In the summer after the next anniversary of June 22, 1941, the number of publications about the Great Patriotic War sharply increases on the network and discussions about what it was: a great feat and a great victory or a severe catastrophe, from which the country barely got out and not "thanks to ... ", but "contrary to ...". The truth in such disputes is most often somewhere in the middle, but this is not the point now. I would venture to say that it is almost impossible to sort out these issues without leaving your computer. For those who want to understand what happened in those years, traveling to the places of battles, visiting museums, getting acquainted with documents and memories of direct participants in the events are mandatory things. Therefore, being in the city of military glory Staraya Russa, he set aside time to visit the Museum of the North-Western Front. Interest in the museum was also fueled by the fact that Staraya Russa was lost somewhere between Leningrad and Moscow, and the events of the great battles obscure what was happening on the “unfamous” section between the lake. Ilmen and the right flank of the Kalinin Front.

But first things first. In 1939, the USSR concludes a non-aggression pact with Germany. Foreign media portrayed this event something like this, and Nazi Germany continued to hatch plans for an attack on the USSR.

Therefore, when France capitulated in Europe and there was a danger of a 180-degree turn of the Nazi armies, the USSR decided to annex the Baltic countries. To protect the acquired territories, the Baltic Military District is being created. It is his troops with the outbreak of war that become the basis of the NWF. Map-scheme of NWF actions at the initial stage of the war.

On the map you can observe such events of the summer of 1941 as:

1) border battles, defense of naval bases in Libava and Ventspils;

2) defense at the turn of the river. Western Dvina;

3) defense at the turn of the old border (Pskov-Ostrovsky fortified area) with the simultaneous withdrawal of the 8th Army to Estonia and the formation of the Northern Front;

4) departure in the direction of the lake. Ilmen, counterattacks near Soltsy and Staraya Russa and the beginning of a long period of hostilities in the vicinity of the city.

Operational reports and photographs of the first war days.

In preparing the article, it seemed to me interesting to offer the reader. “The Fog of War”, in which the highly experienced Wehrmacht felt clearly better than the Red Army, but the recently circulated stories about the general collapse, breakthroughs, encirclements and tens of thousands of prisoners are somehow not observed ...

In July and August, German troops advance and finally capture Staraya Russa by the end of August. The most important events of these days were the counterattacks near Soltsy on July 15-18 ...

Erich von Manstein:

“It cannot be said that the position of the corps at that moment was very enviable. We must ask ourselves if we did not take too great a risk, underestimating the enemy on our southern flank under the influence of our previous successes? .. In the current situation, there was nothing left to do but withdraw the 8th TD through Soltsy in order to get away from those who threatened us ticks. The 3rd MD also had to temporarily break away from the enemy so that the corps could again gain freedom of action. The next few days were critical, and the enemy tried with all his might to maintain the encirclement ... Despite this, the 8th TD managed to break through the Soltsy to the west and re-join their forces. Yet for some time its supply was provided by air. The 3rd motorized division managed to break away from the enemy, only repelling 17 attacks ... "

Herman Goth:

“Thus, while the OKH was still hoping to deliver a decisive blow to Moscow at the end of August, Hitler again, under the influence of one failure of Army Group North, which had a local character, decided on August 15: “For Army Group Center, a further offensive stop on Moscow. From the composition of the 3rd Panzer Group, immediately transfer one tank corps (one tank and two motorized divisions) to Army Group North, since the offensive there threatens to bog down. What was the reason for such an unfavorable assessment of the situation in Army Group North?

One of the two corps of the 16th Army advancing south of Lake Ilmen to the east, namely the 10th Army Corps, was attacked by vastly superior Russian forces (eight divisions of the 34th Army) and pushed north to the lake. In response, the command of Army Group North, in an effort to alleviate the very difficult situation of the 10th Army Corps, decided to allocate one SS division and one motorized division for counterattack, which had previously taken part in the hostilities near Luga and in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bLake Ilmen ... Now On the other hand, Army Group Center was weakened by half of the tank group, and this at a time when it remained to take the last step towards achieving the goal of the operation, that is, to mastering Moscow.

