Partisan commanders. Partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War

Partisan war 1941-1945 (partisan movement) - one of the components of the resistance of the USSR to the fascist troops of Germany and the allies during the Great Patriotic War.

The movement of Soviet partisans during the Great Patriotic War was very large-scale and differed from other popular movements in the highest degree of organization and efficiency. The partisans were controlled by the Soviet authorities, the movement had not only its own detachments, but also headquarters and commanders. In total, during the war, there were more than 7 thousand partisan detachments operating on the territory of the USSR, and several hundred more working abroad. The approximate number of all partisans and underground workers was 1 million people.

The purpose of the partisan movement is the destruction of the support system for the German front. The partisans were supposed to disrupt the supply of weapons and food, break the channels of communication with the General Staff and in every possible way destabilize the work of the German fascist machine.

The emergence of partisan detachments

On June 29, 1941, a directive was issued to "Party and Soviet organizations of the front-line regions", which served as an incentive for the formation of a nationwide partisan movement. On July 18, another directive was issued - "On the organization of the struggle in the rear of the German troops." In these documents, the government of the USSR formulated the main directions of the struggle of the Soviet Union against the Germans, including the need for an underground war. On September 5, 1942, Stalin's order "On the tasks of the partisan movement" was issued, which officially fixed the partisan detachments already actively working by that time.

Another important prerequisite for the creation of an official partisan movement in the Great Patriotic War was the creation of the 4th Directorate of the NKVD, which began to form special detachments designed to wage a subversive war.

On May 30, 1942, the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement was created, to which the local regional headquarters, headed mainly by the heads of the Central Committee of the Communist Parties, were subordinate. It was the creation of headquarters that served as a serious impetus to the development of guerrilla warfare, since a single and clear system of control and communication with the center significantly increased the effectiveness of guerrilla warfare. The guerrillas were no longer chaotic formations, they had a clear structure, like an official army.

The partisan detachments included citizens of different ages, gender and financial status. Most of the population, not directly engaged in hostilities, was related to the partisan movement.

The main activities of the partisan movement

The main activities of partisan detachments during the Great Patriotic War were reduced to several main points:

sabotage activities: destruction of enemy infrastructure - disruption of food supplies, communications, destruction of water pipes and wells, sometimes explosions in camps;
intelligence activities: there was a very extensive and powerful network of agents who were engaged in intelligence in the camp of the enemy on the territory of the USSR and beyond;
Bolshevik propaganda: in order to win the war and avoid internal unrest, it was necessary to convince citizens of the power and greatness of power;
direct combat operations: partisans rarely spoke openly, but battles did occur; in addition, one of the main tasks of the partisan movement was the destruction of the vital forces of the enemy;
the destruction of false partisans and clear control over the entire partisan movement;
the restoration of Soviet power in the occupied territories: this was carried out mainly through propaganda and mobilization of the local Soviet population remaining in the territories occupied by the Germans; the partisans wanted to recapture these lands "from the inside".

Partisan detachments

Partisan detachments existed almost throughout the entire territory of the USSR, including the Baltic states and Ukraine, however, it is worth noting that in a number of regions captured by the Germans, the partisan movement existed, but did not support the Soviet government. Local partisans fought only for their own independence.

Typically, a partisan detachment consisted of several dozen people. By the end of the war, their number had increased to several hundred, but in most cases a standard partisan detachment consisted of 150-200 people. During the war, if necessary, the detachments were united into brigades. Such brigades were usually armed with light weapons - grenades, hand rifles, carbines, but many of them also had heavier equipment - mortars, artillery weapons. The equipment depended on the region and the tasks of the partisans. All citizens who joined the detachments took an oath, and the detachment itself lived according to strict discipline.

In 1942, the post of commander-in-chief of the partisan movement was proclaimed, which was taken by Marshal Voroshilov, but then this post was abolished.

Particularly noteworthy are the Jewish partisan detachments, which were formed from the Jews who remained in the USSR and managed to escape from the ghetto camp. Their main goal was to save the Jewish people, who were subjected to special persecution by the Germans. The work of such detachments was complicated by the fact that even in the circle of Soviet partisans anti-Semitic sentiments often reigned and there was nowhere for Jews to get help. By the end of the war, many Jewish units mixed with the Soviet ones.

The results and significance of guerrilla warfare

Partisan movement in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. was one of the main resistance forces along with the regular army. Thanks to a clear structure, the support of the population, competent leadership and good equipment of the partisans, their sabotage and reconnaissance activities often played a decisive role in the war between the Russian army and the Germans. Without partisans, the USSR could have lost the war.

A significant contribution to the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany was made by partisan detachments operating behind enemy lines from Leningrad to Odessa. They were headed not only by military personnel, but also by people of peaceful professions. Real heroes.

Old Man Minai

By the beginning of the war, Minai Filipovich Shmyrev was the director of the Pudot cardboard factory (Belarus). The past of the 51-year-old director was a combat one: he was awarded three St. George's Crosses in World War I, in the Civil War he fought against banditry.

In July 1941, in the village of Pudot, Shmyrev formed a partisan detachment from factory workers. In two months, the partisans fought the enemy 27 times, destroyed 14 vehicles, 18 fuel tanks, blew up 8 bridges, and defeated the German district administration in Surazh.

In the spring of 1942, Shmyrev, on the orders of the Central Committee of Belarus, teamed up with three partisan detachments and headed the First Belarusian Partisan Brigade. The partisans drove the fascists out of 15 villages and created the Surazh partisan region. Here, before the arrival of the Red Army, Soviet power was restored. On the Usvyaty-Tarasenki section, the Surazh Gate existed for half a year - a 40-kilometer zone through which the partisans were supplied with weapons and food.
All relatives of Old Man Minai: four small children, sister and mother-in-law were shot by the Nazis.
In the fall of 1942, Shmyrev was transferred to the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement. In 1944 he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the war, Shmyrev returned to economic work.

