What are the 28 Panfilov heroes famous for? Panfilov's men

28 PANFILOV MEMBERS: TRUE OR FICTION?

On November 16, the premiere of the film “28 Panfilov’s Men” took place in Volokolamsk. Let's figure out what really happened on November 16, 1941 at the Dubosekovo crossing.

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 in German military chronicles of a message about the simultaneous loss of a large group of tanks were raised quite regularly.

To finally clarify the situation, the state archive - "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.

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

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

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

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

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.

Testimony of the commander of the 1075th Infantry Regiment, Ilya Kaprov. All 28 Panfilov heroes served in Karpov’s regiment.

During interrogation at the prosecutor’s office in 1948, Kaprov testified: “There was no battle between 28 Panfilov men and German tanks at the Dubosekovo crossing on November 16, 1941 - this is a complete fiction. On this day, at the Dubosekovo crossing, as part of the 2nd battalion, the 4th company fought with German tanks, and they really fought heroically. Over 100 people from the company died, and not 28, as was written about in the newspapers. None of the correspondents contacted me during this period; I never told anyone about the battle of 28 Panfilov’s men, and I couldn’t talk about it, since there was no such battle. I did not write any political report on this matter. I don’t know on the basis of what materials they wrote in newspapers, in particular in Krasnaya Zvezda, about the battle of 28 guardsmen from the division named after. Panfilova. At the end of December 1941, when the division was withdrawn for formation, the Red Star correspondent Krivitsky came to my regiment along with representatives of the political department of the division Glushko and Egorov. Here I first heard about the 28 Panfilov guardsmen. In a conversation with me, Krivitsky said that it was necessary to have 28 Panfilov guardsmen who fought with German tanks. I told him that the entire regiment fought with German tanks, and especially the 4th company of the 2nd battalion, but I don’t know anything about the battle of 28 guardsmen... Krivitsky’s last name was given to Krivitsky from memory by Captain Gundilovich, who had conversations with him on this topic , there were and could not be any documents about the battle of 28 Panfilov’s men in the regiment.”

Interrogations of journalists

Alexander Krivitsky testified during interrogation: “When talking in the PUR with Comrade Krapivin, he was interested in where I got the words of political instructor Klochkov, written in my basement: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind,” I told him that I made it up I myself...

...As far as the feelings and actions of the 28 heroes are concerned, this is my literary conjecture. I did not speak with any of the wounded or surviving guardsmen. From the local population, I only spoke with a boy of about 14–15 years old, who showed me the grave where Klochkov was buried.”

There was a battle at Dubosekovo, the company fought heroically

Testimony from local residents indicates that on November 16, 1941, a battle actually took place at the Dubosekovo crossing. Soviet soldiers with the advancing Germans. Six fighters, including political instructor Klochkov, were buried by residents of surrounding villages.

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

There is no doubt that the 316th Rifle Division of General Panfilov in defensive battles in the Volokolamsk direction in November 1941 managed to hold back the enemy’s onslaught, which became the most important factor, which allowed the Nazis to be defeated near Moscow.

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

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

/ Alexander Zhuravlev

The 75th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow has raised a new wave of controversy about the main symbol of that victory - the 28 Panfilov men. Special investigation by Informburo.

The legendary battle at the Dubosekovo crossing happened exactly 75 years ago. The weather then, in November 1941, was the same as now - in November 2016: snowfall and drifting snow were confirmed by a convincing minus. The Germans were clearly in a hurry to take the Soviet capital in the calendar autumn and especially bombed the Volokolamsk bridgehead.

The regiments that the German command was going to send on a march to Red Square landed 100 kilometers from Moscow. The 316th Motorized Rifle Division stood across the brave columns of the Wehrmacht and dragged out the fighting for four long days; as a result, it forced the enemy to transfer troops to another direction, and gave its own the opportunity to regroup forces for the effective defense of Moscow.

Volokolamsk Moscow region / Alexander Zhuravlev

The tactics, as we know, justified themselves, and even the most furious critic does not dare to dispute these well-known facts. And the point here is not at all the success of Soviet propaganda. The battle for Moscow has firmly settled in those fields, in archival funds, and in our memory from the Soviet school, where they taught - for which the division was given the name of its division commander.

An anniversary is always an extra reason to pick, pat, and troll. And when there is a big anniversary, hyped, ideologically fragile - even more so. “The Feat of Twenty-Eight” is a constant field of irreconcilable “trench” battles in the landscape of social networks, where the line of contact stretches like a scar along the entire length of the Internet. Tell me that you believe in 28 Panfilovites, and I will immediately tell you who you are. And I'll label it.

One or two documents to kindle “Facebook justice”. And it’s just a small thing - to sow doubts. Trolling is not a problem these days - anyone, in any way. The reference report “About 28 Panfilov’s men” by the chief military prosecutor of the USSR Afanasyev became a turning point for the entire Panfilov history. The Battle of Moscow was openly called a Soviet fake.

“Investigation materials have established that the feat of 28 Panfilov guardsmen, covered in the press, is an invention of the correspondent Koroteev, the editor of the Red Star Ortenberg, and especially the literary secretary of the newspaper Krivitsky. This fiction was repeated in the works of writers N. Tikhonov, V. Stavsky, A. Beck, N. Kuznetsov, V. Lipko, M. Svetlov and others and was widely popularized among the population of the Soviet Union,” the chief military prosecutor of the USSR Armed Forces Nikolai Afanasyev concludes in his investigation.

The counterargument was the date of the investigation of the feat by the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office. Skeptics immediately picked it up: since they dug so deeply and drew conclusions so boldly, it means there was an order from above. “The Legend of 28 Panfilov’s Men” was openly popularized by Zhukov, but after the war the marshal fell into disgrace, and a publicly debunked feat could seriously spoil the commander’s blood.

Monument to the Panfilov heroes at the Dubosekovo crossing / Alexander Zhuravlev

However, the hasty and “unfounded conclusions” of the Main Military Prosecutor’s Office were noticed in time “where it was needed”: Afanasyev’s prosecutor’s certificate was shelved, and the version of the “false feat” was hushed up. And they even asked the question: who benefits from all this - denying the feat near Moscow? Krivitsky only confirmed in the 70s that such a “order,” typical of the Stalinist regime, directly required him to admit that “Panfilov’s 28 are the figment of his author’s imagination.”

