Partisans through the eyes of fascists. Wehrmacht soldiers in Soviet partisan detachments
Guerrilla movement has proven its effectiveness more than once during wars. The Germans were afraid of Soviet partisans. The “people's avengers” destroyed communications, blew up bridges, took “tongues” and even made weapons themselves.
History of the concept
Partisan is a word that came into Russian from the Italian language, in which the word partigiano means a member of an irregular military detachment that enjoys the support of the population and politicians. Partisans fight using specific means: war behind enemy lines, sabotage or sabotage. Distinctive feature Guerrilla tactics include covert movement across enemy territory and 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 way. 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.
During the Great Patriotic War, Soviet partisans were controlled by authorities and performed tasks similar to 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 operated in the occupied lands of the USSR, in which approximately a million people took part. They were managed by the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement, developing coordinated tactics for disparate 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 - German troops. Although partisans are often thought of as chaotic organized units of the local population, the “people's avengers” behaved in accordance with the rules of strict military discipline and took the oath as real soldiers - otherwise they would not have survived in the brutal conditions of war.
Life of a partisan
The worst time for the Soviet partisans, who were forced to hide in the forests and mountains, was in winter. Before this, not a single partisan movement in the world had encountered the problem of cold; in addition to the difficulties of survival, there was the problem of camouflage. The partisans left traces in the snow, and the vegetation no longer hid their shelters. Winter dwellings often harmed the mobility of partisans: in Crimea they built mainly ground dwellings like wigwams. In other areas, dugouts predominated.
Many partisan headquarters had a radio station, with the help of which they contacted Moscow and transmitted news to the local population in the occupied territories. Using radio, the command ordered the partisans, and they, in turn, coordinated airstrikes and provided intelligence information.
There were also women among the partisans - if for the Germans, who thought of women only in the kitchen, this was unacceptable, the Soviets did their best to encourage the weaker sex to participate in the partisan war. Female intelligence officers did not come under the suspicion of enemies, female doctors and radio operators helped during 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 “camp wife” of the commanders. Sometimes everything happened the other way around and wives instead of husbands commanded and interfered in military matters - such a mess higher authorities tried to stop.
Guerrilla tactics
The basis of tactics " long arm"(as the Soviet leadership called the partisans) was the implementation of reconnaissance and sabotage - they destroyed railways, through which the Germans delivered trains with weapons and food, broke high-voltage lines, and poisoned water pipes or wells behind enemy lines.
Thanks to these actions, it was possible to disorganize the enemy's rear and demoralize him. The great advantage of the partisans was also that all of the above did not require large human resources: sometimes he could even implement subversive plans small detachment and sometimes - one person.
When the Red Army advanced, the partisans struck from the rear, breaking through the defenses and unexpectedly disrupting the enemy's regrouping or retreat. Before this, the forces of the partisan detachments were hidden in forests, mountains and swamps - in the steppe regions the activities of the partisans were ineffective.
Particularly successful guerrilla warfare was in Belarus - forests and swamps hid the “second front” and contributed to their successes. That’s why the exploits of the partisans are still remembered in Belarus: it’s 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” were able to 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 destroying the enemy. In Belarus in 1943 there was a decree “On the destruction of the enemy’s railway communications using the method of rail warfare” - the partisans were supposed to wage a so-called rail war, blowing up trains, bridges and damaging enemy tracks in every possible way.
During operations “Rail War” and “Concert” in Belarus, train traffic was stopped for 15-30 days, and the enemy’s army and equipment were destroyed. Blowing up enemy trains even with a shortage of explosives, the partisans destroyed more than 70 bridges and killed 30 thousand German soldiers. On the first night of Operation Rail War alone, 42 thousand rails were destroyed. It is believed that during the entire war, the partisans destroyed about 18 thousand enemy troops, 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 over a wedge, which was attached to the tracks in a few minutes, then the wheel was moved from the inside to the outside of the rail, and the train was completely destroyed, which did not happen even after mine explosions .
Partisan gunsmiths
Partisan brigades were mainly armed with light machine guns, machine guns and carbines. However, there were detachments with mortars or artillery. The partisans armed themselves with the Soviets and often captured weapons, however, this was not enough in 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, engineers and amateur technicians managed to create excellent examples of weapon parts from scrap metal and improvised parts.
In addition to repairs, the partisans were also involved in design work: “A large number of homemade mines, machine guns and grenades of the partisans have an original solution for both the entire structure as a whole and its individual components. Not limiting themselves to inventions of a “local” nature, the partisans sent to Mainland a large number of inventions and rationalization proposals."
The most popular homemade weapons were homemade PPSh submachine guns - the first of which was made in the “Razgrom” partisan brigade near Minsk in 1942. The partisans also made “surprises” with explosives and unexpected types of mines with a special detonator, the secret of which was known only to their own. The “People's Avengers” easily repaired even blown-up German tanks and even organized artillery divisions from the repaired mortars. Partisan engineers even made grenade launchers.
They were not mentioned in Soviet sources. At least for the general public, and not for professional historians. They even recognized the existence of the post-war resistance of Bandera, the forest brothers in the Baltic states and the Polish AK members, but not a word about the Germans. And it seemed like they weren’t there. And they were. Naturally, Nazi. True, most of them were Octobrists with ears.
In May 1945, Nazi Germany signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender. Second World War ended, but the troops of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition still suffered losses (and not for a year or two, but right up to the end of the 60s). Members of the underground Werewolf organization continued fighting.
Who and how got into the German partisan movement? Were these people fanatics, besotted with twelve years of Nazi propaganda, or unwitting participants who failed to choose a peaceful life? These and other questions are answered by the historian, author of the book “Werewolf. Fragments of the brown empire" Andrey Vasilchenko.
The article is based on material from the program “The Price of Victory” of the radio station “Echo of Moscow”. The broadcast was conducted by Vitaly Dymarsky and Dmitry Zakharov. You can read and listen to the original interview in full at this link.
Until the fall of 1944, talking about the need to create some kind of base in order to defend against the troops that entered Germany was considered defeatism, almost a criminal offense. At best, all operations were viewed as minor sabotage attacks. When, by the end of 1944, it became clear that the entry of Allied troops into German territory was just a matter of time, chaotic attempts began to create some kind of sabotage army. As a result, the main task was entrusted to Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler. He decided to entrust this task to police units, namely the Prützmann Bureau. During his time as SS Obergruppenführer Hans-Adolf Prützmann distinguished himself with similar bloody actions in occupied Ukraine. They believed that he understood the partisans better than others, since he fought with them himself.
At this time, saboteur No. 1 Otto Skorzeny developed a feeling of jealousy, and he did everything possible to sabotage the organization of the Werewolf movement, believing that at some point he himself would lead the sabotage army. All this discord led to the fact that the German partisan movement was not ready to meet the enemy: tactics were not developed, personnel were not trained, bases were created hastily.
But nevertheless, after May 1945, the “werewolves” continued to carry out their operations. What is this? Some kind of “wild army”, “wild army”? Several factors come together here. Firstly, this is the reaction of the local population, especially the national outskirts, which for centuries have walked from country to country. These are Silesia, Sudetenland, Alsace, Lorraine. That is, when new authorities appeared, there was what is called a “wild eviction” of the Germans. That is, the Soviet authorities tried to create a certain barrier, the French did the same, and this caused discontent among the local population, who, naturally, willy-nilly tried to somehow resist, including by armed means.
The second component is the remains of Wehrmacht units. This was especially pronounced on the Western Front. The fact is that the Allies tried to capture as much territory as possible. As a result, they resorted to tactics that were very detrimental to them - they tried to repeat the blitzkrieg, tank wedges, but they did not have the required number of motorized infantry. As a result, huge gaps arose between tanks and infantry, almost tens of kilometers long. And in these gaps, the remnants of the parts felt quite calmly, at ease. Some wrote that at that moment the Wehrmacht on the Western Front generally turned into a bunch of small partisan detachments. What can we talk about if Wenck’s army calmly walked along the western rear. This is not a battalion, not a company - this is an entire tank army. As a result of this, the so-called “Kleinkrieg”, that is, a small guerrilla war, was also considered by the allies and our Soviet units to be part of the Wehrmacht.
Reichsjugendführer Arthur Axmann (left) and Hitler Youth graduates
And there was also the plan of Arthur Axman, the head of the Hitler Youth, which involved mobilizing youth to create a whole network of partisan detachments and sabotage groups. By the way, Axmann is the only one of all the Nazi bosses who, already in 1944, not only thought about the occupation of Germany, but began to actively prepare for it. Moreover, he even tried to get funding.
The fact is that the “werewolves” from the youth environment, from the “Hitler Youth” (the militia included not only teenagers, there were also quite mature functionaries), received a fair amount of funding, amounting to millions of Reichsmarks, and after the establishment of occupation power they had to create their own business transport companies, which would allow them to operate mobile. That is, in fact, a widely ramified underground organization was created, which had its own funding, and not some kind of conditional one, but quite large. And the failure of this organization was due to the fact that the economic wing, which at a certain point had become quite well established, began to fear the paramilitary wing of the youth “werewolves”, which, naturally, jeopardized their well-being. They did not at all want to end their days in prison or against the wall.
As for the quantitative composition of the Werewolf, it is quite difficult to establish the exact number of the militia. At least these are not dozens of people, we are talking about several thousand. The predominant effect is still the western and southern territories of Germany. The bulk of the “werewolves” were concentrated in the Alps. The fact is that a plan was hatched to create an Alpine citadel, which the Allies (the Alps went mainly to the Americans) would take quite a long time. That is, in the end, the Alps served as the starting point for the creation, relatively speaking, of the Fourth Reich.
On the Eastern Front (meaning the territory of Germany), the “werewolves” acted in small groups of 10 - 15 people. Basically, these were sporadic, frivolous detachments that were quickly identified and cleared out. Here we cannot discount the experience of the NKVD, and, of course, the fact that we still had a continuous front, and not some wedges, like our Western allies.
Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler (left) and Obergruppenführer Hans-Adolf Prützmann. Ukraine, 1942
The Werwolf's first sortie took place in September 1944 against advancing Red Army units. In fact, it was a classic sabotage activity, no different from previous sabotage groups, except that it was already carried out within the framework of the Werewolf. As a result, two bridges were blown up. However, this group was quickly identified and eliminated. In this situation, Soviet army There were no sentiments, however, like the Western allies.
By the way, the topic of the relationship between the local population and the occupation authorities, which, wittingly or unwittingly, is connected with the theme of “werewolves”, is also very interesting. We have already said that the national outskirts of Germany were swarming with detachments for a long time (let’s call them “werewolves”), but for the most part this was caused by tough politics. And the most paradoxical thing is that the Soviet occupation policy was not the most ruthless. If you look at what the Americans or the French did, the actions of the Red Army and the Soviet occupation authorities were not so terrible. By the way, this is due to the fact that in the Soviet zone of occupation the problem of “werewolves” was dealt with quite quickly, with the exception of a few cases, which, in particular, are associated with the Sudetenland and Silesia. The fact is that there was a massive eviction and deportation of Germans, and some of them raided back. The motivations were very different: personal revenge, the need to take property, and so on.
If we talk about the French, they generally find themselves in a very difficult situation. The fact is that France was one of the few victorious countries that, before that, still lost the war to Germany. Therefore, as a result, the French occupation authorities openly took revenge on the Germans, despite the fact that they did not know such atrocities as were, for example, in Belarus and Ukraine. Nobody hid this revenge and cruel actions. There were official hostages, which, by the way, did not exist in the Soviet occupation zone. And these actions caused discontent among the local population, which sooner or later led to the emergence of independent detachments that were automatically enrolled in the Werewolf.
As for East Prussia, there were no such large sabotage actions as in the western region of Germany. This is due to some effective civil policy measures. What was the difference between Western and Soviet troops when they entered German territory? IN official installation, albeit not always shared. Soviet troops liberated the German people from fascism, the Western allies - from the Germans. And in the second case, no distinction was made between social democrats, anti-fascists, or simply the civilian population who sympathized with the Nazis. You can give an example that may seem creepy today. In the summer of 1945 in Cologne, the Anglo-Americans quite harshly, even brutally, dispersed an anti-fascist demonstration of concentration camp prisoners. “They were simply afraid of any crowd of people,” many will think. The Allies were generally afraid of any activity from the Germans. A German is an enemy in any capacity, even if he is a communist or a social democrat.
And from this point of view, the Soviet occupation administration collaborated much more actively with the Germans. Both the creation of the GDR in 1949 and the actual transfer of power to the Germans in 1947, naturally under the patronage, in the American and French zone of occupation were simply unthinkable phenomena.
Commandant of Berlin Nikolai Berzarin talks with the Trümmerfrau, 1945
Since we have touched on the post-war page of history, we note that if at first the main activity of the “werewolves” was military confrontation, that is, in an attempt to stop the advancing Red Army, as well as the armies of the Allies (by the way, it is quite naive to believe that such small detachments could to do this), then somewhere in 1945 - 1946 these were small attacks, mainly boiling down to blowing up bridges, cutting communication lines, and killing individual policemen. There are interesting statistics that show that in 1946 - 1947, in percentage terms, Polish and Czech policemen suffered more at the hands of “werewolves” than Soviet soldiers standing alone.
If we talk about some major actions at the end of the war and the post-war period, we should recall the murder of the burgomaster of Aachen, Franz Oppenhof, who was appointed to this post by the Americans. The whole paradox was that Oppenhoff insisted on actively involving Germans in the administration, even though they were members of the Nazi Party.
