Brest Fortress (Брестская крепость)

Brest Fortress

Location: Brest, Brest Oblast  Map

Constructed: Initial phase in 1836- 1842 with latter additions

Museum:

Open: 9am- 6pm every day

 

Brest Fortress is a fortress within the city of Brest (Belarus), at the confluence of the Mukhavets River and the Western Bug, as well as the Terespol Gmina of Poland (forts VI (another name for "Terespol"), letters L ("Lebedev"), VII ("Lobachev"), letters I ("Zhuki"), letters K ("Kobylyany"), letters O ("Koroshchin")). Fortress of the 1st class Brest-Litovsk as part of the Warsaw Military District, later in Minsk.

On May 8, 1965, the Brest Fortress was awarded the title of "Hero Fortress" for its heroic defense in June-July 1941 - the highest degree of distinction, which was awarded to the only fortress and twelve cities of the Soviet Union, famous for their heroic defense during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

 

History

The location for the construction of the fortress was determined by the important military and strategic position that Brest-Litovsk occupied in the Western Territory of the Russian Empire. It was located on the Dnieper-Bug Waterway and the shortest land route from Warsaw to Moscow. The political and military situation that developed in Europe in the 18th century forced Russia to develop plans for strengthening and engineering support for its defense lines. The solution to these problems was handled by a commission created in 1796 under the leadership of Major General, Count P.K. Sukhtelen; Captain K.I. Opperman was sent to conduct a topographic survey of the area, presenting the results of his work in the instructions "For Surveying the New Border with Prussia and Austria" and in the plan for it, according to which it was proposed to build nine powerful first-line fortresses along the 200-kilometer border, including the Brest-Litovsk Fortress. At the same time, in 1797, Major General F. P. Vollan proposed creating a unified defense system in the western territories, the backbone of which was to be three lines of fortifications echeloned in depth, including 19 fortresses, but the outbreak of the war with Napoleon in 1805-1807 led to the postponement of these plans.

In 1807, General P. K. Sukhtelen toured the annexed territories. In his report, he emphasized the strategically important position of Brest-Litovsk and the need to build a fortress here as a stronghold for the active army. The same proposal was made by Infantry General M. B. Barclay de Tolly, who considered it necessary to have a fortified camp in Brest-Litovsk, which could serve as a base for a 20,000-strong army, but the war with Sweden that began in 1808 crossed out these plans.

In 1825, Emperor Nicholas I, who ascended to the throne, declared the construction of new fortresses on the western border one of the priority measures in the defense of the country. Together with the old fortifications, they were to form three lines. This also concerned the construction of the Brest-Litovsk Fortress, which in this regard was considered the second line of defense. In 1829, a project for the creation of the Brest-Litovsk Fortress by General K. I. Opperman appeared. This project had several advantages: it was cheaper, provided effective defense, provided for the possibility of rebuilding field fortifications into long-term ones, and allowed the use of brick buildings in the city for the benefit of the fortress. In 1830, this project was presented to Nicholas I. The management of the work was entrusted to the commander of the Western Engineering District, Major General I. I. Den. The highest supervision of the construction was assigned to Field Marshal Prince I. F. Paskevich.

 

Construction and arrangement

The construction of the fortress on the site of the ancient Russian Brest citadel and the Brest castle of the Lithuanian-Polish era began in 1833 according to the design of the military topographer and engineer Karl Ivanovich Opperman.

Initially, temporary earthen fortifications were erected, the first stone in the foundation of the fortress was ceremonially laid on June 1, 1836 by the commander-in-chief of the active army, Field Marshal Prince I. F. Paskevich. Boundary markers were placed between the lands of the city and the fortress.

In 1838-1839, regiments of the 9th and 10th infantry divisions and the 9th artillery brigade arrived to participate in the construction. The main construction work was completed by April 26, 1842. The fortress consisted of a citadel and three fortifications protecting it with a total area of ​​4 km² and a length of the main fortress line of 6.4 km.