The son of the fist "Uncle Kostya"

Konstantin Sergeevich Zaslonov was born in the city of Ostashkov, Tver province. In the thirties, his family was dispossessed and exiled to the Kola Peninsula in Khibinogorsk.
After school, Zaslonov became a railroad worker, by 1941 he worked as the head of a locomotive depot in Orsha (Belarus) and was evacuated to Moscow, but voluntarily went back.

He served under the pseudonym "Uncle Kostya", created an underground, which, with the help of mines disguised as coal, derailed 93 Nazi echelons in three months.
In the spring of 1942, Zaslonov organized a partisan detachment. The detachment fought with the Germans, lured 5 garrisons of the Russian National People's Army to their side.
Zaslonov died in a battle with RNNA punishers, who came to the partisans under the guise of defectors. He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

NKVD officer Dmitry Medvedev

A native of the Oryol province, Dmitry Nikolaevich Medvedev was an officer in the NKVD.
He was fired twice - either because of his brother - "the enemy of the people", then "for the unreasonable termination of criminal cases." In the summer of 1941 he was reinstated in the ranks.
He headed the Mitya reconnaissance and sabotage task force, which conducted more than 50 operations in the Smolensk, Mogilev and Bryansk regions.
In the summer of 1942, he headed the "Winners" special squad and conducted more than 120 successful operations. 11 generals, 2000 soldiers, 6000 Banderites were destroyed, 81 trains were blown up.
In 1944, Medvedev was transferred to staff work, but in 1945 he traveled to Lithuania to fight the Forest Brothers gang. He retired with the rank of colonel. Hero of the Soviet Union.

Saboteur Molodtsov-Badaev

Vladimir Alexandrovich Molodtsov worked at the mine from the age of 16. He went from trolley racer to deputy director. In 1934 he was sent to the Central School of the NKVD.
In July 1941 he arrived in Odessa for reconnaissance and sabotage work. He worked under the pseudonym Pavel Badaev.

Badaev's detachments hid in the Odessa catacombs, fought with the Romanians, tore communication lines, staged sabotage in the port, and carried out reconnaissance. They blew up the commandant's office with 149 officers. At the Zastava station, the train with the administration for the occupied Odessa was destroyed.

The Nazis threw 16,000 people to liquidate the detachment. They let gas into the catacombs, poisoned the water, mined the passages. In February 1942, Molodtsov and his contacts were captured. Molodtsov was executed on July 12, 1942.
Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.

Desperate partisan "Mikhailo"

Azerbaijani Mehdi Ganifa-ogly Huseynzade was drafted into the Red Army from his student days. Member of the Battle of Stalingrad. He was seriously wounded, captured and taken to Italy. Fled in early 1944, joined the partisans and became a commissar of a company of Soviet partisans. He was engaged in reconnaissance, sabotage, blew up bridges and airfields, executed the Gestapo. For desperate courage he received the nickname "partisan Mikhailo".
A detachment under his command raided the prison, freeing 700 prisoners of war.
He was captured near the village of Vitovle. Mehdi fired back to the end, and then committed suicide.
His exploits were known after the war. In 1957 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

OGPU officer Naumov

A native of the Perm region, Mikhail Ivanovich Naumov, by the beginning of the war, was an employee of the OGPU. He was shell-shocked while crossing the Dniester, was surrounded, went out to the partisans and soon led the detachment. In the autumn of 1942 he became chief of staff of partisan detachments in the Sumy region, and in January 1943 he headed a cavalry unit.

In the spring of 1943, Naumov carried out the legendary Steppe raid 2,379 kilometers long through the rear of the Nazis. For this operation, the captain was awarded the rank of major general, which is a unique event, and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In total, Naumov conducted three large-scale raids behind enemy lines.
After the war, he continued to serve in the ranks of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Kovpak

Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak became a legend during his lifetime. Born in Poltava in a poor peasant family. In World War I, he received the St. George Cross from the hands of Nicholas II. In the Civil partisan against the Germans, fought with the whites.

Since 1937 he was the chairman of the Putivl city executive committee of the Sumy region.
In the autumn of 1941, he headed the Putivl partisan detachment, and then - the connection of detachments of the Sumy region. The partisans carried out military raids behind enemy lines. Their total length was more than 10,000 kilometers. 39 enemy garrisons were defeated.

On August 31, 1942, Kovpak participated in a meeting of partisan commanders in Moscow, was received by Stalin and Voroshilov, after which he made a raid across the Dnieper. At that moment, Kovpak's detachment had 2000 fighters, 130 machine guns, 9 guns.
In April 1943 he was promoted to the rank of major general.
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union.

Soviet partisans are an integral part of the anti-fascist movement of the Soviet people who fought with the methods of partisan war against Germany and its allies in the temporarily occupied territories of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War.

From the very first days of the war, the Communist Party gave the partisan movement a purposeful and organized character. The directive of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of June 29, 1941 required: “In areas occupied by the enemy, create partisan detachments and sabotage groups to fight against parts of the enemy army, to incite partisan war everywhere and everywhere, to blow up bridges, roads, damage telephone and telegraph communications, arson of warehouses, etc. “. The main goal of the guerrilla war was to undermine the front in the German rear - the disruption of communications and communications, the work of its road and rail communications, set out in

Decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of July 18, 1941 "On the organization of the struggle in the rear of the German troops."

Considering the deployment of the partisan movement one of the most important conditions for the defeat of the fascist invaders, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks obliged the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the republics, regional, regional and district party committees to lead the organization of the partisan struggle. For the leadership of the partisan masses in the occupied areas, it was proposed to allocate experienced, combative comrades who were completely devoted to the Party and proven in practice. The struggle of Soviet patriots was led by 565 secretaries of regional, city and district committees of the party, 204 chairmen of regional, city and district executive committees of working people's deputies, 104 secretaries of the regional committee, city committee and district committee of the Komsomol, as well as hundreds of other leaders. Already in 1941, the struggle of the Soviet people behind enemy lines was led by 18 underground regional committees, more than 260 district committees, city committees, district committees and other underground organizations and groups, in which there were 65,500 communists.

The 4th Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR, created in 1941 under the leadership of P. Sudoplatov, played an important role in the deployment of the partisan movement. The Separate motorized rifle brigade of special purpose of the NKVD of the USSR was subordinate to him, from which reconnaissance and sabotage detachments were formed, thrown behind enemy lines. As a rule, they then turned into large partisan detachments. By the end of 1941, more than 2,000 partisan detachments and sabotage groups were operating in the territories occupied by the enemy, with a total number of over 90,000 partisans. In order to coordinate the combat activities of the partisans and organize their interaction with the troops of the Red Army, special bodies were created.

P.A. Sudoplatov

A vivid example of the actions of special forces was the destruction of the headquarters of the 59th division of the Wehrmacht, together with the head of the garrison in Kharkov, Lieutenant General Georg von Braun. Mansion at st. Dzerzhinsky d. No. 17 was mined by a radio-controlled land mine by a group under the command of I.G. Starinov and blown up by radio signal in October 1941. Later, Lieutenant General Beineker was also destroyed by a mine. . I.G. Starinov

Mines and non-recoverable land mines designed by I.G. Starinov were widely used for sabotage operations during the Second World War.

radio-controlled mine I.G. Starinov

To lead the partisan war, republican, regional and regional headquarters of the partisan movement were created. They were headed by secretaries or members of the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the Union republics, regional committees and regional committees: Ukrainian Headquarters - T.A. Strokach, Belarusian - P.Z. Kalinin, Lithuanian - A.Yu. Snechkus, Latvian - A.K. Sprogis, Estonian - N.T. Karotamm, Karelsky - S.Ya. Vershinin, Leningradsky - M.N. Nikitin. The Oryol Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks was headed by A.P. Matveev, Smolensky - D.M. Popov, Krasnodar - P.I. Seleznev, Stavropolsky - M.A. Suslov, Krymsky - V.S. Bulatov. The VLKSM made a great contribution to the organization of the guerrilla war. Its governing bodies in the occupied territory included M.V. Zimyanin, K.T. Mazurov, P.M. Masherov and others.

By a GKO resolution of May 30, 1942, the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement (TSSHPD, Chief of Staff - Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Belarus P.K. Ponomarenko) was organized at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.

The activities carried out by the party made it possible to significantly improve the leadership of partisan detachments, supply them with the necessary material resources, and ensure clearer interaction between the partisans and the Red Army.

at the partisan airfield.

W and during its existence, the TsShPD sent 59,960 rifles and carbines, 34,320 machine guns, 4,210 light machine guns, 2,556 anti-tank rifles, 2,184 50-mm and 82-mm mortars, 539,570 hand-held anti-personnel and anti-tank grenades, a large amount of ammunition, explosives, medicines, food and other essentials. The central and republican schools of the partisan movement trained and sent behind enemy lines more than 22,000 various specialists, of which 75% were demolition workers, 9% were organizers of the underground and the partisan movement, 8% were radio operators, and 7% were scouts.

The main organizational and combat unit of the partisan forces was a detachment, which usually consisted of squads, platoons and companies, numbering several dozen people, and later - up to 200 or more fighters. During the course of the war, many detachments united into partisan brigades and partisan divisions of up to several thousand fighters. The armament was dominated by light weapons (both Soviet and captured), but many detachments and formations had mortars, and some even artillery. All persons who joined the partisan formations took the partisan oath, as a rule, strict military discipline was established in the detachments. Party and Komsomol organizations were created in the detachments. The actions of the partisans were combined with other forms of nationwide struggle behind enemy lines - the actions of the underground in cities and towns, sabotage at enterprises and transport, disruption of political and military measures carried out by the enemy.

at the headquarters of the partisan brigade

group of partisans

partisan with a gun

Physical and geographical conditions influenced the forms of organization of partisan forces and the methods of their actions. Vast forests, swamps, mountains were the main bases for partisan forces. Partisan regions and zones arose here, where various methods of struggle could be widely used, including open battles with the enemy. In the steppe regions, however, large formations operated successfully only during raids. The small detachments and groups that were constantly here usually avoided open clashes with the enemy and inflicted damage on him mainly by sabotage.

In the tactics of guerrilla operations, the following elements can be distinguished:

Subversive activities, destruction of enemy infrastructure in any form (rail war, destruction of communication lines, high-voltage lines, destruction of bridges, water pipelines, etc.);

Intelligence activities, including undercover;

Political activity and Bolshevik propaganda;

Destruction of manpower and equipment of the Nazis;

Elimination of collaborators and heads of the Nazi administration;

Restoration and preservation of elements of Soviet power in the occupied territory;

The mobilization of the combat-ready population remaining in the occupied territories, and the unification of the encircled military units.

V.Z. Korzh

On June 28, 1941, in the area of the village of Posenichi, the first battle was fought by a partisan detachment under the command of V.Z. Korzha. To protect the city of Pinsk from the north side, a group of partisans was put up on the road Pinsk - Logoshin. A partisan detachment commanded by Korzh was ambushed by 2 German tanks with motorcyclists. It was reconnaissance of the 293rd Wehrmacht Infantry Division. The partisans opened fire and destroyed one tank. During the battle, the partisans captured two Nazis. It was the first partisan battle of the first partisan detachment in the history of the Great Patriotic War!

On July 4, 1941, Korzh's detachment met with a German cavalry squadron 4 km from Pinsk. The partisans let the Germans close and opened accurate fire. Dozens of Nazi cavalry died on the battlefield. In total, by June 1944, the Pinsk partisan formation under the command of V.Z Korzh defeated 60 German garrisons in battles, derailed 478 railway echelons, and blew up 62 railways. bridge, destroyed 86 tanks, 29 guns, disabled 519 km of communication lines. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 15, 1944, for the exemplary performance of command assignments in the fight against the Nazi invaders behind enemy lines and the courage and heroism shown at the same time, Vasily Zakharovich Korzh was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Medal. Star “for No. 4448.

