Partizan German Alexander: years of life, biography, exploits

Many are known heroes-partisans of the Great Patriotic War - Sidor Kovpak, Dmitry Emlyutin, Dmitry Medvedev, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Alexander Saburov. About them books are written, documentaries and feature films are made. But in the vast expanses of the Soviet Union involved in military operations in 1941-1944, thousands of heroes acted whose names were lost in the gray past.

One of these heroes is German Alexander Viktorovich (1915-1943). Gathering the facts, we will tell the full story of this partisan.

Short essay

• May 24, 1915 - the birthday of Alexander Viktorovich Herman. Place of birth - Leningrad (today - St. Petersburg).
• He graduated from a seven-year school, worked as a mechanic. In November 1933 he joined the Red Army.
• 1937 - a graduate of the Orel Armored School. 1940 - entered the Military Academy. Frunze.
• From the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War he served as a scout at the headquarters of the North-Western Front, and after that he was appointed deputy commander of the partisan reconnaissance brigade.
• The summer of 1942 - in the rank of major German Alexander became commander of the Third Leningrad brigade of partisans.
• September 6, 1943, died in battle near the village Zhitnitsa, Pskov region.
• During the years of service he showed himself as a brave officer and a talented strategist. Had many awards, he was awarded posthumously the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

That's how dry the short history of the partisan Herman sounds. Further we will dwell in more detail on some facts of his life.

Before the war

As mentioned above, Alexander German was born on May 24, 1915 in St. Petersburg, in the family of Russian Germans. His father and mother were ordinary employees. Sasha successfully graduated from the seven-year school and got a job in a metalwork shop. The work of the future guerrillas Herman combined with his studies, he graduated from the auto-building technical school.

In 1933 he was drafted into the army, after which a young man, dreaming of a military career, entered the Orel Tank School. Here he studied the Constitution of the Soviet Union, the history of the Communist Party, the history of the peoples of the USSR, tactics, topography, higher mathematics. I passed the course of driving the tank and learned the technique of fighting, I was engaged in combat and building training, I developed physical strength and endurance.

In the late 30s of the 20th century, the future partisan Herman, whose biography is described in the article, married the girl Faina, they had a son Albert, whom his father affectionately called Alusik. Together with his wife and child, he moved to Moscow, to a communal apartment, to Bolshaya Dorogomilovskaya Street.

In 1940 he became a cadet of the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow. He studied perfectly. The future partisan Herman in his heart was a romantic and in his spare time he loved to wander alone in the streets of the capital, historical museums.

To defend the Motherland!

The war caught him in the second year of the academy. Alexander Viktorovich immediately filed a petition to send him to the active army. In July 1941, he left to serve as a scout for the North-Western Front.

Clever, well-prepared, brave, Major Hermann soon distinguished himself in the service and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, which he personally handed the commander of the front.

The military leadership saw in the young officer a great potential, and it was decided to entrust him with a whole partisan detachment.

Beginning of partisan path

In June 1942, by order of the hero of our article, he was appointed commander of the Third Leningrad Partisan Brigade, numbering just over 100 people. Thus appeared the legendary partisan German Alexander Viktorovich. Thrown into the deep rear, he began a new life full of dangers and difficulties.

The chief of staff was appointed officer Krylov Ivan Vasilyevich, with whom the partisans Herman became friends. A good friend and closest aide, Krylov helped the brigade commander develop operational-sabotage measures, planning guerrilla attacks, reconnaissance operations.

The uncommon commander of the partisan detachment

Partizan Herman, whose biography interests the researchers of the history of the Great Patriotic War, became famous as an intelligent, resourceful and brave commander. He had a real military cunning. All the plans he developed were successful. His goal, along with the defeat of the tactical targets of the opponents, was to save the lives of his people, whom he treasured very much. In turn, the soldiers were very fond of their commander for their openness, sincerity, benevolence, they respected him for his firmness, severity, ability, if necessary, to show character and will.

The third Leningrad partisan brigade operated in the Leningrad, Pskov, Novgorod and Tver (then Kalinin) regions. Dense forests, many lakes and swampy terrain helped the guerrillas safely hide, deliver sudden blows at the enemy, who could not respond to them with tanks or heavy artillery.

Before the arrival of the Third Leningrad Partisan Brigade, fascist domination prevailed in these parts. The invaders plundered local residents, mocked them, intimidated and executed them. The story of the hero of the partisan Herman began with the fact that he, along with his people, dealt a series of crushing blows on the enemy. In a record short time and with minimal human losses, nine German garrisons, fifty administrative administrations were defeated, five Hitler echelons were derailed, which destroyed many enemy manpower and equipment.

