Nikitenko N.V. Partisan brigade commanders: people and destinies (Commanders of partisan brigades operating in the occupied territory of the Leningrad and Kalinin regions during the Great Patriotic War) / Nikitenko Nikolai Vasilievich. - Pskov: Velikolukskaya City Printing House LLC, 2010. - 399 pp., photo.
Nikitenko Nikolay Vasilievich
Local historian and historian, author of books about the heroic history of our Motherland, the courage, talent and hard work of its inhabitants. The new book gives an objective picture of the partisan struggle in the temporarily occupied territory of the Leningrad and Kalinin regions of the RSFSR during the Great Patriotic War, talks about its active organizers and participants - commanders of partisan brigades operating in these regions. This book is the result of painstaking work with archival documents, meetings and correspondence with veterans of the partisan movement, relatives of partisan brigade commanders and their comrades in the struggle behind enemy lines.
“Despite the fact that there is already extensive literature on the partisan movement in the North-West of Russia during the Great Patriotic War, the book by N.V. Nikitenko “Partisan brigade commanders: people and destinies” is significant | a significant contribution to the study of popular struggle behind enemy lines. For the first time, it talks about the biographies and fates of all the commanders of the 13 Leningrad, 23 Kalinin and 2 Special Partisan Brigades of the North-Western Front, operating in the territory temporarily occupied by the Nazi invaders, and is equipped with their photographs. A significant part of the material is presented for the first time. The author does not idealize the brigade commanders, shows difficult moments, reveals “blank spots”, thanks to which the feeling of understatement about that dramatic time disappears.”
YES. Khalturin,
former commander of the 15th Kalinin Partisan Brigade
5th KALININ PARTIZAN BRIGADE
In the third part of the book “Commanders of the Kalinin Partisan Brigades,” the author, based on archival materials, restores biographies and talks about the fate of the commanders of the 5th Kalinin Partisan Brigade.
Margo Vladimir Ivanovich
(06/09/1913 - 10/17/1977) Commander of the 5th brigade from October 1942 until its connection with the Red Army units in the summer of 1944 (with a short break - the period of command of the brigade by M.I. Karnaushenko).
During the Great Patriotic War, Vladimir Ivanovich Margo, who had not previously served in the army, went from an ordinary partisan, a member of a small group of the Sebezh activists, to a major, commander of a brigade, which was one of the first and large formations of Kalinin partisans created in the deep behind enemy lines, in the border areas of three republics - the RSFSR, Belarus and Latvia. The report on the brigade's combat activities for the period from October 1942 to July 1944 occupies many pages, indicating significant damage inflicted on the enemy: 15 garrisons, 28 volost councils were destroyed, 24 railway trains were derailed, 10 tanks, 178 vehicles, dozens of bridges were destroyed and other objects - while the enemy lost 4,000 soldiers and officers killed and 1,500 wounded. In addition, ten thousand civilians were saved from being taken into fascist slavery.
“Brigade commander Margot was nearly thirty, but he looked older than his years,” wrote the commander of the 10th brigade, N.M., who knew him well. Varaksov. - What gave him solidity was his dark wedge-shaped beard, which Vladimir Ivanovich did not part with throughout the war. He is short, stocky, and in conversation and in his movements he is a purely civilian man. Good-natured, calm, and only wary eyes, casting steel in moments of anger, spoke of the remarkable willpower of the partisan - a former teacher.”
Vladimir Ivanovich Margo was born in the village of Demyanitsa (Manushkino), Velikoluksky district. By nationality - Latvian. Father Ivan Yakovlevich and mother Olga Yakovlevna were peasants, but they sought to give their children an education and bring them “into the people.” After graduating from the Velikoluksky Pedagogical College, he was sent to the Sebezhsky district as the head of the Perelazovsky school of the first stage, then as a teacher at the Prikhab school of collective farm youth. Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, he had six years of work as a teacher and school inspector, three years as the head of the regional department of folk education. Member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) since 1941.
In June 1941 he joined the regional fighter battalion. With a group of party and economic activists under the leadership of the first secretary of the district party committee F.A. Krivonosov left Sebezh and arrived in the city of Toropets. There, the Kalinin regional party committee received an order - to return to their area, occupied by the Germans, and get acquainted with the situation, launch political work in the villages, begin organizing partisan detachments, in a word, raise people to fight the enemy.
V.Ya. was appointed commander of a small detachment that set off on the return journey a few days later. Vinogradov, head of the Sebezh regional department of the NKVD, commissioner - F.A. Crooked-nosed. During August-September 1941, the group managed, having visited many villages, to establish connections with reliable Soviet people, commit several acts of sabotage, and fire at a German convoy. IN AND. Margo gained invaluable experience working behind enemy lines. But they were unable to gain a foothold in order to conduct an armed struggle - the occupiers began an active search for members of the group, they had to spend the night in the forest, and the cold weather set in. At the end of October, a decision was made - to fight our way into the Soviet rear or join forces with a stronger detachment.
“This path was not easy and long,” recalled V.I. Margo. - In the Pustoshkinsky district, we were tracked down by security forces, and we barely escaped the encirclement. We were unable to meet the partisans in the Novosokolnichesky district... Only near Velikiye Luki did we finally meet with the partisan detachment.” But the transition across the front line ended in failure: in the area of the Coverage station, the group ran into a large German detachment and was scattered. IN AND. Margo, left with three comrades, spent the night in the forest, his feet were severely frostbitten, and he could not walk: he was taken on a sled to the village to his parents. He was treated by them for two months, and then established contact with the Nevel partisans, and through them with the Kalinin regional party committee.
From Kalinin they were sent to short-term courses in the city of Kimry - they were taught tactics of action behind enemy lines. After their graduation, V.I. Margot was appointed commander, and A.S. Kulesh - commissar of a detachment of machine gunners formed to operate as part of the 2nd brigade G.N. Arbuzov, who was stationed in the Nevelsky district. “The detachment set off to its destination on May 22,” wrote V.I. in the “Historical Information”. Margo and A.S. Kulesh. - But we were drawn to our Sebezh region. And in this regard, we were helped by the fact that no one knew the actual situation in the area of Idritsa and Sebezh and our desire met the interests of the operational group of the 3rd Shock Army and the regional department of the NKVD. Therefore, we were allowed to change direction and go out for action in the Pustoshkinsky, Idritsky and “if possible” Sebezhsky districts.”
A detachment of 67 people crossed the front line and on August 1st found themselves in the Pustoshkinsky district. “We operated there until September 17, replenished the detachment to 102 people, and on September 20 we arrived in the northern part of the Sebezh region.” The situation here was already different from what it was in the fall of 1941, when V.Ya.’s group left the area. Vinogradova. In the spring of 1942, in the Sebezh region, spontaneously, without “instructions” from above, on the initiative of patriotic citizens, several partisan groups arose, consisting mainly of commanders and Red Army soldiers who were encircled or escaped from captivity. They were commanded by P.P. Konopatkin, K.F. Nikiforov, I.S.Leonov, A.S. Volodin and others. And although they acted insufficiently organized and active, they were responsible for burned bridges, broken cars, destroyed occupiers and traitors. By the fall, these groups united into two - A.S. Volodin and I.S. Leonov - with a total number of 52 people. “Before October 4, we found and united the groups of Volodin and Leonov, recruited the most stable part of those liable for military service, and in the period from October 4 to 6, in the Lokhovnya forest, we formed a brigade consisting of three detachments.”
