118th rifle division of the 1st formation. Gdovskaya dawn

According to one of the previous publications of this project, the reader could already see how units of the German 58th Infantry Division proceeded through Pskov. Today I want to return to the photographs of this division. This time it is the album of the company commander of the 158th anti-tank battalion (PanzerJäger Abteilung 158) Lieutenant Detlef Lippold (Detlef Lippold, who was born on February 4, 1916 in Wilhelmshaven, was wounded near Leningrad in December 1942. He died on December 27, 1942 in 608- m military hospital in Riga).

The 58th Infantry Division was part of the 18th Army (XXXVIII Army Corps) and by the beginning of July 1941 was on the right flank of the army. After the capture of Riga, the 18th Army with its right wing along the Riga-Pskov highway, with the forces of two corps, rushed to the city on Velikaya. Despite the efforts made, the infantry of the 18th Army did not have time for the battles that unfolded near Pskov. However, the 58th Infantry Division succeeded with the forces of the reconnaissance battalion, reinforced anti-tank artillery, take part in the battle for Gdov.

The goal of the Germans in Gdov was the airfield, without which the Luftwaffe was forced to fly to the area of ​​the Luga bridgehead a couple of hundred kilometers away. Gdov was defended by the battered 118th Rifle Division, which was retreating from Pskov to replenish in the Luga region. It was Golovatsky's division that became an obstacle on the way to the Gdov airfield, so necessary for the Germans. The Germans attacked Gdov on July 14 from two sides, from the southeast with the forces of the 36th motorized division and from the south, along the Pskov-Gdov highway with the forces of the 58th infantry division.

On the evening of July 16, the 36th motorized division managed to cut the roads northeast of Gdov, the 118th rifle division was surrounded.

From the combat report of the commander of the 118th Infantry Division, Major General Glovatsky N.M. 07/18/1941: "Period 21.00-23.00 16.7.41, the pr-ku managed to bypass, and partially destroy the advanced barriers, using a mass of small-caliber artillery, mortars and artillery on a mechanized tractor. He occupied firing lines northeast of GDOVA 3-5 km. and took under heavy fire, sweeping away all along the way, all exits from GDOVA."

It should be noted that in the battles for Gdov there were both heroes and anti-heroes. The anti-hero was the division commander, Major General Glovatsky, who, in fact, abandoned the encircled division and sailed away from Gdov on a boat with part of the headquarters (in Vasknarva on the evening of July 17, the division headquarters, led by divisional commander Glovatsky, went ashore and headed towards Kingisepp). On July 19, Major General Glovatsky was arrested, court-martialed and then convicted under Art. 193-20. Sentenced to capital punishment.

Together with the headquarters, the Chud flotilla was able to take out about a thousand personnel from Gdov. The rest had to fight their way out of the encirclement along the highway and along the lake shore. The breakthrough was led by the chief of staff of the division, Colonel Mizitsky (on July 17 he was wounded, went out to his own in the Narva region).

Here is how Trubetskoy A.V. describes him, in July 1941 - a Red Army soldier 527 SP 118 SD. (Trubetskoy A.V. Ways are inscrutable: (Memoirs of 1939-1955). - M .: Kontur, 1997. - 413 p.: portrait, ill.):

“We quickly go to Gdov. On the road there are traces of a recent bombing: the corpses of horses dumped on the side of the road (they say that among them is the same Strelka, the horse of the battalion commander on which I learned to ride), broken wagons, fresh mounds - the graves of the dead. Evening is falling in the distance, clumps of trees and the houses of Gdov. At night we entered the city. There are many troops in it: our division, two regiments of the Leningrad militia and someone else. In the center of the city near the fence old church under the huge sprawling trees the divisional authorities. It encourages the approaching soldiers, but it is felt that the authorities are puzzled and even, perhaps, frightened and confused. And the soldiers go hungry, tired and some already indifferent. A rumor is circulating: we are surrounded, we must break through. Rare are heard from afar long queues machine guns - German (ours don’t hit like that) and quieter automatic bursts.

We leave on the northern outskirts of the city. Our artillery is already there. Early morning. Short stop, we regroup and start moving forward. On the right along the road is the first battalion, led by commander captain Kravchenko. He has a revolver in his hand. It goes cheerfully, confidently, but, it is felt, with great tension. On the left side of the road - our second battalion. Truckloads of soldiers rode ahead, bayonets fixed just like in revolutionary photographs. On cabs light machine guns. The impression is strange - a good target for the Germans. Shoot ahead. I unsheathed the bayonet of a self-loading rifle and attached it. For some reason, this has never been done before. The seriousness of what is happening is felt in the air. More shooting ahead. Sometimes they are ordered to stop and shoot, but where, at whom, it is not clear. We passed an empty village, and I notice that there are no casualties, but there is no building either, and there are fewer and fewer people. There are twenty of us left.

And then I felt that something terrible was about to happen to me. It was some strange, previously unknown to me, heavy feeling of something inevitable, fatal. The feeling that there is no way you can escape what is about to happen.

The fire intensified all around, and we walked along the ditch along the road, crouching. There was no longer a unified leadership. There was only a general desire to break out of the encirclement. From somewhere out of the rye, an unfamiliar soldier ran up with a request to help the seriously wounded commander. Bending down, we followed him into the rye. The major is lying, wounded in both legs, bandaged. Silently looks at us. What to do? We stood, stood and, without looking at him, left ... Bending down, we go along the ditch forward again. Somehow I ended up going first. There is a terrible weight on my heart. Heavy fire all around. The Germans hit with tracer bullets: their white threads penetrate everything around, and it paralyzes. The ditch runs into some kind of hillock. You have to climb through it, but the white threads stop you. There is also a water pipe under the road. We decide to climb on it to the other side. There are very few of us, ten people. Nobody wants to go first, and everyone just says to each other: "come on, come on, come on," but no one moves. I got in. The pipe is narrow, barely stuck through, crawled through. Everyone else gets out. We are sitting in a ditch again. "Well, let's go ahead," and again no one moves. All around there is a terrible chatter and a web of white threads. Down the ditch, bending down, an unfamiliar lieutenant runs towards him with a German machine gun in his hands and shouts: "Come on, forward! Ours are breaking through!" - and runs on. Leaning low, I went first. In the ditch lies the dead, our fighter, with his face buried in the ground. You have to go through it. And for some reason, it was very unpleasant for me to do this. I thought: "Let me jump out onto the road, pass it with one jump and jump into the ditch again."

And as soon as I jumped out onto the road, bent over in three deaths, and took one step, as in front, a little to the left, a bright spot instantly appeared on the roadbed, thunder, a blow. All this was perceived not by individual sense organs, but somehow by all of me, and, falling into the ditch, I said loudly to myself, and, perhaps, shouted: "ALL-E-E!" And then there was silence...

According to the report of the 36th motorized division in the Gdov region, they captured 1700-2000 prisoners. They estimated the losses of the Soviet side at about 1200 people. In addition, captured: 2 aircraft at the airfield, 7 heavy and 13 light anti-aircraft guns, 5 quadruple anti-aircraft machine guns, 22 anti-tank guns, 7 armored vehicles (killed), 100 trucks, 800 horses.

In the battles for Gdov, the 36th motorized division lost 77 people killed, 117 wounded. We do not yet have data on the losses of the 58th Infantry Division.

Mikhail Tukh, especially for the Pskov Information Agency

It was formed in Kostroma on July 6, 1940 on the basis of the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 1193-464ss of 07/06/1940

On June 22, 1941 was in the city of Kostroma and was part of the 41st SC (111.118 and 235th divisions) of Major General I.S. Kosobutsky.

From June 24, 1941 to June 28, 1941, it is loaded in Kostroma and by rail through Yaroslavl, Rybinsk, Bologoye, Staraya Russa, Porkhov is transferred to Pskov, bombed along the way, unloaded in Karamyshevo From June 30, 1941, it was supposed to be deployed in the Pskov fortified area, however, it was late with the arrival, so by the evening of July 2, 1941, only 13 echelons arrived, by the morning of July 4, 1941, 20 echelons arrived, 2 more were on the way. She took positions near Pskov, along the Velikaya River and the Cherekha River, adjoining Lake Pskov on the right flank, and on the left flank to the mouth of the Keb River. On July 5, 1941, it was deployed in the Korly, Vasilyevo, Palkino sector, Cherskaya station, Ogurtsovo, the concentration had not yet been completed. She took her first battle on July 5, 1941 with the 6th Panzer Division.

Pskov Ostrovsky and Sebezh UR

As early as July 4, on the sector of the left-flank 111sd XXXXIMK, the enemy managed to break through the line of fortified areas on the old border and capture the city of Ostrov and two bridges across the Velikaya River. Having repulsed the counterattacks of the 111th Rifle Division and units of the 1MK, from July 7 the enemy began to develop an offensive from Ostrov to the north in the direction of Porkhov. As a result of the night battle from July 7th to 8th, the 1st division of the Germans managed to break through along the highway and reach the southern outskirts of Pskov in the Krestov area. This created a real threat of encirclement of those parts that were behind the Great. General N.M.Glovatsky appealed to the headquarters of the corps with a request to allow the withdrawal of troops from across the river to the city, but was refused.

On the morning of July 8, 1941, the division remained at its former lines, without an active enemy in front of it. However, seeing a hopeless situation, parts of the division left the fortified area and began to retreat towards the city, but did not have time to cross the bridges that had been blown up. Crossing on improvised means through the Great Division suffered significant losses in manpower and ammunition. Having passed the central part of the city, the division commanders decided to retreat along divergent lines: the 118th to Gdov, and the 111th to Luga. The capture of Pskov for one day was delayed only by the blowing up of bridges on the Velikaya River.

In Pskov, control of the division was finally lost, and from July 10, 1941, the division in disorder mostly retreats along the eastern coast Lake Peipus to Gdov, and by some units to Luga and Dno. Closer to Gdov, control was restored; from July 11, 1941 to July 18, 1941, the division was engaged in heavy fighting on the eastern shore of Lake Peipsi, defending Gdov. (On July 16, the division had two joint ventures that suffered losses of up to 35% of their strength. The artillery regiments had 7-76mm guns and 17-122mm guns). The enemy, meanwhile, also decided to take Gdov and the airfield in the city. Gdov attacked units of 36md from the east, and 58pd approached from the south. By the evening of July 16, 36md cut the roads leading to the s-v. 118sd, as well as two regiments from the Leningrad militia, were surrounded in Gdov. At that moment, the 58th Infantry Division approached and broke into Gdov. The division commander Golovatsky left his division, the evacuation of which from Gdov was carried out by the rivermen of the Chudskaya military flotilla. On the evening of July 17, Golovatsky crossed on a boat to Vasknarva. Together with the headquarters, the Chud flotilla was able to take out about a thousand personnel from Gdov. The rest had to fight their way out of the encirclement along the highway and along the lake shore. The breakthrough was led by the chief of staff of the division, Colonel Mizitsky (on July 17 he was wounded, went out to his own in the Narva region). The remnants of the division left its encirclement in the Narva area by July 20, 1941. The Germans announced the capture in Gdov of 1200 people as prisoners, 5 quadruple anti-aircraft machine guns, 22 anti-tank guns, 7 armored vehicles (padded), 100 trucks, 800 horses.

On July 19, 1941, Major General Glovatsky, being at the front, was arrested on charges of withdrawing a division from the Pskov fortified area without the written permission of the corps commander. The visiting session of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR at a court hearing in Leningrad on July 26, 1941 found Glovatsky guilty and sentenced him to capital punishment with confiscation of property and deprivation military rank. The sentence was carried out on 3 August.

In early August, the replenished division, along with the fresh 268sd, was transferred to the 11SK 8A, which fought in Estonia. Parts of the German XXVIAK advancing northward sought to separate the forces of 10 and 11SK. By the time the reserve Soviet divisions were unloaded, the enemy was already approaching Tapa and threatened to cut the Tallinn-Leningrad railway. On August 2, the first at st. Kadrina unloaded 398sp, which was ordered to immediately take up defense. Having concentrated the main forces of 294pd in the Tapa area, the Germans occupied Tapa on August 4. The recently replenished 118sd, brought into battle from wheels, did not differ in high combat effectiveness and, according to the statement of the 8A command, its units fled after the first shots of the enemy.

The 8A command developed a counterattack against the grouping of German troops in the Tapa area. The main striking force was to be played by the fresh 118th and 268th rifle divisions. The start of the offensive was planned for the morning of 7 August. The German command preempted our troops in the offensive. Having concentrated units 254, 291 and 93pd in the Tapa area, the enemy went on the offensive in the morning of August 6, trying to encircle our troops in the Rakvere area. The 118sd regiments were knocked out of their positions in the Kadrin area and retreated in disorder in the north direction. Seeing the departure of the regiments, the head of the political department of 8A brig. Commissar Mareev tried to stop the fighters, but was shot dead. The regiments of the division by this moment did not exceed 200 people in number. each, 604 legs, consisted of 11 guns. The total number of the division was about 1500 people. On August 7, the division retreated to the line of the river. Kunda, and then on the river. Pada. But even here it was not possible to stay. On August 9, the division was withdrawn to the 8A reserve. On August 12, the s-z art. was again introduced into battle. Kohla. By this time, the enemy had somewhat weakened his pressure on the 8A troops, sending his 254pd to storm Tallinn. However, all 8A formations, having suffered heavy losses, numbered several thousand and even hundreds of people. By August 17, the division was withdrawn beyond the river. Narva, and then beyond the river. Meadows. She retreated to Koporye, then launched a counterattack, rolled back to the settlement of Iliki, from there she was transferred to Kipen, where the enemy came closest to Leningrad on August 23.