“I was told that if I refused to testify that I had completely invented the description of the battle at Dubosekovo and that I had not spoken to any of the seriously wounded or surviving Panfilov soldiers before publishing the article, then I would soon find myself in Pechora or Kolyma. Given the situation, I had to say that the battle at Dubosekovo was my literary fiction,” recalls literary secretary of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper Alexander Krivitsky.

But call 28 Panfilov’s men a myth, and your opponents will immediately peck you and label you with shame. A sharp edge where adequate discussion is easily curtailed, society is roughly chopped into two irreconcilable parts. The leaking of another document - and shreds flew through the back streets. While some are attacking, others are defending, pulling up reserves in order to get a worthy “response”. Just have time to throw something on the fan...

“Those who are now trying to denigrate the feat of the soldiers of the 8th Guards Division themselves admit that during the defense of Moscow such and such a section of the front was defended by a division formed in Almaty - the 8th Guards Rifle Division. The critics themselves admit this. Everything else is insinuation "The clearest example of our heritage is that during the war, all peoples united and, despite any hardships, stood up as a united front to defend their Fatherland. And now they want to knock this out from us and impose other positions that are alien to us," said the chairman of the Almaty City Committee of WWII Veterans Kupesbai Zhanpeisov.

The story of that battle was promoted to the point of legend by the editors of Krasnaya Zvezda, the master of Soviet military editorial. Front-line correspondent Koroteev found a front-line report about the battle of Dubosekovo and, with the note “everyone died, but they didn’t let the enemy through,” he sent it to his boss, the editor-in-chief of “Red Star” Ortenberg. So, from a real front-line feat, the Soviet media worker began to scrupulously “cut down” a pop motif.

“Upon arrival in Moscow, I reported the situation to the editor of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, Ortenberg, and talked about the company’s battle with enemy tanks. Ortenberg asked me how many people were in the company. I answered that there were about 30 people and that two of these people turned out to be traitors ... Thus, the number of those who fought appeared - 28 people. Ortenberg said that it was impossible to write about two traitors, and decided to write about only one traitor in the front line,” from the testimony of Krasnaya Zvezda frontline correspondent Vasily Koroteev to the Chief Military Prosecutor.

Ortenberg sent his subordinate, Literary Secretary Krivitsky, to report from the scene. The feat had to hook the reader with heroic details. And Krivitsky sincerely believed that he was not cheating when directing certain moments. The country is in conditions of war and the offensive of Nazi Germany. For the editor-in-chief of "Red Star" the issue of propaganda was not a question in principle. Later, during interrogation, he directly admits that he imposed the number “28” on Krivitsky, as well as the format of the editorial: the will of fallen heroes.

“Krivitsky said: it is necessary to have 28 Panfilov guardsmen who fought with German tanks. I told him that the entire regiment fought with German tanks and especially the 4th company of the 2nd battalion, and really fought heroically, but about I don’t know anything about the battle of 28 guardsmen... More than 100 people from the company died, and not 28, as was written about in the newspapers,” from the testimony of the commander of the 1075th Infantry Regiment, Ilya Kaprov, to the Chief Military Prosecutor.

Place of the battle at the Dubosekovo crossing / Alexander Zhuravlev

Regimental commander Kaprov, according to the materials of his interrogation, stated that he first heard about 28 Panfilov’s men only at the end of 1941. There has never been any documentation about that legendary battle in the division. But no one from the command officially confirmed anything to correspondent Krivitsky; he entered the names himself, from memory. The division generally learned about their heroes when award certificates arrived from the Center for 28 especially distinguished people. Such a reporter’s flight does not in any way amount to a version of an accidental editorial error.

Krivitsky at the site of the battle near Dubosekovo does not find either participants in the feat or eyewitnesses and limits himself to interviewing the local population, but they were holed up in their homes and basements and also heard the story of Panfilov’s men only from words. And when “Red Star” publishes that story, the real feat is finally hidden behind the screen of legend and doomed to eternal doubt. In his final version, literary secretary Krivitsky writes about 29 Panfilovites: 28 heroes and 1 traitor.

Quote from the newspaper "Red Banner" / website illustration

During interrogations, Krivitsky himself called the legend of the 28 Panfilov men “literary speculation.” The document from the Main Military Prosecutor's Office was declassified only in 2015, and it was this document that provoked a new fuss - a new reason to dispel the “myth 28.” I doubted it a little and was immediately caught... As soon as you begin to deny a seemingly dry figure, you immediately cast a shadow over the entire battle near Moscow. And nothing else.

The laws of propaganda have not changed much since the days of Soviet power, it’s just that now there is a choice - whose position to take. And the choice today is harsh. Yes or no. Either on that western side of the Dubosekovo crossing, or on this one. And look - don't be mistaken. They will remember, and more than once. And - a chevron on the avatar of either a Soviet “vatnik” or a “Maidanut” convert. There is no third.

Rally in honor of the opening of the monument to WWII soldiers in Volokolamsk / Alexander Zhuravlev

“It wasn’t 28 soldiers who fought against the tanks, the 4th company was killed there. All of them were killed, but they didn’t let the Germans through. 28 guardsmen, 100 Panfilov guardsmen - that’s a different question. There’s no need to pull out hard facts and denigrate the heroes and their feats. It’s impossible. allow revision general history“so as not to repeat the tragic mistakes that were made in the pre-war years,” says Bulat Sultanov, a professor at the Kazakh-German University.
“Indeed, the outcome of the war was decided - now we can talk about it - by Siberians and Kazakhstanis, Kazakhs. Of course, somewhere in the park the names could have been written inaccurately, someone could have been captured after the battle, there could have been inaccuracies, but no one could remember the feat of the Panfilovites has the right to challenge,” insists the scientific secretary of the National Congress of Historians Ziyabek Kabuldinov.
"They are starting to say that soviet people and the Soviet Army fought under the guns of the NKVD. Every new generation comes and tries to carry out an audit. We do not learn to respect history as it is, regardless of political or ideological leanings, or modern fashion“, which is dictated from somewhere, sometimes financed,” says Maharram Maharramov, a member of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Those on this eastern side honestly admit: it’s high time to publicly apologize to the entire 4th company. Not 28 died repelling German tanks, but a good hundred. These are two thirds of the real heroes of the battle of Moscow, whose names are not even “Googled”. You need to apologize and repent if you have to, but don’t touch the legend of 28 anymore. It’s not our business to rethink the exploits of our grandfathers.

