Partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War. Six heroes of the Soviet partisan movement Thanks to the actions of the Soviet partisans, the Nazis are forced to
The Day of Partisans and Underground Workers appeared in the calendar of memorable dates relatively recently. This year, the partisans and underground workers who defended the Fatherland during the Great Patriotic War will be remembered separately only for the fourth time*.
* In accordance with the changes made by the President of the Russian Federation to Article 11 of the Federal Law "On the Days of Military Glory and Commemorative Dates of Russia" on April 11, 2009, the Day of Partisans and Underground Workers was included in the list of memorable dates and received official status.
Partisans and underground fighters of the Second World War are remembered on June 29 because it was on this day of the tragic 1941 that the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks issued a Directive addressed to party and Soviet organizations operating in the front-line regions of the country about the need to create an organized partisan resistance. The directive prescribed: "create partisan detachments and sabotage groups to fight against parts of the enemy army in the areas occupied by him ..., create unbearable conditions for the enemy and all his accomplices, pursue them at every turn and destroy, disrupt any of their activities.
The contribution of detachments of partisans - “fighters of the invisible front”, operating underground, literally under the nose of a cunning and bloodthirsty enemy, to the Victory won by our people cannot be overestimated. Thanks to the selfless actions of the Soviet partisans, the Nazis literally burned the ground under their feet. From the very beginning of the war against our country, the invader, unpunished and insolent from his European successes, could not feel safe day or night. Neither in the forest, nor in the field, nor in the occupied major city, nor in a small village in the rear - everywhere the complacent calm of the Nazis was violated by the noble revenge of the Soviet partisans, inspiring them with fear and awe before the unbending Russian spirit. The colossal material damage inflicted on the enemy by the actions of Soviet partisans, coupled with the strongest moral pressure exerted on the rear of the enemy, brought the day of the Great Victory closer.
All of Belarus, Bryansk, Smolensk and Orel, many regions of Ukraine, Crimea and the southern regions of the RSFSR were covered by a well-organized partisan struggle. Grateful descendants will forever remember the names of twice heroes Soviet Union leaders of the partisan movement Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak and Alexei Fedorovich Fedorov, hundreds of heroes who died in battle and were torn to pieces in Nazi dungeons, thousands of brothers, sons, husbands and fathers who laid down their lives for the Fatherland and for their friends in the forests and swamps of Belarus, in the Kuban estuaries, Donetsk steppes and on the hills of the Crimea.
Eternal memory to the fallen partisan heroes! Good health and good spirits to the living participants in the heroic struggle!
War knows no half measures. Any people whose freedom is encroached upon will take revenge on their invaders for the atrocities of the enemy. And this revenge will be cruel. Blood for blood is the motto guerrilla war. The constant raids carried out by the Nazis forced the partisans to constantly change their places of deployment, and it was not possible to take prisoners with them.
Those taken prisoner could escape and hand over the detachment to the Germans. It was also problematic for them to organize security, because each fighter was important for conducting a battle or raids. Partisans must be mobile and move quickly and silently, and prisoners, especially the wounded, created a serious obstacle to this.
The writer N. Sheremet, in his memorandum to Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine, wrote in 1943: “The partisans destroy the Germans to one on the spot. Some of the other nationalities are killed, and some are set free to tell the truth about the partisans. The partisans forgive the policemen who come over to our side with weapons in their hands and give them the opportunity to wash off the stain in a fair fight. A significant part of the defectors have shown themselves to be exemplary partisans and already have awards.
Who were the partisans?
Conventionally, partisans can be divided into organized and spontaneous. The detachments of the former consisted of party and Komsomol members who deliberately went underground. They also include soldiers, officers, whose tasks included conducting sabotage and reconnaissance work, preparing for the offensive of the army. Strict discipline reigned here, subordination was observed and the attitude towards the prisoners was relatively humane.
Wild partisan detachments consisted of those who fled from the Nazis from the plundered villages and villages. Such formations included a small number of people. Their goal was survival at all costs. It was in such detachments that a particularly cruel attitude towards prisoners was observed.
