There is no greater victory than victory over yourself! The main thing is not to fall on your knees before the enemy.
D. M. Karbyshev
Defense Brest Fortress- this is a Sign to the Third Reich about its future fate, it showed that at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War The Germans have already lost. They made a strategic mistake that sealed the doom for the entire project of the Third Reich.
You should have listened to your great ancestor, Otto von Bismarck, who said: “Even the most favorable outcome of the war will never lead to the disintegration of the main strength of Russia, which is based on millions of Russians themselves... These latter, even if they are dismembered by international treatises, will also quickly reconnect with each other, like particles of a cut piece of mercury. This is the indestructible state of the Russian nation...”
By World War II, fortresses were no longer a serious obstacle to modern army, armed with powerful artillery systems, aircraft, asphyxiating gases, and flamethrowers. By the way, one of the designers of the improvement of the fortifications of the Brest Fortress in 1913 was Staff Captain Dmitry Karbyshev, an unbending Hero Great War, which the Nazis turned into an ice block on February 18, 1945. The fate of people is amazing - Karbyshev in a German concentration camp met with another hero, Major Pyotr Gavrilov, who from June 22 to July 23 led the defense of the defenders of the fortress and was also captured, seriously wounded. According to the description of the doctor Voronovich who treated him, he was captured seriously wounded. He was in full commander's uniform, but it had turned into rags. All covered with soot, dust, emaciated to the extreme (skeleton, leather-covered), he could not even make swallowing movements, the doctors, in order to save him, fed him an artificial formula. The German soldiers who captured him said that this barely alive man, when he was caught in one of the casemates, took the fight alone, fired a pistol, threw grenades, killed and wounded several people before he was seriously wounded. Gavrilov survived the Nazi concentration camps, was released in May 1945, and reinstated in the army at his previous rank. After the country began to learn about the feat of the defenders of the Brest Fortress, Pyotr Mikhailovich Gavrilov was awarded the title of Hero in 1957 Soviet Union.
Gavrilov, Pyotr Mikhailovich.
Defense
The fortress housed approximately 7-8 thousand soldiers from different parts: 8 rifle battalions, reconnaissance and artillery regiments, two artillery divisions (anti-tank and air defense), units of the 17th Red Banner Brest border detachment, the 33rd separate engineering regiment, part of the 132nd battalion of NKVD convoy troops and some other units.
They were attacked by the 45th German Infantry Division (numbering about 17 thousand people) with the help of units of the neighboring 31st and 34th Infantry Divisions; it was supposed to capture the fortress by 12 o'clock on June 22nd. At 3.15 am, the Wehrmacht opened artillery fire, as a result of the artillery strike the garrison suffered heavy losses, warehouses and water supply were destroyed, and communications were interrupted. At 3.45 the assault began, the garrison was unable to provide coordinated resistance and was immediately dismembered into several parts. Strong resistance was shown at the Volyn and Kobrin fortifications. Ours organized several counterattacks. By the evening of the 24th, the Wehrmacht suppressed resistance at the Volyn and Terespol fortifications, leaving two large centers of resistance - in the Kobrin fortification and the Citadel. In the Kobrin fortification, the defense was held at the Eastern Fort by up to 400 people, led by Major Gavrilov, they repulsed up to 7-8 Wehrmacht attacks a day. Died on June 26th last defender Citadel, June 30 after a general assault - the Eastern Fort fell. Major Gavrilov with the last 12 soldiers, having 4 machine guns, disappeared into the casemates.
The Last Defenders
After this, individual fighters and small pockets of resistance resisted. We don’t know exactly how long they held out: for example, in the barracks of the 132nd separate battalion of convoy troops of the NKVD of the USSR they found an inscription dated July 20: “I’m dying, but I’m not giving up! Farewell, Motherland." On July 23, Major Gavrilov was captured in battle. One of the main problems for the defenders of the fortress was the lack of water; while at first there was ammunition and canned food, the Germans blocked access to the river almost immediately.
