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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Operational reports and photographs of the first war days.

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

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

Erich von Manstein:

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

Herman Goth:

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

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

Photos and documents related to this period.

Uniforms and weapons of the fighters of the opposing sides.

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

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

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

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

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

But the things used by the Soviet and German soldiers in between fights. Some things are unexpected...

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

Reconstruction of a partisan dugout and artifacts.

The partisans were supported by scouts and underground fighters.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Museum of the North-Western Front in Staraya Russa (Staraya Russa, Russia) - expositions, opening hours, address, phone numbers, official website.

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The Museum of the North-Western Front in Staraya Russa is unique; there are no other similar expositions in Russia. Before its opening, in our country there were only museums dedicated to individual battles and battles during the Great Patriotic War, as well as military units. And the Museum of the North-Western Front gives visitors a complete picture of the actions of the entire front of the Red Army. Interestingly, the museum staff is trying to show the war of 1941-45. along both trench lines. The number of museum exhibits is impressive - about 1500 copies! By the way, no one had ever seen many of these things before the opening of the museum. All these unique items were handed over to the museum staff by the participants of that war, the inhabitants of Staraya Russa. First of all, of course, you should pay attention to the expositions that tell about the exploits of Russian soldiers in the fight against the German invaders. Visitors will learn a lot of details and interesting facts about how our grandfathers defended their homeland. Rich expositions provide an opportunity not only to analyze the course of military events and operations, but also to learn a lot about human destinies.

The number of museum exhibits is impressive - about 1500 copies! By the way, no one had ever seen many of these things before the opening of the museum. All these unique items were handed over to the museum staff by the participants of that war, the inhabitants of Staraya Russa.

Here you can see an impressive collection of weapons, military equipment, Houseware. It is especially interesting to see what the dugout looked like and what the underground safe house looked like. In front of the entrance to the museum on May 8, 2004 was opened viewpoint, which presents two divisional guns in 1942 and a light tank T-26.

Be sure to pay attention to the collection of letters from the front. Each of them causes a huge amount of emotions in visitors. Sometimes they are written in very simple language, however, it is not easy to read them - because of the welling tears. During the war, families lived apart, and only mail gave people hope. Every morning, thousands of letters and postcards scattered throughout the USSR. Everyone was waiting for news from a loved one.

One of the most important collections of the museum are objects that tell about the life of the inhabitants of the city during the occupation and after the liberation. In addition, there is an exhibit in the hall of memory, which is associated with a very interesting story. This is a church bell, which was cast in 1672 in Lübeck by master Albert Benning. Staraya Russa received this bell as a gift from Peter I. In 1942, the commander of the German engineer battalion discovered the bell in the belfry of St. Mines and ordered to send him to Lübeck. However, in 2001, Germany nevertheless returned the bell to Staraya Russa. On February 18, representatives of Lubeck and all the inhabitants of Staraya Russa were able to hear the amazing sound of this bell. By the way, this is the only surviving work of the famous master Benning.

Practical information

Museum opening hours: Thursday - Monday: 10:00 - 18:00. Closed: Tuesday, Wednesday, last Thursday of each month.

Entrance: adults: 100 RUB, students: 50 RUB.

Staraya Russa can be reached by bus from St. Petersburg. From the bus station on the Obvodny Canal, transit buses run along the routes "St. Petersburg - Kholm", "St. Petersburg - Parfino".

Museum address: st. Alexandrovskaya, 23.

Prices on the page are for September 2018.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The theme of the Great Patriotic War is covered by many museums, but in Staraya Russa in the Novgorod region there is a museum of the North-Western Front - the first museum of its kind in Russia, telling about the history and actions of one front.

1. The museum is located in a small inconspicuous building. It looks like it's disguised itself
Previously, the expositions were presented in the local cathedral, but now it has been transferred to believers

2. Around everything is temporarily dug up. Tank T-26 as if in the trenches. It was found in the Lovat River near the village of Korovitchino

3. The peculiarity of this museum is the presentation of the topic of war from a general humanistic position

4. Basically, it talks about bright military events related to the surroundings and Staraya Russa. This is the encirclement of the Demyansk group of German troops - the "Demyansky Cauldron", local battles and battles in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe "Ramushevsky corridor", about the occupation of Staraya Russa (lasted from August 9, 1941 to February 18, 1944) and the liberation of the city

5. The museum presents materials showing the war on both sides of the front. Here you can see all kinds of documents, maps, diagrams, extracts from archives, weapons, awards, photographs, personal belongings of both the Red Army and German soldiers, as well as Spaniards and Finns who fought in the Nazi army.

Museum documents also tell about the work of Soviet tribunals and detachments, about the mistakes of the Red Army command, about traitors and private cases from the life of soldiers. In addition, you can learn about the partisans and figures of the Old Russian underground

6. Staraya Russa was not far from the front line and was almost completely destroyed. Soviet troops repeatedly tried to capture the city by February 23, 1942, but all attempts were unsuccessful. Unfortunately, they did not succeed in 1943 either: the operations to liberate Staraya Russa in March and August 1943 failed.

February 18, 1944 Staraya Russa was liberated by the troops of the 1st shock army 2nd Baltic Front during the Starorussko-Novorzhevskaya offensive operation. By the time of liberation, not a single inhabitant remained in the destroyed city.

7. Before the war, about 40,000 people lived here. The apartment of that time

8. About 1,500 exhibits are on display, 840 of which are authentic. Particularly attracts attention is this 3-meter mammoth tusk

9. It would seem, where does the tusk? And here's the thing.
It was found in 1969 in the bay of the East Siberian Sea in Yakutia and presented to the Novgorod region in memory of fellow countrymen who died during the offensive operation "Polar Star" on Ilmen (February 1943)

10. The tusk weighs about 70 kg. Moments of the Yakut epic and episodes of the battles on Ilmen are carved on it. The lines are excerpts from the poem "Sacred Ilmen" by the Yakut poet Sergei Vasiliev

11. By the way, the Museum received exhibits both from local sources and from German veterans and their descendants. This staff, made from old Russian birch, is a gift from Germany

13. Another exhibit that I remember well was this 60 cm and 110 kg bell. It was cast by the famous master Albert Benning in German Lübeck back in the 17th century and presented to Staraya Russa by Peter I.
In December 1942, he was taken to Germany as a war trophy, but 59 years later, in 2001, he was returned from Lübeck.
The church, the bell tower of which he decorated, we will still see during a walk along Staraya Russa

We visited Staraya Russa as part of the "Discovering the Silver Necklace" project

Organizers of the project "Discovering the Silver Necklace": Community of St. Petersburg bloggers
With the support of ANO "Silver Necklace of Russia"

General partner: Sberbank
Innovation partner: