The leader of one of the largest partisan detachments. Geography and scale of movement
Let us first give a list of the largest partisan formations and their leaders. Here's the list:
Sumy partisan unit. Major General S.A. Kovpak
Chernihiv-Volyn partisan formation Major General A.F. Fedorov
Gomel partisan formation Major General I.P. Kozhar
partisan unit Major General V.Z. Korzh
partisan formation Major General M. I. Naumov
partisan unit Major General A.N. Saburov
partisan brigade Major General M.I. Duka
Ukrainian partisan division Major General P.P. Vershigor
Rivne partisan unit Colonel V.A. Begma
Ukrainian headquarters of the partisan movement, Major General V.A. Andreev
In this work, we will restrict ourselves to considering the action of some of them.
5.1 Sumy partisan unit. Major General S.A. Kovpak
The leader of the movement Kovpak, Soviet statesman and public figure, one of the organizers of the partisan movement, twice Hero of the Soviet Union (05/18/1942 and 4.1.1944), Major General (1943). Member of the CPSU since 1919. Born into the family of a poor peasant. Participant Civil War 1918-20: headed a partisan detachment that fought against the German invaders in Ukraine together with the detachments of A. Ya. Parkhomenko, fought against Denikin's troops; participated in battles on the Eastern Front as part of the 25th Chapayev Division and on the Southern Front against Wrangel's troops. In 1921-26 he was a military commissar in a number of cities in the Yekaterinoslav province. In 1937-41 the chairman of the Putivl city executive committee of the Sumy region. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, Kovpak was the commander of the Putivl partisan detachment, then the formation of partisan detachments of the Sumy region, a member of the illegal Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine. In 1941-42, the Kovpak unit carried out raids behind enemy lines along Sumy, Kursk, Oryol and Bryansk regions, in 1942-43 - a raid from the Bryansk forests to the Right-Bank Ukraine across the Gomel, Pinsk, Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr and Kiev regions; in 1943 - Carpathian raid. The Sumy partisan unit under the command of Kovpak fought over 10 thousand km in the rear of the Nazi troops, defeated the enemy garrisons in 39 settlements... Kovpak's raids played big role in the deployment of a partisan movement against the German fascist invaders. In January 1944, the Sumy unit was renamed the 1st Ukrainian Kovpak Partisan Division. He was awarded 4 Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov 1st degree, Bohdan Khmelnitsky 1st degree, Orders of Czechoslovakia and Poland, as well as medals.
In early July 1941, the formation of partisan detachments and underground groups began in Putivl. One partisan detachment under the command of S.A. Kovpak was to operate in the Spadshchansky forest, another, commanded by S.V. Rudnev, in the Novoslobodsky forest, the third, led by S.F. Kirilenko, in the Maritsa tract. In October of the same year, at a general meeting of the detachment, it was decided to unite into a single Putivl partisan detachment. S.A. Kovpak became the commander of the combined detachment, S.V. Rudnev became the commissar, and G.Ya.Bazyma became the chief of staff. By the end of 1941, there were only 73 people in the detachment, and by the middle of 1942 there were already more than a thousand. Small and large partisan detachments from other places came to Kovpak. Gradually, a union of the people's avengers of the Sumy region was born.
On May 26, 1942, the Kovpakovites liberated Putivl and held him for two days. And in October, having broken through the enemy blockade created around the Bryansk forest, the formation of partisan detachments made a raid on the right bank of the Dnieper. For a month, the Kovpak team covered 750 km. On the rear of the enemy through Sumy, Chernigov, Gomel, Kiev, Zhytomyr regions. 26 bridges, 2 echelons with manpower and equipment of the fascists were blown up, 5 armored cars and 17 vehicles were destroyed.
During the period of its second raid - from July to October 1943 - the formation of partisan detachments fought four thousand kilometers. The partisans put out of action the main oil refineries, oil storage facilities, oil rigs and oil pipelines located in the region of Drohobych and Ivano-Frankivsk.
The newspaper Pravda Ukrainy wrote: “Telegrams flew from Germany: to catch Kovpak, to lock up his troops in the mountains. Twenty-five times the punitive ring closed around the areas occupied by the partisan general, and the same number of times he left unharmed.
