To begin with, a small educational program, what is a penal battalion and the history of this phenomenon. Penal units are special military formations in the army, where, during a war or hostilities, guilty servicemen who have committed a variety of crimes are sent as a kind of punishment. For the first time in Russia, penal formations appeared in September 1917, however, due to the complete collapse in the state and the collapse in the army, these units did not take part in the battles and were subsequently disbanded. Penal battalions in the Red Army appeared on the basis of Stalin's order No. 227 of July 28, 1942. Formally, these formations in the USSR existed from September 1942 to May 1945.

Myth 1. "Penal units in the Red Army were numerous, half of the Red Army soldiers fought in penal battalions."

Let us turn to the dry statistics of the number of fines in the USSR. According to archival statistical documents, the number (rounded) of fines in the Red Army: 1942. - 25 tons, 1943 - 178 tons, 1944 - 143 tons, 1945 - 81 tons. Total - 428 tons. Thus, in total, 428 thousand people visited penal units during the Great Patriotic War. If we take into account that during the Great Patriotic War, 34 million people passed through the ranks of the armed forces of the Soviet Union, the share of soldiers and officers who were penalized was no more than 1.25%. Based on the above statistics, it becomes clear that the number of penal battalions is greatly exaggerated and the influence of penal units on the general situation is at least not decisive.

Myth 2. "Penal units were formed only from prisoners and criminals of the USSR."

This myth is broken by the actual text of Order No. 227 itself. “... To form within the front from one to three (depending on the situation) penal battalions (800 people each), where to send middle and senior commanders and relevant political workers of all branches of the military who are guilty of violating discipline due to cowardice or instability, and put them on more difficult sectors of the front, in order to give them the opportunity to atone for their crimes against the Motherland with blood. For ordinary soldiers and junior commanders guilty of similar violations, from 5 to 10 penal companies (from 150 to 200 people each) were created within the army. Thus, it is worth distinguishing between a penal company and a battalion, these are fundamentally different combat units.

The penal battalions were formed from officers who were guilty of the socialist fatherland, and not criminals, who were specially gathered into a separate battalion so that the "Germans would kill" them. Of course, not only military personnel could get into penal units, people convicted by the bodies of the Soviet Union were also sent, but courts and military tribunals were forbidden to send convicts as punishment to penal units of persons who were involved in counter-revolutionary activities, as well as persons convicted of robbery, robbery, repeated theft and all persons who had a previous conviction for the above crimes, as well as those who deserted from the Red Army more than once. In other cases, in order to send a person to serve in penal units, the identity of the convict, the details of the crime and other details of the case were taken into account. Not everyone and not everyone had a chance to atone for their crime with blood before the Motherland.

Myth 3. "Penal battalions were not combat-ready."

However, on the contrary, the penal battalions were distinguished by serious combat capability and put these units on the most dangerous and difficult sectors of the front. Penal battalions did not need to be forcibly raised into battle, the desire to return officer shoulder straps and rehabilitate before the Motherland was extremely great.

According to the memoirs of Alexander Pyltsin (Russian and Soviet writer, participant in the Great Patriotic War, historian. He was twice awarded the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the Order of the Red Banner and the medal "For Courage"): “Our units were urgently transferred to the most dangerous direction , reinforcing the battle formations of the regiment. Mixing with his soldiers, we noticed that there was some kind of revival in their ranks. After all, they understood that next to them in the role of ordinary soldiers were recent officers in various ranks and they would go on the attack together. And some kind of fresh, irresistible force seemed to have poured into them.

During the attack on Berlin, the penalists were ordered to be the first to force the Oder and create a bridgehead for the rifle division. Before the battle, they reasoned like this: “At least some of the more than a hundred penalized companies of the company, let them swim, and if they swim, then they still had no impossible tasks. And let them capture a small bridgehead, but they will hold it to the last. There will be no way back from the penalty box, ”Pyltsin recalled.

Myth 4. "The soldiers of the penal units were not spared and sent to be slaughtered."

Usually this myth goes along with the text from Stalin's order No. 227 "... put them on more difficult sectors of the front in order to give them the opportunity to atone for their crimes against the Motherland with blood." However, for some reason they forget to cite special clauses from the “Regulations on Penal Battalions of the Active Army”, which states: “p.15. For military distinction, a penal may be released ahead of schedule on the proposal of the command of the penal battalion, approved by the military council of the front. For particularly outstanding military distinction, the penal, in addition, is presented to the government award. Based on this, it becomes clear that the main thing for exemption from punishment by a penal battalion is not death and “shedding of blood”, but military merit.

Of course, the penal units lost more soldiers than the usual garrisons of the Red Army, but do not forget that they were sent to the "most difficult sectors of the front", while the penal units showed their combat capability. For example, according to the results of the Rogachev-Zhlobin operation in February 1944, when the Eighth penal battalion operated behind enemy lines in full force, out of a little more than 800 penal soldiers, about 600 were transferred to ordinary parts of the Red Army, without "shedding blood", namely for military service to the Motherland. A rare combat mission performed by the penalists was left without the attention of the command and rewarding the soldiers. The command was interested in serving the sentence of the Red Army in penal units and in fulfilling the order, and not in their senseless death at the front. At one time, K.K. Rokossovsky, well characterized the words "redeemed with blood" as nothing more than an emotional expression designed to sharpen the sense of duty and responsibility in the war for one's own guilt.

Myth 5. "Penalmen went into battle without weapons."

In fact, penal battalions had weapons no worse than in ordinary parts of the Red Army, and in some places even better, this was due to the fact that these units were sent, as a rule, only to "the most difficult sectors of the front." From the memoirs of A.V. Pyltsyn: “I want to draw the reader's attention to the fact that our battalion was constantly replenished with new weapons in sufficient quantities. We already had new PPSh assault rifles, which were not yet widely used in the troops, instead of PPD. We also received new PTRS anti-tank rifles (i.e. Simonovskie) with a five-shot magazine. In general, we have never experienced a lack of weapons.

I am talking about this because it was often stated in post-war publications that penalized men were driven into battle without weapons or they were given one rifle for 5-6 people, and everyone who wanted to arm themselves wished the speedy death of the one who got the weapon. In army penal companies, when their number sometimes exceeded a thousand people, as I was told many years after the war, officer Mikhailov Vladimir Grigoryevich (unfortunately, now deceased), who then commanded such a company, there were cases when they simply did not have time to bring the required number weapons, and then, if there was no time left for re-arming before completing an urgently assigned combat mission, some were given rifles, and others were given bayonets from them. I testify: this did not apply to officer penal battalions. There were always enough weapons, including the most modern ones.”

Thus, approaching the issue of penal units, in no case can we talk about the uselessness of such units, and even more so deny the heroism of the soldiers who fought for the freedom and independence of the socialist Fatherland in the same way as other parts of the Red Army. At the same time, in no case can one say that everything was kept on penal parts, that there were penal parts around and that they were used as "cannon fodder". This is the real blasphemy in relation to people who went through the penal divisions of the USSR.

