On February 23, 1943, an event occurred under Vitebsky, which for political subtext came far beyond the battle of local importance.
On the day of the Red Army on the side of the partisans, surrounded by German troops, the 825th battalion of the Volzh-Tatar Legion passed entirely. It was formed by the Nazis from Soviet prisoners of war, mainly Tatars. By creating this military unit, as well as other similar formations, the Nazis tried to play a "national map" in the war against the USSR. Documents from a special archive in Moscow and the archives of the partisan movement in Belarus, studied by Dr. Military Sciences, Army General M. Gareev and Dr. Historical Sciences, Professor A. Akhtonzyan, made it possible to find out the details of the previously unknown battle page with fascism.
From among the prisoners of war, the Germans created more than 180 parts. In total, these parts were:
- Three Russian brigades with a number of 13,000, 12,000 and 18,000;
- parts from Latvian - only 104,000 people, from Lithuanians - 36,800 people;
- from Azerbaijanis - 36,500 people, from Georgians - 19,000 people, from the North Caucasus - 15,000 people, from Tatars - 12,500 people, from the Crimean Tatars - 10,000 people, from Armenians - 7,000 people, from Kalmykov - 5000 human. Only 298,800 people.
The formation of the Volga-Tatar Legion began in the fall of 1942 on the territory of the occupied Poland in the area of the town Edllino near Radom. One of the first was prepared for sending the 825th Legion Battalion of the Legion about 1000 people to the area of hostilities. Her headquarters consisted of German officers.
On February 18, 1943, Battalion Echelon was taken to Vitebsk, in the vicinity of which the invaders blocked several large partisan detachments. The destroyers of their Nazis intended the hands of the former Soviet prisoners of war.
In a particularly difficult position, the partisan brigades operated in the area of Vitebsk. In the current report preserved, the current situation is reflected in several lines: "6000 partisans were surrounded in the area of enemy squads with a total number of up to 28,000 people who had artillery, tanks and aviation."
Among others, the 1st Vitebsk partisan brigade under the command under the command of Mikhail Biryulin, which had about 500 people turned out to be among others. But the guerrilla intelligence continued to act. Already three days after the arrival of the 825th battalion, she found that for the rescue of the German division, which conducted a punitive operation, was broken by a separate part formed from the prisoners of Tatars, Bashkir and Chuvash. And they received this information, which is called, first-hand. It turned out that the leaders of the underground group in the "Tatar" battalion Rashit Hadzhiev and Rakhimov immediately began to search for ties with the partisans at the place immediately upon arrival.
Initially, the connected Nina Buynichenko reported that the military doctor of the arrived battalion, called Zhukov, came to the house. (Later it turned out that real surname - wolves.) He asked who would help "find a move" to partisans. Buckinichenko after coordination with his offered Zhukov to send parliamentary to the forest for negotiations. The conductor became a resident of the village of Senkovo Stepan Mikhalchenko. When meeting with partisans, parliamentary, including Fahrutdinov, Lutfin and Tububin, explained that they act on the task of an underground organization created even during the formation of a battalion in Edllino.
At the meeting at the headquarters of the brigade, various transition options have long weighed, it is logical to assume that provocation is possible. As a result, we decided to agree, but when complying with some conditions. First, they demanded that the battalion first eliminated not only its German officers, but also Hitler's garrisons in Senkovo villages, rhelyo and Suwara. Secondly, to go into the forest, divided into three groups, and in a certain sequence. Thirdly, immediately fold the weapon. The signal to the beginning of the operation should be the explosion of the battalion headquarters and the start of three signal missiles.
Parliamentary conditions accepted. But only two went back, leaving Lutful and Tububin as hostages.
However, the case almost ended in failure. Before the tallest moment of Nazis, having received someone's denominations, grabbed the heads of the Underfonnal Group of Rashita Khadzhiyev and Rakhimov. They were immediately sent to Vitebsk and shot.
Guide to the transition of the battalion took over the commander of the staff company Husain Mamedov. He ordered Gary Galiva to destroy the battalion headquarters. At the same time, the teams are moved to the forest. In the first, the largest of them, safely coming to her night from 22 to February 23, there were 506 people. Their weapon has significantly replenished the arsenal partisan. Then followed the rest.
In the preserved report of the command of the partisan brigades, the episode is described as follows: "By destroying the German command, 23.2.43 at 14.00 the entire battalion passed on the side of the partisans as part of the 930 people who were in service with three 45-millimeter guns, 100 manual and 1 machinery machine gun, 550 rifles, Ammunition kits and in full, battalion traffic. Runs were distributed between the Brigades Zakharov and Biryulin. Subsequently, the soldiers of this battalion participated in the battles on the breakthrough by the enemy blockade, where the courage and heroism in the fight against German invaders were shown. "
There is information about the operation and in the investigation materials undertaken by the NKVD and Smeroid authorities. By the summer of 1943, many participants in the transition to their were "seized" from the partisan detachments and from the existing army. Former legionnaires were placed in the "Special Camps". The counterintelligers were particularly interested in the question: is the battalion moved voluntarily or under pressure from the circumstances? To find out this, at the end of June 1943, Deputy Head of the Council of Speeding Speculable No. 174 (Podolsk) Major Kirsanov sent a request to the headquarters of the partisan movement of Belarus (which was then in Moscow).
It is characteristic that investigators questioned the voluntariness of the "Tatar" battalion: "According to unverified data, the transition to the side of the partisans occurred in a forced situation, in view of the established circumstances - active actions of partisans against the battalion, from the composition of which 31 people are contained in the Podolsky camp of the special substation, And the rest allegedly are in the partisan brigades Alekseev, Dyachkova and Biryulin. "
In a response letter, signed by the Deputy Head of the Belarusian Staff of the Partisan Movement of the Ganenko and the head of the 2nd Department of the Colonel Shippnik, was confirmed: "The fact of the transition to the side of the partisan of the 825th battalion" Volga-Tatar Legion "in February of the month of S.G. really took place. " True, in the Spirit of Time the authors rebuilt: "The transition of the battalion was committed as a result of the decomposed work carried out among his personnel. At that time, it was not in favor of partisans at this time, but the very fact of their active actions and carrying out agent combinations was certainly had an impact on the personnel of the battalion who was convinced of the German propaganda focal about that the partisans allegedly do not represent a serious opponent. "
However, not a word about who belongs to the laurels of "decompound work" in the enemy's mill. Most likely because nothing has happened ...
Nevertheless, this letter is a serious argument in favor of the full rehabilitation of the transition participants on February 23, 1943. Next, it says: "After the transition of the battalion to the partisans, his personnel was really dispersed on the partisan brigades, participated in hostilities against the German occupiers, showed itself from a positive side. Some of the personal composition of the battalion and so far is in the partisan brigades "...
However, this is not exhausted by the significance of this almost unknown episode of the Great Patriotic War. Scientists with bitter experience, the Nazis did not dare to direct other battalions of the Volga-Tatar Legion east. One of them was in the Balkans, the other in France. But there, "Tatar" battalions moved to the side of the anti-fascist resistance detachments.
To this step, legionnaires were still prepared in the Radom camp of the prisoners of war were prepared in advance by underground workers, among whom was a well-known Tatar poet Musa Jalil, as well as the young officer of the Red Army Gainan Kurmishev, who was in captivity with a special task of the command. In August 1943, the underground workers were arrested by Gestapo and executed. But they did their job.