According to American and British sources, the murder of General Berzarin, the commandant of Berlin, is also nothing more than an action of the “Werewolf”; we have a car accident. Neither the first nor the second versions are excluded, but we still note that the ruins of Berlin, which it was in the summer of 1945, were simply created for sabotage attacks.
We have already said that “Werewolf” was directed not only against the Allied and Soviet troops, but also against the Germans themselves. One of the functions of the organization was to intimidate the local population. Here you can give a lot of examples of how alarmists and defeatists were dealt with in territory still controlled by the Nazis. There was one paradoxical case when in one small town the local burgomaster tried to hide from the advancing Soviet units and was caught by the “werewolves”, the very ones whom he himself recruited into the team, following orders from above.
As far as we know, during the creation of Werewolf, teenagers were actively armed with faust cartridges. There are records and evidence that young partisans caused quite a lot of headaches for our tank crews, and not only ours. Catch the “werewolf” soldier - he immediately had a dilemma: how to perceive him - as a child or still as a Nazi collaborator? Naturally, there were reprisals against such attackers (not only on our part, but also on the part of the allies), and attempts to break the stereotypes of young people regarding the new authorities, especially when it became clear that all this was not a chaotic movement, but that there were certain people behind it strength.
After the war, until about the end of 1946, the Werewolves operated in central Germany. On the outskirts, their forays continued for another year, until the end of 1947. And the longest where they existed was South Tyrol - a German-speaking territory that went to Italy. Here the “werewolves” fought until the end of the 60s.
Few people know, but Soviet historiography sinned by significantly underestimating the degree of resistance on the part of the German population. But still, we should pay tribute to those who worked with the Soviet occupation administration. These people did not rely solely on violence; there were still some measures of social influence. In particular, working with German anti-fascists. With the exception of the British, the Americans, Canadians, and French were afraid to do this, suspecting that among the anti-fascists there were secret Werwolf agents who were trying to get into the new administration in order to use their position to continue sabotage and terror. By the way, there were examples of this. A certain “werewolf” Yarchuk, a Polish Volksdeutsche, was identified, who, due to his very loyal attitude, they even tried to appoint as burgomaster of a small city. But then it turned out that he, it turns out, was specially sent by the “Werewolf”. That is, the Western allies had a rather cautious attitude towards anti-fascists, because they saw German partisans in any attempt at social and political activity.
I remember a note that urged not to enter into relationships with German girls. This was motivated by the fact that women would specifically infect American soldiers syphilis in order to help the activities of the Werewolf, the organization in which her brother, her son, and so on are members. That is, the Americans and the British took this threat quite seriously. Why? Because they couldn’t oppose anything to her. They had no practice in waging guerrilla warfare or countering it. The French had some experience, but, again, this experience was associated with the urban environment, not with ruins. The French resistance operated under completely different conditions.
Adolf Hitler greets young men from the Hitler Youth. Berlin, 1945
As for the basic tactics of the “werewolves,” it was terribly primitive: the partisans dug into a bunker (whether it was a forest guardhouse, a cave, or some other shelter), let the advanced units of the “enemy” troops forward and then struck in the rear. Naturally, under these conditions they were quickly identified and eliminated.
But the “werewolves” were supplied with weapons centrally. The only thing that the German authorities managed to do was create huge secret warehouses, which were revealed almost until the mid-50s. At the last moment, when the Nazis already realized that everything would soon collapse, they stockpiled so many supplies that they could supply more than one army. Therefore, in May 1945, the “werewolves” had toxic substances, several types of explosives, and special cylinders for poisoning water sources. And there was simply no need to talk about machine guns, grenades, small arms.
Well, and finally, a few words about the fate of the Werewolf. Most The saboteurs were caught, and since they did not fall under the Geneva Convention and were not prisoners of war, they were shot on the spot. And only in special cases, as already mentioned, with teenagers, did they still try to carry out some kind of work.
07.07.43: Hitler's newspaper Deutsche Zeitung in Kroatien published a second article by German Major Schäfer, in which the author complains about the enormous difficulties that Hitler's command has to experience in the fight against Soviet partisan detachments. He writes that the partisans have machine guns, machine guns, and artillery. Individual partisan detachments skillfully maintain contact with each other.
The author’s particular “indignation” is caused by the “wrong tactics” of the partisans, the “cunning methods” with which they deceive Hitler’s punitive detachments. The partisans, Schaefer writes, when faced with difficulties, quickly and quietly disperse into the forests, and then unite again at an appointed place. “They,” he writes, “fight stubbornly, bravely and cruelly.” “It’s not easy work,” the author laments, “to fight against partisans on forest roads and paths in the thick of the forest. You have to cross the forest in all directions, through thickets and swamps. When crossing swampy areas, German soldiers are forced to take each other's hands to avoid drowning. Clothes dry directly on the soldier's body. You have to sleep on damp earth. But good nights They are rare, because the partisans attack at night. The supply of German troops with food, weapons and ammunition is carried out with great difficulty, because the partisans are mining the roads.”
All this, says Hitler’s officer, forces the German command to use not only SS and police units, but also aviation and even German soldiers who arrived from the front for treatment in the fight against the partisans. The tactics of the German command, according to Schaefer, boil down to “surrounding the partisans with superior forces, not pushing them back, but destroying them.” “However,” laments the Hitlerite major, “it is easier to achieve this in words than in deeds. Supported by the population, the partisans have an excellent information network. They learn in advance about every movement of German units, as a result of which operations undertaken by German troops often turn out to be meaningless.” ("Red Star", USSR)*
04.07.43: As the Berlin correspondent of the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reports, Berlin circles admit that Soviet partisans cause the German command a lot of trouble. “Russian partisan warfare,” the correspondent writes, “especially in forested and swampy areas, puts German soldiers before difficult trials. The fight against the partisans required many sacrifices on the German side.”
According to the correspondent, to fight Soviet partisans the German command is forced to use special troops"SS" and large police detachments. The Germans had to build special strongholds and fortified positions, as well as a large number of towers from which 24-hour surveillance was conducted. The Soviet partisans, the correspondent writes, direct their attacks primarily against German lines of communication in the rear, which, according to German circles, hurts them. ("Red Star", USSR)
27.05.43: The Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reports that the Germans are frightened by the growth of partisan warfare in Belarus. The operations of the Soviet partisans assumed such a scale that the Germans were forced to bring in ever larger forces to fight them. According to the newspaper, some time ago large units of the SS and numerous detachments of the Nazi police surrounded Minsk, completely isolating it from outside world. After this, a massive raid began in the city, which lasted for a week. None of the residents of Minsk escaped the search.
