Medinsky about 28 Panfilov's men.

Image copyright TASS / Japaridze Image caption Medinsky believes that the desire to debunk myths is dictated by ideological considerations

Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky said that he had found new evidence that the story of the feat of 28 Panfilovites was true, not speculation: documents of the Soviet counterintelligence SMERSH, which were allegedly declassified some time ago. Why are historians still in doubt?

The day before, the Minister of Culture wrote in Rossiyskaya Gazeta, in which he quoted these documents, but did not show their photographs. They were not published in other media either.

The Twitter account of the Istoriya.rf website (a project of the Russian Military Historical Society) published a snapshot of only one of the documents - the testimony of Senior Lieutenant Andrei Vetkov, Chief of Staff of the 1075th Guards Regiment, who, during interrogation at SMERSH, stated the following: “Mass heroism, manifested in the battle with Nazi tanks in the battle near Dubosekovo on November 16, 1941, is an irrefutable fact, and nothing should erase the fond memory of 28 Panfilov heroes who died in the fight against German monsters for the happiness and freedom of their beloved Motherland. "

• Medinsky called "scum" those who do not believe in the feat of 28 Panfilovites
• Medinsky: those who doubt Panfilov's deeds will burn in hell

Scientific work with the declassified archival file, confirming the fact that the battle of 28 Panfilov soldiers really took place, continues, Medinsky said at a press conference. "The materials of this case are surprisingly relevant and reliable," he assured.

What are the grounds for doubt

In 2015, the State Archives of Russia declassified the certificate-report of the Chief Military Prosecutor Nikolai Afanasyev to Zhdanov. From the report it followed: yes, in November 1941, fierce battles took place in the defense zone of the 316th rifle division, and many Red Army men showed heroism.

However, the battle, during which 28 Red Army soldiers, led by political instructor Klochkov, stopped more than 50 German tanks, was invented by journalists - a correspondent and then literary secretary of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper. In the report of the prosecutor's office, it was noted that the number 28 was arbitrarily chosen in the editorial office, and only three dead were found on the battlefield after the soon liberation of the area.

“Thus, the materials of the investigation established that the feat of 28 Panfilov guardsmen, highlighted in the press, was a fiction of the correspondent of Koroteev, the editor of Krasnaya Zvezda Ortenberg, and in particular the literary secretary of the newspaper Krivitsky,” the document says.

The position of Minister Medinsky on this issue is well known. Once he called the 28 Panfilovites, who doubted their feat, "scum". Another time he predicted that such people "would burn in hell."

Some Russian historians, approached by the BBC's Russian Service for comment, declined to discuss the minister's new statement. But at the same time, they noted that Medinsky did not provide evidence of his innocence - except for quotes in the newspaper, not confirmed by photo documents.

What Medinsky quotes

Medinsky claims that he has at his disposal a case under the stamp of SMERSH of 1942-1944, declassified only in the fall of 2018, which contains three new evidence that the battle of 28 Panfilov's men was in fact.

There is no subject to discuss. There are individual quotes that can be interpreted as you like Alexey Isaev, historian

According to the minister, in the spring and summer of 1942, SMERSH investigated some inaccuracies in the material of "Krasnaya Zvezda". The case was titled "On the incorrect design of award materials for 28 Panfilov heroes".

Even during the war, it turned out that several of the Red Army soldiers who were considered dead near the Dubosekovo crossing survived, and one of them, Daniil Kuzhebergenov, was taken prisoner. Instead, another Kuzhebergenov, Askar, received the award.

Investigating this discrepancy, writes Medinsky, SMERSH began to check other surnames, as well as the circumstances of the battle described by the correspondent of Krasnaya Zvezda.

Among the documents quoted by Medinsky, there is a transcript of the interrogation of the former military commissar of the 1075th Guards Rifle Regiment, the senior battalion commissar Akhmedzhan Mukhamedyarov - and he, as Medinsky writes, confirms the fact of the battle and all the circumstances described later in the newspaper.

"Up to 50 enemy tanks marched against the second platoon in two echelons. The unequal battle lasted four to five hours. The heroes, letting the tanks close at close range, knocked out and destroyed 18 enemy tanks with hand grenades and fuel bottles, and after all the soldiers of this platoon , 28 Panfilov guardsmen, led by political instructor comrade Klochkov, were killed and crushed by tanks, the enemy managed to interrupt the regiment's line of defense and move forward, "the minister quotes Mukhamedyarov's testimony.

In the transcript of one of the interrogations, Medinsky writes, there is an indirect reference to the famous words of Klochkov: "Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat, behind Moscow."

