So, there was and could not be a general leadership of the defense of the fortress. Gavrilov commanded in the northern part of the fortress, Zubachev and Fomin - on the Central Island. In addition, there were border guards who fought on the Western Island, Potapov's group, who fought at the Terespol Gate and in the location of the 333rd regiment, Bytko's group and many scattered groups that have not been identified.

On June 22, Major Pyotr Gavrilov, commander of the 44th regiment, tried to implement the plan for withdrawing troops from the fortress to the lines designated according to the mobilization plan south of Brest, but was able to send only about 40 people to the given area, after which he was forced to stay in the fortress and organize defense in the triangle between the so-called "Eastern and Western Forts" (names given by the Germans) and the Northern Gate.

His group fought in isolation from other centers of defense, however, Gavrilov divided his soldiers (about 400 people from different units) into 3 companies and organized a stable defense of all three points. Even the outer rampart of the fortress was controlled, there was telephone communication in the area, there was artillery (2 anti-aircraft guns), which knocked out at least 1 tank. The main focus of defense was the so-called. "Eastern Fort". By the end of the day on June 22, the Germans bombed the fort for the first time from the air, destroying the supply of artillery shells.

On June 23, the Germans cut Gavrilov's group in half, forcing him to withdraw the soldiers defending the outer rampart and the Northern Gate to the Eastern Fort. The Western Fort remained isolated and individual structures occupied by soldiers of the consolidated company organized by Major Gavrilov to defend the Western Fort on June 22 fought even after the Eastern Fort fell. In particular, when Major Gavrilov, after the death of the garrison of the Eastern Fort, tried to break out of the fortress, the Germans pursuing him were machine-gunned by a soldier from the Western Fort, who remained unknown.

On June 24-25, the garrison of the Eastern Fort repelled German attacks, blowing up a tank that entered the fort. Gavrilov reassigned the border guards who were breaking into the northern part of the fortress under his command and commanded (after the death of the anti-aircraft gunners) a crew of border guard soldiers with a quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun.

June 27 The defense continued. There were no attempts to break through. During June 24-27, the Germans repeatedly tried to smoke out the fort's defenders by throwing smoke grenades. We had to fight in gas masks and issue gas masks or wet bandages to all non-combatants.

June 28 The defense continued. There were no attempts to break through. The Germans fired at the fort from tanks and brought up 88-mm tanks for direct fire. anti-aircraft gun, but its shelling also had no effect. It was decided to call the air force. Major Gavrilov orders the military families to leave the fort. Of the women, only military paramedic Raisa Abakumova and her mother remained in the fort.

June 29 The defense continued. There were no attempts to break through. From 8:00 the Germans bombed the fort with 500-kilogram bombs and fired from tanks and anti-aircraft guns. But the garrison resisted. A bomb weighing 1800 kg was dropped, which caused stunning losses to the defenders of the fort, incl. destroyed an anti-aircraft machine gun, which was the most powerful fire weapon of the fort’s defenders.

On June 30, the Germans tried to set fire to the fort. Then the hand-to-hand fighting began. The remnants of the garrison were killed or captured. Major Gavrilov and about 13 soldiers managed to hide in casemates and continued to resist the Germans for some time, firing at German posts at night, but organized resistance in the area was already broken.

So, the commander of the 44th regiment, Major Pyotr Gavrilov, fought in the Eastern Fort all this time - from June 22 to 30 - and made no attempt to withdraw his group from the fortress. This is confirmed by both the memories of eyewitnesses (including Major Gavrilov himself) and German documents.

The second large group - captain I. Zubachev and political instructor E. Fomin - fought on the Central Island, in the citadel.

On June 22, Fomin and Zubachev established a defense of the barracks area on the island around the Three Arch Gate (leading north to the location of Gavrilov’s group), knocked out the bulk of the Germans from the citadel through the Terespol (western) gate and blocked a group of Germans in the club (former cathedral - later defended border guards), in the afternoon they attempted to deliver captured documents (a lieutenant colonel of the intelligence department of the German 45th division was captured) to army units located outside Brest, using 3 armored vehicles. An armored group headed by political instructor (appointed to this position by Fomin) Samvel Matevosyan broke into the northern part of the fortress, but was unable to overcome either the Northern or Kobrin Gates, blocked by the Germans with burning vehicles. The armored group returned to Central Island. Fomin and Zubachev tried to receive instructions from the command, establishing radio communication by the evening of June 22 and transmitting several radiograms, both encrypted and in clear text: “I am a fortress, I am a fortress! We are fighting. There is enough ammunition, losses are insignificant. We are waiting for instructions, we are moving appointment". Groups of foot scouts were also sent several times, but to no avail - they either died or returned. At night it became clear that the Germans had blocked the Mukhavets riverbed with bars and attempts to break through were pointless.

During the day, air battles took place over the fortress 2-3 times, and in one of them, on the morning of June 22, 1941, a damaged Chaika rammed a German plane. A German attack aircraft was shot down by rifle fire from the fortress.

On June 23, the Germans tried to break into the fortress through the Three-Armed (northern) and Kholm (southern) gates. But they were repulsed, going into hand-to-hand combat. A group of tanks broke through the Three-Armed Gate, but fire from a damaged gun that accidentally survived (the sight was broken) in the area of ​​the barracks of the 333rd regiment knocked out one tank and the entire group went back, dragging the damaged vehicle in tow.

