This is rarely remembered, but during the war years there was a joke that sounded with a tinge of pride: “Why should we wait until the Allies open a second front? It's been open for a long time! It’s called the Partisan Front.” If there is an exaggeration in this, it is a small one. The partisans of the Great Patriotic War really were a real second front for the Nazis.
To imagine the scale guerrilla warfare, just give a few numbers. By 1944, about 1.1 million people fought in partisan detachments and formations. The losses of the German side from the actions of the partisans amounted to several hundred thousand people - this number includes Wehrmacht soldiers and officers (at least 40,000 people even according to the meager data of the German side), and all sorts of collaborators such as Vlasovites, police officers, colonists, and so on. Among those destroyed by the people's avengers were 67 German generals; five more were taken alive and transported to the mainland. Finally, the effectiveness of the partisan movement can be judged by this fact: the Germans had to divert every tenth soldier of the ground forces to fight the enemy in their own rear!
It is clear that such successes came at a high price for the partisans themselves. In the ceremonial reports of that time, everything looks beautiful: they destroyed 150 enemy soldiers and lost two partisans killed. In reality, partisan losses were much higher, and even today their final figure is unknown. But the losses were probably no less than those of the enemy. Hundreds of thousands of partisans and underground fighters gave their lives for the liberation of their homeland.
How many partisan heroes do we have?
Just one figure speaks very clearly about the severity of losses among partisans and underground participants: out of 250 Heroes Soviet Union, who fought in the German rear, 124 people - every second! - received this high title posthumously. And this despite the fact that during the Great Patriotic War, a total of 11,657 people were awarded the country’s highest award, 3,051 of them posthumously. That is, every fourth...
Among the 250 partisans and underground fighters - Heroes of the Soviet Union, two were awarded the high title twice. These are the commanders of the partisan units Sidor Kovpak and Alexey Fedorov. What is noteworthy: both partisan commanders were awarded at the same time each time, by the same decree. For the first time - on May 18, 1942, together with partisan Ivan Kopenkin, who received the title posthumously. The second time - on January 4, 1944, together with 13 more partisans: this was one of the most massive simultaneous awards to partisans with the highest ranks.
Sidor Kovpak. Reproduction: TASS
Two more partisans - Hero of the Soviet Union wore on their chests not only the sign of this highest rank, but also the Gold Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor: the commissar of the partisan brigade named after K.K. Rokossovsky Pyotr Masherov and the commander of the partisan detachment “Falcons” Kirill Orlovsky. Pyotr Masherov received his first title in August 1944, the second in 1978 for his success in the party field. Kirill Orlovsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in September 1943, and Hero of Socialist Labor in 1958: the Rassvet collective farm he headed became the first millionaire collective farm in the USSR.
The first Heroes of the Soviet Union from among the partisans were the leaders of the Red October partisan detachment operating on the territory of Belarus: the detachment's commissar Tikhon Bumazhkov and commander Fyodor Pavlovsky. And this happened during the most difficult period at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War - August 6, 1941! Alas, only one of them lived to see the Victory: the commissar of the Red October detachment, Tikhon Bumazhkov, who managed to receive his award in Moscow, died in December of the same year, leaving the German encirclement.
Belarusian partisans on Lenin Square in Minsk, after the liberation of the city from the Nazi invaders. Photo: Vladimir Lupeiko / RIA Novosti
Chronicle of partisan heroism
In total, in the first year and a half of the war, 21 partisans and underground fighters received the highest award, 12 of them received the title posthumously. In total, by the end of 1942, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued nine decrees conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on partisans, five of them were group, four were individual. Among them was a decree on awarding the legendary partisan Lisa Chaikina dated March 6, 1942. And on September 1 of the same year, the highest award was awarded to nine participants in the partisan movement, two of whom received it posthumously.
The year 1943 turned out to be just as stingy in terms of top awards for partisans: only 24 awarded. But in the next year, 1944, when the entire territory of the USSR was liberated from the fascist yoke and the partisans found themselves on their side of the front line, 111 people received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union at once, including two - Sidor Kovpak and Alexey Fedorov - in the second once. And in the victorious year of 1945, another 29 people were added to the number of partisans - Heroes of the Soviet Union.
But many were among the partisans and those whose exploits the country fully appreciated only many years after the Victory. A total of 65 Heroes of the Soviet Union from among those who fought behind enemy lines were awarded this high title after 1945. Most of the awards found their heroes in the year of the 20th anniversary of the Victory - by decree of May 8, 1965, the country's highest award was awarded to 46 partisans. And the last time the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded on May 5, 1990, to the partisan in Italy, Fora Mosulishvili, and the leader of the Young Guard, Ivan Turkenich. Both received the award posthumously.
What else can you add when talking about partisan heroes? Every ninth person who fought in a partisan detachment or underground and earned the title of Hero of the Soviet Union is a woman! But here the sad statistics are even more inexorable: only five out of 28 partisans received this title during their lifetime, the rest - posthumously. Among them were the first woman, Hero of the Soviet Union Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, and members of the underground organization “Young Guard” Ulyana Gromova and Lyuba Shevtsova. In addition, among the partisans - Heroes of the Soviet Union there were two Germans: intelligence officer Fritz Schmenkel, awarded posthumously in 1964, and reconnaissance commander Robert Klein, awarded in 1944. And also Slovakian Jan Nalepka, commander of a partisan detachment, awarded posthumously in 1945.
It only remains to add that after the collapse of the USSR, the title of Hero Russian Federation 9 more partisans were awarded, including three posthumously (one of the awarded was intelligence officer Vera Voloshina). The medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War” was awarded to a total of 127,875 men and women (1st degree - 56,883 people, 2nd degree - 70,992 people): organizers and leaders of the partisan movement, commanders of partisan detachments and particularly distinguished partisans. The very first of the medals “Partisan of the Patriotic War”, 1st degree, was received in June 1943 by the commander of a demolition group, Efim Osipenko. He was awarded the award for his feat in the fall of 1941, when he had to detonate a failed mine literally by hand. As a result, the train with tanks and food collapsed from the road, and the detachment managed to pull out the shell-shocked and blinded commander and transport him to the mainland.
Partisans by call of heart and duty of service
The fact that the Soviet government will rely on partisan warfare in the event major war on the western borders, it was clear back in the late 1920s - early 1930s. It was then that the OGPU employees and the partisans they recruited - Civil War veterans - developed plans for organizing the structure of future partisan detachments, laid down hidden bases and caches with weapons, ammunition and equipment. But, alas, shortly before the start of the war, as veterans recall, these bases began to be opened and liquidated, and the built warning system and organization of partisan detachments began to be broken. Nevertheless, when the first bombs fell on Soviet soil on June 22, many local party workers remembered these pre-war plans and began to form the backbone of future detachments.
