From the first days of the occupation of Belarus, a partisan movement developed in the rear of the enemy, which day by day acquired an ever wider scope. The struggle of the Soviet patriots took on a mass character. By the beginning of 1943, 512 partisan detachments were operating in Belarus, uniting more than 56 thousand partisans.
People's avengers attacked enemy facilities and garrisons, smashed police stations, expelled fascists from settlements in a tense struggle, sometimes recapturing entire areas where Soviet power was restored. These territories, liberated by partisans in the rear of enemy troops, were called partisan zones and territories.
The partisan zone included settlements of one or several districts, the territory of which was held and controlled by the partisans; the bodies and institutions of the Soviet power were restored in it. The partisan region united two or more partisan zones. Since the fall of 1941, such partisan zones have appeared in the Polessye, Mogilev and Minsk regions. The edges began to form on the basis of partisan zones from the winter of 1942/1943; the largest number of them was in 1943.
In September of the first military year, the Red October partisan detachment of the Hero of the Soviet Union F. I. In the first half of 1942, partisan detachments of F. I. Pavlovsky, I. G. Zhulegi, A. T. Mikhailovsky, A. F. districts. As a result, the October partisan zone was formed in Polesie. Its center was the village of Rudobelka, Oktyabrsky district.
In October 1941, the creation of the Klichev partisan zone began in the Mogilev region. Partisans led by I. 3. Isohoy, defeated a number of fascist garrisons and liberated several settlements. Until the spring of 1942, partisan detachments I. 3. Izokhi, V. P. Svistunov, P. V. Syrtsov was completely liberated from the enemy Klichevsky and partially Berezinsky, Kirovsky, Mogilev, Belynichsky, Bobruisk, Osipovichsky districts. A vast Klichev partisan zone with a population of about 120 thousand people arose.
In the Minsk region, by the beginning of 1942, the Luban partisan zone was formed. At first, it included part of the Lyuban and Starobinsky districts, and by the fall of the same year, the territory of the zone expanded. Starodorozhsky, Slutsky, Gressky, Uzdensky, Krasnoslobodsky and Kopylsky districts were partially liberated from the Germans. The center of the zone was located on the island of Vyslav in the Zagalsky village council of the Lyuban region.
Surazh, Rossony-Osveiskaya, Ushachskaya, Polotsk-Sirotinskaya partisan zones were formed in the Vitebsk region. The creation of the Surazh partisan zone began in February 1942. It included the Surazh district (except for the Surazh regional center), part of the Mekhovsky, Gorodoksky, Vitebsk and Liozno districts; the territory liberated from the Nazis was about 3000 square meters. km. The zone was located in the Surazh-Vitebsk-Gorodok-Usvyaty quadrangle, next to the front line. It was held by the 1st Belarusian Partisan Brigade, commanded by M. F. Shmyrev (Old Man Minai) and some other partisan brigades.
In the summer of 1942, the Rossony-Osveisk partisan zone was formed, which included the entire territory of the Rossony, Osveisky districts and a significant part of the Drissensky district. The center of the zone was located in the district center of Rossony. In the same period, the Ushachskaya partisan zone was created. Already by the fall of 1942, the partisan brigade commanded by F. F. Dubrovsky, together with other detachments, conquered the Ushachsky district, large parts of the Lepel and Vetrinsky districts, part of the territory of the Plissky, Beshenkovichi, Chashniki districts. By the end of the summer of 1942, the Polotsk-Sirotinsky zone was formed, which included practically the entire Sirotinsky district and part of the territory of the Polotsk, Mekhovsky, Rossony districts, the Vitebsk region and a small part of the Nevelsky district, the Kalinin region. The center of the partisan zone was in the village of Zuevo, Sirotinsky district, where the headquarters of the brigade of S. M. Korotkin was stationed.
In June 1942, the Chechersk partisan zone was finally formed in the Gomel region, which included 103 settlements of five regions: Chechersky, Svetilovichsky, Kormyansky Gomel (81 settlements), Krasnopolsky district of Mogilev (11 settlements), Krasnogorsk region of Orlovskaya (11 settlements) areas. The zone covered an area of about 3600 sq. km.
Partisan detachments commanded by A. P. Savitsky (Petrovich), V. 3. Korzh (Komarov), and named after N. T. Shisha in early September 1942 destroyed the enemy garrison located in the town of Lenin in the Pinsk region, and then liberated almost the entire Leninsky district from the enemy. The first partisan zone of Western Belarus was formed here.