Photos and documents related to this period.

Uniforms and weapons of the fighters of the opposing sides.

The occupation of Staraya Russa lasted more than two years, by the time of liberation in 1944 the city was almost completely destroyed. Immediately after the occupation, repressions began - a local photographer turned out to be a traitor and handed over to the Germans a long-term collection of photographic negatives for party and Komsomol tickets.

The bell in the picture was cast in Lübeck in 1672 for the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Mina (you can see it in my post “Staraya Russa in Winter”). Presumably, it was bought by Staraya Russa from Lübeck, with whom the city had maintained relations since the time of active trade relations between the Novgorod Republic and the Hanseatic League. During the occupation of Staraya Russa, the Germans discovered this bell and decided to take it to their historical homeland. For several decades the bell was kept in Lübeck, in 2001 it was returned to Staraya Russa and is now in the museum, as the church was damaged during the war and lost its bell tower.

The counteroffensive of the Red Army in the winter of 1942 (Toropetsko-Kholmskaya operation) led to the formation of the "Demyansky cauldron".

However, further attempts to destroy the encircled German divisions and liberate Staraya Russa for two years were unsuccessful. Both sides suffered significant losses. You can read more, for example,

The photographs of these years illustrate, among other things, the participation of representatives of different peoples of the USSR in the battles in the NWF.

And here are the things used by Soviet and German soldiers in between battles. Some things are unexpected...

A partisan movement unfolded in the occupied territories of the Leningrad, Velikoluksky and Kalinin regions. The huge Partisan region with an area of ​​10,000 sq. km, controlled by the 2nd partisan brigade of Nikolai Grigorievich Vasiliev, existed until October 1942. He diverted large forces of the Nazis from the front, and also became famous for sending a partisan convoy with food to the besieged Leningrad.

Reconstruction of a partisan dugout and artifacts.

The partisans were supported by scouts and underground fighters.

Heroes of the Soviet Union who fell on the North-Western Front and behind enemy lines. The older generation will probably see well-known names on the list.

Timur Mikhailovich Frunze - at the end of December 1941 he was assigned to the 161st Fighter Aviation Regiment. Since January 7, 1942, 161 IAP as part of the 57th mixed aviation division of the NWF participated in the Demyansk offensive operation. Frunze made 9 successful sorties: 4 to cover his airfield and 5 to cover ground troops in the area of ​​Staraya Russa. For three meetings with an air enemy in two battles, he personally shot down two and, together with a wingman, one enemy aircraft. January 19, 1942, while performing a combat mission to cover the troops, Frunze, paired with the flight commander and lead pair, Lieutenant Ivan Shutov, patrolling in the Staraya Russa area, found 30 bombers escorted by fighters. Having decided to attack, they shot down the Hs.126 spotter. In the ensuing battle with four Bf-109 and Me-115 fighters, one was shot down. Soon three more Me-115s joined the battle, and Shutov's plane was shot down. Covering the damaged plane of a comrade, Timur Frunze used up all the ammunition and was shot down. The car set on fire went into a tailspin and crashed into the ground 500 meters northwest of the village of Otvidino, Starorussky district.

Mikhail Semyonovich Kharchenko - participant in the Soviet-Finnish and World War II, commander of the machine-gun section of the Grozny partisan detachment of the 2nd Leningrad partisan brigade. From July 16, 1941 to March 15, 1942, in the battles in the Dedovichi area and the village of Gorodovets, he personally destroyed over a hundred invaders; together with other partisans captured large war trophies. In early April 1942, he led more than two hundred food carts through the rear of the enemy to the besieged Leningrad. He died a heroic death in battle on December 12, 1942.