On June 24, the Germans tried to break through the Three Arches Gate, but were repulsed. As a result, the Germans decided to bomb the fortress. During the bombing, a meeting was held between the commanders who found themselves in the area of ​​the Three Arches Gate - Zubachev, Fomin, Semenenko and a number of others. As a result, “Order No. 1” appeared. Captain Zubachev, who commanded the main group of troops in the citadel, insisted that the words “make a breakthrough for immediate exit from the fortress” not be included in the order. He motivated his words by the fact that in the coming days we should expect a counterattack by the Red Army and if the citadel is abandoned, the Red Army soldiers will have to retake this fortified position, which will lead to unnecessary losses. By nightfall, under pressure from the Germans, who began methodically blowing up the barracks, the main forces of the Zubachev-Fomina group concentrated in the area of ​​the Three-Armed Gate.

On June 25, the Germans continued to methodically destroy the rondo (a ring-shaped fortification from the old barracks), then Captain Zubachev decides to break into the northern part of the fortress and, if possible, withdraw the remnants of the garrison to Belovezhskaya Pushcha or join the nearest units of the Red Army. The first breakthrough attempt occurred on the night of June 24–25, but was repulsed with heavy losses for the defenders. The advance breakthrough group, having completed its task of suppressing enemy machine-gun points, broke through into the northern part of the fortress, but was surrounded in the area of ​​the ramparts and was completely destroyed and captured.

June 26 At night they made another attempt to break through, again unsuccessful. Only cover groups were left in the western, eastern and southern sectors of the fortress. The cathedral was defended by 8 soldiers - 7 of them were border guards with a heavy machine gun.

June 27 Another breakout attempt was repulsed by the Germans with huge losses for the Red Army. More than half of the soldiers died. Fomin and Zubachev, realizing that in this way they would only destroy the garrison, stopped trying to break through. The main center of resistance at the Three Arch Gates was increasingly shrinking its borders. The ammunition for Soviet-made weapons has run out.

On one of these days, a German tank burst into the courtyard of the citadel and crushed a group of seriously wounded in the barracks of the 455th regiment.

On June 28, Fomin-Zubachev’s group continued to fight, pressing ever closer to the Three Arch Gate.

Further, the testimony of eyewitnesses and participants in the events is unclear - the death of the citadel defense headquarters occurred either on June 29 or 30 - the surviving defenders are not sure of the date, because were captured stunned. Political instructor Fomin, handed over to the Germans by a traitor, was captured along with them. The Germans shot him outside the Kholm gates of the fortress.

A group of senior lieutenant A. Potapov fought at the Terespol Gate on the morning of June 22. She was joined by the remnants of the border post personnel of Lieutenant A. Kizhevatov. To ensure the breakthrough of his group, Potapov sent a group of Kizhevatov’s fighters in early July to destroy the German pontoon bridge across the Bug, but the border guards did not return (most likely they died while carrying out the task). Potapov’s group tried to break through the Terespol Gate to the west already in early July 1941 (from the memoirs of foreman M. Ignatyuk and a student of the musical platoon P. Klypa). Despite the successful breakthrough, those who broke through individually were caught or destroyed by the Germans on the Western and Southern Islands.

The breakthrough of a group of about 20 border guards occurred on the night of July 5-6. They went beyond the ramparts and scattered into the forests. 4 of them (including a former border guard cadet, Hero Soviet Union M. Myasnikov) were able to reach their own people in the Mozyr area.

After July 25, 1941, in the 262nd Rifle Division fighting in the Staraya Russa area, radio operator K. Korshakov received the call sign of the Brest 9th border outpost of the 17th border detachment (the commandant’s office and the outpost were located in the fortress itself) and a radiogram with the following content: “The situation is difficult , the fortress falls. We destroy the reptiles, we explode ourselves.” Who it was remains a mystery. According to Smirnov, this could be a group of senior lieutenant Melnik, but there is no evidence of this.

Thus, the first attempts to break out of the fortress were made by the Fomin-Zubachev group only from June 25, 1941, the Gavrilov group did not make them until the suppression of organized resistance in the Eastern Fort, the Potapov group attempted a breakthrough in early July 1941.

All this was collected and preserved by S. Smirnov, who found more than 300 participants in the defense Brest Fortress and returning their feat to our people.

The uniqueness of the situation lies in the fact that when studying the history of the defense of the Brest Fortress, the testimony of eyewitnesses and participants is of primary importance, because the entire archive of the defense of the fortress is limited to “Order No. 1”, which was fragmentarily preserved and discovered during excavations, which, according to the participants in the defense themselves, could not be fully executed under the circumstances (not all participants even knew that such an order took place).

Documents from the German 45th Division only allow us to clarify the circumstances and dates of a particular event, but do not provide information about what happened in the fortress and who led the defense in different centers of resistance.

There is no other written evidence for obvious reasons.

Now the Moscow region

Ivan Nikolaevich Zubachev ( -) - Soviet officer, captain, head of the defense of the Citadel of the Brest Fortress.

