Historical Study: WWII Resistance (Eastern Partisan Front)

Another key distinction I should make is the difference between civilian resistance and the partisans. While they both fall under the same category of resistance against their government, they are two different types of resistance. The civilian resistance was mostly organized efforts of urban sabotage conducted in secret. This occurred mostly on the western front of puppet governments. The partisans however were actual military pockets of guerilla combatants often located in rural regions. They were civilian soldiers who fought against the Axis armies, but were not official members of the Allied or Red Army. 

These partisans were especially crucial on the eastern front, where the Germans had no intention of establishing puppet governments the way they did for the west. Hitler's ultimate goal was to completely annex the eastern territory and eliminate all Jews and Slavs. Therefore all resistance on the east was aligned with partisan activity, Soviet influence, and a sheer fight for survival. While there was some levels of urban sabotage and underground networks on the eastern front (especially the case for Poland), the majority was a united partisan army. Poland is the rare exception that could fall in either category of urban-occupied resistance and rural partisan resistance since it was one the largest resistances during the war. 

The Jewish Resistance could almost be it's own category since these people were not fighting for an independent nation, rather fighting for survival. I've written numerous times about the Holocaust and will surely make another deep dive on this dark topic at some point. For now I'm going to include their resistance here with the eastern Partisans, primarily because they were tied to Poland, Belarus, and the Baltic states. Of course we all know their most famous resistance was the urban Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943. However their resistance also occurred in the rural eastern region in various pockets of Soviet and Baltic partisan groups. Also worth mentioning that one of my first historical studies on this blog was about the Polish and Jewish WWII resistance, see Ruins of Warsaw (inspired by the movie The Pianist). 

Polish Resistance

• 
  Date Occupied: September 1, 1939 (After 35 days of battle, the Nazis completely occupied the nation. The Polish government went into exile and was completely annexed by the Third Reich. Hans Frank became the chief administrator and governor of the Polish district which now answered to Nazi Germany).  
• Active Rebels: 300,000-650,000 (one of the largest resistance movements in Europe)
• Death Toll: 150,000-200,000
• Key Movements/Organizations:
  
• The Polish Home Army (AK): Loyal to the government in exile it was completely an underground operation that united all factions of resistance. It was highly organized and allied with the British Intelligence networks.
• Peasants Battalions (BCh): Leftist partisan fighters partnered with the AK
• National Military Organization (NOW): Military arm of the prior government that supported national democracy
•  National Armed Forces (NSZ) A break-away faction from the NOW movement which was anti-communist.
• The Communist Faction (People's Army AL). Backed and supported by the Soviet Union. 
• Clandestine Press:
• Secret Military Printing Works: Central publication of the Polish Home Army
• Information Bulletin: Weekly periodical of the Home Army boosting national morale and anti-Fasist resistance.
• Operation N: Fake news publication that tried to spin German news in a negative manner so as to demoralize the Nazi occupants.
• Intelligence Networks:
  