Elizaveta Ivanovna Chaikina - secretary of the Penovsky district committee of the Komsomol, headed an underground youth organization, took an active part in the operations of a partisan detachment operating in the Velikoluksky and Kalinin regions. On November 22, 1941, Lisa Chaikina was sent to Peno to reconnoiter the size of the enemy garrison. On the way to Peno, she went to the Krasnoye Pokatische farm to her friend, scout Marusya Kuporova, where the headman noticed her and informed the Germans. The Germans broke into the Kuporovs' house, shot the family, and took Lisa Chaikina to Peno. Even under torture, she refused to reveal the whereabouts of the partisan detachment and was shot on November 23, 1941.

In October 1943, the NWF was abolished, and Staraya Russa was already liberated by the troops of the 2nd Baltic Front.

German awards and commemorative signs for the battles near Staraya Russa.

I do not remember the Soviet awards. There are for Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Kyiv and others, but this sector of the front has remained "unfamous". Our veterans received their awards or at least commemorative signs after many years.

One of the first museums of its kind in Russia was the Museum of the North-Western Front, which tells about the historical actions of the big front during the Great Patriotic War. The museum is located in the city of Staraya Russa, namely on Volodarsky Street. The museum presents an exposition that tells not only about the battles that took place on the old Russian land, but also about the occupation, about partisan and underground movements, about literally insurmountable difficulties on the way to the long-awaited victory. A distinctive feature of the museum collection was the presentation of the military theme from the humanistic positions. It is worth noting that all the materials presented reflect the war on both sides of the trenches. The museum presents a true picture of the Great Patriotic War, transferring to one of the military fronts, while presenting about one and a half thousand different museum exhibits.

An important place in the collection of the Museum of the North-Western Front is occupied by a large number of letters from the front. Not only researchers, but also museum visitors have the opportunity to independently trace all military events through the eyes of the participants. As you know, the war destroyed thousands of families, so only mail was available for the long-awaited message, which helped to find loved ones. Every day, up to a thousand postcards and letters came to the front.

One of the main themes of the museum exhibition was the subject of tragic resistance. Of particular interest to visitors are models of Soviet technology, weapons of those years, soldier's items, arrangement of a partisan dugout or underground apartment.

Materials relating to the life of the city of Staraya Russa can be found at the front-line exposition. It is in this section that you can learn in detail about the further fate of the later disbanded military North-Western Front, which happened at the final stage of the war. Here you can learn that the famous Victory Banner was erected over the defeated Reichstag by the soldiers of the 150th Infantry Division, formed near the city in the autumn of 1943. It was from this place and to the city of Berlin that the division began its journey, the length of which was 2640 km.

The museum has a Hall of Memory for the participants of the North-Western Front, which contains a unique exhibit, represented by a church bell, which was cast by master Benning Albert in the city of Lübeck in 1672. The bell was presented to the city by the great emperor Peter the Great. Soon the bell disappeared without a trace, but it was miraculously found in the dilapidated church bell tower of St. Mina in 1942, and on December 3 it was sent to Lübeck for further transfer to Staraya Russa. At first, the bell was located in the hospital of the Holy Spirit, after which it was sent to the museum of the small church of St. Catherine.

In 2001, Germany decided to hand over the bell to Staraya Russa. On the day of the arrival of the bell, the inhabitants of the city finally heard the ringing of the most valuable bell of all made by the hands of a European caster. The returned bell sounds great, and in its upper part there is a cut-out decoration, presented in the form of elegant lace, under which there is a signature in Latin. The diameter of the bell is 56 cm, height - 60 cm, weight - 110 kg.

In February 2011, the museum opened an exhibition entitled "Fulfilling military duty", which is dedicated to the memory of international soldiers, as well as successors to the front-line soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. This exhibition especially draws the attention of visitors to the tragedy of the Afghan war and the eternal memory of those killed in this war.

The exhibition is located in the large Hall of Memory of the North-Western Front. The exposition presents various documents, awards, photographs, congratulatory or gratitude letters to military personnel and relatives, which were collected by urban residents of the cities of Veliky Novgorod and Staraya Russa. In addition, there are personal belongings of participants in military operations, newspaper clippings, family albums, as well as Afghan leaflets.

