Partisans of the war 1941 1945. The emergence of partisan detachments

The history of wars shows that it is impossible to defeat partisans with the forces of a regular army. Such movements are known in different times and all over the world. However, in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War, the scope and effectiveness of partisan actions surpassed all examples both before and after.

Organized movement

By definition, partisans are not military personnel. However, this does not mean that they are in no way connected with the army and do not have central leadership. The partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War was distinguished by fairly clear planning, discipline and subordination to a single center.

Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak

On June 29, 1941 (a week after the start of the war), a Directive to the leaders of the party and the Soviet administration ordered the creation of partisan detachments. Memoirs of some famous partisans(including twice Heroes Soviet Union S. Kovpak and A. Fedorova) indicate that many party leaders had similar instructions long before the start of the fighting. War was expected (though not so soon, but still), and creating conditions for fighting behind enemy lines was part of the preparation for it.

On July 18, 1941, a special resolution of the Central Committee appeared on the organization of the struggle in the rear. Military and intelligence assistance was provided by the 4th Directorate of the NKVD (headed by the legendary Pavel Sudoplatov). On May 30, 1942, a Central Headquarters was created to lead the partisan movement (headed by P. Ponomarenko), and for some time there was even a post of partisan Commander-in-Chief (Voroshilov). The central authorities were in charge of sending trained personnel to the rear (they formed the core of future detachments), set tasks, accepted intelligence received by the partisans, and provided financial assistance(weapons, walkie-talkies, medicines...).

Fighters in the rear are usually divided into partisans and underground fighters. Partisans are usually deployed outside populated areas and conduct predominantly armed struggle (for example, the Kovpakovites), while underground fighters live legally or semi-legally and engage in sabotage, sabotage, reconnaissance and assistance to partisans (for example, the Young Guard). But this division is conditional.

Second front

In the USSR, they began calling partisans that way in 1942, simultaneously giving high praise to their activities and mocking the inaction of the allies. The effect of the partisans' actions was truly enormous; they mastered many useful military professions.

1. Counter-propaganda. Red flags and leaflets (sometimes handwritten) appeared in thousands of settlements with enviable regularity.
2. Sabotage. The partisans helped evade export to Germany, damaged equipment and food, hid and stole livestock.
3. Sabotage. Blown up bridges, buildings, railway tracks, destroyed high-ranking Nazis - the partisans have all this and much more to their credit.
4. Intelligence service. The partisans tracked the movement of troops and cargo and determined the location of classified objects. Professional intelligence officers often worked at the base of the detachments (for example, N. Kuznetsov).
5. Destroying the enemy. Large detachments often carried out long raids and entered into battles with large formations (for example, the famous Kovpakov raid “from Putivl to the Carpathians”).

One can imagine how much such actions spoiled the lives of the invaders, given that the number of known detachments exceeded 6.5 thousand, and the number of partisans significantly exceeded a million. The partisans operated in Russia, the Baltic states, and Ukraine. Belarus has generally become famous as a “partisan land.”

Well-deserved award

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya

The effectiveness of the partisans' actions is amazing. They damaged and destroyed about 18 thousand trains alone (Operation “Rail War”), which was not the last factor in the victory at Kursk. Added to these are thousands of bridges, kilometers of railways, tens of thousands of killed Nazis and collaborators, and no less a number of rescued prisoners and civilians.

There were also awards according to merit. About 185 thousand partisans received orders and medals, 246 became Heroes of the Soviet Union, 2 (Kovpak and Fedorov) twice. Several record holders of the highest military award of the USSR were partisans and underground fighters: Z. Kosmodemyanskaya (the first woman awarded during the war), M. Kuzmin (the oldest awarded, 83 years old), Valya Kotik (the oldest young hero, 13 years old).

Photo selection about the partisan movement in the occupied territories of the USSR during the war! Take a closer look at these faces, what motivated them? Ideology and fanaticism? (I deliberately avoid the word patriotism; lately it has become dirty) Fear of being branded a traitor and being punished? Or maybe debt? It is the duty of a person and a citizen to fight enemies!
Among them there are a lot of young people, almost children, do they need something that just didn’t sit with their mother next to the stove?

Well, this is a lyrical digression, in defiance of liberal statements of this kind:

“They were driving to the slaughter” “There were detachments behind” and even those who said “They fought in vain, it would have been better if the Germans had won, they would have lived well like in Germany.” Well, these are generally some kind of thick-headed assholes, not liberal-minded, liberals are smarter))

Well, I digress, let's move on to viewing the photos,

Soviet partisans are planning their route.

Meeting of Gradov's special detachment with soldiers and officers of the Red Army.

Two Soviet partisans inspect a captured German MG-34 machine gun.

Commanders of partisan formations L.E. Kizya, V.A. Begma, A.F. Fedorov and T.A. Strokach in a Soviet village.

Fey Shulman with partisans in the winter forest.

Fay Shulman was born into a large family on November 28, 1919 in Poland. On August 14, 1942, the Germans killed 1,850 Jews from Lenin's ghetto, including Faye's parents, sister, and younger brother. They only spared 26 people, including Faye. Faye later fled into the forests and joined a partisan group consisting mainly of escaped Soviet prisoners of war.

Command of the Chernigov-Volyn partisan unit S.V. Chintsov, A.F. Fedorov and L.E. Kizya.

Portrait of 14-year-old partisan reconnaissance Mikhail Khavdey.

Partisan demolitions of the Transcarpathian partisan detachment Grachev and Utenkov, armed with PPSh submachine guns, and with parachutes at the airfield.

Group photo of the command staff of the Poltava Partisan Unit named after. Molotov.

Commanders of Soviet partisan formations with the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks) D.S. Korotchenko.

Partisan reconnaissance officer of the Chernigov formation “For the Motherland” Vasily Borovik against a background of trees.

The commander of the partisan unit P.P. Vershigora and regiment commander D.I. Bakradze.

D. Korotchenko speaks at a meeting of the command staff of the Zhitomir unit of partisan detachments under the command of S. Malikov.

Soviet soldiers of the 11th detachment of the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade are fighting with punitive forces.

Commissioner of the Chernigov partisan unit Vladimir Nikolaevich Druzhinin.

Soviet partisan A.I. Antonchik with a 7.62 mm tank machine gun.

A partisan detachment on a military campaign. Karelian Front.

Soldiers of the Polarnik partisan detachment at a rest stop during a march behind enemy lines.

Soldiers of the 2nd platoon of the Polarnik partisan detachment before going on a mission.

The commander of a partisan detachment presents the medal “For Courage” to a young partisan reconnaissance officer.

Commander of the Chernigov-Volyn partisan unit A.F. Fedorov with his comrades.

Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian partisan movement Major General T.A. Strokach awards a young partisan.

Scout of the partisan detachment of the Brest formation at an observation post.

Presentation of personal weapons to fighters of the partisan detachment named after G.I. Kotovsky.

Soviet partisans with a Maxim machine gun in battle.

Pinsk partisans on the march.

Soviet partisans of one of the Ukrainian formations in the ranks.

Soviet cinematographer M.I. Sukhov in a partisan detachment.

Group photo by A.F. Fedorov and V.N. Druzhinina with comrades.

Commander of the 1st Ukrainian Partisan Division S.A. Kovpak at a meeting with headquarters

Soviet partisans after a successful operation.

Soviet partisans - father and son.

Formation of a partisan detachment before a raid behind enemy lines in the Bryansk region.

Soviet partisans cross the river on a bridge.

Partisan detachment of Hero of the Soviet Union S.A. Kovpaka walks along the street of a Ukrainian village during a military campaign.