TsAMO RF. Card file of the Military Medical Museum for the accounting of hospitals.
Pyltsyn A. V. “Penal battalion in battle. From Stalingrad to Berlin without detachments.
Pyltsyn A. V. "Pages of the history of the 8th penal battalion of the First Belorussian Front."

moreover, there were no more than three such battalions on the entire front. In the divisions, according to the staffing table, there could not be more than one penal battalion and those who were guilty for this or that crime were transferred there for a period of no more than three months, and if during the specified time the fighter was wounded, he showed heroism, brought the language, then he was restored ahead of schedule in the rank and in all regalia with the direction to his military unit. It is only indisputable that the main task of the penal battalions was to break through the line of defense, reconnaissance in force, hold strategically important heights as well as hold them, assaults to divert the attention of the enemy.
The command of the penalty box was carried out by regular officers who were appointed by order, although quite often the officers themselves wrote reports with a request to appoint them to command the penalty box. This was due to several reasons:
1-The penalty category was slightly higher than in the troops
2-Triple cash salary
3-Year of service in the penal battalion went for three and other "benefits"
During the war, all dandies had about 65 penal battalions and 1037 penal companies, but only 9 separate penal battalions were permanent, which existed from 1942 to 1945.
They were penalized for a variety of reasons:
- Failure to follow orders
- Cowardice in combat
-Insulting an officer
-Drunkenness
- Theft and more.
According to the regulation on penal battalions, the period of stay was determined from one to three months, that is, a person could serve not all 3 months, but also one and two. months, up to 5 years = 1 month.
If a soldier or officer died in a penal battalion, then his family was entitled to a pension, as well as a disability pension, but with one caveat, this pension did not apply to political prisoners convicted of banditry, murder and robbery. A very interesting fact about which little is known, penal battalions initially appeared the Germans and not ours. This happened after the winter retreat of the German troops, when discipline was shaken in the German troops, morale fell, alarmism appeared and, as a result, mass desertion and much more. The German command took measures to restore discipline, as a result of which 100 German penal companies (data based on order No. 227).
The so-called disciplinary squadrons from the USSR Air Force were also the so-called disciplinary squadrons, in which flight officers fell, but only for misconduct not related to criminal offenses. Such peculiar disciplinary squadrons could even get into a malfunction of their flight machine or return to base with unused ammunition. But by the spring of 1943, such a "flight staff battalion" had become obsolete.
Now a little about the so-called NKVD detachments. In essence, the main function of the detachments was to protect strategic objects, identify saboteurs, collect and further filter soldiers and officers who fled from the battlefield, form units from them and send them to the front line. In 1944, according to order No. 0349 29 this formation of the NKVD was disbanded and the personnel was sent to rifle divisions.

(Alexander Bernstein, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, tells)

"Cowards, alarmists, deserters - exterminate on the spot."

From order No. 227 for 1942 (“not subject to publication”)

I called my essay “Penal Battalions”. There were mostly not criminals, but commanders demoted for a month, who for various reasons did not complete their tasks in battle. This was the negative side of the war, just like executions on the spot, or, as it was said in order No. 227, “extermination”. These were the costs of the war, the losses were not from the enemy. Their. There are no statistics on those who visited and died in the penal battalions. She has never been published. Our military historians should have done this analysis long ago...

The Great Patriotic War ... Its first two years were especially difficult and dramatic, when our army, suffering huge losses, was forced to retreat. The situation then became tragic, and in order to change the course of the war, Stalin signed the order of the People's Commissariat of Defense (NKO) No. 227 of July 28, 1942.

This order went down in history and served as a tough lesson for the army, but it also became a mobilizing force, and this must be given its due. Only veterans, direct participants in the battles, can remember this order today, because the order concerned them. At the same time, not even all the military personnel of that time knew the details of this order, because it was essentially secret, that is, it was not subject to reproduction and publication. In the "History of the Second World War" and "Military Encyclopedia", released by the Military Publishing House before 1987, when strict censorship was still in effect, order No. 227 is presented in a truncated form. Only the situation that has arisen on the fronts (where the army itself is blamed) is outlined, and in a few words the task: what needs to be done. The works cited above do not even mention those harsh and unprecedented measures that were allowed and carried out in relation to the front-line soldiers themselves.

Here is how Order No. 227 is abbreviated in the fifth volume of the History of the Second World War, signed by Stalin: “... The enemy throws more and more new forces to the front and, regardless of heavy losses, climbs forward, breaks into the interior of the country, captures more and more new areas, devastates and ruins our cities and villages, rapes, robs and kills our Soviet population. The fighting is going on in the Voronezh region, on the Don, in the south, at the gates of the North Caucasus. The German invaders are rushing towards Stalingrad, towards the Volga and want to seize the Kuban, the North Caucasus with its oil and grain wealth at any cost. The enemy has already captured Voroshilovgrad, Rossosh, Kupyansk, Valuyki, Novocherkassk, Rostov-on-Don, half of Voronezh ... .. After the loss of the Baltic states, Donbass and other regions, we have much less territory, people, bread, plants, factories. We have lost more than 70 million people, more than 800 million poods of grain a year and more than 10 million tons of metal a year. We no longer have superiority over the Germans either in human reserves or in grain supplies. To retreat further means to destroy oneself, at the same time the Motherland ...

It follows from this that it is time to end the retreat. No step back. Now this should be our main call. We must stubbornly, to the last drop of blood, defend every position, every meter of Soviet territory, cling to every piece of Soviet land and defend it to the last opportunity. Will we be able to withstand the blow and then push the enemy back to the West? Yes, we can…..What is already missing? There is a lack of order and discipline in companies, battalions, regiments, divisions. This is now our main shortcoming ... We must establish the strictest order and iron discipline in our army if we want to save the situation and defend our Motherland. From now on, the iron law of discipline for every commander, Red Army soldier, political worker should be the requirement: NOT A STEP BACK WITHOUT ORDER OF THE HIGHEST COMMAND. ALARMERS AND CORSES SHOULD BE DESTROYED ON THE SITE.”