Not far from the museum building there is a small observation platform, on which there is a T-26 light tank found in the Lovat River, near the village of Korovitchino, as well as several artillery pieces.

The Military Museum in Staraya Russa, opened in 1975 on the 30th anniversary of the Victory, became the first museum dedicated to the actions of the troops of the entire front. True, I don’t know why they decided to place such a museum in Staraya Russa, and not in Pskov or Novgorod, but in these cities with museums it’s so good, and Staraya Russa is a small city, and another museum dedicated to the history of those places where he is, looks very out of place here.

2. The museum building already shown in the post about the city. In the Soviet years, the museum was housed in the Resurrection Cathedral, which stands on the arrow of Posti and Porusya.

3. Near the museum there is a small exposition of military equipment in the open air. Particularly striking is the T-26 tank, which is rarely seen anywhere. This tank was raised from the bottom of the Lovat River in 1981 - apparently, in 1941 it fell through the ice. Interestingly, in Vyborg there is also a monument-tank T-26, raised from the bottom of the Vyborg Bay (it sank back in the Soviet-Finnish war).

4. But the ZIS-3 divisional cannon is very common on monuments.

5. Let's go inside now. As in any Military Museum, there are photographs, documents, awards, finds from the battlefields, and so on.

6. Good poster. The theme of the connection between generations is interestingly beaten.

7. Front letters and drawings:

Staraya Russa and its environs were the scene of heavy fighting from the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. German troops occupied Staraya Russa in early August 1941, but after a few days, units of the Red Army tried to counterattack the enemy. Although the attempted counterattack ended up being unsuccessful, part of the Wehrmacht forces were diverted from the attack on Leningrad. The Germans moved further east from Staraya Russa, occupied Demyansk, and in the autumn stopped near Valdai, which they failed to take. In January 1942, an attempt was made to counteroffensive in the North-West - Soviet troops broke through the front in the area between the lakes Ilmen and Seliger, the 1st shock army transferred from Moscow played a large role here. The forces of the Red Army, advancing from different sides, closed in pincers near Staraya Russa and thus blocked the Nazi troops in. Several divisions of the 16th German Army (including the SS division "Totenkopf") turned out to be in the cauldron, and this was the first case of the encirclement of German troops by the Soviets. In April 1942, the Germans managed to break out of the pocket and establish a corridor between Demyansk and Staraya Russa, where the headquarters of the 10th Army Corps of the Wehrmacht was located. Thus, the Demyansk cauldron turned into a ledge, which, however, was connected with the front line by a narrow, like a bottleneck, the Ramushevsky corridor.

8. The editorial of the Soviet newspaper of 1942, about the Ramushevsky corridor:

In general, the plan of the Soviet command regarding the Demyansk operation failed, but the Red Army gained important experience in encircling enemy units, and there is an opinion that without Demyansk and Kholm there would be no Stalingrad. And finally the Germans lost the Demyansk ledge a year later - in February 1943, when they left it because of the threat of a new environment.

9. The museum has a very interesting exhibit - Demyansky and Kholmsky shields - German award signs that were given to those who fought in the Demyansky boiler in the winter-spring of 1942 and participated in the defense of the Hill.

Starting from the breakthrough of the front in January 1942, Staraya Russa was a few kilometers from the front line for two years, and the Soviet troops repeatedly made attempts to capture the city during 1942 and 1943, but they did not succeed. A favorable situation for the Soviet offensive in this direction developed only at the end of January 1944, after the defeat of the 18th German army near Leningrad and the beginning of the offensive of the Leningrad Front towards Pskov. The position of the German troops south of Novgorod was very vulnerable, there was a threat of encirclement, therefore, under the onslaught of the advancing units of the Soviet 1st Shock Army, on February 18, 1944, the Germans left Staraya Russa without a fight. The Starorussko-Novorzhevskaya offensive operation began, as a result of which, two weeks later, German troops were thrown back to Pskov.

