On the morning of the 01.01.1943, in the narrow corridor to Demyansk, the III./Jäger-Regiment 75 stood ready for defense in the sector of the 225. Infanterie-Division in the area around Ssofronkowo. Attached to this battalion was the Sturmgeschütz of Unteroffizier Naumann, positioned 800 meters east of the village. Just after 09:30 the Soviets launched an armoured attack in this sector. Naumann shot up 6 enemy tanks and thus prevented a breakthrough in the sector of the battalion.
For his decisive contribution to the defense here, as well as raising his total of destroyed Soviet tanks to 26, he would be decorated with the Knight’s Cross.