“I was approved as brigade commander,” wrote V.I. Margot. “Kulesh was appointed commissar, who soon after Krivonosov left for the Soviet rear... also assumed the duties of first secretary of the Sebezh underground district party committee.” Lieutenant K.F. was appointed chief of staff of the brigade. Nikiforov, the detachment commanders were A.T. Shcherbina, V.N. Nikonov, E.I. Malakhovsky. Combat activity began - already in October the garrisons in the villages of Borisenki and Tomsino were defeated. These and other operations, as well as the raid of the 1st Kalinin Partisan Corps, confused the occupiers and their henchmen, and, on the contrary, the brigade attracted volunteers who wanted to fight the enemy. By the summer of 1943, the brigade already had four detachments with over 600 people, and by the summer of 1944 there were eight detachments, uniting 1,163 people.
December 15, 1942 V.I. Margobyl was invited to the village of Oderevo, which is 30 kilometers from Sebezh, where the headquarters of the raiding 4th brigade led by Captain V.M. Lisovsky. He handed the order to the head of the operational group of the 3rd shock army, I.N. Krivosheev dated December 1st about the subordination of “Margot’s detachment of one hundred people to Comrade Lisovsky.” This was outdated data - the detachment had long ago become a brigade, the number of which was three times larger than in August. “I said rather restrainedly that we no longer have a detachment, but a brigade, I will obey the order, but first I will inform the underground district party committee about this,” V.I. recalled this. Margot. - Whatever he decides, so it will be. Lisovsky agreed with my opinion.” Of course, on the part of V.I. Margot this was a “move” bordering on refusal; he was confident that the “district committee”, which is located in his brigade, would support the brigade commander in his desire to maintain independence and not submit to the “outsiders”. When on the radio V.M. Lisovsky Margo and Kulesh contacted a member of the Military Council of the Kalinin Front, chief of staff of the partisan movement of the region S.S. Belchenko and reported their opinion, they received a radiogram in response: the brigade was allowed to remain independent, but to strengthen the 4th brigade, transfer one of the detachments to it. This decision was a compromise - V.M. Lisovsky was given Malakhovsky's detachment of 129 people and the groups of V. Rybakov and M. Vallas.
Headquarters of the 5th Partisan Brigade. In the first row (from left to right) - second - brigade commissar A.S. Kulesh, third - brigade commander V.I. Margo, far right - chief of staff of the brigade L.X. Slobodskaya. October 1943
Soon followed by another personnel order, about which V.I. For some reason, Margot didn’t say a word in his book “The Burning Forest,” although it concerned him personally. In the “Historical Information” this point is stated as follows: “The brigade commander until February 1943 was Comrade Margot. Then, for unknown reasons, Captain M.I. Karnaushenko was sent from the Soviet rear to the post of brigade commander. But he did not provide this work and after several indecent incidents he was recalled, and on April 27, 1943, Comrade Margot took back command of the brigade.” It seems that the “unknown reasons” were not a secret to the brigade command: most likely, the higher headquarters was not satisfied with the combat work. During this period, Margot was appointed deputy brigade commander for reconnaissance instead of senior lieutenant P.P. Konopatkina. (M.I. Karnaushenko and V.I. Margo were appointed to positions by order of the KShPD dated December 28, 1942, again V.I. Margo was appointed brigade commander from May 10, 1943. - Note N.N.).
The brigade carried out not only military operations, but also active political work with the population, established close ties with the underground fighters of Sebezh and Opochka, and had an intelligence network, which by the time the brigade was disbanded, numbered 167 people, in many enemy garrisons and settlements. In 1943, the influence of the partisans was so great that it was decided to form administrative bodies - seven sections, headed by commandants from partisans - local residents. In all villages, partisan elders were appointed on the recommendation of the commandants. Commandants and elders resolved issues of land use and distribution of hayfields among peasants, regulated the procurement of provisions for partisan detachments, organized the rescue of the population during punitive expeditions, and provided assistance to victims of punitive forces. About half a million rubles were collected for the country's defense fund, a significant amount for the construction of the Kalinin Partisan tank column.
Throughout the entire period, the 5th Brigade operated in the Sebezh region, not leaving it even during the most difficult periods of punitive expeditions. Lokhovnya, a tract located fifteen kilometers from Sebezh, became the partisan capital. It stretches in a continuous mass for many kilometers towards Latvia and Krasnogorodsk. The brigade's detachments were based at different periods in the villages of Borovye, Aguryanovo and others.
Detachments of the 5th brigade, together with other formations of Kalinin, Belarusian and Latvian partisans, repeatedly resisted punitive expeditions of the fascists.
The most difficult time for the partisans and the population began with the punitive expedition on April 16-20, 1944, when the enemy surrounded Lokhovnya and nearby villages. The partisans left their base area and took refuge in forests and swamps. Everything was destroyed, there was nowhere to hide, to grind grains. During the spring, the partisans “studied” all the swamps that were considered impassable, and individual islands of these swamps became a place of salvation. In May, hundreds of children hiding from the Nazis were sent to the Soviet rear.
“In numerous battles with punitive forces, he showed himself to be a capable leader, a brave, resourceful and decisive commander,” says the description of V.I. Margot, compiled by the headquarters of the partisan movement of the Kalinin region in August 1944. “By the time it joined the Red Army, the brigade held a large area, which made it possible for the army to reach the borders of the Latvian SSR.”
In July 1944, the 5th Brigade, together with units of the Red Army, took part in the fighting to liberate the area. The brigade's detachments and their guides led units of our troops onto the enemy's likely retreat path, intercepted retreating groups of German soldiers, and fired at them from ambushes. Our troops covered the entire northern part of the region in one day and with almost no losses. Having reached the border with Latvia, the brigade received an order to return and on July 20 entered Sebezh. Disbandment began.
IN AND. Margo was appointed chairman of the Sebezh district executive committee, and S.A. Kulesh - first secretary of the district party committee. They worked together for some time, and then V.I. Margot was transferred to Velikiye Luki, which became the regional center: he headed the regional department of public education. From 1949 to 1952 he studied in Moscow at the Higher Party School under the CPSU Central Committee, after which he was elected deputy chairman of the Velikiy Luki Regional Executive Committee, and then chairman of the regional trade union council.
In 1957, after the abolition of the Velikolukskaya region, V.I. Margot was elected secretary of the Velikiy Luki City Committee of the CPSU. In 1960 he retired. But he continued to work - he was a teacher at the Agricultural Institute, and since 1964 - first the rector of the Velikoluksky Pedagogical Institute, and then the director of the Velikoluksky branch of the Leningrad Institute of Physical Education named after P.F. Lesgaft. From 1974 to 1977 - senior lecturer at the Agricultural Institute. He was repeatedly elected to elected party and Soviet bodies, and was constantly “visible” for his diverse social activities.
In the photo: V.I. Margo (far right) talks about the battle in the village of Glubochitsa, Sebezh district. From left to right: V.N. Vakarin - commissar of the 4th brigade, N.S. Stepanov - detachment commander of the 5th brigade, F.T. Boydin - commander of the 1st and 4th brigades, V.A. Sergeeva - intelligence officer of the 5th brigade, M.M. Wallas - political instructor of the 5th brigade platoon, S.A. Yakovlev - Chief of Staff of the 6th Brigade, O.A. Yuganson - chief of staff of the 5th brigade detachment, P.N. Petrovich - chief of intelligence of the 5th brigade. The village of Glubochitsa. 1968
On behalf of the Kalinin partisans V.I. Margot spoke on June 14, 1967 at a ceremonial meeting of workers dedicated to the awarding of the Order of Lenin to the Pskov region, participated in the preparation of meetings of former partisans on the Mound of Friendship, and he was on the editorial board of the book “The Unconquered Land of Pskov.”
