What the Soviet authorities were hiding about the feat of the Panfilovites. Panfilov heroes. The history of the feat

Almost everyone knows the story of 28 Panfilov's men who defended Moscow. At the same time, disputes constantly arise around the reliability of these events, first described in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper. In the Kremlin, for example, they believe that "a story in one form or another with the Panfilov heroes really took place." This was stated by the presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov. The Minister of Culture, Vladimir Medinsky, even stated that no one should question the reliability and authenticity of the heroic deeds of the soldiers on the outskirts of Moscow. Experts have discussed whether the story about 28 Panfilov's men is true.

Questions:

What is the story of 28 Panfilov's men based on?

Nikita Petrov

The story of the feat of the Panfilov guardsmen was published in the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda on November 28, 1941 by the literary secretary of the newspaper Krivitsky. Already in the title of his article - "The Testament of 28 Fallen Heroes" - it seemed as if the exact number of heroes was contained, and in the text itself it was quite categorically stated: "They laid down their heads - all twenty-eight. They died, but did not let the enemy pass. " Later, Krivitsky himself admitted that he wrote the article on behalf of the editor of "Krasnaya Zvezda", who told him the fictitious death toll.

Mikhail Myagkov

The story is based on a real battle that took place at one of the most critical moments in the defense of Moscow. The first to describe it were Red Star war correspondents. Their source is eyewitness accounts, recorded at the end of November 1941. It was then that the figure of 28 Panfilovites appeared. There are also transcripts of conversations with other servicemen of the 316th Infantry (Panfilov) Division, which are kept in the scientific archive of the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Why do disputes arise about the veracity of the story of 28 Panfilov's men?

Nikita Petrov

Doubts about the veracity of this story arose already in 1942, and the reason was that not all those awarded were killed, but the survivors, as it turned out, were in captivity, and some even served with the Germans. The conclusions of the 1948 Military Prosecutor's Office, which checked all these circumstances, were not made public, but partially leaked out. In the future, rumors that this feat was invented and unrealistic only grew and multiplied. By the mid-1960s, the voices of doubters had become so noticeable that the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU could no longer pass it by. At one of the meetings on November 10, 1966, Leonid Brezhnev said with indignation: “In some works, in magazines and other publications, that which is the most sacred in the hearts of our people is criticized. After all, some of our writers agree, and they are published, to the point that there was allegedly no salvo of Aurora, that it was supposedly a blank shot, and so on, that there were no 28 Panfilov men, that there were fewer of them, this fact was almost invented that there was no Klochkov and his appeal, that "Moscow is behind us and we have nowhere to retreat." But if under the conditions of Soviet censorship it was possible to prohibit the discussion of this topic, then after August 1991, under the conditions of a free press, documents were published that left no doubt that this was a myth.

Mikhail Myagkov

The essence of the dispute is that some (including the former director of the State Archives of the Russian Federation S.V. Mironenko) are in the position that the names of 28 Panfilovites were taken from the ceiling, there was no such battle. They refer to the report of the chief military prosecutor N. Afanasyev of 1948, which says that the feat of 28 Panfilov's men is an invention of military journalists. Their goal is to expose the myth. But let's not be naive. The goal of the whistleblowers is to show the untenable the whole meaning of the sacrificial struggle for their homeland. Since there were no feats, there were no people who were ready to go for them, and today there won't be. That is, it would be better if the Americans liberated us, so at least they would impose democracy. Others say that there was a battle and these 28 participated in it, although there were much more distinguished ones in the Panfilov division. I am close to the position of Academician G.A. Kumanev, who writes: “It turned out that not all“ twenty-eight ”were killed. What of this? The fact that six of the twenty-eight named heroes, being wounded, shell-shocked, in spite of everything survived the battle on November 16, 1941, refutes the fact that a tank column of the enemy, rushing to Moscow, was stopped at the Dubosekovo junction? Does not refute. "

Was there a battle at Dubosekovo?

Nikita Petrov

According to scientific publications based on materials from archives, including German ones, it was established that on November 16, 1941, the 1st and 2nd German tank groups launched an offensive in the morning at 07:40 and, having passed the village of Nelidovo and the Dubosekovo platform, already by 9 o'clock in the morning they occupied Bolshoye Nikolskoye and Petelino. That is, the tanks were not stopped. And by the end of the day, the tank groups captured Rozhdestveno and Lystsevo, advancing more than ten kilometers in a day. Later, on the territory of the Nelidovsky village council, residents first found the bodies of three dead soldiers of the Red Army, then in the spring of three more, including political instructor Klochkov. All of them are buried in a mass grave on the outskirts of the village of Nelidovo. That is, the real picture of the events of November 16 does not at all correspond to the myth launched by the Krivitskys.

Mikhail Myagkov

Yes, I was. On the day the new German onslaught on Moscow began - November 16, 1941 - the 316th rifle division of General Panfilov was attacked by one infantry and two tank divisions of the Wehrmacht. But it was not possible to reach the capital in two or three jumps. Enemy tanks are stuck in our defenses. It is a fact that then the entire 316th Panfilov division, the entire 1075th regiment and its entire 4th company, which included the legendary 28 Panfilov men, fought heroically. After the war, the regiment commander I.V. Karpov noted: “On this day, at the Dubosekovo junction, the 4th company fought with German tanks as part of the 2nd battalion, and really fought heroically. More than 100 people perished from the company, and not 28, as they wrote in the newspapers. " Already on November 18, 1941, the 316th division was renamed the 8th Guards Division and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. On this day, its legendary commander, Major General Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov, died in battle.

Are Panfilov's men real people?

Nikita Petrov

All those awarded by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 21, 1942 were real people, but did not do what was attributed to them. The history of the emergence of the list for submission to the award in itself testifies to the random nature of its formation and to the deliberate adjustment of the number of awarded to the figure set by newspaper essays 28.

Mikhail Myagkov

The real political instructor Klochkov fought and died near Dubosekovo. It was there that the remaining 28 heroes fought. There are their names, photographs, track records. They were not aliens, as they are trying to present to us today. It is fortunate that some of these 28 survived. By the way, General I.V. Panfilov, who had served since the First World War, knew that soldiers should not be trained to die, but to destroy the enemy. Artillery ambushes, special troika of fighters armed with grenades and "Molotov cocktails" - this is his merit and his tactics. The result is the recognition of the German generals: "The 316th Russian division has many well-trained soldiers in its composition and is waging an amazingly stubborn struggle."