• 
  Gray Ranks: Underground intelligence network responsible for intel gathering and sabotage
• AK II's Bureau: The intelligence wing of he Polish Home Army that provided intel to local resistance as well as British intelligence.  
• Lombard Bureau: Intelligence mission of the AK that famously gathered intel on the Nazi's V weapon program (long range missiles). 
• Enigma Code Breakers: Polish cryptologists were able to break Germany's code machine and shared the intel with the Allies. 
• Holocaust Reporting: Since the Holocaust was primarily taking place in Poland, couriers and spies reported the atrocities of the Jewish ghettos and the concentration camps to the outside world.
• Silent Unseen (Cichociemni): Special elite force of paratroopers that were trained in Britain to conduct covert operations and coordinate the Warsaw uprising. 316 of these operative successfully landed in Poland and were like a modern day group of ninjas or James Bond spies. 
• Council to Aid Jews: Humanitarian network to hide and help Jews escape.
• Escape Routes: 
• The Balkan Corridor: Soldiers, Jews, and political refugees escaped via the southern border of Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia then traveled by ship to France or Britain.
• Home Courier Routes: Couriers risked their lives to travel thru Axis-controlled regions in Central Europe and the Alps to deliver key messages to London. 
• Air Bridges: The British RAF and Polish Air Force also coordinated many dangerous air drops and pickups of supplies and intel. 
• Zegota: Branch of the AK that specialized in saving Jews
• Key Leaders:
• 
  Gen Stefan Rowecki: Commander and Chief of the Polish Home Army. Eventually captured and murdered by the Gestapo in 1943
• Gen Tadeusz Komorwski: Replaced Rowecki as the 2nd commander and chief and oversaw the failed Warsaw Uprising in 1944 which he became a POW. He later became 4th Prime Minister in 1947-1949.
• Gen Leopold Okulicki: 3rd Commander of the AK Army, who officially disolved the movemnt after the Soviets took power in 1945.
• Witold Pilecki: Intelligence officer who intentionally allowed himself to be sent to Auschwitz camp so as to infiltrate, report, and lead a resistance from within.
• Jan Karski: A heroic courier who made many daring missions through occupied Axis territory to send messages and intel to Britain.
• Irena Sendler: Social worker who saved approximately 2500 Jews by helping them escape the Warsaw Ghetto with false identities.
• Key Events:
• Sept 1939: The first Polish underground resistance movement is established known as the Service for Poland's Victory (SZP). 
  
• Nov 1939: Various other resistance factions form shortly after such as the military wing known as the Union for Armed Struggle (ZWZ)
• 1940: Pilecki volunteers to imprison himself in Auschwitz, gather intel, stir up resistance, and escape to report of the concentration camps.
• Feb 1942: The ZWZ transforms into the Polish Home Army, uniting all resistance groups (including Communist and nationalist fronts) into one organization
• April 1943: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: Despite being a Jewish uprising, many of the arms were supplied by the Polish Resistance. 
  
• June 1943: Gen Rowecki, commander of the Polish Home Army is captured and later executed by the Gestapo. 
• 
  Feb 1944: Operation Kutschera. The Home Army coordinate a successful assassination of a high ranking SS officer in Warsaw, Franz Kutschera.
• Jan-July 1944: Operation Tempest. As the war on the eastern front begins to turn, rural pockets of uprisings occur in Volhynia, Wilno, and Lviv (which was Polish territory before it became Ukrainian territory). 
  
• August-October 1944: Warsaw Uprising: The Polish Home Front finally coordinate their united effort to liberate the city of Warsaw before the Red Army arrives. The Nazis however stubbornly resist and destroy the majority of the city. It is a devastating loss for the AK. What's worse is the Red Army delayed their arrival to Warsaw so that the resistance could fail, and they could be the ones to liberate the city. (After 60 days of fighting nearly 15,000 Polish resistance fighters were killed).
• Jan-March 1945: The Soviet Arm liberates Warsaw and Poland. The Polish Home Army is forced to disband otherwise face severe persecution.
• Date Liberated: March 1945 (Following the war, Poland became a puppet Soviet state of the Eastern Bloc. It also lost 46% of it's territory it had before WWII such as the eastern borderlands with cities such as Lviv (Ukraine), Wilno (Lithuania), and Grodno (Belarus). They did however aquire some land on the west that once belonged to Prussian-Germany. Poland did not achieve complete independence until 1991 after the fall of communism). 

Jewish Resistance

• The Holocaust: (While the persecution began as soon as Nazi Germany came to power in 1933, the mass killing did not begin until WWII. When the Nazis invaded Poland and Eastern Europe the Jews were sysmetiacilly deported into ghettos, concentration camps, and extermination camps from 1939-1945. This focus here is primarily on the resistance to this terrible genocide that occurred.  
  
