Fighting behind enemy lines is a partisan movement. Handbook on the history of the fatherland Guerrilla war behind enemy lines

on the course "History of Russia"

on the topic: "Fight behind enemy lines"

1. WAR BEHIND ENEMY LINES

All People's Wrestling Soviet people behind enemy lines was an integral part of the Great Patriotic War of our people in defense of the Fatherland, was one of the important factors Great Victory and rendered great assistance to the Red Army in the armed struggle against the Nazi invaders.

The main tasks for the deployment of the struggle behind enemy lines were defined in the directive of the Council of People's Commissars, the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks "To the Party and Soviet Organizations of the Front-line Regions" dated June 29, 1941 and in the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks "On the organization of the struggle behind the lines of the German troops” dated July 18, 1941. The struggle of the Soviet people in the rear of the Nazi troops acquired gigantic proportions, it became truly nationwide.

By the end of 1941, about 3,500 partisan detachments and groups, numbering 90 thousand people, 18 underground regional committees, more than 260 district committees, city committees, district committees and other underground party bodies, about 300 city committees and district committees of the Komsomol, were operating in the territory occupied by the enemy. It was a force capable of leading active fighting behind enemy lines, to assist the troops of the Red Army. Already in July 1941, the General Staff of the Land Forces of Nazi Germany was forced to admit that German troops faced guerrilla warfare. At a meeting convened in mid-November, it was noted: "A surprise in Russia was the armament and the internal strength of the resistance."

By the decision of the State Defense Committee of the USSR of May 30, 1942, the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement was created, which served as a military operational body. Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the State Defense Committee of the USSR K. E. Voroshilov was appointed commander-in-chief of the partisan movement, and P. K. Ponomarenko, secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus (b) of Belarus, was appointed chief of the Central Staff. On the ground, the leadership of the partisan struggle was carried out by the republican, regional and regional headquarters of the partisan movement.

On September 5, 1942, the order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR I.V. Stalin "On the tasks of the partisan movement" was issued. The order specified the main directions of the partisan struggle: the destruction of the enemy's rear, and primarily communications, the destruction of the enemy's manpower and equipment, its warehouses, institutions, and the strengthening of intelligence. From the middle of 1942, the armed struggle of partisans and underground fighters, supported by the resistance of the population to the enemy, diverted up to 10 percent of the German ground forces stationed on the Soviet-German front.

Under the leadership of the government, the nationwide struggle in the rear of the Nazi occupiers assumed gigantic proportions. Hundreds of thousands of patriots fought as part of partisan armed and underground organizations and groups, millions participated in the disruption of the economic, political and military measures of the enemy.

On the occupied territory of the USSR in the fall of 1943, there were 24 regional committees, more than 370 district committees, city committees, district committees and other underground party bodies. The Komsomol underground was also active. By the end of 1943, the total number of armed partisans was over 250 thousand people.

The Soviet people selflessly participated in mass sabotage and disruption of the economic, political and military measures of the Nazi invaders. The fascists did not manage to establish the work of the metallurgical plants of Donbass. Many factories in Dnepropetrovsk, Krivoy Rog, Odessa, Riga, Kaunas, Smolensk, Bryansk and other cities and industrial regions captured by the enemy did not work. The disruption of the fascist plans to use the industry of the occupied territories was an outstanding feat of the Soviet workers and technical intelligentsia who were behind enemy lines.

The fight behind enemy lines has become extremely effective, has become an important military-political factor that contributed to the acceleration of victory. Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War. The soldiers of the Red Army rightly called it their second front, which terrified the Nazi invaders. During 1943 alone, partisans blew up about 11,000 enemy trains, put out of action and damaged 6,000 steam locomotives, about 40,000 wagons and platforms, destroyed over 22,000 motor vehicles, destroyed or burned about 5,500 bridges on highways and dirt roads and more than 900 railway bridges.

Often the powerful strikes of the Red Army from the front were combined with partisan strikes against the enemy's rear. Grandiose in scale, in terms of the number of forces involved and the results achieved, was a partisan operation that went down in history under the name "Rail War". “The victory of the Soviet troops near Belgorod, Orel and Kharkov,” noted Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, “greatly contributed to the partisans operating behind enemy lines. They waged a particularly large "Rail War" in Belarus, the Smolensk, Oryol regions and the Dnieper region.

The most extensive interaction of partisans and underground fighters with Soviet troops began in 1944. A 250,000-strong army of partisans actively participated in the liberation of Karelia, the Leningrad and Kalinin regions, the Baltic republics, Belarus, Ukraine and Crimea, and Soviet Moldavia. Of great importance in the actions of the partisans were raids by detachments and formations in the deep rear of the enemy.

The efficiency of the partisan movement and its precise interaction with the troops of the Red Army are also forced to be recognized by our opponents. Thus, Hitler’s General L. Rendulitz noted: “The centralized leadership of partisan detachments was obvious, because when preparing and conducting any significant offensive by German or Russian troops, the partisans in this area immediately stepped up their actions ... These actions became a heavy burden for the army and posed a great danger. In no other theater of operations was there such close interaction between the partisans and the regular army as in Russian.

During the years of the Great Patriotic War, more than 6 thousand partisan detachments and underground groups operated behind enemy lines, in which more than 1 million partisans and underground fighters fought. By their active actions behind enemy lines, Soviet patriots inflicted heavy damage on the enemy. During the war years, they made more than 20 thousand crashes of enemy echelons, blew up 58 armored trains, disabled more than 10 thousand steam locomotives and 110 thousand wagons, blew up 12 thousand bridges, and destroyed over 50 thousand vehicles. Partisans and underground fighters destroyed, wounded and captured about a million Nazis and their accomplices. In order to protect rear facilities and communications, as well as to fight partisans, the fascist German command, in addition to security and police forces, was forced to allocate a significant part of the regular troops.

History did not know an example when the partisan movement was so popular, massive, organized and coordinated with the actions of the regular army, as it was in the Great Patriotic War. “The partisan struggle,” wrote M. I. Kalinin, “in which all the nationalities of the USSR participated, inhabiting the territories where the Germans entered, clearly demonstrated to the foreign world the nationality of Soviet power, the popular love for it, the firm determination to fight for its preservation, for independence Soviet country. There can be no more convincing proof of the moral and political unity of the peoples of the Soviet Union.”