What is the historical significance of the story about 28 Panfilov's men?

Nikita Petrov

It is safe to say that the history of the emergence and debunking of any historical myth is instructive and important. Never forget that truth is always concrete. And in this case, both Krivitsky's essay in "Krasnaya Zvezda", and numerous book publications by him and other authors did not stand the test for concreteness and for compliance with historical sources. The second lesson is also important, which is indicated in today's polemic around 28 Panfilovites. It is impossible to build the education of patriotic feelings on lies or "deceit that elevates us." The truth is always revealed sooner or later. And the result of many years of deception and ideological fooling will be the cynicism of the younger generation and disbelief in nothing.

Mikhail Myagkov

This is a fight symbol. And this symbol helped us win in 1945. Today the memory of 28 Panfilov's men is part of our great truth about the war. The truth that has entered our gene pool forms our historical consciousness. Anyone who today does not believe that these 28 could have stopped 18 German tanks might have been the first to flee from the battlefield near Dubosekovo on a frosty November day in 1941. And one more thing: does anyone consider today that there were not three hundred Spartans who stopped the Persians in the 5th century BC, but maybe more or less? No. The number three hundred went down in history, culture, and became a legend. So the feat of the 28th became legendary, when the legend was composed of were.

The real course of events became known - albeit to a very limited circle of people - already in 1948, during the trial of one of the participants in that legendary battle, Ivan Dobrobabin. Panfilov was tried for cooperation with the German invaders. The materials of the trial became available to the general public in 1990 thanks to the Russian historian Boris Sokolov. As it turned out, almost everything in the legend about the Panfilovites is not true. There were not 28 fighters, but about 140. The number of tanks destroyed by them is greatly exaggerated. A few hours later Dubosekovo was captured by the Germans, so there is no need to say that Panfilov's men stopped the enemy. There were survivors in the battle, but the very fact of their existence contradicted legend. And the country for which they shed their blood on the battlefield treated them no better than deserters. The distortion of the facts is simply monstrous. And all the responsibility for it lies not with an abstract "propaganda machine", but with concrete people: "the correspondent of Krasnaya Zvezda, Vladimir Koroteev, and the editor-in-chief of this newspaper, David Ortenberg.

On November 23-24, 1941, Vladimir Koroteev, together with another journalist, a reporter for Komsomolskaya Pravda, talked with Rokossovsky at the headquarters of the 16th Army. The subject of the conversation was the heroism of the soldiers who devote all their strength to the defense of the Fatherland. The journalists were offered to write a report "from the trench", but they were still not allowed to go to the front line. I had to be content with second-hand materials. At the headquarters, they met with the commissar of the Panfilov division, Yegorov. Talking about the heroism of the soldiers, Yegorov gave an example of a battle of one of the companies with German tanks and suggested writing about this battle. The commissar did not know the exact number of soldiers in the company. He reported only two cases of betrayal. In the evening, the editorial office worked on the material, settled on the fact that about 30 fighters were supposed to remain in the company. The number 28 was obtained by a simple subtraction: after all, two were traitors, not heroes. In addition, the next issue came out on November 28, so it got a nice headline. Neither the editor nor the author of the article could have guessed what consequences the release of the note would have ... The topic of Panfilov's members quickly became popular. A number of essays about the Panfilov heroes appeared (however, Koroteev himself never returned to the topic, it was transferred to another journalist, Krivitsky). Stalin liked the legend very much, and all 28 Panfilovites were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

What actually happened at the Dubosekovo junction? And what was the feat of the Panfilovites? The opinion of historians is as follows: indeed, the soldiers of the Panfilov division showed heroism, delaying the advance of the tanks for four hours and allowing the command to bring up the troops for the decisive battle. However, the entire battalion deserved fame, and not only the famous 4th company of the 1075th regiment of the 316th rifle division. And the main feat of the fighters is that, having overcome the fear of tanks, with minimal technical support (for the whole company, according to some sources, there were only two anti-tank guns!), They managed to stop a tank column.

As evidenced by the materials of the investigation, on November 16, 1941, the company was preparing not for defense, but for a counteroffensive. But they did not have time: the Germans went on the attack earlier. Despite the fact that the surviving participants in the battle had to provide accurate information, historians still cannot come to a consensus regarding the composition of the German troops who participated in the attacks. Some believe that only tanks without infantry support were involved in the battle. Others insist that the armored vehicles were supported by infantrymen. And the number of tanks varies from 20 to 70. Even more strange is the fact that the name of the Panfilov commander is still the subject of controversy. According to one of the versions, the command was taken over by the pomkomvplato I. E. Dobrobabin, and only after he was wounded did the political instructor of the 4th company V. G. Klochkov, sent by the company commander Gundilovich, manage to reach the Panfilovites. During the first attack, five or six tanks moved to the area that Panfilov's men defended (the 20 tanks included in the legend - this is the total number of equipment that attacked the entire regiment). The second platoon, commanded by Dobrobabin, managed to knock out one of them. On the whole, thanks to the courage of the soldiers, five or six tanks were knocked out in the company sector. The Germans retreated. Several lines of tanks, 15–20 in each, have already gone into the next attack. The second battle lasted about 40 minutes and ended in complete defeat. Fifteen German tanks remained on the battlefield (later three more were attributed to them and it was agreed that all the tanks were shot down by the fighters of the fourth company). And from the company, in which there were 120-140 fighters before the battle, only a few people remained in the ranks. Some died, others surrendered.

After the battle, a German funeral team marched across the battlefield. ID Shadrin (unconscious) and DF Timofeev (seriously wounded) were found and taken prisoner. There is information that Shadrin lay on the battlefield for six days until the Germans established that he was alive. Two more seriously wounded - I. M. Natarov and I. R. Vasiliev - were taken by local residents to the medical battalion. GM Shemyakin, periodically losing consciousness, crawled until the horsemen of General Dovator found him in the forest. There were two more survivors: D. A. Kozhubergenov (Kozhabergenov) and I. E. Dobrobabin.

