Battle for Pavlov's House (WWII)

pavlov's house battle of stalingrad september 27th to november 25th 1942 stalingrad was a monument to the soviet resistance against the germans in world war ii it was in this city that one of the greatest battles of the war took place from july 17 1942 until february 2nd 1943 during the relentless and brutal fighting the entire city was turned into rubble and its forces were pushed to the very edge of the city but they never gave up defending it the heroic struggle of the stalingrad defenders demonstrated how the military and civilian population could fight the enemy together at least that was how the government in moscow saw it until the end of the war stories from stalingrad the hero city were used to boost the morale of the red army one such story focused on a group of soldiers who managed to defend a single building against repeated german attacks for two months they became known as the men from pavlov's house the fortress of stalingrad in july 1942 stalingrad emerged as one of the key german objectives on the eastern front not only was it an important strategic point but it also had a huge sentimental value as it bore the name of the soviet union leader himself by august 23rd german troops had arrived at the outskirts of the city with the intention of wiping it from the face of the earth the luftwaffe's preliminary campaign had already turned the city into a complete ruin troops from the german sixth army and the fourth panzer army then began encircling the city preparing for the assault which commenced on september 14th initially the german attackers saw considerable success in the battle swiftly pushing the soviet defenders to the eastern end of the city on the banks of the volga river within a short period of time the germans had control of nearly 90 percent of the city the most intense fighting was around the maya of kurgan hill and the number one railway station both sides suffered severe casualties but the soviets also endured large amounts of civilian injuries and death mainly due to stalin forbidding them from evacuating the city it soon became obvious that the soviets were in a desperate position and it only became progressively worse with each passing day the 13th guard's rifle division of the red army was one of the most heavily affected units losing more than half of its men in one week the stronghold of the 13th guards was located at the bombed out nkvd headquarters a soviet government law enforcement agency from this location the troops resisted the initial german assault and took to improving their defensive position on september 25th the commander of the 42nd guard's rifle regiment ordered the men of his third rifle battalion to capture two buildings that seemed like a good position for setting up a defense against german attacks junior sergeant jakob fedotovich pavlov of the 13th guards rifle division was tasked with seizing one of the buildings at the edge of the 9th january square on september 27th followed by three soldiers from his squad pavlov entered the building under the cover of night and drove the defending germans out of it once in their hands the commander of the 42nd regiment designated it pavlov's house the first thing pavlov noticed was that the building had an excellent tactical position overlooking the square with a full view of the german positions a few kilometers away as well as a one kilometer view of the north south and west of the area for that reason a decision was made to send pavlov some reinforcements to hold the building against possible german attacks if you've got a strategic military mind like junior sergeant pavlov you'll love playing warpath warpath will immerse you in a real field strategy based war game on the ground and across the skies of europe using real battlefields and maps from history side by side with your comrades feel the weight of the war as you drive tanks fly fighter jets control artillery or simply gun down the enemy alongside your brothers just like 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and mortars arrived three days later over time more troops came into the building increasing the number of men defending it to 31 however the soldiers were not alone in the building as a group of about 30 civilians had also taken refuge in the building's basement hiding from the german troops and their artillery bombardments as soon as the men settled in they organized a defensive perimeter around the building placing barbed wire and laying a minefield machine guns and anti-tank rifles were placed in positions by the damaged walls the spotter also positioned himself in the attic where he directed soviet artillery fire onto the german positions in preparation for a long defensive stand against the germans a communication trench was dug that connected the house to the riverbank from where supplies of food and ammunition were brought for better communication and movement inside the building the soldiers turned to a rudimentary but effective solution they smashed holes into the walls and ceilings the house had turned into a true fortress it didn't take long for the germans to realize the importance of pavlov's house in their plans to destroy the 13th guards at the same time the soviets had entered the house the second german assault on stalingrad began for the next 58 days the germans repeatedly assaulted pavlov's house but were repelled each time sometimes this