The state highly appreciated the feat of the partisans and underground fighters. More than 127 thousand people were awarded the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War", more than 184 thousand people were awarded other medals and orders. 233 people became Heroes of the Soviet Union, and the commanders of partisan formations S.A. Kovpak and A.F. Fedorov were awarded this high title twice. Feats and names of S.A. Kovpak, A.F. Fedorova, T.P. Bumazhkova, A.V. Germana, M.A. Guryanova, K.S. Zaslonova, V.Z. Korzha, M.I. Naumova, S.V. Rudneva, A.N. Saburova, M.F. Shmyreva, N.I. Kuznetsova, V.Z. Khoruzhey, Lyudinovites, Krasnodontsev, Minskers, hundreds and thousands of other heroes - partisans, underground fighters, scouts - occupy a worthy place in the combat annals of the Great Patriotic War.

2. AT THE HEAD OF Partisan formations Hero of the Soviet Union Dmitry Nikolaevich Medvedev - one of the leaders of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War, Soviet writer, Colonel, Hero of the Soviet Union - was born on August 22, 1898 in Bezhitsa, near Bryansk, in the family of a steel worker. Member of the Leninist Party since 1920, during the period civil war he was an employee of the Bryansk provincial Cheka, participated in the battles on the Eastern and Petrograd fronts.

The war ended with the victory of the workers and peasants. Chekist Dmitry Medvedev has been working in Ukraine for almost twenty years. Starobelsk, Bakhmut, Kherson, Odessa, Kirovograd, Novograd-Volynsky, Kyiv ... (In those years, Chekists were constantly transferred from place to place in connection with the affairs they conducted.) In these cities, Dmitry Nikolayevich is remembered both as a Chekist and as a fiery agitator, Komsomol leader, organizer of sports work. As soon as he worked in the city for a month or two, he already raised the public for the construction of the stadium, held mass competitions, in which Nikolayevich certainly turned to the command with a request to call him again and send him with a partisan detachment behind enemy lines. So opened new page combat biography of a Chekist soldier. From August 1941 D.N. Medvedev commanded a partisan detachment operating on the territory of the Smolensk, Orel and Mogilev regions, and from June 1942 to March 1944, a large partisan detachment "Pobediteli" in the Rivne and Lvov regions. Under the command of D.N. Medvedev's partisans conducted more than 100 battles. The extensive intelligence information collected by the detachment (it included the famous intelligence officer N.I. Kuznetsov) was highly appreciated by the Soviet command.

After the Great Patriotic War, Dmitry Nikolaevich Medvedev was engaged in literary and social activities. He is the author of the books “It was near Rivne” (after revision and additions it was called “Strong in spirit”), “The detachment goes to the West”, “On the banks of the Southern Bug”, in which the truth of life, the truth in everything in documentary authenticity, in the absence of speculation , in the simplicity and precision of the language. The truth is in the sincerity and interest of the author himself, for Colonel Medvedev led, commanded those people about whom he wrote, for whom he was responsible with life and honor. This interest, felt in every word in every intonation, introduces the reader to what is happening in the war, creates an internal connection with the authors.

Semyon Vasilyevich Rudnev is one of the organizers and active participants in the partisan movement in Ukraine. In September 1941, he led a partisan detachment in the Sumy region. After merging with the Putivl detachment, S.A. Kovpaka became the commissar of the united detachment, then the partisan formation.

S.V. Rudnev was born on February 27, 1899 in the village of Moiseevka, now Putivl district, Sumy region, in the family of a poor peasant. As a 15-year-old boy, he left the village and began working at the Russian-Baltic Aeronautical Plant. At the age of less than 17, he was arrested for revolutionary activity. In 1917, Rudnev joined the Bolshevik Party and, being a Red Guard, actively participated in the February bourgeois-democratic, and then in the Great October socialist revolution. He fought with the junkers of Kerensky, stormed the Winter Palace.

During the Civil War, he fought on the Southern and Southwestern fronts, commanded a platoon, then was an instructor in the political department of the Donetsk Labor Army. After graduating in 1929 from the Military-Political Academy named after V.I. Lenin is appointed commissar of the regiment. Then he was the commissar of the brigade, the head of the political department and the commissar of the fortified area on Far East. From May 1940 he was the chairman of the Putivl district council of Osoaviahima. In this position, the Great Patriotic War found him.

S.V. Rudnev did a great job of deploying a partisan movement in the rear of the Nazi invaders and conducting successful raids on the territory of the Sumy, Kursk and Oryol regions. In 1942-1943 together with S.A. Kovpak led the raid of the formation from the Bryansk forests to the Right-Bank Ukraine and the Carpathians. From September 1942 he was a member of the underground Central Committee of the CP(b) of Ukraine. For the skillful leadership of military operations behind enemy lines, S.V. Rudnev was awarded military rank major general.

On August 4, 1943, near the village of Delyatyn, Nadvornyansky district, Ivano-Frankivsk region, there was a short but fierce battle between partisans and SS punishers. This was the last fight for S.V. Rudneva: an enemy bullet cut short the life of the commissar. January 4, 1944 he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. S.V. Rudnev awarded the order Lenin, orders of the Red Banner, Red Star, "Badge of Honor" medals.

The destruction of the "forest brothers", the Germans controlled no more than 20 percent of the Soviet territory they occupied ... VII. Efficiency of the partisan movement during the war years We examined the stages of the formation and development of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War. Usually, in the eyes of people, the guerrilla movement is a massive manifestation of heroism that delights and inspires people ...

Provided open flanks of the advancing troops. The struggle of people behind enemy lines was a vivid manifestation of patriotism. · Organization of nationwide struggle behind enemy lines The partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War was directed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and developed under the direct guidance of local party organizations operating behind enemy lines. ...

ESSAY

on the course "History of Russia"

on the topic: "Fight behind enemy lines"

1. WAR BEHIND ENEMY LINES

The nationwide struggle of the Soviet people behind enemy lines was an integral part of the Great Patriotic War of our people in defense of the Fatherland, was one of the important factors of the Great Victory and provided tremendous assistance to the Red Army in the armed struggle against the Nazi invaders.

