 Fighting on and around Mamayev Kurgan, a prominent hill above the city, was particularly merciless; indeed, the position changed hands many times.In another part of the city, a Soviet platoon under the command of Sergeant Yakov Pavlov fortified a four-story building that oversaw a square 300 meters from the river bank, later called "Pavlov's House".The soldiers surrounded it with minefields, set up machine-gun positions at the windows and breached the walls in the basement for better communications.