A short trip with the director of Opochetsky local history museum Alexander Kondratenei on the German fortifications of the Pskov defensive bypass was planned back in February as an "alaverda" for the kindly conducted tour of the defensive bypass of Opochka. And then the appointed day arrived.
The morning started with a pleasant surprise. When examining the shelter at the bus station, it turned out that the entrance to it was opened, and inside it was relatively clean and dry. Personally, I have never been there. The vault is notable for its strange design with an observation tower. Which, in principle, is fully justified due to the presence of a railway junction. We just don't have any analogues. Whose construction it is: German during the occupation or Soviet, it is impossible to say for sure. Conventionally, we still consider it German.
This is what it looked like in March 2007
And this is how it is now
A staircase with concrete steps led down. The entrance was designed as a dead end. The front door is metal, most likely post-war with four bolts. Not as massive as on anti-nuclear defense shelters. the door has already been taken off its hinges by scrap metal lovers. Behind the first door is a small corridor and a second door to the interior of the bunker. Behind it you can see a dilapidated rack and a ventilation valve.
Passing to the right through the second door we find ourselves in the first room of the shelter. It is small in size. Approximately 15 sq. m area. There is an almost completely rotten bench in it, the remains of another one are lying on the floor. From the room, there is an open doorway leading to an adjacent room, similar in size, next to the opening of the manhole into the emergency exit shaft.
The manhole shaft is covered with a round steel hatch
In the next room there is a foundation for the installation of some kind of air supply unit and a wonderful fresh inscription on the wall.
In general, the object is interesting for osomtra and attractive due to the lack of dirt. We did not understand how to get into the sentinel tower. Most likely the entrance was outside and is now filled up. After inspecting the shelter, colleagues from the Pskov 4x4 club joined us and we went to the facilities of the German defensive bypass of the Panther Line.
First of all, we visited a local landmark - an artillery station in the village of Ambrosovo. We had to walk to him knee-deep in snow. This typical German structure was disguised as a house. I know only two so far: one is with us, the second is in the Smolensk region.
Only now I noticed that the ceiling rails were not cut neatly, but were torn apart by an explosion. Not otherwise from Gdovka?
At the nearest height in the village of Gory, information was received about five German bunkers dismantled for building materials after the war. It was possible to realize an old dream - to climb a triangulation tower to explore the surroundings. Difficult, but interesting!
From the tower on the horizon you can see Pskov and the entire territory of the Pskov defensive bypass, which our troops had to storm in 1944. It is now, after reclamation, there are overgrown fields. And then there were swampy and overgrown lowlands.
When we went down from the tower, we were met by the local horse Gingerbread. A very active animal;-0
Then the sightseers went to see the abandoned Golubovo estate with a park. We arrived in the village, but there was no manor house. It was taken apart for firewood this winter. Only the foundation remained. So drive after this excursion - show the manor of the beauty of the Pskov region. You can read about the estate separately.
After the Golubovo estate, we went to see other German buildings in the vicinity of the city. One of them, a typical concrete block shelter, is located in the village of Panino on private territory. But with the owners we have an agreement with the right to view. I already wrote about this shelter in the fall.
The second building - the original design of a cast machine-gun bunker (or NP?) is located in the village of Pavshino, also on private territory. I had to go to him through snowdrifts and burdocks, periodically falling through waist-deep snow.
The bunker itself is hidden among the outbuildings and littered with scrap metal. Did you see him in the photo?
Having shaken out the snow from the boots, we returned to the city - to see the notorious "tank" repair plant of the Wehrmacht at the Flax Mill. about his visit with numerous photos I took in October 2010. It was flooded and it was possible to inspect the gigantic room only from the edge. Now the weather is favorable. The water below froze, though the hole had to be dug out of the snow. There was an absolutely wonderful picture when six people get out of the cars, walk along a snow-covered field, and then disappear into a barely noticeable hole in the center of it. The photo is downhill. Inside view.
As I said, the inner underground space was flooded. In winter, the water froze and it became possible to move freely there. Large spaces turned into a skating rink. In some places, the ice formed bizarre crystals, shimmering in the beams of lanterns. Large heaps of rubbish dumped into the openings of the ceiling froze slightly and did not cause disgust, the air was fresh. We completely walked around all the spaces of the former workshop. Inside there were several concrete "booths" in varying degrees of preservation.
The purpose of these "booths" we did not exactly understand. Each of them has several small doors.
And next to each of the bottoms there is an industrial fan box of varying degrees of preservation.
Vostochny Val or the Panther-Wotan line is a defensive line of German troops, partially erected by the Wehrmacht in the autumn of 1943 on Eastern Front. The shaft passed along the line: the Narva River - Pskov - Vitebsk - Orsha - the Sozh River - the middle course of the Dnieper River (the base Eastern shaft) - the Molochnaya River. The dual name was adopted to avoid confusion with the German border fortifications of 1939.
Map of the Eastern Front in July-December 1943. The Panther-Wotan line is indicated by a red zigzag.
The decision to build the Eastern Wall was made by order of Hitler on 08/11/1943. The shaft was divided into two frontiers - "Panther" (northern) and "Wotan" (southern). The defensive line of the German troops "Panther" was created in the zone of the Army Group "North" and the Army Group "Center". The Wotan line was built on the southern front in the zone of action of Army Group South and Army Group A.
In the north, the fortifications were erected approximately from Vitebsk and included two lines of defense: the 1st ran along the shores of Lake Pskov, the Velikaya, Pskova and Cherekha rivers, the 2nd ran along the western bank of the Velikaya River and the Narova River to the Baltic Sea near Narva. The Wotan line ran from the Sea of Azov, along the right bank of the Molochnaya River to the Dnieper floodplains. From Smolensk to the Black Sea, the line ran for the most part along the right bank of the Dnieper or its large tributaries. The Wotan line, connecting with the Panther line, created a continuous defensive line from the Azov to the Baltic Sea.