By the end of 1941, about 3,500 partisan detachments and groups, numbering 90 thousand people, 18 underground regional committees, more than 260 district committees, city committees, district committees and other underground party bodies, about 300 city committees and district committees of the Komsomol, were operating in the territory occupied by the enemy. It was a force capable of conducting active combat operations behind enemy lines and assisting the troops of the Red Army. Already in July 1941, the General Staff of the Land Forces of Nazi Germany was forced to admit that the German troops were faced with a partisan war. At a meeting convened in mid-November, it was noted: "A surprise in Russia was the armament and the internal strength of the resistance."

Fighting behind enemy lines acquired exceptionally high efficiency and became an important military-political factor that contributed to the acceleration of the victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War. The soldiers of the Red Army rightly called it their second front, which terrified the Nazi invaders. During 1943 alone, partisans blew up about 11,000 enemy trains, put out of action and damaged 6,000 steam locomotives, about 40,000 wagons and platforms, destroyed over 22,000 motor vehicles, destroyed or burned about 5,500 bridges on highways and dirt roads and more than 900 railway bridges.

2. AT THE LEAD OF GUERRILLA CONNECTIONS Hero of the Soviet Union Dmitry Nikolaevich Medvedev - one of the leaders of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War, Soviet writer, colonel, Hero of the Soviet Union - was born on August 22, 1898 in Bezhitsa, near Bryansk, in the family of a steel worker. A member of the Leninist party since 1920, during the Civil War he was an employee of the Bryansk provincial Cheka, participated in battles on the Eastern and Petrograd fronts. The war ended with the victory of the workers and peasants. Chekist Dmitry Medvedev has been working in Ukraine for almost twenty years. Starobelsk, Bakhmut, Kherson, Odessa, Kirovograd, Novograd-Volynsky, Kyiv ... (In those years, Chekists were constantly transferred from place to place in connection with the affairs they conducted.) In these cities, Dmitry Nikolayevich is remembered both as a Chekist and as a fiery agitator, Komsomol leader, organizer of sports work. As soon as he worked in the city for a month or two, he already raised the public for the construction of the stadium, held mass competitions, in which Nikolayevich certainly turned to the command with a request to call him again and send him with a partisan detachment behind enemy lines. Thus, a new page of the military biography of the Chekist soldier was opened. From August 1941 D.N. Medvedev commanded a partisan detachment operating on the territory of the Smolensk, Orel and Mogilev regions, and from June 1942 to March 1944, a large partisan detachment "Pobediteli" in the Rivne and Lvov regions. Under the command of D.N. Medvedev's partisans conducted more than 100 battles. The extensive intelligence information collected by the detachment (it included the famous intelligence officer N.I. Kuznetsov) was highly appreciated by the Soviet command. After the Great Patriotic War, Dmitry Nikolayevich Medvedev was engaged in literary and social activities. He is the author of the books “It was near Rivne” (after revision and additions it was called “Strong in spirit”), “The detachment goes to the West”, “On the banks of the Southern Bug”, in which the truth of life, the truth in everything in documentary authenticity, in the absence of speculation , in the simplicity and precision of the language. The truth is in the sincerity and interest of the author himself, for Colonel Medvedev led, commanded those people about whom he wrote, for whom he was responsible with life and honor. This interest, felt in every word in every intonation, introduces the reader to what is happening in the war, creates an internal connection with the authors. Semyon Vasilyevich Rudnev is one of the organizers and active participants in the partisan movement in Ukraine. In September 1941 led a partisan detachment in the Sumy region. After merging with the Putivl detachment, S.A. Kovpaka became the commissar of the united detachment, then the partisan unit. S.V. Rudnev was born on February 27, 1899 in the village of Moiseevka, now Putivl district, Sumy region, in the family of a poor peasant. As a 15-year-old boy, he left the village and began working at the Russian-Baltic Aeronautical Plant. At less than 17 years old, he was arrested for revolutionary activities. In 1917, Rudnev joined the Bolshevik Party and, being a Red Guard, actively participated in the February bourgeois-democratic, and then in the Great October Socialist Revolution. He fought with the cadets of Kerensky, stormed the Winter Palace. During the Civil War, he fought on the Southern and South-Western fronts, commanded a platoon, then was an instructor in the political department of the Donetsk Labor Army. After graduating in 1929 from the Military-Political Academy named after V.I. Lenin is appointed commissar of the regiment. Then he was the commissar of the brigade, the head of the political department and the commissar of the fortified area in the Far East. From May 1940 he was the chairman of the Putivl district council of Osoaviahima. In this position, the Great Patriotic War found him. Rudnev did a great job of deploying a partisan movement in the rear of the Nazi invaders and conducting successful raids on the territory of the Sumy, Kursk and Oryol regions. In 1942-1943 together with S.A. Kovpak led the raid of the formation from the Bryansk forests to the Right-Bank Ukraine and the Carpathians. From September 1942 he was a member of the underground Central Committee of the CP(b) of Ukraine. For the skillful leadership of military operations behind enemy lines, S.V. Rudnev was awarded the military rank of Major General.

On August 4, 1943, near the village of Delyatyn, Nadvornyansky district, Ivano-Frankivsk region, there was a short but fierce battle between partisans and SS punishers. This was the last fight for S.V. Rudneva: an enemy bullet cut short the life of the commissar. January 4, 1944 he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. S.V. Rudnev was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, the Red Star, the Badge of Honor medals.

3. HEROES OF GUERRILLA AND UNDERGROUND FIGHT

Underground associations helped in solving the most serious combat tasks. They carried out extensive propaganda work among the population, exposed fascist ideology and propaganda, and disseminated truthful information about events on the Soviet-German front. This helped to strengthen the government's ties with the masses in the occupied territory and gave the Soviet people confidence in the inevitable defeat of the invaders. Young avengers destroyed representatives of the fascist command, traitors and traitors to the Motherland, delivered intelligence data to our military units, prevented the deportation of residents to Germany, sheltered Soviet prisoners of war, and provided comprehensive assistance to partisan detachments. Young underground workers raised the youth and the population to fight against the invaders.