The Citadel, or Central Fortification, was two two-story red brick barracks 1.8 km in circumference. The Citadel, with two-meter thick walls, had 500 casemates, designed for 12 thousand people. The Central Fortification is located on an island formed by the Bug and two branches of the Mukhavets. Three artificial islands formed by the Mukhavets and ditches are connected to this island by drawbridges. The fortifications on them are: Kobrinskoye (formerly Severnoye, the largest), with 4 curtain walls and 3 outrigger ravelins and caponiers; Terespolskoye, or Zapadnoye, with 4 outrigger lunettes; Volynskoye, or Yuzhnoye, with 2 curtain walls and 2 outrigger ravelins. The former "casemated redoubt" now houses the Nativity of the Virgin Mary Monastery. The fortress is surrounded by a 10-meter earthen rampart with casemates in it.

Of the eight gates of the fortress, five have survived - the Kholm Gate (in the south of the citadel), the Terespol Gate (in the southwest of the citadel), the Northern or Aleksandrovsk (in the north of the Kobrin fortification), the North-Western (in the northwest of the Kobrin fortification) and the Southern (in the south of the Volyn fortification, Hospital Island). The Brigid Gate (in the west of the citadel), the Brest Gate (in the north of the citadel) and the Eastern Gate (the eastern part of the Kobrin fortification) have not survived to this day.

On April 26, 1842, the fortress standard was ceremoniously raised over the 1st class Brest-Litovsk fortress. At the time of its opening, it was one of the most advanced fortifications in Russia, which corresponded to its purpose and all defense requirements. The importance of the fortress was evidenced by the fact that Nicholas I visited it seven times during his reign. At that time, a fortress with a strong garrison could stop the advance of an entire enemy army. The enemy, fearing the actions of this garrison in its rear, did not dare to pass by the fortress, was forced to undertake a long siege or blockade the citadel, allocating a significant part of its troops for this. It happened that the war was reduced to the struggle to capture the fortress. Friedrich Engels noted: "The Russians, especially after 1831, did what their predecessors failed to do. Modlin, Warsaw, Ivangorod, Brest-Litovsk form an entire system of fortresses, which, in terms of the combination of its strategic capabilities, is the only one in the world." In August 1842, the Brest Cadet Corps was created and placed in one of the complexes of the Brest-Litovsk Fortress. The initiative to create the corps belonged to the Vilnius Governor-General F. Ya. Mirkovich, who believed that after the uprising of 1830-1831, the government was obliged to take the matter of education into its own hands. Mirkovich managed to convince Nicholas I, who visited Brest in August 1840 to get acquainted with the progress of the fortress construction, that civil institutions in Belarus would not be of any use. He insisted on the creation of a closed educational institution, from which "one should only expect the education of a new generation of people." In 1854, in connection with the outbreak of the Crimean War, the Brest-Litovsk Fortress was transferred to martial law. In connection with the possibility of an attack by Austria, Nicholas I personally developed a plan for a military campaign to cover the "center of the state." The enemy was to be met on the Veprzh and Vistula rivers and, relying on the fortresses of the first line, to give a general battle. In case of an unsuccessful outcome, the Russian troops were to retreat with their left wing to Brest-Litovsk, where the Emperor was going to place his headquarters, replenish with men and equipment and take up defensive positions along the Bug River, threatening the flank and rear of the Austrians in an attempt to develop an offensive on Warsaw. As Nicholas I wrote to Prince I. F. Paskevich:

Here we can safely wait to see what the enemy decides to do... I cannot think that he would dare to cross the Bug to attack us under the walls of the fortress, for such a daring undertaking could cost him dearly, and failure would entail his expulsion from the kingdom, with the danger of having us on his flank and being pressed to the Vistula before he reaches his border... From this, it seems to me, it can be clearly deduced that in any case Brest is the only and most important assembly point for us. From here we can act with all convenience as circumstances dictate. The direct route into the interior of Russia remains free for us, and therefore everything that we must receive from there (food, ammunition, and even reserves) can reach the army quite freely.

In 1864-1888, according to the design of Eduard Ivanovich Totleben, the fortress was modernized. It was surrounded by a ring of forts 32 km in circumference, the Western and Eastern forts were built on the territory of the Kobrin fortification. In 1876, the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church was built on the territory of the fortress according to the design of the architect David Ivanovich Grimm.

In 1886, the Brest-Litovsk Fortress was visited by Emperor Alexander III and Crown Prince Wilhelm II, who were present at the major maneuvers of the Warsaw and Vilnius military districts that took place in the Brest-Litovsk area.

