Partisan movement stages of development. Guerrilla movement

The leadership of the Soviet Union almost immediately after the German attack sought to use the partisan movement to fight the enemy. Already June 29, 1941 A joint directive was issued by the Council of People's Commissars of the SSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) “To the Party and Soviet organizations of the front-line regions,” which spoke of the need to use guerrilla warfare to fight Germany. But from the very first days, party bodies began to create small partisan detachments, numbering no more than two to three dozen people.

State security agencies also began forming detachments. The 4th departments of the NKVD directorates of the republics, territories and regions, created at the end of August 1941, were responsible for the partisan movement through the NKVD, subordinate to the specially created 2nd department (from January 1942 - 4th Directorate) of the NKVD of the USSR.

On September 21, 1941, the first secretary of the Communist Party of Belarus (Bolsheviks) P.K. Ponomarenko sent a note to I.V. Stalin, in which he insisted on the need to create a single body to lead the partisan movement. In December, Ponomarenko met with Stalin, and he seemed to approve of his idea. However, then, mainly because of L.P. Beria, who sought to ensure that the partisan movement was headed by the NKVD, the project was rejected.

It seemed to the country's leadership that the efforts of the NKVD officers were sufficient for the successful development of the partisan movement. However, developments have shown that this is clearly not enough...

Before the creation of the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement, it was managed along several lines. Firstly, through the NKVD - through the already mentioned 4th departments . Secondly, along the party and Komsomol lines. Thirdly, through military intelligence. As a result, this led to inconsistency and unnecessary interdepartmental rivalry.

By the spring of 1942, the need to create a coordinating body that would take over the leadership of the partisan movement became obvious. On May 30, 1942, “in order to unite the leadership of the partisan movement behind enemy lines and for the further development of this movement,” the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement (TSSHPD) was created by GKO Resolution No. 1837 at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. At the last moment, Stalin removed V. T. Sergienko from the draft resolution of the State Defense Committee, who was planned to be made the head of the new body, appointing P. K. Ponomarenko as the head of the Central Staff (Sergienko eventually became his deputy). At the same time, the Ukrainian, Bryansk, Western, Kalinin, Leningrad and Karelo-Finnish headquarters of the partisan movement were created. A little later, on August 3, the Southern Headquarters was created, and on September 9, the Belarusian Headquarters. Around the same time or a little later, the Stalingrad, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Voronezh and Crimean headquarters were created.

It is worth saying that the number of partisans operating simultaneously under regional headquarters varied greatly. If many tens and sometimes more than a hundred thousand partisans operated under the republican headquarters, then under others, for example, Krymsky, there were no more than a few thousand.

After the creation of the TsShPD and regional headquarters, the 4th departments of the NKVD focused mainly on sending sabotage detachments and reconnaissance.

The leadership of partisan headquarters, as a rule, was carried out by a “triumvirate” consisting of the first secretary of the regional committee, the head of the regional department of the NKVD and the head of the intelligence department of the corresponding front. The chief of staff, as a rule, was either the secretary of the corresponding regional committee or the head of the regional department of the NKVD. At each regional headquarters of the partisan movement there was a radio center that communicated with controlled partisan detachments and the Central Broadcasting Division.

Training personnel for partisan warfare in the occupied territories was one of the main tasks of the TsShPD. Republican and large regional partisan headquarters had their own special partisan schools. Already in the summer of 1941, the Operational Training Center of the Western Front operated, and from July 1942 it became Central School No. 2 (later the Central School for the Training of Partisan Personnel). In addition to it, the Central Special Purpose School No. 105 (trained intelligence officers), Central Special School No. 3 (trained radio operators), as well as the Higher Operational School for Special Purposes (VOSHON), which trained demolitions, were subordinate to the TsShPD. The duration of training in special schools was 3 months. This relatively long training set special schools apart from the 5–10-day courses that took place at the beginning of the war. In total, from June 1942 to February 1944, 6,501 people graduated from the TsShPD partisan schools, and together with the special schools of the regional headquarters of the partisan movement - more than 15 thousand people.

The staff of the TSSHPD was relatively small. Initially it consisted of 81 people. Together with the permanent and variable composition of special schools, a central radio center and a reserve collection point, the total staff of the Central Shpd by October 1942 reached 289 people, but by the beginning of December 1942 it was reduced to 120. Along with it, the staff of partisan special schools also underwent a reduction .

Initially, the TSSHPD included an operational department, an intelligence and information department, a personnel department, a communications department, a logistics department, and a general department. However, over time, the structure of the digital broadband network has undergone significant changes.

On September 6, 1942, “in order to strengthen the leadership of the partisan movement behind enemy lines,” GKO Resolution No. 2246 established the post of Commander-in-Chief of the partisan movement, which was filled by K. E. Voroshilov. Now the TsShPD functioned under him, and all memos to Stalin were submitted under the signatures of Ponomarenko and Voroshilov. Researchers believe that the approval of the post of Commander-in-Chief contributed to strengthening the role of the army in the partisan movement. However, this innovation did not last long; the course towards the militarization of partisan detachments led to a conflict between Voroshilov and Ponomarenko, who had different views on the development of the partisan movement and who, moreover, with the advent of Voroshilov, had every reason to fear for his position.

On November 19, 1942, Stalin had a meeting on the development of the partisan movement, as a result of which GKO decree No. 2527 was issued. According to it, “in the interests of greater flexibility in the leadership of the partisan movement and to avoid excessive centralization,” the post of Commander-in-Chief was eliminated, and the TsShPD returned to the previous mode of operation. K.E. Voroshilov served as Commander-in-Chief of the partisan movement for just over two months.

Another significant, albeit temporary, change in the organization of the partisan movement is associated with Voroshilov’s tenure as Commander-in-Chief of the partisan movement. On October 9, 1942, an order was issued by the People's Commissar of Defense on the abolition of the institution of commissars in the army. It was extended to include partisans, but P.K. Ponomarenko opposed this and, soon after Voroshilov’s resignation, wrote a note to Stalin in which he advocated the return of the commissars. Ultimately, on January 6, 1943, the institution of commissars in partisan detachments was restored.

