German occupation

Kobrin → Materials about Kobrin district → Kobrin district in the years of war

Mieczyslaw Kitaychuk, chapters of the book "Rough Events of Polesia". In the territories occupied after June 22, 1941, Hitlerites started introduction of "a new order". From the very beginning of occupation they especially brutally concerned Jews, but first did not touch polyachok, but with time and them steel treats, as other people, having provided at the same time obvious privileges to Ukrainians. Hitlerites arranged in the city the authorities: Gestapo, gendarmerie, military commandant's office, Ukrainian police and other authorities. It was also created gebitskomissariat at the head of which there was a nazi by the name of Pantsir.

Training at schools was not conducted therefore that the city administration was located in the former gymnasium of Maria Rodzevich. In July, 1941 the Gestapo organized the first street round-up in Kobrin. The inhabitants seized on the street were taken out to the neighborhood of the village of Patrika and shot. Then about 200 inhabitants died. The vast majority of shot was made by Jews. Patriki, located in 3 kilometers from the city, became the place of nonslipping mass punishments later. In August of the same year in a gebitskomissariata about 180 local Jews, disabled people and incurably sick were brought together. They were taken out to the village the Name-day and there are shot.

Among inhabitants news of executions at the railway bridge via the Royal channel extended. The embankment of the bridge became the place of execution of prisoners of military commandant's office. Almost daily on an embankment along which executioners with dogs were built, brought the prisoners of war of different nationalities chained and exhausted with tortures, built them in a rank, having ordered to kneel, and then the executioner approached everyone and the nape shot to him. The victim rolled down from an embankment down where removed shackles from it and dug in. Sometimes sentenced to execution gave a free hand and ordered to run then shot at a back.

The anti-fascist movement at the initial stage could not develop quickly because of elimination of a large number of the former heads. The Gestapo informed through the secret agents on the former party figures, Polish and Soviet directed the first attacks against them.

In the village Turnaya located in 14 kilometers from the city the Soviet underground anti-fascist committee was organized. D. Borisyuk became his head, and the deputy T. Kravchuk, the former first chairman of collective farm. The committee started creation of anti-fascist groups in the villages of Strigovo, Kamenka, Shipovichi, Polyatichi, Striya, Boguslavichi, Sand and Cherevachitsa, and also in the villages located along the railroad to Antopol. Conspirators Kravchuk and Borisyuk received a task to establish connection with the city.

The Soviet underground organization also worked in Kobrin. In September, 1941 in repair shops, the fuel warehouse was blown up. Responsible for an event did not manage to be found. Kobrin had an important strategic importance for Germans. There was an important railway junction, there was a road on Moscow and on the East, to Polesia. Through Kobrin there passed the railroad, and also waterways on which, it agrees to the German plans, navigation had to be resumed. However thanks to activity of guerrilla groups from the very beginning of war the movement on these means of communication was considerably paralyzed.

In the fall of 1941 in the neighborhood of the village of Recyca the guerrilla group under command of the Soviet officer Victor Boyko, and in the Dakhlovsky woods, near the village of Plyanta was organized, there was a guerrilla base which commander was I. I. Orlov. These groups, small on number, carried out successful diversions on roads, foretold on police posts.

In August, 1941 the chairman of the Village Council in Zosimakh Alexey Naumchik, and together with it some more people went to the wood. In 1942 Naumchik initiated merging of the small diversionary groups operating in the Dakhlovsky wood. The guerrilla group of Chapayev was so organized. In the summer of this year the group undermined 18 echelons and committed an assault on several police posts.

At the end of 1943 the group considerably increased the number and in January, 1944 was transformed to crew which bore the same name. K. S. Gapasyuk, and later - F. N. Baranov became the commander of guerrilla crew. The crew consisted of four groups. It had the constants which are well kept dark by communications with an underground in Turnoy which in turn kept in contact with Kobrin. It gave the chance to guerrillas quickly to obtain information on intentions of invaders and to plan the actions. The crew kept northern and northeast part of Kobrin district under a constant control.

In east part of Kobrin district the guerrilla group of Kirov located in Grushevsky (the former manor of Maria Rodzevich) and in Detkovichskom the woods worked. In southwest part of Kobrin district, in the Old rural woods, the group called by the name of his commander M. Chernak who died in May, 1943 worked. Groups of a name operated on the southeast of Kobrin district. I. Kotovsky and N. A. Shchors whose main task was a protection of the guerrilla airfield located near the village Svoryn. Hitlerites did not manage to reach this village, the Soviet power continued to work here, and in airfield at night the Soviet planes often unloaded.