On August 22, 1941, the division consisted of only 3025 personnel, 17 guns and 54 machine guns. The division waged battles for Kipen very stubbornly. The village passed from hand to hand, but the enemy did not pass. September 10 was surrounded after the capture of Ropsha. On September 14, she left the encirclement and is fighting near Ropsha. Since September 16, 1941, it has been advancing on Gostilitsy, managed to move forward 3-5 kilometers, but was cut off by the Germans south of Mikhailovsky.

On September 25, the division consisted of 2279 people. 7 76mm guns, 1 45mm, 1 122mm, 3 mortars, and 104 vehicles.

On September 29, 1941, the division was disbanded without the knowledge of the People's Commissar of Defense, the remnants of the personnel were transferred to the 48th Infantry Division.

Participated in battles in the western direction.

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✪ Intelligence: Bair Irincheev about penal battalions

Subtitles

I wholeheartedly welcome you! Bair, good afternoon. Dmitry Yurievich, good afternoon. Good afternoon, dear viewers and listeners. Today I would like to talk about such an aspect or such a phenomenon in the history of the Great Patriotic War as penal battalions and detachments, on the topic of which, unfortunately, in the nineties and two thousandths, and actually starting from the time of Perestroika, from the second half of the eighties, a huge amount of the amount of dirt (as on so many aspects of the Great Patriotic War). But the problem is that this topic was still very much promoted in the cinema, and in last years : the series "Penal Battalion", the way Nikita Sergeevich Mikhalkov portrayed the detachments, and so on and so forth ... Actually, I would like to somehow more balancedly and relying on the documents that we have available, tell about their activities, that was it like that at all, and was it at all, as we like to say very much, that only in this country, only in this historical period, only we can have such horror, such darkness in general, and only in our sweet cozy Mordor such happens. I met the first mention of barrage detachments in the description of the battle at the Thermopylae Pass, where the troops of Xerxes drove the next portions of military personnel under distribution to the Spartans with spears up the ass. It was, if I remember correctly, about two and a half thousand years ago. And not at all in the Novgorod region, but somewhere there in civilized Europe, where all civilization and culture came from, which is typical. I would like to say the following about the series “Penal Battalion” you mentioned, I’m sorry, I’ll digress, I’ll interrupt, so to speak. When it appeared, we… I have a website, a forum on the website, of course, a heated discussion on the forum. From my point of view, the series "Penal Battalion" is a work that falls into the category of "vomit powder", that is, it is such a disgusting creation that I cannot characterize it with censorship words. But then there were people who said, what is it, a good film. I ask the question: what is good about it? The acting is good. Somehow I'm even at a loss ... and what in general? But my father is a theater director, he also likes it, he is better in every way than you understand. In the history of the Great Patriotic War and in the history of this very phenomenon - penal battalions and detachments, yes. That is, a person does not want to know anything, I don’t want to know anything at all, I see some pseudo-artistic slops, I consume them with pleasure, arguing there about some angles, acting work, directorial debuts, screenwriters and something else, but the essence I don't see behind these slops. I watched it, and you know, I, like all Soviet people, we did not see, for example, any anti-Soviet creations. For a very long time I wanted to read The Gulag Archipelago, I was wondering what it was, it was impossible to read it - it was nowhere to be found. I read notes in Literaturnaya Gazeta and Abroad newspaper that they shot some kind of feature film The Deer Hunter (1978) by Michael Cimino (Michael Cimino), analysis, this is that, this - this, they didn’t write, by the way, about the main thing, that the main characters there are Russians who are going to fight in Vietnam. Well, here are the stories of the one who talked with the one who watched something there, in the tenth retelling. When videos appeared and these ... anti-Soviet films began to get to us ... I don’t even know what to call them, that is, films that tell about the Soviet Union, it was such nonsense, it was so obvious to everyone that this was such nonsense and such a lie, We don't live like this, we don't work like that. Yes, we are imperfect, just like you are imperfect. We are not perfect, but what you show about us is complete nonsense. Thirty years have passed, and now our local living creators are spewing out of themselves this product, overcooked five times, even more disgusting than the abomination that was poured over us in the West in the days of Soviet Union . It would seem that there are documents, it would seem that witnesses of all this are alive, no, we are not interested in this, we will take some idiotic fiction and project it into your brain. Sorry, interrupted. The Creator sees it this way, on the one hand, and on the other hand, let’s say, here is the finale of the series “Penal Battalion”, where this commander of the penal battalion sits, among our broken “forty-five”, everything around is littered with the bodies of the dead penalty box and he sits, such darkness, Mordor , you can compare - also a gray background, as Mordor is shown in The Lord of the Rings and as shown here. Well, comrade Volodarsky, the screenwriter, is already in another world, but it seems to me that what he wanted to show is what he expressed several times in programs on Echo of Moscow and so on, that “they filled up with corpses”, “ filled with meat." Well, he knows better ... Yes, he knows better. But nevertheless, I would still like to say that a war is a situation where 1) people are killed, 2) some kill better than others, that is, there is always a winner and a loser. The losing side can scatter, that is, people, it is clear that everyone has an instinct for self-preservation on the one hand, and on the other hand there is such a thing as a military oath. The military oath, in theory, is given either to one's country, or to one's overlord (in the Middle Ages), or allegiance to the city, that is, this is a solemn promise in public that I will fight to the end, I will fulfill my military duty. There is such a thing - military duty, which is ready to endure hardships, endure pain, hunger, cold ... Hardships and hardships. Yes, hardships and hardships. And he is even ready to give his life. Moreover, this is done publicly in front of the formation of comrades. Well, now we have it in front of our parents, you can also record it on video, then post it on YouTube. A particularly advanced tank brigade of the Finnish Defense Forces, they record all this and then sell DVDs, such as for memory. Directly sell DVD, how the guys took the oath, recruits. They have a good PR, well done. Well, for those who do not take this seriously, I would remind you that there is a criminal liability for breaking an oath. Yes. And moreover, in fact, if you look at the Middle Ages, treason is one of the most serious crimes in general, which was instantly punishable by death and, rather, not even here, but in the West. In all these English wars, the English, the French, they have a lot of experience in beheading and hanging for treason against the crown, for treason against their city, their army, and so on. Actually, by and large, all these punishments, I'm sorry, we still have in the Roman Empire. Decimation - if the legion ran, could not stand it, could not, covered itself with shame, then everyone is lined up and every tenth is simply executed. That is, this is really a measure of intimidation to show that you ran to run, but anyway, if the enemy does not catch up with you, then we will catch up with you, you will die anyway. Therefore, let's not run, but you will fight and you have some chance to survive. I would say that this is a measure of disciplinary action. Yes, disciplinary action, intimidation that they gave an oath - they took it, they thought it was just a ridiculous military ritual - no, this is really a public promise, breaking an oath is really a criminal offense, betraying one's country, betraying an oath is a criminal offense. Not only here and not only in the modern world. This is in all countries, excuse me, treason, betrayal is a serious criminal offense. I would add after that that the ancient Romans had another wonderful military custom, besides decimation, when the sentry fell asleep at the post and the guard noticed him asleep, so to speak, then in the morning they lined up the unit, handed out sticks to everyone and his military comrades who fell asleep at the post beaten to death with sticks, because you alone endangered the lives of all of us. Yes, he set everyone up. But then again, only in the Stalinist Soviet Union and only in Russia did it happen that there really were deserters there, there were cases when the troops fled from the battlefield, only here they were somehow stopped there, stopped the panic, shot in front of the ranks . But really, this is just such a view, probably of a very refined Moscow and St. Petersburg intelligentsia, which, probably, is somehow a little far from all this, from all these stories, and really lives in its own world, which is a nice refined world. Jokingly, it is called “elven” on the Internet ... I came up with this, just in case I’ll say it. … But, in fact, the reality is somewhat different. Indeed, the 20th century is characterized by the fact that we have preserved a huge number of various documents. So, in 2012 in Moscow, in the publishing house "Belfry - Young Guard" (normal: Orthodoxy and "Young Guard" together, well, this is our modern ideology) a wonderful collection was released, which, probably, went a little unnoticed "Stalingrad epic . Documents declassified by the FSB of Russia. (Memoirs of Paulus, diaries and letters of soldiers of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht, intelligence reports, protocols of interrogations, memoranda of special departments of the fronts and armies. ) And, in fact, just the defeat of our troops in the battle near Kharkov in the spring of 1942 and the really catastrophic situation in which our army found itself in the south of Russia and the flight of our troops, which was uncontrollable in many cases, led to the fact that at the end of July 1942 Comrade Stalin, who at that time was also the People's Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union (that is, the Minister of Defense modern language speaking) issued order No. 227 “Not a step back”, which directly spoke about the formation of penal battalions for officers, penal companies for junior officers and rank and file and said that detachments would be created, which would be dealt with by the actual special departments of the NKVD. Again, these four letters of the Russian alphabet - the NKVD - they somehow immediately make a terrible impression on people, that this is something ... I don’t know, some kind of just a closed corporation, a black order, such ubiquitous, all-seeing and all-hearing guardsmen Stalin, who simply appear, shoot everyone and dump them somewhere. And, as always, it is absolutely not motivated. And if you watch Russian films of the 90s and 2000s, then you will definitely be a representative of a special department, it will be a Jew in round glasses, who grazes even more than me, always looks terribly disgusting, such an unpleasant type ... Disgusting. Yes, some kind of disgusting type and, accordingly, he is only looking for how to spoil some good front-line soldier, who, as a rule, is always Russian ... An honest person. An honest man, and, probably, in 1937, someone was imprisoned or repressed there. At least dispossessed. Yes, or dispossessed. Here, a simple Soviet officer (or commander of the Red Army, until 1943) is sure to have someone who suffered innocently from Soviet power in the thirties, or in the twenties, or during the revolution he has drunk sailors there or red sailors under someone in the family was killed with cocaine. That is, the stereotype has appeared. But the NKVD, sorry, this is the Ministry of Internal Affairs actually. Ministry of the Interior. Yes, the Ministry of the Interior, then the word “people’s commissariat” was simply used, that is, then it was simply believed that the word “ministry” and “minister” are the old world, this is a bourgeois, not our world, but we are a new, brave world, we don’t have a minister (minister is “employee” in English), but a people’s commissar. First, it is "popular". It is important that he is a representative of the people, acting in the interests of the people. Well, the word "commissioner", many do not know, it is from the word "commission", it is "ko" - "mission" - "joint action". And in the commission, respectively, the commissioners. In the same way, there were no officers until 1943, there were just commanders, and in the same way there were no soldiers - there were fighters or Red Army soldiers. "Comrade commanders", "comrade Red Army soldiers", "comrade political workers". That is, in fact, if you look at the Red Army in the thirties, it was much more democratic than any Western army, where indeed, this division into “gentlemen officers” and “soldiers”, it was very clear and the distance held on. It is the same. That is, these four letters - NKVD and two more letters OO (special department) immediately inspire some kind of horror for everyone and some kind of wrong stereotype immediately appears that a special officer is a person who just sits somewhere in the headquarters and he has several informants, and he is only looking for someone to shoot. But in fact, if you look at the documents, then the terms of reference of the representative of the special department of the NKVD in our front-line units were, to put it mildly, somewhat wider. Actually, this is a different department, this is a different ministry, this is not the People's Commissariat of Defense, they really look a little from the outside. But they not only just watch everything, write everything down and look for how to shoot someone, but they also organize something, help, really see some shortcomings from the outside, maybe better than army commanders. Well, I would like to give here an example of the report of the special department of the NKVD on the course of the battles in Stalingrad on September 16, 1942. “During the day of fighting on September 15, the 13th Guards Rifle Division lost 400 people wounded and killed and used up all the ammunition for automatic weapons, and despite midnight on September 16, the division has not yet received ammunition and artillery.” That is, they immediately say that we actually have problems here. Which, of course, citizens who did not ask for ammunition in the proper amount, did not supply it in the proper quantity upon request, can tactfully keep silent, without telling the command anything at all. If these signals come from the side, well ... people are just not familiar with the device. Yes, it is a parallel communication system. Plus, again, representatives of special departments, they not only reported, but they could come and say, so, guys, we don’t really have ammunition, who is responsible for this, come on, go there, let’s organize, because now we are all just here killed without bullets. Plus, you need to understand that in our country, again, it is somehow completely forgotten that the Germans conducted very serious undercover activities, constantly bombarded us with recruited soldiers of the Red Army, their agents, scouts, that was all. And what they are saying now, well, it’s all again, the same NKVD men invented everything, in fact they shot innocent people. It's just like that. But somehow to deprive Germany, one of the most powerful armies in Europe, to deny her that they were reconnaissance and say that the Germans did not use agents, this ... well, you can’t say that, because this is one of the tools of war that the Germans, the Nazis very well owned. They really sent agents all the time. Even from besieged Leningrad, if you read the documents of the NKVD, which Nikita Andreevich Lomagin, our respected professor, published, they knew perfectly well everything that was happening in the city there, everything was reported to them, they had their own people in the city. And the special department was really obliged to deal with it. That is, if you argue in this way, that there was nothing like that, maybe, in my opinion, only an illiterate fool. Yes. It’s just as if immediately dismissed that the Germans had their own agent network and the fact that it was necessary to fight it, it just somehow disappears like this and immediately the image of a really some kind of ghoul appears, necessarily, as I said, a Jew ... For some reason, in the Soviet, in the Brezhnev era, Soviet anti-Semitism was bad, but now it’s shown like this in modern Russia when we have tolerance everywhere and so on - this is normal. By the way, I am even a little surprised that so far our Israeli comrades have not been offended and have not said anything about this. I am even more surprised that this is filmed by comrades who have not yet managed to reach Israel, with their active assistance, participation ... Obviously, these are not our Jews, not current ones, these are Soviet Jews, you can shoot about them like this. Apparently yes. And again, there is always a split that a political instructor or a special officer is necessarily a Jew, and they are normal Russian people with a rifle in their hands, with a pistol ... From my point of view, citizens promoting such things, they act in accordance with the instructions of the well-known leaflet “Beat the Jew - Bolshevik, the muzzle asks for a brick, ”these are the allies of Goebbels. I would also remind you that in those times we are talking about, there was still, in my opinion, a criminal article for anti-Semitism. Now there is none. I have not dealt with this problem so deeply, so I will not comment. So, according to order No. 227, detachments appear and penal battalions appear. And of course, the myth immediately appears that the detachments, they only shot their own, shot and did nothing