Many are known as partisans of the Great Patriotic War - Sidor Kovpak, Dmitry Emlyutin, Dmitry Medvedev, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Alexander Saburov. Books have been written about them, documentaries and feature films have been shot. But in the vast expanses of the Soviet Union, involved in hostilities in 1941-1944, thousands of heroes, whose names were lost in the hoary past, acted.
One of these heroes is German Alexander Viktorovich (1915-1943). Having gathered bit by bit the facts, we will tell the full story of this partisan.
Short essay
- May 24, 1915 is the birthday of Alexander Viktorovich German. Place of birth - Leningrad (today - St. Petersburg).
- He graduated from a seven-year school, worked as a locksmith. In November 1933 he joined the Red Army.
- 1937 - graduate of the Oryol Armored School. 1940 - entered the military academy named after Frunze.
- From the very beginning of World War II, he served as a scout at the headquarters of the North-Western Front, after which he was appointed deputy commander of the partisan intelligence brigade.
- Summer 1942 - in the rank of Major German Alexander became the commander of the Third Leningrad Partisan Brigade.
- September 6, 1943 he died in battle near the village of Zhitnitsy, Pskov region.
- Over the years of service, he proved himself as a brave officer and a talented strategist. He had many awards, posthumously he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
This is how the brief history of partisan German sounds dry. Next, we dwell in more detail on some facts of his life.
Before the war
As mentioned above, Alexander German was born on 05.24.1915 in St. Petersburg, in the family of Russian Germans. His father and mother were simple servants. Sasha successfully completed the seven-year plan and got a job in a locksmith workshop. The future partisan German combined his work with study, he graduated from the automotive engineering college.
In 1933 he was drafted into the army, after which a young man, dreaming of a military career, entered the Oryol Tank School. Here he studied the Constitution of the Soviet Union, the history of the Communist Party, the history of the peoples of the USSR, tactics, topography, and higher mathematics. He completed a tank driving course and studied combat techniques, was engaged in combat and building training, developed physical strength and endurance.
At the end of the 30s of the 20th century, the future partisan Herman, whose biography is described in the article, married the girl Faina, they had a son Albert, whom his father affectionately called Alyusik. Together with his wife and child, he moved to Moscow, in a communal apartment, on Bolshaya Dorogomilovskaya Street .
In 1940 he became a cadet at the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow. He studied perfectly. The future partisan Herman was a romantic at heart, and in his free time he loved to wander alone through the capital's streets and historical museums.
To the defense of the motherland!
The war found him in his second year at the academy. Alexander Viktorovich immediately filed a request to send him to the army. In July 1941, he left to serve as a scout on the Northwest Front.
Clever, well-trained, bold, Major German soon distinguished himself in the service and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, which he personally handed over to the front commander.
The military leadership saw great potential in the young officer, and a decision was made to entrust him with a whole partisan detachment.
The beginning of the partisan path
In June 1942, by order of the hero of our article was appointed commander of the Third Leningrad partisan brigade numbering a little more than 100 people. So the legendary partisan German Alexander Viktorovich appeared. Abandoned into the deep rear, he began a new life full of dangers and difficulties.
The chief of staff was appointed officer Ivan Krylov, with whom the partisan German became friends. A good comrade and closest assistant, Krylov helped the brigade commander to develop operational-sabotage measures, plan partisan attacks, and intelligence operations.
Extraordinary commander of a partisan detachment
Partizan German, whose biography is of interest to researchers of the history of the Great Patriotic War, became famous as an intelligent, resourceful and brave commander. He owned a real military cunning. All the plans he developed were successful. His goal, along with the defeat of the tactical targets of the opponents, was to save the lives of his people, whom he treasured. In turn, the soldiers loved their commander very much for their openness, sincerity, and goodwill, and respected him for their firmness, rigor, and ability, if necessary, to show character and will.
The third Leningrad partisan brigade operated in the Leningrad, Pskov, Novgorod and Tver (then Kalinin) regions. The dense forests, many lakes and marshland helped the partisans to hide safely, to deliver sudden attacks on the enemy, who could not answer them with tanks or heavy artillery.
Before the advent of the Third Leningrad partisan brigade, fascists reigned in these parts. Invaders robbed local residents, mocked them, intimidated and executed. The story of the hero of partisan Herman began with the fact that he, along with his people, inflicted a number of crushing blows on the enemy. In record time and with minimal human losses, nine German garrisons, fifty administrative boards were crushed, five Hitler echelons were derailed, which killed a lot of enemy manpower and equipment.