“Towards the morning of November 16, 1941, the Germans launched an offensive on our defenses, first they started bombing from enemy aircraft, mainly on the right flank,” the minister quotes from the autobiography of the Ashgabat transit point Illarion Vasiliev. crack and told us that we were left alone at the turn, we will not retreat, but we will fight to the last. "

What do the quotes prove?

Among the Russian historians who refused to comment on the BBC's publication of the minister was the author of many books on World War II, Alexei Isaev.

"There is no subject that could be discussed. There are individual quotes that can be interpreted in any way," he said.

"[The quotes given by Medinsky] prove absolutely nothing - on the contrary, they show that in 1942 they tried to hold on to this myth and not debunk it," Nikita, deputy chairman of the council of the scientific information and educational center of the Memorial society, told the BBC Petrov: - When testimony is given in the counterintelligence agencies, the person giving testimony does not say such sincere and politically literate words. "

According to Medinsky's materials, not only Vetkov, the chief of staff of the 1075th Guards Rifle Regiment, stated that mass heroism is an "irrefutable fact" and "nothing should erase the blessed memory of 28 Panfilov heroes." The senior battalion commissar Mukhamedyarov, according to Medinsky's quotes, spoke in the same vein.

"I declare with full responsibility that the fact of the unprecedented manifestation of mass heroism on the part of 28 Panfilov guardsmen, headed by the company political instructor Vasily Georgievich Klochkov, at the Dubosekovo junction on November 16, 1941, took place in the 1075th Guards Rifle Regiment," the minister quotes him.

Petrov from "Memorial" drew attention to the fact that in their testimony the military gives the exact figure - 28 Panfilov's men, although, according to him, it does not correspond to reality.

In his article, Minister Medinsky himself writes that it is impossible to establish the exact number of participants in the battle: "How many was exactly? At what moment of the battle? How many of the company's 130 soldiers remained alive - and at the time of which tank attack? But all this" premium arithmetic "and could not agree, especially then, given the situation."

According to Petrov, the described circumstances of the battle do not correspond to the German documents - the registers of combat operations of units, according to which dozens of damaged tanks and many bodies of dead Soviet soldiers were not left on the battlefield.

In his article, Medinsky again accuses those who doubt the feat of the 28 Panfilovites that they are acting on ideological and not scientific reasons.

“You can puff out your cheeks as much as you want, posing as a fighter for historical truth, against 'Soviet mythology,' etc.,” the minister writes. “But in essence, all this is a struggle for your material well-being, for the right to dictate values \u200b\u200bthat all somehow do not want to coincide with the values \u200b\u200bof the people. "

On December 5, 1941, a Soviet counteroffensive began near Moscow. The Battle of Moscow was the first strategic defeat for Nazi Germany in World War II, more precisely, since 1938, the beginning of Hitler's military expansion ... Everything that is associated with the memory of the feat of the defenders of Moscow is infinitely valuable. And now - the recently declassified archival materials of the FSB, another small historical sensation.

What do we know

So, the most legendary episode of the legendary Battle of Moscow is the battle of "28 Panfilov heroes". What do we know about him? On November 16, 1941, fighters from the Panfilov division at the Dubosekovo crossing at the cost of their lives, practically without the support of artillery, stopped the advance of several dozen German tanks. 28 fighters "were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union." This episode is one of those cornerstones on which Soviet propaganda, the ideological "indestructible wall" around Moscow, was based. The episode became famous thanks to two articles in "Krasnaya Zvezda": "Testament of 28 fallen heroes" dated November 28, 1941, "About 28 fallen heroes" dated January 22, 1942, by A. Krivitsky.

Periodically, through the efforts of various archivists-publicists, an alternative version of events emerges at the Dubosekovo junction. Summary: there were battles near Volokolamsk, but the battle of 28 Panfilovites was 100% the fruit of the creative imagination of journalist Krivitsky. This version is based on the investigation by the Military Prosecutor's Office in 1948 (Link on the Internet.)

Opponents of this "alternative history" in the statement of the prosecutor's office have clear counterarguments: this investigation was carried out late, 7 years after the events, it was politically biased, since a new wave of repressions against the generals was being prepared, incriminating evidence was collected on Zhukov, who commanded the troops near Moscow, etc.

In general, we have always ("Rossiyskaya Gazeta - Nedelya" No. 7094 (226) were inclined to believe that there was a feat, the number of Panfilov's men cannot be determined with certainty, the battles in general in this area were hellish, journalist Krivitsky in something, especially names - surnames, got it wrong, it's obvious, or it got confused ...