Being in a difficult situation, and waging fierce battles, the Kovpak members also fought their way out of their last encirclement shortly before the liberation of Ukraine.
When the Great Patriotic War broke out, the press of the Land of Soviets gave birth to a completely new expression - "people's avengers". They were named Soviet partisans. This movement was very large-scale and brilliantly organized. Moreover, it was officially legalized. The aim of the avengers was to destroy the infrastructure of the enemy army, disrupt food and weapons supplies and destabilize the operation of the entire fascist machine. The German military leader Guderian admitted that the actions of the partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 (the names of some will be presented to your attention in the article) became a real curse for the Nazi troops and greatly influenced the morale of the "liberators".
Legalization of the movement of partisans
The process of forming partisan detachments in the territories occupied by the Nazis began immediately after Germany attacked Soviet cities. Thus, the government of the USSR has published two relevant directives. The documents said that it was necessary to create resistance among the people in order to help the Red Army. In one word, the Soviet Union approved the formation of partisan groups.
One year later, this process was already in full swing. It was then that Stalin issued a special order. It communicated the methods and main directions of the underground activity.
And at the end of the spring of 1942, the partisan detachments decided to legalize them altogether. In any case, the government formed the so-called. The central headquarters of this movement. And all regional organizations began to obey only him.
In addition, the post of the Commander-in-Chief of the movement appeared. This position was taken by Marshal Kliment Voroshilov. True, he led it for only two months, for the post was abolished. From now on, the "people's avengers" were directly subordinate to the military commander-in-chief.
Geography and scale of movement
In the first six months of the war, eighteen underground regional committees worked. There were also more than 260 city committees, district committees, district committees and other party groups and organizations.
Exactly one year later, a third of the formations of the partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, whose list of names is very long, could already go on the air via radio communication with the Center. And in 1943, almost 95 percent of the detachments could support with the mainland by means of radios.
In general, during the war, there were almost six thousand partisan formations numbering over one million people.
Guerrilla units
These units existed in almost all the occupied territories. True, it happened that the partisans did not support anyone - neither the Nazis nor the Bolsheviks. They simply defended the independence of their own separate region.
Usually in one partisan formation there were several dozen fighters. But over time, detachments appeared, in which there were several hundred people. To be honest, there were very few such groups.
The detachments were united in the so-called. brigades. The purpose of such a merger was one - to provide effective resistance to the Nazis.
The partisans mostly used light weapons. This refers to machine guns, rifles, light machine guns, carbines and grenades. A number of formations were armed with mortars, and heavy machine guns and even artillery. When people joined the detachments, they must take the oath of the partisans. Of course, strict military discipline was also observed.
Note that such groups were formed not only behind enemy lines. Repeatedly the future "avengers" were officially trained in special partisan schools. After that, they were transferred to the occupied territories and formed not only partisan detachments, but also formations. Often these groups were recruited by military personnel.
Signed operations
The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 successfully managed to carry out several major operations in conjunction with the Red Army. The most ambitious campaign in terms of results and number of participants was Operation Rail War. The central headquarters had to prepare it for quite a long time and thoroughly. The developers planned to undermine the rails in some of the occupied territories in order to paralyze traffic on the railways. The operation was attended by partisans from the Oryol, Smolensk, Kalinin, Leningrad regions, as well as from Ukraine and Belarus. In general, about 170 partisan formations were involved in the "rail war".
On the night of August 1943, the operation began. In the very first hours, the "people's avengers" managed to blow up almost 42 thousand rails. Such sabotage continued until September inclusive. In one month, the number of explosions has increased 30 times!
Another famous partisan operation was called "Concert". In fact, it was a continuation of the "rail battles", since Crimea, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Karelia were involved in the explosions on the railway. Almost 200 partisan formations took part in the “Concert”, which was unexpected for the Nazis!
Legendary Kovpak and "Mikhailo" from Azerbaijan
Over time, the names of some partisans of the Great Patriotic War and the exploits of these people became known to everyone. So, Mehdi Ganifa-oglu Huseyn-zadeh from Azerbaijan was partisans in Italy. In the detachment his name was simply "Mikhailo".