10. Map of the offensive of Soviet troops on Staraya Russa in February 1944:

11. So in the end, as you know, everything turned out like this:

In general, I would like to visit more battlefields in this region. It is especially interesting to visit Ramushevo and Molvotitsy, where battles took place near the Demyansk pocket (the first is the German corridor from the encircled units to Staraya Russa, the second is the place where the Demyansk pocket was closed by Soviet troops from the south side in January 1942). God willing, I will make trips there as well.

12. German watercolor drawings with views of Staraya Russa. What kind of church on the right, I, frankly, could not determine.

13. Personal belongings, photographs, awards... By the way, there are also German awards.

14. Soviet leaflets for German soldiers. On the right is a prisoner's pass.

15. Naturally, you can see both military uniforms and weapons in the museum. Here, for example, is a Soviet winter camouflage coat. And weapons: on the left is a PPSh assault rifle, on the right is a Mosin rifle.

16. True, this showcase surprised me more. In the background is the same PPSh, but in the foreground is the Finnish Suomi submachine gun. Apparently, one of the Finnish volunteers fought in these places, otherwise I don’t know where else he could come from here. In the very background, by the way, hang rifles. And on the left you can see a German Mauser rifle.

17. With weapons, there is such a separate corner. Above, by the way, is a panoramic photograph of Staraya Russa. Taken, as I understand it, by the Germans (at first I thought that this was a Soviet photograph taken immediately after the liberation, but then I remembered that it was in February, and the river was without ice in the photo). Although it may be that this is a Soviet photo of the summer of 1944.

18. And here is how PPSh was made. It was simple in design and could be stamped by unskilled workers.

21. Showcase dedicated to captivity:

22. Showcase with gifts for soldiers. The book was especially interesting.

23. Oath to the Soviet Union in the Tatar language:

24. General view. Everything is nicely arranged here. There were few people at the time of my visit, and the museum left the impression of a rather cozy one.

25. There is a separate showcase with models of military equipment:

26. Here, including the T-26 tank - the one that stands in the open air near the museum:

27. And this is a unique exhibit of the museum. The church bell, cast in the German city of Lübeck in 1672, was located on the bell tower of the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Mina in Staraya Russa (pictured 45). Presumably, it was bought by Staraya Russa from Lübeck, with whom the city had maintained relations since the time of active trade relations between the Novgorod Republic and the Hanseatic League. But during the occupation of Staraya Russa in 1941-1944, the Germans discovered this bell and decided to take it to their historical homeland. For several decades the bell was kept in Germany, but in 2001 it was returned to Staraya Russa and is now kept in the Museum of the North-Western Front.

After that, I went to the second hall of the museum, which is dedicated to the other side of the war near Staraya Russa - the local partisan movement. And in 1941, it coordinated its actions so successfully that behind enemy lines it was possible to form a whole partisan region - a vast territory of 10 thousand square kilometers between Staraya Russa, Kholm, Loknya and Dedovichi, liberated from the invaders. The native nature itself helped the partisans - huge swamps, impenetrable forests and impassable roads for a long time did not give the Germans the opportunity to destroy the partisan region. Meanwhile, during 1942, the partisans managed to carry out several successful acts of sabotage, including stabbing the Germans in the back in Kholm in January 1942, when Soviet troops were stationed at the outskirts of the city. In the autumn of 1942, however, the Germans succeeded in crushing partisan resistance. Even before the defeat of the partisan region, some of the fighters managed to retreat in order to avoid encirclement.

29. In the foreground - automatic PPD-40:

30. In the hall dedicated to the partisan movement, there are two such corners. One of them depicts, apparently, an ordinary Soviet interior of the early 1940s.

31. And the other - a partisan dugout.

32. There is also a map of the partisan region:

33. And finally - these are the words of the chief of staff of the ground forces of the Third Reich, Franz Halder. It's scary, but you need to know. This is what the Red Army saved us from.

34. The museum as a whole is well organized. It is especially not burdened with any excesses and shows the military history of the local region quite versatile and interesting.