The resistance continued even after Gavrilov’s capture; the Germans were afraid to approach the dungeons of the fortress; shadows appeared from there at night, machine gun fire sounded, and grenades exploded. According to local residents, shooting was heard until August, and according to German sources, the last defenders were killed only in September, when Kyiv and Smolensk had already fallen, and the Wehrmacht was preparing to storm Moscow.
Inscription made by an unknown defender of the Brest Fortress on July 20, 1941.
Writer and researcher Sergei Smirnov did a great job, largely thanks to him, the Union learned about the feat of the defenders of the fortress, and about who became the last defender. Smirnov found amazing news - the story of the Jewish musician Stavsky (he will be shot by the Nazis). Sergeant Major Durasov, who was wounded in Brest, captured and left to work at the hospital, spoke about him. In April 1942, the violinist was about 2 hours late when he arrived and told an amazing story. On the way to the hospital, the Germans stopped him and took him to the fortress, where a hole was punched among the ruins that went underground. There was a group of German soldiers standing around. Stavsky was ordered to go down and offer the Russian fighter to surrender. In response, they promise him life, the violinist went down, and an exhausted man came out to him. He said that he had long ago run out of food and ammunition and would go out to see with his own eyes the powerlessness of the Germans in Russia. The German officer then told the soldiers: “This man is a real hero. Learn from him how to defend your land...” It was April 1942, the further fate and name of the hero remained unknown, like many hundreds, thousands of unknown heroes about whom the German war machine broke down.
The feat of the defenders of the Brest Fortress shows that the Russians can be killed, although it is very difficult, but they cannot be defeated, they cannot be broken...
Sources:
Heroic defense // Sat. memories of the defense of the Brest Fortress in June-July 1941. Mn., 1966.
Smirnov S. Brest Fortress. M. 2000.
Smirnov S.S. Stories about unknown heroes. M., 1985.
http://www.fire-of-war.ru/Brest-fortress/Gavrilov.htm
The garrison of the Brest Fortress was one of the first to take the blow of the German army during the beginning.
The courage and heroism of its defenders are forever inscribed in the analogues of world history, which cannot be forgotten or distorted.
Treacherous Attack
The unexpected assault on the fortress began at 4 o'clock in the early morning of June 22, 1941, with hurricane artillery fire.
Precision and crushing fire destroyed ammunition depots and damaged communication lines. The garrison immediately suffered significant losses in manpower.
As a result of this attack, the water supply was destroyed, which subsequently significantly complicated the position of the defenders of the fortress. Water was required not only for the soldiers, who were ordinary living people, but also for the machine guns.
Defense of the Brest Fortress 1941 photo
After a half-hour artillery attack, the Germans launched three battalions, which were part of the 45th Infantry Division, into the attack. The number of attackers was one and a half thousand people.
The German command considered this number quite sufficient to cope with the garrison of the fortress. And, at first, the Nazis did not encounter serious resistance. The surprise effect did its job. The garrison ceased to be a single whole, but found itself divided into several uncoordinated centers of resistance.
The Germans, having broken into the fortress through the Terespol fortification, quickly passed through the Citadel and reached the Kobrin fortification.
Unexpected rebuff
The greater the surprise for them was the counterattack of Soviet soldiers who found themselves in their rear. The garrison soldiers who survived the shelling grouped under the command of the remaining commanders, and the Germans received significant resistance.
The inscription of the defenders of the Brest Fortress on the wall photo
IN individual places The attackers were met with harsh bayonet attacks, which came as a complete surprise to them. The attack began to sputter. And not only did they choke, but the Nazis had to hold the defense themselves.
Quickly recovering from the shock of an unexpected and treacherous attack by the enemy, parts of the garrison that found themselves in the rear of the attackers were able to dismember and even partially destroy the enemy. The enemy met the strongest resistance at the Volyn and Kobrin fortifications.
A small part of the garrison was able to break through and leave the fortress. But most of it remained inside the ring, which the Germans closed by 9 o’clock in the morning. Between 6 and 8 thousand people remained inside the encirclement ring. In the Citadel, the Germans were able to hold only some areas, including the club building, which was converted from a former church, dominating the rest of the fortifications. In addition, the Germans had at their disposal the command staff's canteen and part of the barracks at the Brest Gate, which had survived the artillery shelling.