Following this order, literally the next day, July 29, 1942, the troops received a directive from the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army. The directive ordered all political workers, all communists, to reorganize party and political work, ensuring one task in battles: not a step back without an order from the high command. "Communists - forward" - they must ensure this order with their unbending example. It must be said that Order No. 227 (I remember well) was directed with its iron edge against the command and political staff of the Red Army (at that time the category of officers had not yet been introduced). Here is what the order said: “We cannot tolerate any further commanders, commissars, political workers of units and formations who leave their combat positions without permission. It is impossible to endure any longer when commanders, commissars, political workers allow a few alarmists to determine the situation on the battlefield, so that they drag others into retreat and open the front to the enemy ... "Alarmists and cowards must be exterminated on the spot." An explanation was made in the order: in order to increase discipline and responsibility, the enemy formed more than 100 penal companies for privates and about a dozen penal battalions for officers who violated discipline and showed cowardice in battle. Such officers in the Nazi army were deprived of orders, merit, sent to difficult sectors of the front, so that they would atone for their guilt. The German command formed special barrier detachments, placed them behind the unstable divisions and ordered to shoot those who tried to retreat or surrender. These measures, according to I.V. Stalin, raised the discipline and combat readiness of the Nazi army. “Shouldn’t we learn from our enemies in this matter, as our ancestors learned in the past, and then defeated them?” - asks the question in order No. 227, the one who issued it - I.V. Stalin. And he answers firmly: "I think it should." And then more specifically: the commanders of companies, battalions, regiments, divisions, the corresponding commissars and political workers, retreating from combat positions without an order from above, are traitors to the Motherland. They should be treated like traitors to the Motherland. Order No. 227 defines: “Remove from office commanders, commissars, political workers of all levels who are guilty of cowardice, instability, violation of discipline, who allowed the withdrawal of troops, remove from office and send to a higher tribunal, so that after trial, in difficult sectors of the front, atone for their guilt ". This part of the order refers more to large staff commanders who were not on the front line and could not be "exterminated on the spot." And then the order prescribed: “To form within the front from one to three penal battalions (800 people each) for the senior and middle demoted commanders, so that in more difficult conditions they would atone for their guilt with blood.” “To form within each army from 5 to 10 penal companies (from 150 to 200 people each), where to send ordinary and junior commanders in order to give them the opportunity to atone for their guilt before the Motherland in more difficult conditions.” Let's think. If we consider, according to order No. 227, the number of officers demoted in the penal battalions to the maximum along the front, then this is 3X800, that is, 2400 people. Already at that time, if we consider the given number of penal wards in penal companies within the front, this should be up to a maximum of 6 thousand people. By themselves, the numbers of planned punishments of people are gigantic. But if we consider the average army ratio of officers and privates - about 20-30 privates per commander, then the ratio of the planned penal officers (commanders) is many times higher than the penalized privates. Apparently, at that time I.V. Stalin laid all the blame on the commanders and did not mind replacing them during the war, which in fact took place.

“To form within each army up to five detachments of 2,000 fighters each. Place them in the rear of unstable divisions and oblige them in combat conditions in cases of flight, panic, retreat of alarmists and cowards to shoot on the spot and thereby help honest fighters to fulfill their duty to the Motherland.

It was a bitter time, insanely difficult. It is bitter that Comrade Stalin learned from the basest, inhuman Hitlerite-fascist system. It is also bitter that he completely shifted his guilt and the guilt of the General Staff (which was under its control and the control of the NKVD) in the operational-tactical unpreparedness of the army for battles on its territory to the army. Yes, and take the very concept of "penal battalion" - both words are not Russian). A fine is a violation that is subject to punishment.

I, an ordinary author and an ordinary citizen, do not undertake to discuss the personality of I.V. Stalin. Although insanely expensive, but with his energy, he managed to improve the situation on the fronts and led the country to victory. In this regard, Order No. 227 played a positive role. But for the time being. Only for a while. Order No. 227 was read or announced in companies, batteries, squadrons, regiments, etc.

I myself was then the captain, engineer of the regiment, explaining the order in front of the formation of Red Army soldiers, sergeants, commanders in relation to the tasks that the regiment performed.

The balloon is not ready to rise and repulse the raid of enemy aircraft - it means that you retreated in battle. - The combat vehicle failed, you did not follow the order.

Unauthorized absence, sleep at the post, loss of weapons or equipment, not to mention crossbows - this is a violation of order No. 227, and hence the tribunal and, possibly, a penal battalion or penal company (to each his own). Thus, the commanders of aviation, naval, technical, anti-aircraft artillery and other units have already interpreted this order themselves, adjusting their internal, sometimes completely different violations to it. The internal instructions of Order No. 227 in penal battalions and penal companies were not announced, but they undoubtedly existed, since the charters of the Red Army applied only to regular troops. However, some details are known. For example, all full-time commanders, from junior to the battalion commander himself, had a full-time category one step higher. That is, the battalion commander had the rights of a regiment commander, the platoon commander had the rights of a company commander, etc. The internal orders are now known from the recollections of eyewitnesses (for example, the author).

Let's take as an example a penal battalion for demoted commanders. The punishment formula of the tribunal or other body read: “Deprive of the military rank, demoted to the rank and file, sent to a penal battalion for a period of one month, so that he can redeem himself with blood.” Those who entered the penal battalion handed over all their awards, party and other documents and changed into official clothes without signs of belonging to the military (without an asterisk on the cap). He addressed the chiefs in the form of "citizen lieutenant", etc., he himself had the title of "penalty box". For 30 days of stay in the penal battalion, the penalists had to be in battle at least once. They were sent in groups, platoons, squads to the most risky areas, through minefields, etc. Behind them was the NKVD unit, which was supposed to shoot the penalty box from machine guns if they started to retreat or crawl back. Even the wounded could not leave the battle: they would shoot, they warned them, we don’t know why you are crawling back, wait, they will pick you up later.

Similar procedures were in the penal companies. The tribunal had the right to send the demoted to them, but in practice this was decided by the commanders of the formations. This punishment was due for cowardice, for retreat from battle, for the loss of weapons, for a machine gun that failed in combat, for deliberate self-mutilation (in order to leave the front in non-combatant positions), for failure to comply with a combat order, for unsecured field communications, desertion, unauthorized absences, etc. e. From that time on, the words "penalty battalion" or "penalty" became a scarecrow and an incentive, and later the senior bosses thus reminded the younger ones of their place.

The last fight of the penalty box was released to the unit, returning awards and titles. In the event of death, the family was informed, as usual, about the deceased, and the family received a pension. Penal battalions and companies fought fiercely in battle. Enemy in front, machine guns behind. You need to go to the enemy and destroy him. Go forward. In some literary works, I read that the penalty box went on reconnaissance. I don't know. Although intelligence intelligence is different. If you are sent to scout enemy minefields, and NKVD or SMERSH machine guns are behind you, then this is quite possible. It is difficult for a penalist to hope for luck, but anything has happened.

Already in the middle of 1943, the course of the war began to change in favor of the Red Army. The defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad, the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad and other successes raised the morale of our army. Panic and retreats in battle, cases of crossbows, evasion of battle have already become rare: for these reasons, the number of commanders and privates who had to be judged has decreased. However, the penal units created in July 1942 remained until the very end of the war. And without "work" they were not supposed to be. Then a slightly different contingent of fines appeared, sent to serve their sentences for other reasons and often without a trial by a tribunal.

So, when the troops went to rest or to re-form, especially in the territory from which the Germans were expelled, among the Red Army there were cases of self-trafficking, drunkenness, ties with local women and venereal diseases. This caused the fear of the command, as the disease could spread and affect the combat capability of the soldiers. Therefore, it was announced that the latter would be considered as deliberate self-mutilation for leaving the front to the hospital and for this they would be transferred to a penal company. To the credit of the soldier, it must be said that these phenomena were quite rare. But there were.

Despite the military successes of the army, the retreat and panic had ceased, demotions and dispatches to the penal battalion of command personnel continued, but the reasons were no longer those specified in order No. 227. For example, a gun sank during the crossing, a pilot on a combat mission confused the trenches and bombed on their own, the anti-aircraft gunners shot down their plane, the responsible failed to deliver ammunition on time, the quartermaster did not lead the convoy through the line of fire, did not provide food, etc. However, another, already disgusting feature appeared - this is the settling of scores of ambitious commanders - seniors with juniors, denunciation to SMERSH was also revived.

In the summer of 1943, an order from the commander of the army arrived in the regiment, prescribing for the poor maintenance of small arms (rifles) and the lack of 2 rifles to account for the commander of the 4th detachment of our 11th regiment of barrage balloons, Captain V.I. Grushin to be demoted to the rank and file and sent to the penal battalion for a period of 1 month, so that he would atone for his guilt with blood. Grushin was one of the most experienced and respected commanders in the regiment. Therefore, such a sudden decision of the army commander (namely, the commander, and not the court-tribunal) was incomprehensible to us. Moreover, Grushin had no comments and penalties before. His detachment was always combat-ready and raised a balloon barrier before an enemy air raid. But the real reason was clear to the officers of the regiment. Colonel Volkhonsky, head of the barrage balloons from the Leningrad Air Defense Headquarters, settled accounts with him. He was a rude, vengeful, swaggering, illiterate man. He accidentally moved up from the commissaries when many experienced air defense commanders were sent to rifle units to replenish losses. Volkhonsky could not accept the fact that the commander of the detachment, Grushin, defended his opinion and did not allow insults to himself and to the people of his detachment. As for rifles, there were rifles in the regiment that had already gone through the Soviet-Finnish war, some were captured, in a word, decently worn out, with a rash in the barrel channels that could no longer be removed. The officer who checked small arms in Grushin's detachment was from the army headquarters and sent by Volkhonsky. And the decision to punish Grushin to the army commander, Major General Zashikhin, was presented by the same Volkhonsky. Vasily Ivanovich Grushin never returned from the penal battalion. We all worried about this smart and honest commander. Such senseless losses in war are especially bitter.

I also happened to be demoted in the penal battalion. For me it was completely unexpected. In the spring of 1943, an order signed by the army commander of the Leningrad Air Defense Forces, Major General Zashikhin, a member of the military council, brigade commissar Verov (I don’t remember the third person) came to the secret part of the regiment. By this order, I was demoted to the rank and file in the penal battalion for a period of 1 month, "to atone for my guilt with blood." I was charged with the following:

1) poorly camouflaged two winches, broken by enemy artillery; 2) while investigating the breakage of balloon cables, I allegedly did not prosecute the guilty minders;

3) during combat duty at night at the regimental command post, he could not accurately report whether the last balloon had landed, and, upon repeated requests from the operational duty command post of the army headquarters, scolded him in an abusive way.

So it was written in the order of the "troika". I, the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lukyanov, and the military commissar, battalion commissar Korshunov, were shocked by the absurdity of this decision. We understood that this was the work of the same Volkhonsky, who thus strengthened his position.

At the same time, the combat winches, which had been damaged by enemy shelling, were located in the area of ​​​​Vasilyevsky Island, that is, 10 km from me, and were at the disposal of the detachment commander. I did not give motorists to court because it was not their fault. The last balloon was pierced by fragments during shelling, it was landed 2 hours later, and as for obscene abuse, all of us at the front were not angels and it was absurd to blame it. It was even wilder to simply demote a professional, a military engineer, which I had already become in 1943, and send me to a penal battalion ...

Similar cases were in other regiments. And each time the order was signed by the "troika" headed by the commander, Major General Zashikhin. By the way, the air defense regiments that defended Leningrad were experienced and disciplined. Over the entire period of hostilities, aviation fighter regiments, anti-aircraft artillery and barrage balloon regiments shot down 1561 enemy aircraft over the sky of the city and on the approaches to it. It was the best air defense army at that time. However, I learned about the reasons for such cruelty of the commander in relation to the officers of the army only 30 years after the war. I was told about this in 1975 by I.I. Geller, former head of the political department of our army.

Since 1940, Zashikhin, having received the rank of major general, was the head of the air defense of the Baltic Fleet. Sudden air strikes, which the Germans inflicted on the night of June 22, 1941 and the coming days, paralyzed and destroyed the air defense of the Baltic Fleet. The capitals of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia were captured. The rest of our ships came to Kronstadt and Leningrad. Zashikhin, of course, took our losses hard. After all, the directive of the General Staff had just arrived - not to get involved in provocations. He expected trouble. He was called by a member of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front A.A. Zhdanov, but not to be held accountable, but to appoint him to command the 2nd Air Defense Corps (later the Leningrad Army of Air Defense Forces). Zhdanov said that Zashikhin would obviously be appointed commander of the air defense corps, but warned that not a single enemy plane appeared in the sky over the city. The Germans are already using our airfields in the Baltics. German reconnaissance aircraft gain altitude up to 7-8 km. This is not within the reach of our anti-aircraft aimed fire, so their raids cannot be ruled out, Zashikhin reported.

You will be responsible, we have not forgotten that you were previously expelled from the party as a Trotskyist, - said Zhdanov, and he was at the same time a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, secretary of the Central Committee and secretary of the regional committee. It was a stab in the back. Zashikhin did not expect this. - Comrade Zhdanov, after all, I was then a very young member of the party, a sailor was illiterate. After all, I later asked for forgiveness from the party and was reinstated in 1929. “Yes, we know that,” said Zhdanov, “we know that the Party has forgiven you. But she will not forgive a second time if the air defense does not properly protect the city of Leningrad. Then you will have no mercy. Go to war, strengthen discipline and combat readiness, and remember our conversation ... So Zashikhin ended up under the sword of Damocles. Subsequently, his professionalism, strictness and cruelty were appreciated by the high command and played a role in the nomination. He ended the war as a colonel general, commander of one of the air defense fronts.

I, according to the order, was in the penal battalion, but was suddenly recalled from it to my old regiment, but already to the rank and position of a step lower. The order of the Military Council was revised. My release was achieved by the commander and commissar of the regiment. I always highly valued comradeship and decency, and six months later I was again reinstated in my rank of captain and engineer of the 11th Barrage Balloon Regiment.

After the defeat of the Nazi troops near Leningrad, since 1944 I fought on other fronts, already in the position of senior inspector of the aeronautics department of the central apparatus. On June 24, I participated in the Victory Parade on Red Square in 1945.

Part one

Chapter one

Balthus hastened. Calling Kolychev a comrade captain, he thereby made it clear that the issue of his rehabilitation can be considered resolved. This is a matter of time: some one and a half to two weeks, necessary to complete the established procedure of formalities in the Military Council of the Front, where the battalion command sent presentations on those penal fighters who especially distinguished themselves in battles, who, without being wounded, without shedding blood, nevertheless fell under under the definition of redeemed and deserving of release from the battalion.

The procedure for reviewing and approving submissions was of a generally accepted protocol nature with a predictable result. When making a decision, the members of the Military Council, as a rule, did not delve into the details of the personal affairs and combat characteristics of the applicants, each individually, but "voted" the list as a whole. So it was before and after Stalingrad. Everyone whom the battalion command presented for the removal of a criminal record and the restoration of their former rights received the desired freedom. Therefore, Balthus had no reason to doubt and worry about the expected end result.

