1. I wanted to write about the Hero Cities of the USSR, the list includes twelve cities and one fortress. The blow of the prepared and well-armed German army that hit our country in June 1941 was powerful and crushing. Soviet cities stood in the way of the enemy's advance, the inhabitants of which, together with the regular army, waged a heroic exhausting struggle against the almost always superior forces of the Nazis.

   In Moscow, in the Alexander Garden near the Kremlin walls, next to the Eternal Flame and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, there are granite slabs - symbols of twelve Hero Cities and one Hero Fortress. A star and a vessel with earth, which was brought from heroic cities, are built into the slab.

   What is a hero city? This is the highest degree of distinction, which was awarded to those cities of the Soviet Union, whose citizens showed mass heroism and courage in defending our country during the Great Patriotic War. Cities - Heroes were awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. These awards were depicted on city banners.

   The first cities awarded the honorary title of "Hero City" on May 08, 1965, in honor of the twentieth anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, were Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Kyiv, Volgograd (Stalingrad), Sevastopol, Odessa , Moscow, Brest Fortress.

   
   

2. How many Hero Cities were in the USSR, list:

   1. Hero City Leningrad (St. Petersburg) received this title on May 8, 1965.
   The Germans wanted to wipe Leningrad off the face of the earth, and exterminate the population. Leningraders, who were under blockade for almost 900 days during the war (from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944), showed incredible heroism and courage. At the same time, the inhabitants managed to keep the city and help the front. From air raids, bombs, shell explosions, disease and starvation, about two million Leningraders died. Numerous memorial structures have been erected in our "northern" capital in memory of this time. On Victory Square in honor of the defenders of Leningrad. And the "broken" bronze ring, being a part of the monument, became a symbol of breaking the blockade.

   2. The title of "Hero City" Odessa received May 8, 1965.
   During the war, Odessa fought against the superior forces of the Nazis for seventy-three days. All this time, eighteen Nazi divisions were pinned down near the city walls. For the capture of Odessa, the Germans allocated forces that were five times greater than the number of defenders of the city. On August 13, 1941, the city was completely blocked by land. Everyone united to protect the city. The Germans blocked the water station, which supplied the city with drinking water. But the inhabitants began to dig wells, the stony land gave little water, its consumption was taken into account according to the cards. There were not enough tanks - abandoned German tanks were pulled from the battlefield and stars were painted instead of crosses, and they went into battle on these tanks. But, in spite of everything, the enemy could not break the resistance of the city's defenders. After the capture of the city by the Germans in October 1941, a partisan war began: the partisans settled in the uncaptured part of the city, in the catacombs. During the occupation, tens of thousands of Odessa civilians were executed, most of them Jews. Soviet troops liberated Odessa on April 10, 1944.

   Sevastopol began to be bombed from the very first day of the war. The German army invaded the Crimea, after which the defense of Sevastopol began, which lasted two hundred and fifty days (from October 30, 1941 to July 4, 1942). The whole way of city life was rebuilt on a military basis, Sevastopol events worked for the needs of the front, and a powerful partisan movement was deployed near Sevastopol. On July 9, Soviet troops left Sevastopol; before that, the garrison had fiercely defended itself for two weeks against the enemy forces, which were superior in number and in military equipment. But exactly one year before the Great Victory, on May 9, 1944, Soviet troops liberated Sevastopol.

   4. Volgograd (during the war - Stalingrad) became the "Hero City" on May 8, 1965.
   Stalingrad (now Volgograd) is a city that has become a household name when talking about a turning point in any military campaign.

   The incredible efforts of the heroes of the army and ordinary people in Stalingrad changed the course of that terrible war. The Nazis launched a massive offensive on the southern front, they sought to capture the Caucasus, the lower reaches of the Volga and the Kuban, where the most fertile lands in our country are concentrated. The Germans did not expect such a "cauldron" and did not believe until the very end that it had happened. The formations of the Wehrmacht were defeated by the Soviet troops, and the commander Paulus was captured. The defense of Stalingrad lasted 200 days. There were fights for every street, for every house. Almost fifty thousand people signed up for the people's militia alone - ordinary residents of the city. And the factories of the city continued to work and produce what was necessary for the front. The losses among the fighters were huge. The battle of Stalingrad became one of the bloodiest in the history of mankind! I remember the figure: German aircraft dropped one million bombs weighing one hundred thousand tons on Stalingrad! And it is impossible to establish the exact number of dead residents of the city, the damage caused to the city was enormous, more than eighty percent of the housing stock was destroyed. The famous Mamaev Kurgan and the Motherland sculpture towering on it are a grandiose monument-reminder of the heroic defense of Volgograd.

   5. The city of Kyiv was awarded the title of "Hero City" on May 8, 1965.
   Kyiv entered the war almost from its first day. Already in early July 1941, fighting began on the outskirts of the city. The defending Soviet armies fought grueling battles, militia detachments were created in the city. Their joint actions and the efforts of ordinary residents of the city delayed parts of the Germans for almost two months, during which large enterprises of the city and part of its inhabitants were evacuated. The Germans, after a long resistance from the defenders of Kyiv, were forced to withdraw part of the troops from the Moscow direction and transfer them to Kyiv. In general, the defense of Kyiv lasted seventy days. But in September 1941, the Soviet troops were forced to retreat. A brutal regime of occupation of the city began, some of the inhabitants were destroyed, some were sent to work in Germany. In the north-west of Kyiv, the Germans created the Syrets concentration camp (Babi Yar), where they shot more than a hundred thousand residents of Kyiv and prisoners of war. On November 6, 1943, the city of Kyiv was liberated by the Red Army.

   6. Moscow was awarded the Hero City title on May 8, 1965.
   Our capital received the title of "Hero City" in 1941-42. The Germans concentrated colossal forces for this operation - 77 divisions, 1700 tanks, more than a million personnel. The capture of Moscow for the Germans would be comparable to a complete victory over the Soviet Union. But the forces of the whole country carried out a common task - to defend Moscow: kilometers of dug trenches, defensive fortifications, millions of lives ... On December 5, 1941, the Soviet Army was able to push the enemy back from Moscow and go on the offensive, the myth of the "invincible" army of the Nazis collapsed. This was the beginning of a revolution in the course of the war, faith in victory became stronger. Such an outcome of the battle for Moscow cost almost two and a half million lives of our citizens. according to the original project, it was dedicated to the defenders of Moscow, but now it is one of the main monuments to all the soldiers of that war.

   Last Edit: Feb 18, 2017

   
   

   7. Novorossiysk bears the title of "Hero City" since September 14, 1973.

   Novorossiysk became a new target for the Nazis after their plans for an operation in the Caucasus were thwarted. From the capture of Novorossiysk, the Germans wanted to start advancing along the southern part of the Black Sea coast. It was assumed that through the "sea gate" - the city of Novorossiysk - the Germans would supply weapons, tanks and fresh forces, and export grain, non-ferrous metals, natural resources, and timber from the territory of the Soviet Union. Statistics compares the inequality of forces: 10 Germans fought against one Soviet tank, 8 Germans fought against 1 Soviet aircraft, for every nine Red Army soldiers there were fifteen soldiers of the Nazi army. The battle for Novorossiysk lasted two hundred and twenty-five days. Over ninety percent of the city was destroyed. The exploits of the marines who courageously defended the city, the paratroopers who boldly entered from the sea and stunned the enemy, and the motorized riflemen who broke through the defenses from land will forever go down in history.

   Tula bravely defended from October 24 to December 5, 1941. The rapid movement from the city of Orel taken almost immediately to Tula was part of the German operation to quickly advance towards Moscow. The Germans managed to capture Oryol so quickly that, according to the memoirs, "tanks entered the city when trams were peacefully running there." Among those who defended the city were one and a half thousand working regiment and the NKVD regiment, created from police officers to protect defense plants. Up to several thousand people worked daily at the construction of defense structures, most of whom were women. In addition, work was underway to evacuate defense plants from Tula. The city of gunsmiths was under siege, constantly subjected to shelling and tank attacks, but did not surrender to the Germans. Tula survived those harsh days, being under siege and constantly exposed to shelling and air raids. Of great importance in holding the city belongs to the partisan detachments operating near Tula. The Red Army, holding Tula, did not allow the Wehrmacht troops to make a breakthrough to Moscow from the south. This victory was given at a difficult price... And every third Tula, who went to the front, did not return from the war.

