The partisan brigade was the main organisational form of the
Soviet partisan
Soviet partisans were members of resistance movements that fought a guerrilla war against Axis forces during World War II in the Soviet Union, the previously Soviet-occupied territories of interwar Poland in 1941–45 and eastern Finland. The ac ...
units during World War II. Partisan brigades were active from shortly after
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
in June 1941 through the end of the war in 1945.
On the BSSR territory, the first brigade-like unit («Pavlovskiy harrison») was created in January 1942 (Aktsyabrski dist. of Palesye province). The most notable Czechoslovak partisan brigade was the
Jan Žižka partisan brigade, formed from a core of Soviet-trained paratroopers dropped into Slovakia in August 1944. After its operational area was liberated in April 1945, the Žižka partisans were employed in tracking down German soldiers and was not disbanded until 26 May, almost three weeks after the
German surrender
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...
.
The brigades comprised from several hundred to several thousand fighting persons in 3—7
detachments (rarely called battalions).
The emphasis on the brigades was put in order to enhance the offensive capabilities of the partisan units, to facilitate their cooperation, mutual coordination of activities, more effective radio communications and logistical support.
References
Sources
*А.Л. Манаенкаў. Партызанская брыгада ў Вялікую Айчынную вайну // Беларуская энцыклапедыя: У 18 т. Т. 12. — Мінск: БелЭн, 2001. — 560 с. p. 114. (т.12). The source references: Беларусь у Вялікай Айчыннай вайне 1941—1945: Энцыкл. Мн., 1990. С. 398—452.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soviet partisan brigade 1941-1944
Soviet partisans
Military units and formations of the Soviet Union in World War II