The Panther line extended over 550 km from the Baltic Sea. Only in the sector of the army group "North" there were about 6 thousand fortifications, incl. 800 reinforced concrete. The rest of the fortifications were small log dugouts, although some of them had towers. In addition, 180 km of barbed wire barriers were installed, about 30 kilometers of anti-tank ditches were dug, and barriers were erected in tank-prone areas.
Construction work on the Panther line began in September 1943. The detachment of builders numbered 50 thousand people, despite the fact that, according to the calculations of engineers, at least 70 thousand workers were needed. According to some estimates, about 400 thousand people were required to carry out all the work on the Eastern Wall. However, according to experts, it is unlikely that the total number of workers available to all four army groups exceeded 200,000.
In August 1943, the nodal defensive points were created on the sections of the Army Group "Center" in the areas of automobile and railways marching in an east-west direction. Defensive fortifications were also built on the lintel between the Dnieper and the Dvina. At the junction of the fronts of Army Group North and Army Group South, by November 1, 1943, the main points had anti-tank and anti-personnel defensive structures. These structures included barbed wire fences, trenches, anti-tank ditches, and other types of anti-tank fortifications.
According to the requirements of the Wehrmacht, the Panther line was to consist mainly of field positions with strongholds in the main deployment areas, which were to include separate concrete bunkers made of reinforced concrete. The priorities were distributed as follows:
1) anti-tank ditch and natural obstacles in the main direction of resistance;
2) winter shelters on the first line;
3) a continuous line of battle trenches;
4) anti-tank positions;
5) observation positions;
6) wire fences;
7) open firing points of heavy infantry weapons;
8) creation and clearing of the firing zone;
9) artillery positions;
10) communication trenches and communication passages.
The demolition of houses, the clearing of sectors of fire and the creation of a zone of devastation to a depth of 20 kilometers in front of the main direction of resistance were envisaged. The main line was also to be located 10 kilometers in front of the vital airfields of Gomel and Vitebsk. The work had to continue until the winter of 1943/44, since the positions had to be marked out before the snow fell. In addition, it was necessary to organize the quartering of troops.
It was also planned to build roads and bridges on the Panther line. The construction of the second line of defense, which ran along the Dnieper and was named the "Bear" line, was planned for August 1943. The line was to stretch along the Dnieper bank from the right flank of the army group to the Mogilev fortified area. In this area, the Dnieper is quite wide, and the high western bank of the river near Orsha rises above the eastern one.
Behind the "Panther" line, another defensive line was to be built under the name "Tiger" line - in the area of the so-called earthen bridge and around Vitebsk. In August, the creation of a bridgehead in Bobruisk was planned, the importance of which increased even more in 1944, after most of the southern sections of the Panther line were lost in 1943.
However, neither material nor human resources line builders did not have. And most importantly, they were catastrophically limited in time. In this regard, the southern part of the line was completed by no more than 30%. Since in the area of the northern part of the line, active fighting The Red Army was not carried out at that time, the readiness of construction work reached 60%.
The line "Wotan" was much weaker fortified than the "Panther", especially in places where it departed from the Dnieper. The most powerful fortifications were in the area of Zaporozhye and Melitopol. They consisted of anti-tank ditches, barbed wire in 4-6 rows, deep trenches and communication passages, dugouts, minefields, pillboxes and bunkers, reinforced concrete shelters and command posts. For every kilometer of defense, there were an average of 8 armored caps and 12 bunkers.
Despite the loud name, Vostochny Val was formidable only in German propaganda. In fact, all the structures belonged to the field fortification and were the second defensive line of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front, after the Hagen line. It was not for nothing that the commander of Army Group North suppressed such propaganda in his troops, so as not to inspire false hope in them.
By the end of September, Manstein's Army Group "South" and Army Group "A", located to the south, were pushed back to the Eastern Wall. The 6th Army, which was driven out of the Wotan line and thrown back beyond the Dnieper, was included in Army Group A. Eastern shaft, caused disappointment in German soldiers, since the Todt Organization in the short period allotted to it completed only a small part of the planned work. Besides, a large number of experienced OT workers who needed construction were sent to destroy buildings and material resources in areas subject to evacuation, since from 1943 Hitler began to pursue a policy of "scorched earth". Nevertheless, the Dnieper River, with its steep, steep western bank and low eastern bank occupied by Soviet troops, formed a serious natural obstacle in many areas. In some places, the width of the river was more than 3 kilometers.
The Red Army immediately tried to break through the line in order to prevent the German troops from strengthening for a long-term defense, launching a strategic offensive operation on a 300-kilometer front along the Dnieper. The line was particularly weak in the area north of the Black Sea, where it branched off from the Dnieper to cover the approaches to the Crimea. Soviet southern front with relative ease broke through the barely fortified line, thereby cutting off the German 17th Army on the Crimean Peninsula from its route of withdrawal to the mainland. This was followed by the gradual establishment of several Soviet footholds across the Dnieper. Despite the fact that crossing the Dnieper was extremely difficult for the Red Army, German troops failed to throw the Soviet troops from any bridgehead, which grew as troops were deployed to them. By the beginning of November 1943, Kyiv was liberated by the Red Army, which broke the line along the Dnieper, forcing the Wehrmacht to retreat to Polish border 1939.
The only part of the line that remained at the disposal of the Wehrmacht after 1943 was the northernmost part, the Panther line between Lake Peipus and the Baltic Sea at Narva. This small part of the line was attacked during the Battle of Narva, and the Baltic states and the Gulf of Finland remained in German hands well into 1944.
