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 Rifle Division of the People’s Militia of the Moskvoretskiy district was mainly staffed by workers and employees of the plant named after Vladimir Ilyich, the tannery, the Goznak factory, the worsted spinning factory named after M.I. Kalinin and some other enterprises of the Moskvoretsky district, students and workers of Plekhanov Moscow Art Institute. It was the part of the active army from July 30, 1941 to May 9, 1945. Even before completing the formation, the division received the task – to take up defence on the left flank of the 33rd Army in the Warsaw Highway strip until August 2, 1941. The division was transferred by rail to the Spas-Demensk station and took up defence there. During August – September 1941, the division was engaged in the construction of defensive lines. On October 3, it joined the battle, and on October 4, it began to withdraw to the north to avoid encirclement. Nevertheless, it was not possible to avoid encirclement, and the division was forced to leave the ring in small groups. By mid-October 1941, the remaining units gathered 20 km from Maloyaroslavets, where the division was completed and again sent to the front line. During the battles of October 3-5, 1941, the division lost up to 80% of its personnel. From October 22 to December 18, 1941, the division held the defence at the Stremilovo line along the eastern bank of the Nara River (now there is a memorial sign there – the Stremilovo line of defence). In December 1941, the 17th Moscow Rifle Division of the People’s Militia of the Moskvoretskiy district participated in a counteroffensive near Moscow, the division liberated the cities of Maloyaroslavets and Medyn. Later, the division took part in the liberation of the Orel and Smolensk regions, Bobruisk and Slonim were liberated with its participation. The division ended the war in East Prussia.
Address: Moscow, Shchipok str., 4, p. 1
