When the Great Patriotic War broke out, the press of the Land of Soviets gave birth to a completely new expression - “people's avengers.” They were called Soviet partisans. This movement was very large-scale and brilliantly organized. In addition, it was officially legalized. The goal of the avengers was to destroy the infrastructure of the enemy army, disrupt food and weapons supplies and destabilize the work of the entire fascist machine. The German military leader Guderian admitted that the actions of the partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 (the names of some will be presented to your attention in the article) became a real curse for Hitler's troops and greatly influenced the morale of the “liberators.”
Legalization of the partisan movement
The process of forming partisan detachments in the territories occupied by the Nazis began immediately after Germany attacked Soviet cities. Thus, the USSR government published two relevant directives. The documents stated that it was necessary to create resistance among the people in order to help the Red Army. In short, the Soviet Union approved the formation of partisan groups.
One year later, this process was already in full swing. It was then that Stalin issued a special order. It reported the methods and main directions of the underground's activities.
And at the end of the spring of 1942, they decided to legalize partisan detachments altogether. In any case, the government formed the so-called. The central headquarters of this movement. And that's it regional organizations began to obey only him.
In addition, the post of Commander-in-Chief of the movement appeared. This position was taken by Marshal Kliment Voroshilov. True, he led it for only two months, because the post was abolished. From now on, the “people's avengers” reported directly to the military Commander-in-Chief.
Geography and scale of movement
During the first six months of the war, eighteen underground regional committees operated. There were also more than 260 city committees, district committees, district committees and other party groups and organizations.
Exactly one year later, a third of the partisan formations of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the list of whose names is very long, could already go on the air via radio communication with the Center. And in 1943, almost 95 percent of the units could communicate with the mainland via walkie-talkies.
In total, during the war there were almost six thousand partisan formations numbering over one million people.
Partisan units
These units existed in almost all occupied territories. True, it happened that the partisans did not support anyone - neither the Nazis nor the Bolsheviks. They simply defended the independence of their own separate region.
Usually there were several dozen fighters in one partisan formation. But over time, detachments appeared that numbered several hundred people. To be honest, there were very few such groups.
The units united in the so-called. brigades. The purpose of such a merger was one - to provide effective resistance to the Nazis.
The partisans mainly used light weapons. This refers to machine guns, rifles, light machine guns, carbines and grenades. A number of formations were armed with mortars, heavy machine guns and even artillery. When people joined the detachments, they must take the partisan oath. Of course, strict military discipline was also observed.
Note that such groups were formed not only behind enemy lines. More than once, future “Avengers” were officially trained in special partisan schools. After which they were transferred to the occupied territories and formed not only partisan detachments, but also formations. Often these groups were staffed by military personnel.
Sign operations
The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 successfully managed to carry out several major operations in conjunction with the Red Army. The largest campaign in terms of results and number of participants was Operation Rail War. The central headquarters had to prepare it quite long and carefully. The developers planned to blow up the rails in some occupied territories in order to paralyze traffic on railways. Partisans from the Oryol, Smolensk, Kalinin, and Leningrad regions, as well as Ukraine and Belarus, took part in the operation. In general, about 170 partisan formations were involved in the “rail war”.
On an August night in 1943, the operation began. In the very first hours, the “people's avengers” managed to blow up almost 42 thousand rails. Such sabotage continued until September inclusive. In one month, the number of explosions increased 30 times!
Another famous partisan operation was called "Concert". In essence, this was a continuation of the “rail battles”, since Crimea, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Karelia joined in the explosions on the railway. Almost 200 partisan formations took part in the “Concert,” which was unexpected for the Nazis!
Legendary Kovpak and “Mikhailo” from Azerbaijan
Over time, the names of some of the partisans of the Great Patriotic War and the exploits of these people became known to everyone. Thus, Mehdi Ganifa-oglu Huseyn-zade from Azerbaijan became a partisan in Italy. In the detachment his name was simply “Mikhailo”.