But this time, the unexpected happened. The trouble-free clerical mechanism failed. To some members of the Military Council, the list of 81 people - two full-blooded platoons - seemed unreasonably high. “Justifying the penalty box with entire platoons is too much!” The question was returned for revision. After that, only 27 names remained on the list. Exactly a third of the originally declared composition.

The last point of the decision to the commander of the battalion, Major Baltus, suspected of excessive loyalty and conciliatory moods that run counter to the current Regulations on penal units, members of the Military Council pointed out the inadmissibility of such actions in the future. This sounded like an accusation of underestimation and misunderstanding of the fullness and complexity of the responsibility entrusted to him, called into question the compliance of his commanding moral and strong-willed qualities with the norms of strict party exactingness and adherence to principles. The military council saw instability in the ability of the battalion commander to successfully solve the task assigned to him.

It cannot be said that Balthus remained deaf to the danger of the warning, but something else hurt him more. The fact that the list of twenty-seven lucky ones did not include the name of Kolychev, whom he managed to reassure so carelessly and recklessly.

Despite the stinginess of external manifestations and the seeming isolation developed in him by the nature and conditions of service, Balthus was extremely scrupulous and painful about everything that affected his name, which could at least casually, inadvertently, damage his reputation, expose empty deeds and promises in the eyes of his subordinates. . Knowing thoroughly the “kitchen” of the headquarters office work, he assumed that the “refinement of the issue” was reduced to the simplest possible, purely mechanical operation - truncation. The list was most likely lowered to the lower clerk's desk and accepted for execution by an ordinary staff pen, who carried out this operation, drawing with a pen, like a scalpel, ink cuts-cuts according to a given two-to-one formula. Two strokes - a pass, two strokes - a pass.

Balthus was not even informed, although they had to either return the submissions to the battalion headquarters for clarification, or involve the battalion commander in revision with the right of a decisive vote. But they did neither one nor the other, which ignited Balthus's protest indignation even more strongly: the fate of people was decided not by him, the battalion commander, an official authorized person who was granted this right by position, but by an insignificant nameless clerical screw, which he divided with an impassive executive stroke of the pen penalty boxes on the right and left.

Balthus was weighed down by the guilt that suddenly arose before Kolychev and now, waiting for his arrival, he continued to be annoyed with himself and annoyed at the staff rats who set him up, as he was annoyed and annoyed every time when it happened against his will to find himself in an awkward position, for which he considered himself less all responsible.

In the end, it is not so important which of the penalty box exactly - Petrov, Ivanov, Sidorov, people with names that do not mean anything to him - received the long-awaited freedom, and who did not. All those presented deserved to be released. But Kolychev ...

Baltus noticed Kolychev even then, on the way to the front, when he appointed him to the post of platoon commander. Getting acquainted with the personal files of the penal officers, Baltus, this was his favorite pastime, checked them with the well-known Catherine’s phrase “you can’t be pardoned”, searched for and then kept in sight those whose true essence, in his opinion, corresponded to the semantic meaning of the phrase with a comma in second position...

Balthus' thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

– Enter!

The figure of Kolychev appeared in the doorway. Having crossed the threshold, Pavel drew himself up to attention and, throwing up his hand to the filthy, faded cap, reported clearly, in a statutory manner:

- Citizen major, the platoon commander penal Kolychev arrived at your order.

Balthus got up from the table to meet him, with a gesture of his hand he pointed to a factory city chair with a high curved back that stood on the opposite side.

- Have a seat.

Pavel obediently went to the table, sat down on the indicated place.

"Do you have any idea why I called you?"

Pavel shrugged vaguely, noting to himself that the conversation begins with "you", which in itself was already unusual.

Balthus didn't seem to care about his answer.

- Let's start with tea with you. Without ceremonies and chain of command,” he suggested, squinting at Pavel. - Do you want strong, real, Georgian? ..

Saying this, Balthus moved to the front door, leaned out into the corridor, called out to the orderly:

- Gataulin! A couple of glasses of tea!

All this time, Kolychev, struggling with the growing influx of internal nervous trembling, in order not to let it break out, followed the battalion commander, became more and more confused, unable to understand what was happening, what was preceded by a strange mysterious reception rendered to him by a formidable, not like a battalion commander. What lies behind the unusual behavior of his? Judging by the benevolent mood of Balthus, it was necessary to prepare for something pleasant and exciting, which, of course, will surprise and delight. But why?

From the moment Kolychev received an order two hours ago to appear at the headquarters by 10.00 in person to the battalion commander, he was lost in conjecture, trying to imagine what could cause Balthus's interest in his person. It is clear that an ordinary event cannot serve as a reason for the call - they did not call the penalty box to the battalion commander for nothing. But, on the other hand, nothing extraordinary, out of the ordinary, has happened in recent days either in the battalion or around it. Except perhaps the news of the failed amnesty that stirred everyone up. But Paul was not the only one who failed. Of the three representatives of the second platoon, the path to freedom was opened only to Kuskov. Friends arranged a farewell for Andrei. Baltus has nothing to do with this whole story, the submissions to the losers were rejected by the Military Council of the front.

Returning to the table, Balthus gently sank into a chair, shifting his squinting, smiling gaze to Kolychev. He asked rather affirmatively than interrogatively:

- Well, what, fate is a villain, the life of a penal is a penny?

“It turns out that it is,” Pavel did not deny.

- I must admit, I'm not less upset. Injustice is an evil that emasculates the soul with resentment, undermines faith - the source of our strength. I propose to consider the incident settled and forgotten. From now on, for me personally, you paid off with your shameful past, completely atoned for your guilt. Balthus slowly lit a cigarette, moved the pack towards Kolychev, inviting him to join with a look. “Yes, and I don’t believe in your guilt. She was not and is not. He took someone else's on himself, he covered his zabubenny friend ... So? Or will you back out again?

Pavel shuddered and held his breath. He did not want to touch on a sore subject, or open himself to anyone other than Makhturov. But there was no point in denying the obvious either.

“It happened because of me,” he finally squeezed out reluctantly, “and Mikhailov has a family, two children ...

“I'm glad I wasn't mistaken,” Balthus chuckled. - It makes things easier. Of course, I am not in a position to challenge the decision of the Military Council of the Front. But I can still make adjustments and make yours, although not complete, partial, but rehabilitation. Although I am a battalion commander, I am endowed with the rights of a division commander ... - After a pause, during which his face acquired its usual dryness and severity, Balthus raised his voice, announced, solemnly minting the words: - The rights entrusted to me allow me to make a decision on appointing you to the position of commander companies with the assignment of the rank to you - foreman. Congratulations!

Pavel jumped up, involuntarily raised his hand to his temple, intending, as is customary, to report on loyalty to the Motherland, but stopped short, catching a disapproving grimace that slipped across the face of the battalion commander, and only yawned dumbly with his mouth.

- Yes, you sit, do not twitch! Balthus grimaced, again switching from an official to a confidential tone. - I can't promote to lieutenant. The maximum that is possible for a penalty box is a foreman. Before the first battle, you are like a foreman. And then it will be seen. If you survive, I will present it again, already as commanders. And not in the general list, but personally. Any questions?

“All clear, Citizen Major. What company would you like to receive?