In 1888, the 2nd Infantry Division was transferred from the Kazan Military District, its headquarters were located in Brest-Litovsk. Two regiments from its composition were stationed in the Brest-Litovsk Fortress: the 5th Infantry Kaluga Emperor Wilhelm I Regiment and the 6th Infantry Libau Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia Regiment.

On June 24, 1888, the fortress was visited for inspection by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. The program of the visit included a visit to the fortress cathedral, an inspection of the fortifications, and a garrison parade. Vladimir Alexandrovich inspected the hospital, pigeon station, granary, and bakery. Then the Grand Duke headed to Fort IV, where a presentation of officers from various units, a demonstration of the fort, and exercises of the fortress artillery took place.

In 1891, the Brest numbered reserve battalions and the fortress regiment received names and were deployed into the Izmail 189th Infantry Regiment, the Ochakov 190th Infantry Regiment, the Largo-Kahul 191st Infantry Regiment and the Rymnik 192nd Infantry Regiment of reduced composition, combined into one reserve brigade. In the event of mobilization, it was deployed into a regular infantry division.

 

The Fortress at the Beginning of the 20th Century

In 1909, under the leadership of the Minister of War V. A. Sukhomlinov, a new plan for the deployment of troops and the strategic deployment of armies in the event of war was drawn up. It was decided to move the strategic deployment lines deep into the country to the line of modernized fortresses, including the Brest-Litovsk Fortress. Among a number of measures, it was envisaged to improve the Brest-Litovsk Fortress by constructing a second ring of forts at a distance of 9-9.5 km from the Citadel.

On June 30, 1911, the Engineering Committee of the Main Engineering Directorate reviewed and approved the general plan for the development of the Brest-Litovsk Fortress, calculated for ten years. The new plan was approved by the General Staff Committee in 1912. According to the plan, the defensive perimeter was to consist of 14 forts, 21 strongholds, 5 defensive barracks and several dozen artillery batteries. At a distance of 6-7 km from the fortress, a line of 11 new forts was created, which received the letter designation A, B, G, M, E, Zh, 3, I, K, L, O. The old forts I, VIII and X were also included in this position. The last two became forts B and D, respectively. Between the forts, it was planned to build strongholds intended for mobile reserves, as well as barracks and artillery cellars.

In 1913, the construction of the second ring of fortifications began (Dmitry Karbyshev, in particular, took part in its design), which was to have a circumference of 45 km, but it was never completed before the war.

With the beginning of the First World War, the fortress was intensively prepared for defense. Work was carried out around the clock with the involvement of the civilian population. Every day, the number of workers laying concrete, reinforcement, etc. amounted to 70 thousand people, and on average 8,500 carts were used for deliveries every day. By the spring of 1915, the fortress position had acquired a finished look, and the fortress became one of the best prepared Russian fortresses, as well as one of the strongest strongholds of the Old World. However, at the last moment, a decision was made not to defend the fortress, but to take out the valuable property. On the night of August 1 (13), 1915, during the general retreat, the fortress was abandoned and partially blown up by Russian troops.

On March 3, 1918, in the Citadel, in the so-called White Palace (the former church of the Uniate Basilian Monastery, then the officers' meeting), the Brest Peace was signed. The fortress was in German hands until the end of 1918, and then under the control of the Poles.

In 1919, with the outbreak of the Soviet-Polish War, some buildings of the Brest Fortress were used by the Polish authorities as camps for Soviet prisoners of war (Fort Graf Berg, Grajewskie Barracks). According to Polish data, more than 1,000 Soviet prisoners of war died in the Brest camp due to an epidemic of infectious diseases in 1919. For this reason, the camp was visited by a delegation of the Polish Sejm, and through their efforts, the living conditions of the prisoners of war in the camp were significantly improved[4]. In 1920, during the Soviet-Polish War, it was captured by the Red Army, but soon lost again.

In 1921, according to the Treaty of Riga, it was ceded to Poland. In the interwar period, the fortress was used as a barracks, a military warehouse, and a political prison (in the 1930s, opposition politicians were imprisoned here).

 

Defense of the Brest Fortress in 1939

The day after the start of World War II, on September 2, 1939, the Brest Fortress was bombed by the Germans for the first time: German planes dropped 10 bombs, damaging the White Palace. At that time, the barracks of the fortress housed the marching battalions of the 35th and 82nd infantry regiments and a number of other, rather random units, as well as mobilized reservists awaiting dispatch to their units.