Underground workers from the village Turnaya provided group of Kirov with trotyl. Trotyl was received by means of smelting from artillery shells and bombs, it was taught by the former defender of the Brest fortress engineer B. N. Mikhaylovsky escaping from the German prisoner-of-war camp. In April, 1943 during smelting of trotyl there was an explosion. D. Borisyuk, M. Lukashuk and S. Karpuk - the first organizers of an underground in Kobrin district died. Activity of the organization was not stopped after that. Timofey Kravchuk became her successor.

The committee in Turnoy received news of activity in Kobrin of the underground group consisting of widows of the soldiers and officers who died at defense of the Brest fortress in 1941. Soon one of them, G. K. Shablovskaya, together with four daughters moved to Turnuyu and came into contact with an underground. She maintained the friendly relations with Ekaterina Lisovskaya who worked in a gebitskomissariata as the translator and transferred information on retaliatory expeditions, preparation of lists of youth for export to Germany, various references and forms necessary for underground workers. In one group from Lisovskaya there was Olga Lopatina, Ksenia Mayorova and Galina Arbuzova. Galina Arbuzova and Pyotr Vasilenko working with her in hospital kept in touch with group of the name Frunze. To 48 prisoners of war they helped to run in this group.

In July, 1942 Hitlerites organized a public execution of three guerrillas seized during one of retaliatory expeditions on a market square. They were conducted on foot from prison to the place of execution. Two sentenced bore on a stretcher of the third, hard wounded. During execution one of them broke from the gallows. At this time he appealed to executioners more strong to tighten a loop. This first public execution caused natural indignation among inhabitants and increased hatred to Germans.

The Jewish population which made nearly a half of residents at first was collected in a ghetto, and then ruthlessly destroyed. In the spring of 1943 the Soviet underground and guerrilla movement in Kobrin and his vicinities amplified. The regional committee of communist party which was the coordination center and a regional guerrilla staff worked in vicinities of the Vygonovsky lake. S. I. Sikorsky became its first secretary and the commander of guerrilla connection of the Brest region, and the deputy - I. I. Bobrov. P. V. Pronyagin was appointed the chief of force staff. Was a part of bureau of regional committee A. I. Fedosyuk to which creation of the underground organization in Kobrinskom and the neighboring areas was entrusted.

Significant assistance to the Kobrin underground was given by A. Nikitin and V. Savelyev's prospecting and diversionary groups. At a meeting of anti-fascist committee in Turny its management made the decision on carrying out in Kobrin of several diversions. Time bombs were transported to Kobrin by A. N. Kuresha (he transported them in Kobrin through the protected bridge on the cart with sheaves) and Olga Kravchuk. This killing freight was hidden by Maria Karpuk.

Once on the city the message was carried that Gestapo men arrested some underground worker who wanted to run to guerrillas. Gestapo men managed to track down Pavel Getman who enclosed a mine in the car of a gebitskomissar of Pantsir. Despite cruel inquiry, the arrested gave nobody. Then Hitlerites brought him in a prison-yard and lowered on it hungry sheep-dogs.

The event with the Hetman was confirmation that in Kobrin the agent of service SD acts. Careful collection of information for the purpose of identification of salted pork fat was begun. Soon it became known that the agent well knows Russian and often changes the appearance, well is guided in a local situation and has personal contacts with the chief of SD Bichman.

Meanwhile A. Kuresha when understood that watch him, gave hour mines to Pyotr Vasilenko and Galina Arbuzova. He could not warn Vasilenko and Arbuzova who had to blow up a fuel warehouse in the territory of military repair shops. They performed the task, and explosion thundered at night. Instead of leaving the city, Arbuzova and Vasilenko came back home to themselves. In the morning Vasilenko went to work to hospital where it was arrested. Arbuzova, having learned about Vasilenko's arrest, decided to flee the city. But upon transition through Pinskoye Highway on the bridge she was seized together with the juvenile daughter Zhanna. The prison of arrested tortured, but those gave nobody. On August 13, 1943 they were shot near the village of Patrika.

In response to death of underground workers in the city several diversions were carried out. One of mills was destroyed; T. Gorbatovsky in the downtown, about the building of mail, blew up a column with a distributive telephone exchange. The mine enclosed by A. Stolinsky blew up the German bakery, and in the apartment of the German official explosion also thundered. Tadeush Gorbatovsky was soon arrested according to the report of the agent of SD.