Thus, weak defensive positions along the Dnieper were able to slow down, but not stop the advance of the Soviet troops. The river was a significant obstacle, but the length of the defensive line made it difficult to defend. The inability of the Germans to eliminate the Soviet bridgeheads meant that this line would inevitably be broken. The much better fortified northern part of the defensive line turned out to be a more difficult task for the Red Army to break through it and was able to hold out for almost a year longer in comparison with its southern part. At the same time, the entire defensive line was more of a binding of field fortifications to favorable landscape conditions, rather than a fortification. Therefore, she was able to partially fulfill only the tactical tasks of the Wehrmacht, and absolutely did not influence the strategic plans - to strengthen herself on the occupied line for a long time, making it the eastern border of the Third Reich.
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Realizing that they would have to retreat from Leningrad in order to avoid encirclement, the Germans began to rapidly build the Panther defensive line along the Idritsa-Ostrov-Pskov line. It passed along the heights of the Pskov Plain, along the roads and along the banks of the Pskov, Cherekha and Velikaya rivers. Huge minefields at Ostrov, Idritsa and Pustoshka alternated with four or six rows of barbed wire. In wetlands, earthen ramparts were piled up, in which bunkers with embrasures and retractable machine-gun platforms were equipped. Behind them stretched trenches, connected by communications with command posts, which were patrolled around the clock by machine gunners. Reinforced concrete bunkers were built to accommodate the officers. This defensive line had an average of eight armored caps and about 12 bunkers per kilometer of front. Defense nodes were created, which had three or four lines of heavily fortified positions with a multi-kilometer network of full profile communication passages. The Panther's fortifications were built according to the rules of fortification with hundreds of pillboxes, structures made of stone, wood and concrete, as well as portable armor. The Nazis entangled this entire system of defensive structures with solid barriers: three or four rings of barbed wire, inconspicuous obstacles made of thin wire, painted in a protective color. All approaches to the front line were littered with mines, and in especially dangerous directions - with guided land mines and concentrated explosive charges. Ditches, gouges, and wolf pits were built in areas that were dangerous for tanks.
The Panther line seemed impregnable. Our troops gnawed through it on the territory of the Idritsa region at the turn of the villages of Staritsa - Baikino - Chaika from January to July 1944, having suffered heavy losses. In parallel with the construction of the Panther line in the fall of 1943, the Germans began to speed up the construction of one of its branches - the Reyer defensive line in depth. It passed along the dominant heights along the Opochka-Sebezh highway. At its intermediate boundaries between the lakes, several dozen pillboxes were built, the approaches to which were covered by a dense network of barbed wire. The Reyer line encircled the village of Idritsa, the cities of Sebezh and Opochka. It was built taking into account the difficult terrain, replete with lakes, swamps and forests, and was similar to the Panther defensive line. They complemented each other and in some areas even intersected. Preparing for a long defense, in the winter of 1943/44, the Germans hastily restored the Opochka-Idritsa-Polotsk railway, which was destroyed at the beginning of the war, running along the front line. In the spring, the movement of trains with manpower and equipment was opened along it.
In order to keep the location of the defensive lines a secret, the Germans began to forcibly evict the inhabitants of nearby villages and farms from the autumn of 1943. Another purpose of the eviction was to deprive the possibility of replenishing the advancing units of the Red Army with persons of military age. In addition, due to this, the problem of a lack of labor in the territory of the Reich was solved. Speaking on April 24, 1943, SS Reichsführer G. Himmler said: “We must wage war with the thought of how best to take away human resources from the Russians - dead or alive? We do this when we kill them or take them prisoner and make them really work, when we try to take possession of an occupied area and when we leave uninhabited territory to the enemy. Either they should be driven away to Germany and become her labor force or die in battle. And leave people to the enemy so that he again has a working and military force, by and large, absolutely wrong. This cannot be allowed. And if this line of extermination of people is consistently pursued in the war, as I am convinced, then the Russians will already lose their strength and bleed to death during this year and next winter ... ”Himmler’s soldiers in less than a year remaining before the liberation of the Idritsky and Sebezh regions , flooded them with the blood of civilians. At first, people were simply resettled in other villages further west, and then they began to be taken to Germany, Latvia and Lithuania for forced labor or placed in camps in the city of Sebezh and the village of Idritsa. They motivated this by the fact that they allegedly save the population from death during the battles that will unfold here, from Soviet bombs and shells.
At that time railway stations Idritsa and Sebezh worked in a tense regime and were busy transferring troops and equipment to the front. As a result of sabotage by partisans, railways sometimes went out of order for 3-4 days. There was a critical situation with the rolling stock. Therefore, the deportees were not transported by rail. In the direction of Latvia, foot columns escorted by policemen and horse carts with civilians stretched.
By mid-autumn 1943, the intensity of the movement of troops along the railways and highways increased significantly. In just one month, 204 echelons (2,300 wagons) passed through Sebezh and Idritsa towards the front line. Several echelons were unloaded in Sebezh. 83 tanks unloaded from them, 38 self-propelled guns and dozens of vehicles headed on their own towards the city of Opochka. We moved very slowly, as we were afraid of mining the road. To protect their column, women, old people and children were allowed in front, dragging harrows with a load along the road.
By November 1943, our troops occupied Loknya, Nevel and came close to the city of Pustoshka, after which the front stabilized on the line Pustoshka - Nevel - Polotsk. In the southern part of the Idritsky district, units of the first and second echelons of the Wehrmacht were densely located. From there, some partisan formations were forced out by the punishers into the Rossony forests, others continued to operate in the western part of the Sebezh region. The German command was well aware that partisans active in the interests of the Soviet troops at the front were a knife planted in the back of their army. Therefore, the Nazis took all measures to destroy them, and at the same time the population, which actively assisted them and constantly replenished the ranks of the partisans.