   9. Kerch received the title of "Hero City" on the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Crimea on September 14, 1973. The city of Kerch was captured by the Germans in November 1941, and at the very end of December of the same 1941, the city was liberated by the troops of the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov Flotilla. But in May 1942, the Germans again launched an attack on Kerch, concentrating large forces on the Kerch Peninsula.The fighting was fierce, Kerch was again occupied by the Nazis.A heroic struggle for Kerch began.In the Adzhimushkay quarries, where it is damp and hard to breathe, partisans strengthened.They defended themselves to the last bullet, starved and died of wounds right there, in the damp and dark quarries. According to some reports, there were up to fifteen thousand people in the Adzhimushkay quarries. is inside, slowly and painfully suffocated from lack of air.But the defenders came up with different ways to find a way out of this situation: grief The sticks were thrown into sand containers, and the walls were treated to make them gas-tight. But the main problem for those who lived and defended themselves in the quarries was water, or rather, its absence. People collected water drop by drop, even extracted it from damp walls. And when the Germans heard a knock, they understood that they were looking for water in the quarries, they were digging something like wells, wells. The Germans immediately blew up this place.

   10. Minsk bears the title of "Hero City" since June 26, 1974.
   Minsk - the capital of today's state of Belarus - was captured by the Germans on the sixth day of the war. And from the very first day, endless German air raids began. The occupation of Minsk continued for three years, the city was turned into ruins: factories, factories, power plants, almost eighty percent of residential buildings were destroyed. Despite the most severe terror, a powerful underground operated on the territory of Minsk and the region, and the Minsk region became the center of the partisan patriotic movement. Now the Independence Day of Belarus is celebrated on July 03. This memorable date, on this day, July 3, 1944, Minsk was liberated by Soviet troops. Minsk received the honorary title of "Hero City" in 1974. One of the main symbols of the valor of Soviet soldiers was at the site of the encirclement of a hundred thousandth enemy group ("Minsk Cauldron").

   Smolensk became a powerful barrier on the way of the aggressive German army to Moscow. In the Smolensk-Moscow direction, the German army group "Center", powerfully equipped with tanks and aircraft, operated. The incredible stubbornness of the Soviet troops near Smolensk for the first time stopped the strong German army, which had only been advancing since 1939. The heroic defense of Smolensk, where women and children stood along with men, amazed the German generals. The Smolensk region suffered greatly during the war. The Germans took the city, but Smolensk did not submit. During the period of fascist occupation, numerous underground associations and partisan detachments operated on the territory of Smolensk and the region. For two years and three months the Smolensk region was under occupation. Already retreating, the Nazis decided to wipe Smolensk off the face of the earth, but the Soviet troops prevented these plans. At the same time, thousands of explosive objects and bombs with a delayed action mechanism, which the Germans planted during the retreat, were neutralized in the city. Smolensk after the liberation was included in the list of fifteen cities subject to priority restoration.

   12. Murmansk received the title of "Hero City" on May 6, 1985.
   The capture of Murmansk was of great importance to the Germans. This is the northern ice-free port, and the railway to Leningrad, from here the Northern Sea Route began and the Soviet Navy base was located here. Plus, Murmansk is a rich natural region, with a lot of wealth, among which the Germans were especially interested in nickel for smelting high-strength steel. The 27,000-strong German corps with tanks and powerful artillery was opposed by a 12,000-strong group of border guards, whose main armament was a rifle. The Germans determined only a few days in order to overcome the distance from the Kola Peninsula to reach Murmansk. The border guards got the most, they fought to the last bullet. The Germans recalled that only machine-gun bursts were heard in response to the offer to surrender. Stubborn resistance awaited the Germans on the outskirts of Murmansk. There were fights for every meter of land, for every hill. The steadfastness and courage of Soviet soldiers, officers, sailors thrice thwarted the attack on the city. There were many northerners and residents of Murmansk in the ranks of the Marine Corps. At a time when danger loomed over their hometown, many of them wrote reports about being written off to land to protect their native land. Murmansk fought heroically - in the trenches and on the streets, on port berths and ship decks. The enemy's strike forces were paralyzed, the state border was held. German officers had to explain themselves in Berlin for failures in the Arctic, from a number of reasons they singled out difficult terrain conditions, bad roads and the incredible stamina and heroism of the Soviet people. In Murmansk there is a memorial "To the Defenders of the Soviet Arctic during the war years", a monument to a soldier in a raincoat and with a machine gun, he is also called "Alyosha".

   • The Brest Fortress received the title of "Fortress-Hero" on May 8, 1965.

   In just six weeks, the Germans planned to reach Moscow after the start of the war ... The garrison of the Brest Fortress was taken by surprise in the early morning, on the first day of the war, on June 22, 1941. A powerful assault began. The heroic struggle of the fortress garrison continued for more than a month. The enemy was shocked by the dedication of the defenders of the fortress. The Germans were forced to detain large military forces near Brest. And at that time, the most important thing was to gain time and delay the advance of the enemy inland. The forum is in the very first days of the war.

   Last Edit: Feb 18, 2017

   
   

   , thanks for the very interesting detailed material. I learned a lot of new things for myself. How exactly did the hero cities of the USSR defend, the list that you provided here. My grandfather fought in the Brest Fortress, who was taken prisoner and sent to, from where he managed to escape.

   In Volgograd, I was on an excursion when I was still at school. The Motherland Memorial made an indelible impression on me even when I was a little boy. I remember how you ride a train to Volgograd and the “Motherland” towers, a sense of pride in your country overwhelmed. What can I say, all the cities of the heroes of the USSR deservedly made it to the list.

   
   

   , I have not been to Volgograd, I also want to see the Motherland and show it to the children.

   When preparing this material, I learned a lot of new things for myself.
   For example, the beginning of the war, the Smolensk region, a military unit under the command of Flerov (the surname, you see, is not particularly "on hearing", and yet). The Germans, well-fed, confident, go to Moscow, set themselves deadlines for conquest ... and here - such resistance. The people, the "mysterious Russian people" fight like a beast. Reckless and furious. So the Germans somehow surrounded Flerov's unit and think, that's it, we offer to surrender. And in response - from the encirclement they fired simultaneously from all the guns at the Germans. Everyone flew into the air, both Germans and Russians. The Germans could not recover from such "behavior" for a long time ...
   This was only the beginning, there were many "surprises" ahead about the fearlessness of Soviet soldiers.

Honorary titles were awarded to 12 cities of the former Soviet Union and the Brest Fortress.

For the first time at the national level, the concept of "hero city" appeared in the editorial of the newspaper " Truth" dated December 24, 1942 It was dedicated to the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the establishment of medals for defense Leningrad, Stalingrad, Odessa and Sevastopol. In official documents, for the first time Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Sevastopol and Odessa were named "hero cities" - in the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Joseph Stalin dated May 1, 1945. It spoke about the organization of fireworks in these cities.


June 21, 1961 in the decrees of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR " About city awards Kyiv Order of Lenin" and " On the establishment of the medal "For the Defense of Kyiv""The capital of Ukraine was named a "hero city".

On May 8, 1965, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (SC) of the USSR approved the regulation on the honorary title of "hero city". The main criterion according to which the cities received this status was the historical assessment of the contribution of their defenders to the victory over the enemy. " Hero Cities" became the centers of the largest battles of the Great Patriotic War (for example, the battle for Leningrad, the Battle of Stalingrad, etc.), cities, the defense of which determined the victory of the Soviet troops in the main strategic directions of the front.