November 1941. The crew of the anti-tank gun keeps the defenses on the approaches to Moscow. A photo: NATIONAALARCHIEF.NL

As for the "battle of 28 at Dubosekov" itself, this is a legendary story that has become a true story, it is difficult to understand its details, and it is immoral to delve into them. People honestly died for their Motherland. This overrides all possible creative generalizations and even exaggerations. Or an understatement.

The journalist Krivitsky could not have done otherwise - in that mishmash of snow, blood, panic, cruelty, amazing self-sacrifice and cowardice, heroism and despair, millions of tons of metal and burned down villages and suburbs, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and crowds of refugees, everything this hellish nightmare of war, which was the battles near Moscow in the autumn-winter of 1941.

But - attention!

Now we can put a point on top of a point. The Russian military-historical society has been searching the archives for the last 2 years. And now - good luck. In the fall of 2018, the Smersh case of 1942-1944 was declassified, in which the following were discovered:

3 new evidence that the battle of 28 Panfilov's men took place;

2 new descriptions of the battle;

Numerous details of the circumstances surrounding the feat (say, the words of political instructor Klochkov, "There is nowhere to retreat").

We've always talked about combat and 28 more as a symbol. But the documents testify in favor of the factual reliability of the version of "Red Star" even more than everyone previously believed.

What's the deal?

In my hands I have a copy of materials from a folder with the inscription: "Main Directorate of Counterintelligence" Smersh ", 1st Baltic direction". This case dragged on for 2 years - it was opened by the OO (special department) of the NKVD, and already closed by "Smersh" ("Death to Spies"). The materials of the case were reported personally to Abakumov. This investigation, unlike the one mentioned above, was in hot pursuit in the spring and summer of 1942.

It started like this. The Red Army soldier Daniil Kuzhebergenov was arrested. The special officers suspected that "in the middle of November in the Volokolamsk direction" he voluntarily surrendered with a weapon in his hands, however, after 7 hours he escaped from captivity "under very dubious circumstances" (head of the NKVD PO ZAPFRONTA, 06/23/1942). At the same time, a fighter with such a surname was listed in the list of 28 heroes as the deceased! Moreover, after the arrest "KUZHEBERGENOV initially attributed to himself participation in the heroic deed of 28 heroes, but later he refused his testimony" (from a report addressed to the head of the Directorate of Special Departments of the NKVD of the USSR Abakumov, 25.07.1942).

"To them, 28, each by name, we all today owe our lives." Two years ago, in Rossiyskaya Gazeta-Nedelya, Vladimir Medinsky explained what historical science knows about the battle at the Dubosekovo junction, what the brand “28 Panfilov's men” means and what is the reason for speculation around it.

As a result, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously) among 28 was awarded to another Kuzhebergenov - Askar. Along the way, we began to check other names and surnames in the list of heroes, and they also found inaccuracies. They began to check all the circumstances of the battle, whether the correspondent of "Krasnaya Zvezda" Krivitsky wrote everything in good faith.

Here, in general, is the general outline of the documents from the declassified folder "on the incorrect design of award materials for 28 Panfilov heroes." At first, the matter painfully resembles the future investigation of the Prosecutor General's Office in 1948. Then it also began with an investigation into the Panfilov man, who survived, was also captured and fled from captivity ... But this is where the similarities end. Because, as counterintelligence found out, there was a specific battle. And it is described by Krivitsky very close to reality.
Below - new evidence, previously unknown. The features of the documents are preserved (except for obvious spelling errors).

"Testimony of the former military commissar of the 1075th Guards Rifle Regiment ... senior battalion commissar Mukhamedyarov Akhmedzhan Latypovich

Question - Where, when did the 28 Panfilov guardsmen fight with tanks and who exactly led this battle?

Answer - ... The enemy, having concentrated his main forces on his right flank, decided to strike at the left flank of our defense, i.e. according to the location of the 4th rifle company in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Dubosekovo, Shiryaevo and Petelino junction. The first blow of the enemy was directed to the second platoon of the 4th rifle company. The platoon first repulsed the attack of the enemy's submachine gunners, the last, met with friendly and powerful fire from the heroes, leaving up to 80 people killed and wounded on the battlefield, was forced to retreat to its original position. After an unsuccessful attack by submachine gunners, the enemy launched several dozen tanks against the regiment's defense in this direction, deploying them in several echelons. Political instructor 4th rifleman. company comrade Klochkov, recognizing the dangerous situation in the area of \u200b\u200bthe second platoon of the company, goes there ... In this direction, up to 50 enemy tanks marched against the second platoon in two echelons. The unequal battle lasted 4-5 hours, the heroes, letting the tanks close at close range, knocked out and destroyed 18 enemy tanks with hand grenades and bottles of fuel, and after all the soldiers of this platoon, 28 Panfilov guardsmen headed by political instructor comrade Klochkov were killed and crushed by tanks, the enemy managed to break the regiment's line of defense and move forward. \\

Recently declassified FSB archival materials, another historical sensation

I declare with full responsibility that the fact of the unprecedented manifestation of mass heroism on the part of 28 Panfilov guardsmen headed by the company political commander Vasily Georgievich Klochkov at the Dubosekovo junction on November 16, 1941 took place in the 1075th Guards Rifle Regiment ... "Highlighted by me.

