Myth and fact about the Panfilov heroes. Dubosekovo, German view: "Not too strong enemy defends stubbornly"

In years The great Patriotic War many heroic deeds were accomplished. People gave their own lives so that the future population of the country was happy and lived without worries. Take fights from Leningrad... The soldiers stopped the cartridges with their chest, went on the offensive to prevent the Germans from going forward. But were all the feats that we know of actually been? Let's figure out the real history of the heroes - 28 Panfilovites will help us with this.

As we used to see

We are still with school desks talked about real story 28 Panfilovites... Of course, the information given in the school is taken as an ideal. Therefore, the story, which has been familiar since adolescence, sounds like this.

In mid-November 1941, when only five months had passed since the start of the Nazi invasion, 28 people from one of the rifle regiments defended themselves near Volokolamsk from the fascist offensive. The head of the operation was Vasily Klochkov. The fight against the enemies lasted more than four hours. For all the time, the heroes were able to raze about twenty tanks, stopping the Germans for several hours. Unfortunately, no one managed to survive - everyone was killed. In the spring of 1942, the whole country was already aware of what they had done 28 heroes... An order was issued stating that the posthumous orders of Heroes of the Soviet Union were awarded to all fallen soldiers. In the summer of the same year, the titles were awarded.

The real story of the heroes - 28 Panfilovites - Secrets. No

Or did not everyone die?

Ivan Dobrobabin, after the end of the war, in 1947, was convicted of treason to the country. According to the prosecutor's office, at the beginning of 1942 he was captured by the Germans, who later remained in the service. A year later, Soviet forces still got to him, putting him behind bars. But there is a long time Ivan did not stay - he fled. His next action is clear - he again left to serve the fascists. He worked for the German police, where he arrested citizens of the Soviet Union.

After the end of the war, a forced search was made at Dobrobabin's house. The police were shocked to find a book about 28 Panfilov's men, where Ivan was listed as killed! Of course, he had the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The traitor to his homeland understands that his position leaves much to be desired. Therefore, it is advisable to tell the authorities everything that actually happened. According to him, he was among these 28 people, but the Nazis did not kill him, but simply shell-shocked. Checking all the dead, the Germans found Dobrobabin alive and taken prisoner. He did not stay in the camp for long - he managed to escape. Ivan goes to the village where he was born and spent his youth. But it turned out to be occupied by the Germans. It was too late to go back, so he decides to stay in the police service.

The story of the traitor is not over yet. In 1943, the Russian army is advancing again. Ivan has no choice but to run to Odessa where his relatives lived. There, of course, no one suspected that the pious Russian soldier was working for the Nazis. When Soviet troops approached the city, Dobrobabin again found himself in the ranks of his compatriots, continuing the joint offensive. The war for him ended in Vienna.

After the war, in 1948, a military tribunal was held. Based on the decree, Ivana Dobrobabin sentenced to fifteen years in prison, confiscation of property and deprivation of all orders and medals, including one of the highest titles received posthumously. In the mid-1950s, the term of imprisonment was reduced to seven years.

His fate after prison developed in such a way that he moved to his brother, where he lived to be 83 years old and dies an ordinary death.

The newspaper doesn't lie

In 1947, it turns out that not everyone died. One not only remained alive, but also betrayed the country, being in the German service. The prosecutor's office began an investigation into the events that actually happened.

According to the documents, the newspaper “ The Red Star Was one of the first to publish a note about the heroic deeds. The correspondent was Vasily Koroteev. He decided to omit the names of the soldiers, but only said that no one was left alive.

A day later, a small article appeared in the same newspaper entitled “The Testament of the Panfilovites”. It says that all the fighters were able to stop the enemy's advance on the Soviet Union. Alexander Krivitsky was the newspaper's secretary at the time. He also signed the article.

After the signing of the material about the heroic deeds of the heroes in "Krasnaya Zvezda" there is a material in which all the names of the deceased heroes were published, where, of course, they showed off Ivan Dobrobabin.

Several survived!

If you believe the chronicle of events about the real history of 28 Panfilovites, it becomes clear that during the check on the heroes' case Ivan Dobrobabin was not the only survivor of that battle. According to sources, in addition to him, at least five more people were not killed. During the battle, they were all injured, but survived. Some of them were captured by the Nazis.

Daniil Kuzhebergenov, one of the participants in the battle, was also captured. He stayed there for only a few hours, which was quite enough for the prosecutor's office to admit that he himself surrendered to the Germans. This led to the fact that at the award ceremony his name was changed to something else. Of course, he did not receive the award. And until the end of his life he was not recognized as a participant in the battle.

The prosecutor's office studied all the materials of the case and came to the conclusion that there was no story about 28 Panfilov's men. The journalist supposedly invented it. How true this is is known only to the archive, where all the documents of that time are kept.

Commander interrogation

Ilya Karpov is the commander of the 1075th regiment, where all 28 people served. When the prosecutor's office was conducting the investigation, Karpov was also present. He said that there were no 28 heroes who stopped the Germans.

In fact, at that time the fascists were opposed by the fourth company, of which over a hundred people died. Not a single newspaper correspondent approached the regiment commander for an explanation. Of course, Karpov did not talk about any 28 soldiers, since they simply did not exist. He was completely unaware of what was the basis for writing an article for the newspaper.

In the winter of 1941, a correspondent for the newspaper “ The Red Star", From which the commander learns about some Panfilovites who defended the Motherland. The newspapermen admitted that this was exactly the number of people needed to write a note.

According to journalists

Krivitsky Alexander, who was a correspondent for the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, reports that his material about 28 Panfilov's men defending the country is a complete fiction. None of the soldiers gave evidence to the journalist.

According to the prosecutor's office conducting the investigation, everyone who was in the battle was killed. Two men from the company raised their hands, which only meant that they were ready to surrender to the Germans. Our soldiers did not tolerate betrayal and themselves killed two traitors. The documents did not contain a word about the number of people who died in the battle. And the surnames, all the more, remained unknown.

When the journalist returned to the capital, he told the editor “ Red Star»About a battle where Russian soldiers took part. Later, when asked about the number of people involved, Krivitsky replied that there were about forty people, two of whom were traitors. Gradually, the number dropped to thirty people, two of whom surrendered to the Germans. Therefore, exactly 28 people are considered heroes.

Locals think that ...

According to the local population, at that time there were actually fierce battles with Nazi forces. Six people who turned out to be dead were buried in these parts. There is no doubt that Soviet soldiers really heroically defended the country.

The memorable battle, better known as the feat of 28 Panfilov's men, took place exactly 74 years ago. During this time, it was overgrown with many legends, ranging from simple doubts that there was no such battle at all, to bewilderment: how did the people from among the Panfilovites who were listed as dead turn out to be alive?