The same memorandum from Sheremet says: “The policemen, elders, burgomasters who resist, the partisans, before being shot, will be well ‘taught’. Fedorov's partisans were especially cruel. I witnessed how the policemen were beaten to the point of blood, cut with knives, set fire to the hair on the head, tied by the legs and dragged through the forest on a lasso, scalded with hot tea, cut the genitals. In Kovpak’s detachments, they don’t torture enemies like Fedorov’s - once or twice some partisan will punch a policeman in the face, let a yushka out of his nose, and then shoot him. ” [S-BLOCK]
The partisans motivated their special cruelty by revenge for the murdered relatives and acquaintances. They believed that execution was not a light enough punishment for those who dared to betray their people. This feeling of hatred and desire for revenge is fully justified if you know what the Germans and those who voluntarily went over to the service of the Nazis were doing in the occupied territories.
A typical example of ill-treatment of prisoners is the case that occurred in the village of Kurilovo. The guerrillas entered it when the police were on a mission. The Nazis, having returned, learned that the village had been visited " folk avengers' and immediately set off in pursuit. The partisans could not be taken by surprise. A well-organized ambush allowed them to win and capture some of the policemen. The guerrillas forced them to run around the mined field until the last of them died, blown up by a mine.
Often there were cases when even in organized partisan detachments reigned cruel treatment with prisoners. In the diary of G. Balitsky, commander of the partisan detachment. Stalin, it is written: “At the headquarters of the formation, he“ baptized ”one spy, who was brought in early in the morning. After my “baptism”, the escaped partisans destroyed this bastard with sticks, beaten, pushed, batons and even poured boiling water over me. Before dinner with the commissar, I went to the Melnik compound in order to get two pairs of soles for boots. He took out the sole, but at that time they brought the burgomaster (a faithful servant of the Germans). In the evening he was brought to the headquarters of the formation, here he was finished by a partisan hand. They beat this bastard with whatever they could, besides pouring boiling water over it.”
To be disrespectful
In his book Forest Soldiers, historian Vladimir Spiridonenkov talks about the use of prisoners by partisans to intimidate residents. A typical example of such a method is a case that occurred in one of the villages of the Dolgoselchansky village council. Here the partisans captured a group of Nazis and their henchmen. The prisoners were shot, but not limited to this.
On the sleigh, which was taken as a trophy, gallows were installed, on which the corpses were hung. The reproductive organs of the dead were cut off and tied to the muzzles of horses. The animals were smeared with mustard under their tails. The horses, mad with pain, galloped through the entire village of Idritsa. After this act of intimidation among local residents no longer observed willing to go to the service of the Nazis. Moreover, many began to ask to be accepted as volunteers in a partisan detachment.
The same book mentions a case when in the village of Glusha partisans captured 23 policemen - an entire barracks. It turned out to be too dangerous to lead the convoy into the forest - fascist planes came out on its trail and began to drop bombs. Then the partisans informed the Germans that they would only take half of them with them, and locked them all in a shed where there were logs. The policemen began to kill each other, and the partisans themselves finished off the survivors. Such incidents forced those who considered defecting to reconsider their decision. And thanks to this cruelty, many other lives were saved.
As inhumane as these incidents may seem, they were caused by the harsh realities of war and cannot be compared to the atrocities of the Nazis.
Good day to all the regulars of the site! On the line is the main regular Andrey Puchkov 🙂 (just kidding). Today we will reveal a new extremely useful topic to prepare for the exam in history: let's talk about the partisan movement during the Great patriotic war. At the end of the article you will find a test on this topic.
What is a partisan movement and how was it formed in the USSR?
Partisan movement- kind of action military formations behind enemy lines to strike at enemy communications, infrastructure facilities and enemy rear formations to disorganize enemy military formations.
In the Soviet Union in the 1920s, the partisan movement began to form on the basis of the concept of waging war on its own territory. Therefore, shelters and secret strongholds were created in the border strips for the deployment of a partisan movement in them in the future.
In the 1930s, this strategy was revised. According to the position of I.V. Stalin, the Soviet army will conduct military operations in a future war on enemy territory with little bloodshed. Therefore, the creation of secret support partisan bases was suspended.
