Fighter Battalion

A group of commanders and fighters of the fighter battalion of the Tula department of the NKVD on the protection of the State All-Union First Arms Plant , 1941.

The Fighter Battalion is a militarized, voluntary formation of Soviet citizens capable of wielding weapons , consisting primarily of party , economic, Komsomol and trade union activists, workers who were not subject to primary recruitment in the Armed Forces of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War to fight saboteurs , parachutists , spies , puppets and collaborators of Nazi Germany, as well as deserters , bandits , profiteers and looters , that is, maintaining the state, Cored oil and public order during the regime of war in the rear of the Red Army and Navy.

The general leadership of the fighter battalions was entrusted to the Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR People's Commissar of Internal Affairs L.P. Beria , the Central Headquarters of the Fighter Battalions under the NKVD of the USSR and the operational groups (special headquarters) under the NKVD departments of the oblasts.

The officers (councils, heads of enterprises and organizations, operational workers of the NKVD and the militia were appointed as commanders ) of the extermination battalions as chiefs (in the literature they are met by commanders ).

The commanders of the fighter battalions isolated the most important objects of the USSR national economy in the area of activity of the fighter battalion led by them, such as industrial enterprises, railway structures, power stations, bridges and other objects that could be attacked by paratroopers and saboteurs of the Third Reich , and received the necessary measures to strengthen the protection and surveillance of these facilities.

The personnel of the fighter battalions (with the exception of the liberated ones) carried out their service without interruption from work in production. For the period of working time of the personnel of the ISTB, the management of enterprises and organizations have developed schemes for collecting alarms for anxiety. For greater efficiency, part of the personnel (from the number of battalion fighters who worked the shift at the enterprises) was transferred to the barracks position. At the time of performing special tasks or carrying the guard to protect objects l / s could be exempt from the main work.

Full name - Fighter Battalion (the name of the city , district or county ) of the NKVD.

History

We must organize a merciless struggle with all sorts of rearrangers, deserters, alarmists, rumors, and destroy spies, saboteurs, enemy paratroopers, rendering all of this quick assistance to our fighter battalions .
- Speech by I. V. Stalin on the radio on July 3, 1941 .

They were created by the decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of June 24, 1941 "On measures to combat enemy parachute assault forces and saboteurs in the front line " ^[1] .

Intended for the protection of military installations and for the fight against sabotage, paratrooper groups of the enemy.

Originally created in the western regions of the USSR, and in the course of advancing the front inland - in other regions.

By the end of July 1941, 1,755 fighter battalions (from 100–200 to 500 people) and 300,000 fighter battalion assistance groups were created in the USSR ^[1] .

During 1941, 1,350 battalions were sent to the army (over 250 thousand people), over 25 thousand fighters became partisans ^[1] .

Over 1,000 battalions were created on the territory of the RSFSR, 657 on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR , 78 on the territory of the Byelorussian SSR , 63 on the territory of the Moldavian SSR , and they were also created on the territory of Karelia, the Baltic and Transcaucasian republics ^[1] .

In the period up to July 7, 1941, 38 fighter battalions were created on the territory of the Karelian-Finnish SSR , the personnel of which became the basis of the first partisan detachments ^[2] .

During 1941, 16 fighter battalions were created on the territory of the Estonian SSR ^[3] .

A fighter regiment of the NKVD LO was formed on the territory of the Leningrad Region .

... on the territory of the Jewish Autonomous Region during the period from 1941 to 1944. 11 fighter battalions were formed with a total of 1,600
- Memorandum "On the activities of the NKVD fighter battalions in the Jewish Autonomous Region since their formation (1941 - 1944)" the head of the NKVD in the JAR, Lieutenant Colonel Grigoriev ^[4]

In various territories of the USSR, according to the situation in the theater of military operations, the istb were part of the Red Army, NKVD troops, or were disbanded. The personnel of the battalions left volunteers or by conscription in the army, enlisted in the ranks of the city, district and district police departments and so on. In fact, the fighter battalions were a training reserve for staffing the formations and units of the Red Army, the RKKF, border and internal troops, partisan detachments, the people's militia division, special units and the police.

Manual

The general leadership of the fighter battalions was entrusted to Commissar Beria, Deputy Chairman of the USSR SNK, Commissar Beria, the Central Headquarters of the Fighter Battalions of the NKVD of the USSR and the operational groups (special headquarters) under the NKVD directorates of the regions. The commanders of the fighter battalions appointed reliable operatives of the NKVD and the police.

Until the end of the war, many fighter battalions maintained dual subordination: to the local NKVD structures and local committees of the CPSU (b). Therefore, conflict situations often arose, which led to frequent changes in battalion leadership, a difference in the understanding of their missions at a particular stage of the war.

Type

Fighter battalions were

city department of the NKVD;
district department of the NKVD;
district department of the NKVD.

The central headquarters of the fighter battalions operated under the NKVD of the USSR, the operational groups (special headquarters) under the departments of the NKVD (UNKVD) of the regions. Fighter battalions were divided into companies and platoons .

