The beginning of the formation of Tatar military units on the Eastern Front can be considered the proposal of German Foreign Ministry employee von Hentig, in which he substantiated the need to form a Tatar legion. In his message, he also proposed creating a Caucasian legion of three national battalions. The headquarters of the emerging Turkic legion was created in the Polish city of Rembertov (in the summer of 1942 it was transferred to the city of Radom). Since January 23, 1943, this headquarters was called the “Headquarters of the Commander of the Eastern Legions.”
The separation of natives of the Volga and Ural regions from the rest of the mass of Soviet prisoners of war began in the camps already in the fall and winter of 1941-1942. The official order to create the Tatar Legion was issued on August 15, 1942. The document prescribed the creation of a legion of Tatars, Bashkirs and representatives of the peoples of the Volga region who spoke Tatar. The Tatars enrolled in the Turkestan Legion were to be transferred to a new formation. Other Tatar prisoners of war had to be urgently separated from the rest and sent to a collection camp in the city of Sedlec. It was planned to use the newly created legion against the partisans.
The path of the Tatar volunteers passed through three camps.
The first (preliminary) was located in Ostrów Mazowiecki, 2nd. Sedlec "A", its commandant for some time was the former Soviet colonel Sh. Alkaev, 3rd camp. qualifying in Jedlin. Even before the order was issued, there were 2,550 people in the Siedlce camp.
In September 1942, the commander of the military district of the General Government, von Guinant, gave instructions on the rules for the direct organization of field national battalions. In accordance with this order, the training period for legionnaires at the first stage was 4 weeks and classes were held individually and in groups. The second stage of training (6.8 weeks) took place in companies and platoons.
In the summer and autumn of 1942, the formation of the legion was largely completed. It included representatives of the Volga region peoples. Ufa and Kazan Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Mari, Udmurts, Mordovians. Already on September 6, 1942, the legion was solemnly presented with a banner, and two days later the headquarters of the eastern legions together with the commander of the military district of the General Government took command of it.
The commander of the Volga-Tatar legion was a native of Moscow, the elderly Major von Zickendorff. The major spoke Russian, English, French and Chinese languages. On May 12, 1944, he was forced to give up his post to Captain Kelle. This was the result of dissatisfaction among Hitler's elite with the policy that Sickendorff pursued towards his legionnaires. After leaving the legion, Zickendorff served at the headquarters of the eastern legions, then was appointed to the post of commander of the school of officers and translators of the eastern formations in Neuhammer. After that, he headed a similar school in Munsingen, where it was transferred from France. As a result of the intrigues of his opponents, Zickendorff was about to retire, but unexpectedly Oltssha stood up for him and recommended him to serve in the SS Hauptamt.
The Volga-Tatar Legion included the 825th, 826th, 827th, 828th, 829th, 830th, 831st Tatar battalions. The 825th battalion was formed by December 25, 1942 and consisted of a headquarters, headquarters and four rifle companies. Already on February 18, 1943, the battalion arrived in the Vitebsk region in the village of Belynichi. Here some of the battalion members agreed with the partisans about the time and place of the battalion’s transition to the forest.
An hour before the planned uprising on February 23, 1943, its leaders were arrested, but nevertheless the signal for action was given. Most of the battalions went over to the side of the partisans with weapons in their hands. This came as a surprise to the German command, which had pinned its hopes on the Tatars during Operation Ball Lightning. During the uprising, most of the German personnel were killed. The driver of the battalion commander, Major Zechs, who remained loyal to the Germans, saved his boss by taking him out in the trunk of a car.
The Abwehr was investigating the reasons for the battalion's transition to the partisans. From Zechs's testimony it followed that the reason for this was the weak ideological education of the legionnaires, the presence of a strong enemy conducting intensive propaganda. The report on the results of the investigation stated that the transition of the legionnaires became possible as a result of the activities of “individual intelligent Tatars.” In total, 557 legionnaires went over to the enemy side. The Tatars who remained loyal to the Germans were sent to the rear and merged into other units. The 2nd battalion of the legion (826th) was formed in Jedlin on January 15, 1943. The battalion commander was Captain Shermuli. The battalion operated in Holland. According to a contemporary, an uprising was also being prepared in the battalion. 26 people from the battalion were shot, 200 were transferred to punishment camps. The 3rd battalion of the legion (827th) was formed in Jedlin on February 10, 1943. Commander. Captain Pram. The battalion fought against partisans near Drohobych and Stanislav, where 50 people from it went into the forest. In France, the battalion was attached to the 7th Army and was located in the area of Lanyon.
According to information from former serviceman R. Mustafin, an uprising was being prepared in the battalion, as a result of which two platoons and a penal company went over to the partisans, but the leader of the uprising, Senior Lieutenant Miftakhov, was captured and killed by the Germans. Transitions continued in France as well. The commanders of the penal unit and the 2nd company and with them 28 legionnaires went to the partisans. At the end of 1943, the battalion was placed at the disposal of the commander of the German group of forces in Belgium and Northern France and guarded important installations. The 828th battalion of the legion was formed by June 1, 1943 in Jedlin under the command of Captain Gaulinets and did not escape the sad fate of other Tatar units. On the territory of Western Ukraine in November 1943, 2 company commanders went into the forest, January 7.9, 1944. 8 legionnaires, from January 14 to 17. 9 legionnaires. At the end of the month, 30 legionnaires on duty at the customs post removed its guard, killed one squad commander, wounded another and went into the forest to join the partisans. In addition to the transitions, the battalion suffered heavy losses in prisoners who did not want to fight against the partisans and surrendered at the first opportunity.
G. Tessin reports that in 1944.1945. The battalion was called a construction and sapper battalion and was stationed in West Prussia. The 829th battalion of the Volga-Tatar Legion was formed by August 24, 1943. Battalion commander. Captain Rausch.
Later, the battalion was mentioned in German registration documents as a non-combat unit assigned to the 829th Field Commandant's Office. On August 29, 1944, the battalion was disbanded by order of the commander of the military district of the General Government, and its personnel were recalled to Krakow. The 830th battalion guarded facilities in Poland and Western Ukraine. In June 1944, the Gestapo department in Radom uncovered a conspiracy in the battalion and arrested more than 20 people. At a military court hearing, 17 of them were released due to lack of evidence. Subsequently, the battalion became known as the engineer-construction battalion and some units of the 791st Turkestan battalion were added to it. At the end of the war, the presence of the 830th battalion was noted in the Vistula bend, then in Pomerania. The 831st battalion was formed in Jedlin as a guard battalion (Sicherungs-battalion) to guard the Tatar camp and was later transferred to guard duty in Legionovo.
In the fall of 1943, it was planned to form the 832nd, 833rd and 834th Volga-Tatar battalions.
After the transfer of the Tatar legion to the Western Front, the headquarters of the legion was located in the city of Le Puy. At the beginning of June 1944, Tatar soldiers acted against partisans in the Chantal department, then in the areas of Issoire and Rochefort, Clermont-Ferrand.
Some eastern and national battalions included natives of the Volga region. Thus, Tatars, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Russians and Ukrainians served in the 627th Eastern Battalion, formed at the end of 1942 under the central army group of German troops. Three Tatar military personnel were awarded Iron Crosses of the 3rd degree.