good at all. But, in fact, as you, Dmitry Yuryevich, have said many times, for example, our infantry unit ran, here they are running, respectively, there is a detachment behind them, the detachment shoots them from machine guns, and the Germans in tanks are already approaching the detachment ... That is, the detachment , shooting the fleeing, opens the way for the Germans to themselves, in order to die heroically themselves. Yes. That is, if they are such cowards and scum, somehow it is completely illogical. I would like to quote a few documents. Here they just wanted to read out the certificate themselves ... With your permission. “Reference of the NGO NKVD STF to the UOO NKVD on the activities of the barrage detachments of the Stalingrad and Don fronts. [Not earlier than October 15] 1942 In accordance with the order of the NPO No. 227 in the units operating in the Red Army as of October 15 with. 193 barrage detachments were formed. Of these, in parts of the Stalingrad Front, 16 and the Don Front were formed - 25, and a total of 41 detachments, which are subordinate to the Special Departments of the NKVD of the armies. Since the beginning of their formation (from August 1 to October 15 of this year), barrage detachments have detained 140,755 servicemen who escaped from the front line.” Here, without looking, “detained”, firstly, this indicates that (I am illiterate and purely logically, as a policeman, excuse me, arguing), “detained” - this does not mean that they ran to the line of trenches in which he is sitting detachment. This means that they left their positions, ran away from the front line, and there they were detained by people who were not sitting in the trenches with machine guns in order to shoot in the back ... Checkpoint. Yes. ... on roads, paths and more. Further, the key one is “those who escaped from the front line”, I would note that there are so-called threatened directions in which there is a possibility of a breakthrough and in which one must stand to the death, which, apparently, orders are issued. If you left and ran away, then you set everyone else up - if they break through here, they will kill even more. You saved your own skin, and framed the rest. Well, 140 thousand fled, sorry, of course, this is a mass phenomenon, that is, the commanders of these military personnel either do not rule, or lead the flight from the front line. “... Of the detainees: 3,980 people were arrested, 1,189 people were shot, 2,776 people were sent to penal companies, 185 people were sent to penal battalions, 131,094 people were returned to their units and to transit points.” I can again say that, as a policeman, they were detained, immediately interrogated, everyone pointed at each other with their fingers that they were guilty, the first one yelled “Run!” the commanders fled ahead of everyone, or behind everyone, it doesn’t matter), here 185 of them were sent to penal battalions ... “... The largest number of detentions and arrests were made by barrage detachments of the Don and Stalingrad fronts. On the Don Front, 36,109 people were detained, 736 people were arrested, 433 people were shot, 1,056 people were sent to penal companies, 33 people were sent to penal battalions, 32,933 people were returned to their units and to transit points. Detained - 36 thousand, returned - 33 thousand, roughly speaking. I’ll say separately about those who were shot that as soon as these people are identified who caused the flight from the line of defense that they are obliged to hold, such people should certainly be formed into a unit and shot in front of everyone, so that it doesn’t even occur to them to run somewhere there. I repeat - build, read out the verdict and, according to the verdict, and not out of lawlessness, shoot. It is not clear to many - everything is documented there, who was shot, for what, when, who is the perpetrator and all that. “... 15,649 people were detained along the Stalingrad Front, 244 people were arrested, 278 people were shot, 218 people were sent to penal companies, 42 to penal battalions, 14,833 people were returned to their units and to transit points. » 15,649 people were detained, 14,833 were released. “It should be noted that the barrage detachments, and especially the detachments on the Stalingrad and Don fronts (subordinate to the special departments of the NKVD armies), during the period of fierce battles with the enemy, played a positive role in restoring order in the units and preventing unorganized withdrawal from the lines they occupied, the return of a significant number of soldiers on the front line. August 29 this year the headquarters of the 29th Infantry Division of the 64th Army of the Stalingrad Front was surrounded by enemy tanks that had broken through, parts of the division, having lost control in a panic, retreated to the rear. The detachment detachment operating behind the combat formations of the units of the division (the head of the detachment, lieutenant of state security Filatov), ​​having taken decisive measures, suspended the military personnel retreating in disorder and returned them to the previously occupied defense lines. I draw your attention to the fact that no one was shot, everyone was returned back. Someone will immediately say that “drastic measures” means that a couple of people were shot after all ... It is quite possible. But when the masses flee, when there is panic, in fact only such measures, unfortunately, bring everyone to their senses. But I note that they are not shot, but returned. “In another sector of this division, the enemy tried to break through into the depths of the defense. The detachment entered the battle and delayed the advance of the enemy. Well, that is, everyone ran away, and the detachment was still doing something. “September 14 this year. the enemy launched an offensive against units of the 399th division of the 62nd army, which carried the defense of the city of Stalingrad. The fighters and commanders of the 396th and 472nd divisions of the regiments began to retreat in a panic, leaving the lines. The head of the detachment (junior lieutenant of state security Elman) ordered his detachment to open fire over the heads of the retreating. As a result, the personnel of these regiments was stopped, and after 2 hours the regiments occupied the former lines of their defense. Well, actually, the task is to return it to its place. “September 20 this year. the enemy occupied the eastern outskirts of Melekhovskaya. The consolidated brigade, under the onslaught of the enemy, began an unauthorized withdrawal to another line. By the actions of the detachment of the 47th Army of the Black Sea Group of Forces, order was restored in the brigade. The brigade occupied the former lines and, at the initiative of the political instructor of the company of the same detachment, Pestov, by joint actions with the brigade, the enemy was driven back from Melekhovskaya. At critical moments, when support was needed to hold the occupied lines, the barrage detachments entered directly into battle with the enemy, successfully held back his onslaught and inflicted losses on him. On September 13 of this year, the 112th division, under pressure from the enemy, withdrew from the occupied line. The detachment of the 62nd army, led by the head of the detachment (state security lieutenant Khlystov), ​​took up defensive positions on the outskirts of an important height. For 4 days, the fighters and commanders of the detachment repelled the attacks of enemy submachine gunners and inflicted heavy losses on them. The detachment held the line until the approach of military units. September 15-16 this year The detachment of the 62nd Army successfully fought for 2 days against superior enemy forces in the area of ​​the railway. railway station in Stalingrad. Despite its small size, the detachment not only repelled enemy attacks, but also attacked him, causing him significant losses in manpower. The detachment left its line only when units of the 10th page of the division came to replace it. A number of facts were noted when barrage detachments were used incorrectly by individual commanders of formations. A significant number of detachments were sent into battle on a par with line units, which suffered losses, as a result of which they were assigned for reorganization, and the barrier service was not carried out. Well, that is, the stupid ones were present. “September 19 of this year. the command of the 240th division of the Voronezh Front of one of the companies of the detachment of the 38th Army gave a combat mission to clear the grove from a group of German machine gunners. In the battles for the grove, this company lost 31 people, of which 18 people were killed. Also an example of misuse, apparently. “The barrage detachment of the 29th Army of the Western Front, being operationally subordinate to the commander of the 246th division division, was used as a combat unit. Taking part in one of the attacks, a detachment of 118 personnel lost 109 people killed and wounded, in connection with which it was re-formed. According to the 6th Army of the Voronezh Front, according to the order of the Military Council of the Army of the 2nd Barrage Detachment on September 4th of this year. 174 divisions were attached and brought into battle. As a result, the detachments lost up to 70% of their personnel in battle, the remaining fighters of these detachments were transferred to the named division and thus disbanded. 3rd detachment of the same army on September 10 of this year. was placed on the defensive. In the 1st Guards Army of the Don Front, on the orders of the army commander Chistyakov and a member of the Military Council Abramov, 2 barrage detachments were repeatedly sent into battle, like ordinary units. As a result, the detachments lost more than 65% of their personnel and were subsequently disbanded. In this regard, the order of the Military Council of the front on the transfer of 5 barrage detachments to the subordination of the 24th Army was not carried out. "As you and I can see, a slightly different picture than what you see in the film "The Citadel" and other works: our fighter is just a little bit, here he is sitting in a trench, turned back and the first thing he sees will be the muzzle of a machine gun "Maxim" ... Lieutenant Elman. ...behind which are perfectly equipped NKVD soldiers in clean uniforms ... With nail files. ... and they shout to him that let's go ahead, otherwise we'll bang you here now. As an illustration, in fact, I wanted to read the award list of Lieutenant of State Security Khlystov Yuri Georgievich, who was the head of the 4th detachment of the special department of the NKVD of the 62nd Army, here he is mentioned here, presented to the Order of the Red Star and here, accordingly, is briefly described as follows: “As the head of the detachment, Comrade Khlystov showed courage and courage, devotion to the cause of the party of Lenin-Stalin. Under his leadership, the detachment since September 1 with. the city detained individuals and groups fleeing from the battlefield in the amount of 2449 people. He himself personally detained and exposed 8 German agents who had made their way to the rear of our units. In the month of September The city with a platoon of fighters detained two battalions of the 193rd Infantry Division, who fled from the battlefield and restored the position of the front line of defense. In September, near the height of 102.2, he led a detachment in battle. Under his leadership, the detachment destroyed up to two enemy infantry battalions. That is, in fact, here we see from the descriptions of what is happening, from awards and other things, we see that, by and large, detachments are what the military police are doing now. I would immediately go to my beloved - eight agents, abandoned, which means everyone is gathered in a heap, everyone is interviewed, it is revealed who knows who, who sees whom, we don’t know this person and we don’t know this person, but how did you get here Where are you from, and who do you know? Eight people is a lot. Yes. And most importantly: what are you doing in the front line? This says that these people are prepared, pulled up to the front line, and at the moment, as soon as the flight of those who left their positions begins, the Germans launch their agents, which gallop through the front line, minefields, barriers, and these do not even see, who catches up with them and the NKVD is forced to do this. Naturally, as we usually say, one was caught - five were missed. Part naturally somehow leaked. This is a no-nonsense event. Of course. All this was actually necessary. And indeed, there are of course a lot of negative statements here, which are very similar to what we can read now on forums on the Internet. Yes, the NKVD actually monitored the reactions through its informants, the reaction of fighters, commanders to this order 227. There really were statements in the sense that the right order, at the right time and in the right place, and someone said that now it means not the Germans, so they will kill their own. Well, these are really defeatist moods, the person surrendered, one might say. And there really were a lot of such statements, but again, let's remember that in the summer of 1942 in those parts for our troops, diplomatically speaking, everything was really not brilliant, the situation was difficult. And in this book, the words of some of our commanders are quoted, who said that the one who can stop this is that genius and leader. And indeed, Stalin said his weighty word that in this situation, it was probably necessary, unfortunately. A desperate situation, it requires desperate measures, actually ... And for some reason, when the Germans began to shoot their deserters and then, in 1945, they began to hang everyone who ran away en masse, and hang them indicatively along the roads, for some reason this is normal, in a European way. And here, when they caught a deserter, when he confessed everything, or worse, they caught a fighter who committed a crossbow, they shot him in front of the ranks - this is terrible, only in the bloody Scoop, only under Stalin this can be. Unfortunately, desertion, it is in any army in the world in wartime, is a very big chance to go to the other world, and in disgrace. Or you will be very lucky, like Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn, and you will get only eight years. Yes, it already depends on how you will speak before the tribunal and what the tribunal will consider again, that is, execution or penal battalion. But again, here these six letters - OO NKVD, appear in a slightly different light, and I would like to say just a few more words about what is forgotten and about the fact that the NKVD is also the native Soviet militia, speaking between us. And just here there are reports from the head of the NKVD department, Voronin, about the fact that the battles for Stalingrad began, what the Soviet police are doing. Report: “Report from the NKVD SO to the NKVD of the USSR on the situation in Stalingrad. September 14, 1942 Comrade. I report to Abakumov that enemy tanks with submachine gunners broke through from the direction of the Central Airfield and occupied Dvinskaya and Feldfebelskaya streets. Fights are going on in the area of ​​the Dynamo stadium and the station. Our troops are retreating. From the side of Mamaev-Bugra, the enemy approaches the hardware plant and the Krasny Oktyabr plant. Enemy aircraft are bombing crossings, fighting is going on in the center of the city. The head of the garrison, Colonel Saraev, and the commander of the 62nd Army remained from the command in the city. Through the NKVD, two of my deputies and 10 operational workers remained with them, as well as 90 operational staff, which are located in the factories and factories of the city. In addition, the entire police force is located in the city, headed by the head of the Regional Police Department, which took up defense today. There are also employees of the Special Departments in the city, but I do not know their number. Deputy Commander of the front, Major General Golikov, at night with all his apparatus departed to the left bank of the Volga. Enemy aircraft destroyed all the small enterprises of local industry, the central oil depot, 80 percent of the Barrikady plant (No. 221) was destroyed, and the Krasny Oktyabr plant was badly damaged. The enemy does not bomb the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. The plant was mostly preserved, it suffered a little from mortar and artillery shelling. It is worth saying that the following enterprises have been completely preserved: StalGRES, Plant 91 and Plant 264. I ask for your instructions." There is also such a stereotype that the police were the first to flee the city ... Of course. ... when they shouted that German tanks were on their way. Here you can take a look. From my point of view, it is unfair to say that people did not contribute to the overall victory over the enemy. Well, actually, at the end of the story about the detachments, that in fact this was what the military police, which are, in general, in all the armies of the world, are doing now: checking documents in the rear, identifying enemy agents, and, well, an extreme desperate situation is just a cast in the feeling of the fighters. Indeed, still strongest army in Europe at that time - German and did everything competently: first a dive raid, then artillery shelling, then tanks and a really unfired fighter from all this could panic, run ... and then others run after him, and everything turns into an uncontrollable herd that needs stop, even perhaps with shots over their heads, then build, bring to life, yell, it is possible to identify the instigator, shoot him indicatively and send everyone back. That is to bring to life. Yes, of course it’s not good to shoot at your own people, but it’s not good to shoot someone. but this is actually a military situation, this is the law of war. It’s even worse to substitute your own, exposing sections of the front, this is much worse. And disobeying orders is even worse. Someone likes it, doesn’t like it ... Still, now the times are completely different, that is, now I want to - I do it, I want - I don’t do it. But, excuse me, this is modern civilian life in the 21st century, very free, very well-fed, again, this is not a combat situation. In the army, everything is different, especially in wartime, where the laws are much tougher. According to the law of wartime: by the power