“The fourth company of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th rifle regiment of the Panfilov division fought in an unequal battle with fascist tanks at the Dubosekovo junction. There were 130 of them. As the regiment commander Kaprov later recalled, only 20-25 people remained alive,” says the head museum complex"Volokolamsk Kremlin" Galina Odina.

“The current generation of Kazakhs and Russians must carefully preserve the memory of how the Soviet people fought for their freedom and how many victims they laid on the common altar of Victory. The surrender of the Soviet capital could postpone the day of victory over the fascist yoke for a long time. The entire people realized the inadmissibility of this,” said At the opening of the monument to the heroes of the Second World War, Vice President of Aluminum of Kazakhstan JSC (ERG) Begziya Iskakova.
“It seems to me that everyone was a hero who was not afraid to look the enemy in the face, who in November-December 1941 stood to the death for their country. And in the trenches, it seems to me, people did not divide each other by nationality, religion, origin. And as long as we remember this, everything will be in order: in every region, home, family,” Nurzhan Omarov, assistant military attache of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Russian Federation, spoke at a rally in Volokolamsk.
“In the hearts of the young, their generation is entrusted with the task of preserving this feat and this memory. No one should be given a chance to try to refute it again, and maybe again and again, in a few years, I don’t know, but these attempts will continue,” - Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Moscow Region of the Russian Federation Elmira Khaimurzina addressed those gathered in the Victory Park of Volokolamsk.

Unexploded grenade from 1941 / Alexander Zhuravlev

History does not openly look at a small journalistic mistake that provoked big political consequences. If the stars of the heroes only strengthened the legend 28, then they would definitely not have assigned the name of a division general for a fictitious feat in those days. The country that defeated fascism had enough real exploits even without semi-mythical stories. Why bother with unnecessary gardens?

"In all history Soviet army only two divisions were named after their commanders: the 25th Chapaev Division and the 8th Guards Panfilov Division. “Not a single division was named after its commander,” said Larisa Muzykant, a guide at the Panfilov Heroes Museum in the village of Nelidovo.

Who really benefits from debunking a legend into a myth? Does the country really have so many feats that have been promoted far beyond the bounds, or at least human deeds that have been heard about no less than Borat’s fakes? Is there anything else you can be truly proud of? Why deny what you cannot change - your own history? And why don’t these facts, including those, become the very bond that we have been unsuccessfully looking for for 25 years?

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

On November 23–24, 1941, Vladimir Koroteev, together with another journalist, a reporter for Komsomolskaya Pravda, talked with Rokossovsky at the headquarters of the 16th Army. The subject of the conversation was the heroism of soldiers who devote all their strength to the defense of the Fatherland. The journalists were asked to write a report “from the trenches,” but they were still not allowed to go to the front line. I had to be content with second-hand materials. At headquarters they met the commissar of the Panfilov division, Yegorov. Talking about the heroism of the soldiers, Egorov gave an example of the battle of one of the companies with German tanks and suggested writing about this battle. The commissar did not know the exact number of company soldiers. He reported only two cases of betrayal. In the evening, the editorial office worked on the material and settled on the fact that there should have been about 30 soldiers left in the company. The number 28 was obtained by simple subtraction: after all, two were traitors, not heroes. In addition, the next issue was published on November 28, so it turned out to be a beautiful headline. Neither the editor nor the author of the article could have imagined what consequences the publication of the note would have... The topic of Panfilov’s men quickly became popular. A number of more essays about Panfilov’s heroes appeared (however, Koroteev himself did not return to the topic; it was transferred to another journalist, Krivitsky). Stalin really liked the legend, and all 28 Panfilov men were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

What really happened at the Dubosekovo crossing? And what was the feat of Panfilov’s men? The opinion of historians is this: indeed, the soldiers of Panfilov’s division showed heroism, delaying the advance of the tanks for four hours and allowing the command to bring up troops for the decisive battle. However, the entire battalion deserved glory, and not just the famous 4th company of the 1075th regiment of the 316th Infantry Division. And the main feat of the fighters is that they, having overcome the fear of tanks, with minimal technical support(according to some sources, there were only two anti-tank rifles for the entire company!) managed to stop the tank column.

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

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

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

The fate of two more Panfilovites was much more tragic: D. A. Kozhubergenov and I. E. Dobrobabin. Daniil Aleksandrovich Kozhubergenov was the liaison officer of the political instructor of the 4th company V. G. Klochkov. In the battle he was shell-shocked, in an unconscious state he was captured by the Germans, but after a few hours he managed to escape, came across Dovator’s cavalry and, together with them, broke out of the encirclement. Having learned from the newspapers that he was considered dead, he was the first of Panfilov’s men to declare himself. But instead of being awarded, he was arrested. Investigator Soloveichik forced Kozhubergenov at gunpoint to sign an “impostor.” He was sent to a marching company, but after being seriously wounded near Rzhev, he was decommissioned, and he returned to Alma-Ata. And in order to avoid problems in the future, we decided to “adjust” the list of heroes. So instead of Daniil Aleksandrovich Kozhubergenov, Askar Kozhebergenov appeared. They even came up with a biography for him. But the real participant in the battle died as an “impostor” in 1976. He has still not been rehabilitated and is not officially recognized.