The newspaper Svenska Dagbladet writes that, according to the Germans, “Soviet partisan detachments in the surrounding forests were supported from Minsk. Their actions interfered with the supply of the front and made the work of the German authorities extremely difficult.” In Minsk, the newspaper writes, stockpiles of weapons and secret weapons were discovered. (Izvestia, USSR)
JANUARY 1943 :
14.01.43: The Nazi occupiers were alarmed by the growth of the partisan movement in the occupied Soviet regions. Hitler's newspaper Hamburger Fremdenblatt complains about the "cunning" of Soviet partisans, who, according to it, operate especially successfully in forested areas. The newspaper writes that German troops have to conduct a thorough reconnaissance of the area. To fight the partisans, the Germans were forced to create a special “security police”.
Hitler's newspaper admits that there are many excellent snipers among the partisans, so the fight against them, in its words, “requires experienced people.” The newspaper indicates that partisan detachments are connected with each other using radio.
The newspaper complains that German soldiers are often victims of partisans and that the latter destroy bridges and blow up trains.
Another Nazi newspaper, National Zeitung, accuses the civilian population of the occupied areas of helping the partisans. According to the newspaper, Soviet partisans “are conducting real military operations against German troops and especially against their rear communications.” The newspaper complains about the difficulties of fighting against the partisans, who, in its words, “find refuge in.” ("Red Star", USSR)
14.10.42: A war correspondent for Hitler’s newspaper Minsker Zeitung writes: “The fight against Soviet partisans is taking place among forests and swamps around individual railway lines. The partisans are constantly trying to blow up tracks, plant mines under rails and bridges, cut telegraph wires, attack trains, damage signal systems and raid stations and bridges. SS troops and aviation are involved in the fight against partisans. The forests on both sides of the railway tracks were cut down so that German railway personnel could observe the area. Despite this, partisans often manage to damage railways. Locomotives go off the rails, shots are fired from ambushes, German railway workers die, and locomotives fly into the air. At night, trains are forced to run without lighting or signal lights. Guerrilla warfare is waged mercilessly."
And here’s how Hitler’s newspaper “Wilnaer Zeitung” describes the entry of Hitler’s troops into the Soviet city they captured: “The city is occupied. The army is followed by the police. The ground shakes all around, and a giant concrete building flies into the air. This infernal machine did its job. The police begin to clean up the city. All access roads to it are blocked, no one is allowed in or out of the city. All suspicious persons are arrested. Here in the city they seem only to be “harmless” pedestrians, but outside the city they form entire detachments. The reprisal against them is merciless. All men must be registered. Those who cannot prove that they permanently reside in the city are expelled. At night, someone blows up all the bridges. The temporary bridge is constantly guarded from saboteurs by the police. The main task of the police is to clear the rear areas, and often they have to fight fierce battles with the partisans for every street, for every square, for ". ("Red Star", USSR)
AUGUST 1942 :
25.08.42: Increasingly, reports from war correspondents appear in Hitler's newspapers about the difficult difficulties created for the German troops by Soviet partisans. War correspondents emphasize that in many places all roads became dangerous for the Germans. Here is the picture painted by a correspondent for the newspaper Völkischer Beobachter:
“A small seaside town in Crimea. On the road, when leaving this city, we notice a post with the inscription: “Keep your weapons in combat readiness, there is a danger of attack by partisans!” We drive along the road, on the right there is a slope, densely overgrown with bushes. Suddenly a shot is heard. The truck's windshield is broken. The second bullet hits the wheel. The car stops. We jump out of the trucks and look for cover. The shots follow one after another, but we don't see anyone. The partisans run from one place to another and fire continuously.”
The newspaper National Zeitung publishes the story of the commander of an SS company sent to take part in an operation against a partisan detachment.
“We have experienced so much hardship and fear,” the author writes, “during these months of fighting the partisans, but we have still not been able to find the detachment. Carrying out attacks on railways, bridges, convoys, military columns and police detachments, the partisans remain elusive, hiding in the forest. Yesterday evening we arrived in the village, joining up with other companies on its outskirts. Suddenly, a skirmish with partisans begins on the streets of the village. The village population takes their side. We, of course, responded to the population later, as expected. A similar fate befell all the villages that hospitably received the partisans in the following days. In the morning we go two and a half kilometers deep into the forest. Suddenly, fierce fire starts from everywhere. Many of our soldiers are falling dead and wounded. A fierce battle begins. All the advantages are on the enemy's side, since he is almost invisible and has good weapons. We have to call in planes, but the partisans are breaking through our lines.”
“Who would have thought,” Hitler’s punisher exclaims plaintively in conclusion, “that we would have to solve such combat missions in such a time.” ("Red Star", USSR)
06.08.42: A correspondent for the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, who visited the occupied Soviet regions, sent correspondence in which he writes: “In Belarus, where big battles took place in 1941, the fighting is still ongoing. Soviet partisans, in groups of 200-300 people, make unexpected attacks against the occupation forces and attack the camps of German troops. With frantic attacks they inflict heavy losses on the Germans. When the Germans send significantly superior forces against them, the partisans instantly disappear. A good-natured long-bearded peasant works with a plow from morning to evening. At sunset he returns home. When darkness falls, he takes a hidden machine gun, and the peaceful peasant becomes a dangerous partisan.
The partisans' actions often take such a turn that the Germans have to bring bombers into action. But for German pilots this is associated with risk, since the Russians open fire with machine guns. In winter, fighting with partisans represented a terrible stage of the war in Russia for the Germans. Among the partisans there are women and even children. A German officer said that in the winter a 12-year-old boy was captured who crossed the front line many times. The boy did not give any information. His specialty was setting fire to houses where German soldiers slept. He courageously accepted the message about the death sentence, and before the execution he exclaimed: “Long live the homeland!” Those who help the Germans also live under fear of partisan revenge.”
Regarding the situation of the population of the occupied areas, the correspondent writes that they have neither housing nor food, and they are deprived of the opportunity to get food. ("Red Star", USSR)
The Nazis were seriously alarmed by the difficult situation created for them in Belarus. At every step, the German fascist enslavers encounter the fiercest resistance of the entire population, disrupting all the activities of the occupation authorities. “A mysterious terrible curse looms over us in Belarus,” exclaims Hitler’s newspaper “Neyes Wiener Tageblat.” - German officials do not find anything here that could facilitate their activities. They have to struggle with insurmountable difficulties here. The peasants do not want to put up with the new property conditions. The artisans did not respond to our call.”
