Belarusian resistance during World War II opposed Nazi Germany from 1941 until 1944. Byelorussia was one of the Soviet republics occupied following Operation Barbarossa. The term Belarusian partisans may refer to Soviet-formed irregular military groups fighting Germany, but has also been used to refer to the disparate independent groups who also fought as guerrillas at the time, including Jewish groups (such as the Bielski partisans and Fareynikte Partizaner Organisatsye), Polish groups (such as the Home Army), and nationalist Belarusian forces opposed to Germany.
Pro-Soviet resistance
After the victories of the Wehrmacht against the Red Army in 1941, Belarus was one of the Soviet republics that came under control of Nazi Germany (Operation Barbarossa). The official government of the occupation forces was established on August 23, 1941, under the direction of Wilhelm Kube, the German administrator of the Generalbezirk Weißruthenien. The German pacification operations were able to curb partisan activity significantly throughout the summer and fall of 1941. The Belarusian Auxiliary Police was established by the Nazis in July 1941 and deployed to murder operations particularly in February–March 1942. The resistance movement first consisted of cut-off Soviet soldiers, some civilians began joining them around the summer of 1942. From that time until the end of the year, the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Byelorussia formed courses and offices helping those wishing to fight the Nazi Government.
Already in July 1941, an underground group in the Vesnitsky village council of the Ushachsky district was created by the head of the Lesinsky outpost of the 13th Berezinsky border detachment (), Lieutenant Kudryavtsev. Underground workers established relations with the population, conducted oral campaigns among them, calling for a struggle against the invaders, and helped unite the locals. Soon it was decided to create a partisan detachment and begin an open armed struggle. The Nazis tracked down Kudryavtsev and one night surrounded the house where he was resting and killed him.
The first partisan detachments were composed mostly of Red Army personnel, but also included local people. They were commanded by officers of the Red Army, the Soviet secret police NKVD or local Soviet or Communist apparatchiks. These detachments dated back to the early days of World War II: the detachment Starasyel'ski of major Dorodnykh in Zhabinka district (June 23, 1941),(HistBel-5) Гісторыя Беларусі: У 6 т. Т. 5. Беларусь у 1917—1945. – Мн.: Экаперспектыва, 2006. – 613 с.; іл. . p.492. the detachment of Vasily Korzh in Pinsk on June 26, 1941 and others. The first awards to the partisans with order of Hero of the Soviet Union occurred on August 6, 1941; they were given to detachment commanders Pavlovsky and Bumazhkov.
Throughout 1941, the core of the partisan movement consisted of the straggling remains of the Red Army units destroyed in Operation Barbarossa, personnel of the destruction battalions, and local Communist Komsomol and Soviet apparatchiks. The most common unit of the period was the detachment. The "seed" partisan detachments, diversionist and organizational groups were actively formed and inserted into German-occupied territories beginning in the summer of 1941. Urban underground groups were formed as a force complementing the activities of partisan units, which operated in rural terrains.
Organization As a controlling body, a network of underground Communist structures was actively developed on German-occupied territories, and it received an influx of specially picked Communist activists. By the end of 1941, more than two thousand partisan detachments (with more than 90,000 personnel) operated in German-occupied territories.Літвіноўскі І. А. (Litvinowski) Партызанскі рух у Вялікую Айчынную вайну 1941—1945 // Беларуская энцыклапедыя: У 18 т. Т. 12. – Мінск: БелЭн, 2001. – 560 с. p. 134. (т.12). However, the activities of the partisan forces weren't centrally coordinated or logistically provided for until spring of 1942. In order to coordinate partisan operations, the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement, headed by Panteleimon Ponomarenko, the Russian-born former head of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, was organised on May 30, 1942. The Staff had its liaisons in the Military Councils of the fronts and armies. The territorial Staffs were subsequently created, dealing with the partisan movement in the respective Soviet Republics and in the occupied provinces of the Soviet Russia.
Later, the NKVD, SMERSH and GRU began to train special groups of future partisans (effectively special forces units) in the rear and dropping them in the occupied territories. The candidates for these groups were chosen among volunteers from regular Red Army, the NKVD's Internal Troops, and Soviet sportsmen. When dropped behind German lines, the groups were to organize and guide the local self-established partisan units. Radio operators and intelligence gathering officers were the essential members of each group since amateur fighters could not be trusted with these tasks. Some commanders of these special units (like Dmitry Medvedev) later became well-known partisan leaders.
