A well-kept monument, photos, texts... for example, excellent material: http://blokada.otrok.ru/biogr.php?l=4&n=1eav&t=2 with reference to two book editions:
There are probably descendants of the hero... We have not forgotten anything. But the author of the publication believes that this is not so.
Herman is a forgotten Partisan with a capital P.
Many St. Petersburg residents know the street "Partizan German", but few know in honor of which outstanding person this street is named.
Zoshchenko’s stories contain information about a certain “detachment of Comrade Herman,” which was very strong in the dense forests of the Leningrad, Kalinin and Pskov regions, and almost opened village councils and executive committees in villages and hamlets opposite the German commandant’s offices, and so firmly defended Soviet power that the fascists and other evil spirits preferred to stay away, not trying to cross the road, and if they crossed the road, they got very hurt.
Very funny.
We all know Zoshchenko as an outstanding master of the grotesque, hyperbole and sarcasm. But I didn’t and don’t consider him an inventor and a dreamer at all, especially since the topic in those years (and the story of 1947) was more than serious.
Having taken a “journey into the past”, according to the memoirs of the leaders of partisan movements and not finding anything, I already thought that this was a figment of fantasy, but I found some clues and contacted German Alexander Viktorovich, and then it was much easier.
I warn you in advance that although the stories look completely unrealistic and made up, everything stated is based on historical facts. I am not going to convince anyone; any Doubting Thomas can easily take his own journey into history.
Let's start with the fact that the captain of the Red Army is German Alexander Viktorovich. Born in 1915 in Leningrad. Russian. Member of the CPSU since 1942. Before the war, he lived and studied in Moscow for several years. Graduate of the Oryol Tank School, graduated Military Academy them. M.V. Frunze. From July 1941 - on the North-Western Front, intelligence officer, responsible for communications and coordination partisan detachments. In September 1941, he was sent to the German rear, the main task was reconnaissance, destruction of Germans and sabotage of communications. The initial strength of the detachment was about 100-150 fighters.
A.V. German, according to the testimony of his comrades in arms, combined many of the qualities of a Soviet commander: courage, courage, high military skill, optimism and tireless activity. He was one of the first to use raiding tactics of guerrilla forces, a bold and skillful maneuver in combat operations. The partisans loved Herman dearly for his personal courage, ability to command, integrity, closeness to people, and sincerity. He was 28 years old.
The detachment not only fought successfully, but also settled down in a completely unconventional way for partisans - in the depths of the forests, far from well-trodden roads, a stationary base arose, which over time turned into a real fortified area - with permanent buildings, barracks, kitchens, baths, an infirmary, headquarters, warehouses, etc. .P.
By the summer of 1942, the successes of the detachment, the leadership talent and economic abilities of Herman led to the formation of a professional partisan brigade on its base, its number increased to 2,500 people, the combat zone spread to most territories of Porkhovsky, Pozherevitsky, Slavkovichsky, Novorzhevsky, Ostrovsky and other districts of the Pskov region.
And now the incredible facts:
For the first time in partisan practice, Herman created a stationary airfield near the base, cut a clearing in the forest, equipped a runway and infrastructure for receiving heavy transport aircraft, and set up warning posts and anti-aircraft crews. The problem of supply and communication with the “mainland” was solved. Several attempts to raise fighter aircraft to intercept partisan aircraft ended in attacks on an oil base in the city of Porkhov and aircraft warehouses in the village of Pushkinskie Gory, as a result of which all consumable supplies of fuel, ammunition and other things were destroyed. The regiment turned out to be incapable of combat and was unable to carry out combat missions at the front. They could get scolded for being partisans, but for such consequences you can actually get punished. The commander of the Luftwaffe regiment clearly understood this. And planes flew into the “forest” regularly.
However, this seemed to Herman not enough. During one of the forays, a “peat” narrow-gauge railway was discovered running near the base with rolling stock abandoned on it in a hurry during the retreat - steam locomotives, wagons and platforms. The road led to the front line, and through the most remote swamps and swamps (in fact, peat is mined there). There was one problem - a section of the narrow-gauge railway passed along the outskirts of the Podseva junction station, which served as a transit point for the German army and had a strong garrison. When transportation was necessary, crushing blows were dealt to the station each time, and “on the quiet” the partisan trains successfully passed through the bad place. In the end (I want to live), the garrison command simply stopped paying attention to the small locomotives and carriages scurrying back and forth across the outskirts of the station, especially since they did not create any special problems, behaved decently and preferred to travel at night. All this time, partisan transport was carried outfrom the front line to the enemy's rear railway
. This has never happened before or since.
After the planned replacement of the previous garrison, a new commandant, Major Paulwitz, arrived at the station from the headquarters. Despite the “subtle” hints from his replacement, the situation with enemy trains constantly passing through his station amazed him so much that that same evening the path was cut and another transport was ambushed. The next morning the station was captured in a swift attack and held for several days, the garrison was destroyed, the cargo was blown up or taken as trophies. Along the way, five bridges were “completely” blown up, including the strategic one across the Keb River. The road stopped for exactly 12 days. It is not known exactly who shot Paulwitz, at least in the brigade’s reports this feat is not credited to any of the partisans.
According to the recollections of the railway workers, the Germans soon pulled the barbed wire from the tracks to the narrow gauge and no longer noticed it at point-blank range.