A lot of work was carried out behind enemy lines by youth groups led by Chekists. In August 1941, a reconnaissance and sabotage group was created in Kyiv, headed by I. Kudrey (Maxim). It included a lot of young people. The underground fighters sent valuable information about the Nazi agents, the enemy occupation apparatus and other materials to Moscow through liaisons.

When the last Soviet ship left Odessa, Chekist captain V. Molodtsov and his comrades descended into the catacombs to continue the fight against the Nazis. The underground group of V. Molodtsov blew up the building of the city commandant's office, derailed a train with enemy officers. She kept in touch with Moscow by radio, distributed among the population reports on the situation on the fronts, urged the inhabitants of Odessa to disrupt the events of the occupiers. Having tracked down the shelter of the underground, the Nazis tried to penetrate it, poisoned the patriots with gases, concreted and filled up the exits from the catacombs. Having fallen into the hands of the Nazis, the underground fighters courageously endured all the torture and fanaticism during interrogations. The 16-year-old underground worker Y. Gordienko held on with great stamina.

In the village of Krymka, Pervomaisky district, Nikolaev region, members of the underground Komsomol organization Partisan Spark, which in 1943 numbered 40 boys and girls, fearlessly fought the enemy. Komsomol members distributed among the population reports of the Soviet Information Bureau, leaflets, organized sabotage, sabotage. The leaders of the organization V. Morgunenko and P. Grechany, D. Dyachenko were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

More than 100 young men and women were united by the underground organization "Young Guard" in Krasnodon. It was headed by the headquarters, which included U. Gromova, I. Zemnukhov, O. Koshevoy, V. Levashov, V. Tretyakevich, I. Turkenich, S. Tyulenin, L. Shevtsova. The organization included representatives of various nationalities: Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Moldovans, Armenians. The oldest member of the Young Guard, I. Turkenich, was 19 years old at that time, O. Koshevoy was 16, and the youngest, R. Yurkin, was 14 years old. The organization skillfully combined various forms of struggle. Underground workers carried out the most responsible assignments. On holidays, red banners were raised over Krasnodon as a symbol of the invincibility of the Soviet system. Members of the group burned down the labor exchange with all the documentation, the fuel depot, disabled machines, equipment, destroyed traitors, released Soviet prisoners of war. The Young Guards created a cash fund to help the families of front-line soldiers.

Neither dungeons nor monstrous tortures broke the steadfastness of the patriots. S. Tyulenin was beaten with whips made of electric wire, a red-hot ramrod was driven into the wounds, and his mother was tortured before his eyes. U. Gromov was hung up by her hair, burned her body with a red-hot iron, carved a five-pointed star on her back, but she was true to her motto: “It is better to die standing than to live on your knees.” The Young Guards knew that they were going to be executed, but they remained strong in spirit, full of ardent love for the Motherland. Before the execution, U. Gromova transmitted in Morse code to all cells: “The last order of the headquarters ... We will be led to the execution through the streets of the city. Let's sing Lenin's favorite song." The underground workers went on their last journey with their heads held high, with the song "Tormented by heavy bondage" on their lips, with faith in victory over fascism. And they deserved immortality, came out victorious in the fight against the worst enemy of mankind.

The youth of the city of Malina of the Zhytomyr region, Poltava, Kherson, Kharkov, Nikopol, Krivoy Rog, Proskurov (now Khmelnitsky), Lutsk glorified themselves with military deeds.

Courage, steadfastness and courage were shown by the underground workers of Belarus. Even before the enemy troops entered Gomel, a lot of work had been done to prepare the underground. Illegal organizations were created in all districts and at many enterprises of the city. One of them operated at the Polespechat factory. On the instructions of the local administration, the underground printed all kinds of forms for passes, certificates, leaflets and reports of the Soviet Information Bureau.

46 organizations operated in Minsk. The underground group "Andryusha" was headed by 18-year-old Komsomol member N. Kedyshko. The underground printed and distributed leaflets, carried out sabotage at the bakery and the railway, supplied the partisans with clothes stolen from enemy warehouses, transported those who had escaped from captivity to the partisans. Soviet soldiers. N. Kedyshko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Young underground workers successfully fought the enemy at the Obol station in the Vitebsk region. They blew up a pumping station, a power station, a flax mill, a brick factory, carried out sabotage on the Polotsk-Vitebsk highway, blew up trains, conducted reconnaissance, delivered weapons, ammunition, and medicines to the partisans. The leaders of the underground organization E. Zenkova and Z. Portnova were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Under the leadership of the underground regional party committee, the Komsomol members of Mogilev fought against the fascist invaders for three years. They regularly distributed reports of the Soviet Information Bureau, anti-fascist leaflets among the population, blew up fuel depots, and destroyed the building of the officer school. Young underground workers organized the escape of prisoners from the central prison of Mogilev. The Nazis tortured the captured member of the organization I. Lysenkovich in the dungeons of the Gestapo. Before his death, he wrote on a piece of paper with his mother’s blood: “Dear mother, don’t cry! We are all dying for our country.”

Neither day nor night did Zhlobin's underground workers give rest to the enemies. Boys and girls destroyed a lot of Nazis, blew up a gas depot and a water pump. The exploits of the young underground workers of Borisov, Vitebsk, Brest, Grodno, Pinsk, Lida and other cities of Belarus are inscribed like golden pages in the history of the war.

In the autumn of 1942, the underground city and county committees of the LKSM of Lithuania fearlessly worked in occupied Kaunas. The most active role in the Lithuanian underground was played by J. Aleksonis, G. Boris, A. Cheponis. Young patriots committed bold acts of sabotage: disrupted telephone communications, destroyed fascist soldiers and officers, drowned barges with cargo in the Neman, derailed enemy trains. The underground workers helped to disrupt the mobilization of Lithuanian youth into the Nazi army.