Memory

• Street and alleys of Zubachev in Minsk.
• Zubachev Street in Brest.
• Zubachev Street in the city of Lukhovitsy, Moscow region.
• In addition, a monument to Zubachev was erected in the village of Podlesnaya Sloboda, Lukhovitsky district.

To the cinema

2010 - in the film "Brest Fortress" he was played by actor Sergei Tsepov.

2010 - documentary-fiction film by Alexey Pivovarov "Brest. Serf Heroes" (NTV)

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Excerpt characterizing Zubachev, Ivan Nikolaevich

Napoleon immediately noticed what they were doing and guessed that they were not yet ready. He didn't want to deprive them of the pleasure of surprising him. He pretended not to see Monsieur Bosset and called Fabvier over to him. Napoleon listened, with a stern frown and in silence, to what Fabvier told him about the courage and devotion of his troops, who fought at Salamanca on the other side of Europe and had only one thought - to be worthy of their emperor, and one fear - not to please him. The result of the battle was sad. Napoleon made ironic remarks during Fabvier's story, as if he did not imagine that things could go differently in his absence.
“I must correct this in Moscow,” said Napoleon. “A tantot, [Goodbye.],” he added and called de Bosset, who at that time had already managed to prepare a surprise by placing something on the chairs and covering something with a blanket.
De Bosset bowed low with that French court bow, which only the old servants of the Bourbons knew how to bow, and approached, handing over an envelope.
Napoleon turned to him cheerfully and pulled him by the ear.
– You were in a hurry, I’m very glad. Well, what does Paris say? - he said, suddenly changing his previously stern expression to the most affectionate.
– Sire, tout Paris regrette votre absence, [Sire, all of Paris regrets your absence.] – as it should, answered de Bosset. But although Napoleon knew that Bosset had to say this or the like, although he knew in his clear moments that it was not true, he was pleased to hear it from de Bosset. He again deigned to touch him behind the ear.
“Je suis fache, de vous avoir fait faire tant de chemin,” he said.
- Sire! Je ne m"attendais pas a moins qu"a vous trouver aux portes de Moscou, [I expected no less than to find you, sir, at the gates of Moscow.] - said Bosset.
Napoleon smiled and, absentmindedly raising his head, looked around to the right. The adjutant approached with a floating step with a golden snuff-box and offered it to her. Napoleon took it.
“Yes, it happened well for you,” he said, putting the open snuffbox to his nose, “you love to travel, in three days you will see Moscow.” You probably didn't expect to see the Asian capital. You will make a pleasant trip.
Bosse bowed with gratitude for this attentiveness to his (until now unknown to him) inclination to travel.
- A! what's this? - said Napoleon, noticing that all the courtiers were looking at something covered with a veil. Bosse, with courtly dexterity, without showing his back, took a half-turn two steps back and at the same time pulled off the coverlet and said:
- A gift to Your Majesty from the Empress.
It was a portrait painted by Gerard in bright colors of a boy born from Napoleon and the daughter of the Austrian emperor, whom for some reason everyone called the King of Rome.
A very handsome curly-haired boy, with a look similar to that of Christ in the Sistine Madonna, was depicted playing in a billbok. The ball represented the globe, and the wand in the other hand represented the scepter.
Although it was not entirely clear what exactly the painter wanted to express by representing the so-called King of Rome piercing the globe with a stick, this allegory, like everyone who saw the picture in Paris, and Napoleon, obviously seemed clear and liked it very much.
“Roi de Rome, [Roman King.],” he said, pointing to the portrait with a graceful gesture of his hand. – Admirable! [Wonderful!] – With the Italian ability to change his facial expression at will, he approached the portrait and pretended to be thoughtfully tender. He felt that what he would say and do now was history. And it seemed to him that the best thing he could do now was that he, with his greatness, as a result of which his son played in the billbok the globe so that he shows, in contrast to this greatness, the simplest fatherly tenderness. His eyes became misty, he moved, looked back at the chair (the chair jumped under him) and sat down on it opposite the portrait. One gesture from him - and everyone tiptoed out, leaving the great man to himself and his feelings.

Halls 6 and 7 tell about the battles in the central part of the Citadel fortress. This fortification was the largest defense unit. On the first day of the war, separate combat groups formed here, uniting fighters into commanders from different parts.
In the 6th hall, the exhibition tells about the events in the area of ​​the Kholm Gate, the creation of the fortress defense headquarters and the battles at the Brest Gate, and the defense of the White Palace building.
On both sides of the Kholm Gate, at the location of the 84th Infantry Regiment, on the night of June 22 there were two rifle companies, a mortar company, an air defense company, a transport company, a musician platoon, a medical unit and a veterinary service. Most of the regiment's personnel were with the commander, Major Semyon Kapitonovich Dorodnykh, and the chief of staff, Captain Veliky Alexei Danilovich, outside the fortress. In the regiment barracks that night there was the deputy commander for political affairs, regimental commissar Fomin Efim Moiseevich, who had recently arrived in the unit and lived in the dormitory at headquarters.
The exhibition includes a sculptural portrait of regimental commissar Efim Moiseevich Fomin, executed by sculptor A. Glebov.

