FIGHTER BATTALIONS OF LENINGRAD AND THE REGION UNDER SIEGE. 1941–1944
Keywords:
The Great Patriotic War, the siege of Leningrad, NKVD fighter battalions, operation of the NKVD fighter battalions during the siege of Leningrad, Soviet security agencies during the Great Patriotic WarAbstract
The paper analyzes the operations of NKVD fighter battalions in Leningrad and the surrounding region from 1942 to 1944, using previously unpublished sources from the Central State Archive of Historical and Political Documents in St. Petersburg (TSGAIPD). These sources include official NKVD documents, relevant statutes, and statistical data. The article examines the effectiveness and models of the use of these units in the challenging circumstances of besieged Leningrad, as well as territories of the region, including those outside the blockade ring. Particular focus is given to the support provided to Leningrad's fighter battalions and the restructuring of the unit system during the brutal first winter of the blockade. Additionally, the paper analyzes the management practices of the Leningrad fighter battalions and their transformation in response to changing situations at the front and in the rear. Attention is also paid to the use of these units during the blockade and after its breakthrough, leading to the final liberation of the region from occupation. The author examines the gender, social, and professional composition of the fighter battalions in the city and the region, as well as the dynamics of their numbers. The author concludes that while the effectiveness of the fighter battalions operating in Leningrad and the region was limited, leading to an operational reduction in the number of personnel of the city battalions during the winter of 1942, the fighter units remained actively deployed as auxiliary forces until their disbandment. They played crucial roles in maintaining order and controlling territory near the frontlines.References
Беркутов А.С., Бунин С.В., Климов А.А., Марценюк Ю.А., Ченцов А.С. Войска НКВД в Великой Отечественной войне. Военно-исторический труд: в 3 т. М., 2015. Т. 2. Войска НКВД в первый и второй периоды Великой Отечественной войны (1941‒1943). М., 2015. 325 с.
Биленко С.В. Истребительные батальоны в Великой Отечественной войне. М.: Воениздат, 1969. 119 с.
Биленко С.В. На охране тыла страны. Истребительные батальоны и полки в Великой Отечественной войне 1941–1945 гг. М.: Воениздат, 1988. 256 с.
Бирюков В.К. Добровольцы-москвичи на защите Отечества. 3-я Московская коммунистическая стрелковая дивизия в годы Великой Отечественной войны. М., 2017. 318 с.
Гриднев В.П. Защищая Ленинград (1941–1944 гг.) // Управленческое консультирование. 2019. № 5. С. 95‒103.
Гриднев В.П. Истребительные батальоны в истории Ленинградской битвы // Вестник С.-Петерб. ун-та гос. противопожар. службы МЧС России. 2012. № 2. С. 109‒112.
Медведев Т.Д. Истребительные батальоны Ленинградской области на защите города в период лета 1941 ‒ весны 1942 гг. // Новейшая история России. 2021. Т. 11, № 3. С. 589‒605.
Панфилец А.В. Органы и войска правопорядка в битве за Ленинград // Вестник С.-Петерб. ун-та МВД России. 2018. № 1. С. 29‒33.
Христофоров В.С. Чрезвычайные меры, принимавшиеся в СССР в начальный период Великой Отечественной войны // Великая война и Великая Победа народа. М.: Академкнига, 2010. С. 132−191.
Шевченко А.И. Дивизия ЛАНО: история 2-й дивизии Ленинградской армии народного ополче-ния. СПб., 2015. 524 с.
Шолин В.В. Истребительные батальоны НКВД в период битвы за Ленинград и Карелию: дис. … канд. ист. наук. СПб., 2006. 182 с.
Яров С.В. Блокадная этика: представления о морали в Ленинграде в 1941‒1942 годах. СПб.: Русская тройка ‒ СПб., 2013. 602 с.
Statiev A. The Soviet Counterinsurgency in the Western Borderlands. Cambridge, 2010. 368 p.
References
Berkutov, A.S., Bunin, S.V., Klimov, A.A., Martsenyuk, Yu.A. & A.S. Chentsov (2015), Voyska NKVD v Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyne. Voenno-istoricheskiy trud [Troops of the NKVD in the Great Patriotic War. Military historical work], Redaktsiya zhurnala “Na boevom postu” MVD Rossii, Moscow, Russia, 325 p.
Bilenko, S.V. (1969), Istrebitelnye batalony` v Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyne [Fighter battalions in the Great Patriotic War], Voenizdat, Moscow, USSR, 119 p.
Bilenko, S.V. (1988), Na oxrane tyla strany. Istrebitelnye batalony i polki v Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyne 1941–1945 gg [On guarding the rear of the country. Fighter battalions and regiments in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945], Voenizdat, Moscow, USSR, 256 p.
Biryukov, V.K. (2017), Dobrovoltsy-moskvichi na zashchite Otechestva. 3-ya Moskovskaya kommunisticheskaya strelkovaya diviziya v gody Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny [Moscow volunteers in defense of the Fatherland. 3rd Moscow Communist Rifle Division during the Great Patriotic War], Yauza, Moscow, Russia, 318 p.
Gridnev, V.P. (2012), “Fighter battalions in the history of the Leningrad battle”, Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta Gosudarstvennoy protivopozharnoy sluzhby MChS Rossii, № 2, pp. 109–112.
Gridnev, V.P. (2019), “Defending Leningrad (1941–1944)”, Upravlencheskoe konsultirovanie, № 5, pp. 95–103.
Khristoforov V.S. (2010), “Emergency measures taken in the USSR during the initial period of the Great Patriotic War”, in Sakharov A.N. (ed.), Velikaya voyna i Velikaya Pobeda naroda [The Great War and the Great Victory of the people], Akademkniga, Moscow, Russia, pp. 132–191.
Medvedev T.D. (2021), “Fighter battalions of the Leningrad region defending the city during the summer of 1941 – spring of 1942”, Novekhshaya istoriya Rossii, № 3, pp. 589–605.
Panfilets, A.V. (2018), “Law enforcement agencies and troops in the battle for Leningrad”, Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta MVD Rossii, № 1, pp. 29–33.
Shevchenko, A.I. (2015), Diviziya LANO: istoriya 2-y divizii Leningradskoy armii narodnogo opolcheniya [LANO Division: History of the 2nd Division of the Leningrad People's Militia Army], Vesti, St. Petersburg, Russia, 524 p.
Sholin, V.V. (2006), Istrebitelnye batalony NKVD v period bitvy za Leningrad i Kareliyu [Fighter battalions of the NKVD during the battle for Leningrad and Karelia], PhD dissertation, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia, 182 p.
Statiev, A (2010), Soviet Counterinsurgency in the Western Borderlands, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 368 p.
Yarov, S.V. (2013), Blokadnaya etika: predstavleniya o morali v Leningrade v 1941–1942 godakh [Blockade ethics: ideas about morality in Leningrad in 1941–1942], Russkaya troika-SPb, St. Petersburg, Russia, 602 p.
