people in the villages faced a choice of deportationto Germany or
escape into the forests to join the partisans. As the war progressed,
more and more chose the latter.
The partisans had their greatest successes in 1942–1944 in both the
political and military arenas. Large liberated areas were created in
Russian, Byelorussian, and Ukrainian territories. Partisan govern-
ments were established. Many of these liberated areas had their own
airstrips. More importantly, partisan units became bolder in striking
German military targets. Senior German officials were assassinated,
and the partisans began a highly successful railroad war against Ger-
man logistical services. Before the July 1943 German offensive at
Kursk, the partisans conducted over 10,000 attacks against German
railroads. The attacks on the German lines of communication cut the
flow of supplies to the front and forced Berlin to assign troops from
the front to protect the rear.
Intelligence gathering also improved dramatically as the war wore
on, and information from partisan groups became increasingly im-
portant for military planning. In April 1943, Stalin issued an order
expanding the intelligence responsibilities of the partisans, and thou-
sands of GRUand NKVDofficers were assigned to partisan detach-
ments to improve the collection of military information for senior
Red Army commanders. Smershalso operated in the partisan groups,
ensuring that the organizations remained under party control and did
not turn into bandit formations. Smershofficers collected information
about the local population and the names of collaborators for punish-
ment after victory.
The partisan war in the east was fought on different fronts. In the
Baltic states and Russia, it often involved battles between Jewish and
Slavic partisans, and in the Ukraine between nationalists and com-
munist formations. The Nazi policy of genocide drove thousands of
young Jews into the partisan movement. In Vilnius and other cities,
an urban partisan movement sprang into being. Following the de-
struction of many ghettos, young Jewish men and women fled to the
forests and swamps. Some were absorbed into existing partisan
movements, but many were forced to band together and form Jewish
partisan detachments. Moscow made some effort to prevent violence
between Jewish and Slavic groups, and NKVD and Smershofficers
tried to keep the peace between them. In the Ukraine, the situation188 •PARTISAN WARFARE, SOVIET06-313 G-P.qxd 7/27/06 7:56 AM Page 188