Recall that in the summer, an official report was published from the State Archives of the Russian Federation, according to which the whole story is a fantasy of journalists. See the extract at the end of the article. Nevertheless, there are many myths and legends with this story. Books, articles are published, films are made. The opinion of the author of the book about the feat of the Panfilovites is curious.

The opinion of the doctor of historical sciences, professor of Kazakh national university named after al-Farabi Laila Akhmetova. She is also the co-author of the book "Panfilovites: 60 days of feat that have become a legend."

MYTH ONE

Doubts about the feat of the Panfilovites arose when people began to appear who were listed as dead and were awarded posthumously.

- Yes, some of the fighters were alive after the battle. We know the specifics of the Soviet years: if they said that everyone died, then everyone died. And then someone survived. Accordingly, it is necessary to do everything to prevent this from happening. Soviet propaganda wanted to talk about these people only as heroes who died.

For three days - November 15, 16 and 17 - the great and massive feat of the Panfilov division continued. All were heroes. But at the top they decided to name only one unit and show exactly the war against tanks, which at that time everyone was very afraid. The title of hero was awarded to those who fought at the Dubosekovo junction. The main blow of the Germans came here.

In principle, the Germans occupied the height. By that time, dusk had fallen, but the enemy did not take advantage of the advantage and did not develop the success. And when the Germans launched an offensive the next day, they met fierce resistance after a kilometer. This was a new battle tactic that was created by General Panfilov. Therefore, the resistance of the Panfilovites was not the same as that of others, and the Germans got stuck near Moscow, and did not go by leaps and bounds.

MYTH TWO

During the investigation, back in Soviet time, found the commander of the regiment, who testified that there was no battle at the Dubosekovo junction.

- I read the interrogation protocols. In the testimony of the regiment commander, who allegedly said that there was no battle at the Dubosekovo junction, there are no such words. He only admitted that he had not witnessed the battle. This was his regiment, and he could not abandon the dead comrades.

It's just that after the war, following the path that had been rolled out from the pre-war years, they decided to organize a "military business" - the system could not live without repression. But the marshals and generals gained immense popularity among the people, which began to grow since the time of the battle of Moscow. Who were the heroes? Panfilovites. There was no one to protect them at that time. General Ivan Panfilov died on November 18, 1941. Army commander Rokossovsky is in Poland, front commander Zhukov is in Odessa.

This is how the "military business" began - they began to collect dirt. Collected, of course, under torture. And those who could not bear the torture said what they said. Then the "military case" was canceled and the documents were hidden in the archive. From time to time, depending on the conjuncture, this issue was raised. This is the third wave of information warfare against Panfilovites in 75 years.

Photo: Fund of the Military History Museum at the Army House

MYTH THREE

The essay about Panfilov's men was written on the assignment "to find some kind of feat", but the author found out about the battle near Dubosekovo by accident.

- Krivitsky is not the first to write about this battle. Journalists interviewed Ivan Natarov, a soldier who was still alive in the hospital. He passed away three weeks after the fight. However, Natarov was wounded in the middle of the battle, so he could only tell about its first part.

The survivors told much later about something else. But they tried not to listen to them. Naturally, they also interviewed the commanders. And here I see a discrepancy. They write: the regiment commander said that there was no battle. Nevertheless, he also talked about the massive feat of the Panfilovites during these three days and about the battle at the Dubosekovo junction.

MYTH FOURTH

The essay about Panfilov's men was written from the words of higher commanders, the author of the text never visited the battlefield.

- Indeed, the journalists could not be at the battle site. First, this land was under the Germans, then it was covered with deep snow, mined. Excavated only at the end of April 1942. And after the war, Kazakh writers from Panfilov Bauyrzhan Momysh-uly, Dmitry Snegin, Malik Gabdullin, recalling the November battles, noted that they were not interviewed.

It is remarkable that each of them left their memories of the battle at the Dubosekovo junction. But for some reason we don’t read their works, we don’t quote them, we are not proud of all the Panfilovites of those years.

Photo: Mikhail Mikhin

FIFTH MYTH

The phrase "Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind!" does not belong to a participant in the battle, it was invented by a journalist.

- On November 16, during the day, the Germans took the offensive at least three times in the area of the height near Dubosekovo. In the morning, senior sergeant Gabriel Mitin was in command of the battle. He died before lunchtime. Sergeant Ivan Dobrobabin took command. He was concussed and lost consciousness. The sergeant was dragged away - to where the wounded were carried. Several surviving soldiers, all wounded, held the line. They knew the order: you can't retreat.

How many of them remained after lunch is unknown. By this time, political instructor Vasily Klochkov arrived with orderly Daniil Kozhubergenov. He knew that there was a battle everywhere, there would be no help, he had to hold on. And then he made the decision to stay with this handful of fighters to the end. His task was to cheer up the soldiers, support them with words and go to another unit. Thus, see the entire division. But here the picture was the most difficult.

He stayed with the soldiers and said: "It seems that we will have to die, guys ..." - and then the well-known words. The phrase "There is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind" is taken from the order of the front commander Georgy Zhukov. Political instructor Vasily Klochkov simply had to tell it to all soldiers and officers.

At the beginning of December 1941, practically the same words were said by Bauyrzhan Momysh-uly, preparing for a battle near the village of Kryukovo. But by that time the words "Great Russia, but nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind!" Were not yet known. And this is also a well-known fact. Just was different interpretation... A publication with these words appeared later.

REFERENCE

The battle took place on November 16, 1941, when german army made another attempt to storm Moscow. At the Dubosekovo crossing, the fighters of the second battalion of the 1075th rifle regiment met a detachment of fifty enemy tanks. They were able to defend their positions, destroying about eighteen tanks, as a result of which the enemy had to retreat. However, most of the Soviet soldiers died.

The country learned about the feat of the Panfilovites from an article in the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, published literally a few days after the battle.

The first report on the feat of 28 Panfilov's men in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper on November 28, 1941

At the very beginning of the article, I promised an extract-report of the State Archives of Russia, which officially debunked the myth about the heroism of the "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 (GA RF. F. R -8131) "

On November 16, 1941, the Wehrmacht troops moved on to the second - decisive - stage of the offensive against Moscow. They were located about 80 km from the capital - in October Kaluga, Mozhaisk and Borovsk near Moscow were taken. For a decisive offensive against Moscow, the 51st Division was deployed - these units were supposed to smash the flanks of the Soviet defense and surround the city. On November 16, near Volokolamsk, the 2nd Panzer Division of the German Army Group Center went on the offensive. On the way, she had a patrol of Dubosekovo, which was defended by the soldiers of the 1075th rifle regiment of the 316th rifle division, which will very soon become known as Panfilov.

On this day, the division's soldiers will take on the battle, which will mark the beginning of the history of 28 Panfilov heroes - first described in the pages of "Krasnaya Zvezda", their history will later play a role in raising the soldiers' morale more than once. Including in the days of the German offensive at Stalingrad. Later, some of the information reported by Krasnaya Zvezda journalists in their editorial will be challenged, and the story of the feat of 28 Panfilov's heroes will become one of the most discussed episodes of the Great Patriotic War. However, no matter how much controversy was going on around the first publications, it is impossible to question the very fact of the feat of the Panfilov fighters in the battle at the Dubosekovo junction. One can only assume that the heroes on that day could have turned out to be many more famous 28.

Decisive blow

At the end of October, the second stage of the German offensive on Moscow was completed - the Soviet units were defeated near Vyazma, the Germans reached Moscow, on October 15, the capital was declared a state of siege, on November 7, a military parade was held on Red Square, which in its importance was equated to a military one. operations, - most of the formations went directly from the square to the front. The Germans by that time were at a distance of 80-100 km from Moscow, the battles were fought on the near approaches to the capital.

After a short respite, the Wehrmacht again went on the offensive on November 15, 16 and 17 to break through to Moscow and end the campaign before the end of 1941. With two strikes - on Klin-Rogachevo and Tula-Kashira - it was planned to cut the flanks of the Soviet defense. Moscow was defended by reserve units, divisions already exhausted in battles, and consolidated formations of graduates of military schools - at the same time, new reserves were already drawn to the capital for the counteroffensive planned in early December. But the command could not throw them into battle before the start of the counteroffensive.

On November 16, the German 2nd Panzer Division launched an offensive near Volokolamsk to clear the way for the 5th Army Corps' offensive planned for November 18. One of the first on its way was the Dubosekovo patrol, which was defended by the 316th Rifle Division, which had just recovered from the fighting, which was almost 20 km long, under the command of Major General Ivan Panfilov.

Feature article"Red Star"

On November 27, 1941, the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda published an essay by the war correspondent Koroteev, which described the feat of the soldiers who took battle at the Dubosekovo junction: those killed, but did not allow the Germans to reach Moscow. The next day, November 28, the newspaper dedicated to them the editorial “Testament of 28 fallen heroes” written by the newspaper's literary secretary Krivitsky - for the first time in the press it was mentioned that they were talking about Panfilov and their number was indicated - 28 people. However, the names of the dead fighters were not named. They were indicated in Krivitsky's essay "On 28 Fallen Heroes", published by Krasnaya Zvezda on January 22, 1942 - by this time, the troops of the Kalinin Front, after a series of successes won at the beginning of the month, had stopped near Rzhev, faced with fierce resistance from German units. Stubborn, bloody and exhausting battles here will last until March next year.

According to journalists, after the start of the German offensive on November 16, the fighters of the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th rifle regiment fought enemy tanks for four hours, destroying 18 vehicles. They all died. It was thanks to these publications that the phrase of the political instructor Klochkov, who died that day, became widely known: "Russia is great, and there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind." After publications in Krasnaya Zvezda, all 28 people were nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and a book was published about their feat. According to the memoirs of many front-line soldiers, the feat of 28 soldiers played an "exceptional mobilizing" role in a number of major battles World War II - including Stalingrad and the Kursk Bulge.

Unexpected arrest

However, after the war, in 1948, a former soldier Dobrobabin, who had been captured during the war, was arrested in the Kharkiv region. During his arrest, a book was found with him, which described the feat of the Panfilovites and, in particular, indicated his name as one of the dead participants in the battle. At the initiative of the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office of the USSR, an investigation was carried out, during which it turned out that several more people who were believed to have died in the battle at the Dubosekovo junction actually survived, and the description of the collision given by the journalists has no direct documentary evidence - while the fact itself the battle was not questioned.

During the check, Krivitsky and Koroteev, the authors of the materials in Krasnaya Zvezda, first stated that they were based only on the oral stories of the fellow soldiers of the deceased and their colleagues, war correspondents, but they did not know anyone who could have known for certain about the details of the battle. Later, Krivitsky said that he was forced to give this testimony under pressure. The military prosecutor's office concluded that the story in the form in which it was presented in Krasnaya Zvezda was a fiction of journalists - however, how exactly on that day the soldiers of the Panfilov division stopped the advance of German tanks had yet to be established.

"There were thousands of heroes"

The very fact of conducting heavy defensive battles in the defense sector of the 4th company during the German offensive on Moscow was not questioned either before or after this check. On the contrary, the history of the Panfilov division fighters is a rare case when the number of heroes could only increase.

So, many of those who at one time or another disputed the well-known version of the description of the feat of Panfilov, pointed out that the journalists underestimated the courage of other fighters of the same unit.

“The mass heroism shown at the Dubosekovo junction has been replaced by the resilience of only a“ group ”or“ platoon ”. The existence of such a unit is not confirmed by the documents of the military archives. They testify to something different - there were thousands of heroes, "notes the explorer of the feat, retired Major General Vasily Maksimovich Malkin.

Nevertheless, in the battle on November 16, according to the recollections of the participants, it was the very same 4th company, which, according to the materials of Krasnaya Zvezda, the soldiers belonged to, really took over hardest hit... This was also stated by Colonel Ilya Vasilyevich Kaprov, who commanded the 1075th regiment during the days of the German offensive near Moscow. However, according to him, by the beginning of the battle, the company was fully staffed, which means that more than 28 fighters went to meet their death.

“The 4th company of Gundilovich suffered the most in the battle. Only 20-25 people survived, led by a company commander of 140 people. The rest of the companies suffered less. More than 100 people were killed in the 4th rifle company. The company fought heroically, "Colonel Ilya Vasilyevich Kaprov later recalled.

"Nowhere to retreat"

When the prosecutor's office after the war began checking the information specified in Krasnaya Zvezda, the newspaper's literary secretary Krivitsky said that the phrase “Great Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind” has no documentary evidence and is the fruit of his fiction.

However, a number of witnesses - including fighters from the Panfilov division - and documentary sources (primarily letters addressed to his wife) confirm that the phrase that went down in history, or at least was very consonant with it on that day by political instructor Klochkov, was most likely actually uttered ...

30-year-old Vasily Klochkov, who in the fall of 1941 repeatedly wrote to his family about a special sense of responsibility for Moscow and addressed the soldiers with similar words from the pages of the divisional newspaper, was among those heroes of the first publications about the heroism of Panfilov's men, whose death in battle with German tanks at the Dubosekovo junction November 16, 1941 was never questioned. After the battle, his body was identified by the division fighters and buried by local residents. Like the others, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.

Near the village of Kryukovo

And no matter how the history of Panfilov's fighters actually developed - whether there were 28, 100 or thousands of them - it was by forces, including the Panfilov division exhausted in battles, that by November 20 the offensive of two tank and one infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht was stopped in the Volokolamsk direction.