He was mobilized into the Red Army as a student. He had to take part in the legendary Stalingrad battlewhere he was injured. He was captured and sent to a camp in Italy. After some time, in 1944, he managed to escape. There he came across a partisan. In the Mikhailo detachment, he was the commissar of a company of Soviet soldiers.
He learned intelligence, engaged in sabotage, blowing up enemy airfields and bridges. And one day his company raided a prison. As a result, 700 captured soldiers were released.
"Mikhailo" was killed in one of the raids. He defended himself to the end, after which he shot himself. Unfortunately, they learned about his daring exploits only in the post-war period.
But the famous Sidor Kovpak became a legend during his lifetime. He was born and raised in Poltava in a poor peasant family. During the First World War, he was awarded the St. George Cross. Moreover, the Russian autocrat himself awarded him.
During the Civil War, he fought against the Germans and whites.
Since 1937, he was appointed head of the city executive committee of Putivl in the Sumy region. When the war began, he led a partisan group in the city, and later - the formation of detachments of the Sumy region.
Members of its formation literally continuously carried out military raids across the occupied territories. The total length of the raids is more than 10 thousand km. In addition, nearly forty enemy garrisons were destroyed.
In the second half of 1942, Kovpak's detachments made a raid across the Dnieper. By this time, the organization had two thousand fighters.
Guerrilla medal
In the middle of the winter of 1943, a corresponding medal was instituted. It was called "Partisan of the Patriotic War". Over the following years, she was awarded almost 150 thousand partisans of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). The exploits of these people forever entered our history.
One of the winners of the award was Matvey Kuzmin. By the way, he was the oldest partisan. When the war began, he was already in his ninth decade.
Kuzmin was born in 1858 in the Pskov region. He lived apart, never was a member of the collective farm, was engaged in fishing and hunting. In addition, he knew his area very well.
During the war, he found himself in the occupation. The Nazis even occupied his house. A German officer began to live there, who led one of the battalions.
In the middle of the winter of 1942, Kuzmin had to become a guide. He must lead the battalion to the village occupied by Soviet troops. But before that, the old man managed to send his grandson in order to warn the Red Army soldiers.
As a result, Kuzmin took the frozen Nazis through the forest for a long time and only in the morning led them out, not to the desired point, but to an ambush set up by Soviet soldiers. The invaders came under fire. Unfortunately, the hero-guide was also killed in this shootout. He was 83.
Partisan children of the Great Patriotic War (1941 - 1945)
When the war was going on, a real army of children fought along with the soldiers. They were participants in this general resistance from the very beginning of the occupation. According to some reports, several tens of thousands of minors took part in it. It was an amazing "move"!
For military merit, adolescents were awarded battle orders and medals. So, several underage partisans received the highest award - the title of Heroes of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, basically, all of them were honored with them posthumously.
Their names are familiar for a long time - Valya Kotik, Lenya Golikov, Marat Kazei…. But there were other little heroes, whose exploits were not so widely covered in the press ...
"Kid"
Alyosha Vyalova was called "Baby". Among the local avengers, he enjoyed special sympathy. He turned eleven when the war broke out.
He began to partisan along with his older sisters. This family group managed to set fire to the Vitebsk railway station three times. They also set off an explosion at the police premises. On occasion, they were liaison and helped to distribute the relevant leaflets.
The partisans learned about Vyalov's existence in an unexpected way. The soldiers were in dire need of gun oil. The "kid" was already aware of this and, on his own initiative, brought a couple of liters of the necessary liquid.
Lesha died from tuberculosis after the war.
Young "Susanin"
Tikhon Baran from the Brest region began to fight when he was nine. So, in the summer of 1941, the underground workers equipped a secret printing house in their parents' house. Members of the organization printed leaflets with front-line reports, and the boy distributed them.
For two years he continued to do this, but the Nazis got on the trail of the underground. Tikhon's mother and her sisters managed to hide with their relatives, and the young avenger went into the forest and joined the partisan formation.