• 
  Active Rebels: 20,000-30,000 (Soviet, Polish, French, and other various partisan movements)
• Key Organizations:
  
• Jewish Combat Organization (ZOB): One of the most famous Jewish resistance groups that coordinated the Warsaw Ghetto which consisted of 1000 fighters. 
• Jewish Military Union (ZZW): Another Zionist revolutionary group based in Warsaw, Poland. 
• Bielski Partisan Fighters: The famous Belarussian Partisans who hid in the forests, fought the Nazis, and established a community of 1200 Jewish refugees.
• United Partisan Organization (FPO): A partisan resistance group established in the Vilna Ghetto of Lithuania.
• Armee Juive: Zionist resistance movement set in Vichy France
• Clandestine Press:
• Der Ruff (The Call)
• The Bulletin
• Against the Current
• Intelligence Networks:
• The Ritchie Boys: Jewish immigrants in America who joined a special task force in Camp Ritchie, Maryland to translate and interpret Jewish and German customs.
• X Troop: Special force of Jewish refugees trained by the British to gather intelligence and fight behind enemy lines. 
• Volunteers for Yishuv: 37 paratroopers arrived in Europe to help gather intelligence and organize resistance. 
• Escape Routes/Networks:
• The Working Group in Slovakia
• Relief and Rescue Committee in Budapest, Hungary
• Children's Aid Networks in France such as the OSE Network
• The Kindertransport organizations in Germany, Austria, and Czechoslavakia that saved 10,000 Jewish children.
• Emergency Rescue Committee: Varian Fry's rescue operation in southern France of affluential Jewish artists and refugees which saved nearly 2000.
• The National Hideout Fund in Netherlands was one of the largest safe havens for Jews, which saved approximately 25,000-30,000.
• The Escape Pipeline organized by the Norwegian resistance into Sweden which saved approx 1000 Jews.  
• Danish Sea Routes saved approximately 7200 Jews.
• The Bulgarian Orthodox Church famously protested against the deportation of Jews which saved an astounding 50,000 from being sent to their deaths. 
• The Italian Resistance also famously protected many Jews in their occupation zones of Italy, Greece, and Albania. Saving nearly 36,000 Jews.
• The Polish Home Army had many safe houses, networks, and rescue branches (such as the Zegota) that saved nearly 100,000-150,000 Jews. 
• Key Leaders:
• 
  Yitzhak Zuckerman: Founder and leader of the ZOB
• Mordechai Anielewizc: Commander of the ZOB, killed during the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
• Zivia Lubetkin: Female founder and leader of the ZOB
• Yitzhak Wittenberg: Leader of the Vilna Ghetto Uprising
• Tuvia Bielski: Leader of the Bielski Belarusian partisans
• Ariadna Scriabina: Founder of the French resistance movement known as the Armee Juive
• Marceli Galewski: Leader of the Treblinka Uprising which helped 400 prisoners escape
• Alexander Pechersky: Led the Sobibor Uprising at an extermination camp which helped free 300 prisoners. 
• Key Events:
• December 1941: The Vilna Ghetto Resistance begins organization in Lithuania
• Sept 1942: Lachwa Ghetto Uprising. One of the first ghetto uprisings in Poland
• Jan 18, 1943: First violent resistance from the Warsaw Ghetto led by the ZOB and ZZW pockets
• April 19-May 16: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Nearly a month of resistance coordinated by the ZOB and ZZW with approximately 1000 fighters. The uprising was brutally crushed and the consequence was tenfold as the Nazis burned the majority of the ghetto. It became the most famous act of Jewish resistance during WWII.
• Aug 2nd, 1943: Treblinka Uprising. Jewish prisoners in Treblinka seize weapons, set fire to various buildings, and coordinate an escape. While some were able to escape, many others were captured and killed. The camp closed shortly after due to the devastation of the uprising.
• Aug 1943: The Bialystok Ghetto Uprising occurred in Poland. A group of 500 fighters resisted deportation for several days until the uprising was suppressed
• Oct 1943: Sobibor Uprising. One of the few victories for the Jewish resistance that killed 12 German guards, and coordinated an escape from the Sobibor extermination camp in Poland. Of the 600 prisoners that took part it is estimated that half escaped while the other half were killed. The camp was shut down shortly after due to this event.
• July 23, 1944: The Soviets discover and liberate the first concentration camp in Majdanek.
• Oct 7, 1944: Auschwitz Rebellion. A group of Jewish laborers resisted in the Auschwitz camp by killing three guards and destroying a crematorium. The insurgency was quickly suppressed and all collaborators were executed.
• Spring 1945: All major extermination camps are liberated by the Soviet and Allied armies.
• Liberation: May 8, 1945 (With the Nazis officially defeated, all concentration and death camps were liberated. Shortly after David Ben-Gurion established the State of Israel in 1948 which welcomed all survivors of the Holocaust. The new state was heavily supported by the United States and Great Britain)