Logistics difficulties The Soviet authorities considered Belarus to be of the utmost importance to the development of the Soviet partisan war from the very beginning. The main factors were its geography, with many dense forests and swamps, and its strategic position on the communications going from West to Moscow. In fact, Belorussian Communist bodies in the Eastern provinces of Belarus began to organize and facilitate organization of the partisan units on the day after the first directive issuing (directives No.1 of 1941-07-30 and No.2 of 1941-07-01). By the Soviet estimates, in August 1941 about 231 detachments were operating already. The "seed" units, formed and inserted into Belarus, totalled 437 by the end of the 1941, comprising more than 7.2 thousand personnel.(All-people struggle in Belarus against the German-fascist invaders) Всенародная борьба в Белоруссии против немецко-фашистских захватчиков. Т. 1. С. 84, 112., as cited in (HistB5) Гісторыя Беларусі: У 6 т. Т. 5. Беларусь у 1917—1945. – Мн.: Экаперспектыва, 2006. – 613 с.; іл. . p.491. However, as the frontline moved further away, the logistical conditions steadily worsened for the partisan units, as the resources ran out, and there was no wide-scale support from over the frontline until March 1942.
One outstanding difficulty was the lack of radio communication, which wasn't addressed until April 1942. The support of the local people was also insufficient.Turonek, P.76. So, for several months, partisan units in Belarus were virtually left to themselves. Especially difficult for the partisans was the winter of 1941–1942, with severe shortages in ammunition, medicine and supplies. The actions of partisans were generally uncoordinated. In the circumstances, the German pacification operations in Summer and Fall 1941 were able to curb the partisan activity significantly. Many units went underground, and generally, in the late Fall 1941—early 1942, the partisan units weren't undertaking the significant military operations, limiting themselves to sorting out the organizational problems, building up the logistics support and gaining influence with the local people. By the incomplete data, in the end of the 1941, 99 partisan detachments and about 100 partisan groups operated in Belarus.(All-people struggle...) V.1. p.107., as cited in (HistB5) p.493. In Winter 1941–1942, 50 partisan detachments and about 50 underground organization and groups operated in Belarus.(HistB5) p.493.To the end of 1941 only in Minsk area there were at least 50 partisan groups having more than 2,000 fighters. By the incomplete Russian data, in the end of the 1941, 99 partisan detachments and about 100 partisan groups operated in Soviet Belarus. In Winter 1941–1942, 50 partisan detachments and about 50 underground organisations and groups operated there.To the end of 1941 only in the Minsk area there were at least 50 partisan groups having more than 2,000 fighters. In the period (1941-12-01), the German guard forces in the Army Group "Centre" rear comprised 4 security divisions, 2 SS brigades, 260 companies of different branches of service.Turonek, P.78. In August 1941, about 231 partisan detachments were operating in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. The units totalled 437 by the end of the 1941, comprising more than 7,200 personnel.
In the period of December 1941, the German guard forces in the Army Group "Centre" rear comprised 4 security divisions, 2 SS brigades, 260 companies of different branches of service.
The Moscow Battle turned the tide in the morale of the partisans and of the local people in general. However, the real turning point in the development of the partisan movement in Belarus, and, in fact, on the German-occupied territories in general, came in the course of the Soviet Winter 1942 offensive.
1942, Vitebsk Gate
The Germans treated the local population abysmally (with the notable exception of the fraction of the civil administration headed by Wilhelm Kube), maintained kolkhozes in East and restored land possessions in West, collecting heavy food taxes, rounded up and sent young people to work in Germany.Belarus was the republic hardest hit by the war that took from 25 to 40% of the republic's population. According to the Himmler's plan, 3/4 of the Belarusian population was to be eradicated and the remainder was to be used as a slave labour force. By Summer 1942 all the illusions some Belarusians might have had about the Nazi rule, even compared to the brutal Stalinist regime, were lost and the anti-fascist resistance rose dramatically. Overwhelmingly, Jews and even small-scale Soviet activists would feel more secure in the partisan ranks. The direct boost to the partisan numbers were the Red Army POWs of the local origin, who were let out "to the homes" in Fall 1941, but ordered by Germans to return to the concentration camps in March 1942.Turonek, p.78.
In the Spring 1942, the aggregation of the smaller partisan units into brigades began, prompted by the experience of the first year of war. The coordination, numerical buildup, structural rework and now established logistical feed all translated to the greatly increased partisan units military capability, which showed, e.g., in the increased number of diversions on the railroads, reaching hundreds of engines and thousands of cars destroyed by the end of the year.By the German sources. Turonek, p.79. Also noted is that this result, while in itself spectacular, was of lesser relevance than expected, as the German offensive in 1942 came out in South.
In 1942, the terror campaign against the territorial administration, which was manned by the local people ("collaborators and traitors") was additionally emphasized.Mentioned as primary in the report of the HQ of partisan movement on November 9, 1942. Turonek, p.79. This resulted, however, in the definite split of the local people's sympathies, resulting in the beginning of the organisation of the anti-partisan units with native personnel in 1942. By the November 1942, Soviet partisan units in Belarus numbered about 47,000 personnel.
The turning point in the development of the Soviet partisan movement came with the opening of the Vitsyebsk gate in February 1942. The partisan units were included in the overall Soviet strategical developments shortly after that, and the centralized organizational and logistical support had been organized, with Gate's existence being the very important facilitating factor.
By the November 1942, Soviet partisan units in Belarus numbered about 47.3 thousand personnel.
1943