The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has launched a multimedia project "Memory is Stronger Than Granite".

Within its framework, in a special section on the department's website, previously classified documents are posted, related to the history of both the memorial complexes to the fallen Soviet soldiers themselves, and the events in memory of which they were installed. 

"The dedication of the fighters was exceptional."

The project opens in Pskov - there is a memorial cemetery where about six hundred Soviet soldiers who died in 1944 during the liberation of the city are buried.

The documents published by the military department, in particular, describe the crossing of the Velikaya River by the soldiers of the 128th Infantry Division and their exploits during the landing on the Nazi-occupied West Bank.

"Inspired by the successful offensive of the Red Army on other fronts, units of the division daily increased their attacks on the Nazis and, breaking their stubborn resistance, marched from Pskov to the borders of the Estonian SSR with battles, and on July 25, 1944, 741 joint ventures were the first to enter the land of Soviet Estonia," according to the political report of the head of the political department of the 128 SD, Colonel Semagin, dated July 30, 1944.

The subdivision of the project, dedicated to the Alley of Glory of the heroes-aviators of the Northern Fleet, located in the village of Safronovo, Murmansk region, contains copies of documents on the construction of the memorial, as well as declassified combat characteristics for the heroes immortalized here.

The monument to the soldiers of the North Sea, erected in Liinakhamari, Murmansk region, was erected on the common grave of 99 defenders of the Soviet Arctic.

In the rear of the enemy in Liinakhamari in October 1944, a combined airborne detachment was landed under the command of Major Ivan Timofeev.

Within the framework of the "Memory is stronger than granite" project, declassified materials about these battles are posted on the site: a scheme-order for an amphibious operation, award lists and combat characteristics for its participants, as well as data on the burial of dead soldiers.

On May 6, 2016 in Karelia, at the site of fierce battles between the Red Army and the Finnish invaders, a memorial sign "Height 168.5" was unveiled.

The mention of the height itself is found in the combat documentation of the units of the 313rd Infantry Division, which held back the offensive of the Finnish 11th Infantry Division at this place.

The Red Army fought, even being cut off from their main forces.

The losses of the Soviet division, subjected to artillery shelling and tank attacks by the enemy, amounted to more than a thousand servicemen.

Search engines found the line of defense "Height 168.5" in 2011.

Here the remains of several hundred dead soldiers of the Red Army were raised, later buried at the "Mound of Glory" near the village of Villagora.

In the section "Memory is stronger than granite", declassified combat orders and reports on battles in the area of ​​"Height 168.5" are published.

  • The line of defense "Height 168.5" was discovered by search engines in 2011.

  • © memorial.mil.ru

In the village of Myasnoy Bor, Novgorod Region, there is a military burial place of 37 thousand Red Army soldiers who died during the breakthrough by the troops of the 2nd shock, 52nd and 59th armies of the Volkhov front to defend the German troops in January-June 1942.

The site contains combat documents of the units that took part in these battles, and evidence of the exploits of Soviet soldiers.

Here you can also familiarize yourself with copies of letters and diaries found on the killed Nazis, as well as materials from interrogations of Nazi prisoners.

The invaders admitted that their units in the Volkhov swamps and forests suffered such losses that they lost their combat effectiveness.

“In the battles on the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, the division (58th German division -

RT

) lost at least 70-75% of its strength over the winter months and was replenished several times.

In mid-March, after the arrival of another replenishment, it numbered 4,500 people.

At the end of March, on the Volkhov Front, in the battles near Myasny Bor, she was dealt strong blows, as a result of which some of her units ceased to exist.

The number of frostbite in some battalions reached 25%, ”says the report of the head of the 7th department of the VF PU, battalion commissar Roshchin, dated June 25, 1942.

The same document notes that “almost all prisoners of war from this division (58th German division. -

RT

) spoke negatively about Hitler’s foreign policy.