In addition, this status was given to cities whose inhabitants continued to fight the enemy in the occupation. According to the law, the "hero cities" were awarded the Order of Lenin, the Gold Star medal, and a diploma from the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces. In addition, obelisks were installed in them with the text of the decree on conferring an honorary title, as well as with the image of the awards received.
On May 8, 1965, five decrees of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces were issued on the presentation of awards to the "hero cities" of Leningrad, Volgograd, Kyiv, Sevastopol, and Odessa. On the same day Moscow was awarded the honorary title of "hero city", and Brest Fortress- "fortress-hero" with the award of the orders of Lenin and the medal "Gold Star".
September 14, 1973 received the title Kerch and Novorossiysk, June 26, 1974 - Minsk, December 7, 1976 - Tula, May 6, 1985 - Murmansk and Smolensk.

Total honorary titles were awarded 12 cities of the former Soviet Union and the Brest Fortress.
In 1988 year, the practice of conferring the title was discontinued by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
*
New honorary title - "City of Military Glory",
was established on May 9, 2006 by a federal law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It is assigned cities, " on the territory of which or in the immediate vicinity of which, during fierce battles, the defenders of the Fatherland showed courage, steadfastness and mass heroism, including cities that were awarded the title of "hero city ". Currently in Russia 45 cities have the honorary title "City of Military Glory".

In Moscow, in the Alexander Garden near the Kremlin wall, near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, there is a granite alley of hero cities. There are 12 porphyry blocks here, each of which bears the name of one of the hero cities and a chased image of the Gold Star medal.
Capsules with earth from the Piskarevsky cemetery in Leningrad and Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, from the foot of the walls of the Brest Fortress and the obelisk of Glory of the defenders of Kyiv, from the defense lines of Odessa and Novorossiysk, from Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol and Victory Square in Minsk, from Mount Mithridates near Kerch, defensive positions near Tula, Murmansk and Smolensk.

On November 17, 2009, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which the granite alley of hero cities near the Kremlin wall was included in the National Memorial of Military Glory, along with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a memorial sign in honor of cities awarded the honorary title "City of Military Glory".

List of hero cities in World War II

The honorary title "Hero City" was awarded by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to those cities of the Soviet Union, whose inhabitants showed mass heroism and courage in defending the Motherland during the Great Patriotic War. Here is a list of hero cities, indicating the year in which this title was awarded:

Leningrad (St. Petersburg) - 1945 *;

Stalingrad (Volgograd) - 1945 *;

Sevastopol -1945*;

Odessa - 1945*;

Kyiv -1965;

Moscow -1965;

Brest (fortress-hero) -1965;

Kerch - 1973;

Novorossiysk -1973;

Minsk -1974;

Tula -1976;

Murmansk -1985;

Smolensk -1985.

* Leningrad, Stalingrad, Sevastopol and Odessa were named hero cities in the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of May 1, 1945, however, this title was officially assigned to them in the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on approval of the Regulations on the honorary title of "Hero City" dated 8 May 1965.

The city, awarded the highest degree of distinction "Hero City", was awarded the highest award of the Soviet Union - the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal, which were then depicted on the banner of the city.

Hero City Moscow

Among the 13 Hero Cities of the Soviet Union, the Hero City of Moscow occupies a special place. It was in the battle near the Soviet capital that the whole world saw the first defeat in history of the impeccably well-oiled military machine of the III Reich. It was here that a battle of colossal proportions took place, the equal of which world history did not know before or after, and it was here that the Soviet people demonstrated the highest degree of courage and heroism that shocked the world.

On May 8, 1965, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR established the Honorary title "Hero City", and on the same day Moscow (along with Kyiv and the Brest Fortress) was honored to be awarded a new high title. As all domestic and foreign military historians rightly point out, the defeat near the capital of the Soviet Union broke the morale of the German army, for the first time with obvious force exposed discord and contradictions in the top Nazi leadership, instilled hope in the oppressed peoples of Europe in an early liberation, and intensified national liberation movements in all European countries...

The Soviet leadership highly appreciated the contribution of the defenders of the city to the defeat of the fascist monster: the medal "For the Defense of Moscow", established on May 1, 1944, was awarded to more than 1 million soldiers, workers and employees who took part in this historical event of a grandiose scale.

In memory of those events filled with unprecedented heroism, in 1977 a memorial obelisk "Moscow - the Hero City" was solemnly opened; the memory of the fallen heroes is immortalized in the names of avenues and streets, in monuments and memorial plaques, the ever-extinguishing Eternal Flame burns in honor of the dead ...

For its unparalleled feat, the city was awarded the highest award of the Soviet Union - the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

Hero City Leningrad

Among the 13 hero cities of the Soviet Union, Leningrad stands in a special place - it is the only city that survived almost a 3-year blockade (872 days), but never surrendered to the enemies. For Hitler, who dreamed of completely destroying and wiping the city on the Neva off the face of the earth, the capture of Leningrad was both a matter of personal prestige and the prestige of the entire German army as a whole; that is why directives were issued to the German troops besieging the city, stating that the capture of the city is the "military and political prestige" of the Wehrmacht. Thanks to the unsurpassed courage of the inhabitants and participants in the defense of the city, this prestige was lost in 1944, when the invaders were driven back from Leningrad, and finally crushed by Soviet troops on the ruins of the Reichstag in May 45th ...

The inhabitants of the city and the defenders paid a terrible price for holding the city: according to various estimates, the death toll is estimated from 300 thousand to 1.5 million people. At the Nuremberg trials, a figure of 632 thousand people was named, of which only 3% died as a result of hostilities; the remaining 97% starved to death. At the peak of the famine, which occurred in November 1941, the norm for issuing bread was 125 grams (!!!) per person per day. Despite the colossal mortality, severe frosts, the extreme exhaustion of the troops and the population, the city still survived.

In commemoration of the merits of the townspeople, soldiers and sailors of the Red Army and the Navy, partisan formations and people's squads that defended the city, it was Leningrad that was given the right to fireworks in honor of the complete lifting of the blockade, the order for which was signed by Marshal Govorov, who was entrusted with this right Stalin personally. Such an honor was not awarded to any of the commanders of the fronts during the entire period of the Great Patriotic War.

Leningrad was among the first cities of the Soviet Union (together with Stalingrad, Sevastopol and Odessa) was named a hero city in the Order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, dated May 1, 1945.

Leningrad was among the first to be awarded the honorary title "Hero City", established on May 8, 1965 by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, according to which the city was awarded the highest awards of the Soviet Union - the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal, the images of which proudly flaunt on the city banner.

In memory of the mass heroism of the participants in the defense of Leningrad, a number of monuments were erected in the city, the most significant of which are the Obelisk "To the Hero City of Leningrad", installed on Vosstaniya Square, the "Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad" on Victory Square, a monument to the trolley, on which the collected corpses in the streets and the huge Piskarevskoye cemetery, where the ashes of those who died and starved to death from Leningrad rest.

Hero City Stalingrad (Volgograd)

The name of the city, after which the most epochal battle of the 20th century is named, is known far beyond the borders of the former Soviet Union. The events that took place here between July 17, 1942 and February 2, 1943 changed the course of world history. It was here, on the banks of the beautiful Volga, that the backbone of the Nazi military machine was broken. According to Goebbels, which he said in January 1943, losses in tanks and vehicles were comparable to six months, in artillery - with three months, in small arms and mortars - with two months of production of the III Reich. The human losses for Germany and its allies were even more horrifying: more than 1.5 million prisoners and dead soldiers and officers, including 24 generals.

The military-political significance of the victory at Stalingrad was highly appreciated by the military-political leadership of the Soviet Union: on May 1, 1945, the city on the Volga was named among the first hero cities in the Order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (along with Sevastopol, Odessa and Leningrad), and 20 years later , May 8, 1965, in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Stalingrad was awarded the honorary title of "Hero City". On the same day, this honor was awarded to Kyiv and Moscow, as well as the Brest Fortress.

Monuments dedicated to the events of that heroic era are the main city attractions. The most famous of them are Mamaev Kurgan, the panorama "The defeat of the Nazi troops near Stalingrad", the "House of Soldier's Glory" (better known as "Pavlov's House"), the Alley of Heroes, the "Connection of Fronts" monument, "Rodimtsev's Wall", " Lyudnikov Island", Mill of Gergart (Grudinin), etc.

Hero City Kyiv

One of the first Soviet cities that significantly delayed the advance of the enemy at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War was the capital of Ukraine, the hero city of Kyiv, which received this title on the day it was established by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on May 8, 1965.

Already 2 weeks later (July 6, 1941) after the treacherous attack of the Nazi troops on the Soviet Union, the City Defense Headquarters was created in Kyiv, and a few days later the heroic defense of the Ukrainian capital began, lasting 72 days (until September 19, 1941), as a result of which over 100 thousand soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht were destroyed by the defending Soviet troops and residents of the city.

After the regular units of the Red Army left Kyiv on the orders of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the inhabitants of the city organized resistance to the invaders. During the occupation, thousands of soldiers of the German regular army were liquidated by the underground, more than 500 cars were blown up and put out of action, 19 trains were derailed, 18 military depots were destroyed, 15 boats and ferries were sunk, more than 8 thousand Kyivans were saved from being stolen into slavery.

During the Kyiv offensive operation on November 6, 1943, the city was finally cleared of the invaders. Witnesses of those heroic events are hundreds of monuments and monuments located both in the city itself and on the lines of defense, the most famous of which are: the sculpture "Motherland" known throughout the Union, the memorial complexes "Park of Eternal Glory" and "Museum of History Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", as well as the obelisk "To the Hero City of Kyiv" located on Victory Square.

Hero City Minsk

The hero city of Minsk, which was in the direction of the main blow of the Nazi troops, found itself in the very millstone of fierce battles already in the first days of the war. On June 25, 1941, an unstoppable avalanche of Nazi troops swept over the city. Despite the fierce resistance of the Red Army, the city had to be abandoned by the end of the day on June 28. A long occupation began, which lasted more than three years - until July 3, 1944.

Despite the horrors of the Nazi administration (during the German rule, the city lost a third of its inhabitants - more than 70 thousand citizens died), the invaders failed to break the will of Minsk residents, who created one of the largest underground formations of the Second World War, uniting about 9 thousand people, to which listened even in the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR when planning strategic tasks. The underground fighters (of which more than 600 people were awarded orders and medals of the Soviet Union) corrected their actions with 20 partisan detachments operating in the region, many of which later grew into large brigades.

During the occupation, the city underwent colossal destruction: at the time of the liberation by the Soviet troops on July 3, 1944, only 70 surviving buildings remained in the city. On Sunday, July 16, 1944, a partisan parade took place in Minsk in honor of the liberation of the capital of Belarus from Nazi invaders.

For the merits of the capital of Belarus in the fight against the fascist invaders, Minsk was awarded the honorary title of "Hero City" in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of June 26, 1974. In memory of the military events of that era, a number of monuments were erected in the city, the most famous of which are the Victory Monument and the eternal flame, the Mound of Glory and the Monument to Tank Soldiers.

Hero City Odessa

One of the four cities first named in the status of hero cities in the Order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of 05/01/1945 was Odessa (along with Stalingrad, Leningrad and Sevastopol). The city was awarded such a high honor for the heroic defense in the period from August 5 to October 16, 1941. These 73 days cost the German and Romanian troops dearly, the losses of which amount to 160 thousand soldiers and officers, more than 200 aircraft, and about a hundred tanks.

The defenders of the city were never defeated: in the period from October 1 to October 16, ships and vessels of the Black Sea Fleet, in the strictest secrecy, removed all available troops (about 86 thousand people), part of the civilian population (more than 15 thousand people) from the city. ), a significant amount of weapons and military equipment.

About 40 thousand inhabitants of the city went into the catacombs and continued to resist until the complete liberation of the city by the troops of the III Ukrainian Fleet on April 10, 1944. During this time, the enemy missed more than 5 thousand soldiers and officers, 27 echelons with military cargo, 248 vehicles; more than 20 thousand citizens were saved by partisans from being driven into German slavery.

The honorary title "Hero City" was officially awarded to Odessa on the basis of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the day the "Regulations on the highest degree of distinction - the title of "Hero City"" was issued on May 8, 1965.

In memory of those heroic events along the line of the main defensive line of Odessa, the "Belt of Glory" was created, which includes 11 monuments located in various settlements on the outskirts of the city, in which the most fierce battles took place.

Hero City Sevastopol

One of the most persistent cities during the Great Patriotic War is rightfully considered the hero city of Sevastopol, which withstood fierce attacks and sieges of the enemy for 250 days. Thanks to the courage and unwavering stamina of the defenders, Sevastopol became a truly national hero city - the first books with the use of such characteristics appeared already in 1941-42.

At the official level, Sevastopol was named a Hero City on May 1, 1945 in the Order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (together with Odessa, Stalingrad and Leningrad), and was awarded the honorary title "Hero City" on May 8, 1965 on the basis of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

From October 30, 1941 to July 4, 1942 the defenders of the city held a heroic defense. During this time, four massive attacks were made with the aim of taking Sevastopol, but having encountered the stubborn resistance of the soldiers, sailors and townspeople who defended the city, the Nazi command was forced to change tactics - a long siege began with periodically breaking out fierce battles. After leaving the city by the Soviet authorities, the Nazis brutally took revenge on civilians, destroying about 30 thousand citizens during the management of the city.

Liberation came on May 9, 1944, when control over Sevastopol was fully restored by Soviet troops. During these 250 days, the losses of the Nazis amounted to about 300 thousand people killed and wounded. It is quite possible that the city is the champion on the territory of the former Soviet Union in terms of the number of military monuments, among which the diorama "Storm of the Sapun Mountain", Malakhov Kurgan, monuments to the soldiers of the 414th Anapa and 89th Taman Red Banner Divisions, the 318th Novorossiysk Mountain Rifle Division and the 2nd Guards Army, as well as the "Steam Locomotive-Monument" from the legendary armored train "Zheleznyakov" and a number of others.

Hero City Novorossiysk

One of the most outstanding pages of the Great Patriotic War was the defense of Novorossiysk, which lasted 393 days (only Leningrad defended longer in that war). The enemy did not manage to completely take the city - a tiny section of Novorossiysk in the region of cement plants in front of the strategically important Sukhumi highway remained in the hands of Soviet soldiers, although even the Soviet Information Bureau on September 11, 1942 erroneously reported that Novorossiysk was abandoned by the Red Army.

Another heroic milestone in the defense of Novorossiysk was the landing operation to seize a strategic foothold, called "Small Land". While the main forces of the paratroopers were pinned down by the German defense, a group of sailors of 274 people under the command of Major Ts.L. Kunikova, on the night of February 3rd to 4th, 1943, was able to capture a bridgehead with an area of ​​30 square meters. km, to which, within 5 days, significant forces of Soviet troops were deployed, consisting of 17 thousand paratroopers with 21 guns, 74 mortars, 86 machine guns and 440 tons of food and ammunition. In less than a month (from April 4 to April 30), more than 20 thousand people were killed by paratroopers. enemy manpower and a significant amount of military equipment. The bridgehead was held for 225 days until the complete liberation of the city on September 16, 1943.

Novorossiysk received its first award - the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, on May 7, 1966, and 7 years later, on September 14, 1973, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the city was awarded the honorary title "Hero City" with the award of the Gold Star medal and the Order of Lenin.

In memory of those heroic times, a number of monuments were erected in the city, the most famous of which are the "Defense of Malaya Zemlya" monument, the monument to Major Ts. To an Unknown Sailor" and "Heroic Sailors of the Black Sea".

Hero City Kerch

One of the few cities that changed hands several times during the Great Patriotic War was the hero city of Kerch, which was first captured by the Nazis on November 16, 1941. However, a month and a half later, the city was liberated by Soviet troops (December 30) and remained under the control of the Red Army for almost 5 months, until May 19, 1942.