Thus, during the year, from October 1941 to November 1942, 9 vast partisan zones were formed in the enemy rear in the occupied Belarusian territory: 8 in the eastern part of the republic and 1 in the western. The predominance of partisan zones in the eastern part of the republic is explained by the extensive development of the partisan movement here.
On June 12, 1942, the German security police and SD reported on partisan activity in Belarus: “Large partisan groups are active in the areas of Berezino, Bobruisk, Gomel, Pochep, Shirgatino, Vitebsk, Lepel, Surazh … These partisan groups have developed great activity … regions, partisans established Soviet power and created permanent administrations … Naturally, the German command was not going to put up with the loss of entire areas of important operational, tactical and economic importance, did everything possible to expel the partisans from there and destroy them. To this end, various military actions were undertaken (raids on individual points, large punitive expeditions, often with the participation of front-line military units). As a result, the partisans were not always able to keep all the settlements in their zone under their control. Sometimes partisan formations, under the influence of superior enemy forces, had to temporarily leave the conquered areas and go to other places. But then they returned to their zones again. The enemy's attempts to eliminate the partisan zones remained unsuccessful.
Partisan detachments courageously guarded the territory reclaimed from the occupiers, thwarted the fascists' attempts to penetrate the liberated regions. In the partisan zone, at the direction of the headquarters of the partisan formations, a certain area of defense was assigned to each detachment, which he had to hold. In important areas, the partisans built defensive fortifications (they built bunkers, dug trenches, communication trenches, set up blockages, destroyed bridges on the roads). On the remote approaches to the partisan zones, sentinel posts were set up, and well-armed partisan groups were on duty around the clock on the paths of the enemy's probable approach. In addition, partisan scouts were always on the front line of the defense, as well as outside it. This excluded the sudden appearance of the enemy. The patrols and duty groups, located in ambush, were the first to accept the battle and provided the opportunity for the partisan leadership to move the main forces to the dangerous area.
Combat operations had to be conducted almost daily, often simultaneously in different sectors. For example, D. Raitsev's detachment from June 20 to June 27, 1942, participated in 14 battles with superior enemy forces trying to penetrate the settlements of the Surazh zone. Partisan detachments named after Chapaev and Shisha, as well as under the command of Korzh, fought fierce battles with the Nazis for 4 days (November 5-8, 1942) in the area of the village of Baranova Gora, Leninsky District, Pinsk Region, to hold the liberated territory. Both enemy groupings suffered losses and retreated. There are many similar examples.
It must also be said that the partisan formations and detachments that ensure control of a large territory in the rear of the Germans did not only wage a positional defensive struggle. The partisan zones served as the base from which the partisan forces carried out offensive operations. Sabotage and subversive groups, combat detachments, specially formed units from several detachments went hundreds of kilometers from their main base to conduct large-scale military operations. Here are some typical examples.
The subversive group of the partisan detachment N. B. Khrapko (Oktyabrskaya partisan zone) on May 8, 1942 at the Zhlobin-Mozyr section blew up an enemy train of 68 wagons with ammunition and infantrymen. Partisans of the detachment D. F. Raitsev, located in the Surazh zone, on June 28, 1942, two bridges were blown up: one across the Luzhesyanka River, the second on the road in the Putilovo area.
The 1st Belarusian Partisan Brigade, stationed in the Surazh zone, conducted 50 combat operations at the beginning of 1942. During the same period, its units derailed four enemy echelons, thirteen bridges, destroyed more than 25 vehicles with cargo and German soldiers, and knocked out three tanks. Fighters of the 2nd partisan Belarusian brigade, based in the Surazh zone, on the night of July 15, 1942, defeated the fascist garrison at the Bychikha railway station. In this battle, the partisans blew up a warehouse with fuels and lubricants and 4 cars with communication equipment, 5 bridges, damaged the roadbed and wire communication lines, and also captured rich trophies. The same brigade from February 18 to July 18, 1942 carried out 9 raids on enemy garrisons, destroyed 3 tanks, 2 tankettes, 30 vehicles, blew up 9 depots with ammunition and fuel and lubricants, 36 bridges, 18 bunkers. On September 7, 1942, the joint forces of the detachments of the 2nd and 4th Belarusian partisan brigades (Surazh and Polotsk-Sirotinskaya zones) destroyed the enemy's Yezerishchensky garrison. Partisan detachments S. A. Mazur and I. 3. Isoha (Klichev partisan zone) on the night of September 9, 1942 blew up a railway bridge on the Nacha River, west of the Krupki railway station, Minsk region, located on the main communication line of the Nazis Minsk-Ovsha.