Once he visited relatives. At the same time, the Nazis arrived in the village, who shot all the inhabitants. And Tikhon was offered to save his life if he showed the way to the detachment.
As a result, the boy led his enemies into a swampy swamp. The punishers killed him, but not everyone themselves got out of this quagmire ...
Instead of an epilogue
Soviet heroes-partisans of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) became one of the main forces that offered real resistance to enemies. By and large, in many ways it was the Avengers who helped decide the outcome of this terrible war. They fought alongside regular combat units. It is not for nothing that the Germans called the "second front" not only the units of the allies in Europe, but also the partisan detachments in the territories of the USSR occupied by the Nazis. And this is probably an important circumstance ... List the partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 are huge, and each of them deserves attention and memory ... We present to your attention just a small list of people who left their mark on history:
- Biseniek Anastasia Alexandrovna.
- Vasiliev Nikolay Grigorievich.
- Vinokurov Alexander Arkhipovich.
- German Alexander Viktorovich.
- Golikov Leonid Alexandrovich.
- Grigoriev Alexander Grigorievich.
- Grigoriev Grigory Petrovich.
- Egorov Vladimir Vasilievich.
- Zinoviev Vasily Ivanovich.
- Karitsky Konstantin Dionisievich.
- Kuzmin Matvey Kuzmich.
- Nazarova Claudia Ivanovna.
- Nikitin Ivan Nikitich.
- Petrova Antonina Vasilievna.
- Bad Vasily Pavlovich.
- Sergunin Ivan Ivanovich.
- Dmitry Sokolov.
- Alexey Tarakanov.
- Kharchenko Mikhail Semenovich.
Of course, there are many more of these heroes, and each of them contributed to the cause of the great Victory ...
The first days of the Great Patriotic War were disastrous for the Soviet Union: the surprise attack on June 22, 1941 allowed the Nazi army to gain significant advantages. Many border posts and formations that took on the force of the first blow of the enemy were killed. The Wehrmacht troops were advancing at great speed deep into Soviet territory. In a short time, 3.8 million soldiers and commanders of the Red Army were captured. But, despite the most difficult conditions of hostilities, the defenders of the Fatherland from the very first days of the war showed courage and heroism. A striking example of heroism was the creation, in the first days of the war, in the occupied territory of the first partisan detachment under the command of Vasily Zakharovich Korzh.
Korzh Vasily Zakharovich- Commander of the Pinsk partisan unit, member of the Pinsk underground regional party committee, major general. Born on January 1 (13), 1899 in the village of Khorostov, now in the Soligorsk district of the Minsk region, in a peasant family. Belarusian. Member of the CPSU since 1929. He graduated from a rural school. In 1921-1925 V.Z. Korzh fought in the partisan detachment of K.P. Orlovsky, operating in Western Belarus. In 1925 he crossed the border to Soviet Belarus... From 1925 he was the chairman of collective farms in the districts of the Minsk region. In 1931-1936 he worked in the organs of the GPU NKVD of the BSSR. In 1936-1937, through the NKVD, Korzh, as an adviser, participated in the revolutionary war of the Spanish people, was the commander of an international partisan detachment. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he formed and led an extermination battalion, which grew into the first partisan detachment in Belarus. The detachment consisted of 60 people. The detachment was divided into 3 rifle squads of 20 fighters each. Armed with rifles, they received 90 rounds of ammunition and one grenade. On June 28, 1941, near the village of Posenichi, the first battle of a partisan detachment under the command of V.Z. Cake. To protect the city from the northern side, a group of partisans was placed on the Pinsk Logishin road.
An ambush by a partisan detachment commanded by Korzh was run over by 2 German tanks. It was the reconnaissance of the 293rd Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht. The partisans opened fire and knocked out one tank. As a result of this operation, they managed to capture 2 Nazis. This was the first partisan battle of the first partisan detachment in the history of the Great Patriotic War. On July 4, 1941, the detachment met with enemy cavalry squadrons 4 kilometers from the city. Korzh quickly "deployed" the firepower of his squadron, and dozens of fascist cavalrymen perished on the battlefield. The front was receding to the east, and the partisans had more affairs every day. They set up ambushes on the roads and destroyed enemy vehicles with infantry, equipment, ammunition, food, and intercepted motorcyclists. The partisans blew up the first armored train on the first mine made of explosives made by Korzh personally and used before the war to move stumps. The combat score of the detachment grew.