On that May day, the Nazi troops, as a result of fierce battles, managed to regain control over the city. During the subsequent occupation of Kerch, which lasted almost 2 years, Soviet citizens faced a real avalanche of terror: during this time, almost 14 thousand citizens died at the hands of the invaders, and the same number were driven away for forced labor in Germany. An unenviable fate befell the Soviet prisoners of war, 15 thousand of whom were liquidated.

Despite the constant repressions, the inhabitants of the city found the strength to resist the invaders: many citizens joined the remnants of the Soviet troops who had taken refuge in the Adzhimushkay quarries. A consolidated partisan detachment of soldiers of the Red Army and residents of Kerch heroically fought against the invaders from May to October 1942.

During the Kerch-Eltigen landing operation in 1943, the Soviet troops managed to capture a small foothold on the outskirts of Kerch, and on April 11, 1944, the city was finally liberated by the Red Army. The following fact speaks eloquently about the terrifying fury of those battles: for participation in the liberation of the city, 146 people received the highest state award - the Star of the Hero of the USSR.

A little later, the city itself was awarded other highest state awards (the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal), and on September 14, 1973, on the basis of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Kerch was awarded the honorary title "Hero City".

The exploits of the defenders of the city are immortalized in the obelisk of Glory, built in 1944 on Mount Mithridates in memory of the soldiers who died in the battles for the city. In their honor, on May 9, 1959, the Eternal Flame was solemnly lit, and in 1982 the memorial complex "To the Heroes of Adzhimushkay" was built.

Hero City Tula

Tula is one of the few hero cities of the Great Patriotic War that repelled all enemy attacks and remained unconquered. During the 45 days of the Tula operation, which lasted from October to December 1941, being in almost complete encirclement, the defenders of the city not only withstood massive bombardments and fierce enemy attacks, but also with the almost complete absence of production facilities (almost all the main enterprises were evacuated deep into the country ), managed to repair 90 tanks, more than a hundred artillery pieces, and also to organize the mass production of mortars and small arms (machine guns and rifles).

The last attempt to capture the city was made by German troops in early December 1941. Despite the fury of the German offensive, the city managed to defend. Having completely exhausted their offensive capabilities, the enemy troops left the territory on the outskirts of the city.

For the courage and heroism shown by the defenders of the city, on December 7, 1976, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Tula was awarded the honorary title of "Hero City".

In memory of the heroic days of defense, a number of monuments and commemorative signs have been erected in the city, among which the most famous are the Monumental Complex "The Front Line of the City's Defense", monuments to the "Defenders of Tula in the Great Patriotic War", "Tula Workers' Regiment" and "Heroes of the Soviet Union ", as well as monuments to various types of military equipment - a lorry, an anti-aircraft gun, IS-3 and T-34 tanks, a Katyusha, a howitzer cannon and an anti-tank gun

Hero City Murmansk

The hero-city of Murmansk during the Great Patriotic War was never taken by the Nazi troops, despite the efforts of the 150,000-strong German army and constant bombing (in terms of the total number of bombs and shells dropped on the city, Murmansk is second only to Stalingrad). The city withstood everything: two general offensives (in July and September), and 792 air raids, during which 185 thousand bombs were dropped on the city (on other days, the Nazis made up to 18 raids).

During the heroic defense in the city, up to 80% of the buildings and structures were destroyed, but the city did not surrender, and, along with the defense, continued to receive convoys from the allies, while remaining the only port of the Soviet Union that was able to receive them.

As a result of the massive Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive launched by the Soviet troops on October 7, 1944, the enemy was driven back from the walls of Murmansk and the threat of the capture of the city was finally eliminated. A significant enemy grouping ceased to exist in less than a month after the start of the Soviet offensive.

For the steadfastness, courage and heroism shown by the defenders and residents during the defense of the city, Murmansk on May 6, 1985 was awarded the honorary title "Hero City" on the basis of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

In memory of the heroic days of defense, many monuments and monuments were erected in the city, the most significant of which are the "Monument to the Defenders of the Soviet Arctic" (the so-called "Murmansk Alyosha"), monuments to "Hero of the Soviet Union Anatoly Bredov" and "Warriors 6- and the Heroic Komsomol Battery".

Hero City Smolensk

The hero city of Smolensk was at the forefront of the attack of the German troops, rushing to Moscow. The fierce battle for the city, which lasted from July 15 to 28, turned out to be one of the most fierce at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War. The battle for the city was preceded by incessant bombing from the air, which began from the first days of the war (only in one day on June 24, more than 100 large high-explosive and more than 2 thousand incendiary bombs were dropped by Nazi pilots, as a result of which the city center was completely destroyed, more than 600 residential buildings burned down ).

After the Soviet troops retreated from the city on the night of July 28-29, the Battle of Smolensk continued until September 10, 1941. It was in this battle that the Soviet troops achieved their first major strategic success: on September 6, 1941, 5 fascist divisions were destroyed near Yelnya, and it was there that on September 18, for the first time, 4 divisions of the Red Army received the honorary title of Guards.

The Nazis brutally took revenge on the inhabitants of Smolensk for their steadfastness and courage: during the occupation in the city and its environs, more than 135 thousand civilians and prisoners of war were shot, another 80 thousand citizens were forcibly taken to Germany. In response, partisan detachments were massively created, of which by the end of July 1941 there were 54 units with a total number of 1160 fighters.

The liberation of the city by Soviet troops took place on September 25, 1943. In commemoration of the mass heroism of the inhabitants of the city and the soldiers of the Red Army during the Smolensk operation and the defense of the city, on May 6, 1985, Smolensk was presented with the honorary title of "Hero City" in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In addition, the city was twice awarded the Order of Lenin (in 1958 and 1983), and the Order of the Patriotic War I degree in 1966.

In memory of the heroic defense of Smolensk, a number of monuments were erected in the city and its environs, among which are the "Memorial sign in honor of the liberation of the Smolensk region from fascist invaders", the Mound of Immortality, the "Memorial to the memory of the victims of fascist terror", the Eternal Flame in the Square of Memory of Heroes, as well as the BM-13-"Katyusha" monument in the Ugransky district of the Smolensk region.

Fortress Hero Brest (Brest Fortress)

The Hero-Fortress Brest (Brest Fortress), the first to take the blow of a massive armada of Nazi troops, is one of the most striking symbols of the Great Patriotic War. One eloquent fact testifies to the fury of the battles taking place here: the losses of the German army on the outskirts of the fortress during the first week of battles amounted to 5% (!) Of the total number of losses on the entire eastern front. And although organized resistance was crushed by the end of June 26, 1941, individual pockets of resistance continued until the beginning of August. Even Hitler, amazed by the unprecedented heroism of the defenders of the Brest Fortress, took a stone from there and kept it until his death (this stone was discovered in the Fuhrer's office after the end of the war).

The Germans failed to take the fortress by conventional military means: to destroy the defenders, the Nazis had to use special types of weapons - an 1800-kg aerial bomb and 600-mm Karl-Gerät guns (of which there were only 6 units in the Wehrmacht troops), firing concrete-piercing (over 2 tons ) and high-explosive (1250 kg) shells.

For the courage and heroism shown by the defenders, the fortress was awarded the honorary title "Hero Fortress" on the day the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the establishment of the title "Hero City" was promulgated. This solemn event took place on May 8, 1965. On the same day, Moscow and Kyiv were officially named hero cities.

In order to perpetuate the unparalleled courage and steadfastness of the defenders, in 1971 the Brest Fortress was given the status of a memorial complex, which includes a number of monuments and monuments, incl. "Museum of the Defense of the Brest Fortress" with the central monument "Courage", near which the Eternal Flame of Glory never goes out.

