The crew of the t-34 tank under the command of Paul Rak fought alone for 17 hours with the fascist "tigers" and "Ferdinand" providing a crossing of the main forces through the rivers Shu and Berezina. It was June 29, 1944 during the liberation of the city of Borisov …

The second battalion, which included a platoon of Lieutenant Pavel Rak, was instructed to seize the bridges across the rivers Shu and Berezina, to prevent the Nazis from blowing them up and, thus, to ensure the crossing of the main forces. All Soviet tanks were shot down. All but one…

Paul Rak's car managed to break through the bridge to the right Bank of the city at high speed. The unequal battle lasted for 17 hours. The bridge was blown up, there was nowhere to retreat, as well as to wait for quick help. 

The Soviet tank hit  armored with the Nazis. The escaped fascists in horror ran up in different directions. Further, the crushing of every single gun, tank rushed to the city. They moved towards the enemy convoy. After a few minutes all that reminded  about it was a pile of wood, metal  and corpses of the Nazis.

It was possible to leave with a clear conscience to the wood, to wait for help. The crew would not be condemned for it. But the crew of the tank-Alexander Petryaev and Alexey Danilov agreed with their commander Pavel Cancer to fight to the end. And they did the impossible…

They dealt with the German commandant's office, destroying equipment and Germans and causing panic among the enemy (the enemy could not believe that the reason for their defeat was a single Soviet tank), and then moved to the Borisov hospital, where the invaders kept wounded soldiers. A brave crew was at the hospital at the very moment when the Nazis were going to set fire to the people locked in wooden barracks. About 200 prisoners were saved and went to the forest.

A fatal battle with the "tigers" and "Panthers" took place at 3. 30 pm, when our tanks crossed the Minsk highway, heading towards the Berezina,  to meet Soviet forces. The heroic crew led an unequal battle to theend. Even when the tank was already burning, heavily wounded shooter-radio operator Alexei Danilov continued to transmit the data about the enemy…

All three people were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Heroic crew: Paul Rak, Alex Danilov and Alexander Petryaev was buried in Borisov.