Stalingrad Hero City - page #1/1
Stalingrad
Hero City
Volgograd is a city in the southeast of the European part of Russia, the administrative center of the Volgograd region. Hero City, site of the battle for Stalingrad. The city from 1589 to 1925 was called Tsaritsyn, and from 1925 to 1961 - Stalingrad
During the Great Patriotic War, on the outskirts of the city and in the city itself, one of the most important battles of World War II, Stalingrad, took place, which became a turning point. The city was almost completely destroyed in 1942-1943 and rebuilt in the post-war years. In 1961 it was renamed Volgograd.
The Battle of Stalingrad is a battle between the troops of the USSR, on the one hand, and the troops of Nazi Germany, Romania, Italy, Hungary, on the other, during the Great Patriotic War. The battle was one of the most important events of World War II and, along with the Battle of Kursk, was a turning point in the course of hostilities, after which the German troops lost their strategic initiative. The battle included an attempt by the Wehrmacht to capture the left bank of the Volga near Stalingrad (modern Volgograd) and the city itself, a confrontation in the city, and a counteroffensive by the Red Army (Operation Uranus), which resulted in the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht and other German allied forces inside and around the city were surrounded and partly destroyed, partly captured. According to rough estimates, the total losses of both sides in this battle exceed two million people. The Axis powers lost large numbers of men and weapons and subsequently failed to fully recover from the defeat.
For the Soviet Union, which also suffered heavy losses during the battle, the victory at Stalingrad marked the beginning of the liberation of the country, as well as the occupied territories of Europe, leading to the final defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.
On June 22, 1941, Germany and its allies invaded the territory of the Soviet Union, rapidly moving inland. Having suffered defeat during the battles in the summer and autumn of 1941, the Soviet troops counterattacked during the battle for Moscow in December 1941. Exhausted German troops, poorly equipped for combat operations in winter and with extended rears, were stopped on the outskirts of the capital and thrown back.
In the winter of 1941-1942, the front finally stabilized. Plans for a new attack on Moscow were rejected by Hitler, despite the fact that his generals insisted on this option - he believed that an attack on Moscow would be too predictable.
For all these reasons, the German command considered plans for new offensives in the north and south. An attack on the south of the USSR would ensure control over the oil fields of the Caucasus (Grozny and Baku regions), as well as over the Volga River, the main transport artery connecting the European part of the country with the Transcaucasus and Central Asia. A German victory in the south of the Soviet Union could seriously damage the Soviet war machine and economy.
The Soviet leadership, encouraged by the successes near Moscow, tried to seize the strategic initiative and in May 1942 threw large forces into the offensive near Kharkov. The offensive began from the Barvenkovsky ledge south of Kharkov, which was formed as a result of the winter offensive of the South-Western Front (a feature of this offensive was the use of a new Soviet mobile formation - a tank corps, which approximately corresponded to the German tank division in terms of the number of tanks and artillery, but was significantly inferior to it in number motorized infantry). The Germans, at that time, were simultaneously planning an operation to cut off the Barvenkovsky ledge.
The offensive of the Red Army was so unexpected for the Wehrmacht that it almost ended in disaster for Army Group South. However, the Germans decided not to change their plans and, thanks to the concentration of troops on the flanks of the ledge, they broke through the defenses of the Soviet troops. Most of the Southwestern Front was surrounded. In the subsequent three-week battles, known as the "second battle for Kharkov", the advancing units of the Red Army suffered a heavy defeat. According to German data alone, more than 200 thousand people were taken prisoner (according to Soviet archival data, the irretrievable losses of the Red Army amounted to 170,958 people), a lot of heavy weapons were lost. After that, the front south of Voronezh was practically open (See map May - July 1942). The key to the Caucasus, the city of Rostov-on-Don, which in November 1941 managed to defend with such difficulty, was lost.
After the Kharkiv disaster of the Red Army in May 1942, Hitler intervened in strategic planning by ordering Army Group South to split in two. Army Group "A" was to continue the offensive in the North Caucasus. Army Group "B", including the 6th Army of Friedrich Paulus and the 4th Panzer Army of G. Hoth, was to move east towards the Volga and Stalingrad.
The offensive of the German troops.
The capture of Stalingrad was very important to Hitler for several reasons. It was the main industrial city on the banks of the Volga and a vital transport route between the Caspian Sea and northern Russia. The capture of Stalingrad would provide security on the left flank of the German armies advancing into the Caucasus. Finally, the very fact that the city bore the name of Stalin - Hitler's main enemy - made the capture of the city a winning ideological and propaganda move.
The summer offensive was codenamed "Fall Blau" (German for "variant blue"). The 6th and 17th armies of the Wehrmacht, the 1st and 4th tank armies participated in it.
Operation "Blau" began with the offensive of the Army Group "South" on the troops of the Bryansk Front to the north and the troops of the South-Western Front to the south of Voronezh. It is worth noting that, despite a two-month break in active hostilities, the result for the troops of the Bryansk Front was no less disastrous than for the troops of the South-Western Front, battered by the May battles. On the very first day of the operation, both Soviet fronts were broken through tens of kilometers inland and the Germans rushed to the Don. Soviet troops could only oppose weak resistance in the vast desert steppes, and then they began to flock to the east in complete disarray. Ended in complete failure and attempts to re-form the defense, when the German units entered the Soviet defensive positions from the flank. In mid-July, several divisions of the Red Army fell into a pocket in the south of the Voronezh region, near the village of Millerovo.
One of the important factors that thwarted the plans of the Germans was the failure of the offensive operation on Voronezh. Easily capturing the right-bank part of the city, the enemy was unable to develop success and the front line was leveled along the Voronezh River. The left bank remained behind the Soviet troops and repeated attempts by the Germans to drive the Red Army from the left bank were unsuccessful. The German troops ran out of resources to continue offensive operations and the battles for Voronezh moved into a positional phase. Due to the fact that the main forces of the German army were sent to Stalingrad, the attack on Voronezh was stopped, the most combat-ready units were removed from the front and transferred to the 6th Paulus Army. Subsequently, this factor played an important role in the defeat of the German troops near Stalingrad.
After taking Rostov, Hitler transferred the 4th Panzer Army from Group A (advancing into the Caucasus) to Group B, aiming east towards the Volga and Stalingrad.
The Sixth Army's initial offensive was so successful that Hitler intervened again, ordering the Fourth Panzer Army to join Army Group South (A). As a result, a huge "traffic jam" was formed, when the 4th and 6th armies needed several roads in the zone of operations. Both armies were firmly stuck, and the delay turned out to be quite long and slowed down the German advance by one week. With the slow advance, Hitler changed his mind and reassigned the target of the 4th Panzer Army back to the Stalingrad direction.
The alignment of forces in the Stalingrad defensive operation
Germany
Army Group B. For the attack on Stalingrad, the 6th Army was allocated (commander - F. Paulus). It included 13 divisions, in which there were about 270 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and mortars, and about 500 tanks.
The army was supported by the 4th Air Fleet, which had up to 1200 aircraft (fighter aircraft aimed at Stalingrad, in the initial stage of the battles for this city, consisted of about 120 Messerschmitt Bf.109F-4 / G-2 fighter aircraft (various domestic sources give numbers ranging from 100 to 150), plus about 40 obsolete Romanian Bf.109E-3). [source not specified 512 days]
Stalingrad Front (commander - S. K. Timoshenko, from July 23 - V. N. Gordov). It included the 62nd, 63rd, 64th, 21st, 28th, 38th and 57th combined arms armies, the 8th air army (the Soviet fighter aircraft at the beginning of the battle here numbered 230-240 fighters, mainly Yak-1) and the Volga military flotilla - 37 divisions, 3 tank corps, 22 brigades, in which there were 547 thousand people, 2200 guns and mortars, about 400 tanks, 454 aircraft, 150-200 long-range bombers and 60 air defense fighters.
