The story of the restoration of the name of the front-line soldier and defender of Pavlov's House, G. B. Khokholov. 1942-2001.

Document publication

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-4-1083-1097

For citation

Solovieva, Svetlana V., Bolotova, Elena Yu. (2025). The history of the restoration of the name of the front-line soldier - defender of Pavlov's House G. B. Khokholov. 1942-2001, Herald of an Archivist, no. 4, pp. 1083-1097, doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-4-1083-1097

Solovieva, Svetlana V., Bolotova, Elena Yu., Volgograd State Social and Pedagogical University, Volgograd, Russia

The story of the restoration of the name of the front-line soldier and defender of Pavlov's House, G. B. Khokholov. 1942-2001.

Abstract

Hundreds of thousands of ordinary Red Army soldiers of various nationalities, many of whose names have not been identified, participated in the turning point in the Battle of Stalingrad on the Volga. This source study examines the biography of one of these participants in the Battle of Stalingrad. The State Archives of the Volgograd Region (GAVO), in Collection R-3296, "Collection of Memories of Participants in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945," contains memoirs, front-line letters, and diaries of soldiers. Among them is a file containing a biographical interview with one of the previously unknown defenders of Stalingrad's legendary Pavlov House. This discovery served as the basis for a biographical study of Gari Badmaevich Khokholov, a participant in the Battle of Stalingrad, a native of the Republic of Kalmykia. Textual analysis, textual interpretation, chronological analysis, and prosopographical methods were used in collecting and analyzing historical information. Historicism and objectivity were the fundamental principles of the research, enabling a thorough analysis of the problem and ensuring the consistency of conclusions and generalizations. For many years, G.B. Khokholov was listed as an unknown soldier among the defenders. The purpose of the research and documentary publication is to trace the process of restoring the name of the Kalmyk defender of Pavlov's House, which began in the mid-1950s. The panel of the restored Pavlov House listed 24 defenders—representatives of nine nationalities. The source study determines the scientific significance of the published document. The authors note that it was this published document that served as the starting point for the long and arduous process of restoring the name of the Kalmyk defender of the legendary Stalingrad house. The study revealed the specifics of this process and determined the influence of the political situation in the country on the establishment of historical facts.

Keywords

Battle of Stalingrad, 13th Guards Division, Red Army book, sniper, Pavlov's House, memoirs, Kalmyk, attack, biographical research, prosopographical method.

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About authors

Solovieva Svetlana V., PhD in History, Associate Professor, Volgograd State Social and Pedagogical University, Institute of Historical and Legal Education, Department of Russian History and Historical and Local History Education, Associate Professor, Volgograd, Russian Federation, 8-937-704-77-07, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Bolotova Elena Yu., Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Volgograd State Social and Pedagogical University, Institute of Historical and Legal Education, Department of Russian History and Historical and Local History Education, Professor, Volgograd, Russian Federation, 8-905-334-66-34, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The article was received in the editorial office on 29.12.2024, recommended for publication on 20.09.2025.