A special group arrived from Smolensk under the command of an authoritative specialist in the fight against partisans (the name has not been preserved, and it doesn’t matter). This “specialist” was responsible for the destruction of about a dozen partisan detachments in the Smolensk region. Using his intelligence channels, Herman revealed the secret of his success: when capturing or destroying partisans, they took off their clothes and shoes, gave them a sniff to ordinary police bloodhounds - after which a squad of punitive forces followed the tracks exactly to the partisan base, bypassing all the swamps, ambushes and mines. The use of well-known methods - sprinkling traces with shag, pouring urine on them did not help, because this fact only confirmed the correctness of the route. The groups began to leave one way and return another. Immediately after passing “there” the path was carefully mined. Just like after the “back” passage. The “craftsman” himself (after the death of several punitive detachments, he quickly realized what was going on and did not “fall for” this trick) was dealt with even more elegantly: by mining in front of the captive “tongue” according to the standard “return path” scheme, Then they led him along a secret sunken road. It is not known exactly how, but he still escaped and returned to his people along this road. Alive. That means the dirt is clean. The Abwehr man, rubbing his hands contentedly, asked for a large detachment, and, smiling impudently, led him around the mines this way. He himself did not return and “demobilized” two SS companies. The gate nevertheless exploded, without much noise. From both ends at the same time. There was no need to shoot; the swamp handled it 100%. The command was alarmed - how could he disappear without a trace? ENTIRESS detachment, and even without any signs of battle? But they didn’t try to find the base again until the fall of 1943.
Herman’s brigade had more than friendly relations with the local population. Thanks to the airport and railway station operating on the base a tolerable supply was established, so the villagers did not see the partisan food detachments, and the Germans preferred, for well-known reasons, not to get hold of grub in the villages near the detachment and not to disturb the population with their presence again.
Gradually, Herman began to change tactics in the territory under his control - from purely military to military-political. A military tribunal was organized, which held open field sessions in villages and hamlets (the institution of policemen and other elders and accomplices instantly disappeared as a biological species, and the Germans caught were transferred to the status of prisoners of war, and sent by rail to camps on Big Earth... yes, yes ... past that same Podseva station).
An infirmary was opened, where local residents could go and get what they could medical care. IN severe cases doctors were leaving ON HOUSE. Soviet "ambulance" in the German rear. Hmmm...
In order to resolve current issues, temporary village councils and executive committees were formed, which traveled to places, carried out propaganda work and received the population. Of course, they did not occupy the building opposite the German commandant’s office, as Zoshchenko ironically, they came for a short time and to a pre-selected place, but, nevertheless...
Then the irreparable happened. No, no, no executive committee was captured, and there were no sick German spies.
At the next reception of the underground executive committee, a deputation of the station garrison showed up, sort of wiser heirs of Paulwitz, with the humblest request - they should be replaced, I really want to go back to Vaterland, to their families. And since the roads and bridges in the area have all been blown up, and the roads are mined and in general they cannot be passed on anyway, then... is it possible for them to get a pass? Or get out using the partisan railway (after all, only one is operational), but in the opposite direction. And they, in general, are nothing. With all understanding. The trains pass through regularly and they even monitor the tracks so that no one causes damage.
A few days later, an officer from the local field commandant’s office showed up with a complaint about a detachment of foragers from some neighboring unit who were roaming the villages and procuring food and oats for themselves, which the villagers were not at all happy about. And since he personally and his warriors are not going to answer with their own skin for this outrage, then isn’t it possible... this detachment... well... in general, be kicked out?
It is not known how these surreal claims ended for the petitioners (the consequences are not mentioned in the primary sources, although these facts themselves are noted), but somehow they became known to the high command, including in Berlin.
To say that the command was furious is to say nothing. A whole bunch of local commanders and officers were arrested, convicted, demoted or sent to the front. Despite the tense situation, there was WHOLEa combat-ready division was removed along with tanks, artillery and aircraft, and two SS units with a total strength of about 4,500 people.
The brigade was surrounded, stubborn fighting ensued, Herman personally commanded the withdrawal and planned another brilliant combination, and, although with losses, the brigade successfully broke through to the regular troops, destroying more than half of the attacking troops.
In the village of Zhitnitsa, the advance detachment came across a punitive garrison and defeated it. The brigade escaped from encirclement to the Rugodevsky forests area; during the battle, the commander of the 3rd partisan brigade, Colonel Alexander Viktorovich German, was wounded three times, the last wound to the head was fatal. He died on September 6, 1943 near the village of Zhitnitsy. Soon an order was received from the Leningrad headquarters partisan movement on naming the brigade after Herman and henceforth calling it: 3rd Partisan Brigade named after Herman of the Leningrad headquarters of the partisan movement. In April 1943, Alexander Viktorovich German was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
After this, the brigade continued successful operations behind enemy lines, about which you can Reading the official report (the brigade under the command of Herman, from June 1942 to September 1943, killed 9,652 Nazis, crashed 44 railway trains with enemy personnel and equipment, blew up 31 railway bridges, destroyed 17 enemy garrisons, up to 70 volost administrations, and so on. ..), I don’t understand why we know almost nothing about this man, how could the name of one of the most talented and successful military leaders, who had non-trivial strategic thinking, melt away in the fog of hoary antiquity?
The detailed description of the combat operations of the Alexander German brigade is completely baffling - could a person act like this, achieve such amazing results in defeating the enemy in the most difficult conditions, operating behind enemy lines, when the regular army was rapidly retreating, when the outcome of the war was still completely unknown.. .