The garrison of the city and the fortress was subordinated to the Polesie operational group of General Franciszek Kleeberg; On September 11, retired General Konstantin Plisovsky was appointed garrison commander, who formed a combat-ready detachment from the units at his disposal, numbering 2,000-2,500 men, consisting of 4 battalions (three infantry and one engineer), supported by several batteries, two armored trains, and a number of light French Renault FT-17 tanks. The defenders of the fortress had no anti-tank weapons, but they had to deal with tanks. By September 13, the families of the servicemen had been evacuated from the fortress, the bridges and passages were mined, the main gates were blocked by tanks, and trenches for the infantry were built on the earthen ramparts.

The 19th Armored Corps of General Heinz Guderian was advancing on Brest-nad-Bugom, moving from East Prussia to meet another German tank division moving from the south. Guderian intended to capture the city of Brest to prevent the defenders of the fortress from retreating south and joining up with the main forces of the Polish Operational Group Narew. The German units had a two-fold superiority over the defenders of the fortress in infantry, four-fold in tanks, and six-fold in artillery. On September 14, 1939, 77 tanks of the 10th Panzer Division (units of the reconnaissance battalion and the 8th Panzer Regiment) attempted to take the city and fortress on the move, but were repelled by infantry supported by 12 FT-17 tanks, which were knocked out in the process. That same day, German artillery and aviation began bombarding the fortress. The next morning, after fierce street fighting, the Germans captured most of the city. The defenders retreated to the fortress. On the morning of September 16, the Germans (the 10th Panzer and 20th Motorized Divisions) began an assault on the fortress, which was repelled. By evening, the Germans had captured the crest of the rampart, but were unable to break through further. Two FT-17 tanks stationed at the fortress gates inflicted heavy damage on the German tanks. In total, seven German attacks were repelled since September 14, with up to 40% of the fortress defenders' personnel lost. Guderian's adjutant was mortally wounded during the assault. On the night of September 17, the wounded Plisovsky gave the order to abandon the fortress and cross the Bug to the south. The troops crossed the undamaged bridge to the Terespol fortification and from there to Terespol. On the same day, Soviet troops crossed the eastern border of Poland.

On September 22, Brest was handed over by the Germans to the 29th Tank Brigade of the Red Army[7] under the command of Brigade Commander Krivoshein. During the official procedure of transferring the city of Brest and the Brest Fortress to the Soviet side, an organized simultaneous withdrawal of German troops and the entry of Red Army troops into Brest took place in Brest. Thus, Brest and the Brest Fortress became part of the USSR.

 

Defense of the Brest Fortress in 1941

By June 22, 1941, the fortress was home to 8 rifle battalions, 1 reconnaissance, 1 artillery regiment and 2 artillery divisions (anti-tank and air defense), some special units of rifle regiments and subdivisions of corps units, assemblies of the assigned personnel of the 6th Oryol and 42nd rifle divisions of the 28th rifle corps of the 4th army, units of the 17th Red Banner Brest border detachment, the 33rd separate engineering regiment, part of the 132nd battalion of the NKVD escort troops, unit headquarters (the headquarters of the divisions and the 28th rifle corps were located in Brest), a total of about 9 thousand people, not counting family members (300 families of military personnel). On the German side, the assault on the fortress was entrusted to the 45th Infantry Division (about 15-16 thousand men) of the 12th Army Corps, the 2nd Army Group, with artillery support. According to the plan, the fortress was to be captured by 12 noon on the first day of the war.

On June 22 at 4:15, artillery fire was opened on the fortress, taking the garrison by surprise. As a result, warehouses and a water supply were destroyed, communications were interrupted, and the garrison suffered heavy losses. At 4:45, the assault began. The surprise of the attack led to the garrison not being able to put up a unified, coordinated resistance and was divided into several separate pockets. The Germans encountered strong resistance at the Volyn and especially at the Kobrin fortifications, where it came to bayonet attacks.

By 7:00 on June 22, some units of the 42nd and 6th rifle divisions were able to leave the fortress and the city of Brest in battle and redeploy to alarm deployment points with heavy losses, but many servicemen of these divisions were unable to get out of the fortress. They continued to fight in it.

