What did 28 Panfilov men defend? What the Soviet authorities were hiding about the heroism of Panfilov’s men. So was there a feat?
Illustration copyright RIA Novosti Image caption The monument to 28 Panfilov men hangs over the crossing in Dubosekovo near Moscow
The State Archive of Russia has declassified documents exposing the canonical Soviet history about 28 Panfilov heroes. Despite the debunking, many continue to believe in the original version of the myth. The BBC is trying to understand the mythologization of the military image.
The battle at the Dubosekovo crossing in the Volokolamsk district of the Moscow region in November 1941 was indeed part of a large-scale campaign to defend Moscow from Wehrmacht troops, and specifically the 316th Infantry Division was stationed near Dubosekovo.
For the first time, a message about the feat of 28 heroes allegedly killed in battle with the Nazis appeared in an essay by correspondent Vasily Koroteev in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, which was edited by Alexander Krivitsky.
The same correspondent, according to archival data, coined the widely quoted phrase: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat. Moscow is behind.”
“Over 50 enemy tanks moved to the lines occupied by 29 Soviet guardsmen from the Panfilov division... Only one of the 29 became faint-hearted... only one raised his hands up... several guardsmen simultaneously, without saying a word, without a command, shot at the coward and a traitor,” said the note, which told about the destruction of 18 enemy tanks by this group of people.
Arrest with a book about yourself
Despite the glorification of Soviet times, questions about both the authorship of the phrase and the absence of reports of a one-time loss in German military chronicles large group tanks were raised quite regularly.
To finally clarify the situation, the state archive on Wednesday - “in connection with numerous appeals from citizens” - posted a certificate-report from the chief military prosecutor of the Second World War, Nikolai Afanasyev, which tells about the four surviving Panfilovites, one of whom actually worked for the Germans after being captured.
"In November 1947, the military prosecutor's office of the Kharkov garrison arrested and prosecuted for treason against the Motherland Mr. Ivan Evstafievich Dobrobabin. The investigation materials established that, while at the front, Dobrobabin voluntarily surrendered to the Germans and in the spring of 1942 he entered their service. [...] During Dobrobabin’s arrest, a book about “28 Panfilov heroes” was found, and it turned out that he was listed as one of the main participants in this battle, for which he was awarded the title of hero Soviet Union", says the certificate dated May 10, 1948.
The investigation then established that, in addition to Dobrobabin, four more soldiers survived the battle near Dubosekov - Illarion Vasiliev, Grigory Shemyakin, Ivan Shadrin and Daniil Kuzhebergenov.
Soldier Ivan Natarov, who, according to Krasnaya Zvezda journalists, spoke about the feat on his deathbed, was killed on November 14 - two days before the expected battle.
Glorifying crowdfunding
At the same time, by July 19, the film "Panfilov's 28 Men" will be completed in Russia, half of the budget of which - 33 million rubles out of 60 million (580 thousand dollars out of about 1 million) - was collected on the basis of crowdfunding.
The director of the film, Kim Druzhinin, told the BBC Russian Service that he was aware of Dobrobabin’s case, but considered the coverage of his case to be controversial, since some historians doubt the exposure of the “Red Star” version.
“We were making a film about a feat, about heroes. In our film there is a resolution to this not very good dispute. The 316th division was really there, there were battles there - and why debunk the feat at a time when the country especially needs heroes,” - said the director.
According to Druzhinin, the remaining funding for the film was provided by the Ministry of Culture and a certain “permanent partner.”
The film's premiere is scheduled for November 16, when canonical Soviet historiography will celebrate the 74th anniversary of the "feat of Panfilov's men."
Generous donors
In a comment to the publication "Titr", the producer of the film "Panfilov's 28 Men" Andrei Shalyopa said that he does not doubt the valor of the fighters, and the cultural figure called the refutation of falsifications "a weakening of the moral pillars of the people."
In early July, Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky called the upcoming film unique and noted that the Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan, where the 316th Infantry Division, along with Kyrgyzstan, was initially formed, also took part in its financing.
Illustration copyright RIA Novosti Image caption Panfilov's men appear in dozens of works of artCrowdfunding for the project was launched at the end of 2013.
The most generous donor who made an open transfer of funds was Severodvinsk resident Andrei Fokin, who donated 1 million rubles to the authors of the film.
“I wouldn’t call it charity. It’s the hope that there will be more stories about exploits and self-sacrifice than “fine battalions”, “bastards” and other slag like the films “Burnt by the Sun - 2”. I want my children to watch good cinema,” Fokin explained to the Pravda Severa publication the reasons for his action.
Shock of revelations
A month ago, the general director of the Russian State Archives, Sergei Mironenko, at the World Congress of the Russian Press in Moscow, personally spoke about how the USSR military prosecutor's office recognized the official version of the feat as fiction.
His comment caused a strong reaction from the journalists present.
According to eyewitnesses, some of the correspondents even accused Mironenko of Russophobia.
“It was also a shock for me that there were no Panfilovites. We learned all 28 names by heart at school,” said Alexey Venediktov, editor-in-chief of the Ekho Moskvy radio station.
Myth in the service of the state?
Director of the Levada Center Lev Gudkov, in a conversation with the BBC, noted that already in the 1960s, refutations of Soviet myths about military operations appeared in Russian.
“[Publicist Emil] Cardin began to refute these myths in the 60s in Novy Mir. There he refuted... these Panfilovites and so on. Firstly, they are reproduced simply because this is the state policy of historical memory, and no structure can compete with it, no public organizations“, there is no public discussion about this, and accordingly it does not transfer to other channels for the reproduction of historical knowledge itself,” the sociologist complains.
In addition, according to Gudkov, denial of facts in cases of debunking historical inaccuracies supports ideas about national pride.
