The feat of the Panfilov heroes during the Great Patriotic War

The feat of the Panfilov heroes still remained in the history and had played an exceptional and decisive role in times of war. On November, 16 1941, during the Moscow defense from the Nazi invaders in the battle near Dubosekovo passing place, about 28 soldiers from the division of General Panfilov made ​​their immortal feat, killing about two dozen of German tanks and stopping German offense. The Moscow battle was one of the decisive combats and one of the most important actions during the first year of the Great Patriotic War. In was crucial for Hitler to conquer the capital of the USSR, however, his quick attempt was not successful. It was autumn of 1941, when German command began active preparations for a new offensive movement, the aim of which was to gather all the main forces right near the city borders. There was some fierce fighting going on just 100-120 km away from Moscow. A large group of German armored forces were trying to break through the Volokolamsk highway, to get a straight access into the capital. However, neither the enemy's superiority in numbers and equipment, nor the pressure they had on the defenders of Moscow, nothing could broke the morale of our people. While defending the city, the Soviet forces were ordered to: stop the enemy at all costs. The same command was given to the other compounds of the Soviet Army; in particular to the 316-th Infantry Division under the command of Major General I.V Panfilov, they were supposed to stop the enemy on the Volokolamsk highway. One of the holding lines in this direction was situated near Dubosekovo railway passing place. This was the place where Nazi forces were hoping to break the Soviet defense and then go through the Volokolamsk highway towards the Moscow. And so, on November 16, 1941 German forces went on the offensive, planning to capture Moscow as quickly as possible and finish the 1941 campaign with triumph. The fight, which was given to the Nazi forces by the group of the Soviet tank destroyers (consisting of 28 people, headed by the political director Vasily Klochkov)was included in all history books.Within four hours Panfilov fighters, while being under the heavy artillery fire and bombing from the air, were able to impede the advance of the enemy tanks and infantry.They repel several attacks of the enemy and destroyed 18 of 50 tanks. Unfortunately, most of the fighters were killed while others were seriously injured (although, it was believed for a long time that all of the 28 fighters were killed). Of course, there were some other examples of courage and heroism of the Red Army all along the Moscow defense, thousands of Soviet soldiers lost their lives during the Moscow battles (as the Major General Panfilov did). But the feat that was made by the Panfilov heroes, went deep into the history and with no doubt played an exceptional role in the war, the legends were made about the strength and courage of the heroes. A Memorial of the 28 Panfilov Heroes, 316th Infantry Division was renamed to the 8th Guards Rifle Division and was awarder with the Order of the Red Banner, moreover, all the participants of the 1942 battle near Dubosekovo railway passing place, were awarded with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the boundless courage , heroism and military valor. As it turned out later, not all of the 28 Panfilov heroes died. It should be noted that, six of them have survived, but were seriously injured or shell-shocked, two of them found themselves in the hospital while two others were captured and experienced all the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps, the last two were excluded from the list of Heroes for various reasons. A museum of the Panfilov heroes was opened in 1967 near the Nelidovo village, which is located about 1.5 km away from the Dubosekovo railway passing place. The “Feat of the 28” granite memorial complex was built on the site of the battle in 1975. It consists of six monumental figures with the reflection of six nations of fighters who fought among the 28 Panfilov heroes. Their faces are turned to the side, where the Nazi tanks were while the Moscow is right behind them. The source:   Calend.ru