But not all groups arose this way. There were also many who appeared spontaneously - from soldiers and officers who were unable to break through the front line, who were surrounded by units, specialists who did not have time to evacuate, conscripts who did not reach their units, and the like. Moreover, this process was uncontrollable, and the number of such detachments was small. According to some reports, in the winter of 1941-1942, over 2 thousand partisan detachments operated in the German rear, their total number was 90 thousand fighters. It turns out that on average there were up to fifty fighters in each detachment, more often one or two dozen. By the way, as eyewitnesses recall, local residents did not begin to actively join partisan detachments immediately, but only in the spring of 1942, when “ new order" showed himself in the whole nightmare, and the opportunity to survive in the forest became real.
In turn, the detachments that arose under the command of people who were preparing partisan actions even before the war were more numerous. Such were, for example, the detachments of Sidor Kovpak and Alexei Fedorov. The basis of such formations were employees of party and Soviet bodies, headed by future partisan generals. This is how the legendary partisan detachment “Red October” arose: the basis for it was the fighter battalion formed by Tikhon Bumazhkov (a volunteer armed formation in the first months of the war, involved in the anti-sabotage fight in the front line), which was then “overgrown” with local residents and encirclement. In exactly the same way, the famous Pinsk partisan detachment arose, which later grew into a formation - on the basis of a destroyer battalion created by Vasily Korzh, a career NKVD employee, who 20 years earlier was involved in preparing partisan warfare. By the way, his first battle, which the detachment fought on June 28, 1941, is considered by many historians to be the first battle of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War.
In addition, there were partisan detachments that were formed in the Soviet rear, after which they were transferred across the front line to the German rear - for example, Dmitry Medvedev’s legendary “Winners” detachment. The basis of such detachments were soldiers and commanders of NKVD units and professional intelligence officers and saboteurs. In particular, the Soviet “saboteur number one” Ilya Starinov was involved in the training of such units (as well as in the retraining of ordinary partisans). And she oversaw the activities of such detachments Special group under the NKVD under the leadership of Pavel Sudoplatov, which later became the 4th Directorate of the People's Commissariat.
The commander of the partisan detachment “Winners”, writer Dmitry Medvedev, during the Great Patriotic War. Photo: Leonid Korobov / RIA Novosti
The commanders of such special detachments were given more serious and difficult tasks than ordinary partisans. Often they had to conduct large-scale rear reconnaissance, develop and carry out penetration operations and liquidation actions. One can again cite as an example the same detachment of Dmitry Medvedev “Winners”: it was he who provided support and supplies for the famous Soviet intelligence officer Nikolai Kuznetsov, who was responsible for the liquidation of several major officials of the occupation administration and several major successes in human intelligence.
Insomnia and the rail war
But still, the main task of the partisan movement, which since May 1942 was led from Moscow by the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement (and from September to November also by the Commander-in-Chief of the partisan movement, whose post was occupied by the “first red marshal” Kliment Voroshilov for three months), was different. Not allowing the invaders to gain a foothold on the occupied land, inflicting constant harassing attacks on them, disrupting rear communications and transport links - this is what the mainland expected and demanded from the partisans.
True, the partisans, one might say, learned that they had some kind of global goal only after the appearance of the Central Headquarters. And the point here is not at all that before there was no one to give orders; there was no way to convey them to the performers. From the autumn of 1941 until the spring of 1942, while the front was moving east at tremendous speed and the country was making titanic efforts to stop this movement, the partisan detachments mostly acted at their own peril and risk. Left to their own devices, with virtually no support from behind the front line, they were forced to focus more on survival than on inflicting significant damage on the enemy. Few could boast of communication with the mainland, and even then mainly those who were organizedly thrown into the German rear, equipped with both a walkie-talkie and radio operators.
But after the appearance of the headquarters, the partisans began to be centrally provided with communications (in particular, regular graduations of partisan radio operators from schools began), to establish coordination between units and formations, and to use the gradually emerging partisan regions as a base for air supply. By that time, the basic tactics of guerrilla warfare had also been formed. The actions of the detachments, as a rule, came down to one of two methods: harassing strikes at the place of deployment or long raids on the enemy’s rear. Supporters and active implementers of raid tactics were the partisan commanders Kovpak and Vershigora, while the “Winners” detachment rather demonstrated harassment.
But what almost all partisan detachments, without exception, did was disrupt German communications. And it doesn’t matter whether this was done as part of a raid or harassing tactics: attacks were carried out on railways (in the first place) and highways. Those who could not boast of a large number of troops and special skills focused on blowing up rails and bridges. Larger detachments that had units of demolitions, reconnaissance and saboteurs and special means, could count on larger targets: large bridges, junction stations, railway infrastructure.
Partisans mine railway tracks near Moscow. Photo: RIA Novosti
The largest coordinated actions were two sabotage operations - “Rail War” and “Concert”. Both were carried out by partisans on the orders of the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement and the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and were coordinated with the offensives of the Red Army in the late summer and autumn of 1943. The result of the “Rail War” was a reduction in the operational transportation of the Germans by 40%, and the result of the “Concert” - by 35%. This had a tangible impact on providing the active Wehrmacht units with reinforcements and equipment, although some experts in the field of sabotage warfare believed that the partisan capabilities could have been managed differently. For example, it was necessary to strive to disable not so much railway tracks as equipment, which is much more difficult to restore. It was for this purpose that a device like an overhead rail was invented at the Higher Operational School for Special Purposes, which literally threw trains off the track. But still, for the majority of partisan detachments, the most accessible method of rail warfare was precisely the demolition of the track, and even such assistance to the front turned out to be meaningless.
A feat that cannot be undone
Today's view of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War is seriously different from what existed in society 30 years ago. Many details became known that eyewitnesses had accidentally or deliberately kept silent about, testimonies appeared from those who never romanticized the activities of the partisans, and even from those who had a death view against the partisans of the Great Patriotic War. And in many now independent former Soviet republics, they completely swapped the plus and minus positions, writing the partisans as enemies, and the policemen as the saviors of the homeland.
But all these events cannot detract from the main thing - the incredible, unique feat of the people who, deep behind enemy lines, did everything to defend their Motherland. Albeit by touch, without any idea of tactics and strategy, with only rifles and grenades, but these people fought for their freedom. And the best monument to them can and will be the memory of the feat of the partisans - the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, which cannot be canceled or downplayed by any effort.
The first days of the Great Patriotic War were catastrophic for the Soviet Union: the surprise attack on June 22, 1941 allowed Hitler's army to gain significant advantages. Many border outposts and formations that took the brunt of the enemy’s first strike were killed. Wehrmacht troops advanced at high speed deep into Soviet territory. In a short time, 3.8 million soldiers and commanders of the Red Army were captured. But despite the most difficult conditions military operations, the defenders of the Fatherland from the very first days of the war showed courage and heroism. A striking example of heroism was the creation, in the first days of the war, in the occupied territory of the first partisan detachment under the command of Vasily Zakharovich Korzh.