What do we know about the latest heroes Brest Fortress to whom the Nazis saluted? What do we know about fighting behind enemy lines? What do we even know about the Great Patriotic War if we are engaged in debunking existing exploits, but do not want to remember other exploits at all? After all, the entire Victory in the Great War should rightfully be considered a people's victory! After all, how many “Matrosovs” and “Gastellos” there were, the names were simply assigned to them, and there were, if not thousands, then dozens of such people. And we need to make films about these people Of people, and not about the “good Germans” throwing chocolates.
Thank you for your attention, study history!
http://lirik-kirill.livejournal.com/2958.html
HERMANN
HERMANN - the hero of A.S. Pushkin’s story “ Queen of Spades"(1833). G. is a military engineer, the son of a Russified German, who did not receive much capital from his parent, and therefore was forced to live on one salary, not allowing himself the slightest whim. A player at heart, he never sits down at the card table. However, G.’s “strong passions and fiery imagination” are ignited by the story of his friend Tomsky about three cards that once allowed his grandmother, Countess Anna Fedotovna, to pay off a large gambling debt. From now on, the Countess's house attracts G. like a magnet. He wants to enter into the favor of the countess, to become her lover, he is ready to do anything just to master the secret of the three cards, which will bring him wealth. “Calculation, moderation and hard work” on which he built his former life are losing their former attractiveness for G. A meeting with Lizaveta Ivanovna, a poor pupil of the old countess, decides his fate. Using the girl’s love as the key to the countess’s house, G. enters her bedroom and conjures the old woman with “the feelings of a wife, mistress, mother” to reveal to him the secret of the three cards. The frightened countess dies without saying anything. True, three days later, on the day of the funeral, the ghost of the countess appears to G. in a dream and names the cards: three, seven, ace. From now on, three cards completely occupy G.’s imagination. For three days in a row he comes to the house of Hussar Chekalinsky and places one card at a time, as the countess ordered. The first two days bring him winnings; on the third day, instead of an ace, the queen of spades falls on the table, in G.’s imagination, endowed with a fatal resemblance to the countess. Lost, G. goes crazy and ends his days in the Obukhov hospital.
Such is the character of G. - a man who, being “unable to sacrifice what is necessary in the hope of acquiring what is superfluous,” succumbed to destructive passion and, in the pursuit of wealth, lost his mind.
E.G. Khaichenko
G. Pushkinsky served as the prototype for the hero of P.I. Tchaikovsky’s opera “The Queen of Spades” (1890); libretto by P.I. Tchaikovsky, written in 1887-1889. originally for composer N.S. Kpenovsky.
The hero of the opera is called Herman - this is a first name, not a surname, like Pushkin. The librettist changed the time of action, which was assigned to XVIII century Catherine's era. His Herman, who had “strong passions and a fiery imagination,” was rewarded with the gift of love. The intrigue around the three cards has lost its primary significance. The sober and prudent ambitious man with the profile of Napoleon was replaced by a lonely and restless hero, overwhelmed by the elements of love passion and gambling. The hero of the opera is endowed with melancholy and a nervous imagination, subject to ecstatic impulses. The opera retained the name of Pushkin's story. This is explained by the peculiarities of the fatalist composer’s worldview: the theme of rock, embodied in the musical image of the Countess, highlights the idea of life as a game in the hands of an omnipotent fate (the famous aria “What is our life? A game!”). This level of conflict dictates a different outcome compared to the original source - the death of Herman. But the theme of love that concludes the opera sounds like the triumph of true passion over false one.
In the theatrical history of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, there are examples of a “return” to Pushkin’s original. Thus, V.E. Meyerhold, in the 1933 production, tried to “push-kinize” the opera. For this purpose, V. Stenich wrote a new libretto, in which Pushkin’s plot was restored.
I.I.Silantieva
Literary heroes. - Academician. 2009 .
See what "HERMANN" is in other dictionaries:
German Gender: male Foreign language analogues: English. Herman Hung. Herman Spanish Herman, Armando, Arminio ital. Ermann ... Wikipedia
Hermann ("The Queen of Spades")- See also Engineer officer; he surprisingly resembled Napoleon when he sat in Lisa’s room, arms folded and frowning menacingly. The son of a Russified German, who left him a small capital. Convinced of the need to strengthen his independence, G... Dictionary of literary types
Hermann Josef Tenhagen (German: Hermann Josef Tenhagen, born January 22, 1963 in Wesel) ─ German economic journalist, editor-in-chief of the monthly consumer magazine Finanztest, published by the German Institute of Information for ... ... Wikipedia
- (Gehrmann) music. historian. Genus. in 1861. His main works: Gottfried Walther als Theoretiker (1892) and Karl Maria von Weber (1899; Verlag Harmonie) ...
- (12.V.1805 22.VIII.1879) Russian inorganic chemist and mineralogist, member. cor. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (since 1831). R. in Dresden. Special Education not received. From a young age he worked in one of the pharmacies in Dresden. In 1827 he came to Moscow with the aim of organizing a plant... ... Big biographical encyclopedia
- (Gehrmann) music. historian. Genus. in 1861. His main works: Gottfried Walther als Theoretiker (1892) and Karl Maria von Weber (1899; Verlag Har monie) ... encyclopedic Dictionary F. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
- (Hermann) composer. His works, distinguished by great originality: piano. trio d minor op 6; piano quartet f minor op. 9; two symphonies; concert overture op. 4, romances, fort. plays, etc... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
- ... Wikipedia
- ... Wikipedia
- ... Wikipedia
Books
- How much weight can you lose? How wrong thoughts interfere with the right weight, Hermann Nadya. The main question this book answers is: “What’s wrong with diets?” And really - why don't they work? Does the “yo-yo” effect really exist? And how does one manage to maintain weight...