The fighters of the famous 4th company and their fellow soldiers intervened in the plans of the commander of the Army Group Center, which was advancing on Moscow, Von Bock. Faced with their stubborn resistance, he was forced to transfer the entire 4th tank group to the Leningradskoe highway. Where, by the irony of the front-line fate, in the area of the village of Kryukovo, its units again met with the forces of the Panfilov division and its 4th company drawn in this direction. The offensive in the Kryukovo area was stopped by the Soviet troops.

The emergence of the official version

The history of the official version of events is set out in the materials of the investigation of the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office. The heroic deeds of the heroes were first reported by the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda on November 27, 1941, in an essay by the front-line correspondent V. I. Koroteev. The article about the participants in the battle said that "every one was killed, but the enemy was not allowed to pass."

More than fifty enemy tanks moved to the lines occupied by twenty-nine Soviet guards from the division named after. Panfilov ... Only one out of twenty-nine was faint-hearted ... only one raised his hands up ... several guards at the same time, without saying a word, without a command, shot at a coward and a traitor ...

The editorial went on to say that the remaining 28 Guardsmen destroyed 18 enemy tanks and “laid down their heads — all twenty-eight. They died, but did not let the enemy pass ... ”The editorial was written by A. Yu. Krivitsky, the literary secretary of the Red Star. The names of the guards who fought and died, both in the first and in the second article, were not indicated.

Criticism of the official version

Critics of the official version, as a rule, cite the following arguments and assumptions:

Investigation materials

In November 1947, the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Kharkov garrison was arrested and prosecuted for treason to the Motherland I. E. Dobrobabin. 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 Kharkiv 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, again went over to the Germans and again got a job in the German police, continuing his active treacherous activities, arresting Soviet citizens and direct implementation of the compulsory sending labor to Germany.

When Dobrobabin was arrested, a book was found about 28 Panfilov heroes, and it turned out that he was one of the main participants in this heroic battle, for which he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. By interrogating Dobrobabin, it was established that in the Dubosekov area he was indeed lightly wounded and captured by the Germans, but did not perform any feats, and everything that is written about him in the book about the Panfilov heroes does not correspond to reality. In this regard, the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the USSR conducted a thorough investigation of the history of the battle at the Dubosekovo junction. The results were reported by the Chief Military Prosecutor Armed Forces country by Lieutenant General of Justice N.P. Afanasyev to the Prosecutor General of the USSR G.N. Safonov May 10, 1948. On the basis of this report, on June 11, a certificate was drawn up, signed by Safonov, addressed to A. A. Zhdanov.

For the first time, V. Kardin publicly questioned the veracity of the story about the Panfilovites, who published an article “Legends and Facts” in the Novy Mir magazine (February 1966). A number of new publications followed in the late 1980s. An important argument was the publication of declassified materials from the 1948 military prosecutor's office investigation.

In particular, these materials contain the testimony of the former commander of the 1075th rifle regiment I.V. Kaprov:

... There was no battle of 28 Panfilov's men with 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 spoke to anyone about the battle of 28 Panfilovites, 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, along with representatives of the division's political department, Glushko and Yegorov, came to my regiment. It was then that 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 against German tanks. I told him that the entire regiment and especially the 4th company of the 2nd battalion fought with German tanks, but I know nothing about the battle of 28 guardsmen ... Captain Gundilovich gave the name to Krivitsky from memory, who had conversations with him on this topic, there were no documents about the battle of 28 Panfilov's men in the regiment and could not be. Nobody asked me about the surnames. Subsequently, after lengthy clarifications of surnames, it was only in April 1942 that the division headquarters sent ready-made award lists and a general list of 28 guardsmen to my regiment for signature. I signed these sheets for conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on 28 guardsmen. Who was the initiator of the compilation of the list and award lists for 28 guardsmen - I do not know.

The materials of the interrogation of the correspondent of Koroteev are also cited (clarifying the origin of the number 28):

Around November 23-24, 1941, I, along with the war correspondent of the newspaper " TVNZ"Chernyshev was at the headquarters of the 16th army ... When leaving the headquarters of the army, 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 take part 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” - it 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 answered 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 an editorial 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 in the front line to write about only one traitor.

Interrogated newspaper secretary Krivitsky testified:

When talking in PUR with Comrade Krapivin, 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 told him 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.

... In 1943, from the division where 28 Panfilov heroes were and fought, they sent me a letter about conferring the title of a Guardsman on me. I was in the division only three or four times.

Conclusion of the investigation by the prosecutor's office:

Thus, the materials of the investigation established that the feat of 28 Panfilov guardsmen, highlighted in the press, is a fiction of the correspondent Koroteev, the editor of "Krasnaya Zvezda" Ortenberg, and especially the literary secretary of the newspaper Krivitsky.

Official version support

The official version was defended by Marshal of the Soviet Union DT Yazov, who relied, in particular, on the research of the historian G. A. Kumanev "Feat and Forgery." In September 2011, the newspaper "Soviet Russia" published the material "Shamelessly ridiculed feat", which included a letter from Marshal criticizing Mironenko. The same letter with small abbreviations was published by Komsomolskaya Pravda:

... 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. Yes, indeed, later it became known that not all 28 heroes were killed in that battle. So, GM Shemyakin and IR Vasiliev were seriously wounded and ended up in the hospital. DF Timofeev and ID Shadrin were captured as wounded and experienced all the horrors of fascist captivity. The fate of D.A.Kuzhebergenov and I.E.Dobrobabin, who also survived, but according to different reasons excluded from the list of Heroes and have not yet been restored in this capacity, although their participation in the battle at the Dubosekovo crossing does not in principle raise doubts, which was convincingly proved in his research by Doctor of Historical Sciences G.A.Kumanev, who personally met with them. ... By the way, the fate of these "risen from the dead" Panfilov heroes was the reason for writing in May 1948 a letter from the Chief Military Prosecutor Lieutenant General of Justice N. P. Afanasyev to the Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks A. A. Zhdanov ...
However, Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov ... immediately determined that all the materials of the "investigation into the case of 28 Panfilov's men", set out in the letter of the Chief Military Prosecutor, were prepared too clumsily, the conclusions, as they say, were "sewn with white thread." ... As a result of the further course, the "case" was not given, and it was sent to the archive ...

D. Yazov cited the words of the correspondent of "Krasnaya Zvezda" A. Yu. Krivitsky, who was accused that the feat of 28 Panfilovites was a figment of his author's imagination. Recalling the progress of the investigation, A. Yu. Krivitsky said:

I was told that if I refuse to testify that the description of the battle near 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 was my literary fiction.