given to me by the Soviet Union, we are shooting you right here, because you arranged all this, because of you the battalion ran, understand that this is all. And again, it did not necessarily happen that comrades from the NKVD did this. In the same way, artillerymen, for example, could open fire over their heads or stop and hit in the muzzles and send them back with a kick. That is, the infantry is sitting, they are supported by the artillerymen, the infantry ran and the artillerymen, realizing that now we will have Germans here, we have twenty shells, ten of them are armor-piercing, which you will not shoot at the infantry. And you fire these ten shells and that’s all, but you can’t leave the guns, this is also leaving the materiel to the enemy, for the gunners it’s a shame and an artillery officer, realizing that if you don’t stop those who ran now, then for him it’s either captivity or death. Either he must throw the guns, but that's an article. That is, he was framed, indeed, by the foot soldiers who ran. And there are cases in the memoirs of our veterans when some well-mannered, educated Soviet artillery officer, seeing that the infantry ran in front of his battery, he jumps out with a machine gun, takes a few more people with machine guns, runs across them, yells obscenities at them, shoots over heads, then gives someone in the face, turns everyone around and drives them back. Because he understands that otherwise his battery will end. Well, the detachment allows the gunners to do their job, and not to drive the chickened out and run away. This in a mobile war could happen quite often. I would also add to say that the person who ran, I assure you, and if he ran with a unit, he does not run to the headquarters of the 62nd Army at all to report, sorry, we ran, he runs first wherever his eyes look, and then he runs from responsibility for what he did. So, in the thirty-kilometer front line, besides the detachments, SMERSH was still operating ... But it appeared later. Because it is impossible to divide these tasks: to catch agents and detain soldiers, it is impossible. A thirty-kilometer front line in which no one, especially military personnel, can hang around idle, insofar as you ran away in uniform, you will not find civilian clothes anywhere, you will make your way to the devil knows where, you have already got so far that you need to be caught. Well, actually, they caught it. Completely successful, in my opinion. Reports about 140 thousand detainees, well, probably, the phenomenon was massive, probably, it must somehow be stopped in the end. Actually, indeed, many fighters said that, yes, the right order, at the right time, the necessary measures were taken. Simonov wrote very well about this. The work "The Living and the Dead". Recommended reading. And here I would like to quote the Austrian General Erhard Raus, who, despite the fact that he fought against us in the first world war , fought in the Second World War and he always somehow constantly grew in the service, received awards, although all the battles where he was, they somehow didn’t end very well for the Germans. That is, he didn’t take Leningrad when he commanded the 6th Panzer Division, he didn’t take Moscow, somehow it didn’t work out very well in the Battle of Kursk ... But he fought the whole war, competently surrendered to the Americans at the end of the war in 1945, that is, he did everything right. Explanatory. And then, in 1948, the Americans urged him and a group of other German generals to write a summary analysis. And he wrote about the Red Army. I am now completely translating this document, it is in English on the Internet, such a slightly heavy text, because it is clear that the Austrian wrote in German, then it was translated into English and there are such phrases for two paragraphs, heavy. And of course, they immediately began to tell me, why are you publishing this shortfall, but I don’t care what he said. It's all cranberries, again, their perception of the balalaika bear, the Jewish commissar, and so on. I say, well, listen, he wrote not just nonsense, these are not just memoirs, where he reflected on how he almost won and because Hitler was wrong, he lost. This is a document, a memorandum, and it actually says a lot of sound things. Of course, there are a number of things that it will be frankly unpleasant for us to read, about the fact that the Russian soldier is a cattle in the bulk, that herd feeling, they always run around in herds ... but for some reason, everyone has an anti-tank rifle, everyone has a machine gun. Yes, this is his personal perception, but at the same time, this is what he wrote for the Americans already for the next war against the Soviet Union. He wrote, yes, we lost, lost because of this, that, that, that, but I advise you to do this and then you will win. Read our mistakes. Yes. And look at the nineties, the impression is that the Americans really followed these recommendations. For example, he writes that the Soviet Union had a very powerful military industry, well, they knocked out a thousand tanks, two thousand arrived, that is, since 1943, Soviet factories deployed in the Urals, which shells, cartridges, guns, planes, tanks just drive to the west and throw the Germans, sorry, no longer with corpses, but simply with tens of tons of shells. And so he wrote that yes, we actually lost in the war economy, we failed, they produced more, and we produced little, and they simply overwhelmed us with a mass of this iron, a mass of military equipment, ammunition. This is what happens, the Stalinist communist economy is more powerful than the German capitalist one? Yes, more powerful and pragmatic, and more logical. Because, if the Germans only in 1943 decided to transfer their economy to a military footing and declared totalkrieg, that is, total war. That is, until 1943, they had a bunch of factories producing ordinary consumer goods, which was already everything in the Soviet Union in 1941, excuse me, you do not produce powder, but in these powder boxes you make heel-pinch anti-personnel mines. Please go to the Leningrad Defense Museum in Solyanoy Lane, it directly shows how all enterprises were switched to the production of military products, any enterprises. The Germans woke up only in 1943, something is bad with us, accordingly, they began to transfer their entire industry to a military footing. Did not help. Did not help. And Routh writes at the end that they had a very powerful military industry, but if you bang it, with your strategic bombers or something else, then you will probably win. Well, look at the nineties - yes, half of the defense industry (or some, unfortunately, I'm not an expert) ... We managed without bombers. Yes, they did without bombs and really banged. Indeed, many factories simply collapsed. Enough Yegorov Gaidar and Anatoly Chubais. But let's get back to what Routh says about commissars, detachments and all these other things. Let's read. He writes the following: “However, it is not true that the Russian soldier fought so well only because of the fear of the commissars, under the guns of machine guns with calculations from political officers. A soldier who is motivated only by fear will never have the qualities that the Russian soldier demonstrated in this war. The motive of fear could be the last resort in difficult situations, but basically the Russians had a national spirit that was different from the political one, no weaker than that of the soldiers of the Western armies and with the same source of strength. That is, the Russian soldiers, it turns out, were the same patriots of their country as the soldiers of the Western armies, and maybe even more. Well said. It is only unclear what these Western patriots needed in the Soviet Union. It's hard to understand. Well, we just talked about detachments, that this is really a forced measure, a measure in a desperate situation, which is true, if 140 thousand were detained, most of them were returned and only 2-3 thousand were shot, then this already somewhat suggests that modern Russian art cinema gives us an absolutely distorted picture. And indeed, these people who did their job: they caught agents, brought the soldiers of the Red Army to their senses, who faltered, yes, they condemned and shot them in front of the ranks, but someone has to do it, this is war. War is generally bad, killing is generally bad, killing your own is also bad, but if this is not done, then we will lose the whole country in general, we will lose the nation and in general we will lose everything. Here, a fighter was detained or an officer was detained in a detachment, or a commandant's patrol was detained on the street of a front-line city, and it turns out that the person has deserted. Or, I posted a video recently, our veteran told us there, a young lieutenant, they gave us four days of vacation, and we went on a walk in Rostov for a week with girls, vodka, dancing, girls ... two young guys, lieutenants, twenty years old ... It's hard to break away, Yes. Yes, both are twenty years old. And accordingly, as if late. There, the patrol detained them, and says, guys, you had a vacation, as it were, for four days, and you have been walking for a week already, you guys are deserters, with all due respect ... Just think, I was late, but I returned They were told, but they are already looking for you, you have already been declared deserters, in fact, they were supposed to arrive at the unit and did not arrive, but vodka girls are more important than the oath. Well, they were told, that's it, guys - penal battalion. Let's figure it out right away: what is a penal battalion, what is a penal company, what do they mean. A penal company is for soldiers and non-commissioned officers, that is, they are not officers, not commanders, these are precisely non-commissioned officers, midshipmen and privates. For those who do not understand well, an officer cannot get into a penal company. Can not. And here is this criminal rabble, excuse me, shown in the "Penal Battalion", that there is some kind of crowd of criminals, thieves are fighting ... where did they come from, excuse me? How could they get into a penal battalion if they do not have an officer's rank, if not at the front, if they did not receive a sentence for a military crime committed at the front? What is it in general? That is, firstly, an officer cannot get into a penal company. Can not. A soldier cannot get into a penal battalion. Yes. This is the first moment. The second point: there really is such a tough Soviet pragmatism here - after the battle, in order to relieve stress, three officers got drunk in a dugout, fought, someone pulled out a gun and shot another drunk. It happens. Excuse me, the army is several million people, the army is a replica of society, everything is the same as in ordinary society. They tied him up, this criminal, and dragged him to the tribunal. And the man overslept, came to his senses, repented and said that yes, I was to blame, I did it, he confessed. And accordingly, according to the law of wartime, he must be shot. For such a really cruel violation of military discipline and, in fact, a criminal offense - murder while intoxicated, that is, with aggravating circumstances. But on the other hand, maybe he received a letter that his relatives died because of this, he got drunk and lost control of himself to relieve stress, maybe the girl sent a letter that don’t wait, she married another. Again, the state spent at least six months of an infantry school to make him a lieutenant (or second lieutenant), that is, a person took the course for six months (or three or four months - there were accelerated courses when everything was bad in 1942), but the soldiers who are sitting in the trench, they didn’t even have this, they don’t know everything that he studied, the state spent time and raised him to an officer, that is, he is already more educated, or maybe he has been fighting in general since 1941, him several awards, combat experience , he knows everything there, smart ... Well, he broke, well, it happens. And just to take him and shoot him is stupid, this is an irrational use of human resources. Therefore, why are we going to kill him, why shoot him, if a person can really ... Expiate his guilt with blood. … to redeem themselves with blood, yes. Let him go to the front, he can do everything, he has learned everything, he has combat experience, let him fight for three months in the most difficult areas and, if he lives, we will return him both shoulder straps and awards, and return calmly to his unit. Or will be transferred to another part. But in this case, he will fight not as an officer, but as a private. Yes. They take away all the awards from him, take away his shoulder straps, and, like an ordinary soldier, he ends up in a penal battalion, this applies to officers. Again, sergeants and fighters end up in a penal company, for the same crimes - stole, killed, raped, looted, ran away, committed a crossbow, something else. With the fighters, the conversation was still stricter, because not such valuable personnel. And yes, dear viewers, if anyone does not know what a crossbow is: this is when a fighter specifically shoots a muscle in his arm or leg in order to say. that hurt me and get me out of here. Moreover, it specifically shoots so as not to hit the bone (so that the wound is light). And accordingly, if you shoot from a rifle, powder gases remain on the skin. As a rule, they shot through a boot or through a loaf and the actual fight against crossbows, this was also a serious task for a special department. There were also “double crossbows”, this is when two fighters diverged five meters so that there are no powder gases and they shoot each other so as to injure easily and say “get me out of here, I don’t want to be at the front anymore, I’m tired, I’m leaving ” and thus avoid being on the battlefield. This is also a criminal article. Criminal article "self-mutilation". Moreover, not only in the Red Army, but in general in any army in the world. And you also understand, if someone does this and in part they understand that they can fall down in this way, it has an absolutely destructive effect on morale, on morale, because everyone will start doing this in order to go to the hospital, they feed better there, there it’s warm, there are no lice, they’ll sanitize you there, the sisters there are beautiful and they don’t kill you at all. At least you'll live another month. Yes, you'll live another month and generally a cool idea. But this is a crime. I would still follow. You said that there were three people who got drunk and one shot the other while drunk. I note that in this case a decent commander will try to register the person killed as killed in battle, because if you were shot while drunk, this is a criminal offense and nothing will be allowed to the family, and if you died in battle, then there is a pension, awards, something there… And, accordingly, relatives will not know that some bastard shot him while drunk… And what a trauma it is for relatives. Still would. He didn’t die for his Motherland, but just like that ... Well, again, the army is a cast of society, this is the first moment. And the second point is that millions of people went through the army during the Great Patriotic War, so of course there could be such cases, in much smaller labor collectives there are (some miners in the North). That is, the tribunal could do something like this: taking into account past merits, we do not shoot, but send this officer to the penal battalion, remove shoulder straps, remove awards, they are stored. Arrived at the penal battalion, won it back for three months, if you survived, if you received any injury, then, accordingly, everything, you rehabilitated yourself, washed away your guilt before the Motherland with blood. Both titles and awards are returned to you, and if you also distinguished yourself in the penal battalion, then the commander of the penal battalion can also reward you if the fighter really has proven himself very well. I’ll clarify one more time for the stupid: either you get hurt, easily, hard - it doesn’t matter, it’s called “washed away with blood”, or you rattled your three months there, didn’t get a scratch, and in the same way it is considered that you atoned for guilt. Yes. Or he died, but then it is also believed that he atoned for his guilt with blood. And a very important point here is to understand that the penal battalion is actually in terms of the number of penalized men, it is a reinforced rifle regiment, that is, about 800 people. Again, what is distorted in the series "Shtrafbat" is that they have a commander of a penal, this could not be ... This cannot be. This could not be, that is, the commander of a penal battalion, the commanders of penal companies and platoon commanders are regular officers, they are always there, because penal soldiers come and go: someone was wounded, someone was killed, someone honestly won back three month and left, and such a thing as a headquarters, how to manage it all. That is, the actual officer backbone of the battalion should be permanent, there were officers who had powers much higher than those of an ordinary battalion commander, in fact, the powers were at the level of a regiment commander or even at the level of a division commander. And now there are 800 people, officers, all educated, all smart. Yes, probably, there are some stealing quartermasters who were pushing alcohol somewhere in the rear and they caught him, and also, why shoot him, fight. And accordingly, what to do with them? They used it as a shock part, as an elite shock part. Because there are all officers, all smart, everyone knows everything, everyone is already fighting a lot. Indeed, in the most difficult sectors of the front, that is, the penal battalion was not just like that, especially for officers, in order to get rid of it, no, they were thrown into the most dangerous sectors, the losses were very high. The key question is: why were they sent there, in order to kill them all, or so that they would solve some specific problem? Specific complex combat mission. Excuse me, I'll interrupt, here is a good example, that when cleaning up a grove ... Clean up a grove from a group of German machine gunners. Well, this is a detachment. As a rule, he was placed in the penal battalion in the direction of the main attack, and he went first. Well: "Participating in one of the attacks, out of 118 personnel, I lost 109 people