Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov(October 4 - September 28, 1981) - hero of the Battle of Stalingrad, commander of a group of fighters who, in the fall of 1942, defended a four-story residential building on Lenin Square (Pavlov's House) in the center of Stalingrad. This house and its defenders became a symbol of the heroic defense of the city on the Volga. Hero of the Soviet Union (1945).
Biography
Yakov Pavlov was born in the village of Krestovaya, graduated primary school, worked in agriculture. In 1938 he was drafted into the Red Army. He met the Great Patriotic War in combat units in the Kovel region, as part of the troops of the Southwestern Front.
In 1942, Pavlov was sent to the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 13th Guards Division under General A.I. Rodimtsev. He took part in defensive battles on the approaches to Stalingrad. In July-August 1942, Senior Sergeant Ya. F. Pavlov was reorganized in the city of Kamyshin, where he was appointed commander of the machine gun squad of the 7th company. In September 1942, in the battles for Stalingrad, he carried out reconnaissance missions.
On the evening of September 27, 1942, Pavlov received a combat mission from the company commander, Lieutenant Naumov, to reconnoiter the situation in a 4-story building overlooking the central square of Stalingrad - January 9th Square. This building occupied an important tactical position. With three fighters (Chernogolov, Glushchenko and Aleksandrov) he knocked the Germans out of the building and completely captured it. Soon the group received reinforcements, ammunition and telephone communications. Together with the platoon of Lieutenant I. Afanasyev, the number of defenders increased to 26 people. It was not immediately possible to dig a trench and evacuate civilians hiding in the basements of the house.
The Germans constantly attacked the building with artillery and aerial bombs. But Pavlov avoided heavy losses and for almost two months did not allow the enemy to break through to the Volga. 
On November 19, 1942, the troops of the Stalingrad Front launched a counteroffensive. On November 25, during the attack, Pavlov was wounded in the leg, lay in the hospital, then was a gunner and commander of the reconnaissance section in the artillery units of the 3rd Ukrainian and 2nd Belorussian Fronts, in which he reached Stettin. He was awarded two Orders of the Red Star and many medals. On June 17, 1945, junior lieutenant Yakov Pavlov was awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union(medal No. 6775). Pavlov was demobilized from the ranks Soviet army in August 1946.
After demobilization he worked in the city of Valdai Novgorod region, was the third secretary of the district committee, graduated from the Higher Party School under the CPSU Central Committee. Three times he was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR from the Novgorod region. After the war, he was also awarded the Order of Lenin and the Order of the October Revolution. He repeatedly came to Stalingrad (now Volgograd), met with residents of the city who survived the war and restored it from ruins. In 1980, Y. F. Pavlov was awarded the title “Honorary Citizen of the Hero City of Volgograd.”
Pavlov is buried in the Alley of Heroes of the Western Cemetery of Veliky Novgorod. There is a version that Pavlov did not die in 1981, but became the confessor of the Holy Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Father Kirill. This information has no confirmation and has been repeatedly refuted.
Memory
- In Veliky Novgorod, in a boarding school named after him for orphans and children left without parental care, there is a Pavlov Museum (Derevyanitsy microdistrict, Beregovaya Street, building 44).
- Streets in Veliky Novgorod and Valdai are named after the Hero.
Image in culture
Cinema- Battle of Stalingrad (1949) - Leonid Knyazev.
- Stalingrad (1989) - Sergei Garmash.
- Yakov Pavlov is mentioned in computer game Call of Duty in the Pavlov campaign.
- In the computer game Panzer Corps in the grand campaign of '42, in the mission "Docks of Stalingrad" there is Pavlov's house, which is protected by the "Sergeant Pavlov" detachment.
- Yakov Pavlov took part in the “Song-74” festival.
- Yakov Pavlov appears in the game Sniper Elite.
- Pavlov's house is present in the computer game Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad.
see also
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Notes
Links
. Website "Heroes of the Country".
- TSB, 2nd edition.
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Excerpt characterizing Pavlov, Yakov Fedotovich
“Very good,” answered Nesvitsky.He called to the Cossack with the horse, ordered him to remove his purse and flask, and easily threw his heavy body onto the saddle.
“Really, I’ll go see the nuns,” he said to the officers, who looked at him with a smile, and drove along the winding path down the mountain.