The German command allotted only a few hours to capture the fortress, but by noon it became clear that this plan had failed. Within a day, the Germans had to bring in additional forces left in reserve. Instead of the original three battalions, the group storming the fortress increased to two regiments. The Germans could not fully use artillery so as not to destroy their own soldiers.
Defense of the Brest Fortress
By the night of June 23, the German command withdrew its troops and artillery shelling began. In between, there was a proposal to surrender. About 2 thousand responded to it, but the bulk of the defenders chose resistance. On June 23, united groups of Soviet soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Vinogradov, Captain Zubachev, Regimental Commissar Fomin, Senior Lieutenant Shcherbakov and Private Shugurov, knocked the Germans out of the ring barracks they occupied at the Brest Gate and planned to organize a long-term defense of the fortress, hoping to receive reinforcements.
Brest Fortress, July 1941 photo
It was planned to create a Defense Headquarters and even draft Order No. 1 was written on the creation of a consolidated battle group. However, on June 24, the Germans were able to break into the Citadel. Large group garrison tried to break through the Kobrin fortification and, although they were able to break out outside fortresses, most of them were destroyed or captured. On June 26, the last 450 soldiers of the Citadel were captured.
The feat of the defenders of the "Eastern Fort"
The defenders of the Eastern Fort held out the longest. There were about 400 people. This group was commanded by Major P.M. Gavrilov. The Germans attacked in this area up to 10 times a day, and each time rolled back, encountering fierce resistance. And only on June 29, after the Germans dropped an aerial bomb weighing 1800 kg on the fort, the fort fell.
Defense of the Brest Fortress photo
But even until August, the Germans could not carry out a total cleansing and feel like complete masters. Every now and then local pockets of resistance arose when shooting from still living soldiers was heard from under the ruins. They preferred death to captivity. Among the very last captured was the seriously wounded Major Gavrilov, and this happened on July 23.
Before visiting the fortress and at the end of August, all the basements of the fortress were flooded with water. The Brest Fortress is a symbol of the courage and perseverance of Soviet soldiers. In 1965, Brest was awarded the title of Hero Fortress.
Defense of the Brest Fortress (defense of Brest) is one of the very first battles between the Soviet and German armies during the Great Patriotic War.
Brest was one of the border garrisons on the territory of the USSR, it covered the path to central highway, leading to Minsk. That is why Brest was one of the first cities to be attacked after the German attack. Soviet army for a week held back the enemy's onslaught, despite the numerical superiority of the Germans, as well as support from artillery and aviation. As a result of a long siege, the Germans were still able to take possession of the main fortifications of the Brest Fortress and destroy them. However, in other areas the struggle continued for quite a long time: small groups remaining after the raid resisted the enemy with all their might.
The defense of the Brest Fortress became an important battle in which Soviet troops were able to show their readiness to defend themselves to the last drop of blood, despite the enemy's advantages. The defense of Brest went down in history as one of the bloodiest sieges and at the same time as one of the greatest battles that showed all the courage of the Soviet army.
Brest Fortress on the eve of the war
The city of Brest became part of the Soviet Union shortly before the start of the war - in 1939. By that time, the fortress had already lost its military significance due to the destruction that had begun and only reminded of past battles. The Brest Fortress was built in the 19th century. and was part of the defensive fortifications of the Russian Empire on its western borders, but in the 20th century. it ceased to have military significance.
By the time the war began, the Brest Fortress was mainly used to house garrisons of military personnel, as well as a number of families of the military command; there was also a hospital and utility rooms. By the time of Germany’s treacherous attack on the USSR, about 8,000 military personnel and about 300 command families lived in the fortress. There were weapons and supplies in the fortress, but their quantity was not designed for military operations.
Storming of the Brest Fortress
The assault on the Brest Fortress began on the morning of June 22, 1941, simultaneously with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The barracks and residential buildings of the command were the first to be subjected to powerful artillery fire and air strikes, since the Germans wanted, first of all, to completely destroy the entire command staff located in the fortress, and thereby introduce confusion into the army and disorient it.