With the outbreak of hostilities, the assault group of the 45th Nazi division, following the artillery barrage, broke through the Terespol fortification, captured the bridge and entered the Citadel. They managed to occupy the building of the Red Army club (former church) and the command staff canteen in the center. From here the Nazis began to advance towards the Kholm and Brest Gates. On the morning of June 22, from the Kholm Gate in the direction of the Red Army Club, Commissioner Fomin organized one of the first counterattacks. In the ranks of the counterattackers were lieutenant Kochin Leonid Aleksandrovich, deputy political instructor Pyotr Ivanovich Mukhin, sergeant Babalaryan Anyut Samsonovich, private Dedechki Nikolai Semenovich and many others. On the stands are photographs of some of the participants in the counterattack, as well as weapons, equipment, and personal belongings found during excavations at the Kholm Gate.
This counterattack was supported by soldiers from other units. And the Nazis could not withstand the onslaught. Some of them were destroyed, the rest were thrown back to the club buildings and the dining room and entrenched here. The enemy suffered heavy losses.
Of great interest is the multifaceted work of the Brest amateur woodcarver artist Yuri Chernev, “The First Hour of War” (Battle at the Kholm Gate).
The first victory raised the morale of our soldiers and instilled confidence in them. Regimental Commissar Fomin placed his command post near the Engineering Directorate building and ordered the radio operators to contact division headquarters. But only German speech was heard in the headphones. And then it flew openly into the air: “I am a fortress. I am a fortress. We are fighting...”
In the exhibition you can see fragments of an air bomb, a broken radio station, and a rifle. All this was discovered in 1958 during excavations of the ruins of the Engineering Department, next to the remains of a warrior. His name could not be established. The stand displays portraits of radio operators of the 84th Infantry Regiment who died in the battles at the Kholm Gate, privates Vasily Petrovich Lebedev, Gavriil Gavrilovich Makatrov, Vladimir Alekseevich Tsibuli.
Nearby is a portrait of the communications company sergeant Boris Nikolaevich Mikhailovsky. In peacetime, he was a remarkable master of his craft, a disciplined and efficient warrior. He showed courage and bravery in battles in the fortress and later, as a commissar of the partisan detachment named after A.V. Suvorov of the Pinsk formation. B. N. Mikhailovsky died in March 1943. The Soviet government highly appreciated his services, posthumously awarding him the Order of the Red Star and the Partisan medal. Patriotic War"I degree.
The Nazis intensified their attacks, brought reserves into battle and began to push back the soldiers of the 84th Infantry Regiment. On June 24, 1941, Regimental Commissar Fomin moved his command post to the Brest Gate area. Adjacent to the gate was the barracks of the 455th Infantry and 33rd Engineer Regiments, which housed only isolated units on the eve of the war. The exhibition includes photographs of the organizers of the defense in this area: senior lieutenant Nikolai Fedorovich Shcherbakov, lieutenant Anatoly Aleksandrovich Vinogradov and political instructor Pyotr Pavlovich Koshkarov.
At the Brest Gate, Regimental Commissar Fomin met with the deputy commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment, Captain Ivan Nikolaevich Zubachev, who led the fighting in the northwestern part of the Citadel. A party member since 1918, a career commander, a participant in the civil war and battles with the White Finns, Captain Zubachev was a strong-willed man.
The commanders decided to create a unified command and headquarters for the defense of the fortress. On the afternoon of June 24, a meeting of commanders and political workers was held in the casemate at the Brest Gate, at which order No. 1 was announced. Captain Zubachev was appointed commander of the combined group, regimental commissar Fomin was his deputy, and senior lieutenant Alexander Ivanovich Semenenko was appointed chief of staff. Due to the fact that Senior Lieutenant Semenenko was in charge of the defense in the northwestern part of the Citadel during the absence of Captain Zubachev, the duties of Chief of Staff were performed by Lieutenant Vinogradov, in whose hand the historical order was written.
The exhibition dedicated to the creation of the defense headquarters opens with a painting by the artist P. Krivonogov “Meeting of Commanders”. Here visitors see Order No. 1 (a dummy), portraits of defense leaders, their military awards, photocopies of their pre-war party and service characteristics, extracts from the works of V.I. Lenin made by regimental commissar Fomin, and Captain Zubachev’s watch.
Order No. I was found in November 1950 while dismantling the rubble of the barracks at the Brest Gate among the remains of 34 Soviet soldiers in the tablet of an unidentified commander. The original is in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Here, on the remains of Private Fyodor Isaev, a clerk at the headquarters of the 84th Infantry Regiment, the regiment's patron's banner was discovered. It was awarded to the unit in 1921 by the Executive Committee of the Comintern. Komsomol member Fyodor Isaev, following the order of Commissar Fomin, saved a priceless relic at the cost of his life. A banner and a photograph of F.D. Isaev are displayed in the window.
Medallions of warriors found in the ruins are displayed nearby. Unfortunately, time has not preserved all the notes included in them. One of the ten belonged to private Frolov Nikolai Nikolaevich. It is impossible to read the last lines in a warrior’s life without emotion: “Tell Frolova A.F., the battle began on the 22nd at 4 a.m. 41, Kalinin, Kalinin region, 1st Begovaya, 52, apt. I.” . A photograph of Frolov, a 4th grade student, sent by his brother is on display. Others have not survived. P.I. Frolov's note is one of the few handwritten documents found in the fortress.