"Testimony of the Chief of Staff of the 1075th Guards Regiment, Senior Lieutenant Vetkov Andrey Akimovich
... a very big role in all the preparation of materials and perversions was played by the too great haste that was shown by those who prepared the materials and those who checked and promoted these materials. One thing is certain, no matter what crept into the case, the massive heroism shown in the battle with German-fascist tanks in the battle near Dubosekovo on November 16, 1941 is an irrefutable fact, and nothing should erase the blessed memory of the 28 Panfilov heroes who fell in the fight against the Germans. monsters for the happiness and freedom of their beloved homeland.

07/05/42. Interrogated the beginning. OO NKVD 8th Guards. sd. captain g / b (signature) ".

Vetkov confidently speaks of only one thing - the feat itself. When it comes to inaccuracies in the award list, it gets lost. In 1942, the investigation was clearly looking for specific perpetrators of negligence in the award documents, inaccuracies with the names, etc., but encountered objective difficulties - it was impossible to interrogate the direct executors who spoke with Krivitsky. The commander of the 4th rifle company Gundilovich died, the rest were wounded and were in hospitals far away.

November 1941. German tanks near Moscow. A photo: BUNDESARCHIV, BILD 183-B17220 / TANNENBERG / CC-BY-SA 3.0

At the same time, this short note from the case speaks well of the real intensity of the battles, during which the articles were prepared and the award documents were drawn up, about the resilience of the Panfilov division fighters:

"From the personnel of the 4th company of the 1075th Guards Rifle Regiment, operating in the battles at the Dubosekovo junction on 06.07.42, he serves in the regiment as an assistant to the chief of staff, the former foreman of the 4th company Dzhivago Philip Trofimovich. Others there are no persons from the 4th rifle company operating in the Dubosekovo junction area as of 06.07.42 in the regiment. "

So. From the rifle company of the October 41st model to the summer of 42nd, 1 (one!) Soldier remained in the ranks.
Former military commissar of the regiment Mukhamedyarov also tells how Krivitsky worked (at the end of "Testimony" - "07/05/42. Interrogated the head of the NKVD OO of the 8th Guards rifle division captain g / b (signature)"):

"During the stay of the representatives of the newspaper" Krasnaya Zvezda ", with the permission of the division command, they, together with Colonel Kaprov, the head of the political department of the division, senior battalion commissar Golushko and the commander of the second battalion, Captain Gundilovich, went to the battle area where 28 heroes died, patrol Dubosekovo. After returning, these comrades they said that in the trenches they found the bodies of all 27 heroes, who were buried with military honor, and the bodies of political instructor V.G. Klochkov were not there, whom the local residents, who knew the political instructor well, secretly from the Germans found his body and buried behind the guardhouse of the trackman On the basis of all these materials, an article by Krivitsky and poems by Tikhonov, Svetlov and others was written ...

The 28 heroes of the Panfilov guardsmen were mainly from the second platoon of the 4th rifle company, where the company commander was Captain Gundilovich and political instructor comrade Klochkov ... "
Captain Gundilovich himself had already commanded a battalion in January, and died in April. At first, it was believed that all 28 Panfilovites died. The number of bodies found was roughly the same. There was apparently no identification. Then we learn that some survived, but even then we found one of the already "dead" 28 seriously wounded in the hospital and questioned in detail about the battle.

"One of the heroes comrade Natarov Ivan Moiseevich, who, being seriously wounded, was hospitalized and where the last of the 28 heroes of Panfilov died" (testimony of Mukhamedyarov), spoke about the displayed mass heroism and the displayed unparalleled courage and courage of 28 heroes of the Panfilov guardsmen. ...

The selflessness of the soldiers was reinforced by the innovative "anti-tank tactics" skillfully used by General Ivan Panfilov. A photo: M. Kalashnikov / TASS photo chronicle

Arithmetic, of course, doesn't add up. How much was exactly? At what point in the fight? How many of the company's 130 soldiers remained alive - and at the time of which of the tank attacks? But all this "premium arithmetic" could not come together, especially then, given the situation ... It is clear that under the snow on the battlefield, Dubosekov also had those whose names we will never know. And each of them, probably, fought heroically and deserves a reward. It is clear that one of the 28 awarded "posthumously" remained in the end, thank God, alive. Some of the 28 may have ended up on this list by chance, personally in this particular battle that day, in this place did not burn tanks. This, we admit, is not excluded. But the main thing is the fact: what we always talked about, that legendary battle, turned out to be even more realistic than we thought.