Pskov partisans go on a combat mission.

The headquarters of the Sumy partisan unit led by S.A. Kovpak discusses the upcoming operation.

The boy reports to the commander of the partisan detachment G.V. Gvozdev about the disposition of the Germans.

A Soviet partisan says goodbye to his mother.

Partisans of Saburov's Zhitomir formation cross the Ubort River.

Soviet partisan patrol in Vilnius.

Group portrait of fighters of the Zvezda partisan detachment.

A Soviet partisan takes aim with a rifle.

Partisans of the 3rd Partisan Brigade in battle. Leningrad region.

Chief of Staff of the 1st Belarusian Separate Cossack Partisan Division Ivan Andreevich Soloshenko.

Movement of a detachment of the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade.

Group portrait of fighters of the 19th detachment of the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade.

A partisan detachment on the march in the village.

The partisan detachment goes behind enemy lines.

Commander of the Red Banner Partisan Detachment named after Chkalov S.D. Penkin.

A German corporal executed by partisans.

A traitor executed by partisans.

Soviet partisans carry a wounded comrade among the reeds.

A group of Soviet partisans near a 45-mm anti-tank gun, model 1934.

Kalinin partisans on a military campaign.

Partisan cavalry crosses the Sluch River.

Odessa partisans at the exit from the catacombs on the outskirts of the city.

German soldiers lead arrested Soviet female partisans out of the forest.

Soviet partisans transport the wounded across the river.

Partisans of the Kotovsky detachment return from a combat mission.

Each generation has its own perception of the past war, the place and significance of which in the life of the peoples of our country turned out to be so significant that it went down in their history as the Great Patriotic War. The dates June 22, 1941 and May 9, 1945 will forever remain in the memory of the peoples of Russia. 60 years after the Great Patriotic War Russians can be proud that their contribution to the Victory was enormous and irreplaceable. The most important integral part the struggle of the Soviet people against Nazi Germany during the Great Patriotic War was the partisan movement, which was the most active form participation of the broad masses of the temporarily occupied Soviet territory in the fight against the enemy.

A “new order” was established in the occupied territory - a regime of violence and bloody terror, designed to perpetuate German domination and turn the occupied lands into an agricultural and raw materials appendage of the German monopolies. All this met with fierce resistance from the majority of the population living in the occupied territory, who rose up to fight.

It was truly a nationwide movement, generated by the just nature of the war, the desire to defend the honor and independence of the Motherland. That is why the program for fighting the Nazi invaders is so important place was also assigned to the partisan movement in enemy-occupied areas. The party called on the Soviet people remaining behind enemy lines to create partisan detachments and sabotage groups, incite partisan warfare everywhere, blow up bridges, damage telegraph and telephone communication the enemy, set fire to warehouses, create unbearable conditions for the enemy and all his accomplices, pursue and destroy them at every step, disrupt all their activities.

Soviet people who found themselves in territory occupied by the enemy, as well as soldiers, commanders and political workers of the Red Army and Navy who were surrounded, began to fight the Nazi occupiers. They tried with all their might and means to help the Soviet troops fighting at the front and resisted the Nazis. And already these first actions against Hitlerism had the character guerrilla warfare. In a special resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) dated July 18, 1941, “On the organization of the fight behind enemy lines,” the party called on the republican, regional, regional and district party organizations to lead the organization of partisan formations and the underground, “to assist in every possible way in the creation of mounted and foot partisan detachments, sabotage destruction groups, deploy a network of our Bolshevik underground organizations in the occupied territory to lead all actions against the fascist occupiers" in the war (June 1941–1945).

The struggle of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders in the temporarily occupied territory of the Soviet Union became an integral part of the Great Patriotic War. It acquired a nationwide character, becoming a qualitatively new phenomenon in the history of the struggle against foreign invaders. The most important of its manifestations was the partisan movement behind enemy lines. Thanks to the actions of the partisans, the German fascist invaders developed a constant sense of danger and threat in their rear, which had a significant moral impact on the Nazis. And this was a real danger, since the fighting of the partisans caused enormous damage to the enemy’s manpower and equipment.

Group portrait of fighters of the Zvezda partisan detachment
It is characteristic that the idea of ​​organizing a partisan and underground movement in enemy-occupied territory appeared only after the start of the Great Patriotic War and the first defeats of the Red Army. This is explained by the fact that in the 20s - early 30s, the Soviet military leadership quite reasonably believed that in the event of an enemy invasion it was really necessary to launch a guerrilla war behind enemy lines, and for this purpose they were already training the organizers of the partisan movement, certain means for waging guerrilla warfare. However, during the mass repressions of the second half of the 30s, such precautions began to be seen as a manifestation of defeatism, and almost all those who were involved in this work were repressed. If we follow the then concept of defense, which consisted in victory over the enemy " little blood and on its territory,” the systematic preparation of the organizers of the partisan movement, in the opinion of Stalin and his entourage, could morally disarm the Soviet people and sow defeatist sentiments. In this situation, it is impossible to exclude Stalin’s painful suspicion of the potentially clearly organized structure of the underground resistance apparatus, which, as he believed, the “oppositionists” could use for their own purposes.

It is usually believed that by the end of 1941 the number of active partisans reached 90 thousand people, and partisan detachments - more than 2 thousand. Thus, at first, the partisan detachments themselves were not very numerous - their number did not exceed several dozen fighters. The difficult winter period of 1941-1942, the lack of reliably equipped bases for partisan detachments, the lack of weapons and ammunition, poor weapons and food supplies, as well as the lack of professional doctors and medicines significantly complicated the effective actions of the partisans, reducing them to sabotage on transport routes, the destruction of small groups of invaders, the destruction of their locations, the destruction of policemen - local residents who agreed to cooperate with the invaders. Nevertheless, the partisan and underground movement behind enemy lines still took place. Many detachments operated in Smolensk, Moscow, Oryol, Bryansk and a number of other regions of the country that fell under the heel of the Nazi occupiers.

S. Kovpak's detachment

Sidor Kovpak was born into the family of a poor peasant from Poltava. His further fate, with its intensity of struggle and its unexpected turns, is quite characteristic of that revolutionary era. Kovpak began to fight back in the First World War, a war on the blood of the poor - as a scout-plastun, who earned two brass St. George's crosses and numerous wounds, and already in 1918, after the German occupation of revolutionary Ukraine, he independently organized and led a red partisan detachment - one of the first in Ukraine. He fought against Denikin’s troops together with Father Parkhomenko’s troops, participated in battles on the Eastern Front as part of the legendary 25th Chapaev Division, then fought in the South against Wrangel’s troops, and took part in the liquidation of Makhno’s gangs. After the victory of the revolution, Sidor Kovpak, who became a member of the RCP (b) in 1919, was engaged in economic work, especially succeeding in road construction, which he proudly called his favorite thing. Since 1937, this administrator, famous for his decency and hard work, exceptional even for that era of defense labor, served as chairman of the Putivl city executive committee of the Sumy region. It was in this purely peaceful position that the war found him.

In August 1941, the party organization of Putivl was almost completely in full force- excluding its previously mobilized members - turned into a partisan detachment. This was one of many partisan groups created in the wooded triangle of Sumy, Bryansk, Oryol and Kursk regions, convenient for partisan warfare, which became the base for the entire future partisan movement. However, the Putivl detachment quickly stood out among the many forest units with its particularly bold and at the same time measured and prudent actions. Kovpak partisans avoided long stays within any specific area. They carried out constant long-term maneuvers behind enemy lines, exposing remote German garrisons to unexpected blows. Thus was born the famous raid tactics of partisan warfare, in which the traditions and techniques of the revolutionary war of 1918-21 were easily discerned - techniques revived and developed by commander Kovpak. Already at the very beginning of the formation of the Soviet partisan movement, he became its most famous and prominent figure.