He was mobilized into the Red Army from his student days. He had to take part in the legendary Battle of Stalingrad where he was wounded. He was captured and sent to a camp in Italy. After some time, in 1944, he managed to escape. There he came across partisans. In the Mikhailo detachment he was the commissar of a company of Soviet soldiers.
He found out intelligence information, engaged in sabotage, blowing up enemy airfields and bridges. And one day his company raided the prison. As a result, 700 captured soldiers were released.
“Mikhailo” died during one of the raids. He defended himself to the end, after which he shot himself. Unfortunately, they learned about his daring exploits only in the post-war period.
But the famous Sidor Kovpak became a legend during his lifetime. He was born and raised in Poltava in a poor peasant family. During the First World War he was awarded the Cross of St. George. Moreover, the Russian autocrat himself awarded him.
During the Civil War, he fought against the Germans and whites.
Since 1937, he was appointed head of the city executive committee of Putivl, in the Sumy region. When the war began, he led a partisan group in the city, and subsequently a unit of detachments in the Sumy region.
Members of its formation literally continuously carried out military raids across the occupied territories. Total length raids - more than 10 thousand km. In addition, nearly forty enemy garrisons were destroyed.
In the second half of 1942, Kovpak’s troops carried out a raid beyond the Dnieper. By this time the organization had two thousand fighters.
Partisan medal
In the middle of winter 1943, a corresponding medal was established. It was called “Partisan of the Patriotic War.” Over the following years, almost 150 thousand partisans of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) were awarded it. The exploits of these people will forever go down in our history.
One of the award winners was Matvey Kuzmin. By the way, he was the oldest partisan. When the war began, he was already in his ninth decade.
Kuzmin was born in 1858 in the Pskov region. He lived separately, was never a member of the collective farm, and was engaged in fishing and hunting. In addition, he knew his area very well.
During the war he found himself under occupation. The Nazis even occupied his house. A German officer who headed one of the battalions began to live there.
In the middle of winter 1942, Kuzmin had to become a guide. He must lead the battalion to the occupied Soviet troops village. But before this, the old man managed to send his grandson to warn the Red Army.
As a result, Kuzmin led the frozen Nazis through the forest for a long time and only the next morning brought them out, but not to the desired point, but to an ambush set up by Soviet soldiers. The occupiers came under fire. Unfortunately, the hero guide also died in this shootout. He was 83.
Children partisans of the Great Patriotic War (1941 - 1945)
When the war was going on, a real army of children fought alongside the soldiers. They were participants in this general resistance from the very beginning of the occupation. According to some reports, several tens of thousands of minors took part in it. It was an amazing “movement”!
For military merits, teenagers were awarded military orders and medals. Thus, several minor partisans received highest award- title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, mostly they were all awarded it posthumously.
Their names have been familiar for a long time - Valya Kotik, Lenya Golikov, Marat Kazei... But there were other little heroes, whose exploits were not so widely covered in the press...
"Baby"
Alyosha Vyalov was called “Baby”. He enjoyed special sympathy among the local avengers. He was eleven when the war broke out.
He began to become a partisan with his older sisters. This family group managed to set fire to the Vitebsk railway station three times. They also set off an explosion in the police premises. On occasion, they acted as liaison officers and helped distribute relevant leaflets.
The partisans learned about the existence of Vyalov in an unexpected way. The soldiers were in dire need of gun oil. “Kid” was already aware of this and, on his own initiative, brought a couple of liters of the necessary liquid.
Lesha died after the war from tuberculosis.
Young "Susanin"
Tikhon Baran from the Brest region began to fight when he was nine. So, in the summer of 1941, underground workers equipped a secret printing house in their parents’ house. Members of the organization printed leaflets with front-line reports, and the boy distributed them.
For two years he continued to do this, but the fascists were on the trail of the underground. Tikhon’s mother and sisters managed to hide with their relatives, and the young avenger went into the forest and joined the partisan formation.
One day he was visiting relatives. At the same time, the Nazis arrived in the village and shot all the inhabitants. And Tikhon was offered to save his life if he showed the way to the detachment.
As a result, the boy led his enemies into a swampy swamp. The punishers killed him, but not everyone themselves got out of this quagmire...