- My fat logic. How to get rid of the garbage that prevents you from losing weight from your head, Hermann Nadya. This book is a complete educational program on the excuses and misconceptions that are inherent in the vast majority of people who suffer from excess weight in one way or another. If you think your heredity...
#warrior #hero #soldier
It's no secret that young people love to watch films about heroes and their exploits. And “stories” about the elusive James Bond, fair sheriffs, invisible ninjas are generously pouring from the screens onto our children... But in the history of the Great Patriotic War There were many heroes whose exploits far exceeded those of these fictional “knights.” I want to remind you of one of them.
Alexander Viktorovich German
Brief information
Alexander German was born on May 24, 1915 in Petrograd into the family of a Russian employee. After graduating from the seven-year school, German worked as a mechanic and studied at an automotive technical school.
In November 1933, Alexander German joined the Red Army. In 1937 he graduated from the Oryol Armored School and served in a mechanized brigade. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War found him a 2nd year student at the M.V. Frunze Military Academy.
From July 1941, German served in the intelligence department of the headquarters of the North-Western Front, and then acted as deputy commander of the 2nd Special Partisan Brigade for reconnaissance.Since the summer of 1942, Major Alexander German was the commander of the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade. Under his command, the brigade destroyed several thousand enemy soldiers and derailed over three hundred railway trains, blew up hundreds of cars and saved thirty-five thousand Soviet citizens from being stolen into slavery.
From June 1942 to September 1943, the brigade under the command of Herman destroyed 9,652 Nazis, crashed 44 railway trains with enemy personnel and equipment, blew up 31 railway bridges, destroyed 17 enemy garrisons, and up to 70 volost administrations.
Major German died a heroic death on September 6, 1943, emerging from enemy encirclement near the village of Zhitnitsy, Novorzhevsky district, Pskov region. He was buried in the square of the city of Valdai, Novgorod region.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 2, 1944, for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism displayed, Major German Alexander Viktorovich was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
PS. I didn’t understand why the major, if he was a brigade commander, i.e. at least the colonel. No?
That's all that is said in the “mighty” Wikipedia, where our children so often look. What is behind these meager lines? Here are some facts collected by people who care about our heroes. Thanks to those who sifted through a bunch of documents, looked for the survivors of his fighters, eyewitnesses in the villages that were liberated by the partisans. I won’t give links here (there are quite a lot of them), but just read how Major A.V. fought the Nazis. Hermann.
While working at the headquarters, A. German was eager for more “ practical work"! And he was entrusted with a small detachment. In September 1941, he was sent to the German rear, the main task was reconnaissance, destruction of Germans and sabotage of communications. Initially, the number of the detachment was about 100-150 fighters. By the summer of 1942, the successes of the detachment, the commanding talent and economic abilities of Herman led to the formation of a professional partisan brigade on its base, its number increased to 2,500 people, the combat zone spread to most of the territory of Porkhovsky, Pozherevitsky, Slavkovichsky, Novorzhevsky, Ostrovsky and other districts of the Pskov region.
“For the first time in partisan practice, Herman created a stationary airfield near the base, cut a clearing in the forest, equipped a runway and infrastructure for receiving heavy transport aircraft, set up warning posts and anti-aircraft crews. The problem of supply and communication with the “mainland” was solved. Several attempts to raise fighter aircraft to intercept partisan aircraft ended in attacks (capturing the airfield, of course, was an unrealistic task) on the oil base in the city of Porkhov and aircraft warehouses in the village of Pushkinskie Gory, as a result of which all consumable supplies of fuel, ammunition and other things were destroyed. The regiment turned out to be incapable of combat and was unable to carry out combat missions at the front. They could get scolded for being partisans, but for such consequences you could really get hit. The commander of the Luftwaffe regiment clearly understood this. And planes flew into the “forest” regularly.
However, this seemed to Herman not enough. During one of the forays, a “peat” narrow-gauge railway was discovered running not far from the base with rolling stock abandoned on it in a hurry during the retreat—steam locomotives, wagons and platforms. The road led to the front line, and through the most remote swamps and swamps (in fact, peat is mined there). There was one misfortune - a section of the narrow-gauge railway passed along the outskirts of the Podseva junction station, which served as a transshipment point for the German army and had a strong garrison. When transportation was necessary, crushing blows were dealt to the station each time, and “on the quiet” the partisan trains successfully passed through the bad place. In the end (I want to live), the garrison command simply stopped paying attention to the small locomotives and carriages scurrying back and forth across the outskirts of the station, especially since they did not create any special problems, behaved decently and preferred to travel at night. All this time, partisan transportation was carried out from the front line (!) to the enemy rear (!) by rail (!). This has never happened before or since.
