Units of the 17th Division of the People’s Militia of the Moskvoretskiy District of Moscow Were Formed in This Building in 1941
The 17th Moscow Division of the People’s Militia of the Moskvoretsky district was a military unit of the Red Army of the USSR Armed Forces that took part in the Great Patriotic War. The division was formed on July 6, 1941 at the Moscow Institute of National Economy named after G.V. Plekhanov at the address: 28, Stremyanny Lane. Volunteers from the Moskvoretskiy and Sverdlovskiy districts of Moscow joined the division. On July 6, the lists of the division’s personnel were clarified, drill training was conducted on July 7 and 8. At the formation, an order was read out – regiments by battalions to march through Kaluga Square from Moscow at intervals of an hour. The division came out in two streams – two regiments along Bolshaya Kaluzhskaya, the rest of the regiments, formations and the division headquarters – along Warsaw highway in the direction of Butovo. During the day it was necessary to make a 30-kilometer march and arrive at the Letovo field camp, Sosenki in the evening. By the evening, the formation had significantly stretched. In the field camp, the division was replenished with volunteers from the Lublino and Kashira districts of the Moscow region. Employees of the Staro-Pavlovskaya and Lenskaya factories, the largest textile enterprises of Pavlovskiy Posad, as well as employees of many other Pavlovskiy Posad enterprises also joined the division. On July 18, the division was transferred along Warsaw and Kaluga highways for 120 kilometers to Ilyinsky – Sergeyevka. The march was carried out for 40 km a day. On July 21, weapons, uniforms, and shoes were received. The construction of the defensive lines of the Mozhaisk line of defence along the Podsosino – Ilyinskoe – Lukyanovo–Konstantinovo line began. The work was combined with combat training. On July 31, after the creation of the Reserve Front, the 33rd Army, consisting of the 9th, 5th, 1st, 17th divisions of the People’s Militia, 873rd, 875th artillery regiments of the PTO, was concentrated in the area of Spas-Demensk. On August 1, the 17th Division took up positions southwest of Warsaw Highway along the Yablonovo-Podlesnaya- Krisilino–Osinovka line. By this time there were 8,131 people in it. On August 8, the division was awarded banners at the village of Palkovo. Under these banners, the militia took the oath. On August 26, the division was transferred to the organization and staffing of the reduced rifle division. On September 19, the Moskvoretskiy Division was transformed into the 17th Rifle Division. A memorial plaque has been erected in memory of the formation of the 17th Moscow Division of the People’s Militia of the Moskvoretskiy district.
Address: Moscow, Refrigerating lane, 1, bldg. 1
