The Battle for the Caucasus began in late July 1942. Over the year Novorossiysk remained one of the important areas of that struggle. The defense of Novorossiysk began in late August with the troops of the 47th Army, the Black Sea Fleet, and the Azov Flotilla sailors, partisans and underground fighters giving a brave fight. The Nazi offensive operation was stopped at a firing line, created near the cement factories of the city. The enemy was not able to take advantage of the Novorossiysk sea port. Not a single Nazi ship reached it. Razed to the ground, all in the smoke of fires, Novorossiysk persevered and won.

The heroes of the legendary Malaya Zemlya (“Minor Land”) gained immortal glory in the battles for Novorossiysk. Bloody battles on this beachhead area of thirty square kilometers continued for two hundred and twenty-five days. The “Minor Land” enchained the major enemy forces and played a major role in the defeat of enemy troops in the area in 1943.

Gelendzhik was the nearest rear of the Novorossiysk group of the Soviet troops providing for the front.

On September 9, 1943, the offensive of the North-Caucasian Front began. Simultaneously with the air landing at the port of Novorossiysk, the Soviet soldiers dealt a crushing blow to the enemy. The defeat of the Nazis near Novorossiysk was the beginning of the collapse of the powerful fortifications on the Taman peninsula, the so-called “Blue Line” (Kuban bridgehead). The victory at Novorossiysk led to the expulsion of the enemy from the Taman Peninsula. In October 1943, as a result of the offensive of the North Caucasus Front, the liberation of the Caucasus from fascist invaders, and the liberation of the Crimea were completed.

“The Battle of Novorossiysk went down in history as an example of indomitable will of the Soviet people to victory, as well as of martial valor and fearlessness, their everlasting devotion to Lenin’s party, to the socialist homeland”, Leonid Brezhnev said on September 7, 1974 at the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal to Novorossiysk.

Novorossiysk people hallow the memory of those who fought for their native city. The Heroes’ Square with the Eternal Flame; monumental sculptures The Warriors- defenders, The Unknown Sailor, The Unbroken; obelisks and plaques on the “Minor Land”, in the Valley of Death, in the Sheskharis and Sukhumi highway; the City’s History Museum remind the contemporary and future generations of the heroic defenders of Novorossiysk, who had selflessly fulfilled their sacred duty.

For more information on war heroes visit Our Victory social project official website.
 

Battle of Novorossiysk