How the SS brigade went over to the side of the Russians

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The Soviet government did not know how to deal with the chastisers from the SS brigade "Druzhina" who had gone over to their side when the war was over. The problem suddenly resolved itself.

Hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens fought for the Nazis during World War II. Collaborators were considered one of the worst enemies of the USSR, whom the Red Army soldiers often preferred not to take prisoner and shoot right on the spot.

At the same time, deserters from those who had betrayed their homeland were sometimes given a chance to "redeem their guilt with blood." There was even a practice of luring collaborators to the side of the Soviet regime. Individual soldiers and even entire units fled, but the loudest case was the departure of the SS Druzhina brigade to the Soviet partisans.

Punishers

Like other collaborationist units like it, the 1st Russian National SS Brigade "Druzhina" was mainly engaged in counter-guerrilla warfare and punitive actions against the recalcitrant population in the territories occupied by the Germans.

The backbone of the brigade was made up of former Soviet servicemen who were captured by the Germans and who expressed a desire to cooperate with the Nazis. The same was their commander - Vladimir Gil (who took the pseudonym "Rodionov"), once a lieutenant colonel of the Red Army. In addition, a certain number of White émigrés served in the unit, who decided to take revenge from the Bolsheviks for their defeat in the Civil War.

The "combat" path of the "Druzhina" was marked by punitive expeditions on the territory of Belarus. On her account, the burning of villages that provided assistance to the partisans, the shooting of civilians, the forcible sending of residents to work in the Reich. After such bloody actions, the Germans believed, the Russian SS men forever lost the opportunity to cross to the other side.

The head of the SS, Gestapo and police in the region, Kurt von Gottberg, praised the effective actions of the "vigilantes" during the anti-guerrilla operation "Cottbus" that took place in May-June 1943. In his report to Berlin on July 13, it was said that "the unit will very soon be a striking force, and in the fight against the gangs it seems reliable."

In fact, the situation in the 1st Russian National Brigade at that time was not so rosy. Its personnel were deeply shocked at how unfortunate things were for the German army on the Kursk Bulge. In addition, the "Cottbus" did not go smoothly for the "Druzhina": the soldiers were greatly demoralized by the heavy losses incurred during the clashes with the partisans.

At some point, Gil actually retired from command, preferring to spend all his time in the company of women, cards and drinks. While one part of the officers secretly discussed with him whether or not to return to the side of the USSR, the other openly expressed dissatisfaction with the commander and called on the Germans to remove him. The partisans decided to take advantage of this split.

Poaching

If in the initial period of the war captured collaborators were most often shot on the spot as traitors, then since 1942 the policy towards them began to change. Now, the units created by the Germans in the occupied territories from the citizens of the USSR were supposed to be morally corrupted with the help of propaganda, and if they succeed, then they could lure them over to their side. The Central Headquarters of the partisan movement had special attention to the "Druzhina". It became known that on its base, a prominent collaborator Andrei Vlasov was going to deploy the Russian Liberation Army.

Propaganda work with the SS brigade of Gil-Rodionov was carried out by the Zheleznyak partisan detachment located in its immediate vicinity. Underground fighters and agitators were sent to the locations of the "vigilantes", propaganda literature and leaflets were thrown. The guerrillas even sent proposals to "atone for their guilt with blood" personally to each of the officers.

A possible transition to the side of the partisans for the collaborators of the "Druzhina" was not something out of the ordinary. Back in November 1942, one of the brigade's companies, numbering 75 people, guarding the bridge over the Drut 'River, killed 30 German soldiers and went into the forest to the "people's avengers". In the summer of 1943, Gil-Rodionov himself and most of his soldiers decided to take this step.

Transition

On August 16, during a secret meeting between Gil and the leadership of the Zheleznyak partisan detachment in neutral territory, conditions were agreed for the SS men to join the partisans. All "vigilantes" (except for the White Guards) were promised immunity, a chance to rehabilitate themselves before the Motherland, reinstatement in military ranks and the opportunity to correspond with relatives. Gil insisted that the command of the brigade remain with him.

On the same day, the brigade began to cross over to the Soviet side. Gil with officers and loyal soldiers traveled around the villages where the regiments of the "vigilantes" were quartered and made a speech in front of the formation, in which he claimed that the Germans had deceived them, that "they did not think of any" new Russia "and that they had only one goal - the enslavement of the Russian people. " "Giving promises and assurances," said the commander of the Druzhina, "the fascist bastards at the same time carried out their bloody massacres of innocent unarmed civilians." Of course, he did not voice the role of himself and his subordinates in these reprisals.

Following this, the order of Gil-Rodionov "to mercilessly exterminate the Fritzes until their last expulsion from the Russian land" was greeted by the soldiers with stormy jubilation. They immediately destroyed the stunned Germans and took under arrest the White emigres and the officers opposing the commander.

As a result, on August 16, 1943, 1175 armed "vigilantes" went over to the side of the partisans. Later, about 700 more joined them. However, not all of the SS men were happy with such changes: more than 500 people fled towards the German garrisons. Those of them whom the "vigilantes" were able to catch, they immediately shot.

"People's Avengers"

The 1st Russian National Druzhina Brigade was abolished, and the 1st Anti-Fascist Partisan Brigade was proclaimed in its place. As promised, Vladimir Gil-Rodionov became its commander.

About 400 partisans and political workers were sent to strengthen the former "vigilantes". In addition, the operational group "August" of the state security agencies carried out an inspection of the brigade's personnel and identified 23 hidden agents of German intelligence.

Relations between former SS men and partisans were not always perfect. The latter remembered well the participation of the "Druzhina" in the counter-partisan operation "Cottbus", during which they lost many comrades-in-arms and relatives.

Nevertheless, the newly-minted "anti-fascists", sent to the very hell, fought bravely and desperately, really "intending to atone for their guilt with blood." Despite this, Gil felt nervous, not knowing what fate awaited him after the war.

The Soviet government actively used the crossing of the "Druzhina" in its propaganda. Largely for propaganda purposes, Vladimir Gil-Rodionov was promoted to colonel on September 16, 1943 and awarded the Order of the Red Star. Many fighters of the brigade were awarded medals "Partisan of the Patriotic War".

The rout

In April 1944, the Germans launched a large-scale operation "Spring Festival" to destroy the Polotsk-Lepel partisan zone. In the ring were 16 detachments of "people's avengers", including the 1st Anti-Fascist Brigade.

Having suffered huge losses, the partisans were trapped on a small piece of land, from which they were able to escape only at the beginning of May. As for the Gil unit, it lost more than 90 percent of its personnel and virtually ceased to exist. The commander himself died in battle on May 14.

“Maybe it’s better that such an end; and there would be no grief if he got to Moscow, argued one of the organizers of the partisan movement in Belarus, Vladimir Lobanok.

However, no posthumous repressions against Vladimir Gil followed. His family received the salary of a Red Army officer for 1941-1944. In addition, the names of the colonel and his soldiers were immortalized on the plates of the Proryv memorial complex, dedicated to the heroic and tragic events of the period of the punitive operation Spring Festival.