But there was no connection with the mainland. Then Korzh sent a man behind the front line. Vera Horuzhaya, a well-known Belarusian underground worker, was the messenger. And she managed to get to Moscow. In the winter of 1941/42, it was possible to establish contact with the Minsk underground regional party committee, which deployed its headquarters in the Lyuban region. We jointly organized a toboggan raid across the Minsk and Polessye regions. On the way, they "smoked" uninvited foreign guests, gave them a "taste" of the partisan bullet. During the raid, the squad was replenished substantially. Guerrilla warfare flared up. By November 1942, 7 units of impressive strength merged together and formed a partisan unit. Korzh took command over him. In addition, 11 underground district party committees, the Pinsk city committee, and about 40 primary organizations began to operate in the region. Even a whole Cossack regiment, formed by the Nazis from prisoners of war, was able to "recruit" to their side! By the winter of 1942/43, Korzh's compound restored Soviet power in a significant part of the Luninetsky, Zhitkovichi, Starobinsky, Ivanovsky, Drogichinsky, Leninsky, Telekhany, Gantsevichy districts. Communication with the mainland has been established. Airplanes landed at the partisan airfield, brought in ammunition, medicines, walkie-talkies.
The guerrillas securely controlled a huge area railroad Brest - Gomel, the Baranovichi - Luninets section, and the enemy trains went downhill according to a firm partisan schedule. The Dnieper-Bug canal was almost completely paralyzed. In February 1943, the Hitlerite command made an attempt to put an end to Korzh's partisans. Regular units with artillery, aviation and tanks were advancing. On February 15, the encirclement was closed. The partisan zone has turned into a continuous battlefield. Korzh himself led the column to the breakthrough. He personally led the shock troops to break through the ring, then the defense of the neck of the breakthrough, while the convoys with civilians, wounded and property overcame the gap, and, finally, the rearguard group covering the pursuit. And so that the Nazis did not think that they had won, Korzh attacked a large garrison in the village of Svyataya Volya. The battle lasted 7 hours, in which the partisans were victorious. Until the summer of 1943, the Nazis threw part by part against the Korzh compound.
And each time the partisans broke through the encirclement rings. Finally, they finally escaped from the cauldron into the region of Lake Vygonovskoye. ... Council Resolution People's Commissars USSR dated September 16, 1943, No. 1000 - to one of the ten commanders of the partisan formations of the Byelorussian SSR - V.Z. The cake is assigned military rank "Major General". Throughout the summer and autumn of 1943, the "rail war" proclaimed by the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement thundered in Belarus. Korzh's compound made a noticeable contribution to this grandiose "event". In 1944, several brilliant in design and organization of operations overturned all the calculations of the Nazis on a systematic, thoughtful withdrawal of their units to the west.
The partisans interrupted the railway arteries (only on July 20, 21 and 22, 1944, the demolition men blew up 5 thousand rails!), Tightly closed the Dnieper-Bug canal, thwarted the enemy's attempts to establish crossings across the Sluch River. Hundreds of Aryan warriors, together with the commander of the group, General Miller, surrendered to the Korzh partisans. And a few days later the war left the Pinsk Territory ... In total, by July 1944, the Pinsk partisan unit under the command of Korzh defeated 60 German garrisons in battles, derailed 478 enemy echelons, blew up 62 railway bridges, destroyed 86 tanks and armored vehicles, 29 guns, and removed 519 kilometers of communication lines were out of order. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 15, 1944 for the exemplary fulfillment of command assignments in the fight against german fascist invaders behind enemy lines and the courage and heroism shown at the same time, Vasily Zakharovich Korzh was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and a medal " Golden Star"(No. 4448). In 1946 he graduated Military academy General Staff. Since 1946, Major General Korzh V.Z. in reserve. In 1949-1953 he worked as Deputy Minister of Forestry of the Byelorussian SSR. In 1953-1963 he was the chairman of the collective farm "Partizansky Krai" of the Soligorsk district of the Minsk region. IN last years life lived in Minsk. He died on May 5, 1967. He was buried at the Eastern (Moscow) cemetery in Minsk. He was awarded 2 Orders of Lenin, 2 Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Red Star, medals. The monument to the Hero is installed in the village of Khorostov, memorial plaques in the cities of Minsk and Soligorsk. The collective farm "Partizansky Krai", streets in the cities of Minsk, Pinsk, Soligorsk, as well as a school in the city of Pinsk are named after him.