killed and wounded." This is to the question of what happens in normal parts, ordinary ones. What should happen in the penal battalion, I'm wondering. Everyone should jump out alive and healthy? The fact of the matter is, yes, that if you are guilty, if you really were guilty and committed a crime, then it is clear that you will not be offered a sanatorium in Tashkent. They will put in the direction of the main blow and that's it, let's go. This is the height that an ordinary infantry unit cannot take a long time ago, here we go, take it. That is, in fact, what is shown in the "Penal Battalion" ... that there are some kind of incomprehensible criminals, it is not clear where they came from, they generally tried not to let them go to the front, to the Red Army, there were some political ones ... They also tried to go to the front don't let. Indeed, there are memories of those who were imprisoned, that they wrote petition after petition and they were refused all the time, they said no, sit on, we have people who are fighting. That the battalion commander himself is a penal. That there are some boozes there, bukhalovo, criminals run the battalion. Another Orthodox priest, it’s not clear where from at all ... He’s good, he’s along with criminals at the same time ... I don’t know why it’s shown like that ... Again, just understand that the series “Penal Battalion” has nothing to do with the fact that the penal battalion from represented himself. If you want to read about the penal battalion, really about the difficulties, about the features, about losses and everything else, there is a wonderful book by Alexander Pyltsyn, who was a company commander in the 8th penal battalion of the 1st Belorussian Front, called “Penalty strike, or Like an officer's penal battalion reached Berlin. The book is on Ozone, the book is in electronic form. Please take a read. And the most important thing is that comrade Pyltsyn was alive a few years ago and, unfortunately, he was not lucky enough to see the series “Penal Battalion”, I don’t know at all how he survived ... In my opinion, he saw it, no? He watched the series "Penal Battalion", but when I asked him about it, he said that obviously we now have such an ideology. This is true. We really have such an ideology aimed at instilling hatred for our own ancestors. And such a question. As it should be for all idiots, that is, people convicted of nothing (that is, military crimes are “for nothing”), people sent to the most dangerous directions, well, and then, probably, they want to kill them all. So, in order to kill them, they were sent to the most dangerous direction, how were they armed? Like at Nikita Sergeyevich's, they handed out shovels from shovels? No. This is an assault assault unit. That is, everything is with automatic weapons, everything is fine with this. Everyone understood everything. And just in Poltsyn, he describes very well that just the battalion commander and company commanders treated their subordinates with respect, because all officers. It is clear that now they are not officers for three months, but there the captain or senior lieutenant could have subordinate former colonels or lieutenant colonels who did not comply with the order or did something like that ... That is, there was an absolutely normal attitude, there was normal armament and Poltsyn he said that our weapons were almost better than in the guards, almost better than those of the guards units. Everyone was well aware that it was not suicide squad , this is really an elite unit that can cope with tasks that our usual rifle unit, just formed or something else, this unit is a penal battalion, it will be able to cope with this task. Were there cases when (they were all condemned for nothing) they ran in front and fled to the Germans in full force? Has it happened? No. This very rarely happened. No, in no way, because they would immediately bang their own. The company commander or the battalion commander, he also ran with them, wherever he would let them escape. If he sees that someone dropped his weapon and ran to the Germans, he immediately ... and his own too immediately ... after all, these are officers, it is clear that they are guilty, but there is still such a thing as the honor of an officer. Well, what is it. This, you know, is more like a penal company ... that’s just the 29th separate penal company of the 23rd Army, I read the loss report there, and to be honest, my idea has changed somewhat, because it feels like some kind of gang just criminals. Because there, in June, in my opinion, they really had a huge number of people shot for disobedience, for disobeying an order, for resisting command, for trying to escape, for desertion, really, it seems that just some kind of sharaga of criminals, just what - a gang. Well, in my opinion, it is twofold, that is, on the one hand, the leadership that commands them, what is the priest - such is the parish. Yes. But there really, if you look at the summary of losses, then there are a lot of combat losses, yes. There, before the assault on height 44.5 on Vuoksa, there were 200 of them, and by the evening there were 40 of them, that is, they actually ceased to exist. But there they also had some absolutely incomprehensible sad situation, which, I don’t understand why it happened - there they also shot the commander of a penal company for disobeying an order before storming the height. Whether he refused, or something else, is unclear. But as a result, yes, for some reason I got hooked on this company, that it is written there that the commander of the penal company was shot before the assault on the height for failure to comply with the order. Then I got hooked on his last name, a summary of losses appeared on the Internet, and there, yes, there are many such non-combat losses, connected, rather, with some kind of criminal cases. Once again, dear viewers, I would like to say that this is not a purely Soviet invention, it was, in fact, many other armies. The Germans had their penal battalions. Well, in fact, our good neighbors Finns distinguished themselves, in 1941 they formed their 21st separate penal battalion. And it was there that they recruited criminals and political ones. That is, the series "Shtrafbat" it would be logical if there was a Finnish penal battalion. But it was even more fun there. Now I will give statistics directly from the Finnish Wikipedia - what the Finns write about themselves and what they want to show the world accordingly, I guess. 550 voluntary felons from Sukeva and Pelso prison. And in addition, they recruited 288 people who were imprisoned for their political views, that is, the communists. Were they forcibly sent there? Probably not. Yes, it means that out of these 288 politicians there were 25 former commanders of the Finnish Red Guard who fought in the Finnish Civil War back in 1918. Well, actually, the fun began already on the way to the front, when seven of these political people fled straight from the train, by the way, one of them was the future Minister of the Interior of Finland in the Kekkonen government, a staunch communist who was in this camp and then fled accordingly. Moreover, the Finnish police did not catch him, he really was in the position of an underground worker throughout the war. Yurio Leino was his name. Such a staunch communist. And the Communist Party was banned, that is, he really had his own underground cell, he was quietly engaged in underground activities against Finland in Finland. And then in 1945 he came out of the gloom, under the terms of the armistice, the activity of the Communist Party was again allowed, and he calmly appeared and then was the Minister of the Interior of Finland. Serovo. That is, he knew from the inside ... Yes. Well, actually, here you are, a battalion of criminals and political. So they arrived at the front, and in the first week 80 politicians ran straight to the enemy, that is, to ours. Actually, they are convinced communists and ran to the Red Army to surrender, then they made a leaflet, specially for their own, they said: men, everything is fine here, come on. Well, all the prisoners always wrote this ... Well, accordingly, after that, the Finnish officers thought and realized that they did something wrong, because this is generally the main supplier of defectors, this battalion, well, excuse me - 288 people, of which 80 fled to ours, no matter how yes, something is wrong ... Third, count. Yes. Well, after that, all the remaining political ones were simply sent from the front back to the camp, to sit out. And after that there was a pure battalion of criminals. The bold experiment failed. Yes, the experiment failed. The Russian Bolsheviks, of course, were to blame for the fact that they did not send political people to the front. Where, in my opinion, any donkey understands how it will end: if you showed yourself like that in peacetime, then in wartime nothing else should be expected from you. And even if you specifically think that it is not so, then there is no need to conduct such experiments. Actually, this battalion of criminals (convicted of criminal offenses) he calmly fought, actually spent time on the defensive, such a rather positional static war began there. Losses? Losses were small. There is a very well-known topic when another volunteer from prison came there and his battalion commander asked: who are you? He's like, "I'm a serial killer, a recidivist." They say to him: well, we need such people here. Yes, the 21st separate battalion "Black Arrow" was called it, such a romantic name, but then they became an ordinary infantry battalion. And then in 1944, if I remember correctly, if, again, I didn’t mess up anything with the numbering of the regiments, because they very often shuffled them, transferred battalions from one regiment to another, they were just in 1944, when they were already under a steamroller of the Soviet offensive, there, in my opinion, the battalion immediately fled for nothing, stole a truck ... As it should be, they dashed off in full force. Yes. They hijacked a truck, the military police tried to stop them, but just when thirty people with machine guns in the back, and there were two military policemen standing on the road, they just realized that there was no need to quarrel, stepped aside, and these left somewhere . And just a part of the deserters calmly went to the Saimaa Lakes to rest. Heroes, heroes. It’s just that there are a huge number of islands there, there are cottages and they settled there until September, and only after the truce did they somehow begin to legalize. But then again, the Finns in 1944, if this case is dismissed, because it is not very confirmed (I will have to look at the documents in more detail), but they really had a problem of desertion in 1944, about its extent, Finnish historians still they have been arguing for a long time, but also demonstrative executions, there were tribunals and in fact they had a whole photo session on the Internet in the photo bank of the Finnish defensive forces: here is a tribunal sitting, here in front of them is a deserter, a father of three children, an elderly Finnish man, well, he ran off somewhere, his the military police caught it, and now, the next photo - he is already dead. All this is on the Internet, you can look. And I also had a chance to listen to what the respected Finnish professor Mauno Jokipii, who fought as a simple soldier in 1944 in the Finnish army, said. And when it came to talking about how big the problem with desertion was in the Finnish army, how much the Finnish military police and these field tribunals helped, how many people were shot as a result, how many were caught, it was a lot or it was not enough. They also have very polar assessments: someone says, no, no, everyone fought, everyone was great, and someone says, yes, we had two divisions that ran away and fished on the Saimaa lakes. Laughing. The truth, as always, is probably somewhere in between. Here is the respected Professor Mauno Jokipii, he said the following: yes, we had demonstration executions, I saw it, I stood in the ranks, I saw it all, it had a very depressing effect on me personally, an even more depressive state, which, probably, many Finnish soldiers already believed that the war could not be won ... Yes, ours in 1942, we have a catastrophe now, but we will still rise after this blow, we will still strike back. And the Finns in 1944 understood that no retaliatory strike could be inflicted, here they just had to somehow put up with minimal territorial, some kind of economic losses. And so Mauno Jokipii said that we understood that we couldn’t win the war, and then the executions went on, and what, and where to go ... That is, there are also such defeatist moods, mirrored by the fact that NKVD informants wrote to their curators: not strangers, so theirs. So again, dear viewers, what they are now trying to feed us through the cinema, forums, and so on and so forth is absolutely not the same, this is another black myth, another black legend. Yes, probably, there were some NKVD officers who, for gratitude, for promotion, could catch some innocent soldier and shoot him indicatively. Yes, you can find in the memoirs of veterans that they caught some of our fighter and the special officer clung to him for nothing, and he was shot by the unfortunate. But again, this is human perception. The one who is now telling you this, one of our veterans, God grant everyone health, may not know all the ins and outs: what this fighter did and why he was shot before the formation. Again, the series "Penal Battalion" has nothing to do with historical reality. On the contrary, this is actually a diversion against our history, it is a spit in the direction of everyone who once fought in penal battalions. Well, the works where the detachments are depicted as people dressed to the nines, with the best equipment, the best weapons, while our fighters at the front are all ... With sticks from shovels. ... with sticks from shovels, in tattered boots, tattered tunics, lousy, dirty and they are shot in the back by these people in blue caps with crimson or red piping, NKVD caps, then this is a spit in all honest employees of the internal affairs bodies, really employees of state security, who also did their job in the war. What to say about such creators. Such creators, like a fairly large part of the Soviet intelligentsia, betrayed, sold everything that, I’m not afraid of such words, they served all their lives, everything they believed in, everything they hoped for, everything was sold, betrayed, spat upon, trampled on. How should one treat traitors, I don't know, and their traitorous product?.. What's worse is that nothing new has been invented. Nothing new that people will lead further. If the Soviet project was abandoned, it really was simply completely trampled into the mud, and then what do we have? Where are we going next? Unfortunately, over these 25 years without the Soviet Union, one can somehow see only the watering of the previous period in the history of Russia - the Soviet period, and somehow no one has formulated any national idea during this time. And indeed, they have already overfed everyone with this black myth, overfed everyone with stories about the terrible repressions of 1937, although I, too, from an intelligent family and really had relatives repressed and so on, but already these stories about 1937 and bloody Stalin ... millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, billions, and so on, cause nothing but allergies. Yes, there were times and there were bad times, and there were good times, we need to know that. “There was a time and prices were reduced, and the channels flowed where they needed to and where they needed to flow.” You need to know what happened, and not on the basis of tales, but on the basis of documents, and still look to the future. Do not repeat the mistakes that were made by our previous historical figures, do not tear history to pieces, treat the history of your country with due respect. And think, how will we ever go down in history? How cool did we go to the Canary Islands? What have we built? What have we left behind? Because, looking at how the Stalinist period is being criticized now, it is interesting how our period will be described later, in seventy years. We can tell that we watched the series "Penal Battalion", our achievement. And what have they achieved, built? What breakthrough did you make? Have you flown to Mars? No. To the moon? Well, we're going to. Was the railway to Yakutsk at least built? Not yet either. There are a lot of things in general. In Russia, there is always such a situation that there is always something to do, moreover, creative, normal, but no, we will only talk about how bad everything was in 1937 and how our ancestors, our dear grandparents, great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers with their bodies with one rifle for three, they broke into Europe and threw corpses at everyone, and there they raped everyone. At least two million. Yes, at least two million… but, excuse me, a thinking person still, it seems to me, should understand that this is not a historical reality, it is not creative and constructive. Again, if we want to continue to live as a single country and a country, sorry, not the last one on this planet. Summing up, so to speak, briefly: rather than watching and listening to any nonsense, it is better to refer to the documents. The book, I don't know, can I still buy it? In my opinion, it has already ended, but it seems they were going to republish it, but such collections of documents clear the brain very well, because these are archival sources. Of course, we will immediately be told that it was all forged, they lied and misrepresented everything there, but this, excuse me, is not a serious historical discussion, this is again propaganda. Here is the Stalingrad Epic. Documents declassified by the FSB of Russia. Memoirs of Paulus (captured), diaries and letters of soldiers of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht, undercover reports, interrogation protocols, memos of special departments of fronts and armies. This is the real story, so to speak. Dear viewers, please read Pyltsyn's book. Link to the book under the video, look, read. Do not eat what is brought to your face on a shovel, try to think at least a little, at least be interested in something. Thanks Bair. Thanks a lot. All the best to everyone. And that's all for today. See you again.