"There is some demand on the part of society to maintain such a heroic image of themselves - non-aggressive, defending, always a victim of attack, but in the case of external aggression - mobilizing around power. This is a society whose main value is heroic self-sacrifice for the sake of preserving the whole," - said the sociologist.
"Isolation and sovereignty"
According to the head of the Levada Center, the reproduction and maintenance of myths is a characteristic of isolated societies.
Illustration copyright Getty Image caption Claude Lévi-Strauss devoted his life to studying the origins of myths“Now in Russia it’s been more than 10 years since everything has been paved and cleared, and the voices of historians are definitely not heard in the media mass media“, at best, some Soviet or militaristic myths are reproduced here and the emphasis is only on the symbols of imperial greatness, great power, and so on,” says the doctor of philosophical sciences.
Streets in 12 cities of Russia and Ukraine, as well as several parks, are named in honor of Panfilov’s men. Fallen soldiers are also mentioned in Moscow's anthem and dozens of works of art.
One of the leading French anthropologists, Claude Lévi-Strauss, wrote a lot about the creation of myths based on real events in closed communities.
As the scientist argued, myths are characterized by a layered structure, in which each subsequent bearer enriches the previous myth.
“Society does not reject positive, even false, interpretations,” wrote the creator of structural anthropology.
On the eve of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the start of the counteroffensive of Soviet troops near Moscow, the “democratic” public and press once again raised the question of whether there were actually 28 Panfilov men, myth or reality their feat. Today, in the press, on television and on the Internet, discussions have once again flared up about the reality of political instructor Vasily Klochkov (Deev), the significance of the battle at the Dubosekovo junction and the influence of the battle near Moscow on the entire course of not only the Great Patriotic War, but also the Second World War. In the West, it is customary to compare the Moscow defensive-counteroffensive battle with the attack of the English corps near El Alamein (North Africa), which won the first victory over the combined group of German-Italian troops under the command of E. Rommel. True, the “researchers” of this fact do not focus on the number of military units, of which 23 times less were deployed in the sands of Egypt than near Moscow.
28 Panfilovites - myth or truth
The first investigation, which did not reach the general public, was carried out in 1942 by special departments of the NKVD (since 1943, SMERSH agencies) after the facts were established that not all the soldiers of the fourth company died, and some of the 28 Panfilov men were captured by to the Germans. In the conclusion of the Military Prosecutor's Office of 1948, also marked “for official use,” A. Krivitsky’s article, published in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper in November 1941, was called “fiction.”
Of course, the events at Dubosekovo were not subject to wide public discussion, but among the people, in the kitchens of the intelligentsia, quite often, after a glass of vodka, doubts were expressed regarding not only the significance of the counter-offensive near Moscow, but also the contribution of the Soviet Union to the victory in World War II. These facts were so widespread that the fifth (ideological) department of the KGB reported them to Yu.V. Andropov, and he reported Secretary General CPSU L.I. Brezhnev, to which he immediately responded at the November 1966 plenum. Brezhnev called the facts of V. Klochkov’s denial of reality and his phrases “Moscow is behind us and we have nowhere to retreat” unacceptable, and rumors about the unreality of 28 Panfilov’s men should be considered provocative.
Later, in times of general glasnost and irresponsibility not only for the spoken word, but also for the written phrase, the director of the State Archives S.V. Mironenko on the pages of the newspaper “ TVNZ" posted his historical research. He not only published tendentious facts compiled from the prosecutor's investigation of 1948, but also argued that the feat of Panfilov's men was a myth, and their names were invented by correspondent A. Krivitsky.
Today, due to the openness of archives and the all-pervasiveness of the Internet, any interested historian can independently draw a conclusion about who the 28 Panfilovites are - myth or truth.
A little history
For the first time, mention of the heroic battle of the 4th company of the 1075th rifle regiment, 316 rifle division at the Dubosekovo crossing, during which 15 tanks were destroyed (according to the Wehrmacht archives, only 13), was published by the front-line correspondent of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper V.I. Koroteev on November 27, 1941. A day later, in the editorial of the same newspaper edition, the editorial secretary A.Yu. Krivitsky published extensive material “About 28 fallen heroes”, which listed military ranks and the names of 28 fallen heroes. All further publications were written either by Alexander Yuryevich, or based on his editorial dated November 28, 1941.
The death of an entire platoon, whose fighters disrupted a tank breakthrough by their death, destroying 15 tanks, received a wide public response, and in July 1942, all 28 Panfilov men mentioned in A. Krivitsky’s first publication were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. At the same time, in the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR there was a clarification - “posthumously”. Thus, the fact of the death of the soldiers of the fourth company was legitimized.
In fact, of the 28 “posthumously” awarded Heroes of the Soviet Union, not all died. Two of them (G. Shemyakin and I. Vasiliev) were wounded and were treated in the hospital for a long time, but survived. Participants in the battle D. Timofeev and I. Shadrin were captured, but were not deprived of a high award.
I. Dobrobabin, having been captured, went into service with the Germans, which he ended up as the chief of police in the village of Perekop, after the liberation of which he again fought in units of the Red Army. In 1948, after the end of the investigation by the Main Military Prosecutor's Office, he was stripped of the title of Hero and served 7 years in “places not so remote.” His attempts during “glasnost” to achieve rehabilitation failed.