And although the command of the combined group failed to unite the leadership of the battles throughout the fortress, the headquarters played a big role in intensifying military operations. In his activities he relied on the party organization. Communists and Komsomol members were in the most dangerous and decisive areas. By personal example they rallied the defenders of the fortress. The soul of the party organization was Regimental Commissar Fomin.
By order of Captain Zubachev, on June 26 at 12.00, the advance detachment of up to 120 fighters, led by Lieutenant Vinogradov, went to break through the Brest Gate along the bridge to escape the encirclement. The others had to follow him. At the cost of heavy losses, only small groups made it through the enemy ring. In general, the breakthrough attempt did not produce the desired results, since the fortress was surrounded by a dense ring of enemy troops. Those remaining in the Citadel continued to defend themselves staunchly. There was a shortage of ammunition and medicine. They took care of every cartridge, every grenade, and with fierce counterattacks they drove back the fascists again and again. In the last days of June, here, as in other areas of the fortress’s defense, the fighting became even more intense.
The museum displays a fragment of the railing of the bridge over Mukhavets at the Brest Gate. They were removed in 1961 during the restoration of the bridge. 60 fragmentation and bullet holes indicate a high density of fire in this area.
On June 29-30, the Nazis, calling in bomber aircraft and bringing up heavy artillery, launched a general assault on the fortress. At this time, the defense headquarters was destroyed. The wounded and shell-shocked captain Zubachev and commissar Fomin were discovered by the enemy in the rubble of the barracks and captured. Efim Moiseevich Fomin was shot by the Nazis at the Kholm Gate. A staunch communist who did not bow his head to the enemy, posthumously awarded the order Lenin. Ivan Nikolaevich Zubachev died in 1944 in the Hammelburg camp. The Motherland appreciated the merits of its faithful son, posthumously awarding him the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree. Streets in Brest and Minsk are named after I.N. Zubachev and E.M. Fomin.
After the fall of the defense headquarters, the struggle did not stop. Fighting in the following days they were focal in nature. Soviet soldiers continued to fight selflessly and persistently in separate areas in the Citadel, in the Eastern Fort, and on the Eastern Ramparts.
Several exhibition stands tell about the fighting in the White Palace area. Here the soldiers of the 75th separate reconnaissance battalion, a group of cadets of the regimental school of the 455th rifle regiment, separate groups of soldiers from the 84th rifle and 33rd engineering regiments, led by lieutenant communist Nagai Arkady Maksimovich and the secretary of the Komsomol bureau of the battalion, continued to fight the enemy Private Shugurov Alexey Klimentievich. Interacting with other groups, the warriors for a long time thwarted the enemy’s attempts to break into the Citadel from the Mukhavets River.
One of the stands contains photographs of A. M. Nagai and A. K. Shugurov. Lieutenant Nagai is a man of iron will and amazing composure. Being wounded, he led soldiers into attacks more than once. The area around the White Palace was littered with the corpses of enemy soldiers.
The Komsomol leader of the 75th reconnaissance battalion, Shugurov, was always there where a threatening situation was created, he knew how to find a special approach to each fighter, to cheer up the confused in difficult times.
On another stand are portraits of foreman Ivan Nikolaevich Mikhailov and junior sergeant Ivan Filippovich Sheev, soldiers of the reconnaissance battalion. They guarded the unit's banner and staff documents and died during an enemy bombing of the battalion headquarters building.
During the general assault on the fortress, hundreds of shells and bombs rained down on the Citadel, destroying the surviving buildings. A bomb hit the White Palace. Engulfed in fire, the ceiling of the second floor collapsed. But even after this, stubborn fighting continued here.
During excavations of the ruins of the White Palace, the remains of 132 dead Soviet soldiers were discovered. A soldier's medallion was found on the remains of one of them. On the piece of paper, yellowed with time, they read: “Gilev Konstantin Prokopievich, Shadrinsk, Chelyabinsk region.” Thus, many years later, the name of another defender of the Citadel became known. In the display case, along with a portrait of Private Gilev, his personal belongings given by his parents are carefully stored. Visitors stand for a long time at the display case with bricks on which is scrawled the inscription: “We do not die in shame...”, left unknown hero on the wall of the White Palace basement. Nearby is a Maxim heavy machine gun, spent cartridges, and items of equipment found during excavations.
During the defense of the White Palace, communists junior lieutenant Alexander Sidorovich Rashevsky and sergeant Petr Mikhailovich Potapenkov, Komsomol members lieutenant Galustyants Mkyrtych Ambartsumovich, senior sergeant Pavel Vasilievich Vasilyev also died. Their photographs are on display in the hall.
In the most severe battles with the enemy in the Citadel, political instructor Makarenko Lavrenty Yakovlevich, lieutenants Kireev Dmitry Pavlovich and Gurchak Lev Sergeevich, foreman Meyer Vyacheslav Eduardovich, privates Agagulyan Arshavir Arzumenovich, Kalugin Vasily Kirillovich, Salgereev Khasan Sapovich, sergeant Zagrishev Ivan I showed themselves to be worthy sons of our multinational Motherland Vanovich , Private Rudkovsky Vladimir Maksimovich. Their portraits are on display.
A painting by the artist N. Buta “Brest, 1941” is exhibited in the hall. It depicts one of the last counterattacks of the fortress defenders. The fighters of the encircled garrison, in rapid motion, rose up to fight to the death with the enemy.