Greek Partisan Resistance (Ethniki Antistasi. Partisans known as "Andartes")

• 
  Date Occupied: October 1940-1941 (Mussolini invaded Italy in 1940 which led to the Greco-Italian War. The Greeks were able to repel the invasion, however the Nazis eventually came to the Italians aid and fully occupied the country by April 1941. The nation was then divided into three zones; German zone, Italian zones, and Bulgarian zone). 
• Active Rebels: 1.8 million (50,000-80,000 partisan fights. One of the biggest resistance forces during the war)
• Death Toll: 20,650
  
• Key Movements/Organizations:
• National Liberation Front (EAM-ELAS): The Greek People's Liberation Army was the largest resistance movement. Communist dominated but also nationalist ideals. 
• The Nationalist/Republic Group (EDES): Anti-Communist, Republican seeking to establish a conservative government.
• Clandestine Press:
• The Radical: Communist propaganda paper
• Freedom: One of the most widespread popular underground papers. 
• New Generation: The paper of the Youth Organization of students of the resistance
• Mache: The Republican Anti-Communist publication
• Intelligence Networks:
• Bouboulina: Founded by Lela Karagianni, helped with escape routes to the Middle East and provided intelligence
• Omiros- Operated by British intelligence.
• Maleas/Aliki-  Focused on escape lines, as well as maritime intelligence
• Midas 614: A network of sabotage and intelligence supported by the Allies
• Escape Routes:
• Aagea Sea Route: Refugees were guided from the Greek mainland and transported to the island of Crete via fishing boats to be rescued by British allies in  Turkey or Egypt.
• Mountain Paths: Partisan fighters in the mountains guided fugitives towards Turkey.
• The Crete Network: The resistance served a vital role in aiding the Allies escape during the Battle of Crete even though the casualties were still high (similar to how they did in Dunkirk)
• Key Leaders
• 
  Aris Velouchiotis: Chief Captain of the EAM communist military wing.
• Stefanos Sarafis: Chief Military Officer of the National Liberation Front.
• Georgios Siantos: Key leader of the Greek Communist party
• Napoleon Zervas: Founder and military leader of the republican/nationalist resistance faction.
• Lela Karagianni: "The mother of the resistance". She founded the Bouboulina group which provided intelligence, and escape routes for allied soldiers. 
• Key Events:
  
• May 30, 1941: Two students climb to the top of the Acropolis to remove the Nazi flag and replace it with a Greek flag. The first major symbolic act of resistance.
• May 1941: Battle of Crete. Resistance fighters work to save stranded allied soldiers on the island.
• Sept-Oct 1941: Establishment of the National Liberation Front and pockets of armed resistance in the mountains (known as the Andartes).
• 1942: Establishment of the Greek People's Liberation Army and the National Republican Greek League. 
•  Nov 1942: Operation Harling. The Greek Resistance partners with the British SOE agents to blow up a major railway bridge. This cut the Axis' supply line from North Africa and became a major turning point in the resistance.
• Early 1943: Various pockets of resistance liberate the mountains from Nazi control and refer to it as "Free Greece". This however marked the beginning of a Civil War between leftist and right political factions.
• Fall 1943: Italy fully withdraws from their occupancy of Greek territory.
• Sept 1944: Lela Karagianni, head of the Bouboulina resistance group is captured and executed by Nazi firing squad. 
• Oct 1944: Germany fully withdraws from Greece.
• December 1944-1949: The Greek Civil War intensifies due to the sudden power vacuum. The Allies support the non-communist side.  
• Date Liberated: May 1945. (Although the Italians and Germans were forced to retreat from Greece, the Civil War waged on for several years after. The Communist partisans waged a guerilla war against the western-backed Greek provisional government. In July 1949 Yugoslavia leader Josip Tito closed his northern border, which significantly impacted Soviet supply lines for the partisan fighters. This brought an end to the conflict by Oct 1949 where the nation aligned itself with the Western powers.   

