Thanks to the actions of the Soviet partisans. Six heroes of the Soviet partisan movement

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 major city, not 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 strong 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 in the forests and swamps of Belarus, in the Kuban estuaries, the Donetsk steppes and on hills of Crimea.

As known from historical documents, the actions of the partisans and the work of the underground played a huge role in the successful outcome of the Great Patriotic War.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, 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 stored in state archives labeled "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 deeds 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!!!

The Soviet army suffered huge losses during the Great Patriotic War. And it's scary to imagine how many more people would have died without the help of the partisans, many of whom risked not only themselves, but also the lives of their loved ones for the sake of victory in a bloody war.

According to some estimates, from 1941 to 1944, about 6.2 thousand partisan detachments operated behind enemy lines, the number of which exceeded 1 million people. During the war years, they inflicted serious damage on the enemy: 20,000 train wrecks, 2,500 destroyed locomotives, 42,000 blown up cars, 12,000 bridges, 6,000 tanks and armored vehicles withdrawn and built, 1,100 blown up aircraft and about 600 thousand destroyed soldiers and officers.

On the Day of Partisans and Underground Workers, we decided to recall the names of people who influenced the outcome of the Great Patriotic War.

"Red October"

Tikhon Pimenovich Bumazhkov

Tikhon Pimenovich Bumazhkov is considered the organizer of one of the first partisan detachments. In June 1941, a meeting was convened in the Oktyabrsky District Committee of the Byelorussian SSR, at which Bumazhkov announced the German attack and called on citizens to join forces to repel the enemy. At the same time, a "destruction squad" was formed, called "Red October".

Bumazhkov's memoirs indicate that the group initially consisted of 80 fighters. Having broken up into platoons, they began military training: they learned camouflage and the use of weapons, acquired the “necessary sapper knowledge”, stocked up on bottles of fuel to destroy tanks, mined bridges and dug trenches.

Interacting with the Red Army, they struck at the rear of the enemy. One of the most memorable operations was the battle of Bobruisk. The goal of "Red October" was the enemy headquarters, located in the village of Ozemlya. The plan was as follows: to open fire from the armored train and at the same time block all roads from the village so that the enemy could not flee. The operation was successful. The partisans captured prisoners, two radio stations, important documents, and about a hundred pieces of equipment. Unfortunately, Bumazhkov died a few months after this operation. He died in November 1941, breaking out of the encirclement near the village of Orzhitsa.

Kovpakovtsy

Sidor Artemievich Kovpak

There is hardly a commander of a partisan detachment whom the Germans feared in the same way as Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak. The courage of the military was noted during the First World War. For participation in the Brusilov breakthrough, Emperor Nicholas II awarded him two St. George crosses. Nevertheless, in 1917 Kovpak chose the other side and joined the Red Army.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Kovpak led the Putivl partisan detachment, which inspired fear in the ranks of the enemy. One of the first clashes with the Germans took place in the Spadshchansky Forest. After the loss of three tanks, which Kovpak's group captured, almost 3 thousand German soldiers, supported by artillery, went on the offensive. The battle lasted a day, but the Soviet partisans, despite the superior forces of the enemy, repelled all attacks. The Germans retreated, leaving Kovpak with weapons and machine guns as trophies.

Most famous hike Kovpakists took place in June 1943. The Carpathian raid took place in difficult conditions: the detachment, being behind enemy lines, was forced to move across open areas without cover and support. During the raid, the partisans traveled about 2,000 km. Almost 4,000 Germans were wounded or killed, and 19 echelons, over 50 bridges and warehouses were blown up. The campaign of the Kovpakovites greatly helped the troops fighting on the Kursk Bulge. Thanks to the partisan operation, the Germans lost the supply of equipment and troops, which provided our troops with an advantage in the battle.

During the Carpathian raid, Kovpak was wounded in the leg. The Soviet authorities decided not to risk the health of the commander, and he no longer participated in hostilities. For his service, he received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and became one of two partisans to receive this award twice.

"Kovel knot"

Alexey Fedorovich Fedorov

The second commander of the partisan detachment, twice awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, was Alexei Fedorov. By March 1942, his group had 16 battles, during which about a thousand Germans were destroyed, several dozen bridges, five echelons, five warehouses were blown up and two factories were captured. Thanks to these merits, in May of the same year, Fedorov was awarded the first title of Hero of the USSR, and at the beginning of 1943, under his leadership, there were already 12 partisan detachments, the number of which was over 5 thousand people.