The fate of the surviving heroes developed in different ways. Natarov died in a medical battalion from his wounds. The surviving six Panfilovites tried to remind themselves of themselves: Vasilyev and Shemyakin - after being discharged from hospitals, Shadrin and Timofeev - later, having gone through all the horrors of concentration camps. The "resurrected" heroes were treated with extreme caution. After all, the whole country knew that all the participants in the battle at Dubosekov died a heroic death. Incessant checks, interrogations, bullying began. They were especially hostile to Shadrin and Timofeev: being captured for a Soviet soldier was tantamount to betrayal of the Motherland. However, over time, all four received their Golden Stars - some earlier, some later.

Much more tragic was the fate of two more Panfilovites: D. A. Kozhubergenov and I. E. Dobrobabin. Daniil Aleksandrovich Kozhubergenov was a liaison officer of the 4th company V.G. Klochkov. In battle, he was wounded, unconscious was captured by the Germans, but after a few hours he managed to escape, stumbled upon the horsemen of Dovator and with them broke out of the encirclement. Having learned from the newspapers that he was considered dead, he was the first of the Panfilovites to declare himself. But instead of being awarded, he was arrested. Investigator Soloveichik, at gunpoint, forced Kozhubergenov to sign his "imposture". He was sent to a marching company, but after being seriously wounded near Rzhev, he was written off, and he returned to Alma-Ata. And in order to avoid problems in the future, we decided to "correct" the list of heroes. So instead of Daniil Alexandrovich Kozhubergenov, Askar Kozhebergenov appeared. They even came up with a biography for him. And the real participant in the battle died an "impostor" in 1976. He has not yet been rehabilitated and officially recognized.

IE Dobrobabin was wounded and covered with earth during the battle. This is probably why the German funeral team did not immediately find him. At night he woke up and crawled to the forest. When, trying to find his own people, Dobrobabin entered the village, the Germans seized him and sent him to the Mozhaisk camp. During the evacuation of the camp, he managed to escape from the train, breaking the boards and jumping out at full speed. It was impossible to break through to their own people: all the surrounding villages were occupied by the Germans. Then Dobrobabin decided to sneak into his native village of Perekop in Ukraine. There were no Germans in Perekop, and he settled with his sick brother Grigory, who helped him through the elder P. Zinchenko, who sympathized with the Soviet regime, to obtain a certificate of permanent residence in this village. But soon a denunciation followed, and Dobrobabin was sent to the Levandal camp. Apparently, there were also bribe-takers among the Germans, because his relatives managed to buy him out from there. But in August 1942, an order appeared to send specialists to work in Germany. Relatives persuaded him to agree to the position of a policeman in the village: you won't have to go to Germany either, and you can help your own. This decision almost became fatal. When, in 1943, during the retreat of the Germans, Dobrobabin broke free to his own people and, appearing at the field recruiting office in the village of Tarasovka, Odessa region, told Lieutenant Usov everything, an indelible suspicion fell on his honor. After checking, which did not reveal the fact of treason, he was enlisted with the rank of sergeant in the 1055th regiment of the 297th division. Dobrobabin distinguished himself more than once in battles and was awarded the Order of Glory, 3rd degree. But they refused to give him the Star of the Hero, despite the petition of the head of counterintelligence of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

After demobilization, Dobrobabin returned to the city of Tokmak, where he lived before the war. Here a street was named after him and there was a full-length monument to him. But no one needed a living hero. Moreover, Ivan Dobrobabin was repressed as a former policeman. He was arrested and tried on June 8-9, 1948. For "treason" Dobrobabin was sentenced to 25 years in the camps. However, this period was reduced to 15 years (after all, one of 28 Panfilov's men). On the submission of a court in Moscow, he was stripped of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Not a single witness from the village of Perekop (40 km from Kharkov, where the trial was held) was summoned to the trial to confirm his fight against the Germans. A lawyer was not given to the "traitor" either. The Panfilov hero went to the camps ... At the monument to Dobrobabin they cut off his head, welded on another, also a Panfilov hero, only dead.

Dobrobabin was released ahead of schedule after 7 years, and was deprived of all awards. His name was not called anywhere (he was considered dead), and in 1960 it was officially forbidden to mention Dobrobabin. For many years, the Moscow military historian G. Kumanev fussed about the rehabilitation of the hero. And he got his way: in 1993, the Supreme Court of Ukraine rehabilitated Dobrobabin. And after the death of Ivan Evstafievich (he died on December 19, 1996), the so-called "Permanent Presidium of the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR" headed by Sazha Umalatova returned him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

And the now catchphrase of political instructor Klochkov is entirely on the conscience of the journalists. The Panfilov division was formed mainly from Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, there were much less Russians in it. Many almost did not know the Russian language (only basic commands). So, the political instructor Klochkov would hardly have made pathetic speeches in front of the company: firstly, a good half of the fighters would not understand anything, and secondly, the roar from the breaks was such that even the commands were not always heard.

Dubosekovo, German view: "Not too strong opponent defends stubbornly" November 17th, 2016

Original taken from afirsov in Dubosekovo, German view: "Not too strong enemy defends stubbornly"

Exactly 75 years ago, on November 16, 1941, a battle took place at the Dubosekovo junction, well known to Soviet people. In the post-Soviet period, within the framework of the "fight against myths", opinions began to "take shape" that there was no battle at Dubosekovo at all, and the Germans "passed it and did not notice" (c). Yes, and in our documents (which are known, for a minute!) Of combat units there is no mention of the battle at Dubosekovo ...

However, recently German documents related to the battle in this direction began to be put into circulation, in particular, the journals of combat operations of the divisions (ZhBD) directly fighting in the crossing area. A German view is offered, mainly from the side of the 2nd TD - the enemy of the 1075th rifle regiment, defending at the patrol, to which the 4th company of political instructor Vasily Klochkov belonged.

Why Dubosekovo? The fact is that here the railway goes over rather rugged terrain - now along the embankment, then in the recess (see map), which form natural obstacles to the movement of enemy armored vehicles. Among the few "flat spots" on which tanks can cross the "piece of iron" was the Dubosekovo patrol. Yes, there is really no such name on German maps: there is simply no settlement there - two rows of rails, two arrows and a 3rd class station for 1908, why mark there?

