Brest Hero Fortress Memorial Complex
Brest Hero Fortress, one of Belarus’ biggest landmarks, celebrates the 50th anniversary since it was turned into a memorial complex. Built in 1830-1842 on the country’s western border, the citadel was the first to face Hitler's troops in 1941 and became the symbol of resistance and unbending strength of spirit during the Great Patriotic War.
At dawn on 22 June 1941, the local garrison came under a massive attack of the German fascist invaders. It held against the enemy for a month. Although the plan to seize the fortress quickly failed, the Wehrmacht forces encircled the fortress in one day. The garrison of about 3,500 troops continued fighting in different parts of the fortress. The defense was led by Captain Ivan Zubachev. Regiment commissar Efim Fomin was his deputy.
On 29-30June, Hitler's troops launched a two-day assault and announced the control over the fortress. Yet, scattered groups in different parts of the citadel kept fighting. For example, Major Gavrilov’s team fought for another three weeks, and, according to a German report, was captured on 23 July 1941. Some groups and fighters continued sabotage activities until the end of July - early August 1941.
"I am dying now, but I won’t surrender. Farewell, Motherland!"is one of the inscriptions found on the surviving walls of the legendary citadel in the 1950s. Dating back to 20 July 1941, the phrase became the voice of the heroic feat of the soldiers. It entered school textbooks and traveled around the world. Pieces of the combat order drawn up on 24 June discovered in the 1950s also painted the pictured as to who was leading the defense of the citadel. The banner of the 393rd independent anti-aircraft artillery division buried by soldiers in one of the casemates was found in 1956.
The heroic defense of the Brest Fortress became widely known after writer and historian Sergei Smirnov published his book Brest Fortress in 1957. The book was a pinnacle of ten years of hard work, meticulous collection of documents, materials and evidence. As a result, people who led the defense were awarded high state awards, including Major Piotr Gavrilov and Lieutenant Andrei Kizhevatov who died in the fortress (the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union), Commissar Fomin (the Order of Lenin) and Captain Zubachev (the Order of the Great Patriotic War, 1st Class).
All in all, more than 200 dead and surviving defenders of the Brest Fortress were awarded state awards. On 8 May 1965, the citadel was granted the honorary title of the hero fortress, and the memorial complex opened here on 25 September 1971. Attending the solemn opening ceremony were more than 600 veterans who defended the fortress and the city of Brest.
Nowadays, the huge memorial complex commemorating the war heroes hosts many significant events and is among top ten most visited sights of Belarus. On the occasion of the anniversary of the memorial complex Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed a decree to award it the Order of Francysk Skaryna on 22 September.
The Brest Hero Fortress is an architectural ensemble that includes buildings of the mid-19th century, ruins left by the war, monumental architecture and sculpture. Each architectural element carries a certain message and has a strong emotional impact. The story of its defenders is extremely powerful and moving.