The punitive expeditions were aimed at completely clearing the territory of all living things, which could interfere with the actions of the Wehrmacht units at the front. From the end of 1943 until the liberation of the Idritsky and Sebezhsky regions, the Germans and their accomplices in the person of the Latvian legionnaires, Vlasovites and policemen subjected the population to terrible repressions, during which the sadism of their organizers and participants was fully manifested. Punishers bursting into the villages burned everything to the ground, killed the elderly and children, raped women and underage girls, repaired massacre over all living things. They hunted people like animals. Cattle were driven and killed, food stocks were destroyed in order to doom the population hiding in the forests to starvation. Pits with potatoes harvested for the winter were filled with gasoline or kerosene. Most of the inhabitants were subjected to painful death under the pretext of a real or imaginary connection with the partisans, or simply because at an unkind hour they caught the eye of those whom it was difficult to call people. There are no number of examples of the atrocities of punishers in the territories of the Idritsky and Sebezhsky regions.
The partisans responded to cruelty with cruelty. Punishers who fell into their hands were sometimes severely tortured before being killed. The report of the head of the army Gestapo stated: “While carrying out attacks, the partisans act with unprecedented cruelty ... These inhuman tortures of opponents who fell into the hands of the partisans are explained, first of all, by the boundless persecution by Jews and political commissars, who widely use primitive instincts for their own purposes. Russian population. Since they portrayed the German soldiers as a fiend; completely responsible for the outbreak of the war and the ensuing worsening of life, and it was said that poverty and disasters would worsen after the end of the war in favor of the Germans, then all the hatred of the people being set off was directed at their victims. The deprivations experienced by the partisans as a result of their activities, especially sensitive in winter, and the bad mood caused by this, are deftly directed by the leaders of the partisans to the German soldiers ... "
Pskov is ours!
On July 23, 1944, as a result of heavy street fighting, Pskov, dilapidated by powerful bombardments, was liberated from Nazi German invaders. The longest occupation in the history of our city has come to an end.
IN result date, which practically coincided with the day of memory of the patron saint of Pskov - Princess Olga, has become the main city holiday. And the theatrical "forcing" of the Velikaya River by the troops of the Pskov garrison long years was a favorite holiday show of the townspeople. 71 years after the liberation of the regional capital, the Pskov Information Agency recalls how it was...
Pskov under occupation
Pskov was occupied on July 9, 1941, already on the 18th day of the war.
The city became a stronghold rear area for the German Army Group North: its administrative, economic and military center. It housed the command and economic inspection of the Army Group "North", the command of the 18th Army, the headquarters of the operational team 1-a (SD security service), the TODT military construction organization, German hospitals and intelligence schools.
Since the spring of 1943, units were stationed in Pskov Russian Liberation Army (ROA), Estonian commandant's office and police, Latvian volunteers, Spanish legionnaires from "Blue Division", headquarters of the railway troops.
The permanent German garrison of Pskov numbered about 20 thousand people, periodically the number of quartered in the city the soldiers increased up to 70 thousand.
"Russian liberation army» General Vlasov on the streets of Pskov
A bank operated in the city, separate theaters for the Germans and for the Russian population, a newspaper was published in Russian "For the Motherland"(according to some reports, to work in it in in full force led by the editor, the staff of the Soviet newspaper moved "Pskov collective farmer"), officer and soldier clubs worked. Contrary to common practice, in occupied Pskov there was a post office and even special stamps were printed.
A separate page in the history of the occupied city is the work of the so-called Pskov Spiritual Mission. Those who worked in it Orthodox priests, who arrived from the Baltic States, were engaged in charitable activities(collected donations for Pskov concentration camp prisoners of war), opened kindergarten, orphanage, parochial schools. Thanks to the activities of the mission, Orthodox churches were opened for worship, including the Trinity Cathedral.
<- Уже 18 августа 1941 года в Псков прибыли первые 14 миссионеров-священников Псковской православной миссии -
mostly Russian priests from Riga
and Narva dioceses.
In 2010, director Vladimir Khotinenko made a feature film "Pop" about the priest of the mission ->
"Stalag-372" was located in Zavelichye, on the territory of a former military camp (within the current boundaries of Yubileynaya, Major Dostavalov and General Margelov streets). The prisoners of war were housed in 30 stables of the former Omsk Infantry Regiment.
Among other things, Pskov became a major place for holding Soviet prisoners of war,
in particular in the city found camp for enlisted prisoners of warStalag-372.
According to the Extraordinary State Commission for the Establishment and Investigation of the Atrocities of the Nazi Invaders and Their Accomplices, 250-290 thousand Soviet prisoners of war died in Pskov during the years of occupation. In total, during the war years, Pskov, which was an important transport center in the German rear, passed through
according to experts, a total of about 1 million captured military and civilians.
The beginning of the liberation of the territory of the Pskov region
The liberation of the cities of the current Pskov region began already at the beginning
1942. Immediately after the defeat of the German troops near Moscow, the administrative centers of the two most southern regions were liberated: Cunha(January 23) and consecrated(January 28-29).
Then the liberation continued only at the end of 1942. November 24 began Velikolukskaya offensive , called upon by capturing railway junctions in Velikiye Luki And Novosokolniki tie up the German troops and prevent their transfer under Stalingrad. After 4 days, the troops of the 3rd shock army under the command of Lieutenant General Kuzma Galitsky closed the cordon around the city on Lovat, after which the assault began. By New Year's Eve, the troops had captured almost the entire city, with the exception of the railway junction and the fortress. At noon on January 16, 1943, the resistance of the defenders was finally broken, and a special detachment of the 249th division of 30 people captured the last center of defense - the headquarters of the garrison, capturing the lieutenant colonel von Zassa.