Initially included in the list for awarding the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, political commissar V. Klochkov’s liaison officer Daniil Aleksandrovich Kozhabergenov did not participate in the battle at Dubosekovo, and was sent with a report to the battalion headquarters and was captured. He fled from there and took part in a raid on the fascist rear as part of the formation of General Lev Dovator. After returning from the raid, he was interrogated by SMERSH authorities and truthfully described all the vicissitudes of this period of his life. No reprisals from the NKVD D.A. Kozhabergenov was not subjected, however, in the Decree on conferring the highest award, his person was replaced by a relative of Askar Kozhabergenov. And here lies the secret of one of the bureaucratic incidents, of which there were probably a sufficient number during the bloodiest war in human history. Modern research has established that Askar was enrolled in the 316th Infantry Division in January 1942 and, therefore, could not take part in the battle at Dubosekovo. A. Kozhabergenov died in January 1942 during a raid by one of the Panfilov detachments along the German rear.
Today it has been documented that the names of all 28 participants in the battle at the Dubosekovo crossing, who were either killed or missing, were dictated from memory to A.Yu. Krivitsky by the commander of the fourth company, Captain Pavel Gundilovich. The captain's name was initially listed in the documents for conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but then in the final version of the Decree he was awarded the order Lenin. Pavel Gundilovich died in April 1942 during the counter-offensive of Soviet troops near Moscow.
The bodies of six soldiers found after the liberation of the village in February - April 1942 were buried in a mass grave near the Dubosekovo crossing in the village of Nelidovo. Among the dead, the body of political instructor Vasily Klochkov was identified with one hundred percent probability.
So was it a feat?
Let's look at the bare facts... According to German archives, the Soviet defense in the Dubosekovo area was supposed to be broken through by battle group 1, consisting of a shock tank battalion supported by a rifle regiment. An anti-tank company and an artillery battalion were attached to the group, which were supposed to neutralize Soviet tanks (if they were brought into battle). The losses established by the German side were 13 tanks, 8 of which were hit by anti-tank grenades or anti-tank rifles, and 5 were burned with bottles of Molotov cocktails. The tank battalion was equipped with PzKpfw IV tanks with a crew of 5 people. Thus, the Nazis lost 65 people only due to the destruction of tanks. But we must also take into account the loss of manpower of the fighters of the fascist rifle regiment, which was necessarily accompanied by a breakthrough.
Therefore, the question “Panfilov’s 28 men - a myth or a real reality?” is, to say the least, immoral. And better than a catchphrase Russian Minister Cultures V.R. Medinsky - “...their feat is symbolic and is in the same series of feats as the 300 Spartans,” it is impossible to say about this battle.
On November 16, 1941, during a new offensive of the fascist army on Moscow at the Dubosekovo crossing, 28 soldiers from General Panfilov’s division performed their immortal feat.
By the end of October 1941, the first stage of the German offensive against Moscow, called Typhoon, was completed. German troops, having defeated units of three Soviet fronts near Vyazma, reached the immediate approaches to Moscow.
In the same time German troops suffered losses and needed some respite to rest the units, put them in order and replenish them. By November 2, the front line in the Volokolamsk direction had stabilized, and German units temporarily went on the defensive.
On November 16, German troops again went on the offensive, planning to defeat Soviet units, encircle Moscow and victoriously end the 1941 campaign. In the Volokolamsk direction, the Germans’ path was blocked by the 316th Infantry Division of Major General I.V. Panfilov, who occupied the defense on a front 41 kilometers long from settlement Lvovo to the Bolychevo state farm.
Ivan Vasilievich Panfilov
On the right flank its neighbor was the 126th Infantry Division, on the left – the 50th Cavalry Division from Dovator’s Corps.
Lev Mikhailovich Dovator
On November 16, the division was attacked by the forces of two German tank divisions: the 2nd Panzer Division of Lieutenant General Rudolf Fayel attacked the positions of the 316th Infantry Division in the center of defense, and the 11th Panzer Division of Major General Walter Scheller struck positions 1075 in the Dubosekovo area 1st Infantry Regiment, at the junction with the 50th Cavalry Division.
PzKpfw-IIIG of the 11th Panzer Division at the Dubosekovo junction. Year of manufacture – 1937; weight – 15.4 t; crew – 5 people; armor – 14.5 mm; gun – 37 mm; speed – 32 km/hour
The main blow fell on the positions of the 2nd battalion of the regiment.
The 1075th Infantry Regiment suffered significant losses in personnel and equipment in previous battles, but before the new battles it was significantly replenished with personnel. The issue with the artillery armament of the regiment is not completely clear. According to the staff, the regiment was supposed to have a battery of four 76-mm regimental guns and an anti-tank battery of six 45-mm guns.
45-mm anti-tank gun model 1937
The obsolete French guns also had weak ballistics; nothing is known about the presence of armor-piercing shells for them. However, what is known is that to fire at tanks from guns of this type, shrapnel shells were used, the fuse of which was set to strike. From a 500-meter distance, such a projectile penetrated 31 millimeters of German armor.
At the same time, it is known that in general the 316th Rifle Division on November 16, 1941 had 12 - 45 mm anti-tank guns, 26 - 76 mm divisional guns, 17 - 122 mm howitzers and 5 - 122 mm hull guns , which could be used in battle with German tanks. Our neighbor, the 50th Cavalry Division, also had its own artillery. The regiment's infantry anti-tank weapons were represented by 11 PTRDs (four of them were in the second battalion), RPG-40 grenades and Molotov cocktails.
Anti-tank rifles were distinguished by high armor penetration, especially when using cartridges with B-31 bullets that had a tungsten carbide core.
PTRDs could only hit German tanks at close range from 300 meters away, penetrating 35mm armor at that distance.
The battle at the Dubosekovo crossing was the first case of the use of anti-tank rifles, the production of which was just beginning to develop, and their quantity was still insufficient.
It was here, near Dubosekov, that the fourth company of the 1075th Infantry Regiment took the battle. According to the staff of division 04/600, the company was supposed to have 162 people, and by December 16 there were about 120 people in the line. Where did the number 28 come from?