The I/370th Turkestan battalion consisted of 1 Tatar company, 2 Uzbek and 1 Kyrgyz companies. The 811th Turkestan battalion included 130 Volga Tatars. On January 14, 1943, the OKH issued order No. 15285/40 on the beginning of the formation of Tatar construction and supply units in the Siedlce camp on the territory of the General Government. The headquarters of the Volga-Tatar construction companies was also created here. On May 24, 1943, the headquarters was transferred to Krushina and existed here until November 30, 1943.
The headquarters was led by an officer specially appointed by the commander of the eastern units.
Each auxiliary company consisted of 3 German officers, 1 official, 9 non-commissioned officers, 6 privates and 2 interpreters. Companies were attached to large German formations.
On September 1, 1943, the following Tatar auxiliary units existed: 18th Volga-Tatar construction battalion under Major Dekker. The 522nd Volga-Tatar supply battalion was stationed near Warsaw. It consisted of 3,411 people, of which 1,220 were Turkestanis, 425 Georgians, 1,061 Volga Tatars, 352 Azerbaijanis, 242 Armenians, 111 natives of the North Caucasus. The 2nd Turkic labor battalion included 4 companies of Volga Tatars. The 3rd Turkic labor battalion during its deployment in Lvov included 3 companies of Volga Tatars. In addition to them, Georgians and Armenians served in the battalion, a total of 6153 people.
Later, the above-mentioned units joined Colonel Boller's brigade. In addition to the Tatar units, it included auxiliary units formed from natives of Turkestan, the North Caucasus, and Transcaucasia.
In the fall of 1943, most of the auxiliary units were transferred to France. The headquarters for the formation of Tatar companies in Poland was dissolved, 8 companies were assigned to Turkic labor battalions or construction companies in the vicinity of Minsk. On January 15, 1944, the 2/IV labor battalion, consisting of 735 natives of the Volga region, 120 of whom professed Orthodoxy, was disbanded in Radom.
As of March 10, 1945, the Idel-Ural committee had information about the Tatar companies: 3/78, 4/100, 5/3/592, 2/314, 3/314, 2/862, 4/18, 2 /14. Several hundred Tatars served in the 35th Police Division.
Researcher of Tatar collaborationism I. Gilyazov reports that as of October 10, 1944, 11 thousand Tatar volunteers served in 12 field battalions, 4 thousand in other formations, 8 thousand in worker battalions, there were also 5 thousand eastern workers and up to 20 thousand prisoners of war. A large number of Tatars served in the ROA. On December 14, 1944, the head of the “East” department of the SS Hauptamt, F. Arlt, told Oltsche that the number of Tatars in the ROA was 20 thousand and the same number served as “hiwis”. On March 20, 1945, the head of the Tatar mediation, Count Stamati, had information about 19,300 Tatars in the legions, combat and auxiliary units, 4 thousand eastern Tatar workers and 20 thousand prisoners of war.
In addition to the Wehrmacht, the SS troops became the main “owner” of foreign units. In addition to Heinz Unglaube, control over the activities of the Tatar emigration and military formations was carried out by SS Oberscharführer Wolf. head of abstract 6 “East Turkestan SS combat formation” of the “Politics” subdepartment, which was, in turn, part of the “Managing department. Eastern Volunteers. SS Hauptamt."
As mentioned above, in the fall of 1944, the East Turkestan SS combat unit was created, which included the Tatar military group. Due to a shortage of command personnel, in January-February 1945, H. Unglaube attempted to organize a Tatar officer school in the Tatar mediation camps on the island of Wezedom and in the city of Dargibel. The first group of graduates arrived at VTBS at the end of February 1945. In mid-March, another 11 Tatars from among the former Soviet officers were sent to Italy. Despite the failure of the VTBS project, some Tatar units took part in anti-partisan operations in Slovakia and Northern Italy.
The end of the war was as tragic for the traitor Tatars as it was for thousands of collaborators. Only a few of them, with the support of influential friends from a number of governments of Muslim countries, took refuge in the Middle East and Turkey.
Shafi Almas was detained by the USSR State Security agencies and subsequently shot by a military tribunal. The former Soviet military commandant of Baku, Colonel Shakir Alkaev, fabricated for the KGB several minutes of meetings of the secret underground group of the legion. This did not save him from prison time. He was prosecuted again in the late 1950s.
Fyodor Paimuk managed to join the advancing Soviet units and took part in the Berlin operation, for which he was awarded a medal. In February 1946, he was arrested in Cheboksary and, according to the verdict of the military tribunal of the Volga Military District, was shot. The fate of Ivan Skobelev, captured by the advanced units of the Red Army in Dargibel, was similar.
Shafi Almas's secretary S. Faizullin (Faizi) after the war worked in the Tatar editorial office of the Voice of America, since 1952 he was engaged in geological exploration, taught at Boston University, and worked in the US Department of Commerce. Died in the USA in the 1980s.
Garif Sultan for a long time worked as the head of the Tatar-Bashkir editorial office of Radio Free Europe and lived in Munich.
Mass repressions hit the Crimean Tatars. They, as well as the Armenians, Bulgarians, and Germans living in Crimea, were accused of collaborating with the occupying German authorities and participating in mass executions of prisoners of war and partisans.
After graduation Civil War In the south of Russia, a number of Kalmyks were evacuated abroad along with the Russian Army of General Wrangel and settled in Europe and the USA. At the same time, the Kalmyk emigration could be divided into two political camps: “nationalists” and “Cossacks”.
Nationalists (Astrakhan Kalmyks) worked to unite all Kalmyks, their “political awakening.” The Russians were declared enemies.
The Cossacks mainly consisted of representatives of the Kalmyks-Donets and could not imagine life without uniting with the Cossacks. The thoughts of the Cossacks extended to the idea of equal unification with the Cossacks within the framework of the Cossack Federation. The Cossacks were closely associated with the “independents”, who proclaimed their goal to be the isolation of the Cossacks and their development as a separate ethnic group.
There was its own nationalist organization “Halm Tangalin Tuk” (HTT), the honorary chairman of which was the widow of Prince Tundutov, the head of the Kalmyks during the Civil War. The leaders of HTT were Sanji Balykov and Shamba Balinov. KhTT had its own printed organ, “Feather Waves” (“Ulan Zalat”), published in Russian and Kalmyk languages.
After the start of the Great Patriotic War, the Kalmyks became interested in a “greenhouse” for growing “fifth columns”. Rosenberg's department. At the same time, Kalmyk emigrant leaders were in demand. Shamba Balinov, Sanzhi Balykov and others. Under the control of the Eastern Ministry and special services, the Kalmyk National Committee was created, the head of which was appointed Shamba Balynov. At the same time, work was underway to create Kalmyk units and units on the Eastern Front.
The first Kalmyk formation can be called the special unit of Abwehrgruppe-103. It was created from volunteer prisoners of war to conduct reconnaissance on the territory of the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. It was headed by Sonderführer Otto Rudolfovich Verba (aka Dr. Doll). Call sign of the radio station. "Kranich" ("Crane"). Initially, the detachment was stationed in the city of Stepnoy (Elista); subsequently, the so-called “Dr. Doll’s Special Unit” was deployed at the detachment’s base. At the end of 1942, Verba already commanded the “Kalmyk Military Unit” (Kalmuken Verband dr. Doll).
