a charred Stalingrad church booklet. Demobilized in 1946, he went to Moscow. In 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 Sergeant Pavlov, the defender of Stalingrad. Cyril asked to say that he was not alive.
But this is not the end of our story. In the course of searches, the staff of the panorama museum (it is located just opposite the Pavlov House, across Sovetskaya Street, and I have been 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, this is a tanker captain Sergei Mikhailovich Pavlov and an infantryman of the guard senior sergeant Dmitry Ivanovich Pavlov. On the Pavlovs and Afanasyevs, as well as on the Ivanovs, Russia holds on to the Petrovs.