From the ZhBD 2nd TD of the Germans for 11/16/1941:
6.30 Start of the offensive.
From 7.00 support for ground attack aircraft.
...
8.00 Report from the 74th artillery regiment (A.R.74): Morozovo and Shiryaevo are occupied by battle group 1. The enemy's resistance is rather weak.

Shiryaevo had only a military outpost, so it was not difficult to occupy it. In the 2nd TD of the Germans, three "battle groups" were formed before the offensive. Of these, the first was the main striking force and included a battalion of tanks from the 3rd tank regiment.

From ZhBD 2nd TD:
9.13 Battle Group 1 reaches Petelinka.
10.12. Battle Group 1 reaches the edge of the forest 1 km north of Petelinka.

Now, if you look at the map, it really seems that the Germans passed Dubosekovo and did not notice,

However, we read further ZhBD:

13.30 interim report to the V Army Corps: Battlegroup 1 is fighting an enemy that stubbornly defends on the forest edges south of the highway, along the line north of Shiryaevo-1.5 km south of Petelinka.

The same entry in the ZhBD:

It turns out, after five hours of battle, the Germans did not overcome the positions of the 4th and 5th companies of the 1075th joint venture, and "1.5 km south of Petelino (Petelinka)" - this is the Dubosekovo crossing, which, as we remember, is not on German map. Moreover, in the intermediate conclusions further in the ZhBD it is written:

Impression: south of the highway not too strong opponent stubbornly defends using woodlands.

That is, contrary to modern myths, that Dubosekovo did not have any feat, the Germans noticed the Panfilovites there, and how!

What happened, and why, having already advanced beyond Petelino (Petelinka) to the right of the 4th company, does the enemy get stuck in front of the "Shiryaevo line - 1.5 km south of Petelinka"?

The answer is partly given by a conversation with one of the "Panfilovs", a participant in the battle - B. Dzhetpysbaev (transcript of January 2, 1947). Why are we interested in his opinion? Dzhetpysbaev was illiterate, did not read newspapers, did not know anything about the "feat of 28 Panfilov's men" - in fact, his memories were free from the "phantoms" of propaganda and the opinions of other participants in the battle.

Dzhetpysbaev: “My company was stationed about 500 meters from Klochkov. Klochkov stood with his company at the very railroad, I stood to the left. On the morning of November 16, the battle began. 4 German tanks approached us. Two of them were hit, two escaped. The attack was repulsed. Most of the tanks went to the Dubosekov junction ... We saw: they turn around and there are tanks going there. There was a battle ... "

That is, when faced with the defense of the 5th company along the edge of the forest, reinforced by rubble and mine-explosive obstacles (again from the railway - « 10.30 Report from the 74th artillery regiment (A.R. 74): The front line of Combat Group 1 along the edge of the forest 300 m north of Shiryaevo. The enemy is in the forest. The patrols scout the road» ), the Germans from the 1st BG began to gradually "shift" their efforts all the way to the left - first to the patrol ("to Klochkov" - the 4th company). And the Germans managed to break through the defense in the sector of the 6th company - its positions were actually in an open field already behind the railway - just an ideal place for the bulk of the tanks of the 1st BG of the Germans. The remnants of the 6th company after the attack, according to the testimony of the commander of the 1075th joint venture Karpov, retreated behind the railroad embankment.

After that, three companies of the 2nd battalion actually ended up in a "sack", having in the rear only a forest without roads, difficult to pass in winter. This isolation from the main forces, apparently, led to the fact that in our documents - in the division and above, there is no data on the battle at Dubosekovo. It was simply impossible to “bring the information to the top”. And then there will simply be no one ...

Next, the 3rd combat group of the 2nd TD of the Germans comes into play. It includes a company of tanks, as well as artillery, including the "novelty of the season" - six-barreled rocket launchers.
Battlegroup 3 follows Battlegroup 2 and clears the area up to the location of Battlegroup 1.

That is, BG 3 strikes along the remaining defense of the 1075th regiment, "cleaning" those who survived.
From ZhBD 2nd TD:
13.30 interim report to the V Army Corps: ... Combat Group 3, with its right flank, is clearing the area west of Nelidovo-Nikolskoye.

Further, the 3rd BG was to strike at the remnants of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th regiment.
Here is how Dzhetpysbaev recalls it: « Before the sun goes down one soldier, a messenger, runs up: - Klochkov died, they are asking for help there. We have few people left. Many killed and wounded. We beat off attacks in front, from behind, a German tank is coming straight towards us. Tanks bypassed and appeared from behind…»

Indeed, the 3rd BG was already striking the rear of the 5th company of Dzhetpysbaev, and the positions of the 4th company were apparently "collapsing".

Until when did the "Panfilovs" hold out at Dubosekovo? Dzhetpysbayev says before "sunset". This is indirectly confirmed by the neighbors of the Panfilovites on the left - the 50th Cavalry Division of the Dovator corps. Here is a quote from the memoirs of her combat path (the battle is going on for the already familiar village of Morozovo, which the Germans allegedly occupied in the morning):
“Despite the fact that already almost dark, the attacks continued with unrelenting force. Enemy lines advanced on our positions, rolled back, rebuilt, replenished and rushed forward again. The roar of the artillery cannonade was joined by new sounds that were not yet familiar to the horsemen - the Nazis put into action six-barreled mortars» * .

A battery of six-barreled mortars somewhere in winter

The fact is that the 6-barreled mortars at the 2nd TD were only in the 3rd BG, and the 5th TD of the Germans, with which the horsemen of Dovator mainly fought, did not use them - this (the noise of shooting "creaks"), you see , do not forget!

From these facts, we can conclude that the resistance at Dubosekovo lasted almost the entire daylight hours, and only by sunset did the Germans manage to "roll up" the defenses of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th regiment there. In fact, the battle ended in the death of all three companies: according to Kaprov's testimony in the 4th company, out of 140 people were killed, 100, according to Jetpysbaev, out of 75 people in his 5th company, only 15 left the battle.

As a result, at 19.00 the commander of the 1075th battalion Kaprov was forced to leave his command post for Dubosekovo, having only managed to broadcast on the radio: “Surrounded. Only the command post is being defended!

In a few days, only 120 people will remain from the entire regiment ...