Fragmentary data about Dr. Doll himself indicate that he came from Sudeten Germans and had Russian roots, lived in Russia for a long time, served in the White Army, worked in the German military mission in Odessa, and in exile became an Abwehr employee.
In August 1942, the German command instructed Doll to establish contact with Kalmyk nationalist leaders, promising them to create an independent state under German protectorate after the war. Doll rushed to the Kalmyk steppes in a passenger car, accompanied by a driver and radio operator. His mission was a success and his goal was achieved.
In mid-September 1942, the first Kalmyk cavalry squadron was formed in the 16th German motorized division from among the former Kalmyk Red Army soldiers of the 110th Separate Kalmyk Cavalry Division and the local population. He conducted reconnaissance and partisan warfare, like many other Cossack units of the German army. He was armed with Soviet captured weapons; the Kalmyks’ uniform was German.
One of the Kalmyk fighting groups was formed by Azda Boldyrev. Having deserted from the Red Army, he arrived in his native village of Ketchenery, where he organized his own detachment, which later joined the Kalmyk Cavalry Corps.
Boldyrev served as assistant chief of staff until December 1943, after which he commanded the second division of the Corps with the rank of lieutenant.
A certain Arbakov, after the occupation of Elista, worked as the head of the criminal investigation department, then joined the Corps, where he held the position of commandant of headquarters, assistant chief of staff for weapons, from September 1944. Chief of Staff of the Corps. After the end of the war, Arbakov and Boldyrev found themselves in a displaced persons camp in Germany, after which they emigrated to the United States.
Natural horsemen, Kalmyks have established themselves as brave soldiers and scouts. The military leadership, supporting the initiative to create Kalmyk units, allowed the creation of similar combat units. At the same time, the Kalmyks were the first of all Germany's eastern allies to officially receive recognition and the Germans gave the Kalmyk formations the status of an allied army.
By November 1942, 4 cavalry squadrons were already operating in Kalmykia; by the end of August 1943, the Kalmyk Corps was formed, which included the following units: 1st Division: 1, 4, 7, 8 and 18 squadrons; 2nd Division: 5, 6, 12, 20 and 23 squadrons; 3rd Division: 3, 14, 17, 21 and 25 squadrons; 4th Division: 2, 13, 19, 22 and 24 squadrons; 9, 10, 11, 15, 16 squadrons were partisans behind the front line.
This Kalmyk formation was also called the “Kalmyk Legion”, “Dr. Doll’s Kalmyk Cavalry Corps”, etc. The formation was part of the 4th Tank Army and operated in the areas of Rostov and Taganrog. By May 1943, under the leadership of Major General Nering, several more squadrons were organized in Novopetrovsk and Taganrog from among former defectors and prisoners of war.
The partisan squadrons behind the front line were under the tutelage of the Abwehr, and were supplied with weapons and ammunition by air. So, on May 23, 1944, in the area of the Kalmyk village of Utta. in the area of operation of the Kalmyk partisan group Ogdonov. 24 saboteurs were landed under the command of Hauptmann von Scheller (“Kwast”). The group’s task was to create a mini-bridgehead for receiving other planes with Dollevites, who would subsequently launch a powerful guerrilla war in the Soviet rear. the entire Abwehr operation was called "Roman Numeral II". Soviet air defense forces detected an enemy aircraft flying to the rear, and after some time the group was neutralized. Further events developed according to the scenario already well worked out by SMERSH. The captured radio operator of the plane and Kvast himself agreed to transmit the signal of arrival, and the further existence of the group took place under the control of Soviet counterintelligence. A false airfield was equipped to receive aircraft. The second plane with thirty paratroopers was destroyed on the night of June 12, 1944 at the landing site; none of its passengers managed to escape. For some time, Soviet counterintelligence played a radio game with its enemy, and gradually it managed to convince the Abwehr of the complete defeat of the group in battles with the NKVD troops.
In September 1943, the KKK was located on the Dnieper, and in May 1944 it was incorporated into the 6th Army as the 531st Regiment. In the summer of 1944, there were 3.6 thousand soldiers in the Corps, of which 92 were men. German staff. The divisions consisted of four squadrons, each of them, in turn, numbered 150 people. Significant difference Kalmyk units from other eastern formations was that the commanders of the units were their own, and not German officers.
The Corps' armament consisted of 6 mortars, 15 hand-held and 15 easel mortars, 33 German and 135 Soviet machine guns, Soviet, German and Dutch rifles. The Kalmyk uniform did not have its own insignia and was not regulated in any way. Often, Kalmyks' uniforms included elements of folk costume. fur hats, robes, etc. According to unconfirmed information, the German officers of the KKK had their own round sleeve patch with the inscription in German and Kalmyk languages “Kalmyk unit of Dr. Doll.”
In the winter of 1944-1945. The corps (at least 5 thousand people) was in Poland, where it fought against Soviet partisans and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, and then fought heavy battles with advanced Soviet units near Radom.
After bloody battles, the Corps was transferred to the SS training camp in Neuhammer. "forge" of the eastern SS formations. The newly formed Kalmyk regiment was sent to Croatia, where it organically joined the 15th Cossack Cavalry Corps of Helmut von Pannwitz and subsequently formally became part of the Armed Forces of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia. Kalmyks became the only foreign representatives in KONR.
Subsequently, the Kalmyks shared the common fate of the Cossacks; most of them were extradited to the USSR.
P launched Operation Ball Lightning - this is the name of the book published by Tatknigoizdat and telling about the feat of the servicemen of the 825th battalion of the Idel-Ural legion, who on February 23, 1943, having arrived in the Vitebsk region as part of fascist punitive detachments, raised an armed uprising and crossed on the side of the partisans. Among the legionnaires was Chelny resident Mukhamed Galeev.
One of the authors of the book, which tells about the little-known history of the Great Patriotic War, was a former Chelny resident, now the head of the department for relations with public organizations Tatars of the near and far abroad of the Executive Committee of the World Congress of Tatars Rustem Gainetdinov.
In a conversation with us, he said that he became interested in this topic back in 1989, when he worked in Naberezhnye Chelny:
— The book’s author team includes the famous writer Rafael Mustafin, MGIMO professor Abdulkhak Akhtamzyan, Colonel General Mansur Khakimov, journalist Rafis Izmailov and me. In 1989, a well-known person in the city, Samuil Lurie, contacted the Chelny KGB department. He worked at Kamgesenergostroy, and after retiring, he became an active local historian. At that time, I was involved in the rehabilitation of repressed people, and his father worked as the chief engineer of the Kyiv power plant, was repressed and shot in 1941. Lurie came to us and studied my father’s case.
And back in the 70s and 80s, he took search teams from Chelny school No. 28 to places of military glory. And during one of his trips to Belarus, he saw in the Vitebsk museum a report from a partisan commander about the transition of Tatar legionnaires to our side. He copied it by hand and in 1989, when he was already at an advanced age, he brought me this document. He said: “This is a very valuable thing for the history of your people, which shows the Tatars from the most worthy side.”
