History of the creation of the Brest Fortress

On the site of the current Brest Fortress, the settlement of Berestye was founded by the Nadbuzh Slavs in ancient times. It was first mentioned in 1019 in the Tale of Bygone Years. Over the course of its centuries-old history, the city more than once became the subject of contention between the Kyiv, Turov, Galician, Volyn, Lithuanian princes and Polish kings. The lands of Berestye changed hands many times and became part of different states. Therefore, the name of the city changed: Berestye, Brest-Litovsk, Brest-nad-Bug, Brest. After the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795 (1st - 1772, 2nd - 1793), Brest-Litovsk became part of Russian Empire. There was a need to strengthen Russia’s new frontiers, for which it was planned to build a number of fortresses along the western border.

In 1830, a plan for the construction of the Brest-Litovsk Fortress was approved, which was developed by military engineers: generals K. I. Opperman and N. M. Maletsky, Colonel A. I. Feldman.

In accordance with this plan, it was planned to build a fortress on the site of the old city of Brest-Litovsk. In connection with this, the ancient buildings of the city were demolished (with the exception of some religious buildings - monasteries and churches, which were adapted for the needs of the fortress garrison). New town Brest-Litovsk was built at a distance of 1.5–2 km from the fortress fence.

General management of the construction of the fortress was carried out by Major General of the Engineering Troops, Chief of Staff of the Western Engineering District I. I. Den. Supreme supervision of construction was entrusted to Field Marshal General Prince I.F. Paskevich.

In 1833, excavation work began. On June 1, 1836, the first stone was laid in the foundation of the Citadel of the fortress, a memorial foundation board and a box with coins were walled up. On April 26, 1842, the Brest-Litovsk Fortress became one of the operating first class fortresses of the Russian Empire.

The fortress consisted of the Citadel and three extensive fortifications, forming the main fortress fence and covering the Citadel from all sides: Volyn (from the south), Terespol (from the west), Kobrin (from the east and north). From the outside, the fortress was protected by a bastion front - a fortress fence (an earthen rampart with brick casemates inside) 10 meters high, 6.4 km long and a bypass channel filled with water. The total area of ​​the fortress is 42 km (400 hectares).

The citadel was a natural island, along the entire perimeter of which a closed two-story defensive barracks with a length of 1.8 km was built. The thickness of the external walls reached 2 m, the internal ones - up to 1.5 m. The barracks consisted of 500 casemates, which could accommodate up to 12 thousand soldiers with ammunition and food. The citadel was connected to other fortifications with the help of bridges and gates: Brest, Kholm, Terespol and Brigid. The Southern (Nikolaevsky), Eastern (Mikhailovsky), Northern (Alexandrovsky), North-Western (Grafsky Proezd) gates and Varshavsky Proezd led outside the fortress.

In 1870–1876 The Orthodox St. Nicholas Church was built in the Citadel according to the project of the academician Russian Academy art of the architect D.I. Grimm.

Since 1909, a project to strengthen the Brest-Litovsk Fortress was developed. In 1912, the General Staff Committee approved a reconstruction plan, according to which the fortress’s circumference was increased to 45 km. Work began only in 1913. Lieutenant General N.A. Buinitsky, military engineers I.O. Belinsky, B.R. Doboshinsky, D.M. Karbyshev and others took part in the modernization of the fortress.

With increased mobility and improved technical equipment of armies Brest Fortress as a military-defense complex has lost its significance. It was used for quartering units of the Red Army.

Defense of the Brest Fortress in June-July 1941

In September 1939, the State border of the USSR was established along the Western Bug River. Its guard on a 182 km stretch was carried out by detachments of the 17th Red Banner Border Detachment.

On the pre-war night, from 7 to 8 thousand people remained here, since most of the personnel of these units were outside the fortress - in summer camps, during exercises, during the construction of the Brest fortified area (sapper battalions, an engineering regiment, one battalion from each regiment and a division from artillery regiments). In addition, about 300 families of command and control personnel lived in the fortress. From among the troops stationed in the fortress, one rifle battalion, reinforced by an artillery division, was provided for its defense in the event of war. The remaining troops (according to the plan for covering the RP-4 border) were supposed to leave the fortress and occupy combat deployment lines north, east and south of the city of Brest. This plan had a major flaw, since it did not take into account the surprise of the enemy attack. We had to leave the fortress through a narrow gate and under enemy fire, which was not taken into account in the developed plan.

After Hitler's Germany enslaved a number of European states, the threat of an attack on the Soviet Union increased sharply. Fascist generals developed Directive No. 21 - Plan Barbarossa. It determined the directions of the main attacks and the concentration of three army groups at the borders of the USSR - “North”, “Center”, “South”.

Brest was in the direction of the main attack of Army Group Center. By the end of June 21, 1941, the German command concentrated powerful strike forces on the border with the USSR. For the offensive in the Brest area, the XII Army Corps of Lieutenant General V. Schrot was deployed. The task of the XII Army Corps within the 2nd Panzer Group, on the orders of Colonel General G. Guderian, was to encircle Brest, clear the enemy from the territory between the deeply driven tank wedges and secure the internal flanks between both tank corps.

The XII Army Corps was deployed as follows: in the center, opposite Brest - the 45th Infantry Division, to the left of it the 31st Infantry Division, to the right - the 34th Infantry Division.

The 45th Infantry Division was to directly storm the Brest Fortress. The division's mission was defined as follows: in the first echelon of the 45th Infantry Division, assault groups of the 130th and 135th Infantry Regiments were advancing, which were supposed to surround and block the fortress, destroy the Soviet units inside it, capture the city of Brest, as well as railway and pedestrian bridges across the Bug and Mukhavets is to the west, south and east of the fortress. Continuing the offensive, the division, after occupying Brest, was supposed to move further to the east. In the second echelon, the division's reserve, there is a reconnaissance detachment and the second battalions of the 130th and 135th infantry regiments, as well as the 133rd infantry regiment, which was in the corps reserve.

For the first artillery strike on the Brest Fortress, the entire divisional artillery with 9 light batteries and 3 heavy artillery batteries was deployed in the 45th Infantry Division sector. In addition, the 4th chemical regiment for special purposes (heavy rocket mortars), two heavy-duty 600-mm self-propelled mortars were intended for shelling the fortress artillery installations"Charles". These guns fired concrete-piercing shells weighing 2,200 kg at a distance of 4.5 km and high-explosive shells weighing 1,700 kg at a distance of 6.7 km. A few days before the start of hostilities, the 45th Infantry Division received an additional nine 210-mm mortars and two mortar divisions from the 31st and 34th Infantry Divisions.

In units tens of kilometers away from the border, troops were alerted by order of the command, but here, in the Brest Fortress, the war itself became the alarm.

The pastor of the 45th Infantry Division, R. Gschöpf, in the book “My Journey from the 45th Infantry Division” recalled: “At exactly 3.15 a hurricane began and swept over our heads with such force that we had never experienced before or in everything that followed during the war. This gigantic concentrated barrage of fire literally shook the earth. Thick black fountains of earth and smoke grew like mushrooms above the Citadel. Since at that moment it was impossible to notice the enemy’s return fire, we believed that everything in the citadel had been turned into a pile of ruins. Immediately after the last artillery salvo, the infantry began to cross the river. Bug and, using the effect of surprise, tried to capture the fortress on the move with a quick and energetic throw. It was then that bitter disappointment was immediately revealed... The Russians were raised straight from their beds by our fire: this was evident from the fact that the first prisoners were in their underwear. However, they recovered surprisingly quickly, formed into battle groups behind our breakthrough companies and began to organize a desperate and stubborn defense.”

The most difficult Great Patriotic War in history began

It was not by chance that Hitler’s high command recognized the resilience and courage of the defenders of our western border: “The Russians did not leave long-term fortifications even when the main guns were disabled, but defended them to the last. The wounded pretended to be dead and shot from ambushes. Therefore, in most operations there were no prisoners.”

By the evening of June 24, the Germans captured the Volyn and Terespol fortifications, and the remnants of the latter’s garrison, realizing the impossibility of holding out, crossed to the Citadel at night. Thus, the defense was concentrated in the Kobrin fortification and the Citadel. At the Kobrin fortification, by this time all the defenders (about 400 people under the command of Major Pyotr Mikhailovich Gavrilov) were concentrated in the Eastern Fort. Every day the defenders of the fortress had to repel 7-8 attacks, and flamethrowers were used. On June 26, the last section of the Citadel’s defense fell near the Three-Armed Gate, and on June 30, the Eastern Fort fell. The organized defense of the fortress ended there - only isolated pockets of resistance and single fighters remained. One of the inscriptions in the fortress, left on July 20, reads: “I am dying, but I am not giving up. Goodbye Motherland. 20.VII.41" The casemates of the Citadel have preserved evidence of the unparalleled courage and fortitude of its defenders. In 1949, an inscription was found on the wall of the barracks at the Terespol Gate: “1941. June 26. There were three of us, it was difficult for us, but we did not lose heart and die like heroes,” in the basement of the White Palace in 1958 - “We do not die in shame.”

In the barracks of the 455th rifle regiment at the Three-Armed Gate, an unknown fighter scratched on the wall with a bayonet: “We will die, but we will not leave the fortress.” According to witnesses, shooting was heard from the fortress until the beginning of August.

During and after the war, legends were told about the Brest Fortress and the steadfastness of its defenders. One of them in 1956 was told to the writer S.S. Smirnov in a letter by the commander of the ammunition supply platoon of the 84th Infantry Regiment, Sergeant Major Alexander Ivanovich Durasov. Participant in the defense of the fortress A.I. Durasov was captured. While in captivity, prisoners of war were taken to work in the city of Brest, and Jews from the ghetto worked with them. Durasov often sawed wood with one of them; he knew this man from pre-war life - a violinist from the Brest restaurant: “...Once, it was already in April 1942, when the snow melted, the violinist came to work later than usual...”. He said that he was brought by car to the fortress, and a German officer told him that there was a Russian in a dilapidated room in the basement and would not surrender. The Nazis decided to take him alive, and the violinist had to go down to the basement and convince the soldier to surrender. When they went upstairs, “... the unknown man immediately sat down, apparently the fresh air intoxicated him, but then he jumped up and stood with his hands folded on his chest. German soldiers and an officer stood in a semicircle in front of him. In front of us stood a stubble-covered man in a frayed uniform, in a padded jacket without a cap, very thin, above average height, brown hair fluttering in the wind; his age was difficult to determine. When asked by a German officer whether there were still Russians there, he answered: “I’m alone. And I went out to see what I firmly believed in and believe now - in your powerlessness...” Unfortunately, neither the name nor the fate of this defender of the fortress is still known.

