It's no secret that young people like to watch films about heroes and their exploits. And “stories” about the elusive James Bond, fair sheriffs, invisible ninjas are generously pouring from the screens on our children … But in the history of the Great Patriotic War there were many heroes whose deeds significantly surpass the deeds of these fictional “knights”. I want to remind you of one of them.
Alexander Viktorovich German
Quick reference
Alexander German was born on May 24, 1915 in Petrograd in the family of a Russian employee. After graduating from the seven-year school, Herman worked as a mechanic and studied at an auto-building technical school.
In November 1933, Alexander German joined the ranks of the Red Army. In 1937 he graduated from the Oryol Armored School and served in a mechanized brigade. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War found him a 2nd year student at the Frunze Military Academy.
From July 1941, German served in the intelligence department of the headquarters of the North-Western Front, and then acted as deputy commander of the 2nd special partisan brigade for intelligence.
Since the summer of 1942, Major Alexander German has been the commander of the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade. Under his command, the brigade destroyed several thousand enemy soldiers and officers, derailed over three hundred railway trains, blew up hundreds of vehicles and saved thirty-five thousand Soviet citizens from being hijacked into slavery.
From June 1942 to September 1943, a brigade under the command of Herman destroyed 9652 Nazis, 44 crashes of railway echelons with enemy manpower and equipment were committed, 31 railway bridges were blown up, 17 enemy garrisons were destroyed, up to 70 volost administrations
Major German died a heroic death on September 6, 1943, emerging from the enemy's encirclement near the village of Zhitnitsy, Novorzhevsky district, Pskov region. He was buried in the square of the city of Valdai, Novgorod Region.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 2, 1944, Major German Alexander Viktorovich was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the struggle against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time.
Shl. I didn't understand why the major, if he was a brigade commander, i.e. at least the colonel. No?
That's all that is said in the "mighty" Wikipedia, where our children so often look. And what is behind these scanty lines? Here are some facts that have been collected by people who are not indifferent to our heroes. Thanks to those who shoveled a bunch of documents, looked for the surviving fighters, eyewitnesses in the villages who were freed by the partisans. I will not give links here (there are quite a few of them), but just read how Major A. V. fought against the Nazis. Hermann.
Working at the headquarters, A. German was eager for more "practical work"! And he was entrusted with a small detachment. In September 1941, he was sent to the German rear, the main task is reconnaissance, the destruction of the Germans and sabotage of communications. Initially, the number of the detachment was about 100-150 fighters. By the summer of 1942, the success of the detachment, the commanding talent and economic abilities of Herman led to the fact that a regular partisan brigade was formed on its basis, its number increased to 2500 people, the combat zone spread to most of the territory of Porkhovsky, Pozherevitsky, Slavkovichsky, Novorzhevsky, Ostrovsky and other districts of the Pskov region.
“For the first time in partisan practice, German created a stationary airfield near the base, cut a clearing in the forest, equipped a strip and infrastructure for receiving heavy transport aircraft, set up warning posts and anti-aircraft crews. The problem of supply and communication with the "mainland" was resolved. Several attempts to raise fighter aircraft to intercept partisan aircraft ended in attacks (capturing the airfield, of course, was an unrealistic task) on the oil base in the city of Porkhov and the air depot in the village of Pushkinskie Gory, as a result all consumable supplies of fuel, ammunition and other things were destroyed. The regiment turned out to be incapable of combat and was unable to carry out combat missions at the front. They could be scolded for the partisans, but for such consequences one can really "thunder". The commander of the Luftwaffe regiment clearly understood this. And planes flew to the "forest" regularly.
However, it seemed not enough to Herman. In the course of one of the sorties, a narrow-gauge "peat" railway passing near the base was discovered with rolling stock abandoned in a hurry during retreat - steam locomotives, wagons and platforms. The road led to the front line, and through the most remote swamps and swamps (in fact, peat is mined there). There was one mishap - a section of the narrow-gauge railway passed along the outskirts of the Podsevy junction station, which served as a staging post for the German army and had a strong garrison. When transportations were necessary, each time crushing blows were inflicted on the station and "under the guise" of partisan trains successfully passed the bad place. In the end (I want to live) the command of the garrison simply stopped paying attention to small trains and trailers scurrying back and forth across the outskirts of the station, especially since they did not create any special problems, behaved decently and preferred to move at night. All this time, partisan transportation was carried out from the front line (!) To the rear of the enemy (!) By rail (!). This has never happened before or since.
After the planned replacement of the old garrison, a new commandant arrived at the station, from the staff, Major Paulwitz. Despite the "subtle" hints of the commander, the situation with the enemy trains constantly moving through his station struck him so much that the same evening the path was cut and another transport was ambushed. The next morning, the station was captured by a swift blow and held for several days, the garrison was destroyed, the cargo was blown up or captured by trophies. Along the way, five bridges were blown up "thoroughly", including the strategic one, across the Keb River. The road "stood up" for exactly 12 days. It is not known exactly who shot Paulwitz, at least in the reports of the brigade this feat does not appear for any of the partisans. According to the recollections of the railway workers, the Germans soon pulled the barbed wire from the tracks to the narrow gauge and did not notice it at close range.
Lovers of "beefel und ordnung" began to worry about such an outrage. A special group arrived from the Abwernebenstelle of Smolensk under the command of an authoritative specialist in the fight against partisans (the name has not survived, and it does not matter). On the conscience of this "craftsman" was about a dozen destroyed partisan detachments in the Smolensk region. Using his intelligence channels, Herman revealed the secret of his success: when the partisans were captured or destroyed, their clothes and shoes were taken off them, they were given a sniff to ordinary police bloodhounds - after which a detachment of punishers followed the tracks exactly to the partisan base, bypassing all swamps, ambushes and mines. The use of well-known methods - sprinkling the tracks with makhorka, sprinkling with urine did not help, because this fact only confirmed the correctness of the route. The groups began to leave one way and return another. Immediately after the passage "there" the path was carefully mined. As well as after the "back" passage. With the "craftsman" himself (after the death of several punitive detachments, he quickly figured out what was the matter, and he himself did not "fiddle" with this trick) they figured out even more gracefully: after mining in front of the captured "tongue" according to the standard "return path" scheme, then they led him along a secret submerged gati. It is not known exactly how, but he nevertheless escaped and returned to his own people along this gate. Alive. This means that the backyard is clean. The Abverovets, rubbing their hands contentedly, demanded a large detachment, and with a brazen smile, led him around the mines in this very way. He himself did not return and "demobilized" two SS companies. Gat still exploded, without much noise. From both ends at the same time. There was no need to shoot, the swamp coped with one hundred percent. The command was alarmed - how could the ENTIRE SS detachment disappear without a trace, and even without any signs of battle? But they did not try to find the base anymore until the fall of 1943.
Herman's brigade developed more than friendly relations with the local population. Thanks to the airport and railway station operating at the base (!), Tolerable supply was established. So the villagers did not see the partisan food detachments, and the Germans also preferred not to get enough food in the villages near the detachment, for obvious reasons, and not to disturb the population with their presence once again. Gradually, Herman began to change tactics in the territory under his control - from purely military to military-political. A military tribunal was organized, which held open field sessions in villages and villages (the institute of policemen and other elders and accomplices instantly disappeared as a biological species, and the Germans who came across were transferred to the status of prisoners of war, and were sent by rail to camps on the mainland … yes, yes … past the same Podsevy station).
An infirmary was opened, to which local residents could apply and receive all possible medical assistance. In severe cases, doctors went home (!). Soviet ambulance in the German rear. Yeah..
In order to resolve current issues, temporary village councils and executive committees were formed, which went to places, were engaged in propaganda work and received the population.
And then the irreparable happened. No, no, no executive committee was captured, and among the sick German scouts did not happen. At the next reception of the underground executive committee, a deputation of the station garrison, such wiser heirs of Paulwitz, showed up with the lowest request - they should be replaced, I really want to go back to Vaterland, to their families. And since the roads and bridges in the area have all been blown up, and the roads are mined and, in general, they still cannot be passed through, then … can they not get a pass? Or on a partisan piece of iron to get out (after all, only one is in good condition), but in the opposite direction. And they, in general, nothing. With all understanding. The trains are regularly passed and even the tracks are monitored so as not to damage anyone.
A few days later, an officer from the local field commandant's office showed up with a complaint about a detachment of foragers from some neighboring unit, who prowl the villages and procure food and oats for themselves, which the villagers are not at all happy about. And since he personally and his soldiers with their own skins are not going to answer for this outrage, then, is it possible … this detachment … well … in general, drive home?
