About the partisans during the Second World War. Bloody crimes of Soviet partisans during the Second World War

Heroes of the Great Patriotic War

Today is the holiday of the Great Victory and I could not stand aside in preparation for such a significant day. I wrote a short article for you about people who fought against Nazism, about famous and not so feats, about military stories that surprised me, about patriotism, about the unity of the people, about a strong desire to win.

It is impossible to convey in words all that gratitude to the survivors and the dead wars of our fatherland for our peaceful sky!

Eternal memory to you!

And thank you for our lives!

Heroes of the Great Patriotic War

- Lieutenant Dmitry Komarov was the first and possibly the only one who rammed an entire armored train with his tank. It happened on June 25, 1944 near Chernye Brody in western Ukraine. At that time, the tank was hit and on fire, but Dmitry Komarov, by all means, decided to stop the German squad. To do this, he had to ram the train in a burning T-34 tank at full speed. By some miracle, Lieutenant Komarov managed to survive when all the crew members died.

- Nikolai Sirotinin accomplished an incredible feat single-handedly confronting a whole column of German tanks. On July 17, 1941, Nikolai and his battalion commander were supposed to cover the retreat of his regiment. On a hillock near the bridge across the river Dobrost in Belarus, a gun was disguised right in the rye. When a column of armored vehicles appeared on the road, Nikolai skillfully knocked out the first tank in the column with the first shot, and the last one with the second shot, thereby creating a tank jam. The battalion commander was wounded and, since the task was completed, he retreated. But Nikolai refused to retreat, because there were still many unused shells left.

The battle lasted two and a half hours during which Nikolai Sirotinin destroyed 11 tanks, 6 armored personnel carriers and 57 soldiers and officers of the enemy army. The Germans could not determine the location of the gun for a long time and thought that a whole battery was fighting them. By the time Nikolai's position was discovered, he had three shells left. The Germans offered Sirotinin to surrender, but he only returned fire from his carbine and fired back from it to the last.

When it was all over, the Nazis themselves buried the twenty-year-old Red Army soldier with military honors and volleys from rifles, paying tribute to his heroism.

Unfortunately, Nikolai never received the Hero due to the fact that a photograph was needed for paperwork, and after his death there was not a single photograph left.

For you, I insert a drawing of his colleague made from memory.

Partisans - heroes of the Great Patriotic War

- Konstantin Chekhovich - the organizer and sole executor of one of the largest partisan sabotage during the Great Patriotic War. Konstantin was drafted into the army in the first months of the war and in August 1941, as part of a sabotage group, he was sent behind enemy lines. But unfortunately, on the front line, the group was ambushed and out of five people only Chekhovich survived - he was captured. Two weeks later, Konstantin Chekhovich managed to escape and after another week he got in touch with the partisans of the 7th Leningrad brigade, where he received the task to infiltrate the Germans in the city of Porkhov, Pskov region, to perform sabotage work.

In this city, having achieved some favor with the Germans, Chekhovich received a position as an administrator in a local cinema.

It was this cinema that on November 13, 1943, was blown up by Chekhovich's forces right during the film show, 760 German soldiers and officers were buried under the ruins. None of the Nazis could even think that the humble administrator had been planting bombs on the supporting columns and the roof all this time, so that during the explosion the whole structure folded like a house of cards.

- Matvey Kuzmich Kuzmin is the oldest recipient of the "Partisan of the Patriotic War" and "Hero of the Soviet Union" awards. He received the awards posthumously, but accomplished the feat at the age of 83. The Germans captured a village in the Pskov region where Matvey Kuzmich lived, and later occupied his house, where the commander of the German battalion settled. In early February 1942, this battalion commander ordered Matvey Kuzmich to be a guide and bring the German unit to the village of Pershino occupied by the Red Army, and in return for this he offered food. Kuzmin agreed, but after looking at the route of movement on the map, he sent his grandson Vasily to the destination to warn the Soviet troops. Matvey Kuzmich himself deliberately led the frozen Germans through the forest for a long and confused time and only in the morning led them out, but not to the desired village, but to the ambush, where the warned soldiers of the Red Army had already taken up positions.

The invaders came under fire from machine-gun crews and lost about 80 people captured and killed, along with them the hero-guide Matvei Kuzmich Kuzmin died.

Children - heroes of the Great Patriotic War

- Kazey Marat Ivanovich. The Nazis broke into the village where Marat lived with his mother and sister. And very soon the boy's mother was captured by the Germans and hanged for her connection with the partisans. Together with his sister, Marat went to the partisans in the Stankovsky forest, Belarus. Marat became a scout, penetrated enemy garrisons and obtained valuable information, thanks to which the partisans managed to develop an operation and defeat the fascist garrison in the city of Dzerzhinsk. Marat fearlessly participated in the battles, mined the railway together with the demolition men. In his last battle, he participated on an equal footing with adults and fought to the last bullet, when he had only one grenade left, he let the enemies get closer to him and blew them up with him. For courage and courage, fifteen-year-old Marat was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and a monument to the young hero was erected in the city of Minsk.

- Zina Portnova came to the village of Zuya, Belarus, for the summer holidays, when the war began. An underground Komsomol youth organization “Young Avengers” appeared here, where Zina joined with the outbreak of war. She helped distribute leaflets, conducted intelligence activities on the instructions of the partisan detachment. But in 1943, returning from a mission, in the village of Mostishche, the Germans caught her on a tip from a traitor. Under torture, the Nazis tried to get at least some information from Zina, but in response they received only silence. During one of the interrogations, Zina, catching the moment, grabbed a pistol from the table and fired point-blank at the Gestapo. After killing two more Germans, Zina tried to escape, but could not - she was caught. After that, the Germans tortured the girl for more than a month, but she never surrendered a single one of her comrades. Having sworn an oath to the Motherland, Zina kept her.

On the morning of January 10, 1944, a gray-haired and blind girl was taken to be shot. Zina was shot in the prison of the city of Polotsk, at that time she was 17 years old. Zina was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Women Heroes of the Great Patriotic War

— Ekaterina Zelenko. The only woman in the world who committed an aerial ramming.