At the same time, Father Kovpak himself did not at all differ in any special brave military appearance. According to his comrades, the outstanding partisan general was more like an elderly peasant in civilian clothes, carefully looking after his large and complex farm. This is precisely the impression he made on his future intelligence chief, Pyotr Vershigora, a former film director, and later a famous partisan writer, who spoke in his books about the raids of the Kovpakov detachments. Kovpak was indeed an unusual commander - he skillfully combined his vast experience as a soldier and business worker with innovative courage in the development of tactics and strategy of partisan warfare. “He is quite modest, he did not so much teach others as he studied himself, he knew how to admit his mistakes, thereby not exacerbating them,” Alexander Dovzhenko wrote about Kovpak. Kovpak was simple, even deliberately simple-minded in his communication, humane in his dealings with his soldiers, and with the help of the continuous political and ideological training of his detachment, carried out under the leadership of his closest comrade, the legendary commissar Rudnev, he was able to get them to high level communist consciousness and discipline.

Partisan detachment of Hero of the Soviet Union S.A. Kovpaka walks along the street of a Ukrainian village during a military campaign
This feature - the clear organization of all spheres of partisan life in the extremely difficult, unpredictable conditions of war behind enemy lines - made it possible to carry out the most complex operations, unprecedented in their courage and scope. Among the Kovpakov commanders were teachers, workers, engineers, and peasants.

People of peaceful professions, they acted in a coordinated and organized manner, based on the system for organizing the combat and peaceful life of the detachment, established by Kovpak. “The master’s eye, the confident, calm rhythm of camp life and the hum of voices in the thicket of the forest, a leisurely, but not slow life confident people, working with self-esteem - this is my first impression of Kovpak’s detachment,” Vershigora later wrote. Already in 1941–42, Sidor Kovpak, under whose leadership by this time there was an entire formation of partisan detachments, undertook his first raids - long military campaigns into territory not yet covered by the partisan movement - his detachments passed through the territories of Sumy, Kursk, Oryol and Bryansk regions, as a result of which Kovpak fighters, together with Belarusian and Bryansk partisans, created the famous Partisan Region, cleared of Nazi troops and police administration - a prototype of the future liberated territories of Latin America. In 1942–43, Kovpaks carried out a raid from the Bryansk forests on the Right Bank of Ukraine in the Gomel, Pinsk, Volyn, Rivne, Zhitomir and Kiev regions - an unexpected appearance deep behind enemy lines made it possible to destroy a huge number of enemy military communications, while simultaneously collecting and transmitting the most important intelligence information to Headquarters .

By this time, Kovpak’s raid tactics had received universal recognition, and its experience was widely disseminated and implemented by the partisan command of various regions.

The famous meeting of the leaders of the Soviet partisan movement, who arrived through the front in Moscow in early September 1942, fully approved of the raid tactics of Kovpak, who was also present there - by that time already a Hero of the Soviet Union and a member of the illegal Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks). Its essence was fast, maneuverable, secretive movement behind enemy lines with the further creation of new centers of the partisan movement. Such raids, in addition to causing significant damage to enemy troops and collecting important intelligence information, had a huge propaganda effect. “The partisans brought the war closer and closer to Germany,” said Marshal Vasilevsky, Chief of the Red Army General Staff, on this occasion. Guerrilla raids raised huge masses of enslaved people to fight, armed them and taught them the practice of fighting.

In the summer of 1943, on the eve Battle of Kursk, The Sumy partisan unit of Sidor Kovpak, by order of the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement, begins its famous Carpathian raid, the path of which passed through the deepest rear of the enemy. The peculiarity of this legendary raid was that here the Kovpakov partisans had to regularly make marches through open, treeless territory, at a great distance from their bases, without any hope of outside support and help.

Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of the Sumy partisan unit Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak (sitting in the center, with the Hero's star on his chest) surrounded by his comrades. To the left of Kovpak is the secretary of the party organization of the Sumy partisan unit Ya.G. Panin, to the right of Kovpak - assistant commander for reconnaissance P.P. Vershigora
During the Carpathian raid, the Sumy partisan unit covered over 10 thousand km in continuous battles, defeating German garrisons and Bandera detachments in forty settlements of Western Ukraine, including the territory of the Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. By destroying transport communications, the Kovpakovites managed to long time block important routes for the supply of Nazi troops and military equipment to the fronts of the Kursk Bulge. The Nazis, who sent elite SS units and front-line aviation to destroy Kovpak's formation, failed to destroy the partisan column - finding themselves surrounded, Kovpak made an unexpected decision for the enemy to divide the formation into a number of small groups, and break through with a simultaneous "fan" strike in various directions back to the Polesie forests. This tactical move brilliantly justified itself - all the disparate groups survived, once again uniting into one formidable force - the Kovpakovsky formation. In January 1944, it was renamed the 1st Ukrainian Partisan Division, which received the name of its commander, Sidor Kovpak.

The tactics of Kovpakov raids became widespread in anti-fascist movement Europe, and after the war it was taught to young partisans of Rhodesia, Angola and Mozambique, Vietnamese commanders and revolutionaries of Latin American countries.

Leadership of the partisan movement

On September 6, 1942, the State Defense Committee established the post of commander-in-chief of the partisan movement. He became Marshal K.E. Voroshilov. Thus, the fragmentation and lack of coordination of actions that reigned at first in the partisan movement was overcome, and bodies appeared to coordinate their sabotage activities. It was the disorganization of the enemy rear that became the main task of the Soviet partisans. The composition and organization of partisan formations, despite their diversity, still had much in common. The main tactical unit was a detachment, which at the beginning of the war numbered several dozen fighters, and later up to 200 or more people. During the war, many units united into larger formations (partisan brigades) numbering from several hundred to several thousand people. Their armament was dominated by light small arms, but many detachments and partisan brigades already had heavy machine guns and mortars, and in some cases artillery. Everyone who joined the partisan detachments took the partisan oath, and strict military discipline was established in the detachments.

There were various shapes organizations of partisan forces - small and large formations, regional (local) and non-regional. Regional detachments and formations were constantly based in one area and were responsible for protecting its population and fighting the invaders in this particular territory. Non-regional partisan formations and detachments carried out missions in different areas, carrying out long raids, being essentially mobile reserves, by maneuvering which the leadership of the partisan movement could concentrate efforts on the main direction of the planned attacks in order to deliver the most powerful blows to the enemy.

Detachment of the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade on a campaign, 1943
In the area of ​​extensive forests, in mountainous and swampy areas, there were the main bases and locations of partisan formations. Partisan regions arose here, where they could use various ways struggle, including direct, open clashes with the enemy. In the steppe regions, large partisan detachments could operate successfully during raids. The small detachments and groups of partisans who were constantly stationed here usually avoided open clashes with the enemy, causing damage to him, as a rule, with unexpected raids and sabotage. In August-September 1942, the central headquarters of the partisan movement held a meeting of the commanders of the Belarusian, Ukrainian, Bryansk and Smolensk partisan detachments. On September 5, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief signed an order “On the tasks of the partisan movement,” which indicated the need to coordinate the actions of the partisans with the operations of the regular army. The center of gravity of the partisans' fighting had to be shifted to enemy communications.

The occupiers immediately felt the intensification of partisan actions on the railways. In August 1942, they recorded almost 150 train crashes, in September - 152, in October - 210, in November - almost 240. Partisan attacks on German convoys became common. The highways that crossed the partisan regions and zones turned out to be practically closed to the occupiers. On many roads, transportation was possible only under heavy security.

