The scope of the partisan movement is evidenced by a number of major operations carried out jointly with the Red Army. One of them was called "Rail War". It was carried out in August-September 1943 on the enemy-occupied territory of the RSFSR, the Belarusian and part of the Ukrainian SSR with the aim of disabling the railway communications of the Nazi troops. This operation was connected with the plans of the Headquarters to complete the defeat of the Nazis on Kursk Bulge, conducting the Smolensk operation and offensive with the aim of liberating Left Bank Ukraine. The TsShPD also attracted Leningrad, Smolensk, and Oryol partisans to carry out the operation.

The order for Operation Rail War was given on June 14, 1943. Local partisan headquarters and their representatives at the fronts assigned areas and objects of action to each partisan formation. The partisans were supplied with explosives and fuses from the “Mainland”; reconnaissance was actively carried out on the enemy’s railway communications. The operation began on the night of August 3 and continued until mid-September. The fighting behind enemy lines took place over an area of ​​about 1,000 km along the front and 750 km in depth; about 100 thousand partisans took part in them with the active support of the local population.

Powerful blow to railways on territory occupied by the enemy turned out to be a complete surprise to him. For a long time, the Nazis were unable to counteract the partisans in an organized manner. During Operation Rail War, over 215 thousand railway rails were blown up, many trains with Nazi personnel and military equipment were derailed, railway bridges and station structures were blown up. The capacity of the railways decreased by 35-40%, which thwarted the Nazis' plans to accumulate material resources and concentrate troops, and seriously hampered the regrouping of enemy forces.

The same goals, but during the upcoming offensive Soviet troops in the Smolensk, Gomel directions and the battle for the Dnieper, the partisan operation was subordinated to code name"Concert". It was carried out on September 19 - November 1, 1943 on the fascist-occupied territory of Belarus Karelia, in the Leningrad and Kalinin regions, in the territory of Latvia, Estonia, Crimea, covering a front of about 900 km and a depth of over 400 km.

It was a planned continuation of Operation Rail War; it was closely connected with the upcoming offensive of Soviet troops in the Smolensk and Gomel directions and during the Battle of the Dnieper. 193 partisan detachments (groups) from Belarus, the Baltic states, Karelia, Crimea, Leningrad and Kalinin regions (over 120 thousand people) were involved in the operation, which were supposed to undermine more than 272 thousand rails.

On the territory of Belarus, more than 90 thousand partisans took part in the operation; they had to blow up 140 thousand rails. The Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement intended to throw 120 tons of explosives and other cargo to the Belarusian partisans, and 20 tons to the Kaliningrad and Leningrad partisans.

Due to the sharp deterioration of weather conditions, by the start of the operation it was possible to transfer only about half of the planned amount of cargo to the partisans, so it was decided to begin mass sabotage on September 25. However, some of the detachments that had already reached the initial lines could not take into account the changes in the timing of the operation and began to implement it on September 19. On the night of September 25, simultaneous actions were carried out according to the plan of Operation Concert on a front of about 900 km (excluding Karelia and Crimea) and in a depth of over 400 km.

Local headquarters of the partisan movement and their representation at the fronts assigned areas and objects of action to each partisan formation. The partisans were provided with explosives and fuses, mine-explosive classes were held at “forest courses”, metal from captured shells and bombs was mined at local “factories”, and fastenings for metal bombs to rails were made in workshops and forges. Reconnaissance was actively carried out on the railways. The operation began on the night of August 3 and continued until mid-September. The actions took place on an area with a length of about 1000 km along the front and 750 km in depth, about 100 thousand partisans took part in them, who were helped by the local population. A powerful blow to the railway. lines was unexpected for the enemy, who for some time could not counteract the partisans in an organized manner. During the operation, about 215 thousand rails were blown up, many trains were derailed, railway bridges and station buildings were blown up. The massive disruption of enemy communications significantly complicated the regrouping of retreating enemy troops, complicated their supply, and thereby contributed to the successful offensive of the Red Army.

The objective of Operation Concert was to disable large sections of railway lines in order to disrupt enemy transport. The bulk of the partisan formations began fighting on the night of September 25, 1943. During Operation Concert, Belarusian partisans alone blew up about 90 thousand rails, derailed 1041 enemy trains, destroyed 72 railway bridges, and defeated 58 invader garrisons. Operation Concert caused serious difficulties in the transportation of Nazi troops. Railway capacity has decreased by more than three times. This made it very difficult for the Nazi command to maneuver their forces and provided enormous assistance to the advancing Red Army troops.