On September 12, 1941, on a Soviet Su-2 bomber, she entered into battle with the German "Messers" and when her car ran out of ammunition, Catherine destroyed the enemy fighter by ramming the air. The pilot herself did not manage to survive in this battle. And only in 1990, Ekaterina Zelenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.

- Manshuk Zhiengalievna Mametova in August 1942 voluntarily went to the front and died a little more than a year later for the honor and freedom of her native country. She was 20 years old.

On October 16, 1943, the battalion in which Manshuk served was ordered to repulse the enemy's counterattack. As soon as the Nazis tried to repulse the attack, they felt the fire of the machine gun of senior sergeant Mametova on themselves. The Germans retreated, leaving behind a centurion of their dead soldiers. A few more times the Germans tried to break through, but they were always met by furious machine gun fire. At that moment, the girl noticed that two neighboring machine guns fell silent - both machine gunners were killed. Then Manshuk, quickly crawling from one firing point to another, began to fire at the advancing enemies with three machine guns. Then the enemy moved the fire of machine guns to the position of the girl. Before her death, Manshuk managed to pour a lead shower of bullets on the Nazis, and this ensured the successful advance of our units. But the girl from the distant Kazakh Urda remained lying on the hillside, still clutching the trigger of the "Maxim".

In 1944, Manshuk Mametova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Author

barbarian

Creativity, work on the modern idea of ​​world knowledge and constant search for answers

The first days of the Great Patriotic War were catastrophic for the Soviet Union: the surprise attack on June 22, 1941 allowed the Nazi army to gain significant advantages. Many frontier posts and formations that took on the force of the first blow of the enemy perished. Wehrmacht troops moved deep into Soviet territory with great speed. In a short time, 3.8 million fighters 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 vivid 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 Korzh Vasily Zakharovich.

Korzh Vasily Zakharovich- commander of the Pinsk partisan unit, member of the Pinsk underground regional party committee, major general. He was born on January 1 (13), 1899 in the village of Khorostov, now 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 moved across the border to Soviet Belarus. Since 1925 he was the chairman of collective farms in the districts of the Minsk District. In 1931-1936 he worked in the bodies of the GPU of the NKVD of the BSSR. In 1936–1937, Korzh participated as an adviser in the revolutionary war of the Spanish people through the NKVD, and was the commander of an international partisan detachment. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he formed and led a fighter battalion, which grew into the first partisan detachment in Belarus. The squad 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, in the area of ​​the village of Posenichi, the first battle was fought by a partisan detachment under the command of V.Z. Korzha. To protect the city from the north side, a group of partisans was placed on the Pinsk Logishin road.

A partisan detachment commanded by Korzh was ambushed by 2 German tanks. It was reconnaissance of the 293rd Wehrmacht infantry division. The partisans opened fire and knocked out one tank. As a result of this operation, they managed to capture 2 Nazis. It 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 4 kilometers from the city with enemy cavalry squadrons. Korzh quickly "deployed" the firepower of his detachment, and dozens of fascist cavalrymen fell on the battlefield. The front was receding to the east, and the partisans' cases increased 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 by Korzhem from explosives used before the war for roaming 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. The messenger was the well-known Belarusian underground worker Vera Khoruzhaya. 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 Luban region. We jointly organized a sledge raid in the Minsk and Polessye regions. On the way, uninvited foreign guests were “smoked out”, they were given a “taste” of partisan bullets. During the raid, the detachment replenished thoroughly. The guerrilla war broke out. By November 1942, 7 detachments of impressive strength merged together and formed a partisan formation. 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. It was possible to "recruit" to their side even a whole Cossack regiment, formed by the Nazis from prisoners of war! By the winter of 1942/43, the formation of Korzh restored Soviet power in a large part of the Luninets, Zhitkovichi, Starobinsky, Ivanovsky, Drogichinsky, Leninsky, Telekhansky, Gantsevichsky districts. Connected with the mainland. Planes landed at the partisan airfield, brought ammunition, medicines, and radios.

The partisans reliably controlled a huge section of the Brest-Gomel railway, the Baranovichi-Luninets stage, and the enemy echelons went downhill according to a solid partisan schedule. The Dnieper-Bug Canal was almost completely paralyzed. In February 1943, the Nazi command made an attempt to put an end to the Korzh partisans. Regular units with artillery, aircraft, and tanks advanced. On February 15, the encirclement closed. The partisan zone has turned into a continuous battlefield. Korzh himself led the column to break through. He personally led the strike detachments to break through the ring, then the defense of the neck of the breakthrough, while the convoys with civilians, the wounded and property overcame the gap, and, finally, the rearguard group that covered 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 against the formation of Korzh part by part.

And every time the partisans broke through the encirclement. Finally, they finally escaped from the cauldron to the area of ​​Lake Vygonovsky. . By the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated September 16, 1943 No. 1000 - one of the ten commanders of the partisan formations of the Byelorussian SSR - V.Z. Korzh was awarded the military rank of Major General. All summer and autumn of 1943, the "rail war" raged in Belarus, proclaimed by the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement. The connection of Korzh made a significant contribution to this grandiose "event". In 1944, several operations brilliant in design and organization overturned all the calculations of the Nazis for a systematic, well-thought-out withdrawal of their units to the west.

The partisans broke the railway arteries (only on July 20, 21 and 22, 1944, demolitionists blew up 5 thousand rails!), tightly closed the Dnieper-Bug Canal, frustrated 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 partisans of Korzh. A few days later, the war left the Pinsk Territory ... In total, by July 1944, the Pinsk partisan formation under the command of Korzh defeated 60 German garrisons in battle, derailed 478 enemy echelons, blew up 62 railway bridges, destroyed 86 tanks and armored vehicles, 29 guns, out of order 519 kilometers of communication lines. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 15, 1944, for the exemplary performance of command assignments in the fight against the Nazi 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 the Gold Star medal. "(No. 4448). In 1946 he graduated from the Military Academy of the 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" in the Soligorsk district of the Minsk region. In the last years of his life he lived in Minsk. Died 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, and medals. The monument to the Hero was erected in the village of Khorostov, memorial plaques in the cities of Minsk and Soligorsk. The collective farm "Partisan Territory", 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 // Handbook. - Minsk, 2009. - P. 23.