Although almost all the officers were killed, the surviving soldiers were able to quickly find their bearings and create a powerful defense. The surprise factor did not work as expected, and the assault, which was supposed to end by 12 noon, lasted for several days.
Even before the start of the war, the Soviet command issued a decree according to which, in the event of an attack, military personnel must immediately leave the fortress itself and take positions along its perimeter, but only a few managed to do this - most of the soldiers remained in the fortress. The defenders of the fortress were in a deliberately losing position, but they did not give up their positions and did not allow the Germans to quickly and unconditionally take possession of Brest.
The progress of the defense of the Brest Fortress
Soviet soldiers, who, contrary to plans, were unable to quickly leave the fortress, quickly organized a defense and within a few hours drove the Germans out of the territory of the fortress, who managed to get into its central part. The soldiers occupied the barracks and various buildings located along the perimeter in order to most effectively organize the defense of the fortress and be able to repel enemy attacks from all flanks. Despite the absence of a commanding officer, volunteers were quickly found from among ordinary soldiers who took charge of the operation.
On June 22, the Germans made 8 attempts to break into the fortress, but they did not yield results. Moreover, the German army, contrary to all forecasts, suffered significant losses. The German command decided to change tactics: instead of an assault, a siege of the Brest Fortress was now planned. The troops that had broken through were withdrawn and deployed around the perimeter of the fortress to begin a long siege and cut off the exit of the Soviet troops, as well as disrupt the supply of food and weapons.
On the morning of June 23, the bombardment of the fortress began, after which an assault was attempted again. Groups of German army forced their way in, but encountered fierce resistance and were destroyed - the assault again failed, and the Germans had to return to siege tactics. Extensive battles began, which did not subside for several days and greatly exhausted both armies.
Despite the onslaught of the German army, as well as shelling and bombing, Soviet soldiers held the line, although they lacked weapons and food. A few days later supplies were stopped drinking water, and then the defenders decided to release women and children from the fortress so that they would surrender to the Germans and remain alive, but some women refused to leave the fortress and continued to fight.
On June 26, the Germans made several more attempts to break into the Brest Fortress; they succeeded partially - several groups broke through. Only by the end of the month was the German army able to capture most of the fortress, killing Soviet soldiers. However, the groups, scattered and having lost a single line of defense, still continued to put up desperate resistance even when the fortress was taken by the Germans.
The significance and results of the defense of the Brest Fortress
Resistance separate groups soldiers continued until the fall, until these groups were destroyed by the Germans and the last defender of the Brest Fortress died. During the defense of the Brest Fortress, Soviet troops suffered colossal losses, but at the same time the army showed genuine courage, thereby showing that the war for the Germans would not be as easy as Hitler had hoped. The defenders were recognized as war heroes.
Since February 1941, Germany began transferring troops to the borders of the Soviet Union. At the beginning of June, there were almost continuous reports from the operational departments of the western border districts and armies, indicating that the concentration of German troops near the borders of the USSR was completed. In a number of areas, the enemy began dismantling the wire fences he had previously set up and clearing strips of mines on the ground, clearly preparing passages for his troops to the Soviet border. Large German tank groups were withdrawn to their original areas. Everything pointed to the imminent start of war.
At half past one on the night of June 22, 1941, a signed directive was sent to the command of the Leningrad, Baltic special, Western special, Kyiv special and Odessa military districts people's commissar Defense of the USSR S.K. Timoshenko and Chief of the General Staff G.K. Zhukov. It said that during June 22-23 a surprise attack by German troops on the fronts of these districts was possible. It was also indicated that an attack could begin with provocative actions, so the task Soviet troops- do not succumb to any provocations. However, the need for districts to be in full combat readiness to meet a possible surprise attack from the enemy was further emphasized. The directive obliged the commanders of the troops: a) during the night of June 22, secretly occupy firing points of fortified areas on the state border; b) before dawn, disperse all aviation, including military aviation, to field airfields, carefully camouflage it; c) put all units on combat readiness; keep troops dispersed and camouflaged; d) bring the air defense to combat readiness without additional increases in assigned personnel. Prepare all measures to darken cities and objects. However, the western military districts did not have time to fully implement this order.