- For company commanders, I am Comrade Major. For you too,” Balthus clarified with pressure in his voice. - And as for the company ... I intend to satisfy the report of Lieutenant Ulyantsev. He has been asking for a transfer to a combined arms unit for a long time. Thus, you can stay on the second, you will replace Ulyantsev. But I can offer another: either the fifth or the seventh. There, too, vacancies are not yet filled.

Pavel did not hesitate with the choice - of course, the second one. And not because she is somehow better than others. In all the companies, there were just nothing left of the fighters, God forbid, a platoon, and they had to be re-formed from the replenishment. So there wasn't much of a difference between them. But her own was still kindred. Close people remained in it, loyal, battle-tested friends and comrades: Makhturov, Bogdanov, Zhukov, the same Tumanenok, whom he trusted as himself, whom he could rely on in difficult times. He pretended to be considering the proposal of the battalion commander.

- I, Citizen Major, do not care which company to command. But its still preferable.

Balthus did not object, he only reacted with a reproachful look at the “citizen major”, nodded his head in agreement:

“I don’t think there is anything to teach you. You are more than familiar with the duties of a company commander. You also know the people well, probably much better than those combatants who will be sent to us from the reserve for these positions. Here, as they say, the flag is in your hands. As for "whatever," let me disagree with you. Until today, though you are a platoon commander, you were equal to them. Same penalty as everyone else. The company commander is another hypostasis. And that means all your old friendships are over. And it is not easy to step over them, and they can be a hindrance. Think about it, maybe you should be given another company, and Ulyantsev will wait?

"No," said Paul firmly. - Decision is made. Allow me to take the second company?

- How many people are left in the ranks?

“I don’t know exactly, but no more than a platoon.” Mine has seventeen bayonets.

- And how many of you are those who entered the battalion with you, in Penza?

- Three. I, Makhturov and Tumanov.

Balthus leaned back in his chair, looked up at the ceiling, mulling over something in his mind. Noiselessly, without knocking or reporting, the orderly foreman Gataulin entered the office. Silently, he placed the glasses of tea on the table and just as silently remained standing at the table, waiting for the orders of the battalion commander.

- Free! - the battalion commander briefly threw him and, returning to the conversation with Kolychev, started talking about what occupied and worried him, apparently, all the last days: - On the contrary, you don’t have to wait for such guardsmen in the battalion anymore. The fronts moved forward. This means that there will be no violators of the 227th order. Except units. The camps have also been thoroughly cleaned. All the criminal petty and prilatnenny riffraff have already been passed through the penal divisions. Factory workers are also judged less often now. What boss wants his people to be imprisoned. Who will carry out the plan? He will be punished for the failure. So who is left? From the camps, criminals of a larger caliber: robbers, bandits, murderers. Plus, various rabble from the liberated territories - the so-called primacies and direct accomplices of the Nazis. Those who in the 41st threw down their weapons and found shelter under the hem of other people's women. Or, worse, was in the direct service of the Nazis, worked for them. Pathetic cowards and enemy henchmen. And besides, it is now allowed to take political prisoners under Article 58, who have a term of up to 10 years. Enemies of the Soviet power. White Guard underdogs, Trotskyists, provocateurs, traitors to the party and the people. Balthus took a break. - This is the contingent, Kolychev, we will have to deal with soon. This must be understood clearly and clearly, otherwise we will not be able to achieve the main task set before us - to create a strong combat-ready unit, ready to fulfill any order of the command. Balthus drummed his fingers on the table top thoughtfully. - For the last five years before the war, I served in the camps and I know from experience that the vast majority of recidivist criminals are complete scoundrels. The only intelligible argument that can bring them to their senses and obey the order is the barrel of the commander's pistol ...

Holding his gaze on the glass of cooling tea, Balthus, like a belated owner who caught himself in a mistake, hurried to correct the situation, repeated the invitation not to be shy, to feel freer.

The tea party was held in concentrated silence. Immersed in themselves, both thought each about his own. Finally, apparently having come to some conclusion that suits him, Balthus started up and raised his head:

- Have you seen a film about division commander Chapaev?

Of course, Kolychev saw the pre-war film about the legendary division commander, besides a countryman. But what's the question?

- Where is the place of the commander in battle - do you remember?

Still not to remember! Anyone who wears officer epaulettes on their shoulders is tempted by the cadet commandment: a personal example is a decisive factor in the success of a unit in an attack. Suspecting a trick, Pavel, cautiously, answered in monosyllables:

“We, Kolychev, are different. A penal and ordinary rifle company is far from the same thing. The duties and functions of a commander are basically similar, but we have our own specifics, our own distinctive features. The commander of a penal company is, on the one hand, the same military commander with attributes and appointment known to you, and on the other hand, a punishing sword of the organs, who is granted the exclusive right not only to restore order and discipline with an iron hand, but also, if circumstances require, on his own decide the fate of the penalty box. Those who break the law a second time, especially on the front line, in a combat situation, are to be shot on the spot. Even before the battle, you should have a clear idea of ​​who is ready to honestly atone for guilt with blood and will go chest to machine guns, and who will not fail to dive into the funnel and "vote with their feet." Or put a bullet in your back. Therefore, the place of the commander of the penal company in the attack is strictly behind the attacking chain. He must see everything and everything. And every penalty box running to the attack must also feel with its skin, with the back of its head, both your all-seeing eye and the pupil of your pistol. To know that punishment is inevitable and follows him relentlessly. Your hand shouldn't tremble either. If you give up, you’re not a commander…” Balthus chewed his lips, listening to his inner voice, and decisively concluded: “Therefore, in order not to grab the holster a hundred times in vain, but immediately declare who is who in the company, you can slap one or two for clarity. the most hated nits. I won't start a case against you.

VL / Articles / Interesting

16-01-2016, 15:34

The first penal battalions appeared among the Germans

In general, practically everything related to the history of the creation of penal battalions and companies and their participation in hostilities has acquired a mass of myths, legends and even direct insinuations. At the same time, Western historians and their sing-alongs, of whom there are quite a few now on the territory of the former USSR, completely “forget” that the first penal units appeared not with us, but with the Wehrmacht, and much earlier.

But what were the German penal units? Disciplinary battalions appeared in the German army even before the outbreak of World War II. In 1939 there were eight of them. They contained servicemen who had committed various offenses. They were used mainly as military construction and sapper units. After the victorious Polish campaign, the disciplinary battalions were disbanded, apparently considering that there would never be cowards, slobs and criminals in the Wehrmacht.

But the outbreak of war with the USSR showed that the morale of many soldiers and officers should be reinforced not only by encouragement and awards. The counteroffensive of the Soviet troops near Moscow in December 1941 grew into a general offensive of the Red Army. Army Group "Center" was at some time on the edge of the abyss. In some areas, the German units retreated in panic, leaving hundreds of vehicles, artillery, and tanks to the mercy of fate. Hitler was furious. As a result, the Fuhrer's order of December 16, 1941 followed, forbidding to surrender positions without permission from above. Soldiers who deserted from the front line were shot on the spot.