To break the resistance of the Belarusian people, the Nazis brutally deal with the disobedient, killing men and women, old people and children. At the same time, they launched vile propaganda among the population, trying to prove that “Belarusians have nothing in common with Russians” and that “the fate of Belarus,” in the words of Hitler’s newspaper “Krakauer Zeitung,” is inseparable from the fate of Germany.” The citizens of Soviet Belarus respond with bullets and grenades to all the occupiers’ calls for submission. It is not for nothing that the same Nazi newspaper admitted that “the most urgent task of the Germans in Belarus is the suppression of the partisan movement.” The scope of this movement is evidenced by the report of Hitler's newspapers that one of these days a special order of the occupation authorities “on the organization of German self-defense” will be published. ("Red Star", USSR)
01.07.42: The fascist German newspaper Hamburger Fremdenblatt published an article by Lieutenant General Tischowitz in its issue of June 25. Hitler’s general, who experienced the strength and power of the Red Army on his own back, is forced to admit that, unlike Belgium, Holland, France and other European countries on the Soviet-German front, the German invaders “encountered unusually stubborn resistance already in border battles. Soviet soldiers fight with unparalleled courage. When the situation is hopeless, they prefer to blow themselves up along with the fortifications rather than surrender. The senior Soviet command staff also rose to the occasion of the tasks assigned to them throughout the entire campaign.”
Hitler’s general recalls with horror the winter operations of the Red Army, which cost the Nazi bandits enormous losses in manpower and equipment. “In winter,” he writes, “our regiment stood on the Donets, south of Kharkov. Our difficulties reached extremes. “I,” the author declares, “fought at Verdun, on the Somme, in Flanders. All this is zero compared to what was required of each of us in the east.”
Next, Hitler's general is forced to recognize the courage of the Soviet partisans. “The partisans,” he writes, “know that if caught they face execution, but they are indifferent to this. When German soldiers were preparing to shoot one young woman,” the general tells with cynical frankness about the atrocities committed by the Nazis on the Soviet people, “she did not lose her composure and put her hand to her heart, pointing where.” ("Red Star", USSR)
JUNE 1942 :
27.06.42: Hitler's officials complain of "exceptional difficulties of work" in the occupied Soviet areas. During Rosenberg’s stay in Ukraine, Hitler’s commissar Koch spoke, who was forced to note that “all German figures working in Ukraine, as well as district commissars and leaders Agriculture often completely alone at their posts.” Rosenberg himself spoke even more openly, sharing his “impressions” of his trip to the occupied Soviet regions. According to the Ostdeutscher Beobachter, Rosenberg, after returning from the occupied regions of Ukraine, said that the German authorities “failed to establish cooperation with the local population. Armed groups are operating everywhere, killing.” ("Red Star", USSR)
11.06.42: In an editorial, the Swedish newspaper Gothenburg Posten writes that after the attack of Hitler's armies on the USSR, the Russians, with their heroic resistance to the enemy, aroused respect for themselves throughout the world. “Today,” the newspaper writes, “everyone speaks with admiration about the fearlessness and excellent fighting qualities of Soviet soldiers. Soviet weapons also amazed the world with their quantity and quality. Even the Germans do not hide this. They met a people who were fully armed, a people who do not ask or give mercy, but fight to the end. The most characteristic phenomenon of the struggle waged by the Soviet people is the partisan movement behind enemy lines. The Russian partisans do not give the Germans a moment's rest, although they know very well that if they are captured, they will be immediately shot. The Russian soldier, defender of his homeland in the war with Germany, won glory, and will be spoken of with admiration. He fights with fearlessness to protect sacred Russia and that public order which he has built and which he considers." ("Red Star", USSR)
07.06.42: The Kölnische Zeitung newspaper wrote last fall: “The gallows for Russian partisans and partisans are the trees of German freedom.” A good land mine landed on the editors. ("Red Star", USSR)
02.06.42: The Soviet partisans caused a lot of trouble and losses to the Germans. As the German press itself admits, the scope of the struggle of the people's avengers is even difficult to imagine. “The Soviet partisan,” writes Frankfurter Zeitung in its issue of May 24, “has the ability, incomprehensible to us, to live in the forests and offer stubborn resistance to our troops. In winter, except for the fierce ones defensive battles on the front lines, played out no less fierce fight, one might say the war is in the rear of our front. At the same time, partisan units could be based on well-prepared strongholds in forests with warehouses of weapons and food.
German convoy units, police battalions and field gendarmerie had to constantly defend themselves from the enemy. Anyone who survived the winter in the East knows the difficulties that befell the units in the rear, as well as the fact that many fell in the fight against the partisans. At home they have no idea about this struggle, which is unusual for us. An enemy like lightning appears and disappears, attacks, cuts communications, blows up railway tracks. He knows all the paths. Anyone who has experienced this struggle on two fronts will understand what our troops went through.” ("Red Star", USSR)
MAY 1942 :
16.05.42: The Italian newspaper Corriera della Sera published an article about partisan warfare in temporarily occupied Soviet areas. The entire article reflects the fascists’ animal fear of the sacred hatred of the Soviet people. The author of the article writes that the German command finally “understood the danger guerrilla warfare poses. It is not easy to fight against partisans. Guerrilla warfare turned out to be completely unknown to the soldiers before. They did not know how to fight this enemy, whose activities border on fanaticism!”
The author is clearly amazed by the elusiveness of the partisans. “In order to successfully fight the partisans,” he writes, “you must also find them, and this is much more difficult than the fight against them itself. Many partisans, dressed in civilian dress, mix with the population during the day and accept the most.” ("Red Star", USSR)
07.05.42: The glorious deeds of the Soviet partisans haunt the German invaders. The newspaper “Deutsche Zeitung in Ostland” in the article “Guerilla War in Donbass” states: “The Bolsheviks are waging a guerrilla war here. There are no soldiers or civilians visible between the lines. The enemy appears in one place or another. Supplying German troops with food and ammunition is associated with exceptional difficulties. Transport convoys cannot be sent without security. Small enemy units have settled in every village and are attacking us.”
The newspaper “Königsberger Allgemeine Zeitung” writes: “Our tank detachment has been given a very serious task - to protect one area from the partisans. The partisans settled in a forested swampy area, where we did not dare to go. The bridge over the swamp was blown up, and all approaches to the forest were mined. The partisans often attack our shock troops.”
War correspondent Janssen writes in Danziger Forposten that “in the mountains of the southern part of Crimea there are Soviet partisan detachments with large reserves of weapons, ammunition and food.”
In Das Reich, one SS officer states: “Partisans attack roads and railway lines in broad daylight. Last night they took two German sappers with them. They use all kinds of tactical methods. The partisans constantly move from place to place. If you meet a detachment of forest workers, you never know if they are hiding short partisan rifles under their clothes. Recently, the activities of the partisans have become even more active."
The Swedish magazine Nu in its latest issue publishes a large article about the struggle of Soviet partisans.
“The struggle of the partisans showed,” the magazine writes, “that the war united the Russian people even more. The defense of Russia against the army, which had won so many victories on the continent, amazed the whole world.” The magazine notes the large role in the war of “Soviet partisan detachments, which inflicted enormous damage to German troops." Soon after the start of the war, the magazine writes, alarming messages began to appear in the reports of the German command that "the fighting continued and flared up again behind the German lines."