After the planned replacement of the previous garrison, a new commandant, Major Paulwitz, arrived at the station from the headquarters. Despite the “subtle” hints from his replacement, the situation with enemy trains constantly passing through his station amazed him so much that that same evening the path was cut and another transport was ambushed. The next morning the station was captured in a swift attack and held for several days, the garrison was destroyed, the cargo was blown up or taken as trophies. Along the way, five bridges were “completely” blown up, including the strategic one across the Keb River. The road stopped for exactly 12 days. It is not known exactly who shot Paulwitz, at least in the brigade’s reports this feat is not credited to any of the partisans. According to the recollections of railway workers, the Germans soon pulled the barbed wire from the tracks down to the narrow gauge and did not notice it at point-blank range anymore.
Lovers of “befel und ordnung” began to worry about such disgrace. A special group arrived from Abwernebenstelle Smolensk under the command of an authoritative specialist in the fight against partisans (the name has not been preserved, and it doesn’t matter). This “craftsman” was responsible for about a dozen destroyed partisan detachments in the Smolensk region. Using his intelligence channels, Herman revealed the secret of his success: when capturing or destroying partisans, they took off their clothes and shoes, gave them a sniff to ordinary police bloodhounds - after which a squad of punitive forces followed the tracks exactly to the partisan base, bypassing all the swamps, ambushes and mines. The use of well-known methods - sprinkling traces with shag, pouring urine on them did not help, because this fact only confirmed the correctness of the route. The groups began to leave one way and return another. Immediately after passing “there” the path was carefully mined. Just like after the “back” passage. The “craftsman” himself (after the death of several punitive detachments, he quickly realized what was going on and did not “fall for” this trick) was dealt with even more elegantly: by mining in front of the captive “tongue” according to the standard “return path” scheme, Then they led him along a secret sunken road. It is not known exactly how, but he still escaped and returned to his people along this road. Alive. That means the dirt is clean. The Abwehr man, rubbing his hands contentedly, asked for a large detachment, and, smiling impudently, led him around the mines this way. He himself did not return and “demobilized” two SS companies. The gate nevertheless exploded, without much noise. From both ends at the same time. There was no need to shoot; the swamp handled it 100%. The command was alarmed - how could an ENTIRE SS detachment disappear without a trace, and even without any signs of battle? But they didn’t try to find the base again until the fall of 1943.
Herman’s brigade had more than friendly relations with the local population. Thanks to the airport and railway station (!) operating on the base, reasonable supplies were established. So the villagers did not see the partisan food detachments, and the Germans preferred, for obvious reasons, not to get hold of food in the villages near the detachment and not to disturb the population with their presence again. Gradually, Herman began to change tactics in the territory under his control - from purely military to military-political. A military tribunal was organized, which held open field sessions in villages and hamlets (the institution of policemen and other elders and accomplices instantly disappeared as a biological species, and the Germans caught were transferred to the status of prisoners of war, and sent by rail to camps on the mainland... yes, yes ...past the same Podseva station).
An infirmary was opened where surrounding residents could go and receive all possible medical care. In severe cases, doctors made house calls (!). Soviet “ambulance” in the German rear. Yeah...
In order to resolve current issues, temporary village councils and executive committees were formed, which traveled to places, carried out propaganda work and received the population.
Then the irreparable happened. No, no, no executive committee was captured, and there were no sick German spies. At the next reception of the underground executive committee, a deputation of the station garrison showed up, sort of wiser heirs of Paulwitz, with the humblest request - they should be replaced, I really want to go back to Vaterland, to their families. And since the roads and bridges in the area have all been blown up, and the roads are mined and in general you can’t drive along them anyway, then... can’t they get a pass? Or get out using the partisan railway (after all, only one is operational), but in the opposite direction. And they, in general, are nothing. With all understanding. The trains pass through regularly and they even monitor the tracks so that no one causes damage.
A few days later, an officer from the local field commandant’s office showed up with a complaint about a detachment of foragers from some neighboring unit who were roaming the villages and procuring food and oats for themselves, which the villagers were not at all happy about. And since he personally and his warriors are not going to answer with their own skin for this outrage, then is it possible... this detachment... well... in general, be kicked out?
It is not known how these surreal claims ended for the petitioners (the consequences are not mentioned in the primary sources, although these facts themselves are noted), but somehow they became known to the high command, including in Berlin.
To say that the command was furious is to say nothing. A whole bunch of local leaders were arrested, convicted, demoted or sent to the front. Despite the tense situation, an ENTIRE combat-ready division, along with tanks, artillery and aircraft, and two SS units with a total number of about 4,500 people were removed from the front.” (according to other sources, 6 thousand soldiers from the 358th Wehrmacht Infantry Division).
“The enemy managed to encircle the 3rd partisan brigade on the border of two regions - Leningrad (Porkhovsky district) and Kalininsky (Pushkinogorsky district).
On the afternoon of September 5, 1943, enemy infantry, supported by tanks and artillery, launched an offensive against the 1st, 2nd and 4th regiments of the brigade,
Only in the defense sector of the 3rd regiment - it covered the southern direction - was it relatively calm. The calm in the Sorotinsky (southern) direction could not but worry the brigade command. And it decided to send reconnaissance to the village of Zhitnitsa through the villages of Barany and Zanegi in order to find out the situation on this section of the front. The reconnaissance team set out on the mission in the afternoon of September 5th. And at 17:00 in the village of Sharikhe, at a meeting of the brigade command staff, the chief of intelligence, I. I. Panchezhny, reported on the results of the raid. According to him, it turned out (and in fact it was so) that there was no enemy in the village of Zhitnitsa. This was very important, since at the meeting the question was decided: where to withdraw the brigade - north to the Porkhovsky district or south to Soroti, to the Novorzhevsky district, to the mountains and forests, where the partisans had food and ammunition bases, and areas for receiving aircraft.