In 1990, using this document, I published an article in the newspaper “Soviet Tataria”. But then the attitude towards the legionnaires was as traitors to the motherland, a wave of criticism came towards me, like, why are you rehabilitating traitors? At that time, some legionnaires were still alive, they turned to the KGB with a request for rehabilitation, but then the time was such that this issue was not even raised...
—Have you continued your search?
— Yes, I made a special trip to Kazan, met with veteran security officers who dealt with these issues, picked up several cases from the archive, and went to a conference in Belarus. And in 2005, he published his article about the transition of legionnaires to partisans in the magazine “Gasyrlar Avazy”. Then I went to Belarus four more times, looking in the archives for lists of those who crossed over. We carried out this work together with a group of Moscow scientists, which included Abdulkhak Akhmatzyan and Mansur Khakimov.
By the way, for the first time facts about legionnaires began to be collected in the 60s, when the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus Panteleimon Ponamarenko, who during the war years was the chief of staff of the partisan movement, came to our republic. It was he who first reported that there was such a thing interesting fact transition of an entire battalion and was surprised that we were not interested in this issue. In 1967, Rafael Mustafin began to study the fate of Musa Jalil. He went to Vitebsk, met with partisans, participants in the transition, and wrote the first material - his book, published in 1974, was the first to talk about this transition.
— There are versions that Jalil himself was involved in this uprising.
- Yes, long years this transition was associated with the personality and activities of the poet, but it is now known for certain that at that time he was near Berlin and had no direct relation to this uprising. On the contrary, this transition greatly influenced Musa Jalil. He realized that in this way, by preparing an uprising within the legion from within, he could bring maximum benefit to his homeland.
— What is the history of the appearance of the Idel-Ural legion?
— In August 1942, Hitler signed an order to create the Volga-Tatar, or, as the legionnaires themselves called it, the “Idel-Ural” legion. A total of seven combat battalions were formed, numbered from 825 to 831. Between eight and ten thousand legionnaires served in them. This is relatively little. According to Dr. historical sciences Iskander Gilyazov, during the war, from 700 thousand to one million Soviet citizens, mostly prisoners of war, served in the German army. Historians are best known for the fate of the 825th battalion in connection with its transition to the side of the partisans.
According to the report of the commissar of the 1st partisan detachment, Isak Grigoriev, to the commissar of the 1st Vitebsk partisan brigade, Vladimir Khabarov, dated March 5, 1943, “506 personnel arrived with weapons; 45 mm cannons - 3 pieces, heavy machine guns - 20, battalion mortars - 4, company mortars - 5, light machine guns - 22, rifles - 340, pistols - 150, rocket launchers - 12, binoculars - 30, horses with full ammunition, ammunition and food - 26". Later, legionnaires still arrived in separate small groups. A total of 557 people transferred.
— Was the transition of the Tatar battalion strategically important during the war?
- Huge! If we take it locally, it disrupted the general course of the German offensive against the partisans in the Vitebsk region and complicated their situation, since the partisans received unexpected reinforcements in manpower and weapons. But most importantly: he broke trust German authorities to collaborationists - the Germans began to fear sending legionnaires to the eastern occupied regions. Immediately after the uprising, ready to be sent to the Eastern Front, the 826th battalion was sent out of harm's way to Holland, to the area of the city of Breda. The news of the success of the uprising spread widely among the legionnaires of not only the Tatar, but also other legions and, undoubtedly, intensified the struggle of the anti-fascist underground.
It must be emphasized that in order to perpetuate the feat of our fellow countrymen, on behalf of the first President of the Republic of Tatarstan M. Sh. Shaimiev, on November 10, 2009 in the Vitebsk region, in the area of the transition of legionnaires of the 825th battalion to the partisans and the fighting of the 334th division, on behalf of the Republic Tatarstan, a memorial monument to the Tatars who fought in Belarus was opened.
— Yes, it lists 156 names with specified years and places of birth of these legionnaires. Data for another 50 people remains to be clarified. There are also your former fellow countrymen on the list: Zeyadinov Sadry(s) Zeyadinovich, born in 1914, from the village of Starye Gardali, Naberezhnye Chelny (now Tukaevsky) district, Galeev Me(u)khamed Sadykovich, born in 1910, who lived before the war in Naberezhnye Chelny at : st. Tsentralnaya, house 37. It turned out that neither their relatives nor the public knew anything about the fate of the majority of the people listed. Naturally, this work will continue. Belarusian archivists sent documents on another 300 sheets, just the other day I returned from Belarus, where I found another 15 names of legionnaires who died fighting on the side of the partisans already in 1944.
Taking this opportunity, I would like to address the Chelny residents with a request. The fact is that Samuel Lurie wrote two books of memoirs. They were typed by one of the girls who were part of the search party. I read these manuscripts, they are very valuable both for the history of Chelny and for understanding the life of the country. Lurie did not have time to publish them during his lifetime, but the manuscripts may have been preserved. If anyone knows anything about them, I would ask you to call the editorial office of Chelninskiye Izvestia.
On July 16, 1941, at a meeting of the German senior leadership with the participation of Hitler, Rosenberg, Keitel, Goering and Lammers, it was stated: “The iron rule must become and remain: No one should be allowed to bear arms except Germans! And this is especially important, even if at first it may seem easy to attract any foreign, subordinate peoples to military assistance - all this is wrong! Someday it will definitely, inevitably be turned against us. Only a German is allowed to bear arms, not a Slav, not a Czech, not a Cossack or a Ukrainian!”
What was said, as we see, was very categorical and, it would seem, there should not be and will not be a revision of this strict ban. But by the end of 1941 and during 1942. Tens of thousands of representatives of the peoples of the USSR were placed under the banner of the Wehrmacht. The Eastern Legions were hastily formed from them, the main impetus for the creation of which was given by the obvious failure of the plan for a lightning war.
Other important circumstances that contributed to the creation Eastern Legions, the following can be distinguished:
– The presence of a huge number of Soviet prisoners of war in the hands of Germany.
– Conducting active German propaganda among the population of the occupied regions of the USSR and against the advanced units of the Red Army. This led to many representatives civilian population Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states collaborated with the Germans. Also, a considerable number of soldiers and officers of the Red Army went over to the German side, especially in the first period of the war.
– The position of some foreign countries, which demanded more humane treatment at least in relation to Turkic and Muslim prisoners of war. Turkish politicians showed the greatest interest in this issue. This should also include the activation of emigrant leaders from representatives of the peoples of the USSR at the beginning of the war.
When the Blitzkrieg plan failed, these factors influenced the position of the German leadership. And it, despite the difference in points of view and serious contradictions between the leaders and the highest state and military institutions of the Reich, decided to take advantage of the prevailing circumstances.
The headquarters for the creation of the Eastern Legions from February 18, 1942 was located in Poland, in the city of Rembertow, in the summer of the same year under the name “Headquarters of the Eastern Legions” it was transferred to the city of Radom, on January 23, 1943 it became known as the Command of the Eastern Legions.