Korzh Vasily Zakharovich- commander of the Pinsk partisan unit, member of the Pinsk underground regional party committee, major general. Born on January 1 (13), 1899 in the village of Khorostov, now Soligorsk district, Minsk region, in a peasant family. Belarusian. Member of the CPSU since 1929. He graduated from a rural school. In 1921–1925, V.Z. Korzh fought in the partisan detachment K.P. Orlovsky, who operated in Western Belarus. In 1925 he moved across the border to Soviet Belarus. Since 1925, he was the chairman of collective farms in the regions of the Minsk District. In 1931–1936 he worked in the bodies of the GPU NKVD of the BSSR. In 1936–1937, through the NKVD, Korzh participated as an adviser in the revolutionary war of the Spanish people and was the commander of an international partisan detachment. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he formed and led a fighter battalion, which grew into the first partisan detachment in Belarus. The detachment included 60 people. The detachment was divided into 3 rifle squads of 20 soldiers each. We armed ourselves with rifles and received 90 rounds of ammunition and one grenade. On June 28, 1941, in the area of the village of Posenichi, the first battle of a partisan detachment under the command of V.Z. Korzha. To guard the city from the northern side, a group of partisans was placed on the Pinsk Logishin road.
The partisan detachment commanded by Korzh was ambushed by 2 German tanks. It was reconnaissance from the 293rd Wehrmacht Infantry Division. The partisans opened fire and knocked out one tank. As a result of this operation, they managed to capture 2 Nazis. This was the first partisan battle of the first partisan detachment in the history of the Great Patriotic War. On July 4, 1941, the detachment met enemy cavalry squadrons 4 kilometers from the city. Korzh quickly “deployed” the firepower of his detachment, and dozens of fascist cavalrymen died on the battlefield. The front moved away to the east, and the partisans had more work to do every day. They set up ambushes on the roads and destroyed enemy vehicles with infantry, equipment, ammunition, food, and intercepted motorcyclists. With the first mine Korzh personally made from explosives, used before the war to move tree stumps, the partisans blew up the first armored train. The squad's combat score grew.
But there was no connection with the mainland. Then Korzh sent a man behind the front line. The liaison officer was the famous Belarusian underground worker Vera Khoruzhaya. And she managed to get to Moscow. In the winter of 1941/42, it was possible to establish contact with the Minsk underground regional party committee, which deployed its headquarters in the Lyuban region. We jointly organized a sleigh ride in the Minsk and Polesie regions. Along the way, they “smoked out” uninvited foreign guests and gave them a “try” of partisan bullets. During the raid, the detachment was replenished thoroughly. Guerrilla warfare flared up. By November 1942, 7 impressively powerful detachments merged together and formed a partisan formation. Korzh took command over him. In addition, 11 underground district party committees, the Pinsk city committee, about 40 primary organizations. They even managed to “recruit” to their side an entire Cossack regiment formed by the Nazis from prisoners of war! By the winter of 1942/43, the Korzh union had restored Soviet power in a significant part of the Luninets, Zhitkovichi, Starobinsky, Ivanovo, Drogichinsky, Leninsky, Telekhansky, and Gantsevichi districts. Communication with the mainland has been established. Planes landed at the partisan airfield and brought ammunition, medicine, and walkie-talkies.
The partisans reliably controlled a huge section of the Brest-Gomel railway, the Baranovichi-Luninets section, and the enemy echelons went downhill according to a strict partisan schedule. The Dnieper-Bug Canal was almost completely paralyzed. In February 1943, the Nazi command attempted to put an end to the Korzh partisans. Regular units with artillery, aviation, and tanks were advancing. On February 15, the encirclement closed. The partisan zone turned into a continuous battlefield. Korzh himself led the column to break through. He personally supervised shock troops to break through the ring, then by defending the neck of the breakthrough, while convoys with civilians, wounded and property were crossing the gap, and, finally, by a rearguard group covering the pursuit. And so that the Nazis did not think that they had won, Korzh attacked a large garrison in the village of Svyatoy Volya. The battle lasted 7 hours, in which the partisans were victorious. Until the summer of 1943, the Nazis threw part after part against the Korzh formation.
And each time the partisans broke through the encirclement. Finally, they finally escaped from the cauldron to the area of Lake Vygonovskoye. . Council resolution People's Commissars USSR dated September 16, 1943 No. 1000 - to one of the ten commanders of the partisan formations of the Byelorussian SSR - V.Z. Korzh was awarded the military rank of “Major General”. Throughout the summer and autumn of 1943, the “rail war” thundered in Belarus, proclaimed by the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement. The Korzh compound made a significant contribution to this grandiose “event.” In 1944, several operations that were brilliant in concept and organization upset all the Nazis’ plans for a systematic, well-thought-out withdrawal of their units to the west.
The partisans destroyed railway arteries (on July 20, 21 and 22, 1944 alone, demolitionists blew up 5 thousand rails!), tightly closed the Dnieper-Bug Canal, and thwarted the enemy’s attempts to establish crossings across the Sluch River. Hundreds of Aryan warriors, together with the commander of the group, General Miller, surrendered to the Korzh partisans. And a few days later the war left the Pinsk region... In total, by July 1944, the Pinsk partisan unit under the command of Korzh in battles defeated 60 German garrisons, derailed 478 enemy trains, blew up 62 railway bridges, destroyed 86 tanks and armored vehicles, 29 guns, 519 kilometers of communication lines are out of order. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 15, 1944, for the exemplary performance of command assignments in the fight against the Nazi invaders behind enemy lines and the courage and heroism shown, Vasily Zakharovich Korzh was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. "(No. 4448). In 1946 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff. Since 1946, Major General Korzh V.Z. in stock. In 1949–1953 he worked as Deputy Minister of Forestry of the Belarusian SSR. In 1953–1963 he was chairman of the collective farm “Partizansky Krai” in the Soligorsk district of the Minsk region. In the last years of his life he lived in Minsk. Died May 5, 1967. He was buried at the Eastern (Moscow) cemetery in Minsk. Awarded 2 Orders of Lenin, 2 Orders of the Red Banner, Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, Red Star, medals. A monument to the Hero was erected in the village of Khorostov, memorial plaques in the cities of Minsk and Soligorsk. The collective farm “Partizansky Krai”, streets in the cities of Minsk, Pinsk, Soligorsk, as well as a school in the city of Pinsk are named after him.
Sources and literature.
1. Ioffe E.G. The Higher Partisan Command of Belarus 1941-1944 // Directory. – Minsk, 2009. – P. 23.
2. Kolpakidi A., Sever A. GRU Special Forces. – M.: “YAUZA”, ESKMO, 2012. – P. 45.
Soviet partisans - component anti-fascist movement of the Soviet people, who fought using guerrilla warfare against Germany and its allies in the temporarily occupied territories of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War.
From the very first days of the war, the Communist Party gave the partisan movement a focused and organized character. The directive of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks dated June 29, 1941 required: “In areas occupied by the enemy, create partisan detachments and sabotage groups to fight units of the enemy army, to incite partisan war everywhere, to blow up bridges, roads, damage telephone and telegraph communications, arson of warehouses, etc. “. The main goal of the partisan war was to undermine the front in the German rear - disruption of communications and communications, the work of its road and railway communications, set out in
Resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of July 18, 1941 “On the organization of the struggle in the rear of German troops.”