occurred multiple times a day each german attack was preceded by fierce shelling during which time pavlov and the rest of the men sought shelter in the basement of the building leaving only observers and the positions on the upper floors as soon as the bombing stopped they rushed to their positions to meet the troops from the german 295th infantry division with some devastating firepower from their machine guns the men inside pavlov's house also established contact with their comrades in other nearby buildings to coordinate their fire against the onslaughts in situations when the german attacks were supported by tanks the soviet soldiers resorted to a special tactic once again they would all move to the basement or to the top floor where they were safe from the tank fire because their main gun elevation wasn't sufficient enough to hit them the top floor also allowed the soviets to have a clear shot with their anti-tank rifles on the thin armor at the top of the german tank's turrets pavlov and many of his comrades were combat heartened by the time of stalingrad they were soldiers with formidable experience who had managed to survive this far with their tactical knowledge by this point in the battle they were driven by desperation and a will to fight and did not consider retreating from the incessant german attacks and so for almost two full months with food and ammunition getting scarce in a building that was half demolished from heavy shelling a group of soldiers of different nationalities from all over the soviet union and the civilians living in the basement managed to hold out against a much larger force the soldiers remained in the building until november 25th where they left during the night to support the counter-offensive launched by the red army as the commander of the legendary 62nd army general vasily chewikov noticed the germans lost more men in front of pavlov's house than in the capture of paris [Applause] for his heroism in defending the building junior sergeant yakov irotovic pavlov received the highest soviet distinction the hero of the soviet union award his story of heroism has been recounted countless times since the war recently however a shadow of doubt was cast on the whole event the first thing that drew attention was the leadership role of junior sergeant pavlov undoubtedly he was the one who had captured the building however once the reinforcements arrived the most senior rank was lieutenant affinizef since the hierarchy was very strict in the red army he was most certainly in command of the garrison inside the building the main reason why pavlov emerged as the main hero of the story was probably that the house was listed in combat records under his name it's also important to note that pavlov received his distinction only after the war when he became a soviet party member in the years after pavlov went on to also become a high official of this state a more serious question about the event is whether or not it really happened the way it was recorded when the second german assault began on september 27th the center of the combat shifted north of mamaya of kurgan into the region of the workers settlement and the industrial area although far from ideal positions held by the 13th guard's rifle division were considered relatively quiet as up against them were the remnants from the battle exhausted german 71st and 295th infantry divisions this region was on the outskirts of the main battle in addition all the combat fought in this region took place on the 13th guard's flanks where the 34th and 39th guard's rifle regiments were deployed pavlov's 42nd guard's rifle regiment was in the middle of all this in late october the situation in stalingrad was exceedingly desperate for the red army stalin city was on its knees what the government needed was a positive image an example of an impenetrable defense the seizure of pavlov's house was perfect it was the beacon of hope that was so desperately required being the quietest region on the front journalists were brought to the 13th guards area to witness the heroic defense of the city it was not long after that the providence newspaper started publishing articles by leonid koran a political author assigned to the 42nd regiment one of his stories was called pavlov's house it was a perfect story including soldiers from across the entire country but the hero being an ordinary sergeant a true example for all the soldiers out on the front the ideological fight was just as important as the fight on the battlefield whether it was true or not the story of pavlov's house was undoubtedly an example of the gigantic effort soldiers of the red army undertook in defending their motherland at the battle of stalingrad [Music]

Channel: Simple History

Views: 867,754

Keywords: simple history, animated history, educational, education, pavlovs house, ww2, hero, ussr, defence, siege, german, Soviet resistance, Pavlov’s House, s They became known as the men from Pavlov’s House, the fortress of, German 6th Army, 4th Panzer Army, Mamayev Kurgan Hill, Number 1 Railway Station, 13th Guards Rifle Division, 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment, 3rd Rifle Battalion, Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov, Ivan Filippovich Afanasiev, German 295th Infantry Division, Lieutenant Afanasiev

Id: GhSDUA6SiAU

Length: 12min 11sec (731 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 19 2022