Sources and Literature.
1. Ioffe E.G. Higher partisan command of Belarus 1941-1944 // Directory. - Minsk, 2009 .-- P. 23.
2. Kolpakidi A., Sever A. Special forces of the GRU. - M .: "Yauza", ESKMO, 2012. - P. 45.
1941 - 1945 - this is part of the Resistance movement, which was designed to destroy the German supply system (undermining provisions, ammunition, roads, etc.). As you know, the fascist invaders were very much afraid of this organization, so they treated its members very cruelly.
RSFSR
The main points of the tasks of the partisan movement were formulated in the directive of 1941. The necessary actions were described in more detail in Stalin's order of 1942.
The backbone of the partisan detachments was made up of ordinary residents, mainly of the occupied territories, that is, who knew life under the fascist sight and power. Such organizations began to appear from the first days of the war. Old people, women, men, who for some reason were not taken to the front, and even children, pioneers, entered there.
The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 conducted sabotage activities, were engaged in intelligence (even undercover), propaganda, provided combat assistance to the USSR army, and directly destroyed the enemy.
On the territory of the RSFSR, there were countless detachments, sabotage groups, formations (about 250 thousand people), each of which was of great benefit to achieve victory. Many names have forever remained in the annals of history.
Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who became a symbol of heroism, was thrown into the German rear to set fire to the village of Petrishchevo, where the German regiment was located. Naturally, she was not alone, but, by coincidence, their group partially dispersed after setting fire to three houses. Zoya decided to go back there alone and finish what she had begun. But the inhabitants were already on their guard and Zoya was captured. She had to go through horrible torture and humiliation (including from compatriots), but she did not give out a single name. The Nazis hanged the girl, but even during the execution she did not lose her courage and urged the Soviet people to resist the German invaders. She was the first woman to be posthumously awarded the title of Hero. Soviet Union.
Byelorussian SSR
It lasted from 1941 to 1944 on the territory of Belarus. During this time, many strategic tasks were solved, the main of which was the incapacitation of German echelons and directly railway tracksalong which they moved.
The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 provided invaluable assistance in the fight against the invaders. 87 of them were awarded the highest military awards of the Soviet Union. Among them was Marat Kazei, a sixteen-year-old boy whose mother was executed by the Germans. He came to the partisan detachment to defend his right to freedom and happy life... He performed tasks along with adults.
Marat did not live to see the victory exactly one year. He died in May 1944. Every death in the war is tragic in itself, but when a child dies it becomes a thousand times more painful.
Marat, together with his commander, returned to headquarters. By chance they met German punishers. The commander was killed immediately, the boy could only be wounded. Shooting back, he disappeared into the forest, but the Germans pursued him. Until the bullets ran out, Marat escaped the pursuit. And then he made an important decision for himself. The boy had two grenades. He immediately threw one into a group of Germans, and the second he held tightly in his hand until he was surrounded. Then he blew it up, taking German soldiers with him to the next world.
Ukrainian SSR
Partisans during the Great Patriotic War on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR united in 53 formations, 2145 detachments and 1807 groups, with a total number of about 220 thousand people.
Among the main command of the partisan movement in Ukraine, one can single out K. I. Pogorelov, M. I. Karnaukhov, S. A. Kovpak, S. V. Rudnev, A. F. Fedorov and others.
Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak, by order of Stalin, was engaged in propaganda in Right-Bank Ukraine, which was practically inactive. It was for the Carpathian raid that he was awarded one of the awards.