Only in July 1941, when the enemy was advancing rapidly and the battle of Smolensk was in full swing, did the Central Committee of the Party (VKP (b)) issue detailed instructions creation of a partisan movement for local party organizations in the already occupied territory. In fact, at first, the partisan movement consisted of local residents and parts of the Soviet army that had escaped from the “cauldrons”.
In parallel with this, the NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs) began to form extermination battalions. These battalions were supposed to cover parts of the Red Army during the retreat, disrupt the attacks of saboteurs and military parachute forces of the enemy. Also, these battalions joined the partisan movement in the occupied territories.
In July 1941, the NKVD also organized a Special motorized rifle brigade special purpose (OMBSON). These brigades were recruited from first-class military personnel with excellent physical training able to conduct effective fighting in enemy territory in the most difficult conditions with a minimum amount of food and ammunition.
However, initially the OMBSON brigades were supposed to defend the capital.
Stages of formation of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War
- June 1941 - May 1942 - the spontaneous formation of the partisan movement. Mostly in the territories of Ukraine and Belarus occupied by the enemy.
- May 1942-July-August 1943 - from the creation of the Main Headquarters of the partisan movement in Moscow on May 30, 1942 to the systematic large-scale operations of Soviet partisans.
- September 1943-July 1944 - the final stage of the partisan movement, when the main parts of the partisans merge with the advancing the Soviet army. On July 17, 1944, partisan units parade through the liberated Minsk. Partisan units formed from local residents begin to demobilize, and their fighters are drafted into the Red Army.
Functions of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War
- Collection of intelligence data on the deployment of Nazi military formations, on the ones at their disposal military equipment and military contingent, etc.
- Perform sabotage: disrupt the transfer of enemy units, kill the most important commanders and officers, cause irreparable damage to enemy infrastructure, etc.
- Form new partisan detachments.
- Work with the local population in the occupied territories: to convince the Red Army to help, to convince that the Red Army will soon liberate their territories from the Nazi occupiers, etc.
- Disorganize the enemy's economy by buying goods with counterfeit German money.
The main figures and heroes of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War
Despite the fact that there were extremely many partisan detachments and each had its own commander, we will list only those that can be found in USE tests. Meanwhile, the rest of the commanders deserve no less attention.
People's memory, because they gave their lives for our relatively serene life.
Dmitry Nikolaevich Medvedev (1898 - 1954)
He was one of the key figures in the formation of the Soviet partisan movement during the war years. Before the war, he served in the Kharkov branch of the NKVD. In 1937, he was fired for keeping in touch with his older brother, who had become an enemy of the people. Miraculously escaped execution. When the war began, the NKVD remembered this man and sent him near Smolensk to form a partisan movement. The group of partisans led by Medvedev was called "Mitya". Subsequently, the detachment was renamed the "Winners". From 1942 to 1944, Medvedev's detachment carried out about 120 operations.
Dmitry Nikolayevich himself was an extremely charismatic and ambitious commander. The discipline in his detachment was the highest. The requirements for the fighters exceeded the requirements of the NKVD. So at the beginning of 1942, the NKVD sent 480 volunteers from the OMBSON units to the “Winners” detachment. And only 80 of them passed the selection.
One of these operations was the elimination of the Reichskommissar of Ukraine, Erich Koch. Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov arrived from Moscow to complete the assignment. However, a little later it became clear that it was impossible to liquidate the Reichskommissar. Therefore, the task was revised in Moscow: it was instructed to destroy the head of the Reichskommissariat, Paul Dargel. This was done only on the second attempt.
Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov himself carried out numerous operations and died on March 9, 1944 in a shootout with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). Nikolai Kuznetsov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak (1887 - 1967)
Sidor Artemyevich went through several wars. Participated in the Brusilov breakthrough in 1916. Prior to that, he lived in Putivl and was an active political figure. At the time of the outbreak of the war, Sidor Kovpak was already 55 years old. In the very first clashes, Kovpak's partisans managed to capture 3 German tanks. Kovpak's partisans lived in the Spadshchansky Forest. On December 1, the Nazis launched an attack on this forest with the support of artillery and aircraft. However, all enemy attacks were repulsed. In this battle, the Nazis lost 200 soldiers.
In the spring of 1942, Sidor Kovpak was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, as well as a personal audience with Stalin.
However, there were also failures.