The Great Patriotic War began on June 22, 1941 with the invasion of army groups "North", "Center" and "South" in three strategic directions, aimed at Leningrad, Moscow, Kiev, with the task of dissecting, encircling and destroying the troops of the Soviet border districts and get on the line Arkhangelsk - Astrakhan. Already at 4.10 am, the Western and Baltic special districts reported to the General Staff about the start of hostilities by German troops.
The main striking force of Germany, as during the invasion in the west, was four powerful armored groups. Two of them, the 2nd and 3rd, were included in Army Group Center, designed to be the main offensive front, and one each was included in Army Groups North and South. At the forefront of the main attack, the activities of armored groups were supported by the power of the 4th and 9th field armies, and from the air - by aviation of the 2nd air fleet. In total, Army Group Center (commanded by Field Marshal von Bock) consisted of 820 thousand people, 1,800 tanks, 14,300 guns and mortars and 1,680 combat aircraft. The idea of the commander of Army Group Center, advancing in the eastern strategic direction, was to deliver two converging attacks on the flanks of Soviet troops in Belarus with tank groups general direction to Minsk, encircle the main forces of the Western Special Military District (from June 22 - Western Front) and destroy them with field armies. In the future, the German command planned to send mobile troops to the Smolensk area to prevent the approach of strategic reserves and their occupation of defense at a new line.
Hitler's command hoped that by delivering a surprise attack with concentrated masses of tanks, infantry and aircraft it would be possible to stun the Soviet troops, crush the defenses and achieve decisive strategic success in the first days of the war. The command of Army Group Center concentrated the bulk of troops and military equipment in the first operational echelon, which included 28 divisions, including 22 infantry, 4 tank, 1 cavalry, 1 security. A high operational density of troops was created in the defense breakthrough areas (the average operational density was about 10 km per division, and in the direction of the main attack - up to 5-6 km). This allowed the enemy to achieve significant superiority in forces and means over Soviet troops in the direction of the main attack. The superiority in manpower was 6.5 times, in the number of tanks - 1.8 times, in the number of guns and mortars - 3.3 times.
The troops of the Western Special Military District located in the border zone took on the blow of this armada. The Soviet border guards were the first to engage in battle with the advanced units of the enemy.
The Brest Fortress was a whole complex of defensive structures. The central one is the Citadel - a pentagonal closed two-story defensive barracks with a perimeter of 1.8 km, with walls almost two meters thick, with loopholes, embrasures, and casemates. The central fortification is located on an island formed by the Bug and two branches of the Mukhavets. There are three bridges connected to this island artificial islands, formed by Mukhavets and ditches on which there were the Terespol fortification with the Terespol Gate and a bridge over the Western Bug, Volyn - with the Kholm Gate and a drawbridge over Mukhavets, Kobrinskoye - with the Brest and Brigitsky gates and bridges across Mukhavets.
Defenders of the Brest Fortress. Soldiers of the 44th Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Infantry Division. 1941 Photo from BELTA archive
On the day of Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union, 7 rifle battalions and 1 reconnaissance battalion, 2 artillery divisions, some special forces of rifle regiments and units of corps units, assemblies of the assigned personnel of the 6th Oryol Red Banner and 42nd rifle divisions of the 28th rifle corps were stationed in the Brest Fortress 4th Army, units of the 17th Red Banner Brest Border Detachment, 33rd Separate Engineer Regiment, part of the 132nd Battalion of NKVD Troops, unit headquarters (division headquarters and 28th Rifle Corps were located in Brest). The units were not deployed in a combat manner and did not occupy positions on the border lines. Some units or their subdivisions were in camps, training grounds, and during the construction of fortified areas. At the time of the attack, there were from 7 to 8 thousand Soviet soldiers in the fortress, and 300 military families lived here.
