Totally Awesome Person: Sgt. Yakov Pavlov

Time for my first Totally Awesome Person Post. It is what is says it will be. Most of these people will be from the History vs. History post I did several months back. Other people will make it on the list as well, I got good suggestions for folks I had not thought of. So without further ado...

Today's Totally Awesome Person is Sgt. Yakov Pavlov. Yes, he's a Russian. Better than that he's a Soviet who was honored with being named a "Hero of the Soviet Union" by Joseph Stalin. He also served in the Communist party. You are probably thinking: "Wow this Danny McNight guy is really open-minded to have written his first Totally Awesome Person post about a member of the Soviet Union. That takes a lot of courage." And to that I would say: "Heck yeah."

But honestly, it doesn't matter where you're from if you accomplished what Pavlov did in the the fall of 1942. People should drink to his memory not for his ideology, but his sheer tenacity and courage in the face of overwhelming challenges. His heroic feats transcend every culture. Yakov is the Russian Beowulf in a sense, and he is untainted, for he has no crappy movie made about him. Bless him.

Speaking of which...

Ok, let's set this up.

In August 1939, the Nazis made a secret pact with the Soviet Union which they agreed to carving up Eastern Europe into German and Russian spheres of influence. One week later on September 1, the Germans invaded Poland "thus beginning World War II." I bet your history teacher didn't tell you that the Soviets invade Poland from the east on September 17. On October 6, the Nazis and Soviets met in the middle of Poland and shook hands, dividing and conquering the entire nation in a little over a month. (Poland never surrendered, unlike the French.)

So the Germans were in bed with the Russians it seemed. In 1940, Hitler takes over France in like six weeks, with Paris falling in less than five weeks. Great job. Gosh darn it they gave it the old college try though. They were down three touchdowns at the end of the first quarter and forfeited the game to the Stormtroopers. They needed Michael Vick or someone on their team.

Oh Paris, mon amour!! Nous pleurons parce que nous avons quitté so damn rapide. Allons nous cacher nos visages dans la honte!

Then they bombed London, but Britain is Britain, and they held out of course.

Sooooo, Hitler gets bored and broke his pact with his buddy and commences Operation Barbarossa all up in Stalin's grill. The Germans invaded the Motherland with a fury on June 22, 1941 and thus began the largest and deadliest military operation in history. The Germans advanced all they way to Moscow by mid-Oktoberfest, but the Russians ultimately pushed them back from the city in January of '42. Hitler then turned his attention south to Stalingrad. Stalingrad controlled the Volga which emptied into the Caspian Sea and link the Soviet north with the south. If he controlled Stalingrad, he would in effect cut off the Soviet's access to the south. The city was also the gateway to the oil-rich Caucasus and Baku regions. Hitler knew it was crucial: "If I do not get the oil of Maikop and Grozny then I must end this war." They had a lot of tanks and planes to fuel.

Through the use of the superior German Panzer tanks, Luftwaffe, infantry and artillery, and weakened/inexperienced Soviet forces, the Germans made it all the way to Stalingrad in no time. The Luftwaffe bombed the city to utter ruin and destroyed the hopes of Soviet ships resupplying the city from the Volga River. The Soviets were forced to change tactics in order to provide enough time for reinforcements. Instead of fighting out in the open, the Soviets converted every house, office building, factory, apartment, school building and pile of rubble into a fortified position. Intense and chaotic urban warfare ensued. There were no battle lines, no tactical strategies, and zero mobility. Every last inch of the city, including the sewer system, was fought and paid for with many lives.

Enter Yakov Pavlov.

Sgt. Yakov Pavlov was a non-commissioned officer and commander of a platoon only because all the other superior officers were incapacitated. In mid-September of 1942, he was ordered to seize and maintain control of a four-story apartment complex that overlooked a city square. He gained control of the building, albeit taking costly casualties–only and handful of men surviving, and set about to turn this bombed-out apartment into a mighty fortress. Stalin had issued an order which told soldiers "not one step back." Pavlov was to either defend this building until relieved or die trying. Pavlov intended on the former.

The building was strategically placed at one end of the square and give the defenders a clear line of sight to the north, south, and west. If the German army were to occupy the square, they had to secure the apartment building where Pavlov was stationed. If you were to look at the apartment building on a map you would notice that it is the last major building before the Volga River. It was the end of the line for the defenders of Stalingrad. Take "one step back" and your in the damn river. Hold the line and save the city. Lose it, and Hitler wins.

Oh, its on.

Fortunately Pavlov was reinforced with some additional units, bringing his motley crew to about two-dozen fighting men...

"Hurray! What a relief!! Wait what? Only two-dozen? What the... Is this some kind of joke? How in the name of Lenin's Ghost are we to be able to defend this pile of rubble with 24 men? ... Huh? Oh, hold out for two months he says! Suuuure, no problem. Do you want us to do it with no sleep on top of it? What more coul–– What? ... You're saying we won't get much sleep either? I... You better just walk away right now. Just walk away before I rip your head off."

They were supplied with mortar, anti-tank rifles and machine guns. They placed barbed wire and minefields at the approaches to the building and machine-guns and anti-tank rifles in the windows facing the square. They dug a tunnel to the Soviet positions along the Volga through which they could be resupplied with artillery and food.

On September 23, the German offensive to seize control of Pavlov's House, as it was now called, began in earnest. Wave after wave of German soldiers rushed Pavlov's House only to be gunned down. Pavlov himself figured out that if he stationed the anti-tank rifles on top of the building they they could fire down at the approaching tanks that were within 25 meters and hit their thin turret-armor from the top and destroy the tanks. The German tanks could not aim their turrets high enough to return fire. Pavlov alone has been reported to have gunned down 12 Panzer tanks. After every lull in the fighting, Pavlov's men would have to sneak out of the building and kick over the German bodies that were piling up in the square to prevent the next German assault from seeking cover behind their dead comrades.

The Germans attacked the building several times daily for weeks on end. Pavlov's men ripped the wool insulation off of pipes to sleep on, but the Germans would fire on the building constantly, depriving the defenders from much needed sleep. The supply line would be cut for days at a time, resulting in low ammunition and starvation. Yet no matter under what conditions Pavlov's platoon were enduring, the German military could not seize control of the building from this rag-tag group of sleep-deprived, starving, injured, exhausted Soviets. Pavlov's House was so impenetrable, it was being marked as a fortress on German maps.

Pavlov's House held out from September 23 to November 25 when the Soviet Red Army counter-offensive relieved them. For two months two-dozen men bought the Soviet army enough time to coordinate their attack on the German army that ultimately led to wining the Battle of Stalingrad and turning the tide of the war in the Soviets favor. Notice again that two-dozen men held off the German army for two months, while all of France fell within 6 weeks. Although anything looks good compared to French resolve, this is a staggering accomplishment. Through Yakov Pavlov's grit and courage, not only did he and his men change the direction of the war in the east and ultimately bring about the destruction of the Nazi regime, but they showed that the world's greatest feats and heroics are sometimes achieved by common-place men who would have never been known otherwise. Pavlov's House is a reminder to all that the human spirit and will is the strongest ally an army can have.