He was awarded the Order of Lenin, Kutuzov 1st degree, Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, the medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War” 1st degree and others.
Sources and literature:
TCDNI, f. 479, op. 2, units hr. 93, l. 57; f. 479, op. 2, units hr. 109, pp. 2-11; f. 479, op. 2, units hr. 33, l. 44.
Margo V.I. Burning forest. L., 1979.
This is guerrilla business
Why don't you throw away your gun in a dream?
And not a moment of peace for yourself,
And the enemy doesn’t have a minute to live.
From partisan poems
The 5th partisan brigade was formed in February 1943 in the village of Rovnyak, Slavkovsky district, Leningrad region - at the winter base of the partisans of the 3rd brigade, the Separate Regiment and local independent detachments, squeezed by punitive forces into an encirclement ring. The new brigade was intended for combat operations in the Strugo-Krasnensky region, a fortified stronghold of the invaders. Having high hopes for this brigade, the Leningrad headquarters of the partisan movement (LSHPD) took care to strengthen it with a strong command.
Brigade commander 5th - twice order-bearer captain K.D. Karitsky. The commissar of the brigade is Captain I. I. Sergunin. Chief of Staff - Major T. A. Novikov.
Other leading members of the brigade were also successfully selected. Head of the political department I. I. Isakov, former sailor of the Baltic Fleet, secretary of the Oredezh RK of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, commander of a partisan detachment, deputy brigade commander for intelligence Major A. I. Ivanov, head of the sanitary service, military doctor of the 3rd rank V. A. Belkin , the brigade communications chief, Sergeant L. D. Mironov, like most of the detachment leaders, are career military men and people of selfless courage.
At first the brigade consisted of two detachments. On March 10, 1943, a partisan detachment of junior lieutenant S.N. Chebykin and a combined detachment of sailors who joined Karitsky’s brigade landed on the ice of Lake Chernozerye (Novorzhevsky district). The route of the 5th brigade to a given area was supposed to be short-lived - a three- to four-day push to the north. The goal is to cut off the enemy’s transport arteries.
That's what they assumed. But in life it turned out differently. On the way of the brigade, in the Slavkovsky and Porkhovsky regions, the so-called “March” punitive expedition began to rage. The villages are conflagrations, the roads are the roar of tankettes, gun carriages, the tramp of green-coated foreigners. The fascists pressed on.
A four-week retreat, grueling unequal battles, lack of ammunition and medicine, noticeable losses in people, distance from the Strugo-Krasnensky region - all this led to a decline in morale in the brigade.
At the beginning of April, having received ammunition through the front line, the brigade moved from Valdai to a given area. The brigade's strength is 700 soldiers. It is armed with 399 rifles, 232 machine guns, 29 machine guns, a mortar, grenades, explosives, and a walkie-talkie. Impressive fighting force! But it took three weeks to fight our way north, through the fire barriers of the invaders.
On May 4, the brigade crossed the flooded Cherekha River and stopped at the highway and railway in the Karamyshevo - Uzy station section. There were enemy troops ahead. While they were looking for a breach, the Germans attacked the partisans. Near the village of Teshkovo the enemy overtook the brigade. The battle lasted all day. Intelligence reported that an enemy convoy with infantry had arrived from Slavkovichi to the battlefield. In order not to be crushed on two fronts, the brigade, breaking away from the Nazis, made a 30-kilometer throw to the south in one day, stopping at the village of Malaya Pustynka, Soshikhinsky district.
On May 16, the brigade moved north again. She crossed the railway on the Pskov-Karamyshevo section, under the very nose of the enemy garrisons. The brigade commander led the partisans where the Germans did not expect them.
The risk paid off. Left behind were Karamyshevsky and the outskirts of the Novoselsky district. On May 25, Karitsky led a brigade into a given area and took up a perimeter defense near the village of Vyazovka - near the Pskov-Luga highway, 15 kilometers from the Warsaw railway. The target is nearby. The people sent on patrol heard the whistles of the locomotive.
But there was no need to rejoice. A German division arrived from the front to rest in the area.
To act in these conditions meant to destroy people. It was necessary to make a decision on which the further fate of the brigade would depend.
They reported to Leningrad. The headquarters was slow to respond. Finally, an order came: the brigade was allowed to leave for the Utorgoshsky district, but with one indispensable condition - to paralyze the Vitebsk railway in the Batetskaya-Soltsy section and local highways.
In the fall of 1943, the 5th Brigade began its offensive combat operations against the punitive forces raging in the Leningrad region.
By that time, the brigade had an impressive amount of weapons. It had 804 rifles, 556 machine guns, 65 light and three heavy machine guns, eight mortars, the same number of anti-tank guns, six radios, about a hundred pistols of various systems.
But on October 28, 1943, tanks and guns, infantry of the so-called “Crimean” German division, fell on the partisan zone and the 5th brigade. The villages of the Utorgoshsky district of Kievets, Vidoki, Ryameshka, Veretye, Krasitsy, Zacherenye and Verezheika became the scene of two-week battles. The fighting was difficult. 22 partisans were killed, 54 were seriously wounded; the fate of over 30 fighters is unknown. In the midst of unequal battles with punitive forces - on the holiday of November 7 - K. D. Karitsky's horse came running to the village of Kievets. And alarming news spread across the partisan lines: “The brigade commander has been killed!..”
But Karitsky did not die; wounded, he flew out of the saddle and fell into a ditch. A fragment and a bullet drilled through the thick padded jacket and lodged in the muscles of the left supracostal area.
The surgeon removed the fragment, but did not notice the bullet (Konstantin Dionisevich still carries it with him). A plane was sent from headquarters, but the brigade commander refused to evacuate, telling the regiments: “Alive. I remain in service. Major Karitsky."
The Red Banner was brought from Leningrad with the same plane and presented to the brigade. The partisans swore an oath to the Leningraders that they would overthrow the punitive forces. They already had more than one victory to their credit. One of the leaders of the punitive expedition, the head of the Utorgosh gendarmerie, was beheaded. More than 200 occupiers lay prone forever in the cold rain. Two tanks were destroyed. A bus with aircraft technicians heading along the highway to Luga and the Gatchina airfield took off. Two brigade reconnaissance officers infiltrated the Relbitsy airfield, mined and blew up four stacks of bombs, an officer's dormitory, and a fuel tanker. Fights, stubborn fights...
By mid-November, the punitive forces, having failed to achieve their goal, were exhausted. Their onslaught subsided. The initiative passed into the hands of the partisans. Initiative! Which military leader does not dream of her! More than once or twice, Karitsky recalled the late brigade commander of the 3rd Alexander German, who valued nothing more than the combat initiative. And only now, for the first time during the long, difficult, actually defensive battles, the brigade finally seized the combat initiative. Her regiments immediately felt stronger. The morale of the personnel increased immeasurably. A cheerful marching song was born in the brigade:
The path along the rear is always harsh and difficult, But our regiments passed through the fires. Karitsky and Sergunin lead us into battle. Bolshevik eagles are leading us into battle.
Cheerfulness and faith in success were the best remedy for the brigade commander’s wounds.
By the beginning of the defeat of the Germans near the walls of Leningrad, the 5th Brigade was operating in the same place - in the partisan zone. To the south, next door to it, in the Pavsky district, was the 10th brigade. The brigades were ordered to saddle the railway from the city of Luga to Struga Krasny, as well as on a 77-kilometer section of the highway, disable the road, and prevent the fascist monsters from driving Soviet people into their lair and taking away stolen goods.
