Рет қаралды 15,692,609
In the autumn of 1941, German forces near Volokolamsk were just two hours away from Moscow via the highway. However, the 316th Rifle Division, under the command of General I.V. Panfilov, stood in their way. This commander held such high authority among his troops that the soldiers of the division proudly called themselves "Panfilov's men," and the division itself became known as "Panfilov's division."
The 316th proved to be such a formidable and successful military unit that on November 17, 1941, it was awarded the status of a Guards division and became the 8th Guards Rifle Division. It so happened that the next day, General Panfilov was killed, but the division was granted the honor of retaining his name in its title. In the Soviet Army, only one other division received such an honor-the 25th Guards Rifle Division, named after Chapaev.
On November 16 (two days before the general's death), the 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 1075th Regiment of Panfilov's Division engaged in a battle that would become a legend of the Great Patriotic War.
In this battle, 28 Panfilov's men, entrenched near the Dubosekovo junction, stood in the path of a German tank battalion... and stopped it.
The feat of the 28 Panfilov heroes became one of the brightest symbols of the Battle of Moscow. The words of political instructor Klochkov, "Russia is vast, but there is nowhere to retreat-Moscow is behind us," could be found in almost every war museum.
In Kazakhstan, the homeland of the heroes, monuments were erected in their honor, and a memorial was built at the site of the battle. Schoolchildren learned about the battle at Dubosekovo even before they began studying history. The text about the Panfilovites was included in the "Native Speech" textbook for elementary grades, and children were taught to read using this text.
To this day, the lines from the anthem of Moscow resonate:
"In our hearts will live the twenty-eight
Bravest of your sons."
Yet, none of this prevented the feat from being debunked.
Today, any teenager who types "28 Panfilov's men" into Google will find an abundance of "facts" about how and why the myth of the 28 soldiers who stopped German tanks was invented.
It is the 21st century. The lever of historical "truth" has turned away from its heroes. But the past remains unchanged. And in that past, in the distant year of 1941, soldiers of the 4th Company will emerge from their bomb-cratered trenches, shake off the dirty snow, count their numbers, realize there are only 28 of them left, finish their hand-rolled cigarettes, pick up their grenades, and face the onslaught of German tanks...
This is our story.