At the same time, another objective of the offensive operation - the liberation of Novosokolniki - was never achieved.
January 16, 1943: Baron Eduard von Zass, commander of the Velikoluksky garrison, after being captured by a special detachment of the 249th division.
The baron came from a family of Estonian landowners from the island of Saaremaa, who had proven themselves military service Russian Empire. Von Zass managed to win almost 2,000 Estonians who fought in the Red Army to the side of the Germans under Velikiye Luki. The baron was publicly hanged for war crimes in the market square of the city on Lovat. at the beginning of 1946.
Fierce fighting in the territory Novosokolnichesky district- on Ptahinsky height- resumed only in the summer of 1943. Later, from 6 to 10 October of the same year, he was released Nevel. And from Novosokolnikov the Germans were driven out only on January 29, 1944 to prevent the transfer of enemy troops under Leningrad And Novgorod.
In parallel, on the same days, Soviet troops launched an offensive from the north, freeing Gdov(February 4) Plussu(18th of Febuary), Plows Red(February 23), Bottom(24 February), Dedovichi(25 February). On February 26, three regional centers were liberated at once - Bezhanitsy, Porkhov and Loknya. February 29 joined them Novorzhev. Thus, the eastern half of the current Pskov region was liberated.
The further advance of the Soviet troops again stopped due to the fact that the famous German defensive line "Panther" was waiting for them ahead ...
Line "Panther"
Line "Panther" part of the so-called "Eastern Wall": German defensive system stretching from Baltic before Black Sea and designed to stop the offensive of the Soviet troops. She passed from the confluence Narva rivers V The Gulf of Finland to the northeast end Lake Peipus, from the southeast endPskov lakearc east of the bendPskov, walked along Great riverin a southeasterly direction toAle lakes, further to Lake Bolshoi IvannortheastNevel.
By the end of 1943, the Panther included 36.9 km of anti-tank ditches, 38.9 km of full profile trenches, 251.1 km of barbed wire and 1346 firing points (bunkers and bunkers). Its most powerful defensive nodes were Ostrov and Pskov. In the area of the latter, there were on average up to 8 pillboxes and 12 pillboxes per 1 kilometer of the line of fortifications. It also included anti-tank and anti-personnel minefields and anti-tank ditches.
Before the breakthrough
At the end of February 1944, units of the Red Army reached the Panther. A positional war began, which lasted 5 months.
On February 4, 1944, in connection with the approach of Soviet troops, the German command in Pskov issued an order "On evacuation".
As part of its implementation, 11 thousand Pskov residents were sent to the Baltic states and Germany.
From the city began to actively export valuables and equipment.
What could not be taken out was destroyed on the spot.
April 18, 1944 was formed 3rd Baltic Front under the command of General of the Army Ivan Maslennikov, whose troops were preparing for the upcoming assault on the Panther fortifications for three months. Combat planning was going on at the headquarters, special training was conducted with the fighters, armored and mechanized troops were engaged in the restoration of materiel.
In the spring and summer, several attempts were made to break through the Panther in different areas. North of Pushkinskie Gory - in the area Devil's Mountain- a small Soviet bridgehead appeared on the left bank of the Great, the so-called Strezhnevsky bridgehead.
At this time, in Pskov, from July 8 to July 22, 1944, the Germans blew up bridges, destroyed the city power plant, many industrial facilities,
historical monuments, residential buildings.
Commander of the 3rd Baltic Front
Ivan Ivanovich Maslennikov (1900-1954)From front-line newspapers of the 42nd, 376th, 128th rifle divisions:
Pskov is on fire! His wounds burn our hearts. Pskov is waiting for its liberators."
“Before us is an ancient Russian city, which glorified itself for centuries of heroic struggle against the German invaders. Pskov is the last stronghold of the Germans on Leningrad land. Pskov is the gateway to the Baltics.”
“To liberate Pskov means to rescue thousands of Soviet citizens from fascist captivity. To liberate Pskov means to pave the way for the Red Army to the Baltic. To liberate Pskov means to inflict another serious blow on the enemy. It is a matter of honor for the soldiers of our army to wrest Pskov from German bondage, to return it
to a happy Soviet life.
From the leaflet of the Military Council of the 42nd Army:
“Glorious warriors of our army!
...You are on the outskirts of a large administrative center Leningrad region, an important railway junction - the city of Pskov.
Before you is an old Russian city, which has glorified itself for centuries of heroic struggle against the German invaders. Our ancestors, Pskovites and Novgorodians, led by Alexander Nevsky, in 1242 defeated German knight dogs on Lake Peipsi. This is "Ice massacre" forever glorified the power of Russian weapons.
Our fathers and older brothers in 1918 near Narva and Pskov utterly defeated the elite German troops and thus inscribed the first great page in the history of the military glory of the young Red Army ... "
Pskov-Ostrovskaya offensive operation
Pskov-Ostrov operation started with an offensive Strezhnevsky bridgehead July 17, 1944. The main blow was delivered at the junction between the main forces Army Group North – 18th And 16th armies. On the first day of the operation, the troops advanced 40 kilometers. The significance of this event was so great that in Moscow, in honor of the soldiers of the 3rd Baltic Front, who made a breakthrough, a salute was given.
July 21 was taken Island. As a result, a real threat of encirclement of the Wehrmacht grouping in the Pskov region was created. The panicked retreat of the German troops began.
From the combat log of the 42nd Army of the 3rd Baltic Front:
July 20. “The insignificance of artillery and mortar fire from the enemy, the movement of boats, railway. echelons and manpower to the west - characterize the withdrawal of its main forces and rear to the western bank of the river. GREAT".