Having received the order, Karitsky ordered his regiments - the first and fourth - to go to the initially assigned area. On the second day of our troops going on the offensive near Leningrad, January 15, 1944, Karitsky’s partisans took to the Pskov-Luga highway, paralyzed the movement of enemy vehicles, and moved towards the treasured “piece of iron.” The head of the LSPD, Mikhail Nikitovich Nikitin, highly appreciating the actions of the 5th brigade, radioed to the entire partisan army: “Take an example from Karitsky.” Then a representative of the headquarters arrived at the brigade.
Having familiarized himself with the deployment and tasks of the regiments of the 5th Brigade, he approved Karitsky’s plans and actions. S. Chebykin's regiment, as before, remained a sabotage, security, reserve of the brigade command. The regiments of V. Egorov and V. Puchkov rushed to the Warsaw road. But getting onto the railway is not so easy - on both sides of the road there is a concentration of Nazi troops and military equipment. Only reconnaissance and sabotage groups broke through.
A. Tarakanov's regiment was located near the Vitebsk railway. His three-month offensive actions culminated in the liberation of the Peredolskaya station on January 27. The regiment held the station until the 7th Guards Tank Brigade arrived. It was here that a jubilant meeting of the partisans of the 5th brigade with units of the Red Army took place.
The tankers, having broken through the German defenses, left for a new mission. The 256th Red Banner Rifle Division of the 59th Army of the Volkhov Front rushed into the breakthrough. Taking advantage of the fact that the division had pulled far ahead, the enemy cut it off. Immediately, Karitsky received an order from the LSPD operational group at the headquarters of the Volkhov Front to help out the army men who were surrounded. The brigade commander removed his 4th, the most powerful and mobile regiment, from the Pskov highway and threw it to the aid of Tarakanov’s regiment to help the 256th division. Together with the division commander, Colonel A.G. Koziev, they led the all-round defense.
The Red Banner 256th Division and two regiments of the 5th Partisan Brigade withstood bloody battles until February 12, until the main forces of the army arrived. These were brutal battles. The enemy continuously bombed the location of our units. For orientation, the Nazis sent green rockets from the ground. Karitsky, showing resourcefulness, ordered the partisans to launch the same green missiles in the direction of the enemy troops. Punctual German pilots, at the signal of these green rockets, thoroughly bombed their units.
On Leningrad soil, on the battlefield, the final scene took place - the most intense and most dramatic. Karitsky understood that in these conditions, more than ever, special composure, accurate calculation of forces, and caution were required. He contacted by radio the brigade commissar I.I. Sergunin, who, together with the chief of staff M.S. Shokhin, led the actions of the 1st and 3rd regiments of the brigade in the area of the Pskov-Luga highway. And it was decided: to form the 5th regiment from local independent partisan detachments, send it under the command of P.F. Skorodumov to the Warsaw road in order to break into the main highway of the retreating Germans with three regiments. On February 15, as soon as the 256th Red Banner Division left the encirclement, Karitsky wanted to quickly lead the regiments of A.F. Tarakanov and V.V. Egorov to the Warsaw railway. He really wanted to believe that the final chord of the entire brigade would sound exactly where it had to fight from the first days of its birth.
But the main “transport” of the partisans, as is known, is their own legs. The soldiers are laden with machine guns and ammunition, the wounded, and even a supply train... They can’t make it in time. There's no way to make it in time. And there is no need. The 168th division of Major General Egorov, with the support of the 2nd partisan brigade named after I.G. Vasilyev under the command of N.I. Sinelnikov, had already captured the station and the village of Serebryanka. And on February 18, the 46th division of Colonel Borshchev moved and the partisan brigades of V.P. Obedkov and I.G. Svetlov defeated the 58th German division and the units attached to it and, after a fierce battle, liberated the station and the regional center of Plyussa. The Warsaw Railway in this section ceased to serve the occupiers. The Leningrad Front, developing the offensive, went forward to the west. The area of operation of the 5th Partisan Brigade was liberated from the invaders.
Remembering these happy moments, Konstantin Dionisievich says:
“Somehow I didn’t even believe it at first. A few minutes ago we were fighting like mad, climbing into the very heat of the fire. And suddenly - silence, complete safety, peaceful air. Well, I say, dear brothers, form into columns...
* * *
On March 6, 1944, International (now Moscow) Avenue of Leningrad experienced one of the jubilant meetings. Its wide sidewalks and pavements are crowded with people. They came here from the Vyborg and Petrograd sides, from Vasilyevsky Island. The brigade of K.D. Karitsky entered the hero city. Leningraders met the famous partisans.
A brigade of seven thousand, consisting of five regiments, walked through its hometown with a firm step, with a sense of fulfilled duty. She had something to report to the Leningraders. From January 15 to February 20, 1944 alone, the brigade derailed 18 enemy locomotives, 160 wagons, 2 armored trains, crashed 151 vehicles, blew up or burned many enemy warehouses, cut off 173 kilometers of communications, exterminated about 2,400 invaders, and saved them from being taken into Nazi slavery. over 30 thousand Soviet citizens.
Krasnov S. Brigade Commander Karitsky
http://www.molodguard.ru/heroes199.htm
September 26, 2018 will mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of Konstantin Dionisievich Karitsky - Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of the famous 5th Leningrad Partisan Brigade, which at one time was called the “Karitsky kindergarten”, because its fighters were mainly young people of 1925-1926 . birth.
Konstantin Dionisievich Karitsky was born in the village of the Zheltaya Reka mine (now Zheltye Vody) in the Pyatikhatsky district of the Dnepropetrovsk region of Ukraine. After graduating from seven classes of railway school, he worked on the Kommunist collective farm, then went to the construction of the Azovstal metallurgical plant. Served in the Red Army ( border guard). In 1941 he graduated from the Higher School of the NKVD in Leningrad.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he commanded the 1st Vyborg Destroyer Battalion, then was enlisted in the 104th partisan detachment. In 1942, he was appointed commander of a partisan battalion formed by the NKVD, so the guys born in 1925-1926 were under his command.
At the beginning of his partisan combat path, fate brought Karitsky’s battalion together with the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade of the legendary brigade commander Alexander German, in which, as Karitsky himself said, he “gained a partisan mind.”
On February 12, 1943, K.D. Karitsky took command of the newly formed 5th Leningrad Brigade. The brigade grew and became stronger in battle, and by the fall of 1943 it became the most powerful in the North-West.
The partisans disrupted enemy transportation by rail and controlled up to 75 km of the Warsaw and Vitebsk railways, actively participated in operations “Concert” and “Rail War”, saved people from being hijacked to Germany and led a popular uprising behind enemy lines.
5 The Leningrad brigade was awarded the Red Banner three times. In the spring of 1944, the last pockets of Nazi resistance were suppressed, and the brigade marched victoriously to Leningrad. March 6, 1944, when the 5th brigade entered the city, is considered the date of the end of the partisan war in the Leningrad region.
His 14-year-old adjutant Viktor Shilov, who was an orphan during the war, was very attached and loved the brigade commander. At first they didn’t want to accept him into the brigade because of his age, but he persistently followed the brigade. According to the memoirs of I.V. Vinogradov, he knew his habits, guessed his mood by his facial expression, knowing that the brigade commander loved fiction, read poetry to him, and one of the brigade commander’s favorite poems was “Do you remember, Alyosha, the roads of the Smolensk region ...” Simonova.
This brigade is also distinguished by the fact that in its ranks there was TASS photojournalist V.I. Kapustin, he parachuted in August 1943 at the location of the 5th brigade, and went with it all the way - until the victorious return to Leningrad. Thanks to this, many photographs of the commander K.D. Karitsky himself and the partisans of the brigade have been preserved. Photographs can be viewed on the website, and this is described in the book by M. M. Freidzon “Reporting from behind the front line”.