It is not known how these surreal claims ended for the petitioners (the consequences are not mentioned in the primary sources, although these facts themselves are noted), but somehow they became known to the high command, including in Berlin.
To say that the command was furious is to say nothing. A whole bunch of local chiefs and officers were arrested, convicted, demoted, or sent to the front. Despite the tense situation, a combat-ready division, together with tanks, artillery and aviation, and two SS units with a total strength of about 4500 people, was WHOLEly withdrawn from the front. (according to other sources, 6 thousand soldiers from the 358th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht).
“The enemy managed to encircle the 3rd partisan brigade on the border of two regions - Leningrad (Porkhovsky district) and Kalinin (Pushkinogorsky district).
In the afternoon of September 5, 1943, enemy infantry, supported by tanks and artillery, launched an offensive against the 1st, 2nd and 4th regiments of the brigade, Only in the defense sector of the 3rd regiment - it covered the southern direction - was it relatively calm. The lull in the Sorotinsky (southern) direction could not but disturb the command of the brigade. And it decided to send reconnaissance to the village of Zhitnitsa through the villages of Barany and Zanegi in order to clarify the situation in this sector of the front. Reconnaissance went on the mission in the afternoon of September 5th. And at 17 o'clock in the village of Sharikhe, at a meeting of the brigade commanders, intelligence chief II Panchezhny reported on the results of the sortie. According to him, it turned out (and in fact it was) that there is no enemy in the village of Zhitnitsa. This was very important, since at the meeting the question was decided: where to withdraw the brigade - to the north to the Porkhovsky region or to the south to Soroti, to the Novorzhevsky region, to the mountains and forests, where the partisans had bases of food and ammunition, sites for receiving aircraft.
They decided to withdraw the brigade from the encirclement to the south through the village of Zhitnitsa. At the same time, the brigade commander ordered I. Panchezhny in the evening to reconnoiter the situation in the direction of this village and report the results at 22.00. Was reconnaissance sent again? This question was answered in writing by the former commander of the brigade's 11th headquarters detachment, retired colonel K. V. Gvozdev. He wrote the following: "It is safe to say (this is evidenced by the outset and the course of the battle with the punishers in the village of Zhitnitsa) that … Ivan Ivanovich did not follow the commander's order." The former chief of staff of the brigade, and after the death of A. V. German, its commander Ivan Vasilyevich Krylov recalls: “Operating with intelligence data, we decided to leave the encirclement through the Granary. we had no information that they had appeared there. Otherwise, we would have prepared the regiments not for a campaign, but for a night battle. unfired partisans) bypassing the enemy ambush, and not storming the garrison of the Granary from the front after the third regiment. When did the Germans appear in the village? How many of them? What weapons do they have? For the brigade commander and the headquarters, these questions were a secret behind seven seals. For Herman there was a difficult choice: to start a night battle or to bypass the village along the Shernetk river and, the brigade commander ordered to storm the Granary."
This fight was his last. Being twice wounded, he did not leave the battlefield, but continued to drag the fighters along with him and came under a machine-gun burst. The third wound was fatal.
It was not for nothing that even during the life of A. Herman songs were composed about him, the old people in the occupied villages consoled their grandchildren: “Don't cry, here comes General Herman. A tall, broad-shouldered, gray-haired old man, he will reward all offenders. And the policemen and headmen of all stripes shook when they heard his name!
And this "old man" was only 28 years old! How many good and necessary things he could have done if he remained alive! They say that in St. Petersburg there is a street named after the partisan German. (Remained? Not renamed?) Do the residents of the city remember about him? Do schools teach about his heroic brigade? About this amazingly talented person?
Monument-stele in St. Petersburg
You know, our nationalists first raised a "great noise" about the fact that the names of Bandera and Shukhevych were removed from the new history textbooks this year. And then they quickly built posters and brochures, where they posted information about these “heroes”, the UPA, their struggle “for independence”, and recommended them at the local level as additional materials for studying history in schools and universities. And they don't care that these brochures are not recommended by any Ministry of Education! And we must give them their due! They FIGHT FOR THEIR HEROES. Why are we Russians not fighting?
Maybe it would be worth placing in modern history textbooks a page dedicated to A. Herman and his brigade? And to mention other partisan units. I am sure that such information will interest our teenagers, and they themselves will start looking for information about our grandfathers and fathers! And finally
Isn't his life worth making a movie about her? Where as the coolest all American will be!