PS ... Now "the debunkers of the myth of 28" have retreated to reserve positions: now the battle is described in one phrase: "The Germans have fulfilled the task of the day." Like, "all the provinces were sneezing at your music" (c)

In Soviet times, there was such a children's joke:
A soldier prays in the trench: "Lord, make me a Hero of the Soviet Union."
- OK! - said the Lord. And there was one soldier with two grenades against three tanks!

Who this anecdote was about - then it was clear. Here is also the Kaprov regiment with reinforcement means - two cannons that cannot even be transported - they were unloaded and left at the station next to Dubosekov, and as many as 20 armor-piercing shells were allocated (that is, there are 80 German tanks per piece), and they gave a platoon of anti-tank rifles with a coefficient endurance, well, at the maximum - 0.3, and with all this "wealth" left under a German tank division, under the bombing of fifty "Junkers" and shelling "squeaks". For all day.

And then they will say: “Well, what a feat is this? The Germans have fulfilled their task. "

PSS. Faktura is honestly sperm from LJ dms_mk1 .
________
* - About the 50th kvd (Sevryugov Sergey Nikolaevich, So it was ... Cavalry notes (1941-1945)

Thanks to the author for a detailed (with a map) analysis of the battle. True, it seems to the author that he confirmed the "feat of 28 Panfilovites". But in fact, the facts he cited completely refute the myth. There was no "unparalleled feat" when 28 people with only anti-tank guns and grenades stopped the offensive of 50 tanks, supported by infantry and artillery fire. It was not, because this is simply physically impossible. It is a myth. During the fierce battles for Moscow at the end of 1941, his appearance can be justified by the desire to psychologically support our retreating units. But it is not surprising that after the war, the army, which had won four difficult years, abandoned it. What looked plausible in the fifth month of the war could not seem so after the end of this most difficult war.

And in a real combat situation on November 16, 1941, there was another feat. Not "unparalleled", but real. There was a heroic fulfillment of military duty by three companies of the 1075th rifle regiment, most of whose personnel died or went missing. Three companies, at the cost of the lives of most of the soldiers, delayed the onslaught of the enemy for a day, and this was very important - we were gaining time. The Germans also fulfilled their combat mission, but in the future they lost. Out of thousands of such bloody battles, when at the cost of their lives, our soldiers won time for the country, and a future victory was formed. And this feat of soldiers and officers should be honored. And the myth is for the propagandists of that harsh time. After 70 years, it's time to honor the truth.

In Russia, attempts to trample on their heroes, who gave their lives in the name of the Fatherland, will never stop.

At the request of citizens

The State Archives of the Russian Federation, headed by Doctor of Historical Sciences Sergei Mironenko, gave a new reason for discussion about the feat of 28 Panfilov heroes.

« In connection with the numerous appeals of citizens, institutions and organizations, we are posting a certificate-report of the Chief Military Prosecutor N. Afanasyev "On 28 Panfilov's men" dated May 10, 1948 based on the results of an investigation by the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office, stored in the fund of the USSR Prosecutor's Office ", - said in a message on the website of the State Archives of the Russian Federation.

The publication of this reference-report is not a sensation - its existence is known to everyone who was interested in the history of the feat.

On its basis, the head of the State Archive of the Russian Federation, citizen Mironenko, himself made statements that "there were no 28 Panfilov heroes - this is one of the myths imposed by the state."

But before talking about myth and truth, let's recall the classic story of Panfilov's heroes.

Classic version of the feat

According to it, on November 16, 1941, 28 people from the personnel of the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th rifle regiment, headed by the political instructor of the 4th company Vasily Klochkov, held a defense against the advancing Nazis in the Dubosekovo junction area, 7 kilometers to the south- east of Volokolamsk.

During the 4-hour battle, they destroyed 18 enemy tanks, and the advance of the Germans towards Moscow was suspended. All 28 soldiers were killed in the battle.

In April 1942, when the feat of 28 Panfilov's soldiers became widely known in the country, the command of the Western Front came out with a petition to confer the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on all 28 soldiers. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 21, 1942, all 28 guardsmen listed in Krivitsky's essay were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

"Resurrected" Dobrobabin managed to serve the Germans and take Vienna

The investigation, a report on the results of which was published by the GARF, began in November 1947, when Ivan Dobrobabin was arrested by the military prosecutor's office of the Kharkov garrison and prosecuted for treason to the Motherland.

According to the case file, while at the front, Dobrobabin voluntarily surrendered to the Germans and in the spring of 1942 entered their service. He served as the chief of police in the village of Perekop, temporarily occupied by the Germans, in the Valkovsky district of the Kharkov region.

In March 1943, when the area was liberated from the Germans, Dobrobabin was arrested by the Soviet authorities as a traitor, but escaped from custody, went over to the Germans again and again got a job in the German police, continuing active treacherous activities, arresting Soviet citizens and direct sending labor to Germany.

When, after the war, Dobrobabin was arrested again, during a search they found a book about 28 Panfilov heroes, in which it was written in black and white that he ... is one of the dead heroes and, accordingly, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Dobrobabin, realizing what position he was in, honestly told how it was. He really participated in the battle at the Dubosekovo junction, but was not killed, but received a shell shock and was taken prisoner.

Escaping from the prisoner of war camp, Dobrobabin did not make his way to his own, but went to his native village, which was under occupation, where he soon accepted the elder's offer to join the police.

But this is not all the vicissitudes of his fate. When in 1943 the Red Army went on the offensive again, Dobrobabin fled to his relatives in the Odessa region, where no one knew about his work for the Germans, waited for the arrival of Soviet troops, was again called up for military service, participated in the Jassy-Chisinau operation, the capture of Budapest and Vienna, he ended the war in Austria.

By the verdict of the military tribunal of the Kiev military district on June 8, 1948, Ivan Dobrobabin was sentenced to 15 years in prison with disqualification for a period of five years, confiscation of property and deprivation of medals "For the Defense of Moscow", "For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941 –1945 "," For the capture of Vienna "and" For the capture of Budapest "; By the decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of February 11, 1949, he was deprived of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

During the 1955 amnesty, his sentence was reduced to 7 years, after which he was released.

Ivan Dobrobabin moved in with his brother, lived an ordinary life and died in December 1996 at the age of 83.

