Yakov Pavlov - the famous hero of the Great Patriotic War, who became famous after the heroic defense of a four-story apartment building in the center of Stalingrad in the autumn of 1942. The house and a group of its defenders, led by Pavlov, became the main symbol of the defense of the city. From this article you can find out a brief biography of the hero and the details of his feat.
early years
Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov was born on October 17 (4th according to the old style) in 1917, and the first months of his life fell at the very height of the October Revolution and the events preceding it. Yakov Pavlov grew up in the village of Krestovaya (Novgorod region), in a poor peasant family. Jacob's father participated in the Civil War, the mother was engaged in the boy, with whom the future hero throughout his life maintained a tender and trusting relationship. After graduating from the five grades of elementary school, Yakov Pavlov was forced to leave the school and begin working in agriculture from the age of 11, since the times were very difficult. In 1938, at the age of 21, Yakov was called up for service in the Red Army. The outbreak of World War II caught him as part of the southwestern frontal forces located at that time in the area of the city of Kovel.
Feat
In 1942, Yakov Pavlov was sent under the command of General Alexander Ilyich Rodimtsev to the 42nd Rifle Regiment of his Guards Division No. 13. In this regiment, Yakov Fedotovich actively participated in defensive battles near Stalingrad, and then was transferred to the 7th company, where he appointed commander of the machine gun compartment. In addition, by the autumn of 1942, he often went on missions in the battles for Stalingrad.
On September 27, 1942, Sergeant Yakov Pavlov received an assignment from Lieutenant Naumov, the company commander, to investigate what was happening with the four-story building located on the central square of Stalingrad and having a tactically important position. In this building, built in the mid-30s, the House of Oblpotrebsoyuz was located. Next to it was the Sovkontrol House, and together these two buildings were connected by a railway running between them, access to the central square and a close approach to the Volga. Letting Nazi soldiers into any of these buildings meant losing Stalingrad. A group of opponents was already sitting in the house entrusted to Pavlov. Together with three fighters - corporal Vasily Glushchenko and privates Alexander Alexandrov and Nikolai Chernogolov - Yakov Fedotovich was able to penetrate the house and free him from the invaders, after which the four fighters adopted a defensive position. The opposite house with his group was occupied by Lieutenant Zabolotny.
Unfortunately, the house guarded by Zabolotny was blown up; he buried defense soldiers among his rubble. Pavlov, with his three soldiers, managed to maintain the defense of the house for three days, after which considerable reinforcements arrived at the fighters. Due to the fact that the house was saved by the forces of Jacob Pavlov and his soldiers, the small garrison stationed in it was able to restrain the Nazis offensive for two months, preventing them from breaking through to the Volga. An important role in the defense was played by the observation post organized by Pavlov on the second floor of the house, which the German soldiers could not destroy.
Further fate
During the attack that followed the preservation of the important building, Yakov Pavlov was seriously injured in the leg and spent some time in the hospital. However, after this he returned to the front and continued to fight. First, as a gunner, and then the commander of the intelligence department on the Ukrainian and Belorussian fronts, with whom he reached Stettin (modern Shezin, Poland). After demobilization in 1946, Yakov Fedotovich repeatedly visited Stalingrad, where the locals, who were rebuilding the city from ruins, expressed great gratitude to him. A photo of Yakov Pavlov chatting with one of these residents is presented below.
For military merit, Pavlov received two orders of the Red Star, and was also awarded the Orders of Lenin, the October Revolution and many other medals and awards. In addition, Yakov Fedotovich was the holder of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the war, Yakov Pavlov moved to the city of Valdai (Novgorod region), where he worked for the benefit of the USSR, and after graduating from the Higher Party School under the Central Committee of the CPSU, he became the third secretary of the district committee. In addition, Pavlov was elected three times as a deputy of the Supreme Council from the Novgorod region. In 1980, Yakov Fedotovich was named an honorary citizen of the hero city of Volgograd. Below is a photo of Pavlov with his beloved mother, taken in the 70s.
Yakov Pavlov died on September 29, 1981 at the age of 63 years. He is buried in Veliky Novgorod, on the avenue of heroes located in the city’s Western cemetery.
Pavlov's House
Today, the house heroically saved by Yakov Fedotovich is named after him and is a historical monument of federal significance. He became one of the first buildings restored in Stalingrad after the war. In 1985, an architect Vadim Maslyaev and sculptor Viktor Fetisov turned one of the walls of the house into a kind of ruined wall of wartime. A photo of Pavlov’s House is presented below.
Memory
In addition to the Pavlov’s House in Volgograd, in Veliky Novgorod there is a museum of Yakov Pavlov, as well as a boarding school named after him. The streets of Veliky Novgorod, Valdai and Yoshkar-Ola are also named after the hero.