The formation of large partisan formations and the coordination of their actions by the central headquarters made it possible to launch a systematic struggle against the strongholds of the Nazi occupiers. Destroying enemy garrisons in regional centers and other villages, partisan detachments increasingly expanded the boundaries of the zones and territories they controlled. Entire occupied areas were liberated from the invaders. Already in the summer and autumn of 1942, the partisans pinned down 22-24 enemy divisions, thereby providing significant assistance to the troops of the fighting Soviet Army. By the beginning of 1943, the partisan regions covered a significant part of Vitebsk, Leningrad, Mogilev and a number of other regions temporarily occupied by the enemy. In the same year, an even larger number of Nazi troops were diverted from the front to fight the partisans.

It was in 1943 that the peak of the actions of the Soviet partisans occurred, whose struggle resulted in a nationwide partisan movement. By the end of 1943, the number of its participants had grown to 250 thousand armed fighters. At this time, for example, Belarusian partisans controlled almost 60% of the occupied territory of the republic (109 thousand sq. km.), and on an area of ​​38 thousand sq. km. the occupiers were completely expelled. In 1943, the struggle of Soviet partisans behind enemy lines spread to Right Bank and Western Ukraine and the western regions of Belarus.

Rail War

The order for Operation Rail War was given on June 14, 1943. Local partisan headquarters and their representatives at the fronts assigned areas and objects of action to each partisan formation. The partisans were supplied with " Mainland» explosives, fuses, reconnaissance was actively carried out on enemy railway communications. The operation began on the night of August 3 and continued until mid-September. The fighting behind enemy lines took place over an area of ​​about 1,000 km along the front and 750 km in depth; about 100 thousand partisans took part in them with the active support of the local population.

A powerful blow to the railways in territory occupied by the enemy came as a complete surprise to him. For a long time, the Nazis were unable to counteract the partisans in an organized manner. During Operation Rail War, over 215 thousand railway rails were blown up, many trains with Nazi personnel and military equipment were derailed, railway bridges and station structures were blown up. The capacity of the railways decreased by 35-40%, which thwarted the Nazis' plans to accumulate material resources and concentrate troops, and seriously hampered the regrouping of enemy forces.

The partisan operation codenamed “Concert” was subordinated to the same goals, but already during the upcoming offensive of Soviet troops in the Smolensk, Gomel directions and the battle for the Dnieper. It was carried out from September 19 to November 1, 1943 on the fascist-occupied territory of Belarus Karelia, in the Leningrad and Kalinin regions, in the territory of Latvia, Estonia, Crimea, covering a front of about 900 km and a depth of over 400 km.

Partisans mine the railway track
It was a planned continuation of Operation Rail War; it was closely connected with the upcoming offensive of Soviet troops in the Smolensk and Gomel directions and during the Battle of the Dnieper. 193 partisan detachments (groups) from Belarus, the Baltic states, Karelia, Crimea, Leningrad and Kalinin regions (over 120 thousand people) were involved in the operation, which were supposed to undermine more than 272 thousand rails.

On the territory of Belarus, more than 90 thousand partisans took part in the operation; they had to blow up 140 thousand rails. The Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement planned to throw 120 tons of explosives and other cargo to the Belarusian partisans, and 20 tons to the Kaliningrad and Leningrad partisans.

In view of sharp deterioration Due to weather conditions, at the beginning of the operation, the partisans managed to transfer only about half of the planned amount of cargo, so it was decided to begin mass sabotage on September 25. However, some of the detachments that had already reached the initial lines could not 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, simultaneous actions were carried out according to the plan of Operation Concert on a front of about 900 km (excluding Karelia and Crimea) and in a depth of over 400 km.

Local headquarters of the partisan movement and their representation at the fronts assigned areas and objects of action to each partisan formation. The partisans were provided with explosives and fuses, mine-explosive classes were held at “forest courses”, metal was mined from captured shells and bombs at local “factories”, and fastenings for metal bombs to rails were made in workshops and forges. Reconnaissance was actively carried out on the railways. The operation began on the night of August 3 and continued until mid-September. The actions took place on an area with a length of about 1000 km along the front and 750 km in depth, about 100 thousand partisans took part in them, who were helped by the local population. A powerful blow to the railway. lines was unexpected for the enemy, who for some time could not counteract the partisans in an organized manner. During the operation, about 215 thousand rails were blown up, many trains were derailed, railway bridges and station buildings were blown up. The massive disruption of enemy communications significantly complicated the regrouping of retreating enemy troops, complicated their supply, and thereby contributed to the successful offensive of the Red Army.

Partisan bombers of the Transcarpathian partisan detachment Grachev and Utenkov at the airfield
The objective of Operation Concert was to disable large sections of railway lines in order to disrupt enemy transport. The bulk of the partisan formations began hostilities on the night of September 25, 1943. During Operation Concert, Belarusian partisans alone blew up about 90 thousand rails, derailed 1041 enemy trains, destroyed 72 railway bridges, and defeated 58 invader garrisons. Operation Concert caused serious difficulties in the transportation of Nazi troops. Railway capacity has decreased by more than three times. This made it very difficult for the Nazi command to maneuver their forces and provided enormous assistance to the advancing Red Army troops.

It is impossible to list here all the partisan heroes whose contribution to the victory over the enemy was so noticeable in the common struggle of the Soviet people over the Nazi invaders. During the war, wonderful partisan command cadres grew up - S.A. Kovpak, A.F. Fedorov, A.N. Saburov, V.A. Begma, N.N. Popudrenko and many others. In terms of its scale, political and military results, the nationwide struggle of the Soviet people in the territories occupied by Hitler's troops acquired the significance of an important military-political factor in the defeat of fascism. The selfless activities of the partisans and underground fighters received national recognition and high praise from the state. More than 300 thousand partisans and underground fighters were awarded orders and medals, including over 127 thousand - the medal “Partisan of the Great Patriotic War” 1st and 2nd degree, 248 were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Pinsk detachment

Pinsk partisans operated at the junction of Minsk, Polesie, Baranovichi, Brest, Rivne and Volyn regions. The German occupation administration divided the territory into commissariats subordinate to different Gauleiters - in Rivne and Minsk. Sometimes the partisans found themselves “drawn”. While the Germans were figuring out which of them should send troops, the partisans continued to operate.

In the spring of 1942, the partisan movement received a new impetus and began to acquire new organizational forms. A centralized leadership appeared in Moscow. Radio communication with the Center has been established.

With the organization of new detachments and the growth of their numbers, the Pinsk underground regional committee of the CP(b)B began to unite them into brigades in the spring of 1943. A total of 7 brigades were created: named after S.M. Budyonny, named after V.I. Lenin, named after V.M. Molotov, named after S.M. Kirov, named after V. Kuibyshev, Pinskaya, “Soviet Belarus”. The Pinsk formation included separate detachments - headquarters and named after I.I. Chuklaya. There were 8,431 partisans (on the payroll) operating in the ranks of the unit. The Pinsk partisan unit was led by V.Z. Korzh, A.E. Kleshchev (May-September 1943), chief of staff - N.S. Fedotov. V.Z. Korzhu and A.E. Kleshchev was awarded the military rank of “Major General” and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. As a result of unification, the actions of disparate detachments began to obey a single plan, became purposeful, and were subordinate to the actions of the front or army. And in 1944, interaction was possible even with divisions.