- Come on, where will it go, captain, stop it! - said the general, turning to the artilleryman. - Have fun with boredom.
- Servant to the guns! - the officer commanded.
And a minute later the artillerymen ran out cheerfully from the fires and loaded.
- First! - a command was heard.
Number 1 bounced smartly. The gun rang metallic, deafening, and a grenade flew whistling over the heads of all our people under the mountain and, not reaching the enemy, showed with smoke the place of its fall and burst.
The faces of the soldiers and officers brightened at this sound; everyone got up and began observing the visible movements of our troops below and in front of us - the movements of the approaching enemy. At that very moment the sun completely came out from behind the clouds, and this beautiful sound of a single shot and shine bright sun merged into one cheerful and cheerful impression.
Two enemy cannonballs had already flown over the bridge, and there was a crush on the bridge. In the middle of the bridge, having dismounted from his horse, pressed with his thick body against the railing, stood Prince Nesvitsky.
He, laughing, looked back at his Cossack, who, with two horses in the lead, stood a few steps behind him.
As soon as Prince Nesvitsky wanted to move forward, the soldiers and carts again pressed on him and again pressed him against the railing, and he had no choice but to smile.
- What are you, my brother! - the Cossack said to the Furshtat soldier with the cart, who was pressing on the infantry crowded with the very wheels and horses, - what are you! No, to wait: you see, the general has to pass.
But furshtat, not paying attention to the name of the general, shouted at the soldiers blocking his way: “Hey!” fellow countrymen! keep left, wait! “But the fellow countrymen, crowding shoulder to shoulder, clinging with bayonets and without interruption, moved along the bridge in one continuous mass. Looking down over the railing, Prince Nesvitsky saw the fast, noisy, low waves of Ens, which, merging, rippling and bending around the bridge piles, overtook one another. Looking at the bridge, he saw equally monotonous living waves of soldiers, coats, shakos with covers, backpacks, bayonets, long guns and, from under the shakos, faces with wide cheekbones, sunken cheeks and carefree tired expressions, and moving legs along the sticky mud dragged onto the boards of the bridge . Sometimes, between the monotonous waves of soldiers, like a splash of white foam in the waves of Ens, an officer in a raincoat, with his own physiognomy different from the soldiers, squeezed between the soldiers; sometimes, like a chip winding through a river, a foot hussar, an orderly or a resident was carried across the bridge by waves of infantry; sometimes, like a log floating along the river, surrounded on all sides, a company or officer's cart, piled to the top and covered with leather, floated across the bridge.
“Look, they’ve burst like a dam,” the Cossack said, stopping hopelessly. -Are there many of you still there?
– Melion without one! - a cheerful soldier walking nearby in a torn overcoat said winking and disappeared; another, old soldier walked behind him.
“When he (he is the enemy) begins to fry the taperich on the bridge,” the old soldier said gloomily, turning to his comrade, “you will forget to itch.”
And the soldier passed by. Behind him another soldier rode on a cart.
“Where the hell did you stuff the tucks?” - said the orderly, running after the cart and rummaging in the back.
And this one came with a cart. This was followed by cheerful and apparently drunk soldiers.
“How can he, dear man, blaze with the butt right in the teeth…” one soldier in a high-tucked greatcoat said joyfully, waving his hand widely.
- This is it, sweet ham is that. - answered the other with laughter.
And they passed, so Nesvitsky did not know who was hit in the teeth and what the ham was.
“They’re in such a hurry that he let out a cold one, so you think they’ll kill everyone.” - the non-commissioned officer said angrily and reproachfully.
“As soon as it flies past me, uncle, that cannonball,” said the young soldier, barely restraining laughter, with a huge mouth, “I froze.” Really, by God, I was so scared, it’s a disaster! - said this soldier, as if boasting that he was scared. And this one passed. Following him was a carriage, unlike any that had passed so far. It was a German steam-powered forshpan, loaded, it seemed, with a whole house; tied behind the forshpan that the German was carrying was a beautiful, motley cow with a huge udder. On the feather beds sat a woman with a baby, an old woman and a young, purple-red, healthy German girl. Apparently, these evicted residents were allowed through with special permission. The eyes of all the soldiers turned to the women, and while the cart passed, moving step by step, all the soldiers' comments related only to two women. Almost the same smile of lewd thoughts about this woman was on all their faces.