By this time the Kobrin Gestapo had already enough data on the existing Soviet underground. Arrests began. A. Stolinsky, A. Veremchuk, L. Malofeyuk, A. Beletskiya, A. Savosik were arrested. Underground workers were forced to leave the city, but A. N. Kureshe who reached Chapayev's group managed it only.

The day before Galina Shablovskaya reported to the management of underground committee in Turnoy that her coherent Olga Lopatina got acquainted with a certain Gleb who persistently insisted that it helped it to establish connection with guerrillas. The underground committee made the decision to check it, and Shablovskaya and Lopatina strictly forbade to meet any of an underground. This ban, unfortunately, was broken, shablovsky decided to visit Lopatina after a while. The underground worker K. Mayorova who was also living in the neighbourhood came. Hardly she managed to enter as all three were arrested by Gestapo. After interrogations and tortures they were shot.

Soon news came from the village the Stone that here saw the person similar on searched "Gleb". A. Nikitin together with two intelligence agents immediately went there. Coherent of the village showed the direction in which the stranger left. It was succeeded to catch up with it on the road conducting to the village October, but it was not so easy to seize the skilled spy as it passed school of Gestapo. He managed to escape, he began to run away, however the turn released Nikitin from the automatic machine overtook him. The documents found at it confirmed that he was that who brought so many losses for the Kobrin underground. It was the agent of Gestapo and SD Johann Shendzelerts.

The chief of SD Bichman after loss of the assistant ordered to execute all captured underground workers. Then also members of their families disappeared. After Kobrin was busy with parts of Red Army, soldiers paid attention to a big bed in the prison yard. After it was dug out, it turned out that the bed covered a big hole in which there were remains of women and children. And guerrillas decided to revenge Bichman. They came into contact with the German soldier serving in an air unit, Max Abents. Contact was come with the help to K. Lisovskaya. The father Abentsa took part in the German revolution of 1918 and died. Lisovskaya who was perfectly speaking German found out that Max would like to help an underground. It was decided that it will carry out the sentence pronounced to Bichman. On New Year's Eve 1943-1944 Mr. Abents as a part of patrol at round of streets noticed that at the chief of SD windows are insufficiently densely darkened. He entered to it and made the remark. There was a skirmish, and Abents shot at the chief of SD. The future of this German anti-fascist is unknown. Ekaterina Lisovskaya was detained soon by Gestapo, and after interrogations she was shot.

Germans tried in all sophisticated ways to destroy an underground, but fully they did not achieve the objectives. Places of the dead were taken by others. At railway station in Kobrin diversions and sabotage were carried out by group under the leadership of Stepan Klimuk. Also the m Ignatyuk and P. Nagorny was its part. For a long time the group had no communication with a city underground and worked independently. In the fall of 1943 the Soviet planes destroyed by bombing the German train near Kobrin. In its several cars there were women from Kiev who were taken away for forced labor to Germany. They were placed near the city, in Lepesakh. Soon through underground workers railroad workers the Soviet intelligence agents came into contact with these women.

In Lepesy successful delivery of a large amount of tolite which A. Danilevskaya and S. Bikhert working as dressmakers in the territory of the vozhenny town placed in the cellar of a staff of tank part began. At the end of April, 1944 in a staff of this German part there took place military meeting. In the tolite which was in the cellar the mine immediately was enclosed. Powerful explosion destroyed a staff with all ranks which were there.

Having explosive material, S. Klimuk's group began to work more effectively. Systematically they began to put railway arrows out of action, to cling "hour mines to the trains passing through station. In the spring of 1944 Hitlerites decided to perform the big operation aiming at liquidation of guerrilla groups. Military units were for this purpose pulled together from the front. After heavy fights Hitlerites managed to push aside guerrillas from the southern Areas of Kobrin district for the river Pripyat and to block the territory, on "which the guerrilla group of Chapayev in the Dakhlovsky wood operated. The crew managed to leave an environment and to take refuge in the Sporovsky woods.

Information obtained by the German security service indicated that the underground organization works in the village Turnaya. Personally recently appointed chief of SD of Vilch directed an action of destruction. The battalion shuttspolitsayev densely surrounded the village. Timofey Kravchuk and Ignat Fisyuk who long and successfully directed activity of this organization were killed in battle.

Soon after the destruction of the building of a staff which is carried out by the Soviet underground workers the chief of SD of Vilch ordered to arrest all suspects in this case. Among arrested there were S. Klimuk, P. Nagorny, M. Ignatyuk, S. Bikhert, A. Danilevskaya. On May 4, 1944 they were hung up on a market square.

