Myasnoi Bor is a grim story from the early period of the Great Patriotic War. In May-June 1942, the 2nd Shock Army, rushing to aid the besieged Leningrad, was encircled here and almost completely destroyed. Near Myasnoi Bor, there is the so-called Valley of Death — a small area about 2 by 2 kilometers. Here lie the remains of, by the most modest estimates, over 100,000 Soviet and German soldiers. In total, nearly 150,000 Soviet soldiers died in this area and its surroundings.

The village of Myasnoi Bor existed long before the events of the Great Patriotic War. As early as the 17th century, there was a slaughterhouse here. Hence the name.

To break the blockade of Leningrad, the Soviet command organized the Lyuban Offensive Operation. The goal was to break through the German defenses and capture the strategically important town of Lyuban, and from there advance on Leningrad. At first, the enemy’s defense was successfully breached precisely in the area of Myasnoi Bor. As a result of fierce battles, a bulge or pocket formed in the German defenses. The 2nd Shock Army was directed into this bulge. They advanced almost to Lyuban. But the German troops brought up reserves and launched a counteroffensive, preventing our forces from advancing further. Moreover, the German command threw in additional forces to close the neck of the bulge and encircle the 2nd Shock Army. The map below shows the troop dispositions in May 1942.

In May 1942, the command decided to withdraw the troops. Upon learning this, the Germans began attacking with particular ferocity and by the end of May cut off the neck of the bulge. Thus, about 30,000 military personnel and 4,500 civilians were encircled. Conditions were terrible; many died not from shells but from starvation. Soldiers were allotted half a dry biscuit per day. They ate the last horses but still went into battle, trying to break out of the encirclement.

Several tank brigades were sent to aid the 2nd Shock Army and managed to temporarily break the blockade. Most of the fighting took place along three clearings marked on the map below. The Middle Clearing (called Erika in German documents) was of special interest. Previously, a narrow-gauge railway had been laid along it to supply the 2nd Shock Army. This railway ran from Myasnoi Bor to Finev Lug, which borders Tesovo-Netylsky.

These three clearings and the space between them make up the Valley of Death. The corridor’s width sometimes reached only 300 meters. The soldiers of the 2nd Shock Army had to break out of the encirclement under heavy fire. On June 19, a landing detachment of a tank brigade managed to break through the breach again. Its width was only 300 meters, it was continuously shelled, but thousands of soldiers still managed to escape the encirclement. The last organized group, numbering 6,000 people, broke out on the night of June 22, 1942. On June 24, a desperate attempt was made to break the cauldron from inside. There was no communication, and no one commanded this last attack. As researchers write, the last thing the exhausted soldiers saw in life were the corduroy roads near Myasnoi Bor, piled with the bodies of their comrades. The corridor broken through by the 2nd Shock Army was finally eliminated by Wehrmacht forces and the Spanish “Blue Division” on June 25, 1942. According to various estimates, 13–16 thousand soldiers managed to break out of the encirclement, about 30 thousand soldiers and officers were captured, and irrecoverable losses exceeded 50 thousand people. The commander of the 2nd Shock Army, General Vlasov, also surrendered. Yes, this is the very Vlasov — a symbol of betrayal in Soviet times. He was appointed commander of the 2nd Shock Army on April 20, 1942 — shortly before the encirclement. After surrendering, he began cooperating with the Nazis and headed the Russian Liberation Army, composed of captured Soviet soldiers and officers who now fought on the side of Nazi Germany.

Because of his association with Vlasov, the feat of the 2nd Shock Army was largely ignored in Soviet times. Only in the 1970s did a search movement begin, initiated by local enthusiast Orlov N.I. Excavations continue to this day. It is said that this place is so soaked with blood that at night one can hear German speech and the moans of the restless souls of Soviet soldiers.

Myasnoi Bor is a different story, a dark one. But it vividly shows what this war was like and at what cost this victory was won.

In 2008–2009, according to the project of architect Vladimir Nikolaevich Vorontsov, a Memorial Complex with mass graves of soldiers of the 2nd Shock, 52nd, and 59th armies was constructed near the village of Myasnoi Bor, at the site of the breakthrough by the troops of the Volkhov Front of the German defenses in January–June 1942. The memorial cemetery contains the remains of 39,284 soldiers found between 1958 and 2022.

Sources:

https://vzlomboy.livejournal.com/89626.html

https://novgorod.travel/guides/voinskaya-slava/myasnoy-bor/

https://russian7.ru/post/dolina-smerti-pod-velikim-novgorodom/

https://superpohod.ru/blog/istoriya-myasnoj-bor-dolina-smerti-po-novgorodski/

https://www.drive2.ru/b/357891

https://www.tripadvisor.ru/Attraction_Review-g8673615-d14018247-Reviews-Myasnoy_Bor_Memorial_Complex-Myasnoy_Bor_Novgorod_Oblast_Northwestern_District.html#/media/14018247/?albumid=-160&type=ALL_INCLUDING_RESTRICTED&category=-160