Beginning of the battle
By the end of July, the Germans pushed back the Soviet troops beyond the Don. The defense line stretched for hundreds of kilometers from north to south along the Don. In order to organize a defense along the river, the Germans had to use, in addition to their 2nd Army, the armies of their Italian, Hungarian and Romanian allies. The 6th Army was only a few dozen kilometers from Stalingrad, and the 4th Panzer, south of it, turned north to help take the city. Further south, Army Group South (A) continued to deepen further into the Caucasus, but its advance slowed down. Army Group South A was too far south to support Army Group South B in the north.
In July, when the German intentions became quite clear to the Soviet command, they developed plans for the defense of Stalingrad. Additional Soviet troops were deployed on the eastern bank of the Volga. The 62nd Army was created under the command of Vasily Chuikov, whose task was to defend Stalingrad at any cost.
Battle in the city
Luftwaffe bombing residential areas of Stalingrad, October 1942
There is a version that Stalin did not give permission for the evacuation of the inhabitants of the city. However, no documentary evidence of this has yet been found. In addition, the evacuation, albeit at a slow pace, but still took place. By August 23, 1942, about 100 thousand of the 400 thousand inhabitants of Stalingrad were evacuated. On August 24, the Stalingrad City Defense Committee adopted a belated decision to evacuate women, children and the wounded to the left bank of the Volga. All citizens, including women and children, worked on the construction of trenches and other fortifications.
Massive German bombardment on August 23 destroyed the city, killed more than 40,000 people, destroyed more than half of the housing stock of pre-war Stalingrad, thereby turning the city into a vast area covered with burning ruins.
The burden of the initial struggle for Stalingrad fell on the 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment: a unit staffed mainly by young female volunteers with no experience in destroying ground targets. Despite this, and without the proper support available from other Soviet units, the anti-aircraft gunners remained in place and fired on the advancing enemy tanks of the 16th Panzer Division until all 37 air defense batteries were destroyed or captured. By the end of August, Army Group South (B) reached the Volga to the north of the city, and then to the south of it.
At the initial stage, the Soviet defense relied to a large extent on the "People's Militia of Workers", recruited from workers not involved in military production. Tanks continued to be built and manned by voluntary crews, consisting of factory workers, including women. The equipment was immediately sent from the conveyors of factories to the front line, often even without painting and without sighting equipment installed.
Street fighting in Stalingrad.
By September 1, 1942, the Soviet command could provide its troops in Stalingrad only with risky crossings across the Volga. In the midst of the ruins of the already destroyed city, the Soviet 62nd Army built defensive positions with gun emplacements located in buildings and factories. The battle in the city was fierce and desperate. The Germans, moving deeper into Stalingrad, suffered heavy losses. Soviet reinforcements crossed the Volga from the east bank under constant bombardment by German artillery and aircraft. The average life expectancy of a newly arrived Soviet private in the city sometimes fell below twenty-four hours. The German military doctrine was based on the interaction of military branches in general and especially close interaction of infantry, sappers, artillery and dive bombers. To counter this, the Soviet command decided to take the simple step of constantly keeping the front lines as close to the enemy as physically possible (usually no more than 30 meters). Thus, the German infantry had to fight on its own, or be in danger of being killed by its own artillery and horizontal bombers, support was possible only from dive bombers. A painful struggle went on for every street, every factory, every house, basement or stairway. The Germans, calling the new urban war (German: Rattenkrieg, Rat War), bitterly joked that the kitchen had already been captured, but they were still fighting for the bedroom.
The battle on Mamayev Kurgan, the blood-soaked height overlooking the city, was unusually merciless. Height changed hands several times. At the grain elevator, a huge grain processing complex, the fighting was so dense that Soviet and German soldiers could feel each other's breath. The fighting at the grain elevator continued for weeks, until the Soviet army gave up its positions. In another part of the city, an apartment building defended by a Soviet platoon in which Yakov Pavlov served was turned into an impregnable fortress. Despite the fact that this building was subsequently defended by many other officers, the original name was assigned to it. From this house, later called "Pavlov's House", one could observe the square in the city center. Soldiers surrounded the building with minefields and set up machine gun positions.
Seeing no end to this terrible struggle, the Germans began to bring heavy artillery to the city, including several giant 600-mm mortars. The Germans made no effort to get their troops across the Volga, allowing the Soviet troops to erect a huge number of artillery batteries on the opposite bank. Soviet artillery on the eastern bank of the Volga continued to calculate German positions and work them with increased fire. The Soviet defenders used the emerging ruins as defensive positions. German tanks could not move among piles of cobblestones up to 8 meters high. Even if they could move forward, they came under heavy fire from Soviet anti-tank units located in the ruins of buildings.
Soviet snipers, using the ruins as cover, also inflicted heavy damage on the Germans. The most successful sniper (known only as "Zikan") - on his account there were 224 people by November 20, 1942 [source not specified 512 days]. Sniper Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev during the battle destroyed 225 enemy soldiers and officers (including 11 snipers).
For both Stalin and Hitler, the Battle of Stalingrad became a matter of prestige in addition to strategic importance. The Soviet command moved the reserves of the Red Army from Moscow to the Volga, and also transferred air forces from almost the entire country to the Stalingrad region. The tension of both military commanders was immeasurable: Paulus even developed an uncontrollable nervous tic of the eye.
In November, after three months of carnage and a slow, costly advance, the Germans finally reached the banks of the Volga, capturing 90% of the ruined city and splitting the surviving Soviet troops in two, causing them to fall into two narrow pockets. In addition to all this, a crust of ice formed on the Volga, preventing the approach of boats and supplies for the Soviet troops in a difficult situation. In spite of everything, the struggle, especially on Mamaev Kurgan and in the factories in the northern part of the city, continued as furiously as before. The battles for the Krasny Oktyabr plant, the tractor plant and the Barrikady artillery plant became known to the whole world. While Soviet soldiers continued to defend their positions by firing at the Germans, plant and factory workers repaired damaged Soviet tanks and weapons in the immediate vicinity of the battlefield, and sometimes on the battlefield itself.
Preparing for a counteroffensive
The Don Front was formed on September 30, 1942. It included: 1st Guards, 21st, 24th, 63rd and 66th Armies, 4th Tank Army, 16th Air Army. Lieutenant General K.K. Rokossovsky, who took command, actively began to fulfill the "old dream" of the right flank of the Stalingrad Front - to surround the German 14th Panzer Corps and connect with units of the 62nd Army.
Having taken command, Rokossovsky found the newly formed front on the offensive - following the order of the Headquarters, on September 30 at 5:00, after artillery preparation, units of the 1st Guards, 24th and 65th armies went on the offensive. Heavy fighting went on for two days. But, as noted in the TsAMO document f 206, parts of the armies had no advances, and moreover, as a result of German counterattacks, several heights were left. By October 2, the offensive had fizzled out.
But here, from the Stavka reserve, the Don Front receives seven fully equipped rifle divisions (277, 62, 252, 212, 262, 331, 293 rifle divisions). The command of the Don Front decides to use fresh forces for a new offensive. On October 4, Rokossovsky instructed to develop a plan for an offensive operation, and on October 6 the plan was ready. The operation was scheduled for October 10th. But by this time, several things have happened.
On October 5, 1942, Stalin, in a telephone conversation with A. I. Eremenko, sharply criticizes the leadership of the Stalingrad Front, and demands that immediate measures be taken to stabilize the front and subsequently defeat the enemy. In response to this, on October 6, Eremenko made a report to Stalin on the situation and considerations for the further actions of the front. The first part of this document is justification and blaming the Don Front (“they had high hopes for help from the north”, etc.). In the second part of the report, Eremenko proposes to carry out an operation to encircle and destroy German units near Stalingrad. There, for the first time, it is proposed to encircle the 6th Army with flank attacks on the Romanian units, and after breaking through the fronts, unite in the Kalach-on-Don area.