The fact is that on the eve of the battle, a special group of tank destroyers of about 30 people was created from among the most persistent and most accurate fighters, the command of which was entrusted to 30-year-old political instructor Vasily Klochkov.
Vasily Georgievich Klochkov-Diev
All the anti-tank guns were handed over to this group, and therefore the number of destroyed tanks does not look at all fantastic - out of 54 tanks moving towards Panfilov’s men, the heroes managed to destroy 18 vehicles, the loss of 13 of which was admitted by the Germans themselves. But the Germans recognized a tank as lost only if it could not be restored, and if after the battle the tank was sent to major renovation With the replacement of the engine or weapons, such a tank was not considered lost.
A few days later, the list of these fighters was compiled from memory by the company commander, Captain Gundilovich, at the request of the Red Star correspondent Alexander Yuryevich Krivitsky. The captain may not have remembered some, and some were probably included in this list by mistake - they died earlier or fought with the Germans as part of another unit, because the group included not only the captain’s subordinates, but also volunteers from other units shelf.
Despite the fact that, as a result of the battle, the battlefield remained with the Germans, and most of our soldiers who took part in this battle died, the homeland did not forget the feat of the heroes, and already on November 27, the newspaper “Red Star” first informed the people about this feat, and on the next day, an editorial appeared in the same newspaper under the heading “The Testament of 28 Fallen Heroes.” This article indicated that 29 Panfilov men fought with enemy tanks. At the same time, the 29th was called a traitor. In fact, this 29th was sent by Klochkov with a report to Dubosekovo. However, there were already Germans in the village and fighter Daniil Kozhabergenov was captured. On the evening of November 16, he escaped from captivity into the forest. For some time he was in the occupied territory, after which he was discovered by Dovator’s cavalry, who were on a raid on the German rear. After Dovator’s unit left the raid, he was interrogated by a special department, admitted that he did not participate in the battle, and was sent back to Dovator’s division.
The main blow falls on the positions of the 2nd battalion, which occupied the Petelino-Shiryaevo-Dubosekovo defense line. The 4th company of this battalion covered the most important sector - a railway crossing near Dubosekovo, behind which a direct road to Moscow opened. The firing points immediately before the move were organized by soldiers of the 2nd platoon of tank destroyers - 29 people in total. They were armed with PTRD anti-tank rifles, as well as anti-tank grenades and Molotov cocktails. There was one machine gun.
RPG-40 grenade 
Bottles with COP 
On the eve of this battle, the commander of the second platoon, D. Shirmatov, was wounded, so the “Panfilov men” were commanded by the platoon commander, Sergeant I. E. Dobrobabin.
Ivan Efstafievich Dobrobabin
He made sure that the firing positions were properly equipped - five full-profile trenches were dug, reinforced with railway sleepers.
Reconstruction of Panfilov's trenches
At 8 o'clock in the morning on November 16, the first fascists appeared near the fortifications. “Panfilov’s men” hid and did not show their presence. As soon as most of the Germans climbed to the heights in front of the positions, Dobrobabin whistled briefly. The machine gun immediately responded, shooting the Germans point-blank, from a hundred meters away.
Other platoon soldiers also opened heavy fire. The enemy, having lost about 70 people, rolled back in disarray. After this first collision, the 2nd platoon had no losses at all.
Soon German artillery fire fell on the railway crossing, after which German machine gunners again went on the attack. It was repulsed again, and again without loss. In the afternoon, two German PzKpfw-IIIG tanks appeared near Dubosekovo, accompanied by a platoon of infantry. Panfilov's men managed to destroy several infantrymen and set fire to one tank, after which the enemy retreated again. The relative calm in front of Dubosekovo was explained by the fact that a fierce battle had been raging for a long time in the positions of the 5th and 6th companies of the 2nd battalion.
Having regrouped, the Germans carried out a short artillery barrage and launched a tank battalion into the attack, supported by two companies of machine gunners. The tanks were moving in a deployed front, 15-20 tanks in a group, in several waves.
The main blow was delivered in the direction of Dubosekovo as the most tank-accessible area.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, a hot battle broke out before the move. Anti-tank guns, of course, could not stop the advance of a dozen German tanks, and the battle broke out near the village itself. The soldiers had to jump out of the trenches under artillery and machine-gun fire in order to be sure to throw a bunch of anti-tank grenades or a Molotov cocktail. At the same time, we still had to repel the attacks of enemy machine gunners, shoot at tankers jumping out of the burning tanks...
As a participant in that battle testifies, one of the platoon soldiers could not stand it and jumped out of the trench with his hands raised. Taking careful aim, Vasiliev took down the traitor.
From the explosions there was a constant curtain of dirty snow, soot and smoke in the air. This is probably why Dobrobabin did not notice how the enemy practically destroyed the 1st and 3rd platoons on the right and left. One after another, the soldiers of his platoon died, but the number of destroyed tanks also grew. The seriously wounded were hastily dragged into a dugout equipped at the positions. The lightly wounded did not go anywhere and continued to fire...
Finally, having lost several tanks and up to two platoons of infantry before moving, the enemy began to retreat. One of the last shells fired by the Germans seriously concussed Dobrobabin, and he lost consciousness for a long time.
The command was taken by the political instructor of the 4th company V.G. Klochkov, sent to the position of the second platoon of the company commander Gundilovich. The surviving fighters later spoke of Klochkov with respect - without any pathetic phrases, he raised the spirit of the fighters, exhausted and smoked by many hours of battle.
The soul of the guards detachment was political instructor V.G. Klochkov. Already in the first days of the fighting near the walls of the capital, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and honored to participate in the military parade on Red Square on November 7, 1941.