Documentary evidence of the battle

The commander of the 1075th regiment I. Kaprov (testimony given during the investigation in the Panfilov's case):

... In the company by November 16, 1941 there were 120-140 people. My command post was located behind the Dubosekovo crossing, 1.5 km from the position of the 4th company (2nd battalion). I don't remember now if the 4th company had anti-tank rifles, but I repeat that the entire 2nd battalion had only 4 anti-tank rifles ... In total, there were 10-12 enemy tanks in the 2nd battalion's sector. How many tanks went (directly) to the sector of the 4th company, I do not know, or rather, I cannot determine ...

With the help of the regiment and the efforts of the 2nd battalion, this tank attack was repulsed. In battle, the regiment destroyed 5-6 German tanks, and the Germans withdrew. At 14-15 o'clock, the Germans opened heavy artillery fire ... and again went on 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 the tank even went out to the location of the regiment's command post and lit the hay and the booth, so I accidentally was able to get out of the dugout: the embankment saved me railroad, 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.

According to the archival data of the USSR Ministry of Defense, the entire 1075th Infantry Regiment on November 16, 1941, destroyed 15 (according to other sources - 16) tanks and about 800 enemy personnel. The regiment's losses, according to the report of its commander, amounted to 400 killed, 600 missing, 100 wounded.

Testimony of the chairman of the Nelidovsky village council Smirnova during the investigation of the Panfilov's case:

The battle of the Panfilov division near our village of Nelidovo and the patrol of Dubosekovo took place on November 16, 1941. During this battle, all our residents, including myself, were hiding in shelters ... The Germans entered the area of our village and the Dubosekovo crossing on November 16, 1941 and were repulsed by units Soviet army December 20, 1941. At that time, there were large snow drifts, which continued until February 1942, due to which we did not collect the corpses of those killed on the battlefield and did not perform burials.

... In early February 1942, we found only three corpses on the battlefield, which we buried in a mass grave on the outskirts of our village. And then already in March 1942, when it began to melt, military units took three more corpses to the mass grave, including the corpse of political instructor Klochkov, who was identified by the soldiers. So in the common grave of the Panfilov heroes, which is located on the outskirts of our village Nelidovo, 6 soldiers of the Soviet Army are buried. No more corpses were found on the territory of the Nelidovsky s / council.

From a note by Colonel-General S. M. Shtemenko to the Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR N. A. Bulganin on August 28, 1948:

Any operational documents and documents on the line of political bodies, specifically mentioning the actual heroic deed and death of 28 Panfilovites in the area of Dubosekovo crossing, have not been found at all ... Only one document confirms the death of the political instructor of the 4th company Klochkov (mentioned among 28 mi). Consequently, it can be considered with complete evidence that the first reports about the battle of 28 Panfilovites on November 16, 1941 were made by the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, in which Koroteev's essay, the leading newspaper and Krivitsky's essay On 28 fallen heroes were published. These messages, apparently, served as the basis for the presentation of 28 people to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Reconstruction of the battle

By the end of October 1941, the first stage of the German Operation Typhoon (the offensive against Moscow) was completed. German troops, having defeated parts of three Soviet fronts near Vyazma, reached the closest approaches to Moscow. At the same time, the German troops suffered losses and needed some respite for the units to rest, put them in order and replenish them. By November 2, the front line in the Volokolamsk direction had stabilized, the German units temporarily went over to the defensive. On November 16, German troops went on the offensive again, planning to defeat the Soviet units, encircle Moscow and victoriously end the 1941 campaign.

The fate of some Panfilovites

Momyshuly, Bauyrzhan... After the war, the brave officer continued to serve in the Armed Forces of the USSR. In 1948 he graduated Military academy General Staff. Since 1950 - senior lecturer at the Military Academy of Logistics and Supply of the Soviet Army. Since December 1955, Colonel Momysh-uly has been in reserve. Member of the Writers' Union of the USSR. He entered the history of military science as the author of tactical maneuvers and strategies that are still being studied in military universities. Gave lectures on combat training during a visit to Cuba in 1963 (published in Spanish-language newspapers). He met with the Minister of Defense of Cuba Raul Castro and was awarded the title of honorary commander of the 51st regiment of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba. In the military educational institutions The United States, Cuba, Israel, Nicaragua are separately studying the military experience of Momyshuly. Volokolamskoe Shosse became a must-read for Palmach members, and later for Israel Defense Forces officers. Fernando Heredia wrote that “the majority of Cubans begin the study of Marxism-Leninism from the Volokolamsk Highway. Died on June 10, 1982.

Alma-Ata, park named after 28 Panfilov guardsmen. A memorial stone dedicated to Grigory Shemyakin, who was born in 1906 (old style) or 1907 (new style) and actually died in 1973, but the year of death is engraved on the stone as 1941, since, according to the official version, all 28 Panfilovites died.

Kozhabergenov (Kuzhebergenov) Daniil Alexandrovich... Liaison to political instructor Klochkov. He did not directly participate in the battle, since in the morning he was sent with a report to Dubosekovo, where he was captured. On the evening of November 16, he escaped from captivity to the forest. For some time he was in the occupied territory, after which he was discovered by the horsemen of General L. M. Dovator, who were in a raid on the German rear. After Dovator's compound left the raid, he was interrogated by a special department, admitted that he had not participated in the battle, and was sent back to Dovator's division. By this time, a submission had already been drawn up for conferring the title of Hero on him, but after an investigation his name was changed to Askar Kozhabergenov. He died in 1976.

Kozhabergenov (Kuzhebergenov) Askar (Aliaskar)... Arrived at Panfilov's division in January 1942 (thus, he could not participate in the battle at Dubosekov). In the same month, he died during a raid by the Panfilov division on the German rear. He was included in the presentation for the assignment of the title of Hero instead of Daniil Alexandrovich Kozhabergenov, after it turned out that the latter remained alive. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 21, 1942, together with other Panfilovites, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.

Vasiliev, Illarion Romanovich... In the battle on November 16, he was seriously wounded and ended up in a hospital (according to various versions, he was either evacuated from the battlefield, or after the battle was picked up by local residents and sent to the hospital, or he crawled for three days and was picked up by Dovator's horsemen). After recovering, he was sent to the active army, to the rear division. In 1943 he was demobilized from the army for health reasons. After the publication of the Decree on awarding him the title of Hero (posthumously), he announced his participation in the battle. After appropriate verification, without much publicity, he received a Hero's Star. He died in 1969 in Kemerovo.

Natarov, Ivan Moiseevich... According to Krivitsky's articles, he participated in the battle at Dubosekov, was seriously wounded, taken to the hospital and, dying, told Krivitsky about the feat of Panfilov's men. According to the political report of the military commissar of the 1075th rifle regiment Mukhamedyarov, stored in the TsAMO funds, he died two days before the battle - on November 14. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council USSR on July 21, 1942, together with other Panfilovites, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.