The Volga-Tatar legion (or the Idel-Ural legion) was created later than all the others. Although in fact, representatives of the peoples of the Volga region were separated into special combined camps already in the fall and winter of 1941–1942. For the first time in the documents at our disposal about the creation of the Volga-Tatar Legion we're talking about July 1, 1942 - on this day information about the forming legions was sent to various authorities, among which the Volga-Tatar legion was mentioned. On August 1, 1942, an order was given from Hitler's headquarters, signed by Chief of Staff Keitel, to create, in addition to the existing ones, a legion consisting of Volga (Kazan) Tatars, Bashkirs, Tatar-speaking Chuvash, Mari, Udmurts and Mordovians. The order ordered the separation of representatives of the named peoples into special camps and intensification of work with the recruitment of prisoners of war. It was noted that the status of the Volga-Tatar Legion is exactly the same as that of previously created similar formations, that the use of the legion is envisaged in areas of military operations, but especially in areas where partisans operate.
Keitel's order was, as it were, an order from above, and the practical order of the Wehrmacht High Command was signed on August 15, 1942. It already contained more specific instructions:
"1. Create a legion of Tatars, Bashkirs and Tatar-speaking peoples of the Volga region;
2. The Tatars assigned to the Turkestan Legion should be transferred to the Volga-Tatar Legion;
3. Tatar prisoners of war should be urgently separated from the rest and sent to the Siedlce camp (on the Warsaw-Brest railway line). Place them at the disposal of the Military Commander in the General Government (Militärbefehlshaber im General-Gouvernement);
4. The created legion should be used primarily in the fight against partisans."
Practical work The creation of the Volga-Tatar Legion began on August 21, 1942. The camp in Jedlino near Radom was chosen as the place of its formation, where uniforms and weapons for the legion were received. German responsible personnel also arrived here. The Siedlce camp, located near Jedlino, had already become a collection point for prisoners of war from Turkic peoples.
The banner of the Volga-Tatar Legion was presented on September 6, 1942, so the legionnaires themselves considered this day to be the date of the final formation of the formation.
On September 8, 1942, the Volga-Tatar Legion was placed under the command of the headquarters of the Eastern Legions and the commander of the military district in the “Government General”.
Tatar prisoners of war were concentrated mainly in the Siedlce A camp, from where they were sent for training to the legion in Jedlino. Subsequently, the camp in Dęblin (Stalag 307) also played the role of a preliminary camp. And at the beginning of 1944, after the transfer of the Eastern Legions to France, the general preliminary camp was in Legionowo near Warsaw, from March 1944 - again in Siedlce B (Stalag 366) and in the Nechrybka camp (Stalag 327). A rather elderly and experienced military man, Major Oscar von Seckendorff, was appointed commander of the Volga-Tatar Legion. He was born on June 12, 1875 in Moscow, spoke Russian, English, French, and Chinese well; spoke Ukrainian worse and Spanish languages. He was later promoted to lieutenant colonel.
According to the available documents, it can be judged that Seckendorff, despite his age, took up the matter quite energetically, most of all paying attention to the issues of combat training of legionnaires. Perhaps one of the most serious problems for him (as well as for other German organizers of the Eastern Legions) was the problem of training national officers, which, by the way, was never resolved until the end of the war, although it was raised more than once.
According to the plan, the first of the battalions of the Volga-Tatar Legion, numbered 825, was supposed to be created by December 1, 1942, but it was formed even a little earlier - on November 25. The date for the formation of the 826th battalion was set at December 15, 1942, the 827th - January 1, 1943. In fact, this happened, respectively, on January 15 and February 10, 1943. In surviving documents, all three battalions are first mentioned on November 3, 1942 .as being created.
The Tatar battalions, which were created in Poland, in Jedlino, under the control and jurisdiction of the command of the Eastern Legions in the German armed forces, and which are described in detail on the basis of available documents, were not the only ones. Most likely, under separate armies or army groups, other Tatar formations were created in parallel or later, for example, during 1944. Among them were combat, construction, and supply units.
825th Battalion. This is the most famous of all created Tatar battalions. Major Tsek was appointed commander of the battalion. The exact number of Tatar legionnaires in this battalion is not indicated in the surviving documents, but, comparing it with other similar formations, it can be assumed that there were approximately 900 people in it.
The 825th battalion is known primarily for its armed action against the Germans at the end of February 1943. This fact is widely known in Russian journalistic literature. It happened as follows.
Apparently, on February 14, 1943, the battalion was solemnly sent to the front: “Before the battalion left to fight the partisans in the village. A professor, whose last name is unknown, arrived from Berlin to give a report. The report was made in a foreign language. In his report, the speaker called on the legions to destroy the Bolsheviks, (spoke) about the creation of a “Tatar state” by Hitler, about the creation of a new have a wonderful life“, a source from among the Belarusian partisans reported about the farewell. On February 18, at night, the battalion arrived in Vitebsk, after which it was sent towards the village of Belynovichi along the Surazhskoe highway. Then the main part of it was located in the village of Gralevo on the left bank of the Western Dvina. On February 21, representatives of the legionnaires contacted the partisans.
As a result of the negotiations, an agreement was reached that on February 22 at 23:00 a general uprising of the legion would be launched, and it would go over with arms to the side of the partisans. Obviously, the Germans became aware of the plans of the underground, and an hour before the planned performance, arrests were made and the leaders of the uprising Zhukov, Tadzhiev and Rakhimov were captured. Then the commander of the headquarters company, Khusain Mukhamedov, took the initiative. A signal was sent to almost all units of the battalion located in different localities in the neighborhood - an uprising began. According to the source, two platoons of the second company failed to notify.
The legionnaires who crossed over were distributed in partisan brigades commanded by Zakharov and Biryulin.
So, the first entry into battle of the first unit of the Volga-Tatar Legion ended in failure for the German side. In German documents, albeit in a veiled form, the reasons for this are clearly visible: firstly, the activity of “individual intelligent Tatars” among the legionnaires undoubtedly affected them, who organized the battalion’s transition to the side of the partisans. Perhaps we are talking about the activities of Musa Jalil’s group, or his predecessors, but in any case, the performance of the legionnaires was organized and prepared in advance. Secondly, despite the long-term ideological indoctrination, the Germans really failed to truly attract the Tatar legionnaires to their side. The feeling of Soviet patriotism in them turned out to be stronger - the Germans, despite their efforts, remained “strangers” for the Tatar legionnaires; they saw “their own” in the Belarusian partisans.
Those former legionnaires who went over to the side of the partisans, apparently, almost immediately took part in the battles against the German army - they were especially intense on February 28, 1943 and were aimed at breaking the blockade. They continued to remain part of partisan formations in Belarus. This is confirmed, for example, by a letter from the Belarusian headquarters of the partisan movement dated July 2, 1943: “After the battalion went over to the partisans, its personnel were actually dispersed among partisan brigades, took part in military operations against the German occupiers, and showed themselves positive side. Some of the battalion’s personnel are still in partisan brigades.”
After these events, the legionnaires of the 825th battalion who remained on the German side were immediately sent to the rear and assigned to other formations. The uprising of the 825th battalion was a cold shower for the German command. This event played a significant role in future fate Eastern legions.