Such successes inspired not only the partisans, but also local residents, many of whom began to enter the detachment of Herman. Soon the number of his brigade increased from 100 to 450 people, by the end of 1942 there were already more than 1,000 partisans, and in the autumn of 1943 - 2500 people! It was already a truly formidable force, the bulwark and soul of which was the hero of the Great Patriotic War, German Alexander Viktorovich.

Achievements during the war

German partisan detachments liberated hundreds of settlements in the Novgorod, Pskov and Tver regions. Places in the vicinity of the towns of Staraya Russa, Bno and Bezhanitsa began to be called the Partisan Region.

The hero of the article was one of the first to apply the tactics of quick maneuvers and rapid raids. During his time, Germanic heroes:

• Exterminated, according to documents, 9652 Germans and many more documented unconfirmed enemies,
• Organized 44 successful train crashes, under which the enemy lost a lot of equipment and manpower,
• Blasted 31 railway bridge,
• Burned hundreds of enemy warehouses,
• Destroyed 70 volost administrations,
• Crushed 17 Hitler garrisons,
• Saved from captivity and theft in the slavery of 35,000 Soviet citizens.

Partisan Herman Alexander Viktorovich, along with his fighters, performed many feats, their activities are marked by many awards. Herman was awarded the rank of colonel.

In the rear of the enemy is equipped with a capital base

In addition to outstanding military qualities and strategic talents, the partisan Herman, whose history is described in the article, also had the gift of an economic man.

Earlier it was mentioned that he cherished every human life entrusted to him by the highest military command. He also worried about how to comfortably equip the way of life of his soldiers so that after exhausting sorties soldiers could fully rest, and in case of injury receive the necessary medical assistance. Therefore, settling in the forest, the guerrillas of Herman settled completely unconventional: they lived with minimal, but such necessary facilities on a stationary basis - in barracks with heating, the headquarters were located in the capital structure, the kitchens, baths, medical center and Mini-hospital, warehouses.

Partizan Herman was convinced that nothing should be destroyed from what could help his soldiers to defeat the fascists. Therefore, uniforms and weapons came not only from the Great Land, but also replenished due to trophies.

The partisans valued this concern and spoke of it: "We will not lose our commander!", "We are for the brigade commander - into the fire and into the water!"

Operating aerodrome and railway

Surprising on their own, and even more incredible, two facts sound: Herman's partisan, whose photo is shown by his open, bold look, built a real airfield on his base and mastered the railroad!

The stationary airfield was built by the same partisans. In the forest, a wide clearing was cut, anti-aircraft gunshots were made, the runway with warning posts was equipped according to all the rules, an infrastructure was created for the reception of large transport aircraft. Communication with the Big Land was established. At the enemy's attempts to destroy the airfield, the guerrillas responded with lightning speed with attacks. Thus, the Hitlerite oil base in the city of Porkhov was destroyed, and German airplanes in the settlement of Pushkinsky Gory. As a result, during the entire existence of the partisan base Soviet aircraft flew there regularly, supplying uniforms, food, ammunition, taking away the wounded.

An interesting story happened with the railway. In one of the reconnaissance sorties, the German soldiers discovered a peat railway, a narrow-gauge railway with an abandoned locomotive, wagons and platforms. On closer inspection it became clear that everything was in working order, and the guerrillas began to actively use the narrow-gauge under the noses of the fascists. The railway passed mainly through a remote marshland. Only one of its sections approached the station Podsevy, which was controlled by the Germans. The guerrillas every time, if necessary, to pass this site, arranged shelling of the station, and the train safely passed the obstacle every time.

Attempts to destroy the detachment

Do not think that the partisans Herman, along with his soldiers, quietly fought in the rear of the enemy. The fascists kept on trying to destroy this brigade.

In March 1943, a large-scale punitive operation was carried out against Germanic partisan detachments by 4,000 German soldiers and officers, backed by tanks and artillery. The battle arena was the village of Rovnyak in the Porkhov district of the Pskov region. During the fighting, more than 900 fascists were killed, 3 enemy echelons were destroyed, 4 highway bridges were blown up, 6 tanks were hit. In contrast to significant losses of the Nazis, the guerrilla team of German lost 96 soldiers, 37 of them killed, 59 wounded.

In May 1943, wishing to put an end to the partisans in the Leningrad forests, the Germans threw a whole infantry division on them. In total, Soviet heroes withstood 19 fights, during which the enemy lost 1,644 soldiers and officers, 7 echelons, 16 highway bridges and 2 cars were blown up. In the ranks of the partisans, 39 fighters were killed and 64 wounded.

