The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the German fascist invaders was worthily crowned with the Victory Parade. On June 24, 1945, twelve consolidated regiments of the fighting fronts, sailors, the troops of the Polish and Moscow garrisons marched along Red Square in a solemn march. Front regiments consisted of five battalions of two companies, which included, in addition to six infantry companies, a company of artillerymen, tankmen and pilots, and a tenth consolidated company - cavalrymen, sappers and signalmen. But the partisans were not represented either as a separate regiment or as part of the combined companies of the fronts, from Karelian to 4th Ukrainian. They were, as it were, separated from the nationwide celebration, as if "accidentally" they forgot about their involvement in the common Victory.
A REAL SECOND FRONT
Meanwhile, from the first days of the war, a second, partisan front began to form in the rear of the German fascist invaders. It was Joseph Stalin, as Major General Sidor Kovpak recalled twice, Hero of the Soviet Union, who called the partisan "our second front." And this was no exaggeration. Already four months after the invasion, the Hitlerite command issued a directive "Basic principles of the fight against partisans", which established the standards for the protection of railways - a battalion for 100 km of tracks. Thus, from 5% in 1941 to 30% of their troops in 1944, the invaders were forced to distract from the Soviet partisans to guard the railways. What is this if not a real second front?
It turned from the Kalmyk steppes to Polesye, from the Pinsk and Karelian swamps to the Odessa catacombs and the foothills of the Caucasus. Various motives led to partisans: patriotism, loyalty to the military oath, hatred of the enslavers, personal revenge, the desire to atone for a crime or the prevailing circumstances of the war. Relying on the local population, the partisan struggle was carried out by the military - encircled and escaped from captivity, local communists, Komsomol members and non-party activists. The war on the other side of the front was fought, together with the envoys of Moscow and the fronts, by representatives of all republics of the USSR and all confessions, including clergymen from priests to rabbis. In a word, the expression "nationwide partisan struggle" was not a propaganda cliché. It is not the guerrillas' fault that their enormous potential was not used to the full.
Nevertheless, the partisans accounted for about 10% of the losses incurred by the invaders. According to the estimates of the former chief of the Central Staff of the Partisan Movement (TSHPD) Panteleimon Ponomarenko, the Soviet partisans and underground fighters disabled over 1.6 million Nazis and their lowly respected assistants, distracted a total of more than 50 divisions from the front. Moreover, they spent on one killed or wounded invader not 200 thousand, but five hundred times less cartridges than the troops at the front.
Without reducing the role and significance of the partisan struggle to these impressive figures, but also without belittling them, it seems that the absence of the partisan "front" regiment at the parade was hardly accidental.
Apparently, the leadership did not want to remember the beginning of the war. Large-scale preparations for a possible occupation of the country for a number of reasons in 1937-1938 were curtailed. Special partisan schools were disbanded, bases and weapons caches for future partisans were eliminated, carefully selected sabotage groups and partisan detachments were disbanded,most of their leaders were repressed. The partisan struggle in the Soviet territory temporarily occupied by the Nazis had to start practically from scratch, without a strategic plan, clearly defined tasks, without trained personnel and material resources at the cost of heavy losses. And the partisans, as a living reproach for such a miscalculation, were obviously considered inappropriate at the Victory Parade.
Doubtful of devotion
Another reason for the absence of partisans in the parade crew could be doubts about the political reliability of those who visited the temporarily occupied territory. Although, it would seem, who, no matter how the partisans, by deed have proved their loyalty to the Motherland. And what about the political system?
The occupied territory of the USSR accounted for 45% of the population of the Soviet Union. It fed both the invaders from almost all over Europe, and the traitors who worked for them, now disguised with the elegant import term "collaborators", and the partisans. It even provided assistance to the mainland, delivering, for example, food to besieged Leningrad. The occupiers forced local residents to carry out many labor duties: digging trenches and building defensive structures, demining, carrying out various repairs, collecting trophies, maintaining roads, transporting goods, working in administration bodies, at industrial and agricultural enterprises, etc. More than half a million of our compatriots worked on the railways that served the occupiers.
Approximately twice as many served in the police, auxiliary, security and other German military formations. Disputes about who there were more - theirs or the Soviet partisans - are still going on. So, at the time of joining with the Red Army in the partisan brigades of Belarus, from a quarter to a third of the fighters were those who had previously collaborated with the invaders.
But even those who were in no way involved in any form of complicity with the enemy did not inspire much confidence in the leaders of the USSR. Joseph Stalin knew very well from the Civil War what kind of force the partisans represent. In World War II, lieutenants (like I. R. Shlapakov) and majors (A. P. Brinsky), captains (M. I. Naumov) and rare colonels (S. V. Rudnev), or even civilians of pre-retirement age (S. A. Kovpak) and even filmmakers (P. P. Vershigora) demonstrated a high degree of initiative and self-organization. If they are capable of self-organization under the conditions of the most severe occupation regime, then who can vouch for their reliability in the future?