It is impossible to list here all the partisan heroes whose contribution to the victory over the enemy was so noticeable in the common struggle of the Soviet people over German fascist invaders. During the war, wonderful partisan command cadres grew up - S.A. Kovpak, A.F. Fedorov, A.N. Saburov, V.A. Begma, N.N. Popudrenko and many others. In terms of its scale, political and military results, the nationwide struggle of the Soviet people in the territories occupied by Hitler's troops acquired the significance of an important military-political factor in the defeat of fascism. The selfless activities of the partisans and underground fighters received national recognition and high praise from the state. More than 300 thousand partisans and underground fighters were awarded orders and medals, including over 127 thousand - the medal "Partisan of the Great Patriotic War"1st and 2nd degree, 248 awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Geography of the operation

193 partisan formations (over 120 thousand people) from Belarus, the Baltic states, Karelia, Crimea, Leningrad and Kalinin regions took part in the operation. The length of the operation along the front is about 900 kilometers (excluding Karelia and Crimea) and in depth over 400 kilometers. This operation was closely connected with the upcoming offensive of Soviet troops in the Smolensk and Gomel directions and the Battle of the Dnieper. The leadership was carried out by the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement.

Purpose of the operation

Disabling large sections of railway lines in order to disrupt enemy military transport.

Preparing the operation

Each partisan formation received a specific combat mission. Mass training of partisans in mine demolition was established. Due to deteriorating weather conditions, Soviet aviation delivered only 50 percent of the planned cargo to the partisans by September 19, so the start date of the operation was postponed to September 25.

Progress of the operation

Part of the partisan brigades reached their original lines and on the night of September 19 struck at railway communications. The bulk of the partisan formations began fighting on the night of September 25. The fascist command made efforts to restore railway traffic: new railway restoration battalions were transferred to Belarus, and the local population was rounded up for repair work. Rails and sleepers were delivered from Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Germany, but the partisans again disabled the repaired sections. The operation was abandoned due to a lack of explosives.

Results of the operation

During the operation, about 150 thousand rails were undermined. The Belarusian partisans alone blew up about 90 thousand rails, 1041 trains, blew up 72 railway bridges, and destroyed 58 garrisons. As a result of the partisans' actions, the railway capacity decreased by 35-40 percent, which significantly complicated the regrouping of fascist troops and provided great assistance to the advancing Soviet Army.

Literature

• The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945: encyclopedia.- / Ch. ed. MM. Kozlov. -M.: Sov. Encyclopedia, 1985. -832 p. with illustration, 35 l. ill.
• Rail transport: Encyclopedia / Ch. ed. N.S. Konarev. -M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 1994. ISBN 5-85270-115-7

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See what “Operation Concert” is in other dictionaries:

This term has other meanings, see Concert (meanings). Operation "Concert" Great Patriotic War Date September 19 end of October 1943 ... Wikipedia Great Patriotic War Date August 3 September 15, 1943 Place Belarusian SSR, Leningrad region

... Wikipedia

Great Patriotic War Date September November 1943 Place Belarusian SSR, Leningrad region, Kalinin region ... Wikipedia

Operation “Concert” is the code name of the operation of Soviet partisans carried out from September 19 to the end of October 1943, a continuation of Operation “Rail War”. Contents 1 Geography of the operation 2 Purpose of the operation 3 Preparation ... Wikipedia - “CONCERT”, the name of the operation of Soviet partisans 19.9 late October 1943 during the Great Patriotic War to disable the enemy’s railway communications in the occupied territory of Belarus, Karelia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia,... ...

encyclopedic Dictionary OPERATION “HAPPY NEW YEAR”, Russia, STV/Nikola film, 1996, color, 93 min. New Year's comedy. The film “Operation Happy New Year!” disappointed many fans of “Peculiarities of the National Hunt”. And indeed: in place of a burlesque comedy with strong... ...

Encyclopedia of Cinema I Concerto (German Konzert, from Italian concerto concert, harmony, agreement, from Latin concerto compete) a musical work in which a minority of the participating instruments or voices opposes the majority or the entire ensemble,... ...

Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Great Patriotic War Date August 26, 1943 September 30, 1943 Place ... Wikipedia

Soviet partisans in Belarus, 1943 Soviet partisans are an integral part of the anti-fascist Resistance movement [clarify], who fought using guerrilla warfare methods ... Wikipedia

Books

• Road to Berlin. “From victory to victory”, Isaev Alexey Valerievich. Night of January 12, 1945. The Red Army is ready to launch a decisive offensive on the Vistula. The noise of engines in the last regroupings on the Sandomierz bridgehead is masked by loud music through...