Vasily Klochkov made his way into the trenches at the Dubosekovo crossing and remained with his soldiers until the end. Twenty black, with white crosses, clanging caterpillars, smugly rumbling fascist tanks were approaching the Dubosekovsky trench like an avalanche. The fascist infantry ran behind the tanks. Klochkov noted: “There are a lot of tanks coming, but there are more of us. Twenty tanks, less than one tank per brother.” The warriors decided to fight to the death. The tanks advanced very close. The battle has begun. The command was given by political instructor Klochkov. Under fire, Panfilov’s men jumped out of the trench and threw bundles of grenades under the tracks of the tanks, and bottles of fuel onto the engine part or gas tank.
For four hours a firestorm raged over the trenches of the brave men. Shells exploded, bottles of flammable mixture flew, shells hissed and whistled, flames raged, melting snow, earth and armor. The enemy could not stand it and retreated. Fourteen steel monsters with ominous white crosses on their sides burned on the battlefield. The survivors went home. The ranks of the defenders thinned. In the haze of the approaching dusk, the hum of engines was heard again. Having licked their wounds, filling their belly with fire and lead, the enemy, seized by a new attack of rage, again rushed to the attack - 30 tanks moved towards a handful of brave men.
Political instructor Klochkov looked at the soldiers. “Thirty tanks, friends!” he said. We will probably have to die here for the glory of our Motherland. Let the Motherland know how we fight here, how we defend Moscow. We have nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind us.”
The country then heard for the first time
Klochkov's legendary words:
- Guys! Our Russia is great,
And we should retreat
Nowhere! Moscow!
Moscow is behind us!
And, as in the old song,
He exclaimed:
Let's die near Moscow!
K. Sharipov
These words of Klochkov entered the hearts of the fighters, like a call from the Motherland, a demand, its order, instilling in them new strength and selfless courage. Now it was clear that in this battle the warriors would find their own death, but still they wanted to make the enemy pay dearly for their lives. The soldiers, bleeding, did not leave their combat posts. The Nazi attack failed. Suddenly another heavy tank tries to break through to the trench. Political instructor Klochkov stands up to meet him. His hand is clutching a bunch of grenades - the last bunch. Seriously wounded, he rushed to the enemy tank with grenades and blew it up.
The brave political instructor did not hear how a strong explosion echoed across the snow-covered expanses. Next to Klochkov, head to head, lay the wounded soldier Ivan Nashtarov and, as if in a dream, from somewhere far away, he heard the voice of the political instructor: “We are dying, brother... Someday they will remember us... If you live, tell me...”. The second attack was repulsed. Again the enemy did not get through. He rushed about in the smoke and flames and, finally, backing away, growling in impotent anger, took a shameful flight, leaving 18 of his 50 tanks to burn out. Durability 28 Soviet heroes The heroes turned out to be stronger than the enemy armor. More than 150 fascist conquerors were lying in the snow at the site of the fierce battle. The battlefield became silent. The legendary trench was silent. The defenders of their native land did what had to be done. With their weary arms outstretched, as if covering their wounded, blood-soaked native land with their lifeless bodies, those who stood lay there. For boundless courage, heroism, military valor and bravery, the Soviet government posthumously awarded the participants in the battle at the Dubosekovo crossing the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Panfilov’s men became a terrible curse for the Nazis; there were legends about the strength and courage of the heroes. On November 17, 1941, the 316th Rifle Division was renamed the 8th Guards Rifle Division and awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Hundreds of guardsmen were awarded orders and medals.
On November 19, the division lost its commander... For 36 days it fought under the command of General I.V. Panfilov 316th Rifle Division, defending the capital on the main direction.
Having failed to achieve decisive successes in the Volokolamsk direction, the main enemy forces turned to Solnechnogorsk, where they intended to break through first to Leningradskoye, then to Dmitrovskoye Highway and enter Moscow from the north-west.
As it turned out later, not all 28 Panfilov men fell in this unprecedented battle. Red Army soldier Nashtarov, seriously wounded, gathered his last strength, crawled away from the battlefield and was picked up by our scouts at night. In the hospital, he spoke about the feat of Soviet soldiers. Three days after the battle he died. Red Army soldiers Illarion Romanovich Vasilyev and Grigory Melentyevich Shemyakin were picked up half-dead on the battlefield and, after recovery, returned to their home division. Red Army soldier Ivan Demidovich Shadrin was captured unconscious by the Germans during the battle. For more than three years he experienced all the horrors fascist concentration camps, remaining faithful to their homeland and the Soviet people. Vasiliev died in Kemerovo, Shemyakin died in Alma-Ata in December 1973, Shadrin, who lived in the village of Kirovsky, Alma-Ata region, died.
The names of Panfilov's heroes are included in the chronicle of the Great Patriotic War in gold letters
By the end of the day, despite stubborn resistance, the 1075th Infantry Regiment was knocked out of its positions and was forced to retreat. An example of self-sacrifice was shown not only by Panfilov’s men near Dubosekovo. Two days later, 11 sappers of the 1077th Infantry Regiment from the same 316th Panfilov Division for a long time delayed the advance of 27 German tanks with infantry near the village of Strokovo at the cost of their lives.
In two days of fighting, the 1075th regiment lost 400 people killed, 100 wounded and 600 missing. Of the 4th company that defended Dubosekovo, barely a fifth remained. In the 5th and 6th companies the losses were even heavier.
Contrary to legends, not all “Panfilov’s men” died in battle - seven soldiers from the 2nd platoon survived, and all were seriously wounded. These are Natarov, Vasiliev, Shemyakin, Shadrin, Timofeev, Kozhubergenov and Dobrobabin. Before the Germans arrived, local residents managed to deliver the most seriously wounded Natarov and Vasilyev to the medical battalion. Shemyakin, heavily shell-shocked, crawled through the forest from the village, where he was discovered by General Dovator’s cavalrymen. The Germans managed to take two prisoners - Shadrin (he was unconscious) and Timofeev (severely wounded).
