Military valor of the 2nd ordzhonikidze cadet regiment in the events of the battle of stalingrad (based on memoirs of participants in the great patriotic war)

On the basis of such a valuable source as the memoirs of participants in the Great Patriotic War, the article deals with the problem of participation in the events of the Battle of Stalingrad by cadet regiments, in particular the 2nd Ordzhonikidze regiment, underexamined in domestic historiography. The personal documents involved facilitate the recovery of a number of facts that are not reflected in other documents, such as battlefield reports. They point to the combat and numerical strength of the cadet regiments, their role as forward detachments of large military formations, outposts, and often as reliable cover detachments at the initial stage of the defensive operation of the Battle of Stalingrad. The author used the method of comparing a number of memories of the participants in the Battle of Stalingrad, cadets and officers, in which the described events intersect with the event canvas of the analyzed materials. As a result of the analysis, the author came to the conclusion that the recollections of participants in military events retain their objectivity, correlate with other historical documents, can and should be involved in the reconstruction of events, since they make it possible to calmly assess the past, to single out the main thing from the private. The importance of this topic stems from the enduring significance of the victory of the multinational Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War.