21 July. "The reduction in the movement of manpower and transport, the winding up of communications in certain areas confirms yesterday's conclusion and we must expect the enemy to leave his positions."
From the testimony of the captured Wehrmacht Corporal Heinz Kenwe about the offensive of the Soviet troops in the Ostrov area:
“Nobody expected a Russian offensive in our sector. We were amazed when the artillery preparation began. On alarm, they began to form groups from the rear in order to contain the Russians. But following the burst of shells, the Russian infantry suddenly appeared in dugouts. We started to run.
The commanders were the first to run away, followed by the soldiers ... On the first day of the Russian offensive, the companies lost more than half of their composition.
Soviet infantry on the streets of the island
On July 22, 1944, the troops of the 42nd Army of the 3rd Baltic Front launched an offensive against Pskov.
The main blow to the city was inflicted 128th And 376th rifle divisions(commanders - generals Dmitry Lukyanov And Nikolai Polyakov) included in 42nd Army(commander - general Vladimir Sviridov) 3rd Baltic Front.
Together with them, the formations and units attached to them acted - engineering, artillery, sapper and others. The pilots supported the offensive
14th Air Army general Ivan Zhuravlev.
Regiments of the 128th Infantry Division were advancing directly on Pskov: 741st(commander - lieutenant colonel G rigory churganov), 374th(commander - major Konstantin Shestak), 533rd(commander - lieutenant colonel Nikolai Panin), and from the 376th Infantry Division - 1250th regiment(commander - lieutenant colonel Andrey Glushkov).
From the report of the commander of the 128th Infantry Division D. A. Lukyanov to the command of the 3rd Baltic Front:
“Pskov was turned by the enemy into a powerful center of resistance. Machine-gun emplacements were installed in the buildings, pillboxes and bunkers were equipped in the foundations of the houses. The streets and most of the houses are mined, and land mines have been set up at intersections. On the highway Pskov - Riga, charges with electric fuses were tied to the trees ... "
“We knew that we had to immediately, in a short time, estimated at 2-3 hours, and at the first stage in minutes, force the Velikaya River, therefore, on the map and according to intelligence reports, we studied in detail possible crossing points, rear lines of the enemy, reserves of improvised means . We did not count on regular transportation facilities, so from the very beginning we were guided by Russian ingenuity and resourcefulness: we learned to quickly and reliably build rafts using barrels, boxes, doors, window and door frames, gates, telephone poles.
Chronicle of the liberation of Pskov
The 533rd Rifle Regiment of the 128th Rifle Division began to break through the Panther line in the area of Cheryokha, Lazhnevo, Klishovo, advancing on Promezhitsy.
The 374th Rifle Regiment went on the offensive (from Gornevo, Berdovo to Kresty), the 741st Rifle Regiment (from Lyubyatovo).
The 376th Rifle Division went on the offensive (at 06:00 the 1250th Rifle Regiment in the direction of Gora - Abrosovo, at 06:30 the 1252nd Rifle Regiment in the direction of Upper and Lower Galkovichi, Mezhnikovo, Duletovo, at 06:45 1248- th Infantry Regiment in the direction of Molgovo, Abizha). The 374th and 741st rifle regiments of the 128th rifle division occupied Kresty and Beryozka station.
The 533rd and 374th rifle regiments of the 128th rifle division cleared the eastern and central regions of Pskov from the enemy and reached the Velikaya River.
The 741st Rifle Regiment, advancing on the left bank of the Pskov River, came ashore to the mouth of the Pskov River.
The crossing of two companies of the 374th Infantry Regiment across the Velikaya in the area of the Pokrovskaya Tower, the battle for capturing the bridgehead on Zavelichye south of the Mirozhsky Monastery and for holding it.
All units of the 128th Rifle Division concentrated on the right bank of the Velikaya River (from the mouth of the Pskova River to Promezhytsy): the 741st Rifle Regiment - from the mouth of the Pskova to the mouth of the Mirozha, the 374th Rifle Regiment - from the mouth of the Mirozha to the railway bridge, 533- th Infantry Regiment - from the railway bridge to Promezhytsy.
By evening, the 128th Rifle Division occupied the line: the right bank of the Velikaya from the mouth of the Pskov to Promezhitsy, two companies on the bridgehead on the left bank south of the Mirozhsky Monastery. The 376th Rifle Division occupied the line: Murovitsy, Khotitsy, Almazovo. The mine clearing of the coast was carried out, the preparation of crossing facilities.
Two more companies of the 374th Infantry Regiment crossed to the bridgehead on Zavelichye.
03:00
04:40 -
05:00
06:00 - 06:45
09:00 - 10:00
11:00 - 15:00
12:00 - 14:00
Regiments of the 128th Rifle Division liberated 50 settlements. The 376th Rifle Division liberated the northern region of Pskov, concentrated on the right bank of the Velikaya (from the mouth of the Pskov to the mouth of the Velikaya).
Regiments of the 376th Infantry Division have liberated 69 settlements since the beginning of the offensive.
From the combat log of the 42nd Army of the 3rd Baltic Front:
22 July. “Having correctly assessed the situation, the behavior of the enemy and the moment of his withdrawal, units of the army, especially the 128th rifle division, did not allow the enemy to break away, burst into the mountains on his shoulders. PSKOV and captured the bridgehead on the left bank of the river. GREAT, which contributed to the breakthrough of his first intermediate milestone.
03:00 - 04:00
04:00
05:00 - 06:30
06:30
The 533rd, 374th, 741st Rifle Regiments of the 128th Rifle Division crossed the Velikaya River.
The 1250th Rifle Regiment began crossing the Velikaya downstream from the mouth of the Pskov.