From the first minutes of the war, Brest and the fortress were subjected to massive bombings from the air and artillery shelling. The German 45th Infantry Division (about 17 thousand soldiers and officers) stormed the Brest Fortress in cooperation with the 31st and 34th Infantry Divisions of the 12th Army Corps of the 4th German Army, as well as 2 tank divisions of the 2nd Tank Guderian's group, with the active support of aviation and reinforcement units armed with heavy artillery systems. The enemy's goal was, using the surprise of the attack, to capture the Citadel and force the Soviet garrison to surrender.
Before the assault began, the enemy conducted a hurricane of targeted artillery fire on the fortress for half an hour, moving a barrage of artillery fire every 4 minutes 100 m deep into the fortress. Next came the enemy's shock assault groups, which, according to the plans of the German command, were to capture the fortifications by 12 noon on June 22. As a result of shelling and fires, most warehouses and material part, many other objects were destroyed or destroyed, the water supply stopped working, and communications were interrupted. A significant part of the soldiers and commanders were put out of action, and the fortress garrison was divided into separate groups.
In the first minutes of the war, border guards at the Terespol fortification, Red Army soldiers and cadets of the regimental schools of the 84th and 125th rifle regiments located near the border, at the Volyn and Kobrin fortifications, entered into battle with the enemy. Their stubborn resistance allowed approximately half of the personnel to leave the fortress on the morning of June 22, withdraw several guns and light tanks to the areas where their units were concentrated, and evacuate the first wounded. There were 3.5-4 thousand Soviet soldiers left in the fortress. The enemy had almost 10-fold superiority in forces.
Germans at the Terespol Gate of the Brest Fortress. June, 1941. Photo from BELTA archive
On the first day of fighting, by 9 a.m. the fortress was surrounded. The advanced units of the 45th German division tried to capture the fortress on the move. Through the bridge at the Terespol Gate, enemy assault groups broke into the Citadel and captured the building of the regimental club, which dominated other buildings ( former church), where artillery fire spotters immediately settled. At the same time, the enemy developed an offensive in the direction of the Kholm and Brest Gates, hoping to connect there with groups advancing from the Volyn and Kobrin fortifications. This plan was thwarted. At the Kholm Gate, soldiers of the 3rd battalion and headquarters units of the 84th Infantry Regiment entered into battle with the enemy; at the Brest Gate, soldiers of the 455th Infantry Regiment, the 37th Separate Signal Battalion, and the 33rd Separate Engineer Regiment went into a counterattack. The enemy was crushed and overthrown by bayonet attacks.
The retreating Nazis were met with heavy fire by Soviet soldiers at the Terespol Gate, which by that time had been recaptured from the enemy. Border guards of the 9th border outpost and headquarters units of the 3rd border commandant's office - the 132nd NKVD battalion, soldiers of the 333rd and 44th rifle regiments, and the 31st separate motor vehicle battalion - were entrenched here. They held the bridge across the Western Bug under targeted rifle and machine-gun fire and prevented the enemy from establishing a pontoon crossing across the river to the Kobrin fortification. Only a few of the German machine gunners who broke into the Citadel managed to take refuge in the club building and nearby standing building command staff canteen. The enemy here was destroyed on the second day. Subsequently, these buildings changed hands several times.
Almost simultaneously, fierce battles broke out throughout the fortress. From the very beginning, they acquired the character of a defense of its individual fortifications without a single headquarters and command, without communication and almost without interaction between the defenders of different fortifications. The defenders were led by commanders and political workers, in some cases by ordinary soldiers who took command. In the shortest possible time, they rallied their forces and organized a rebuff to the Nazi invaders.
By the evening of June 22, the enemy entrenched himself in part of the defensive barracks between the Kholm and Terespol gates (later used it as a bridgehead in the Citadel), and captured several sections of the barracks at the Brest Gate. However, the enemy's calculation of surprise did not materialize; Through defensive battles and counterattacks, Soviet soldiers pinned down the enemy's forces and inflicted heavy losses on them.
Late in the evening, the German command decided to withdraw its infantry from the fortifications and create a external shafts blockade line in order to begin the assault on the fortress again on the morning of June 23 with artillery shelling and bombing. The fighting in the fortress took on a fierce, protracted character, which the enemy did not expect. On the territory of each fortification Nazi invaders met stubborn heroic resistance from Soviet soldiers.