One of the most important partisan operations during the war was the Kovel Knot mission. For eight months, Fedorov's detachment managed to destroy 549 enemy echelons with ammunition, fuel, equipment on the lines of the Kovel railway junction and thus deprive the enemy of reinforcements.

In 1994, Fedorov was awarded the title of Hero of the USSR for the second time. In total, he participated in 158 battles, destroyed over 650 echelons, eight armored trains, 60 fuel and ammunition depots.

Underage guerrilla

Monument to Leonid Golikov

At the start of the war, Leonid Golikov was only 15 years old. A thin boy, who many did not give even 14 years old, walked around the villages, collected information about the location of the Germans and passed it on to the partisans. A year later, he himself joined the detachment. In total, Golikov participated in 27 combat operations, destroyed 78 Germans, 12 highway bridges and blew up nine vehicles with ammunition.

The most famous feat of Golikov was accomplished on August 13, 1942. Together with other partisans, he blew up the car in which the German Major General Richard Wirtz was sitting. The documents found in the car were handed over to the Soviet headquarters: they contained diagrams of minefields, Wirtz's reports and other important papers.

However, Golikov did not live to see the end of the war. In January 1943, the detachment, in which the young man was, was hiding from the German troops. They found shelter in the village of Ostraya Luka, located not far from the German garrison. Not wanting to attract attention, the partisans did not post sentries. But among the inhabitants there was a traitor who revealed to the enemy the location of the detachment. Some of the soldiers managed to escape from the encirclement, but Golikov was not among them.

Diversion in the cinema

Photo: Wikipedia.org/Ostrogolovy archive

Konstantin Alexandrovich Chekhovich

Konstantin Chekhovich became the author of one of the largest acts of sabotage carried out during the war. In August 1941, he, along with four comrades, went behind enemy lines. However, the operation failed: four were killed, and Chekhovich was captured. Nevertheless, he managed to escape and contact the Soviet command, which instructed him to infiltrate the Germans in the occupied city of Porkhov.

There he met his future wife, who bore him a son. First, Chekhovich was engaged in repairing watches, then got a job as an electrician at a local power plant, and later received a position as an administrator at a local cinema. The famous sabotage occurred in November 1943 during a screening of the film "Circus Artists". On that day, the cinema was visited by 700 Germans, among whom were two generals. None of them suspected that the supporting columns and the roof of the building were mined. Few survived the explosion. For this operation, Chekhovich was presented to the title of Hero of the USSR.

The tragedy of Old Man Minai

Minai Filippovich Shmyrev

In July 1941, Minai Filippovich Shmyrev, who at that time headed the Pudot cardboard factory, formed a partisan detachment from the workers. In a few months, they engaged the enemy 27 times and inflicted significant damage on the enemy troops. But the main exploits followed a year later, when Shmyrev, known by the nickname Old Man Minai, together with the partisans, drove the Germans out of 15 villages. Around the same time, under his command, the so-called Surazh Gates were created, which was a 40-kilometer zone through which weapons and food passed.

In February 1942, Shmyrev experienced a personal tragedy. The Germans captured the commander's sister, mother-in-law (his wife died before the war) and four young children, promising to keep them alive if he surrendered. Shmyrev was in despair: the settlement where his relatives were kept was fortified, so he could not go on the assault. And even if he decided to take such a step, there was a great risk that his relatives would still be executed.

The captives did not hope that the invaders would keep their word, so they prepared for the worst. Shmyrev's eldest daughter wrote a note and, with the help of a security guard, gave it to her father. “Dad, worry about us, don’t listen to anyone, don’t go to the Germans. If you are killed, then we are powerless and we will not avenge you. And if they kill us, dad, then you will avenge us, ”the 14-year-old girl wrote.

Shmyrev failed to save his loved ones - the Germans fulfilled their threat.

RELATED MORE

The partisan movement has repeatedly proved its effectiveness during wars. The Germans were afraid of the Soviet partisans. "People's avengers" destroyed communications, blew up bridges, took "languages" and even made weapons themselves.

History of the concept

Partizan is a word that came into Russian from Italian, in which the word partigiano denotes a member of an irregular military detachment, enjoying the support of the population and politicians. Partisans fight with the help of specific means: warfare behind enemy lines, sabotage or sabotage. A distinctive feature of guerrilla tactics is covert movement through enemy territory and a good knowledge of the terrain. In Russia and the USSR, such tactics have been practiced for centuries. Suffice it to recall the war of 1812.

In the 1930s, in the USSR, the word "partisan" acquired a positive connotation - only partisans who supported the Red Army were called that. Since then, in Russia this word has been exclusively positive and is almost never used in relation to enemy partisan groups - they are called terrorists or illegal military formations.