Considering the deployment of the partisan movement as one of the most important conditions defeat of the fascist invaders, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks obliged the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the republics, regional, regional and district party committees to lead the organization of partisan struggle. To lead the partisan masses in the occupied areas, it was proposed to select experienced, combative, completely devoted to the party and proven comrades. The struggle of Soviet patriots was led by 565 secretaries of regional, city and district party committees, 204 chairmen of regional, city and district executive committees of workers' deputies, 104 secretaries of regional, city and district Komsomol committees, as well as hundreds of other leaders. Already in 1941, the struggle Soviet people behind enemy lines, they led 18 underground regional committees, more than 260 district committees, city committees, district committees and other underground organizations and groups, in which there were 65,500 communists.
In the development of the partisan movement important role played by the 4th Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR, created in 1941, under the leadership of P. Sudoplatov. Subordinate to him was the Separate Special Purpose Motorized Rifle Brigade of the NKVD of the USSR, from which reconnaissance and sabotage detachments were formed and sent behind enemy lines. As a rule, they then turned into large partisan detachments. By the end of 1941, more than 2,000 partisan detachments and sabotage groups, with a total number of over 90,000 partisans, were operating in enemy-occupied territories. In order to coordinate the combat activities of the partisans and organize their interaction with the Red Army troops, special bodies were created.
P.A. Sudoplatov
A striking example of the actions of special forces groups was the destruction of the headquarters of the 59th Wehrmacht division along with the head of the Kharkov garrison, Lieutenant General Georg von Braun. Mansion at st. Dzerzhinsky No. 17 was mined with a radio-controlled landmine by a group under the command of I.G. Starinov and detonated by radio signal in October 1941. Later, Lieutenant General Beinecker was also destroyed by a mine. . I.G. Starinov
Mines and non-recoverable landmines designed by I.G. Starinova were widely used for sabotage operations during the Second World War.
radio-controlled mine I.G. Starinova
To lead the partisan war, republican, regional and regional headquarters of the partisan movement were created. They were headed by secretaries or members of the Central Committee of the communist parties of the union republics, regional committees and regional committees: Ukrainian headquarters - T.A. Strokach, Belorussky - P.Z. Kalinin, Litovsky - A.Yu. Snechkus, Latvian - A.K. Sprogis, Estonian - N.T. Karotamm, Karelsky - S.Ya. Vershinin, Leningradsky - M.N. Nikitin. The Oryol regional committee of the CPSU(b) was headed by A.P. Matveev, Smolensky - D.M. Popov, Krasnodar - P.I. Seleznev, Stavropolsky - M.A. Suslov, Krymsky - V.S. Bulatov. The Komsomol made a great contribution to the organization of partisan warfare. Its governing bodies in the occupied territory included M.V. Zimyanin, K.T. Mazurov, P.M. Masherov and others.
By decree of the State Defense Committee of May 30, 1942, the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement (TsShPD, Chief of Staff - Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus (Bolsheviks) P.K. Ponomarenko) was organized at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.
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The measures taken by the party made it possible to significantly improve the leadership of partisan detachments and supply them with the necessary material means, to ensure clearer interaction between the partisans and the Red Army.
at a partisan airfield.
Z and during its existence, the TsShPD sent to partisan detachments 59,960 rifles and carbines, 34,320 machine guns, 4,210 light machine guns, 2,556 anti-tank rifles, 2,184 50-mm and 82-mm mortars, 539,570 hand-held anti-personnel and anti-tank grenades, large number ammunition, explosives, medicines, food and other necessary equipment. The central and republican schools of the partisan movement trained and sent more than 22,000 various specialists behind enemy lines, including 75% demolitions, 9% organizers of the underground and partisan movement, 8% radio operators, 7% intelligence officers.
The main organizational and combat unit of the partisan forces was a detachment, which usually consisted of squads, platoons and companies, numbering several dozen people, and later up to 200 or more fighters. During the war, many units united into partisan brigades and partisan divisions numbering up to several thousand fighters. Light weapons predominated in armament (both Soviet and captured), but many detachments and formations had mortars, and some had artillery. All persons who joined partisan formations took the partisan oath; as a rule, strict military discipline was established in the detachments. Party and Komsomol organizations were created in the detachments. The actions of the partisans were combined with other forms of national struggle behind enemy lines - the actions of underground fighters in cities and towns, sabotage of enterprises and transport, disruption of political and military events carried out by the enemy.
at the headquarters of the partisan brigade
group of partisans
partisan with a machine gun
The forms of organization of partisan forces and the methods of their actions were influenced by physical and geographical conditions. Vast forests, swamps, and mountains were the main basing areas for partisan forces. Here partisan regions and zones arose where they could widely use various ways struggle, including open battles with the enemy. In the steppe regions, large formations operated successfully only during raids. The small detachments and groups that were constantly stationed here usually avoided open clashes with the enemy and caused damage to him mainly through sabotage.
The following elements can be distinguished in guerrilla tactics:
Sabotage activities, destruction of enemy infrastructure in any form (rail war, destruction of communication lines, high-voltage lines, destruction of bridges, water pipelines, etc.);
Intelligence activities, including undercover activities;
Political activity and Bolshevik propaganda;
Destruction of fascist manpower and equipment;
Elimination of collaborators and heads of the Nazi administration;
Restoration and preservation of elements of Soviet power in the occupied territory;
Mobilization of the combat-ready population remaining in the occupied territories and the unification of surrounded military units.
V.Z. Korzh
On June 28, 1941, in the area of the village of Posenichi, the first battle of a partisan detachment under the command of V.Z. Korzha. To protect the city of Pinsk from the northern side, a group of partisans was deployed on the Pinsk-Logoshin road. The partisan detachment commanded by Korzh was ambushed by 2 German tanks with motorcyclists. It was reconnaissance from the 293rd Wehrmacht Infantry Division. The partisans opened fire and destroyed one tank. During the battle, the partisans captured two Nazis. This was the first partisan battle of the first partisan detachment in the history of the Great Patriotic War!
On July 4, 1941, Korzh’s detachment met a German cavalry squadron 4 km from Pinsk. The partisans let the Germans close and opened accurate fire. Dozens of fascist cavalrymen died on the battlefield. In total, by June 1944, the Pinsk partisan unit under the command of V.Z Korzh had defeated 60 German garrisons in battles, derailed 478 railway trains, and blown up 62 railways. bridge, destroyed 86 tanks, 29 guns, and disabled 519 km of communication lines. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 15, 1944, for the exemplary fulfillment of command assignments in the fight against German fascist invaders behind enemy lines and the courage and heroism demonstrated at the same time, Vasily Zakharovich Korzh was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal for No. 4448.