The future of Ponomarenko and the Central Headquarters after Voroshilov’s departure was not cloudless. On February 7, 1943, GKO decree No. 3000 “On the disbandment of the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement” was issued. According to it, the leadership of the partisan movement was to pass to the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the Union Republics, regional committees and regional headquarters of the partisan movement. The property of the TsShPD was supposed to be divided between local headquarters. The German historian B. Musyal believes that the disbandment of the TsShPD occurred due to the opposition of L. Beria, and also, probably, V. Molotov or G. Malenkov.

The Chief of the Central Staff once again managed to defend his brainchild: on April 17, 1943, GKO decree No. 3195 was issued on the restoration of the TsShPD. However, after its re-establishment, the Ukrainian headquarters of the partisan movement left the subordination of the Central Headquarters and began to report directly to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, although it had to continue to send its reports to the Central Shpd.

The reason for the isolation of the USHPD should be sought in the personal relationships of party leaders. Ponomarenko was at odds with the first secretary of the Communist Party of the Ukrainian SSR N.S. Khrushchev and the deputy head of the USHPD I.G. Starinov. The changes also affected the states. After the re-establishment of the Central Shipping Operations Center, only 65 responsible and 40 technical employees remained.

After re-establishment, the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement lived without any major shocks until its disbandment on January 13, 1944. According to GKO Resolution No. 4955, issued on that day, the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement, as having fulfilled its function, was liquidated, and its property and personnel of the central partisan schools were distributed at other headquarters.

However, the republican headquarters of the partisan movement continued to operate. The Belarusian headquarters was disbanded on October 18, 1944. Until December 31, 1944, the Ukrainian headquarters of the partisan movement operated, subordinate to which were detachments operating on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. In addition, the USHPD was actually one of the initiators of the deployment of the partisan movement outside the Soviet Union.

In May 1944, the USHPD transferred Polish partisan detachments operating on the territory of Ukraine to the Polish headquarters of the partisan movement. Many USHPD personnel were delegated to train the wards of the Headquarters of the Partisan Movement of Poland. USHPD participated in the creation of the Main Headquarters of the partisan movement in Slovakia, and many Ukrainian partisan detachments were soon sent to the adjacent territories of Czechoslovakia.

The partisan movement on the territory of the USSR during the Second World War became massive, covering large sections of the population of the Soviet Union. According to the personnel department of the Central Shpd, 287 thousand partisans took part in the partisan struggle (excluding Ukraine) from 1941 to February 1944.

The damage to the Germans inflicted by the partisans is difficult to reliably estimate. According to the final reports of the TsShPD, compiled before the liquidation of the headquarters, the partisans killed more than 550 thousand German soldiers and officers, 37 generals, destroyed more than 7 thousand locomotives, 87 thousand cars, 360 thousand kilometers of rails.

Although in the light of modern research these figures are considered to be greatly overestimated, the role of the partisan movement in the fight against Nazi Germany is difficult to overestimate. The partisans diverted significant enemy forces that could have been used at the front. The role of the TsShPD is great in the success of the partisan movement. Although, as can be seen from the brief history of the Central Headquarters given here, its creation and development became possible not thanks to the presence of a clearly thought-out and planned military strategy among the Soviet leadership, but was the result of constant improvisation, the TsShPD became the body on whose shoulders fell the coordination of the actions of many partisan detachments and proper training of guerrilla cadres. And the successful development of the partisan movement in 1942–1944. – in many respects it is his merit.

The expansion of the scale of guerrilla warfare required the centralization of leadership and coordination of combat operations of partisan formations. In this regard, there was a need to create a single body for military-operational management of guerrilla warfare.

On May 24, 1942, Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, Colonel General of Artillery N. Voronov turned to I. Stalin with a proposal to create a single center for the management of partisan and sabotage actions, justifying this by the fact that almost a year of war experience showed a low level of leadership of partisan struggle in the rear enemy: “The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the NKVD, a little General Staff and a number of leading officials of Belarus and Ukraine are engaged in partisan warfare.”

According to GKO Decree No. 1837 of May 30, 1942, at the headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Red Army, Central headquarters of the partisan movement(TsShPD) headed by the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b)B P. Ponomarenko. His deputy from the NKVD was V. Sergienko, from the General Staff of the Red Army - T. Korneev.

Simultaneously with the TsShPD, front-line headquarters of the partisan movement were created under the Military Councils of the corresponding fronts: Ukrainian (under the Military Council of the South-Western Front), Bryansk, Western, Kalinin and Leningrad.

The central and front-line headquarters of the partisan movement were tasked with disorganizing the enemy's rear by deploying mass resistance to the invaders in cities and towns, destroying its communications and communication lines, destroying warehouses and bases with ammunition, weapons and fuel, attacks on military headquarters, police stations and commandant's offices , administrative and economic institutions, strengthening intelligence activities, etc. The structure of the headquarters was determined in accordance with the assigned tasks. As part of the Central Headquarters, 6 departments were formed: operational, intelligence, communications, personnel, logistics and general. Subsequently, they were replenished with political, encryption, secret and financial departments. The front headquarters also had an almost similar organization, only with a reduced composition. The scope of activity of the front headquarters was determined by the zone of the front under whose military council it was created.

Until the creation of the Belarusian headquarters of the partisan movement on the territory of Belarus, the organization and management of partisan detachments, together with the leadership of the Central Committee of the CP(b)B, was carried out by the Central Shpd, whose operations department maintained close contact with 65 partisan detachments with a total number of 17 thousand people, of which up to 10 thousand were active in Vitebsk region

The main task of operational activities in the Belarusian direction was to restore contact with the operating partisan detachments and groups throughout the republic, in collaboration with the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus (Bolsheviks) to carry out measures for the further development and intensification of combat operations of the partisan forces, the development of sabotage actions of the partisan forces, the development sabotage actions on enemy communications, organizing assistance to partisans with weapons, ammunition, mine-explosive means, improving communications, etc. Operational activities in connection with the assigned tasks until October 1942 were carried out through the Kalinin, Western and Bryansk headquarters of the partisan movement.