Soviet partisans

Soviet partisans during the Great Patriotic War were controlled by the authorities and performed tasks similar to those of the army. But if the army fought at the front, then the partisans had to destroy enemy lines of communication and means of communication.

During the war years, 6,200 partisan detachments worked in the occupied lands of the USSR, in which about a million people took part. They were controlled by the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement, developing coordinated tactics for scattered partisan associations and directing them towards common goals.

In 1942, Marshal of the USSR Kliment Voroshilov was appointed to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the partisan movement, and they were asked to create a partisan army behind enemy lines - the German troops. Despite the fact that the guerrillas are often thought of as randomly organized units of the local population, the "people's avengers" behaved in accordance with the rules of strict military discipline and took the oath like real soldiers - otherwise they would not have survived in the brutal conditions of war.

Life of partisans

The worst of all for the Soviet partisans, who were forced to hide in the forests and mountains, was in winter. Before that, not a single partisan movement in the world had faced the problem of cold - in addition to the difficulties of survival, the problem of camouflage was added. In the snow, the partisans left traces, and the vegetation no longer hid their shelters. Winter dwellings often harmed the mobility of partisans: in the Crimea, they built mostly ground dwellings like wigwams. In other areas, dugouts predominated.

Many partisan headquarters had a radio station, through which he contacted Moscow and transmitted news to the local population in the occupied territories. With the help of radio, the command ordered the partisans, and they, in turn, coordinated air strikes and provided intelligence information. [S-BLOCK]

There were also women among the partisans - if for the Germans, who thought of a woman only in the kitchen, this was unacceptable, then the Soviets in every possible way agitated the weaker sex to participate in the partisan war. Female scouts did not fall under the suspicion of enemies, female doctors and radio operators helped with sabotage, and some brave women even took part in hostilities. It is also known about officer privileges - if there was a woman in the detachment, she often became the "camping wife" of the commanders. Sometimes everything happened the other way around and wives instead of husbands commanded and intervened in military matters - the higher authorities tried to stop such a mess.

Guerrilla tactics

The basis of the tactics of the "long arm" (as the Soviet leadership called the partisans) was the implementation of reconnaissance and sabotage - they destroyed the railways through which the Germans delivered trains with weapons and products, broke high-voltage lines, poisoned water pipes or wells behind enemy lines.

Thanks to these actions, it was possible to disorganize the rear of the enemy and demoralize him. The great advantage of the partisans was also that all of the above did not require large human resources: sometimes even a small detachment could implement subversive plans, and sometimes one person. When the Red Army advanced, the partisans struck from the rear, breaking through the defenses, and unexpectedly thwarted the enemy's regrouping or retreat. Prior to this, the forces of the partisan detachments were hiding in the forests, mountains and swamps - in the steppe regions, the activities of the partisans were ineffective.

The guerrilla war was especially successful in Belarus - forests and swamps hid the "second front" and contributed to their success. Therefore, the exploits of the partisans are still remembered in Belarus: it is worth remembering at least the name of the Minsk football club of the same name. With the help of propaganda in the occupied territories, the "people's avengers" could replenish the fighting ranks. However, partisan detachments were recruited unevenly - part of the population in the occupied territories kept their nose to the wind and waited, while other people familiar with the terror of the German occupiers were more willing to join the partisans

rail war

The "Second Front", as the German invaders called the partisans, played a huge role in the destruction of the enemy. In Belarus in 1943 there was a decree “On the destruction of the enemy’s railway communications by the method of rail warfare” - the partisans were supposed to wage the so-called rail war, undermining trains, bridges and spoiling enemy tracks in every possible way.

During the operations "Rail War" and "Concert" in Belarus, the movement of trains was stopped for 15-30 days, and the army and equipment of the enemy were also destroyed. Undermining enemy formations even in the face of a shortage of explosives, the partisans destroyed more than 70 bridges and killed 30,000 German fighters. On the first night of Operation Rail War alone, 42,000 rails were destroyed. It is believed that over the entire period of the war, the partisans destroyed about 18 thousand enemy units, which is a truly colossal figure.

In many ways, these achievements became a reality thanks to the invention of the partisan craftsman T. E. Shavgulidze - in field conditions, he built a special wedge that derailed trains: the train ran into a wedge, which was attached to the tracks in a few minutes, then the wheel was rearranged from the inside to the outside rail, and the train was completely destroyed, which did not happen even after the explosions of mines.

Guerrilla gunsmiths

The guerrilla brigades were mainly armed with light machine guns, machine guns and carbines. However, there were detachments with mortars or artillery. The partisans were armed with Soviets and often captured weapons, but this was not enough in the conditions of war behind enemy lines.