Having established elementary order in the positions, the Nazi leadership created 100 penal companies on the Eastern Front. Or, as they were officially called, parts of the probationary period. Terms there were given from six months to five years. Their convicts had to serve "from bell to bell". Neither the injury nor the heroic behavior at the forefront was reduced. That is, the German soldier could not atone for his guilt with blood, unlike the Soviet "penalty box". From the hospital, the wounded again returned his penal battalion. Moreover, no orders and medals were given to the German "penalty box".

The number of these units on the Eastern Front was strictly defined - 16,500 people, which corresponded to the staff of an infantry division. 100 penal companies were evenly distributed along the entire Soviet-German front. At the same time, the principle of caste was strictly observed: there were officer penal companies, non-commissioned officers and soldiers. Sometimes, for tactical reasons, they were combined into a battalion. It is clear that these units were sent into the thick of things, without cover for artillery, tanks and aircraft.

The SS troops also had their own penal units. The most famous of them was the Dirlewanger battalion, "famous" for atrocities against civilians. Dirlewanger himself served time for rape in his youth, and the environment picked up the appropriate one for himself.

The vast majority of the German "penalty" was on the Eastern Front. But in October 1942, the 999th brigade appeared in France, which was a penal unit. It is curious that it was formed from communists, social democrats, criminals and homosexuals who were in concentration camps.

According to official figures, 198 thousand people passed through the system of German penal battalions during the Second World War.

Our penal battalions were completely different

By July 1942, the most difficult situation for our country had developed on the Soviet-German front. However, many Western "historians", like our "humanists", greedy for any "sensation", commenting on the content of the "bloodthirsty", in their opinion, order "Not a step back!", As a rule, miss that part of it, which contains assessment of the situation.

Therefore, let me quote verbatim some lines from order No. 227: “Every commander, every Red Army soldier and political worker must understand that our means are not unlimited. The territory of the Soviet Union is not a desert, but people: workers, peasants, intelligentsia, our fathers and mothers, wives, brothers, children. The territory of the USSR, which the enemy has captured and is striving to capture, is bread and other products for the army and rear, metal and fuel for industry, factories, plants supplying the army with weapons and ammunition, and railways. After the loss of Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States, Donbass and other regions, we have less territory, therefore, there are much fewer people, bread, metal, plants, factories. We have lost more than 70 million people, more than 80 million poods of grain a year and more than 10 million tons of metal a year. We no longer have superiority over the Germans either in human resources or in grain reserves. To retreat further means to ruin ourselves and at the same time ruin our Motherland. Each new patch of territory left by us will strengthen the enemy in every possible way and weaken our defense, our Motherland in every possible way.

Apparently, comments are unnecessary here. The fate of the entire Soviet people, moreover, of the entire Slavic people, was placed on the scales. Therefore, extraordinary measures were taken. One of them was the creation of penal units.

Again we read order No. 227:

“To form within the front from 1 to 3 (depending on the situation) penal battalions (800 people each), where to send medium and senior commanders and relevant political workers of all branches of the military who are guilty of violating discipline due to cowardice or instability, and put them on more difficult sections of the front to give them the opportunity to atone for their crimes against the Motherland with blood.

To form within the army from 5 to 10 (depending on the situation) penal companies (from 150 to 200 people each), where to send ordinary soldiers and junior commanders who are guilty of violating discipline due to cowardice or instability, and put them in difficult sectors of the army, to give them the opportunity to atone for their crimes against the Motherland with blood.

As you can see, only officers and persons equated to them were sent to the penal battalions, moreover, the decision on this was made by the chiefs in positions not lower than the division commander. A small part of the officers ended up in penal battalions on the basis of sentences of military tribunals. Before being sent to the penal battalion, the officers were subject to demotion to the rank and file, their awards were transferred for storage to the personnel department of the front. You could be sent to the penal battalion for a period of one to three months.

"Penalty" who were injured or distinguished themselves in battle, were presented for early release with the restoration of their former rank and rights. The dead were automatically reinstated in rank, and their relatives were granted a pension "on a common basis with all families of commanders." It was envisaged that all the penitentiaries who had served their due time "represented by the command of the battalion to the military council of the front for release and, upon approval of the submission, are released from the penal battalion." All those released were restored in rank and all their awards were returned to them.

Penal companies were created in the amount of five to ten in each army. Former officers could also get into them if they were demoted to the rank and file by the decision of the military tribunal. In this case, after serving their term in the penal company, their officer rank was not restored. The term of stay and the principle of release from penal companies was exactly the same as from penal battalions, only decisions were made by the military councils of the armies.

Penal battalions and companies were separate military units directly subordinate to the command of the front and the army, they were commanded only by regular (full-time) officers and commissars (later - political workers) for whom it was envisaged to reduce the length of service to receive the next rank by half, and each month of service was counted upon appointment pension for six months. The commanders of the penalty box were given exceptionally high disciplinary rights: commanders - as the commander of the regiment, and the battalion commander - as the commander of the division. For some time in battle, a penal could replace a killed commander, but in a normal situation he could not command a penal unit, even as an exception. "Penal" could only be appointed to sergeant positions with the assignment of the appropriate rank, and, in this case, they received a sergeant's salary.

Penal units were used, as a rule, in the most dangerous sectors of the front, they were instructed to carry out reconnaissance in force, to break through the front line of the enemy, etc. confirmed neither by documents, nor by memoirs of veterans. Moreover, they were armed no worse than combat units and were used in conjunction with other combat units. For example, in the summary of the generalized combat experience of the 8th Guards Army it says: “In order to clarify the nature of the enemy’s defense, before the start of the Berlin operation on the Oder bridgehead in April 1945, reconnaissance was carried out in combat. Two rifle battalions and two penal companies were involved. Rifle battalions, penal companies were reinforced with artillery, mortars, sapper units and volleys of guards mortars.

The provisions on penal units provided that for specific feats, penalized units could be presented to government awards. Here are interesting figures taken from an archival document: “In the penal units of the 64th Army during the fighting near Stalingrad, 1023 people were released from punishment for courage. Of these, they were awarded: the Order of Lenin - 1, the Order of the Patriotic War II degree - 1, the Red Star - 17, the medals "For Courage" and "For Military Merit" - 134. Let me remind you that there were only penal companies in the armies, so we are talking about "penalty" sergeants and privates.

In principle, former prisoners could not get into penal battalions if they had not previously received officer ranks. Former amnestied people also ended up in the penal companies, but only after committing misconduct in the combat units where they served. In addition, a small number of convicts under non-serious articles were sent to the penal companies. During the trial or already in the colonies, such people were given a reprieve from serving their sentence with direction to a penal company. As a rule, these were not civilians, but former soldiers or soldiers from the rear, convicted by military tribunals.

Since 1943, when an active offensive began, former servicemen who remained during the fighting in the occupied territory, but did not try to cross the front line or join the partisans, began to be sent to penal companies. At the same time, after appropriate checks, they began to send to the penal companies voluntarily surrendered Vlasovites, policemen, employees of the occupation administrations, who had not stained themselves with reprisals against the civilian population, underground workers and partisans, and due to their age were subject to conscription.