826th battalion. The organization of the 826th battalion, planned for December 15, 1942, did not take place - it was formed in Yedlino on January 15, 1943. In March 1943, after the uprising of the 825th battalion, the 826th “out of harm’s way” was transferred to the territory of Holland in area of the city of Breda. Here, apparently, he served as a security guard and was also involved in other work. They obviously did not dare to involve the 826th battalion in any real military operations.
On September 1, 1943, the battalion may have been in France (there is no more precise indication), and on October 2, 1943 it was redeployed again to Holland, where it remained throughout 1943 - early 1945.
R.A. Mustafin also connects this eloquent fact with the history of the 826th battalion - an uprising was prepared in the unit, but German counterintelligence managed to thwart the plans of the underground. 26 members of the underground organization were then shot, two hundred people were transferred to a punishment camp.
827th battalion. The battalion was created on February 10, 1943 in Yedlino. His field mail number was 43645A-E. The battalion commander was Captain Pram.
Since the end of June 1943, the 827th battalion, sent to fight the partisans, was in Western Ukraine. Here the legionnaires took part in several clashes with partisans.
At the beginning of October 1943, the battalion was transferred to Lannon in France and was placed at the disposal of the 7th Army. In actions against partisans in Western Ukraine, the 827th battalion disappointed the German command. Moreover, the presence of the battalion in this territory strengthened the partisan detachments, because many legionnaires ran over to them. But even after the battalion was transferred to France, it never became a “reliable” unit for the Germans, since here too many legionnaires went over to the French partisans.
828th Battalion. This battalion was created in the period from April 1, 1943 and was finally formed on June 1, 1943. After its formation, the battalion was located in Yedlino itself for quite a long time.
On September 28, 1943, the formation was sent to Western Ukraine to replace the 827th battalion, which turned out to be “unreliable.” The Germans' hopes for the newly arrived legionnaires were in vain. Sources clearly indicate that during the entire stay of the 828th battalion in Western Ukraine, many of the legionnaires defected to the partisans.
829th Battalion. It was created on August 24, 1943 in Yedlino. Most likely, under the influence of failures with the first battalions, the 829th remained in Yedlino for quite a long time. But subsequently the battalion was also moved to Western Ukraine.
The finale for the 829th battalion came quite quickly: by order of the commander of the military district in the “Government General” of August 29, 1944, it was disbanded due to the increasing incidence of “violations of discipline” in the battalion. All these events had to be carried out before September 18, 1944. This is where the story of the 829th Tatar battalion ended.
830th Battalion. There is no exact information about the day the 830th battalion was formed. Although it is already mentioned in documents dated September 1, 1943, its existence on that day is doubtful, since even in the document dated October 26 it is mentioned as “forming.”
The Germans no longer decided to use the battalion against the partisans: it carried out security service in various settlements of Western Ukraine and Poland. These transfers were carried out to test the “reliability” and combat effectiveness of the battalion, which aroused suspicion among the Germans, and not without reason.
In June 1944, the Gestapo office in Radom managed to contact one of the non-commissioned officers of the 830th battalion, who was looking for connections with “communist gangs”. He, apparently, managed to organize 20 legionnaires to kill German personnel on the night of June 17-18, open a weapons cache, seize cars and run to the partisans with weapons. But on June 12 and 15, the initiators of the conspiracy, more than 20 people in total, were arrested. 17 of them were subsequently released by a military court due to lack of evidence. Representatives of the secret police considered that this decision was legally justified, but its consequences could be unpredictable, so it was recommended to discuss the situation in detail with the commander of the eastern detachments.
It seems that on final stage War, the 830th battalion existed as a construction and engineer battalion, at the beginning of 1945 it was stationed in the Vistula bend, and later in Pomerania.
831st Battalion. It was formed in the fall of 1943 in Yedlino. Its existence is confirmed in the second half of October. As far as can be judged from the text of the document, he provided security for the main camp of the Volga-Tatar Legion in Yedlino. The unit had to do approximately the same thing in February 1944, when it was in Legionowo near Warsaw. There are no other mentions of the 831st battalion in known sources.
Creation of battalions of the Volga-Tatar Legion by serial numbers 832, 833, 834 was planned for the fall of 1943. Most likely, they were never formed. It was not possible to find any references that would actually confirm the existence of these Tatar battalions.
On September 29, 1943, Hitler ordered the transfer of all Eastern volunteers from the East to the West, and this was reflected in the order of the German General Staff of October 2, 1943 (No. 10570/43) on the transfer of the Eastern Legions from the territory of Poland to France at the disposal of the commander Army Group West in the city of Nancy. The relocation was supposed to be carried out in the following order:
1. Georgian Legion; 2. North Caucasian Legion; 3. Command of the Eastern Legions; 4. Officer school in Legionovo; 5. Volga-Tatar Legion and School of Translators; 6. Armenian Legion; 7. Turkestan Legion; 8. Azerbaijan Legion. Thus, we were not talking about absolutely all eastern battalions; some of them remained at the place of service. All command structures of the Eastern Legions, the so-called main camps, and some of the battalions were transferred to France.
To carry out this large-scale event, a special liquidation headquarters was created under the command of Colonel Möller. The order prescribed by the order was generally observed. For example, the main camp and command of the Volga-Tatar Legion left Yedlino on October 19, 1943, and the command and headquarters of the Eastern Legions set off on October 24. Transportation was carried out by special military trains and very quickly. And yet, in the first half of November 1943, the redeployment was basically completed: on March 1, 1944, the commander of Army Group West had, according to official data, 61,439 foreigners and eastern volunteers.
The command of the Eastern Legions in France in October 1943 was located in Nancy (Eastern France), but at the end of November it was transferred further south to Millau. Most likely, due to the unfavorable development of the military situation for the Germans, on March 15, 1944, the command of the eastern formations from Millau returned to Nancy (we are talking specifically about the former command of the Eastern Legions, and not about the command of all volunteer formations).
At the beginning of 1944, a serious restructuring of formations from the eastern nations took place in France, which, most likely, was intended to strengthen control over them and achieve their maximum combat readiness. Here, in February 1944, a new structure was formed, called the Main Volunteer Division (Freiwilligen Stamm Division) with its center in Lyon and under the command initially of Colonel Holste. At the end of March 1944, Holste was replaced by Major General von Henning. The named division was divided into a number of regiments based on nationality, including formations of Russians, Ukrainians and Cossacks. The Volga-Tatar Legion, whose command was located in the city of Le Puy, belonged to the 2nd regiment, and the formation continued to be called the Volga-Tatar Legion as part of the 2nd regiment.
Stationed in different countries and areas of Western Europe, the eastern battalions were intended not only to defend the Atlantic Wall, but also, as in the East, to fight against partisans. For example, three companies from the Volga-Tatar Legion took part in the German action against the French maquis in the department of Chantal in early June 1944; in early August, units of the Volga-Tatar Legion participated in the same actions in the regions settlements Issoire and Rochefort (in the area of Clermont-Ferrand).
The Eastern legions in France generally demonstrated the same qualities as previously in the Ukraine.