K.D. Karitsky himself talks about the military path in his book “ Leningrad partisans" You can also learn about the life of a brigade commander from the book by N.V. Nikitenko “ Partisan brigade commanders: people and destinies" The interested reader may refer to the following list of references about the brigade commander and 5 LPB. We will pay special attention to the publication published in the year of the 100th anniversary of the birth of 
K. D. Karitsky book “ Brigade commander Karitsky - security officer and partisan" V. S. Gustov (Chairman of the Council of Veterans of the Federal Security Service of Russia for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region) notes in the preface: “New, previously never published materials from the archives of the security agencies show how much effort the leadership of the army and the city created the partisan movement, what participation State security agencies took part in this work. What makes the book especially attractive is the inclusion of materials written by K.D. Karitsky himself, testimonies of people who personally knew the brigade commander, his relatives, and family members. Unique documents from the FSB History Hall are presented in the book’s video sequence.”
Poem by M. M. Freidzon dedicated to the brigade commander:
The evil blockade has been broken,
And the enemies ran back.
To one of the outposts of Leningrad
In the morning the shelves arrived.
The brigade commanders sat on horses,
Letting go of the bit for the first time...
No books have been written yet
About their military affairs.
And everyone looks young
Spring and Victory match.
And the fact that they return alive,
Nobody could have predicted them.
The most difficult miles have been covered,
But will everyone see the parade?
Crosses, pyramids, graveyards -
On the way to you, Leningrad.
In the saddle is the fifth brigade commander
Kubanka.
There was a rumor about him:
“More terrible than bombs and tanks
His enemies had his name!
Banners swayed above the ranks -
The forest fighters were walking.
They were all remembered by name
Dno, Utorgosh, Kholm and Soltsy.
And the city is no longer deserted,
The eye sockets of the windows are not dead.
Here are all the victorious people -
They did not bow to their enemies.
They forgot that they were mortal,
That they are hungry, weak, sick.
It was not the victims who stood like granite -
Heroes of the Great War.
Having gained national fame,
Without feeling pain from wounds,
We hurried there, to the outpost,
Meet fellow partisans!
Who rammed the blockade from the rear
And loving the great city,
Who gave bread to Leningrad,
And so it was - that myself.
Yesterday, just leaving the battle,
And tomorrow we are ready for battle,
Forest heroes entered
To the unsurrendered hero city.
You can learn more about brigade commander-5 K.D. Karitsky and the 5th Leningrad Partisan Brigade by referring to the literature:
Karitsky Konstantin Dionisevich (1913-2002)
Hero of the Soviet Union
commander of the 5th LPB (from February 1943 to March 1944)
Brigade commander Karitsky - security officer and partisan/ comp. O. P. Aksenov. – St. Petersburg, Special literature, 2013. – 287 p. : ill.
From the contents: From the partisan region to the victorious report to Leningrad / A. F. Starodubtsev; Karitsky's feat: to be remembered / O. P. Aksenov; Legendary brigade commander of the 5th LPB K. D. Karitsky / Yu. I. Shaperin; War and the fate of Konstantin Karitsky / E. A. Prudnikova; My battle path / K. D. Karitsky; Brigade commander Karitsky / P. Zenin; Fifth Partisan Brigade / N. I. Afanasyev; You are posted as a sentry at the gate / A. Samoilov / Partisan ballad / I. Lisochkin; The heroism of K. D. Karitsky is the property of the Big House / A. V. Leonov; Karitsky’s example is the basis of patriotic education / M. M. Freidzon; Focus on the brigade commander / A. V. Petrov; Erect a monument to the heroes / E. I. Telyatnikova; Karitsky and his team / V. D. Gorshkov; Handshake of the brigade commander / A. F. Kruzhnov; Great friend of the Luga region // T. A. Baraboshkina; My father: what he was like / I.K. Kurchavova; I remember my great-grandfather Kostya / Nika Ogradin.
Freidzon M. M. Report from behind the front line.. Guerrilla war in the Leningrad partisan region (1941-1944). – M.: Rus, 2010.
The book describes in detail the combat path of the Leningrad partisan brigades; significant space is devoted specifically to the 5th LPB. The video sequence of the book includes photographs of TASS correspondent V.I. Kapustin, who fought in the ranks of this brigade.
Nikitenko, N. V. 5th Leningrad Partisan Brigade: Konstantin Dionisevich Karitsky (09.26.1913-10.16.2002), commander of the 5th LPB from February 1943 until its disbandment in March 1944 / N.V. Nikitenko // Nikitenko N.V. Partisan brigade commanders: people and destinies: (commanders of partisan brigades operating in the occupied territory of the Leningrad and Kalinin regions during the Great Patriotic War). - Pskov, 2010. - P. 109-117: 3 photos. - Bibliography: p. 117.
See also: Organizers of the people's struggle behind enemy lines / N.V. Nikitenko // Pskov. - 2010. - N 33. - P. 164-176.
Svetlov, G. Farewell, dear brigade commander / G. Svetlov // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 2003. - January 5
Report of the death of Hero of the Soviet Union, brigade commander-5 Konstantin Dionisievich Karitsky at the 90th year of his life.
Krasnikov, S. Brigade commander Karitsky / S. Krasnikov // People of Legends. - M., 1965. - Issue. 1. - pp. 511-517.
Masolov, N. Brigade Commander-5 / N. Masolov // The bravest of the brave: essays about Leningrad partisans - Heroes of the Soviet Union. - L., 1964. - P. 331-359: photo.
Masolov, N. Commander of the 5th Partisan Brigade / N. Masolov // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 1959. - July 25.
5 Leningrad Partisan Brigade
Kovalev, B. Leaflet with humility / B. Kovalev // Motherland. - 2011. - N 6. - P. 29-31: photo.
Vinogradov, I. V. Heroes and destinies: documents and articles. - L.: Lenizdat, 1988. – 464 p. : ill.
Behind enemy lines: the struggle of partisans and underground fighters in the occupied territory of the Leningrad region, 1943: collection. doc. / Institute of Party History Leningrad. regional committee of the CPSU; Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Institute of History of the USSR, Leningrad. department - L.: Lenizdat, 1983. – 391 p. - Geogr. decree: p. 373.
Sergunin, I. I. Born in battle: / I. I. Sergunin // On the partisan paths of the Ilmen region / [comp. A. P. Luchin; lit. processing by N. M. Ivanov]. - L., 1981. - P. 36-59: photo.
Unconquered land of Pskov: documents and materials from the history of the partisan movement and the party-Komsomol underground during the Great Patriotic War, 1941-1944. - 3rd ed., revised, additional. - L.: Lenizdat, 1976. – 455 p. : ill.
Gusev, B. At one fire / B. Gusev // Liberation of Novgorod. 25 years: [collection]. - M., 1969. - P. 108-110.
About the actions of the brigade of K. D. Karitsky and I. I. Sergunin in the Pskov region.
Abramov, M. G. On the scorched earth: pages from the diaries of a partisan. - L.: Lenizdat, 1968. - 352 p. : ill.
Isakov, I. I.(head of political department 5 LPB). This is how we started / I. I. Isakov // Partisan fires are burning: memories of partisans who participated in the battle for Leningrad / [comp. N.V. Masolov]. - L., 1966. - P. 7-17: photo.
Novikov, T. A.(chief of staff of 5 LPB; commander of 10 LPB) . The birth of the brigade / T. A. Novikov // Partisan fires are burning: memories of partisans who participated in the battle for Leningrad / [comp. N.V. Masolov]. - L., 1966. - P. 254-264: photo.