Story

In 1941, the 118th rifle division was formed on the territory of the Shakhunsky district from conscripts from the Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Kirov and Gorky regions. The formation of the division was led by the division commander, Colonel Andrey Yakovlevich Vedenin and military commissar P. I. Petrov. A. Ya. By April 1942, the formation was completely completed. The 118 Infantry Division included:

398th Rifle Regiment - Commander Colonel G. F. Nikonov;

463rd Rifle Regiment - Commander Lieutenant Colonel N.P. Nikulin;

527th Rifle Regiment - Commander Lieutenant Colonel S. V. Starikov;

604th artillery regiment- Commander Colonel A. I. Zhemartsev;

283rd separate communications battalion, 282nd engineer battalion, 259th medical and sanitary battalion, 191st anti-tank division, 87th separate mortar division.

After the formation of units was completed, the division transferred to the reserve of the Supreme High Command and was located in the Krasnye Tkachi area, Yaroslavl region. In May, the division was transferred to the command of the commander of the Moscow defense zone and is located in the city of Solnechnogorsk.

In June 1942, they received an order to move even closer to the front - to the Moscow region, to the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe wonderful Senezh Lake, on the shore of which Solnechnogorsk was spread. Soon an inspection of the Headquarters headed by Marshal of the Soviet Union K. E. Voroshilov arrived at the division and for three days comprehensively studied the readiness of the division's units and subunits.

Battle path

On July 18, 1942, the division from the reserve of the High Command came under the command of the commander of the 31st Army of the Western Front. Along the roads and villages, just liberated from the enemy, the 118th Rifle Division was moving from Volokolamsk to the front line.

He received his first baptism of fire, the artillery regiment brought down dozens of tons of deadly metal on the Nazis and, in two and a half hours of artillery preparation, provided a breakthrough in the enemy defense, which was strengthened for seven months and was considered an impregnable fortress by the Nazi bosses.

With the breakthrough of the German defense, the division occupied the enemy strongholds in the village of Christmas-Kulkovo. All enemy firing points were destroyed and, despite the increased enemy air raid and massive shelling from the left bank of the Volga, the artillery regiment timely took up battle formation in the Davydkovo-Sobolevo area. He began to support the formation of Volga divisions with fire. The division occupied a foothold on the left bank for a further offensive in the area of ​​Kolesnikovo and other settlements.

After a five-month defense, parts of the division in March 1943 fought in the Rzhev-Vyazemsky operation.

On March 2, 1943, the 118th Rifle Division was the first on the Western Front to break through the German fortified zone near Rzhev, initiating a general offensive by the troops of the 31st Army. For 18 days in the conditions of spring thaw and impassability, the division fought about 180 km, freeing up to 160 settlements, overcoming four water barriers, contributed to the liberation of the cities of Rzhev and Sychevka, participated in the liberation of the city of Dorogobuzh, crossed the important Moscow-Minsk highway.

For military merit, by order of the NPO on April 10, 1943, the 118th Rifle Division was transformed into the 85th Guards Rifle Division.

Parts and divisions were also numbered:

The 398th regiment was transformed into the 249th Guards Rifle Regiment;

The 463rd regiment was transformed into the 251st Guards Rifle Regiment;

(09/14/1942 - 11/01/1942), lieutenant colonel

• 527 sp:
• Nikulin Nikolai Petrovich (01/28/1942 - 01/28/1942)
• Starikov Sergey Vasilyevich (01/28/1942 - 06/12/1942)
• Balashov Andrey Nikolaevich (06/26/1942 - 07/18/1942)
• Tsybarev Semyon Filippovich (07/18/1942 - 08/19/1942), died 08/19/1942
• Panin Konstantin Vasilyevich (09.11.1942 - 00.03.1943)

Distinguished Warriors

For military exploits and heroic deeds during the war years in the division military awards received 13662 soldiers, officers and generals. These are 20 military orders and 557 Orders of Glory I and II degree.

Memory

• Memorial near the village of Pogoreloye Gorodishche (Zubtsovsky district of the Tver region) on the Moscow-Riga highway (M - 9, "Baltic"). A guards jet mortar "Katyusha" is installed on a concrete pedestal. The inscription on the stone slab “Here on August 4, 1942, the soldiers of the 118th Infantry Division, together with other units Soviet army made a breakthrough in the defense of the Nazi troops "
• On the 7th kilometer from Riga on the Bauska highway there is a stone obelisk with an inscription in Russian and Latvian: “From this line, the regiments of the 29th, 30th, 85th Guards divisions stormed the enemy and on October 15, 1944 liberated Zadvinye ".
• In memory of the 85th Guards Division, formed in Shakhunya, one of the streets of the city was named.

ON THE SPACES OF THE BATTLE OF THE 118th RIFLE DIVISION: RESULTS OF THE SEARCH ARCHIVE AND FIELD WORK

On the way to achieving victory in the Great Patriotic War, Kostroma formed a number of units and divisions. One of them was the 118th Rifle Division. It was formed in 1940 in Kostroma and before the start of the Great Patriotic War it was stationed at the place of formation. A lot of time has passed since the fights and battles died down. But the memory of those distant times has remained in our memory to this day.

Due to the fact that information about the first days and the initial period of the war is still classified, due to political circumstances, and also due to the lack of special information about the division itself, about the fate of the soldiers, the places of their death and / or captivity, we imagined it is important to make up for the lack of information on the basis of an analysis of unpublished and published archival sources 1 and the results of the search work of the Kostroma search association "Kharon" 2 .

“The division included 398, 463, 527 rifle regiments, 604 artillery regiment, 621 howitzer artillery regiment, 191 separate anti-tank battalion, 427 separate anti-aircraft artillery battalion, 282 separate engineer battalion, 260 separate company chemical protection, 663rd automobile battalion, 422nd field bakery, 521st field postal station. He formed a division and subsequently it was commanded by Major General Nikolai Mikhailovich Glovatsky 3. In May 1941, the division was mobilized and engaged in combat training in the Pesochnoe camp. four

From June 24, 1941 to June 28, 1941, the 118th Rifle Division was mobilized and sent to the front from Kostroma along railway through Yaroslavl, Rybinsk, Bologoe, Staraya Russa, Porkhov is transferred to Pskov, bombed along the way, unloaded in Karamushevo. From June 30, 1941, it was supposed to deploy in the Pskov fortified area, but it was late with its arrival, so by the evening of July 2, 1941, only 13 echelons arrived, by the morning of July 4, 1941, 20 echelons arrived, 2 more were on the way. She took positions near Pskov, along the Velikaya River and the Cherekha River, adjoining Lake Pskov on the right flank, and on the left flank to the mouth of the Keb River. On July 5, 1941, the division deployed in the Korly, Vasilyevo, Palkino sector, Cherskaya station, Ogurtsovo, the concentration had not yet been completed. She took her first battle on July 5, 1941 with the 6th Panzer Division. 5

During July - September 1941, she fought heavy bloody battles, fettered the advance of enemy troops near Pskov, Gdov, Kingisep, Narva, Peterhof. 118 S.D. suffered heavy losses, defending every inch of Soviet land. In these battles, a significant part of the personnel was lost, there were many killed, wounded, missing. On September 28, 1941, the division was disbanded.

In August 1942, the remnants of the division arrived on the Western Front near Rzhev. The division takes part in fierce battles for Zubtsovo, Rzhev, Vyazma, Dorogobuzh, Yelnya, Krasny, Slochka. Then it was merged with the 48th Infantry Division. Kalinina and got her number. In 1942, the division was formed again and entered the history of the Great Patriotic War under the name of the 118th Rifle Division of the 2nd Formation. one

The division was commanded by: Vedenin Andrey Yakovlevich(01/18/1942 - 09/13/1942), (11/02/1942 - 04/10/1943) lieutenant colonel, from 02/04/1942 colonel, and Sukharev Nikolai Fyodorovich(09/14/1942 - 11/01/1942), lieutenant colonel. 2

From the memoirs of A.M. Gavrilova, a resident of the Old Thomas farm, Gdovsky district: “After a strong battle, everyone was severely cut off, there were no weapons. Only the smallest soldier had a rifle, and that without a cartridge, they fought back with what they could. German submachine gunners surrounded our soldiers. After a while, gunshots rang out. The Germans drove the soldiers out of the village and shot them. For a long time they were not allowed to bury them. Only a few days later they were buried in the same field. local residents» 3 .