The Headquarters considered Eremenko's plan, but then considered it unfeasible (the operation was too deep, etc.).
As a result, the Headquarters proposed the following option for encircling and defeating the German troops near Stalingrad: the Don Front was asked to deliver the main blow in the direction of Kotluban, break through the front and go to the Gumrak area. At the same time, the Stalingrad Front was conducting an offensive from the Gornaya Polyana region to Elshanka, and after breaking through the front, units advanced to the Gumrak region, where they connected with units of the Don Front. In this operation, the command of the fronts was allowed to use fresh units (Don Front - 7th Rifle Division, Stalingrad Front - 7th St. K., 4 Kv. K.). On October 7, General Staff Directive No. 170644 was issued on conducting an offensive operation on two fronts to encircle the 6th Army, the start of the operation was scheduled for October 20.
Thus, it was planned to encircle and destroy only the German troops fighting directly in Stalingrad (14th Panzer Corps, 51st and 4th Infantry Corps, about 12 divisions in total).
The command of the Don Front was dissatisfied with this directive. On October 9, Rokossovsky presented his plan for an offensive operation. He referred to the impossibility of breaking through the front in the Kotluban region. According to his calculations, 4 divisions were required for a breakthrough, 3 divisions for the development of a breakthrough, and 3 more to cover from enemy attacks; thus, seven fresh divisions were clearly not enough. Rokossovsky proposed to strike the main blow in the Kuzmichi area (height 139.7), that is, everything according to the same old scheme: surround the units of the 14th Panzer Corps, connect with the 62nd Army, and only after that move to Gumrak to join units of the 64th th army. The headquarters of the Don Front planned 4 days for this: from October 20 to 24. The "Orlovsky ledge" of the Germans haunted Rokossovsky since August 23, so he decided to first deal with this "corn", and then complete the complete encirclement of the enemy.
The Stavka did not accept Rokossovsky's proposal and recommended that he prepare an operation according to the Stavka's plan; however, he was allowed to conduct a private operation against the Oryol group of Germans on October 10, without attracting fresh forces.
On October 9, units of the 1st Guards Army, as well as the 24th and 66th armies launched an offensive in the direction of Orlovka. The advancing group was supported by 42 Il-2 attack aircraft, under the cover of 50 fighters of the 16th Air Army. The first day of the offensive ended in vain. The 1st Guards Army (298th, 258th, 207th Rifle Divisions) had no advance, while the 24th Army advanced 300 meters. The 299th Rifle Division (66th Army), advancing to the height of 127.7, having suffered heavy losses, had no advances. On October 10, offensive attempts continued, but by the evening they finally weakened and stopped. Another "operation to eliminate the Oryol group" failed. As a result of this offensive, the 1st Guards Army was disbanded due to the losses incurred. Having transferred the remaining units of the 24th Army, the command was withdrawn to the Headquarters reserve.
The beginning of the offensive and counter-operation of the Wehrmacht
On November 19, 1942, the offensive of the Red Army began as part of Operation Uranus. On November 23, in the Kalach area, the encirclement ring around the 6th Wehrmacht Army closed. It was not possible to complete the Uranus plan, since it was not possible to divide the 6th Army into two parts from the very beginning (by a strike by the 24th Army in the interfluve of the Volga and Don). Attempts to liquidate those surrounded on the move under these conditions also failed, despite the significant superiority in forces - the superior tactical training of the Germans affected. However, the 6th Army was isolated and supplies of fuel, ammunition and food were progressively reduced, despite attempts to supply it by air, undertaken by the 4th Air Fleet under the command of Wolfram von Richthofen.
According to the plan of the Soviet command, after the defeat of the 6th Army, the forces engaged in Operation Uranus turned to the west and advanced towards Rostov-on-Don as part of Operation Saturn. At the same time, the southern wing of the Voronezh Front was attacking the 8th Italian Army north of Stalingrad and advancing directly to the west (towards the Donets) with an auxiliary attack to the southwest (toward Rostov-on-Don), covering the northern flank of the South-Western front during a hypothetical offensive. However, due to the incomplete implementation of "Uranus", "Saturn" was replaced by "Small Saturn". A breakthrough to Rostov (due to the lack of seven armies pinned down by the 6th Army near Stalingrad) was no longer planned, the Voronezh Front, together with the South-Western and part of the forces of the Stalingrad Front, had the goal of pushing the enemy 100-150 km west of the encircled 6- th Army and defeat the 8th Italian Army (Voronezh Front). The offensive was planned to begin on December 10, however, the problems associated with the delivery of new units necessary for the operation (available on the spot were connected near Stalingrad) led to the fact that A. M. Vasilevsky authorized (with the knowledge of I. V. Stalin) the transfer of the start of the operation to 16 December. On December 16-17, the German front on Chir and on the positions of the 8th Italian Army was broken through, the Soviet tank corps rushed into the operational depth. However, in the mid-20s of December, operational reserves (four well-equipped German tank divisions) began to approach Army Group Don, originally intended to strike during Operation Wintergewitter. By December 25, these reserves launched counterattacks, during which they cut off the tank corps of V. M. Badanov, who had just broken into the airfield in Tatsinskaya (86 German aircraft were destroyed at the airfields).
After that, the front line temporarily stabilized, since neither the Soviet nor the German troops had enough strength to break through the enemy's tactical defense zone.
On December 27, N. N. Voronov sent the first version of the Koltso plan to the Supreme Command Headquarters. The headquarters in directive No. 170718 of December 28, 1942 (signed by Stalin and Zhukov) demanded changes to the plan so that it provided for the division of the 6th Army into two parts before its destruction. Appropriate changes were made to the plan. On January 10, the offensive of the Soviet troops began, the main blow was delivered in the zone of the 65th army of General Batov. However, the German resistance turned out to be so serious that the offensive had to be temporarily stopped. From January 17 to January 22, the offensive was suspended for regrouping, new strikes on January 22-26 led to the division of the 6th Army into two groups (Soviet troops united in the Mamaev Kurgan area), by January 31, the southern group was liquidated (the command and headquarters of 6 th Army, led by Paulus), by February 2, the northern group of the encircled under the command of the commander of the 11th Army Corps, Colonel General Karl Strecker capitulated. Shooting in the city went on until February 3 - the "Khivi" resisted even after the German surrender on February 2, 1943, since they were not threatened with captivity. The liquidation of the 6th Army, according to the "Ring" plan, was supposed to be completed in a week, but in reality it lasted 23 days. (The 24th Army on January 26 withdrew from the front and was sent to the Stavka reserve).
In total, more than 2,500 officers and 24 generals of the 6th Army were taken prisoner during Operation Ring. In total, over 91 thousand soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht were taken prisoner. Trophies of the Soviet troops from January 10 to February 2, 1943, according to a report from the headquarters of the Don Front, were 5762 guns, 1312 mortars, 12701 machine guns, 156,987 rifles, 10,722 machine guns, 744 aircraft, 1,666 tanks, 261 armored vehicles, 80,438 vehicles, 10,679 motorcycles , 240 tractors, 571 tractors, 3 armored trains and other military property.
Battle results
The victory of the Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad is the largest military and political event during the Second World War. The great battle, which ended in the encirclement, defeat and capture of a select enemy group, made a huge contribution to achieving a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War and had a decisive influence on the further course of the entire Second World War.
In the Battle of Stalingrad, new features of the military art of the Armed Forces of the USSR manifested themselves with all their might. Soviet operational art was enriched by the experience of encircling and destroying the enemy.
The victory at Stalingrad had a decisive influence on the further course of World War II. As a result of the battle, the Red Army firmly seized the strategic initiative and now dictated its will to the enemy. This changed the nature of the actions of the German troops in the Caucasus, in the regions of Rzhev and Demyansk. The blows of the Soviet troops forced the Wehrmacht to give the order to prepare the Eastern Wall, on which they intended to stop the advance of the Soviet Army.