Sirotin, V.V. Winged help / V.V. Sirotin // Partisan fires are burning: memories of partisans who participated in the battle for Leningrad / [comp. N.V. Masolov]. - L., 1966. - P. 265-277: photo.
Dobrotvorsky, N. Heroes of the partisan war / N. Dobrotvorsky // Young Leninist. - 1964. - April 23.
About the formation of 5 LPB and the fate of some of its fighters.
Baranov, N. Where the partisan road was / N. Baranov // For communism. - 1964. - February 16.
Pages from the diary of a partisan of the 5th LPB.
Memoirs of a scout of the 5th LPB.
Karitsky, K. D. On the other side of the “Northern Wall” / K. D. Karitsky // The collapse of the “Northern Wall”. - L., 1964. - P. 30-38.
Karitsky, K. D. Leningrad partisans / Society for the dissemination of political and scientific knowledge, Leningrad branch. – L., 1962. – 96 p.
Sheverdalkin, P. Guerrilla war on Novgorod land / P. Sheverdalkin. - Novgorod: [Novgorod Regional Printing House], 1957. – 171 p.
Photo materials from the books were used: Freidzon M. M. “Report from behind the front line” and Nikitenko N. V. “Partisan brigade commanders: people and destinies.”
Prepared by the head. sector of the Department of Local History Literature E. S. Storokozheva
Activities of the 5th Vorginsky Partisan Brigade named after. Sergei Lazo “I, a citizen of the great Soviet Union, a faithful son of the heroic Russian people, I swear that I will not let go of my weapon until the last fascist reptile on our land is destroyed. I undertake to unquestioningly carry out the orders of all my commanders and superiors and strictly observe military discipline. For the burned cities and villages, for the death of our women and children, for the torture, violence and abuse of our people, I swear to take revenge on the enemy cruelly, mercilessly and tirelessly. Blood for blood and death for death! I swear by all means to help the Red Army destroy Hitler's mad dogs, not sparing my blood and my life. I swear that I would rather die in a brutal battle with the enemy than give myself, my family and the entire Soviet people into slavery to bloody fascism. If, through my weakness, cowardice or evil will, I violate this oath of mine and betray the interests of the people, let me die a shameful death at the hands of my comrades.” This oath was sworn by everyone who joined the ranks of the people's avengers and waged war against the most hated enemy of the Motherland - fascism. A large number of partisan detachments operated on the territory of the Smolensk region, but I would like to talk in more detail about the activities of the 5th Vorg partisan brigade named after S. Lazo, which carried out raids on the territory of the Roslavl region and waged a fierce fight against the invaders. The 5th Vorginskaya partisan brigade was formed in the Elninsky district of the Smolensk region in November 1941. In June 1942, on instructions from the Smolensk Regional Party Committee from the partisan regiment named after. S. Lazo was allocated a special detachment of 200 people and sent to a 150-kilometer raid from the Elninsky forests to the area of the village. Ershichi (Vorgovsky forest) with the task of launching active partisan warfare on the railways and highways of the Roslavl junction and obtaining intelligence data for the front. The commanders of this detachment were: commander T.M. Korotchenko, then G.I. Kezikov, Commissioner N.S. Sharaev, from July 1943 – V.S. Davydov. Korotchenko T.M. The detachment quickly grew at the expense of local partisans. Moreover, the main reserve of growth was youth. In July 1942, the Central Committee of the Komsomol reported that more than 2,000 people (mainly youth) were operating in partisan detachments and brigades in the Smolensk region. The main work of young people was to actively propagandize among the local population about joining partisan detachments and providing them with all possible assistance. Young people were engaged in distributing leaflets, newspapers, and brochures, which were delivered to the occupied territory from the mainland. This propaganda contributed to the start of active activity on the part of civilians, who secretly collected and transferred rifles, machine guns, grenades and cartridges to the partisans. Komsomol members were part of the main sabotage detachments, where it was necessary to be able to quickly mobilize and make long transitions. By September 1942, the size of the detachment reached 500 people. On September 1, 1942, the German garrison was defeated in the village of Razrytoye, Ershichi district. Enemy losses were 35 people. The detachment launched active sabotage activities on the lines of the Roslavl railway junction, where a network of sabotage “fives” operated, which literally straddled sections of the railways between the stations Prigorye - Roslavl - Shesterovka and Roslavl - Stodolishche with a total length of more than 100 kilometers. Sharaev Among the many skilled miners, the Komsomol member Yuri Osadchiy was especially distinguished, who by this time had seven crashes of enemy military echelons, two of them with manpower. He opened this account in September 1941, when he was thrown behind enemy lines as part of sabotage group No. 36, consisting of Komsomol members - Muscovites. A partisan detachment was formed around it, which in 1942 joined the brigade named after. S. Lazo. Young people well trained in mine demolition became the core of the sabotage service of the brigade, later headed by Yu.P. Osadchim. By the beginning of October, crashes of military trains on the Roslavl - Bryansk, Roslavl - Krichev, Krichev - Unecha, Bryansk - Gomel railways became so frequent that the Germans were forced to stop traffic on the railways at night. The occupation authorities and security forces took all possible measures to secure their communications. They set up small garrisons, built pillboxes in the most vulnerable places on the road, and forced local residents to cut down trees and bushes at a distance of 150-200 meters from the railway line. These measures seriously complicated and hampered the actions of sabotage groups; trains began to explode less often, but large sections of the railway track exploded more often, and the Nazis had to redo a quarter of a kilometer of the railway track. Which took a lot of time. In an effort to help in every possible way the native Red Army, which heroically fought at Stalingrad, where the Nazis brought up their reserves along all the railways, the command of the partisan brigade named after. S. Lazo decided to move on to major sabotage. On the night of October 15, 1942, a raid was made on the Ponyatovka station, 35 kilometers southwest of Roslavl. Near the station there was an airfield for small transport aircraft. The station and airfield were guarded by German garrisons totaling up to 400 soldiers and officers. Detailed reconnaissance and development of the operation plan helped the partisans covertly approach the objective, block the airfield, launch a surprise attack on the station and quickly take possession of it. From the Sovinformburo report. “Morning message October 16th. Partisan Brigade named after. S. Lazo, operating in one of the German-occupied areas of the Smolensk region, in a sudden raid on the railway station exterminated over 100 Nazis, captured and burned three trains with various cargoes, destroyed two fuel warehouses, three warehouses with uniforms and all station structures: buildings, two water towers, 12 turnouts, 2 semaphores, 600 meters of telephone and telegraph line.” Train traffic between Krichev and Roslavl was interrupted for three days. In October 1942, the brigade named after. S. Lazo was transformed into the 5th Vorg partisan brigade named after. S. Lazo, consisting of 3 battalions and a headquarters company. Extract from the order of the commander-in-chief of the partisan movement dated October 25, 1942 No. 0056 Moscow. "II. The Vorgov partisan brigade should be formed from the G.I. detachment. Kezikova. Appoint senior political instructor G.I. as brigade commander. Kezikov, brigade commissar - N.S. Sharaev, chief of staff - captain V.P. Klyueva. The partisan brigade will be deployed in the forests of the village. Worgies 22 km. (South of the city of Roslavl). Commander-in-Chief of the partisan movement: K.E. Voroshilov. Chief of Staff of the partisan movement: P.K. Ponomarenko". Brigade Bureau: Vinokurov A.Ya. - from June 1942 to March 1943 Belov V.P. - from March 