Memorial complex "Brest Hero Fortress"

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus, in the Resolution “On the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Soviet Belarus,” approved proposals to build a monument in the Brest Fortress at the expense of funds collected by the people for these purposes. A special account was opened at the bank.

Noting the exceptional services of the defenders of the Brest Fortress to the Motherland and in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Victory Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, by Decree of May 8, 1965, awarded the Brest Fortress the honorary title “Hero-Fortress” with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal, which were later transferred to the memorial.

The Council of Ministers of the BSSR, by Resolution No. 295 of July 23, 1966, approved the creative group and instructed it to complete the design of the monument to the defenders of the fortress.

The creative group was created consisting of: People's Architect of the USSR, laureate of the State Prize of the BSSR, architect - artist Korol V. A. (1912–1980); People's Artist of the BSSR, State Prize laureate, sculptor Bembel A. O. (1905–1986); laureate of the Lenin Prize and the Lenin Komsomol Prize of Belarus, architect V. P. Zankovich; laureate of the State Prize of the BSSR, artist-architect G. V. Sysoev; sculptor V. D. Bobyl; architect-artist Volchek V. M. (1910–1985); laureate of the State Prize of the BSSR, architect Stakhovich O. A.; architect Kazakov Yu. I. The creative team was headed by the winner of the Lenin and two State Prizes of the USSR, People's Artist of the USSR, sculptor A. P. Kibalnikov (1912–1987).

Design engineers M. Gordin (chief designer of the project), M. Mets, L. Roshal - chief lighting engineer, L. Vasilyeva - energy supply engineer, A. Smolsky - plumbing engineer took an active part in the development of the project.

After forming the general idea of ​​the ensemble, making sketches and models of the main elements, a master plan was developed.

The most durable materials were adopted as the main building materials - concrete and reinforced concrete, natural stone - gray, red granite, labradorite; for cladding the obelisk - titanium alloy.

The Council of Ministers of the BSSR, by Resolution No. 139 of April 29, 1967, approved the design assignment for the construction of the memorial complex “Brest Hero Fortress”. In May 1968, work began on the construction of the memorial. In October 1969, the memorial project was accepted for implementation.

The work was carried out in accordance with the master plan approved by the Council of Ministers of the BSSR (Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the BSSR dated November 6, 1969 No. 376).

In 1969, the Museum of Defense of the Brest Fortress was transferred from the Ministry of Defense of the USSR to the Ministry of Culture of the BSSR (Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the BSSR dated April 15, 1969 No. 140, Directive of the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR No. ORG/9/340 ss dated May 25, 1969, Order of the Ministry of Culture of the BSSR dated May 7, 1969 No. 38).

In 1970, the museum was functioning with a staff of 60 people. In 1970, the exhibition in halls 9 and 10 of the museum was rebuilt.

During the excavation work during the construction of the memorial, more than 1,000 museum objects and the remains of the dead were found.

On September 18, 1971, the remains of 823 people who died during the defense of the fortress in June-July 1941 were reburied under the granite three-tier slabs of the memorial. Some of them were moved from the garrison cemetery, where they were buried between 1945 and 1969, the rest were found during construction work at the memorial. 201 names were listed on the memorial slabs, the rest were buried as unknowns.

The Council of Ministers of the BSSR, by Resolution of July 22, 1971 No. 221, transferred the memorial complex “Brest Hero Fortress” to the Ministry of Culture of the BSSR (On July 28, 1971, Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus and the Council of Ministers of the BSSR No. 231 “On the state commission for the acceptance of the memorial complex “Brest Fortress” was issued -hero"). The proposal of the Ministry of Culture of the BSSR and the Brest Regional Executive Committee was accepted to unite the memorial complex “Brest Hero-Fortress” and the Museum of Defense of the Brest Hero-Fortress into a single complex and henceforth call it “Memorial complex “Brest Hero-Fortress”.

Based on this, the Order of the Ministry of Culture of the BSSR of July 27, 1971 No. 117 “On the memorial complex “Brest Hero Fortress” was issued, which indicated the reorganization of the defense museum of the Brest Hero Fortress. The State Commission drew up an Act on the acceptance of the memorial complex dated September 23, 1971.

On September 25, 1971, the memorial complex “Brest Hero Fortress” was opened. More than 600 veterans of the Brest garrison of 1941 were present.

The unified architectural and artistic ensemble of the memorial, which immortalized the “legendary story about the heroes of the Brest Fortress,” presents the ruins of the old fortress, battle sites, and monumental sculptural compositions. The building of the Museum of Defense of the Brest Fortress and the ruins of the White Palace are adjacent to Ceremonial Square. The compositional center is the main monument “Courage”; on its reverse side there are relief compositions telling about individual episodes of the heroic defense of the fortress. The remains of 850 people are buried in a 3-tier necropolis, compositionally connected with the monument. The Eternal Flame of Glory burns in front of the ruins of the former engineering department.

The observation platform contains the ruins of the barracks of the 333rd Infantry Regiment and other defensive and residential structures.

The main entrance to the memorial complex is a reinforced concrete parallelepiped embedded in a shaft with a five-pointed star carved into it. The block is supported by the slope of the rampart. The width of the Main Entrance passage is 18.5 m, the length of the reinforced concrete block is 44 m, the height is 10 m, the width is 35 m. The walls of the passage are lined with polished dark granite, which contrasts with the ruins of the casemates protruding in the opening. This creates a visual and emotional-psychological effect. It is complemented by the call signs of the Central Radio Station Soviet Union- the melody “Song of the Motherland” by composer I. Dunaevsky, the voice of Yu. Levitan, who notifies about the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, the song “Holy War” by composer A. Alexandrov, the sounds of bombing and shooting.

In the Citadel, on the left bank of the Mukhavets River branch, there is a sculptural composition “Thirst”.

One of the dramatic pages of the defense of the Brest Fortress is the acute shortage of water. The water supply was disabled on the first day of the war, and the summer that year was unusually hot. Plumes of smoke and gunpowder fumes filled the horizon. The blackened faces of the soldiers, their lips parched with thirst, testified to the incredible suffering of the people. Water was needed to cool the machine guns, the wounded, women and children - all participants in the defense. It seemed like you were approaching the river and taking it, but the approaches to the water were shelled, and at night the banks were illuminated by searchlights. Many soldiers and commanders died trying to get the precious drops. After the war, pierced helmets, flasks, mugs and the remains of the dead were found on the banks of rivers. The creators of the memorial, knowing about this tragedy, decided to talk about it using the sculptor’s skill. The figure of a soldier crawling towards the water with a helmet in his hand leaves no one indifferent. Today, in the helmet extended forward, there are fresh flowers from visitors to the fortress. The length of the sculptural composition is 13 m.

In the eastern part of the Citadel, southeast of the Defense Museum, fragments of one of the last stone buildings of old Brest-Litovsk, destroyed in places to the level of the foundation, have been preserved. It was erected in the second half of the 18th century on the site of the wooden church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, built at the Basilian Monastery (Uniate Order of St. Basil), founded in 1629. On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, there was a club, a canteen, food and clothing warehouses and ammunition supply, other premises of the 75th separate reconnaissance battalion of the 6th rifle division of the Red Army.

The preserved ruins form one whole with the space of the Ceremonial Square, the White Palace, the Engineering Department, and the defensive barracks. Ceremonial Square accommodates 25–30 thousand people.

The area was originally paved with 1,600 square reinforced concrete slabs, laid in groups of four. Between the slabs there is red clinker.

Along the perimeter, the area was framed by a concrete retaining wall and steps, and closer to the stand by green lawns. In 2001, the Baranovichi road-industrial enterprise reconstructed the area; gray concrete pavement for 12000 m2 was replaced with multi-color small-piece concrete paving slabs dry pressing, the retaining wall was lined with granite, the concrete steps were replaced with granite ones. In the center of the architectural ensemble are three tiers of memorial slabs. On September 18, 1971, the remains of 823 people found at different times were reburied under the slabs. Famous names - 201 people - were listed on the memorial plaques. The sounding melody of “Dreams” by R. Schumann gives a special sharpness to perception.

The main monument is a sculptural image of a warrior and a banner. This huge sculpture, consisting of 200 parts (with linear dimensions in plan up to 54 m and a height of more than 30 m), was erected in the form of a concrete shell, which was attached to a metal frame with a grid of internal columns 6x6 m. About specific episodes and events of the heroic The defense is told in high reliefs located on the back side of the monument.

One of the main elements of the memorial is a hundred-meter obelisk in the shape of a tetrahedral bayonet of a Russian Mosin rifle (“three-line”), symbolizing victory over the enemy and eternal glory to the heroic defenders of the fortress. This is a complex engineering structure with a height of 104.5 m and a weight of 620 tons.

Near the ruins of the Engineering Department is the flame of the Eternal Flame. His torch in the form of a small square slab with a relief image of a five-pointed star embedded in it is located in the center of a recessed area paved with red granite slabs. Here, the Youth Army members of the Memory Post, created in 1972, keep a daily honor watch. The changing of the guard occurs every 20 minutes.

Not far from the Eternal Flame is the memorial site of the Hero Cities of the Soviet Union, opened on May 9, 1985. Under the granite slabs with the image of the Gold Star medal, there are capsules with the soil of the Hero Cities, delivered here by their delegations.



In 1833, according to the project of engineer-general K.I. Opperman, who took an active part in the construction of another glorious fortress of Belarus - the Bobruisk Fortress, construction of a border fortress began in the center of the old city. Initially, temporary earthworks were erected. The first stone of the fortress was laid on June 1, 1836; On April 26, 1842, the fortress was put into operation. The fortress consisted of a citadel and three fortifications that protected it, with a total area of ​​4 square meters. km. and the length of the main fortress line is 6.4 km.
From 1864-1888 The fortress was modernized according to the design of E.I. Totleben and was surrounded by a ring of forts 32 km in circumference.
Since 1913, construction began on the second ring of fortifications, which should have a circumference of 45 km; however, it was never completed before the outbreak of World War I.