The partisans launched a large-scale production of handicraft weapons and even tanks. Local workers created special secret workshops - with primitive equipment and a small set of tools, however, amateur engineers and technicians managed to create excellent examples of parts for weapons from scrap metal and improvised parts. [S-BLOCK]

In addition to repair, the partisans were also engaged in design work: “A large number of improvised mines, machine guns and partisan grenades have an original solution for both the entire structure as a whole and its individual components. Not limited to inventions of a “local” nature, the partisans sent a large number of inventions and rationalization proposals to the mainland.

The most popular handicraft weapons were homemade PPSh submachine guns - the first of them was made in the Razgrom partisan brigade near Minsk in 1942. The partisans also made "surprises" with explosives and unexpected varieties of mines with a special detonator, the secret of which was known only to their own. "People's Avengers" easily repaired even undermined German tanks and even organized artillery battalions from repaired mortars. Partisan engineers even made grenade launchers.

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

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

It was a truly nationwide movement, generated by the just nature of the war, the desire to protect the honor and independence of the Motherland. That is why the partisan movement in the areas occupied by the enemy was given such an important place in the program of combating the Nazi invaders. The Party called on the Soviet people who remained behind enemy lines to create partisan detachments and sabotage groups, to kindle a partisan war everywhere and everywhere, to blow up bridges, to spoil the enemy’s telegraph and telephone communications, to set fire to warehouses, to create unbearable conditions for the enemy and all his accomplices, to pursue and destroy them on every step, disrupt all their activities.

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

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

Group portrait of the fighters of the partisan detachment "Zvezda"
It is characteristic that the idea of ​​organizing a partisan and underground movement in the territory occupied by the enemy appeared only after the start of the Great Patriotic War and the first defeats of the Red Army. This is explained by the fact that in the 1920s and early 1930s, the Soviet military leadership quite reasonably believed that in the event of an enemy invasion it was really necessary to launch a guerrilla war behind enemy lines, and for this purpose they were already training the organizers of the guerrilla movement, certain means for guerrilla warfare. However, during the mass repressions of the second half of the 1930s, such precaution began to be seen as a manifestation of defeatism, and almost all those who were engaged in this work were repressed. If we follow the then concept of defense, which consisted in defeating the enemy "with little blood and on its territory", the systematic training of the organizers of the partisan movement, according to Stalin and his entourage, could morally disarm the Soviet people, sow defeatist moods. It is impossible in this situation to exclude Stalin's painful suspicion of the potentially well-organized structure of the underground apparatus of resistance, which, as he believed, the "oppositionists" could use for their own purposes.

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

Detachment S. Kovpak

The partisan movement has been and remains one of the most effective and universal forms of revolutionary struggle. It allows small forces to successfully fight against an enemy outnumbered and outgunned. The partisan detachments are the springboard, the organizing nucleus for the strengthening and development of the revolutionary forces. For these reasons, the historical experience of the partisan movement of the 20th century seems to us to be extremely important, and considering it, one cannot help but touch on the legendary name of Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak, the founder of the practice of partisan raids. This outstanding Ukrainian, people's partisan commander, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, who received the rank of major general in 1943, has a special role in the development of the theory and practice of the partisan movement of modern times.

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

In August 1941, the Putivl party organization, almost in its entirety - excluding its previously mobilized members - turned into a partisan detachment. It was one of many partisan groups created in the wooded triangle of Sumy, Bryansk, Orel and Kursk regions, convenient for partisan struggle, which became the base of the entire future partisan movement. However, the Putivl detachment quickly stood out among the many forest units with its especially bold and at the same time measured and prudent actions. Kovpak's partisans avoided a long stay within any particular area. They made constant long maneuvers behind enemy lines, exposing distant German garrisons to unexpected blows. This is how the famous raid tactics of partisan struggle was born, in which the traditions and techniques of the revolutionary war of 1918-21 were easily guessed - techniques revived and developed by commander Kovpak. Already at the very beginning of the formation of the Soviet partisan movement, he became its most famous and prominent figure.