1943 to June 1943 Rykov S.E. - from July 1943 to September 20, 1943. Members of the party bureau: Sharaev N.S. - July 1942 to May 1943 Kezikov G.I. - June 1942 to September 1943 Mishchenko S.K. - September 1942 to September 1943 Pudenkov I.T. - September 1942 to September 1943 Kapitanov F.I. - July 1942 to February 1943 Davydov V.S. - May 1943 to September 1943. From this time, the brigade begins to operate not only in the Smolensk region, but also in the Oryol and Mogilev regions, along which it carries out a 600 km long raid, disorganizing the enemy’s rear. The most significant and successful combat operation of the 5th Vorgov Brigade named after. S. Lazo is considered the Prigoryev operation. Partisans A. E. Gurevich, M. M. Kapitonov, P. X. Smolensky, Ya. E. Mironenkov, N. A. Khvoryakov, S.K. Mishchenko, N.V. Shcherbakov, Yu.P. Osadchiy (1943) “On the night of November 5, 1942, a brigade of Lazovites with the participation of two units of the 2nd Kletnyanskaya brigade carried out a very brave and skillful operation to destroy the Prigorye station on the Roslavl-Bryansk railway, 24 kilometers southeast of Roslavl and 18 kilometers from the Seshchenskaya station. Simultaneously with the start of the assault on the station village and the village of Prigory, two small railway bridges from Roslavl and Seshchenskaya were blown up. Having defeated the main forces of the enemy garrison, the partisans captured the station and held it for more than four hours. During this time, 17 aircraft standing on platforms, a train with armored tractors, 2 wagons with ammunition, two tanks with fuel, 13 vehicles, warehouses with food and winter uniforms, a telephone and telegraph communication center were destroyed, all switches and semaphores, and a water tower were blown up and a pumping station. The occupiers' losses amounted to 370 soldiers and officers. Traffic on the Roslavl-Bryansk railway, interrupted for 12 days as a result of the destruction of the Prigorye station, was a tangible help to the Red Army.” The losses of the brigade were: 27 people killed, 35 wounded. In this battle the following died: AZARENKOV P.P. ZDEKOV P.F. MACHEKHIN V.I. Verbitskaya A.S. ZUBREVICH B.S. PYKO E.P. GAMOV P.K. IVANOV I.A. STODOR I.M. GORELOV V.I. KONOVALCHUK A.V. SOLDATOV I.M. GRACHEV V.A. KORMILTSYN A.Z. TOKAREV V.A. DMITRIEV K.D. KOTELOVETS I.A. TROFIMOV V.V. DMITRIEVSKY A.I. KUZNETSOV P.I. FILIPOV V.M. DOROKHOV V. LYUBIMOV V.A. CHEBIRYAK G.G. DUSHNAK B.G. MALOFEEV V.P. SHISHKIN M.P. During the battle for Prigorye, Commissar of the 1st Battalion G.G. showed exceptional courage and resourcefulness. Chiberyak. Under a hail of fascist bullets, he and a platoon of fighters broke through to the station tracks and captured a train with planes. Having been seriously wounded, the communist refused to leave the battlefield, although his strength was running out. Dying, Chiberyak managed to say: “Tell my fighting friends that I honestly died in battle for the Motherland, for our Soviet people.” The actions of the partisans at the Prigorye station were highly appreciated by the Soviet command. “This operation,” emphasized the former deputy head of the ZShPD A.A. Prokhorov, - was so significant that it was immediately reported to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command." For the autumn and winter of 1942/1943, the Vorg partisan brigade named after. S. Lazo destroyed three railway stations, carried out 12 acts of sabotage to blow up the railway track, destroying 11,540 meters of rail track, two telephone exchanges and 18,800 meters of telephone and telegraph wire network. The brigade's sabotage groups derailed 26 enemy trains, including 6 trains with manpower, two with tanks and one with fuel. When enemy trains crashed, 15 locomotives, 46 carriages with manpower, and 30 platforms with tanks were completely destroyed. Five trains were burned at stations. 11 bridges on important railways and roads were blown up. During this time, Lazovites took part in battles with punitive forces near the village of Pryshi, Ershichesky District, and in the village of Artyukhovo, Roslavl District. In total, they destroyed 1,780 Nazis. During the Smolensk offensive operation of 1943, the brigade actively participated in the rail war, and on September 24, 1943 it united with units of the Red Army.
FIFTH GUERILLA
1943, October - December
The life of the 5th LPB in those days was extremely eventful. Such intensity, such a variety of military actions, recalling which it would be possible to list almost the entire arsenal of guerrilla tactics of that period, perhaps no one else could add to their credit.
I remember that on one of my business trips I found myself in the brigade just at the time when it completed one of its brightest operations and began a series of others that earned it great fame and deepest popular gratitude.
The first operation was a 50-kilometer march of the 5th LPB, carried out in full force, in a column of thousands, in the open, in front of the population and the cowardly fleeing enemy garrisons. The brigade left the area between lakes Vrevo and Svyateyskoye, passed the villages of Krasnye Gorki, Khvoshino, Svyatye, Nevezhitsy, Konozerye and at the end of the route occupied the area adjacent to the village of Kievets. It was a show of guerrilla force. Hundreds of people saw firsthand what the army of people's avengers represents - highly organized, disciplined, well-armed, and not afraid of the enemy.
We couldn't afford anything like this before. However, time has changed and such a campaign became not only possible, but also brought no less benefits than sabotage on the roads or battles with the enemy. It’s not just that along the way of the brigade, all organs of the occupation power were destroyed and the power of the people was established over a large territory. No less important was that the news of the open action of the partisans immediately spread for many kilometers around, causing a new wave of popular resistance to the invaders. This is what K.D. Karitsky called in a radiogram “the result of the defeat and our influence,” which led to the cessation of the activities of the occupation authorities in 14 volosts. The march of the 5th LPB became the best organizing action, the best impetus for the popular uprising in the central region of the region. The central rebel region began to take shape precisely at this time.
And the series of operations I mentioned was the liberation of Soviet citizens from being taken into fascist slavery. In mid-October, Karitsky’s partisans stopped three German trains for several days, taking the population of the front-line zone to Germany. These were the first operations of this kind near Leningrad. And the pioneer was the regiment of Vladimir Vasilyevich Egorov - then simply Volodya Egorov, since he was one of the youngest partisan commanders: he commanded a regiment of 1,200 fighters at the age of nineteen. 23 thousand people owe their freedom to his regiment. For outstanding military services, Egorov was subsequently awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In total, the 5th LPB saved over 40 thousand people from being hijacked to Germany.
Interesting detail. When Egorov’s partisans stopped the first echelon and took the liberated civilian population under the protection of their regiment, no one in the brigade, despite the obvious unusualness of the operation carried out, perceived it as something out of the ordinary. They weren’t even going to radio about it separately to Leningrad - they just wanted to turn it on in the next report. It was only on my urgent advice that Karitsky sent a radiogram. And almost immediately I received a response from Nikitin:
“By my order dated October 16, 1943, your brigade was awarded the banner of the Leningrad headquarters for saving civilians whom the Germans tried to take in three echelons into fascist slavery. You are nominated for the award of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 2nd degree.
Present the soldiers and commanders with awards. Strike harder at the enemy, thwart his plans to kidnap civilians to hard labor.
... Announce the order to all personnel of the detachments and regiments of the brigade entrusted to you.”
I am writing about this in order to once again emphasize: in those days, when fighting, they thought little about rewards; the main concern was the cause to which people devoted themselves without reserve.