Subsequently, by decree of the State Defense Committee of September 9, 1942, it was formed Belarusian headquarters of the partisan movement(BSPD) headed by the Secretary of the Central Committee of the CP(b)B P. Kalinin, deputy - Secretary of the Central Committee of the CP(b)B R. Eidinov. Initially it was located in the villages of Sheino and Timokhino, Toropetsky district, Kalinin region, from November 1942 - in Moscow, then at the station. The gangway is near Moscow, and since February 1944 in the village of Chonki, Gomel district.

The structure of the BSPD was constantly changing and improving as the functions of leading the partisan movement became more complex. In 1944, the headquarters consisted of a command, 10 departments (operational, intelligence, information, communications, personnel, encryption, logistics, financial, secret, engineering), a sanitary service, an administrative and economic unit, and a commandant platoon. Directly subordinate to him were stationary and mobile communications centers, a training reserve point, an expeditionary transport base, and the 119th special air squadron with an airfield command.

In his activities he was guided by the directive documents of the Central Committee of the VK(b), the State Defense Committee of the USSR and other higher bodies of state and military administration. In addition to the main headquarters, auxiliary control bodies were also created - representative offices and operational groups of the BSPD under the Military Councils of the fronts, whose tasks included ensuring control of partisan formations and detachments based in the offensive zone of these fronts, coordinating the combat missions of the partisans with the actions of regular units and formations Red Army. At various times, the BSPD had its own representations on the 1st Baltic, Western, Bryansk, and Belorussian fronts, and operational groups on the Kalinin, 1st, 2nd, 3rd Belorussian fronts and in the 61st Army.

At the time of the creation of the BSPD, 324 partisan detachments were operating in the rear of regular Wehrmacht units on the territory of Belarus, of which 168 were part of 32 brigades.

Thus, analyzing the partisan movement in the occupied territory of the Soviet Union, including Belarus, we can distinguish four periods in the organization and development of the partisan movement:

The first period - June 1941 - May 30, 1942 - the period of formation of the partisan struggle, the political leadership of which was carried out mainly by the Communist Party; there was no operational planning of combat activities. The main role in organizing partisan detachments belonged to the NKGB and NKVD. An essential feature of this period was that an important reserve for the development of the partisan movement were tens of thousands of commanders and soldiers of the Red Army, who found themselves behind enemy lines due to forced circumstances.

The second period - from May 30, 1942 to March 1943 - is characterized by a switch of party bodies from political to direct leadership of the partisan struggle. The People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs and the intelligence agencies of the Red Army transferred the partisan formations to the republican and regional headquarters of the partisan movement.

The third period (from April 1943 to January 1944 - until the liquidation of the Central Shipping School). The partisan movement becomes manageable. Measures are being taken to coordinate the actions of partisan formations with the troops of the Red Army. The military command is planning partisan warfare along the front lines.

The last, fourth - January 1944 to May 1945 - is characterized by the premature liquidation of the leadership bodies of the partisan movement, the curtailment of military-technical and material support for the partisan forces. At the same time, partisan formations began to directly interact with Soviet troops.

During 1941 - 1944. various partisan formations. They were built primarily according to the military principle. Structurally they consisted of formations, brigades, regiments, detachments and groups.

Partisan connection- one of the organizational forms of unification of partisan brigades, regiments, and detachments that operated in the territory occupied by the Nazi invaders. The combat and numerical composition of this form of organization depended on the partisan forces in the area of ​​their deployment, locations, material support, and the nature of combat missions. The combat activities of a partisan formation combined the mandatory execution of orders from the unified command of all formations of the formation when solving common combat missions and maximum independence in choosing methods and forms of struggle. At different times, about 40 territorial formations operated on the occupied territory of Belarus, which had the names of partisan formations, military operational groups (VOG) and operational centers: Baranovichi, Brest, Vileika, Gomel, Mogilev, Minsk, Polessk, Pinsk regional formations; connections of the Borisov-Begoml, Ivenets, Lida, Southern zones of the Baranovichi region, South Pripyat zone of the Polesie region, Slutsk, Stolbtsovsk, Shchuchin zones; Klichev Operations Center; Osipovichi, Bykhovskaya, Belynichiskaya, Berezinskaya, Kirovskaya, Klichevskaya, Kruglyanskaya, Mogilevskaya, Rogachevskaya, Shklovskaya military operational groups; partisan formation “Thirteen”, etc. It should be noted that most of the partisan formations were formed in 1943. In addition to the detachments, regiments, and brigades that were part of the formation, special units of machine gunners, artillerymen, and mortarmen were often formed, which reported directly to the commander of the formation. The formations are usually headed by secretaries of underground regional committees, interdistrict party committees, or Red Army officers; control was carried out through the Headquarters of the formations.

Partisan brigade was the main organizational form of partisan formations and usually consisted of 3 – 7 or more detachments (battalions), depending on their size. Many of them included cavalry units and heavy weapons units - artillery, mortar and machine gun platoons, companies, batteries (divisions). The number of partisan brigades was not constant and ranged on average from several hundred to 3 – 4 or more thousand people. The brigade's management usually consisted of a commander, a commissar, a chief of staff, deputy commanders for reconnaissance and sabotage, an assistant commander for support, a head of medical service, and a deputy commissar for Komsomol. Most brigades had headquarters companies or platoons of communications, security, a radio station, an underground printing house, many had their own hospitals, workshops for repairing weapons and property, combat support platoons, and landing pads for aircraft. .

On the territory of Belarus, the first unit similar to the brigade was the garrison of F. Pavlovsky, created in January 1942 in the Oktyabrsky district. In the Vitebsk region, these were the 1st Belorusskaya and “Alexei” brigades, operating in Surazhsky and adjacent areas. In total, about 199 brigades operated.