On the territory of the border Terespol fortification, the defense was held by soldiers of the driver course of the Belarusian border district under the command of the head of the course, senior lieutenant F.M. Melnikov and the course teacher, lieutenant Zhdanov, the transport company of the 17th border detachment, led by the commander, senior lieutenant A.S. Cherny, together with the soldiers cavalry courses, a sapper platoon, reinforced squads of the 9th border outpost, a veterinary hospital, and training camps for athletes. They managed to clear most of the territory of the fortification from the enemy who had broken through, but due to a lack of ammunition and large losses in personnel, they could not hold it. On the night of June 25, the remnants of the groups of Melnikov, who died in battle, and Cherny crossed the Western Bug and joined the defenders of the Citadel and the Kobrin fortification.
At the beginning of hostilities, the Volyn fortification housed the hospitals of the 4th Army and the 28th Rifle Corps, the 95th medical battalion of the 6th Rifle Division, and there was a small part of the regimental school for junior commanders of the 84th Rifle Regiment, detachments of the 9th th border posts. Within the hospital, the defense was organized by battalion commissar N.S. Bogateev and military doctor 2nd rank S.S. Babkin (both died). German machine gunners who burst into hospital buildings brutally dealt with the sick and wounded. The defense of the Volyn fortification is full of examples of the dedication of soldiers and medical personnel who fought to the end in the ruins of buildings. While covering the wounded, nurses V.P. Khoretskaya and E.I. Rovnyagina died. Having captured the sick, wounded, medical staff, and children, on June 23 the Nazis used them as a human barrier, driving the submachine gunners ahead of the attacking Kholm gates. "Shoot, don't spare us!" - Soviet patriots shouted. By the end of the week, the focal defense at the fortification faded. Some fighters joined the ranks of the Citadel’s defenders; a few managed to break out of the enemy ring.
The course of defense required the unification of all the forces of the fortress defenders. On June 24, a meeting of commanders and political workers was held in the Citadel, where the issue of creating a consolidated combat group, forming units from soldiers of different units, and approving their commanders who stood out during the fighting were decided. Order No. 1 was given, according to which the command of the group was entrusted to Captain Zubachev, and regimental commissar Fomin was appointed his deputy. In practice, they were able to lead the defense only in the Citadel. Although the command of the combined group failed to unite the leadership of the battles throughout the fortress, the headquarters played a big role in intensifying the fighting.
Germans in the Brest Fortress. 1941 Photo from BELTA archive
By decision of the command of the combined group, attempts were made to break through the encirclement. On June 26, a detachment of 120 people led by Lieutenant Vinogradov went on a breakthrough. 13 soldiers managed to break through the eastern boundary of the fortress, but they were captured by the enemy. Other attempts at a mass breakthrough from the besieged fortress were also unsuccessful; only individual small groups were able to break through. The remaining small garrison of Soviet troops continued to fight with extraordinary tenacity and tenacity.
The Nazis methodically attacked the fortress for a whole week. Soviet soldiers had to fight off 6-8 attacks a day. There were women and children next to the fighters. They helped the wounded, brought ammunition, and took part in hostilities. The Nazis used tanks, flamethrowers, gases, set fire to and rolled barrels of flammable mixtures from the outer shafts.
Being completely surrounded, without water and food, and with an acute shortage of ammunition and medicine, the garrison courageously fought the enemy. In the first 9 days of fighting alone, the defenders of the fortress disabled about 1.5 thousand enemy soldiers and officers. By the end of June, the enemy captured most of the fortress; on June 29 and 30, the Nazis launched a continuous two-day assault on the fortress using powerful aerial bombs. On June 29, Andrei Mitrofanovich Kizhevatov died while covering the breakthrough group with several fighters. In the Citadel on June 30, the Nazis captured the seriously wounded and shell-shocked Captain Zubachev and Regimental Commissar Fomin, whom the Nazis shot near the Kholm Gate. On June 30, after a long shelling and bombing, which ended in a fierce attack, the Nazis captured most of the structures of the Eastern Fort and captured the wounded.