Krivitsky's list

But let's go back to 1947, when it turned out that one of the 28 Panfilov men, not only was alive, but also got dirty with the service of the Germans. The prosecutor's office was ordered to check all the circumstances of the battle at the Dubosekovo junction in order to find out how everything really happened.

According to the materials of the prosecutor's office, the first description of the battle of the Panfilov guardsmen who stopped the German tanks appeared in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper in an essay by the front correspondent Vasily Koroteev. In this note, the names of the heroes were not named, but it was said that "every one was killed, but the enemy was not allowed to pass."

The next day, Krasnaya Zvezda published an editorial "The Testament of 28 Fallen Heroes", which stated that 28 soldiers stopped the advance of 50 enemy tanks, destroying 18 of them. The note was signed by the literary secretary of the "Red Star" Alexander Krivitsky.

And finally, on January 22, 1942, signed by Alexander Krivitsky, the material "About 28 fallen heroes" appeared, which became the basis of the classic version of the feat.

There, for the first time, all 28 heroes were named by name - Klochkov Vasily Georgievich, Dobrobabin Ivan Evstafievich, Shepetkov Ivan Alekseevich, Kryuchkov Abram Ivanovich, Mitin Gavriil Stepanovich, Kasaev Alikbay, Petrenko Grigory Alekseevich, Esibulatov Kovalnikov Narsutbay Mikhailovich, Dutov Pyotr Danilovich,

Mitchenko Nikita, Shopokov Duishenkul, Konkin Grigory Efimovich, Shadrin Ivan Demidovich, Moskalenko Nikolay, Emtsov Pyotr Kuzmich, Kuzhebergenov Daniil Aleksandrovich, Timofeev Dmitry Fomich, Trofimov Nikolay Ignatievich, Bezarenko Yakov Aleksandarievich, Nikolayevich Leligov , Maximov Nikolay, Ananiev Nikolay.

Survivors of Dubosekovo

In 1947, prosecutors who checked the circumstances of the battle at the Dubosekovo junction, found out that not only Ivan Dobrobabin survived. "Resurrected" Daniil Kuzhebergenov, Grigory Shemyakin, Illarion Vasiliev, Ivan Shadrin. Later it became known that Dmitry Timofeev was also alive.

All of them were wounded in the battle at Dubosekovo, Kuzhebergenov, Shadrin and Timofeev went through German captivity.

It was especially difficult for Daniil Kuzhebergenov. He spent only a few hours in captivity, but this was enough to accuse him of voluntarily surrendering to the Germans.

As a result, in the presentation for the award, his name was changed to a namesake, who even theoretically could not participate in that battle. And if the rest of the survivors, except Dobrobabin, were recognized as heroes, then Daniil Kuzhebergenov, until his death in 1976, remained only a partially recognized participant in the legendary battle.

Meanwhile, employees of the prosecutor's office, having studied all the materials and heard the testimony of witnesses, came to the conclusion that "the feat of 28 Panfilov guardsmen, covered in the press, is a fiction of the correspondent of Koroteev, the editor of Krasnaya Zvezda Ortenberg, and especially the literary secretary of the newspaper Krivitsky."

Panfilov heroes, veterans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 Illarion Romanovich Vasiliev (left) and Grigory Melentyevich Shemyakin at a solemn meeting dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi troops near Moscow, in the Kremlin Palace

Testimony of the regiment commander

This conclusion is based on the interrogations of Krivitsky, Koroteev and the commander of the 1075th rifle regiment Ilya Kaprov. All 28 Panfilov heroes served in Karpov's regiment.

During interrogation in the prosecutor's office in 1948, Kaprov testified: “There was no battle between 28 Panfilov's men and German tanks at the Dubosekovo junction on November 16, 1941 - this is sheer fiction. On this day, at the Dubosekovo junction, the 4th company fought with German tanks as part of the 2nd battalion, and really fought heroically.

More than 100 people from the company died, and not 28, as they wrote in the newspapers. None of the correspondents contacted me during this period; I never told anyone about the battle of 28 Panfilov's men, and he could not speak, since there was no such battle. I did not write any political reports on this matter.

I do not know on the basis of what materials were written in the newspapers, in particular in the "Krasnaya Zvezda", about the battle of 28 guardsmen from the division im. Panfilov. At the end of December 1941, when the division was withdrawn to form, the correspondent of "Krasnaya Zvezda" Krivitsky came to my regiment together with representatives of the division's political department Glushko and Yegorov.

Then I first heard about 28 Panfilov guardsmen. In a conversation with me, Krivitsky said that it was necessary that there were 28 Panfilov guardsmen who fought with German tanks. I told him that the whole regiment fought with German tanks, and in particular the 4th company of the 2nd battalion, but I did not know anything about the battle of 28 guardsmen ...

The names of Krivitsky were given from memory by Captain Gundilovich, who had conversations with him on this topic, there were no documents about the battle of 28 Panfilovs in the regiment and could not have been. "

Interrogations of journalists

Alexander Krivitsky testified during interrogation: “During a conversation with Comrade Krapivin in the PUR, he asked where I got the words of political instructor Klochkov, written in my basement: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind,” I replied that I had invented it myself ...

… In terms of sensations and actions of 28 heroes - this is my literary speculation. I did not speak to any of the wounded or surviving guardsmen. From the local population, I spoke only with a boy of 14-15 years old, who showed the grave where Klochkov was buried. "

Guard Senior Sergeant Nikolai Bogdashko. Cossacks against tanks. 45 cavalrymen repeated the feat of Panfilov's men And here is what Vasily Koroteev said: “Approximately 23-24 November 1941, together with the war correspondent of the newspaper“ Komsomolskaya Pravda ”Chernyshev, I was at the headquarters of the 16th Army ...

When leaving the army headquarters, we met the commissar of the 8th Panfilov division, Yegorov, who spoke about the extremely difficult situation at the front and said that our people were fighting heroically in all sectors. In particular, Yegorov gave an example of a heroic battle of one company with German tanks, 54 tanks attacked the line of the company, and the company detained them, destroying some of them.

Egorov himself was not a participant in the battle, but told from the words of the regiment commissar, who also did not participate in the battle with German tanks ... Egorov recommended writing in the newspaper about the heroic battle of the company with enemy tanks, having previously familiarized himself with the political report received from the regiment ...