Timofeev, Dmitry Fomich... During the battle he was wounded and taken prisoner. In captivity, he managed to survive, after the end of the war he returned to his homeland. He applied for a Hero's star, after the appropriate verification received it without much publicity shortly before his death in 1950.

Shemyakin, Grigory Melentyevich... During the battle he was wounded and ended up in the hospital (there is information that he was picked up by the soldiers of the Dovator's division). After the publication of the Decree on awarding him the title of Hero (posthumously), he announced his participation in the battle. After appropriate verification, without much publicity, he received a Hero's Star. He died in 1973 in Almaty.

Shadrin, Ivan Demidovich... After the battle on November 16, he was captured in the unconscious, by own statement, condition. Until 1945 he was in a concentration camp, after his release he spent 2 more years in a Soviet filtration camp for former prisoners of war. In 1947, he returned home to the Altai Territory, where no one was waiting for him - he was considered dead, and his wife lived in his house with a new husband. For two years he was interrupted by odd jobs, until in 1949 the secretary of the district committee, who learned his story, wrote about him to the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. After appropriate verification, without much publicity, he received a Hero's Star. He died in 1985.

Memory

Notes (edit)

M. M. Kozlov. The Great Patriotic War. 1941-1945. Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet encyclopedia, 1985 .-- S. 526.
Help-report "About 28 Panfilov's men". State Archives of the Russian Federation. F.R - 8131 sc. Op. 37.D. 4041. LL. 310-320. Published in the magazine " New world", 1997, No. 6, p. 148
"Adjusted for the myth" POISK - the newspaper of the Russian scientific community
Ponomarev Anton... The Panfilov heroes, who in 1941 stopped the Germans on the outskirts of Moscow, are remembered in Russia, First channel(November 16, 2011). Retrieved November 16, 2012.
Gorokhovsky A. The famous feat of twenty-eight Panfilov's men at the Dubosekovo junction was invented by the Krasnaya Zvezda journalists and the party leadership of the Red Army // Facts: newspaper. - 11/17/2000.
In particular, the loss of 10 tanks on November 6, 1941 in the battles near Mtsensk made a strong negative impression on the command of the 4th Panzer Division and was especially noted in Guderian's memoirs - Kolomiets M... 1st Guards Tank Brigade in the battles for Moscow // Front illustration. - No. 4. - 2007.
"Red Army soldier Natarov, being wounded, continued the battle and fought and fired from his rifle until his last breath and died heroically in the battle." Political report of A. L. Mukhamedyarov dated November 14, 1941. Posted by: Zhuk Yu. A... Unknown pages of the battle for Moscow. Moscow battle. Facts and myths. - M .: AST, 2008.
Shamelessly ridiculed feat // Soviet Russia. - 1.9.2011.
Marshal Dmitry Yazov: “28 Panfilov heroes - an invention? Who then stopped the Germans? " // TVNZ. - 15.9.2011.
Cardin B... Legends and facts. Years later // Voprosy literatury. - No. 6, 2000.
Transcript of the program "The Price of Victory" 10/16/2006. Radio "Echo of Moscow". Author - Martynov Andrey Viktorovich, historian, Ph.D. (Retrieved November 16, 2012)
Isaev A. Five circles of hell. The Red Army in the "boilers". - M .: Yauza, Eksmo, 2008 .-- S. 327.
Fedoseev S. Infantry against tanks // Around the world: magazine. - April 2005. - No. 4 (2775).
Shirokorad A. B.... God of War of the Third Reich. - M .: 2003. - S. 38-39.
Someone else's glory // Voenno-istoricheskiy zhurnal. - 1990. - No. 8, 9.
See material in the program "Searchers" on March 19, 2008 [ clarify]
During the investigation on the issue of rehabilitation, Dobrobabin stated: “I really served in the police, I understand that I have committed a crime before the Motherland”; confirmed that in fear of punishment he voluntarily left the village of Perekop with the retreating Germans. He also argued that he “had no real opportunity to go over to the side of the Soviet troops or join a partisan detachment,” which was considered incompatible with the circumstances of the case.
Dobrobabin Ivan Evstafievich. Heroes of the Country... Patriotic Internet project "Heroes of the Country" (2000-2012).

On November 16, 1941, with a new offensive by the fascist army on Moscow at the Dubosekovo junction, 28 soldiers from the division of General Panfilov performed their immortal feat.

By the end of October 1941, the first stage of the German offensive operation on Moscow called "Typhoon" was completed. German troops, having defeated parts of three Soviet fronts near Vyazma, reached the closest approaches to Moscow.

At the same time, the German troops suffered losses and needed some respite for the units to rest, put them in order and replenish them. By November 2, the front line in the Volokolamsk direction had stabilized, the German units temporarily went over to the defensive.

On November 16, German troops went on the offensive again, planning to defeat the Soviet units, encircle Moscow and victoriously end the 1941 campaign. On the Volokolamsk direction, the Germans were blocked by the 316th rifle division of Major General I.V. Panfilov, who defended on a front 41 kilometers from settlement Lvovo to the state farm Bolychevo.

Ivan Vasilievich Panfilov
On the right flank, its neighbor was the 126th Infantry Division, on the left - the 50th Cavalry Division from the Dovator corps.

Lev Mikhailovich Dovator
On November 16, the division was attacked by the forces of two German tank divisions: Lieutenant General Rudolf Fayel's 2nd Panzer Division attacked positions of the 316th Infantry Division in the center of defense, and Major General Walter Scheller's 11th Panzer Division struck 1075 positions in the Dubosekovo area 1st Infantry Regiment, at the junction with the 50th Cavalry Division.

PzKpfw-IIIG of the 11th Panzer Division at the Dubosekovo junction. Year of release - 1937; weight - 15.4 t; crew - 5 people; armor - 14.5 mm; gun - 37 mm; speed - 32 km / h
The main blow fell on the position of the 2nd battalion of the regiment.

The 1075th Infantry Regiment in previous battles suffered significant losses in personnel and equipment, but before new battles it was significantly replenished with personnel. The question of artillery armament of the regiment is not completely clear. According to the state, the regiment was supposed to have a battery of four 76-mm regimental guns and an anti-tank battery of six 45-mm guns.

45-mm anti-tank gun model 1937
Morally outdated French guns also had weak ballistics; nothing is known about the presence of armor-piercing shells for them. However, it is known that for firing at tanks from guns of this type, shrapnel shells were used, the fuse of which was set to strike. From a 500-meter distance, such a projectile penetrated 31 millimeters of German armor.