Albanian Resistance

• 
  Date Occupied: April 1939 (Surrenders after 5 day invasion by Italy. Was made part of the Italian Empire and later a German province state)
• Active Rebels: 70,000 (partisan fighters) 
  
• Death Toll: 28,000
• Key Movements/Organizations:
• National Liberation Movement (NLA): Communist partisan movement led by Enver Hoxha. 
• Balli Kombetar (National Front): Nationalist movement that was anti-communist
• Escape Routes: 
• The Albanian Partisans assisted downed allied airman through the mountains and to the sea coast
• Created a vast network of escape routes and safe houses for Jews.
• Key Leaders:
• Enver Hoxha: Leader of the communist military movement (NLM)
• Balli Kombetar: Leader of the nationalist movement
• Key Events:
• 
  Nov 1941: Albanian Communist Party is established to lead the resistance against Italian occupation. 
  
• 1942: The NLM and National Front resistance movements are established.
• Jan 1943: The NLM and National Front cooperate to defeat the Italian troops at the Battle of Gjorm
• Sept 1943: Italy surrenders, causing Germany to take over the occupancy. 
• Oct 1943: The tension between the two main resistance forces (the NLM and the National Front) erupt into the Albanian Civil War
• Nov 1943-1944: German's Winter Offensive at wiping out partisan resistance is met with heavy resilience in the mountains. The National Front sides with the Germans, hoping to gain an advantage over the Communist resistance. 
• Spring 1944: The Germans begin to withdraw from the Albanian territory due to the Soviet advance. 
• Oct 28-Nov 17, 1944: Battle of Tirane. The partisans encircled the German forces and recaptured their capital city. 
• Nov 29, 1944: The Albanian communist resistance achieves complete Axis liberation, free from Soviet influence. 
• Date Liberated: Nov 29, 1944. (A New communist government was established with Enver Hoxha as the prime minister until 1985. The government was similar to Yugoslavia as being mostly independent of Soviet influence).   

Yugoslav Partisans

• 
  Date Occupied: April 6, 1941 (The Axis army of Germany, Hungary, and Bulgaria invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in what was known as the April War. The Yugoslav army surrendered after 11 days of fighting. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was broken up into various Axis zones). 
• Croatia became an independent fascist puppet government (which included parts of Bosnia)
• Serbia became occupied by the Germans
  
• Parts of Slovenia and Montenegro were annexed by Italy
• Slovenia was annexed by Germany
• The Baranya region went to Hungary
• Most of Macedonia went to Bulgaria
• Active Rebels: 800,000 partisan fighters
• Death Toll: 245,000-300,000
• Key Movements/Organizations:
• Yugoslav Partisans (NOVJ): Military resistance force of guerilla fighters led by Josip Broz Tito. They were driven by nationalist ideals yet ultimately were the military wing of the Yugoslav Communist Party (KPJ) 
• 
  Anti-Fascist Council for National Liberation (AVNOJ): The Partisan's legislative council
• Chetniks: A Serbian nationalist movement led by Draza Mihailovic, that sought to remove the Axis government, yet also establish their own independent nation free from Yugoslavia.
• Clandestine Press:
  
• Partisan Fourth Estate: Popular underground publication used by the Communist Party and the National Liberation Movement.
• Borba (The Fight/Combat): The key publication for communist propaganda from Josip Tito
• Glas (The Voice): Publications to recruit support for the partisan cause.
• Naprej (Forward): Popular publication in Slovenia to boost morale and resistance against the Axis-government.
• Intelligence Networks
• OZNA (Department for the Protection of the People): Main security and intelligence agency for the partisan. It later became their secret police operation.
• Escape Routes: 
• Operation Halyard: The Chetniks famously rescued hundreds of Allied airman from Serbia near the village of Pranjani.
• Key Leaders:
• Josip Broz Tito: The supreme commander of the KPJ "Yugoslav" Partisans who would later go on to reign as dictator.
• Milovan Dilas: Tito's closest ally and political theorist
• Aleksander Rankovic: Key organizer of the Yugoslav Communist Party and their intelligence operation (OZNA).
• Koca Popovic: Military Commander for the partisans well known for his strategic victories
• Ivo Lola Ribar: Leader of the Yugoslav Communist Youth Movement, intellectual associate of Tito and a wartime hero. His tragic death in 1943 became a symbol for the resistance.  
• Key Events:
  