Units of the Volga-Tatar Legion demonstrated stable “unreliability”. On July 13, 1944, Field Commandant's Office 588 in Clermont-Ferrand clearly stated with bitterness in its report: “The reconnaissance group of the Tatar legion could not achieve anything more than to catch several previously escaped Armenian legionnaires.” On the night of July 29-30, 1944, one Russian officer and 78 legionnaires of the Volga-Tatar Legion, according to the same commandant’s office, ran over to the partisans, and the rest were immediately returned to the barracks. There are many such examples of eastern legionnaires running over to the partisans in the last period of the war. Many such cases have already become widely known from publications in our press.
Most of the Eastern Volunteer battalions Western Front was divided and distributed among different areas and assigned to larger German formations. This isolation from each other, undoubtedly, even more noticeably increased the feeling of confusion and depression among the majority of legionnaires. So, in general, the use of the Eastern Legions and in Western Europe did not bring the results desired for the Germans. Many of the legionnaires were very afraid of being captured by the advancing Soviet troops, preferring in the end to be captured by the allies. But the fate of the latter also turned out to be unenviable: according to agreements between the USSR and the Allied powers, all Soviet citizens who found themselves in the hands of British and American troops were subsequently transferred to the Soviet side. They were returning to native land, where in most cases they faced severe punishment.
Thus, we see that German plans to use formations from representatives of the Turkic peoples of the USSR, including the Tatars, especially active in 1942–1944, ended in failure. The underground anti-fascist groups that arose among the Eastern legionnaires certainly played their role in the failure of the Nazis’ aspirations. One of the most famous such groups is the group led by Gainan Kurmashev and Musa Jalil. Apparently, this group began its activities at the end of 1942. It consisted, first of all, of Tatar officers who found themselves in German captivity. The underground members set as their main goal the disintegration of the Idel-Ural legion from within and preparation for an uprising. To achieve their goal, they used the printing house of the Idel-Ural newspaper, published by the Eastern Ministry of Germany specifically for legionnaires since the fall of 1942.
Gainan Kurmashev created and coordinated the work of the fives of the underground organization. Musa Jalil, who had the opportunity to move freely throughout Germany and Poland, organized campaigning among the legionnaires. Akhmet Simaev worked at the propaganda radio station “Vineta”, where he could receive information for the Resistance group and produce leaflets. Abdulla Alish, Akhat Atnashev and Zinnat Khasanov also took an active part in the production and distribution of leaflets.
It is safe to assume that the battalions of the Idel-Ural Legion did not live up to the expectations that the German command had for them, largely thanks to the activities of the underground members of the Kurmashev-Jalil group. Unfortunately, this activity was interrupted by German counterintelligence: in Berlin, the underground members were arrested on the night of August 11-12, 1943. In total, about 40 people from the propaganda units of the Idel-Ural Legion were captured in August 1943.
After a lengthy investigation, members of the Resistance were brought before the Imperial Court in Dresden. On February 12, 1944, by his decision, 11 people were sentenced to death penalty. These are Musa Jalil, Gainan Kurmashev, Abdulla Alish, Akhmet Simaev, Akhat Adnashev, Abdulla Battalov, Fuat Bulatov, Salim Bukharov, Fuat Saifulmulyukov, Zinnat Khasanov, Garif Shabaev. The text states “assisting the enemy” and “undermining military power” as grounds for sentencing for all. This formulation allows us to reasonably assert that the resistance group that existed in the Idel-Ural legion caused serious damage to the “Third Reich” through its actions.
The execution of Tatar patriots by guillotining was carried out in the Berlin prison Plötzensee on August 25, 1944. Gainan Kurmashev was the first to ascend the scaffold - at 12:06. The remaining members of the underground were executed within three minutes of each other.
In Berlin, at the Museum of Resistance to Fascism, a memorial plaque with the names of the group members was opened in memory of the Tatar underground fighters, and stands with materials about the heroes were installed in Plötzensee prison.
I.A. Gilyazov
Der Prozeß gegen die Hauptkriegverbrecher vor dem Internationalen Militärgerichtshof. Nürnberg 1949, Bd. XXXVIII, Document 221-L, S. 88.
However, attributing the creation of the Eastern Legions solely to the failure of the “blitzkrieg” plan is an oversimplification of the problem. This trend is clearly observed in our historiography (see, for example: Abdullin M.I.. The fighting truth. Criticism of bourgeois concepts of development of the socialist nations of the Volga region and the Urals. – Kazan, 1985. – P. 44). Even the creation of commissions for the selection of Turkic prisoners of war is “adjusted” to the defeat of the Germans near Moscow, although such commissions, which will be discussed below, already existed in August-September 1941 (see, for example: Mustafin R.A. What motivated Jalil? // Tatarstan.- 1993. - No. 12.- P.73)
Hoffmann, Joachim. Die Ostlegionen 1941-1943. Turkotataren, Kaukasier und Wolgafinnen im deutschen Heer. Freiburg 1976, S.30-31.
Bundesarchiv des Beaufragten für die Unterlagen des Ministeriums der Staatssicherheit der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (hereinafter - BStU-Zentralarchiv), RHE 5/88-SU, Bd.2, Bl. 143.
For fragmentary biographical information about von Seckendorff, see: Bundesarchiv-Potsdam, NS 31/45, Bl. 237; NS 31/55, Bl.27. In the book by S. Drobyazko, his last name is distorted as Zickerdorf ( Drobyazko S.I.. Under the banners of the enemy. Anti-Soviet formations within the German armed forces. 1941–1945. – M., 2004. – P. 151).
D I haven’t written to you for a long time, but this time I have a solid reason: the documents (photocopies) attached to the letter. I think that you will already appreciate their significance at first glance. Our Central State Archives is located in Potsdam. I went there at the very beginning of my search (late 50s - early 60s), but then I was informed that all documents relating to Soviet prisoners of war were removed from the archives by the Soviet occupation authorities after their liberation...
But time flows, and our archive managed to last years acquire in Germany (on microfilm) a large number of documents from the times of fascism and war, among them materials about the legions.
I am sending you three documents (in two letters):
1. A document stating that the “Kurultai of the Peoples of Idel-Ural” took place in Greifswald in 1944. We knew about this, but all my attempts to find witnesses or traces of the Kurultai in Greifswald were unsuccessful. Now there is an opportunity to read a detailed report about this congress.
2. In April 1943, the first issue of the magazine “Germanca - tatarca belesma” I was published in German and Tatar. Chief editor: Garif Sultan.
No. 14 forwarded to you is dedicated to the first anniversary of Vestnik. This anniversary was celebrated on July 20, 1944 in Swinemünde (now Swinoujscie in Poland). You can read this issue yourself in Tatar. It also contains an excerpt from the book of the well-known professor von Mende, “The National Struggle of the Turkic Peoples in Russia.”
3. The third document is especially interesting: a report from the command of the Eastern Legions from Radom on May 15, 1943 about emergency incidents. First, about the “emergency” in the Armenian and Azerbaijani legions, but on page 2: “In December 1942, an underground communist cell was discovered in the Volgo-Tatar Legion.” Maybe it was part of the organization that Musa belonged to? Then the methods of "clandestine cell operation" are described. On April 27, 1943, a military court sentenced the cell members to six years in hard labor prison. The author of the report considers the sentences too “soft” and criticizes the long period between the discovery of the cell and the sentence. The intimidating effect was not achieved in the field battalion, which during this time was sent to the front. “The battalion refused to fight when they tried to bring it into battle” (825th battalion?).