The political report said about the battle of the fifth company with enemy tanks and that the company was "to death" - died, but did not leave, and only two people turned out to be traitors, raised their hands to surrender to the Germans, but they were destroyed by our soldiers.

The report did not mention the number of company soldiers who died in this battle, and did not mention their names. We did not establish this even from conversations with the regiment commander. It was impossible to get into the regiment, and Yegorov did not advise us to try to get into the regiment ...

Upon arrival in Moscow, I reported to the editor of the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda Ortenberg about the situation, told about the company's battle with enemy tanks. Ortenberg asked me how many people were in the company. I replied that the composition of the company, apparently, was incomplete, about 30-40 people; I also said that two of these people turned out to be traitors ...

I did not know that a front line was being prepared on this topic, but Ortenberg called me up again and asked how many people were in the company. I told him that there were about 30 people. Thus, the number of 28 people who fought appeared, since two out of 30 turned out to be traitors.

Ortenberg said that it was impossible to write about two traitors, and, apparently, after consulting with someone, he decided to write about only one traitor in the front line. "

"I was told that I would end up in Kolyma"

So, there was no feat of 28 Panfilov heroes, and this is literary fiction? This is the opinion of the head of GARF Mironenko and his supporters.

But don't jump to conclusions.

First, the secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Andrei Zhdanov, to whom the findings of the prosecutor's investigation were reported, did not give any move. Let's say a party leader decided to "leave the question".

Alexander Krivitsky in the 1970s talked about how the investigation of the prosecutor's office went in 1947-1948:

“I was told that if I refuse to testify that the description of the battle at Dubosekovo was completely invented by me and that I had not spoken to any of the seriously wounded or surviving Panfilovites before the article was published, then I would soon find myself in Pechora or Kolyma. In such a situation, I had to say that the battle at Dubosekovo is my literary fiction. "

Kompolka Kaprov, in his other testimony, was also not so categorical: “At 14-15 o'clock the Germans opened heavy artillery fire ... and again went to the attack with tanks ...

More than 50 tanks attacked in the regiment's sectors, and the main blow was directed at the positions of the 2nd battalion, including the sector of the 4th company, and one tank even went out to the location of the regiment's command post and lit hay and a booth, so I accidentally I was able to get out of the dugout: I was saved by the embankment of the railway, people who had survived the attack of German tanks began to gather around me.

The 4th company suffered the most: 20–25 people, led by the company commander, Gundilovich, survived. The rest of the companies suffered less. "

There was a battle at Dubosekovo, the company fought heroically

The testimony of local residents testifies that on November 16, 1941, at the Dubosekovo crossing, a battle of Soviet soldiers with the advancing Germans was really going on. Six fighters, including political instructor Klochkov, were buried by residents of the surrounding villages.

No one doubts that the soldiers of the 4th company at the Dubosekovo junction fought heroically.

There is no doubt that the 316th rifle division of General Panfilov in defensive battles in the Volokolamsk direction in November 1941 managed to hold back the enemy's onslaught, which became the most important factor that made it possible to inflict defeat on the Nazis near Moscow.

According to the archival data of the USSR Ministry of Defense, the entire 1075th Infantry Regiment on November 16, 1941, destroyed 15 or 16 tanks and about 800 enemy personnel. That is, we can say that 28 soldiers at the Dubosekovo junction did not destroy 18 tanks and not all of them were killed.

But there is no doubt that their perseverance and courage, their self-sacrifice made it possible to defend Moscow.

Of the 28 people who were on the lists of heroes, 6 who were considered dead, wounded and shell-shocked, miraculously survived. One of them turned out to be faint-hearted Ivan Dobrobabin. Does this cancel the feat of the other 27?

300 Spartans - a myth propagated by the Greek state?

One of the most famous military feats in the history of mankind, which everyone has heard of, is the feat of 300 Spartans, who fell in the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC against a 200,000-strong Persian army.

Not everyone knows that not only 300 Spartans fought with the Persians at Thermopylae. The total number of the Greek army, representing not only Sparta, but also other policies, according to various estimates, ranged from 5,000 to 12,000 people.

Of these, about 4000 died in the battle, and about 400 were captured. Moreover, according to Herodotus, not all of the 300 soldiers of Tsar Leonidas perished under Pheromopylae. The warrior Pantin, sent by Leonidas as a messenger and only for this reason did not find himself on the battlefield, hanged himself, for in Sparta shame and contempt awaited him.

Aristodemus, who did not find himself on the battlefield only because of illness, drank the cup of shame to the end, having lived the rest of the years with the nickname Aristodemus the Coward. And this despite the fact that he fought heroically in subsequent battles with the Persians.

Despite all these circumstances, you are unlikely to see Greek historians or the head of the Greek archive frenziedly bombarding the Greek media with materials that "300 Spartans are a myth propagated by the state."

So why, tell me, Russia does not stop trying to trample on its heroes, who gave their lives in the name of the Fatherland?

Heroes remain heroes

The director of the film "28 Panfilov's men": "Nowhere to retreat" Historians agree that the feat of 28 Panfilov's heroes was of great importance, having played an exceptional mobilizing role, becoming an example of perseverance, courage and self-sacrifice. Phrase " Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind!"Has become a symbol of the defenders of the Motherland for decades to come.

In the fall of 2015, the film "Panfilov's 28" directed by Andrei Shaliopa is to be released in Russia. Fundraising for the painting, which will tell the classic story of the feat of the defenders of Moscow, took place and continues by the method of crowdfunding (public funding).

The project “Panfilov's 28” raised 31 million rubles, which makes it one of the most successful crowdfunding projects in Russian cinema.

Perhaps this is the best answer to the question of what the feat of 28 Panfilov heroes is for our contemporaries.

Panfilov's soldiers are soldiers of the 316th Infantry Division (from November 18, 1941 - the 8th Guards, from November 23 - named after its deceased commander, Major General I.V. Panfilov), who showed in October - November 1941 during the Moscow battles of mass heroism in defensive battles in the Volokolamsk direction.