Poles treated acts of sabotage and activity of the Soviet underground favourably. They helped the Soviet guerrillas, delivered the food, hid at themselves people, gave help to wounded or patients, and also gave intelligence information. This cooperation was spontaneous, had no organized character and followed most often from purely human motives, and also hatred to the general enemy.

The front line uncontrollably approached Kobrin. The German command decided to organize the strengthened line of defense here. Since May began to build reinforced concrete and earth strengthenings on approaches to the city and in the city. Germans counted that approach will dig anti-tank ditches from the South therefore on the southern suburbs from the city drove locals. The Soviet underground workers without special work plotted the defensive system constructed by Hitlerites and transferred data to guerrillas who, in turn, transferred these data to command of Red Army.

In the evening on July 19, 1944 troops of 61 armies operating in structure of 1 Belarusian front approached Kobrin. Before coming there was a task to take it straight off. At dawn the company of the lieutenant Ya. Akhmedshin seized part of the city on the left coast of Mukhavts. The gun-fire fired a first line of enemy defense at east boundary, and then the southern boundary. Divisions 29 and 37 of infantry regiments advanced to the attack and rushed into the city. In the morning on July 20 the city was freed by Red Army.

Also 212 Krichevskoy of shooting divisions took part in Kobrin and his vicinities in fights division 12 of Guards Pinskaya Decorated with the Order of the Red Banner. For military operations the honourable name of "Kobrin" was appropriated to 12 regiments of 61 armies. Kobrin's release created to the Soviet troops favorable conditions for approach to Brest and an exit to frontier.

After release of the city it turned out that in it there were a few inhabitants as for fear of heavy fights many of them took refuge in nearby villages. Also part of inhabitants, being afraid of continuation of repressions from the Soviet authorities, left the houses and went to the General province. The German administrative authorities gave the chance to leave the person interested, issuing the relevant documents for crossing of border through Bug.

Kobrin under the German occupation was 1124 days. After occupation of the city by Red Army in it there were about 8 thousand inhabitants. In the years of war in the city and the area more than 12 thousand people died. After release of the city urgently started restoration of the objects necessary for needs of the front. For very short time the airfield in which the 149th destructive regiment settled down was alerted. Arseny Ivanovich Morozov served in this regiment; in the first days of war he was a private. In Kobrine A. I. Morozov was already the deputy commander of a squadron. On its account there were 149 fighting departures during which he participated in 10 air fights, personally shot down 15 planes of the opponent and 3 - in group with companions. On July 27, when fights on approaches to Brest were started, Morozov received a task to reconnoiter places of concentration of Hitlerite troops and their way of retreat. It was its 150th fighting departure. It broadcast intelligence information. After performance of a task, coming back to airfield, on one of crossings he noticed big group of enemy troops, frosts directed the plane to a crossing and began its firing. Germans in panic ran and one by one fired at the plane. Morozov was fatally wounded. With the last bit of strength it reached airfield and put the plane. When his companions ran up to the plane, Morozov was already dead. Posthumously it was awarded by ranks of the Hero of the Soviet Union. He was buried in the square in the downtown which called by his name. The pilot's remains exhumed later and buried in a mass grave. The grave is in the square of V. P. Puganov.

In Kobrin district during Hitlerite occupation near the Soviet guerrillas Poles battled, they were also at war as a part of guerrilla groups. During guerrilla war the group of the Fly (Nikolay Kunitsky) organized under unusual circumstances can be an example.

Kunitsky lived in the Kobrin povet, in Gorodtsa. In 1939 as a part of the 83rd infantry regiment he took part in September campaign. Got to the German captivity from where soon ran and returned to Gorodets. In July, 1942 he was enlisted in the 104th battalion shuttspolitsayev in Kobrin and sent to Brest in military school on training. In November, after the end of training, in a rank of the sergeant-major it returned to a battalion with a task to train a company for fight against guerrillas.

In the second half of January, 1943 Kunitsky's company totaling 147 people was sent to Stolin's region with a task to participate in an action against guerrillas. Directed an action of 16 German soldiers who had different ranks. At the end of January the 4th company receives a concrete task: to start operation near the town Vysotsk. During march at distance of five kilometers from Vysotsk on given by Kunitsky his people liquidated all German soldiers.

Kunitsky after their elimination held meeting at which the decision to become guerrilla group was made. All newly appeared guerrillas were given pseudonyms. The decision to go to native places to Drogichin's region, Kobrin, Kosovo and Pruzhan was also made. During march to the appointed area the group repeatedly engaged not only with the German troops, but also with the gangs of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA) scoffing at the population which did not want to submit to them, especially over Poles, making against them terrible slaughter.