At the same time, Father Kovpak himself did not at all differ in any special brave military appearance. According to his comrades-in-arms, the outstanding partisan general was more like an elderly peasant in civilian clothes, carefully taking care of his large and complex economy. It was this impression that he made on his future intelligence chief Pyotr Vershigora, in the past a film director, and later a well-known partisan writer who told about the raids of the Kovpak detachments in his books. Kovpak was indeed an unusual commander - he skillfully combined his vast experience as a soldier and business worker with innovative courage in developing the tactics and strategy of guerrilla warfare. “He is quite modest, he did not teach others as much as he studied himself, he knew how to admit his mistakes, thereby not exacerbating them,” Alexander Dovzhenko wrote about Kovpak. Kovpak was simple, even deliberately simple in communication, humane in dealing with his fighters, and with the help of the continuous political and ideological training of his detachment, carried out under the guidance of his closest associate, the legendary commissar Rudnev, he knew how to get them high level communist consciousness and discipline.

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

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

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

The famous meeting of the leaders of the Soviet partisan movement, who arrived across the front in Moscow in early September 1942, fully approved the raid tactics of Kovpak, who was also present there - by that time already a Hero of the Soviet Union and a member of the illegal Central Committee of the CP (b) U. Its essence was to quickly, maneuver, covert movement in the rear of the enemy with the further creation of new centers of partisan movement. Such raids, in addition to significant damage inflicted on enemy troops and the collection of important intelligence information, had a huge propaganda effect. “The partisans were carrying the war ever closer to Germany,” Marshal Vasilevsky, Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, said on this occasion. Partisan raids raised huge masses of enslaved people to fight, armed and taught them the practice of struggle.

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

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

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

Leadership of the partisan movement

On May 30, 1942, the State Defense Committee at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command formed the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement, the head of which was appointed the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Belarus P.K. Ponomarenko. At the same time, partisan headquarters were also created under the military councils of the front-line war of the Soviet Union.

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

There were various forms of organization of partisan forces - small and large formations, regional (local) and non-regional. Regional detachments and formations were constantly based in one area and were responsible for protecting its population and fighting the invaders in this very territory. Non-regional partisan formations and detachments carried out tasks in different areas, making long raids, being in fact mobile reserves, maneuvering which the leadership of the partisan movement could concentrate efforts on the main direction of the planned strikes to deliver the most powerful blows to the enemy.

Detachment of the 3rd Leningrad partisan brigade on a campaign, 1943
In the zone of vast forests, in mountainous and swampy areas, there were the main bases and places of deployment of partisan formations. Partisan regions arose here, where various methods of struggle could be used, including direct, open clashes with the enemy. In the steppe regions, large partisan detachments could successfully operate during raids. Small detachments and groups of partisans who were constantly here usually avoided open clashes with the enemy, inflicting damage, as a rule, on unexpected raids and sabotage. In August-September 1942, the central headquarters of the partisan movement held a meeting of the commanders of the Belarusian, Ukrainian, Bryansk and Smolensk partisan detachments. On September 5, the Supreme Commander signed an order "On the tasks of the partisan movement", which indicated the need to coordinate the actions of partisans with operations regular army. The center of gravity of the fighting of the partisans was to be transferred to enemy communications.

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

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

It was in 1943 that the peak of the actions of the Soviet partisans fell, whose struggle resulted in a nationwide partisan movement. The number of its participants by the end of 1943 had grown to 250,000 armed fighters. At that time, for example, Belarusian partisans controlled almost 60% of the occupied territory of the republic (109 thousand square kilometers), and on an area of ​​38 thousand square kilometers. the invaders were completely expelled. In 1943, the struggle of Soviet partisans behind enemy lines spread to the Right-Bank and Western Ukraine and western areas Belarus.

rail war

The scope of the partisan movement is evidenced by a number of major operations carried out jointly with the troops of the Red Army. One of them was called "Rail War". It was carried out in August-September 1943 on the territory of the RSFSR, Belorussian and part of the Ukrainian SSR occupied by the enemy in order to disable the railway communications of the Nazi troops. This operation was connected with the plans of the Headquarters to complete the defeat of the Nazis on the Kursk Bulge, conduct the Smolensk operation and the offensive to liberate the Left-Bank Ukraine. The TsShPD also attracted Leningrad, Smolensk, and Oryol partisans to carry out the operation.

The order to conduct Operation Rail War was issued on June 14, 1943. The local partisan headquarters and their representatives at the fronts determined areas and objects of action for each partisan formation. The partisans were supplied with " big land»explosives, fuses, reconnaissance was actively carried out on the enemy's railway communications. The operation began on the night of August 3 and continued until mid-September. The fighting behind enemy lines unfolded on the ground with a length of about 1000 km along the front and 750 km in depth, about 100 thousand partisans participated in them with the active support of the local population.

