Militant Everyday Life of the 116th Rifle Division of the 52nd Army in the Defensive Battle Outside of Iaşi (30 May – 8 June 1944)

• Main Author: Viktor I. Mertsalov
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Transbaikal State University 2020-06-01
• Series: Гуманитарный вектор
• Subjects: the 116th rifle division; the 52nd army; the 2nd ukrainian front; transbaikal military district; holding battle of iasi (30 may – 8 june
• Online Access: http://zabvektor.com/wp-content/uploads/260620020602-Mercalov.pdf

The participation of the116th rifle division in the defensive battle outside of Iasi is considered in the article. The battle dates back to the beginning of the liberation of Eastern Europe from the Nazi Germany by the Red Army. Several political leaders of European countries forget and falsify this fact today. In the article, the author uses the conception of “everyday life history”, describes the battlefield and great deeds of the Red Army soldiers. The men’s combat heroism is considered not as scattered examples but it is described as a demonstration of the mass deed which became a component of combat activities of the 52nd Army and made it possible to break through the defense. This is achieved by highlighting the stages of the battle and linking to them the daily manifestation of heroic defenders of the Soviet bridgehead near Iaşi. The events are considered in the context of the military-strategic position of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. We show that the defense of the Iaşi border, having the purpose to protect the bridgehead and cause maximum damage to the enemy, carried an additional burden – to hide by fighting the strategic plan of preparation of the Iaşi-Chisinau operation and thus to strengthen favorable conditions for its victorious conduct. The author used documentary materials of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense taken from the portals Podvig naroda (Deed of the People) and Pamyat naroda (Memory of the People), i.e. registers of the combat activities, conferment orders, award sheets of the combatants and wartime memoirs.