• 
  Summer 1941: The Partisan movement begins led by Josip Tito and the KPJ. 
• July 1941: Uprising in Serbia was suppressed by the Germans which led to a terrible bombardment of Belgrade causing 17,000 civilian deaths.
• January 1943: Operation Weiss (Fourth and Fifth Enemy Offensive). The Axis armies launch a major offensive against the disruptive Yugoslav partisans in Bosnia and Montenegro. Despite heavy losses the partisans are able to remain resilient. 
• Fall 1943: The Sixth Enemy Offensive: the Yugoslav partisans launch an offensive against land that was occupied by the fallen Italy. 
• Fall 1943: The Allies chose to support the Yugoslav partisans over the Chetniks.  
• Spring 1944: The Seventh Enemy Offensive. The Nazis attempt to capture Tito, but fail which further strengthens the partisans' resolve. 
• Oct 1944: Belgrade Offensive. The Yugoslav Partisans and the Red Army liberate the city of Belgrade from the Nazis.
• May 1945: The Yugoslav partisans completely drive out the Nazis, and establish their liberation, without Soviet influence. 
• Date Liberated: May 1945. (The Yugoslav Partisans were the only nation in Europe able to achieve its liberation free from Western or Soviet influence. This was due to fierce fighting and leadership under Josip Tito. Despite being a communist nation, Tito sought to establish Yugoslavia as its own independent nation free from the Soviet sphere of power. By 1980 his regime begin to collapse and in 1991 Yugoslavia was broken up into separate sovereign states consisting of Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo).

Baltic Partisans (Forest Brothers)

• Date Occupied: (1940-1941 by the Soviets; June 1941 by the Nazis during Operation Barbarossa)
• Active Rebels: 30,000-50,000 (Lithuania), 10,000-15,000 (Latvia), 10,000-15,000 (Estonia)
• Death Toll: 10,000 (Lithuania), 1500 (Latvia), 2200 (Estonia)
• Key Movements/Organizations:
• 
  Liberation of Lithuania (VLIK): Pockets of resistance that later established a united front against Soviet occupancy (LLKS)
• Latvian Central Council (LCC) 
• National Committee of the Estonia Republic (NKER)
• The Forest Brothers: Pockets of Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian resistance in the rural forests against Nazis but more so the Soviets.
• Clandestine Press:
• Independent Lithuania: Urging citizens to fight for independence and resist both the Nazis and Soviets. Most notably by resisting to join the Nazi army.
• Key Leaders:
  
• Steponas Kairys: Chairman of the Lithuanian VLIK against German occupancy.
• Mykolas Krupavicius: Catholic political leader of the Lithuanian VLIK
• Konstantins Cakaste: Founder of the Latvian (LCC) organization
• Juri Uluots: Leader of the Estonian NKER. Very opposed to German occupancy
• Adolfas Rammanauskas (The Hawk) Military commander of the Lithuanian partisans
• Robert Rubenis: Partisan commander of the Latvian Kurelis Group
• Key Events:
• June 1940: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are occupied by the Soviet Union as part of the Molotov-Ribbetrop agreement with Germany
• June 1941: Lithuanian begins an uprising as Germany invades. Hoping to establish their own government free from Soviet control. However the Nazis instead refuse to accept this government.
• 1943-1944: Large scale underground press campaign urging citizens to refuse conscription into the German army. 
• 1944: The Latvian Kurelis Groups makes a heroic stance against a Nazi regiment before being defeated.
• Summer of 1944: The Red Army launches Operation Bagration which drives the Nazis completely out of the Baltic territory. 
• Sept 1944: The Tief Government is established in Estonia as the Nazis retreat from the Red Army. It is a brief independent government that is quickly supplanted by Soviet control.  
• Date Liberated: 1991. (The Baltic states were first occupied by the Soviets in 1940, then the Nazis from 1941-1944, and then the Soviets from 1944-1991. Despite various waves of resistance after WWII, they did not completely achieve their independence until the fall of communism).    

