Издан сборник документов и материалов «Белорусский штаб партизанского движения. Сентябрь-декабрь 1942 года»

Abstract

The article offers a review of a new documents collection prepared by the staff of the National Archive of the Republic of Belarus (NARB) and devoted to creation and first months in operation of the Belarusian headquarters of partisan movement (BHPM), the main military and political body that guided partisan movement on the territory of the BSSR. The collection includes 204 documents, 196 of them from the NARB fonds; most are being introduced into scientific use for the first time. The historiography on the history of partisan warfare on the territory of Belarus is quite diverse, and yet this collection is of great importance and significance. Firstly, a comprehensive study of the BHPM activities in the wartime is yet to be carried out by Belarusian or foreign historians. Secondly, the designated time period (September-December 1942) remains little-studied; documentary materials that have for a long time been classified are yet to be introduced into scientific use. Authors-compilers use the published documents to address various aspects of the BHPM activities in its most difficult days: recruitment of qualified personnel and personnel records, operational intelligence work, organization of communication and logistics of material supply in partisan formations, document management and document flow. The collection also contains documents of the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement (CHPM) and the partisan formations of the BSSR, which makes it possible to consider the activity of the BHPM not as an autonomous process, but as an interaction of the CHPM, the BHPM, and other partisan formations. It is important to introduce into the scientific use documents related to the activities of the subordinate BHPM structures: school for training personnel, mobile radio centre, Belarussian diversionary special operations brigade. One of the main documents on the history of the partisan warfare - ‘Plan for development of the partisan movement and actions of the BSSR partisan detachments in winter 1942/1943’ - is being published for the first time. Collection of documents and materials allows to re-evaluate various areas of activities of the BHPM and its subordinate structures in autumn-winter of 1942.