In August 1941, 231 partisan detachments were already operating on the territory of Belarus. Leaders of the Belarusian partisan detachment

“Red October” - commander Fyodor Pavlovsky and commissar Tikhon Bumazhkov - on August 6, 1941, the first of the partisans were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In the Bryansk region, Soviet partisans controlled vast territories in the German rear. In the summer of 1942, they actually controlled the territory of 14,000 square kilometers. The Bryansk partisan republic was formed.

guerrilla ambush

In the second period of the Second World War (autumn 1942 - the end of 1943), the partisan movement expanded deep behind enemy lines. Transferring their base from the Bryansk forests to the west, the partisan formations crossed the Desna, Sozh, Dnieper, and Pripyat rivers and began to strike at the enemy's most important communications in his rear. The blows of the partisans rendered great assistance to the Red Army, diverting the large forces of the fascists. In the midst of the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-1943, the actions of partisan detachments and formations to a large extent disrupted the supply of enemy reserves and military equipment to the front. The actions of the partisans turned out to be so effective that the fascist German command sent against them in the summer and autumn of 1942 144 police battalions, 27 police regiments, 8 infantry regiments, 10 security police and punitive divisions of the SS, 2 security corps, 72 special units, up to 15 infantry German and 5 infantry divisions of their satellites, thereby weakening their forces at the front. Despite this, the partisans managed to organize during this period more than 3,000 crashes of enemy echelons, blew up 3,500 railway and highway bridges, destroyed 15,000 vehicles, about 900 bases and depots with ammunition and weapons, up to 1,200 tanks, 467 aircraft, 378 guns.

punishers and policemen

partisan region

partisans on the march

By the end of the summer of 1942, the partisan movement had become a significant force, organizational work was completed. The total number of partisans was up to 200,000 people. In August 1942, the most famous of the partisan commanders were summoned to Moscow to participate in a general meeting.

Commanders of partisan formations: M.I. Duka, M.P. Voloshin, D.V. emlyutin, S.A. Kovpak, A.N. Saburov

(from left to right)

Thanks to the efforts of the Soviet leadership, the partisan movement turned into a carefully organized, well-managed and united military and political force under a single command. Chief of the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement at Headquarters, Lieutenant General P.K. Ponomarenko became a member of the General Staff Red Army.

PC. Ponomarenko

TsShPD - on the left P.K. Ponomarenko

The partisan detachments operating in the front line came under the direct subordination of the command of the corresponding army that occupied this sector of the front. The detachments operating in the deep rear of the German troops were subordinate to the headquarters in Moscow. The officers and rank and file of the regular army were sent to partisan units as instructors for the training of specialists.

partisan movement management structure

In August - September 1943, according to the plan of the TsShPD, 541 detachments of Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian partisans simultaneously took part in the first operation to destroy the enemy's railway communications in"rail war".

The purpose of the operation was to disorganize the work of the railway by massive and simultaneous destruction of the rails. transport, than to disrupt the supply of German troops, evacuation and regrouping, and thus assist the Red Army in completing the defeat of the enemy in the Battle of Kursk in 1943 and deploying a general offensive on the Soviet-German front. The leadership of the ‘rail war’ was carried out by the TsSHPD at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. The plan called for the destruction of 200,000 rails in the rear areas of Army Groups Center and North. To carry out the operation, 167 partisan detachments from Belarus, Leningrad, Kalinin, Smolensk, Oryol regions, numbering up to 100,000 people, were involved.

The operation was preceded by careful preparation. The sections of the railway planned for destruction were distributed among partisan formations and detachments. From June 15 to July 1, 1943 alone, 150 tons of special-profile heavy bombs, 156,000 m of Fickford cord, 28,000 m and a hemp wick, 595,000 detonator caps, 35,000 fuses, a lot of weapons, ammunition and medicines were thrown at partisan bases. Instructors-miners were sent to the partisan detachments.

peacekeeping of the railway canvases

The “rail war” began on the night of August 3, just at the time when the enemy was forced to intensively maneuver his reserves in connection with the unfolding counteroffensive of the Soviet troops and its development into a general offensive along the entire front. In one night, more than 42,000 rails were blown up in depth over a vast territory of 1,000 km along the front and from the front line to the western borders of the USSR. Simultaneously with the “Rail War”, active operations on the communications of the enemy were launched by partisans of Ukraine, who, according to the plan for the spring-summer period of 1943, were tasked with paralyzing the work of 26 largest railways. nodes in the rear of Army Group "South", including Shepetovsky, Kovelsky, Zdolbunovsky, Korostensky, Sarnensky.

train station attack

In the following days, the actions of the partisans in the operation intensified even more. By September 15, 215,000 rails were destroyed, which amounted to 1342 km of a single-track railway. way. On some railways On the roads, traffic was delayed for 3-15 days, and the highways Mogilev-Krichev, Polotsk-Dvinsk, Mogilev-Zhlobin did not work during August 1943. Only Belarusian partisans during the operation blew up 836 military echelons, including 3 armored trains, disabled 690 steam locomotives, 6343 wagons and platforms, 18 water pumps, destroyed 184 railroads. bridges and 556 bridges on dirt and highway roads, destroyed 119 tanks and 1429 vehicles, defeated 44 German garrisons. The experience of the “Rail War” was used by the headquarters of the partisan movement in the autumn-winter period of 1943/1944 in the operations “Concert” and in the summer of 1944 during the offensive of the Red Army in Belarus.