The partisan regiment, as one of the partisan formations, was not as widespread as the above-mentioned formations and brigades. It is mainly widespread in the Mogilev and Smolensk regions. In its structure, it repeats the structure of the partisan brigade.

During the war years, the partisan detachment became one of the main organizational structures and the most common combat unit of partisan formations. According to their purpose, the detachments were divided into ordinary (unitary), special (reconnaissance and sabotage), cavalry, artillery, staff, reserve, local self-defense, marching. Initially, the detachments had 25 - 70 partisans, divided into 2 - 3 combat groups.

The first partisan detachments were named after the place of deployment, after the surname or nickname of the commander (for example, the Batki Minaya detachment, organized in June 1941 from factory workers in the village of Pudot between Surazh and Usvyaty). Later, the names of famous commanders, political and military figures of the Soviet Republic, heroes of the civil war were given (for example, the partisan detachment of the 3rd named after Zhukov, 2nd named after Chkalov, named after Kirov, operated on the territory of the Sharkovshchinsky district); partisans who died, or names that reflected patriotic and strong-willed motives or political orientation in the struggle (the 3rd “Fearless” partisan detachment, operating on the territory of the Polotsk and Rossony districts). Many units had numbered designations.

In total, about 1,255 partisan detachments operated on the territory of Belarus.

The smallest unit of partisan formations is group. It was created by party and Soviet bodies mainly in Nazi-occupied territory from among military personnel who were surrounded, as well as the local population. The numerical composition and armament of the groups were varied and depended on the nature of the tasks and the conditions in which each of them was created and operated.

From the above it follows that the structure of the partisan formations had, on the one hand, similar features to regular military formations, but at the same time did not have a uniform structure for all.

The “Oath of the Belarusian Partisan”, approved in May 1942, was of great importance for raising morale and patriotism: “I, a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a faithful son of the heroic Belarusian people, swear that I will not spare neither my strength nor my very life for the cause liberation of my people from the German fascist invaders and monsters and I will not lay down my arms until the native Belarusian land is cleared of the German fascist trash. ...I swear, for the burned cities and villages, for the blood and death of our wives and children, fathers and mothers, for the violence and bullying of my people, to brutally take revenge on the enemy and impeccably, stopping at nothing, always and everywhere boldly, decisively, boldly and mercilessly destroy the German occupiers....”

In general, in the partisan movement in Belarus During the Great Patriotic War, according to official data, 373,492 people took part. Among them were representatives of almost 70 nationalities of the USSR and many European nations: hundreds of Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, Yugoslavs, dozens of Hungarians, French, Belgians, Austrians, and Dutch.

Related information.

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 for preparing for the Unified State Exam in history: we will 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 their retreat and thwart 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 with excellent physical training capable of conducting effective combat operations on enemy territory in 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

1. June 1941 - May 1942 - spontaneous formation of the partisan movement. Mainly in the enemy-occupied territories of Ukraine and Belarus.
2. 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.
3. September 1943-July 1944 is the final stage of the partisan movement, when the main units of the partisans merge 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, the military equipment and military contingent at their disposal, 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 a lot of partisan detachments and each had its own commander, we will list only those that may appear in the 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)

He was one of the 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 very first clashes, Kovpak’s partisans managed to capture 3 German tanks. Kovpak's partisans lived in the Spadshchansky forest. On December 1, the Nazis launched an attack on this forest with the support of artillery and aircraft. However, all enemy attacks were repulsed. In this battle, the Nazis lost 200 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 the 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.

The emergence of the partisan movement

“Guerilla warfare is a complex socio-social process, conditioned by a number of objective and subjective factors, having patterns and stages of its development, an integral part of the armed struggle aimed at providing comprehensive assistance to the army in order to quickly defeat the enemy, in the absence of an army - proceeding independently, contributing to the creation regular formations in the future”[i].

Among the main conditions for the emergence and development of partisanship are: failure of combat operations by regular troops; lack of own army; waging war over a large area of ​​the country for quite a long time; favorable physical and geographical conditions of the area; favorable moral and psychological state of the population, etc.

Partisanism in its development goes through its inherent natural stages of development. Let us name only the main ones: military-type partisanship contributes to the creation of irregular partisan formations; a transition to organized partisan actions and planned partisan operations is being organized; irregular guerrillaism merges with army activities and is subordinated to them.

Forms of organization and principles of management of partisan formations are determined by the tasks and methods of their combat activities. They also depend on various factors: the political situation; economy of the relevant area; the presence of economic and administrative centers; the nature and effectiveness of the actions of the regular army at the front; the means of armed struggle used, the class and national composition of the population.

Guerrilla warfare involves the creation of territorial strongholds, a territorial system of partisan forces interacting with each other.

The center of gravity of guerrilla warfare lies not in the passive defense of the occupied territory, but in active actions and offensive tactics. In this case, the goal is: starvation, demoralization of the enemy, actions aimed at depleting and demoralizing the rear (not to destroy, at any cost, the enemy’s manpower, but to deprive him of sources of strength and means).

The primary condition for successful partisan warfare should be considered to ensure close ties between military and partisan formations intended for sabotage and reconnaissance activities in the enemy rear with local partisan forces, not isolation, but their reliance on the partisan movement.

The partisan struggle during the Great Patriotic War began from the very first days of Hitler's Germany's attack on the USSR. June 29, 1941 The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR sent a directive to the party and Soviet organizations of the front-line regions, which, along with the general tasks of the Soviet government in the Great Patriotic War, contained a specific program for the deployment of partisan warfare. “In areas occupied by the enemy,” the directive said, “to create partisan detachments and sabotage groups to fight units of the enemy army, to incite partisan warfare, to blow up bridges, roads, damage telephone and telegraph communications, set fire to warehouses, etc.”

In a directive dated July 1, 1941, the Central Committee of the CP(b)B demanded from party, Soviet and Komsomol organizations that all areas of Belarus occupied by the enemy should immediately be covered with a dense network of partisan detachments waging a continuous fierce struggle to destroy the enemy.