The outcome of the Battle of Stalingrad caused bewilderment and confusion in the Axis. A crisis of pro-fascist regimes began in Italy, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia. The influence of Germany on its allies sharply weakened, and the differences between them became noticeably aggravated. In political circles in Turkey, the desire to maintain neutrality has intensified. Elements of restraint and alienation began to prevail in the relations of the neutral countries towards Germany.
As a result of the defeat in front of Germany, the problem of restoring the losses incurred in equipment and people became. The head of the economic department of the OKW, General G. Thomas, stated that the losses in equipment are equivalent to the number of military equipment of 45 divisions from all branches of the armed forces and are equal to the losses for the entire previous period of fighting on the Soviet-German front. Goebbels at the end of January 1943 declared "Germany will be able to withstand the attacks of the Russians only if it manages to mobilize its last manpower reserves." Losses in tanks and vehicles amounted to a six-month production of the country, in artillery - three months, in rifle and mortars - two months.
Reaction in the world
Many state and political figures highly appreciated the victory of the Soviet troops. In a message to I. V. Stalin (February 5, 1943), F. Roosevelt called the Battle of Stalingrad an epic struggle, the decisive result of which is celebrated by all Americans. On May 17, 1944, Roosevelt sent a letter to Stalingrad: On behalf of the people of the United States of America, I present this letter to the city of Stalingrad to mark our admiration for its valiant defenders, whose courage, fortitude and selflessness during the siege from September 13, 1942 to January 31, 1943 will forever inspire the hearts of all free men. Their glorious victory stopped the wave of invasion and became the turning point in the war of the allied nations against the forces of aggression.
British Prime Minister W. Churchill, in a message to I. V. Stalin dated February 1, 1943, called the victory of the Soviet Army at Stalingrad amazing. The King of Great Britain sent a gift sword to Stalingrad, on the blade of which the inscription was engraved in Russian and English: To the citizens of Stalingrad, strong as steel, from King George VI as a token of the deep admiration of the British people.
During the battle, and especially after it, the activities of public organizations in the United States, Britain, and Canada, which advocated more effective assistance to the Soviet Union, intensified. For example, New York union members raised $250,000 to build a hospital in Stalingrad. The chairman of the united union of garment workers said: We are proud that the workers of New York will establish a connection with Stalingrad, which will live in history as a symbol of the immortal courage of a great people and the defense of which was a turning point in the struggle of mankind against oppression ... Every Red Army soldier defending his Soviet land , killing a Nazi, thereby saving the lives of American soldiers. Let us keep this in mind when calculating our debt to the Soviet ally.
American astronaut Donald Slayton, a participant in the Second World War, recalled: [source not specified 173 days] When the Nazis capitulated, our jubilation knew no bounds. Everyone understood that this was a turn in the war, this was the beginning of the end of fascism.
The victory at Stalingrad had a significant impact on the lives of the occupied peoples and gave them hope for liberation. A drawing appeared on the walls of many Warsaw houses - a heart pierced by a large dagger. On the heart is the inscription "Great Germany", and on the blade - "Stalingrad".
Speaking on February 9, 1943, the famous French anti-fascist writer Jean-Richard Blok said: [source not specified for 173 days] ... listen, Parisians! The first three divisions that invaded Paris in June 1940, the three divisions that, at the invitation of the French General Dentz, desecrated our capital, these three divisions - the hundredth, one hundred and thirteenth and two hundred and ninety-fifth - do not exist anymore! They are destroyed at Stalingrad: the Russians have avenged Paris. The Russians are avenging France!
The victory of the Soviet Army greatly raised the political and military prestige of the Soviet Union. Former Nazi generals in their memoirs recognized the enormous military and political significance of this victory. G. Doerr wrote: For Germany, the battle of Stalingrad was the gravest defeat in its history, for Russia - its greatest victory. Under Poltava (1709) Russia won the right to be called a great European power, Stalingrad was the beginning of its transformation into one of the two greatest world powers.
Defectors and prisoners
According to some reports, from 91 to 110 thousand German prisoners were taken prisoner near Stalingrad. Subsequently, 140 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were buried on the battlefield by our troops (not counting the tens of thousands of German servicemen who died in the "boiler" for 73 days). According to the testimony of the German historian Rüdiger Overmans, almost 20 thousand "accomplices" captured in Stalingrad - former Soviet prisoners who served in auxiliary positions in the 6th Army - also died in captivity. They were shot or died in the camps.
The reference book “The Second World War”, published in Germany in 1995, indicates that 201 thousand soldiers and officers were captured near Stalingrad, of which only 6 thousand people returned to their homeland after the war. According to the calculations of the German historian Rüdiger Overmans, published in a special issue of the historical journal Damalz dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad, about 250 thousand people were encircled near Stalingrad. Approximately 25 thousand of them managed to be evacuated from the Stalingrad pocket and more than 100 thousand soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht died in January 1943 during the completion of the Soviet operation "Ring". 130 thousand people were captured, including 110 thousand Germans, and the rest were the so-called "voluntary assistants" of the Wehrmacht ("Hiwi" is an abbreviation for the German word Hilfswilliger (Hiwi), the literal translation is "voluntary assistant"). Of these, about 5 thousand people survived and returned home to Germany. The 6th Army had about 52,000 Khivs, for whom the headquarters of this army developed the main directions for training "voluntary assistants", in which the latter were considered as "reliable comrades-in-arms in the fight against Bolshevism."
In addition, in the 6th Army ... there were about 1 thousand people of the Todt organization, consisting mainly of Western European workers, Croatian and Romanian associations, numbering from 1 thousand to 5 thousand soldiers, as well as several Italians.
If we compare the German and Russian data on the number of soldiers and officers captured in the Stalingrad region, then the following picture appears. In Russian sources, all the so-called “voluntary assistants” of the Wehrmacht (more than 50 thousand people) are excluded from the number of prisoners of war, whom the Soviet competent authorities never classified as “prisoners of war”, but considered them as traitors to the Motherland, subject to trial under the laws of wartime. As for the mass death of prisoners of war from the "Stalingrad cauldron", most of them died during the first year of their captivity due to exhaustion, the effects of cold and numerous diseases received during the period of being surrounded. Some data can be cited on this score: only in the period from February 3 to June 10, 1943, in the camp of German prisoners of war in Beketovka (Stalingrad region), the consequences of the "Stalingrad cauldron" cost the lives of more than 27 thousand people; and out of 1800 captured officers stationed in the premises of the former monastery in Yelabuga, by April 1943 only a fourth of the contingent survived.
Monuments of the Battle of Stalingrad
Mamaev Kurgan - "the main height of Russia." During the Battle of Stalingrad, some of the fiercest battles took place here. Today, a monument-ensemble "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" has been erected on Mamaev Kurgan. The central figure of the composition is the sculpture "The Motherland Calls!". It is one of the seven wonders of Russia.
Panorama "The defeat of the Nazi troops near Stalingrad" - a painting on the theme of the Battle of Stalingrad, located on the Central embankment of the city. Opened in 1982.
"Lyudnikov Island" - an area of 700 meters along the banks of the Volga and 400 meters in depth (from the river bank to the territory of the Barrikady plant), the defense sector of the 138th Red Banner Rifle Division under the command of Colonel I. I. Lyudnikov.
The destroyed mill is a building not restored since the war, an exhibit of the Stalingrad Battle museum.
"Wall of Rodimtsev" - a mooring wall that serves as a shelter from the massive bombing of German aircraft to the soldiers of the rifle division of Major General A. I. Rodimtsev.
The "House of Soldier's Glory", also known as "Pavlov's House" - a brick building that dominated the surrounding area.