blown up railway compound

Operation "Concert" was carried out by Soviet partisans from September 19 to the end of October 1943. The purpose of the operation is to impede the operational transportation of Nazi troops by the mass disabling of large sections of railways; was a continuation of Operation Rail War; was carried out according to the plan of the TsSHPD at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and was closely connected with the upcoming offensive of the Soviet troops in the Smolensk and Gomel directions and the battle for the Dnieper. 293 partisan formations and detachments from Belarus, the Baltic States, Karelia, the Crimea, Leningrad and Kalinin regions were involved in the operation, in total over 120,000 partisans; it was planned to undermine more than 272,000 rails. In Belarus, 90,000 partisans were involved in the operation; they were to blow up 140,000 rails. The TsSHPD planned to throw 120 tons of explosives and other cargo to the partisans of Belarus, 20 tons each to the Kalinin and Leningrad partisans. Due to the sharply deteriorating weather conditions, only 50% of the planned plan was transferred to the partisans by the beginning of the operation, and therefore it was decided to start mass sabotage on September 25. However, part of the partisan detachments, which, according to the previous order, went to their starting lines, could no longer take into account the changes in the timing of the operation and on September 19 they began to implement it. On the night of September 25, widespread actions were carried out according to the plan“Concert”, covering the front of 900 km and a depth of 400 km. The partisans of Belarus on the night of September 19 blew up 19903 rails and on the night of September 25 another 15809 rails. As a result, 148557 rails were blown up. Operation "Concert" intensified the struggle of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders in the occupied territories. In the course of it, the influx of the local population into partisan detachments increased.

partisan operation “Concert”

An important form of partisan actions were raids by partisan formations in the rear of the fascist invaders. The main goal of these raids was to increase the scope and activity of popular resistance to the occupiers in new areas, as well as to strike at major railways. nodes and important military-industrial facilities of the enemy, intelligence, rendering fraternal assistance to the peoples of neighboring countries in their liberation struggle against fascism. Only on the instructions of the headquarters of the partisan movement, more than 40 raids were carried out, in which more than 100 large partisan formations participated. In 1944, 7 formations and 26 separate large detachments of Soviet partisans operated in the occupied territory of Poland, and 20 formations and detachments operated in Czechoslovakia. The raids of partisan formations under the command of V.A. Andreeva, I.N. Banova, P.P. Vershigory, A.V. Germana, S.V. Grishina, F.F. Cabbage, V.A. Karaseva, S.A. Kovpak, V.I. Kozlova, V.Z. Korzha, M.I. Naumova, N.A. Prokopyuk, V.V. Razumova, A.N. Saburova, V.P. Samson, A.F. Fedorova, A.K. Flegontova, V.P. Chepigi, M.I. Shukaeva and others.

The Putivl partisan detachment (commander S.A. Kovpvk, commissar S.V. Rudnev, chief of staff G.Ya. Bazyma), operating in the occupied territory of several regions of the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Belarus in 1941-1944, was created on October 18, 1941 in the Spadshchansky forest of the Sumy region. The first weeks of the occupation, the detachments of Kovpak and Rudnev, numbering two or three dozen people, acted independently and had no communication with each other. By the beginning of autumn, Rudnev followed Kovpak's first sabotage, met with him and offered to merge both detachments. Already on October 19-20, 1941, the detachment repelled the offensive of the punitive battalion with 5 tanks, on November 18-19 - the second offensive of the punishers, and on December 1 broke through the blockade ring around the Spadshchansky forest and made the first raid into the Khinel forests. By this time, the united detachment had already grown to 500 people.

Sidor Artemievich Kovpak

Semyon Vasilievich Rudnev

In February 1942, the S.A. Kovpak, transformed into the Sumy partisan formation (Connection of partisan detachments of the Sumy region), returned to the Spadshchansky forest and from here undertook a series of raids, as a result of which an extensive partisan region was created in the northern regions of the Sumy region and in the adjacent territory of the RSFSR and the BSSR. By the summer of 1942, 24 detachments and 127 groups (about 18,000 partisans) were operating on its territory.

dugout at a partisan base

Interior view of the dugout

The Sumy partisan formation included four detachments: Putivl, Glukhovsky, Shalyginsky and Krolevetsky (according to the names of the districts of the Sumy region where they were organized). For conspiracy, the unit was called military unit 00117, and the detachments were called battalions. Historically, the units had unequal numbers. As of January 1943, while based in Polesie, the first battalion(Putivl detachment) consisted of up to 800 partisans, the other three - 250-300 partisans each. The first battalion consisted of ten companies, the rest - 3-4 companies each. Companies did not arise immediately, but were formed gradually, like partisan groups, and often arose on a territorial basis. Gradually, with the departure from their native places, the groups grew into companies and acquired a new character. During the raid, the companies were no longer distributed on a territorial basis, but on military expediency. So in the first battalion there were several rifle companies, two companies of submachine gunners, two companies of heavy weapons (with 45-mm anti-tank guns, heavy machine guns, battalion mortars), a reconnaissance company, a company of miners, a platoon of sappers, a communication center and the main economic unit.

partisan cart

In 1941-1942, Kovpak's formation carried out raids behind enemy lines in the Sumy, Kursk, Oryol and Bryansk regions, in 1942-1943 - a raid from the Bryansk forests to the Right-Bank Ukraine in the Gomel, Pinsk, Volyn, Rivne, Zhitomir and Kiev regions. The Sumy partisan formation under the command of Kovpak fought over 10,000 km in the rear of the Nazi troops, defeated the enemy garrisons in 39 settlements. Reid S.A. Kovpak played a big role in the deployment of the partisan movement against the German invaders.

guerrilla raid

"Partisan Bears"

On June 12, 1943, the partisan formation of S.A. Kovpak went on a military campaign in the Carpathian region. By the time they entered the Carpathian raid, the unit numbered 2,000 partisans. They were armed with 130 machine guns, 380 machine guns, 9 guns, 30 mortars, 30 anti-tank rifles. During the raid, the partisans fought 2,000 km, destroyed 3,800 Nazis, blew up 19 military trains, 52 bridges, 51 warehouses with property and weapons, disabled power plants and oil fields near Bitkov and Yablonov. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR No.On January 4, 1944, for the successful implementation of the Carpathian raid, Major General Kovpak Sidor Artemyevich was awarded the second Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

The partisans participated in the liberation of the cities of Vileyka, Yelsk, Znamenka, Luninets, Pavlograd, Rechitsa, Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol, Stavropol, Cherkassy, Yalta and many others.