Instead of an epilogue
The Soviet partisan heroes of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) became one of the main forces that offered real resistance to the enemies. By and large, in many ways it was the Avengers who helped decide the outcome of this terrible war. They fought on par with regular combat units. It was not for nothing that the Germans called the “second front” not only the allied units in Europe, but also the partisan detachments in the Nazi-occupied territories of the USSR. And this is probably an important circumstance... List The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 are enormous, and each of them deserves attention and memory... We present to your attention just a small list of people who left their mark on history:
- Biseniek Anastasia Alexandrovna.
- Vasiliev Nikolay Grigorievich.
- Vinokurov Alexander Arkhipovich.
- German Alexander Viktorovich.
- Golikov Leonid Alexandrovich.
- Grigoriev Alexander Grigorievich.
- Grigoriev Grigory Petrovich.
- Egorov Vladimir Vasilievich.
- Zinoviev Vasily Ivanovich.
- Karitsky Konstantin Dionisevich.
- Kuzmin Matvey Kuzmich.
- Nazarova Klavdiya Ivanovna.
- Nikitin Ivan Nikitich.
- Petrova Antonina Vasilievna.
- Bad Vasily Pavlovich.
- Sergunin Ivan Ivanovich.
- Sokolov Dmitry Ivanovich.
- Tarakanov Alexey Fedorovich.
- Kharchenko Mikhail Semenovich.
Of course, there are many more of these heroes, and each of them contributed to the cause of the great Victory...
The partisan movement (partisan war 1941 - 1945) is one of the sides of the resistance to the USSR fascist troops Germany and allies during the Great Patriotic War.
The partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War was very large-scale and, most importantly, well organized. It differed from other popular uprisings in that it had a clear command system, was legalized and subordinated Soviet power. The partisans were controlled by special bodies, their activities were prescribed in several legislative acts and had goals described personally by Stalin. The number of partisans during the Great Patriotic War numbered about a million people; more than six thousand different underground detachments were formed, which included all categories of citizens.
The purpose of the guerrilla war of 1941-1945. – destruction of infrastructure German army, disruption of food and weapons supplies, destabilization of the entire fascist machine.
The beginning of the guerrilla war and the formation of partisan detachments
Guerrilla warfare is an integral part of any protracted military conflict, and quite often the order to begin partisan movement comes directly from the country's leadership. This was the case with the USSR. Immediately after the start of the war, two directives were issued to the “Party and Soviet organizations front-line regions" and "On the organization of the struggle in the rear of German troops", which spoke about the need to create popular resistance to help the regular army. In fact, the state gave the go-ahead for the formation of partisan detachments. A year later, when the partisan movement was in full swing, Stalin issued an order “On the tasks of the partisan movement,” which described the main directions of the underground’s work.
An important factor for the emergence of partisan resistance was the formation of the 4th Directorate of the NKVD, in whose ranks special groups were created that were engaged in subversive work and reconnaissance.
On May 30, 1942, the partisan movement was legalized - the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement was created, to which local headquarters in the regions, headed, for the most part, by the heads of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, were subordinate. The creation of a single administrative body gave impetus to the development of large-scale guerrilla warfare, which was well organized, had a clear structure and system of subordination. All this significantly increased the efficiency of the partisan detachments.
Main activities of the partisan movement
- Sabotage activities. The partisans tried with all their might to destroy the supply of food, weapons and manpower to the headquarters of the German army; very often pogroms were carried out in the camps in order to deprive the Germans of sources fresh water and get kicked out of the place.
- Intelligence service. An equally important part of underground activity was intelligence, both on the territory of the USSR and in Germany. The partisans tried to steal or learn the Germans' secret attack plans and transfer them to headquarters so that the Soviet army would be prepared for the attack.
- Bolshevik propaganda. An effective fight against the enemy is impossible if the people do not believe in the state and do not follow common goals, so the partisans actively worked with the population, especially in the occupied territories.
- Fighting. Armed clashes occurred quite rarely, but still partisan detachments entered into open confrontation with the German army.