Brest Fortress and the First World War:

With the beginning of World War I, the fortress was intensively prepared for defense, but on the night of August 13, 1915, during the general retreat, it was abandoned and partially blown up by Russian troops. On March 3, 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed in the citadel, in the so-called “White Palace” (former Basilian monastery, then officers’ meeting). The fortress was in German hands until the end of 1918; then under Polish control; in 1920 it was occupied by the Red Army, but was soon recaptured by the Poles and in 1921, according to the Treaty of Riga, it was transferred to Poland. Used as barracks, military depot and political prison; in the 1930s Opposition political figures were imprisoned there.

On September 17, 1939, the fortress was taken by the XIX Armored Corps of General Guderian. The Polish garrison of the fortress under the command of General Konstantin Plisovsky fought back to Teraspol.

Joint parade of Germans and Red Army soldiers in the Brest Fortress in 1939:

On the same day, September 17, 1939, units of the Red Army crossed the state border in the area of ​​Minsk, Slutsk, Polotsk and began advancing through the territory of Western Belarus. The first to enter Brest on September 22, 1939 was the 29th light tank brigade of the Red Army under the command of brigade commander S.M. Krivoshein. A joint ceremonial parade of troops took place in the city of Brest, after which on September 22 the German units were withdrawn beyond the river. Western Bug. Units of the Red Army were stationed in the border Brest Fortress.

Military units stationed in the Brest Fortress at the beginning of the war:

By June 22, 1941, 8 rifle battalions and 1 reconnaissance battalion, 1 artillery regiment and 2 artillery divisions (anti-tank and air defense), some special forces of rifle regiments and units of corps units, assemblies of the assigned personnel of the 6th Oryol Red Banner and 42nd rifle were stationed in the fortress divisions of the 28th Rifle Corps of the 4th Army, units of the 17th Red Banner Brest Border Detachment, 33rd Separate Engineer Regiment, part of the 132nd Battalion of NKVD Convoy Troops, unit headquarters (the headquarters of divisions and the 28th Rifle Corps were located in Brest ), a total of 7-8 thousand people, not counting family members (300 military families). On the German side, the assault on the fortress was entrusted to the 45th Infantry Division (about 17 thousand people), in cooperation with units of neighboring formations (31st Infantry and 34th Infantry Divisions of the 12th Army Corps of the 4th German army, and also 2 tank divisions Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group). According to the plan, the fortress should have been captured by 12 o'clock on the first day of the war.

Beginning of the war:

On June 22 at 3:15 artillery fire was opened on the fortress, taking the garrison by surprise. As a result, warehouses and water supply were destroyed, communications were interrupted, and major losses were inflicted on the garrison.

At 3:45 the assault began. The surprise of the attack led to the fact that the garrison was unable to provide a single coordinated resistance and was divided into several separate centers. The Germans encountered strong resistance at the Terespol fortification, where it came to bayonet attacks, and especially at Kobrin, which ultimately held out the longest; the weaker one was on Volynsky, where the main hospital was located.

About half of the garrison with part of the equipment managed to leave the fortress and connect with their units; by 9 o'clock in the morning the fortress with the 3.5-4 thousand people remaining in it was surrounded.

The Germans aimed primarily at the Citadel and quite quickly managed to break into it across the bridge from the Terespol fortification, occupying the club building dominating the fortress ( former church). However, the garrison launched a counterattack, repulsed German attempts to capture the Kholm and Brest Gates (connecting the Citadel with the Volyn and Kobrin fortifications, respectively) and on the second day returned the church, destroying the Germans entrenched in it. The Germans in the Citadel were able to gain a foothold only in certain areas.

Chronology of the capture of the Brest Fortress:

By the evening of June 24, the Germans captured the Volyn and Terespol fortifications; the remnants of the latter's garrison, seeing the impossibility of holding out, crossed to the Citadel at night. Thus, the defense was concentrated in the Kobrin fortification and the Citadel.

The defenders of the latter tried to coordinate their actions on June 24: at a meeting of group commanders, a consolidated combat group and headquarters were created, headed by Captain Zubachev and his deputy, regimental commissar Fomin, which was announced in “Order No. 1.”

An attempt to break out of the fortress through the Kobrin fortification, organized on June 26, ended in failure: the breakthrough group was almost completely destroyed, its remnants (13 people) who escaped from the fortress were immediately captured.

At the Kobrin fortification, by this time all the defenders (about 400 people, under the command of Major P.M. Gavrilov) were concentrated in the Eastern Fort. Every day the defenders of the fortress had to repel 7-8 attacks, using flamethrowers; On June 29-30, a continuous two-day assault on the fortress was launched, as a result of which the Germans managed to capture the headquarters of the Citadel and capture Zubachev and Fomin (Fomin, as a commissar, was handed over by one of the prisoners and immediately shot; Zubachev subsequently died in the camp).

On the same day, the Germans captured the East Fort. The organized defense of the fortress ended here; only isolated pockets of resistance remained (any large of them were suppressed over the next week) and single fighters who gathered in groups and scattered again and died, or tried to break out of the fortress and go to the partisans in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (some even succeeded) .

So, Gavrilov managed to gather a group of 12 people around him, but they were soon defeated. He himself, as well as the deputy political instructor of the 98th artillery division, Derevianko, were among the last to be captured wounded on July 23.

Revival of the heroic defense of the Brest Fortress from oblivion:

For the first time, the defense of the Brest Fortress became known from a German headquarters report, captured in the papers of the defeated unit in February 1942 near Orel.

At the end of the 1940s. the first articles about the defense of the Brest Fortress appeared in newspapers, based solely on rumors; in 1951, the artist P. Krivonogov painted the famous painting “Defenders of the Brest Fortress.”

The real details of the defense of the Brest Fortress were not reported by official propaganda, partly because the surviving heroes were at that time in domestic camps.

The credit for restoring the memory of the heroes of the fortress largely belongs to the writer and historian S.S. Smirnov, as well as K.M., who supported his initiative. Simonov. The feat of the heroes of the Brest Fortress was popularized by Smirnov in the book “Brest Fortress”.

After this, the theme of the defense of the Brest Fortress became an important symbol of official patriotic propaganda, which gave the real feat of the defenders an exaggerated scale.

It is probably difficult to find a person who has not heard of heroic feat Soviet soldiers during the Great Patriotic War, for whom the defense of the Brest Fortress became the main Feat of their lives.

When planning a trip to Belarus, I understood that it was simply impossible to go there and not visit the Brest Fortress Memorial. This is equivalent to not going to the Louvre, the famous museum in Paris, to look at the smile of Mona Lisa.

My expectations of the miracle and power of this place were completely justified. And it’s very cool that I saw this bitter memory with its gray dark slabs, sad bell ringing and piercing blue sky at the end of my journey, and first... But first, a little background of this trip...

The day before, I set off from Minsk in a rented car towards Brest. On the way, we made a stop at one of the amazing Belarusian castles, located in the town of Nesvizh. And in the evening I reached the reserve.

April 12, Tuesday, 2nd day by car . From the very morning I walked for a couple of hours along the animals that live in the Reserve.

13.30. Today's plans include an inspection of the Kamenets Tower and a trip to Brest.

13.50. Stop in the city. Alas, the entrance to the Tower was closed. It turns out that Monday and Tuesday are holidays here. So we had to content ourselves with a short walk through the center of Kamenets. And a visit to his famous one should be postponed until tomorrow. By the way, I received a huge amount of impressions from this excursion. But read more about this here.

15.00. Thanks to the navigator! To my surprise, he very quickly led me through the city of Brest to the main point of my route: the Brest Fortress. However, the entrance was not the main thing, as I expected. In front of me was the North Gate.

There was a parking lot nearby, which was “guarded” by a cannon. 🙂

Seeing a car sign near the gate and the absence of a barrier, I decided to go inside. And she did the right thing! The distance to the central part of the memorial is decent. Therefore, they offer to rent a bicycle near the entrance so that you can quickly travel around the entire territory of the memorial complex.

You can, of course, walk if you have enough time and energy.

Well, I drive past the northern Kobrin fortification, and leave the car in the parking lot next to the bridge separating the center of the Fortress: the island on which the Citadel is located.

For more information about where the Fortress is located, a map of the area, operating hours of the attraction and prices for excursions, see the end of this article.

From the parking lot the main monument is already clearly visible.

The bridge over the Mukhavets River leads to the island where the legendary Brest Fortress was located.

Spring was coming into its own in Belarus: the trees were in bloom. Young willow leaves hung like laces almost to the water. And to the left of the bridge in the red building there is a museum.

It was from here that I decided to begin my inspection in order to immerse myself as much as possible in the history of this tragic and at the same time heroic place.

This is not the first time I have encountered such rules in Belarus. At the museum ticket office the price per excursion per person is indicated, but as a rule, how many people need to be gathered is not specified. At the same time, the guide receives payment for the number of excursions conducted. So if by a certain time several people want to listen to him, he leads the group, and if there is only one person (as was the case in my case), then I get VIP service for the same money. 🙂

It must be said that those few museum visitors who decided to save on a guide periodically joined us to listen interesting information and even asked their own questions.

The museum's exposition is located in several halls, each of which is dedicated to a specific historical event taking place on the territory of the Fortress, from the emergence of ancient settlements to modern days.

Brief history of the Brest Fortress

Back in 1019, the book “The Tale of Bygone Years” first mentioned the settlement of Berestye, which was founded by the Nadbuzh Slavs. Over the years of its history, the city alternately became part of many states and, accordingly, its name changed.

After in 1795 The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was divided for the third time, the small provincial town of Brest-Litovsk became Russian again and became part of the vast Russian Empire. Soon the question of strengthening Russian borders arose, and in 1830, on the site of the old almost abandoned city, it was decided to build a new reliable fortress.

Field Marshal Prince I.F. Paskevich was appointed to supervise all construction. The main excavation work was carried out in 1833. And already on June 1, 1836, the keystone was laid in the foundation of the Citadel, and the memorial plaque and certain coins in the casket were walled up.

A few years later, or more precisely on April 26, 1842, the construction of the fortress was completed. The museum contains bricks; the earliest of these finds date back to 1841.

And also the symbolic key of the Brest-Litovsk Fortress found at the Kholm Gate in 1954.

The citadel of the fortress, its central fortification, was built on an island formed by the Bug and Mukhovets rivers. Its walls were about 2 meters thick.

12 thousand people were freely accommodated in the existing 500 casemates. Not only military personnel lived here, but also their families. The museum displays old black and white photographs, as well as wardrobe and household items from life of that time.

To connect to this island, drawbridges were built that connected 3 more artificial islands. The fortress was surrounded by an earthen rampart, in which the defenders of the fortress could also be placed in the existing casemates. In 1864-1888, the designer E.I. Totleben significantly modernized the fortress. Surrounded by a ring of forts, it became completely impregnable.