Portrait of 14-year-old partisan reconnaissance Mikhail Khavdey from the Chernigov-Volynsky formation, Major General A.F. Fedorov
In 1942, the Pinsk partisans became so strong that they were already destroying garrisons in the regional centers of Lenino, Starobin, Krasnaya Sloboda, and Lyubeshov. In 1943, the partisans of M.I. Gerasimov, after the defeat of the garrison, occupied the city of Lyubeshov for several months. On October 30, 1942, partisan detachments named after Kirov and named after N. Shish defeated the German garrison at the Sinkevichi station, destroyed the railway bridge, station facilities and destroyed a train with ammunition (48 cars). The Germans lost 74 people killed and 14 wounded. Railway traffic on the Brest-Gomel-Bryansk line was interrupted for 21 days.

Sabotage on communications was the basis of the partisans' combat activities. They were carried out in different ways over different periods, from improvised explosive devices to Colonel Starinov's improved mines. From the explosion of water pumps and switches to a large-scale “rail war”. During all three years, the partisans destroyed communication lines.

In 1943, the partisan brigades named after Molotov (M.I. Gerasimov) and Pinskaya (I.G. Shubitidze) completely disabled the Dnieper-Bug Canal, an important link in the Dnieper-Pripyat-Bug-Vistula waterway. They were supported on the left flank by the Brest partisans. The Germans tried to restore this convenient waterway. Stubborn fighting lasted 42 days. First, a Hungarian division was thrown against the partisans, then parts of a German division and a Vlasov regiment. Artillery, armored vehicles and aircraft were thrown against the partisans. The partisans suffered losses, but held firm. On March 30, 1944, they retreated to the front line, where they were given a defensive sector and fought together with front-line units. As a result of the heroic battles of the partisans, the waterway to the west was blocked. 185 river vessels remained in Pinsk.

Command of the 1st Belorussian Front gave special important capture of watercraft in the port of Pinsk, since in conditions of heavily swampy terrain, in the absence of good highways, these watercraft could successfully solve the issue of transferring the rear of the front. The task was completed by the partisans six months before the liberation of the regional center of Pinsk.

In June-July 1944, Pinsk partisans helped units of Belov’s 61st Army liberate the cities and villages of the region. From June 1941 to July 1944, Pinsk partisans inflicted great losses on the Nazi occupiers: they lost 26,616 people in killed alone and 422 people were captured. They defeated more than 60 large enemy garrisons, 5 railway stations and 10 trains with military equipment and ammunition located there.

468 trains with manpower and equipment were derailed, 219 military trains were shelled and 23,616 railway rails were destroyed. 770 cars, 86 tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed on highways and dirt roads. 3 aircraft were shot down by machine gun fire. 62 railway bridges and about 900 on highways and dirt roads were blown up. This is an incomplete list of the partisans’ military affairs.

Partisan-scout of the Chernigov formation “For the Motherland” Vasily Borovik
After the liberation of the Pinsk region from the Nazi invaders, most of the partisans joined the ranks of the front-line soldiers and continued to fight until complete victory.

The most important forms of partisan struggle during the Patriotic War were such as the armed struggle of partisan formations, underground groups and organizations created in cities and large populated areas, and mass resistance of the population to the activities of the occupiers. All these forms of struggle were closely interconnected, conditioning and complementing one another. Armed partisan units widely used underground methods and forces for combat operations. In turn, underground combat groups and organizations, depending on the situation, often switched to open guerrilla forms of struggle. The partisans also established contact with escapees from concentration camps and provided support with weapons and food.

The joint efforts of partisans and underground fighters crowned the nation-wide war in the rear of the occupiers. They were the decisive force in the fight against the Nazi invaders. If the resistance movement had not been accompanied by an armed uprising of partisans and underground organizations, then the popular resistance to the Nazi invaders would not have had the strength and mass scale that it acquired during the years of the last war. The resistance of the occupied population was often accompanied by sabotage activities inherent in partisans and underground fighters. The massive resistance of Soviet citizens to fascism and its occupation regime was aimed at providing assistance to the partisan movement and creating the most favorable conditions for the struggle of the armed part of the Soviet people.

D. Medvedev's squad

From the very beginning of the war, he volunteered to fight against the fascist occupiers... In the summer camp of the Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the NKVD, formed from volunteers by the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs and the Central Committee of the Komsomol, Medvedev selected three dozen reliable guys into his squad. On August 22, 1941, a group of 33 volunteer partisans under the leadership of Medvedev crossed the front line and found themselves in occupied territory. Medvedev’s detachment operated on Bryansk land for about five months and carried out over 50 military operations.

Partisan reconnaissance officers planted explosives under the rails and tore up enemy trains, fired from ambushes at convoys on the highway, went on the air day and night and reported to Moscow more and more information about the movements of German military units... Medvedev’s detachment served as the nucleus for the creation of an entire partisan force in the Bryansk region the edges. Over time, new special tasks were assigned to it, and it was already included in the plans of the Supreme High Command as an important bridgehead behind enemy lines.

At the beginning of 1942, D. N. Medvedev was recalled to Moscow and here he worked on the formation and training of volunteer sabotage groups transferred to enemy lines. Together with one of these groups in June 1942, he again found himself behind the front line.

In the summer of 1942, Medvedev’s detachment became the center of resistance in a vast region of the occupied territory of Ukraine. The party underground in Rovno, Lutsk, Zdolbunov, Vinnitsa, hundreds and hundreds of patriots act in concert with partisan intelligence officers. In Medvedev’s detachment, the legendary intelligence officer Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov became famous, who for a long time operated in Rovno under the guise of Hitler’s officer Paul Siebert...

Over the course of 22 months, the detachment carried out dozens of important reconnaissance operations. Suffice it to mention the messages transmitted by Medvedev to Moscow about the preparation by the Nazis of an assassination attempt on the participants of the historical meeting in Tehran - Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill, about the placement of Hitler's headquarters near Vinnitsa, about the preparation of the German offensive on the Kursk Bulge, the most important data about military garrisons received from the commander of these garrisons of General Ilgen.

Partisans with a Maxim machine gun in battle
The unit carried out 83 military operations, in which many hundreds of Nazi soldiers and officers, and many senior military and Nazi leaders were killed. Much military equipment was destroyed by partisan mines. Dmitry Nikolaevich was wounded and shell-shocked twice while behind enemy lines. He was awarded three Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, and military medals. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 5, 1944, State Security Colonel Medvedev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1946, Medvedev resigned and until last days throughout his life he was engaged in literary work.

D. N. Medvedev dedicated his books “It Was Near Rovno”, “Strong in Spirit”, “On the Banks of the Southern Bug” to the military affairs of Soviet patriots during the war years deep behind enemy lines. During the activity of the detachment, a lot of valuable information was transmitted to the command about the work of railway roads, about the movements of enemy headquarters, about the transfer of troops and equipment, about the activities of the occupation authorities, about the situation in the temporarily occupied territory. In battles and skirmishes, up to 12 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed. The detachment's losses were 110 killed and 230 wounded.

The final stage

During the winter of 1943 and during 1944, when the enemy was defeated and completely expelled from Soviet soil, the partisan movement rose to a new, even higher level. At this stage, interaction between the partisans and underground organizations and the advancing troops of the Red Army, as well as the connection of many partisan detachments and brigades with units of the Red Army. Characteristic of the partisans’ activities at this stage is the partisans’ attacks on the enemy’s most important communications, primarily on the railways, with the aim of disrupting the transport of troops, weapons, ammunition and food of the enemy, and preventing the removal of looted property and Soviet people to Germany. The falsifiers of history declared the guerrilla war illegal, barbaric, and reduced it to the desire of the Soviet people to take revenge on the occupiers for their atrocities. But life refuted their assertions and speculations and showed its true character and goals. The partisan movement is brought to life by “powerful economic and political reasons.” The desire of the Soviet people to take revenge on the occupiers for violence and cruelty was only an additional factor in the partisan struggle. The nationality of the partisan movement, its pattern, arising from the essence of the Patriotic War, its just, liberating character, were the most important factor victory of the Soviet people over fascism. The main source of strength of the partisan movement was the Soviet socialist system, the love of the Soviet people for the Motherland, devotion to the Leninist party, which called on the people to defend the socialist Fatherland.