The Nazis promised 30 thousand imperial marks for the head of member I. Sudmalis. He created a number of underground groups in and around Riga. The work of his hands was an explosion on Domskaya Square, where the occupiers and nationalist rabble gathered for a rally. On the initiative of Sudmalis, they managed to create an underground printing house and organize the regular distribution of anti-fascist leaflets. More than once he visited Moscow, returned to the occupied territory with special forces, radio operators, signalmen, demolition workers. Having fallen into the hands of the enemy, Imants Sudmalis held out courageously and steadfastly. In his last letter from prison, he wrote: “Looking back at the past days, I have nothing to reproach myself with. I was a man and a fighter in these so fatal days for mankind.

The underground workers of the Estonian SSR bravely fought the enemy. Among them is 14-year-old G. Kuzmina, who acted as a messenger. She repeatedly delivered valuable intelligence data, together with her comrades participated in the explosion of the boiler room of the oil shale distillery. Young underground workers managed to hang out red flags on many protected buildings of the city on the day of the 26th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, organized the escape of a large group of prisoners from the concentration camp. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to the brave Estonian intelligence officer Helena Kuhlman. This fact also testifies to the active participation of the Estonian underground in the fight against the Nazis. From March to December 1943, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of Estonia and the Estonian headquarters of the partisan movement sent about 240 organizers of the people's struggle against the invaders behind enemy lines, among whom there were about 90 young fighters.

The youth of Moldova proved to be worthy patriots. Already in the first months of the war, underground groups were created in Cahul, a little later - in Grigoriopol, Soroki, Tiraspol. The organizers of the underground group in Cahul were the teacher M. Krasnov and the workers P. Polivod and T. Morozov. Soon underground groups of several villages of the Cahul region entered it. The organization distributed leaflets, reports of the Soviet Information Bureau, and helped prisoners of war with food. She had rifles, grenades, participated in the preparations for the explosion of the bridge over the Prut.

In the spring of 1942, as a result of betrayal, as well as the inexperience of young patriots, the youth organizations of Cahul were discovered. The leaders of these organizations - M. Krasnov, P. Polivod, T. Morozov, V. Cojocaru, N. Kavchuk - were shot by the invaders. The rest (more than forty people) were sentenced to life and various other terms of imprisonment.

People's avengers, underground groups operated almost throughout the occupied territory. In Lyudinovo, Kaluga region, a youth group led by A. Shumavtsov bravely fought. Many acts of sabotage were committed by members of this group: they burned a warehouse with gasoline, blew up a dam and a bridge, and mined roads. The group was closely connected with the partisan detachment and provided valuable information about the enemy. A. Shumavtsov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Underground organizations acted, as a rule, in accordance with the statutes developed by them, they had the texts of the oath-oath for new members. When sent to operations, the experience of secret work, participation in the performance of previous tasks were taken into account. An extensive network of underground organizations was closely connected with the district, city, regional, republican committees of the Komsomol. They provided assistance with cadres, radio and subversive specialists. All this contributed to the fact that from the second half of 1942 the network of underground organizations began to grow rapidly, and their organizational structure improved.

During the Great Patriotic War, when the Nazis occupied the city of Krasnodon, Voroshilovograd region, young Soviet patriots of the city, led by the party organization, created the Young Guard Komsomol organization. It included about 100 young avengers. The headquarters of the organization was headed by U.M. Gromova, I.A. Zemnukhov, O.V. Koshevoy (commissioner), V.I. Levashov, V.I. Tretyakevich, I.V. Turkenich (commander), S.G. Tyulenin, L.G. Shevtsov.

Despite the brutal terror of the invaders and their henchmen from among the traitors to the Motherland, the Young Guard created an extensive network of combat groups and cells throughout the Krasnodon region. The Gestapo at that time posted countless orders in the city, each of which ended with the words: "For disobedience - execution." They ruthlessly dealt with, first of all, the communists, Soviet activists, order bearers. The city is quiet. Residents in fear hid in houses, in basements, went to the surrounding beams. It was in this most difficult situation that the Young Guard launched a merciless struggle against the fascist invaders.

Young patriots exterminated the fascists and their henchmen, blew up vehicles with ammunition, fuel and food, burned the bread stolen by the invaders. They issued and distributed among the population 30 anti-fascist leaflets with a total circulation of 5,000 copies; on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution at the 8 most tall buildings cities and surrounding towns hung out red flags; released over 90 prisoners of war who were in a concentration camp and hospital; they set fire to the labor exchange, where lists and other documents were kept for almost two thousand young Krasnodontsy to be sent to Germany.

With the help of a traitor, the Nazis managed to uncover the Young Guard organization and in January 1943 arrested most of its members. After brutal torture in the Nazi dungeons, 71 people, including 49 Young Guard patriots, were thrown into the pit of coal mine No. 5 by the Gestapo. Koshevoy, L.G. Shevtsova, S.M. Ostapenko, D.U. Ogurtsov, V.F. Subbotins, after brutal torture, were taken to the Thundering Forest near the town of Rovenki and shot there. From the persecution of the Nazis and their lackeys - traitors to the Motherland, only 11 people escaped.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 13, 1943, for outstanding services in organizing and leading the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard" and for displaying personal courage and heroism in the fight against the German invaders, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union U.M. Gromova, I.A. Zemnukhov, O.V. Koshevoy, S.G. Tyulenin and L.G. Shevtsova. Three young guards were awarded the Order of the Red Banner, 36 - the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree. 6 - the Order of the Red Star, 66 - the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" I degree.

The feat of the young heroes of Krasnodon is captured in the novel by A.A. Fadeev "Young Guard". In memory of them, a new city in the Voroshilovgrad region, Molodogvardeysk, was named. In Krasnodon, on the site of the death of the Young Guards, a monument-obelisk "Grieving Mother" was erected and the Eternal Flame was lit, in 1970 a new one was opened memorial Complex"Young guard". The names of the young guards are settlements, state farms, collective farms, ships, schools.

Literature

1. Andronikov N. Milestones of the Great Victory (to the 60th anniversary of the heroic defense of Stalingrad) // Landmark. - 2006, No. 4.

2. Battle for the Caucasus (1942 - 1943) - M., 2007.

3. History of the Second World War. 1939 - 1945. In 12 volumes, v.7. - M., 1976.

4. Ivanov A.N. days military glory Russia. - M.. 2006.

As we have already noted, in the territories occupied by the Germans from the very first days of the Great Patriotic War, popular resistance unfolded, which took various forms. Partisan detachments operated in the forests, underground organizations arose in the cities, NKVD sabotage detachments were sent to the rear of the enemy.

