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Thread: Members of the Wehrmacht Feldgendarmerie erecting a sign on a major road in Russia, July 1941. This was not just any highway, however. Later in 1942, what happened along and beyond this road would have a severe effect on the Army Group Centre Rear Area.
(Photo: BA)
(Photo: BA)
The sign reads:
Danger of Partisans from Velizh to Usvyaty.
Single vehicles, stop!
Driving on through with only 2 vehicles.
Weapons at the ready.
The Commanding General
Danger of Partisans from Velizh to Usvyaty.
Single vehicles, stop!
Driving on through with only 2 vehicles.
Weapons at the ready.
The Commanding General
Before I go any further, these photos speak volumes before we have even begun to dive deeper. So, by July 1941, German forces had already marked this large area of their rear areas as under the control of their enemy. German soldiers are not safe to travel on this road.
This road is now known as the 66K-11 and runs for 36.7km between Velizh (NW; Pskov Oblast) and Usvyaty (SE; Smolensk Oblast). It would be very difficult to workout where the photos were taken in 1941, but this gives a good idea of what the road looks like today.
On the 9th January 1942, with the failure of the German Moscow Offensive, the Soviet 3rd and 4th Shock Armies launched the Toropets-Kholm Offensive. Soon elements of the 4th Shock Army had captured: Usvyaty 20/1; and Velizh 29/1.
(Marked with crosses)
(Marked with crosses)
In Velizh on the 28/1, German forces defending the town, anticipating the Red Army's assault, liquidated the Jewish ghetto established there. The majority of the Jewish people were forced into a pigsty which was then set alight. Many others were hunted down and killed. 1500+ dead
Also, in the Velizh area, a collection of photographs were found on the body of a German soldier. These photos provided the Soviets with damning evidence of German war crimes. They showed the steps taken to hang five men (debated whether Partisans or Jews) in Velizh in Sept 1941.
The photographs were published in Pravda on 2nd June 1942 and the victims were immortalised as the 'Five Men of Velizh'. This became a large rallying cry for Soviet civilians, both in the occupied and unoccupied territories, to take up arms again the 'fascist invaders'.
The British Ministry of Information aired a film produced by the Soviet War News Film Agency on the 'Five Men of Velizh'. Watch it for free on the IWM website: https://film.iwmcollections.org.uk/record/25361
In February 1942, only two weeks after the Red Army surrounded the WH 257. Infanterie Regiment, the 83. Infanterie Division rallied and counterattacked, retaking Velizh. To the NW, Usvyaty was soon recaptured too. The civic areas were secured, but the roadway between them was not
Here's the Velizh(NW)-Usvyaty(SE) landscape. Located near the operational borders of Army Groups North & Centre, neither Gp staff had the men spare to tackle the Soviet elements trapped in the corridor. The forests & swamps could not be used by the RedArmy for an offensive either
By failing to immediately close the gap, the German forces aided the Soviets in crippling their own rear areas. The 20-30mi gap allowed Soviet Operative Groups, consisting of Communist Party, Red Army & NKVD personnel, to enter TR occupied lands to fervour pro-partisan sentiments
This gap became known as the 'Vitebsk[or Surazh] Gate'. The Belarusian Communist Party created the Northwestern Operational Group to liaise with the RedArmy and orchestrate movements through the gap with the 1st Belarusian Partisan Brigade protecting the south, the 2nd the north.
![This gap became known as the 'Vitebsk[or Surazh] Gate'. The Belarusian Communist Party created the Northwestern Operational Group to liaise with the RedArmy and orchestrate movements through the gap with the 1st Belarusian Partisan Brigade protecting the south, the 2nd the north.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ErU14cIXUAAv2ce.jpg "This gap became known as the 'Vitebsk[or Surazh] Gate'. The Belarusian Communist Party created the Northwestern Operational Group to liaise with the RedArmy and orchestrate movements through the gap with the 1st Belarusian Partisan Brigade protecting the south, the 2nd the north.")
The Soviet results were incredible. Westwards: partisan numbers increased from 500 to 7500 (15% Belarus), along with 5000 firearms & tons of explosives in a 1600sqK area; eastwards: c25,000 recruits for the Red Army, c200,000 refugees, 1600t of grain, 10,000t potatoes+veg et al.
German forces did not close the Vitebsk Gate until the 25th September 1942, in a three-pronged attack with infantry, tanks and artillery. All the partisan villages were burned- the death toll is unclear.
The Vitebsk Gate was the largest gap broken & sustained through the Soviet-German frontline during the Second World War & bolstered N.Belarusian partisans. That is how a small stretch of Russian countryside helped to weaken the Wehrmacht's fighting capability on the Ostfront.
(Another prime example of a guerrilla supply route is the Ho-Chi-Minh Trail, used between 1959 and 1975)
I hope this thread has been informative. I would have liked it to have been even more detailed, but there is only so much you can post on Twitter.