Our fallen are like sentries

You didn’t ask yourself a question: why are the same "new" details around 28 Panfilovites, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Gastello, pioneer heroes, Molodaya Gvardiya, Alexander Matrosov being thrown over and over again, trying to somehow nullify their exploits? They say that the writers lied, soviet propaganda was inflated, all of them are schizophrenics at best, and even policemen. Why so many years after "perestroika-glas-nosti" - and all will not calm down "debunkers of historical myths"?

I think that's why. Russia is a country of heroes. Our historical destiny has determined a special Russian type of resilience. Its highest manifestation is sacrifice. And 28, and Zoya, and Matrosov, and the Young Guard, and beyond - all these are holy martyrs outside the religious context. This is our spiritual matrix. The examples and names of these civic saints are the basis for the national identity, by and large - the civic and historical unity of the country.

Do you think that around 28, Zoya, Matrosov, there are disputes between serious historians? No! Scientists know there is no basis for serious scientific debate. These disputes have an ideological and not scientific meaning. You can puff out your cheeks as much as you like, posing as a fighter for historical truth, against "Soviet mythology", etc ... But in essence, all this is a struggle for your material well-being, for the right to dictate values \u200b\u200bthat are beneficial to the audience, which somehow do not want to coincide with the values \u200b\u200bof the people. I don’t want to write further about Crimea, Donbass, multiculturalism, historical tolerance, all-forgiveness, “money” that is not kept at home, in general, about what you already understand very well… Let's return to “Smersh”.

Assured "Smersh"

And then, in 1942, while the case was dragging on, counterintelligence found another living Panfilov. The treasured folder also contains his testimony.

Private Vasiliev was not in captivity, did not look like a swindler ("does not cause suspicion of a swindler"), was shell-shocked and simple-minded ("drove home to his wife, was surprised by my appearance, since she did not consider me alive"). He was also awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously). And he very accurately retold the course of the battle before his concussion.

There are inaccuracies, creative exaggerations. But this is on paper. And in life there was a great feat

Another important text.

"Secret AUTOBIOGRAPHY of the Red Army soldier of the Ashgabat transit point, comrade Illarion Romanovich VASILIEV

... Towards the morning of November 16, 1941, the Germans launched an offensive on our defenses, first began bombing from enemy aircraft, mainly on the right flank ... we will not, but we will fight to the last ...

Half an hour later, the German infantry of machine gunners moved, we let them 30-40 meters, opened fire, laying down more than 70 people, and forced them to retreat. After that, German tanks attacked us, there were about 20-25 of them. After receiving the command to prepare bundles of grenades, put fuses in anti-tank grenades and prepare bottles of flammable liquid, we, letting the tanks that moved from the left, then from the right, then from the middle, crawled about 7 meters to the tanks and put bundles of grenades under the tracks, and bottles of flammable liquid were thrown into the crevices of the tank crews. We destroyed a large group of tanks. I remember that at my end, on the left flank, where I was, five tanks were destroyed.

Infographics "RG" / Mikhail Shipov / Historical popular science magazine "Rodina"

After the first tank attack was repulsed, up to 30 German tanks moved against us, we also met this column of enemy tanks with battle. I don’t remember how this operation ended, as I was severely wounded in the left side, regained consciousness in the Orekhovo-Zuevo hospital ... I was treated for a concussion and four wounds in the side, leg and two wounds in the arm.

CORRECT: NACH 6 OTD OO NKVD 53rd OSAA

Ml. Lieutenant of State Security (signed) ". September 1942.

The wounded hero even reproduced the words of Klochkov - practically, "There is nowhere to retreat." Krivitsky was later charged with making them up.

And the very last sheet is this one.

"Reference. Investigation materials and reports on investigation are filed in the case. There are no persons subject to registration on the basis of the case materials. Deputy head of the department of the Chief Directorate of counterintelligence" Smersh ". Major (signature) 13 / XII 44 . "

They studied, sorted out, closed the case and did not punish anyone. Not at all, it turned out: well, there are some inaccuracies, there are creative exaggerations.

But this is on paper. And in life there was a great feat.

In the winter of 1941-42, "the story of 28" became known throughout the country.

And when the first fighter stepped out of the trench, holding their feat in his heart, and Krivitsky's article published in a million copies, in a separate thin book, in his tunic pocket, stepped towards death and immortality, all journalistic inaccuracies and exaggerations ceased to mean something.