2. Kolpakidi A., Sever A. Spetsnaz GRU. - M .: "YAUZA", ESKMO, 2012. - P. 45.

The history of wars shows that it is impossible to defeat partisans with the forces of a regular army. Such movements are known at different times and all over the world. However, in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War, the scope and effectiveness of partisan actions surpassed all examples both before and after.

Organized movement

Partisans, by definition, are not military personnel. However, this does not mean that they are not connected in any way with the army and do not have a central leadership. The partisan movement of the times of the Great Patriotic War was just distinguished by a rather clear planning, discipline and subordination to a single center.

Sidor Artemievich Kovpak

On June 29, 1941 (a week after the start of the war), the Directive ordered the leaders of the party and the Soviet administration to create partisan detachments. The memoirs of some of the most famous partisans (including twice Heroes of the Soviet Union S. Kovpak and A. Fedorov) indicate that many party leaders had such instructions long before the start of the fighting. War was expected (albeit not so soon, but still), and the creation of conditions for fighting behind enemy lines was part of the preparation for it.

On July 18, 1941, a special resolution of the Central Committee appeared on the organization of the struggle in the rear. Military and intelligence assistance was provided by the 4th Directorate of the NKVD (headed by the legendary Pavel Sudoplatov). On May 30, 1942, the Central Headquarters was created to lead the partisan movement (the chief was P. Ponomarenko), for some time there was even a post of the partisan Commander-in-Chief (it was Voroshilov). The central authorities were in charge of sending trained personnel to the rear (they formed the core of future detachments), set tasks, received intelligence received by the partisans, and provided material assistance (weapons, radios, medicines ...).

Fighters in the rear are usually divided into partisans and underground fighters. Partisans are usually deployed outside settlements and conduct mainly armed struggle (for example, Kovpakists), underground workers live legally or semi-legally and engage in sabotage, sabotage, reconnaissance and assistance to partisans (for example, Young Guard). But the division is conditional.

Second front

In the USSR, partisans began to be called that in 1942, both giving a high assessment of their activities and mocking the inaction of the allies. The effect of the actions of the partisans was really huge, they mastered many useful military professions.

1. Counter-propaganda. Red flags and leaflets (sometimes handwritten) appeared in thousands of settlements with enviable regularity.
2. Sabotage. The partisans helped to evade export to Germany, spoiled equipment and food, hid and stole livestock.
3. Sabotage. Blown up bridges, buildings, railways, destroyed high-ranking Nazis - the partisans have all this and much more.
4. Intelligence service. The partisans tracked the movement of troops and cargo, determined the location of classified objects. Professional scouts often worked on the basis of the detachments (for example, N. Kuznetsov).
5. Destruction of the enemy. Large detachments often made long raids and clashed with large formations (for example, the famous Kovpakovsky raid "from Putivl to the Carpathians").

One can imagine how much such actions spoiled the lives of the invaders, given that the number of known detachments exceeded 6.5 thousand, and the partisans significantly exceeded a million. The partisans operated in Russia, the Baltic states, and Ukraine. Belarus generally became famous as a "partisan land".

well deserved award

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya

The effectiveness of the actions of the partisans is amazing. Only the echelons (Operation "Rail War") were damaged and destroyed by them about 18 thousand, which was not the last factor in the victory at the Kursk Bulge. To them are added thousands of bridges, kilometers of railway, tens of thousands of destroyed Nazis and collaborators, no less number of rescued prisoners and civilians.

There were also awards based on merit. About 185 thousand partisans received orders and medals, 246 became Heroes of the Soviet Union, 2 - (Kovpak and Fedorov) twice. Partisans and underground workers were several record holders of the highest military award of the USSR: Z. Kosmodemyanskaya (the first woman awarded during the war), M. Kuzmin (the oldest awarded, 83 years old), Valya Kotik (the youngest Hero, 13 years old).

Soviet partisans are an integral part of the anti-fascist movement of the Soviet people who fought with the methods of partisan war against Germany and its allies in the temporarily occupied territories of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War.

From the very first days of the war, the Communist Party gave the partisan movement a purposeful and organized character. The directive of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of June 29, 1941 required: “In areas occupied by the enemy, create partisan detachments and sabotage groups to fight against parts of the enemy army, to incite partisan war everywhere and everywhere, to blow up bridges, roads, damage telephone and telegraph communications, arson of warehouses, etc. “. The main goal of the guerrilla war was to undermine the front in the German rear - the disruption of communications and communications, the work of its road and rail communications, set out in

Decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of July 18, 1941 "On the organization of the struggle in the rear of the German troops."

Considering the deployment of the partisan movement one of the most important conditions for the defeat of the fascist invaders, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks obliged the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the republics, regional, regional and district party committees to lead the organization of the partisan struggle. For the leadership of the partisan masses in the occupied areas, it was proposed to allocate experienced, combative comrades who were completely devoted to the Party and proven in practice. The struggle of Soviet patriots was led by 565 secretaries of regional, city and district committees of the party, 204 chairmen of regional, city and district executive committees of working people's deputies, 104 secretaries of the regional committee, city committee and district committee of the Komsomol, as well as hundreds of other leaders. Already in 1941, the struggle of the Soviet people behind enemy lines was led by 18 underground regional committees, more than 260 district committees, city committees, district committees and other underground organizations and groups, in which there were 65,500 communists.

The 4th Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR, created in 1941 under the leadership of P. Sudoplatov, played an important role in the deployment of the partisan movement. The Separate motorized rifle brigade of special purpose of the NKVD of the USSR was subordinate to him, from which reconnaissance and sabotage detachments were formed, thrown behind enemy lines. As a rule, they then turned into large partisan detachments. By the end of 1941, more than 2,000 partisan detachments and sabotage groups were operating in the territories occupied by the enemy, with a total number of over 90,000 partisans. In order to coordinate the combat activities of the partisans and organize their interaction with the troops of the Red Army, special bodies were created.