We decided to withdraw the brigade from the encirclement to the south through the village of Zhitnitsa. At the same time, the brigade commander ordered I. Panchezhny to once again reconnoiter the situation in the direction of this village in the evening and report on the results at 22.00. Was reconnaissance sent again? The former commander of the 11th headquarters detachment of the brigade, retired colonel K.V. Gvozdev, answered this question in writing. He wrote the following: “We can say with confidence (this is evidenced by the beginning and course of the battle with punitive forces in the village of Zhitnitsa) that... Ivan Ivanovich did not carry out the commander’s order.” The former chief of staff of the brigade, and after the death of A.V. German, its commander, Ivan Vasilyevich Krylov, recalls: “Based on intelligence data, we decided to leave the encirclement through Zhitnitsa. The brigade commander gave the order to march, and not to defeat the punitive forces in this village - we had no information that they had appeared there. Otherwise, we would be preparing the regiments not for a campaign, but for a night battle. In such a situation, the battle formations would have been different: they would have sent the fourth regiment (which consisted mostly of very young, unfired partisans) to bypass the enemy ambush, and not to storm the Zhitnitsa garrison from the front after the third regiment. At 23.30, when we approached the village, punitive forces from Zhitnitsa greeted us with fire. For the brigade command and its fighters, this was a bolt from the blue. When did the Germans appear in the village? How many are there? What weapons do they have? For the brigade commander and headquarters, these issues were a sealed secret. For Herman there was a difficult choice: to start a night battle or to bypass the village along the Shernetka River, the Brigade Commander ordered to storm the Zhitnitsa.”
This fight was his last. Having been wounded twice, he did not leave the battlefield, but continued to drag the soldiers along with him and fell under machine-gun fire. The third wound was fatal.
It’s not without reason that even during A. Herman’s life, songs were written about him; old people in occupied villages consoled their grandchildren: “Don’t cry, General Herman will come. A tall, broad-shouldered, gray-haired old man, he will repay all offenders.” And policemen and elders of all stripes shook when they heard his name!
And this “old man” was only 28 years old! How many good and necessary things he could have done if he had remained alive! They say that in St. Petersburg there is a street named after the partisan German. (Is it still there? Haven’t they renamed it?) Do the residents of the city remember about it? Do they teach about his heroic brigade in schools? About this is amazing talented person?
You know, our nationalists first made a “great fuss” about the fact that the names of Bandera and Shukhevych were removed from the new history textbooks this year. And then they quickly put up posters and brochures containing information about these “heroes”, the UPA, their struggle “for independence”, and recommended at the local level how Additional materials for studying history in schools and universities. And they don’t care that these brochures are not recommended by any Ministry of Education! And we must give them credit! THEY FIGHT FOR THEIR HEROES. Why don't we Russians fight?
Maybe it would be worthwhile to place a page dedicated to A. Herman and his brigade in modern history textbooks? And mention other partisan detachments. I am sure that such information will interest our teenagers, and they THEMSELVES will begin to look for information about our grandfathers and fathers! And finally
Isn't his life worth making a movie about? It will turn out to be much cooler than all the American ones!
Based on materials:
http://paranoiki-sssr.livejournal.com/3920.html
I. G. Semenkov, P. A. Vasiliev ZHITNITSKAYA TRAGEDY
http://www.novorzhew.nm.ru/histor/vov/jitn.html
Re-reading Zoshchenko, I came across in the now little-known "Stories about Partisans" a story about the "Elusive detachment of Comrade Herman", which was very strong in the dense Pskov forests, and almost opened village councils and executive committees in the villages and hamlets opposite the German commandant's offices, and so on firmly defended the Soviet government, that punitive forces and other evil spirits preferred to move along “their side”, without trying to cross the road.
Very funny.
We all know Zoshchenko as an outstanding master of the grotesque, hyperbole and sarcasm. But I don’t consider him an inventor and a visionary at all, especially since the topic in those years (and the story of 1947) was more than serious.
Out of the blue, I decided to do a little research. In memoirs famous figures I didn’t find anything intelligible about the partisan movement on this score, which only provoked me.
And this is what we managed to establish.
I warn you in advance that although the stories look completely fantastic, everything stated is based on historical facts. I am not going to convince anyone and give a voluminous list of primary sources; any Doubting Thomas can easily take his own journey into history.
Let's start with the fact that there was no mysterious “Comrade Herman”. And there was a very real career officer, captain of the Red Army German Alexander Viktorovich. Born in 1915 in Leningrad. Russian. Member of the CPSU since 1942. Before the war, he lived and studied in Moscow for several years. A graduate of the Oryol Tank School, graduated from the Military Academy named after. M.V. Frunze. From July 1941 - on the North-Western Front, an intelligence department officer, responsible for communications and coordination of partisan detachments. In September 1941, he was sent to the German rear, the main task was reconnaissance, destruction of Germans and sabotage of communications. The initial strength of the detachment was about 100-150 fighters.
The detachment not only fought successfully, but also settled down in a completely unconventional way for partisans - in the depths of the forests, far from well-trodden roads, a stationary base arose, which over time turned into a real fortified area - with permanent buildings, barracks, kitchens, baths, an infirmary, headquarters, warehouses, etc. .P.