- Look, the sausage is also removed!
“Sell mother,” another soldier said, emphasizing the last syllable, turning to the German, who, with his eyes downcast, walked angrily and fearfully with wide steps.
- How did you clean up! Damn it!
“If only you could stand with them, Fedotov.”
- You saw it, brother!
- Where are you going? - asked the infantry officer who was eating an apple, also half-smiling and looking at the beautiful girl.
The German, closing his eyes, showed that he did not understand.
“If you want, take it for yourself,” the officer said, handing the girl an apple. The girl smiled and took it. Nesvitsky, like everyone else on the bridge, did not take his eyes off the women until they passed. When they passed, the same soldiers walked again, with the same conversations, and finally everyone stopped. As often happens, at the exit of the bridge the horses in the company cart hesitated, and the whole crowd had to wait.
- And what do they become? There is no order! - said the soldiers. -Where are you going? Damn! There's no need to wait. Worse yet It will be like he sets fire to the bridge. “Look, the officer was locked in too,” the stopped crowds said from different sides, looking at each other, and still huddled forward towards the exit.
“My constituents turned to me - residents of Veliky Novgorod, working at the Kometa Plant OJSC. In their letter, they ask for help in protecting the honest name of their fellow countryman and former colleague, Hero of the Soviet Union Pavlov Yakov Fedotovich, about whom there is false information Lately increasingly began to appear in the media..."From a deputy's request State Duma, Hero of Russia E. Zelenov to the Council of Veterans of the Volgograd Region.
Who hasn't heard about the famous "Pavlov's House" in Volgograd?! It was named after Guard Sergeant Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov, commander of the machine gun squad of the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment. During defensive battles in Stalingrad in September 1942, a reconnaissance group of three soldiers, commanded by Ya. F. Pavlov, recaptured from the enemy in the city center the only four-story building of the regional consumer union at 61 Penzenskaya Street that survived the bombing.
A handful of brave men held this building, which was of strategic importance, for three days: from here the situation was controlled in a fairly large area of contact between the troops. Then a platoon under the command of Lieutenant Ivan Afanasyev arrived to help this group. In total, 24 soldiers held the building for almost 2 months, which went down in history as “Pavlov’s House” - that’s how it originally appeared in military reports. Yakov Pavlov continued to fight with dignity, and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his feat in Stalingrad was awarded to him after the end of the war - by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated June 27, 1945 (since 1943, Yakov Pavlov fought as an artilleryman: He met victory in the rank sergeant major, later he was awarded the first officer rank of “junior lieutenant”).
Let us turn again to the history of Pavlov's House. Even in recent times, every boy knew the chronology of the 58 days of his defense in Volgograd. Pavlov himself and his front-line comrades were famous people in the hero city. They often came here on holidays and corresponded with pioneer squads and work brigades that bore their names. Today only two of that small garrison remain alive. And they have no time for travel. Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov himself post-war years worked in the national economy, graduated from the High School under the Central Committee of the CPSU, was elected three times as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, and was awarded the Orders of Lenin and the October Revolution. In 1980, he was awarded the title "Honorary Citizen of Volgograd." A year later, the front-line hero passed away...
The man died, but his name remained in history. And around this name in last years something of a phantasmagoria began to happen. I won’t retell everything that other newspapers print, I’ll just name the headlines of several publications: “Sergeant Pavlov is alive?”, “The secret of machine gunner Pavlov”, “Has Sergeant Pavlov become Elder Kirill?”, “Pavlov’s house is for sale. The hero’s name has been stolen.”. .
Now it is difficult to establish who was the first to put forward the “version” that the legendary defender of Stalingrad is still alive today, being... the elder miracle worker, Archimandrite Kirill (?!). IN different variations such a legend is presented. Like, at the most terrible moment of the battle, when death was already hovering over the defenders of that house, to the brave warrior Holy Mother of God. Pavlov perked up and realized that he would stand and survive, no matter what. Then he swore that if he survived, he would go to a monastery after the war. And, returning from the front, Sergeant Pavlov allegedly entered the seminary, then became a monk and received the name Kirill. It’s as if they once called him to the military registration and enlistment office of the city of Zagorsk (now Sergiev Posad) and asked: “What will we tell the authorities?” Monk Kirill replied: “Tell me that I am dead.” And the military registration and enlistment office agreed with this...