Armament and equipment

Each fighter battalion of the city, district and district departments of the NKVD was armed, at the request of the NKVD, with two light machine guns , rifles , revolvers and, if possible, grenades . But since modern weapons were not enough at the front, everything that could be used came to the armament of the fighter battalions — old rifles from various countries, Cossack savers and other cold weapons, Lewis light machine guns, Mauser carbines ( Polish trophy property), incendiary bottles, uniforms were not supposed (except for the Fighter Battalions of the UNKVD Moscow Region). The local leadership solved the tasks of arming the battalions independently.

Fighter battalions were given the right to use, when necessary, all types of local communications, transport (cars, motorcycles, bicycles, horses and carts).

Manning

... detachments must be chosen by comrades checked on business and political qualities, who are not currently entering the ranks of the army . Those selected in the detachments should be reduced to detachments , platoons, companies, battalions modeled on the Red Army, with which to immediately begin military training in the program available in the district committees .
The task of the detachments is to ensure tranquility in the area, guard the communications line, the railway and important industrial facilities, as well as combat paratroopers and sabotage groups.
- State archive of the Murmansk region (GAMO), f. P-1, op. 1, d. 397, l. 87 ^[5]

On the territory of Moscow and the Moscow region, the duties of the fighter battalions also included patrolling and assisting the police in maintaining public order during an air raid. The personnel of the battalions were formed from those who were not subject to mandatory mobilization . The battalions were sent to the front, to the places of the enemy's breakthrough of the front line, as well as to the destruction of German saboteurs and gangs in the Soviet rear .

In the present, I ask you to take me to the extermination battalion , since I wish to protect our Motherland from fascist saboteurs, I will fight to the last drop of blood, not sparing my life, and I will carry out all the orders, and therefore I ask you not to refuse my request.
- Grigory Ivanovich Kruchinin, a worker in the Oshta district of the Vologda region

The commanders ( commanders ) of the battalions were appointed, as a rule, by the NKVD officers or the leaders of the local structures of the Communist Party at the level of secretaries of district committees and above.

In each administrative region formed one fighter battalion.

Legal basis

Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of June 24, 1941 No. 1738-746ss "On measures to combat parachute assault forces and saboteurs of the enemy in the front line";
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR "On the protection of enterprises and institutions and the creation of extermination battalions" - ( This decree did not exist in reality . For details, see: K. Chickencov. The Mystery of the Two Decisions // Old Zeihgauz . 2009. No. 31. [1] .) Pp. 55-56
Order of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs No. 00804, dated June 25, 1941 “Pursuant to the decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated June 24, 1941“ On measures to combat paratroopers and saboteurs of the enemy in the front line ” ^[6] .
Order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 001344, dated September 21, 1941.

Formations

Not all are presented:

1st Fighter Battalion of the Leningrad Front
4th Fighter Battalion of the Leningrad Front
5th Fighter Battalion of the Leningrad Front

Performance Assessment

The evaluation of the activities of the extermination battalions , their undoubted contribution to the victory of the Soviet people over the enemy, has never been distinguished by the unity and indisputable judgments of foreign and Soviet writers, propagandists, and so on. Some scientists, researchers, propagandists have seen and see in the history during the years of the Great Patriotic War the implementation of the exclusively protective function of the USSR, first of all, from the point of view of state and internal security. Others viewed and view the people's battalions as the punitive organs of the party and government, the reserve and support of the territorial structures of the NKVD Soviet Republics of the Union. Some saw in their activities attempts by the authorities to implement the Bolshevik slogan of “universal arms of the people” controlled by the organizations of the All - Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of the Soviet republics to fight against external and internal enemy, in the state of workers, peasants and intellectuals, and so on and so forth.

In-depth study of archival materials, scientific literature and periodicals by researchers makes it possible to analyze and give an objective assessment of the actions of personnel of the fighter battalions when performing tasks both to repel the aggression of Hitler and his allies, and to protect the rear of the USSR Armed Forces from attempts of external and internal enemy to destabilize it peaceful environment, state, internal and public security, to preserve the life and health of citizens of the state.

Notes

↑ ¹ ² ³ ⁴ People’s Militia in the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945 // Great Soviet Encyclopedia. / ed. A. M. Prokhorov. 3rd ed. Volume 17. M., “Soviet Encyclopedia”, 1974. p. 269-270
↑ K.A. Morozov. In the years of the military // Chekists of Karelia: articles, essays, stories. 2nd ed., Rev. and add. Petrozavodsk, Karelia, 1986. pp. 141-159
↑ V.I. Grinkevich, V.I. Savchenko. In the struggle for the Baltic States // Red Banner Baltic Fleet in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people, 1941-1945. (in 4 books). Book 1. The defense of the Baltic States and Leningrad. M., "Science", 1990. pp. 62-70
↑ Dmitrieva Ye. V., About the organization and activities of the fighter battalions of the NKVD administration in the Jewish Autonomous Region during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. (according to documents of OGBU "Gosarhiv EAO").
↑ The site of the State Archive of the Murmansk region, Fighter battalions. Archived copy of April 29, 2014 on Wayback Machine
↑ Alexander Mikhailovich Tyranin, Sudden and Expected. Documents of the Leningrad Directorate of the NKGB - NKVD, Part 2, the beginning of the war.