And there is more Panfilov hero in the country.

And they became "Panfilovites" - millions.

Today, at the headquarters of the Russian Military Historical Society (Moscow, Petroverigsky Lane, Building 4, Building 1), the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Russian Military Historical Society Vladimir Medinsky will present previously classified documents on the defense of Moscow during the Great Patriotic War. The descendants of the outstanding military leaders Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky and Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov are invited to the briefing.

The head of the Ministry of Culture Vladimir Medinsky said that the biographies of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya and 28 Panfilovites should be read as the lives of the saints. Those who question their exploits "will burn in hell," the minister said

Head of the Ministry of Culture Vladimir Medinsky (Photo: Evgeniya Novozhenina / RIA Novosti)

According to the head of the Ministry of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, the biographies of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, in particular Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya and 28 Panfilovites, should be treated as the lives of saints. He stated this within the framework of commemorative events in the village of Petrishchevo near Moscow, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the execution of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya by the Germans, Interfax reports.

“She [Kosmodemyanskaya] is a saint, just as saint as the 28 Panfilov heroes, as hundreds and thousands of our ancestors who gave their lives and accepted a terrible death for our lives. You can only treat their lives as the lives of saints, ”the minister said.

According to him, to doubt their feat, “to look for something under a magnifying glass, to count 28 or 38 [Panfilov's men], is to do exactly the same as this policeman (...) who handed her over to [Kosmodemyanskaya] fascists ". “The Germans saved 30 pieces of silver, as you know, they awarded him a bottle of moonshine for this. Yes, it burns in hell! How will those who question, delve into and try to refute the feat of our ancestors will burn, "Medinsky concluded.

The minister also promised that the Kosmodemyanskaya museum would be recreated in Petrishchevo.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who was also present at the ceremony, added that he considers Kosmodemyanskaya a "national saint."

Panfilov's 28: Truth and Myths in the main military blockbuster of the year on November 24, 28 Panfilov's men are released. With the help of military reenactors, every detail of an event that, according to historians, never happened, has been restored on the screen. A record 35 million rubles for the production of the film was raised by crowdfunding, and the Russian Minister of Culture praised the film so much that he got lost in the camp vocabulary.

(Video: RBC TV Channel)

In October, Medinsky criticized those who questioned the story of 28 Panfilov's men. “My deepest conviction is that even if this story were invented from beginning to end, even if there were no Panfilov, even if there was nothing, this is a holy legend that simply cannot be touched. And the people who do this are utter scum, ”said Medinsky (quoted by RIA Novosti). He made such a statement after watching the film “Panfilov's 28” directed by Andrei Shaliopa.

In 2015, Medinsky had a conflict over the story of 28 Panfilov's men. Then the State Archives declassified a number of documents, including those related to the legend of 28 heroes. Director of the State Archives of the Russian Federation Sergei Mironenko called this story a myth. The head of the Ministry of Culture then called on the leadership of the State Archives not to give their own assessments to documents, but to engage in their profession.

The film "Panfilov's 28", which will be released on November 24. However, for the overwhelming majority of the media, this news became a reason to attribute to it a reminder not of the feat of the defenders of Moscow, but of the "doubts of some historians" - they say, "28 Panfilovites is a myth that is not confirmed by facts."

Everything is confused in these statements. And now, on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow, I consider it necessary to dot the “i” s: what is known to historical science about the battle at the Dubosekovo junction, which means the brand “28 Panfilov's men”, what is the reason for all this speculation around it.

What was written in the "Red Star". The editorial "Testament of 28 Fallen Heroes" (November 28, 1941) and the essay "On 28 Fallen Heroes" (A. Krivitsky, January 22, 1942)

1. Near Moscow, 28 soldiers of Panfilov's 316th rifle division took battle. Date announced: November 16. The place is named: height 251 - Petelino village - Dubosekovo junction.

2. Up to 50 German tanks marched against them in waves.

3. The fight lasted more than 4 hours. It is described in the essay.

4. All participants in the battle were killed, but did not let the enemy pass. The names of all 28 are given in the sketch.

5. The essay cites the words of political instructor Klochkov: “Thirty tanks, friends, we will all have to die, probably. Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat. Moscow is behind. "

“Our people fought, remembering the old motto:“ The guard dies, but does not surrender. ”And they laid down their heads - all twenty-eight. They died, but did not let the enemy pass! " ("Testament of the 28 Fallen Heroes").

The day before, on November 27, (before the appearance of the front line), Krasnaya Zvezda announced a battle between the 5th company and 54 German tanks, during which 18 tanks were destroyed. "Every one was killed, but the enemy was not allowed through," the newspaper reported about the Panfilov heroes.