But the improvement of the fortress continued. So in 1876, the beautiful St. Nicholas Orthodox Church was built on its territory according to the design of the famous architect David Grimm. It has now been restored and is operational.

The fortress on the Bug is a bargaining chip for diplomats

But peaceful life was disrupted on July 28, 1914 by the outbreak of the First World War. And on March 3, 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, signed in the White Palace of the Citadel, transferred it to the Germans until the end of the year, and then it again passed into the hands of the Poles.

In 1920, during the fighting, the defensive structure was taken by units of the Red Army, but after 18 days it again belonged to the Poles. When World War II began on September 1, 1939, and Nazi Germany suddenly attacked Poland, it was then that, under the pressure of enemy troops, the Polish defenders of the fortress were forced to retreat, and the Nazis again captured the fortress.

On September 22, 1939, a solemn parade of Wehrmacht units and a detachment of the Red Army took place. This parade marked the ceremonial transfer of Brest and the Brest Fortress by the Germans to the troops of the Soviet Union. So Brest and the fortress became Russian again. They became part of the territory of the USSR.

The entire event was captured on film by German cameramen. Historians say that Germany tried by all means to prove to England and France that the USSR was its ally. At the same time, the government of the USSR itself emphasized its “neutrality” in every possible way.

How the chronicle of heroism began

On June 22, 1941, at 4.15, the Nazis opened artillery fire on the vital objects of the Brest Fortress.

This goal was familiar to them like the back of their hand. Therefore, the headquarters, warehouses, water supply, and communications were immediately destroyed. And also the possibility of any communication with outside world. At this moment, there were about 9,000 people in the fortress, plus members of three hundred military families.

There were at least 17 thousand people on the enemy side. They planned to take the fortress in the evening of the same day. But everything didn’t work out according to their plan. The defenders of the Brest Fortress held the defense for more than a month without sufficient ammunition, without food and without water.

Every day they had to repel 7-8 enemy attacks, and flamethrowers were also used against them.

When the organized defense of the fortress ceased, small groups or single fighters still remained in different places. But they did not lay down their arms until the last moment, until their death.

One of the inscriptions on the wall of the casemate reads:

“I'm dying, but I'm not giving up. Goodbye, Motherland. 20/v11-41.”

In the barracks of the 455th Infantry Regiment, an unknown soldier scrawled on the wall with a bayonet: “We will die, but we will not leave the fortress.”

“There were three of us. It was difficult for us, but we did not lose heart and die like heroes.”

Already during the war and long after it, there were many legends about the steadfastness of the defenders of the Brest Fortress. It’s hard to even imagine what happened in the Citadel, but the charred bricks preserve the memory of those battles and the heat of war.

“On July 14-15, a detachment of German soldiers, about 50 people, passed by us. When they reached the (Terespol) gate, an explosion suddenly sounded in the middle of their formation, and everything was covered in smoke. It turns out that one of our fighters was still sitting in the destroyed tower above the gate. He dropped a bunch of grenades on the Germans, killing 10 people and seriously wounding many, and then jumped down from the tower and fell to his death. We didn’t find out who this unknown hero was; we weren’t allowed to bury him.”

After the officers of the Citadel Defense Staff were killed, the war diary of the German 45th Infantry Division dated June 30, 1941 recorded:

“Thus, the entire fortress and the city of Brest-Litovsk are now in the hands of the 45th Infantry Division. The further task of the division: some of the units continue to clear and inspect the fortress, the remaining forces of the division must be brought into a state of readiness for the march.”

And although the Germans had already reported on the fall of the fortress, real life The fighting there continued for quite a long time. So B. Vasiliev in his book “Not on the Lists” indicated the date when the last known defender of the fortress surrendered: only April 12, 1942. S. Smirnov, in his documentary book “Brest Fortress,” refers to eyewitness accounts and also indicates this date. This is how our fathers and grandfathers, the legendary warriors of the Brest Citadel, fought.

On the walls of the museum are photographs of the defenders of the fortress and those who found themselves here during these terrible days. It is symbolic that photographs of those who survived the horrors of war are printed on a white background, while photographs of the dead are printed on a black background.

Alas, there are several times more dark photographs.

And only in the period July 18 - August 2, 1944, Brest and the Brest Fortress were liberated during the Lublin-Brest operation by units of the 1st Belorussian Front, commander Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky. For this operation, 47 units and formations of the First Belorussian Front were given the name “Brest”, and more than 20 soldiers were given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

History of revived memory

After the war, the Brest Fortress was not completely restored. In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Victory on May 8, 1965, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, by its Decree, awarded it the honorary title “Fortress - Hero”. The Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal were solemnly awarded.

To perpetuate the memory of the heroes of Brest and the Brest Fortress, it was decided to build a memorial complex on its territory.

In May 1968, work began on the construction of the monument. And on September 25, 1971 it was inaugurated.

During excavation work, the remains of ancient masonry buildings on the territory of the Citadel were found. Here are fragments of the ruins of the White Palace.

The remains of the fallen defenders were also discovered, who were buried with honor under the marble slabs of the memorial on September 18, 1971. A total of 823 people. Only a quarter of them: 201 were identified, and their names are now forever engraved in the stone slabs of the memorial complex. The remaining fighters remained unknown.

Tour of the Brest Fortress

The memorial begins with the main entrance, made in the form of a huge star, roughly carved into a concrete block.

You walk here to the sounds of the song “Holy War” and hear Levitan’s voice. He reads out a message from the USSR Government about the beginning of a terrible disaster, about the treacherous attack of the troops of Nazi Germany on our Motherland, on the Soviet Union.

Amazing and indescribable sensations! It seems that all this happened long before I was born. But, apparently, genetic memory wakes up from these sounds. My heart begins to beat louder, and tears well up in my eyes...

Main monuments

The center of the entire architectural ensemble is the “Courage” monument.

This is a chest-to-chest sculpture of a Red Army soldier, 33.5 meters high. The mournful and at the same time courageous face of the warrior is fascinating, it is simply impossible to take your eyes off. The impression is added by the unhurried sounds of the melody of Schumann’s “Dreams”, which constantly sound near the monument.

WITH reverse side In the monument you can see relief images of some episodes of national feats during the defense of the fortress.

To the right of the warrior is the Bayonet obelisk, just over 100 meters high and weighing 620 tons. This unique structure symbolizes a copy of the tetrahedral bayonet that was used on the Mosin rifle.

Surprisingly, this is an all-welded structure that does not have any additional supports. It is supported by a deep foundation (about 40 meters) and additional devices located along the monument, which provide vibration damping.

It is connected to the “Courage” monument by 3 rows of tombstones. In 1971, 850 heroes of the fortress were buried here. Now under these slabs lie the remains of 1038 fallen heroes. But only 276 names are truly known. It turns out that it is not known even today full list names of those killed in those terrible military events.

After all, in the June heat of 1941, soldiers died not only from bullets and fatal wounds, but also from hunger and thirst. The proximity of the river, every centimeter of the bank of which was shot by the enemy, only increased the suffering of people dying from dehydration. The composition “Thirst” is a sculptural image of a thirsty soldier who, with his last strength, is trying to scoop up water from the river with his helmet.

It was also a revelation for me when the guide told me that water was needed not only for drinking, but also to cool weapons. And very often the soldiers of the fortress, suffering from thirst, preferred to pour water into their guns in order to continue the battle.

Walk around the fortress

It is also interesting to walk around the ancient walls of the Fortress. If you turn left from the main monument of the complex, then through the Kholm Gate

You can go to the bridge over the Mukhavets River.

The walls of the Fortress still contain terrible wounds from bullets and shells. These traces contrast sharply with the former grandeur and beauty of the Fortress.

It's nice to stroll along a leisurely river on a spring day,

observe the more turbulent confluence of two rivers: Mukhavets and Western Bug.

And also realize that you are in the border zone. Right here, on the other side, there are border towers. Europe is already there.

And I return to the inner fortress territory through the Terespol Gate. The view of the Fortress from the outside is even more depressing.

Orthodox church

On the territory of the Brest Fortress there is the St. Nicholas Garrison Church.

At the beginning of the 20th century, this Orthodox cathedral was considered one of the most beautiful in Europe. However, in 1924-1929 it was rebuilt into a Roman Catholic church. When the Fortress again became part of the USSR, the temple was turned into a Red Army club.

During the fighting and in the post-war years, the building was badly damaged. Restoration work began only in 1994. Now the temple looks very majestic from the outside,

so is it inside.

Citadel Territory

Work on the memorial complex continues. Already in 2011, on the territory of the courageous Brest Fortress, a monument to “Heroes of the border, women and children who stepped into immortality with their courage” was solemnly opened. This sculptural group is dedicated to the memory of the border guards who were the first to meet the enemy face to face.

There are other monuments on the territory of the Fortress. Copies are available in various places. military equipment, artillery devices.

The boys enjoy exploring all these adult “toys.” And I really want all these tanks and guns to serve only as fun for the younger generation.

All mass celebrations take place on Ceremonial Square, where the Eternal Flame burns.

This Fire is an unquenchable illumination for the red stone from which the sculpture of the fighter and the entire memorial complex is carved. This color resembles blood splatter in places. And it seems that every piece of this sacred land is saturated with it.

But if the earth and the very air of Khatyn cry out about grief and inescapable suffering, then the land of the Brest Fortress is filled with courage and firm confidence in its own Victory!

Every day, the Museum of Defense of the Brest Fortress, located on the territory of the complex, receives an endless stream of visitors.

The Brest Fortress became a symbol of the resilience of the Soviet people and unbending courage in the fight against a treacherous enemy. Having visited this memorial, you truly believe that it is impossible to defeat us by force!

Excursions and prices

Entry to the memorial complex is free. It is open to the public from 8.00 to 24.00 (at least that’s what it says on the website). But the Brest Fortress Defense Museum is open from 9.00 to 18.00.

Prices for entrance to the museum and excursions can be studied for a long time in the price list. It is very difficult to understand what is offered there: after all, the range of excursions and the number of exhibitions is diverse. You can visit the museum on your own or take an audio guide.

I came here around 15.30 to find out the situation. From the beginning I wanted to walk around the territory to study the monuments. The weather that day was changeable, and I was afraid that rain might spoil my walk. But at the museum they told me that if I want to use the services of a guide, then I need to do it now, since the guide has the last shift, after which the working day ends.