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

After demobilization, Dobrobabin returned to the city of Tokmak, where he lived before the war. Here a street was named after him and there was a full-length monument to him. But no one needed a living hero. Moreover, Ivan Dobrobabin was repressed as a former police officer. He was arrested and tried on June 8–9, 1948. For “treason to the Motherland,” Dobrobabin was sentenced to 25 years in the camps. However, this term was reduced to 15 years (after all, one of the 28 Panfilovites). According to the court in Moscow, he was deprived of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Not a single witness was called to the trial from the village of Perekop (40 km from Kharkov, where the trial took place), who would confirm his struggle with the Germans. The “traitor” was also not given a lawyer. The Panfilov hero went to the camps... At the monument to Dobrobabin, they cut off his head and welded another one, also a Panfilov hero, only he died.

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

And the phrase of political instructor Klochkov, which has become a catchphrase, is entirely on the conscience of journalists. The Panfilov division was formed mainly from Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Uzbeks; much less than half of it was Russian. Many knew almost no Russian (only basic commands). So political instructor Klochkov would hardly have made pathetic speeches in front of the company: firstly, a good half of the soldiers would not have understood anything, and secondly, the roar from the explosions was such that even the commands were not always heard.

Russia will never stop trying to trample on its heroes who gave their lives in the name of the Fatherland.

At the request of citizens

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

« In connection with numerous appeals from citizens, institutions and organizations, we are posting a certificate-report of the Chief Military Prosecutor N. Afanasyev “About 28 Panfilovites” dated May 10, 1948, based on the results of the investigation of the Main Military Prosecutor’s Office, stored in the fund of the USSR Prosecutor’s Office.”, says a message on the website of the State Archives of the Russian Federation.

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

On its basis, the head of the State Archives of the Russian Federation, Citizen Mironenko, himself made statements that “there were no 28 Panfilov heroes - this is one of the myths propagated by the state.”

But before we talk about myth and truth, let's remember the classic story of Panfilov's heroes.

Classic version of the feat

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

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

In April 1942, when the feat of 28 Panfilov men became widely known in the country, the command of the Western Front issued a petition to award all 28 soldiers the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 21, 1942, all 28 guardsmen listed in Krivitsky’s essay were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The “resurrected” Dobrobabin managed to serve the Germans and take Vienna

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

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

In March 1943, during the liberation of this area from the Germans, Dobrobabin was arrested as a traitor by Soviet authorities, but escaped from custody, again went over to the Germans and again got a job in the German police, continuing active treasonous activities, arrests of Soviet citizens and direct implementation forced sending work force to Germany.

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

Dobrobabin, understanding the situation he found himself in, honestly told how it happened. He actually took part in the battle at the Dubosekovo junction, but was not killed, but received a shell shock and was captured.

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

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

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

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

Krivitsky list

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

According to the materials of the prosecutor's office, the first description of the battle of the Panfilov guardsmen who stopped German tanks appeared in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper in an essay by front-line correspondent Vasily Koroteev. This note did not name the names of the heroes, but said that “every one of them died, but they did not let the enemy through.”

The next day, the editorial “The Testament of 28 Fallen Heroes” appeared in the Red Star, which stated that 28 soldiers stopped the advance of 50 enemy tanks, destroying 18 of them. The note was signed by the literary secretary of “Red Star” Alexander Krivitsky.

And finally, on January 22, 1942, signed by Alexander Krivitsky, the material “About 28 Fallen Heroes” appeared, which became the basis for the classic version of the feat.

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

Mitchenko Nikita, Shopokov Duishenkul, Konkin Grigory Efimovich, Shadrin Ivan Demidovich, Moskalenko Nikolay, Emtsov Pyotr Kuzmich, Kuzhebergenov Daniil Alexandrovich, Timofeev Dmitry Fomich, Trofimov Nikolay Ignatievich, Bondarenko Yakov Alexandrovich, Vasiliev Larion Romanovich, Belashev Nikolay Nikonorovich, Bezrodny Grigor y, Sengirbaev Musabek , Maksimov Nikolay, Ananyev Nikolay.

Survivors of Dubosekovo

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

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

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

Meanwhile, employees of the prosecutor's office, having studied all the materials and heard the testimony of witnesses, came to the conclusion - “the feat of 28 Panfilov guardsmen, covered in the press, is an invention of the correspondent Koroteev, the editor of the Red Star Ortenberg, and especially the literary secretary of the newspaper Krivitsky.”

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

Testimony of the regiment commander

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

Over 100 people from the company died, and not 28, as was written about in the newspapers. None of the correspondents contacted me during this period; I never told anyone about the battle of 28 Panfilov’s men, and I couldn’t talk about it, since there was no such battle. I did not write any political report on this matter.

I don’t know on the basis of what materials they wrote in newspapers, in particular in Krasnaya Zvezda, about the battle of 28 guardsmen from the division named after. Panfilova. At the end of December 1941, when the division was withdrawn for formation, the Red Star correspondent Krivitsky came to my regiment along with representatives of the political department of the division Glushko and Egorov.

Here I first heard about the 28 Panfilov guardsmen. In a conversation with me, Krivitsky said that it was necessary to have 28 Panfilov guardsmen who fought with German tanks. I told him that the entire regiment, and especially the 4th company of the 2nd battalion, fought with German tanks, but I don’t know anything about the battle of 28 guardsmen...

Captain Gundilovich, who had conversations with him on this topic, gave Krivitsky’s last name from memory; there were no documents about the battle of 28 Panfilov men in the regiment and there could not have been.”

Interrogations of journalists

Alexander Krivitsky testified during interrogation: “When talking at the PUR with Comrade Krapivin, he was interested in where I got the words of political instructor Klochkov, written in my basement: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind us,” I answered him that I had invented this myself...

Guard senior sergeant Nikolai Bogdashko. Cossacks against tanks. 45 cavalrymen repeated the feat of Panfilov’s men. And here’s what Vasily Koroteev said: “Around November 23–24, 1941, I, together with a war correspondent for the newspaper,” TVNZ"Chernyshev was at the headquarters of the 16th Army...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I was told that I would end up in Kolyma”

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

But don't rush to conclusions.

Firstly, the Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Andrei Zhdanov, to whom the conclusions of the prosecutor's investigation were reported, did not give any progress. Let’s say a party leader decided to “drop the question.”