(I want to explain for our young readers who are not familiar with the peculiarities of the reporting profession, some obvious facts. In the autumn and winter of 41, Soviet front-line correspondents had to work not in fashionable open spaces with a cup of cappuccino and the Internet, but in the thick of a bloody mess, when the fate of the country hung in the balance. ”They transferred to the editors not academic research, but operational materials based on the data they knew at the time the issue was sent to print. I emphasize: these data were taken not from the ceiling, but from reports, from scraps of reports , from the exchange of replicas in the commander's dugouts and staff huts).

What the investigation of the General Military Prosecutor's Office (GVP) showed on May 10, 1948

1. On July 21, all 28 guardsmen listed in the essay of the "Red Star" were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously). In reality, not everyone died. The names of 5 survivors from the Red Star list have been announced.

2. Two of those named in the essay, being wounded, were taken prisoner by Germany. One of them (Dobrobabin) later turned out to be a traitor to the Motherland (in fact, because of him, the GVP launched an investigation).

3. There was a battle at Dubosekovo. It was led by the 4th company of the 1075th rifle regiment. Here the regiment suffered heavy losses. During the actual battles no one knew about the feat 28.

4. The correspondent of Krasnaya Zvezda, who was the first to report on the battle, named the regiment commissar as a source of information (who mentioned about 30 fighters remaining in the company against 54 German tanks).

5. The editor of the "Red Star" Ortenberg said that since 2 fighters were captured, he considered it wrong to include them among the 30 heroes. This is how the number 28 appeared. Their names were provided.

Of course, any propagandist knows how advantageous figures and vivid images are in this matter. And the Soviet specialists were no more stupid than the present ones - and the legend about "28 Panfilov's men", based on real events, became a powerful mobilization factor during the war, and later a vivid symbol of the mass heroism of the Soviet soldier.

6. The conclusion of the military prosecutor's office in 1948: "The feat of 28 Panfilov guardsmen, highlighted in the press (ie, in the literal version of the" Red Star "), is fiction."

The report was presented to Zhdanov.

Quote: “It turned out that not all 'twenty-eight' were killed. What of this? The fact that six of the twenty-eight named heroes, being wounded, shell-shocked, despite everything survived the battle on November 16, 1941, refutes the fact that a tank column of the enemy, rushing to Moscow, was stopped at the Dubosekovo crossing? Does not refute. "

Academician G.A. Kumanev

What other evidence is there

1.Baltabek Dzhetpysbaev (assistant commander of the 5th company, transcript of the conversation in Alma-Ata on January 2, 1947)

“My company was stationed about 500 meters from Klochkov. On the morning of November 16, the battle began. 4 German tanks approached us. Two of them were hit, two escaped. The attack was repulsed twice. Most of the tanks went to the Dubosekov junction area, where Klochkov died. We saw: they turn around and there are tanks. There was a battle ...

2. From the political report of the head of the political department of the 316th rifle division, battalion commissar Galushko, to the head of the political department of the 16th army, regimental commissar Maslenov. The village of Gusenevo, November 17, 1941:

“... 16.11.41 in the morning at 8.00 the enemy launched an offensive on the left flank of our defense in the area of \u200b\u200b1075 joint venture.

The enemy was advancing in the amount of 50-60 heavy and medium tanks and a fairly large number of infantry and machine gunners.

1075 joint venture suffered heavy losses, 2 companies were completely lost, data on losses are being clarified, we will report in the next report.

1075 joint venture fought to the last opportunity, the command of the regiment left the command post only when the tanks of pr-ka appeared at the command post.

3. The commander of the 1075th rifle regiment I.V. Kaprov:

“On this day, the 4th company fought with German tanks at the Dubosekovo junction as part of the 2nd battalion, and really fought heroically. More than 100 people from the company died, not 28, as they wrote in the newspapers. "

4.The surviving Panfilovite I.R. Vasiliev reported at the end of 1942 that the political instructor Klochkov, before the famous battle, encouraged the soldiers, said the words: "Nothing, we will be able to repel the attack of tanks: there is nowhere to retreat, Moscow is behind."

5. Colonel General Erich Göpner, commander of the 4th tank group, in a report to the commander of the Center, von Bock calls the 316th Panfilov division: “a wild division, fighting in violation of all regulations and rules of conduct of battle, whose soldiers do not surrender, extremely fanatical and not afraid of death. "

So, let's generalize

On November 1, 1941, the positions of Panfilov's division were attacked by one infantry and two tank divisions of the Wehrmacht. The Germans are stuck in our defenses. On this day, Zhukov - to Stalin: "For the courage shown in battles, for the perseverance, courage and heroism of all the personnel of the division in the fight against the Nazis, I am petitioning for the award of the rank of the Guards Division to 316 SD."