On November 16, 28 soldiers of the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th rifle regiment under the command of political instructor Vasily Georgievich Klochkov, who occupied defense 7 km southeast of Volokolamsk, in the area of the Dubosekovo junction, showed unparalleled heroism and stamina on November 16.

Panfilov's men in a 4-hour battle destroyed 18 enemy tanks and almost all of them died, including Klochkov, but the German tanks did not miss. 28 Panfilovites were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. This battle is known in history as the feat of 28 Panfilov heroes. 1975 - the memorial ensemble Podvig 28 was erected on the site of the battle.

28 Panfilovites (alternative versions of the feat)

Modern historians present the battle at Dubosekovo in a completely different light. Some of them even question the official version of the battle of 28 Panfilovites.

How many Panfilovites were there?

The investigation, which was carried out after the war by the Ministry of State Security and the military prosecutor's office, showed that not 28 Panfilof guardsmen took part in the legendary battle at the Dubosekovo junction, but a company of 120-140 men in full force, which was crushed by German tanks, having managed to knock out only 5-6 of them. No more than 25-30 soldiers survived, the rest died or were captured.

The error crept into the first newspaper reports about the feat of Panfilov, because the journalists, from the words of political workers, decided that the company was incomplete and consisted of only 30 people. Since it was known that at the beginning of the battle two fighters deserted to the Nazis, the editor-in-chief of Krasnaya Zvezda, David Ortenberg, subtracted two traitors from 30 and got the number 28, which became canonical. However, in the essay, he allowed to write only about one traitor, whom the Red Army allegedly shot right there. Two traitors, and even 30 people, would be very many and would not allow talking about an insignificant renegade.

Mention of the fight

There is no mention of a battle with such details in either Soviet or German official documents. Neither the commander of the 2nd battalion (which included the 4th company), Major Reshetnikov, nor the commander of the 1075th regiment, Colonel Kaprov, nor the commander of the 316th division, Major General Panfilov, nor the commander of the 16th Army, General Lieutenant Rokossovsky. There are no reports of him in German sources either (and the loss in one battle of 18 tanks for the end of 1941 was a noticeable event for the Nazis).

Legendary feat fiction of journalists?

The version that there was no battle at all was publicly voiced by many historians. Sergei Mironenko, who was then in charge of the state archive, officially stated that the whole story about the feat of the Panfilovites is just a myth. Based on the declassified archives, some of the historians came to the conclusion that the legendary feat was a fiction of the journalist of "Krasnaya Zvezda" Alexander Krivitsky (the literary secretary of the newspaper), who was the first to tell about the battle. Once on the front line, he tried to write an essay on the events taking place. Everything about the battle was recorded from the words of the current divisional commissar, who told about the battle in great detail. The battle was led by the 4th company, which consisted of more than 120 soldiers, and not 28 heroes, as was later said in the print edition. Many facts are distorted.

During interrogation, Krivitsky testified: During a conversation with Comrade Krapivin in the PUR, he asked where I got the words of political instructor Klochkov: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind”, - I told him that I had invented it myself ...

Krivitsky and Koroteev, the authors of the material published in Krasnaya Zvezda, during the check stated that they were based only on the oral stories of the fellow soldiers of the dead and their colleagues, war correspondents, but they did not know anyone who could for certain know the details of the battle. The military prosecutor's office concluded that the story in the form in which it was published in Krasnaya Zvezda was a fictional fiction of journalists. But the battle actually took place.

Unexpected arrest

1948 - in the Kharkov region. arrested, captured by the Germans during the war, a former soldier Dobrobabin. During his arrest, a book was found with him, with a description of the feat of the Panfilovites and, in particular, his name was indicated as one of the dead participants in the battle. The main military prosecutor's office of the USSR conducted an investigation, during which it was possible to find out that several more people who were believed to have died in the battle at the Dubosekovo junction actually survived, and the described clash, cited by journalists, has no direct documentary evidence - and the fact of the battle itself is in doubt was not put.

Not only Ivan Dobrobabin survived. Daniel Kuzhebergenov, Grigory Shemyakin, Illarion Vasiliev, Ivan Shadrin were "resurrected". Later it became known that Dmitry Timofeev was also alive. All of them were wounded in the battle at Dubosekovo, Kuzhebergenov, Shadrin and Timofeev went through German captivity.

From the testimony of the regiment commander Kaprov

All 28 Panfilov heroes served in the regiment of Ilya Karpov. During interrogation in the prosecutor's office in 1948, Kaprov (the commander of the 1075th rifle regiment) testified: “There was no battle between 28 Panfilov's men and fascist tanks at the Dubosekovo junction on November 16, 1941 - this is sheer fiction. That afternoon, at the Dubosekovo junction, as part of the 2nd battalion, the 4th company fought with tanks of the Germans, and in reality it fought heroically. More than 100 people from the company died, and not 28, as it is written in the newspapers. None of the correspondents contacted me at that time; I never told anyone about the battle of 28 Panfilov's men, and I could not tell, because there was no such battle. I did not write any political reports on this score. I do not know, based on what materials were written in the newspapers, in particular in the "Krasnaya Zvezda", about the battle of 28 guardsmen from the division named after. Panfilov.

Memorial at the Dubosekovo junction, dedicated to the feat of 28 Panfilov heroes

The battle at Dubosekovo was

According to the testimony of local residents, on November 16, 1941, at the Dubosekovo junction, in reality, there was a battle between Soviet soldiers and the Germans. Six fighters, including political instructor Klochkov, were buried by residents of the surrounding villages.

No one doubts that the soldiers of the 4th company at the Dubosekovo junction fought heroically.

There is no doubt that the 316th rifle division of General Panfilov in defensive battles in the Volokolamsk direction in November 1941 was able to hold back the enemy onslaught, which became the most important factor that allowed the Germans to be defeated near Moscow.

According to the archives of the USSR Ministry of Defense, the entire 1075th Infantry Regiment on November 16, 1941, destroyed 15 or 16 tanks and about 800 enemy personnel. That is, we can say that 28 soldiers at the Dubosekovo junction did not destroy 18 tanks and not all of them were killed.

conclusions

Based on the explanations of eyewitnesses of the battle and hundreds of declassified archives, historians still managed to establish the truth - the battle actually took place, and there was a feat. Only the fact of the existence of these very 28 Panfilovites remained a big question.