Alexander Krivitsky in the 1970s talked about how the investigation by the prosecutor's office proceeded in 1947–1948:

“I was told that if I refuse to testify that I completely invented the description of the battle at Dubosekovo and that I did not talk to any of the seriously wounded or surviving Panfilov soldiers before publishing the article, then I would soon find myself in Pechora or Kolyma. In such a situation, I had to say that the battle at Dubosekovo was my literary fiction.”

Regimental Commander Kaprov was also not so categorical in his other testimony: “At 14-15 hours the Germans opened strong artillery fire... and again went on the attack with tanks...

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

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

There was a battle at Dubosekovo, the company fought heroically

Testimony from local residents indicates that on November 16, 1941, at the Dubosekovo crossing, there really was a battle between Soviet soldiers and the advancing Germans. Six fighters, including political instructor Klochkov, were buried by residents of surrounding villages.

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

There is no doubt that the 316th Infantry Division of General Panfilov, in defensive battles in the Volokolamsk direction in November 1941, managed to hold back the enemy’s onslaught, which became the most important factor that allowed the Nazis to be defeated near Moscow.

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

Of the 28 people included in the lists of heroes, 6, who were considered dead, wounded and shell-shocked, miraculously survived. One of them turned out to be Ivan Dobrobabin who was cowardly. Does this negate the feat of the other 27?

300 Spartans - a myth propagated by the Greek state?

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

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

Of these, about 4,000 died in the battle, and about 400 were captured. Moreover, according to Herodotus, not all of the 300 warriors of King Leonidas died at Theromopylae. The warrior Pantin, sent by Leonidas as a messenger and only therefore not being on the battlefield, hanged himself, because shame and contempt awaited him in Sparta.

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

Despite all these circumstances, you are unlikely to see Greek historians or the head of the Greek archive frantically bombarding the Greek media with materials about how “300 Spartans are a myth propagated by the state.”

So why, tell me, will Russia never stop trying to trample on its heroes who gave their lives in the name of the Fatherland?

Heroes remain heroes

Director of the film “Panfilov’s 28 Men”: “There is nowhere to retreat” Historians agree that the feat of the 28 Panfilov heroes had great importance, playing an exceptional mobilizing role, becoming an example of perseverance, courage and self-sacrifice. Phrase " Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind us!"became a symbol of the defenders of the Motherland for decades to come.

In the fall of 2015, the film “Panfilov's 28 Men” directed by Andrei Shalopa should be released on Russian screens. Fundraising for the film, which will tell the classic story of the feat of the defenders of Moscow, was and is being carried out using the crowdfunding method.

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

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

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

Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

Panfilov's men were soldiers of the 316th Rifle Division (later the 8th Guards Division) under the command of Major General Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov, who participated in the defense of Moscow in 1941.

Among the soldiers of the division, the most famous were 28 people (Panfilov heroes and 28 Panfilov heroes) from the personnel of the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th rifle regiment. On November 16, when a new enemy offensive began on Moscow, soldiers of the 4th company, led by political instructor V.G. Klochkov-Diev, carried out defense in the area of the Dubosekovo crossing, 7 kilometers southeast of Volokolamsk, official version, accomplished a feat, during a 4-hour battle they destroyed 18 enemy tanks. All 28 heroes died (later they began to write “almost all”).

On November 17, 1941, the 316th Division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for military merits; on November 18, it received the name of the 8th Guards Division; on November 23, it was named after I.V. Panfilov, who died on November 18.

On July 21, 1942, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, all participants in this battle were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).

In 1966, in Moscow, a street in the Northern Tushino district (Panfilov Heroes Street) was named in honor of Panfilov’s men, where the monument was erected.

In their honor, a memorial was also built in Dubosekovo in 1975.

In the village of Nelidovo (1.5 km from the Dubosekovo junction), a monument was erected and the Museum of Panfilov Heroes was opened. In the city of Alma-Ata, home to Panfilov’s men, there is a park named after 28 Panfilov guardsmen, in which there is a monument in their honor.

The mention of the 28 “bravest sons” of Moscow was also included in the song My Dear Capital, now the anthem of Moscow.

The official version of the feat was studied by the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the USSR and recognized as literary fiction. Therefore, the version of the feat described in Krivitsky’s articles and which became official should perhaps be considered a legend based on real events, since the fact of heavy defensive battles of the Panfilov division against the 2nd and 11th German tank divisions in the Volokolamsk direction on November 16, 1941 is undeniable. Contents [remove]
1 The emergence of the official version
1.1 Criticism of the official version
1.2 Opinions of supporters of a different point of view
1.3 Documentary evidence of the battle
1.4 Summary
2 Reconstruction of the battle
3 The fate of some Panfilovites
4 Notes
5 Documentary films
6 See also
7 Links

[edit]
The emergence of the official version

Monument to 28 Panfilov's men in Almaty

The history of the official version of events is set out in the materials of the investigation of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office. The heroic feat was first reported by the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper on November 27, 1941, in an essay by front-line correspondent Koroteev. The article about the participants in the battle said that “every one of them died, but they did not let the enemy through.”

On November 28, 1941, the Red Star published an editorial entitled “The Testament of 28 Fallen Heroes.” This article indicated that 29 Panfilov men fought with enemy tanks.

“Over fifty enemy tanks moved to the lines occupied by twenty-nine Soviet guardsmen from the division named after. 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..."

The editorial was written by the literary secretary of the Red Star, Krivitsky. The names of the guardsmen who fought and died were not indicated in both the first and second articles.