The struggle behind enemy lines did not immediately take on a large scale, did not immediately achieve high efficiency. The suddenness of the attack of fascist Germany, underestimation in the pre-war years by military theory Soviet state the role of partisan actions, the absence before the war of extensive training of personnel capable of organizing and successfully conducting partisan struggle, negatively affected the scope and effectiveness of the partisan movement in the first months of the war.

Hastily created partisan formations were eager to smash the enemy, but had neither the experience nor sufficient training to conduct an effective fight behind enemy lines. As a result, many of them either suffered large unjustified losses, or were simply not able to organize combat clashes with the invaders when the situation required it.

The actions of many partisan formations were scattered, unpurposeful, and ineffective, and in order to successfully conduct the struggle, it was necessary to skillfully take into account the peculiarities of partisan actions and, in accordance with this, apply their inherent means and methods.

Already from the very beginning of the development of the partisan movement, professionals argued that at least two actions were needed on the part of the Center. The unification of the leadership of all partisan forces and the direction of the activities of the Chekists to the closest connection with the local population. In order to turn the partisan movement into a powerful force, it was necessary: to base the work of partisan detachments on establishing close ties with the local population; organize detachments so that they include local workers who know the population and local conditions; allocate organizers to work among the population in organizing armed struggle; create a center in the rear that would exercise general leadership in the work of the detachments; equip the partisan detachments with radio communications.

Despite the high activity of all state bodies in organizing popular resistance in the occupied territory, in the first months of the war, partisan formations suffered the greatest losses. So, in Belarus by June 1942, less than 13 percent of the detachments trained and deployed in the first months of the war remained in contact. Popov A. Yu. Stalin's saboteurs. Activities of the State Security Bodies of the USSR on the occupied Soviet territory during the Great Patriotic War. -- M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2004.

In the occupied territory Leningrad region by September 1941, there were up to 400 partisan detachments and groups with a total number of up to 18,000 people http://militera.lib.ru/h/popov_au2/app.html - 122. As of June 10, 1942, 72 partisan detachments were operating in the occupied territory of the Leningrad Region (including 48 detachments, which accounted for 12 percent of the 400 operating in the fall of 1941). Things were much better for the Smolensk, Bryansk and Kalinin partisans, where a year later there were up to 23-30 percent of the detachments and groups transferred or left during the withdrawal http://militera.lib.ru/h/popov_au2/app.html - 123.There.

Of the 2,500 groups, detachments and 8 regiments, with a total strength of over 45,000 people, who could not stay behind enemy lines in the first year of the war, a significant part, having lost contact with the leadership, went to our rear, others died. So, in the occupied territory of the Leningrad Region in the first period of the war, the Nazis managed to defeat 4 partisan brigades, 41 partisan detachments, destroy dozens of underground organizations and groups http://militera.lib.ru/h/popov_au2/app.html - 124.There.

Other detachments and groups went underground, "conspired" and perished. Still others tried to survive the winter at bases and in the forests, but many of them also did not survive. And all this is due to inexperience, due to the lack of proper training, and sometimes unsuccessful hasty selection of the composition of groups and detachments. At that time, detachments led by experienced or well-trained commanders, especially those who skillfully used equipment in the fight against the enemy, operated successfully and almost without losses.

If, at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, due to poor preparation, lack of radio communications, and even the organs themselves leading actions to destroy the enemy’s rear under very favorable conditions for fighting the enemy in his rear (which is confirmed by the actions of groups and detachments led by experienced commanders) out of 2800, only about 270 detachments and groups survived, then in 1944-1945 the losses of groups thrown behind enemy lines outside our homeland were less than 10 percent. The number of groups increased by more than 20 times in two or three months, and individual groups grew by more than 50 and even 100 times in two months. Popov A. Yu. Stalin's saboteurs. Activities of the State Security Bodies of the USSR on the occupied Soviet territory during the Great Patriotic War. - M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2004.

By the end of 1941, about 3,500 partisan detachments and groups, numbering 90 thousand people, 18 underground regional committees, more than 260 district committees, city committees, district committees and other underground party bodies, about 300 city committees and district committees of the Komsomol, were operating in the territory occupied by the enemy. It was a force capable of conducting active combat operations behind enemy lines and assisting the troops of the Red Army. Already in July 1941, the General Staff of the Land Forces of Nazi Germany was forced to admit that the German troops were faced with a partisan war. At a meeting convened in mid-November, it was noted: "A surprise in Russia was the armament and the internal strength of the resistance."

History did not know an example when the partisan movement was so popular, massive, organized and coordinated with the actions of the regular army, as it was in the Great Patriotic War. “The partisan struggle,” wrote M.I. Kalinin, “in which all the nationalities of the USSR participated, inhabiting the territories where the Germans entered, clearly demonstrated to the foreign world the nationality of Soviet power, the popular love for it, the firm determination to fight for its preservation, for independence Soviet country. There can be no more convincing proof of the moral and political unity of the peoples of the Soviet Union.”

The state highly appreciated the feat of the partisans and underground fighters. More than 127 thousand people were awarded the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War", more than 184 thousand people were awarded other medals and orders. 233 people became Heroes of the Soviet Union, and the commanders of partisan formations S. A. Kovpak and A. F. Fedorov were awarded this high title twice. Feats and names of S. A. Kovpak, A. F. Fedorov, T. P. Bumazhkov, A. V. German, M. A. Guryanov, K. S. Zaslonov, V. Z. Korzh, M. I. Naumov , S.V. Rudneva, A.N. Saburova, M.F. Shmyreva, N.I. Kuznetsova, V.Z. place in the combat annals of the Great Patriotic War.

Leading partisan formations

Hero of the Soviet Union Dmitry Nikolaevich Medvedev - one of the leaders of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War, Soviet writer, colonel, Hero of the Soviet Union - was born on August 22, 1898 in Bezhitsa, near Bryansk, in the family of a steel worker. A member of the Leninist Party since 1920, during the Civil War he was an employee of the Bryansk provincial Cheka, participated in battles on the Eastern and Petrograd fronts.