Partisans - father and son, 1943
The year 1944 went down in the history of the partisan movement as the year of widespread interaction between partisans and units of the Soviet Army. The Soviet command put forward tasks to the partisan leadership in advance, which allowed the headquarters of the partisan movement to plan the combined actions of the partisan forces. The actions of raiding partisan formations have gained significant scope this year. For example, the Ukrainian partisan division under the command of P.P. From January 5 to April 1, 1944, Vershigory fought almost 2,100 km across the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and Poland.

During the period of the mass expulsion of fascists from the USSR, partisan formations solved another important task - they saved the population of the occupied areas from being deported to Germany, and preserved the people's property from destruction and plunder by the invaders. They hid hundreds of thousands of local residents in the forests in the territories they controlled, and even before the arrival of Soviet units they captured many populated areas.

Unified leadership of the combat activities of the partisans with stable communication between the headquarters of the partisan movement and partisan formations, their interaction with units of the Red Army in tactical and even strategic operations, the conduct of large independent operations by partisan groups, the widespread use of mine-blasting equipment, supplying partisan detachments and formations from the rear a warring country, the evacuation of the sick and wounded from enemy lines to the “Mainland” - all these features of the partisan movement in the Great Patriotic War significantly enriched the theory and practice of partisan warfare as one of the forms of armed struggle against Nazi troops during the Second World War.

The actions of armed partisan formations were one of the most decisive and effective forms the struggle of Soviet partisans against the occupiers. The performances of armed partisan forces in Belarus, Crimea, the Oryol, Smolensk, Kalinin, Leningrad regions and the Krasnodar Territory became widespread, i.e., where there were the most favorable natural conditions. In the named areas of the partisan movement, 193,798 partisans fought. The name of Moscow Komsomol member Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union, became a symbol of fearlessness and courage of partisan intelligence officers. The country learned about the feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya in difficult months battles near Moscow. On November 29, 1941, Zoya died with the words on her lips: “It’s happiness to die for your people!”

Olga Fedorovna Shcherbatsevich, an employee of the 3rd Soviet Hospital, who cared for captured wounded soldiers and officers of the Red Army. Hanged by the Germans in Aleksandrovsky Square in Minsk on October 26, 1941. The inscription on the shield, in Russian and German, reads: “We are partisans who shot at German soldiers.”

From the memoirs of an execution witness, Vyacheslav Kovalevich, in 1941 he was 14 years old: “I went to the Surazh market. At the Central cinema I saw a column of Germans moving along Sovetskaya Street, and in the center were three civilians with their hands tied behind them. Among them is Aunt Olya, mother of Volodya Shcherbatsevich. They were brought to the park opposite the House of Officers. There was a summer cafe there. Before the war they began to repair it. They made a fence, put up pillars, and nailed boards on them. Aunt Olya and two men were brought to this fence and they began to hang her on it. The men were hanged first. When they were hanging Aunt Olya, the rope broke. Two fascists ran up and grabbed me, and the third secured the rope. She remained hanging there.”
In difficult days for the country, when the enemy was rushing towards Moscow, Zoya’s feat was similar to the feat of the legendary Danko, who tore out his burning heart and led people, illuminating their path in difficult times. The feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was repeated by many girls - partisans and underground fighters who stood up to defend the Motherland. Going to execution, they did not ask for mercy and did not bow their heads before the executioners. Soviet patriots firmly believed in the inevitable victory over the enemy, in the triumph of the cause for which they fought and gave their lives.

The medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" was established in the USSR on February 2, 1943. Over the following years, about 150 thousand heroes were awarded it. This material tells about five people's militias who, by their example, showed how to defend the Motherland.

Efim Ilyich Osipenko

An experienced commander who fought during Civil War, a true leader, Efim Ilyich became the commander of a partisan detachment in the fall of 1941. Although a detachment is too strong a word: together with the commander there were only six of them. There were practically no weapons and ammunition, winter was approaching, and endless groups of the German army were already approaching Moscow.

Realizing that as much time as possible was needed to prepare the defense of the capital, the partisans decided to blow up a strategically important section of the railway near Myshbor station. There were few explosives, there were no detonators at all, but Osipenko decided to detonate the bomb with a grenade. Silently and unnoticed, the group moved close to the railway tracks and planted explosives. Having sent his friends back and being left alone, the commander saw the train approaching, threw a grenade and fell into the snow. But for some reason the explosion did not happen, then Efim Ilyich himself hit the bomb with a pole from a railway sign. There was an explosion and a long train with food and tanks went downhill. The partisan himself miraculously survived, although he completely lost his sight and was severely shell-shocked. On April 4, 1942, he was the first in the country to be awarded the “Partisan of the Great Patriotic War” medal for No. 000001.

Konstantin Chekhovich

Konstantin Chekhovich - organizer and performer of one of the largest partisan sabotage acts of the Great Patriotic War.

The future hero was born in 1919 in Odessa, almost immediately after graduating from the Industrial Institute he was drafted into the Red Army, and already in August 1941, as part of a sabotage group, he was sent behind enemy lines. While crossing the front line, the group was ambushed, and of the five people, only Chekhovich survived, and he had nowhere to take much optimism - the Germans, after checking the bodies, were convinced that he only had a shell shock and Konstantin Aleksandrovich was captured. He managed to escape from it two weeks later, and after another week he got in touch with the partisans of the 7th Leningrad Brigade, where he received the task of infiltrating the Germans in the city of Porkhov for sabotage work.

Having achieved some favor with the Nazis, Chekhovich received the position of administrator at a local cinema, which he planned to blow up. He involved Evgenia Vasilyeva in the case - his wife’s sister was employed as a cleaner at the cinema. Every day she carried several briquettes in buckets with dirty water and a rag. This cinema became a mass grave for 760 German soldiers and officers - an inconspicuous “administrator” installed bombs on the supporting columns and roof, so that during the explosion the entire structure collapsed like a house of cards.

Matvey Kuzmich Kuzmin

The oldest recipient of the "Partisan of the Patriotic War" and "Hero of the Soviet Union" awards. He was awarded both awards posthumously, and at the time of his feat he was 83 years old.

The future partisan was born back in 1858, 3 years before the abolition of serfdom, in the Pskov province. He spent his entire life isolated (he was not a member of the collective farm), but by no means lonely - Matvey Kuzmich had 8 children from two different wives. He was engaged in hunting and fishing, and knew the area remarkably well.

The Germans who came to the village occupied his house, and later the battalion commander himself settled in it. At the beginning of February 1942, this German commander asked Kuzmin to be a guide and lead the German unit to the village of Pershino occupied by the Red Army, in return he offered almost unlimited food. Kuzmin agreed. However, having seen the route of movement on the map, he sent his grandson Vasily to the destination in advance to warn Soviet troops. Matvey Kuzmich himself led the frozen Germans through the forest for a long time and confusedly and only in the morning led them out, but not to the desired village, but to an ambush, where the Red Army soldiers had already taken positions. The invaders came under fire from machine gun crews and lost up to 80 people captured and killed, but the hero-guide himself also died.