July 18, 1941 The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a special resolution “On the organization of the fight in the rear of German troops,” which supplemented and specified the directive of June 29. This document gave instructions on the preparation of the party underground, the organization, recruitment and arming of partisan detachments, and determined the main tasks of the partisan movement. “The task is,” it said, “to create unbearable conditions for the German interventionists... to disrupt all their activities.” The Central Committee of the Party demanded that “this entire struggle receive the scope of direct, broad and heroic support of the Red Army, fighting at the front against German fascism.”

Guerrilla detachments and groups, depending on the situation, were organized both before the enemy occupied a certain area and during the occupation. Often, destroyer battalions, created in front-line areas to destroy spies and saboteurs abandoned by the enemy, took over the position of partisan detachments. Often, partisan formations were organized from military personnel and security officers with a wide influx of local population into their ranks. During the war, it was widely practiced to send organizing groups behind enemy lines, on the basis of which partisan detachments and even large formations were created. Such groups played a particularly important role in the western regions of the country, where, due to the surprise of the enemy’s attack and its rapid advance deep into our territory, local party bodies did not have time to complete the necessary work to develop the partisan movement. “Only in 1941. 437 detachments and organizational groups numbering over seven thousand two hundred people were prepared and sent to the areas of Minsk, Vitebsk, Mogilev, Gomel, Polesk, Pinsk, Brest, Vitesk Baranovichi regions.” The detachments created at the beginning of the war were relatively small, numbering several dozen people, grouped into two or three groups (departments). It was headed by a commander, a commissar, and sometimes a chief of staff. Such a detachment was armed with light small arms.

The order “On the tasks of the partisan movement” specified and developed, in relation to the new conditions of struggle, the main ideas contained in the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of July 18, 1941. It was a concrete manifestation of the strengthening of the party leadership of the nationwide struggle behind enemy lines. The program defined in this most important party document was steadily guided by all party bodies and headquarters of the partisan movement, all partisans and underground fighters. September 26, 1941 Quartermaster General of the Nazi Army Wagner reported to the Chief of the German General Staff Halder that Army Group Center could not be supplied “directly through its area due to the destruction of the railway lines by partisans”[v].

August 1, 1942 The head of the Central Shpd issued an order to intensify the actions of partisan detachments behind enemy lines: “Immediately begin the most severe attacks on the enemy’s communications, making it our task not to miss a single train with manpower. With the enemy’s equipment and ammunition to the front line, through the systematic organization of crashes, explosions and arson, strikes everywhere and continuously throughout the entire depth of the enemy rear, placing their forces along the main railways and highways.”

The trouble of the first partisan formations,” wrote former border guard, partisan general M.I. Naumov, was also rooted in the fact that they were used for operations in the enemy’s front line. “Untrained, not equipped at the front, generally unadapted in any respect to the positional mode of action, the partisans often died without causing significant harm to the enemy.”

During the war, the conditions for basing partisan formations were different. Some of them were based on territory controlled by the enemy, others on territory partially liberated from the Nazis (partisan zones), and others on territory completely cleared of occupiers (usually called partisan areas).

At the end of August - beginning of September 1942, the Central Committee of the Party held meetings of representatives of underground party bodies, commanders and commissars of partisan units and formations. The meetings were attended by members of the Politburo and members of the party Central Committee, leading party workers. At these meetings, more than a year of experience in guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines was summarized and the main military-political task was put forward - to transform the partisan movement into a nationwide one. What did this mean? From the very beginning, the Soviet partisan movement, in its content, was popular. Now the task was set to make it the same in terms of the number of participants, to even more widely involve the population of the occupied regions and cities of the USSR in it. Considering the impossibility of accepting everyone who wanted to join the partisan detachments, mainly due to the difficulties of arming them, it was recommended to create unarmed partisan reserves.

In October 1942, addressing the population of the occupied areas, the Party Central Committee called for fanning the flames of the nationwide partisan movement. In the May Day calls of 1943, the Party Central Committee stated: “Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Karelians, who have temporarily fallen under the yoke of the Nazi scoundrels! Fan the flames of the nationwide partisan movement!” In this regard, the order of the People's Commissar of Defense J.V. Stalin said: “It is necessary, first of all, to ensure that the partisan movement develops even wider and deeper, it is necessary that the partisan struggle embrace the broadest masses of the Soviet people in the occupied territory. The partisan movement must become nationwide."

In the “Appeal to the partisans and to all workers of the temporarily occupied areas of the region,” adopted by the X Plenum of the Smolensk Regional Party Committee in the fall of 1942, it was noted that “... a good operation of a small group of partisans on the railway is tantamount to winning a major battle, a tank or infantry regiment - a serious force on the battlefield, but it can be destroyed by a small group of partisans”[x].

The significance of partisan combat operations on the routes of communication was not limited to reducing their capacity and inflicting large material losses on the enemy. It was also determined by the fact that the Nazis were forced to divert large forces to guard communications. Already at the end of 1942. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel made a bitter admission that the intensified actions of the partisans and numerous facts of their violation of transport communications forced the German army to use reserve and field training divisions, as well as reserve and training units of the Air Force, to protect the railways.

During the Great Patriotic War, partisans used various methods of combat operations: ambushes, raids, offensive and defensive battles, sabotage, fire raids. Particularly widely used in the combat practice of partisans was sabotage. This was dictated by the conditions of the war. The enemy had superiority not only in heavy weapons, but also in maneuverability, since his armies were motorized, and the partisans usually could not widely use automobile transport for maneuver behind enemy lines. Aviation made it easier for the enemy to reconnaissance of partisan locations and made it possible to launch strong air strikes on them. Under such conditions it was difficult to systematically conduct open battles with the enemy.