Since the story is too vague and unlikely, the staff of the Volgograd Panorama Museum "Battle of Stalingrad" persistently tried to untangle this knot... And it turned out that not one, but three Pavlovs, who distinguished themselves in Stalingrad, became Heroes of the Soviet Union. In addition to Yakov, this is captain Sergei Mikhailovich Pavlov and guard senior sergeant Dmitry Ivanovich Pavlov (the latter died in 1971). Deputy director of the museum, candidate of art history Svetlana Argastseva even showed photographs of the three Pavlovs and Elder Kirill to criminologists to establish external similarities, but they did not find any.
However, let's return to the legendary hero. Museum employee Ivan Loginov went to the funeral of Yakov Fedotovich in the fall of 1981. The hero was buried in front of a large crowd of people, long years personally and well knew Yakov Fedotovich. What questions could arise after this sad ceremony at the Western Cemetery of Novgorod? None. The Golden Star and other awards of Ya.F. are kept on display in the museum as priceless relics. Pavlova.
However, on the eve of the 60th anniversary celebration Battle of Stalingrad The “reincarnation story” again began to wander through the pages of newspapers. At the same time, many are puzzled by why Elder Kirill himself does not refute it? He knows for sure that this is just beautiful fairy tale on a military-spiritual theme. However, there is some truth in it. She is that about. Kirill, living in the world, bore the common Russian surname Pavlov, and during the Great Patriotic War he defended Stalingrad.
And one last thing. A documentary film has been preserved that captures the post-war meeting in Stalingrad of junior lieutenant Yakov Pavlov with the women who restored the house that he defended with his military brothers-in-arms. Then the guardsman signed on the wall in a sweeping manner: “The house was received from Cherkasova (Alexandra Maksimovna Cherkasova was the initiator of the women’s movement to restore Stalingrad. - M.V.) in full service. Guard junior lieutenant, Hero of the Soviet Union Yakov Pavlov.”
Volgograd
“It’s better to die standing than to live on your knees,” the slogan of Dolores Ibarurri, whose son died after being wounded in a Stalingrad meat grinder, perfectly describes the fighting spirit Soviet soldiers before this fateful battle.
The Battle of Stalingrad showed the whole world the heroism and unparalleled courage of the Soviet people. And not only adults, but also children. It was the bloodiest battle of the Second World War, radically changing its course.
Maxim Passar
Maxim Passar, like Vasily Zaitsev, was a sniper. His surname, unusual for our ears, is translated from Nanai as “dead eye.”
Before the war he was a hunter. Immediately after the Nazi attack, Maxim volunteered to serve and studied at a sniper school. After graduation, he ended up in the 117th Infantry Regiment of the 23rd Infantry Division of the 21st Army, which on November 10, 1942 was renamed the 65th Army, 71st Guards Division.
The fame of the well-aimed Nanai, who had the rare ability to see in the dark as if it were day, immediately spread throughout the regiment, and later completely crossed the front line. By October 1942, “a keen eye.” was recognized as the best sniper of the Stalingrad Front, and he was also eighth in the list of the best snipers of the Red Army.
By the time of the death of Maxim Passar, he had 234 killed fascists. The Germans were afraid of the marksman Nanai, calling him “the devil from the devil’s nest.” , they even issued special leaflets intended for Passar personally with an offer to surrender.
Maxim Passar died on January 22, 1943, having managed to kill two snipers before his death. The sniper was twice awarded the Order of the Red Star, but he received his Hero posthumously, becoming a Hero of Russia in 2010.
Yakov Pavlov
Sergeant Yakov Pavlov became the only one who received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for defending the house.
On the evening of September 27, 1942, he received a combat mission from the company commander, Lieutenant Naumov, to reconnoiter the situation in a 4-story building in the city center, which had an important tactical position. This house went down in the history of the Battle of Stalingrad as “Pavlov’s House”.
With three fighters - Chernogolov, Glushchenko and Aleksandrov, Yakov managed to knock the Germans out of the building and capture it. Soon the group received reinforcements, ammunition and a telephone line. The Nazis continuously attacked the building, trying to smash it with artillery and aerial bombs. Skillfully maneuvering the forces of a small “garrison”, Pavlov avoided heavy losses and defended the house for 58 days and nights, not allowing the enemy to break through to the Volga.