The war ended with the victory of the workers and peasants. Chekist Dmitry Medvedev has been working in Ukraine for almost twenty years. Starobelsk, Bakhmut, Kherson, Odessa, Kirovograd, Novograd-Volynsky, Kyiv ... (In those years, Chekists were constantly transferred from place to place in connection with the affairs they conducted.) In these cities, Dmitry Nikolayevich is remembered both as a Chekist and as a fiery agitator, Komsomol leader, organizer of sports work. As soon as he worked in the city for a month or two, he already raised the public for the construction of the stadium, held mass competitions, in which Nikolayevich certainly turned to the command with a request to call him again and send him with a partisan detachment behind enemy lines. Thus, a new page of the military biography of the Chekist soldier was opened. From August 1941, D.N. Medvedev commanded a partisan detachment operating on the territory of the Smolensk, Oryol and Mogilev regions, and from June 1942 to March 1944, a large partisan detachment "Winners" in the Rivne and Lvov regions. Under the command of D.N. Medvedev, the partisans fought more than 100 battles. The extensive intelligence information collected by the detachment (it included the famous intelligence officer N. I. Kuznetsov) was highly appreciated by the Soviet command.

Semyon Vasilyevich Rudnev is one of the organizers and active participants in the partisan movement in Ukraine. In September 1941, he led a partisan detachment in the Sumy region. After merging with the Putivl detachment, S. A. Kovpaka became the commissar of the united detachment, then the partisan formation.

S. V. Rudnev was born on February 27, 1899 in the village of Moiseevka, now Putivl district, Sumy region, in the family of a poor peasant. As a 15-year-old boy, he left the village and began working at the Russian-Baltic Aeronautical Plant. At less than 17 years old, he was arrested for revolutionary activities. In 1917, Rudnev joined the Bolshevik Party and, being a Red Guard, actively participated in the February bourgeois-democratic, and then in the Great October Socialist Revolution. He fought with the junkers of Kerensky, stormed the Winter Palace.

During the Civil War, he fought on the Southern and Southwestern fronts, commanded a platoon, then was an instructor in the political department of the Donetsk Labor Army. After graduating in 1929 from the Military-Political Academy named after V. I. Lenin, he was appointed commissar of the regiment. Then he was the commissar of the brigade, the head of the political department and the commissar of the fortified area in the Far East. From May 1940 he was the chairman of the Putivl district council of Osoaviahima. In this position, the Great Patriotic War found him.

S. V. Rudnev did a great job of deploying a partisan movement behind the lines of the Nazi invaders and conducting successful raids of the unit on the territory of the Sumy, Kursk and Oryol regions. In 1942-1943 together with S. A. Kovpak, he led a raid from the Bryansk forests to the Right-Bank Ukraine and the Carpathians. From September 1942 he was a member of the underground Central Committee of the CP(b) of Ukraine. For skillful leadership of military operations behind enemy lines, S. V. Rudnev was awarded the military rank of Major General.

On August 4, 1943, near the village of Delyatyn, Nadvornyansky district, Ivano-Frankivsk region, there was a short but fierce battle between partisans and SS punishers. This was the last battle for S. V. Rudnev: an enemy bullet cut short the life of the commissar. January 4, 1944 he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. S. V. Rudnev was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, the Red Star, and the Badge of Honor medals.

Heroes of partisan and underground struggle

The youth of the city of Malina of the Zhytomyr region, Poltava, Kherson, Kharkov, Nikopol, Krivoy Rog, Proskurov (now Khmelnitsky), Lutsk glorified themselves with military deeds.

46 organizations operated in Minsk. The underground group "Andryusha" was headed by 18-year-old Komsomol member N. Kedyshko. The underground printed and distributed leaflets, carried out sabotage at the bakery and the railway, supplied the partisans with clothes stolen from enemy warehouses, and transported Soviet soldiers who had escaped from captivity to the partisans. N. Kedyshko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

During the Great Patriotic War, when the Nazis occupied the city of Krasnodon, Voroshilovograd region, young Soviet patriots of the city, led by the party organization, created the Young Guard Komsomol organization. It included about 100 young avengers. The headquarters of the organization was headed by U. M. Gromova, I. A. Zemnukhov, O. V. Koshevoy (commissioner), V. I. Levashov, V. I. Tretyakevich, I. V. Turkenich (commander), S. G. Tyulenin , L. G. Shevtsova.

Young patriots exterminated the fascists and their henchmen, blew up vehicles with ammunition, fuel and food, burned the bread stolen by the invaders. They issued and distributed among the population 30 anti-fascist leaflets with a total circulation of 5,000 copies; on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, red flags were hung on the 8 tallest buildings in the city and surrounding villages; released over 90 prisoners of war who were in a concentration camp and hospital; they set fire to the labor exchange, where lists and other documents were kept for almost two thousand young Krasnodontsy to be sent to Germany.

With the help of a traitor, the Nazis managed to uncover the Young Guard organization and in January 1943 arrested most of its members. After brutal torture in Nazi dungeons, 71 people, including 49 patriots of the Young Guard, were thrown into the pit of coal mine No. 5 by the Gestapo. O. V. Koshevoy, L. G. Shevtsova, S. M. Ostapenko, D. U. V. F. Subbotin, after brutal torture, were taken to the Rattlesnake forest near the town of Rovenki and shot there. From the persecution of the Nazis and their lackeys - traitors to the Motherland, only 11 people escaped.

By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 13, 1943, U. M. Gromova, I. A. Zemnukhov, O. V. Koshevoy, S. G. Tyulenin and L. G. Shevtsova. Three young guards were awarded the Order of the Red Banner, 36 - the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree. 6 - the Order of the Red Star, 66 - the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" I degree.

The feat of the young heroes of Krasnodon is captured in the novel by A. A. Fadeev "The Young Guard". In memory of them, a new city in the Voroshilovgrad region, Molodogvardeysk, was named. In Krasnodon, on the site of the death of the Young Guards, a monument-obelisk "Grieving Mother" was erected and the Eternal Flame was lit, in 1970 a new memorial complex "Young Guards" was opened. Localities, state farms, collective farms, ships, and schools bear the names of the Young Guards.