“The partisans,” the magazine further writes, “are well armed and enjoy the unlimited sympathy of the population and their active support. Guerrilla warfare is taking place in all occupied regions of the USSR. Partisans blow up bridges, ferries, military trains, and freight trains. They appeared on the roads, where they captured or killed messengers, destroyed cars, set fire to fuel depots, shot through tankers, attacked armored vehicles, tanks and planes, and destroyed them with hand grenades. German tanks and armored vehicles often fell into traps. Attacks on German headquarters were also reported more than once. Many German generals were killed by partisans. Night raids were often carried out on villages captured by the Germans.”
In conclusion, the magazine writes: “The partisans support the will to resist the occupation authorities and destroy traitors who enter the service of the invaders.
The partisans publish hectographed newspapers and leaflets, organize secret rallies, and post appeals to the population. An influx of new people into partisan detachments." ("Red Star", USSR)
04.03.42: The Kracauer Zeitung newspaper published an article by SS war correspondent Schneider, who admits that Soviet partisans are operating everywhere behind German lines. “They,” the correspondent states, “are trying to destroy German military columns and, in general, everything that could benefit the Germans.” The correspondent cites the following episode: one day, from a village located north of S., the German headquarters was informed that the partisans were daily attacking the soldiers stationed in this village, killing them and threatening to hang the village head appointed by the German command. When food was being confiscated from this village for German soldiers, the partisans raided the village and killed two German soldiers and a non-commissioned officer. An SS detachment was sent to eliminate the partisans, which tried to surround the forest where the partisans were holed up. The SS sheep burst in to the forester's hut, in which, according to their information, the headquarters of the partisan detachment was located. However, they failed to capture anyone. Partisans. ("Red Star", USSR)
21.02.42: The German newspaper Hamburger Fremdenblatt published an article by one of the leaders of the SS detachments, Fritz Carstens, who admits that Soviet partisans do not allow the occupiers to live. “Our bitter experience,” Carstens complains, “shows that illegal groups were created in all occupied areas after the retreat of Soviet troops. Partisans often destroy German warehouses of food, raw materials, and also." ("Red Star", USSR)
DECEMBER 1941 :
04.12.41: The German command tried to explain the retreat of Hitler's troops from Rostov by the fact that they had to turn back specifically to punish the civilian population attacking the rear of the German army. Von Kleist's flight in this explanation should have looked like a punitive expedition, and in its composition it turned out to be something like 6 German divisions. This ridiculously stupid “explanation” was intended to hide the major defeat suffered by the Germans near Rostov. It goes without saying that the Germans failed to hide this fact, and the hastily drawn up imprudent statement about the “reasons” for leaving Rostov played a bad joke on them...
The American Washington Post writes about this: “If you believe the Nazis’ claims that they evacuated Rostov because of the actions of the partisans, then it turns out that they have become so weakened that they cannot cope with the partisans”... The London Times writes that the version about the partisans “as an explanation for the retreat is, of course, a lie,” but in itself it represents “a more terrible and murderous verdict from one’s own lips than anything previously brought against the Germans.”
It so happened that the German fascist invaders, against their will, told the whole world about the war that was carefully hidden and kept silent by them, which was raging on the occupied Soviet lands, in. (Izvestia, USSR)
21.11.41: The German newspaper Brusseler Zeitung published in Belgium published an article reflecting the Nazis' fear of Soviet partisans.
The newspaper is indignant that “legal methods of war” are not liked by the Bolsheviks, who fight fiercely, and that “the entire civilian population has joined the fight.” We will have, the newspaper declares, to intensify the fight against the partisans.
The Nazi leaflet also complains about the tenacity of the Red Army soldiers. “The enemy in the East cannot be compared with other soldiers with whom the German army had to fight,” says the newspaper, lamenting the “fury of Russian soldiers in battle.”
The Nazi newspaper especially does not like the prospects winter war in conditions of continuous active activity of partisans. “The enemy wants,” the newspaper laments, “so that the Germans do not sit idle in the winter. The Soviets, who are accustomed to exalting the exploits of the partisans during the civil war, will not find it difficult to fulfill.” ("Pravda", USSR)
07.10.41: The Swiss newspaper National Zeitung, commenting on the situation on the Eastern Front, notes the steadfastness and organization of the resistance of the Soviet troops. This resilience of the Soviet army, the newspaper writes, is emphasized even in the stories of many Germans who participated in this war. It is quite understandable, therefore, that “motorized fortresses,” as the Germans call tanks in their reports, can advance only at the cost of enormous effort and heavy losses. German newspapers are filled with long lists of dead tank crews and motorized soldiers.
The newspaper calls the struggle of Soviet units behind enemy lines and the struggle of partisans a kind of small war, in which not only small partisan detachments, but also entire military units take part.
The Soviet army showed its firm and irrevocable determination to deprive the approaching enemy of absolutely everything. The main role, however, is played by the readiness of the Soviet army not to yield to the enemy, no matter what position the Soviet troops find themselves in. Every area, every house, every wall is used to organize defense. As a result of this, the Germans suffer huge losses. The stories of the Germans themselves about individual episodes of the war only confirm the fearlessness of Soviet soldiers and the tenacity of the Soviet resistance. The lessons of the war on the Eastern Front are very instructive. They show what great value has such a factor as “soldier psychology”.
14.09.41: The German newspaper Völkischer Beobachter published an article “The Face of War in the East,” in which it acknowledges that the German army encountered unexpected difficulties on the Eastern Front.
“Here,” the newspaper writes, “in reality everything turns out to be different than we imagined. In this campaign, the German soldier finds himself, as it were, transported to another part of the world, to another planet, and this should be understood not only in a geographical sense. The reason for this is the people living in this country.”
The newspaper bitterly complains that during the battle on the battlefield, “Bolshevik fighters continue to fight even when they are in the most difficult situation. Not only peasants dressed in uniform behave this way, but also commanders.”
The course of action of this enemy cannot be predicted. German soldiers have long been accustomed to the fact that there may be a front 100 kilometers to the rear. Each transporter must have a shotgun or automatic pistol on hand. Even the highest headquarters located far from the front post guards at night, as in forward positions. A special chapter is made up of a description of what hardships the German soldier had to endure and what tasks to solve. It is not surprising, the newspaper says, if a soldier scolds with strong words “home-grown strategists” who are not satisfied with the progress of operations. ("Pravda", USSR)
09.08.41: The Times of India, in its weekly review of military operations, notes that the German fascists encountered great difficulties that they did not foresee. Guerrilla warfare, destruction of all materials by Soviet troops during the retreat, effective counterattacks Soviet tanks- all this creates difficulties that cause concern to the German command.
The Tribune also notes in a detailed article that the Germans are in a very difficult situation. The Red Army, the newspaper writes, showed not only valor, but also good training.
In addition, the Russians launched a guerrilla war. Disorganized and disadvantaged, the Germans curse the Russians. They call the Russian tactics diabolical. When the devil begins to call the politics of another diabolical, one can easily imagine to what extent plight he's finished.