For a long time it was believed that Pavlov’s house was defended by 24 heroes of nine nationalities. On the 25th, the Kalmyk Goryu Badmaevich Khokholov was “forgotten”; he was crossed off the list after the deportation of the Kalmyks. Only after the war and deportation did he receive his military awards. His name as one of the defenders of the House of Pavlov was restored only 62 years later.
Lyusya Radyno
In the Battle of Stalingrad, not only adults, but also children showed unparalleled courage. One of the heroines of Stalingrad was the 12-year-old girl Lyusya Radyno. She ended up in Stalingrad after the evacuation from Leningrad. One day, an officer came to the orphanage where the girl was and said that young intelligence officers were being recruited to obtain valuable information behind the front line. Lucy immediately volunteered to help.
On her first exit behind enemy lines, Lucy was detained by the Germans. She told them that she was going to the fields where she and other children were growing vegetables so as not to die of hunger. They believed her, but still sent her to the kitchen to peel potatoes. Lucy realized that she could find out the number of German soldiers simply by counting the number of peeled potatoes. As a result, Lucy obtained the information. In addition, she managed to escape.
Lucy went behind the front line seven times, never making a single mistake. The command awarded Lyusya the medals “For Courage” and “For the Defense of Stalingrad.”
After the war, the girl returned to Leningrad, graduated from college, started a family, worked at school for many years, taught children junior classes Grodno school No. 17. The students knew her as Lyudmila Vladimirovna Beschastnova.
Vasily Zaitsev
The legendary sniper of the Great Patriotic War, Vasily Zaitsev, during the Battle of Stalingrad in a month and a half, destroyed more than two hundred German soldiers and officers, including 11 snipers.
From the very first meetings with the enemy, Zaitsev proved himself to be an outstanding shooter. Using a simple “three-ruler”, he skillfully eliminated an enemy soldier. During the war, his grandfather’s wise hunting advice was very useful to him. Later Vasily will say that one of the main qualities of a sniper is the ability to camouflage and be invisible. This quality is necessary for any good hunter.
Just a month later, for his demonstrated zeal in battle, Vasily Zaitsev received the medal “For Courage”, and in addition to it - a sniper rifle! By this time, the accurate hunter had already disabled 32 enemy soldiers.
Vasily, as if in chess game, outplayed his opponents. For example, he made a realistic sniper doll, and he disguised himself nearby. As soon as the enemy revealed himself with a shot, Vasily began to patiently wait for his appearance from cover. And time didn't matter to him.
Zaitsev not only shot accurately himself, but also commanded a sniper group. He accumulated considerable didactic material, which later allowed him to write two textbooks for snipers. For the demonstrated military skill and valor, the commander of the sniper group was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. After being wounded, when he almost lost his sight, Zaitsev returned to the front and met Victory with the rank of captain.
Ruben Ibarruri
We all know the slogan « No pasaran! » , which translates as « they will not pass! » . It was declared on July 18, 1936 by the Spanish communist Dolores Ibarruri Gomez. She also owns the famous slogan « It's better to die standing than to live on your knees » . In 1939 she was forced to emigrate to the USSR. Her only son, Ruben, ended up in the USSR even earlier, in 1935, when Dolores was arrested, he was sheltered by the Lepeshinsky family.
From the first days of the war, Ruben joined the Red Army. For heroism shown in the battle for the bridge near the Berezina River near the city of Borisov, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
During the Battle of Stalingrad, in the summer of 1942, Lieutenant Ibarruri commanded a machine gun company. On August 23, Lieutenant Ibarruri’s company, together with a rifle battalion, had to hold back the advance of a German tank group at the Kotluban railway station.
After the death of the battalion commander, Ruben Ibarruri took command and raised the battalion in a counterattack, which turned out to be successful - the enemy was driven back. However, Lieutenant Ibarurri himself was wounded in this battle. He was sent to the left bank hospital in Leninsk, where the hero died on September 4, 1942. The hero was buried in Leninsk, but later he was reburied on the Alley of Heroes in the center of Volgograd.
He was awarded the title of Hero in 1956. Dolores Ibarruri came to her son’s grave in Volgograd more than once.