Alley of Heroes - a wide street connects the embankment to them. 62nd Army near the Volga River and the Square of the Fallen Fighters.
On September 8, 1985, a memorial monument dedicated to the Heroes of the Soviet Union and full holders of the Order of Glory, natives of the Volgograd region and the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad was opened here. Artistic works were made by the Volgograd branch of the RSFSR Art Fund under the direction of the chief artist of the city M. Ya. Pyshta. The team of authors included the chief architect of the project A. N. Klyuchishchev, architect A. S. Belousov, designer L. Podoprigora, artist E. V. Gerasimov. On the monument are the names (surnames and initials) of 127 Heroes of the Soviet Union, who received this title for heroism in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-1943, 192 Heroes of the Soviet Union - natives of the Volgograd region, of which three are twice Heroes of the Soviet Union, and 28 holders of the Order of Glory of three degrees.
Poplar on the Alley of Heroes - a historical and natural monument of Volgograd, located on the Alley of Heroes. Poplar survived the Battle of Stalingrad and has numerous evidence of military operations on its trunk.
The victory at Stalingrad is the largest military and political event in the course of the peoples' struggle against German fascism. She made a decisive contribution to achieving a radical change in the Great Patriotic War. As a result of the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet Armed Forces wrested the strategic initiative from the enemy and held it until the end of the war.
HERO CITY STALINGRADThere is no person in the entire post-Soviet space who does not know about the feat of Stalingrad, because the Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War.
We say - courage, but we mean - the Battle of Stalingrad.
We say - the Battle of Stalingrad, but we mean - courage.
THE CITY RAISED FROM THE DEAD
The theme of hero cities finds many responses from you, dear readers. And the main idea in the comments runs like a refrain: the main thing is not to consign to oblivion. Do not consign to oblivion the feat of the Soviet people. The feat of the soldiers of the Red Army. The feat of everyone who stood up for the defense of the Motherland will not be forgotten as long as we remember this.
But I ran into one problem. There are many materials, choosing the most worthy one is not an easy task. And if we are talking about the Battle of Stalingrad - even more so. Therefore, in this post we will talk about Mamaev Kurgan. Stone sculptures eloquently convey all the drama of the heroic battle of our people during the Great Patriotic War near Stalingrad. In the battle, in which so much blood was shed that it seems that there is not a single stone in the vicinity that would not be stained with human blood... Here the fighting did not stop for almost 200 days.
Control over "height 102.0", as Mamaev Kurgan was designated on military maps, repeatedly passed from Soviet to German troops and vice versa, as it occupied a dominant position over the central part of Stalingrad and the Volga. The battles in the Mamaev Kurgan area were fought by German troops under the command of General Walter von Seydlitz-Kurzbach, who, after surrendering to the Soviet troops, headed the anti-Hitler organization Free Germany.
Introductory composition-high relief "Memory of generations"
The entrance to the Temple of Eternal Glory of the heroes of the battle is indicated by an introductory composition (high relief). It is located on Ave. V. I. Lenin at the foot of Mamaev Kurgan. The theme of the composition is the memory of generations.
A solemn procession of people of different ages and different nationalities of the Soviet Union is carved into the stone wall. With wreaths and banners, they go to pay their debt to the blessed memory of the fallen warrior heroes.
People move slowly. Their faces are focused, their heads are lowered. They call the visitors of the monument to the wide staircase.
There is also a memorial stele dedicated to the hero cities (opened on 02/02/1983, supplemented on 05/09/1985).
Capsules with the legendary land of hero cities: Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Odessa, Sevastopol, Novorossiysk, Kerch, Tula, Brest Fortress, Murmansk, Smolensk are stored in 12 niches-urns made of red granite.
A wide staircase leads to the Alley of pyramidal poplars.
The sculptural decoration of the monument-ensemble opens before the eyes. As we approach the top of the mound, the composition “Stand to Death” appears more and more clearly, then, as if above it, the sculpture of the Motherland rises.
Already from here, from the embankment of the ridge, on which pyramidal poplars lined up in two rows, one can see the quarters of the city, factory buildings and Trans-Volga oak forests.
According to the author's intention, all these components, like the background of a huge panorama, like the overture of an epic symphony, prepare the feelings and mood of the visitor's soul to comprehend the main theme of the monument. Here, the defenders of the hero city did not know fear in battle and did not retreat a single step. And only where there was not a single Soviet soldier left alive, the enemy could advance several meters.
The order of the motherland "Stand to the death!" lived in the minds of Soviet patriots until his last breath.
Square "Stood to death"
The composition "Stand to the Death" reflects the difficult period of the Battle of Stalingrad. As if from the greatest Russian river, a Soviet warrior-hero rises and, despising death, stands in defense of his native city. His figure is carved from a monolith, from a huge boulder. Courageous, strong-willed face. A contemptuous smile touched his lips. In the eyes of unshakable determination. Muscles are tense. This is a Soviet man, a man of labor. The war broke into his house. In the roar of explosions, in the clang of caterpillars, he saw death. But it wasn't horror, it wasn't fear that she evoked in him. Unquenchable hatred for the enemy, the thirst for victory became stronger than death. As if the earth itself rose with him to meet the enemy. She feeds him with her strength, gives him support.
ruin walls
Behind the composition "Stand to the death" are the walls of the ruin. They are made in such a way that if you look at them carefully, then images of human faces emerge from these “ruins” in a certain semantic order. The left side is dedicated to the Stalingraders' oath, the right side - to the Battle of Stalingrad itself.
Walls-ruins - a stone book, a heroic chronicle: "Every house is a fortress." This and many other inscriptions are an exciting story of the struggle for life. With a fragment of a shell, a bayonet, a piece of metal, the soldiers left their autographs in between battles. There was nowhere to retreat, the battle was for every house, for every room in the house, for every meter of Stalingrad land.
At the end of the left wall, the moment of the crossing is depicted. Having landed on the fiery shore, the soldiers entered the battle. A little higher than the words: “There is no land for us beyond the Volga,” said sniper Vasily Zaitsev when he was accepted into the party.
The left side reveals the theme of the soldier's oath and loyalty to her. Warriors froze in a stern formation. Above them is a banner with the image of Lenin. Leaving for battle, they swore: “In the face of our fathers, the gray-haired heroes of Tsaritsyn, in front of the regiments of comrades from other fronts, in front of our battle flags, in front of you, dear communist party, in front of the entire Soviet country, we swear that we will not disgrace the glory of Russian weapons.”
A Soviet man in an overcoat stood on Stalingrad land, covering the city with himself. He is wounded in the chest. The heart is exposed, but the warrior did not fall. Here they died standing.
The Komsomol ticket is pierced by a fragment of a shell or a bullet.
Members of the All-Union Leninist Communist Youth Union - Komsomol members - have always been faithful to their homeland. They went into battle with faith in victory and with their military deeds inscribed many bright pages of mass heroism in the history of the struggle for Stalingrad. Their brave hearts were not afraid of fire and bullets. Bullet-pierced tickets of Alexei Ochkin, the commander of the "57 Immortals" group, stored in museums, testify to this; Vasily Butov and Alexander Oleinichev, who died defending the tractor plant; the son of the Spanish people, the defender of Stalingrad Ruben Ruiz Ibarruri ...
At the end of the left wall, a symbolic episode is depicted: ranks of fighters emerge from the stone, as if from the depths of time. Their faces are motionless. These are those who died here, whom we call heroes, about whom songs are composed. They live in the hearts of their compatriots. The organ sounds here. Bach's music affirms the depth of the author's intention, inspired by the comprehension of the events of a harsh time.
The right wall - the second part of the stone book - reveals the essence of the heroic struggle on the streets of the city. It begins with an image of a soldier, formidable and determined, who proudly says: "I'm from the 62nd!" - and rushes into battle.