In the pre-war apartment of the Zubachevs, in one of the houses of the command staff, which stood near

entrance to the fortress, a slightly yellowed photograph hung on the wall,

depicting four long-haired Red Army soldiers with their arms twisted dashingly to one side,

crumpled caps with red stars and clearly trophy jackets

origin. In one of these fighters - cheerfully and innocently smiling

a stocky guy with big strong arms that stuck out far from

short sleeves of a French jacket - one could only hardly recognize the owner of the house,

Captain Ivan Nikolaevich Zubachev.

This photograph was more than twenty years old then - the memory of that time,

When peasant son Ivan Zubachev from a small village near Moscow

Lukhovits volunteered for the Civil War front and fought in the North

against American and British invaders. These twenty years are not in vain

placed on the simple-minded, open face of a semi-literate peasant guy

the imprint of intelligence and will, strong character and rich life experience -

there was too much in them. From an ordinary soldier, a communist who joined

into the ranks of the party there, at the front, to the volost secretary, and then Kolomensky

district party committee and to career commander Red Army,

who led a rifle battalion in battles on the Finnish front - such was

the path traveled by Ivan Zubachev over the years.

Third battalion of the 44th Infantry Regiment, led by Captain Zubachev

on the Karelian Isthmus proved to be a completely reliable combat

division, and the battalion commander himself enjoyed the reputation of a strong-willed and

decisive commander. Strict and demanding in everything that concerned

service, Zubachev at the same time was friendly and simple in his dealings with

fighters, and was not timid in front of his superiors and always behaved with dignity and

regardless.

Everyone in the division remembered the incident that happened to him during the autumn

exercises in 1940. These exercises took place in the border areas, and in them

all the army authorities came together, led by the army commander, general

V.I. Chuikov, later a glorified hero of the Battle of the Volga and one of

major commanders of the Great Patriotic War, the 44th regiment under the command

Gavrilova received high praise then and came out on top in the 42nd

It was on the last day, when the exercises were already coming to an end. It went

a demonstrative attack on a height occupied by a mock enemy. standing on

hillock together with his deputy and senior adjutant of the battalion,

Zubachev closely monitored the progress of the offensive. He just gave

order to deploy the battalion into battle formation and now angrily reprimanded

senior adjutant for the fact that the companies, in his opinion, are not advancing enough

vigorously. Absorbed by what was happening in the chains of riflemen, Zubachev did not

noticed how from behind, from the crest of a high hill, from where a group of commanders on horseback

on horseback watched the whole picture of a mock battle, two galloped towards him

rider. He turned around only when he heard the clatter of hooves behind him.

Front rider, in leather jacket without insignia and in simple

wearing a commander's cap, brought his horse to a sharp halt near the captain.

Why did they deploy the battalion early?! - he shouted irritably.

Zubachev decided that this horseman was one of the division headquarters commanders,

on his own initiative decided to exercise his power and intervene in

battalion commander's actions. Already annoyed by the slowness of the attacking companies,

the captain was infuriated by the remark of the unfamiliar commander.

Do not interfere with the command of the battalion! - firmly, with anger in his voice

he said. - I am the boss here and I am responsible for everything to the command. Go

get out of here!

At the same moment, the stranger's stately hot horse danced on the spot,

and the rider bent down to calm his horse. With this movement at the gate it

the leather jacket's buttonhole with the general's diamond appeared.

Zubachev and his comrades

They immediately realized that in front of them was the army commander, General Chuikov.

“I’m sorry, Comrade General,” Zubachev said hastily. - I did not see

your insignia.

He stood stretched out, but looked into the face without fear or embarrassment

army commander, ready for the beating that is now about to follow. But Chuikov

unexpectedly smiled broadly and good-naturedly.

That's right, captain! - he said with emphasis. - You are the boss here and never let strangers

interfere in your business. A battalion

Still, it turned around too early. We had to wait a little.

And, turning his horse, he galloped back, accompanied by his adjutant. Already

at the command post, jumping off his horse, Chuikov told the division commander

to General Lazarenko:

This battalion commander is full of character. Shaved me clean.

Nothing, I love

strong-willed people. A strong-willed man is a combat commander!

These words of the army commander became known to the entire division, and Zubachev

The reputation of a firm and straightforward person was further strengthened.

Soon after the autumn exercises, the troops were saddened to learn that V.I.

Chuikov was recalled to district headquarters, where he received a new appointment, and in his place

another general arrived. And a few months later the 42nd division from the area

Bereza-Kartuzskaya, where she stood, was transferred to the vicinity of Brest and to

Brest Fortress. There, in the fortress, Captain Zubachev also received a new

appointment - Major Gavrilov nominated him to the position of his deputy for

economic part.

Always disciplined and efficient, Zubachev is headlong

plunged into the troublesome business of supplying the regiment with ammunition, food,

fodder, uniforms. The new position was considered higher and gave

known material benefits. And it wasn’t easy for the captain in his forties command a battalion for four years. And yet his soul is decidedly not lay to

economic activity

. Soon he came to the regiment commissar

he is a combat commander by nature. Talk to the major to let him go back,

to the battalion.