In addition to being accompanied by a guide around the museum, the package called “excursion” included a joint inspection of the territory. This whole event was supposed to take about 2 hours: 1 hour visiting the museum’s exhibition and 1 hour walking around the territory of the fortress.

The cost of the entire range of services cost me 400,000 Belarusian rubles (1,300 rubles or $20). These are entrance tickets to the museum + a guide for 2 hours.

As I already wrote above, there was no group, so for this money I had VIP service: we went with a guide together. And it was much more interesting than alone or in a tourist group. 🙂

• 40,000 – entrance tickets to the museum;
• 180,000 – museum tour;
• 180,000 – excursion around the complex.

If you take an audio guide from the museum, its cost will be 30,000 Belarusian rubles.

Where is it, how to get there

Brest Fortress is located in the city of Brest, Belarus (in its western part).

The map can be enlarged to better see the territory of the memorial complex.

The excursion to the Museum of the Defense of the Fortress along with a tour of the monuments located on the territory of the Citadel took a little less than 2 hours. After which I continued my leisurely self-examination. Together with an additional visit to the archaeological museum, which is located next to the fortress, I spent a little over 3 hours here.

Coordinates. The northern entrance to the complex is located here: 52.08983, 23.6579. After passing the gate, after 500 meters there will be a small parking lot on the right where you can leave your car.

Main entrance coordinates (with the Star): 52.08562, 23.66846. There is more spacious parking here, including for excursion buses.

The central entrance is more formal and beautiful, but entering through the northern gate allows you to leave the car closer to all the monuments of the “Defense of the Brest Fortress” complex and the museum. You can see and appreciate the central entrance a little later. 🙂

Distance by car Minsk-Brest - 350 km, Belovezhskaya Pushcha(Kamenyuki)-Brest (where my route today began) - 65 kilometers.

19.20. Result of the day: 129 km. Overnight in .

If you want to stay in this place longer, you can easily rent a hotel room in Brest or its environs through, and on the service you can choose accommodation in any area of ​​the city. During my trip to the Brest region, I stayed in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.

The map below shows other sights of Belarus that I was able to visit. You can see more details about each of them.

In February 1942, on one of the front sectors in the Orel region, our troops defeated the enemy’s 45th Infantry Division. At the same time, the archives of the division headquarters were captured. While sorting through the documents captured in the German archives, our officers noticed one very interesting paper. This document was called “Combat Report on the Occupation of Brest-Litovsk,” and in it, day after day, the Nazis talked about the progress of the battles for the Brest Fortress.

Contrary to the will of the German staff officers, who, naturally, tried in every possible way to extol the actions of their troops, all the facts presented in this document spoke of exceptional courage, amazing heroism, and extraordinary stamina and tenacity of the defenders of the Brest Fortress. The last concluding words of this report sounded like a forced involuntary recognition of the enemy.

“A stunning attack on a fortress in which a brave defender sits costs a lot of blood,” wrote enemy staff officers. “This simple truth was proven once again during the capture of the Brest Fortress. The Russians in Brest-Litovsk fought exceptionally persistently and tenaciously, they showed excellent infantry training and proved a remarkable will to resist.”

This was the enemy's confession.

This “Combat Report on the Occupation of Brest-Litovsk” was translated into Russian, and excerpts from it were published in 1942 in the newspaper “Red Star”. Thus, actually from the lips of our enemy, the Soviet people for the first time learned some details of the remarkable feat of the heroes of the Brest Fortress. The legend has become reality.

Two more years passed. In the summer of 1944, during a powerful offensive by our troops in Belarus, Brest was liberated. On July 28, 1944, Soviet soldiers entered the Brest Fortress for the first time after three years of fascist occupation.

Almost the entire fortress lay in ruins. Just by the appearance of these terrible ruins one could judge the strength and cruelty of the battles that took place here. These piles of ruins were full of stern grandeur, as if the unbroken spirit of the fallen fighters of 1941 still lived in them. The gloomy stones, in places already overgrown with grass and bushes, beaten and gouged by bullets and shrapnel, seemed to have absorbed the fire and blood of the past battle, and the people wandering among the ruins of the fortress involuntarily came to mind how much these stones and how much they could tell if a miracle happened and they were able to speak.

And a miracle happened! The stones suddenly started talking! Inscriptions left by the defenders of the fortress began to be found on the surviving walls of the fortress buildings, in the openings of windows and doors, on the vaults of the basements, and on the abutments of the bridge. In these inscriptions, sometimes anonymous, sometimes signed, sometimes scribbled hastily in pencil, sometimes simply scratched on the plaster with a bayonet or a bullet, the soldiers declared their determination to fight to the death, sent farewell greetings to the Motherland and comrades, and spoke of devotion to the people and the party. In the ruins of the fortress, the living voices of the unknown heroes of 1941 seemed to sound, and the soldiers of 1944 listened with excitement and heartache to these voices, in which there was a proud consciousness of duty performed, and the bitterness of parting with life, and calm courage in the face of death, and a covenant about revenge.

“There were five of us: Sedov, Grutov I., Bogolyubov, Mikhailov, Selivanov V. We took the first battle on June 22, 1941. We will die, but we will not leave!” - was written on the bricks of the outer wall near the Terespol Gate.

In the western part of the barracks, in one of the rooms, the following inscription was found: “There were three of us, it was difficult for us, but we did not lose heart and will die as heroes. July. 1941".

In the center of the fortress courtyard there is a dilapidated church-type building. There really was once a church here, and later, before the war, it was converted into a club for one of the regiments stationed in the fortress. In this club, on the site where the projectionist’s booth was located, an inscription was scratched on the plaster: “We were three Muscovites - Ivanov, Stepanchikov, Zhuntyaev, who defended this church, and we took an oath: we will die, but we will not leave here. July. 1941".

This inscription, along with the plaster, was removed from the wall and moved to the Central Museum of the Soviet Army in Moscow, where it is now kept. Below, on the same wall, there was another inscription, which, unfortunately, has not been preserved, and we know it only from the stories of the soldiers who served in the fortress in the first years after the war and who read it many times. This inscription was, as it were, a continuation of the first: “I was left alone, Stepanchikov and Zhuntyaev died. The Germans are in the church itself. There's only one grenade left, but I won't go down alive. Comrades, avenge us!” These words were apparently scratched out by the last of the three Muscovites - Ivanov.

It wasn't just the stones that spoke. As it turned out, the wives and children of the commanders who died in the battles for the fortress in 1941 lived in Brest and its environs. During the days of fighting, these women and children, caught in the fortress by the war, were in the basements of the barracks, sharing all the hardships of defense with their husbands and fathers. Now they shared their memories and told many interesting details of the memorable defense.

And then an amazing and strange contradiction emerged. The German document I was talking about stated that the fortress resisted for nine days and fell by July 1, 1941. Meanwhile, many women recalled that they were captured only on July 10, or even 15, and when the Nazis took them outside the fortress, fighting was still going on in certain areas of the defense, and there was intense firefight. Residents of Brest said that until the end of July or even until the first days of August, shooting was heard from the fortress, and the Nazis brought their wounded officers and soldiers from there to the city where their army hospital was located.

Thus, it became clear that the German report on the occupation of Brest-Litovsk contained a deliberate lie and that the headquarters of the enemy 45th division hastened to inform its high command in advance about the fall of the fortress. In fact, the fighting continued for a long time... In 1950, a researcher at the Moscow museum, while exploring the premises of the Western barracks, found another inscription scratched on the wall. The inscription was: “I’m dying, but I’m not giving up. Farewell, Motherland! There was no signature under these words, but at the bottom there was a very clearly visible date - “July 20, 1941.” Thus, it was possible to find direct evidence that the fortress continued to resist on the 29th day of the war, although eyewitnesses stood their ground and assured that the fighting lasted for more than a month. After the war, the ruins in the fortress were partially dismantled, and at the same time, the remains of heroes were often found under the stones, their personal documents and weapons were discovered.

Smirnov S.S. Brest Fortress. M., 1964

BREST FORTRESS

Built almost a century before the start of the Great Patriotic War (the construction of the main fortifications was completed by 1842), the fortress had long lost its strategic importance in the eyes of the military, since it was not considered capable of withstanding the onslaught of modern artillery. As a result, the facilities of the complex served, first of all, to accommodate personnel who, in the event of war, were supposed to hold the defense outside the fortress. At the same time, the plan for the creation of a fortified area, taking into account latest achievements in the field of fortification, as of June 22, 1941, had not been fully implemented.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the garrison of the fortress consisted mainly of units of the 6th and 42nd rifle divisions of the 28th rifle corps of the Red Army. But it has decreased significantly due to the participation of many military personnel in planned training events.

The German operation to capture the fortress was launched by a powerful artillery barrage, which destroyed a significant part of the buildings, destroying big number soldiers of the garrison and at first noticeably demoralized the survivors. The enemy quickly gained a foothold on the South and West Islands, and assault troops appeared on the Central Island, but failed to occupy the barracks in the Citadel. In the area of ​​the Terespol Gate, the Germans met a desperate counterattack by Soviet soldiers under the overall command of regimental commissar E.M. Fomina. The vanguard units of the 45th Wehrmacht Division suffered serious losses.

The time gained allowed the Soviet side to organize an orderly defense of the barracks. The Nazis were forced to remain in their occupied positions in the army club building, from where they could not get out for some time. Attempts to break through enemy reinforcements across the bridge over Mukhavets in the area of ​​the Kholm Gate on the Central Island were also stopped by fire.

In addition to the central part of the fortress, resistance gradually grew in other parts of the building complex (in particular, under the command of Major P.M. Gavrilov at the northern Kobrin fortification), and the dense buildings favored the garrison fighters. Because of it, the enemy could not conduct targeted artillery fire at close range without running the risk of being destroyed himself. Having only small arms and a small number of artillery pieces and armored vehicles, the defenders of the fortress stopped the enemy’s advance, and later, when the Germans carried out a tactical retreat, they occupied the positions abandoned by the enemy.

At the same time, despite the failure of the quick assault, on June 22, the Wehrmacht forces managed to take the entire fortress into the blockade ring. Before its establishment, up to half of the payroll of the units stationed in the complex managed to leave the fortress and occupy the lines prescribed by the defensive plans, according to some estimates. Taking into account the losses during the first day of defense, in the end the fortress was defended by about 3.5 thousand people blocked in its different parts. As a consequence, each of the large centers of resistance could only rely on material resources in its immediate vicinity. The command of the combined forces of the defenders was entrusted to Captain I.N. Zubachev, whose deputy was Regimental Commissar Fomin.