The report of the commander of the 5th Infantry Corps of the Wehrmacht says about her: "The 316 Russian division has many well-trained soldiers and is waging an amazingly stubborn struggle." This is more than a flattering characteristic for the unit that was formed in Alma-Ata only in August 1941 from non-fired (!) Conscripts - mainly workers, employees and collective farmers of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Vasily Klochkov, for example, became a company political instructor directly from the heads of the trust of canteens in Alma-Ata. And Panfilov himself (by the way, a non-commissioned officer of the Russian army in the First World War) served as a military commissar of the Kyrgyz SSR.

The selflessness of the fighters was reinforced by the innovative "anti-tank tactics" that General Panfilov skillfully applied. These are, firstly, "cut-off positions" in the depths of the defense, "artillery ambushes" - when the calculations in the direction of the enemy strike are positioned so that the tanks that have broken through would come under flank fire. Secondly, the creation of triplets of fighters armed with an anti-tank rifle, grenades and "Molotov cocktails" and met a frontal attack in field positions: "one triple - for one tank", but it turned out for two and three ...

The fact that the conscripts became "well-trained soldiers" is the result of the daily training that the commanders carried out literally "on the march." The fact that a division, staffed by Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, Ukrainians and Great Russians, stood firmly on the outskirts of the capital, is a question of what the real "friendship of peoples" and their common historical destiny is.

2. The main blow of the enemy's tank armada fell on the 4th and 6th rifle companies of the 2nd battalion of 1075th rifle divisions, which were defending themselves at the crossing of Dubosekovo and the village of Petelino. Both companies proved themselves steadfast in this unequal battle, repelling several tank attacks with anti-tank weapons, grenades and Molotov cocktails, while destroying 24 tanks together.

3. The positions of the 4th company, headed by political instructor Vasily Georgievich Klochkov, were subjected to the most massive attacks. It was this battle that went down in history as the feat of 28 Panfilov heroes at the Dubosekovo junction and became a symbol of mass heroism displayed by the soldiers of the Panfilov division. It was the remnants (by the afternoon) of Klochkov's company (number unknown) that destroyed most of the 24 tanks. According to different versions up to 18.

4. Already on November 18, 1941, the division was renamed the 8th Guards Division and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. On the same day, its legendary commander, General Panfilov, died.

Where is the truth

The truth is that at the very moment when the first fighter, who had in his heart, as an example - how to defend the Motherland - the feat of 28 Panfilovites, fell, struck by a bullet or a shrapnel, this beautiful legend ceased to be a legend. And the truth is that all her overthrowers became the enemies of both this soldier and the millions of other dead, for whom the memory of 28 was sacred.

We do not know what political considerations comrade Zhdanov was guided by when he received the opinion of the military prosecutor. One can only assume that this is due to a new wave of repression against the generals.

As for today's overthrowers ... Let's not be naive, there is a delicate calculation behind them: having proved the inconsistency of history by the 28th, as well as the feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Alexander Matrosov, Nikolai Gastello, it is possible to question not only our propaganda during the Great Patriotic War, but and the whole meaning of the sacrificial struggle of the Soviet people for their homeland.

Since there were no feats, there were no people who were ready to go for them. The people fought under the stick, the soldiers were "cannon fodder", not soldiers-liberators. Then the following theses will become justified: in 1941 “the army did not fight”, on the contrary, there was “mass non-observance of orders, mass desertion (both explicit and covert), mass surrender” (M. Solonin), “The war was not won by skill , but having filled up the enemy with mountains of corpses of his soldiers ”(B. Sokolov). The conclusion suggests itself - why was it necessary to defend their country, if its leadership stubbornly led its soldiers to the slaughter? It would not be better to turn bayonets against his own regime: “It's a shame that Stalin did not lose the war to Hitler,” says historian A.B. Teeth. "Because all the same, in the end, the Allies would have liberated us, but then the British and Americans would have established democracy in our country."

But this is the story of Professor Zubov. Unfortunately, some of our publicists and even archivists poured water on the same mill, who did not understand that their opinion simply by virtue of their position is perceived by people as an absolute truth ... But in our, domestic history, I repeat, the battle on November 16, 1941 4- of the first company of political instructor Klochkov entered as a feat of 28 heroes of Panfilov.

Millions of Panfilov's men stopped and defeated the invincible Wehrmacht at the walls of Moscow in 1941, millions of Panfilov's men eventually took Berlin in 1945.

To them, 28, each by name, we all today owe our lives.

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