Mikhail Karnaukhov led the movement in Donbass. Subordinates and local residents nicknamed him "baty" for warm human relations. Dad was killed by the Germans in 1943. In secret, the inhabitants of local occupied villages gathered at night to bury the commander and pay tribute to him.
The heroes-partisans of the Great Patriotic War were later reburied. Karnaukhov rests in Slavyansk, where his remains were transferred in 1944, when the territory was liberated from German invaders.
During the operation of Karnaukhov's detachment, 1304 fascists were destroyed (out of 12 they were officers).
Estonian SSR
Already in July 1941, an order was given to form a partisan detachment on the territory of Estonia. His command included B. G. Kumm, N. G. Karotamm, J. H. Lauristin.
Partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 faced an almost insurmountable obstacle in Estonia. A large number of local residents was friendly towards the German occupiers and even rejoiced at such a combination of circumstances.
That is why underground organizations and sabotage groups had great power in this territory, which had to think over their moves even more carefully, since betrayal could be expected from anywhere.
Steel Leen Kuhlman (shot by the Germans in 1943 as a Soviet intelligence officer) and Vladimir Fedorov.
Latvian SSR
Until 1942, the activities of partisans in Latvia did not go well. This was due to the fact that most of the activists and party leaders were killed at the very beginning of the war, people had poor training, both physically and financially. Thanks to the denunciations of local residents, the Nazis destroyed not a single underground organization. Some heroes-partisans of the Great Patriotic War died nameless, so as not to betray and not discredit their comrades.
After 1942, the movement intensified, people began to come to the detachments with a desire to help and free themselves, since the German occupiers sent hundreds of Estonians to Germany for the hardest work.
Among the leaders of the Estonian partisan movement was Artur Sprogis, who trained Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. He is also mentioned in Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Lithuanian SSR
On Lithuanian territory, partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 carried out hundreds of acts of sabotage, as a result of which almost 10 thousand Germans were killed.
With a total number of partisans of 9187 people (only identified by name), seven are Heroes of the Soviet Union:
- Yu. Yu. Aleksonis. An underground radio operator, died in an unequal battle, surrounded by the Germans, in 1944.
- S.P. Apivala. He personally destroyed seven echelons with enemy ammunition.
- G.I.Boris. The commander of a special sabotage group, died at the hands of the Gestapo, after being taken prisoner in 1944.
- A. M. Cheponis. A radio operator who died in 1944 in a solo battle against a German unit. He killed 20 fascists while doing this.
- M. I. Melnikayte. She was captured, spent a whole week in torture, without saying a word to the Nazis, but she was able to slap one of the Wehrmacht officers in the face. Shot in 1943.
- B. V. Urbanavichus. He headed a subversive group of partisans.
- Yu. T. Vitas. The leader of the partisan underground in Lithuania. He was captured and shot by the Nazis, after the denunciation of the traitor in 1943.
Hero-partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 fought in Lithuania not only with fascist invaders, but also with the Lithuanian Liberation Army, which did not exterminate the Germans, but sought to destroy the Soviet and Polish soldiers.
Moldavian SSR
Over the four years of the operation of partisan detachments on the territory of Moldova, about 27 thousand fascists and their accomplices were destroyed. They are also responsible for the destruction of a huge amount of military equipment, ammunition, kilometers of communication lines. The heroes-partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 were engaged in the production of leaflets and information bulletins in order to maintain good spirits and faith in victory among the population.
Two - Heroes of the Soviet Union - V.I.Timoshchuk (commander of the First Moldovan unit) and N.M. Frolov (under his leadership, 14 German echelons were blown up).
Jewish resistance
70 purely Jewish liberation detachments operated on the territory of the USSR. Their goal was to save the remaining Jewish population.
Unfortunately, Jewish groups had to deal with anti-Semitic sentiments even among the Soviet partisans. Most of them did not want to provide any support to these people and they were reluctant to take Jewish youth into their units.
Most of the Jews were refugees from the ghetto. Children were often found among them.
The partisans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 did a great job, provided invaluable assistance to the Red Army in the liberation of territories and victory over the German fascists.