In the subsequent days of the defense of the fortress, the enemy persistently sought to occupy the Central Island, but met organized resistance from the Citadel garrison. Only on June 24 did the Germans manage to finally occupy the Terespol and Volyn fortifications on the Western and Southern islands. Artillery shelling of the Citadel alternated with air raids, during one of which a German fighter was shot down by rifle fire. The defenders of the fortress also destroyed at least four enemy tanks. It is known about the death of several more German tanks on improvised minefields installed by the Red Army.

The enemy used incendiary ammunition and tear gas(the besiegers had a regiment of heavy chemical mortars at their disposal).

No less dangerous for Soviet soldiers and the civilians with them (primarily the wives and children of officers) was the catastrophic shortage of food and drink. If the consumption of ammunition could be compensated by the surviving arsenals of the fortress and captured weapons, then the needs for water, food, medicine and dressings were satisfied at a minimum level. The fortress's water supply was destroyed, and manual water intake from Mukhavets and Bug was practically paralyzed by enemy fire. The situation was further complicated by the persistent intense heat.

At the initial stage of the defense, the idea of ​​​​breaking out of the fortress and connecting with the main forces was abandoned, since the command of the defenders was counting on a quick counterattack Soviet troops. When these calculations did not come true, attempts began to break the blockade, but they all ended in failure due to the overwhelming superiority of the Wehrmacht units in manpower and weapons.

By the beginning of July, after a particularly large-scale bombardment and artillery shelling, the enemy managed to capture the fortifications on the Central Island, thereby destroying the main center of resistance. From that moment on, the defense of the fortress lost its holistic and coordinated character, and the fight against the Nazis was continued by already disparate groups in different parts of the complex. The actions of these groups and individual fighters acquired more and more features of sabotage activity and continued in some cases until the end of July and even the beginning of August 1941. After the war, in the casemates of the Brest Fortress, the inscription “I am dying, but I do not give up. Goodbye Motherland. July 20, 1941"

Most of the surviving defenders of the garrison were captured by the Germans, where women and children were sent even before the end of organized defense. Commissioner Fomin was shot by the Germans, Captain Zubachev died in captivity, Major Gavrilov survived captivity and was transferred to the reserve during the post-war reduction of the army. The defense of the Brest Fortress (after the war it received the title of “hero fortress”) became a symbol of the courage and self-sacrifice of Soviet soldiers in the first, most tragic period of the war.

Astashin N.A. Brest Fortress // Great Patriotic War. Encyclopedia. /Ans. ed. Ak. A.O. Chubaryan. M., 2010.

The famous Brest Fortress has become synonymous with unbroken spirit and perseverance. During the Great Patriotic War, the elite forces of the Wehrmacht were forced to spend 8 full days, instead of the planned 8 hours. What motivated the defenders of the fortress and why this resistance played an important role in the overall picture of the Second World War.

Early in the morning of June 22, 1941, along the entire line Soviet border, from the Barents to the Black Sea, the offensive of German troops began. One of the many initial targets was the Brest Fortress - a small line in the Barbarossa plan. The Germans took only 8 hours to storm and capture it. Despite big name, this fortification, which was once the pride of the Russian Empire, turned into simple barracks and the Germans did not expect to encounter serious resistance there.

But the unexpected and desperate resistance that the Wehrmacht forces met in the fortress entered the history of the Great Patriotic War so vividly that today many believe that the Second World War began precisely with the attack on the Brest Fortress. But it could have happened that this feat would have remained unknown, but chance decreed otherwise.

History of the Brest Fortress

Where the Brest Fortress is located today, there used to be the city of Berestye, which was mentioned for the first time in the Tale of Bygone Years. Historians believe that this city originally grew up around a castle, the history of which is lost in the centuries. Located at the junction of Lithuanian, Polish and Russian lands, it has always played an important strategic role. The city was built on a cape formed by the Western Bug and Mukhovets rivers. In ancient times, rivers were the main communications routes for traders. Therefore, Berestye flourished economically. But the location on the border itself also entailed dangers. The city often moved from one state to another. It was repeatedly besieged and captured by Poles, Lithuanians, German knights, Swedes, Crimean Tatars and troops of the Russian kingdom.

Important fortification

The history of the modern Brest Fortress originates in imperial Russia. It was built by order of Emperor Nicholas I. The fortification was located at an important point - on the shortest land route from Warsaw to Moscow. At the confluence of two rivers - the Western Bug and Mukhavets there was a natural island, which became the site of the Citadel - the main fortification of the fortress. This building was a two-story building that housed 500 casemates. There could be 12 thousand people there at the same time. The two-meter thick walls reliably protected them from any weapons that existed in the 19th century.

Three more islands were created artificially, using the waters of the Mukhovets River and a man-made ditch system. Additional fortifications were located on them: Kobrin, Volyn and Terespol. This arrangement suited the commanders defending the fortress very much, because it reliably protected the Citadel from enemies. It was very difficult to break through to the main fortification, and bringing battering guns there was almost impossible. The first stone of the fortress was laid on June 1, 1836, and on April 26, 1842, the fortress standard soared above it in a solemn ceremony. It was one of the best at that time defensive structures in the country. Knowledge of the design features of this military fortification will help you understand how the defense of the Brest Fortress took place in 1941.

Time passed and weapons improved. Range artillery shooting everything increased. What was previously impregnable could now be destroyed without even getting close. Therefore, military engineers decided to build an additional line of defense, which was supposed to encircle the fortress at a distance of 9 km from the main fortification. It included artillery batteries, defensive barracks, two dozen strong points and 14 forts.

An unexpected find

February 1942 turned out to be cold. German troops were rushing deep into the Soviet Union. The Red Army soldiers tried to restrain their advance, but most often they had no choice but to continue to retreat deeper into the country. But they were not always defeated. And now, not far from Orel, the 45th Wehrmacht Infantry Division was completely defeated. It was even possible to capture documents from the headquarters archives. Among them they found a “Combat report on the occupation of Brest-Litovsk.”

The careful Germans, day after day, documented the events that took place during the protracted siege in the Brest Fortress. Staff officers had to explain the reasons for the delay. At the same time, as has always been the case in history, they tried their best to extol their own courage and downplay the merits of the enemy. But even in this light, the feat of the unbroken defenders of the Brest Fortress looked so bright that excerpts from this document were published in the Soviet publication “Red Star” to strengthen the spirit of both front-line soldiers and civilians. But history at that time had not yet revealed all its secrets. The Brest Fortress in 1941 suffered much more than the trials that became known from the documents found.

Word to the witnesses

Three years passed after the capture of the Brest Fortress. After heavy fighting, Belarus and, in particular, the Brest Fortress were recaptured from the Nazis. By that time, stories about her had practically become legends and an ode to courage. Therefore, there was immediately increased interest in this object. The powerful fortress lay in ruins. At first glance, traces of destruction from artillery strikes told experienced front-line soldiers what kind of hell the garrison located here had to face at the very beginning of the war.

A detailed overview of the ruins provided an even more complete picture. Literally dozens of messages from participants in the defense of the fortress were written and scrawled on the walls. Many boiled down to the message: “I’m dying, but I’m not giving up.” Some contained dates and surnames. Over time, eyewitnesses of those events were found. German newsreels and photo reports became available. Step by step, historians reconstructed the picture of the events that took place on June 22, 1941 in the battles for the Brest Fortress. The writings on the walls told about things that were not in the official reports. In the documents, the date of the fall of the fortress was July 1, 1941. But one of the inscriptions was dated July 20, 1941. This meant that resistance, albeit in the form partisan movement, lasted almost a month.

Defense of the Brest Fortress

By the time the fire of World War II broke out, the Brest Fortress was no longer a strategically important facility. But since it was inappropriate to neglect existing material resources, it was used as a barracks. The fortress turned into a small military town where the families of the commanders lived. Among the civilian population permanently residing in the territory were women, children and the elderly. About 300 families lived outside the walls of the fortress.

Due to military exercises planned for June 22, rifle and artillery units and senior army commanders left the fortress. 10 rifle battalions, 3 artillery regiments, air defense and anti-tank battalions left the territory. Less than half the usual number of people remained - approximately 8.5 thousand people. The national composition of the defenders would be a credit to any UN meeting. There were Belarusians, Ossetians, Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Tatars, Kalmyks, Georgians, Chechens and Russians. In total, among the defenders of the fortress there were representatives of thirty nationalities. 19 thousand well-trained soldiers, who had considerable experience of real battles in Europe, were approaching them.

Soldiers of the 45th Wehrmacht Infantry Division stormed the Brest Fortress. This was a special unit. It was the first to triumphantly enter Paris. Soldiers from this division traveled through Belgium, Holland and fought in Warsaw. They were considered practically the elite of the German army. The Forty-fifth Division always quickly and accurately carried out the tasks assigned to it. The Fuhrer himself singled her out from others. This is a division of the former Austrian army. It was formed in Hitler's homeland - in the district of Linz. Personal devotion to the Fuhrer was carefully cultivated in her. They are expected to win quickly, and they have no doubt about it.

Fully ready for a quick assault

The Germans had detailed plan Brest Fortress. After all, just a few years ago they had already conquered it from Poland. Then Brest was also attacked at the very beginning of the war. The assault on the Brest Fortress in 1939 lasted two weeks. It was then that the Brest Fortress was first subjected to aerial bombing. And on September 22, the whole of Brest was pompously handed over to the Red Army, in honor of which a joint parade of Red Army soldiers and the Wehrmacht was held.

Fortifications: 1 - Citadel; 2 - Kobrin fortification; 3 - Volyn fortification; 4 - Terespol fortification Objects: 1. Defensive barracks; 2. Barbicans; 3. White Palace; 4. Engineering management; 5. Barracks; 6. Club; 7. Dining room; 8. Brest Gate; 9. Kholm Gate; 10. Terespol Gate; 11. Brigid Gate. 12. Border post building; 13. Western Fort; 14. East Fort; 15. Barracks; 16. Residential buildings; 17. North-West Gate; 18. North Gate; 19. East Gate; 20. Powder magazines; 21. Brigid Prison; 22. Hospital; 23. Regimental school; 24. Hospital building; 25. Strengthening; 26. South Gate; 27. Barracks; 28. Garages; 30. Barracks.