P.A. Sudoplatov

A vivid example of the actions of special forces was the destruction of the headquarters of the 59th division of the Wehrmacht, together with the head of the garrison in Kharkov, Lieutenant General Georg von Braun. Mansion at st. Dzerzhinsky d. No. 17 was mined by a radio-controlled land mine by a group under the command of I.G. Starinov and blown up by radio signal in October 1941. Later, Lieutenant General Beineker was also destroyed by a mine. . I.G. Starinov

Mines and non-recoverable land mines designed by I.G. Starinov were widely used for sabotage operations during the Second World War.

radio-controlled mine I.G. Starinov

To lead the partisan war, republican, regional and regional headquarters of the partisan movement were created. They were headed by secretaries or members of the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the Union republics, regional committees and regional committees: Ukrainian Headquarters - T.A. Strokach, Belarusian - P.Z. Kalinin, Lithuanian - A.Yu. Snechkus, Latvian - A.K. Sprogis, Estonian - N.T. Karotamm, Karelsky - S.Ya. Vershinin, Leningradsky - M.N. Nikitin. The Oryol Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks was headed by A.P. Matveev, Smolensky - D.M. Popov, Krasnodar - P.I. Seleznev, Stavropolsky - M.A. Suslov, Krymsky - V.S. Bulatov. The VLKSM made a great contribution to the organization of the guerrilla war. Its governing bodies in the occupied territory included M.V. Zimyanin, K.T. Mazurov, P.M. Masherov and others.

By a GKO resolution of May 30, 1942, the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement (TSSHPD, Chief of Staff - Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Belarus P.K. Ponomarenko) was organized at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.

The activities carried out by the party made it possible to significantly improve the leadership of partisan detachments, supply them with the necessary material resources, and ensure clearer interaction between the partisans and the Red Army.

at the partisan airfield.

W and during its existence, the TsSHPD sent 59,960 rifles and carbines, 34,320 machine guns, 4,210 light machine guns, 2,556 anti-tank rifles, 2,184 50-mm and 82-mm mortars, 539,570 hand-held anti-personnel and anti-tank grenades, a large amount of ammunition, explosives, medicines, food and other essentials. The central and republican schools of the partisan movement trained and sent behind enemy lines more than 22,000 various specialists, of which 75% were demolition workers, 9% were organizers of the underground and the partisan movement, 8% were radio operators, and 7% were scouts.

The main organizational and combat unit of the partisan forces was a detachment, which usually consisted of squads, platoons and companies, numbering several dozen people, and later - up to 200 or more fighters. During the course of the war, many detachments united into partisan brigades and partisan divisions of up to several thousand fighters. The armament was dominated by light weapons (both Soviet and captured), but many detachments and formations had mortars, and some even artillery. All persons who joined the partisan formations took the partisan oath, as a rule, strict military discipline was established in the detachments. Party and Komsomol organizations were created in the detachments. The actions of the partisans were combined with other forms of nationwide struggle behind enemy lines - the actions of the underground in cities and towns, sabotage at enterprises and transport, disruption of political and military measures carried out by the enemy.

at the headquarters of the partisan brigade

group of partisans

partisan with a gun

Physical and geographical conditions influenced the forms of organization of partisan forces and the methods of their actions. Vast forests, swamps, mountains were the main bases for partisan forces. Partisan regions and zones arose here, where various methods of struggle could be widely used, including open battles with the enemy. In the steppe regions, however, large formations operated successfully only during raids. The small detachments and groups that were constantly here usually avoided open clashes with the enemy and inflicted damage on him mainly by sabotage.

In the tactics of guerrilla operations, the following elements can be distinguished:

Subversive activities, destruction of enemy infrastructure in any form (rail war, destruction of communication lines, high-voltage lines, destruction of bridges, water pipelines, etc.);

Intelligence activities, including undercover;

Political activity and Bolshevik propaganda;

Destruction of manpower and equipment of the Nazis;

Elimination of collaborators and heads of the Nazi administration;

Restoration and preservation of elements of Soviet power in the occupied territory;

The mobilization of the combat-ready population remaining in the occupied territories, and the unification of the encircled military units.

V.Z. Korzh

On June 28, 1941, in the area of ​​the village of Posenichi, the first battle was fought by a partisan detachment under the command of V.Z. Korzha. To protect the city of Pinsk from the north side, a group of partisans was put up on the road Pinsk - Logoshin. A partisan detachment commanded by Korzh was ambushed by 2 German tanks with motorcyclists. It was reconnaissance of the 293rd Wehrmacht infantry division. The partisans opened fire and destroyed one tank. During the battle, the partisans captured two Nazis. It was the first partisan battle of the first partisan detachment in the history of the Great Patriotic War!

On July 4, 1941, Korzh's detachment met with a German cavalry squadron 4 km from Pinsk. The partisans let the Germans close and opened accurate fire. Dozens of Nazi cavalry died on the battlefield. In total, by June 1944, the Pinsk partisan formation under the command of V.Z Korzh defeated 60 German garrisons in battles, derailed 478 railway echelons, and blew up 62 railways. bridge, destroyed 86 tanks, 29 guns, disabled 519 km of communication lines. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 15, 1944, for the exemplary performance of command assignments in the fight against the Nazi 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 award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Medal. Star “for No. 4448.