Leonid Golikov

He was one of many teenage partisans of the Great Patriotic War, a Hero of the Soviet Union. Brigade scout of the Leningrad partisan brigade, spreading panic and chaos in German units in the Novgorod and Pskov regions. Despite his young age - Leonid was born in 1926, at the start of the war he was 15 years old - he was distinguished by his sharp mind and military courage. In just a year and a half of partisan activity, he destroyed 78 Germans, 2 railway and 12 highway bridges, 2 food warehouses and 10 wagons with ammunition. Guarded and accompanied a food convoy to besieged Leningrad.

This is what Lenya Golikov himself wrote about his main feat in a report: “On the evening of August 12, 1942, we, 6 partisans, got out onto the Pskov-Luga highway and lay down near the village of Varnitsa. There was no movement at night. It was dawn. From Pskov 13 August, a small passenger car appeared. It was going fast, but near the bridge where we were, the car went quieter. Partisan Vasiliev threw an anti-tank grenade, but missed. Alexander Petrov threw the second grenade from the ditch, hit the beam. The car didn’t stop immediately, but went further 20 meters and almost caught up with us (we were lying behind a pile of stones). Two officers jumped out of the car. I fired a burst from a machine gun. I didn’t hit. The officer who was driving ran through the ditch towards the forest. I fired several bursts from my PPSh . Hit the enemy in the neck and back. Petrov began shooting at the second officer, who kept looking around, shouting and firing back. Petrov killed this officer with a rifle. Then the two of them ran to the first wounded officer. They tore off their shoulder straps, took a briefcase, documents, it turned out to be the general from the infantry of the special weapons troops, that is, the engineering troops, Richard Wirtz, who was returning from a meeting from Konigsberg to his corps in Luga. There was still a heavy suitcase in the car. We barely managed to drag him into the bushes (150 meters from the highway). While we were still at the car, we heard an alarm, a ringing sound, and a scream in the neighboring village. Grabbing a briefcase, shoulder straps and three captured pistols, we ran to our....”.

As it turned out, the teenager took out extremely important drawings and descriptions of new examples of German mines, maps of minefields, and inspection reports to higher command. For this, Golikov was nominated for the Golden Star and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

He received the title posthumously. Defending himself in a village house from a German punitive detachment, the hero died along with the partisan headquarters on January 24, 1943, before he turned 17 years old.

Tikhon Pimenovich Bumazhkov

Coming from a poor peasant family, Hero of the Soviet Union, Tikhon Pimenovich was already the director of the plant at the age of 26, but the onset of the war did not take him by surprise. Bumazhkov is considered by historians to be one of the first organizers of partisan detachments during the Great Patriotic War. In the summer of 1941, he became one of the leaders and organizers of the extermination squad, which later became known as “Red October”.

In collaboration with units of the Red Army, the partisans destroyed several dozen bridges and enemy headquarters. In just less than 6 months of guerrilla warfare, Bumazhkov’s detachment destroyed up to two hundred enemy vehicles and motorcycles, up to 20 warehouses with fodder and food were blown up or captured, and the number of captured officers and soldiers is estimated at several thousand. Bumazhkov died a heroic death while escaping from encirclement near the village of Orzhitsa, Poltava region.

I read and couldn’t believe it: the legendary Belarusian partisans, the avengers of Polesie, on whose exploits we were all raised, turned out to be bloody murderers and sadists. Scoundrels and scum.

They killed their own, those who expected protection from them in order to send the reports needed by their superiors.
Women and children - old people and young men. Komsomol members and wives of front-line soldiers. Those who hated the Nazis with all their hearts were killed by the Red partisans.

Another lie about war heroes originally from the USSR has been revealed.

No, not everyone was like that, not even the majority. But the terrible truth about the crimes of the partisans, overshadowing the horrors of Khatyn, has come out and needs to be known. Stop rewriting history - it's time to start writing it: honest.

Who was hiding in the Belarusian forests?

Belarusian partisans bravely fought against the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War. The partisan was the main defender of civilians, a symbol of liberation from fascism. Soviet history idealized the image of the “people's avenger,” and it was unthinkable to talk about his misdeeds. Only six decades later, the surviving residents of the Belarusian village of Drazhno, Starodorozhsky district, decided to talk about terrible events what they experienced in 1943. Belarusian local historian Viktor Hursik collected their stories in his book “Blood and Ashes of Drazhna”.

The author claims that on April 14, 1943, partisans attacked Drazhno and indiscriminately shot, slaughtered and burned civilians alive. The author confirms the testimony of the surviving Drazhne residents with documents from the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus.

One of the surviving witnesses to the burning of the village, Nikolai Ivanovich Petrovsky, moved to Minsk after the war, where he worked as an electrician at a state-owned enterprise until his retirement. Today the veteran is 79 years old and seriously ill.

“I’m probably visiting Drazhno for the last time,” Nikolai Ivanovich said slowly, frowning, as we drove into the village. “For more than sixty years, I remember that horror every day, every day.” And I want people to know the truth. After all, the partisans who killed their fellow countrymen remained heroes. This tragedy is worse than Khatyn.

“The shots woke us up around four in the morning.”

— When the Nazis came in 1941, a police garrison, to our misfortune, was formed in Drazhno. The policemen, and there were 79 of them, settled in the school, which they surrounded with bunkers. This place was strategic. The village stood at the intersection of roads, on a hill. The policemen could perfectly shoot through the area, and the forests were far away - three kilometers from Drazhno.

Even before the Germans arrived, my father, the chairman of the general store and a party member, managed to go into the forest along with the chairman of the collective farm and a major in the Red Army. And on time. The police began to commit atrocities: they arrested veterinarian Shaplyko and shot him. They were hunting for my father too. They ambushed him near his house.

Our entire family - me, my mother, three brothers and sister Katya - were driven almost naked to the collective farm threshing floor. My father was tortured before our eyes, beaten, and forced to dig a grave. But for some reason they weren’t shot and a few days later they were sent to a concentration camp,” Nikolai Ivanovich tries to speak dryly, without emotion. But it seems that the old man is about to lose his temper.

“That’s how we lived: without a father, with hatred for the occupiers, we waited for liberation,” continues Nikolai Ivanovich. “And so in January 1943, the partisans carried out an operation to capture the police garrison.

Today it is clear that the operation was planned ineptly, the partisans attacked head-on, almost all of them were killed with a machine gun. The villagers were forced to bury the dead. I remember how worried my mother was, crying. After all, we considered the partisans our hope...

But a few months later these “defenders” committed unprecedented atrocities! “The old man stopped for a minute, looked around the village, and looked for a long time towards the forest. — Shots woke us up at about four in the morning on April 14, 1943.

Mom shouted: “Dzetko, garyum!” Naked people jumped out into the yard, we looked: all the houses were on fire, shooting, screams...

We ran to the garden to save ourselves, and my mother returned to the house, wanting to take something out. The thatched roof of the hut was already on fire by that time. I lay there, didn’t move, and my mother didn’t return for a long time. I turned around, and ten of her people, even women, were stabbing with bayonets, shouting: “Take it, you fascist bastard!” I saw how her throat was cut. - The old man paused again, his eyes were devastated, it seemed that Nikolai Ivanovich was reliving those terrible minutes. “Katya, my sister, jumped up, asked: “Don’t shoot!”, and took out her Komsomol card. Before the war, she was a pioneer leader and a convinced communist. During the occupation, I sewed my father’s ticket and party ID into my coat and carried it with me. But the tall partisan, in leather boots and uniform, began to aim at Katya. I shouted: “Dziadzechka, don’t forget my sister!” But a shot rang out. My sister's coat instantly became stained with blood. She died in my arms. I will always remember the killer's face.