On January 22, 1942, in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, Krivitsky published an essay entitled “About 28 Fallen Heroes,” in which he wrote in detail about the feat of 28 Panfilov men. In this essay, Krivitsky confidently, as an eyewitness or a person who heard the story of the participants in the battle, writes about the personal experiences and behavior of 28 guardsmen, naming their names for the first time:

“Let the army and the country finally know their proud names. In the trench were: Klochkov Vasily Georgievich, Dobrobabin Ivan Evstafievich, Shepetkov Ivan Alekseevich, Kryuchkov Abram Ivanovich, Mitin Gavriil Stepanovich, Kasaev Alikbay, Petrenko Grigory Alekseevich, Esibulatov Narsutbay, Kaleinikov Dmitry Mitrofanovich, Natarov Ivan Moiseevich, Shemyakin Grigory Mikhailovich, Dutov Petr Dan Ilovich, Mitchenko Nikolay, Shapokov Dushankul, Konkin Grigory Efimovich, Shadrin Ivan Demidovich, Moskalenko Nikolay, Yemtsov Petr Kuzmich, Kuzhebergenov Daniil Alexandrovich, Timofeev Dmitry Fomich, Trofimov Nikolay Ignatievich, Bondarenko Yakov Alexandrovich, Vasiliev Larion Romanovich, Bolotov Nikolay, Bezrodny Grigory, Sengirbaev Mustafa, Maksimov Nikolay, Ananyev Nikolay..."

All essays and stories, poems and poems about 28 Panfilov’s men, which appeared in print later, were written either by Krivitsky, or with his participation and in various options repeat his essay “About 28 Fallen Heroes.”

In April 1942, after all military units learned from the newspapers about the feat of 28 guardsmen from Panfilov's division, on the initiative of the command of the Western Front, a petition was filed with the People's Commissar of Defense to award them the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 21, 1942, all 28 guardsmen listed in Krivitsky’s essay were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

[edit]
Criticism of the official version

The official version raises doubts due to its numerous inconsistencies with documents and common sense.
The battle with these details is not mentioned either in Soviet or German official documents. Neither the commander of the 2nd battalion (which included the 4th company), Major Reshetnikov, nor the commander of the 1075th regiment, Colonel Kaprov, nor the commander of the 316th division, Major General Panfilov, nor the commander of the 16th Army, General, says anything about him - Lieutenant Rokossovsky. German sources say nothing about it either (and the loss of 18 tanks in one battle at the end of 1941 was an extraordinary event for the Germans)
According to documents, on November 16, 1941, the 1075th Regiment was knocked out of its positions and retreated. For this, the commander and commissar of the regiment were temporarily suspended from their posts. That is, Panfilov’s men failed to stop the German offensive
It remains unclear how Panfilov's men were able to destroy so many tanks with only a few anti-tank rifles, grenades and Molotov cocktails - very ineffective anti-tank weapons.
It is not clear how Koroteev and Krivitsky learned so many details of this battle. The information that information was received in the hospital from a mortally wounded combatant looks very suspicious.
In an article dated November 27, 1941, the “hero” political instructor is named Diev, and it is also said that the 5th company accomplished the feat, and in an article dated January 22, 1942, the political instructor is named Klochkov, and the feat is attributed to the 4th company. The question arises, which company, the 4th or 5th, accomplished the feat, as well as the real name of the political instructor (in various publications he is called Diev, Klochkov, Klochkov-Diev and Diev-Klochkov).

It later turned out that not all of the listed participants in the battle died. Surviving were Ivan Evstafievich Dobrobabin, Illarion Romanovich Vasiliev, Dmitry Fomich Timofeev, Grigory Melentievich Shemyakin, Ivan Demidovich Shadrin and Daniil Alexandrovich Kuzhebergenov. It was also found that the list of awardees was compiled very sloppily - it contains numerous errors in the names of the awardees. So, instead of the surname Belashev, Bolotov is indicated, instead of the name Mitchenko Nikita, Nikolai is indicated, two soldiers do not have a middle name, etc. In May 1942, the Special Department of the Western Front arrested a Red Army soldier of the 4th company of the 2nd for voluntarily surrendering to the Germans battalion of the 1075th Infantry Regiment of the 8th Guards named after. Panfilov division Daniil Aleksandrovich Kuzhebergenov, who during the first interrogations showed that he was the same Daniil Aleksandrovich Kuzhebergenov, who is considered dead among the 28 Panfilov men.

In further testimony, Kuzhebergenov admitted that he did not participate in the battle near Dubosekov, and gave his testimony on the basis of newspaper reports in which they wrote about him as a hero who participated in the battle with German tanks among 28 Panfilov men. Based on the testimony of Kuzhebergenov and the materials of the investigation, the commander of the 1075th Infantry Regiment, Colonel Kaprov, reported to the awards department of the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs NKO8 about the erroneous inclusion of Daniil Kuzhebergenov among the 28 Panfilov men who died in the battle with German tanks and asked in return to reward Askar Kuzhebergenov, who allegedly died in this fight. Therefore, Askar Kuzhebergenov was included in the Decree on the award. However, Askar is not listed on the lists of the 4th and 5th companies of Kuzhebergenov.

In November 1947, the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Kharkov garrison was arrested and prosecuted for treason against the Motherland Ivan Evstafievich Dobrobabin. The investigation materials established that, while at the front, Dobrobabin voluntarily surrendered to the Germans and in the spring of 1942 entered their service. Served as chief of police in the village temporarily occupied by the Germans. Perekop, Valkovsky district, Kharkov region. In March 1943, during the liberation of this area from the Germans, Dobrobabin, as a traitor, was arrested by Soviet authorities, but escaped from custody, again went over to the Germans and again got a job in the German police, continuing active treasonous activities, arrests of Soviet citizens and direct implementation of the forced sending of young people to hard labor in Germany.

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 heroic battle, for which he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Dobrobabin’s interrogation established that in the Dubosekovo area he was indeed slightly wounded and captured by the Germans, but did not perform any feats, and everything that was written about him in the book about Panfilov’s heroes does not correspond to reality. In this regard, the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the USSR conducted a detailed investigation into the history of the battle at the Dubosekovo crossing. The results were reported by the Chief Military Prosecutor of the Armed Forces of the country, Lieutenant General of Justice N. Afanasyev, to the Prosecutor General of the USSR G. Safonov on May 10, 1948. Based on this report, on June 11, a certificate was drawn up signed by Safonov and addressed to A. A. Zhdanov. The investigation materials were classified.

[edit]
Opinions of supporters of a different point of view

For the first time publicly, V. Cardin doubted the reliability of the story about Panfilov’s men, publishing in the magazine “ New world"(February 1966) article "Legends and Facts." This was followed by a series of publications in the late 1980s. A strong argument was the publication of declassified materials from the investigation of the military prosecutor's office in 1948.