By the summer of 1942, the successes of the detachment, the commanding talent and economic abilities of Herman led to the formation of a professional partisan brigade on its base, its number increased to 2,500 people, the combat zone spread to most of the territory of Porkhovsky, Pozherevitsky, Slavkovichsky, Novorzhevsky, Ostrovsky and other districts of the Pskov region.
But let's stop. About the activities of A.V. Herman, you can talk about his military innovations and non-standard solutions for as long as you like, give hundreds of examples, and everything will be small and will not give a complete impression of this talented person.
And now - a few facts.
For the first time in partisan practice, Herman created a stationary airfield near the base, cut a clearing in the forest, equipped a runway and infrastructure for receiving heavy transport aircraft, and set up warning posts and anti-aircraft crews. The problem of supply and communication with the “mainland” was solved. Several attempts to raise fighter aircraft to intercept partisan aircraft ended in attacks (capturing the airfield, of course, was an unrealistic task) on the oil base in the city of Porkhov and aircraft warehouses in the village of Pushkinskie Gory, as a result of which all consumable supplies of fuel, ammunition and other things were destroyed. The regiment turned out to be incapable of combat and was unable to carry out combat missions at the front. They could get scolded for being partisans, but for such consequences you can actually get punished. The commander of the Luftwaffe regiment clearly understood this. And planes flew into the “forest” regularly.
However, this seemed to Herman not enough. During one of the forays, a “peat” narrow-gauge railway was discovered running near the base with rolling stock abandoned on it in a hurry during the retreat - steam locomotives, wagons and platforms. The road led to the front line, and through the most remote swamps and swamps (in fact, peat is mined there). There was one problem - a section of the narrow-gauge railway passed along the outskirts of the Podseva junction station, which served as a transit point for the German army and had a strong garrison. When transportation was necessary, crushing blows were dealt to the station each time, and “on the quiet” the partisan trains successfully passed through the bad place. In the end (I want to live), the garrison command simply stopped paying attention to the small locomotives and carriages scurrying back and forth across the outskirts of the station, especially since they did not create any special problems, behaved decently and preferred to travel at night. All this time, partisan transportation was carried out from the front line (!) to the enemy rear (!) by rail (!). This has never happened before or since.
After the planned replacement of the previous garrison, a new commandant, Major Paulwitz, arrived at the station from the headquarters. Despite the “subtle” hints from his replacement, the situation with enemy trains constantly passing through his station amazed him so much that that same evening the path was cut and another transport was ambushed. The next morning the station was captured in a swift attack and held for several days, the garrison was destroyed, the cargo was blown up or taken as trophies. Along the way, five bridges were “completely” blown up, including the strategic one across the Keb River. The road stopped for exactly 12 days. It is not known exactly who shot Paulwitz, at least in the brigade’s reports this feat is not credited to any of the partisans.
According to the recollections of the railway workers, the Germans soon pulled the barbed wire from the tracks to the narrow gauge and no longer noticed it at point-blank range.
Lovers of “befel und ordnung” began to worry about such disgrace. A special group arrived from the Abwernebenstelle of Smolensk under the command of an authoritative specialist in the fight against partisans (the name has not been preserved, and it doesn’t matter). This “craftsman” was responsible for about a dozen destroyed partisan detachments in the Smolensk region. Using his intelligence channels, Herman revealed the secret of his success: when capturing or destroying partisans, they took off their clothes and shoes, gave them a sniff to ordinary police bloodhounds - after which a squad of punitive forces followed the tracks exactly to the partisan base, bypassing all the swamps, ambushes and mines. The use of well-known methods - sprinkling traces with shag, pouring urine on them did not help, because this fact only confirmed the correctness of the route. The groups began to leave one way and return another. Immediately after passing “there” the path was carefully mined. Just like after the “back” passage. The “craftsman” himself (after the death of several punitive detachments, he quickly realized what was going on and did not “fall for” this trick) was dealt with even more elegantly: by mining in front of the captive “tongue” according to the standard “return path” scheme, Then they led him along a secret sunken road. It is not known exactly how, but he still escaped and returned to his people along this road. Alive. That means the dirt is clean. The Abwehr man, rubbing his hands contentedly, asked for a large detachment, and, smiling impudently, led him around the mines this way. He himself did not return and “demobilized” two SS companies. The gate nevertheless exploded, without much noise. From both ends at the same time. There was no need to shoot; the swamp handled it 100%. The command was alarmed - how could an ENTIRE SS detachment disappear without a trace, and even without any signs of battle? But they didn’t try to find the base again until the fall of 1943.
Herman’s brigade had more than friendly relations with the local population. Thanks to the airport and railway station (!) operating on the base, a reasonable supply was established, so the villagers did not see the partisan food detachments, and the Germans preferred, for well-known reasons, not to get hold of grub in the villages near the detachment and not to disturb the population with their presence again.
Gradually, Herman began to change tactics in the territory under his control - from purely military to military-political. A military tribunal was organized, which held open field sessions in villages and hamlets (the institution of policemen and other elders and accomplices instantly disappeared as a biological species, and the Germans caught were transferred to the status of prisoners of war, and sent by rail to camps on the mainland... yes -yes... past that same Podseva station).
An infirmary was opened where surrounding residents could go and receive all possible medical care. In severe cases, doctors made house calls (!). Soviet "ambulance" in the German rear. Yeah...