And Gavrilov only laughed it off, but didn’t let him go back. And Ivan didn’t know

Nikolaevich Zubachev, under what circumstances is he destined to return to

their usual command work - already in terrible conditions, surrounded

enemy and the Brest Fortress fighting to the death.

For the first time, the name Zubachev became known to us from fragments of “Order No. 1”,

found in the ruins of the fortress. Soon after this it turned out that

In the town of Zhabinka, Brest region, lives the widow of the captain - Alexandra

Andreevna Zubacheva. From her we received photographs of the hero and biographical

information about him. But tell us anything about Zubachev’s actions during the days of defense

she, of course, could not fortress: with the first explosions the captain hurried to

fighters, without even having time to say goodbye to their family - their wife and two

teenage sons. They knew nothing more about him.

Only in 1956, on one of the collective farms near the city of Vyshny Volochok

Kalinin region, a defense participant was discovered, a former lieutenant, and

now retired, Nikolai Anisimovich Egorov, who in the first hours of the war

was in the fortress with Zubachev. From him we learned where we ended up

captain after he left home.

N.A. Egorov was at one time the senior adjutant of that very battalion,

which was commanded by Zubachev, but in the spring of 1941 he was assigned to

position of assistant chief of staff of the regiment. The war took its toll on him

apartment in the village of Rechitsa, next to the Brest Fortress. Hearing explosions

Egorov quickly got dressed, grabbed a pistol and ran to the regimental headquarters.

He managed to safely slip through the northern entrance gate of the fortress and

bridge over Mukhavets, which was under heavy artillery and machine gun fire

shelling. But, as soon as he ran into the right tunnel of the three-arched gate, he almost

faced three German soldiers in helmets. They suddenly appeared from

sides of the fortress yard. Raising his machine gun as he ran, the first soldier shouted

to the lieutenant: "Halt!"

There was a door in the right wall of the tunnel. Egorov fired a pistol three times

at the oncoming enemies and rushed there. Following him under the arches of the tunnel

the line thundered.

The room into which Egorov ran was the kitchen of the 455th regiment. Most

it was occupied by a wide kitchen stove. In one leap the lieutenant rushed into

the far corner of the room and sat down behind the stove, bending low. That was done

just in time - after him a German grenade flew into the kitchen and exploded

in the middle of the room. The stove protected Egorov from the explosion - he remained unharmed.

The Germans did not dare to enter the room, and he heard them, knocking their boots,

After waiting a little, he stood up. In the kitchen wall there was a door to the next

room. He entered there and saw an open hatch leading to the basement. From the basement

muffled talking could be heard. He began to go down the steep stairs, and

commander - Captain Zubachev.

Together with Zubachev, some foreman and several

fighters. Egorov began asking the captain about the situation. But that one

frankly admitted that he himself still doesn’t know anything and it’s only been a few minutes

I ran here from home back.

When the artillery barrage ends, let's go fight off the Nazis, and everything will be fine

An incendiary shell apparently hit the room above the basement. It

it was burning, and smoke began to penetrate downwards. It became difficult to breathe.

The only window of the basement overlooking the shore of Mukhavets near the

bridge, it was clogged with boards. The soldiers began to tear them off. And as soon as the window

opened and fresh air poured into the basement, everyone heard it very close

the hasty talk of the Germans. The enemies were somewhere nearby.

Zubachev went to the window and listened carefully.

“It’s probably under the bridge,” he said. - Looks like they're talking

by phone.

He cautiously looked out of this small window, located on

ground level. In fact, a few meters to the right, on the bank slope,

steeply descending to the river, under the bridge deck, near the field telephone lay

two Nazi soldiers. The red thread of the wire went under the water and then

the bank stretched somewhere towards the location of the 125th regiment. Apparently this is

there were German saboteurs who installed an apparatus here at night and now

correcting enemy fire on the fortress.

“We need to take them off now,” said Zubachev. - Egorov, take two fighters

and enter from the other side of the bridge. You, sergeant major, attack from here with two people.

Crawl closer and, as soon as Egorov whistles, rush under the bridge!

The Germans seemed to feel completely safe. Passionate

telephone conversation, they did not notice how Egorov and the foreman

accompanied by Red Army soldiers, they crawled up to them from both sides. Then Egorov

he put two fingers in his mouth, whistled shrilly, and everyone rushed forward. Germans

They didn’t even have time to grab their machine guns, which were lying next to them on the grass.

The telephone operators were instantly killed, the wires were cut off and the device was thrown into

river But the enemy artillery immediately reacted to this sudden cessation

communications, and the fire on the bridge immediately intensified. Carrying with him captured machine guns,

Egorov and the soldiers rushed to the window and went down to the basement.

A little later, when the enemy fire began to weaken, Zubachev led the people out

up. Having sent one of the soldiers on reconnaissance in the direction of the 84th regiment, he

turned to Yegorov.

Make your way back across the bridge to our command houses,” he ordered.

Perhaps Major Gavrilov and the commissar are still there. If you don't find them, install them

contact the units that are fighting there, and come back here. Let's meet

near headquarters or at the regimental school - I go there.