In August 1941, 231 partisan detachments were already operating on the territory of Belarus. Leaders of the Belarusian partisan detachment

“Red October” - commander Fyodor Pavlovsky and commissar Tikhon Bumazhkov - on August 6, 1941, the first of the partisans were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In the Bryansk region, Soviet partisans controlled vast territories in the German rear. In the summer of 1942, they actually controlled the territory of 14,000 square kilometers. The Bryansk partisan republic was formed.

guerrilla ambush

In the second period of the Second World War (autumn 1942 - the end of 1943), the partisan movement expanded deep behind enemy lines. Transferring their base from the Bryansk forests to the west, the partisan formations crossed the Desna, Sozh, Dnieper, and Pripyat rivers and began to strike at the enemy's most important communications in his rear. The blows of the partisans rendered great assistance to the Red Army, diverting the large forces of the fascists. In the midst of the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-1943, the actions of partisan detachments and formations to a large extent disrupted the supply of enemy reserves and military equipment to the front. The actions of the partisans turned out to be so effective that the fascist German command sent against them in the summer and autumn of 1942 144 police battalions, 27 police regiments, 8 infantry regiments, 10 security police and punitive divisions of the SS, 2 security corps, 72 special units, up to 15 infantry German and 5 infantry divisions of their satellites, thereby weakening their forces at the front. Despite this, the partisans managed to organize during this period more than 3,000 crashes of enemy echelons, blew up 3,500 railway and highway bridges, destroyed 15,000 vehicles, about 900 bases and depots with ammunition and weapons, up to 1,200 tanks, 467 aircraft, 378 guns.

punishers and policemen

partisan region

partisans on the march

By the end of the summer of 1942, the partisan movement had become a significant force, organizational work was completed. The total number of partisans was up to 200,000 people. In August 1942, the most famous of the partisan commanders were summoned to Moscow to participate in a general meeting.

Commanders of partisan formations: M.I. Duka, M.P. Voloshin, D.V. emlyutin, S.A. Kovpak, A.N. Saburov

(from left to right)

Thanks to the efforts of the Soviet leadership, the partisan movement turned into a carefully organized, well-managed and united military and political force under a single command. Chief of the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement at Headquarters, Lieutenant General P.K. Ponomarenko became a member of the General Staff Red Army.

PC. Ponomarenko

TsShPD - on the left P.K. Ponomarenko

The partisan detachments operating in the front line came under the direct subordination of the command of the corresponding army that occupied this sector of the front. The detachments operating in the deep rear of the German troops were subordinate to the headquarters in Moscow. The officers and rank and file of the regular army were sent to partisan units as instructors for the training of specialists.

partisan movement management structure

In August - September 1943, according to the plan of the TsShPD, 541 detachments of Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian partisans simultaneously took part in the first operation to destroy the enemy's railway communications in"rail war".

The purpose of the operation was to disorganize the work of the railway by massive and simultaneous destruction of the rails. transport, than to disrupt the supply of German troops, evacuation and regrouping, and thus assist the Red Army in completing the defeat of the enemy in the Battle of Kursk in 1943 and deploying a general offensive on the Soviet-German front. The leadership of the ‘rail war’ was carried out by the TsSHPD at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. The plan called for the destruction of 200,000 rails in the rear areas of Army Groups Center and North. To carry out the operation, 167 partisan detachments from Belarus, Leningrad, Kalinin, Smolensk, Oryol regions, numbering up to 100,000 people, were involved.

The operation was preceded by careful preparation. The sections of the railway planned for destruction were distributed among partisan formations and detachments. From June 15 to July 1, 1943 alone, 150 tons of special-profile heavy projectiles, 156,000 m of Fickford cord, 28,000 m and a hemp wick, 595,000 detonator caps, 35,000 fuses, a lot of weapons, ammunition and medicines were thrown at partisan bases. Instructors-miners were sent to the partisan detachments.

peacekeeping of the railway canvases

The “rail war” began on the night of August 3, just at the time when the enemy was forced to intensively maneuver his reserves in connection with the unfolding counteroffensive of the Soviet troops and its development into a general offensive along the entire front. In one night, more than 42,000 rails were blown up in depth over a vast territory of 1,000 km along the front and from the front line to the western borders of the USSR. Simultaneously with the “Rail War”, active operations on the communications of the enemy were launched by partisans of Ukraine, who, according to the plan for the spring-summer period of 1943, were tasked with paralyzing the work of 26 largest railways. nodes in the rear of Army Group "South", including Shepetovsky, Kovelsky, Zdolbunovsky, Korostensky, Sarnensky.

train station attack

In the following days, the actions of the partisans in the operation intensified even more. By September 15, 215,000 rails were destroyed, which amounted to 1342 km of a single-track railway. way. On some railways On the roads, traffic was delayed for 3-15 days, and the highways Mogilev-Krichev, Polotsk-Dvinsk, Mogilev-Zhlobin did not work during August 1943. Only Belarusian partisans during the operation blew up 836 military echelons, including 3 armored trains, disabled 690 steam locomotives, 6343 wagons and platforms, 18 water pumps, destroyed 184 railroads. bridges and 556 bridges on dirt and highway roads, destroyed 119 tanks and 1429 vehicles, defeated 44 German garrisons. The experience of the “Rail War” was used by the headquarters of the partisan movement in the autumn-winter period of 1943/1944 in the operations “Concert” and in the summer of 1944 during the offensive of the Red Army in Belarus.

blown up railway compound

Operation "Concert" was carried out by Soviet partisans from September 19 to the end of October 1943. The purpose of the operation is to impede the operational transportation of Nazi troops by the mass disabling of large sections of railways; was a continuation of Operation Rail War; was carried out according to the plan of the TsSHPD at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and was closely connected with the upcoming offensive of the Soviet troops in the Smolensk and Gomel directions and the battle for the Dnieper. 293 partisan formations and detachments from Belarus, the Baltic States, Karelia, Crimea, Leningrad and Kalinin regions were involved in the operation, in total over 120,000 partisans; it was planned to undermine more than 272,000 rails. In Belarus, 90,000 partisans were involved in the operation; they were to blow up 140,000 rails. The TsSHPD planned to throw 120 tons of explosives and other cargo to the partisans of Belarus, and 20 tons each to the Kalinin and Leningrad partisans. Due to the sharply deteriorating weather conditions, only 50% of the planned plan was transferred to the partisans by the beginning of the operation, and therefore it was decided to start mass sabotage on September 25. However, part of the partisan detachments, which, according to the previous order, went to their starting lines, could no longer take into account the changes in the timing of the operation, and on September 19 they began to carry it out. On the night of September 25, widespread actions were carried out according to the plan“Concert”, covering the front of 900 km and a depth of 400 km. The partisans of Belarus on the night of September 19 blew up 19903 rails and on the night of September 25 another 15809 rails. As a result, 148557 rails were blown up. Operation "Concert" intensified the struggle of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders in the occupied territories. In the course of it, the influx of the local population into partisan detachments increased.

