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Gorod-geroy Smolensk

The Smolensk region was among the first territories of the Soviet Union to come under attack by Nazi troops.

Already in June 1941, the German mobile forces of Army Group Center reached the Western Dvina in the Vitebsk region and the Dnieper near Orsha and Mogilev . At the same time, the Soviet divisions of the Western Front of the Red Army from the 13th and 4th armies, after defeat in the border areas, were withdrawn to the rear for reorganization, and by the beginning of the Battle of Smolensk, only 37 of the 48 advancing divisions were able to occupy positions: the number of Soviet divisions was from six to 14.4 thousand people, while Germans - from 17 to 21 thousand.

The beginning of the Smolensk battle dates back to July 10. Wehrmacht forces advanced towards Vitebsk and continued to march eastward. On July 16, the Nazis approached the outskirts of the city of Yartsevo - 50 kilometers from Smolensk.

The Germans entered Smolensk on July 16 - the 29th Motorized Division from Guderian's group was the first to break into the city. The city's defenders resisted fiercely, but the forces turned out to be unequal. On July 19, the enemy's 10th Tank Division occupied Yelnya. The 16th, 19th, and 20th armies were surrounded by the Germans. The 13th Army was torn apart by the enemy, and some were surrounded.

On July 21, the Red Army launched a counteroffensive to remove units of the 20th and 16th armies from encirclement. At the same time, on the southern flank of the Western Front, the 21st Army was supposed to resume the offensive with the goal of defeating the enemy’s Bobruisk-Bykhov group and restoring communications with the besieged Mogilev . However, German infantry divisions arriving from near Minsk thwarted the plans of the Soviet command. On July 28, the Red Army finally left the city.

1 On August 21, the Red Army and Wehrmacht troops converged on the Smolensk Bulge. As a result of the enemy's offensive on August 3, Roslavl was occupied. At the same time, on August 8, formations of the 19th and 30th armies resumed attacks in the direction of Dukhovshchina, trying to break through the enemy’s defenses - the attempt was unsuccessful, but showed the German command the capabilities of the Red Army, on the other hand. From August 16 to 21, the Soviet military launched an offensive on the central sector of the Soviet-German front, as well as an attempt to defeat the Elninsky group.

The fourth stage of the Battle of Smolensk lasted from August 22 to September 10. The troops of the Western Front made a new attempt to reach the line Velizh, Demidov, Smolensk, the troops of the Reserve Front received orders to capture Yelnya, and then Pochinok and Roslavl.

On September 6, the Red Army took Yelnya, and this operation became the largest and most successful operation of the Red Army during the Smolensk defensive battle of 1941. It was here, near Yelnya, that Katyusha rockets were first used, which later became legendary. However, Soviet troops were unable to advance further.

For the Red Army, the Battle of Smolensk resulted in heavy losses: during the battle, a total of more than 700 thousand people were killed and wounded, but heroic efforts managed to hold back the Nazi advance towards Moscow, which also contributed to the failure of the Barbarossa plan.

Soviet guards

The appearance of guards divisions in the Red Army is associated with the Smolensk region. For mass heroism, courage of personnel, high military skill demonstrated during the bloody battles of the Smolensk battle, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR of September 18, 1941, four rifle divisions - 100th, 127th, 153rd and 161st - were renamed the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Guards.

Enemy in Smolensk

The occupation of the territory of the Smolensk region by the Nazis lasted more than two years. Already on July 17, 1941, Hitler issued a decree dividing the occupied territories of the USSR into Reich Commissariats , general districts, regions and districts, districts. The Smolensk district became part of the General Commissariat " Ostland " - together with Belarus and the Baltic states.

The Nazis and their minions were actively in charge in Smolensk. During the occupation, the city was completely destroyed. Of the 170 thousand inhabitants, by the time the city was liberated in September 1943, 20 thousand people remained alive. In the city, 35 thousand civilians and more than 100 thousand prisoners of war were killed, about 90 thousand people were driven into slavery.

The Nazis committed atrocities not only in Smolensk, but throughout the entire region. In total, during the period of occupation of the region, the Nazis killed more than 150 thousand civilian Soviet citizens, took more than 160 thousand to work in Germany, and killed 230 thousand prisoners of war - these are the data of the State Emergency Commission from 1945.

During the period of occupation, the Nazis burned about five thousand Smolensk villages, and there is still no complete list. About 300 villages were burned along with their inhabitants - this is how the invaders took revenge for supporting the partisans: every district of the Smolensk region has its own Khatyn.

“The fascist authorities suspected the residents of the village of Korbutovka of having connections with the partisans and burned the village to the ground. The collective farmer Baranova, who protested against such devastation, had her stomach cut open by the Germans, her face slashed with a knife, and her children’s arms were twisted and their skulls were broken…” - such evidence is given in the data of the State Emergency Commission.

In March 1943, the Nazis rounded up about 400 residents of neighboring villages into the village of Chertovka and burned them. Concentration camps for civilians were created in the region - old people, women, and small children were driven there.

At the beginning of March 1942, near the village of Serebryanka, a partisan detachment ambushed a German food train and 14 Nazis were killed. And on March 5, the Nazis drove the villagers - 19 people - into a barn, and then burned them alive.

Guerrilla movement

After the occupation of Smolensk, more than 40 underground groups were created in the city and nearby suburbs, which included about 500 people. Their participants worked against Nazi propaganda, helped partisan detachments, obtained food and weapons for the partisans and carried out sabotage. In Smolensk in December 1941, an underground center was created, which led the underground in the city, on the railway, in the suburbs and villages and had connections with the regional committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and with the headquarters of the Batya partisan unit.

In July 1942, the underground was exposed by the Nazis - its leader Boris Popov, as well as 165 other participants, were caught by the Gestapo and, after brutal torture, shot in Readovka - in 1966, a memorial was erected on their mass grave.

However, the partisan movement, in spite of everything, continued to actively operate behind enemy lines - by the spring of 1942, the partisans had liberated 25 of the 42 occupied regions from the occupiers, and they became the “partisan regions” - the base for the advancing regular army.

Liberation of Smolensk

In the summer of 1943, the Red Army, after defeating the Germans near Moscow, Stalingrad and the Kursk Bulge, drove the enemy from the territory of the USSR and began to liberate the Smolensk region.

During the Smolensk operation of 1943, Soviet troops, together with partisans, carried out the Spas- Demenskaya , Elninsk -Dorogobuzhskaya, Dukhovshchinsko -Demidovskaya, Smolensk- Roslavlskaya operations and, during bloody battles from August 7 to October 2, completely cleared the Smolensk region of the Nazis.

After liberation, the Smolensk region became a rear area for Soviet troops - hospitals, repair bases, airfields, and army warehouses were created here.

Heroes of the Smolensk region

260 natives of the Smolensk region were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 10 thousand partisans and underground fighters were awarded orders and medals. The title of Hero City was awarded to Smolensk on May 6, 1985.

Among the most famous Heroes of the Soviet Union from the Smolensk region is Mikhail Egorov, who, together with Meliton Kantaria hoisted the Victory Banner over the Reichstag in May 1945.