By the evening of June 24, the Germans captured the Volynsk and Terespol fortifications, and the remnants of the garrison of the latter, realizing the impossibility of holding out, crossed over to the Citadel at night. Thus, the defense was concentrated in the Kobrin fortification and the Citadel. At this time, all the defenders of the Kobrin fortification (about 400 people under the command of Major Pyotr Mikhailovich Gavrilov) were concentrated in the Eastern Fort. Every day, the defenders of the fortress had to repel 7-8 attacks, and flamethrowers were used. On June 26, the last section of the Citadel defense near the Three-Arch Gate fell, and on June 29, the Eastern Fort. The organized defense of the fortress ended there — only isolated groups and individual fighters remained. In total, 6-7 thousand people were captured by the Germans.

One of the inscriptions in the fortress reads: “I am dying, but I am not surrendering. Farewell, Motherland. 20/VII-41.”

On July 23, 1941, that is, on the thirty-second day of the war, Major Gavrilov, who commanded the defense of the Eastern Fort, was captured, according to official data, the last defender of the Brest Fortress.

In the post-war period, most of the Citadel was dismantled for the construction of houses.

 

Memory of the defenders of the fortress

The defense of the Brest Fortress was first reported in a German staff report on the capture of Brest-Litovsk, captured in the papers of the defeated 45th Infantry Division (kept in the USSR Ministry of Defense Archives — op. 7514, d. 1, p. 227-228) in February 1942 in the Krivtsovo region near Orel during an attempt to destroy the Bolkhov group of German troops. Based on the materials of the "Combat Report on the Capture of Brest-Litovsk," an article by Colonel M. Tolchenov, "A Year Ago in Brest," was published in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper on June 21, 1942. In 1948, an article by writer Mikhail Zlatogorov, "Brest Fortress," appeared in Ogonyok; in 1951, artist Pyotr Krivonogov painted a picture, "Defenders of the Brest Fortress." The credit for restoring the memory of the heroes of the fortress largely belongs to the writer and historian Sergei Smirnov, as well as Konstantin Simonov, who supported his initiative. In 1955, Sergei Smirnov's heroic drama "Fortress on the Bug" was published, in 1956, Sergei Smirnov's documentary story "Brest Fortress" was released, and the feature film based on the script by Konstantin Simonov "Immortal Garrison" (honorary diploma of the Venice International Film Festival) was released worldwide.

Since that time, the Brest Fortress has become a symbol of the unwavering fortitude of the Soviet people and an important symbol of official patriotic propaganda. On May 8, 1965, the Brest Fortress was awarded the title of Hero Fortress. Since 1971, it has been a memorial complex. The Brest Hero Fortress memorial was built according to the designs of sculptor Alexander Kibalnikov. The building of the Brest Fortress Defense Museum and the ruins of the White Palace adjoin the Ceremonial Square. The compositional center is the main monument "Courage", on its back there are relief compositions telling about individual episodes of the heroic defense of the fortress. The remains of 1038 people are buried in the 3-tier necropolis, compositionally connected with the monument. 277 names are written on the slabs, the rest are unknown. The Eternal Flame of Glory burns in front of the ruins of the former engineering department. The ruins of the barracks of the 333rd rifle regiment and other defensive and residential structures have been preserved on the observation deck.

On May 9, 1972, pioneers first took up duty at Post No. 1 near the Eternal Flame of the Brest Fortress. On September 24, 1984, the Post No. 1 Museum "Boys of Immortal Brest" was opened. On February 23, 1992, the Museum of the Military Glory of Aviators was opened on the territory of the memorial.

By the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of September 19, 1996, the memorial complex "Brest Hero Fortress" was awarded the Honorary State Banner of the Republic of Belarus "for special achievements in socio-cultural development, patriotic education of youth and in connection with the 25th anniversary."

By the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of December 30, 2014, the staff of the state institution "Memorial Complex "Brest Fortress" was awarded the Special Prize of the Republic of Belarus "for their great contribution to preserving the historical memory of the Great Patriotic War and creating a new exhibition in the South-Eastern barracks of the Brest Fortress "Museum of War - Territory of Peace." By the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated December 29, 2020, the staff of the state institution "Memorial Complex "Brest Fortress" was awarded the Special Prize of the Republic of Belarus "for a significant contribution to the preservation of the historical truth about the Great Patriotic War, the implementation of the Union State project for the reconstruction of buildings and structures of the Brest Fortress".