- Control of the entire partisan movement.
- Restoration of USSR power in the occupied territories. The partisans tried to raise an uprising among Soviet citizens who found themselves under the yoke of the Germans.
Partisan units
By the middle of the war, large and small partisan detachments existed almost throughout the entire territory of the USSR, including the occupied lands of Ukraine and the Baltic states. However, it should be noted that in some territories the partisans did not support the Bolsheviks; they tried to defend the independence of their region, both from the Germans and from Soviet Union.
An ordinary partisan detachment consisted of several dozen people, but with the growth of the partisan movement, the detachments began to consist of several hundred, although this happened infrequently. On average, one detachment included about 100-150 people. In some cases, units were united into brigades in order to provide serious resistance to the Germans. The partisans were usually armed with light rifles, grenades and carbines, but sometimes large brigades had mortars and artillery weapons. The equipment depended on the region and the purpose of the detachment. All members of the partisan detachment took the oath.
In 1942, the post of Commander-in-Chief of the partisan movement was created, which was occupied by Marshal Voroshilov, but the post was soon abolished and the partisans were subordinate to the military Commander-in-Chief.
There were also special Jewish partisan detachments, which consisted of Jews who remained in the USSR. The main purpose of such units was to protect the Jewish population, which was subjected to special persecution by the Germans. Unfortunately, very often Jewish partisans faced serious problems, since anti-Semitic sentiments reigned in many Soviet detachments and they rarely came to the aid of Jewish detachments. By the end of the war, Jewish troops mixed with Soviet ones.
Results and significance of guerrilla warfare
Soviet partisans became one of the main forces resisting the Germans and largely helped decide the outcome of the war in favor of the USSR. Good management of the partisan movement made it highly effective and disciplined, allowing the partisans to fight on par with the regular army.
1941 - 1945 - this is part of the Resistance movement, which was designed to destroy the German support system (undermining provisions, ammunition, roads, etc.). As you know, the fascist invaders were very afraid of this organization, so they treated its members very cruelly.
RSFSR
The main points of the tasks of the partisan movement were formulated back in the directive of 1941. The necessary actions were described in more detail in Stalin's order of 1942.
The basis of the partisan detachments were ordinary residents, mainly of occupied territories, that is, those who knew life under the fascist sight and power. Similar organizations began to appear from the first days of the war. Old people, women, men who for some reason were not taken to the front, and even children and pioneers entered there.
The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945 carried out sabotage activities, engaged in reconnaissance (even undercover intelligence), propaganda, provided combat assistance to the USSR army, and directly destroyed the enemy.
Countless detachments, sabotage groups, and formations (about 250 thousand people) operated on the territory of the RSFSR, each of which brought enormous benefits to achieving victory. Many names remain forever in the annals of history.
Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who became a symbol of heroism, was thrown into the German rear to set fire to the village of Petrishchevo, where the German regiment was located. Naturally, she was not alone, but, by coincidence, their group partially dispersed after setting three houses on fire. Zoya decided to return there alone and finish what she started. But the residents were already on their guard and Zoya was captured. She had to go through terrible torture and humiliation (including from her compatriots), but she did not give out a single name. The Nazis hanged the girl, but even during the execution she did not lose her good spirits and called for Soviet people resist the German invaders. She was the first woman to be posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Byelorussian SSR
On the territory of Belarus lasted from 1941 to 1944. During this time, many strategic tasks were solved, the main one of which was the disabling of German trains and the railway tracks along which they moved.
The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945 provided invaluable assistance in the fight against the invaders. 87 of them received the highest military award of the Soviet Union. Among them was Marat Kazei, a sixteen-year-old boy whose mother was executed by the Germans. He came to the partisan detachment to defend his right to freedom and a happy life. He performed tasks just like adults.
Marat did not live exactly a year before victory. He died in May 1944. Every death in war is tragic in itself, but when a child dies it becomes a thousand times more painful.
