Published on: 2026-10-06
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
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The Victory Museum will present an exhibition dedicated to Moscow People’s Militia Day. As part of the “Family Relics” project, guests will be told about the militiaman Mikhail Luzgin.
Moscow People’s Militia Day is celebrated on October 11. It was on this day in 1941 that the breakout from the fiery Vyazma Pocket occurred — one of the bloodiest operations of the Great Patriotic War, which became the last for many militia fighters.
A total of 12 divisions of the people’s militia were formed in the capital, including the 8th Krasnopresnenskaya, which included the “writers’ company”, created in July 1941 from writers who were members of the Union of Soviet Writers. Mikhail Luzgin was also enlisted in this company.
M.V. Luzgin was born in 1899 in Vitebsk. He completed seven grades of gymnasium and worked at newspapers since 1918. In 1919, he was drafted into the Red Army, served as a private, then as a political officer. He also worked as an editor for the magazines “Army Political Worker,” “Revolution and War,” and “Red Oath.” In 1923, his first story was published in “Prozhektor,” and in 1927 he became deputy chief editor of the magazine “October.”
In July 1941, Mikhail Luzgin volunteered for the Moscow people’s militia, fought as part of the 1st battalion of the 22nd rifle regiment of the 8th Krasnopresnenskaya division, but was later recalled to the frontline press — to the editorial office of the 43rd Army newspaper “Defender of the Fatherland.”
In December 1941, M.V. Luzgin received a new appointment to the editorial office of the 64th Army’s newspaper “For the Motherland!”, where, in the rank of senior political officer, he described the Battle of Stalingrad. He died on September 28, 1942, at the command post of the 64th Army from a shell fragment.
The updated exhibition will feature rarities donated to the museum by Mikhail Luzgin’s wife, Major of the Medical Service Maria Iosifovna Kagan-Luzgina. The display cases will showcase documents and manuscripts by M.V. Luzgin, a commemorative badge and certificate “Veteran of the 8th Krasnopresnenskaya Division of the People’s Militia,” membership card No. 476 of the “Literary Fund of the USSR Union,” and a correspondent’s pass for the war correspondent of the 64th Army newspaper “For the Motherland.” The exhibition will also include sheet music and the lyrics of the song “March of the People’s Militia,” published in August 1941, a notebook with working notes, and the manuscript of the story “A Difficult Case,” dedicated to the battles of 1942.
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