Footsteps of WWII · Russia & Belarus
Pavlov's House, Volgograd
Town · Sep – 25 Nov 1942
The story
This four-storey 1930s block on what was 9 January Square was seized in late September 1942 by a group under Sergeant Yakov Pavlov of the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment, 13th Guards Rifle Division. Reinforced to about 31 men under Lieutenant Ivan Afanasyev, they mined the approaches, set up machine guns and fired an anti-tank rifle from the roof, holding the house until the Soviet counter-offensive on 25 November. Three of the garrison were killed. The house became the best-known symbol of Stalingrad's street fighting, and General Chuikov later joked that the Germans lost more men attacking it than they did taking Paris.
What to look for
The rebuilt house is still lived in. On the end wall facing Sovetskaya Street is the memorial wall of 1985, built of bricks gathered after the battle, with a soldier relief and the garrison's names. Gerhardt's Mill and the Panorama Museum stand across the square.
Plan your visit
FCDO advises against all travel to Russia. A residential building seen from the street, so always accessible and free. Do not enter the flats or stairwells. Combine with the Panorama Museum next door.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Panorama Museum & Gerhardt's Mill, Volgograd · under 1 km
- Mamayev Kurgan and 'The Motherland Calls' · 3 km
- Rossoshka war cemeteries · 29 km
All 160 sites in Footsteps of WWII →
Footsteps of WWII: Europe 1939–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The whole Second World War in Europe, from the first shots at Westerplatte on 1 September 1939 to the German surrender in May 1945: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Normandy, Arnhem, Bastogne, Stalingrad, Berlin and the camps, in 15 areas from Britain to Russia.
Open the guide