Many inscriptions were left on the walls of houses where the defenders of Stalingrad fought. The author, as it were, transferred them here, to the monument, preserving the handwriting and content.
“A machine gun around the neck, 10 grenades at hand, courage in the heart - act!” - Chuikov wrote in the instructions for the assault groups. Yes, courage in the heart threw the soldiers to take decisive action.
Extract from the protocol of the Komsomol meeting:
Question: "Are there good reasons for leaving firing positions?"
Answer: "Of all the justifications, only one will be taken into account - death."
The harsh truth of a harsh time. But this does not mean that all the defenders of the sacred frontiers were doomed to death. No. On the contrary, such exactingness obligated both the young soldier and the experienced commander to skillfully defend their positions, defeat the enemy, and thereby assert the right to life.
Nearby, on a wall riddled with fragments and bullets, someone's hand says: "If I die, consider me a communist." So wrote hundreds and thousands of warriors, leaving for battle. In battle, in the fire of battle, they tested themselves, their readiness to be in the ranks of the party and bear the high rank of communist. The Soviet people recklessly entrusted their fate to the Communist Party, because there was and is no other party in the world that fought for the interests of the working people with such consistency, perseverance and fearlessness. And the more menacing the danger, the more densely the Soviet people united around their party. That is why during the period of the most fierce battles - in September and October 1942 - 14,400 soldiers were accepted into the party on the Stalingrad front.
Above, above the image of the tank, there is a relief silhouette of a soldier in a helmet. In Russian, this young soldier is handsome and brave. He stares intently towards the enemy. “Give them more light, guys, so that the bastards don’t forget whose street this is, whose house this is! .. Sergeant Pavlov.” The author, as it were, snatched just one moment from the life of the heroic garrison of the House of Yakov Pavlov, but resurrected in his memory all 58 fiery days and nights, all the fury of the intense struggle for one house.
With no less expressiveness and depth, he tells the fragments placed in the upper part of the wall about how women, old people, teenagers worked in the rear, giving everything for the front, everything for victory. Each fragment excites and evokes a feeling of pride in the people of the heroic home front. And here it is impossible not to say: the feat of arms is the brother of labor.
Heroes Square
"Having stood, we have conquered death."
The second sculpture tells about the exploits of women in the Great Patriotic War. Along with men, women also bore the burden of war. In the 62nd Army alone, over a thousand women were awarded orders and medals. Among them are anti-aircraft gunners, signalmen, pilots, tankers, but most often nurses, nurses, doctors.
The third composition tells about glorious sailors. Clutching bundles of grenades to himself, the sailor resolutely rushed forward, he was ready to avenge his dead comrade, ready to throw himself under a fascist tank, but not let the enemy through.
The fourth composition conveys the tension of the wounded commander, who does not leave the front line until the last minute, continuing to lead the battle.
The fifth composition - the standard-bearer died, but the banner should not fall. He was picked up by another warrior and rushed forward. Here the courage and courage of the defenders of the Volga stronghold are expressed.
The sixth composition is allegorical - two Soviet soldiers destroy the fascist reptile and break the swastika.
On the other side of the water parterre, on the left, there is a more than a hundred-meter wall in the form of an unfolded and greatly elongated banner. On it are the words: “The iron wind hit them in the face, and they kept moving forward, and again a feeling of superstitious fear seized the enemy: did people go on the attack, were they mortal ?!”
Hall of Military Glory
The entrance to the Hall of Military Glory is severely and strictly decorated. Overhanging ceilings, gray concrete slabs resemble a dugout. But here is a sharp turn - and before your eyes is a magnificent hall sparkling with gold. It has the shape of a cylinder. Its internal dimensions: height - thirty and a half meters, diameter - forty-one meters.
Against the background of golden smalt, thirty-four symbolic red banners hang around the entire perimeter of the wall, they are also made of golden smalt. These mosaic banners are inscribed with the names of the soldiers who fell in the Battle of Stalingrad. The list of the dead fills the hall from top to bottom. Above the banners is a wide ribbon, and on it is the inscription: “Yes, we were mere mortals, and few of us survived, but we all fulfilled our patriotic duty to the sacred Motherland!”.
The ceiling of the hall is decorated with images of orders. In the center of the ceiling there is an opening with a diameter of 11 meters. In the opening there is a golden wreath entwined with a ribbon from the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad".
The center of the hall is occupied by a large marble hand holding a torch with the flame of the Eternal Flame.
As you ascend the spiral ramp, the majestic image of the main monument opens up before your eyes. The exit is located at the level of the next terrace - the Square of Sorrow. The sculptural composition on this theme opens immediately upon leaving the Hall of Military Glory.
Square of Sorrow
On the square is the bent figure of a woman-mother. Before burying her dead son, she hugged him and plunged into boundless grief. The face of the warrior is covered with a banner. The composition is made in concrete, but the sculptor seems to have turned it into an elastic, almost transparent material, which is thrown over the body of a dead soldier.
The war brought grief to almost every family. Sons sleep in mass graves from the Volga to Berlin. And let every mother see a monument to her son who did not return home in the guise of this warrior. This sculpture expresses not only deep sorrow, but also the protest of women against wars that claim millions of lives. World War II cost humanity dearly. Only our country lost 20 million people in it.
main monument
A bulk mound rises above the Square of Sorrow - the holy of holies of the monument - mass graves. The defenders of the city are buried here. A serpentine path leads from the Square of Sorrow to the main monument, along which tombstones are signs of mass graves.
The entire ensemble is crowned by the sculpture of Motherland. Raising her sword high, she calls for a fight: the victory on the Volga is not yet the final victory over fascism, there were years of war ahead. The motherland called on the soldiers to expel the fascist invaders from Soviet soil, to liberate the peoples of Europe from the Nazi yoke.
The majestic sculpture of the Motherland rose 52 meters above the mound and is visible from all over the city.
The entire monument-ensemble is made of concrete. The material itself emphasizes the harsh nature of the struggle, the heroic deed of the Soviet people.
There are many mountains and ranges, high and low altitudes on the globe. Among them, Mamayev Kurgan is marked by an almost imperceptible dot, but in the history of the World War it is marked as the most significant point.
The Nazis were on Mamaev Kurgan, they expected to deliver a mortal blow to the heart of the Motherland from here, but they miscalculated. After the defeat on the Volga, Hitler failed to keep his armies either on the Don, or on the Dnieper, or on the Vistula and Oder, and Berlin had only fragments of them left.
Already in February 1943, the dawn of victory became visible to the Soviet soldiers from the top of the mound. Saying goodbye to the ruins of the hero city, they went to the West, to Berlin.
Representatives of foreign states who came here after the great battle believed that the city could not be restored. The former US ambassador to the Soviet Union, Davis, saw the ruins of the streets and factory buildings, said: “This city is dead, and you will not restore it. What is dead is dead. I don't know of anyone being raised from the dead."
The events of the Battle of Stalingrad were of tremendous importance for the further course of the Second World War, it was the point of a great turning point in its course. And recognition of this contribution is not only the letter of the American President Franklin Roosevelt and the sword of the English King George VI, now carefully stored in the Volgograd State Panorama Museum "Battle of Stalingrad", but also the squares and streets named after Stalingrad in Paris and London, other countries of Europe and America , as well as the indisputable fact that all over the world of all the dramatic moments of the Second World War on the Eastern Front, the only known now is the Battle of Stalingrad.
Volgograd is one of the most famous and significant cities bearing the title of Hero City. In the summer of 1942, the Nazi troops launched a massive offensive on the southern front, trying to capture the Caucasus, the Don region, the lower Volga and the Kuban - the richest and most fertile lands of the USSR. First of all, the city of Stalingrad came under attack, the attack on which was entrusted to the 6th Army under the command of Colonel General Paulus.
On July 12, the Soviet command creates the Stalingrad Front, the main task of which is to stop the invasion of the German invaders in the southern direction. On July 17, 1942, one of the greatest and largest battles in the history of World War II began - the Battle of Stalingrad. Despite the desire of the Nazis to capture the city as soon as possible, it lasted 200 long, bloody days and nights, ending in complete victory, thanks to the dedication and incredible efforts of the heroes of the army, navy and ordinary residents of the region.
The first attack on the city took place on August 23, 1942. Then, a little north of Volgograd, the Germans almost approached the Volga. Policemen, sailors of the Volga Fleet, NKVD troops, cadets and other volunteer heroes were sent to defend the city. On the same night, the Germans made the first air raid on the city, and on August 25, a state of siege was introduced in Stalingrad. At that time, about 50 thousand volunteers signed up for the people's militia - heroes from among ordinary citizens. Despite the almost uninterrupted shelling, the factories of Stalingrad continued to work and produce tanks, Katyushas, cannons, mortars and a huge number of shells.
September 12, 1942 the enemy came close to the city. Two months of fierce defensive battles for Volgograd inflicted significant damage on the Germans: the enemy lost about 700 thousand people killed and wounded, and on November 19, 1942, the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops began.
The offensive operation continued for 75 days and, finally, the enemy near Stalingrad was surrounded and defeated. January 1943 brought complete victory in this sector of the front. The fascist invaders were surrounded, and General Paulus with the whole army surrendered. For the entire time of the Battle of Stalingrad, the German army lost more than 1.5 million people.
Stalingrad was one of the first to be called a hero city. This honorary title was first announced in the order of the commander-in-chief of May 1, 1945. And the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" became a symbol of the courage of the defenders of the city.
In the hero-city of Volgograd there are many monuments dedicated to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Among them is the famous memorial complex on Mamaev Kurgan - a hill on the right bank of the Volga, known since the time of the Tatar-Mongol invasion. During the battle for Stalingrad, especially fierce battles took place here, as a result of which, about 35,000 hero warriors were buried on Mamaev Kurgan. In honor of all the fallen, in 1959 a memorial to the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad was erected here.
The main architectural attraction of Mamaev Kurgan is the 85-meter monument "Motherland Calls". The monument depicts a woman with a sword in her hand, who calls on her sons - heroes to fight.
The old mill of Gergardt (Grudinin's mill) is another silent witness of the courageous struggle of the defenders of the hero city of Volgograd. This is a destroyed building that has not been restored to this day in memory of the war.
During street fighting in the city, a four-story building on the current Lenin Square became an impregnable stronghold. In the second half of September, the reconnaissance and assault group, led by Sergeant Pavlov, captured the house and entrenched in it. Four days later, reinforcements arrived under the command of Senior Lieutenant Afanasyev, who delivered weapons and ammunition - the house became an important stronghold in the defense system. For 58 days, the small garrison of the house repelled German attacks until the Soviet troops launched a counterattack. In 1943, after the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, the house was rebuilt. It is considered the first restored building in the city. In 1985, a memorial wall-monument was opened on the end wall.
On October 2, 1942, in a battle near the Krasny Oktyabr plant, Mikhail Panikakha, a private of the 883rd Infantry Regiment and a former sailor of the Pacific Fleet, destroyed a German tank at the cost of his life. A stray bullet shattered a Molotov cocktail in his hand, the liquid instantly spilled over the fighter's body and ignited. But, not at a loss, and overcoming the pain, he grabbed the second bottle, rushed to the advancing tank and set it on fire. For this feat, on December 9, 1942, he was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class. On May 5, 1990, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. On the site of the feat of Mikhail Panikakha, on Metallurgov Avenue, in 1975 a monument was erected to him in the form of a six-meter copper sculpture on a reinforced concrete pedestal.
In the place where in January 1943 the troops of the Don Front, under the command of Colonel-General K. Rokossovsky, completed the defeat of the southern group of German troops, today there is the Square of the Fallen Fighters and the Alley of Heroes. The peculiarity of its architectural ensemble is the marble steles of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, erected for the 40th anniversary of the Victory, on which the names of 127 Stalingrad heroes are immortalized. And on the Square of the Fallen Fighters, where on January 31, 1943, the commander of the 6th German Army, Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus with his headquarters, was captured in the basements of a department store, in 1963 an eternal flame was lit.
In the second half of 1942, G.K. Zhukov, who then held the rank of Army General, being a representative of the Supreme Command Headquarters, coordinated the actions of the armies of the Stalingrad Front. In memory of his contribution to the Victory, on the avenue that bears his name, in 1996, a monument was erected on the 100th anniversary of Zhukov's birth. It is a bronze semi-figure of the Marshal of Victory in a tunic mounted on a pedestal. On the left side of it is a granite slab with the image of the four stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union, which he was awarded, and the battles in which he took part are recorded on the stone blocks.
A great contribution to the Stalingrad victory was made by the ships of the Volga military flotilla. They provided fire support to the Soviet troops, landed troops, brought ammunition, and evacuated the population. In 1974, a monument to the Volga rivermen was erected - the Gusitel boat, located on a pedestal, was a participant in the Battle of Stalingrad. A thirteen-meter stele is installed behind the boat, in the lower part of which there is an anchor, and at the top - a star. In the fairway of the Volga opposite Mamayev Kurgan in 1980, a monument in the form of an anchor, 15 meters high, was opened, mounted on a floating platform. It has an inscription - "To the Volga rivermen, ships that died in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-1943." In 1995, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Victory, another monument to the sailors of the Volga Flotilla was opened on the embankment - the BK-13 armored boat mounted on a pedestal.
In January 1942, in Stalingrad, the 10th Infantry Division of the NKVD troops was formed from the inhabitants of the city. Parts of the border guards from the Urals and Siberia also joined it. Together with the militias, she took the first blow of the German invasion in August 1942. On December 2, 1942, the division was awarded the Order of Lenin, and throughout the Second World War, 20 Chekists of the division were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In memory of their feat in 1947, a monument was erected on the square of the Chekists "To the Chekists - the defenders of the city." It is a 17-meter pedestal, which is crowned with a bronze figure of a warrior with a naked sword raised high in his hand.
Not far from the monument to the Chekists on May 28, 2011, on the day of the border guard, a "Monument to Demolition Dogs, Tank Destroyers" was erected. The 10th division of the NKVD included the 28th separate detachment of demolition dogs, which destroyed dozens of German armored vehicles.
The 62nd Soviet Army was commanded by General V. Chuikov, an excellent organizer and tactician of the war. His contribution to the Stalingrad victory was invaluable. Later, the experience of fighting in the conditions of the city will come in handy during the storming of Berlin in 1945. For the defense of Stalingrad, V. Chuikov received the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree. In total, during the Second World War, he was twice awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. It was V. Chuikov who surrendered and capitulated the Berlin garrison. According to his will, after his death on March 18, 1982, he was buried on Mamaev Kurgan at the foot of the Motherland monument. In 1990, a monument to the marshal was erected on the street named after him, at the place where the headquarters of the 62nd Army was located during the war years. The author of the monument was his son, architect A. Chuikov.
In July 1942, parts of the people's militia were formed from the workers and employees of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. On August 23, 1942, a massive offensive of Wehrmacht units began from the north along the Volga to Stalingrad. There was no active army in the city, but the factory militias, along with other volunteers, stopped the enemy, preventing the Germans from trying to take Stalingrad outright. In memory of their feat, in 1983, a monument made of forged copper with a bas-relief of three militiamen was erected in the park near the plant.
During the war, the Stalingrad Tractor Plant completely switched to the production of military products - artillery and tanks. His role in creating the firepower of the Soviet army is invaluable, because he was the closest supplier of military products to the front line. In 1943, one of the T-34 tanks was installed near the central entrance of the plant in honor of the labor feat of the factory workers. It was one of the first monuments dedicated to the events of the Second World War. In 1949, the tank was put on a pedestal, and in 1978 it was reconstructed.