Let us not forget that during the war, and during the preparation and conduct of the Victory Parade, and for another ten years, the law enforcement and army units waged another war. They fought against the Bandera in Ukraine, the "forest brothers" in the Baltic states, and simply bandits who were not hiding under nationalist banners, who operated with partisan tactics. It is clear that this is why those in power did not want to attract undue attention to the partisans or bandits who called themselves that.
Fought without a commander
Apparently, it also mattered that the partisans did not have their own commander. And this was not an accident either. True, for a short time (May - July 1942), Marshal of the Soviet Union Kliment Voroshilov was the commander-in-chief of the partisan movement. But this post was allegedly abolished "for the purpose of greater flexibility in the leadership of the partisan movement." In fact, the possibility of unity of control, coordination in the actions of all those who fought in the enemy's rear was eliminated. The leadership of the partisan struggle was accompanied by reorganizations, duplication, inconsistency, over-organization, and even a lack of leadership.
At the state level, a multifaceted opinion was developed about the spontaneous popular partisan movement, where military professionals are just “helpers of real partisans” (P. K. Ponomarenko). Say, the partisan struggle is quite capable of organizing and leading any secretary of the party committee. It is no coincidence that out of twenty partisan commanders who were awarded general ranks, fifteen are secretaries of underground district committees, regional party committees.
A classic example of a party leadership is the TSSHPD. It was organized in December 1941 by I. V. Stalin instructed the secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus P. K. Ponomarenko. In January 1942, this order was canceled. On May 30 of the same year, the State Defense Committee decides to create a TSSHPD under the leadership of the same P. K. Ponomarenko. After nine months, the Central Broadcasting Center is liquidated, and after a month and a half, it is restored. On January 13, 1944, the TSSHPD was finally abolished, when it was still far from the end of the war, and the Soviet partisans participated in the liberation of European countries.
Obviously, it does not belong to the managerial masterpieces, the installation of the TSSHPD for the supply of partisans at the expense of trophies and the setting of many tasks without their material support. The Intelligence Directorate of the People's Commissariat of Defense and the NKVD-NKGB managed their groups and detachments more clearly. They focused on sabotage and intelligence work.
My father, commissar of the 59th separate reconnaissance battalion of the 2nd rifle division of the 10th army, fought behind enemy lines from the summer of 1941 to the spring of 1944 and from Vitebsk region in eastern Belarus to Volhynia in western Ukraine. And everywhere he looked for and found groups of local residents or individual fighters who embarked on the path of armed struggle against the invaders. “Mass heroism has become the norm for the behavior of Soviet people,” he argued. With 18 fighters, he began to partisan and 2800 bayonets were taken over by his successor, not counting the widespread intelligence network. At the same time, not dozens, but hundreds of people were handed over by the father to the local partisan commanders V. Z. Korzhu, V. A. Begme, A. F. Fedorov.
SCORERS AND DIVERSANTS
Handing over personal weapons to the soldiers of the partisan detachment named after G. I. Kotovsky. Photo of 1943
The experience of the first year of the war has shown the highest efficiency of the formations created on the basis of specially trained reconnaissance and sabotage groups. These groups quickly grew at the expense of those who fled from captivity, servicemen from the encirclement, local communists, Komsomol members and activists, and grew into large detachments and formations. The fusion of a few military professionals and the mass of local residents who know the local conditions very well turned out to be optimally combat-ready.
The most effective means of fighting behind enemy lines were railway sabotage. The renowned OMSBON NKVD derailed more than 1,200 enemy echelons. At the beginning of 1943, OMSBON was reorganized into the Special Purpose Detachment (OSNAZ) under the NKVD-NKGB of the USSR. This military unit was intended exclusively for reconnaissance and sabotage work behind enemy lines.
The result of the sabotage activities of OMSBON-OSNAZ during the war was (according to the command) the destruction of 1,232 steam locomotives and 13,181 wagons, tanks, platforms. The sabotage groups of the Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Red Army from the special forces of I. N. Banova, A. P. Brinsky, G. M. Linkov was derailed by more than 2,000 fascist trains. Only they inflicted more significant damage on the enemy than the still widely promoted operation of the TsSHPD "Rail War". But the call of the professional saboteur Ilya Grigorievich Starinov to concentrate the efforts of the partisans not on undermining the rails, but on destroying the echelons with the Central broadband access was not heard.
It is known that seven nannies have a child without an eye. Fought on the other side of the front, partisans under the leadership of TSSHPD, intelligence officers of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the KA and the security officers of the NKVD-NKGB. And in the rear of the enemy there were groups from the GUKR NKO SMERSH, the NK of the Navy and others. There was no single command that united the leadership of the front-line combat work. And they did not remember about the partisan army without the commander-in-chief in preparation for the Victory Parade.
They are not fighting for awards, but still …
Naturally, such a complex social phenomenon as guerrilla warfare was not devoid of shortcomings. Many partisan memoirists honestly wrote about this. As well as the methods of dealing with them. For example, the partisans called one of the orders of A. P. Brinsky, who strictly warned the commanders of the units of the formation about the inadmissibility of free relations with the few women in their ranks. But even the biggest miscalculations in the daily life and combat work of the partisans could not serve as a basis for their exclusion from the Victory Parade.