Belarusian Partisans

• Date Occupied: June 1941. (Soviet Republic of Belarus was the first target of Operation Barbarossa. After a ten day battle at the Defense of Brest Fortress the region eventually fell to German control). 
• Active Rebels: 374,000 (Majority of Soviet partisans)
• Death Toll: 45,000
• Key Movements/Organizations:
• 
  Belarussian Partisans: Approximately 437 partisan detachments had established by 1941 during Operation Barbarossa. 
• Central Headquarters of Partisan Command (CHPM): While the office was established in Moscow it was primarily focused on the Belarussian region
• Jewish Partisan Groups: Most famously the Bielski Partisans who had approximately 1236 members hiding in the forests (portrayed in the 2008 film Defiance)
• Clandestine Press:
  
• Zvyazda (The Star): The official paper of Belarus continued spreading communist propaganda to resist the Nazi invasion
• Key Leaders:
• Panteleimon Ponomarenko: First Secretary of the Communist Party of Belarus also head of the Central Command for the Partisan Movement
• Pyotr Masherov: A partisan commander and hero who later got involved in public office.
• Vasily Korzh: One of the earliest Partisan commanders
• Tuvia Bielski: The Leader of the famous Jewish Bielski partisan group which saved over 1200 lives
• Key Events:
  
• 
  June 1941: Local militia units begin to form, such as Vasily Korzh's partisan movement near Pinsk. Nearly 230 other detachments are formed by the end of the year.
• May 1942: The Central Headquarters of Partisan Command is established in Moscow to help communicate and organize all these various partisan movements throughout Belarus
• August 1943: Operation Rails War: A massive coordinated effort by nearly 100,000 Belarussian partisans to destroy railways and German's logistical supply line. 
• Sept 1943: Assassination of Nazi Commander Wilhelm Kube occurs in Minsk by members of the Belarussian resistance
• November 1943: Operation Concert leads to continuous destruction of the railways by the partisans to disrupt German's supply lines. 
• End of 1943: The Belarussian partisans occupy 60% of their territory and reach the peak of their membership at 374,000.
• Summer 1944: The Red Army launches Operation Bagration with assistance from the resistance to drive the Nazis out of Belarus. The city of Minsk is liberated. Many partisan fighters join the Red Army to finish the fight against the Nazis.  
• Date Liberated: August 1944. (Following the liberation from the Nazis, the region of Belarus returned to Soviet control. It did not achieve it's full independence until 1991 with the fall of the USSR).    

Ukrainian Partisans

• Date Occupied: Late 1941 (After several months into Operation Barbarossa the Nazis had captured Kyiv and controlled most of Ukraine by the end of 1941.). 
• Active Rebels: 300,000 (40,000 UPA fighters)
• Death Toll: 150,000
• Key Movements/Organizations:
• Ukrainian "Soviet" Partisans: Detachments of partisans throughout the Ukrainian region that fought and sabotaged German military posts and rail lines. They had a central command in Moscow that established communication, supplies, and equipment. 
• Ukrainian Nationalist Movement (UPA): A revolutionary movement for independence from both the Nazis and the Soviet Union. 
• Key Leaders:
  