Natarov, taken to the medical battalion, soon died from his wounds. Before his death, he managed to tell something about the battle at Dubosekovo. So this story fell into the hands of the literary editor of the newspaper “Red Star” A. Krivitsky.
But, as we remember, six people from the second platoon still survived - Vasiliev and Shemyakin recovered in hospitals, Shadrin and Timofeev went through the hell of concentration camps, and Kozhubergenov and Dobrobabin continued to fight for their own. Therefore, when they announced themselves, the NKVD was very nervous about it. Shadrin and Timofeev were immediately labeled as traitors. It is unknown what else they did while captured by the Nazis. They looked at the rest very suspiciously - after all, the whole country knows that all 28 heroes died! And if these people say that they are alive. This means they are either impostors or cowards. And it is still unknown which is worse.
After long interrogations, four of them - Vasiliev, Shemyakin, Shadrin and Timofeev - were given the Golden Stars of Heroes of the Soviet Union, but without publicity. Two “Panfilovites” - Kozhubergenov and Dobrobabin - have not yet been recognized.
Panfilov's heroes
Klochkov Vasily Georgievich (1911-1941)
Sengirbaev Musabek (1914-1941)
Kryuchkov Abram Ivanovich (1910-1941)
Esebulatov Narsubai (1913-1941)
Natarov Ivan Moiseevich (1910-1941)
Shepetkov Ivan Alekseevich (1910-1941)
Shopokov Duishenkul (1915-1941)
Trofimov Nikolai Ignatievich (1915-1941)
Kosayev Alikbay (1905-1941)
Emtsov Petr Kuzmich (1909-1941)
Mitchenko Nikita Andreevich (1910-1941)
Shadrin Ivan Demidovich (1913-1985)
Maksimov Nikolai Gordeevich (1911-1941)
Belashev Nikolai Nikanorovich (1911-1941)
Vasiliev Illarion Romanovich (1910-1969)
Moskalenko Ivan Vasilievich (1912-1941)
Petrenko Grigory Alekseevich (1909-1941)
Dutov Petr Danilovich (1916-1941)
Shemyakin Grigory Melentievich (1906-1973)
Dobrobabin Ivan Evstafievich (?-1996)
Kaleynikov Dmitry Mitrofanovich (1910-1941)
Bezrodnykh Grigory Mikheevich (1909-1941)
Ananyev Nikolai Yakovlevich (1912-1941)
Mitin Gavriil Stepanovich (1908-1941)
Bondarenko Yakov Alexandrovich (1905-1941)
Timofeev Dmitry Fomich (1907-1949)
Kozhabergenov Daniil Alexandrovich – (? - 1976)
photo not found
Konkin Grigory Efimovich (1911-1941)
Dubosekovo crossing:
Memorial in Dubosekovo:
For two years, representatives of the Russian Military Historical Society studied the archives. Declassified case classified as “Smersh” 1942-1944. designed to put an end to endless attempts at ideological reconstruction of the feat of our soldiers at the Dubosekovo crossing in 1941. Among the evidence of the feat are two descriptions of the battle, three new evidence that Panfilov’s men really fought to the death, details of how the heroes died, as well as confirmation of the phrase spoken by political instructor Klochkov:
Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind us!
There is evidence, but where did the long-term doubts come from? For decades, the feat of 28 Panfilov men was shrouded in many versions, conjectures and assumptions.
Photo: Diego Fiore / Shutterstock.com
It all started with articles by journalist Koroteev and literary secretary Krivitsky, who talked about the unequal battle of Panfilov’s men on the pages of “Red Star”. (“Testament of 28 fallen heroes” dated November 28, 1941, “About 28 fallen heroes” dated January 22, 1942). The first article described some details of the battle, during which 18 enemy tanks were destroyed.
Over fifty enemy tanks moved to the lines occupied by twenty-nine Soviet guardsmen from the division. Panfilov... Only one out of twenty-nine became faint-hearted... only one raised his hands up... several guardsmen simultaneously, without saying a word, without a command, shot at the coward and traitor... laid down their heads - all twenty-eight. They died, but did not let the enemy through...
In the second, January article, Krivitsky already published the names and surnames of Panfilov’s men who died in the unequal battle.
The battle lasted more than four hours. Already fourteen tanks stood motionless on the battlefield. Sergeant Dobrobabin has already been killed, fighter Shemyakin has been killed... Konkin, Shadrin, Timofeev and Trofimov are dead... With inflamed eyes, Klochkov looked at his comrades - “Thirty tanks, friends,” he told the soldiers, “we will all have to die, probably. Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat. Moscow is behind us.”... Kuzhebergenov walks straight under the barrel of an enemy machine gun, arms crossed over his chest, and falls dead...
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 21, 1942, at the request of the command of the Western Front, all 28 guardsmen who were listed in Krivitsky’s article were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Russian State University for the Humanities historian Alexander Krushelnitsky is not inclined to believe that there were exactly 50 tanks, as was written in the article, but at the same time he does not question the feat of Panfilov’s men and other defenders of Moscow.
Tanks never went into battle just like that, on their own. Behind them came the infantrymen who carried out the breakthrough. Subsequently, the Germans simply called them “shell grenadiers.” And the density of machine-gun fire that these infantrymen created was such that not one of the 28, if there were only 28 of them and if they were armed only exclusively with small arms and Molotov cocktails, not one of them simply survived would. Because 50 tanks are not even 50 cars on the road. Any person who served in the army, who underwent the so-called tank test, knows what a tank attack is. And he knows how high a degree of courage is required to simply stay in place, not to run. Honor and glory to those of our guys, may the kingdom of heaven be upon them, who then died near Moscow, who did not run and actually stopped the tanks. Many more of our soldiers died there. And the whole trouble is that those who died there are still nameless. And this is a huge number of people.
