The village of Zemena and the surrounding area is the scene of fierce battles of the 1st shock army of the North-Western Front in late 1942 – early 1943. Military burial 20×25 m., Metal fence, made up of chains. A granite obelisk with the inscription: “Soldiers, sergeants, officers who died in battles with Nazi invaders in the period 1941-1943 are buried here.” 26 marble slabs with the names of the fallen soldiers were installed. In the center is the bust of the warrior-liberator. At the entrance to the military cemetery, on a pedestal, is the tower of the T-60 tank. The date of burial is February 1942. A total of 1993 people were buried, the names of 1843 are known. Among them, the commander of the 448th Infantry Regiment of the 397th Division, Lieutenant Colonel P.G. Saenko, nephew of the hero of the Civil War, tanker, senior lieutenant N.N. Schors. In 1968, 1989, 1990, the remains of dead soldiers from the village of Nepal were reburied. Vyazovka, Karpovka, Knyazevo, Levoshkino, Olkhovets, Rechki, Savkino. Memorial signs were installed in the village of Tsemen to sailors 154 of the motorized infantry brigade and soldiers of 397 SD.
The division was formed in October 1941 as a division of the people’s militia, in November it was renamed the 2nd Moscow Rifle Division. The last of January 19, 1942 was renamed the 129th Infantry Division (2nd formation). Parts of the division counterattack the enemy near Moscow, until the summer of 1942 they are fighting hard near Demyansk. On June 12, 1942, the division defends at the line of Staraya Peresa – Gubino – Maloye Yazvitsa – Stary Degtyari, and is preparing for future offensive battles. In the fall of 1942, the division changed its defense sector, concentrating in the area of Zemena, from where in December 1942, along with other parts of the front, it launched an offensive, which in February 1943 ended in the defeat of the enemy’s enemy grouping. In pursuit of the retreating enemy, the division in March 1943 goes to the Lovat river and soon receives an order to concentrate on the Black Dor station for loading into echelons. By mid-April, units of the division are being transferred to the right flank of the Kursk Bulge, a district of the city of Lebedyan.
On January 5, 42, the 166th Marine Brigade was renamed the 154th Separate Marine Rifle Brigade and on January 19 was assigned to the 3rd Shock Army of the North-Western Front. On January 29, 1942, the 154th MSBR fought under the town of Kholm. The 154th Marine Rifle Brigade under the command of Colonel A.M. Smirnov, as part of the 2nd Corps, advancing in the most difficult off-road conditions, by the end of February 1942 reached the approaches to the city of Kholm and closed the encirclement ring in the area of Demyansk of seven enemy divisions . On the night of February 21, she launched an attack on the village of Izbitovo. By the morning of the 21st, the settlement and important strongholds in the enemy’s defense were taken, and the encirclement ring around the enemy’s enemy group closed. Having crossed the forced march 250 km, the brigade on the move entered the battle in the area of the village of Zaluchye of the Leningrad Region. We walked behind enemy lines through the forest, without roads. Cars and guns dragged on themselves. Sometimes for two or three days they were without food. After eight days of fighting, 5 villages were liberated, 30 vehicles, 4 tractors, 8 mortars were captured. 8 planes were shot down and up to 800 fascists were destroyed. In the battles to eliminate the German “Demyansky Cauldron” near the village of Tsemen, the brigade lost almost an entire battalion, but carried out its battalion by knocking out the Germans from the village. In March 1942, the brigade fought in the area of Staraya Russa. By July 3, 1942, the brigade plunged into the city of Ostashkov, Kalinin Region, and departed for the North Caucasus Front.