To combat the partisan movement, the enemy used all kinds of means and methods: propaganda, provocations, repressions against the local population in areas of partisan operations, sending his agents into partisan detachments, killings and discrediting command staff, etc. In order to cause discontent among the population against the partisans, the enemy organized false partisan detachments that robbed the population. In anti-partisan schools, the Nazis taught their agents a special subject: “Measures to embitter the population against partisans,” which recommended, under the guise of partisans, to carry out robbery and arson of villages, murder of citizens, rape of women, senseless slaughter of livestock, deprivation of peasants of the opportunity to carry out agricultural work, looting and etc.

It is worth noting that in the vast majority of cases the relationship between the partisans and the local population was good. Many people lived in partisan zones under the protection of partisans: “in the Ushatsky-Lepel zone - over 73 thousand, in the Klichevsky zone - 70 thousand, in the Ivenets-Naliboksky zone - about 60 thousand people.”

To reduce the combat activity of the partisans or distract them from the most effective methods of fighting, the occupiers published and distributed false appeals to the partisans. The enemy involved large forces of regular troops in punitive operations. The leadership of the defense of the partisan regions was carried out by underground regional and district party committees, which, together with the command of the partisan formations, developed defense plans and determined the procedure for interaction. The fight against large punitive enemy forces was often led by the headquarters of the partisan movement and higher party bodies based on the “Mainland”. They sent their representatives and operational groups to the partisan regions, who on the spot led the struggle of the partisans against the punitive forces. In preparation for offensive operations, the partisans conducted reconnaissance in the interests of the Soviet Army, disorganized the enemy's work, destroyed his equipment and supplies, hampered defensive work, assisted our aviation by directing aircraft to important enemy targets and created favorable conditions for the offensive of Soviet troops.

The partisan movement was an important factor in achieving victory over Nazi Germany and its allies. It unfolded throughout the occupied territory and had a scale and effectiveness unprecedented in history. “According to the BSPD, there were 373,942 partisans in Belarus during the entire period of hostilities.” Workers, peasants and intellectuals, people of different ages, men and women, representatives of various nationalities of the USSR and some other countries took part in the partisan movement. “Partisans and underground fighters destroyed, wounded and captured about half a million fascists and their accomplices, disabled over 4 thousand tanks and armored vehicles, destroyed and damaged 1,600 railways. bridges, carried out over 20 thousand railway accidents. echelons."

It is worth noting that the winter of 1941-1942. was the most critical period for the partisan movement, primarily due to the lack of proper preparation, planning, organization, and management. The partisan detachments, formed in a hurry from untrained fighters, did not have contact with the command, supplies, the necessary equipment, or shelters adapted for winter. Unable to provide assistance to the wounded, experiencing an acute shortage of weapons and ammunition, they very quickly used up their resources, became incapable of combat, disintegrated and died. “To the above we must add the erroneous and inherently criminal directive of the party and political leadership of the USSR to burn houses, “drive the Germans out into the cold,” and destroy livestock. Such actions of partisans and saboteurs forced the population, in order to survive, to protect their villages themselves, to fight the “arsonists”, and pushed them to cooperate not with the partisans, but with the occupiers.”

Already in the fall of 1941, 10 underground regional committees, over 260 district committees, city committees, district committees and other bodies, and a large number of primary party organizations and groups began working in the occupied territory. In the fall of 1943, 24 regional committees, over 370 district committees, city committees, district committees and other bodies operated behind enemy lines. “The organizational and ideological activities of the leadership of the partisan movement in the Nazi-occupied territory of the republic were aimed at maximizing the use of material resources to strengthen the military-economic power of the country.”

In a number of cases, formations were created from military personnel, and fighter detachments, created in front-line areas to fight enemy saboteurs and spies, took over the position of partisan detachments. During the war, it was practiced to send organizing groups behind enemy lines, on the basis of which partisan detachments and even large formations arose. Such groups played a particularly important role in the western regions of Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states, where, due to the rapid advance of Nazi troops, many regional and district party committees did not have time to fully organize the work of developing the partisan movement. In these areas, a significant part of the partisan detachments arose after their capture by the enemy. The eastern regions of Ukraine, Belarus and the western regions of the RSFSR were characterized by advance preparation for the deployment of the partisan movement.

Depending on the specific conditions, there were various forms of organization of partisan forces: small and large formations, regional (local) and non-regional. Regional detachments and formations were constantly based in one area and were responsible for protecting its population and fighting the occupiers in that area. Non-regional formations and detachments carried out missions in various areas, carrying out long raids, and were essentially mobile reserves, maneuvering which the governing bodies concentrated their efforts on the main directions to deliver powerful blows to the enemy’s rear.

It was guerrilla warfare, being the most active form of counteraction to the occupiers, that caused great material damage to the enemy, disorganized the enemy’s rear, and provided significant assistance to the troops of the Soviet Army at the fronts. This struggle had a scale and effectiveness unprecedented in history.

This struggle was of a nationwide nature, as evidenced not only by the huge number of its participants, but also by the very composition of the partisan formations. In the ranks of the partisans there were workers, peasants and intellectuals - people of various ages and professions, representatives of almost all nationalities.

Through their struggle, partisans and underground fighters provided great assistance to the Soviet Army in disrupting the strategic and operational plans of the fascist command and in achieving military victories over the enemy. The actions of the partisans created unbearable conditions for the Nazis and thwarted their plans for using the human and material resources of the temporarily occupied territory. The partisans maintained high morale of the population behind enemy lines and organized them to repel the Nazi invaders.

[i] Boyarsky V.I. Partisanism yesterday, today, tomorrow. Moscow, 2003.P.94

Partisan formations of Belarus during the Great Patriotic War. Mn., 1983.P.3

Right there. C.4

Lipilo P.P. The CPB is the organizer and leader of the partisan movement in Belarus during the Great Patriotic War. Mn., 1959.P.37

[v] Ibid. P.49

NARB.F.3500, op.17, case 1, p.23

Boyarsky V.I. Partisans and the army. Mn., 2001.P.157

Collection of combat documents of the Great Patriotic War. Vol. 5. M., 1947. P. 10.