Many historians, oddly enough, were wary of the information about the disclosure of new documents about the feat of 28 Panfilov men. Some are convinced that the feat at the Dubosekovo crossing is just Krivitsky’s author’s fantasy. But in this case there is a purely scientific approach. The same cannot be said about those who are directly interested in the deheroization of our history. Many of them specifically drew attention at one time to the fact that articles about Panfilov’s men and Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya appeared in newspapers almost simultaneously. There were many conspiracy theories and desires to once again accuse people of deliberate glorification for the purpose of propaganda of people who fought on the fields of the Great Patriotic War. In the case of the Panfilovites, the reason for doubt was the certificate - the report of the chief military prosecutor N. Afanasyev “About 28 Panfilovites” dated May 10, 1948, which in our time was presented by the State Archive Russian Federation and where it all started:
Based on the materials of the inspection, as well as the personal explanations of Koroteev, Krivitsky and the editor of “Red Star” Ortenberg, it was established that the feat of 28 Panfilov guardsmen, covered in the press, is an invention of the correspondent Koroteev, Ortenberg and especially Krivitsky.
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
The note itself told how in November 1947, the military prosecutor's office of the Kharkov garrison arrested Ivan Evstafievich Dobrobabin for treason. . During his arrest, they found a book about “28 Panfilov heroes,” and he himself was listed as one of the participants in the heroic battle at Dubosekovo, for which he received the title of Hero.
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During the interrogation of Dobrobabin, it turned out that other participants in the battle were also alive, there were no feats, and everything that was written about Panfilov’s men was nothing more than fiction. Based on this stuffing, it was decided to conduct a more detailed investigation. The articles of “Red Star” were subjected to detailed analysis.
One more circumstance was also taken into account. In May 1942, Red Army soldier Daniil Aleksandrovich Kuzhebergenov was arrested for voluntarily surrendering to German captivity, posing as a surviving Panfilov hero. Later, he admitted that he did not participate in the battle of Dubosekovo, but gave evidence based on newspaper articles, taking advantage of the fact that his name was indicated in the essay.
At the request of the commander of the 1075th regiment, Colonel Kaprov, instead of Daniil Kuzhebergenov, Askar Kuzhebergenov, who allegedly died in a battle with German tanks near Dubosekovo, was included in the Decree on awarding. However, Askar is not listed on the lists of the 4th company of the Kuzherbegenovs and, thus, could not have been among the “28 Panfilovites.”
It was on this certificate that the heroic story of “Panfilov’s 28 men” crumbled in 1948. Krivitsky himself subsequently admitted that he was under pressure at that time. There are also publicly available testimonies from local residents, from which it follows that the battle did take place. This is how the chairman of the Nelidovo Council, Smirnova, described that day:
The battle of Panfilov’s division near our village of Nelidovo and the Dubosekovo crossing took place on November 16, 1941. During this battle, all our residents, including me, were hiding in shelters... The Germans entered the area of our village and the Dubosekovo crossing on November 16, 1941 and were repulsed in units Soviet army December 20, 1941. At this time there were large snow drifts, which continued until February 1942, due to which we did not collect the corpses of those killed on the battlefield and did not conduct funerals. ...In early February 1942, we found only three corpses on the battlefield, which we buried in a mass grave on the outskirts of the village.
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
About the same thing can be read in the stories of other residents. They also recalled how they carried the corpse of political instructor Klochkov to the mass grave. According to Doctor of Historical Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Lavrov, it is too early to draw 100% conclusions about what actually happened at the Dubosekovo crossing, since any historical documents require detailed and thorough study.
“Now the Minister of Culture (Vladimir Medinsky - approx. Constantinople) came out with the fact that documents had been found confirming that there were 28 of them, that this was the battle. But I haven’t seen the documents themselves yet. You need to watch them and only then respond to them. Historical science such that they will find only one document, and it turns out that it was not quite as it was thought before. But if we take the position of Mironenko, the scientific director of the State Archives of the Russian Federation, then he was based on documents from 1948 as a professional historian. The minister said that for us the myth is more important than the historical truth. But if Medinsky’s assistants found documents confirming his, Medinsky’s, position, and confirming what was published during the war, well, wonderful. Even if we proceed from the documents of 1948, it was certainly a feat. And not 28, but a much larger number of people.”
Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky today refers to earlier documents from 1942-43, which indicate that the feat of 28 Panfilovites took place. As for who might need the falsification, there is a version that it was necessary against the backdrop of a wave of repression by the army generals and it was necessary to find at least some reasons to bring army officials to justice. Historians and publicists are now actively discussing latest information about the feat of 28 Panfilov men.
V. Medinsky. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
As for this particular battle, my position remains the same, that in the form, in the form in which this battle was described and then replicated in Soviet propaganda materials, this battle did not happen, says the editor-in-chief of the Skepticism magazine, Ph.D. Sciences Sergey Soloviev. - This feat of Panfilov’s division does not devalue, but this particular episode with the words of political instructor Klochkov: there is nowhere to retreat, Moscow is behind, and 18 destroyed tanks by 28 soldiers did not happen. From my point of view, there was certainly a feat that was accomplished by the soldiers and commanders of Panfilov’s division during the defense of Moscow, who, under the most difficult conditions, managed to stop the German offensive at the cost of own life. Not excluding Panfilov himself.
Russian State University for the Humanities historian Alexander Krushelnitsky does not question the feat of Panfilov and his fighters.
