The Siege of Pavlov's House occurred from 27 September to 15 November 1942 when, during the Battle of Stalingrad, around 25 soldiers from the Soviet Red Army's 42nd Guards Regiment held a fortified apartment amid a 60-day siege by the German Wehrmacht.
The four-story apartment building, overseeing the 9th January Square in the center of Stalingrad, was captured by 50 soldiers of the Red Army's 42nd Guards Regiment, 13th Guards Rifle Division in late September 1942, with Sergeant Yakov Pavlov leading the attack. Lieutenant Ivan F. Afanasiev's men fortified the building, with Afanasiev ordering his men to lay landmines in all approaches to the square, barbed wire around the apartment block's perimeter, and machine-gun positions in the windows. Pavlov was ordered to defend the building to the last bullet and the last man. The Germans attacked the building several times a day, but Pavlov's men laid down a withering barrage of machine-gun and anti-tank rifle fire from the basement, windows, and roof each time. Supplies were brought in via a communications trench or by boats crossing the Volga, defying German air raids and shelling. The tired and hungry soldiers held out until they were relieved by counterattacking Soviet forces. The garrison was disbanded on the night of 24 November and its soldiers returned to their original units; many were killed during the assault on the Milk House on 26 November. Pavlov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for the taking of the building, even though Afanasiev had commanded the position.