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TASS-DOSIER /Kirill Titov/. For the first time at the national level, the concept of "hero city" appeared in the editorial of the Pravda newspaper dated December 24, 1942. It was devoted to the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the establishment of medals for the defense of Leningrad, Stalingrad, Odessa and Sevastopol. In official documents, for the first time Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Sevastopol and Odessa were named "hero cities" - in the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Joseph Stalin dated May 1, 1945. It spoke about the organization of fireworks in these cities. On June 21, 1961, in the decrees of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On awarding the city of Kyiv with the Order of Lenin" and "On the establishment of the medal "For the Defense of Kyiv", the capital of Ukraine was called a "hero city".

On May 8, 1965, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (SC) of the USSR approved the regulation on the honorary title of "hero city". The main criterion according to which the cities received this status was the historical assessment of the contribution of their defenders to the victory over the enemy. "Hero cities" became the centers of the largest battles of the Great Patriotic War (for example, the battle for Leningrad, the Battle of Stalingrad, etc.), the cities, the defense of which determined the victory of the Soviet troops in the main strategic directions of the front. In addition, this status was given to cities whose inhabitants continued to fight the enemy in the occupation. According to the law, the "hero cities" were awarded the Order of Lenin, the Gold Star medal, and a diploma from the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces. In addition, obelisks were installed in them with the text of the decree on conferring an honorary title, as well as with the image of the awards received.

On May 8, 1965, five decrees of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces were issued on the presentation of awards to the "hero cities" of Leningrad, Volgograd, Kyiv, Sevastopol, and Odessa. On the same day, Moscow was awarded the honorary title "Hero City", and the Brest Fortress - "Hero Fortress" with the award of the Orders of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. September 14, 1973 received the title of Kerch and Novorossiysk, June 26, 1974 - Minsk, December 7, 1976 - Tula, May 6, 1985 - Murmansk and Smolensk.

In total, 12 cities of the former Soviet Union and the Brest Fortress were awarded the honorary title. In 1988, the practice of conferring the title was terminated by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

New honorary title - "City of Military Glory"

On May 9, 2006, a federal law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin established a new honorary title - "City of Military Glory". It is awarded to cities "in the territory of which or in the immediate vicinity of which, during fierce battles, the defenders of the Fatherland showed courage, steadfastness and mass heroism, including cities that were awarded the title of" Hero City ". Currently, there are 45 cities in Russia have the honorary title "City of Military Glory".

In Moscow, in the Alexander Garden near the Kremlin wall, near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, there is a granite alley of hero cities. There are 12 porphyry blocks here, each of which bears the name of one of the hero cities and a chased image of the Gold Star medal. Capsules with earth from the Piskarevsky cemetery in Leningrad and Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, from the foot of the walls of the Brest Fortress and the obelisk of Glory of the defenders of Kyiv, from the defense lines of Odessa and Novorossiysk, from Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol and Victory Square in Minsk, from Mount Mithridates near Kerch, defensive positions near Tula, Murmansk and Smolensk. On November 17, 2009, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which the granite alley of hero cities near the Kremlin wall was included in the National Memorial of Military Glory, along with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a memorial sign in honor of cities awarded the honorary title "City of Military Glory".

So, as of 2017, in the Alexander Garden, near the walls of the Kremlin, there are steles of 12 Hero Cities and 1 Hero Fortress, as well as 45 Cities of Military Glory.

As a state award, the title of "hero city" was established on May 8, 1965 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. This event was timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany and its allies.

However, the first hero cities in the Soviet Union appeared earlier. On May 1, 1945, this title was awarded to Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Stalingrad (Volgograd), Sevastopol and Odessa.

What is the title of "hero city" awarded for?

The honorary title of a hero city was awarded in the USSR to cities whose inhabitants showed "mass heroism and courage in defending the Motherland in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."

Hero cities were awarded the Order of Lenin, the Gold Star medal, and a diploma from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Commemorative obelisks were erected in the cities, and an order and a medal were to be depicted on their banners.

For which the cities of the USSR / Russia received the title of "hero city", as well as a list of hero cities of the USSR and Russia.

Moscow

The title of "hero city" was brought to the capital by the battle for Moscow in 1941-1942. It consisted of three stages:

• defensive operation (from September 30 to December 5, 1941);
• offensive operation (from December 6, 1941 to January 7, 1942);
• Rzhev-Vyazemskaya offensive operation (from January 8 to April 20, 1942).

The offensive in the Moscow direction was of decisive importance. For a crushing blow against the Soviet troops, the fascist command concentrated 77 divisions (more than 1 million people), almost 14.5 thousand guns and mortars, and 1,700 tanks. Air support for the ground forces was carried out by 950 combat aircraft.

In these harsh days, the efforts of the entire country were aimed at solving one problem - to defend Moscow. On December 4–5, the Soviet Army pushed the Nazis back from Moscow and launched a counteroffensive, which developed into a general offensive of the Red Army along the entire Soviet-German front. This was the beginning of a radical turn in the course of the Great Patriotic War.

Died in the battle for Moscow from September 30, 1941 to April 20, 1942 more than 2,400,000 Soviet citizens.

Leningrad

The Nazis wanted to completely destroy Leningrad, wipe it off the face of the earth and exterminate the population.

Fierce fighting on the outskirts of Leningrad began on July 10, 1941. Numerical superiority was on the side of the enemy: almost 2.5 times more soldiers, 10 times more aircraft, 1.2 times more tanks, and almost 6 times more mortars. As a result, on September 8, 1941, the Nazis managed to capture Shlisselburg and thus take control of the source of the Neva. As a result, Leningrad was blocked from land (cut off from the mainland).

From that moment on, the infamous 900-day blockade of the city began, which lasted until January 1944. The number of victims exceeds the losses of the United States and Great Britain combined during the entire Second World War.

The data were first made public at the Nuremberg trials, and in 1952 they were published in the USSR. Employees of the Leningrad branch of the Institute of History of the USSR of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR came to the conclusion that in Leningrad during the period of the fascist blockade, at least 800 thousand people died of starvation.

During the blockade the daily norm of bread for workers was only 250 g, for employees, dependents and children - half as much. At the end of December 1941, bread rations became almost twice as heavy - by this time a significant part of the population had died.

More than 500 thousand Leningraders went to work on the construction of defensive structures; they built 35 km of barricades and anti-tank obstacles, as well as more than 4,000 bunkers and pillboxes; equipped with 22,000 firing points. At the cost of their own health and lives, the courageous Leningrad heroes gave the front thousands of field and naval guns, repaired and released 2,000 tanks from the assembly line, manufactured 10 million shells and mines, 225,000 machine guns and 12,000 mortars.

On December 22, 1942, the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad" was established, which was awarded to about 1,500,000 defenders of the city. May 8, 1965 Leningrad was awarded the title Hero City.

Volgograd (Stalingrad)

In the summer of 1942, the Nazi troops launched a massive offensive on the southern front, trying to capture the Caucasus, the Don region, the lower Volga and the Kuban - the richest and most fertile lands of our country. First of all, the city of Stalingrad came under attack.

On July 17, 1942, one of the greatest and largest battles in the history of World War II began - the Battle of Stalingrad. Despite the desire of the Nazis to capture the city as soon as possible, it lasted 200 long, bloody days and nights, thanks to the incredible efforts of the heroes of the army, navy and ordinary residents of the region.

The first attack on the city took place on August 23, 1942. Then, a little north of Stalingrad, the Germans almost approached the Volga. Policemen, sailors of the Volga Fleet, NKVD troops, cadets and other volunteer heroes were sent to defend the city. On the same night, the Germans made the first air raid on the city, and on August 25, a state of siege was introduced in Stalingrad. At that time, about 50 thousand volunteers signed up for the people's militia - heroes from among ordinary citizens. Despite the almost uninterrupted shelling, the factories of Stalingrad continued to work and produce tanks, Katyushas, ​​cannons, mortars and a huge number of shells.

September 12, 1942 the enemy came close to the city. Two months of fierce defensive battles for Stalingrad inflicted significant damage on the Germans: the enemy lost about 700 thousand people killed and wounded, and on November 19, 1942, the counteroffensive of our army began.