As a result of bloody battles and losses, the defense of the fortress broke up into a number of isolated centers of resistance. Until July 12, a small group of fighters led by Pyotr Mikhailovich Gavrilov continued to fight in the Eastern Fort, until he, seriously wounded, together with the secretary of the Komsomol bureau of the 98th separate anti-tank artillery division, deputy political instructor G.D. Derevyanko, was captured on July 23 .
But even after the 20th of July, Soviet soldiers continued to fight in the fortress. Last days wrestling is legendary. These days include the inscriptions left on the walls of the fortress by its defenders: “We will die, but we will not leave the fortress,” “I am dying, but I am not giving up. Farewell, Motherland. 07.20.41.” Not a single banner of the military units fighting in the fortress fell to the enemy.
Inscriptions on the walls of the Brest Fortress. Photo from BELTA archive
The enemy was forced to note the steadfastness and heroism of the fortress’s defenders. In July, the commander of the 45th German Infantry Division, General Schlipper, in his “Report on the Occupation of Brest-Litovsk” reported: “The Russians in Brest-Litovsk fought extremely stubbornly and persistently. They showed excellent infantry training and proved a remarkable will to resist.”
The defenders of the fortress - soldiers of more than 30 nationalities of the USSR - fully fulfilled their duty to the Motherland, committed one of greatest feats Soviet people in the history of the Great Patriotic War. The exceptional heroism of the fortress defenders was highly appreciated. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to Major Gavrilov and Lieutenant Kizhevatov. About 200 defense participants were awarded orders and medals.
Defense of the Brest Fortress (defense of Brest) - one of the very first battles between the Soviet and German armies during the period Great Patriotic War.
Brest was one of the border garrisons on the territory of the USSR, it covered even the central highway leading to Minsk, which is why Brest was one of the first cities to be attacked after the German attack. The Soviet army held back the enemy's onslaught for a week, despite the numerical superiority of the Germans, as well as support from artillery and aviation. As a result of a long siege, the Germans were still able to capture the main fortifications of the Brest Fortress and destroy them, but in other areas the struggle continued for quite a long time - small groups remaining after the raid resisted the enemy with all their might. The defense of the Brest Fortress became a very important battle in which Soviet troops were able to show their readiness to defend themselves to the last drop of blood, despite the enemy's advantages. The defense of Brest went down in history as one of the bloodiest sieges, and at the same time, as one of the greatest battles that showed all the courage of the Soviet army.
Brest Fortress on the eve of the war
The city of Brest became part of the Soviet Union shortly before the start of the war - in 1939. By that time, the fortress had already lost its military significance due to the destruction that had begun, and remained as one of the reminders of past battles. The Brest Fortress was built in the 19th century and was part of the defensive fortifications Russian Empire on its western borders, but in the 20th century it ceased to have military significance. By the time the war began, the Brest Fortress was mainly used to house garrisons of military personnel, as well as a number of families of the military command, a hospital and utility rooms. By the time of Germany’s treacherous attack on the USSR, about 8,000 military personnel and about 300 command families lived in the fortress. There were weapons and supplies in the fortress, but their quantity was not designed for military operations.
Storming of the Brest Fortress
The assault on the Brest Fortress began on the morning of June 22, 1941, simultaneously with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The barracks and residential buildings of the command were the first to be subjected to powerful artillery fire and air strikes, since the Germans wanted, first of all, to completely destroy the entire command staff located in the fortress and thereby create confusion in the army and disorient it. Despite the fact that almost all the officers were killed, the surviving soldiers were able to quickly find their bearings and create a powerful defense. The surprise factor did not work as expected Hitler and the assault, which according to plans was supposed to end by 12 noon, lasted for several days.
Even before the start of the war, the Soviet command issued a decree according to which, in the event of an attack, military personnel must immediately leave the fortress itself and take positions along its perimeter, but only a few managed to do this - most of the soldiers remained in the fortress. The defenders of the fortress were in a deliberately losing position, but even this fact did not allow them to give up their positions and allow the Germans to quickly and unconditionally take possession of Brest.