An hour later, Egorov barely reached the area where the command staff lived. Not

finding no one there, he eventually came to the area near the eastern gate, where

artillerymen of the 98th anti-tank regiment fought under the command of Nesterchuk

division. He was no longer able to return from there - the Germans reached the bridge over

Mukhavets and cut off the path to the citadel. And the next day he was seriously wounded and

I no longer met with Zubachev.

Apparently, on the first and second days of defense, Captain Zubachev fought

on the other side of the three-arched gate, in the barracks of the 33rd Engineer Regiment,

where at that time the main forces of Fomin’s group had already moved. It was then in

in one of the basements of these barracks during the bombing they gathered for a meeting

commanders and “Order 1” was written.

Here, at the meeting, a dispute arose among the commanders about what should be done

garrison: to break through the enemy’s ring to one’s own or to defend a fortress.

They say that Zubachev spoke out with extraordinary vehemence against

leave. “We did not receive an order to withdraw and must defend the fortress,”

he argued. - It can’t be that our people have gone far - they will return

just about there, and if we leave the fortress, it will have to be taken by storm again. What

will we then tell our comrades and command? "

He spoke with such determination, with such faith in his speedy return.

our troops, which convinced the other commanders, and at his insistence from the “Order

e 1" crossed out the words: "For immediate exit from the fortress." It was decided

continue the defense of the central citadel, and Zubachev became its chief

organizer and leader.

True, soon he, Fomin, and other commanders realized that the front

he has gone far and cannot count on liberation from the siege. Plans had to

change - the garrison was now making attempts to break out of the ring, and

Zubachev became an equally energetic organizer of breakthrough battles, although they were not

brought success - the enemy had too much superiority in strength.

The captain became especially friendly with Fomin these days.

So different in

character, they seemed to complement each other, these two people - decisive,

hot-tempered, combat commander and thoughtful, unhurried, careful commissar,

a bold impulse and sober calculation, the will and mind of defense. They were almost always seen

together, and every new decision of the command was their jointly considered and

discussed decision. They were even wounded at the same time: Fomin - in the arm, and

Zubachev - in the head, when a German grenade flew into the window and exploded in

headquarters premises. And two days later both - the commander and the commissar - together

were captured, crushed by a collapse with a group of their fighters. But if Fomin,

betrayed by a traitor, was immediately shot, then Zubachev remained unrecognized, and

he and the soldiers were sent to the camp.

I was able to find out about Zubachev’s further fate only when he was found.

Major Gavrilov. It turned out that he met with his former deputy in

1943 at the officers' camp Hummelsburg in Germany. From one of the prisoners

Gavrilov learned that Zubachev was being held in a neighboring block of the camp and asked

call him to the wire.

Zubachev came, and these two people, old communists, participants civil war, combat Soviet commanders

, now exhausted,

exhausted, ragged and humiliated by the fate that had befallen them, stood on both

sides of the barbed wire and, looking at each other, cried bitterly. And through

tears Gavrilov said:

Yes, Zubachev, you and I have not lived up to our positions.

Both the commander and

his deputy - both were captured.

At this time a sentry appeared and they had to disperse. Gavrilov

noticed that Zubachev was walking with difficulty - he was apparently extremely exhausted and

And even later, from one former prisoner of Hummelsburg, it became known that

that Zubachev fell ill with tuberculosis in captivity, died in 1944 and was buried there in the camp, by his fellow prisoners. Only a year did not live to see that victory, which I so believed in from the first hours of the war until

last days his

Ivan Nikolaevich Zubachev

(1898-1944) - Soviet officer, captain, head of the defense of the Citadel of the Brest Fortress. Biography Born on February 28, 1898 in the village of Podlesnaya Sloboda, Zaraisky district

Ryazan province (currently Lukhovitsky district of the Moscow region) in a peasant family. He worked as a blacksmith at the Kolomensky plant. In 1918 he joined the CPSU(b). A cadet of the First Moscow Machine Gun Courses, he then fought on the Denikin and Polish fronts. After graduation

Participant in the Soviet-Finnish War with the rank of captain and the position of battalion commander of the 44th regiment, then deputy regiment commander for economic affairs. The regiment was stationed in the Brest Fortress from May 1941. With the German attack on June 22, due to the fact that the regiment commander P. M. Gavrilov was cut off with his detachment in the Kobrin fortification, he led the defense in the regiment’s sector. On June 24, at a meeting of commanders, he was appointed commander of the combined fortress defense group (in fact, head of the defense of the Citadel); Regimental Commissar E.M. Fomin was appointed his deputy, about which “Order No. 1” was drawn up. At this council, Zubachev categorically opposed the plans for a breakthrough, believing that the Red Army should soon go on a counteroffensive and return, and the task of the garrison was to defend the fortress until that moment.

Died in the infirmary of the Nuremberg-Langwasser prison camp (Stalag XIII D) on July 21, 1944.

Memory

• Street and alleys of Zubachev in Minsk.
• Zubachev Street in Brest.
• Zubachev Street in the city of Lukhovitsy, Moscow region.
• In addition, a monument to Zubachev was erected in the village of Podlesnaya Sloboda, Lukhovitsky district.

To the cinema

2010 - in the film “Brest Fortress” he was played by actor Sergei Tsepov.

2010 - documentary-fiction film by Alexey Pivovarov “Brest. Serf Heroes" (NTV)