To support their very battered troops on the eastern front, the Germans even recalled several divisions from Libya. German air force Serious losses were also caused. Aircraft from the Western Front were deployed to reinforce them. German army stuck. Winter is approaching with its terrible whip to... ("Pravda", USSR)
JULY 1941 :
30.07.41: Among the staff documents captured during the defeat of one enemy unit were field newspapers, the contents of which shed light on what was happening in the fascist rear. From the materials published in these newspapers, one can clearly imagine how frightened the fascists were by the growth of the partisan movement.
The field newspaper "Blücher" (No. 6), published for one of the tank formations, reports in detail about the partisan methods of fighting used by the Red Army soldiers and the population. One officer, by the way, writes: “On the campaign we had to pass through 20 villages. In every village we were fired upon by red snipers holed up in peasant huts. They also shot at us when we moved from one village to another.”
Each issue of this newspaper contains reports of partisan attacks on regular German units. No. 9 of July 4 reports that in the forest, partisans attacked a group of German signalmen and killed an officer. The next issue of the newspaper describes in detail the battle between the partisan group and the German quartermaster unit.
Judging by the materials published in field newspapers, the fascist command was also very concerned about the partisan actions of the civilian population. The same newspaper "Blücher" in its issue of July 9 cites a number of cases of damage to railway lines, burning of warehouses, destruction of crops, etc.
Another fascist newspaper, Gubener Zeitung, published a large correspondence about the partisan actions of the population of the city of D., which began after its occupation by the fascists.
A fascist war correspondent writes: “Night street battles with snipers are becoming a common and everyday occurrence. But that's not all. In broad daylight, shots are heard here from around the corner, from attics, from windows. Every resident we meet on the street, every woman who seems to bow to us - they can all disappear at any moment into the maze of narrow alleys and small houses, take up a weapon and start shooting at us from ambush. And they do it! They are doing it even now, although the city has been in our hands for several days.”
The war correspondent goes on to describe how, while driving through the city streets on a motorcycle, he was constantly under fire from all sides. From all that has been said, the newspaper makes next output: “New for us is the medieval method of warfare used by the enemy from around the corner, in the yard and on the street. This war is being fought by men and women who do not wear military uniform, so the fight is carried out peacefully." ("Red Star", USSR)
13.07.41:
The newspaper Dagens Nyheter published an article by the famous Swedish military publicist Colonel Bratt on the partisan war behind German lines. The author writes: “Everyone says that the Russians wage guerrilla warfare with devilish skill. There is no formal objection here: guerrilla warfare carried out by uniformed soldiers does not contradict the “law of war.” The Russian soldier turned out to be capable of guerrilla warfare, which required individual action. The Germans emphasize that the “small war” waged behind the main front line is difficult, cruel, and brings huge losses. From articles published in the Russian press, it is clear that Russian partisans use grain fields as cover. One can imagine the effort it takes for the Germans to clear Russian fields and forests of partisans armed with rifles and machine guns.”
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("Red Star", USSR)
(Izvestia, USSR)
The partisan movement has repeatedly proven its effectiveness during wars. The Germans were afraid of Soviet partisans. The “people's avengers” destroyed communications, blew up bridges, took “tongues” and even made weapons themselves.
History of the concept
Partisan is a word that came into Russian from the Italian language, in which the word partigiano means a member of an irregular military detachment that enjoys the support of the population and politicians. Partisans fight using specific means: war behind enemy lines, sabotage or sabotage. A distinctive feature of guerrilla tactics is covert movement across enemy territory and 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 way. 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
During the Great Patriotic War, Soviet partisans were controlled by authorities and performed tasks similar to 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 operated in the occupied lands of the USSR, in which approximately a million people took part. They were managed by the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement, developing coordinated tactics for disparate 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 - German troops. Despite the fact that partisans are often thought of as randomly organized detachments of the local population, the “people's avengers” behaved in accordance with the rules of strict military discipline and took the oath as real soldiers - otherwise they would not survive in the brutal conditions of war.
Life of a partisan
The worst time for the Soviet partisans, who were forced to hide in the forests and mountains, was in winter. Before this, not a single partisan movement in the world had encountered the problem of cold; in addition to the difficulties of survival, there was the problem of camouflage. The partisans left traces in the snow, and the vegetation no longer hid their shelters. Winter dwellings often harmed the mobility of partisans: in Crimea they built mainly above-ground dwellings like wigwams. In other areas, dugouts predominated.
Many partisan headquarters had a radio station, with the help of which they contacted Moscow and transmitted news to the local population in the occupied territories. Using radio, the command ordered the partisans, and they, in turn, coordinated airstrikes and provided intelligence information.
There were also women among the partisans - if for the Germans, who thought of women only in the kitchen, this was unacceptable, the Soviets did their best to encourage the weaker sex to participate in the partisan war. Female intelligence officers did not come under the suspicion of enemies, female doctors and radio operators helped during 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 “camp wife” of the commanders. Sometimes everything happened the other way around and wives commanded instead of husbands and interfered in military matters - the highest authorities tried to stop such disorder.
Guerrilla tactics
The basis of the “long arm” tactics (as the Soviet leadership called the partisans) was the implementation of reconnaissance and sabotage - they destroyed railways along which the Germans delivered trains with weapons and food, broke high-voltage lines, poisoned water pipes or wells behind enemy lines. 
Thanks to these actions, it was possible to disorganize the enemy's rear 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 and sometimes one person could implement subversive plans.
When the Red Army advanced, the partisans struck from the rear, breaking through the defenses and unexpectedly disrupting the enemy's regrouping or retreat. Before this, the forces of the partisan detachments were hidden in 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 successes. That’s why the exploits of the partisans are still remembered in Belarus: it’s 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” were able to 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 destroying the enemy. In Belarus in 1943 there was a decree “On the destruction of the enemy’s railway communications using the method of rail warfare” - the partisans were supposed to wage a so-called rail war, blowing up trains, bridges and damaging enemy tracks in every possible way.
During operations “Rail War” and “Concert” in Belarus, train traffic was stopped for 15-30 days, and the enemy’s army and equipment were destroyed. Blowing up enemy trains even with a shortage of explosives, the partisans destroyed more than 70 bridges and killed 30 thousand German soldiers. On the first night of Operation Rail War alone, 42 thousand rails were destroyed. It is believed that during the entire war, the partisans destroyed about 18 thousand enemy troops, 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 over a wedge, which was attached to the tracks in a few minutes, then the wheel was moved from the inside to the outside of the rail, and the train was completely destroyed, which did not happen even after mine explosions .
In addition to repairs, the partisans were also involved in design work: “A large number of homemade mines, machine guns and grenades of the partisans have an original solution for both the entire structure as a whole and its individual components. Not limiting themselves to “local” inventions, the partisans sent a large number of inventions and rationalization proposals to the mainland.”