[x] Boyarsky V.I. Partisans and the army. Mn., 2001.P.135

Kavalenya A.A. Belarus has another Susvetnay war. Mn., 1996.P.49

Partisan formations of Belarus during the Great Patriotic War. Mn., 1983.P.19

NARB.F.3500, op.12, file 10, p.8

Boyarsky V.I. Partisans and the army. Mn., 2001.P.161

Karchevsky K.A. Interaction between partisans and the population of Belarus. Mn., 2003.P.17

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The partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War was massive. Thousands of residents of the occupied territories joined the partisans in order to fight the invader. Their courage and coordinated actions against the enemy made it possible to significantly weaken him, which influenced the course of the war and brought the Soviet Union a great victory.

The partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War was a mass phenomenon in the territory of the USSR occupied by Nazi Germany, which was characterized by the struggle of people living in the occupied lands against the forces of the Wehrmacht.

Partisans are the main part of the anti-fascist movement, the Resistance of the Soviet People. Their actions, contrary to many opinions, were not chaotic - large partisan detachments were subordinate to the governing bodies of the Red Army.

The main tasks of the partisans were to disrupt the enemy's road, air and railway communications, as well as to undermine the operation of communication lines.

Interesting! As of 1944, over one million partisans were operating in the occupied lands.

During the Soviet offensive, partisans joined the regular troops of the Red Army.

Beginning of the guerrilla war

It is now well known what role the partisans played in the Great Patriotic War. Partisan brigades began to be organized in the first weeks of hostilities, when the Red Army was retreating with huge losses.

The main goals of the Resistance movement were set out in documents dating from June 29 of the first year of the war. On September 5, they developed a wide list that formulated the main tasks for the fight in the rear of German troops.

In 1941, a special motorized rifle brigade was created, which played a vital role in the development of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War. Separate sabotage groups (usually several dozen people) were specially sent behind enemy lines to replenish the ranks of partisan groups.

The formation of partisan detachments was caused by the brutal Nazi regime, as well as the removal of civilians from enemy-occupied territory to Germany for hard work.

In the first months of the war, there were very few partisan detachments, since most of the people took a wait-and-see attitude. Initially, no one supplied the partisan detachments with weapons and ammunition, and therefore their role at the beginning of the war was extremely small.

In the early autumn of 1941, communication with the partisans in the deep rear improved significantly - the movement of partisan detachments intensified significantly and began to be more organized. At the same time, the interaction of the partisans with the regular troops of the Soviet Union (USSR) improved - they took part in battles together.

Often, the leaders of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War were ordinary peasants who had no military training. Later, the Headquarters sent its own officers to command the detachments.

In the first months of the war, the partisans gathered in small detachments of up to several dozen people. After less than six months, the fighters in the detachments began to number hundreds of fighters. When the Red Army went on the offensive, the detachments turned into entire brigades with thousands of defenders of the Soviet Union.

The largest detachments arose in the regions of Ukraine and Belarus, where German oppression was especially severe.

Main activities of the partisan movement

An important role in organizing the work of resistance units was the creation of the Headquarters of the Partisan Movement (TsSHPD). Stalin appointed Marshal Voroshilov to the post of commander of the Resistance, who believed that their support was the key strategic goal of the spacecraft.

In the small partisan detachments there were no heavy weapons - light weapons predominated: rifles;

• rifles;
• pistols;
• machine guns;
• grenades;
• light machine guns.

Large brigades had mortars and other heavy weapons, which allowed them to fight against enemy tanks.

The partisan and underground movement during the Great Patriotic War seriously undermined the work of the German rear, reducing the combat effectiveness of the Wehrmacht in the lands of Ukraine and the Belarusian SSR.

Partisan detachment in destroyed Minsk, photo 1944

Partisan brigades were mainly engaged in blowing up railways, bridges and trains, making the rapid transfer of troops, ammunition and provisions over long distances unproductive.

The groups that were engaged in subversive work were armed with powerful explosives; such operations were led by officers from specialized units of the Red Army.

The main task of the partisans during the fighting was to prevent the Germans from preparing a defense, undermine morale and inflict such damage on their rear from which it is difficult to recover. Undermining communications - mainly railways, bridges, killing officers, depriving communications and much more - seriously helped in the fight against the enemy. The confused enemy could not resist, and the Red Army was victorious.

Initially, small (about 30 people) units of partisan detachments took part in large-scale offensive operations of the Soviet troops. Then entire brigades joined the ranks of the spacecraft, replenishing the reserves of the troops weakened by the battles.

As a conclusion, we can briefly highlight the main methods of struggle of the Resistance brigades:

1. Sabotage work (pogroms were carried out in the rear of the German army) in any form - especially in relation to enemy trains.
2. Intelligence and counterintelligence.
3. Propaganda for the benefit of the Communist Party.
4. Combat assistance by the Red Army.
5. Elimination of traitors to the motherland - called collaborators.
6. Destruction of enemy combat personnel and officers.
7. Mobilization of civilians.
8. Maintaining Soviet power in the occupied areas.

Legalization of the partisan movement

The formation of partisan detachments was controlled by the command of the Red Army - the Headquarters understood that sabotage work behind enemy lines and other actions would seriously ruin the life of the German army. The headquarters contributed to the armed struggle of the partisans against the Nazi invaders, and assistance increased significantly after the victory at Stalingrad.

If before 1942 the mortality rate in partisan detachments reached 100%, then by 1944 it had dropped to 10%.

Individual partisan brigades were controlled directly by senior leadership. The ranks of such brigades also included specially trained specialists in sabotage activities, whose task was to train and organize less trained fighters.

The support of the party significantly strengthened the power of the detachments, and therefore the actions of the partisans were directed to help the Red Army. During any offensive operation of the spacecraft, the enemy had to expect an attack from the rear.

Sign operations

The Resistance forces have carried out hundreds, if not thousands, of operations in order to undermine the enemy's combat capability. The most notable of them was the military operation “Concert”.

More than one hundred thousand soldiers took part in this operation and it took place over a vast territory: in Belarus, Crimea, the Baltic states, the Leningrad region, and so on.