Subsequently, the search party found and buried the remains of 27 dead Soviet soldiers.

From the memoirs of V.V. Boikova, residents of the village of Ermakovo, Gdovsky district: “There was a major battle between the villages of Vyazka and Mga. The Germans began to push our troops, they had tanks. Soldiers often retreated without weapons. We walked mainly through the forest, asking for directions to Leningrad. Some soldiers shouted: “We have been betrayed, the commanders have fled!” The whole area, especially near the railway track, the station was strewn with dead soldiers and officers. July 17 Gdov was occupied. A camp for prisoners of war was set up in the city” 1 .

Later, thanks to the work of the search party, the remains of the soldiers were found, which confirms the memoirs of V.V. Boikov.

After many years, the information from the memories was confirmed by the search party, which conducted field excavations in this area. They discovered the remains of the dead: personal medallions of soldiers, fragments of documents, things and objects that could help identify the remains. With some certainty, it can be argued that the remains belong to the dead soldiers of the 118th Infantry Division. 2

Filozafovich V. D.

KNOWN AND UNKNOWN FEAT OF THREE HEROES ON NOVGOROD LAND

In our city - Velikiy Novgorod- many street names in honor of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, whose lives and exploits we should know.

Gerasimenko, Cheremnov, Krasilov immediately received recognition after their feat, in particular, on February 6, 1942, a publication about the exploits of the heroes was published in the newspaper of the Volkhov Front, Frontovaya Gazeta.

On February 21, 1944, all three were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin posthumously. Streets in Veliky Novgorod, Novokuznetsk, in the Novomoskovsky district of the Dnepropetrovsk region are named after the heroes. At the Novokuznetsk memorial "Wreath of Glory", among others, there is a sculptural relief depicting the feat of three Red Army soldiers. In Veliky Novgorod, at Yaroslav's Court, a monument was erected in honor of Cheremny, Krasilov and Gerasimenko. In Barnaul, on the memorial of Glory, the name of A. Krasilov is indicated in the lists. All three are forever listed as soldiers of the second company of the 299th regiment. The 225th division itself was named Novgorod. At the place of death there is a memorial in the vicinity of Veliky Novgorod. Names, dates and dedication to three warriors are carved on the memorial plaque. At the opening of the memorial, three birch trees were planted nearby, which is symbolic: these trees will remind the beauty, will, character, courage, sincerity of the act they committed. The feat of three heroes was sung by the poet Nikolai Tikhonov in the poem "The Ballad of Three Communists".

On the night of January 29, 1942, the search group of the 1st rifle battalion from the location of the 299th rifle regiment went to the southwestern outskirts of the city of Novgorod. At that moment, when the ensuing battle was already almost crowned with success for Soviet soldiers, three machine guns from bunkers, which had not been previously detected, suddenly opened fire. Without wasting a minute, the squad leader, Sergeant Ivan Savvich Gerasimenko, rushed to the machine gun and covered it with his body, repeating the feat of A.K. Pankratov, who was the first in the history of the Great Patriotic War to cover an enemy machine gun with his body not far from that place, near the Kirillov Monastery. His fighters, privates Alexander Semenovich Krasilov and Leonty Aseevich Cheremnov, rushed after the commander to the remaining two machine guns. Thanks to their feat, the platoon completed combat mission, destroying 6 bunkers and more than fifty Nazis 1 .

All three heroes were from Novokuznetsk. Alexander Semenovich Krasilov (1902 - 1942) and Leonty Aseevich Cheremnov (1913 - 1942) were born in the Altai Territory, and Ivan Savvich Gerasimenko was born in the Dnepropetrovsk Region. Gerasimenko and Krasilov had been at the front since 1941, while Cheremnov did not have time to fight even a year.

These people fought for their comrades to stay alive and continue to fight, for us and our relatives, children to prosper, for our country to defend its independence, and they achieved this. It should not be noted that now we would hardly have overcome the enemy. Where has the feeling of solidarity gone, the feeling of patriotism, the brotherhood of the people, when, finally, the nation will unite and be united? Is it not for this that our heroes Krasilov, Cheremnov and Gerasimenko threw themselves under the bullets of enemy bunkers, so that a feeling of self-interest, cowardice, vileness prevailed in us, was it not for this that they did not spare themselves, so that we would use freedom not for the benefit of kindness and generosity, after all, not for the same?

They fought for freedom, for the life of another person, valuing it more than their own, they fought for us, so let's be honest with these people and thank them for their feats not in words, but with deeds that they would like to see from us.

This feat should forever remain in the memory of not only Novgorodians, the people should know and remember their heroes.

Chistyakova Marina Lvovna

INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES OF THE STATE INSTITUTION "STATE ARCHIVE OF THE KOSTROMA REGION"

The relevance of the article is related to changes in economic and tax legislation that are relevant to budgetary organizations. Budgetary organizations are important subjects of production and financial and economic relations in any economic system and in any model of government. They are designed to ensure the satisfaction of socially significant needs.

The purpose of the article is to consider the features of the financial and economic activities of the State Institution "State Archive of the Kostroma Region" (hereinafter - GAKO).

GAKO is a budgetary non-profit organization funded entirely from the regional budget. The founder of the archive is the Committee for Archives of the Kostroma Region. GAKO stores accounting documents, archival directories, information databases, printed, illustrated materials that supplement and reveal the composition of its funds. The number of employees of the archive in 2008 was 77 people: 7 managers, 44 specialists and 26 workers.

In addition to the main activities, GAKO has the right to carry out the following types of paid services that generate income in accordance with the Nomenclature of paid services approved by the Federal Archival Agency of the Ministry of Culture Russian Federation:

Table 1

Nomenclature of paid works and services provided by GAKO

Total amount of extrabudgetary funds from 2006 to 2008 increased by 864,951 thousand rubles.

The analysis of financing involves the study of the security of the institution with budgetary funds, as well as the completeness of their use. To do this, the planned funding is compared with the actual one and the amount of budget funds received is compared with the cash costs of the institution. The main source of information in this case is the "Report on the execution of the cost estimate form No. 2".

The largest share in the financing system of the State Archives of the Kostroma Region is occupied by current expenses. In this group, the largest funding falls on payment for goods and services, including payment for communications, utilities, wages, travel.

The second group in terms of financing is other current expenses for the purchase of goods and services - this is payment for the current repair of buildings and structures and other expenses.

Capital expenditures have a non-significant weight in the total amount - 6.8%, of which the entire amount going for a major overhaul. The negative point is the low amount of expenditure allocated for capital needs. It is necessary to more carefully finance the overhaul, since this factor is very important both for the employees of the State Archives of the Kostroma Region and for visitors.

An important problem to be solved in the near future is the unsettled issues of the powers of budgetary institutions to dispose of extrabudgetary revenues received from the provision of paid services.

The analysis of the indicators of the State Archives of the Kostroma Region as a recipient of funds from the regional budget made it possible to formulate a number of recommendations to improve the efficiency of its activities and reduce the cost of its maintenance. These include:

Bringing into line with the new delimitation of spending powers between the levels of the budget system;

Elimination of the practice of distributing budgetary funds of one level by authorities of another level;

Transfer to a single subordination of archive institutions that perform identical functions;

Deprivation of the status of managers of budgetary funds of organizations in charge of less than 6 budgetary institutions, and transfer of the relevant institutions to direct subordination to the main manager;

Reducing the number of levels of the budget network;

Legislative delineation of powers of the main managers and managers of budgetary funds in relation to budgetary institutions;

Liquidation or consolidation of institutions-archives with a small contingent of consumers.

Shcherbakova K.A.

Zinaeva L.Kh.

CONSUMER LENDING IN VELIKY NOVGOROD

A consumer loan is a type of loan that is issued to the borrower for the purchase various items household items (furniture, appliances). Often there is such a situation when you need to buy some thing, but there is no money to buy it at the moment. However, by taking out a consumer loan, you have the opportunity to buy what you need right away, and pay for the purchase in full later. At the moment, loans for consumer purposes are issued for the acquisition of: real estate, property, covering current expenses.

If the first two categories usually require some kind of collateral, guarantee or insurance of the acquired property, then the issuance of loans of the last category, the so-called. "lungs", occurs most often directly at the place of purchase of the goods.

In Veliky Novgorod, as in any other region of the Russian Federation, the banking system is represented by the Main Directorate of the Central Bank of Russia for the Novgorod Region, two Novgorod credit organizations, a number of branches, divisions and credit and cash offices of other credit organizations, consumer cooperatives and one consumer society. The consumer lending market in Veliky Novgorod began to take shape in 2003-2004. It was at this time that most banks begin to issue consumer loans, consumer cooperatives are created, shops cooperate with banks to sell goods on credit.

In Veliky Novgorod, the most famous and active are the Novgorod branch of the Savings Bank of Russia, the credit and cash office of Russian Standard Bank, the Novgorod branches of VTB24, the Bank of Moscow, Uralsib Bank, Rosbank, Promsvyazbank. Table 1 shows that in the period from 2005 to 2009 in Veliky Novgorod there was an increase in credit institutions in other regions from 14 to 16 units, but branches of credit institutions in Veliky Novgorod decreased from two to one. Two credit organizations operate in Veliky Novgorod: OAO UKB Novobank and OAO UKB Slavyanbank. Also, there are currently about twenty credit institutions.

Consumer lending in Veliky Novgorod from 2005 to 2009 tripled from 149,964 to 455,027 thousand rubles, and overdue debt almost ten times from 696 to 6,363 thousand rubles. In 2005, there was a decline in lending to individuals by 37,346 thousand rubles, over the same period, overdue payments increased by 584 thousand rubles, and the share of overdue debt amounted to 0.46% as of 01.01.2005. In 2005, the share of overdue debt in the banks' loan portfolio increased to 1.36%. Further, until 2009, there was a decline in the share of overdue payments to 0.31%. This happened along with the growth of loans issued to the population. In 2006, the growth of loans issued amounted to 119,407 thousand rubles. Overdue payments increased by 152 thousand rubles. The consumer boom in Veliky Novgorod falls on 2007. Over the entire year, credit institutions increased consumer lending by 148,943 thousand rubles, while overdue payments decreased by 217 thousand rubles. This was influenced by the positive situation in the country, the stabilization of the economy and the ruble exchange rate, and increased public confidence in the banking system. In 2008, 455,027 thousand rubles were issued to the population for consumer purposes. Overdue payments increased by 5148 thousand rubles. This was affected by the crisis: the banking system was forced to tighten the conditions for providing consumer loans. Since October 2008, increased interest rates, even for previously issued loans. Also, many people were laid off, because of which the main source of income was lost, and hence the source of loan repayment.

We calculated the cost of a consumer loan in 3 banks: 1) Bank of Moscow, 2) MoskomPrivatBank, 3) Sberbank. In the course of this study, we concluded that it is most profitable to take a consumer loan at MoskomPrivatBank, since there, of all the banks listed above, the smallest overpayment for a loan.

According to experts, the consumer lending market in Veliky Novgorod will continue to be in demand. Unlike "long" mortgage or car loans (which are shrinking today), a loan "for needs" is most often taken for a short period, while they also try to pay off ahead of schedule. But at present, banks are forced to select borrowers more carefully and take a more conservative approach to the proposed loan products.

Section 2. The Russian economy: history, current state and development prospects.

T.V. Martynenko

E.V. Kotsubinskaya

PRINCIPLES OF THE SPIRITUAL APPROACH TO THE MANAGEMENT OF THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY

The concept of government should correspond to the socio-genetic code of civilization. The socio-genetic code is the stereotypes of the social behavior of a society, which depend on the basic values ​​prevailing in a given society. There is a relationship between a person who has a certain set of values ​​and an economic system that is formed under the influence of the fundamental values ​​characteristic of a given society. 1 Based on the totality of personal worldviews, the state worldview is formed. Basic values ​​are formed under the influence of religion and state ideology.

In Russia, until the beginning of the 20th century, there was an Orthodox civilization, which in the economic sphere was based on religious values. At the base of the Russian state outlook for a long time was Orthodox anthropology, which proclaims the principle of theocentrism: "God is the measure of all things." The basis of modern Western and Russian civilization is the opposite principle: "Man is the measure of all things." This led to the fact that many of the elements that formed the basis of Russian civilization were destroyed. The secularization of society has led to serious distortions in all spheres of public life, including the management of economic processes. Russia's way out of the economic crisis is possible only with a return to the spiritual values ​​of its own civilization and the revival of the spiritual approach to the system of government and the economy.