At the same time, it is known that in general the 316th Infantry Division as of November 16, 1941 had 12 - 45-mm anti-tank guns, 26 - 76-mm divisional guns, 17 - 122-mm howitzers and 5 - 122-mm corps guns. that could be used in battle with German tanks. The neighbor, the 50th Cavalry Division, also had its own artillery. The regiment's infantry anti-tank weapons were represented by 11 ATGMs (four of them were in the second battalion), RPG-40 grenades and Molotov cocktails.

Anti-tank guns were distinguished by high armor penetration, especially when using cartridges with B-31 bullets, which had a tungsten carbide core.

PTRDs could hit German tanks only at close range from a 300-meter distance, piercing 35-mm armor at such a distance.

The battle at the Dubosekovo junction was the first case of the use of anti-tank rifles, the production of which was just beginning to unfold, and their number was still insufficient.

It was here, near Dubosekov, that the fourth company of the 1075th rifle regiment took on the battle. According to the staff of the 04/600 division, the company was supposed to have 162 people, and by December 16 there were about 120 people in the stand. Where did the number 28 come from?

The fact is that on the eve of the battle, a special group of tank destroyers in the amount of about 30 people was created from among the most persistent and well-aimed fighters, the command of which was entrusted to the 30-year-old political instructor Vasily Klochkov.

Vasily Georgievich Klochkov-Diev
All anti-tank guns were transferred to this group, and therefore the number of destroyed tanks does not look fantastic at all - out of 54 tanks moving towards Panfilov, the heroes managed to destroy 18 vehicles, the loss of 13 of which was admitted by the Germans themselves. But the Germans recognized the tank as lost only if it could not be restored, and if after the battle the tank was sent to overhaul with the replacement of the engine or weapons, such a tank was not considered lost.

A few days later, the list of these fighters was compiled from memory by the company commander, Captain Gundilovich, at the request of the Krasnaya Zvezda correspondent, Alexander Yuryevich Krivitsky. The captain may not have remembered someone, but someone probably got on this list by mistake - he died earlier or fought with the Germans as part of another unit, because the group included not only the captain's subordinates, but also volunteers from other units shelf.

Despite the fact that, at the end of the battle, the battlefield remained with the Germans, and most of our soldiers who participated in this battle were killed, the homeland did not forget the feat of the heroes, and already on November 27 the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda first informed the people of this feat, and on the next day, an editorial appeared in the same newspaper under the heading "The Testament of the 28 Fallen Heroes." This article indicated that 29 Panfilov men fought with enemy tanks. At the same time, the 29th was called a traitor. In fact, this 29th was sent by Klochkov with a report to Dubosekovo. However, there were already Germans in the village and the soldier Daniil Kozhabergenov was captured. On the evening of November 16, he escaped from captivity to the forest. For some time he was in the occupied territory, after which he was discovered by the horsemen of Dovator, who were in a raid along the German rear. After Dovator's compound left the raid, he was interrogated by a special department, admitted that he had not participated in the battle, and was sent back to Dovator's division.

The main blow falls on the positions of the 2nd battalion, which occupied the defense line of Petelino-Shiryaevo-Dubosekovo. The 4th company of this battalion covered the most main site- a railway crossing near Dubosekovo, behind which a direct road to Moscow opened. The firing points immediately before the move were organized by the soldiers of the 2nd platoon of tank destroyers - a total of 29 people. They were armed with anti-tank PTRD rifles, as well as anti-tank grenades and Molotov cocktails. There was one machine gun.

RPG-40 grenade

Bottles with COP
On the eve of this battle, the commander of the second platoon, D. Shirmatov, was wounded, so the "Panfilovites" commanded the platoon commander Sergeant I. Ye. Dobrobabin.

Ivan Efstafievich Dobrobabin
He made sure that the firing positions were equipped conscientiously - five full-profile trenches were dug, reinforced with railway sleepers.

Reconstruction of Panfilov's trenches
At 8 o'clock in the morning on November 16, the first fascists appeared near the fortifications. The "Panfilovites" hid themselves and did not show their presence. As soon as most of the Germans climbed to the height in front of the positions, Dobrobabin gave a short whistle. A machine gun immediately responded, shooting the Germans point-blank, from a hundred meters.

Other soldiers of the platoon also opened heavy fire. The enemy, having lost about 70 people, rolled back in disarray. After this first collision, the 2nd platoon had no losses at all.

Soon, German artillery fire fell on the railway crossing, after which the German submachine gunners again rose to the attack. She was again beaten back, and again without loss. In the afternoon, two German PzKpfw-IIIG tanks appeared at Dubosekovo, accompanied by an infantry platoon. The Panfilov men managed to destroy several infantrymen and set one tank on fire, after which the enemy retreated again. The relative calm in front of Dubosekovo was due to the fact that a fierce battle had been raging on the positions of the 5th and 6th companies of the 2nd battalion for a long time.

Regrouping, the Germans conducted a short artillery preparation and threw a tank battalion into the attack, supported by two companies of machine gunners. The tanks went in a deployed front, 15-20 tanks in a group, in several waves.

The main blow was delivered in the direction of Dubosekovo as the most tank-accessible area.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, before the move, a heated battle broke out. Anti-tank rifles, of course, could not stop the offensive of a dozen German tanks, and the battle began near the village itself. The soldiers had to jump out of the trenches under cannon and machine-gun fire, in order to throw a bunch of anti-tank grenades or a Molotov cocktail for sure. At the same time, they still had to repel the attacks of enemy machine gunners, shoot at the tankers jumping out of the burning tanks ...

As a participant in that battle testifies, one of the platoon soldiers could not stand it and jumped out of the trench with his hands up. Carefully aiming, Vasiliev removed the traitor.

From the explosions in the air, there was a constant curtain of dirty snow, soot and smoke. This is probably why Dobrobabin did not notice how the enemy on the right and left practically destroyed the 1st and 3rd platoons. One by one, the soldiers and his platoon perished, but the number of destroyed tanks also grew. The seriously wounded were hastily dragged into the dugout equipped in the positions. The slightly wounded did not go anywhere and continued to fire ...

Finally, having lost several tanks and up to two infantry platoons before the move, the enemy began to retreat. One of the last shells fired by the Germans severely concussed Dobrobabin, and he lost consciousness for a long time.

The command was taken by the political instructor of the 4th company V.G. Klochkov, sent to the position of the second platoon of the company by Gundilovich. The surviving fighters later spoke of Klochkov respectfully - without any pathetic phrases, he lifted the spirit of the fighters, exhausted and sooty after hours of battle.

The soul of the detachment of guards was political instructor V.G. Klochkov. Already in the first days of the fighting near the walls of the capital, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and was honored to participate in the military parade on Red Square on November 7, 1941.