The offensive operation continued for 75 days and, finally, the enemy near Stalingrad was surrounded and completely defeated. January 1943 brought complete victory in this sector of the front. The fascist invaders were surrounded, and their commander, General Paulus, with the entire army, surrendered. (By the way, Paulus agreed to transfer his personal weapon only.)

For the entire time of the Battle of Stalingrad, the German army lost more than 1,500,000 people.

In the course of 143 days of fighting, fascist German aviation dropped about 1 million bombs weighing 100,000 tons on Stalingrad (5 times more than on London during the entire war). In total, the fascist German troops rained down over 3 million bombs, mines and artillery shells on the city. About 42 thousand buildings were destroyed (85% of the housing stock), all cultural and community institutions, industrial. enterprises, municipal facilities.

Stalingrad was one of the first to be called a hero city. This honorary title was first announced in the order of the commander in chief dated May 1, 1945. And the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" became a symbol of the courage of the defenders of the city.

Novorossiysk

After the Soviet troops thwarted the German plan for carrying out aggressive operations in the Caucasian direction, the Nazi command launched an attack on Novorossiysk. His capture was associated with a phased advance along the southern coast of the Black Sea and the capture of Batumi.

The battle for Novorossiysk lasted 225 days and ended with the complete liberation of the hero city on September 16, 1943.

September 14, 1973 in honor of the 30th victory over the Nazis, during the defense of the North Caucasus, Novorossiysk received the title of Hero City.

Tula

Tula became a hero city thanks to the courage of the soldiers who defended the city from October 24 to December 5, 1941. The city was under a state of siege, but did not surrender to the Germans, despite shelling and tank attacks. Thanks to the retention of Tula, the Red Army did not allow the Wehrmacht troops to break through to Moscow from the south.

December 7, 1976 Tula received the title of Hero City, with the award of the Gold Star medal.

Murmansk

During World War II, the port city of Murmansk was of strategic importance for the USSR - supplies from the allied countries went through it.

The Germans made several attempts to capture the city, but to no avail.

Murmansk is one of those cities that became front-line from the very first days of the war. Following Stalingrad, Murmansk becomes a leader in sad statistics: the number of explosives per square meter of the city's territory exceeded all conceivable limits: 792 air raids and 185,000 bombs dropped - but Murmansk survived and continued to work as a port city.

Under regular air raids, ordinary heroic residents unloaded and loaded ships, built bomb shelters, and produced military equipment. For all the war years, the Murmansk port received 250 ships, handled 2 million tons of various cargoes.

The fishermen-heroes of Murmansk did not stand aside either - in three years they managed to catch 850 thousand centners of fish, supplying both the inhabitants of the city and the fighters of the Soviet army with provisions. The townspeople who worked at the shipyards repaired 645 warships and 544 conventional transport ships. In addition, another 55 fishing vessels were converted into combat vessels in Murmansk.

In 1942, the main strategic actions developed not on land, but in the harsh waters of the northern seas. The main task of the Nazis was to isolate the shores of the USSR from going to sea. However, they did not succeed: as a result of incredible efforts, the heroes of the Northern Fleet destroyed more than 200 warships and about 400 transport ships. And in the fall of 1944, the fleet expelled the enemy from these lands and the threat of the capture of Murmansk passed.

In 1944, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR established the medal "For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic". The city of Murmansk received the title of "Hero City" May 6, 1985 The most famous monument dedicated to the events of the Great Patriotic War in the hero city of Murmansk is the memorial "Defenders of the Soviet Arctic", which is located in the Leningrad district of the city. It was opened in honor of the 30th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazi forces on October 19, 1974 and is dedicated to all the fallen heroes of those years. Among the people, the monument is known under the name "Alyosha".

Smolensk

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Smolensk found itself on the path of the main blow of the fascist troops towards Moscow. The city was first bombarded on June 24, 1941, and 4 days later the Nazis launched a second air attack on Smolensk, as a result of which the central part of the city was completely destroyed.

On July 10, 1941, the famous Battle of Smolensk began, in which the Red Army tried to stop the advancing Germans with constant counterattacks. The "Battle of the Smolensk Bulge" lasted until September 10.

In this battle, the Red Army suffered heavy losses - more than 700 thousand people, but the delay near Smolensk did not allow the Germans to reach Moscow before the autumn thaw and the onset of cold weather, and ultimately to disrupt the entire Barbarossa plan.

Sevastopol

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the city of Sevastopol was the largest port on the Black Sea and the main naval base of the country. His heroic defense against Nazi aggression began on October 30, 1941. and lasted 250 days, going down in history as an example of an active, long-term defense of a seaside city deep behind enemy lines. The Germans managed to capture Sevastopol only on the fourth attempt.

If the defense of Sevastopol lasted 250 days, then the liberation took only a week. The fighting for the liberation of Sevastopol began on April 15, 1944, when Soviet soldiers reached the occupied city. Particularly fierce battles were fought in the area adjacent to Sapun Mountain. On May 9, 1944, the soldiers of the 4th Ukrainian Front, together with the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet, liberated Sevastopol. Sevastopol received the title of Hero City May 8, 1965

Odessa

Already in August 1941, Odessa was completely surrounded by Nazi troops. Its heroic defense lasted 73 days, during which the Soviet army and people's volunteer corps defended the city from enemy invasion. From the mainland, Odessa was defended by the Primorsky Army, from the sea - by the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, supported by artillery from the shore. On the capture of the city, the enemy threw forces five times greater than the number of his defenders.

Thanks to the dedication of the Soviet troops and the heroes of the people's militia, more than 160,000 German soldiers were killed, 200 enemy aircraft and 100 tanks were destroyed.

But the city was nevertheless taken on October 16, 1941. A guerrilla war began. Odessa was liberated on April 10, 1944, and on May 1, 1945, in the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, it was named the Hero City for the first time. The title Hero City was officially awarded to Odessa May 8, 1965

Summing up the defense of Odessa, the Pravda newspaper wrote:

“The whole Soviet country, the whole world watched with admiration the courageous struggle of the defenders of Odessa. They left the city without tarnishing their honor, retaining their combat capability, ready for new battles with the fascist hordes. And on whatever front the defenders of Odessa fight, everywhere they will serve as an example of valor, courage, heroism.

Brest Fortress

Central Museum of the Armed Forces. Part of the wall of one of the casemates in the northwestern part of the Brest Fortress. Caption: "I'm dying, but I don't give up. Farewell, Motherland. 20/VII-41". Lev Polikashin/RIA Novosti

Of all the cities of the Soviet Union, it was Brest who was the first to face the aggression of the Nazi invaders.. In the early morning of June 22, 1941, the Brest Fortress was subjected to enemy bombardment, in which at that time there were about 7 thousand Soviet soldiers and members of the families of their commanders.

The German command expected to capture the fortress within a few hours, but the 45th division of the Wehrmacht was stuck in Brest for a week and, with significant losses, suppressed separate centers of resistance of the heroic defenders of Brest for another month. As a result, the Brest Fortress became a symbol of courage, heroic fortitude and valor during the Great Patriotic War.

The decree on awarding the Brest Fortress with the honorary title "Fortress-Hero" was signed on May 8, 1965.

Kyiv

Destroyed Independence Square in Kyiv, photographed in 1942

German troops launched a surprise attack on the city of Kyiv from the air on June 22, 1941 - in the very first hours of the war, and on July 6 a committee for its defense was already created. From that day on, the heroic struggle for the city began, which lasted for 72 days.

Kyiv was defended not only by Soviet soldiers, but also by ordinary residents. Huge efforts were made for this by detachments of the people's militia, of which there were nineteen by the beginning of July. Also, 13 destruction battalions were formed from among the townspeople, and in total 33,000 people from the city's inhabitants took part in the defense of Kyiv. In those difficult July days, the people of Kiev built more than 1,400 pillboxes, manually dug 55 kilometers of anti-tank ditches.