The summer of 1943 became a kind of moment of truth in the Great Patriotic War. The Nazis suffered painful defeats at Moscow and Stalingrad, but the German war machine continued to function, and the Nazis hoped to seize the initiative near Kursk.

Thanks to the coordinated actions of the special services, the Soviet command was well informed about the plans of the Wehrmacht. Therefore, it was not a surprise for Moscow that the Nazis concentrated about 900 thousand manpower in the Kursk area, as well as large volumes of armored vehicles, artillery and aviation. In response, the Soviet side built eight lines of defense, and also put about 1.3 million soldiers and officers on alert.

At the same time, there was a chance that, having failed to cope with the task of breaking through the Soviet defense, the Nazis would try to transfer reserves to the Eastern Front, which would allow them, if not to achieve an advantage at Kursk, then at least to stop a potential counter-offensive of the Red Army. Each extra regiment redeployed from Europe in the summer and autumn of 1943 could have cost the Soviet troops dearly. In order to make rail transportation across the USSR as difficult as possible for the Wehrmacht, the command decided to mobilize partisans.

By that time, they already had some experience in attacking enemy railway communications, but in 1943 such attacks began to occur systematically. The idea of ​​massive destruction of enemy trains and thus blocking transport communications was supported by Colonel Ilya Starinov.

Ilya Starinov was born in 1900 in the village of Voinovo, Oryol province. In 1918 he was drafted into the Red Army, was captured, escaped, and was wounded. After recovery, he was transferred to a sapper company of an engineering battalion, as part of which he took part in the defeat of the Whites in the Crimea. This appointment largely determined Starinov’s future fate. In 1921, the young Red Army soldier entered the Voronezh School of Military Railway Technicians and a year later became the head of the demolition team of the 4th Korosten Red Banner Railway Regiment. After training at the Leningrad School of Military Railway Technicians, Starinov was promoted to company commander.

In the 1920-1930s, as a military expert in subversive affairs, he trained specialists in the installation of mine-explosive barriers, and then future saboteurs. In 1933, he was transferred to serve in the Main Intelligence Directorate under the General Staff, and then entered the Military Transport Academy. After graduation, he became deputy military commandant of the Leningrad-Moskovskaya station.

However, Starinov did not like administrative work. In 1936, he was sent to Spain, where he personally prepared large-scale sabotage operations against the Francoists and conducted mine-explosive training for Republican fighters. Upon returning to his homeland, Starinov became the head of the central scientific testing site of the railway troops, and then took part in the Soviet-Finnish war. In 1940, he was appointed to the post of head of the mining and barriers department of the Main Military Engineering Directorate.

• Ilya Starinov
• Wikipedia

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Starinov led the work on constructing barriers and mining, first on the Western and then on the Southwestern Front. Thanks to the “surprises” left by Starinov and his subordinates in Kharkov, a number of high-ranking German officers were eliminated. In November 1941, Ilya Starinov was appointed deputy chief of staff of the engineering troops of the Red Army, and then, having changed several more “sabotage” posts, including command of an engineering special forces brigade, in May 1943 he became deputy chief of the Ukrainian headquarters of the partisan movement.

Over the years of service, Starinov accumulated the richest personal experience sabotage work using explosives. In addition, he summarized and analyzed all the key episodes of the activities of his subordinates. Starinov constantly advocated increasing the supply of mines and explosives to the partisans to organize large-scale sabotage on the railways.

"Rail War"

In the summer of 1943, on the eve of Battle of Kursk, Starinov’s ideas were accepted for consideration by the country’s top military leadership. However, some adjustments were made to them, which, as Starinov later noted in his memoirs, he perceived negatively. Thus, in the course of organizing sabotage on the railway tracks, it was decided to focus on destroying the rails, while Starinov himself believed that the enemy’s trains should be derailed and bridges blown up first.

In June 1943, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus adopted a resolution “On the destruction of enemy railway communications using the method of rail warfare.” The document proposed inflicting a massive sabotage strike on the enemy.

On July 14, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to conduct Operation Rail War, and on August 3, the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement began to implement it. 167 partisan brigades and individual detachments with a total number of about 100 thousand people were involved in the operation. It was carried out on the territory of the BSSR, Ukrainian SSR and the occupied regions of the RSFSR.

On the very first night of the operation, 42 thousand rails were blown up, and during the entire period of its implementation - about 215 thousand out of 11 million located in the occupied territories. In addition, on the lands of Belarus alone, the partisans derailed 836 Nazi trains and 3 armored trains. By the fall, the volume of enemy transportation had decreased by 40%. The capacity of the railways decreased, and the Nazi command had to send additional forces to their defense, which never made it to the front.