Few people know that during the Great Patriotic War, not only penal companies and battalions, but also penal squadrons were created in our Armed Forces. The very first of them in 1942 was headed by the now Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Evgrafovich Fedorov. Recently, the secret stamp was removed from the documents regulating the organization of penal squadrons, and in the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense one can familiarize oneself with the order of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, which saves many pilots who have committed a fine. It was signed by Stalin on August 4, 1942 and established the introduction of penal squadrons in the air armies.

As you know, Stalin greatly appreciated the pilots, for the preparation of which a considerable amount of time and money was spent. When the Supreme Commander was informed that a considerable number of them, due to slovenliness, ended up in penal battalions, that is, they stopped flying, he banned this practice and introduced the institution of penal squadrons. Fascist aces with horror called Soviet pilots from penal squadrons "terrible falcons."

In total, during the war years, 65 penal battalions and 1037 penal companies were created in the Red Army. Their existence time was different, some were disbanded a few months after their creation, while others fought until the end of the war, reaching Berlin. The maximum number of simultaneously existing penal companies in July 1943 was 335 units. There were cases when distinguished penal companies in full strength were transferred to the category of combatants.

Since 1943, the number of penal battalions began to decline sharply, and in 1944 there were only 11 of them left. In each - about 200-odd people. This is due to the fact that there were not enough experienced officers in the army, they were less often sent to penal battalions, preferring to lower the guilty in rank by several steps and appoint them to lower officer positions.

The history of the Great Patriotic War is still replete with omissions, and even unconscious or completely deliberate disinformation. Along with the penal units, the falsifiers' favorite topic is barrage units. Discussions about their place and role in the course of hostilities are unabated, as can be seen from the diversity of opinions in the scientific literature.

I want to emphasize right away that the version that the detachments “guarded” penal units does not stand up to criticism. The company commander of the 8th separate penal battalion of the 1st Belorussian Front, retired colonel A.V. Pyltsyn, who fought from 1943 until the Victory, states: measures. It's just that it's never been needed."

The well-known writer, Hero of the Soviet Union V.V. Karpov, who fought in the 45th separate penal company on the Kalinin Front, also denies the presence of detachments behind the battle formations of their unit.

And, again, the "authors" of the idea of ​​​​creating detachments during the Great Patriotic War were the same Germans. In the Wehrmacht troops, barrage detachments, which supplemented the field gendarmerie, appeared during the offensive of the Red Army in the winter of 1941-1942. The tasks of the barrage detachments were: execution on the spot of alarmists and deserters. The Wehrmacht received at its disposal a field gendarmerie, which, having professionally trained officers and soldiers, was engaged in capturing fugitives, identifying simulators and "crossbows", restoring order in the rear, and clearing the rear units of redundant soldiers.

Here is what Lieutenant Kurt Steiger wrote: “In the winter, our servicemen suffered from terrible Russian frosts. Morale dropped. Some soldiers tried under various pretexts to leave those on the front lines. For example, they simulated severe frostbite. The maintenance of discipline was facilitated by special units (protective detachments), which, by order of the command, detained such soldiers. They had broad powers, including shooting without trial.”

But how did the detachments of the Red Army act? In reality, the outposts of the army detachment were located at a distance of 1.5-2 km from the front line, intercepting communications in the immediate rear. They did not specialize in "penalty boxes", but checked and detained everyone whose stay outside the military unit aroused suspicion.

Did the barrage detachments use weapons to prevent unauthorized withdrawal of line units from their positions? This aspect of their combat activities is sometimes highly speculative. But only in the inflamed brains of the same falsifiers do images of shooting in the back of trembling or retreating units arise. Not a single serious document, not a single recollection of front-line soldiers confirms this “argument”, beloved by haters of everything Soviet.

I want to emphasize: from the very beginning, the barrage detachments were subordinate to the army command, and not to the military counterintelligence agencies. The People's Commissar of Defense, of course, had in mind that the barrage formations would and should be used not only as a barrier for the retreating units, but also as the most important reserve for the direct conduct of hostilities. Only because of the limited space on the newspaper page, I do not give examples (documented) of the participation of detachments in the elimination of German breakthroughs, the destruction of their landings, etc. Thus, the barrier detachments not only acted as a barrier that prevented deserters from penetrating into the rear , alarmists, German agents, not only returned to the front lines the soldiers who lagged behind their units, but also conducted direct combat operations with the enemy, contributing to the achievement of victory over Nazi Germany.

As the situation on the fronts changed, with the transition to the Red Army of the strategic initiative and the beginning of the mass expulsion of the occupiers from the territory of the USSR, the need for detachments began to disappear. On October 29, 1944, Stalin issued an order acknowledging that "due to the change in the general situation on the fronts, the need for further maintenance of barrage detachments has disappeared." And by November 15, 1944, they were disbanded, and the personnel of the detachments were sent to replenish combat divisions.

A bit about the history of the topic

It is worth recalling that the idea of ​​creating detachments arose much earlier than the Second World War. The function of the rear rank of the phalanx was described in sufficient detail by the ancient Greek historian Xenophon in his work "Kyropedia" back in the 4th century BC: fear than enemies. Well, why is the last rank of the phalanx not a detachment? Something similar was used in medieval armies.

But, let's get back to a new story. Indeed, in the French army on the fields of the First World War, such actions were practiced, and they were directed against the allied Russian units. As one of the participants in the offensive undertaken by General Nivelle in April 1917 wrote, behind the backs of the Russian soldiers were numerous formations of the French, equipped with artillery and ready to open fire if the Russians faltered.

It is impossible not to mention the La Courtine tragedy that broke out in August 1917 on the Western Front - the suppression of the uprising of the 1st Special Brigade of the Russian Expeditionary Force, deployed in 1916 to help the allied French troops. Discipline in its units, as well as in formations on the Eastern Front, was steadily declining; after the bloody offensive of General Nivel, as mentioned above, the soldiers began to demand to be sent to Russia. The brigade was temporarily stationed at the La Courtine military camp in the department of Creuse. Fermentation in the military environment intensified. When for the military representative of the High Command at the Headquarters of the French armies, General M. I. Zankevich, the futility of measures of suggestion and even attempts to blockade the camp became obvious, the rebellion was suppressed with the support of ... artillery.

General P.N. Wrangel did not stop at such measures, who described in his memoirs the restoration of order in the Caucasian infantry regiment, which faltered in July 1917, by means of rapid artillery fire to kill the fleeing soldiers.

In the Russian army during the First World War, however, there were no special barrage units. Protecting the rear, catching deserters until 1917 were assigned to field gendarmerie squadrons. In the areas of transport routes, this task was carried out by the gendarmerie departments of the railways.

Well, the last thing on this topic. In total, during the Great Patriotic War, about 428 thousand people passed through the penal units of the Red Army. The vast majority of the "penalty" atoned for their guilt (real or imaginary) with honor. And, many - their lives. And it is blasphemous to speculate on the difficult history of a great people, to pour mud and slop over the years of its hardest trials. For then, in the war, no matter how hysterical current and then enemies were, he endured them with honor. And the "penalty box" ... they were Soviet people. And their memory should be treated with respect, because in the Great Victory there is also their very significant contribution.

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