The main goal is to destroy the enemy's railway communication so that he will not be able to replenish reserves and supplies during the battle for the Dnieper.

As a result, the efficiency of railways decreased by a catastrophic 40% for the enemy. The operation stopped due to a lack of explosives - with more ammunition, the partisans could have caused much more significant damage.

After the victory over the enemy on the Dnieper River, partisans began to participate en masse in major operations, starting in 1944.

Geography and scale of movement

Resistance units gathered in areas where there were dense forests, gullies and swamps. In the steppe regions, the Germans easily found the partisans and destroyed them. In difficult areas they were protected from the German numerical advantage.

One of the large centers of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War was in Belarus.

Belarusian partisans in the forests terrified the enemy, attacking suddenly when the Germans could not repulse the attack, and then also disappearing unnoticed.

Initially, the situation of the partisans on the territory of Belarus was extremely deplorable. However, the victory near Moscow, and then the winter offensive of the spacecraft, significantly raised their morale. After the liberation of the capital of Belarus, a partisan parade took place.

No less large-scale is the Resistance movement on the territory of Ukraine, especially in Crimea.

The cruel attitude of the Germans towards the Ukrainian people forced people en masse to join the ranks of the Resistance. However, here partisan resistance had its own characteristic features.

Very often the movement was aimed not only at fighting against the fascists, but also against the Soviet regime. This was especially evident in the territory of Western Ukraine; the local population saw the German invasion as liberation from the Bolshevik regime, and en masse went over to the side of Germany.

Participants in the partisan movement became national heroes, for example, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who died at the age of 18 in German captivity, becoming the Soviet Joan of Arc.

The struggle of the population against Nazi Germany took place in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Karelia and other regions.

The most ambitious operation carried out by the Resistance fighters was the so-called “Rail War”. In August 1943, large sabotage formations were transported behind enemy lines, and on the first night they blew up tens of thousands of rails. In total, more than two hundred thousand rails were blown up during the operation - Hitler seriously underestimated the resistance of the Soviet people.

As mentioned above, Operation Concert, which followed the Rail War and was associated with the offensive of the spacecraft forces, played an important role.

The partisan attacks became massive (warring groups were present on all fronts); the enemy could not react objectively and quickly - the German troops were in panic.

In turn, this caused executions of the population who assisted the partisans - the Nazis destroyed entire villages. Such actions encouraged even more people to join the Resistance.

Results and significance of guerrilla warfare

It is very difficult to fully assess the contribution of the partisans to the victory over the enemy, but all historians agree that it was extremely significant. Never before in history has the Resistance movement gained such a massive scale - millions of civilians began to stand up for their Motherland and brought it victory.

Resistance fighters not only blew up railways, warehouses and bridges - they captured Germans and handed them over to Soviet intelligence so that they would learn the enemy's plans.

At the hands of the Resistance, the defensive capacity of the Wehrmacht forces on the territory of Ukraine and Belarus was seriously undermined, which simplified the offensive and reduced losses in the ranks of the spacecraft.

Children-partisans

The phenomenon of child partisans deserves special attention. School-age boys wanted to fight the invader. Among these heroes it is worth highlighting:

• Valentin Kotik;
• Marat Kazei;
• Vanya Kazachenko;
• Vitya Sitnitsa;
• Olya Demesh;
• Alyosha Vyalov;
• Zina Portnova;
• Pavlik Titov and others.

Boys and girls were engaged in reconnaissance, supplied brigades with supplies and water, fought in battle against the enemy, blew up tanks - did everything to drive away the Nazis. Children partisans of the Great Patriotic War did no less than adults. Many of them died and received the title of “Hero of the Soviet Union.”

Heroes of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War

Hundreds of members of the Resistance movement became “Heroes of the Soviet Union” - some twice. Among such figures, I would like to highlight Sidor Kovpak, the commander of a partisan detachment who fought on the territory of Ukraine.

Sidor Kovpak was the man who inspired the people to resist the enemy. He was the military leader of the largest partisan formation in Ukraine and thousands of Germans were killed under his command. In 1943, for his effective actions against the enemy, Kovpak was given the rank of major general.

Next to him it is worth placing Alexey Fedorov, who also commanded a large formation. Fedorov operated on the territory of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. He was one of the most wanted partisans. Fedorov made a huge contribution to the development of guerrilla warfare tactics, which were used in subsequent years.

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, one of the most famous female partisans, also became the first woman to receive the title of “Hero of the Soviet Union.” During one of the operations, she was captured and hanged, but she showed courage to the end and did not betray the plans of the Soviet command to the enemy. The girl became a saboteur despite the commander’s words that 95% of the entire staff would die during operations. She was assigned the task of burning down ten settlements in which German soldiers were based. The heroine was unable to fully carry out the order, since during the next arson she was noticed by a village resident who handed the girl over to the Germans.

Zoya became a symbol of resistance to fascism - her image was used not only in Soviet propaganda. The news of the Soviet partisan even reached Burma, where she also became a national hero.

Awards for members of partisan detachments

Since the Resistance played an important role in the victory over the Germans, a special award was established - the medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War”.

First class awards were often given to fighters posthumously. This applies, first of all, to those partisans who were not afraid to act in the first year of the war, being in the rear without any support from the spacecraft forces.

As war heroes, partisans appeared in many Soviet films devoted to military themes. Among the key films are the following:

"Rising" (1976).
"Konstantin Zaslonov" (1949).
The trilogy “The Thought of Kovpak”, published from 1973 to 1976.
“Partisans in the steppes of Ukraine” (1943).
“In the woods near Kovel” (1984) and many others.
The above-mentioned sources say that films about partisans began to be made during military operations - this was necessary so that people would support this movement and join the ranks of the Resistance fighters.

In addition to films, the partisans became heroes of many songs and ballads that highlighted their exploits and carried the news about them among the people.

Now streets and parks are named after famous partisans, thousands of monuments have been erected throughout the CIS countries and beyond. A striking example is Burma, where the feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya is honored.