The activities of clandestine combat groups in cities and towns caused great damage to the enemy. Underground groups and organizations in Minsk, Kiev, Mogilev, Odessa, Vitebsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Smolensk, Kaunas, Krasnodar, Krasnodon, Pskov, Gomel, Orsha, as well as other cities and towns showed examples of selfless struggle against the fascist invaders. Sabotage, the covert struggle to disrupt the political, economic, and military measures of the enemy, were the most widespread forms of mass resistance against the occupiers by millions of Soviet people.

Soviet intelligence officers and underground workers committed hundreds of acts of sabotage, the purpose of which were representatives of the German occupation authorities. Only with the direct participation of special detachments of the NKVD, 87 actions of retribution were carried out against the Nazi executioners responsible for carrying out the extermination policy in the east. On February 17, 1943, the Chekists killed the regional gebitskommissar Friedrich Fentz. In July of the same year, the scouts liquidated Gebitskommissar Ludwig Ehrenleitner. The most famous and significant of them is considered to be the liquidation of the General Commissioner of Belarus Wilhelm Kube. In July 1941, Cuba was appointed General Commissar of Belarus. Gauleiter Kube was especially cruel. By direct order of the Gauleiter, a Jewish ghetto was created in Minsk and a concentration camp in the village of Trostenets, where 206,500 people were exterminated. For the first time, soldiers of the NKGB sabotage and reconnaissance group of Kirill Orlovsky tried to destroy him. Having received information that Cuba was going to hunt on February 17, 1943 in the Mashukovsky forests, Orlovsky organized an ambush. In a hot and short-lived battle, the scouts destroyed the Gebitskommissar Fentz, 10 officers and 30 soldiers of the SS troops. But Cuba was not among those killed (at the last moment he did not go hunting). And yet, on September 22, 1943 at 4.00 in the morning, the underground workers managed to destroy the General Commissar of Belarus Wilhelm Kube with a bomb explosion (the bomb was planted under the bed of Cuba by the Soviet underground worker Elena Grigoryevna Mazanik).

E.G. Mazanik

The legendary career intelligence officer Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov (pseudonym - Grachev) with the beginning of the Second World War, at his personal request, was enlisted in the Special Group of the NKVD. In August 1942, N.I. Kuznetsov was sent behind enemy lines to the partisan detachment “Winners” (commander D.M. Medvedev), which operated on the territory of Ukraine. Appearing in the occupied city of Rovno under the guise of a German officer - Lieutenant Paul Siebert, Kuznetsov was able to quickly make the necessary acquaintances.

N.I. Kuznetsov N.I. Kuznetsov - Paul Siebert

Using the trust of fascist officers, he learned the places of deployment of enemy units, the direction of their movement. He managed to get information about the German missiles "FAU-1" and "FAU-2", reveal the location of A. Hitler's headquarters "Werwolf" ("Werewolf") near the city of Vinnitsa, warn the Soviet command about the upcoming offensive of the Nazi troops in the Kursk region (operation “Citadel”), about the impending assassination attempt on the heads of government of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain (I.V. Stalin, D. Roosevelt, W. Churchill) in Tehran. In the fight against the Nazi invaders, N.I. Kuznetsov showed extraordinary courage and ingenuity. He acted as a people's avenger. He committed acts of retaliation against many fascist generals and senior officers, endowed with great powers of the Third Reich. They were destroyed - the chief judge of Ukraine Funk, the imperial adviser to the Reichskommissariat of Ukraine Gall and his secretary Winter, the vice-governor of Galicia Bauer, generals Knut and Dargel, kidnapped and brought to the partisan detachment the commander of the punitive forces in Ukraine, General Ilgen. March 9, 1944 N.I. Kuznetsov died when he was surrounded by Ukrainian nationalists-Bendera in the village of Boryatyn, Brody district, Lviv region. Species that he could not break through, he blew himself up and the Bendera people surrounding him with the last grenade. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 5, 1944, Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for exceptional courage and bravery in carrying out command assignments.

monument to N.I. Kuznetsov

grave of N.I. Kuznetsova

The underground Komsomol organization “Young Guard”, which operated during the Second World War in the city of Krasnodon, Voroshilovgrad region of Ukraine, temporarily occupied by Nazi troops, will forever remain in the memory of the Soviet people (do not identify it with modern “well done” from “M.G.” have nothing to do with the dead heroes). “Young Guard” was created under the leadership of the party underground headed by F.P. Lyutikov. After the occupation of Krasnodon (July 20, 1942), several anti-fascist groups arose in the city and its environs, led by Komsomol members I.V. Turkevich (commander), I.A. Zemnukhov, O.V. Koshevoy (commissioner), V.I. Levashov, S.G. Tyulenev, A.Z. Eliseenko, V.A. Zhdanov, N.S. Sumy, U.M. Gromova, L.G. Shevtsova, A.V. Popov, M.K. Petlivanov.