A powerful blow to the railways in the territory occupied by the enemy turned out to be a complete surprise for him. For a long time, the Nazis could not resist the partisans in an organized manner. During Operation Rail War, more than 215,000 railway rails were blown up, many echelons with personnel and military equipment of the Nazis were derailed, and railway bridges and station buildings were blown up. The capacity of the railways decreased by 35-40%, which frustrated the Nazis' plans for the accumulation of materiel and the concentration of troops, and seriously hampered the regrouping of enemy forces.

The same goals, but already during the upcoming offensive of the Soviet troops in the Smolensk, Gomel directions and the battle for the Dnieper, was subordinated code name"Concert". It was carried out on September 19 - November 1, 1943 on the territory of Belarus occupied by the Nazis, Karelia, in the Leningrad and Kalinin regions, on the territory of Latvia, Estonia, Crimea, covering about 900 km along the front and over 400 km in depth.

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

On the territory of Belarus, more than 90 thousand partisans participated in the operation; they were to blow up 140,000 rails. The Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement planned to throw 120 tons of explosives and other cargoes to the Belarusian partisans, 20 tons to the Kaliningrad and Leningrad partisans.

Due to the sharp deterioration in weather conditions, by the beginning of the operation, the partisans managed to transfer only about half of the planned amount of cargo, so it was decided to start mass sabotage on September 25th. However, part of the detachments that had already reached their starting lines could not take into account the changes in the timing of the operation and on September 19 began to carry it out. On the night of September 25, simultaneous actions were carried out according to the plan of operation "Concert" on a front of about 900 km (excluding Karelia and Crimea) and in a depth of more than 400 km.

The local headquarters of the partisan movement and their representations at the fronts determined areas and objects of action for each partisan formation. The guerrillas were provided with explosives, fuses, mine-blasting classes were held at the “forest courses”, local “factories” mined tol from captured shells and bombs, fasteners of tol pieces to the rails were made in workshops and forges. Exploration was actively carried out on the railways. The operation began on the night of August 3 and continued until mid-September. The actions unfolded on the ground with a length of about 1000 km along the front and 750 km in depth, about 100 thousand partisans, who were helped by the local population, took part in them. A powerful blow to the railway. lines was unexpected for the enemy, who for some time could not resist the partisans in an organized manner. During the operation, about 215 thousand rails were blown up, many echelons were derailed, railway bridges and station buildings were blown up. The massive disruption of enemy communications made it much more difficult to regroup the retreating enemy troops, complicate their supply, and thereby contributed to the successful offensive of the Red Army.

Demolition guerrillas of the Transcarpathian partisan detachment Grachev and Utenkov at the airfield
The task of the operation "Concert" was to disable large sections of railway lines in order to disrupt enemy transportation. The bulk of the partisan formations began hostilities on the night of September 25, 1943. During the operation "Concert" only Belarusian partisans blew up about 90 thousand rails, derailed 1041 enemy echelons, destroyed 72 railway bridges, defeated 58 invaders' garrisons. Operation "Concert" caused serious difficulties in the transportation of Nazi troops. The capacity of railways has decreased by more than three times. This made it very difficult for the Hitlerite command to carry out the maneuver of its forces and provided enormous assistance to the advancing troops of the Red Army.

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

pinsk detachment

In Belarus, one of the most famous partisan detachments was the Pinsk partisan detachment under the command of Korzh V.Z. Korzh Vasily Zakharovich (1899–1967), Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General Born on January 1, 1899 in the village of Khvorostovo, Solitorsky District. Since 1925 - the chairman of the commune, then the collective farm in the Starobinsky district of the Minsk region. Since 1931 he worked in the Slutsk district department of the NKVD. From 1936 to 1938 he fought in Spain. Upon returning to his homeland, he was arrested, but released a few months later. He worked as a director of a state farm in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Since 1940 - the financial sector of the Pinsk regional party committee. In the early days of the Great Patriotic War, he created the Pinsk partisan detachment. The detachment "Komarov" (partisan pseudonym V.Z. Korzha) fought in the regions of Pinsk, Brest and Volyn regions. In 1944 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Since 1943 - Major General. In 1946-1948 he graduated military academy General Staff. From 1949 to 1953 - Deputy Minister of Forestry of the BSSR. In 1953-1963 he was the chairman of the collective farm "Partizansky Krai" in the Pinsk and then Minsk regions. Streets in Pinsk, Minsk and Soligorsk, the collective farm "Partizansky Krai" are named after him, secondary school in Pinsk.

The Pinsk partisans operated at the junction of the Minsk, Polessky, Baranovichi, Brest, Rivne and Volyn regions. The German occupation administration divided the territory into commissariats, subordinate to different Gauleiters - in Rovno, Minsk. Sometimes the partisans turned out to be "no man's". While the Germans were sorting out which of them should send troops, the partisans continued to operate.