partisan operation “Concert”

An important form of partisan actions were raids by partisan formations in the rear of the fascist invaders. The main goal of these raids was to increase the scope and activity of popular resistance to the invaders in new areas, as well as to strike at large railways. nodes and important military-industrial facilities of the enemy, intelligence, fraternal assistance to the peoples of neighboring countries in their liberation struggle against fascism. Only on the instructions of the headquarters of the partisan movement, more than 40 raids were carried out, in which more than 100 large partisan formations participated. In 1944, 7 formations and 26 separate large detachments of Soviet partisans operated in the occupied territory of Poland, and 20 formations and detachments operated in Czechoslovakia. The raids of partisan formations under the command of V.A. Andreeva, I.N. Banova, P.P. Vershigory, A.V. Germana, S.V. Grishina, F.F. Cabbage, V.A. Karaseva, S.A. Kovpak, V.I. Kozlova, V.Z. Korzha, M.I. Naumova, N.A. Prokopyuk, V.V. Razumova, A.N. Saburova, V.P. Samson, A.F. Fedorova, A.K. Flegontova, V.P. Chepigi, M.I. Shukaeva and others.

The Putivl partisan detachment (commander S.A. Kovpvk, commissar S.V. Rudnev, chief of staff G.Ya. Bazyma), which operated in the occupied territory of several regions of the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Belarus in 1941-1944, was created on October 18, 1941 in the Spadshchansky forest of the Sumy region. The first weeks of the occupation, the detachments of Kovpak and Rudnev, numbering two or three dozen people, acted independently and had no communication with each other. By the beginning of autumn, Rudnev followed Kovpak's first sabotage, met with him and offered to merge both detachments. Already on October 19-20, 1941, the detachment repelled the offensive of the punitive battalion with 5 tanks, on November 18-19 - the second offensive of the punishers, and on December 1 broke through the blockade ring around the Spadshchansky forest and made the first raid into the Khinel forests. By this time, the united detachment had already grown to 500 people.

Sidor Artemievich Kovpak

Semyon Vasilievich Rudnev

In February 1942, the S.A. Kovpak, transformed into the Sumy partisan formation (Connection of partisan detachments of the Sumy region), returned to the Spadshchansky forest and from here undertook a series of raids, as a result of which an extensive partisan region was created in the northern regions of the Sumy region and in the adjacent territory of the RSFSR and the BSSR. By the summer of 1942, 24 detachments and 127 groups (about 18,000 partisans) were operating on its territory.

dugout at a partisan base

Interior view of the dugout

The Sumy partisan formation included four detachments: Putivl, Glukhovsky, Shalyginsky and Krolevetsky (according to the names of the districts of the Sumy region where they were organized). For conspiracy, the unit was called military unit 00117, and the detachments were called battalions. Historically, the units had unequal numbers. As of January 1943, while based in Polesie, the first battalion(Putivl detachment) consisted of up to 800 partisans, the other three - 250-300 partisans each. The first battalion consisted of ten companies, the rest - 3-4 companies each. Companies did not arise immediately, but were formed gradually, like partisan groups, and often arose on a territorial basis. Gradually, with the departure from their native places, the groups grew into companies and acquired a new character. During the raid, the companies were no longer distributed on a territorial basis, but on military expediency. So in the first battalion there were several rifle companies, two companies of submachine gunners, two companies of heavy weapons (with 45-mm anti-tank guns, heavy machine guns, battalion mortars), a reconnaissance company, a company of miners, a platoon of sappers, a communication center and the main economic unit.

partisan cart

In 1941-1942, Kovpak's unit carried out raids behind enemy lines in the Sumy, Kursk, Oryol and Bryansk regions, in 1942-1943 - a raid from the Bryansk forests on the Right-Bank Ukraine in the Gomel, Pinsk, Volyn, Rivne, Zhitomir and Kyiv regions. The Sumy partisan formation under the command of Kovpak fought over 10,000 km in the rear of the Nazi troops, defeated the enemy garrisons in 39 settlements. Reid S.A. Kovpak played a big role in the deployment of the partisan movement against the German invaders.

guerrilla raid

"Partisan Bears"

On June 12, 1943, the partisan formation of S.A. Kovpak went on a military campaign in the Carpathian region. By the time they entered the Carpathian raid, the unit numbered 2,000 partisans. They were armed with 130 machine guns, 380 machine guns, 9 guns, 30 mortars, 30 anti-tank rifles. During the raid, the partisans fought 2,000 km, destroyed 3,800 Nazis, blew up 19 military trains, 52 bridges, 51 warehouses with property and weapons, disabled power plants and oil fields near Bitkov and Yablonov. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR No.On January 4, 1944, for the successful implementation of the Carpathian raid, Major General Kovpak Sidor Artemyevich was awarded the second Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

The partisans participated in the liberation of the cities of Vileyka, Yelsk, Znamenka, Luninets, Pavlograd, Rechitsa, Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol, Stavropol, Cherkassy, ​​Yalta and many others.

The activities of clandestine combat groups in cities and towns caused great damage to the enemy. Underground groups and organizations in Minsk, Kyiv, Mogilev, Odessa, Vitebsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Smolensk, Kaunas, Krasnodar, Krasnodon, Pskov, Gomel, Orsha, as well as other cities and towns showed examples of selfless struggle against the fascist invaders. Sabotage, the covert struggle to disrupt the political, economic, and military measures of the enemy, were the most widespread forms of mass resistance against the occupiers by millions of Soviet people.