Thus, the captive Hans Madrag said that Hitler's foreign policy did not meet the aspirations of the German people, for the Germans wanted peace, not war. "

  • memorial in the village of Myasnoy Bor, Novgorod region

  • © Wikimedia

Memorial "Nevsky Piglet" was created in memory of the feat of Soviet soldiers who held a bridgehead opposite Nevskaya Dubrovka, 800 meters deep and two to four kilometers long.

The documents published by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation tell about the exploits of Soviet servicemen during the crossing of the Neva and the battles on the Nevsky patch itself.

"The dedication and dedication of the soldiers and commanders was exceptional," emphasizes in his political report dated April 28, 1942, the deputy chief of the political department of the 86th SD, battalion commissar Strunin.

“The battles on the Nevsky patch is one of the most majestic and tragic pages in the history of the Great Patriotic War.

Soviet troops suffered huge losses here, but at the same time they were able to shackle significant forces of the Nazis and limit the Nazi command in actions against Leningrad, "military historian Yuri Knutov emphasized in an interview with RT.

  • Soldiers carry a stretcher on their shoulders with a soldier lying on them.

    Leningrad front.

    Start of the operation on Nevskaya Dubrovka.

    Russia, Leningrad region

  • RIA News

  • © V. Tarasevich

The monument "Grieving Mother" in the Karelian village of Khelyulya is installed on the mass grave of 366 Soviet soldiers, most of whom died during the 45-day defense of Sortavala in the summer of 1941.

Together with the Red Army soldiers, the soldiers of the border troops of the NKVD of the USSR held back the enemy here. 

“... the 260th Rifle Regiment was defeated.

The last reserves were thrown into battle: sappers, orderlies, warriors of the city of Sortavala.

Women mobilized ... to work in the medical battalion.

... The routes for the supply of ammunition and the evacuation of the wounded are cut off ... ", - reads the report of the military commissar of the division dated July 17, 1941, published within the framework of the" Memory is stronger than granite "project.

Other documents, both Soviet and Finnish, are also cited here.

“These Russians are showing equal resistance - it must be admitted.

For every meter they fight like the damned and in the end they kill themselves with explosives - but they don't surrender, ”wrote one of the Finnish soldiers.

  • Irrecoverable loss card (KBP) Voronin SN

  • © memorial.mil.ru

An unusual memorable place is located at the bottom of the Gulf of Finland between the islands of Gogland and Bolshoi Tyuters.

Here the Soviet submarine Shch-317 sank in 1942.

According to the Ministry of Defense, during her last campaign, she destroyed five enemy transports, but never returned to the base.

For a long time, her fate remained unknown.

It was discovered only in 2018.

Every year, sailors of the Baltic Fleet pay tribute to the memory of the fallen submariners by laying flowers and saluting the heroes.

Declassified documents about the submarine, which experts call one of the most mysterious in the Baltic Fleet, have also been published as part of the "Memory Stronger Than Granite" project.

"The educational and memorial projects of the RF Ministry of Defense, and" Memory is stronger than granite "in particular, contribute to the formation of a patriotic attitude towards the Motherland and the understanding of the realities of the Great Patriotic War by our compatriots," Knutov says.

According to Andrey Koshkin, a full member of the Academy of Military Sciences of the Russian Federation, the new project of the Ministry of Defense is now acquiring special significance, since the memorials are real evidence of heroic episodes of the Great Patriotic War.

“You need to understand that an information war is being waged against Russia today, within the framework of which strikes are being made against values, culture, and historical truth.

Russia today is forced to act as an international advocate of the truth about the Great Patriotic War and World War II, which no one questioned several decades ago, but today many are beginning to attack.

Moreover, this truth has to be defended not only in the eyes of foreigners, but also of our fellow citizens, who are influenced with the help of fakes on the Internet, movies that distort the historical truth, pseudoscientific myths.

And such projects as “Memory is stronger than granite” are the most effective counteraction to the erosion of historical memory, ”summed up Andrey Koshkin.