Khoti-Tau is a mountain pass in Karachay-Cherkessia.
It connects Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) with the Main Caucasus Range.
Its elevation is 3,546 meters.
In the Balkar language, the name translates as “mountain of the Abkhazians,” where khotuy means “Abkhaz.”
The Elbrus region became the highest-altitude front of World War II—advancing through the Khotyu-Tau pass, the Germans occupied the “Refuge of the Eleven” lodge (4,050 meters above sea level) on August 16, 1942.
To storm this stronghold, a detachment of 102 men under the command of Lieutenant Gurgen Agadzhanovich Grigoryants was formed.
The unit was armed with 40 submachine guns.
In a brutal battle on the morning of September 28, 1942, only four soldiers survived.
They reported that their lieutenant, wounded in both legs, had remained on the battlefield.
By order of the command, the detachment was declared lost, its commander was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Star.