On the territory liberated from the Germans, the command of the partisan formations, relying on the population, restored the organs of Soviet power. It is worth emphasizing that in the partisan zones of Belarus, along with the bodies of Soviet power (district executive committees, village councils), the command of partisan brigades and detachments played an important role. District executive committees, village councils were restored in the areas of Oktyabrskaya, Lyubanskaya, Surazhskaya, Checherskaya, Klichevskaya, partisan zones. In the Ushachskaya, Rossonsko-Osveiskaya, Polotsko-Sirotinskaya, Leninskaya zones, in a number of areas of the Oktyabrskaya, Lyubanskaya, Klichevskaya, Surazhskaya, Checherskaya partisan zones, the pre-war authorities were not restored. Their functions were carried out by the command of partisan formations and detachments, and authorized by the partisan command from the local population and partisans, representatives of the village councils, partisan commandants, partisan elders.
In some settlements, where conditions allowed, the work of industrial and household enterprises resumed - power plants, mills, shoemakers, sewing, weapons workshops, bakeries, creameries, laundries, baths, etc. Exceptionally great attention was paid to agricultural work. Collective farms were not revived in the partisan zones. The peasants jointly solved many production issues, helped each other in work, but under war conditions they did not conduct the entire economy on a collective basis. In 1942, spring sowing and harvesting, winter sowing were carried out by individual peasant farms. Soviet bodies, the command of partisan formations assisted the peasants in carrying out agricultural work, allocated people, carts, horses, organized the work of forges, put up barriers to ensure safety. The peasants also set up observation posts themselves.
The commissars of the partisan formations carried out extensive agitation and political work with the population of the partisan zones. Concrete settlements were assigned to agitators and propagandists. For example, the agitators of the 1st Belarusian Partisan Brigade in August 1942 embraced about 3,000 people with political mass work. In October 1942, the agitators of the Death to Fascism brigade carried out political work in 328 settlements in the Ushachsky, Vetrinsky, Polotsk, Beshenkovichi districts.
Artistic propaganda collectives, amateur art circles of brigades and detachments also carried out cultural and educational work among the population. In some settlements of the Vitebsk region, films were even screened. In the fall of 1942, schools were opened in the settlements of the Oktyabrskaya, Lyuban, Surazh partisan zones.
One of the main tasks facing the partisan command was to save the population from the atrocities of the occupiers and theft into fascist slavery. The partisans guarded the population and provided assistance during blockades, punitive expeditions, and enemy air raids. Women and children were sent to the Soviet rear from partisan airfields. The inhabitants of the partisan zones, in turn, showed exceptional concern for their defenders. They not only supplied the partisans with food, but also participated in the construction of fortifications and airfields, helped the partisans to obtain intelligence, and took care of the wounded. At the expense of representatives of the local population, the ranks of the partisans were replenished.
The population of the partisan zones rendered great assistance to the Red Army: the residents collected money for the defense of the Motherland, for the construction of air squadrons and tank columns, participated in government loans, procured bread, potatoes, and fodder. For example, from the Surazh and Mekhov districts in the spring of 1942, almost 75,000 rubles were sent to the country's defense fund. bonds and 18,039 rubles. in cash. Horses and transport were sent from the partisan areas close to the front line for the Red Army, and young people of military age were transported to the mainland. In the spring of 1942, 5000 people joined the ranks of the army from the Surazh and Mekhov regions alone.
The partisan zones, formed as a result of fierce battles with the Nazis, were the strongholds of the partisans and Soviet power in the enemy rear. They were a kind of rear for the partisans. Partisan airfields were located here, to which weapons, ammunition, explosives, medicines and other goods were delivered. Separate groups and detachments came here, pursued by punishers, not only from other regions of Belarus, but also from the territory of Ukraine, Russia, and the Baltic states. From here they made combat raids.
The formation of partisan zones in the deep enemy rear and their retention is one of the brightest pages of the heroic struggle of the Belarusian people during the war.