Literature

The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 Dictionary reference. Moscow: Politizdat, 1985, p. 195.
Bilenko S.V. Fighter battalions in the Great Patriotic War. M., 1969.
Bilenko S. V. “On the protection of the rear of the country. Fighter battalions and regiments in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 ”, M., 1988.
Bannikov FG. Fighter battalions in the Great Patriotic War. M., 1968 .-- 211 p.
Baryshnikov N. I., Baryshnikov V. N., Fedorov V. G. Finland in the Second World War L., 1989. - 336 p.
B. Belov. The Phantom and the Reality of Barbarossa in Stalin's Politics (Spring-Summer 1941) // Questions of History, 2003. No. 6.
Belozerov B.N. Front without borders. 1941-1945 (historical and legal analysis of the security of the front and rear of the North-West). SPb., 2001.
Kozlov A.V. Devil's Advocates. The history of the armed nationalist underground in Western Ukraine in the 40s-50s. XX century: the main methods and directions of falsification. M .: On the line of duty, 2012. C. 19-20.
Kozlov A.V. The whole truth about the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). M .: "Publishing Veche", 2014. S. 52-53.
Kozlov A.V. Volyn Massacre: Ukrainian-Polish Armed Confrontation in 1943-1944. // Military history magazine № 10. 2012.
Tsyplenkov K. “Moscow Fighter Battalions. July-October 1941 » Old Zeihgauz . 2009. № 31.
Panchenko B. B. Fighter battalion. Stalingrad, 1943.
Petrov B.N. How Pskov was abandoned // Military-Historical Journal. 1993. № 6.
Petrov MN The Secret War on Novgorod Land. V. Novgorod, 2005 .-- 453 p.
Hävitajad: Nõukogude hävituspataljonid Eestis 1944-1954. Dokumentide kogumik ( Fighters: Soviet fighter battalions in Estonia 1944-1954. Collection of documents ). Compiled by: Tiit Noormets and Valdur Ohmann . - Tallinn: State Archive of Estonia , 2006. - 326 pages. - ISBN 9789985951040 (est.)
Albert Starodubtsev, Double-invisible front. Leningrad security officers in the rear of the enemy.
In the rear of the enemy. The struggle of partisans and underground fighters in the occupied territory of the Leningrad region. In 4 books. 1941-1944 L .: Lenizdat., 1979-1985.
Vladimir Filippovich Nekrasov (editor), Encyclopedia, Ministry of the Interior of Russia.
Kozlov ND Public consciousness during the Great Patriotic War. 1941-1945. SPb .: Publishing house LOIU., 1995. - 142 p.
Leningrad epic. The organization of defense and the population of the city. SPb. : St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Russian History, Russian Academy of Sciences, 1995. - 293 p.
B. N. Kovalev. Nazi Occupation Regime and Collaboration in Russia (1941—1944). V. Novgorod: Nov. GU them. I. Wise, 2001. - 482 p.
Alexander Mikhailovich Tyranin, Sudden and Expected. Documents of the Leningrad Directorate of the NKGB - NKVD, Part 2, the beginning of the war.
Ye. V. Dmitrieva, On the organization and activities of the NKVD fighter battalions in the Jewish Autonomous Region during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 (according to documents of the State Archive of the State Archive of the Autonomous Region of Belarus).

Links

[autogenerated1-1] ¹ ² ³ ⁴ People’s Militia in the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945 // Great Soviet Encyclopedia. / ed. A. M. Prokhorov. 3rd ed. Volume 17. M., “Soviet Encyclopedia”, 1974. p. 269-270

[2] K.A. Morozov. In the years of the military // Chekists of Karelia: articles, essays, stories. 2nd ed., Rev. and add. Petrozavodsk, Karelia, 1986. pp. 141-159

[3] V.I. Grinkevich, V.I. Savchenko. In the struggle for the Baltic States // Red Banner Baltic Fleet in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people, 1941-1945. (in 4 books). Book 1. The defense of the Baltic States and Leningrad. M., "Science", 1990. pp. 62-70

[4] Dmitrieva Ye. V., About the organization and activities of the fighter battalions of the NKVD administration in the Jewish Autonomous Region during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. (according to documents of OGBU "Gosarhiv EAO").

[5] The site of the State Archive of the Murmansk region, Fighter battalions. Archived copy of April 29, 2014 on Wayback Machine

[6] Alexander Mikhailovich Tyranin, Sudden and Expected. Documents of the Leningrad Directorate of the NKGB - NKVD, Part 2, the beginning of the war.