• 
  Roman Shukhevych: Military commander of the UPA insurgent army, who served briefly with the Germans before fighting against them. 
• Stepan Bandera: Leader of the OUN-B faction within the nationalist movement. He led an uprising in Lviv and was taken prisoner by the Nazis. He remained a symbolic leader of the resistance until he was freed.
• Andriy Melnyk: Leader of the OUN-M faction within the nationalist movement. He too was later captured and imprisoned by the Nazis.
• Sydir Kovpak: Famous partisan commander best known for his successful Carpathian Raid
• Timofei Strokach: Chief of staff for the Ukrainian Partisan Movement in Moscow.
• Key Events:
• June 1941: Following the Nazi's Operation Barbarossa, the city of Lviv is declared an independent Ukrainian nation by the OUN-B nationalist movement. The revolution is quickly squashed by the Nazis and their leaders are imprisoned.
• May 1942: As various partisan groups begin to form, the Soviet Union established a central command center in Moscow to manage partisan affairs in Ukraine (just as they did with Belarus). 
• Oct 1942: The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) is established which began a guerilla war against the Nazis and the Soviets.
• Early 1943: The UPA joins with the partisans to fully focus their fight against the Nazis
• Spring 1943: Volhynia Massacre. The UPA conducts a racial massacre of Polish citizens near the city of Lutsk to establish their new Ukrainian state (100,000 deaths). This atrocity is quite separate from the Nazi's holocaust and worthy of a deeper look.
• Summer 1943: Carpathian Raid. Soviet partisan commander successfully knocks out key German railways in the Carpathian mountains.
• Fall 1944: The Red Army drives the Nazis out of Ukraine, to regain control of the territory.
• 1945-1956: The UPA continues their resistance against the Soviet Union
• Date Liberated: October 28, 1944. (The Soviet army reaches the western border of Ukraine in Uzhhorod to completely liberate the region. It is returned to Soviet control despite continuous insurgency from the UPA. Similiar to Belarus the Ukraine did not achieve full independence until 1991).      

Soviet Partisans

• Date Invaded: July-Oct 1941 (The Nazis reached into western Russia during their Operation Barbarossa capturing the key cities of Smolensk, Novgorod, Pskov, Rostov-on-Don, and Kaluga however they were never able to completely occupy the nation. The majority of the partisan activity happened in Belarus however there were still militia detachments in Russia separate from the Red Army)
• Active Rebels: 200,000 (not including Ukraine and Belarus)
• Death Toll: 30,000
• 
  Key Movements/Organizations:
  
• Central Staff of the Partisan Movement: Command center in Moscow which managed the Soviet partisan movements
• Destruction Battalions of the KVD: Secret police operations that used scorched earth tactics to sabotage the Nazi mobilization. 
• Bryansk Partisan Bridgade: A strong band of guerilla activity in the Bryansk forests
• Ignatov Partisan Detachment: A partisan detachment in the Kuban region of Southern Russia led by Pytor Karpovich Igantov "Batya"
• Intelligence Networks:
• NKVD: The state police of the Soviet Union that coordinated the majority of underground intelligence operations. This included an extensive network of secret undercover agents that could infiltrate the Nazis as well as other anti-communist opponents.  
• GRU (Main Intelligence directorate): The Soviet military intelligence that supplied key communications and intel with the partisan pockets. 
• Key Leaders:
• Oleksiy Federov: Partisan commander who was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union for his guerilla activities. 
• Alexander Saburnov: Organized guerilla movement in Bryansk and successfully sabotaged German enemy lines. 
• Dmitry Medvedev: Organized resistance movements (known as the Victorious) in Bryansk, Smolensk, Oryol, and Mogilev as well as behind enemy lines. 
• Pavel Sudoplatov: NKVD intelligence officer who led various sabotage operations
• Nikolai Kuznetsov: NKVD intelligence agent who created a German identity to infiltrate German enemy lines.
• Mikhail Duka: Commander of the Bryansk Partisan Brigade
• Pytor Karpovich Igantov "Batya": Leader of the Ignatov Partisan group in southern Russia
• Key Events:
  
• June 29,1941: The Soviet government calls for partisan activity to resist the Nazi invasion on the western front of Russia.
• Aug-Sept 1943: The Partisan Rail War: A coordinated effort of partisan rail attacks  to sabotage German supplies in Smolensk and Oryol. This was most crucial leading up to the Battle of Kursk.  
• November 1943: Operation Concert. The Soviet partisans continue to assist the Red Army's counter-offensive towards Smolensk by disrupting railways.
• End of 1944: The Nazis were pushed out of Leningrad and other Russian territory
• Date Liberated: Late 1944. (Following the Soviet victory at Stalingrad and Kursk, the Nazis were slowly pushed all the way back to Germany thus relinquishing their captured territory on the eastern front. The Soviet Union not only retained it's territory but also swallowed up additional territory on the east including parts of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Finland, and Germany. It also created various satellite states which would become known as the Eastern Bloc up until the fall of communism in 1991).