The most popular homemade weapons were homemade PPSh submachine guns - the first of which was made in the “Razgrom” partisan brigade near Minsk in 1942. The partisans also made “surprises” with explosives and unexpected types of mines with a special detonator, the secret of which was known only to their own. The “People's Avengers” easily repaired even blown-up German tanks and even organized artillery divisions from the repaired mortars. Partisan engineers even made grenade launchers.
The Zuev Republic was a configuration of Old Believer self-government in German-occupied territory. The Zuevites fought off the partisans, the fascists, and the Estonian police, but then began to cooperate with the Reich.
Occupation of Belarus
P. Ilyinsky in his memoirs “Three years under German occupation in Belarus” describes how Belarusians collaborated with the German government. Whether the occupation was always the same as it was presented in Soviet history textbooks is a controversial question.
Historian A. Kravtsov believes that “that occupation was different. It so happened that they went to the Germans for help. For bread, for shelter. Sometimes even for weapons. We have the right to call some of those collaborators. But do you have the right to condemn?
In Belarus, as in other regions of the USSR, various partisan formations emerged, speaking both for and against the Red Army.
Republic of Zueva
Describing the partisan movement in occupied Belarus, Ilyinsky talks about one of the newly formed republics during the war - the Republic of Zuev. From the studies of D. Karov and M. Glazk back in Soviet time became widely known about other republics - democratic republic Rossono, consisting of Red Army deserters, and fought both against the Germans and the Red Army, as well as the so-called Lokot self-government - a republic the size of Belgium, located in the Bryansk region and in parts of the modern Kursk and Oryol regions, with a population of 600 thousand people . However, much less has been written about the mysterious Republic of Zuev. Where did it come from and how long did it last?
Zuev's motives
In the book “Partisanism: Myths and Realities,” V. Batshev describes that since Polotsk, Vitebsk and Smolensk were taken by the Germans at the very beginning of the war, they needed their own people in the newly formed government of the occupied territories.
The burgomaster in the village of Zaskorka near Polotsk was the Old Believer Mikhail Zuev, who had recently been imprisoned for anti-Soviet activities. He was loyal to the German occupiers - two of his sons were exiled by the NKVD to Siberia, and had long had scores to settle with the Soviet authorities, so he met the Germans with great enthusiasm: “In the 1930s, he was imprisoned twice for anti-Soviet activities (5 and 3 years, respectively), and only in 1940 he returned from the dungeons of the NKVD to his village. His two sons were also arrested by the NKVD for armed struggle against Soviet power. One son eventually died in Stalin’s camps, the second managed to leave for Australia in the early 1960s.”
Ilyinsky says that at that time about three thousand Old Believers lived in the village, and it was located in swamps and forests, far from any road. According to D. Karov (who wrote the book “The Partisan Movement in the USSR in 1941-1945”), under the leadership of Zuev and with the support of the German government, the Old Believers lived quite calmly, enjoying self-government, the return of private property and the opening of Old Believer churches - but then something happened .
Zuev's War
In November 1941, seven partisans came to Zaskorka and asked for support. Among them was an NKVD worker known to Zuev, who made a splash with his cruelty. Having given the partisans shelter and food for camouflage, the village council soon secretly killed them and took away their weapons: “Zuev settled the new arrivals in one hut, supplied them with food, and he himself went to consult with the old people on what to do. At the council, the old men decided to kill all the partisans and hide their weapons.” When soon she came to the village a new group partisans, Zuev gave them food and asked them to leave their territory. When the partisans came again, Zuev sent Old Believers armed with rifles to meet them. At night, the partisans returned again - only to retreat, encountering unexpectedly powerful resistance from the sleepless and armed Zuevites.
After these attacks, Mikhail Zuev allowed the organization of special paramilitary units in his own and neighboring villages. They were armed with captured partisan weapons, organized vigils at night and repelled attacks. Until 1942, the Zuevites, according to Ilyinsky, repelled 15 partisan attacks. The most important problems began after - at the end of December, the Old Believers ran out of ammunition. Zuev had to go to the German commandant - and after the New Year, one of the German generals, taking advantage of the disagreements between the Old Believers and the Soviet government, decides to arm Belarusian villages, controlled by Zuev, with fifty Russian rifles and cartridges. Zuev was ordered not to say where he got the weapon from, and was denied machine guns, apparently for security reasons. Neighboring villages themselves sent their representatives to Zuev, asking for protection - this is how his “republic” expanded.
Counteroffensive
In 1942, Zuev and his troops launched a counter-offensive and drove out the partisans from the surrounding villages, and then brought them into his republic. In the spring, he takes out four more machine guns (according to different versions - he buys them from the Hungarians, from the Germans, or gets them in battles with partisans) and introduces the most severe discipline: for serious offenses they were shot based on the vote of the Old Believers.
In the winter of 1942-1943, Zuev fought off serious partisan attacks, and they began to stay away from his republic. He also drove out of his region the Estonian police, who were looking for partisans and wanted to live in his village on this basis: “Zuev answered the Estonian officer that there were no partisans in the area. And consequently, the police have nothing to do here. While the matter was limited to words, the Estonian insisted, but as soon as Zuev’s own detachment approached the house and Mikhail Evseevich firmly stated that he would use force if the police did not leave, the Estonians obeyed and left.” Zuev supplied Polotsk with resources - game, firewood, hay, and was very convenient for the German government, since he regularly paid the food tax. They didn’t even look into the Republic of Zuev and had no influence on internal self-government.
Cover of the Republic of Old Believers
Soon the German army retreated to the west. Zuev retreated after them: as historian B. Sokolov writes, “Zuev with a share of his people went to the West. Other Old Believers remained and began partisan warfare against the Red Army. For this target, the Germans supplied them with weapons and food. Partisan groups stayed in the forests near Polotsk until 1947.”
Ilyinsky writes that all the people cried when leaving their native villages, carried the most valuable things on carts, and saved ancient books and supplies. The German commandant, leaving the encircled Polotsk, allowed us to get through to Zuev in order to leave the encirclement with him - only his people knew the forest like the back of their hand. With the help of Zuev German armies and the Old Believers walking with them (from one to two thousand - information varies) managed to go to Poland, and from there to East Prussia. A number of people actually remained in their native lands and began to fight with the Red Army. The few hundred remaining are taken to the camps, while the Old Believers who left with the Germans left for South America from Hamburg in 1946 (some of them later, in the sixties, moved to the USA - where Ilyinsky, the author of the memoirs, also lived).
In Prussia, Zuev's group broke up. He himself went to A. Vlasov and began to fight in Russian Liberation Army. Further, traces of him are lost - according to various sources, Zuev either went to France, and from there he went to Brazil in 1949, or fell to the British in 1944. No one knows what happened to him next. There is no reliable information left about him, and there is not even a photograph of the ruler of the Old Believers republic. Thus ended the century of the Republic of Zuev.
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Guerrilla movement