In August 1941, 231 partisan detachments were already operating on the territory of Belarus. Leaders of the Belarusian partisan detachment
“Red October” - commander Fyodor Pavlovsky and commissar Tikhon Bumazhkov - on August 6, 1941, the first partisans were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In the Bryansk region, Soviet partisans controlled vast territories in the German rear. In the summer of 1942, they actually controlled an area of 14,000 square kilometers. The Bryansk Partisan Republic was formed.
guerrilla ambush
In the second period of the Second World War (autumn 1942 - end of 1943), the partisan movement deep behind enemy lines expanded. Shifting their base from the Bryansk forests to the west, partisan formations crossed the Desna, Sozh, Dnieper, and Pripyat rivers and began to strike at the enemy’s most important communications in his rear. The partisan attacks provided enormous assistance to the Red Army, diverting large fascist forces to themselves. At the height of the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-1943, the actions of partisan detachments and formations significantly disrupted the supply of enemy reserves and military equipment to the front. The actions of the partisans turned out to be so effective that the fascist German command sent against them in the summer and autumn of 1942 144 police battalions, 27 police regiments, 8 infantry regiments, 10 SS security police and punitive divisions, 2 security corps, 72 special units, up to 15 infantry German and 5 infantry divisions of their satellites, thereby weakening their forces at the front. Despite this, the partisans managed to organize more than 3,000 crashes of enemy trains during this period, blew up 3,500 railway and highway bridges, destroyed 15,000 vehicles, about 900 bases and warehouses with ammunition and weapons, up to 1,200 tanks, 467 aircraft, 378 guns.
punitive officers and policemen
partisan region
partisans on the march
By the end of the summer of 1942, the partisan movement had become a significant force, and organizational work was completed. The total number of partisans was up to 200,000 people. In August 1942, the most famous of the partisan commanders were summoned to Moscow to participate in a general meeting.
Commanders of partisan formations: M.I. Duca, M.P. Voloshin, D.V. Emlyutin, S.A. Kovpak, A.N. Saburov
(from left to right)
Thanks to the efforts of the Soviet leadership, the partisan movement turned into a carefully organized, well-controlled military and political force united by a single command. Head of the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement at Headquarters, Lieutenant General P.K. Ponomarenko became a member of the General Staff Red Army.
PC. Ponomarenko
TsShPD - on the left P.K. Ponomarenko
The partisan detachments operating in the front line came under direct subordination to the command of the corresponding army occupying this section of the front. The detachments operating in the deep rear of the German troops were subordinate to headquarters in Moscow. Officers and enlisted personnel regular army was sent to partisan units as instructors for the training of specialists.
guerrilla movement control structure
In August - September 1943, according to the TsShPD plan, 541 detachments of Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian partisans simultaneously took part in the first operation to destroy the enemy’s railway communications in“Rail War”.
The purpose of the operation was to disrupt the work of the railway by massive and simultaneous destruction of rails. transport, thereby disrupting the supply of German troops, evacuation and regrouping and thus assisting the Red Army in completing the defeat of the enemy in the Battle of Kursk in 1943 and the deployment of a general offensive on the Soviet-German front. The leadership of the “rail war” was carried out by the TsShPD at the Supreme Command Headquarters. The plan called for the destruction of 200,000 rails in the rear areas of Army Groups Center and North. To carry out the operation, 167 partisan detachments from Belarus, Leningrad, Kalinin, Smolensk, and Orel regions, numbering up to 100,000 people, were involved.
The operation was preceded by careful preparation. The sections of the railway designated for destruction were distributed among partisan formations and detachments. Only from June 15 to July 1, 1943, aviation dropped 150 tons of special profile bombs, 156,000 m of fuse cord, 28,000 m of hemp fuse, 595,000 detonator caps, 35,000 fuses, a lot of weapons, ammunition and medicines at partisan bases. Mining instructors were sent to the partisan detachments.
railway alignment canvases
The “Rail War” began on the night of August 3, just at a time when the enemy was forced to intensively maneuver its reserves in connection with the unfolding counter-offensive of the Soviet troops and its development into a general offensive along the entire front. In one night, over a vast area of 1000 km along the front and from the front line to the western borders of the USSR, more than 42,000 rails were blown up in depth. Simultaneously with the “Rail War,” active operations on enemy communications were launched by Ukrainian partisans, who, according to the plan for the spring-summer period of 1943, were tasked with paralyzing the work of the 26 largest railways. nodes in the rear of Army Group “South”, including Shepetovsky, Kovelsky, Zdolbunovsky, Korostensky, Sarnensky.
attack on the railway station
In the following days, the partisans' actions in the operation intensified even more. By September 15, 215,000 rails had been destroyed, which amounted to 1,342 km of single-track railway. ways. On some railways On the roads, traffic was delayed for 3-15 days, and the Mogilev-Krichev, Polotsk-Dvinsk, Mogilev-Zhlobin highways did not work during August 1943. During the operation, Belarusian partisans alone blew up 836 military trains, including 3 armored trains, disabled 690 steam locomotives, 6,343 wagons and platforms, 18 water pumps, and destroyed 184 railways. bridges and 556 bridges on dirt and highway roads, destroyed 119 tanks and 1,429 vehicles, and defeated 44 German garrisons. The experience of the “Rail War” was used by the headquarters of the partisan movement in the autumn-winter period of 1943/1944 in the “Concert” operations and in the summer of 1944 during the offensive of the Red Army in Belarus.
blown up railway compound
Operation Concert was carried out by Soviet partisans from September 19 to the end of October 1943. The purpose of the operation was to hamper the operational transportation of fascist German troops by massively disabling large sections of railways; was a continuation of Operation Rail War; was carried out according to the TsShPD plan at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and was closely connected with the upcoming offensive of Soviet troops in the Smolensk and Gomel directions and the battle for the Dnieper. 293 partisan formations and detachments from Belarus, the Baltic states, Karelia, Crimea, Leningrad and Kalinin regions, totaling over 120,000 partisans, were involved in the operation; it was planned to undermine more than 272,000 rails. In Belarus, 90,000 partisans were involved in the operation; they had to blow up 140,000 rails. The TsShPD intended to throw 120 tons of explosives and other cargo to the partisans of Belarus, and 20 tons each to the Kalinin and Leningrad partisans. Due to sharply deteriorating weather conditions at the start of the operation, only 50% of what was planned was transferred to the partisans, and therefore it was decided to begin mass sabotage on September 25. However, some of the partisan detachments that had reached the initial lines according to the previous order could no longer take into account the changes in the timing of the operation and began to implement it on September 19. On the night of September 25, widespread actions were carried out according to plan“Concert”, covering 900 km along the front and 400 km in depth. On the night of September 19, Belarusian partisans blew up 19,903 rails and on the night of September 25, another 15,809 rails. As a result, 148,557 rails were undermined. Operation Concert intensified the struggle of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders in the occupied territories. During the war, the influx of local population into partisan detachments increased.
partisan operation “Concert” 
An important form of partisan action was the raids of partisan formations on the rear of the fascist invaders. The main goal of these raids was to increase the scope and activity of popular resistance to the occupiers in new areas, as well as to strike major railways. nodes and important military-industrial facilities of the enemy, reconnaissance, providing fraternal assistance to the peoples of neighboring countries in their liberation struggle against fascism. Only on instructions from the headquarters of the partisan movement, more than 40 raids were carried out, in which over 100 large partisan formations took part. In 1944, 7 formations and 26 separate large detachments of Soviet partisans operated in the occupied territory of Poland, and 20 formations and detachments in Czechoslovakia. The raids of partisan formations under the command of V.A. had a great influence on the scope of the partisan struggle and increased its effectiveness. Andreeva, I.N. Banova, P.P. Vershigory, A.V. Germana, S.V. Grishina, F.F. Cabbage, V.A. Karaseva, S.A. Kovpaka, V.I. Kozlova, V.Z. Korzha, M.I. Naumova, N.A. Prokopyuk, V.V. Razumova, A.N. Saburova, V.P. Samson, A.F. Fedorova, A.K. Flegontova, V.P. Chepigi, M.I. Shukaeva and others.