“The actions of the partisans seriously complicated the life of the German command. So, in the rear of Army Group Center from August 3 to 6 (at the height of the Soviet... RT) railway communication was completely stopped. General Kurt von Tippelskirch, who at that time headed the 12th Corps of Army Group Center, later recalled that the actions of the partisans were one of the key factors that disrupted the interaction between Army Groups South and Center, especially in Section 2 th Army,” Sergei Belov, scientific secretary of the Victory Museum, candidate of historical sciences, told RT.

"Concert" and "Bagration"

Already on August 11, 1943, Hitler’s headquarters gave the order to create a system defensive structures in the Dnieper region. On August 26, Soviet troops began implementing a set of interconnected strategic operations known as the Battle of the Dnieper. The Nazis struggled to stop the Soviet advance on the Ukrainian Left Bank and give their engineering units time to prepare new defensive lines on the Dnieper.

The first stage of the "Rail War" ended on September 15. But giving a break to German transport workers was unacceptable. The second stage of the operation was called “Concert”. Already 193 partisan units, numbering about 120 thousand people, took part in it. The rail “Concert” was supposed to begin on September 19, but the delivery of explosives was complicated by bad weather conditions, and the start of the operation was postponed to the 25th.

The “concert” covered almost the entire front, with the exception of Karelia and Crimea. The partisans sought to provide Soviet troops with conditions for an offensive in Belarus and in the battle for the Dnieper. During September-October 1943, the partisans managed to destroy another 150 thousand rails. In Belarus alone they derailed over a thousand trains. However, the operation was then stopped due to a shortage of explosives.

• Demoman places explosives under the rails
• RIA News

They decided to return to the practice of rail warfare in the summer of 1944. In June, one of the largest military operations in the history of mankind was planned - Bagration. On the night of June 19-20, the partisans began to take active action. According to the German command, fighters of Soviet partisan detachments simultaneously carried out over 10 thousand explosions of enemy communications.

“On the night before the general Russian offensive in the sector of Army Group Center, at the end of June 1944, a powerful distracting partisan raid on all important roads deprived the German troops of any control for several days. During this one night, the partisans laid about 10.5 thousand mines and charges, of which only 3.5 thousand were detected and neutralized. Communication along many highways, due to partisan raids, could only be carried out during the day and only accompanied by an armed convoy,” - Colonel Hermann Teske, the head of rear communications of Army Group Center, subsequently stated.

Large-scale offensive operations Soviet troops were allowed to complete the liberation of USSR territory by the end of 1944.

“Although it was at one time mythologized in a certain way, it can be stated that they played a huge role during the Battle of Kursk and Operation Bagration,” explained writer and historian Alexander Kolpakidi in an interview with RT.

According to him, today the history of this issue, as well as the history of the partisan movement as a whole, has not been sufficiently studied.

“We know little about the partisans. On some issues we are still captive of myths and misconceptions. For example, many perceive all the actions of partisans behind enemy lines as some kind of initiative. But this is not true at all. The partisan detachments operated under the leadership of the headquarters of the partisan movement, the NKVD and the GRU. Moreover, these three systems did not intersect. Due to the secrecy regime in force since then, the public still does not even know how many headquarters and departments involved in the partisan movement were operating at the same time, and who led them,” Kolpakidi emphasized in an interview with RT.

“It was difficult to verify this. There were postscripts. For example, they liked to record every destroyed enemy as a German, although in fact a significant part of them were police collaborators, who were still much easier to eliminate. On the other hand, the partisans themselves did not even know about part of their great merits: after all, no one counted how many opponents were destroyed as a result of the attack on the column,” Kolpakidi noted.

As an example, the expert cited the liquidation of a number of influential Nazi functionaries, for example, SS Brigadeführer Walter Stalker, who was killed in 1942 by partisans near Leningrad, but who exactly and how is still unknown.

• In Soviet Ukraine, liberated from the German occupiers, during the Great Patriotic War
• RIA News

According to Kolpakidi, the so-called Soviet factor was of great importance at that time.

“People went into the forest not just to beat the Germans, but to join the Soviet detachments. Even the Poles who were killed by Bandera’s followers in Volyn, for the most part, fled not to the Home Army, whose fighters many of them considered traitors, but to the detachments of the USSR. In general, in Ukraine, approximately six times more people fought in the ranks of Soviet partisan forces. more people, than was included in the nationalist formations. The contribution of the partisans both to the rail war and to the victory in general was very significant,” the expert noted.