In particular, these materials contain the testimony of the former commander of the 1075th Infantry Regiment, Ilya Vasilyevich Kaprov:

“...There was no battle between 28 Panfilov men and German tanks at the Dubosekovo crossing on November 16, 1941 - this is a complete fiction. On this day, at the Dubosekovo crossing, as part of the 2nd battalion, the 4th company fought with German tanks, and they really fought heroically. Over 100 people from the company died, and not 28, as was written about in the newspapers. None of the correspondents contacted me during this period; I never told anyone about the battle of 28 Panfilov’s men, and I couldn’t talk about it, since there was no such battle. I did not write any political report on this matter. I don’t know on what basis they wrote in newspapers, in particular in Krasnaya Zvezda, about the battle of 28 guardsmen from the division named after. Panfilova. At the end of December 1941, when the division was withdrawn for formation, the “Red Star” correspondent Krivitsky came to my regiment along with representatives of the political department of the division Glushko and Egorov. Here I first heard about the 28 Panfilov guardsmen. In a conversation with me, Krivitsky said that it was necessary to have 28 Panfilov guardsmen who fought with German tanks. I told him that the entire regiment, and especially the 4th company of the 2nd battalion, fought with German tanks, but I know nothing about the battle of 28 guardsmen... Krivitsky’s last name was given to Krivitsky from memory by Captain Gundilovich, who had conversations with him on this topic, There were and could not be any documents about the battle of 28 Panfilov men in the regiment. Nobody asked me about last names. Subsequently, after lengthy clarification of the names, it was only in April 1942 that the division headquarters sent ready-made award sheets and a general list of 28 guardsmen to my regiment for signature. I signed these sheets to award 28 guardsmen the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. I don’t know who initiated the compilation of the list and award sheets for 28 guardsmen.”

Materials from the interrogation of correspondent Koroteev are also provided:

“Around November 23-24, 1941, I, together with the war correspondent of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper Chernyshev, was at the headquarters of the 16th Army... When leaving the army headquarters, we met the commissar of the 8th Panfilov division, Egorov, who spoke about the extremely difficult situation at the front and reported that our people were fighting heroically in all areas. In particular, Egorov gave an example of the heroic battle of one company with German tanks; 54 tanks advanced on the company’s line, and the company delayed them, destroying some of them. Egorov himself was not a participant in the battle, but spoke from the words of the regiment commissar, who also did not participate in the battle with German tanks... Egorov recommended writing in the newspaper about the heroic battle of the company with enemy tanks, having previously become acquainted with the political report received from the regiment... The political report spoke about the battle of the fifth company with enemy tanks and that the company fought “to the death” - it died, but did not retreat, and only two people turned out to be traitors, they raised their hands to surrender to the Germans, but they were destroyed by our soldiers. The report did not say about the number of company soldiers who died in this battle, and their names were not mentioned. We did not establish this from conversations with the regiment commander. It was impossible to get into the regiment, and Egorov did not advise us to try to get into the regiment. Upon arrival in Moscow, I reported the situation to the editor of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, Ortenberg, and talked about the company’s battle with enemy tanks. Ortenberg asked me how many people were in the company. I answered him that the company apparently was incomplete, about 30-40 people; I also said that two of these people turned out to be traitors... I didn’t know that the front line was being prepared on this topic, but Ortenberg called me again and asked how many people were in the company. I told him that there were about 30 people. Thus, the number of those who fought appeared to be 28, since out of 30 two turned out to be traitors. Ortenberg said that it was impossible to write about two traitors, and, apparently, after consulting with someone, he decided to write about only one traitor in the editorial.”

The interrogated secretary of the newspaper, Krivitsky, testified:

“When talking at the PUR with Comrade Krapivin, he was interested in where I got the words of political instructor Klochkov, written in my basement: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind,” I told him that I had invented this myself... ...In part the same feelings and actions of 28 characters - this is my literary conjecture. I did not speak with any of the wounded or surviving guardsmen. From the local population, I only spoke with a boy of about 14-15 years old, who showed me the grave where Klochkov was buried. ...In 1943, from the division where 28 Panfilov heroes were and fought, they sent me a letter conferring on me the rank of guardsman. I was only in the division three or four times.”

Conclusion of the prosecutor's office investigation:

“Thus, the investigation materials have established that the feat of 28 Panfilov guardsmen, covered in the press, is an invention of the correspondent Koroteev, the editor of the Red Star Ortenberg, and especially the literary secretary of the newspaper Krivitsky.”

[edit]
Documentary evidence of the battle

Commander of the 1075th Regiment I. Kaprov (testimony given during the investigation into the Panfilov case):

...In the company by November 16, 1941 there were 120-140 people. My command post was located behind the Dubosekovo crossing, 1.5 km from the position of the 4th company (2nd battalion). I don’t remember now whether there were anti-tank rifles in the 4th company, but I repeat that in the entire 2nd battalion there were only 4 anti-tank rifles... In total, there were 10-12 enemy tanks in the 2nd battalion’s sector. I don’t know how many tanks went (directly) to the 4th company’s sector, or rather, I can’t determine... With the help of the regiment and the efforts of the 2nd battalion, this tank attack was repulsed. In the battle, the regiment destroyed 5-6 German tanks, and the Germans retreated. At 14-15 o'clock the Germans opened strong artillery fire... and again went on the attack with tanks... More than 50 tanks were advancing on the regiment's sectors, and the main attack was aimed at the positions of the 2nd battalion, including the sector of the 4th company, and one the tank even came out to the regiment's command post and set fire to the hay and the hut, so that I was accidentally able to get out of the dugout: I was saved by the embankment of the railway, and people who had survived the attack by German tanks began to gather around me. The 4th company suffered the most: led by company commander Gundilovich, 20-25 people survived. The remaining companies suffered less.