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

With the organization of new detachments and the growth of their strength, the Pinsk underground regional committee of the CP (b) B from the spring of 1943 began to unite them into brigades. In total, 7 brigades were created: named after S.M. Budyonny, named after V.I. Lenin, named after V.M. Molotov, named after S.M. Kirov, named after V. Kuibyshev, Pinskaya, "Soviet Belarus". The Pinsk formation included separate detachments - headquarters and named after I.I. Chuklaya. 8431 partisans acted in the ranks of the formation (listed composition). The Pinsk partisan unit was led by V.Z. Korzh, A.E. Kleshchev (May-September 1943), chief of staff - N.S. Fedotov. V.Z. Korzh and A.E. Kleshchev was awarded the military rank of Major General and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. As a result of the unification, the actions of disparate detachments began to obey a single plan, became purposeful, and obeyed the actions of the front or the army. And in 1944, interaction was possible even with divisions.

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

Sabotage on communications was the basis of the combat activities of the partisans. In different periods, they were carried out in different ways, from improvised explosive devices to advanced mines by Colonel Starinov. From the explosion of water pumps and arrows - to a large-scale "rail war". All three years the partisans destroyed communication lines.

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

The command of the 1st Belorussian Front attached particular importance to the capture of boats in the port of Pinsk, since in the conditions of a very swampy area, in the absence of good highways, these boats could successfully solve the issue of transferring the rear of the front. The task was completed by the partisans six months before the liberation of the regional center of Pinsk.

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

468 echelons with manpower and equipment were derailed, 219 military echelons were fired upon and 23,616 railroad tracks were destroyed. 770 vehicles, 86 tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed on highways and dirt roads. Shot down 3 planes by machine-gun fire. 62 railway bridges and about 900 on highways and dirt roads were blown up. This is an incomplete list of the combat affairs of the partisans.

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

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

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

Detachment D. Medvedev

Medvedev's detachment, which fought in Ukraine, enjoyed great fame and elusiveness. D. N. Medvedev was born in August 1898 in the town of Bezhitsa, Bryansk district, Oryol province. Dmitry's father was a skilled steelworker. In December 1917, after graduating from the gymnasium, Dmitry Nikolayevich worked as a secretary of one of the departments of the Bryansk District Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. In 1918-1920. he fought on various fronts civil war. In 1920, D. N. Medvedev joined the party, and the party sent him to work in the Cheka. Dmitry Nikolaevich worked in the bodies of the Cheka - OGPU - NKVD until October 1939 and retired for health reasons.

From the very beginning of the war, he volunteered to fight against the fascist invaders ... In the summer camp of the Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade for Special Purposes of the NKVD, formed from volunteers by the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs and the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, Medvedev selected three dozen reliable guys into his detachment. On August 22, 1941, a group of 33 volunteer partisans led by Medvedev crossed the front line and ended up in the occupied territory. For about five months, Medvedev's detachment operated on Bryansk land and carried out over 50 combat operations.

The reconnaissance partisans planted explosives under the rails and tore up enemy echelons, fired on convoys on the highway from ambush, went on the air day and night and reported to Moscow more and more information about the movement of German military units ... Medvedev's detachment served as the core for creating a whole partisan in the Bryansk region the edges. Over time, new special tasks, and it was already included in the plans of the Supreme High Command as an important foothold behind enemy lines.

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

In the summer of 1942, Medvedev's detachment became the center of resistance in a vast region of the occupied territory of Ukraine. The party underground in Rivne, Lutsk, Zdolbuniv, Vinnytsia, hundreds and hundreds of patriots are working together with partisan scouts. In the detachment of Medvedev, the legendary intelligence officer Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov became famous, who for a long time acted in Rovno under the guise of a Nazi officer Paul Siebert ...

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

Partisans with a machine gun "Maxim" in battle
The connection conducted 83 military operations, in which many hundreds of Nazi soldiers and officers, many top military and Nazi figures were destroyed. A lot of military equipment was destroyed by partisan mines. Dmitry Nikolaevich during his stay in the enemy rear was twice wounded and shell-shocked. He was awarded three orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, military medals. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 5, 1944, State Security Colonel Medvedev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1946 Medvedev resigned and until last days life was engaged in literary work.

D. N. Medvedev dedicated his books “It was near Rovno”, “Strong in spirit”, “On the banks of the Southern Bug” to the military affairs of Soviet patriots during the war years deep behind enemy lines. During the activity of the detachment, a lot of valuable information was transferred to the command about the work of railway roads, about the movement of enemy headquarters, about the transfer of troops and equipment, about the activities of the occupying authorities, about the situation in the temporarily occupied territory. In battles and skirmishes, up to 12 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed. The loss of the detachment amounted to 110 people killed and 230 wounded.