The movement passed across the territory where the Soviet guerrillas acted. They were already reached by news of revolt 4 companies 104 battalions shuttspolitsayev. Kunitsky's group submitted to command of the guerrilla groups operating on Volhynia headed by the general Begma. At that time Kunitsky's group totaled 98 people because all Ukrainians and part of poleshuk deserted.

On June 28 Nikolay Kunitsky (a pseudonym the Fly) with the consent of the general Begma creates the 14th special diversionary group and at the head of it goes to native places with the purpose to report to families of guerrillas about destiny of their relatives, and also carrying out diversionary actions around Drogichin, Gorodts, Kartuzskaya and Kobrin's Birches.

During transition across the territory of the Kobrin povet near the village of Tewli Mucha came into contact with the Polish guerrilla group "Veresk" to which transferred couple of horses with the cart and the weapon which is a little got in fight. On August 2, after return with diversionary group to group, Mucha received the order to transfer command to the deputy. By then Mucha's group considerably increased, his staff totaled 189 guerrillas. Kunitsky was sent to Sarn and Vladimir's area to accept command of three small Polish groups.

Mucha also took part in fights in Lyublinshchina. In June, 1944 he battled against invaders in the Yanovsky woods where he was at war together with guerrilla groups of Army of regional and National Army, and also the Soviet guerrillas. Then it moves to the Carpathians and after connection with regular parts of Red Army the guerrilla group of Nikolay Kunitsky - Mucha - was disbanded.

Nikolay Kunitsky is a commander of the Polish and Soviet guerrilla group, the inhabitant of Kobrin district, won to himself glory during guerrilla war in the area Kres and in Lyublinshchina during World War II.

It is necessary also to mention activity of the Ukrainian insurgent army in the territory of the Kobrin povet. When on Volhynia UPA arranged mass terrible slaughter of the Polish population, in the Kobrin povet located in the western part of Polesia was not observed from the Ukrainian gangs of destruction of the Polish population on the same degree, as on Volhynia. There were separate cases of punishments over the Polish families, but not oylo there is a lot of them, as on Volhynia.

In the Kobrin povet there was a little Ukrainian population (4,8% of the population); most of Ukrainians lived in the southern poveta of Polesia; this fact also should be taken into account at an explanation why in the Kobrin povet the percent of Ukrainians was less - M. K. V of this situation the Ukrainian nationalists had no big support among the population. At the same time it should be noted that to Polesia first of all the Polish and Soviet guerrilla movement developed. Despite this circumstance, the organization of the Ukrainian nationalists "Bender" in the second half of 1943 started merging of all armed groups, including groups of UPA of Taras Bulby (Borovets), groups of the organization of the Ukrainian nationalists (OUN) of the Miller and others which worked in the different districts of Volhynia and Polesia.

After merging of groups of the Ukrainian nationalists they received the name of the Ukrainian insurgent army. Till this time this name was carried only by Taras Bulby's (bulbasha) groups. On August 27, 1943 the commander of the Bender group which was under supervision of OUN colonel Roman Klochkovsky (Klim Savur) gives the order No. 4o creation of military districts. The military district of "Turiv" which was under Yury Stelmashuk (Rudy's) command covered poveta: Lutsk, Gorokhovsky, Vladimir, Kovelsky and Lyubomlsky on Volhynia; and to Polesia - Kamen-Kashirsky, Kobrin and Brest.

The commander of the Ukrainian military district Yury Stelmashuk before World War II graduated from the Brandenburg diversionary and prospecting school and was the agent of the German intelligence known under the pseudonym North-4. As the German agent he was abandoned to Volhynia for the purpose of the organization and carrying out sabotages around the Sarnensky communication center.

If in southwest military district of "Turiv" in the territory of Volhynia UPA carried out vigorous activity, arranging mass punishments in the Polish villages, destroying children, women and old men, then in Kobrin district as it was already mentioned, the mass slaughter was not. Nevertheless, this fact does not reduce responsibility of the Ukrainian nationalists for the made genocide on Kresakh over Poles, Jews, and also Ukrainians.

Alla Shevchenko's translation
To be continued

Shevchenko, And. German occupation: Mieczyslaw Kitaychuk, chapters of the book "Rough Events of Polesia" / Alla of Shevchenko//Kobrin-inform. – 2008. – On June 5, on July 2. – Page 18. About the German occupation and the guerrilla movement in Kobrin district.



Popular materials


Materials about Kobrin district

Make the contribution to a reconstruction of history of Kobrin district. If you have interesting materials - share with us: admin@ikobrin.ru

Comments


Names of articles





Search in the website



Our partners