young guards

In total, more than 100 underground workers united in the underground organization, of which 20 were communists. Despite the harsh terror, the “Young Guard” created an extensive network of combat groups and cells throughout the Krasnodon region. The Young Guards issued 5,000 anti-fascist leaflets of 30 titles; released about 100 prisoners of war who were in a concentration camp; burned the labor exchange, where lists of people scheduled for export to Germany were stored, as a result of which 2000 Krasnodon residents were saved from being stolen into Nazi slavery, destroyed vehicles with soldiers, ammunition, fuel and food, prepared an uprising in order to defeat the German garrison and meet the advancing parts of the Red Army. But the betrayal of the provocateur G. Pochentsov interrupted this preparation. At the beginning of January 1943, the arrests of members of the “Young Guard” began. They courageously withstood all the tortures in the fascist dungeons. During January 15, 16, 31, the Nazis threw 71 people alive and dead into the pit of coal mine No. 5 with a depth of 53 m. On February 9, 1943, O.V. Koshevoy, L.G. Shevtsova, S.M. Ostapenko, D.U. Ogurtsov, V.F. Subbotin after brutal torture were shot in the Rattlesnake forest near the town of Rovenka. Only 11 underground workers managed to escape from the persecution of the gendarmerie. By decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of September 13, 1943, U.M. Gromova, M.A. Zemnukhov, O.V. Koshevoy, S, G. Tyulenev and L.G. Shevtsova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

monument to the Young Guard

The list of heroes of the partisan struggle and the partisan underground is endless, so on the night of June 30, 1943, the Komsomol underground member F. Krylovich blew up the railway at the Osipovichi station. fuel train. As a result of the explosion and the resulting fire, four military echelons were destroyed, including the train with the Tiger tanks. The invaders lost that night at st. Osipovichi 30 "Tigers".

monument to underground workers in Melitopol

The selfless and selfless activities of the partisans and underground workers received nationwide recognition and high appraisal from the CPSU and the Soviet government. Over 127,000 partisans were awarded the medal"Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st and 2nd degree. Over 184,000 partisans and underground fighters were awarded orders and medals of the Soviet Union, and 248 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War"

Druzhinin V.N. Chernihiv partisan unit. For making clarifications on this photo, I express my gratitude to a colleague sergiy_rode

Hero of the Soset Union, commander of the 123rd partisan brigade F.I. Pavlovsky

Slyusarev. Commander of the Lvov Partisan Detachment

Hero of the Soviet Union, Commissar of the Sumy partisan unit Semyon Vasilyevich Rudnev. Died in battle with the invaders near Delyatyn

Commander of the First Ukrainian Partisan Division named after Kovpak Hero of the Soviet Union Petr Vershigora

Commander of the 3rd Regiment of the Kovpakovskaya Division, Hero of the Soviet Union P.E. Braiko

F.F. Cabbage, commander of the Bialystok partisan unit

The commander of the partisan detachment Dunyaev

Petr Nikitovich Zyabkin. Partisan Detachment Commander

The commander of the partisan detachment "Elusive" Hero of the Soviet Union Lieutenant Colonel M.S. Prudnikov

The commander of the partisan fighter battalion V. Blukov. Pskov region

Chief of Staff of the Gomel partisan unit E.I. Barykin

The commander of the 2nd regiment of the 3rd Leningrad partisan brigade A.P. Pakhomov

Commissar of the partisan detachment S.A. Ivanov

Commissioner of the Chernihiv partisan unit V.N. Druzhinin

The commander of the partisan detachment named after Chkalov S.D. Penkin. Novgorod region 1941

Chief of Staff of the 1st Belarusian Separate Cossack Partisan Division I.A. Soloshenko. 1943

The commander of the Transcarpathian partisan detachment Lavrov V.I.

Alexander Eliseevich Krivets, commander of the partisan detachment named after Shchors

The commander of the Chernihiv partisan unit Taranushchenko N.M.

The commander of the partisan unit twice Hero of the Soviet Union A. F. Fedorov

The commander of the formation of the Chernigov partisans, Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Nikitich Popudrenko, January 1943.

The commander of the Chernihiv-Volyn partisan unit A.F. Fedorov with comrades. 1943

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

Command of the Chernihiv-Volyn partisan formation: S.V. Chintsov, A.F. Fedorov and L.E. Kizya

The commanders of the partisan detachment. Kirov

Heroes of the Soviet Union partisan commanders: Duka, Romashin, Emlyutin, Kovpak, Saburov on Red Square. 1942

Demyan Korotchenko, Alexey Fedorov, Semyon Rudnev, Timofey Strokach

Major General T.A. Strokach at dinner with the commanders of the Rivne partisan formations. 06.1943

Commanders of partisan formations: L.E. Kizya, V.A. Begma, A.F. Fedorov and T.A. Strokach

D. Korotchenko speaks at a meeting of the commanders of the Zhytomyr connection of partisan detachments under the command of S. Malikov. 1943

This is the last picture of the Hero of the Soviet Union N. N. Popudrenko (first from the left). Four hours later he died a heroic death

Commander of the Pinsk partisan brigade M.I. Gerasimov (2nd from right) and commissar of the brigade V.S. Kunkov (2nd from left)

1941 - 1945 - this is part of the Resistance movement, which was called upon to destroy the German security system (undermining provisions, ammunition, roads, etc.). As you know, the fascist invaders were very much afraid of this organization, so they treated its members very cruelly.

RSFSR

The main points of the tasks of the partisan movement were formulated in the directive of 1941. The necessary actions were described in more detail in Stalin's order of 1942.

The basis of the partisan detachments were ordinary residents, mainly of the occupied territories, that is, those who knew life under the fascist sight and power. Similar organizations began to appear from the first days of the war. Old people, women, men who for some reason were not taken to the front, and even children, pioneers, entered there.

The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 conducted sabotage activities, engaged in intelligence (even undercover), propaganda, provided combat assistance to the USSR army, and directly destroyed the enemy.

On the territory of the RSFSR, there were countless detachments, sabotage groups, formations (about 250 thousand people), each of which was of great benefit to achieve victory. Many names have forever remained in the annals of history.