A unique memorial complex dedicated to the events of the Battle of Stalingrad was created in Volgograd in the postwar years. From 1948 to 1954, 17 towers of T-34 tanks were installed on granite pedestals in four districts of the city. The monuments are installed at the points of maximum approach of the German troops to the banks of the Volga and form a line 30 km long, the distance between the pedestals is 2-3 kilometers. Tank towers were assembled from equipment that died in the Battle of Stalingrad. The towers of T-34 tanks of various modifications, manufacturers, with traces of battles and holes were chosen.
DECREE
OF THE PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME SOVIET OF THE USSR
On awarding the Hero City of Stalingrad the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal
For outstanding services to the Motherland, courage and heroism shown by the working people of the city of Stalingrad in the fight against the Nazi invaders, and in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. to present the Hero City of Stalingrad with the Order of LENIN and the GOLD STAR medal.
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR A. MIKOYAN
Secretary of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR M. GEORGADZE
Moscow Kremlin.
By mid-July 1942, the enemy had concentrated large forces in the great bend of the Don with the aim of capturing Stalingrad.
In the first year of the war, the Stalingrad party organization sent 33,000 communists and 60,000 Komsomol members to the front. At the call of the Communist Party, more than 50,000 Stalingraders joined the people's militia, and a people's militia corps was formed from them. In Stalingrad and the region, 82 destruction battalions were created, numbering 10,620 people. Three thousand girls went to work in the troops as nurses, nurses, signalmen. By August 1942, 11 partisan detachments and groups were operating on the territory of the region.
225 thousand people worked on the construction of defensive lines with a total length of 3860 km. 99,000 firing points were installed at the defense lines.
In the conditions of continuous bombardment from the air, under artillery fire, the workers of the factories until the last moment gave the front military products, repaired tanks and weapons. Only during the period of street fighting, the workers of the tractor factory gave 200 tanks, 150 tractors and other equipment.
The whole country came to the aid of the defenders of Stalingrad, sending everything necessary for victory. Troops, military equipment, and weapons went to the battle area in a continuous stream. During the defensive period, the fronts received from the center about 89 thousand rifles, more than 6 thousand machine guns, 3.5 thousand light machine guns, 1.5 thousand easel and 200 heavy machine guns, 8 thousand anti-tank rifles, 3 thousand 50-mm mortars, about 2 thousand 82-mm mortars, 1 thousand 120-mm mortars, more than 1.2 thousand 45-mm guns, about 1.1 thousand guns with a caliber of 76 mm and larger. In the period from July 1942 to February 1943, 981 echelons with artillery, tank and other weapons arrived near Stalingrad.
The defensive battle of the Soviet troops lasted 125 days. An important role in it was played by the sailors of the Volga military flotilla. During the Battle of Stalingrad, the ships of the Volga Flotilla transported 122,418 people, 13 guns, 138 machine guns, mortars and anti-tank rifles, 627 vehicles and wagons, 1925 boxes of mines and 4323 tons of other military cargo across the Volga.
The population of the Stalingrad region provided great assistance to the troops in preparing the counteroffensive. Soviet patriots helped supply the troops with food, equipment, service tank and other units. Collective farmers of the region, despite the hostilities, were able to almost completely harvest. The region handed over to the state 23 million poods of bread, 16 million poods of vegetables, 3.5 million poods of meat. With the help of the local population, 500 km of new roads were laid, on the construction of which 21 thousand collective farmers worked. 33,500 people took part in the construction of airfields.
The war caused damage to Stalingrad, estimated at 9 billion rubles. More than 85% of the entire housing stock was burned and destroyed. In fact, all 126 industrial enterprises of the city were disabled, and 48 factories turned into piles of bricks and scrap. Water supply, sewerage, electricity, all urban transport were destroyed.
In the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet Army defeated 5 enemy armies, from January 10 to February 2, 1943 captured 91 thousand people, including 2.5 thousand officers and 24 generals. In total, the Nazi troops lost up to 1.5 million soldiers and officers, about 3.5 thousand tanks and assault guns, over 3 thousand combat and transport aircraft, more than 12 thousand guns and mortars, 75 thousand vehicles.
The Soviet government highly appreciated the merits of the defenders of Stalingrad. For heroism and courage shown in the Battle of Stalingrad, 112 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. More than 717 thousand defenders of Stalingrad were awarded orders and medals of the Soviet Union, of which over 707 thousand received the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad". 46 formations and units were awarded honorary titles: Stalingrad, Don, Kantemirov, Kotelnikov, Tatsin and others. 187 associations, formations and units for participation in the Battle of Stalingrad were transformed into guards.
86 military formations and units that distinguished themselves in the Battle of Stalingrad were awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner and the Red Star.
The victory at Stalingrad was the largest military-political event. She made a huge contribution to achieving a radical change in the Great Patriotic War and the entire Second World War.
The greatness of the immortal feat of the heroic defenders of Stalingrad will always be reminded by a wonderful monument - an ensemble on Mamaev Kurgan.
"Cities-heroes of the Great Patriotic War"
“Everyone to build barricades! Everyone who is able to carry weapons - to the barricades, to defend their native city, native home! - from the appeal of the Stalingrad City Defense Committee to the residents of the city.
For the second month, the fire of Stalingrad burns over the Volga, over Russia, over the world.
And every day among the ruins of the old peaceful city grew a new city - the city of war. It was built by sappers, signalmen, infantrymen, artillerymen, militias: it turned out that brick is a building material for barricades, that streets are needed not for movement, but in order to interfere with movement, and they were crossed by trenches, planted with mines, that in the windows of houses it is necessary to put not flower pots, but easel machine guns, that courtyards and gates are created for cannons and tank ambushes; that the nooks and crannies between the houses were created for sniper nests, for ambushes of submachine gunners and grenade launchers.
Under the control of the district committees of the party in the Komsomol organizations, in the cells of Osoaviakhim, military training of citizens capable of owning weapons took place.
How much courage lurks in people! With what intelligent determination they sacrifice themselves for the sake of their duty!
District police officer M.S. Kharlamov saved 29 families. He carried people out of the houses engulfed in flames, did not leave his post even at the moment when he learned about the death of his own family.
Ten families were rescued by Timofei Karpov, a district police officer of the 4th police department. He died under the rubble of a collapsed house while carrying a sick woman.
Stalingrad twice fought for universal happiness and won.
Volgograd is a city in the southeast of the European part of Russia, the administrative center of the Volgograd region. Hero City, site of the battle for Stalingrad. On July 12, 2009, the city celebrates the 420th anniversary of its founding.
In 1961, the hero city was renamed Volgograd from Stalingrad.
In 2005, Volgograd was given the status of an urban district by the Law of the Volgograd Region. City Day is celebrated annually on the second Sunday of September.
Modern Volgograd covers an area of 56.5 thousand hectares. This territory is divided into 8 administrative districts: Traktorozavodsky, Krasnooktyabrsky, Central, Dzerzhinsky, Voroshilovsky, Sovetsky, Kirovsky and Krasnoarmeisky and several workers' settlements. According to the All-Russian census of 2002, the population of the city is just over 1 million people.
The city is a large industrial center. More than 160 large and medium-sized industrial enterprises operate here, serving such industries as electric power, fuel industry, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical and petrochemical industries, mechanical engineering and metalworking, the military-industrial complex, timber industry, light and food industries.
The Volga-Don shipping canal passes through the city, making Volgograd a port of five seas.
The city has a developed infrastructure, which includes about 500 educational institutions, 102 medical institutions and 40 cultural organizations, etc.
The city has 11 stadiums, 250 halls, 260 premises adapted for physical culture and sports, 15 swimming pools, 114 sports grounds, football fields, football and athletics arena.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
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