Pavlov’s House in Volgograd

On the banks of river Volga in the heart of modern-day Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, stands a four-story apartment building with a brick memorial attached to its front. The inscription on the memorial reads: In this building heroic feats of warfare and of labor fused together. We will defend / rebuild you, dear Stalingrad! This is the famous Pavlov’s House, named after Sergeant Yakov Pavlov, who led a small platoon of the Red Army against the superior German forces and defended this building for two months despite being vastly outnumbered. Photo credit: Insider/Wikimedia The 30-man Russian platoon of which Sergeant Yakov Pavlov was part, had received order to retake the apartment building the Germans had just captured. The house was strategically important for the war as it defended a key section of the Volga bank. It’s location perpendicular to the river gave whoever was in control of the house a kilometer-long unobstructed view to the north, south and west. On September 27, 1942, the Russian platoon successfully drove out the German invaders, but in the process lost most of its men including the platoon's lieutenant and senior sergeants. Only four soldiers survived and Sergeant Yakov Pavlov was left with the task of leading them. In the basement were trapped ten civilians who stayed there for the entire duration of the war. Pavlov and his men fended off German attack for several days before reinforcements and much needed supplies arrived. The platoon was now 25-men-strong and equipped with machine guns, anti-tank rifles, and mortars. To make communications possible Pavlov's soldiers tunneled through the basement wall and dug a trench to Soviet positions outside. Supplies were also brought in via the trench or by boats crossing the river, defying German air raids and shelling. Pavlov's House after the Battle of Stalingrad, 1943.