Another characteristic nuance. In 1942, the badges "Sniper", "Excellent miner", "Excellent scout", "Excellent artilleryman", "Excellent tankman", "Excellent submariner", "Excellent torpedoist", as well as "Excellent baker", "Excellent cook "," Excellent chauffeur ", etc. No insignia was found for the partisans. Still. Unless the transverse red ribbon on the headdress can be considered an unofficial distinction of all Soviet partisans. “Better late than never” - it would seem that this proverb perfectly reflects the statement 65 years after the Victory of the Day of the partisan and the underground. But, in fact, it is too late. And the question of when the Day of the partisan and the underground is celebrated can be safely put in any TV game like “What? Where? When?”, It is so unobtrusive on a national scale.
On February 2, 1943, the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" was instituted, which for a long time was the only two-degree medal. In total, more than 56 thousand people were awarded the first degree medal, the second - about 71 thousand. That is, the number of those awarded with the partisan medal clearly lags behind the number of Nazi troops who fought in the rear. This is explained by the fact that if medals for defense, capture or liberation of cities, as well as medals “For Victory over Germany” and “For Victory over Japan”, were given to direct participants in the event announced in the title of the medal, then the situation was different with the partisan medal. It was necessary not only to participate, but also to excel. That is why she was worn ahead of the medals "for cities".
After the Victory, the partisan medals were awarded new ones "For Distinction in the Protection of the State Border" and "For Excellent Service in Maintaining Public Order" (1950), and then - "For Courage in a Fire" (1957), "For Rescuing Drowning People" (1957) and three-degree "For Distinction in Military Service" (1974) - "for excellent performance in combat and political training." Once again, the volunteer partisans, who passed the fires and waters of the war without front and flanks, were shown their place …
And the Nazis considered the Soviet partisans worthy of distinction. In Germany, a spectacular badge was established for participation in the fight against partisans. It was a sword with a swastika on a blade, piercing a skull with crossed bones and coiled by a multi-headed hydra. Twenty days of participation in hostilities against the partisans gave the right to a bronze badge, 50 days to a silver one and 100 to a gold one. For the Luftwaffe, respectively, for 30, 75 and 150 sorties.
Yes, they do not fight for awards. But everyone has the right to be proud of belonging to their combat brotherhood - flight or border, Afghan or cadet, tank, airborne, etc. They all have their own distinctive insignia or dress code. And the Soviet partisans are deprived of this. There are regional, republican partisan signs. Yes, the Bryansk Regional Duma in 2010 established a commemorative medal "In honor of the feat of partisans and underground workers."
Of course, not partisans, but the Red Army and the Navy played the main role in the defeat of the German fascist troops. The names of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War who achieved outstanding results in the fight against the hated invaders are widely known: Heroes of the Soviet Union, pilots Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub and Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin, submariners Nikolai Alexandrovich Lunin and Alexander Ivanovich Marinesko, snipers Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev and Lyudmila Pavlovna Mikhailovna. It is logical to put Anton Petrovich Brinsky in this row, whose demolitions committed about 5,000 sabotage behind enemy lines, including, according to the testimony of the former head of the GRU, Hero of the Soviet Union, General of the Army Pyotr Ivashutin, blew up more than 800 enemy trains. Although the “Golden Star” No. 3349 was given to my father not at all for sabotage.
The Great Patriotic War confirmed the high efficiency of partisan actions. The partisans represented a formidable force not only for foreign invaders. The leaders of the country were also afraid of their influence and power. Calling the population to the people's war, they closely followed the partisan "second front". And before the Victory Parade, they preferred to forget about the partisans as having fulfilled their historical mission.
During the Cold War, the role of the second front opened in Europe by the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition was largely diminished. More often it was recalled that our soldiers called American canned meat the second front. With the beginning of perestroika, the opposite tendency: the second front in Europe is proclaimed almost decisive in the defeat of fascism. One cannot agree with this in any way.
Our allies opened the second front in Europe only in June 1944, realizing that the Red Army was able to independently finish off Nazi Germany. Therefore, it can be said with good reason that the true second front for the Red Army was the Soviet armed formations operating in the rear of the German fascist troops. It is appropriate to say that nearly two hundred wars that have occurred over the past 70 years, in most cases, were fought by specific, partisan methods.
Of course, the post-war generations drew too leafy picture of the Great Patriotic War. This also applies to her partisan paintings. However, with all the shortcomings of the partisan struggle, and its reflection in scientific-historical, journalistic, memoir, fiction and other works of art, the partisan epic was generally heroic. The partisan struggle was a natural reaction to Hitler's aggression. And it causes legitimate pride in the volunteers, who, under the conditions of the brutal occupation regime, took up arms in order to expel the invaders from their native land. And because the partisans did not have a chance to be represented at the Victory Parade, their patriotic feat of the highest standard will not fade in the centuries.
On May 9, 2015, the Immortal Regiment followed the ceremonial crews. He convincingly showed that the people's initiative is alive.