Soviet intelligence officers and underground workers committed hundreds of acts of sabotage, the purpose of which were representatives of the German occupation authorities. Only with the direct participation of special detachments of the NKVD, 87 actions of retribution were carried out against the Nazi executioners responsible for carrying out the extermination policy in the east. On February 17, 1943, the Chekists killed the regional gebitskommissar Friedrich Fentz. In July of the same year, the scouts liquidated Gebitskommissar Ludwig Ehrenleitner. The most famous and significant of them is considered to be the liquidation of the General Commissioner of Belarus Wilhelm Kube. In July 1941, Cuba was appointed General Commissar of Belarus. Gauleiter Kube was especially cruel. By direct order of the Gauleiter, a Jewish ghetto was created in Minsk and a concentration camp in the village of Trostenets, where 206,500 people were exterminated. For the first time, soldiers of the NKGB sabotage and reconnaissance group of Kirill Orlovsky tried to destroy him. Having received information that Cuba was going to hunt on February 17, 1943 in the Mashukovsky forests, Orlovsky organized an ambush. In a hot and short-lived battle, the scouts destroyed the Gebitskommissar Fentz, 10 officers and 30 soldiers of the SS troops. But Cuba was not among those killed (at the last moment he did not go hunting). And yet, on September 22, 1943, at 4.00 am, the underground workers managed to destroy the General Commissar of Belarus Wilhelm Kube with a bomb explosion (the bomb was placed under the bed of Cuba by the Soviet underground worker Elena Grigorievna Mazanik).

E.G. Mazanik

The legendary career intelligence officer Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov (pseudonym - Grachev) with the beginning of the Second World War, at his personal request, was enlisted in the Special Group of the NKVD. In August 1942, N.I. Kuznetsov was sent behind enemy lines to the partisan detachment “Winners” (commander D.M. Medvedev), which operated on the territory of Ukraine. Appearing in the occupied city of Rovno under the guise of a German officer - Lieutenant Paul Siebert, Kuznetsov was able to quickly make the necessary acquaintances.

N.I. Kuznetsov N.I. Kuznetsov - Paul Siebert

Using the trust of fascist officers, he learned the places of deployment of enemy units, the direction of their movement. He managed to get information about the German missiles "FAU-1" and "FAU-2", reveal the location of A. Hitler's headquarters "Werwolf" ("Werewolf") near the city of Vinnitsa, warn the Soviet command about the upcoming offensive of the Nazi troops in the Kursk region (operation “Citadel”), about the impending assassination attempt on the heads of government of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain (I.V. Stalin, D. Roosevelt, W. Churchill) in Tehran. In the fight against the Nazi invaders, N.I. Kuznetsov showed extraordinary courage and ingenuity. He acted as a people's avenger. He committed acts of retaliation against many fascist generals and senior officers, endowed with great powers of the Third Reich. They were destroyed - the chief judge of Ukraine Funk, the imperial adviser to the Reichskommissariat of Ukraine Gall and his secretary Winter, the vice-governor of Galicia Bauer, generals Knut and Dargel, kidnapped and brought to the partisan detachment the commander of the punitive forces in Ukraine, General Ilgen. March 9, 1944 N.I. Kuznetsov died when he was surrounded by Ukrainian nationalists-Bendera in the village of Boryatyn, Brody district, Lviv region. Species that he could not break through, he blew himself up and the Bendera people surrounding him with the last grenade. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 5, 1944, Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for exceptional courage and courage in carrying out command assignments.

monument to N.I. Kuznetsov

grave of N.I. Kuznetsova

The underground Komsomol organization “Young Guard”, which operated during the Second World War in the city of Krasnodon, Voroshilovgrad region of Ukraine, temporarily occupied by Nazi troops, will forever remain in the memory of the Soviet people (do not identify it with the modern “well done” from “M.G.” have nothing to do with the dead heroes). “Young Guard” was created under the leadership of the party underground headed by F.P. Lyutikov. After the occupation of Krasnodon (July 20, 1942), several anti-fascist groups arose in the city and its environs, led by Komsomol members I.V. Turkevich (commander), I.A. Zemnukhov, O.V. Koshevoy (commissioner), V.I. Levashov, S.G. Tyulenev, A.Z. Eliseenko, V.A. Zhdanov, N.S. Sumy, U.M. Gromova, L.G. Shevtsova, A.V. Popov, M.K. Petlivanov.

young guards

In total, more than 100 underground workers united in the underground organization, of which 20 were communists. Despite the harsh terror, the “Young Guard” created an extensive network of combat groups and cells throughout the Krasnodon region. The Young Guards issued 5,000 anti-fascist leaflets of 30 titles; released about 100 prisoners of war who were in a concentration camp; burned the labor exchange, where lists of people scheduled for export to Germany were stored, as a result of which 2000 Krasnodon residents were saved from being stolen into Nazi slavery, destroyed vehicles with soldiers, ammunition, fuel and food, prepared an uprising in order to defeat the German garrison and meet the advancing units of the Red Army. But the betrayal of the provocateur G. Pochentsov interrupted this preparation. At the beginning of January 1943, the arrests of members of the “Young Guard” began. They courageously withstood all the tortures in the fascist dungeons. During January 15, 16, 31, the Nazis threw 71 people alive and dead into the pit of coal mine No. 5 with a depth of 53 m. On February 9, 1943, O.V. Koshevoy, L.G. Shevtsova, S.M. Ostapenko, D.U. Ogurtsov, V.F. Subbotin after brutal torture were shot in the Rattlesnake forest near the town of Rovenka. Only 11 underground workers managed to escape from the persecution of the gendarmerie. By decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of September 13, 1943, U.M. Gromova, M.A. Zemnukhov, O.V. Koshevoy, S, G. Tyulenev and L.G. Shevtsova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

monument to the Young Guard

The list of heroes of the partisan struggle and the partisan underground is endless, so on the night of June 30, 1943, the Komsomol underground member F. Krylovich blew up the railway at the Osipovichi station. fuel train. As a result of the explosion and the resulting fire, four military echelons were destroyed, including the train with the Tiger tanks. The invaders lost that night at st. Osipovichi 30 "Tigers".

monument to underground workers in Melitopol

The selfless and selfless activities of the partisans and underground workers received nationwide recognition and high appraisal from the CPSU and the Soviet government. Over 127,000 partisans were awarded the medal"Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st and 2nd degree. Over 184,000 partisans and underground fighters were awarded orders and medals of the Soviet Union, and 248 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War"

A significant contribution to the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany was made by partisan detachments operating behind enemy lines from Leningrad to Odessa. They were headed not only by military personnel, but also by people of peaceful professions. Real heroes.