I know him as one of the leaders of our heroic partisan detachments, who inflicted enormous damage on the enemy.

I had to meet with Batya deep behind enemy lines and beat the Nazis together where and when they did not expect it.

In his book of memoirs, Batya also tells about our joint actions against the Nazis. He tells simply, modestly, without narcissism about how the people's avengers were organized, how a great wave of people's hatred was brought down on the enemy.

G. M. Linkov, as a Bolshevik should, tells about the real difficulties that we experienced at first in the territory occupied by the enemy, and about the great military successes that were achieved by the partisans in the most difficult conditions.

G. M. Linkov, using the example of his combat work, shows how gradually, from small sorties to major sabotage, more and more confidently and effectively, more and more successfully, the task set by the great Stalin was carried out - to create unbearable conditions for the enemy in the occupied territory, as the national feat in the rear of the enemy grew and spread.

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union

Major General S. A. Kovpak

January, 1946

The great Soviet people are the most peaceful people in the world.

But this peacefulness of the Soviet people is combined with their ability and ability to defend the integrity and independence of their state. Courage, resourcefulness, exceptional endurance, resilience and courage of the Russian people have been known throughout the world for many centuries.

Great multinational Russian state managed to defend its boundless primordially Russian lands from repeated invasions of foreign conquerors. German dog-knights and Swedes, Polish gentry and Napoleon's hordes, English, American and Japanese invaders who invaded Russian expanses were defeated by the Russian people and thrown out of their state.

The multimillion and multinational Soviet people, having risen at the call of the leader to sacred protection of his homeland and the conquests of the Great October Socialist Revolution, during the Patriotic War he showed the whole world unprecedented examples of heroism and valor at the front and in the rear.

One of the most striking manifestations of people's patriotism in the Great Patriotic War was the mass partisan movement behind enemy lines, the movement of people's avengers.

The partisan movement in Belarus, to which this book is dedicated, under the leadership of the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement and the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Belarus, reached a truly gigantic scale during the Patriotic War.

The partisans of Belarus have written many glorious pages in the history of this popular movement. They turned the territory of the republic occupied by the enemy into an arena of fierce and exhausting battles for the Nazis. Courageous, selfless people penetrated everywhere: with a machine gun, a mine, a grenade, they went out to railways and highways, appeared at military warehouses and fascist commandant's offices, their partisan revenge overtook the Gestapo and traitors even in their officer clubs, and the chief executioner himself Belarusian people, Hitler's friend - Cuba could not escape their punishing hand. Explosions thundered everywhere, enemy trains flew downhill, tanks with fuel and ammunition burned, railway bridges flew into the air, the rear of the Nazi armies burned. In the “rail war” alone, many thousands of kilometers of rails were destroyed and over five thousand trains with Nazi troops and equipment were derailed by glorious Belarusian partisans. Tens of thousands of fascist punishers from selected units of the SS and the Gestapo found their graves in the Belarusian expanses.

This mass, truly popular movement testifies to the deep devotion of the Soviet people to their socialist homeland, the Communist Party and the leader of the people, Comrade Stalin. represented Soviet power behind enemy lines, being active assistants to our Army.

To reflect in literature all the greatness of the heroic partisan epic, even within the BSSR alone, is the task of more than one author and more than one book.

I did not set myself the goal of giving a complete picture of the partisan struggle on the territory of Belarus, to show all the partisan formations led by representatives of the Central Committee of the CP (b) of Belarus. In my book of memoirs, the people's guerrilla war is depicted only in connection with the operations carried out by our landing unit, sent behind enemy lines to carry out special tasks of our army bodies. I, as in previous editions, keep brevity in the presentation of facts and events, briefly, dryly speak about the fighters and commanders, their exploits and heroism. But it was like that on the battlefield, and I want to keep all this in print. With this book I wanted to make my contribution to the literature on the popular partisan movement.

If the lesson taught to the recent fascist pretender to world domination - Hitler, seems unconvincing to some of the modern Anglo-American fascists and they will plunge the world into a third world war, then we are sure that our experience will be used by the supporters of peace against the warmongers.

Part one

The war has begun

1. The war has begun

On the night of June 22, 1941, I was traveling by train Moscow - Gorky. Tired of the day's chores, in the evening I fell into a sound sleep. I woke up at three in the morning, and the rested brain returned to the experienced impressions. Through the window, I watched the night dissolve, the air light up with a translucent blue, and the fading stars disappear.

Rare collective-farm villages flickered in the morning mist, and the contours of the Vladimir forests took on a sharp outline. Everything foreshadowed a clear, quiet summer day. There were few passengers on the train. The air, saturated with the smell of grass and pine needles, pleasantly refreshed the head. Two middle-aged citizens in a compartment were talking about military events taking place somewhere in distant Africa, on the island of Crete, in the Balkans. None of us knew that at that moment the first battles began on our western borders.

I got off the train. Artillery units were loaded into the echelon at the station. Ammunition boxes and heavy howitzers were rolled onto the platforms, but the transfer of military units is also common in a peaceful situation. I got into a pickup truck that was waiting for me at the station and drove to the village, near which I was testing artillery devices with a group of engineers and technicians.

Across the Klyazma River, in low-lying meadows, everything was buried in emerald greenery. There were a lot of fish in the lakes and in the river. Friends gathered to spend this day behind Klyazma, fish, cook fish soup in the fresh air. I accepted the invitation.

And now above us is a bottomless blue dome, a sea of flowers and juicy grasses under our feet, the buzz of bumblebees and bees on honey plants. Multi-colored moths fluttered over the meadow, fat carp and tench splashed in a small haze. There was a delicious fish soup, lunch on a velvet lawn by the river, swimming in the clear streams of the Klyazma. How good life seemed that day! Only big, angry gadflies and muddy-dirty clouds that floated up from the western part of the horizon somewhat overshadowed the holiday.

Under the bank, on a sandy platform, dry willow twigs flared up, colorless tongues of flame engulfed buckets. Suddenly we saw two people running towards us from the high bank from the village. They were shouting something and waving their hands. Having moved by boat to our shore, they reported that Nazi Germany, violating the non-aggression pact, started a war against us.