Yakov Pavlov was born in the village of Malaya Krestovaya, now the Valdai district of the Novgorod region, graduated from elementary school, and worked in agriculture. In 1938 he was drafted into the Red Army. Great Patriotic War met in combat units in the Kovel area, as part of the troops of the Southwestern Front.
In 1942, Pavlov was sent to the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 13th Guards Division under General A.I. Rodimtsev. He took part in defensive battles on the approaches to Stalingrad. In July-August 1942, Senior Sergeant Ya. F. Pavlov was reorganized in the city of Kamyshin, where he was appointed commander of the machine gun squad of the 7th company. In September 1942 - in the battles for Stalingrad, he carried out reconnaissance missions.
On the evening of September 27, 1942, Pavlov received a combat mission from the company commander, Lieutenant Naumov, to reconnoiter the situation in a 4-story building overlooking the central square of Stalingrad - January 9th Square. This building occupied an important tactical position. With three fighters (Chernogolov, Glushchenko and Aleksandrov) he knocked the Germans out of the building and completely captured it. Soon the group received reinforcements, ammunition and telephone communications. Together with the platoon of Lieutenant I. Afanasyev, the number of defenders increased to 24 people. It was not immediately possible to dig a trench and evacuate civilians hiding in the basements of the house.
The Nazis constantly attacked the building with artillery and aerial bombs. But Afanasyev avoided heavy losses and for almost two months did not allow the enemy to break through to the Volga.
On November 19, 1942, the troops of the Stalingrad Front (see Operation Uranus) launched a counteroffensive. On November 25, during the attack, Pavlov was wounded in the leg, lay in the hospital, then was a gunner and commander of the reconnaissance section in the artillery units of the 3rd Ukrainian and 2nd Belorussian Fronts, in which he reached Stettin. He was awarded two Orders of the Red Star and many medals. On June 17, 1945, junior lieutenant Yakov Pavlov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (medal No. 6775). Pavlov was demobilized from the Soviet Army in August 1946.
After demobilization, he worked in the city of Valdai, Novgorod Region, was the first secretary of the district committee, and graduated from the Higher Party School under the CPSU Central Committee. Three times he was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR from the Novgorod region. After the war, he was also awarded the Order of Lenin and the Order of the October Revolution. He repeatedly came to Stalingrad (now Volgograd), met with residents of the city who survived the war and restored it from ruins. In 1980, Y. F. Pavlov was awarded the title “Honorary Citizen of the Hero City of Volgograd.”
In Veliky Novgorod, in a boarding school named after him for orphans and children left without parental care, there is a Pavlov Museum (Derevyanitsy microdistrict, Beregovaya Street, building 44).
Pavlov was buried on the Alley of Heroes of the Western Cemetery of Veliky Novgorod. There is a version that Pavlov did not die in 1981, but became the confessor of the Holy Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Fr. Kirill. This information has no confirmation - this is his namesake, who was also the defender of Stalingrad.
Image in culture
- Battle of Stalingrad (1949) - Leonid Knyazev
- Stalingrad (1989) - Sergei Garmash.
- Yakov Pavlov is mentioned in the Call of Duty computer game in the "Pavlov" campaign.
On October 17, 1917 (new style), Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov was born in the village of Krestovaya (now Valdai district, Novgorod region).
– Yuri Yakovlevich, where does the Pavlov family come from?
– Yakov Fedotovich’s grandfather and great-grandfather, as far as I was able to find out, were born and lived in the village of Krestovaya. I only knew grandmother Anisya. I heard about grandfather Fedot (1887–1941) only from her words. They got married in January 1914. My grandfather was engaged in peasant labor and knew shoemaking. He helped villagers repair shoes and could even sew boots. My grandfather died before the war, in March 1941. Grandma Anisya lived with us. Her father came to Krestovaya and took her to us. She lived to be 91 years old and died in 1981, outliving her father.
The last time my father and I were in Krestovaya was in 1972. There was practically no road, and our Zhigulis drove back steel sheet along with cans of milk. And the sheet was pulled by a caterpillar tractor...
– What was the fate of Yakov Fedotovich after the war?
– Having been demobilized in 1946, he returned to his homeland, to Valdai. He was offered to stay in the army, but he refused. He served from '38 to '46. And, of course, three wounds had an effect.