Old Man Minai

By the beginning of the war, Minai Filipovich Shmyrev was the director of the Pudot cardboard factory (Belarus). The past of the 51-year-old director was a combat one: he was awarded three St. George's Crosses in World War I, in the Civil War he fought against banditry.

In July 1941, in the village of Pudot, Shmyrev formed a partisan detachment from factory workers. In two months, the partisans fought the enemy 27 times, destroyed 14 vehicles, 18 fuel tanks, blew up 8 bridges, and defeated the German district administration in Surazh.

In the spring of 1942, Shmyrev, on the orders of the Central Committee of Belarus, teamed up with three partisan detachments and headed the First Belarusian Partisan Brigade. The partisans drove the fascists out of 15 villages and created the Surazh partisan region. Here, before the arrival of the Red Army, Soviet power was restored. On the Usvyaty-Tarasenki section, the Surazh Gate existed for half a year - a 40-kilometer zone through which the partisans were supplied with weapons and food.
All relatives of Old Man Minai: four small children, sister and mother-in-law were shot by the Nazis.
In the fall of 1942, Shmyrev was transferred to the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement. In 1944 he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the war, Shmyrev returned to economic work.

The son of the fist "Uncle Kostya"

Konstantin Sergeevich Zaslonov was born in the city of Ostashkov, Tver province. In the thirties, his family was dispossessed and exiled to the Kola Peninsula in Khibinogorsk.
After school, Zaslonov became a railway worker, by 1941 he worked as the head of a locomotive depot in Orsha (Belarus) and was evacuated to Moscow, but voluntarily went back.

He served under the pseudonym "Uncle Kostya", created an underground, which, with the help of mines disguised as coal, derailed 93 Nazi echelons in three months.
In the spring of 1942, Zaslonov organized a partisan detachment. The detachment fought with the Germans, lured 5 garrisons of the Russian National People's Army to their side.
Zaslonov died in a battle with RNNA punishers, who came to the partisans under the guise of defectors. He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

NKVD officer Dmitry Medvedev

A native of the Oryol province, Dmitry Nikolaevich Medvedev was an officer in the NKVD.
He was fired twice - either because of his brother - "the enemy of the people", then "for the unreasonable termination of criminal cases." In the summer of 1941 he was reinstated in the ranks.
He headed the Mitya reconnaissance and sabotage task force, which conducted more than 50 operations in the Smolensk, Mogilev and Bryansk regions.
In the summer of 1942, he headed the "Winners" special squad and conducted more than 120 successful operations. 11 generals, 2000 soldiers, 6000 Banderites were destroyed, 81 trains were blown up.
In 1944, Medvedev was transferred to staff work, but in 1945 he traveled to Lithuania to fight the Forest Brothers gang. He retired with the rank of colonel. The hero of the USSR.

Saboteur Molodtsov-Badaev

Vladimir Alexandrovich Molodtsov worked at the mine from the age of 16. He went from trolley racer to deputy director. In 1934 he was sent to the Central School of the NKVD.
In July 1941 he arrived in Odessa for reconnaissance and sabotage work. He worked under the pseudonym Pavel Badaev.

Badaev's detachments hid in the Odessa catacombs, fought with the Romanians, tore communication lines, staged sabotage in the port, and carried out reconnaissance. They blew up the commandant's office with 149 officers. At the Zastava station, the train with the administration for the occupied Odessa was destroyed.

The Nazis threw 16,000 people to liquidate the detachment. They let gas into the catacombs, poisoned the water, mined the passages. In February 1942, Molodtsov and his contacts were captured. Molodtsov was executed on July 12, 1942.
Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.

Desperate partisan "Mikhailo"

Azerbaijani Mehdi Ganifa-ogly Huseynzade was drafted into the Red Army from his student days. Member of the Battle of Stalingrad. He was seriously wounded, captured and taken to Italy. Fled in early 1944, joined the partisans and became a commissar of a company of Soviet partisans. He was engaged in reconnaissance, sabotage, blew up bridges and airfields, executed the Gestapo. For desperate courage he received the nickname "partisan Mikhailo".
A detachment under his command raided the prison, freeing 700 prisoners of war.
He was captured near the village of Vitovle. Mehdi fired back to the end, and then committed suicide.
His exploits were known after the war. In 1957 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

OGPU officer Naumov

A native of the Perm region, Mikhail Ivanovich Naumov, by the beginning of the war, was an employee of the OGPU. He was shell-shocked while crossing the Dniester, was surrounded, went out to the partisans and soon led the detachment. In the autumn of 1942 he became chief of staff of partisan detachments in the Sumy region, and in January 1943 he headed a cavalry unit.

In the spring of 1943, Naumov carried out the legendary Steppe raid 2,379 kilometers long through the rear of the Nazis. For this operation, the captain was awarded the rank of major general, which is a unique event, and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In total, Naumov conducted three large-scale raids behind enemy lines.
After the war, he continued to serve in the ranks of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Kovpak

Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak became a legend during his lifetime. Born in Poltava in a poor peasant family. In World War I, he received the St. George Cross from the hands of Nicholas II. In the Civil partisan against the Germans, fought with the whites.

Since 1937 he was the chairman of the Putivl city executive committee of the Sumy region.
In the autumn of 1941, he headed the Putivl partisan detachment, and then - the connection of detachments of the Sumy region. The partisans carried out military raids behind enemy lines. Their total length was more than 10,000 kilometers. 39 enemy garrisons were defeated.

On August 31, 1942, Kovpak participated in a meeting of partisan commanders in Moscow, was received by Stalin and Voroshilov, after which he made a raid across the Dnieper. At that moment, Kovpak's detachment had 2000 fighters, 130 machine guns, 9 guns.
In April 1943 he was promoted to the rank of major general.
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union.