The final stage

The daily attention and enormous organizational work of the Central Committee of the Party and local Party organons ensured the involvement of the broad masses of the population in the partisan movement. The guerrilla war behind enemy lines flared up with great force, merging with the heroic struggle of the Red Army on the fronts of the Patriotic War. The actions of partisans in the nationwide struggle against the occupiers in 1943-1944 took on a particularly large scale. If from 1941 to the middle of 1942, in the conditions of the most difficult stage of the war, the partisan movement experienced the initial period of its development and formation, then in 1943, during the period of a radical turning point in the course of the war, the mass partisan movement took the form of a nationwide war of the Soviet people against occupiers. This stage is characterized by the most complete expression of all forms of partisan struggle, an increase in the number and combat composition of partisan detachments, and the expansion of their connection with partisan brigades and formations. It was at this stage that vast partisan territories and zones inaccessible to the enemy were created, and experience was gained in the fight against the invaders.

During the winter of 1943 and during 1944, when the enemy was defeated and completely expelled from Soviet soil, the partisan movement rose to a new, even higher level. On this etan, on an even larger scale, partisans interacted with underground organizations and the advancing troops of the Red Army, as well as the connection of many partisan detachments and brigades with units of the Red Army. A characteristic feature of partisan activities at this stage is the partisans striking at the enemy’s most important communications, primarily railways, in order to disrupt the movement of troops, weapons, ammunition and food of the enemy, to prevent the removal of looted property and Soviet people to Germany. guerrilla war falsifiers of history declared it illegal, barbaric, reduced to the desire of the Soviet people to take revenge on the occupiers for their atrocities. But life refuted their statements and conjectures, showed its true character and goals. The partisan movement is brought to life by "powerful economic and political causes." The desire of the Soviet people to take revenge on the invaders for violence and cruelty was only an additional factor in the partisan struggle. The national nature of the partisan movement, its regularity, which follows from the essence of the Patriotic War, its just, liberation character, was the most important factor in the victory of the Soviet people over fascism. The main source of strength of the partisan movement was the Soviet socialist system, the love of the Soviet people for the Motherland, the loyalty of the Leninist party, which called on the people to defend the socialist Fatherland.

Partisans - father and son, 1943
The year 1944 went down in the history of the partisan movement as a year of widespread interaction between partisans and units of the Soviet Army. Soviet command put forward tasks before the partisan leadership in advance, which allowed the headquarters of the partisan movement to plan the combined actions of the partisan forces. The actions of the raiding partisan formations have received a significant scope this year. So, for example, the Ukrainian partisan division under the command of P.P. Vershigory from January 5 to April 1, 1944 fought almost 2100 km through the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and Poland.

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

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

The actions of armed partisan formations were one of the most decisive and effective forms of the struggle of Soviet partisans against the invaders. The performances of the armed forces of partisans in Belarus, the Crimea, in the Oryol, Smolensk, Kalinin, Leningrad regions and the Krasnodar Territory, that is, where there were the most favorable natural conditions, became widespread. 193,798 partisans fought in the named areas of the partisan movement. The name of the Moscow Komsomol member Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who was awarded high rank Hero of the Soviet Union. The country learned about the feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya during the difficult months of the battle near Moscow. On November 29, 1941, Zoya died with the words on her lips: “It is happiness to die for your people!”

Olga Fyodorovna Shcherbatsevich, an employee of the 3rd Soviet Hospital, who cared for captured wounded soldiers and officers of the Red Army. She was hanged by the Germans in the Alexander Square in Minsk on October 26, 1941. The inscription on the shield, in Russian and German- "We are partisans who fired at German soldiers."

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

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?

A guerrilla movement is a type of action by 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 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 for creating 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 Internal Affairs) began to form destroyer 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 the Special Purpose Motorized Rifle Brigade (OMBSON). These brigades were recruited from first-class military personnel with excellent physical training capable of conducting effective combat operations 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

1. June 1941 - May 1942 - the spontaneous formation of the partisan movement. Mostly in the territories of Ukraine and Belarus occupied by the enemy.
2. 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.
3. 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 military equipment and military contingent at their disposal, 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. Before the beginning he lived in Putivl, was active politician. 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, traffic on enemy railways was reduced 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 to determine for Moscow which detachments are partisan and which are pseudo-partisan, and ending with how to transfer weapons and ammunition to enemy territory.