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who became a symbol of heroism, was thrown into the German rear to set fire to the village of Petrishchevo, where the German regiment was located. Naturally, she was not alone, but, by coincidence, their group partially dispersed after setting fire to three houses. Zoya decided to go back there alone and finish what she started. But the inhabitants were already on their guard and Zoya was seized. She had to go through terrible torture and humiliation (including from her compatriots), but she did not give out a single name. The Nazis hanged the girl, but even during the execution she did not lose her courage and called on the Soviet people to resist the German invaders. She was the first woman to be posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Byelorussian SSR

On the territory of Belarus lasted from 1941 to 1944. During this time, many strategic tasks were solved, the main of which was the decommissioning of the German echelons and the railway tracks themselves, along which they moved.

The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 provided invaluable assistance in the fight against the invaders. 87 of them received the highest military award of the Soviet Union. Among them was Marat Kazei, a sixteen-year-old boy whose mother was executed by the Germans. He came to the partisan detachment to defend his right to freedom and a happy life. Along with adults, he performed tasks.

Before the victory, Marat did not live exactly a year. He died in May 1944. Each death in the war is tragic in itself, but when a child dies, it becomes a thousand times more painful.

Marat, together with his commander, returned to headquarters. By chance they met the Germans-punishers. The commander was killed immediately, the boy could only be wounded. Shooting back, he hid in the forest, but the Germans pursued him. Until the bullets ran out, Marat left the chase. And then he made an important decision for himself. The boy had two grenades. He immediately threw one at a group of Germans, and held the second firmly in his hand until he was surrounded. Then he blew it up, taking German soldiers with him to the next world.

Ukrainian SSR

Partisans during the Great Patriotic War on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR united in 53 formations, 2145 detachments and 1807 groups, with a total number of about 220 thousand people.

Among the main command of the partisan movement in Ukraine, one can single out K. I. Pogorelov, M. I. Karnaukhov, S. A. Kovpak, S. V. Rudnev, A. F. Fedorov and others.

Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak, on the orders of Stalin, was engaged in propaganda in Right-Bank Ukraine, which was practically inactive. It was for the Carpathian raid that he was awarded one of the awards.

Mikhail Karnaukhov led the movement in the Donbass. Subordinates and local residents nicknamed him "dad" for warm human relations. Batya was killed by the Germans in 1943. Secretly, the inhabitants of the local occupied villages gathered at night to bury the commander and pay him due honors.

Heroes-partisans of the Great Patriotic War were later reburied. Karnaukhov rests in Slavyansk, where his remains were transferred in 1944, when the territories were liberated from the German invaders.

During the operation of the Karnaukhov detachment, 1304 fascists were destroyed (out of 12 were officers).

Estonian SSR

Already in July 1941, an order was given to form a partisan detachment on the territory of Estonia. His command included B. G. Kumm, N. G. Karotamm, J. H. Lauristin.

The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 faced an almost insurmountable obstacle in Estonia. A large number of local residents were friendly towards the occupying Germans and even rejoiced at such a combination of circumstances.

That is why underground organizations and sabotage groups had great power in this territory, which had to think through their moves even more carefully, since betrayal could be expected from anywhere.

They were Leen Kulman (shot by the Germans in 1943 as a Soviet intelligence officer) and Vladimir Fedorov.

Latvian SSR

Until 1942, partisan activities in Latvia did not go well. This was due to the fact that most of the activists and party leaders were killed at the very beginning of the war, people were poorly prepared both physically and financially. Thanks to the denunciations of local residents, not a single underground organization was destroyed by the Nazis. Some partisan heroes of the Great Patriotic War died nameless, so as not to betray and compromise their comrades.

After 1942, the movement intensified, people began to come to the detachments with a desire to help and free themselves, since the German occupiers sent hundreds of Estonians to Germany for the hardest work.

Among the leaders of the Estonian partisan movement was Arthur Sprogis, who trained Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. It is also mentioned in Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Lithuanian SSR

On Lithuanian territory, partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 carried out hundreds of acts of sabotage, as a result of which almost 10,000 Germans were killed.

With a total number of partisans in 9187 people (only named by name), seven are Heroes of the Soviet Union:

Yu. Yu. Alexonis. Underground radio operator, died in an unequal battle, surrounded by the Germans, in 1944.
S. P. Apivala. He personally destroyed seven echelons with enemy ammunition.
G. I. Boris. The commander of a special sabotage group, died at the hands of the Gestapo, after being captured in 1944.
A. M. Cheponis. A radio operator who died in 1944 in a single battle against a German unit. Killed 20 fascists.
M. I. Melnikayte. She was captured, spent a whole week in torture, without saying a word to the Nazis, but she was able to slap one of the Wehrmacht officers in the face. Shot in 1943.
B. V. Urbanavichus. He led a subversive group of partisans.
Yu. T. Vitas. Head of the partisan underground in Lithuania. He was captured and shot by the Nazis, after a denunciation of a traitor in 1943.

Heroes-partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 fought in Lithuania not only against the fascist invaders, but also against the Lithuanian liberation army, which did not exterminate the Germans, but sought to destroy the Soviet and Polish soldiers.

Moldavian SSR

During the four years of the operation of partisan detachments on the territory of Moldova, about 27 thousand fascists and their accomplices were destroyed. On their account, they also destroyed a huge amount of military equipment, ammunition, kilometers of communication lines. Heroes-partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945 were engaged in the release of leaflets and information reports in order to maintain good spirits and faith in victory among the population.

Two - Heroes of the Soviet Union - V. I. Timoshchuk (commander of the First Moldavian formation) and N. M. Frolov (14 German echelons were blown up under his leadership).

Jewish resistance

70 purely Jewish liberation detachments operated on the territory of the USSR. Their goal was to save the remaining Jewish population.

Unfortunately, the Jewish detachments had to deal with anti-Semitic sentiments even among the Soviet partisans. Most of them did not want to provide any support to these people and the Jewish youth were reluctant to take them into their units.

Most of the Jews were refugees from the ghetto. Often there were children among them.

The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 did a great job, provided invaluable assistance to the Red Army in the liberation of the territories and the victory over the German fascists.