No one ever dared to challenge Panfilov’s feat. Panfilov died a heroic death defending his homeland. And a huge number of soldiers, commanders, and political workers subordinate to him shared his fate. I would like to look at that scoundrel who would question the very heroism of the dead. All those who died in the Great Patriotic War are all unconditional heroes. And there is no conversation.
I. Panfilov. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
And indeed, for the common man, all this hype that has arisen around the feat of Panfilov’s men is perhaps unnecessary. This should be considered as an occasion to remember once again the heroism of our soldiers who died a brave death on the fields of the Great Patriotic War.
Let the experts understand the documents. The most important thing is that we already believe in the feat of people that they accomplished, defending not only the capital, but all of Mother Russia and all of Europe from Hitler’s evil spirits. And the more children know and remember the words, even if fictitious, of political instructor Klochkov that “there is nowhere to retreat,” the more secure the feat of our entire people will be.
75 years ago, on November 16, 1941, near Volokolamsk, in the area of the Dubosekovo junction and the village of Nelidovo, a battle took place between the 2nd battalion of the 1075th regiment of the 316th rifle division under the command of General Panfilov and a column of German tanks trying to break through to Moscow. As a result of the battle, the tanks were stopped and the Germans decided to break through in other directions. This is something that is an indisputable fact.
The Battle of Moscow is the first dispelled myth about the invincibility of the NazisAfter 70 days of the battle for Kyiv in September 1941, Hitler marched on Moscow. The operation, codenamed "Typhoon", involved not only the capture of the capital, but also its complete destruction.Everything else is apocrypha. Even now, with all the development of tracking and surveillance means, the military cannot say exactly how much and what exactly they destroyed. What can we say about the autumn of 1941? Almost nothing is known: not how many people died on both sides, not exactly how many tanks were destroyed, not even how many and what kind of weapons the Panfilovites who opposed the tanks had. There are estimates. But there are no exact numbers.
Two of the assessments deserve attention.
The first is a story included in the official mythology of the war, invented by the literary secretary of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper Krivitsky. 28 soldiers of the 4th company destroyed 18 enemy tanks and all died.
The second assessment is the testimony of the commander of the 1075th regiment, Kaprova. The 4th company was fully staffed (120-140 people - even here there is no exact figure!). 20-25 people survived after the battle. In total, that day the entire 1075th Infantry Regiment destroyed 15 or 16 enemy tanks.
And what do we see when we compare these estimates? We see their unconditional correlation.
In November 1947, the prosecutor's office of the Kharkov garrison arrested former policeman Ivan Dobrobabin. According to the certificate-report of the chief military prosecutor Afanasyev, during a search of Dobrobabin, a book about 28 Panfilov heroes was discovered. And in this book it was written Dobrobabin - one of these fallen Panfilov heroes. Hero of the Soviet Union.
Surprised by such a miraculous resurrection with rebirth, the prosecutor's office decided to conduct an investigation, as a result of which it turned out that in addition to Dobrobabin, 4 more dead heroes remained alive. Moreover, one of them ended up in Panfilov’s division only in January 1942. And, on the contrary, one of the 28 heroes who allegedly died on November 16 died on November 14. In general, everything was invented by Krivitsky, sums up military prosecutor Afanasyev. Then he notices that there are monuments to 28 Panfilov heroes; parks, streets, schools and collective farms are named after them. And no matter how bad it turned out.
And on the basis of this document, champions of historical truth now claim: nothing happened. There was no battle at the Dubosekovo crossing. There was no stopped tank breakthrough. There were no Panfilov heroes.
But they were. The fact that not all of these specific 28 people took part in that battle is a particularity. The fact that they were not the ones who stopped those tanks is a particularity. The fact that the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, perhaps, was not awarded to other heroes of this battle is also a particularity. Unpleasant, but a particularity.
However, all these details do not negate the main thing - 28 Panfilov heroes existed. And they accomplished their feat - they did not allow German tanks to reach the Volokolamsk highway. There were more than 28, but 28 were definitely among them. Even with any other names.
And the grandiose monument in the field near the village of Nelidovo stands there completely on purpose.
When champions of historical truth cite the words of regiment commander Kaprov as their final argument: “There was no battle between 28 Panfilov men and German tanks at the Dubosekovo crossing on November 16, 1941 - this is a complete fiction,” for some reason they never cite what he said further: “On this day, at the Dubosekovo crossing, as part of the 2nd battalion, the 4th company fought with German tanks, and really fought heroically. Over 100 people from the company died, and not 28, as was written about in the newspapers.” That's all. The whole myth is only in the list of surnames. Well, perhaps, in the words of the Moscow anthem: “And twenty-eight of your bravest sons will live for centuries.” Since there were no sons of Moscow in General Panfilov’s division, it was formed in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
And the fact that the literary secretary Krivitsky did not know how to work with texture is not the problem of the Panfilov heroes. This is Krivitsky’s own problem. That's why he was a literary secretary, not an investigative journalist. Although it must be admitted that the legend he invented and disseminated about the confrontation between 28 heroes and 50 German tanks had a rather large impact on the morale of the Red Army. For one phrase, “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind him,” he should be given a prize. True, not for journalism, but for PR.
A legend is just a legend because it cannot be canceled by any historical facts. The legend is above the facts. She is more than facts.
Of course, it is necessary to argue about what exactly and how happened 75 years ago, on November 16, 1941, at the Dubosekovo junction and the village of Nelidovo. It is necessary to clarify the details, compare them, clarify the numbers and circumstances. But it is completely pointless to fight the legend. Moreover, the legend, in general, does not contradict any established facts, except for the list of surnames.
The Gospels also tell the same story in quite different ways. But because of this, we will not assert that neither Christ nor the apostles existed.