Marat and his commander were returning to headquarters. By chance they met German punitive forces. The commander was killed immediately, the boy was only wounded. Firing back, he disappeared into the forest, but the Germans pursued him. Until the bullets ran out, Marat escaped the chase. And then he made an important decision for himself. The boy had two grenades. He immediately threw one into a group of Germans, and held the second tightly in his hand until he was surrounded. Then he blew it up, taking German soldiers with him to the next world.
Ukrainian SSR
During the Great Patriotic War, partisans on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR united into 53 formations, 2,145 detachments and 1,807 groups, with a total number of about 220 thousand people.
Among the main command of the partisan movement in Ukraine one can single out K. I. Pogorelov, M. I. Karnaukhov, S. A. Kovpak, S. V. Rudnev, A. F. Fedorov and others.
Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak, on Stalin’s orders, was engaged in propaganda in Right Bank Ukraine, which was practically inactive. It was for the Carpathian raid that he was awarded one of the awards.
Mikhail Karnaukhov led the movement in Donbass. His subordinates and local residents nicknamed him “father” for his warm human relations. Dad was killed by the Germans in 1943. Secretly, residents of local occupied villages gathered at night to bury the commander and pay him due respect.
The partisan heroes of the Great Patriotic War were later reburied. Karnaukhov rests in Slavyansk, where his remains were transferred in 1944, when the territories were liberated from the German invaders.
During the operation of Karnaukhov’s detachment, 1,304 fascists were destroyed (out of 12 were officers).
Estonian SSR
Already in July 1941, an order was given to form a partisan detachment on the territory of Estonia. His command included B. G. Kumm, N. G. Karotamm, J. H. Lauristin.
The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945 faced an almost insurmountable obstacle in Estonia. A large number of local residents were friendly towards the occupying Germans and even rejoiced at this coincidence of circumstances.
That is why underground organizations and sabotage groups had great power in this territory, which had to think through their moves even more carefully, since betrayal could be expected from anywhere.
They became Lehen Kuhlman (shot by the Germans in 1943 as a Soviet intelligence officer) and Vladimir Fedorov.
Latvian SSR
Until 1942, the activities of the partisans in Latvia were not going well. This was due to the fact that most activists and party leaders were killed at the very beginning of the war, people were poorly prepared both physically and financially. Thanks to denunciations of local residents, not a single underground organization was destroyed by the Nazis. Some hero-partisans of the Great Patriotic War died nameless, so as not to betray or compromise their comrades.
After 1942, the movement intensified, people began to come to the detachments with a desire to help and free themselves, since the German occupiers sent hundreds of Estonians to Germany for hard work.
Among the leaders of the Estonian partisan movement was Arthur Sprogis, under whom Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya studied. He is also mentioned in Hemingway's book For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Lithuanian SSR
On Lithuanian territory, the partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945 carried out hundreds of acts of sabotage, as a result of which almost 10 thousand Germans were killed.
With a total number of partisans of 9,187 people (only identified by name), seven are Heroes of the Soviet Union:
- Yu. Yu. Alexonis. An underground radio operator, he died in an unequal battle, surrounded by the Germans, in 1944.
- S. P. Apivala. Personally destroyed seven trains with enemy ammunition.
- G.I. Boris. The commander of a special sabotage group, died at the hands of the Gestapo after being captured in 1944.
- A. M. Cheponis. A radio operator who died in 1944 in a single battle against a German unit. At the same time he killed 20 fascists.
- M.I. Melnikaite. She was captured, spent a whole week in torture, without saying a word to the Nazis, but she was able to slap one of the Wehrmacht officers in the face. Shot in 1943.
- B.V. Urbanavichus. He led a subversive group of partisans.
- Yu. T. Vitas. Leader of the Lithuanian partisan underground. He was captured and shot by the Nazis after denunciation by a traitor in 1943.
The heroic partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945 fought in Lithuania not only against the fascist invaders, but also against the Lithuanian liberation army, which did not exterminate the Germans, but sought to destroy Soviet and Polish soldiers.
Moldavian SSR
During the four years of operation of partisan detachments on the territory of Moldova, about 27 thousand fascists and their accomplices were destroyed. They are also responsible for the destruction of a huge amount of military equipment, ammunition, and kilometers of communication lines. Heroes-partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945 were engaged in the production of leaflets and information reports in order to maintain good spirits and faith in victory among the population.