A similar point of view is shared by the writer, candidate of historical sciences Aleksey Isaev.

“It’s difficult to overestimate. As for the rail war, the effect would have been greater if the leadership had directed the partisans to destroy not rails, but trains and locomotives. The Nazis had rails, and they, although with difficulty, changed them and restored them, but there were not enough locomotives.

The best evidence of the effectiveness of the partisans’ actions is the admissions of the Germans themselves, who wrote that the actions of their transport workers were significantly hampered,” Isaev concluded.

Great Patriotic War Date August 3 September 15, 1943 Place Belarusian SSR, Leningrad region ... Wikipedia

... Wikipedia

Great Patriotic War Date September November 1943 Place Belarusian SSR, Leningrad region, Kalinin region ... Wikipedia

Operation “Concert” is the code name of the operation of Soviet partisans carried out from September 19 to the end of October 1943, a continuation of Operation “Rail War”. Contents 1 Geography of the operation 2 Purpose of the operation 3 Preparation ... Wikipedia - “CONCERT”, the name of the operation of Soviet partisans 19.9 late October 1943 during the Great Patriotic War to disable the enemy’s railway communications in the occupied territory of Belarus, Karelia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia,... ...

encyclopedic Dictionary OPERATION “HAPPY NEW YEAR”, Russia, STV/Nikola film, 1996, color, 93 min. New Year's comedy. The film “Operation Happy New Year!” disappointed many fans of “Peculiarities of the National Hunt”. And indeed: in place of a burlesque comedy with strong... ...

Encyclopedia of Cinema I Concerto (German Konzert, from Italian concerto concert, harmony, agreement, from Latin concerto compete) a musical work in which a minority of the participating instruments or voices opposes the majority or the entire ensemble,... ...

Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Great Patriotic War Date August 26, 1943 September 30, 1943 Place ... Wikipedia

Soviet partisans in Belarus, 1943 Soviet partisans are an integral part of the anti-fascist Resistance movement [clarify], who fought using guerrilla warfare methods ... Wikipedia

Books

• Road to Berlin. “From victory to victory”, Isaev Alexey Valerievich. Night of January 12, 1945. The Red Army is ready to launch a decisive offensive on the Vistula. The noise of engines in the last regroupings on the Sandomierz bridgehead is masked by loud music through...
• Road to Berlin From victory to victory, Isaev A.. Night of January 12, 1945. The Red Army is ready to launch a decisive offensive on the Vistula. The noise of engines in the last regroupings on the Sandomierz bridgehead is masked by loud music through...

Guerrilla operation "Concert"

Partisans are people who voluntarily fight as part of armed, organized partisan forces in territory occupied by the enemy - sabotage brigades behind enemy lines. Russian partisans have terrified invaders at all times. During the Great Patriotic War, mass resistance of the population to the fascists, combat and sabotage actions of partisans had important: partisans destroyed large fascist garrisons, mined rails and blew up bridges and warehouses of the fascists.

The year 1943 went down in the history of partisan warfare as the year of massive attacks on the railway communications of the Nazi troops.

The partisans actively participated in major operations on enemy communications - “Rail War” and “Concert”.
“Concert” is the code name for the operation of the Soviet partisans in the fall of 1943.
193 partisan formations (brigades and separate detachments, more than 120 thousand people in total) took part in the operation. The leadership was carried out by the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement.
The objective of Operation Concert was to disable large sections of railway lines in order to disrupt enemy military transport.
193 partisan formations took part in the “Concert” - in total over 120 thousand people! The leadership was carried out by the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement.

Each partisan unit received a specific combat mission, which included blowing up rails, organizing the collapse of enemy military trains, destroying road structures, disabling communications, water supply systems, etc.
Detailed combat plans were developed and mass training of partisans in demolition work was organized.

In the fall of 1943, partisan formations literally attacked the enemy’s railway communications.
The bulk of the partisan formations began hostilities on the night of September 25, defeating the enemy guards and taking possession of the railway tracks, they began mass destruction and mining of the railway track.
The command of the German troops, shocked by the scale of the partisan operation "Concert", made enormous efforts to restore traffic on the railways.
The Nazis hastily transferred new railway restoration battalions from Germany and even from the front line, and the local population was rounded up for repair work. Rails and sleepers were delivered from Poland, Czechoslovakia and Germany, but the partisans again and again undermined the repaired sections.

During Operation Concert, in the Belarusian direction alone, partisans blew up about 90 thousand rails and derailedmore than 1000 enemy trains, destroyed 72 railway bridges. All this caused serious complications in the transportation of Nazi troops.