The 1248th, 1250th, 1252nd rifle regiments of the 376th rifle division crossed the Velikaya in the northern part of Pskov, to the mouth of the Velikaya.
Pskov is completely cleared of enemy troops.
From the special issue of the newspaper "Strike on the Enemy" dated July 26, 1944:
“The company began to force the Velikaya River. The enemy machine gunner, who sat in the basement of a stone building, hit the crossing. The party organizer of the company, Sergeant Kudzoev, grabbed two grenades and ran to the river. The fighters saw how the courageous communist crossed the river, how he got to the embrasure and threw grenades there. The machine gun fell silent, the company quickly crossed the river and launched an attack on the move. Ahead was the hero-communist sergeant Kudzoev.
From the memoirs of the commander of the 374th regiment of the 128th rifle division K. A. Shestak:
“Our regiment launched an offensive on July 22 at 4 in the morning. The horizon was slowly clearing. From the swamp, which lay in front of the height of Berdovo, a gray plume of thick fog stretched upwards. How he was, by the way, this fog! He helped the regiment covertly reach the minefields and barbed wire of the enemy. During the day of the battle, sappers neutralized about a thousand mines and land mines, blew up several enemy firing points, made 12 passes in minefields and barriers. They opened the way and gave the signal to start artillery preparation... The enemy was taken by surprise. He did not even have time to take up firing positions and strengthen the line of defense.
From the memoirs of the sergeant of the communications company of the 374th regiment I. Markov:
“Machine guns fired from the ruins of the Vdvizhenets plant. The soldiers lay down. We tried to take a detour, but we were also met with fire from the left of the destroyed station building. Then the battalion went on the attack. A friendly “Hurrah!” burst out ... Enemy machine guns choked, the Nazis ran. And here I am already on the territory of the Vdvizhenets plant, in the first, albeit destroyed, but liberated building of my native city. And the neighboring battalion was knocking out the Nazis from the station building at that time.
From the memoirs of a sergeant of a communications company
374th regiment I. Markov:
« With a fight, every step was given in the ruins of houses, the Nazis sat down. Around– not a single whole house, only ruins ... Here are the ruins of the Oktyabrskaya Hotel.
I stopped at the Summer Garden and looked at my watch. Exactly 9 am. We are located in the center of our hometown.”
From the memoirs of the commander of the 374th regiment of the 128th rifle division K. A. Shestak:
“On July 22, at 10 o’clock in the morning, a caravan of home-made rafts and rafts headed for the Mirozhsky Monastery and the Church of Kliment. My control and observation post was set up on the top of a small hill next to the Pokrovskaya Tower. From here opened good review both banks of the river. To support the landing force with fire and suppress enemy firepower, a
36 artillery pieces.
We had direct contact with the commander of the landing detachment - underwater telephone, radio and visual communications. By 11 a.m. on July 22, the bridgehead on the opposite bank was conquered and firmly held by us..
AND
From the memoirs of the machine gunner of the 374th Infantry Regiment A. Rozhalin:
« From the hillock we cover our own with Maxim's fire. We hit the thickets of the opposite gently sloping shore. Fountains began to soar up on the water: enemy ambushes from the opposite shore launched a heavy bombardment with mines. I carry the fire of my machine gun into the depths of the opposite bank. From somewhere to the right, along the river, an enemy machine gun fired. Aha! Get out of that ruined brick building. I deploy my machine gun there, I enter into a duel with him. The Nazi also spotted our machine gun: there was a clatter all around, bullets whistled. Hurry, ours would swim over!”
From the report of the head of the political department of the 128th Infantry Division P.P. Kazmin:
« The warriors of our units showed exceptional examples of courage and bravery in heated battles while crossing the Velikaya River. The fifth rifle company of the 374th regiment immediately rushed to swim, using logs, boards, sheaves of hay. Sergeant Baldakov, with a reel over his shoulders, crossed to the opposite bank and gave timely communication to the command. The Red Army soldier Samoilov, having crossed to the western coast of the Great, stole a boat from under the nose of the enemy, on which many fighters and equipment were then transported».
From the memoirs of a soldier of the reconnaissance platoon of the 533rd regiment G. I. Gerodnik:
« We went down the steep embankment down to the river. We look to the right: the bridges have been blown up, there are no pontoon crossings yet. There is only one way out: to launch soldier's ingenuity, use improvised means.And we can’t hesitate for a minute: after us, soldiers of rifle battalions run down the steep slope and on the go pick up everything that can float on the water: boards, logs, doors, gates, empty fuel barrels ... Presumably, our little the flotilla looked very funny. Fountains of water rose up all around us. It was the Germans who fired at the crossing with guns.and large-caliber mortars.
But they were shooting from a distance. And aimless shooting is ineffective! So our reconnaissance platoon crossed without loss.
According to reports of irretrievable losses for July 22-23, 1944, the losses in the 128th and 376th rifle divisions, as well as in parts of the 14th fortified area, amounted to 100 people ...
« Soviet troops stormed the city of Pskov. Honor and glory to the valiant troops of the Third Baltic Front! They had the good fortune to liberate one of the oldest cities in Russia, whose name resurrects in the memory of the Russian people the most glorious pages of its history.
Since ancient times, Pskov has stood as an unshakable outpost of Rus' on its western border. Pskov is remembered by enemies. Robber gangs of German dog-knights, chained in armor, were crushed against its stone walls more than once. In fierce battles on the Pskov land, the power of the Livonian Order was undermined. The Pskov regiments, tested in military art, participated in historical battles, in which the united forces of the Slavic peoples delivered the final blow to the Teutonic conquerors - the forerunners of German imperialism.