I remember how I crawled away. I saw that my neighbor Fekla Subtselnaya and her baby daughter were thrown alive into the fire by three partisans. Aunt Thekla held her baby in her arms. Further, at the door of the burning hut, lay the old woman Grinevichikha, burnt, covered in blood...

- How did you survive? — I ask the almost sobbing old man.

— My brothers and I crawled through the vegetable gardens to the guy. His house was burned down, but he miraculously survived. They dug a dugout and lived in it.

Later we learned that the partisans did not shoot a single policeman. The houses that were located behind their fortifications also survived. The Nazis arrived in the village and treated the victims. medical care, someone was taken to the hospital in Starye Dorogi.

In 1944, the police began to abuse me and sent me and several other teenagers to work in a concentration camp in the city of Unigen, near Stuttgart. The American military liberated us.

After the war, I learned that the Drazhnenites were directly burned and killed by partisans from the Kutuzov detachment, commanded by Lapidus. Other detachments from Ivanov’s brigade covered the Kutuzovites. I found Lapidus when I was 18 years old. He lived in Minsk, in the Komarovka region, and worked in the regional party committee. Lapidus unleashed the dogs on me... I know that this man lived a good life and died a hero.

Residents killed on April 14, 1943 are buried at the Drazhno cemetery. Some families were completely destroyed by the partisans that fateful morning. There was no one to erect monuments on their graves. Many burial sites have almost been leveled to the ground and will soon disappear altogether.

Even the families of front-line soldiers were not spared.

Today Drazno is a prosperous village, with a good road, old but well-kept houses.

At the village grocery store we met other living witnesses to the partisan crime. The partisans did not reach the house of Eva Methodyevna Sirota (today her grandmother is 86 years old).

“Children, God forbid anyone finds out about that war,” Eva Methodyevna clutched her head. “We survived, but my friend Katya was shot, even though she screamed: “I belong!” The daughter-in-law and mother-in-law were shot, they little boy left to die. But the father of their family fought at the front.

“People were hanging out in potato pits, so they shot one family right there, they didn’t regret it,” said 80-year-old Vladimir Apanasevich with despair. Grandfather could not stand it and burst into tears. “Fate saved me, but the partisans deliberately took some teenagers half a kilometer into a field and shot them. Recently, about eight people came to us from the district executive committee. They asked about the burning of Drazhno by partisans, is this true? They were silent for the most part, shaking their heads. So they left in silence.

Alexander Apanasevich, the son of Vladimir’s grandfather, showed the passport of Valentina Shamko, who was killed by partisans. In the photograph there is a girl, sweet, with a naive look, defenseless.

- This is my aunt. “Mom told me that they shot her in the head,” says Uncle Alexander with bewilderment in his voice. “Mom kept Valentina’s scarf, which was shot through, but now I can’t find it.

Brigade commander Ivanov:

“...the battle went very well”

And brigade commander Ivanov, in a report to his superiors, summed up the outcome of the military operation in Drazhno like this (from case No. 42 of fund 4057 of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, we fully retain the author’s style):

“...the battle went very well. They completed their task, the garrison was completely destroyed, with the exception of 5 bunkers, from which it was not possible to enter, the rest of the police were destroyed, up to 217 bastards were killed and suffocated from smoke ... "

For this “operation” many partisans were presented with awards.

If the Drazhnets had not told Viktor Khursik about the tragedy of distant days, no one would have ever known about the wild burning of a Belarusian village by partisans.

An ordinary red bastard - brigade commander Ivanov.

Viktor Khursik: “The partisans wanted to pass off civilians as policemen”

— Spadar Victor, some people are trying to challenge the contents of your book...

- Apparently, it’s too late to do this. I know that when the book was published, the Ministry of Information sent it for closed review to authoritative experts. Scientists have come to the conclusion that the facts I present in the book correspond to reality. I foresaw this reaction. I consider my position to be a state position, as is the approach of the ministry. I had one goal - the search for truth. The book “Blood and Ashes of Drazhn” has nothing to do with politics.

— How did you find out about the burning of the village?

“The Drazhnets themselves decided to contact me.” At first I did not believe that the partisans could burn down a village with civilians. I checked and rechecked. I delved into the archives and met with the residents of Drazno more than once. When I realized the depth of the tragedy, I realized that it was necessary to talk not only about heroism, but also about the crimes of the partisans, and they were. Otherwise, the Belarusian nation will not exist.

— The book contains a lot of documentary incriminating evidence on the partisans, where does it come from?

— Each detachment had a security officer. He diligently recorded all cases of violations of discipline and reported this to his superiors.

— Did the partisans burn Belarusian villages everywhere?

- Of course not. Most of the partisans fought bravely for the freedom of their homeland. But there were isolated cases of crimes against civilians. And not only in Drazno. The same tragedy occurred in the village of Staroselye, Mogilev region, and in other regions. Today it is necessary to raise the question of the state erecting monuments at the sites of tragedies.

— What is the fate of the commander of the 2nd Minsk partisan brigade, Ivanov?

— He comes from Leningrad. 21-year-old Ivanov was sent to lead the brigade from the headquarters of the partisan movement. It is clear from the documents that more than one partisan died due to his inexperience. He personally shot those who refused to go into stupid attacks. Ivanov is perhaps one of the few partisan brigade commanders who was not awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. According to information received from former senior officials of the Pukhovichi district committee of the Communist Party of Belarus, in 1975 he committed suicide.

“And yet I still can’t wrap my head around why the partisans committed such a terrible crime?”

— Until 1943, they practically did not fight, they hid in the forests. The policemen and partisans lived relatively peacefully, only clashes occurred under pressure from above. But in 1943, Stalin began to demand concrete results. Ivanov lacked the talent to take the police garrison in Drazhno. Then the brigade command took a criminal path. They decided to burn the village, kill the local residents and pass them off as policemen.

“There are a lot of marauding acts behind Kutuzov’s detachment”

Viktor Hursik included in his book testimonies of several more surviving victims of the burning of Drazhno. These people are no longer alive.

Here are excerpts from the book “Blood and Ashes of Drazhn”.

Memorandum by the head of the special department of the NKVD, Bezuglov, “On the political and moral state of the 2nd Minsk partisan brigade”:

“...Coming back, they (the partisans - Ed.) went to Gurinovich M., tore out 7 more families of bees, broke the lock, broke into the hut, took all the things, including cast iron, also took 4 sheep, 2 pigs, etc.

The entire population is outraged by this marauding act and demands protection from the command.

There are a lot of marauding acts behind Kutuzov’s detachment, so it is necessary to take the strictest measures on this issue...”

EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY

The story of a witness to the burning of Drazhno, Ekaterina Gintovt (wife of a Hero of the Soviet Union):

“In the sixties, they appointed us a new boss. He was so calm. Maybe on the second or third day of his arrival a conversation happened between us.

—Where were you during the war? - I asked.

- At the front and in the partisans.

—Where in the partisans? During the war, they killed many people and burned half the village.

We were in the Starodorozhsky district, in Drazhno...

I said that in Drazhno my friend was shot, other residents were burned and killed.

As I told him this, I saw that the man felt bad before my eyes.

“I’ll go to the hospital,” he said.

A few days later the boss died.”

Viktor Hursik is outraged by the monument to the Red Army soldiers who did not fight in Drazhno. And many more partisans died here than is indicated on the tombstone.

Nikolai Petrovsky showed the place where people were shot.

Vladimir Apanasyevich’s house survived because it was located behind the police garrison.

Passport of the murdered Valentina Shamko.