So in 1943, the operation "Carpathian raid" ended with the loss of about 400 partisans.
In January 1944, Kovpak was awarded the second title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1944
The reorganized troops of S. Kovpak were renamed the 1st Ukrainian partisan division named after
twice Hero of the Soviet Union S.A. Kovpak
Later we will post the biographies of several more legendary commanders of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War. So that subscribe to new articles site.
Despite the fact that numerous operations were carried out by Soviet partisans during the war years, only the two largest of them appear in the tests.
Operation Rail War. The order to start this operation was given on June 14, 1943. It was supposed to paralyze railway traffic on enemy territory during the Kursk offensive operation. To do this, the partisans were transferred significant ammunition. About 100 thousand partisans were involved in the participation. As a result, movement on enemy railways decreased by 30-40%.
Operation "Concert" was carried out from September 19 to November 1, 1943 on the territory of occupied Karelia, Belarus, Leningrad region, Kalinin region, Latvia, Estonia and Crimea.
The goal was the same: the destruction of enemy cargo and the blocking of railway transport.
I think from all of the above, the role of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War becomes clear. It has become an integral part of the conduct of military operations by units of the Red Army. The partisans performed their functions admirably. Meanwhile, in real life, there were a lot of difficulties: from how Moscow could determine which detachments were partisan and which were pseudo-partisan, to how to transfer weapons and ammunition to enemy territory.
I have never thought about it before, but I involuntarily have to think about it.
On June 29, 1941, the Directive of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks was issued to the party and Soviet organizations of the front-line regions, which indicated the need to create partisan detachments: “in areas occupied by the enemy, create partisan detachments and sabotage groups to fight against parts of the enemy army ..., create unbearable conditions for the enemy and all his accomplices, pursue and destroy them at every step, disrupt all their activities.
The contribution of detachments of partisans - “fighters of the invisible front”, operating underground literally under the nose of a cunning and bloodthirsty enemy, to the Victory won by our people cannot be overestimated. Thanks to the selfless actions of the Soviet partisans, the Nazis literally burned the ground under their feet. From the very beginning of the war against our country, the invader, unpunished and insolent from his European successes, could not feel safe day or night. Neither in the forest, nor in the field, nor in the occupied large city, nor in a small village in the rear - everywhere the complacent calm of the Nazis was violated by the noble revenge of the Soviet partisans. The colossal material damage inflicted on the enemy by the actions of Soviet partisans, coupled with the strongest moral pressure exerted on the rear of the enemy, brought the day of the Great Victory closer.
All of Belarus, Bryansk, Smolensk and Orel, many regions of Ukraine, Crimea and the southern regions of the RSFSR were covered by a well-organized partisan struggle. Grateful descendants will forever remember the names of the twice heroes of the Soviet Union, leaders of the partisan movement Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak and Alexei Fedorovich Fedorov, hundreds of heroes who died in battle and were torn to pieces in fascist dungeons, thousands of brothers, sons, husbands and fathers who laid down their lives for the Fatherland in forests and swamps Belarus, in the Kuban estuaries, the Donetsk steppes and on the hills of the Crimea.
As is known from historical documents, the actions of the partisans and the work of the underground played great value in the successful outcome of the Great Patriotic War. In total, more than one million partisans operated behind enemy lines - men, women, teenagers. Probably the most famous name was the name of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who was brutally executed by the Nazis in the first year of the war. More than a million fascists were destroyed, wounded and captured by partisans and their accomplices, more than four thousand tanks and armored vehicles, 65 thousand vehicles, 1100 enemy aircraft were destroyed. In mass operations, 1,600 railway bridges were destroyed and damaged, and more than 20,000 railway echelons of the Nazi troops were derailed.
At present, many documents telling about the true feat of partisans and underground fighters during the war years are still kept in state archives under the heading "Top Secret". Perhaps the introduction of this "military" memorable date will serve as a pretext for research and the discovery of unknown pages of partisan glory. And there is no doubt that the establishment of the Day of Partisans and Underground Workers will be a tribute to the deep respect for the lives and feats of people, thanks to whom the Motherland was liberated in 1945.
Eternal memory to the fallen partisan heroes! Good health and good spirits to the living participants in the heroic struggle!
HOLIDAY!!!