Yakov Pavlov - the famous hero of the Great Patriotic War, who became famous after the heroic defense of a four-story residential building in the center of Stalingrad in the autumn of 1942. The house and a group of its defenders, led by Pavlov, became the main symbol of the city's defense. From this article you can find out a brief biography of the hero and the details of the feat he accomplished.
Early years
Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov was born on October 17 (4th according to the old style), 1917, and the first months of his life fell at the very height of the October Revolution and the events preceding it. Yakov Pavlov grew up in the village of Krestovaya (Novgorod region), in a poor peasant family. Jacob's father participated in the Civil War, the boy was taken care of by his mother, with whom the future hero maintained a tender and trusting relationship throughout his life. After graduating from five grades of elementary school, Yakov Pavlov was forced to leave school and start working in agriculture at the age of 11, as the times were very difficult. In 1938, at the age of 21, Yakov was drafted into the Red Army. StartWorld War II found him in the southwestern front-line troops, located at that time in the area of the city of Kovel.
Feat
Yakov Pavlov in 1942 was sent under the command of General Alexander Ilyich Rodimtsev, to the 42nd Infantry Regiment of his guards division number 13. In this regiment, Yakov Fedotovich actively participated in defensive battles near Stalingrad, and then was transferred to the 7th th company, where he was appointed commander of the machine-gun squad. In addition, by the autumn of 1942, he often went on reconnaissance missions in the battles for Stalingrad.
On September 27, 1942, Sergeant Yakov Pavlov received an assignment from Lieutenant Naumov, a company commander, to investigate what was happening with a four-story building located on the central square of Stalingrad and possessing a tactically important position. This building, built in the mid-1930s, housed the House of the Regional Consumer Union. Next to it was the House of Sovkontrol, and together these two buildings were connected by a railway passing between them, an exit to the central square and a close approach to the Volga. Letting Nazi soldiers into any of these buildings meant losing Stalingrad. A group of opponents had already met in the house entrusted to Pavlov. Together with three fighters - corporal Vasily Glushchenko and privates Alexander Alexandrov and Nikolai Chernogolov - Yakov Fedotovich was able to enter the house and free it from the invaders, after which a defensive position was adopted by four fighters. The opposite house with his group was occupied by Lieutenant Zabolotny.
Unfortunately, the house guarded by Zabolotny was blown up, he buried defense soldiers among his rubble. Pavlov, with three of his soldiers, managed to hold the defense of the house for three days, after which significant reinforcements arrived at the fighters. Due to the fact that the house was saved by the forces of Yakov Pavlov and his soldiers, the small garrison stationed in it was able to restrain the Nazi offensive for two months, preventing them from breaking through to the Volga. An important role in the defense was played by the observation post organized by Pavlov on the second floor of the house, which the German soldiers could not destroy.
Further destiny
During the attack that followed after the preservation of an important building, Yakov Pavlov was seriously wounded in the leg and spent some time in the hospital. However, after that he returned to the front again and continued to fight. First as a gunner, and then as the commander of the intelligence department on the Ukrainian and Belorussian fronts, with whom he reached Stettin (modern Szczecin, Poland). After demobilization in 1946, Yakov Fedotovich repeatedly visited Stalingrad, where local residents, who rebuilt the city from ruins, expressed their deep gratitude to him. A photo of Yakov Pavlov talking to one of these residents is shown below.
For military merit, Pavlov received two Orders of the Red Star, and was also awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution and many other medals and awards. In addition, Yakov Fedotovich was the owner of the title of HeroSoviet Union.
After the war, Yakov Pavlov moved to the city of Valdai (Novgorod region), where he worked for the benefit of the USSR, and after graduating from the Higher Party School under the Central Committee of the CPSU, he became the third secretary of the district committee. In addition, Pavlov was elected three times as a deputy of the Supreme Council from the Novgorod region. In 1980, Yakov Fedotovich was named an honorary citizen of the hero city of Volgograd. Below is a photo of Pavlov with his beloved mother, taken in the 70s.
Yakov Pavlov died on September 29, 1981 at the age of 63. He was buried in Veliky Novgorod, on the alley of heroes, located in the Western cemetery of the city.
Pavlov's House
Today, the house heroically saved by Yakov Fedotovich is named after him and is a historical monument of federal significance. It became one of the first buildings restored in Stalingrad after the war. In 1985, architect Vadim Maslyaev and sculptor Viktor Fetisov turned one of the walls of the house into a likeness of a destroyed wartime wall. A photo of Pavlov's House is presented below.
Memory
In addition to Pavlov's House in Volgograd, there is a museum of Yakov Pavlov in Veliky Novgorod, and there is also a boarding school named after him. The streets of Veliky Novgorod, Valdai and Yoshkar-Ola are also named after the hero.
The image of Pavlov in culture
Yakov Pavlov twice became the hero of films: for the first time his image was embodied by the actor Leonid Knyazev in the 1949 film "The Battle of Stalingrad". Then,in 1989, the role of Pavlov was played by Sergei Garmash in the film "Stalingrad". In addition, Yakov Pavlov is mentioned in the computer games Call of Duty, Panzer Corps and Sniper Elite.