In August 1943, a well-known specialist was invited to these regions, who destroyed many partisan detachments near Smolensk. This was immediately notified by his intelligence agents German partisans. Who is it? How does this mysterious specialist work? The reconnaissance group managed to establish that the fascist expert acts as follows: Soviet soldiers are taken off their clothes and shoes, sniffed by trained dogs, who take the trail and lead the punishers to the place of deployment of partisans. And neither the strewing of the road with tobacco, nor the trampling of the road by other people could not knock the dogs off the trail. Having received these data, Alexander Herman immediately came up with an original plan. His people took prisoner of "language", who was led to the headquarters by a secret path through the swamps, then organized his escape, and the path was mined. When the Germans moved a large detachment along this road to the headquarters of the partisans, the mines naturally exploded, and the entire fascist detachment died without a single shot from our side.

The battle is near Zhitnitsy. Death of the hero

In early September 1943 the partisan brigade of Herman was again attacked. This time the battle occurred near the village of Zhitnitsa, Novorzhevsky district, Pskov region.

Soviet fighters defeated the enemy, but suffered heavy losses, escaping from encirclement. In a hot battle on September 6, 1943, Alexander Viktorovich Herman, a forgotten partisan with a capital letter, died heroically.

According to the memoirs of the commissar of the Voskresensky brigade, the beloved brigade commander was wounded twice, but forbade talking about this to the men and continued to shoot. The third wound in the head was fatal. The 28-year-old brigade commander died.

The colonel's body was transported by plane to the Soviet rear. The hero was buried in the city of Valdai, Novgorod Region, on Liberty Square.

April 2, 1944, the Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet Colonel German A.V. was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the perfect execution of combat missions, courage and courage shown.

Awards and titles

Hero of the Soviet Union, partisan German Alexander Viktorovich was awarded:

• Gold Star medal, which was awarded to persons awarded the highest title of Hero of the Soviet Union,
• Order of Lenin for special services to the Soviet state and society,
• Order of the Red Banner for an unprecedented courage and selflessness in the fight against the fascist invaders,
• Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree for military valor.

Memory of the hero

On September 7, 1943, the Third Leningrad Partisan Brigade was renamed the Partisan Brigade named after Herman - in honor of its glorious commander.

In the village of Zhitnitsi, an obelisk was erected on the site of the hero's death. His name is the street in St. Petersburg, Veliky Novgorod, Pskov, Ostrov and Porkhovo, Valday. In St. Petersburg also installed a stele as a commemorative to the guerrilla Herman.

In the city of Novorzheve there is a commemorative plaque in honor of the deceased commander. The district administration decided that September 6 is the Day of Partisan Glory. The holiday is celebrated annually to this day with the participation of veterans, townspeople, schoolchildren.

The hero of the partisan Herman, whose photo is adorned with many memorial plaques, is an unconditional example for imitation. He, his short but bright life, his courage and great humanity devoted a lot of chapters in the books:

• "Heroic deeds are immortal," authors Korneyev N. P and Alekseyev O. V., 2005 edition.
• "German Alexander Viktorovich", edited by N. P. Korneyev, 1993 edition.
• "Leningrad in my heart," the author of the book was journalist N. V. Masolov, who used for her writing archival documents, personal letters of Herman, memories of his associates. The book was published in 1981.
• "Partisan brigade brigade commanders: people and destinies". A local historian NV Nikitenko wrote a book on the basis of archival materials. It was released in 2010. It describes the partisan detachments that operated during the Great Patriotic War in the occupied territories of the Leningrad and Tver regions.
• Memoirs collection "Heroes and Destiny" IV Vinogradova, 1988 edition. The writer several times personally met with Alexander Herman.
• "Herman leads the brigade" of the author M. L. Voskresensky, who directly served under the legendary guerrilla commander. The book was published in 1965.
• "Pskov partisan" - memories of the partisan M. Voskresensky, the head of the political department of the Third Leningrad Partisan Brigade. The book of 1979 edition.
• "According to vital indications," 1990 edition. The author is partisan physician V. I. Gilev.
• "The oath of guerrillas was given," 1985 edition. Memoirs written by Sergunin II, Hero of the Soviet Union, a prominent participant in the partisan movement. The book was based on his personal impressions, entries in the diaries of other fighters, letters and archival documents.
• "Why so named", 1985 edition under the authorship of Khablo EP and Gorbachevich KS The book explains the names of streets, islands, squares of St. Petersburg.