The essence of the spiritual approach:

1. Everything in the world is ruled by the Providence of God, and the state of the economic system, government controlled depends on God and the free will of man. The direction of the will for good or evil, in turn, depends on the degree of connection of a person with God and enlightenment by Divine Grace. 2. Personal, and not collective responsibility for any decisions made (first of all before God, and then before people). 3. Wealth, material success is not seen as the goal of human activity and the development of society, but as a means to achieve the kingdom of God. 4. Hierarchical construction of the entire economic and administrative system according to the principle of the heavenly hierarchy. 5. Recognition of property and social inequality in the social structure. 6. Consideration of the state as a spiritual community, reflecting the common interests of its members, but at the same time as a force that restrains the spread of evil. 7. Recognition of the need to observe the earthly law, if it does not contradict the Divine commandments, the desire for truth. 8. Understanding of human spirituality as holiness, in contrast to its philosophical understanding, as a system of cultural values. 9. Imperfection (sinfulness) of the person himself, as well as the imperfection of all external factors of his activity (economic, political system, all institutions), as a result of his falling away from Divine Grace.

Creative economic activity carried out with the help of God. This idea is confirmed in the Holy Scriptures: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain; if the Lord does not guard the city, the watchman watches in vain. In vain do you rise early, stay late, eat the bread of sorrow, while He gives His beloved sleep. (Ps. 127:1-2).”

Meaning human life on earth is the union of man with God. It is impossible to overcome sin on your own (and every person, even a baby, is born sinful) without the sacraments of the Church. In these sacraments, a person becomes involved in divine energies. By uniting with God, a person is enlightened, revived, becomes a moral and responsible person. Only a moral and responsible person can be a co-creator of the historical process and have a positive impact on management processes.

In accordance with the Orthodox worldview, the supreme power in the state is the guardian of truth on earth. Analyzing the essence of the state, St. Philaret (Drozdov) wrote that the state, being an element of an integral world order, the more it corresponds to its purpose and is patronized by God, the more divine laws, piety and virtues are observed in it. 1 The main goal of the state, based on the Orthodox worldview, is the arrangement of life in accordance with the spiritual values ​​of the New Testament.

Conclusions and offers

The principles of the spiritual approach we have considered allow us to formulate proposals for improving the management system in the Russian Federation.

Firstly, due to the fact that the structure of the economic system and forms of management depend on the worldview of the people, the socio-economic policy of the state should to strive for the revival in Russia of its traditional Orthodox worldview. The greater the number of the population will be the bearers of the Orthodox worldview, the more perfect the state power and the economy will be. This is mentioned in the Proverbs of Solomon (8:15): "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you."

It should be recognized that there are two forces that create history - God and man. It is also necessary to realize that all the disorders in this world stem from sinful human nature. Therefore, the revival of Russia depends, first of all, on the will of God and the free will of people. The public should be made aware that breaking the law spiritual world(sin) leads to the destruction of the family, nature, state, society. Our history tells us the way out of the spiritual, economic and social crisis. The first step is the realization of one's sins, the second step is repentance, and then the correction of one's life in accordance with spiritual and moral criteria.

MATERIALS INTERNATIONALscientifically-practicalconferences(Ekaterinburg, April 2009 ... Dostoevsky. CULTURE. EDUCATION. Law MATERIALSINTERNATIONALscientifically-practicalconferences(Yekaterinburg, April 2009) ...

Chronicle of tragedy

In July, our city received guests from Kostroma. The visit was connected with a mournful date - the 70th anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War and the past of the Gdov region, on the territory of which in July 1941 the 118th Infantry Division took bloody battles and was surrounded by an enemy. It was formed before the war in Kostroma, and there were many natives of this region in it. Thousands of soldiers of the 118th Infantry Division laid down their lives on Gdov land. This is not the first time that Kostroma searchers have come to us in memory of fellow countrymen. Today they brought a memorial plaque to the obelisk, installed near the Grove of Memory and the village of Verkholyane. At a rally dedicated to this event, the commanders of two search parties- Sergey Shiyanov from Kostroma and Marat Falyakhiev from Gdov. They know a lot about the tragic events of 70 years ago, and they prepared an article for the readers of Gdovskaya Zarya about how it happened. Based on historical documents and memoirs of witnesses and participants. The directive of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR dated July 8, 1940, numbered 0/1/104591, stated: by August 15, 1940, the 118th rifle division of 3,000 people (Yaroslavl, Kostroma) should be formed. Thus was born the 118th Rifle Division. It included: three rifle regiments - 398th (military unit 40327), 463rd (military unit 34453), 527th (military unit 44158); two artillery regiments (604th light artillery and 621st howitzer artillery regiments), 191st separate anti-tank battalion; 132nd separate reconnaissance battalion; 283rd separate communications battalion (military unit 11880); 282nd separate engineer battalion (military unit 19665); 472nd separate anti-aircraft artillery division; 259th separate medical and sanitary battalion; 260th separate company of chemical protection; 663rd motor transport battalion; 442nd field bakery; 581st field post station; 439th field cash desk of the State Bank. Until the spring of 1941, the division was kept in peacetime states. By the time it was sent to the front, it had more than 14 thousand people. The division had three T-38 tanks and 13 armored vehicles. The division stood in Kostroma and was understaffed in wartime. The 527th regiment received teams of conscripts mainly from the Arkhangelsk district and Ukraine, the 463rd - from Kostroma, the 398th - from Ivanovo, Tula, Kaluga and Vladimir regions . And the 621st and 604th regiments - from Kostroma and the Kostroma region. The composition of the division was repeatedly replenished in the future, already in the course of hostilities, with natives of the Arkhangelsk, Leningrad, Pskov, Vologda regions, and the Chuvash ASSR. Parts of the division began to go to the front on June 26, 1941. One by one, the battalions were sent for loading. The echelons were unloaded 25 km from Pskov at the Karamyshevo station. The division, consisting of 14 thousand people, took up positions in the Pskov fortified region, on the border of the region with Estonia. At the end of June 1941, the German army crossed the Western Dvina with the forces of the 4th Panzer Group, the 16th and 18th field armies and from July 1 began to develop a rapid offensive in the direction of Rezekne, Ostrov. On July 6, the 118th division with two regiments (463, 527) took up defense in the Staro-Pskov fortified area in a strip 26 km wide. The defense fronts were unnecessarily stretched, the division occupied a larger line of defense than expected. The norm was a strip along the front no more than 4-5 km. Between the 118th and 111th divisions, a battalion of the 62nd rifle regiment took up the defense. Against the forces of the Red Army were three divisions of the 41st German motorized corps - the 1st and 6th tank and the 36th motorized. Parts of the first tank division of the enemy broke through the defenses of the Soviet troops and by the evening of July 4 captured the Island. Commander of the Northwestern Front, General P.P. Sobennikov set the division commanders the task of destroying the enemy who had broken through into Ostrov and capturing the city. At 16.00 on July 5, the detached units went on the offensive and, after a fierce battle, captured the Island, pushing the enemy back across the Velikaya River. However, the Germans, having pulled up the sixth tank, by the morning of July 6 pushed our units to the northern outskirts of the city. In the afternoon of July 6, the enemy resumed the offensive after a heavy artillery attack and bomber attack. The first German tank division began to move quickly to Pskov, and the sixth to Porkhov. The war diary of Army Group North notes: “The enemy tried to delay the offensive of the 4th Panzer Group with strong rearguards. The fighting was fierce. During July 5 and 6, the 1st Panzer Division destroyed over 140 tanks in the Ostrov bridgehead. On July 8, the commander of the Northwestern Front ordered the troops to move to a stubborn defense at the turn of the Pskov fortified area - the Velikaya River - the Cheryokha River and further along the eastern bank of the Velikaya to Opochka and to the south. But this order could not be carried out. The Pskov fortified area was abandoned by units of the 118th Infantry Division by the end of July 8th. The premature explosion of the Pskov bridge across the Velikaya River led to a disorderly retreat on improvised means of the units of the 118th, 111th rifle divisions that remained on the western bank of the river, as well as to heavy losses in people and military equipment and appeared main reason the abandonment of Pskov and the subsequent withdrawal of troops in directions to Gdov. As a result of premature undermining of bridges, part of the forces of the 118th and 111th rifle divisions did not have time to cross the Velikaya River. After the retreat across the river, the commander of the 118th division, General Glovatsky, took some measures to organize the defense, but heavy losses in personnel, its demoralization and the final loss of communication with the headquarters of the 41st Rifle Corps made the defense unstable. The withdrawal of the remnants of the 23rd Panzer Division and the 3rd motorized rifle regiment from the southern outskirts of Pskov on the evening of July 8, put the left flank of the division at risk of envelopment and pressing it to Lake Pskov. All this forced the command of the division to withdraw units to Gdov. The fighting on the line of fortified areas along the Velikaya River did not produce the expected results. The first defensive operation of the Northwestern Front ended in failure, and a real threat breakthrough formations of Army Group "North" to Leningrad. After the loss of Pskov, units of the division rolled back in the eastern and northeast directions. True, these were really units, or rather, fragments of that formidable force that the division was a few days ago. Regiments, battalions, companies and just individual fighters dispersed, not controlled by anyone. As soon as the command learned of the loss of Pskov, the scattered remnants of the units were given the task of immediately launching a decisive offensive and liberating the city. But parts moved away from the city. By July 12, parts of the division took up defensive positions from the south and east. From the memoirs of N.M. Lazarev (fighter of the combined battalion marines, formed from cadets of the Leningrad Engineering School): July 12, 1941. ... Twice we crossed the artillery positions of the 118th Infantry Division, located near the road. The Red Army soldiers were preparing to meet the enemy. Company vehicles passed settlements Lipyagi, Vyazka, Mazikha, Afonosovo. Units of the 118th Infantry Division were no longer encountered on our way (Lazarev N.M. “1941 from June 22 to September 17”, M., 2000, p. 63). To understand how everything happened, it is necessary to consider the dynamics of the battles by the location of the parts of the division. We must start from Chernev, because it was along this road, precisely from the east, that the 36th motorized German division. Near the village of Zalyubovye, our positions were located on the dominant height, which is crossed by the road to Gdov, approaching the city from the east. It was the road that was closed by parts of the division. They did not prepare for serious battles. As a result of a short-lived battle, they left their positions and retreated to Chernev, although here we can talk about a battle with a German landing force. According to information published in the Book of Memory of the Pskov Region, a German landing force was thrown out in the Chernev area, which was soon destroyed (“The Book of Memory of the Pskov Region”, vol. 1, p. 250). To destroy the landing force, not only fighter battalions, but also division units could be attracted. Throughout all the positions from the villages of Mazikha and Vyazka, crossing the road to Gdov, there are no signs of a battle. Perhaps Chernev had a combat guard of the division or individual divisions , and Mazikha and Vyazka have the main artillery forces, this assumption is also confirmed by the memoirs of N.M. Lazarev. On July 14, the first and second special-purpose fighter regiments (militiamen from Leningrad) arrived at the Zamogilye station. They established contact with the command of the 118th Infantry Division, which fought defensive battles in this direction (Militiamen, Lenizdat, 1975. People's militia in the battle for Leningrad). The 527th regiment of the division operated in a southerly direction from Gdov, along the eastern shore of Lake Peipsi. Here, together with two regiments of militia, he opposed the 58th German Infantry Division. On July 15, the fight moved directly to the vicinity of Gdov. Here, units of the 118th division entered the business. German troops, with the help of their forces as part of a motorized division from the east and an infantry division from the south, took Gdov in pincers, cut the Gdov-Narva and Gdov-Pskov roads. By the evening of July 17, units of the 118th division made several attempts to get out of the ring, but all roads were blocked. The division's horse transport was blocked in the port. He several times swept at high speed either in the northern or in the southern directions along the shore of the lake in the hope of breaking out of the port and the city, but each time he returned to his original lines. At the very last moment, in despair, the riding soldiers and the commanders of the convoy, seeing the hopeless situation, began to shoot the horses. The division is dying, there is panic all around, incomprehensible movements turning into throwing. And the commander of the 118th division, Major General Glovatsky Nikolai Mikhailovich, at that time evacuates himself on an armored boat to the northern, safe coast, where there are still no Germans. In Vasknarva, on the evening of July 17, the division headquarters, led by division commander Glovatsky, went ashore and headed towards Kingisepp. But ordinary soldiers performed a feat, showed courage and courage. Here is one of the examples that the search engine Igor Fedorovich Ivanov from the village of Trutnevo found out: “The retreating units, in order to break away from the Germans, left a barrier. The retreat was covered by a Red Army machine gunner, who was wounded in both legs. He took a very good defensive position on the hill, and it was very difficult to outflank him. The Germans went on the attack many times, but were pinned to the ground by the well-aimed shooting of our soldier. Many enemy fighters ended the war under this hill. When the machine gunner died and the height was captured, a German general arrived there and ordered to bury our soldier with full military honors. Describing the battle for Gdov, the German author Haupt is not too flattering about the division. Citing as an example the self-sacrifice and courage of the fighters of the second division militia and cadets of the Leningrad Infantry School, he calls the resistance of the units of the 118th division only energetic and nothing more. However, describing the battles, it is stipulated that the forces of the 58th German infantry division were not enough to take the city. “... A reinforced advance detachment broke into the city on July 17. The 118th Rifle Division vigorously defended the city blocks and left only after the units of the 36th Motorized Division, which had captured the airfield the day before, got involved in street battles ”(W. Haupt“ Army Group North. Battles for Leningrad. 1941 -1944").

Search squad leaders

Kostroma Sergey Shiyanov,

Gdovsky district

Marat Falyakhiev