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

Testimony of the chairman of the Nelidovsky r/council Smirnova at the investigation into the Panfilov case:

“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 by units of the Soviet Army on 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 our village. And then, in March 1942, when it began to melt, military units carried three more corpses to the mass grave, including the corpse of political instructor Klochkov, whom the soldiers identified. So in the mass grave of Panfilov’s heroes, which is located on the outskirts of our village of Nelidovo, 6 soldiers of the Soviet Army are buried. No more corpses were found on the territory of the Nelidovsky village council.”

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Summary

Not 28, but more than 100 people took part in the battle at the Dubosekovo crossing. During the battle, the Soviet units participating in the battle, putting up stubborn resistance, were defeated by superior enemy forces, and their remnants withdrew. Some of the soldiers died, some were captured. It is unknown how many German tanks were destroyed (but their number is certainly less than 18). All published details of the battle based on Krivitsky’s materials are literary fiction.

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Reconstruction of the battle

By the end of October 1941, the first stage of the German Operation Typhoon (offensive on Moscow) was completed. German troops, having defeated units of three Soviet fronts near Vyazma, reached the immediate approaches to Moscow. At the same time, the 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 went on the offensive, planning to defeat Soviet units, encircle Moscow and victoriously end the 1941 campaign.

The 316th Rifle Division occupied the defense on the Dubosekovo front - 8 km northeast of Volokolamsk, that is, about 18-20 kilometers along the front, which was a lot for a formation weakened in battle. On the right flank the neighbor was the 126th Infantry Division, on the left - the 50th Cavalry Division of Dovator's Cavalry Corps. On November 16, the division was attacked by the forces of two German tank divisions - the 2nd Tank Division attacked the positions of the 316th Infantry Division in the center of defense, and the 11th Tank Division struck in the Dubosekovo area, at the positions of the 1075th Infantry Regiment, at the junction with the 50th Cavalry Division . Attacking the joints between formations was a frequently encountered element of German tactics. Basic the blow fell at the position 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. According to the testimony of the regiment commander, there were 120-140 people in the 4th company (according to the staff of division 04/600, there should be 162 people in the company). The issue with the artillery armament of the regiment is completely unclear. According to the state, the regiment was supposed to have a battery of 4 76-mm regimental guns and an anti-tank battery of 6 and 45-mm guns. There is information that there were actually 2nd 76-mm regimental guns of the 1927 model, several 76-mm mountain guns of the 1909 model and 75-mm French divisional guns Mle.1897. The anti-tank capabilities of these guns were low - regimental guns penetrated only 31 mm of armor from 500 m, and mountain guns were not equipped with armor-piercing shells at all. The very outdated French guns also had weak ballistics; nothing is known about the presence of armor-piercing shells for them. 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.

Infantry anti-tank weapons were represented by 11 PTRD anti-tank rifles (of which the 2nd battalion had 4 rifles), RPG-40 grenades and Molotov cocktails. The real combat capabilities of these weapons were low - anti-tank guns had low armor penetration, especially when using cartridges with B-39 bullets, and could only hit German tanks at close range, exclusively at the side and stern at an angle close to 90 degrees, which in a frontal situation a tank attack was unlikely. The battle near Dubosekovo was the first case of the use of anti-tank rifles of this type, the production of which was just beginning to develop. Anti-tank grenades were an even weaker weapon - they penetrated up to 15-20 mm of armor provided they were in direct contact with the armor plate, therefore it was recommended to throw them onto the roof of the tank, which in battle was a very difficult and extremely dangerous task. Statistics show that the proportion of tanks destroyed by anti-tank grenades is extremely small. Molotov cocktails were even less effective weapons. By the beginning of the war, all Soviet and German tanks in mandatory sealed and structurally protected from being flooded with burning liquid. During tests of Soviet and captured German tanks, it was not possible to burn a single unit of armored vehicles with bottles.

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The fate of some Panfilovites

Dobrobabin Ivan Evstafievich. In 1948, he was sentenced to 15 years for collaboration with the Nazi occupiers; the decree on awarding him was canceled on February 11, 1949. In the mid-1950s, he was released. In the late 1980s he sought rehabilitation, but was unsuccessful - in 1990 he was denied rehabilitation. Some materials confirming Dobrobabin’s guilt were published by Lieutenant General of Justice A.F. Katusev (extensive excerpts from the materials of the 1948 prosecutor’s office investigation are also given there). He died in 1996 in Tsimlyansk. However, in the “Seekers” program on March 19, 2008, a version was voiced that Dobrobabin was a member partisan detachment and got a job with the police in order to carry out intelligence activities, in which he was very successful. There were even materials confirming this point of view, but they were seized by the prosecutor's office.

Kozhabergenov (Kuzhebergenov) Daniil Alexandrovich. Political commissar Klochkov's liaison officer. He did not directly participate in the battle, since in the morning he was sent with a report to Dubosekovo, where he was captured. On the evening of November 16, he escaped from captivity 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. By this time, a proposal had already been drawn up to award him the title of Hero, but after an investigation, his name was replaced by Askar Kozhabergenov. Died in 1976.

Kozhabergenov (Kuzhebergenov) Askar (Aliaskar). He arrived in Panfilov's division in January 1942 (thus, he could not have participated in the battle at Dubosekovo). In the same month, he died during a raid by Panfilov’s division on the German rear. Included in the nomination for the title of Hero instead of Daniil Aleksandrovich Kozhabergenov, after it turned out that the latter did not take part in the battle and remained alive. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 21, 1942, together with other Panfilovites, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

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

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

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

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

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

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Notes
1 2 3 4 5 Reference report “About 28 Panfilov’s men.” State Archives of the Russian Federation. F.R - 8131 account. Op. 37. D. 4041. Lll. 310-320. Published in the magazine “New World”, 1997, No. 6, p.148
Yu. Prokhorov Three lists of 28 Panfilov guardsmen http://hronograf.org.ru/08/spisok.htm
V. Cardin. Legends and facts. Years later. "Literary Issues", No. 6, 2006
A.Isaev. Five circles of hell. The Red Army is in "cauldrons". - M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2008. P.327
A. Shirokorad “God of War of the Third Reich”, p.38-39
Military History Magazine, 1990 No. 8,9, essay “Alien Glory”