The old glory of Pskov echoes the new one. In the historical battles near Pskov, the Red Army was born in 1918. And again, as of old, as 26 years ago, near Pskov, the invaders recognized the power of Russian weapons, recognized the wrath of the Russian people. But they have never been beaten like now... wonderful city, the keeper of Russian culture, is back in the family of his native towns!”
All connections involved in the operation,
received the name "Pskov".
By order of the Supreme Commander No. 0248 of August 9, 1944, it was assigned to the 128th Rifle Division, 376th Rifle Division, 122nd Army Mortar Regiment, 52nd Guards Heavy Cannon Artillery Battalion, 631st Army Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment , 38th separate motorized pontoon bridge battalion,
85th separate communications regiment.
Orders and medals for the liberation of Pskov were awarded
4244 soldiersand commander.
« Together with the fighters, we are walking along the streets of liberated Pskov... Streets erased
from the face of the earth, heaps of ruins, ashes and only occasionally surviving houses, densely stuffed with mines. Some quarters at first glance seem to have survived. In fact, these are just walls: everything is blown up inside. The railway station, hotel, most residential buildings, theater, churches, church were turned into ruins, looted
and businesses destroyed.
"They kept retreating"
“On the night of July 14, 1944, near Pskov, we took up another position in order to support reconnaissance by combat of the neighboring division in the morning. Lil rain. The squad leader, communications sergeant Efim Leibovich, with his squad, extended communication from the battery to the observation post on the front line. We, led by our platoon commander, prepared data for firing.
Everything seemed to be going well. But as soon as I climbed into the dugout to sleep a little, the battalion commander Shubnikov called me. It turns out that communication with the observation post was interrupted, and Shubnikov ordered to immediately repair the damage.
With difficulty I push the sleeping signalers Rudakov and Shlyamin aside. Since Leibovich was called to command post division, I had to lead the group.
Silent darkness. Feet are moving on the clay. We call the line every hundred meters. And then the shelling began, and I had to almost crawl. Finally found the damage. For a long time they searched in the dark for the second end of the wire discarded by the explosion. Shlyamin quickly spliced the ends, you can return. Not far from the battery, he ordered Rudakov to ring the line. Then it turned out that the connection was broken again.
We went back again under fire ... This was repeated three times. When, completely exhausted, they returned to the battery, they heard the ominous whistle of a shell. They fell flat on the ground. Gap, another, third ... For several minutes they could not raise their heads. Finally calmed down. I got up and saw Shlyamin getting out of the trench not far away. Rudakov is nowhere to be found. They began to call loudly - in vain.
In the dim dawn twilight they noticed a motionless body near a small stone. They ran up to a friend, turned him over to face him.
- Sasha! Sasha! What happened to you?
Rudakov opened his eyes, blinked sleepily and bewilderedly:
- Nothing, comrade sergeant ... I fell asleep to the "music" ...
How tired people were and how they got used to the constant proximity of mortal danger! ..
... In the summer of 1944, we stopped in the city of Izborsk. Under this city, we almost died with a group of scouts. And so it happened. Yefim Leibovich, I and three of our scouts rode on a lorry. In the car - coils with a cable for communication and the rest of our military equipment. The Germans, as we were told, pulled out of here, and we calmly drove along the road. True, we saw that people were lying along the roadside and waving their hands vigorously at us. We didn't pay much attention to them. We drove into one village, stopped in the center, and then realized that the Germans were standing in the village.
Our rifles lie under the coils. To get them, you need to unload the entire car. Of course, only careless soldiers could afford such a thing, which we turned out to be. And we see that the Germans with machine guns are running towards our car. We instantly jumped off the body and ran into the rye.
What saved us? Probably, the Germans also didn’t understand something: they couldn’t admit that among the Russians there were several idiots who drove into their village without weapons. Maybe from a distance they took us for their own, because one German stood for a long time at the edge of the field and kept shouting in our direction:
Hans, Hans!
We lie in the rye, and I, trying to suppress my breath, involuntarily examining some crawling insects, think: “Ah, how stupid I will die now ...”
But the Germans soon left. We waited for some time, left the rye field, got into the car, having previously taken out rifles, and drove back.
Why our car did not attract the Germans, why they did not leave an ambush, I cannot understand. Probably because they were in a panic then. They retreated all the time.
We found our battery, and battalion commander Shubnikov, seeing us alive, was delighted.
“I thought you were all dead,” he said. - You were sent to the village by mistake, mixed up ...
The Pskov land was also liberated by the sergeant of the 72nd separate anti-aircraft division, later the popularly beloved circus and film artist Yuri Nikulin.
In his book "Almost Seriously" in the chapter
“Near Gdov, near Pskov” there are memories of these battles:
July 23, 1944. We drive into the city, the city is still burning, explosions are often heard. It's mines exploding. The city is heavily mined. Many mines are torn by themselves -
These are slow-motion bombs. The city was badly damaged. All good buildings are destroyed. We drove almost to the cathedral, but did not meet a single civilian. The city is dead. The people were all driven away by the Germans with them, ”he wrote in his diary Kornely Orlov, fighter of the special group of the 2nd Baltic Front.
The demining of the city began from Proletarsky Boulevard and Oktyabrskaya Street: transport arteries along which the main movement of Soviet troops went.
Inscriptions soon appeared on the walls of the houses: “The house has been demolished. L-t Korneev ".
In memory of this, a similar inscription is now preserved on the facade of the building of the Pskov Museum-Reserve on Nekrasov Street.
In accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 23, 1944, Pskov became the center of the newly formed region. On January 5, 1945, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted a resolution "On measures to restore the economy of the city of Pskov and the Pskov region." And on November 1, 1945, by the Decree of the Council People's Commissars USSR Pskov was included