Two are Heroes of the Soviet Union - V.I. Timoshchuk (commander of the First Moldavian formation) and N.M. Frolov (under his leadership 14 German trains were blown up).
Jewish resistance
There were 70 purely Jewish liberation detachments operating on the territory of the USSR. Their goal was to save the remaining Jewish population.
Unfortunately, Jewish units had to deal with anti-Semitic sentiments even among Soviet partisans. Most of them did not want to provide any support to these people and were reluctant to accept Jewish youth into their units.
Most Jews were refugees from the ghetto. There were often children among them.
The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945 did a lot of work and provided invaluable assistance to the Red Army in liberating territories and defeating the German fascists.
Druzhinin V.N. Chernigov partisan unit. For clarification on this photo, I express my gratitude to my colleague sergiy_rode
Hero of the Soset Union, commander of the 123rd partisan brigade F.I. Pavlovsky
Slyusarev. Commander of the Lviv partisan detachment
Hero of the Soviet Union, Commissar of the Sumy Partisan Unit Semyon Vasilyevich Rudnev. Killed in battle with the invaders near Delyatyn
Commander of the First Ukrainian Partisan Division named after Kovpak, Hero of the Soviet Union Pyotr Vershigora
Commander of the 3rd regiment of the Kovpakovsky division, Hero of the Soviet Union P.E. Braiko
F.F. Kapusta, commander of the Bialystok partisan unit
Commander of the partisan detachment Dunyaev
Pyotr Nikitovich Zyabkin. Commander of a partisan detachment
Commander of the partisan detachment “Elusive”, Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant Colonel M.S. Prudnikov
Commander of the partisan fighter battalion V. Blyukov. Pskov region
Chief of Staff of the Gomel Partisan Unit E.I. Barykin
Commander of the 2nd Regiment of the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade A.P. Pakhomov
Commissar of the partisan detachment S.A. Ivanov
Commissioner of the Chernigov partisan unit V.N. Druzhinin
Commander of the partisan detachment named after Chkalov S.D. Penkin. Novgorod region 1941
Chief of Staff of the 1st Belarusian Separate Cossack Partisan Division I.A. Soloshenko. 1943
Commander of the Transcarpathian partisan detachment Lavrov V.I.
Alexander Eliseevich Krivets, commander of the Shchors partisan detachment
Commander of the Chernigov partisan unit Taranushchenko N.M.
Commander of the partisan unit twice Hero of the Soviet Union A. F. Fedorov
Commander of the Chernigov partisan unit, Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Nikitich Popudrenko, January 1943.
Commander of the Chernigov-Volyn partisan unit A.F. Fedorov with his comrades. 1943
Commander of the partisan unit named after. Kovpaka P.P. Vershigora and regiment commander D.I. Bakradze
Command of the Chernigov-Volyn partisan unit: S.V. Chintsov, A.F. Fedorov and L.E. Kizya
The commanders of the partisan detachment named after. Kirov
Heroes of the Soviet Union, commanders of partisan formations: Duka, Romashin, Emlyutin, Kovpak, Saburov on Red Square. 1942
Demyan Korotchenko, Alexey Fedorov, Semyon Rudnev, Timofey Strokach
Major General T.A. Strokach at lunch with the commanders of the Rivne partisan formations. 06.1943
Commanders of partisan formations: L.E. Kizya, V.A. Begma, A.F. Fedorov and T.A. Strokach
D. Korotchenko speaks at a meeting of the command staff of the Zhitomir unit of partisan detachments under the command of S. Malikov. 1943
This is the last photograph of Hero of the Soviet Union N.N. Popudrenko (first on the left). Four hours later he died a heroic death
The commander of the Pinsk partisan brigade M.I. Gerasimov (2nd from right) and the commissar of the brigade V.S. Kunkov (2nd from left)
Good day to all site regulars! The main regular on the line is Andrei Puchkov 🙂 (just kidding). Today we will reveal a new extremely useful topic to prepare for the Unified State 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 the partisan movement and how was it formed in the USSR?