The Putivl partisan detachment (commander S.A. Kovpvk, commissar S.V. Rudnev, chief of staff G.Ya. Bazyma), operating in the occupied territory of several regions of the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Belarus in 1941-1944, was created on October 18, 1941 in Spadshchansky forest, Sumy region. During the first weeks of the occupation, the detachments of Kovpak and Rudnev, numbering two to three dozen people each, acted independently and had no communication with each other. By the beginning of autumn, Rudnev, following Kovpak’s first sabotages, was on his trail, met with him and offered to merge both detachments. Already on October 19-20, 1941, the detachment repelled the offensive of a punitive battalion with 5 tanks, on November 18-19 - the second punitive offensive, and on December 1, it broke through the blockade ring around the Spadshchansky forest and made the first raid into the Khinel forests. By this time, the combined detachment had already grown to 500 people.
Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak
Semyon Vasilievich Rudnev
In February 1942, a detachment of S.A. Kovpaka, transformed into the Sumy Partisan Unit (Union of Partisan Detachments of the Sumy Region), returned to Spadshchansky Forest and from here undertook a series of raids, as a result of which a vast partisan region was created in the northern regions of the Sumy Region and in the adjacent territory of the RSFSR and BSSR. By the summer of 1942, 24 detachments and 127 groups (about 18,000 partisans) were operating on its territory.
dugout at a partisan base
Interior view of the dugout
The Sumy partisan unit included four detachments: Putivlsky, Glukhovsky, Shalyginsky and Krolevetsky (based on the names of the districts of the Sumy region where they were organized). For secrecy, the connection was called military unit 00117, and detachments - battalions. Historically, the units had unequal numbers. As of January 1943, while based in Polesie, the first battalion(Putivl detachment) numbered up to 800 partisans, the other three had 250-300 partisans each. The first battalion consisted of ten companies, the rest - 3-4 companies each. The companies did not arise immediately, but were formed gradually, like partisan groups, and often arose along territorial lines. Gradually, with the departure from their native places, the groups grew into companies and acquired a new character. During the raid, companies were no longer distributed on a territorial basis, but according to military expediency. So in the first battalion there were several rifle companies, two companies of machine gunners, two companies of heavy weapons (with 45-mm anti-tank guns, heavy machine guns, battalion mortars), a reconnaissance company, a company of miners, a platoon of sappers, a communications center and the main utility unit.
partisan cart
In 1941-1942, Kovpak’s unit carried out raids behind enemy lines in the Sumy, Kursk, Oryol and Bryansk regions, and in 1942-1943 - a raid from the Bryansk forests on Right Bank Ukraine in the Gomel, Pinsk, Volyn, Rivne, Zhitomir and Kyiv regions. The Sumy partisan unit under the command of Kovpak fought through the rear of the Nazi troops for more than 10,000 km, defeating enemy garrisons in 39 settlements. Raids S.A. Kovpak played a big role in the development of the partisan movement against the German occupiers.
partisan raid
“Partisan Bears”
On June 12, 1943, the partisan unit S.A. Kovpak set out on a military campaign in the Carpathian region. By the time they reached the Carpathian roadstead, the formation consisted of 2,000 partisans. It was armed with 130 machine guns, 380 machine guns, 9 guns, 30 mortars, 30 anti-tank rifles. During the raid, the partisans fought 2,000 km, destroyed 3,800 Nazis, blew up 19 military trains, 52 bridges, 51 warehouses with property and weapons, disabled power plants and oil fields near Bitkov and Yablonov. By Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR datedOn January 4, 1944, for the successful implementation of the Carpathian raid, Major General Kovpak Sidor Artemyevich was awarded the second Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
Partisans took part in the liberation of the cities of Vileika, Yelsk, Znamenka, Luninets, Pavlograd, Rechitsa, Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol, Stavropol, Cherkassy, Yalta and many others.
The activities of clandestine combat groups in cities and towns caused great damage to the enemy. Underground groups and organizations in Minsk, Kyiv, Mogilev, Odessa, Vitebsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Smolensk, Kaunas, Krasnodar, Krasnodon, Pskov, Gomel, Orsha, as well as other cities and settlements showed examples of selfless struggle against the fascist invaders. Sabotage, a hidden struggle to disrupt the enemy's political, economic and military activities, were the most common forms of mass resistance to the occupiers of millions of Soviet people.
Soviet intelligence officers and underground fighters committed hundreds of acts of sabotage, the targets of which were representatives of the German occupation authorities. Only with the direct participation of special detachments of the NKVD, 87 acts of retaliation were carried out against Hitler’s executioners responsible for carrying out the extermination policy in the east. On February 17, 1943, security officers killed the regional Gebitsk Commissioner Friedrich Fenz. In July of the same year, intelligence officers eliminated Gebietskommissar Ludwig Ehrenleitner. The most famous and significant of them is rightfully considered the liquidation of the Commissioner General of Belarus, Wilhelm Kube. In July 1941, Cuba was appointed General Commissioner of Belarus. Gauleiter Kube was particularly cruel. On the direct orders of the Gauleiter, a Jewish ghetto was created in Minsk and a concentration camp in the village of Trostenets, where 206,500 people were exterminated. For the first time, fighters from the NKGB sabotage and reconnaissance group of Kirill Orlovsky tried to destroy him. Having received information that Kube was going to hunt on February 17, 1943 in the Mashukovsky forests, Orlovsky organized an ambush. In a hot and fleeting battle, the scouts destroyed Gebietskommissar Fenz, 10 officers and 30 SS soldiers. But Kube was not among the dead (at the last moment he did not go hunting). And yet, on September 22, 1943, at 4.00 am, the underground fighters managed to destroy the General Commissioner of Belarus, Wilhelm Kube, with a bomb explosion (the bomb was planted under Kube’s bed by the Soviet underground worker Elena Grigorievna Mazanik).
E.G. Mazanik
The legendary career intelligence officer Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov (pseudonym - Grachev) with the beginning of the Second World War, at his personal request, was enrolled in the Special Group of the NKVD. In August 1942, N.I. Kuznetsov was sent behind enemy lines to the “Winners” partisan detachment (commander D.M. Medvedev), which operated on the territory of Ukraine. Appearing in the occupied city of Rivne under the guise of a German officer - Chief Lieutenant Paul Siebert, Kuznetsov was able to quickly make the necessary contacts.