By the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated September 22, 2021, the memorial complex "Brest Hero Fortress" was awarded the Order of Francisk Skaryna "for significant achievements in the preservation of historical heritage, perpetuating the memory of the participants of the Great Patriotic War, patriotic education of children and youth, as well as in connection with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the memorial complex".

 

Problems of the development of the Brest Fortress as a cultural and tourist site

The museum and memorial area occupies 30% of the entire fortress, 70% is outside the tourist zone. There is no infrastructure for receiving tourists (food, navigation, toilets, etc.) on an area of ​​about 200 hectares. According to preliminary estimates by experts of the Brest Fortress Development Fund in 2013, 56% of the fortress buildings and structures had a tendency to become emergency in the coming years.

Project ideas are needed that will allow a comprehensive approach to solving the problems of preserving architectural heritage, its conservation and involvement in socio-cultural circulation. It is difficult to develop a city without a fortress, the main problem of which is the undeveloped territory located outside the memorial complex. The objects and the territory are on the balance sheet of different owners, which significantly complicates the process of developing a unified conservation strategy.

Ideas and concepts for creating a single historical and cultural complex on the abandoned territory of the fortress have been voiced since the 2000s. Initially, a group of Brest architects proposed a concept for a cultural and entertainment complex that would recreate objects from different eras and provide them with a wide range of historical and entertainment functions. The concept caused controversy because it violated the historical integrity of the Brest Fortress complex.

In the fall of 2013, Vladimir Mikulik, a native of Brest, came up with a new project. The project was called "Brest-2019". To implement the idea of ​​preserving and developing the fortress, he invited the Association of Cultural Managers, as well as experts from Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Great Britain, Holland and other countries. Dieter Bogner, a specialist in museum projects and the creator of the Museum Quarter in Vienna, became the head of the group developing the new Concept. The concept for preserving and developing the territories of the Brest Fortress (zoning, infrastructure, new routes, museums and tourist attractions, implementation schedule) offers new scenarios and motivations for visiting the fortress by city residents, providing an opportunity to develop existing museums and takes into account the entire system of restrictions on this territory.

 

Prison in the Brest Fortress

During the Polish uprising of 1863, the stone building of the former monastery of the Bridget Order in the Kobrin fortification of the Brest Fortress, built in 1751 and previously used as barracks and as a disciplinary battalion, was converted into a military field prison, and then into a transit prison for the insurgents.

The transit prison in the fortress operated until World War I. In independent Poland, the transit prison was converted into a maximum security prison, where only the most dangerous state criminals were held. It held 21 deputies of the Polish Sejm from the ranks of the opposition, arrested in the summer of 1930 (see Brest Trial). On October 26, 1930, a trial was held in Brest, where they were all sentenced to long prison terms. In 1938-39, Stepan Bandera was held in the prison.

After Brest became part of the USSR in 1939, the prison was used by the Soviet state security agencies to hold political prisoners. On June 10, 1941, there were 680 prisoners there. These were mainly former Polish officers and Belarusian nationalists.

On June 22, 1941, the prison building was captured by the reconnaissance battalion of the 45th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht under the command of Helmut von Pannwitz. Some of the prisoners died during the battle, and the rest were released.

In 1955, the ruins of the prison were blown up.

 

Brest Fortress in Culture

A number of feature films have been dedicated to the defense of the Brest Fortress: "The Immortal Garrison" (1956), "The Battle for Moscow" (the first film "Aggression", one of the plot lines, 1985); "I am a Russian soldier" (based on the book by Boris Vasiliev "Not on the lists", 1995), a joint Russian-Belarusian "Brest Fortress" (2010), as well as a documentary "Brest Fortress. Crossing of Troops", filmed by Mikhail Glushin in 2009. In 2010, the NTV channel released the television film by Alexei Pivovarov "Brest. Fortress Heroes".

In 2015, the song "Brest Fortresses" by the Kazakh rock band "Motor-Roller" was released in the album "Up to the Reichstag".

The poem “20.07.41” by poet Pavel Velikzhanin is dedicated to the feat of one of the last defenders of the Brest Fortress.