He started working as an instructor in the district executive committee. They sent me to study in Leningrad along the party line. After studying, he became the 3rd secretary of the Valdai district party committee. Supervised Agriculture. The position was troublesome - the Valdai region at that time was agricultural.
Letters came to Yakov Fedotovich every dayIn 1947, my mom and dad got married. Soon he was sent to study at the Higher Party School under the CPSU Central Committee in Moscow, where I was born in 1951. His mother went with him and taught Russian to Koreans and Vietnamese. They stayed in Moscow until 1956, and then returned to Valdai again.
He had to travel around the area a lot. First - on the Kovrovets motorcycle. The motorcycle often broke down, and my father joked: “It’s unknown who rode who more…”. There were no roads in the area.
Even then, his health began to fail and he became a director at a local printing house. He worked for a year or a little more, and then he was persuaded to move to Novgorod. In August 1961, we moved to this apartment. My father worked at the Kometa plant in the supply department.
- He's on new job Did you have to travel a lot too?
“I had to, although his health was not the same.” At first I went to the hospital every other year, every year, and then twice a year. I had the opportunity to travel with him often. Because of this, I even had to quit my job. Now he’s going to Volgograd, but who’s going to carry the suitcase?
He visited Cuba and knew Fidel and Raul Castro. He came to France at the invitation of the pilots of the Normandy-Niemen squadron. Today, medals donated by the French remind us of this. The most expensive souvenir from Volgograd is the sieve with which the veterans sowed the Soldiers' Field. I asked several people who attended the event to sign it.
Yakov Pavlov (right) during the first sowing of the Soldier's Field
My father met with conscripts in military units and took me to these meetings, which I was very happy about. He even went to Hungary, where there was then a military unit in which he fought before the Victory.
– What was Yakov Fedotovich like with his family?
- Warm-hearted, sympathetic, very kind and cheerful, I loved talking with him on various topics.
On weekends, he found time to be with his family and did various household chores. In my childhood, in the winter in Valdai, our whole family went on ski trips. In summer and autumn we often went fishing and picked mushrooms. I always looked forward to Sunday and pestered my father - when and where will we go?
– Did he tell you about the war, about what he had to endure?
- IN Everyday life everything seemed natural, simple and ordinary, except for my father’s memories of the war. I listened to them especially carefully. And I was always surprised at what military, combat and everyday hardships my father and other soldiers had to experience and overcome. And at the same time, show courage, perseverance and be strong, strong-willed, skillful fighters. I wanted to be like them.
He never flaunted the Hero's Gold Star in front of people, but at the same time, he valued it highly. He lived modestly. He worked a lot, was involved in social activities, and took an active part in instilling in young people a sense of patriotism and love for the Motherland. He often told me: “We, soldiers of the Soviet Army, did not think that this was a feat, but simply fulfilled our military duty.” Never said, “I defended the house.” He always repeated: “We defended.”
Autographed book by I. Afanasyev, donated by the author to Yakov Pavlov
– I heard that Yakov Fedotovich was offered to move to Volgograd...
- It was so. I remember they even offered an apartment in the center, where Vuchetich’s workshop used to be. By the way, it was here in 1964 that Evgeniy Viktorovich painted his father’s portrait, which has been hanging in our apartment since then.
Dad, by the way, was familiar with many outstanding and famous people. I still have autographs of letters or greeting cards from General Pavel Batov, singer Tamara Miansarova, Alexei Maresyev, Yuri Gagarin and many, many others. While still studying in Leningrad, my father became friends with legendary sniper Vasily Zaitsev, with whom he usually attended various events in Volgograd.
By the way, I often visited the hero city. And not only with his father, but also with his mother and with his son. I have always really liked the city and the people of Volgograd. I especially admired the sculptures of Mamayev Kurgan, the panorama museum “Battle of Stalingrad”, and the power of the great Russian river Volga. And it begins with a small stream in our native land, where we went in school years on hikes.
Yuri Yakovlevich Pavlov at the portrait of his father. The author of the portrait is Evgeniy Vuchetich.
– How did your fate turn out?
– Worked as an engineer, carpenter, and leader of an applied arts group. Now retired. My children - son Alexey and daughter Svetlana - are ordinary guys. The son is a builder, the daughter is the chief specialist of the financial service center of the Department of Education and youth policy Novgorod region. Granddaughter Ksenia is in the 8th grade and practices ballroom dancing.