N.I. Kuznetsov N.I. Kuznetsov - Paul Siebert
Using the trust of fascist officers, he learned the locations of enemy units and the directions of their movement. He managed to obtain information about the German V-1 and V-2 missiles, reveal the location of A. Hitler’s headquarters “Werewolf” (“Werewolf”) near the city of Vinnitsa, and warn the Soviet command about the upcoming offensive of Hitler’s troops in the Kursk region (operation “Citadel”), about the impending assassination attempt on the heads of government of the USSR, USA and Great Britain (J.V. Stalin, D. Roosevelt, W. Churchill) in Tehran. In the fight against the Nazi invaders N.I. Kuznetsov showed extraordinary courage and ingenuity. He acted as a people's avenger. He committed acts of retaliation against many fascist generals and senior officers endowed with great powers of the Third Reich. He destroyed the chief judge of Ukraine Funk, the imperial adviser to the Reichskommissariat of Ukraine Gall and his secretary Winter, the vice-governor of Galicia Bauer, generals Knut and Dargel, kidnapped and took to the partisan detachment the commander of the punitive forces in Ukraine, General Ilgen. March 9, 1944 N.I. Kuznetsov died when he was surrounded by Ukrainian nationalists-Bendera in the village of Boryatin, Brodovsego district, Lviv region. Seeing that he couldn’t break through, he used the last grenade to blow himself up and the Benderites who surrounded him. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 5, 1944, Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for exceptional courage and bravery in carrying out command assignments..jpg)
monument to N.I. Kuznetsov
grave of N.I. Kuznetsova
The underground Komsomol organization “Young Guard”, which operated during the Second World War in the city of Krasnodon, Voroshilovgrad region of Ukraine, temporarily occupied by Nazi troops, will forever remain in the memory of the Soviet people (there is no need to identify it with the modern “well done” from “M.G.”, who have nothing to do with fallen heroes). The “Young Guard” was created under the leadership of the party underground led by F.P. Lyutikov. After the occupation of Krasnodon (July 20, 1942), several anti-fascist groups arose in the city and its environs, led by Komsomol members I.V. Turkevich (commander), I.A. Zemnukhov, O.V. Koshevoy (commissioner), V.I. Levashov, S.G. Tyulenev, A.Z. Eliseenko, V.A. Zhdanov, N.S. Sumskoy, U.M. Gromova, L.G. Shevtsova, A.V. Popov, M.K. Petlivanova.
young guards
In total, more than 100 underground members united in the underground organization, 20 of them were communists. Despite the harsh terror, the Young Guard created an extensive network of combat groups and cells throughout the Krasnodon region. The Young Guards issued 5,000 anti-fascist leaflets of 30 titles; liberated about 100 prisoners of war who were in a concentration camp; burned the labor exchange, where lists of people scheduled for export to Germany were kept, as a result of which 2,000 Krasnodon residents were saved from being taken into fascist slavery, destroyed vehicles with soldiers, ammunition, fuel and food, prepared an uprising with the aim of defeating the German garrison and moving towards the attackers units of the Red Army. But the betrayal of the provocateur G. Pochentsov interrupted this preparation. At the beginning of January 1943, arrests of members of the Young Guard began. They bravely withstood all the torture in fascist dungeons. During January 15, 16, and 31, the Nazis threw 71 people alive and dead into the pit of coal mine No. 5, 53 m deep. On February 9, 1943, O.V. Koshevoy, L.G. Shevtsova, S.M. Ostapenko, D.U. Ogurtsov, V.F. Subbotin, after brutal torture, was shot in the Thunderous Forest near the city of Rovenka. Only 11 underground fighters managed to escape from pursuit by the gendarmerie. By decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of September 13, 1943, U.M. Gromova, M.A. Zemnukhov, O.V. Koshevoy, S, G. Tyulenev and L.G. Shevtsova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
monument to the Young Guards
The list of heroes of the partisan struggle and the partisan underground is endless, so on the night of June 30, 1943, underground Komsomol member F. Krylovich blew up the Osipovichi railway station. train with fuel. As a result of the explosion and resulting fire, four military trains were destroyed, including a train with Tiger tanks. The occupiers lost that night at the station. Osipovichi 30 “Tigers”.
monument to underground fighters in Melitopol
The selfless and selfless activities of the partisans and underground fighters received national recognition, high praise from the CPSU and Soviet government. More than 127,000 partisans were awarded the medal“Partisan of the Patriotic War” 1st and 2nd degree. Over 184,000 partisans and underground fighters were awarded orders and medals of the Soviet Union, and 248 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War”
When the Great Patriotic War broke out, the press of the Land of Soviets gave birth to a completely new expression - “people's avengers.” They were called Soviet partisans. This movement was very large-scale and brilliantly organized. In addition, it was officially legalized. The goal of the avengers was to destroy the infrastructure of the enemy army, disrupt food and weapons supplies and destabilize the work of the entire fascist machine. The German military leader Guderian admitted that the actions of the partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 (the names of some will be presented to your attention in the article) became a real curse for Hitler’s troops and greatly influenced the morale of the “liberators.”
Legalization of the partisan movement
The process of forming partisan detachments in the territories occupied by the Nazis began immediately after Germany attacked Soviet cities. Thus, the USSR government published two relevant directives. The documents stated that it was necessary to create resistance among the people in order to help the Red Army. In short, the Soviet Union approved the formation of partisan groups.
One year later, this process was already in full swing. It was then that Stalin issued a special order. It reported the methods and main directions of the underground's activities.
And at the end of the spring of 1942, they decided to legalize partisan detachments altogether. In any case, the government formed the so-called. The central headquarters of this movement. And all regional organizations began to submit only to him.
In addition, the post of Commander-in-Chief of the movement appeared. This position was taken by Marshal Kliment Voroshilov. True, he led it for only two months, because the post was abolished. From now on, the “people's avengers” reported directly to the military Commander-in-Chief.
Geography and scale of movement
During the first six months of the war, eighteen underground regional committees operated. There were also more than 260 city committees, district committees, district committees and other party groups and organizations.
Exactly one year later, a third of the partisan formations of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the list of whose names is very long, could already go on the air via radio communication with the Center. And in 1943, almost 95 percent of the units could communicate with the mainland via walkie-talkies.
In total, during the war there were almost six thousand partisan formations numbering over one million people.
Partisan units
These units existed in almost all occupied territories. True, it happened that the partisans did not support anyone - neither the Nazis nor the Bolsheviks. They simply defended the independence of their own separate region.
Usually there were several dozen fighters in one partisan formation. But over time, detachments appeared that numbered several hundred people. To be honest, there were very few such groups.
The units united in the so-called. brigades. The purpose of such a merger was one - to provide effective resistance to the Nazis.
The partisans mainly used light weapons. This refers to machine guns, rifles, light machine guns, carbines and grenades. A number of formations were armed with mortars, heavy machine guns and even artillery. When people joined the detachments, they must take the partisan oath. Of course, strict military discipline was also observed.