Therefore, the advancing soldiers had all the necessary information and a diagram of the Brest Fortress. They knew about the strengths and weaknesses of fortifications, and had a clear plan of action. At dawn on June 22, everyone was in place. We installed mortar batteries and prepared assault troops. At 4:15 the Germans opened artillery fire. Everything was very clearly verified. Every four minutes the line of fire was moved 100 meters forward. The Germans carefully and methodically mowed down everything they could get their hands on. Detailed map The Brest Fortress served as an invaluable help in this.

The emphasis was placed primarily on surprise. The artillery bombardment was supposed to be short but massive. The enemy needed to be disoriented and not given the opportunity to provide united resistance. During the short attack, nine mortar batteries managed to fire 2,880 shots at the fortress. No one expected any serious resistance from the survivors. After all, in the fortress there were rear guards, repairmen, and families of commanders. As soon as the mortars died down, the assault began.

The attackers passed the South Island quickly. Warehouses were concentrated there, and there was a hospital. The soldiers did not stand on ceremony with bedridden patients - they finished them off with rifle butts. Those who could move independently were killed selectively.

But on the western island, where the Terespol fortification was located, the border guards managed to get their bearings and meet the enemy with dignity. But due to the fact that they were scattered into small groups, it was not possible to restrain the attackers for long. Through the Terespol Gate of the attacked Brest Fortress, the Germans broke into the Citadel. They quickly occupied some of the casemates, the officers' mess and the club.

First failures

At the same time, the newly-minted heroes of the Brest Fortress begin to gather in groups. They take out their weapons and take defensive positions. Now it turns out that the Germans who broke through find themselves in a ring. They are attacked from the rear, and yet undiscovered defenders await ahead. The Red Army soldiers purposefully shot officers among the attacking Germans. The infantrymen, discouraged by such a rebuff, try to retreat, but are then met with fire by the border guards. German losses in this attack amounted to almost half of the detachment. They retreat and settle in the club. This time as besieged.

Artillery cannot help the Nazis. It is impossible to open fire, since the probability of shooting your own people is too great. The Germans are trying to get through to their comrades stuck in the Citadel, but Soviet snipers force them to keep their distance with careful shots. The same snipers block the movement of machine guns, preventing them from being transferred to other positions.

By 7:30 in the morning, the seemingly shot fortress literally comes to life and completely comes to its senses. Defense has already been organized along the entire perimeter. The commanders hastily reorganize the surviving soldiers and place them in positions. Nobody has a complete picture of what is happening. But at this time, the fighters are sure that they just need to hold their positions. Hold out until help comes.

Complete isolation

The Red Army soldiers had no contact with the outside world. Messages sent over the air went unanswered. By noon the city was completely occupied by the Germans. The Brest Fortress on the map of Brest remained the only center of resistance. All escape routes were cut off. But contrary to the expectations of the Nazis, resistance only grew. It was absolutely clear that the attempt to capture the fortress had failed outright. The offensive stalled.

At 13:15, the German command throws the reserve into battle - the 133rd Infantry Regiment. This does not bring results. At 14:30, the commander of the 45th division, Fritz Schlieper, arrives at the German-occupied site of the Kobrin fortification to personally assess the situation. He becomes convinced that his infantry is not able to take the Citadel on its own. Shlieper gives the order at nightfall to withdraw the infantry and resume shelling from heavy guns. The heroic defense of the besieged Brest Fortress is bearing fruit. This is the first retreat of the famous 45th Division since the beginning of the war in Europe.

The Wehrmacht forces could not simply take and leave the fortress as it was. In order to move forward it was necessary to occupy it. The strategists knew this, and it has been proven by history. The defense of the Brest Fortress by the Poles in 1939 and the Russians in 1915 served as a good lesson for the Germans. The fortress blocked important crossings across the Western Bug River and access roads to both tank highways, which were crucial for the transfer of troops and provision of supplies to the advancing army.

According to the plans of the German command, troops aimed at Moscow were to march non-stop through Brest. German generals considered the fortress a serious obstacle, but simply did not consider it as a powerful defensive line. The desperate defense of the Brest Fortress in 1941 made adjustments to the plans of the aggressors. In addition, the defending Red Army soldiers did not just sit in the corners. Time after time they organized counterattacks. Losing people and rolling back to their positions, they rebuilt and went into battle again.

This is how the first day of the war passed. The next day, the Germans gathered the captured people, and, hiding behind women, children and the wounded from the captured hospital, they began to cross the bridge. Thus, the Germans forced the defenders to either let them through or shoot their relatives and friends with their own hands.

Meanwhile, artillery fire resumed. To help the besiegers, two super-heavy guns were delivered - 600 mm self-propelled mortars of the Karl system. It was such an exclusive weapon that they even had proper names. In total, only six such mortars were produced throughout history. The two-ton shells fired from these mastodons left craters 10 meters deep. They knocked down the towers at the Terespol Gate. In Europe, the mere appearance of such a “Charles” at the walls of a besieged city meant victory. The Brest Fortress, as long as the defense lasted, did not even give the enemy a reason to think about the possibility of surrender. The defenders continued to fire even when seriously wounded.

The first prisoners

However, at 10 am the Germans take the first break and offer to surrender. This continued during each of the subsequent breaks in the shooting. Insistent offers to surrender were heard from German loudspeakers throughout the entire area. This was supposed to undermine the morale of the Russians. This approach has brought certain results. On this day, about 1,900 people left the fortress with their hands raised. Among them there were a lot of women and children. But there were also military personnel. Mostly reservists who arrived for training camp.

The third day of defense began with artillery shelling, comparable in power to the first day of the war. The Nazis could not help but admit that the Russians were defending themselves courageously. But they did not understand the reasons that forced people to continue to resist. Brest was taken. There is nowhere to wait for help. However, initially no one planned to defend the fortress. In fact, this would even be a direct disobedience to the order, which stated that in the event of hostilities, the fortress was to be abandoned immediately.

The military personnel there simply did not have time to leave the facility. The narrow gate, which was the only exit then, was under targeted fire from the Germans. Those who failed to break through initially expected help from the Red Army. They didn't know that German tanks already in the center of Minsk.

Not all the women left the fortress, having heeded the exhortations to surrender. Many stayed to fight with their husbands. German attack aircraft even reported to the command about the women's battalion. However, there were never female units in the fortress.

Premature report

On the twenty-fourth of June, Hitler was informed about the capture of the Brest-Litovsk Fortress. That day, the stormtroopers managed to capture the Citadel. But the fortress has not yet surrendered. That evening, the surviving commanders gathered in the engineering barracks building. The result of the meeting is Order No. 1 - the only document of the besieged garrison. Because of the assault that had begun, they didn’t even have time to finish writing it. But it is thanks to him that we know the names of the commanders and the numbers of the fighting units.

After the fall of the Citadel, the eastern fort became the main center of resistance in the Brest Fortress. Stormtroopers try to take the Kobrin rampart repeatedly, but the artillerymen of the 98th anti-tank division firmly hold the defense. They knock out a couple of tanks and several armored vehicles. When the enemy destroys the cannons, the soldiers with rifles and grenades go into the casemates.

The Nazis combined assaults and shelling with psychological treatment. With the help of leaflets dropped from airplanes, the Germans call for surrender, promising life and humane treatment. They announce through loudspeakers that both Minsk and Smolensk have already been taken and there is no point in resistance. But the people in the fortress simply do not believe it. They are waiting for help from the Red Army.

The Germans were afraid to enter the casemates - the wounded continued to shoot. But they couldn’t get out either. Then the Germans decided to use flamethrowers. The terrible heat melted brick and metal. These stains can still be seen today on the walls of the casemates.

The Germans issue an ultimatum. It is carried to the surviving soldiers by a fourteen-year-old girl - Valya Zenkina, the daughter of the foreman, who was captured the day before. The ultimatum states that either the Brest Fortress surrenders down to the last defender, or the Germans will wipe the garrison off the face of the earth. But the girl did not return. She chose to stay in the fortress with her people.

Current problems

The period of the first shock passes, and the body begins to demand its own. People understand that they haven’t eaten anything all this time, and the food warehouses burned down during the very first shelling. Worse yet– Defenders have nothing to drink. During the first artillery shelling of the fortress, the water supply system was disabled. People suffer from thirst. The fortress was located at the confluence of two rivers, but it was impossible to reach this water. There are German machine guns along the banks of rivers and canals. The attempts of the besieged to get to the water are paid for with their lives.

The basements are overflowing with the wounded and families of command personnel. It is especially difficult for children. The commanders decide to send women and children into captivity. With white flags they go out into the street and go to the exit. These women did not remain in captivity for long. The Germans simply released them, and the women went either to Brest or to the nearest village.

On June 29, the Germans call in aviation. This was the date of the beginning of the end. Bombers drop several 500 kg bombs on the fort, but it survives and continues to snarl with fire. After lunch, another super-powerful bomb (1800 kg) was dropped. This time the casemates were penetrated through. Following this, stormtroopers burst into the fort. They managed to capture about 400 prisoners. Under heavy fire and constant assaults, the fortress held out for 8 days in 1941.

One for all

Major Pyotr Gavrilov, who led the main defense in this area, did not surrender. He took refuge in a hole dug in one of the casemates. The last defender of the Brest Fortress decided to wage his own war. Gavrilov wanted to take refuge in the northwestern corner of the fortress, where there were stables before the war. During the day he buries himself in a pile of manure, and at night he carefully crawls out to the canal to drink water. The major eats the remaining feed in the stable. However, after several days of such a diet, acute pain in the abdomen begins, Gavrilov quickly weakens and begins to fall into oblivion at times. Soon he is captured.

The world will learn much later how many days the defense of the Brest Fortress lasted. As well as the price the defenders had to pay. But the fortress began to become overgrown with legends almost immediately. One of the most popular ones originated from the words of one Jew, Zalman Stavsky, who worked as a violinist in a restaurant. He said that one day, while going to work, he was stopped German officer. Zalman was taken to the fortress and led to the entrance to the dungeon around which soldiers gathered, bristling with cocked rifles. Stavsky was ordered to go downstairs and take the Russian fighter out of there. He obeyed, and below he found a half-dead man, whose name remained unknown. Thin and overgrown, he could no longer move independently. Rumor attributed to him the title of the last defender. This happened in April 1942. 10 months have passed since the beginning of the war.