Such successes inspired not only the partisans, but also the locals, many of whom began to enter the German squad. Soon the number of his brigade increased from 100 to 450 people, by the end of 1942 there were already more than 1000 partisans, and in the autumn of 1943 - 2500 people! It was already a truly formidable force, the stronghold and soul of which was the hero of the Second World War German Alexander Viktorovich.
Achievements during the war
German partisan detachments liberated hundreds of settlements in the Novgorod, Pskov and Tver regions. Places in the district of the cities of Staraya Russa, Bottom and Bezhanitsy began to be called the Partisan Territory.
The hero of the article was one of the first to apply tactics of quick maneuvers and rapid raids. During their activities, Germanic heroes:
- exterminated, according to documents, 9652 Germans and many more documented enemies not confirmed,
- organized 44 successful train wrecks, in which the enemy lost a lot of equipment and manpower,
- blew up 31 railway bridges ,
- burned hundreds of enemy warehouses,
- destroyed 70 volost administrations,
- defeated 17 Nazi garrisons,
- 35 thousand Soviet citizens were saved from captivity and hijacking into slavery.
Partisan German Alexander Viktorovich, together with his fighters, performed many feats, their activities were marked by many awards. Herman was awarded the rank of colonel.
A capital base is equipped behind enemy lines
In addition to outstanding fighting qualities and strategic talents, the partisans Herman, whose history is described in the article, also had the gift of a business executive.
It has already been mentioned that he treasured every human life entrusted to him by the highest military command. He was also worried about arranging the life of his soldiers as comfortably as possible, so that after tiring outings the soldiers could fully rest, and in case of injury get the necessary medical help. Therefore, having settled in the forest, German partisans settled down completely unconventionally: they lived with minimal but necessary amenities on a stationary base - in heated barracks, the headquarters was located in a capital building, kitchens, saunas, a medical center were built on the territory of the brigade mini-hospital, warehouses.
Partizan German was convinced that nothing should be destroyed from what could help his soldiers defeat the Nazis. Therefore, uniforms and weapons came not only from the mainland, but also replenished at the expense of trophies.
The partisans appreciated such care and said of him: "We will not be lost with our commander!", "We are behind the brigade commander - into fire and water!"
Existing airdrome and railway
They are surprising in themselves, and two more facts sound implausible: partisan German, whose photos demonstrate his open, bold look, built a real airfield on his base and mastered the railway!
A stationary airfield was built by the same partisans. A wide logging hole was cut in the forest, anti-aircraft calculations were made, the runway with warning posts was equipped according to all the rules, and infrastructure was created to receive large transport aircraft. Communication with the mainland was established. The partisans immediately responded with attacks to enemy attempts to destroy the airfield. So Hitler's oil base in the city of Porkhov, German air depots in the village of Pushkin Mountains were destroyed. As a result, throughout the entire existence of the partisan base, Soviet planes flew there regularly, supplying uniforms, food, ammunition, taking the wounded.
An interesting story happened with the railway. In one of the reconnaissance sorties, German soldiers found a narrow-gauge peat railway with an abandoned steam locomotive, wagons and platforms. Upon closer examination, it turned out that everything was in working order, and the partisans began to actively use the narrow gauge railway under the Nazis’s nose. The railway passed mainly through the marshland. Only one of its sections was approaching Podsevy station, which was controlled by the Germans. The partisans each time, if necessary, to go through this section, arranged shelling of the station, and the train each time safely passed the obstacle.
Attempts to destroy the squad
Do not think that the partisan German, along with his fighters, calmly fought behind enemy lines. The Nazis all the time made attempts to destroy this brigade.
In March 1943, a large-scale punitive operation was conducted against 4,000 German soldiers and officers, reinforced by tanks and artillery, against German partisan detachments. The battlefield was the village of Rovnyak in the Porkhov district of the Pskov region. During the battles more than 900 fascists were killed, 3 enemy echelons were destroyed, 4 highway bridges were blown up, 6 tanks were destroyed. In contrast to the significant losses of the Nazis, the partisan German brigade lost 96 fighters, of which 37 were killed and 59 wounded.
In May 1943, desiring to end the partisans in the Leningrad forests, the Germans threw a whole rifle division at them. In total, Soviet heroes survived 19 battles, during which the enemy lost 1,604 soldiers and officers, 7 echelons, 16 highway bridges and 2 cars were blown up. In the ranks of the partisans, 39 fighters were killed and 64 wounded.