Note that such groups were formed not only behind enemy lines. More than once, future “Avengers” were officially trained in special partisan schools. After which they were transferred to the occupied territories and formed not only partisan detachments, but also formations. Often these groups were staffed by military personnel.
Sign operations
The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 successfully managed to carry out several major operations in conjunction with the Red Army. The largest campaign in terms of results and number of participants was Operation Rail War. The central headquarters had to prepare it quite long and carefully. The developers planned to blow up the rails in some of the occupied territories in order to paralyze traffic on the railways. Partisans from the Oryol, Smolensk, Kalinin, and Leningrad regions, as well as Ukraine and Belarus, took part in the operation. In general, about 170 partisan formations were involved in the “rail war”.
On an August night in 1943, the operation began. In the very first hours, the “people's avengers” managed to blow up almost 42 thousand rails. Such sabotage continued until September inclusive. In one month, the number of explosions increased 30 times!
Another famous partisan operation was called "Concert". In essence, this was a continuation of the “rail battles”, since the explosions on railway Crimea, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Karelia joined. Almost 200 partisan formations took part in the “Concert,” which was unexpected for the Nazis!
Legendary Kovpak and “Mikhailo” from Azerbaijan
Over time, the names of some of the partisans of the Great Patriotic War and the exploits of these people became known to everyone. Thus, Mehdi Ganifa-oglu Huseyn-zade from Azerbaijan became a partisan in Italy. In the detachment his name was simply “Mikhailo”.
He was mobilized into the Red Army from his student days. He had to take part in the legendary Battle of Stalingrad where he was wounded. He was captured and sent to a camp in Italy. After some time, in 1944, he managed to escape. There he came across partisans. In the Mikhailo detachment he was the commissar of a company of Soviet soldiers.
He found out intelligence information, engaged in sabotage, blowing up enemy airfields and bridges. And one day his company raided the prison. As a result, 700 captured soldiers were released.
“Mikhailo” died during one of the raids. He defended himself to the end, after which he shot himself. Unfortunately, they learned about his daring exploits only in the post-war period.
But the famous Sidor Kovpak became a legend during his lifetime. He was born and raised in Poltava in a poor peasant family. During the First World War he was awarded the Cross of St. George. Moreover, the Russian autocrat himself awarded him.
During the Civil War, he fought against the Germans and whites.
Since 1937, he was appointed head of the city executive committee of Putivl, in the Sumy region. When the war began, he led a partisan group in the city, and subsequently a unit of detachments in the Sumy region.
Members of its formation literally continuously carried out military raids across the occupied territories. The total length of the raids is more than 10 thousand km. In addition, nearly forty enemy garrisons were destroyed.
In the second half of 1942, Kovpak’s troops carried out a raid beyond the Dnieper. By this time the organization had two thousand fighters.
Partisan medal
In the middle of winter 1943, a corresponding medal was established. It was called “Partisan of the Patriotic War.” For subsequent years Almost 150 thousand partisans of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) were awarded it. The exploits of these people will forever go down in our history.
One of the award winners was Matvey Kuzmin. By the way, he was the oldest partisan. When the war began, he was already in his ninth decade.
Kuzmin was born in 1858 in the Pskov region. He lived separately, was never a member of the collective farm, and was engaged in fishing and hunting. In addition, he knew his area very well.
During the war he found himself under occupation. The Nazis even occupied his house. A German officer who headed one of the battalions began to live there.
In the middle of winter 1942, Kuzmin had to become a guide. He must lead the battalion to a village occupied by Soviet troops. But before this, the old man managed to send his grandson to warn the Red Army.
As a result, Kuzmin led the frozen Nazis through the forest for a long time and only the next morning brought them out, but not to the desired point, but to an ambush set up by Soviet soldiers. The occupiers came under fire. Unfortunately, the hero guide also died in this shootout. He was 83.
Children partisans of the Great Patriotic War (1941 - 1945)
When the war was going on, a real army of children fought alongside the soldiers. They were participants in this general resistance from the very beginning of the occupation. According to some reports, several tens of thousands of minors took part in it. It was an amazing “movement”!
For military merits, teenagers were awarded military orders and medals. Thus, several minor partisans received the highest award - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, mostly they were all awarded it posthumously.
Their names have been familiar for a long time - Valya Kotik, Lenya Golikov, Marat Kazei... But there were other little heroes, whose exploits were not so widely covered in the press...
"Baby"
Alyosha Vyalov was called “Baby”. He enjoyed special sympathy among the local avengers. He was eleven when the war broke out.
He began to become a partisan with his older sisters. This family group managed to set fire to the Vitebsk railway station three times. They also set off an explosion in the police premises. On occasion, they acted as liaison officers and helped distribute relevant leaflets.
The partisans learned about the existence of Vyalov in an unexpected way. The soldiers were in dire need of gun oil. “Kid” was already aware of this and, on his own initiative, brought a couple of liters of the necessary liquid.
Lesha died after the war from tuberculosis.
Young "Susanin"
Tikhon Baran from the Brest region began to fight when he was nine. So, in the summer of 1941, underground workers equipped a secret printing house in their parents’ house. Members of the organization printed leaflets with front-line reports, and the boy distributed them.
For two years he continued to do this, but the fascists were on the trail of the underground. Tikhon’s mother and sisters managed to hide with their relatives, and the young avenger went into the forest and joined the partisan formation.
One day he was visiting relatives. At the same time, the Nazis arrived in the village and shot all the inhabitants. And Tikhon was offered to save his life if he showed the way to the detachment.
As a result, the boy led his enemies into a swampy swamp. The punishers killed him, but not everyone themselves got out of this quagmire...
Instead of an epilogue
The Soviet partisan heroes of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) became one of the main forces that offered real resistance to the enemies. By and large, in many ways it was the Avengers who helped decide the outcome of this terrible war. They fought on par with regular combat units. It was not for nothing that the Germans called the “second front” not only the allied units in Europe, but also the partisan detachments in the Nazi-occupied territories of the USSR. And this is probably an important circumstance... List The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 are enormous, and each of them deserves attention and memory... We present to your attention just a small list of people who left their mark on history:
- Biseniek Anastasia Alexandrovna.
- Vasiliev Nikolay Grigorievich.
- Vinokurov Alexander Arkhipovich.
- German Alexander Viktorovich.
- Golikov Leonid Alexandrovich.
- Grigoriev Alexander Grigorievich.
- Grigoriev Grigory Petrovich.
- Egorov Vladimir Vasilievich.
- Zinoviev Vasily Ivanovich.
- Karitsky Konstantin Dionisevich.
- Kuzmin Matvey Kuzmich.
- Nazarova Klavdiya Ivanovna.
- Nikitin Ivan Nikitich.
- Petrova Antonina Vasilievna.
- Bad Vasily Pavlovich.
- Sergunin Ivan Ivanovich.
- Sokolov Dmitry Ivanovich.
- Tarakanov Alexey Fedorovich.
- Kharchenko Mikhail Semenovich.
Of course, there are many more of these heroes, and each of them contributed to the cause of the great Victory...