Guerrilla movement is a type of action by military formations behind enemy lines to strike enemy communications, infrastructure facilities and rear enemy 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 the 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 partisan bases was suspended.
Only in July 1941, when the enemy was rapidly advancing and the Battle of Smolensk was in full swing, the Central Committee of the Party (VKP (b)) issued detailed instructions for the 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 units 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 destruction battalions. These battalions were supposed to cover units of the Red Army during the retreat, disrupt attacks by saboteurs and enemy military parachute forces. These battalions also joined the partisan movement in the occupied territories.
In July 1941, the NKVD also organized the Special Motorized Rifle Brigade for Special Purposes (OMBSON). These brigades were recruited from first-class military personnel who had excellent physical training and were capable of conducting effective fighting on 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 the formation of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War
- June 1941 - May 1942 - spontaneous formation of the partisan movement. Mainly in the enemy-occupied territories of Ukraine and Belarus.
- May 1942-July-August 1943 - from the creation of the Main Headquarters of the partisan movement in Moscow on May 30, 1942 to 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 merged with the advancing Soviet army. On July 17, 1944, partisan units parade through 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 and those at their disposal military equipment and military contingent, etc.
- Commit 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: convince them of the assistance of the Red Army, convince them 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 very many partisan detachments and each had its own commander, we will list only those that could be encountered in Unified State Exam tests. Meanwhile, the other commanders deserve no less attention
People's memory, because they gave their lives for our relatively serene life.
Dmitry Nikolaevich Medvedev (1898 - 1954)
Was one of key figures in the formation of the Soviet partisan movement during the war. Before the war he served in the Kharkov branch of the NKVD. In 1937, he was fired for maintaining contact with his older brother, who became an enemy of the people. Miraculously escaped execution. When the war began, the NKVD remembered this man and sent him to Smolensk to form a partisan movement. The group of partisans led by Medvedev was called “Mitya”. The detachment was later renamed “Winners”. From 1942 to 1944, Medvedev’s detachment carried out about 120 operations.
Dmitry Nikolaevich himself was an extremely charismatic and ambitious commander. Discipline in his squad was the highest. The requirements for fighters exceeded the requirements of the NKVD. So at the beginning of 1942, the NKVD sent 480 volunteers from OMBSON units to the “Winners” detachment. And only 80 of them passed the selection.
One of these operations was the elimination of the Reich Commissioner of Ukraine Erich Koch. Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov arrived from Moscow to complete the task. However, after a while it became clear that it was impossible to eliminate the Reich Commissioner. Therefore, in Moscow the task was revised: it was ordered to destroy the head of the Reichskommissariat department, 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). Posthumously, Nikolai Kuznetsov was 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 that, he lived in Putivl and was an active politician. At the start of the war, Sidor Kovpak was already 55 years old. In the first clashes, Kovpak’s partisans managed to capture 3 German tank. 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 aviation. However, all enemy attacks were repulsed. In this battle, the Nazis lost 200 fighters.
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 losses 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. Kovpaka
Later we will post biographies of several more legendary commanders of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War. So subscribe to new articles site.
Despite the fact that Soviet partisans carried out numerous operations during the war, only the two largest of them appear in the tests.
Operation Rail War. The order to begin this operation was given on June 14, 1943. It was supposed to paralyze railway traffic on enemy territory during the Kursk offensive operation. For this purpose, significant ammunition was transferred to the partisans. About 100 thousand partisans were involved in 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 in the territory of occupied Karelia, Belarus, Leningrad region, Kalinin region, Latvia, Estonia and Crimea.
The goal was the same: destroying enemy cargo and blocking railway transport.
I think from all of the above, the role of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War becomes clear. It became an integral part of military operations by units of the Red Army. The partisans performed their functions excellently. Meanwhile in real life there were a lot of difficulties: starting from how Moscow could determine which units were partisans and which were false partisans, and ending with how to transfer weapons and ammunition to enemy territory.