The bravery and courage of the heroes of the defenders stopped the enemy offensive on the first line of the city's fortifications. The Nazis failed to take Kyiv on the fly. However, on July 30, 1941, the Nazi army made a new attempt to storm the city. On August 10, she managed to break through the defenses on its southwestern outskirts, however, through the joint efforts of the people's militia and regular troops, she managed to give a worthy rebuff to the enemy. By August 15, 1941, the militia pushed the Nazis back to their previous positions.

Enemy losses near Kyiv totaled more than 100,000 people. The Nazis did not undertake more direct assaults on the city; seventeen Nazi divisions were “bogged down” in battles under it for a long time. Such a long resistance of the defenders of the city forced the enemy to withdraw part of the forces from the offensive in the Moscow direction and transfer them to Kyiv, due to which the Soviet soldiers were forced to retreat on September 19, 1941.

The German fascist invaders who occupied the city inflicted enormous damage on it, establishing a regime of brutal occupation. More than 200,000 Kyivans were killed, and about 100,000 people were sent to Germany for forced labor.

Kyiv was liberated on November 6, 1943. In honor of the feat of Soviet citizens, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1961 established a new award - the medal "For the Defense of Kyiv".

In 1965 Kyiv was awarded the title of Hero City.

Kerch

Soviet marines install a ship's guis on the highest point of Kerch - Mount Mithridates. April 1944. Photo by E. A. Khaldei.

During the fighting in Kerch, more than 85% of the buildings were destroyed, the liberators were met slightly more than 30 residents of the city out of almost 100 thousand inhabitants in 1940.

In mid-November 1941, after two weeks of fierce fighting on the Kerch Peninsula, the city was captured by the Nazis. On December 30, 1941, during the Kerch-Feodosiya landing operation, Kerch was liberated by the troops of the 51st army of the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov military flotilla. But the Nazis really needed the Crimea. In May 1942, the Germans concentrated large forces on the Kerch Peninsula and launched a new offensive. After terrible, stubborn battles, the city was again in the hands of the Nazis. No, defenders have nothing to be ashamed of. They stood to the death.

An example is the heroic, long and stubborn struggle of the partisans in the Adzhimushkay quarries("Adzhimushkay" - translated as "Bitter gray stone"). When the marines liberated Kerch and the village of Adzhimushkay and descended into the quarries, they, war-hardened sailors, were shocked by what they saw: ... the further into the depths of the stone galleries, the more difficult it is to breathe. It smells of age-old dampness. Cold. On the floor - rags, sheets of paper. And human remains.

A leaf taken at random is another shock. This is the daily issue of different products per person: 15 grams, 10 grams, 5 grams. And in the next compartment - dozens of corpses of Soviet soldiers. In overcoats, in bandages, reclining, throwing back their heads - in these poses they were caught by death. Near weapons and gas masks. Shops of rifles and machine guns are empty: people fought to the last bullet.

Darkness and heavy grave spirit complete the ominous picture. The shocked sailors realized that it was self-sacrifice in the name of the Motherland.

With the name of the heroes of Adzhimushkay, the soldiers later liberated Kerch, Crimea, Sevastopol. There were 15 thousand people in the Adzhimushkay quarries, there was not enough food, water, and there was not enough air. The brutalized fascists threw lit gas bombs at the catacombs. To fight them, the defenders set up vigils and threw burning checkers into boxes of sand. Then the Nazis began to pump gas with a compressor and drilled holes in the walls for hoses. But the defenders found a way out. They tied the hoses in knots. Then the Germans began to pump gas right through the holes. And here the defenders found a way out - they created gas-tight walls.

Problem No. 1 for the underground garrison was water. People sucked water from damp walls, collected drop by drop into mugs. It was very difficult for exhausted people to dig wells, many died. And the Nazis, if they heard the sound of a pickaxe, blew up this place, realizing that people were looking for water. The notes of the defenders have been preserved. From them you can see how hard it was for the fighters. And when our troops left Sevastopol, the Germans intensified their psychological attack:

"Give up. We promise you. You were left alone in the Crimea, everyone surrendered.”

But the fighters understood that they were holding the German troops and were not letting them go to Taman. They fulfilled their duty to the Motherland with honor. Members of the underground garrison did not sit in the catacombs. They came to the surface at night, destroyed enemy firing points, obtained food and weapons. Many died in battle, others from weakness could not go back and died.

The defense was led by P. M. Yagunov, who died from a stray German grenade.

Together with adults there were children in the quarries. Name AT Olodi Dubinin known to many in Russia. The boy was a scout. Knowing every stone in the quarries, all the moves, thin and small young scouts could crawl into holes that adults could not, and get the information necessary for the partisans. Volodya lived to see the Victory. I met with my mother, washed off the multi-layered soot and dirt. Everything seemed to be fine, but the Germans, retreating, mined many entrances to the quarries, and there were still people there. Volodya, who knew the quarries well, could not but help the sappers. One of the bombs exploded. The brave boy is dead. He was posthumously awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

For only a month and a half, the occupiers were in charge for the first time, but the consequences were monstrous. "Bagerovsky ditch" - here the Nazis shot 7 thousand people. It was from here that the Soviet commission to investigate the crimes of fascism began its work. The materials of this investigation were presented at the Nuremberg Trials.

Bagerovsky anti-tank ditch near Kerch

For outstanding services to the Motherland and mass heroism, courage and fortitude in 1973(on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Crimea) the city of Kerch was awarded the honorary title "Hero City" with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

Minsk

Belarusian partisans on Lenin Square in Minsk, after the liberation of the city from the Nazi invaders. 1944 V. Lupeiko/RIA Novosti

In the very first days of the Nazi invasion of the USSR in June 1941, Minsk was subjected to devastating German air raids. Despite the stubborn resistance of the Red Army, the city was captured already on the sixth day of the war. During the three-year occupation in Minsk and its environs, the Germans killed more than 400 thousand people, and the city itself was turned into ruins and ashes. They destroyed 80% of residential buildings, almost all factories and plants, power plants, scientific institutions and theaters. Despite the terror of the invaders, a patriotic underground operated in the city.

The city of Minsk and the Minsk region were the center of the partisan movement in the BSSR.

Minsk was liberated by Soviet troops on July 3, 1944. Now this date is celebrated as the Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus. In 1974 in commemoration of the merits of the citizens of the city in the fight against Nazism, Minsk received the title of Hero City.

Why are they awarded the title of "city of military glory"?

Stella of cities of military glory in the Alexander Garden. Photo: poznamka.ru

The title of "city of military glory" did not exist in the USSR; it was approved by Vladimir Putin in 2006. The title of the city of military glory is awarded to cities, “on the territory of which or in the immediate vicinity of which, during fierce battles, the defenders of the Fatherland showed courage, steadfastness and mass heroism.”

In the city that received this title, a special stele is installed. Festive events and fireworks are held on February 23, May 9 and on City Day.

The title of city of military glory can also be awarded to a hero city.

Which Russian cities have been awarded the title of "City of Military Glory"?

Today in Russia there are 45 Cities of Military Glory: Belgorod, Kursk, Orel, Vladikavkaz, Malgobek, Rzhev, Yelnya, Yelets, Voronezh, Meadows, Polar, Rostov-on-Don, Tuapse, Velikiye Luki, Veliky Novgorod, Dmitrov, Vyazma, Kronstadt, Naro-Fominsk, Pskov, Kozelsk, Arkhangelsk, Volokolamsk, Bryansk, Nalchik, Vyborg, Kalach-on-Don, Vladivostok, Tikhvin, Tver, Anapa, Kolpino, Stary Oskol, Kovrov, Lomonosov, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Taganrog, Maroyaroslavets, Mozhaisk, Khabarovsk, Staraya Russa, Gatchina, Petrozavodsk, Grozny and Feodosiya.

In the city awarded the title "City of Military Glory":

• a stele is installed with the image of the emblem of the city and the text of the decree of the President of the Russian Federation on conferring this title on the city;
• public events and festive fireworks are held on February 23 (Defender of the Fatherland Day), May 9 (Victory Day), as well as on City Day or on the Day of the city's liberation from Nazi invaders (eg Tikhvin).