In order to resolve current issues, temporary village councils and executive committees were formed, which traveled to places, carried out propaganda work and received the population. Of course, they did not occupy the building opposite the German commandant’s office, as Zoshchenko ironically, they came for a short time and to a pre-selected place, but, nevertheless...
Then the irreparable happened. No, no, no executive committee was captured, and there were no sick German spies.
At the next reception of the underground executive committee, a deputation of the station garrison showed up, sort of wiser heirs of Paulwitz, with the humblest request - they should be replaced, I really want to go back to Vaterland, to their families. And since the roads and bridges in the area have all been blown up, and the roads are mined and in general they cannot be passed on anyway, then... is it possible for them to get a pass? Or get out using the partisan railway (after all, only one is operational), but in the opposite direction. And they, in general, are nothing. With all understanding. The trains pass through regularly and they even monitor the tracks so that no one causes damage.
A few days later, an officer from the local field commandant’s office showed up with a complaint about a detachment of foragers from some neighboring unit who were roaming the villages and procuring food and oats for themselves, which the villagers were not at all happy about. And since he personally and his warriors are not going to answer with their own skin for this outrage, then isn’t it possible... this detachment... well... in general, be kicked out?
It is not known how these surreal claims ended for the petitioners (the consequences are not mentioned in the primary sources, although these facts themselves are noted), but somehow they became known to the high command, including in Berlin.
To say that the command was furious is to say nothing. A whole bunch of local commanders and officers were arrested, convicted, demoted or sent to the front. Despite the tense situation, an ENTIRE combat-ready division, along with tanks, artillery and aircraft, and two SS units with a total strength of about 4,500 people were removed from the front.
The brigade was surrounded, stubborn fighting ensued, Herman personally commanded the withdrawal and planned another brilliant combination, and, although with losses, the brigade successfully broke through to the regular troops, destroying more than half of the attacking troops. During the battle, the commander of the 3rd partisan brigade, Colonel Alexander Viktorovich German, was wounded three times, the last wound to the head was fatal. He died on September 6, 1943 near the village of Zhitnitsy. Posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Reading the dry official report (... the brigade under the command of Herman from June 1942 to September 1943 killed 9,652 Nazis, wrecked 44 railway trains with enemy personnel and equipment, blew up 31 railway bridges, destroyed 17 enemy garrisons, up to 70 volost administrations etc...), I don’t understand why we know almost nothing about this man, how could the name of one of the most talented and successful military leaders, who had non-trivial strategic thinking, melt away in the fog of hoary antiquity?
The detailed description of the combat operations of the Alexander German brigade is completely baffling - could a person act like that, achieve such amazing results in defeating the enemy in the most difficult conditions, operating behind enemy lines, when the regular army was rapidly retreating, when the outcome of the war was still completely unknown...
Read this document, give it credit.
On the night of September 5-6, 1943, at the height of the partisan “rail” war the legendary brigade commander Alexander Viktorovich German died (May 23, 1915, Petrograd - September 6, 1943, Zhitnitsa village, Novorzhevsky district, Pskov region).
Alexander Viktorovich German was born on May 23, 1915 in Petrograd, studied at the Automotive Technical School, then at the Military School and in Moscow at the Academy. M. V. Frunze. At the beginning of the war, he was seconded to the headquarters of the North-Western Front, where he was involved in the formation of special groups to be deployed behind enemy lines.
On May 24, 1942, Senior Lieutenant A.V. German was appointed commander of the 2nd Special Brigade, which was soon renamed the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade. Largely thanks to the commander, the brigade developed its own combat tactics - flexible, mobile units of the brigade delivered a short, inevitable blow, and then quickly disappeared without engaging the enemy. As K. D. Karitsky, one of the famous partisan commanders “his (Herman’s) outstanding organizational techniques, his tactical skill have become common property.”
1943 - the height of the “rail” war of partisans against the Nazis. Herman's brigade made a significant contribution by blowing up rails, trains, and bridges. Herman's name caused fury at the headquarters of the security forces of Army Group North. A large-scale punitive operation was prepared against the brigade. On the night of September 5-6, the legendary brigade commander A.V. German died in the Zhitnitsky battle.
On September 6, 1963, on the 20th anniversary of his death, an obelisk was unveiled in the village of Zhitnitsa, Novorzhevsky district. Posthumously A.V. German was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
By order of the head of the Leningrad partisan movement headquarters dated September 7, 1943, the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade was named after its heroically deceased commander.
Literature:
- Voskresensky, M. L. German leads the brigade: memories of a partisan / M. L. Voskresensky. - L.: Lenizdat, 1965. - 215 p.: ill.
- Masolov, N. Leningrad in my heart: (about A.V. German) / N. Masolov. - M.: Politizdat, 1981. - 125 p.: ill.
- Gilev, V. The death of brigade commander Herman: about the article in “Pskovskaya Pravda” “How did the brigade commander die?” / V. Gilev // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 1992. - October 13.
- Semenov, I. (Semenkov I.). Zhitnitsa tragedy: (to the 50th anniversary of the heroic death of brigade commander A.V. German) / I. Semenov // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 1993. – September 4, 8
- Bakusov, G. Forever in people's memory / G. Bakusov // Sterkh. – 2003. – September 6. – P. 8-9, photo.
- Legendary brigade commander: [to the 95th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Viktorovich German, commander of the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade] // Novorzhevskaya Land (Novorzhevsky district). - 2010. - May 28. - (Memorable date).