At the new stage of the fight against the enemy, both guerrilla tactics and combat methods became new. We can say that the very content of hostilities has changed, since in the overwhelming majority of cases their goal has become completely new. If, for example, earlier, during raids on enemy warehouses, we tried to destroy everything that was stored in them, now what was taken from the enemy was hidden in villages or in the forest - they waited for our own people to arrive, and tried to preserve the people's property. On railways, trains were increasingly not derailed, but stopped by blowing up the track in front of them. This was dictated by the fact that the carriages could contain Soviet people being driven to Germany. As for direct military clashes with the enemy, they increasingly acquired an openly offensive character.
By this time, a whole galaxy of partisan commanders of a new type had grown up - having absorbed all the rich combat experience accumulated by the people's avengers since the beginning of the war.
The first among them, without any hesitation, I will name brigade commander Konstantin Dionisievich Karitsky. I remember him from the Partizansky region, where he commanded one of the battalions of the 1st brigade. This man had to go through a difficult battle path, he knew victories and defeats, he led people into attacks, retreated, and buried his comrades - it was all there.
A man of great personal courage, courage, cool-headed in battle, an inventive tactician who keenly sensed every change in the combat situation and knew how to react accurately to everything, Karitsky also had the talent to lead people. Perhaps he had everything in moderation: exactingness and at the same time sensitivity to people, commanding authority and the ability to respect other people’s opinions, fearlessness and caution, integrity and the ability to understand others. And the attitude of the partisans towards their commander was excellent. They loved him and trusted him recklessly.
I remember that on one of my visits to the brigade I found Karitsky doing this: an evening, a full hut of partisans, and in the middle there was a brigade commander, and he was reading Yesenin from memory. Declamation, of course, is not God knows what - not a professional, where was the art to study! - and you should have seen how the partisans listened to him... He knew poems and shared them with people, that’s all. I didn’t pose, I didn’t pretend to be an artist: I just remembered out loud. And they were grateful to him for it.
We had one person in the 1st regiment, a political worker, whom the partisans always remembered if for some reason they had not seen him for a long time. I remember I was interested - why is it so popular? And when once again one of the fighters asked me why this (such and such) was not visible, I asked:
What, do we need to talk?
No, it’s not necessary, he answers.
Are you probably bored without him?
How can I say...
Maybe you are waiting for political information? Wrinkles.
So what is it all about? - I’m not lagging behind.
Yes, the shag has run out, but when he comes, he will definitely treat him...
That's the whole reason. And we wondered why his pouch was the first to empty and why, no matter how much we shared with him, he didn’t have enough.
Of course, I don’t feel sorry for Makhorka. I’m not at all going to preach the wisdom of the smoker: they say, “friendship is friendship, but tobacco is apart.” But, you see, it’s a bad thing if all the people’s interest in you fits into your own terry pouch.
It must be said that the leadership of the brigade was generally chosen extremely well. Commissioner Ivan Ivanovich Sergunin, head of the political department Ivan Ivanovich Isakov, chief of staff Timofey Antipovich Novikov, regiment commanders Vladimir Vasilyevich Egorov, Pavel Fadeevich Skorodumov, Alexey Fedorovich Tarakanov, Sergei Nikitich Chebykin - all these were wonderful people, skilled commanders who did a lot to defeat the enemy much. It is no coincidence that in the list of Leningrad partisans awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, five out of twenty are representatives of the 5th LPB: K.D. Karitsky, I.I. Sergunin, V.V. Egorov, A.F. Tarakanov, D.I. Sokolov.
From October 28 to November 9, the brigade fought heavy battles against a large punitive expedition. At the direction of the commander of Army Group North, Küchler, the 18th German Army sent several security regiments and battalions, units and units of the 190th Infantry and 13th Airfield Divisions to the area of operation of the 5th LPB. The offensive was supported by tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, mortars, and aircraft. The Nazis called this operation “Wolf Hunt”. It was assumed, of course, that they themselves would act as hunters. It turned out the other way around... The commandant of the rear area of the 18th Army, Lieutenant General Ginkel, informed his command: “The operation north of Utorgosh was interrupted due to the fact that the forces were exhausted.” This is a very modest formulation. It would be more correct to write: the punitive expedition was defeated.
This time is characterized by the most active assistance to the partisans from the population. The Commissioner of the 5th LPB reported to the Leningrad headquarters:
“...The people felt and realized that the partisans stood up like a wall to protect them, and they helped the partisans in every way possible. Girls, women, and old men conducted reconnaissance not only on orders from the command, but also on their own initiative.
On November 1, when the Germans were in the village of Storonye and were preparing for an offensive, the girls Kalanchina Ekaterina and Dmitrieva Lidiya ran from this village to the regiment commander Egorov. They reported the enemy's numbers and his intentions.
In difficult moments of fighting with the Germans, when the partisans felt an acute shortage of ammunition, residents of the village. They entered, defended by the regiment of Comrade Egorov, collected cartridges of 5-10 pieces and brought them to the partisans. The same collection of cartridges was carried out on their own initiative by residents of the village. Pokrovskoe. The partisan's father, a resident of the village of Novoselye, Utorgoshsky district, Volkov I.I., having learned that the partisans had no ammunition, with the help of a resident of the village of Ryameshka Spiridonov N.M., delivered to the detachment 17 boxes of cartridges that had been stored in the forest since 1941.
In the difficult days of fighting, people capable of carrying weapons joined the partisan detachments.
Combat groups from the local population arose in the villages; they armed themselves, took out ammunition, and set themselves the task of helping the partisans save civilians from being taken into fascist captivity. This is how combat groups arose in the villages of Baranovo, Vsheli, Bolotsko, Stobolsk, Dertiny, Khredino, Borotno, Nikolsko, Lazuni and others..."
Was it possible to defeat the partisans who had such support?
And in this regard, I want to talk about two more interesting operations of the 5th Brigade.
The first was carried out by the regiment of P.F. Skorodumov together with residents of nearby villages on the Kiev highway on the night of November 16, 1943. A large section of the road was captured - 10 kilometers! - between Mayakovo and Novoselye. And under the guard of the regiment, local residents built a grandiose blockage on it from sawed-down telegraph poles and trees. All this was entangled with wires torn from the transmission line and in many places mined. In addition, bridges were blown up throughout the entire area - eight, every single one. Therefore, when at dawn the people who had finished their work left the highway, the partisans prepared for battle. They held the road for two days. And only under the attacks of tanks and armored vehicles, which the Nazis brought into battle in the middle of the day on November 17, did the regiment retreat into the forest. But it still took quite a lot of time to clear the mined rubble. But the highway was of extreme importance for the Nazis. Sabotage on such a scale had never been carried out before.
Somewhat later, the 5th Brigade similarly completely blocked the Utorgosh-Nikolaev highway. All along its length.
This highway was also very important for the Germans, as it was the most convenient for supplying the Novgorod and old Russian military groups. Virtually the entire population of the area took part in constructing the rubble on it. And then the partisans stopped all attempts by the Nazis to clear the road and restore traffic on it. It was completely interrupted until the arrival of the Red Army units.
At the turn of the forty-third and forty-fourth years, the army of Leningrad partisans already consisted of 13 brigades. In December, the 12th Primorsky Brigade was formed from detachments created by the Kingisepp Interdistrict Party Center and part of the detachments of the 9th Brigade (another branch from Vasilyev’s brigade!). And almost simultaneously, the 13th LPB began fighting on the territory of the first Partisan Territory. The total number of brigades reached 35 thousand people.
The new year, 1944, was approaching. The time for a decisive offensive by our troops near Leningrad was approaching. And the partisans were destined to play a difficult but glorious role in it.
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