In August 1943, a well-known specialist was invited to these parts, who destroyed many partisan detachments near Smolensk. This was immediately notified by his scouts to partisans German. Who is it? How does this mysterious specialist work? The reconnaissance group was able to establish that the Nazi expert acts as follows: they remove clothing and shoes from captured Soviet soldiers, give sniff to trained dogs, which take a trace and take punishers to the partisan’s location. Moreover, neither sprinkling the path with shag, nor trampling the road with other people could knock the dogs off the track. Having received this data, Alexander German immediately came up with an original plan. His people captured the "language", which was taken to the headquarters by a secret path through the swamps, then organized his escape, and mined the trail. When the Germans advanced in a large detachment along this road to the headquarters of the partisans, the mines naturally exploded, and the entire fascist detachment perished without a single shot from our side.
The battle under the granary. Hero's death
In early September 1943, the partisan brigade of Herman was again attacked. This time the battle took place in the area of ​​the village of Zhitnitsa, Novorzhevsky district, Pskov region.
Soviet soldiers defeated the enemy, but suffered heavy losses, escaping from the encirclement. In a hot battle on September 6, 1943, Alexander Germanovich heroically died, a forgotten partisan with a capital letter.
According to the recollections of the commissar of the Voskresensky brigade, the beloved brigade commander was wounded twice, but forbade the fighters to talk about this and continued to shoot. A third head wound was fatal. The 28-year-old brigade commander died.
The body of the colonel was delivered by plane to the Soviet rear. The hero was buried in the city of Valdai, Novgorod Region, on Freedom Square.
On April 2, 1944, by decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, Colonel German A.V. was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for the impeccable performance of combat missions, shown courage and bravery.
Awards and titles
Hero of the Soviet Union partisans German Alexander Viktorovich was awarded:
- Gold Star medal, which was awarded to persons awarded the highest title of Hero of the Soviet Union,
- Order of Lenin for special services to the Soviet state and society,
- The Order of the Red Banner for unprecedented courage and dedication in the fight against fascist invaders,
- Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree for military valor.
Memory of the hero
On September 7, 1943, the Third Leningrad partisan brigade was renamed the German partisan brigade - in honor of its glorious commander.
In the village of Zhitnitsy, an obelisk is installed at the place where the hero died Streets in St. Petersburg, Veliky Novgorod, Pskov, the cities of Ostrov and Porkhovo, Valdai are named after him. In St. Petersburg, a stele was also installed as a memorial to partisan German.
A memorial plaque in honor of the deceased commander was installed in the city of Novorzhev. The district administration decided that September 6 is the Day of Partisan Glory. The holiday is celebrated annually to this day with the participation of veterans, citizens, schoolchildren.
The partisan hero Herman, whose photo adorns many plaques, is an indisputable role model. Many chapters in books are devoted to him, his short but vibrant life, his courage and great humanity:
- "The exploits of heroes are immortal", authors Korneev N. P and Alekseev O. V., 2005 edition.
- "German Alexander Viktorovich", edited by N.P. Korneev, 1993 edition.
- “Leningrad is in my heart”, the author of the book was journalist N. V. Masolov, who used archival documents, personal letters from Herman, and the memoirs of his associates to write it. The book was published in 1981.
- "Partisan brigades: people and fate." The book on the basis of archival materials was written by the local historian N.V. Nikitenko. She saw the light in 2010. It tells about the partisan detachments operating during the Great Patriotic War in the occupied territories of the Leningrad and Tver regions.
- The memoir collection "Heroes and Fates" by I. V. Vinogradov, 1988 edition. The writer personally met with Alexander German several times.
- "German leads a brigade" by M. L. Voskresensky, who directly served under the legendary partisan commander. The book was published in 1965.
- "Partisan Pskov" - the recollections of partisan M. Voskresensky, head of the political department of the Third Leningrad partisan brigade. Book of 1979 edition.
- "According to vital indications", 1990 edition. The author is a partisan doctor V.I. Gilev.
- "Partisans took the oath", 1985 edition. The memoirs were written by I. Sergunin, Hero of the Soviet Union, a prominent member of the partisan movement. The book was based on his personal impressions, diaries of other fighters, letters and archival documents.
- “Why are They Named That Way”, a 1985 edition authored by Khablo E.P. and Gorbachevich K.S. The book explains the names of streets, islands, and squares in St. Petersburg.