From the shadow of oblivion

A year after the first attack on the fortification, an article was written about this event in Red Star, where details of the soldiers’ protection were revealed. The Moscow Kremlin decided that it could raise the fighting fervor of the population, which had subsided by that time. It was not yet a real memorial article, but only a notification about what kind of heroes those 9 thousand people who came under the bombing were considered. Numbers and some names of the dead soldiers, the names of the fighters, the results of the surrender of the fortress and where the army was moving next were announced. In 1948, 7 years after the end of the battle, an article appeared in Ogonyok, which was more reminiscent of a memorial ode to the fallen people.

In fact, the presence of a complete picture of the defense of the Brest Fortress should be credited to Sergei Smirnov, who at one time set out to restore and organize the records previously stored in the archives. Konstantin Simonov took up the historian’s initiative and a drama, a documentary and a feature film were born under his leadership. Historians conducted research in order to get as much documentary footage as possible and they succeeded - the German soldiers were going to make a propaganda film about the victory, and therefore there was already video material. However, it was not destined to become a symbol of victory, so all the information was stored in archives.

Around the same time, the painting “To the Defenders of the Brest Fortress” was painted, and since the 1960s, poems began to appear where the Brest Fortress is presented as an ordinary city having fun. They were preparing for a skit based on Shakespeare, but did not suspect that another “tragedy” was brewing. Over time, songs have appeared in which, from the heights of the 21st century, a person looks at the hardships of soldiers a century earlier.

It is worth noting that it was not only Germany that carried out propaganda: propaganda speeches, films, posters encouraging action. The Russian Soviet authorities also did this, and therefore these films also had a patriotic character. The poetry glorified courage, the idea of ​​​​the feat of small military troops in the territory of the fortress, who were trapped. From time to time, notes appeared about the results of the defense of the Brest Fortress, but the emphasis was placed on the decisions of the soldiers in conditions of complete isolation from the command.

Soon, the Brest Fortress, already famous for its defense, had numerous poems, many of which were used as songs and served as screensavers for documentaries during the Great Patriotic War and chronicles of the advance of troops towards Moscow. In addition, there is a cartoon that tells the story of the Soviet people as foolish children (junior grades). In principle, the reason for the appearance of traitors and why there were so many saboteurs in Brest is explained to the viewer. But this is explained by the fact that the people believed the ideas of fascism, while sabotage attacks were not always carried out by traitors.

In 1965, the fortress was awarded the title of “hero”; in the media it was referred to exclusively as the “Brest Hero Fortress”, and by 1971 a memorial complex was formed. In 2004, Vladimir Beshanov published the full chronicle “Brest Fortress”.

History of the complex

The existence of the museum “The Fifth Fort of the Brest Fortress” is due to communist party, who proposed its creation on the 20th anniversary of the memory of the defense of the fortress. Funds had previously been collected by the people, and now all that remained was to get approval to turn the ruins into a cultural monument. The idea originated long before 1971 and, for example, back in 1965 the fortress received the “Hero Star”, and a year later a creative group was formed to design the museum.

She did extensive work, right down to specifying what kind of cladding the obelisk bayonet should have (titanium steel), the main color of the stone (gray) and the required material (concrete). The Council of Ministers agreed to implement the project and in 1971 a memorial complex was opened, where sculptural compositions are correctly and neatly arranged and battle sites are represented. Today they are visited by tourists from many countries around the world.

Location of monuments

The resulting complex has a main entrance, which is a concrete parallelepiped with a carved star. Polished to a shine, it stands on a rampart, on which, from a certain angle, the desolation of the barracks is especially striking. They are not so much abandoned as they are left in the condition in which they were used by the soldiers after the bombing. This contrast especially emphasizes the condition of the castle. On both sides there are casemates of the Eastern part of the fortress, and from the opening you can see central part. This is how the story begins that the Brest Fortress will tell the visitor.

A special feature of the Brest Fortress is the panorama. From the elevation you can see the citadel, the Mukhavets River, on the coast of which it is located, as well as the largest monuments. The sculptural composition “Thirst” is impressively made, glorifying the courage of the soldiers left without water. Since the water supply was destroyed in the first hours of the siege, the soldiers themselves needed drinking water, gave it to families, and used the remains to cool the guns. It is this difficulty that is meant when they say that the soldiers were ready to kill and walk over corpses for a sip of water.

The White Palace, depicted in the famous painting by Zaitsev, is surprising; in some places it was completely destroyed even before the bombing began. During the Second World War, the building served as a canteen, club and warehouse at the same time. Historically, it was in the palace that the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was signed, and according to myths, Trotsky left the famous slogan “no war, no peace”, imprinting it above the billiard table. However, the latter is not provable. During the construction of the museum, approximately 130 people were found killed near the palace, and the walls were damaged by potholes.

Together with the palace, the ceremonial area forms a single whole, and if we take into account the barracks, then all these buildings are entirely preserved ruins, untouched by archaeologists. The layout of the Brest Fortress memorial most often denotes the area with numbers, although it is quite extensive. In the center are slabs with the names of the defenders of the Brest Fortress, a list of which was restored, where the remains of more than 800 people are buried, and titles and merits are indicated next to the initials.

Most visited attractions

The Eternal Flame is located near the square, overlooked by the Main Monument. As the diagram shows, the Brest Fortress rings this place, making it a kind of core of the memorial complex. The Memory Post, organized under Soviet rule in 1972, has been serving next to the fire for many years. Young Army soldiers serve here, whose shift lasts 20 minutes and you can often get a shift change. The monument also deserves attention: it was made from reduced parts made from plaster at a local factory. Then they took impressions of them and enlarged them 7 times.

The engineering department is also part of the untouched ruins and is located inside the citadel, and the Mukhavets and Western Bug rivers make an island out of it. There was always a fighter in the Directorate who never stopped transmitting signals via the radio station. This is how the remains of one soldier were found: not far from the equipment, until his last breath, he did not stop trying to contact the command. In addition, during the First World War, the Engineering Directorate was only partially restored and was not a reliable shelter.

The garrison temple became an almost legendary place, which was one of the very last to be captured by enemy troops. Initially the temple served Orthodox Church However, by 1941 there was already a regiment club there. Since the building was very advantageous, it became the place for which both sides fought intensely: the club passed from commander to commander and only at the very end of the siege remained with the German soldiers. The temple building was restored several times, and only by 1960 was it included in the complex.

At the very Terespol Gate there is a monument to the “Heroes of the Border...”, created according to the idea of ​​the State Committee in Belarus. A member of the creative committee worked on the design of the monument, and construction cost 800 million rubles. The sculpture depicts three soldiers defending themselves from enemies invisible to the observer, and behind them are children and their mother giving precious water to a wounded soldier.

Underground tales

The attraction of the Brest Fortress are the dungeons, which have an almost mystical aura, and around them there are legends of different origins and content. However, whether they should be called such a big word still needs to be figured out. Many journalists made reports without first checking the information. In fact, many of the dungeons turned out to be manholes, several tens of meters long, not at all “from Poland to Belarus.” The human factor played a role: those who survived mention underground passages as something big, but often the stories cannot be confirmed by facts.

Often, before looking for ancient passages, you need to study the information, thoroughly study the archive and understand the photographs found in newspaper clippings. Why is it important? The fortress was built for certain purposes, and in some places these passages may simply not exist - they were not needed! But certain fortifications are worth paying attention to. The map of the Brest Fortress will help with this.

Fort

When constructing forts, it was taken into account that they should only support the infantry. So, in the minds of the builders, they looked like separate buildings that were well armed. The forts were supposed to protect the areas between themselves where the military were located, thus forming a single chain - a line of defense. In these distances between fortified forts, there was often a road hidden on the sides by an embankment. This mound could serve as walls, but not as a roof - there was nothing for it to support. However, researchers perceived and described it precisely as a dungeon.

The presence of underground passages as such is not only illogical, but also difficult to implement. The financial expenses that the command would incur were absolutely not justified by the benefits of these dungeons. Much more effort would have been spent on construction, but the passages could have been used from time to time. Such dungeons can be used, for example, only when the fortress was defended. Moreover, it was beneficial for the commanders for the fort to remain autonomous and not become part of a chain that provided only a temporary advantage.

There are certified written memoirs of the lieutenant, describing his retreat with the army through the dungeons, stretching in the Brest Fortress, according to him, 300 meters! But the story briefly talked about the matches that the soldiers used to illuminate the path, but the size of the passages described by the lieutenant speaks for itself: it is unlikely that they would have had enough such lighting for such a distance, and even taking into account the return journey.

Old communications in legends

The fortress had storm drains and sewers, which made it a real stronghold from an ordinary pile of buildings with large walls. It is these technical passages that can most correctly be called dungeons, since they are made as a smaller version of the catacombs: a network of narrow passages branched over a long distance can only allow one person of average build to pass through. A soldier with ammunition will not pass through such cracks, much less several people in a row. This is an ancient sewerage system, which, by the way, is located on the diagram of the Brest Fortress. A person could crawl along it to the point of blockage and clear it so that this branch of the highway could be used further.

There is also a gateway to help support required quantity water in the fortress moat. It was also perceived as a dungeon and took on the image of a fabulously large hole. Numerous other communications can be listed, but the meaning will not change and they can only be considered dungeons conditionally.

Ghosts taking revenge from the dungeons

After the fortification was surrendered to Germany, legends about cruel ghosts avenging their comrades began to be passed on from mouth to mouth. There was a real basis for such myths: the remnants of the regiment hid for a long time in underground communications and shot at the night watchmen. Soon, descriptions of ghosts that never missed began to frighten so much that the Germans wished each other to avoid meeting the Fraumit Automaton, one of the legendary avenging ghosts.

Upon the arrival of Hitler and Benito Mussolini, everyone’s hands were sweating in the Brest Fortress: if, while these two brilliant personalities pass by the caves, ghosts fly out of there, trouble will not be avoided. However, this, to the considerable relief of the soldiers, did not happen. At night, Frau did not stop committing atrocities. She attacked unexpectedly, always swiftly, and just as unexpectedly disappeared into the dungeons, as if she had disappeared into them. From the descriptions of the soldiers it followed that the woman had a dress torn in several places, tangled hair and a dirty face. Because of her hair, by the way, her middle name was “Kudlataya.”

The story had a real basis, since the wives of the commanders also came under siege. They were trained to shoot, and they did it masterfully, without a miss, because the GTO standards had to be passed. In addition, be in good physical shape and be able to handle various types weapons were held in high esteem, and therefore some woman, blinded by revenge for her loved ones, could well have carried out such a thing. One way or another, the Fraumit Automaton was not the only legend among German soldiers.