Vasily Klochkov made his way into the trenches at the Dubosekovo junction and stayed with his soldiers to the end. Twenty black, with white crosses, clanking caterpillars, smugly rumbling fascist tanks, an avalanche approached the Dubosekovsky trench. The Nazi infantry ran after the tanks. Klochkov remarked: “There are many tanks, but there are more of us. Twenty pieces of tanks, less than one tank per brother. " The warriors decided to fight to the death. The tanks advanced very close. The battle began. The command was given by political instructor Klochkov. Under fire, Panfilov's men jumped out of the trench and threw bundles of grenades under the tracks of tanks, and bottles of fuel - on the engine unit or the gas tank.

For four hours a firestorm raged over the trenches of the brave men. Shells exploded, bottles with a combustible mixture flew, shells hissed and whistle, flames raged, melting snow, earth and armor. The enemy could not stand it and retreated. Fourteen steel monsters with ominous white crosses on their sides blazed on the battlefield. The survivors fled home. Thinned the ranks of the defenders. In the haze of the approaching twilight, the rumble of engines was again heard. Having licked his wounds, filling his belly with fire and lead, the enemy, seized by a new attack of rage, again rushed to the attack - 30 tanks moved on a handful of brave men.

Political instructor Klochkov looked at the soldiers. “Thirty tanks, friends!” He said. Probably, we will have to die here for the glory of the Motherland. Let the Motherland know how we fight here, how we defend Moscow. We have nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind. "

The country then heard for the first time
Klochkova legendary words:
- Guys! Russia is great for us,
And to retreat to us
Nowhere! Moscow!
Moscow is behind us!
And like an old song
He exclaimed:
Let's die near Moscow!

K. Sharipov

These words of Klochkov entered the hearts of the fighters, as a call to the Motherland, a demand, its order, instilling in them new strength selfless courage. Now it was already clear that in this battle the soldiers would find their own death, but still they wanted to make the enemy pay dearly for their lives. The soldiers, bleeding to death, did not leave their combat posts. The attack of the Nazis was drowned out. Suddenly, another heavy tank tries to break through to the trench. Political instructor Klochkov stands up to meet him. His hand grips a bunch of grenades - the last bunch. Badly wounded with grenades, he rushed to the enemy tank and blew it up.

The brave political instructor did not hear how a strong explosion echoed across the snowy expanses. Next to Klochkov, head to head, lay the wounded soldier Ivan Nashtarov and, as if in a dream, from somewhere far away, heard the voice of the political instructor "We are dying, brother ... Someday they will remember us ... If you live, tell us ...". The second attack was repulsed. Again the enemy did not pass. He tossed about in smoke and flame and, finally, backing away, growling in impotent rage, turned to a shameful flight, leaving 18 of his 50 tanks to burn out. Fortitude 28 Soviet heroes heroes turned out to be stronger than enemy armor. More than 150 fascist conquerors lay in the snow at the site of the fierce battle. The battlefield died down. The legendary trench was silent. The defenders of their native land performed what had to be done. Stretching out their weary hands, as if covering the wounded, blood-soaked native land with their lifeless bodies, those who stood were lying. For boundless courage, heroism, military valor and courage, the Soviet government posthumously awarded the participants in the battle at the Dubosekovo junction with the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The Panfilovites became a terrible curse for the Nazis, legends circulated about the strength and courage of the heroes. On November 17, 1941, the 316th Rifle Division was renamed the 8th Guards Rifle Division and awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Hundreds of guardsmen were awarded orders and medals.

On November 19, the division lost its commander ... It fought for 36 days under the command of General I.V. Panfilov 316th Rifle Division, defending the capital in the main direction.

Not having achieved decisive successes in the Volokolamsk direction, the main enemy forces turned to Solnechnogorsk, where they intended to break through first to Leningradskoe, then to Dmitrovskoe highway and enter Moscow from the north-west.

As it turned out later, not all 28 Panfilov men died in this unparalleled battle. Red Army soldier Nashtarov, seriously wounded, gathered his last strength, crawled off the battlefield and was picked up by our scouts at night. In the hospital, he spoke about the feat of Soviet soldiers. He died three days after the battle. The Red Army soldiers Illarion Romanovich Vasiliev, Grigory Melentyevich Shemyakin were half-dead were picked up on the battlefield and after being cured they returned to their native division. The Red Army soldier Ivan Demidovich Shadrin was captured by the Germans in an unconscious state during the battle. For more than three years, he experienced all the horrors of Nazi concentration camps, remaining loyal to his homeland and the Soviet people. Vasiliev died in the city of Kemerovo, Shemyakin died in Alma-Ata in December 1973, Shadrin died, who lived in the Kirovsky settlement of the Alma-Ata region.

The names of the Panfilov heroes are included in the annals of the Great Patriotic War in gold letters

By the end of the day, despite stubborn resistance, the 1075th Rifle Regiment was driven out of its positions and forced to retreat. An example of self-sacrifice was shown not only by Panfilov's men near Dubosekovo. Two days later, 11 sappers of the 1077th rifle regiment from the same 316th Panfilov division for a long time delayed the offensive of 27 German tanks with infantry near the village of Strokovo at the cost of their lives.

For two days of fighting, the 1075th regiment lost 400 people killed, 100 wounded and 600 missing. From the 4th company, which defended Dubosekovo, hardly a fifth of them remained. The losses in the 5th and 6th companies were even heavier.

Contrary to legends, not all "Panfilovites" died in the battle - seven fighters from the 2nd platoon survived, and all were seriously injured. These are Natarov, Vasiliev, Shemyakin, Shadrin, Timofeev, Kozhubergenov and Dobrobabin. Before the arrival of the Germans, local residents managed to deliver the most seriously wounded Natarov and Vasiliev to the medical battalion. Shemyakin, heavily shell-shocked, was crawling through the forest from the village, where he was discovered by the cavalrymen of General Dovator. The Germans managed to take two prisoners - Shadrin (he was unconscious) and Timofeev (seriously wounded).

Natarov, taken to the medical battalion, soon died of his wounds. Before his death, he managed to tell something about the battle at Dubosekovo. So this story fell into the hands of A. Krivitsky, literary editor of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper.

But, as we remember, six people still survived from the second platoon - Vasiliev and Shemyakin recovered in hospitals, Shadrin and Timofeev went through the hell of concentration camps, and Kozhubergenov and Dobrobabin continued to fight for their own people. Therefore, when they declared themselves, the NKVD reacted to this very nervously. Shadrin and Timofeev were immediately recorded as traitors. It is not known what else they were doing while being held captive by the Nazis. The rest were looked at very suspiciously - after all, the whole country knows that all 28 heroes died! And if these say that they are alive. So they are either impostors or cowards. And it remains to be seen which is worse.

After lengthy interrogations, four of them - Vasiliev, Shemyakin, Shadrin and Timofeev - were given the Gold Stars of Heroes of the Soviet Union, but without publicity. Two “Panfilovites” - Kozhubergenov and Dobrobabin - have not been recognized until now.