I have three more documents in my hands, which I will send to you when you confirm receipt of this letter.
There are a large number of other documents in the archive that should be viewed. But who can do this? Documents are on microfilm, they are not easy to read on the screen even by Germans; you need to read carefully sheet by sheet so as not to miss two or three important phrases.
I am tied to house 2 by family circumstances and am not capable of such work. If you are interested in this source and its use, you should come to Berlin and make a detailed agreement with the management of the archive. Then you need to find a smart guy or girl from Berlin or Potsdam among the students or former students of the Kazan University and assign him or her to work in the archive. Of course, they need to be morally or financially interested in this and familiarized with what is still known about the fate of the Jalilovites. Maybe you can interest Beate Homan? 3. These are my preliminary thoughts and suggestions.
Reply immediately upon receipt of my letters; then I will send you three more documents. Write how you, your family, Albert 4 are doing. I hope he wasn't offended by me for returning the photos to him. But this is not just a gift, but a relic, and in the event of my death it could simply disappear 5. Last week I called Amina Khanum 6 at 130-21-19 - no connection! Has her number changed?
I am waiting for your answer Your Leon Nebenzal.
Notes:
Leon Nebenzahl (1910-1991) - German translator, scientist, former editor-in-chief of the German edition of the journal Problems of Peace and Socialism. Provided significant assistance in searching for materials about M. Jalil. It was he who found in the archives documents about the execution of the poet and his associates.
At this time, Nebenzahl's wife Ilsa was seriously ill, who soon died.
Beata Homan, a former KSU student from the GDR, wrote thesis about M. Jalil.
Albert Musaevich Zalilov (born in 1935) is the son of M. Jalil from his first marriage. Lives in Kazan. I met L. Nebenzal during his military service in the GDR.
We are talking about the original photograph of M. Jalil with a dedicatory inscription.
Amina Jalil, the poet's widow. Her phone number actually changed.
KURULTAI IN GREIFSWALDE 1
On March 4 and 5, 1944, the Kurultai of the peoples of Idel-Ural (Tatars, Chuvash, Bashkirs, Mordovians, Udmurts and Mari) was held in Greifswald, calling for a fight against Bolshevism.
Along with the delegates of the peoples of Idel-Ural, representatives of the military and civil institutions of Greater Germany, representatives of friendly peoples, brothers in arms took part in it. Mr. Shafi Almas, head of the national organization of Turko-Tatars, called for a fight against Bolshevism and was welcomed.
This is not the first meeting of representatives of Idel-Ural. During their development, the Turkic-Tatar people repeatedly convened national meetings at which issues vital for the people were discussed.
The memory of the National Assembly in 1917 is fresh in our memory. It brought us the independence of our people, and we witnessed how the Bolsheviks destroyed our state of Idel-Ural. The Finnish people of 3 ½ million won their independence from the tsarist autocracy. 25 years have passed and the Finnish people have not been shaken. It grows, develops its culture, lives and feels like one family.
The population of Idel-Ural is much stronger, more numerous, and the mineral resources are significant. Isn't Idel-Ural viable? Centuries have shown that small nations cannot free themselves from the clutches of the Anglo-Americans and Bolsheviks, no matter how hard they try. It is clear that we will not free ourselves from the oppressors without the help of larger nations.
Freedom does not fall from the sky, it must be won. To found your own state, you need to create an economic and political foundation. We have it.
We have a homeland. This is Idel-Ural. It is infinitely rich in good land, extensive forests, minerals, and numerous rivers. Gold, silver, oil, iron, bauxite, platinum, lead, oil... There is everything you want. Our people are hardworking people. Among us there are many engineers, technicians, teachers, doctors, writers, poets, composers and politicians.
Russian tsarism, and subsequently Bolshevism, forced our people to disperse throughout the vast territory of Russia, and one part to leave its borders.
The ranks of fighters for the happiness of our people must multiply.
MEETING OF TURKO-TATAR IDEL-URAL MARCH 3-5, 1944
In total, almost 200 delegates gathered in Greifswald on March 3, 1944.
After the report from Mr. Shafi Almas, reports were given by active employees of the Tatar leadership and legionnaires. A solution was developed, which was conveyed to the German government through prof. von Mende.
On March 5, 1944, an exhibition of handicrafts and paintings by Volga Tatar legionnaires of workers' battalions opened.
On the afternoon of March 5, 1944, a demonstration took place in the largest hall in the city of Greifswald, the Stadt Hall. The hall was filled to capacity.
Particular respect was shown to the Volga-Tatar legionnaires by the fact that their illustrious General von Heikendorff personally appeared at the meeting and made a speech as the first representative of the Wehrmacht.
Then a report was made by the representative of the State Ministry of the Occupied Eastern Regions, Mr. Professor von Mende. He gave a short overview of German eastern policy, taking into account the problems that arise due to the presence of national minorities, especially Turkic peoples in the Russian space. He then highly praised the work of the Wehrmacht, especially the legion and the Tatar leadership in their joint activities and declared his gratitude to them.
Then the commanders of the Tatar military units, the commander of the legion, Oberleutnant von Seckendorff, and the commander of the column leadership headquarters, Colonel Boller, spoke. He gave a brief report on the tasks and activities of the military units he led.
This worthy and interesting meeting ended with an excursion and propaganda trip to Prague. [The following pages are missing. Apparently, the congress resolution follows - P.M.].
6. To accomplish these tasks, it is necessary that the Combat Union have a permanent central body - the presidium of the Combat Union - with the following divisions:
1. Organizational department.
2. Military department.
3. Propaganda department.
4. Finance department.
The presidium may include both representatives of the Turkic-Tatars and the Finno-Ugric peoples of Idel-Ural.
7. In order to implement the most necessary measures of the Combat Union, it is necessary to establish a National Fund. The National Fund must collect as follows:
1. Constant deductions from the monthly income of all representatives of our people.
2. Various donations.
C. Military activities
The fight with arms in hand is now our most sacred task. The meeting considers it necessary to ensure the following activities.
Statement to the High Command German Wehrmacht with a request to allow the organization of independent Tatar military units (regiments, divisions) from volunteers of our peoples, as far as possible under the leadership of their own national commanders, as was the case with the Cossacks or in the Russian Liberation Army.
Invite the High Command of the German Wehrmacht to create their own battle banner Tatar Legion, its own uniform and insignia for the Tatar units and, if agreed, develop appropriate proposals.
D. Combat Alliance Program.
Instruct the Conference commission to develop a political program for the Fighting Union for the independence of the peoples of Idel-Ural and present it to the next meeting.
E. The materials of the Meeting will be included in a brochure and published in Tatar, German and Russian.
Signatures of the members of the Presidium of the Meeting
Note:
1. The text is written in German, typed and is part of a report to the high military command of Nazi Germany about the kurultai that took place. Apparently, the report was written based on the transcript of the congress. Thus, the first part uses the abstracts of the speech of the main speaker, the head of the Tatar committee, Shafi Almas. Per. 3. Nigmatullina.
Archive number: T. 175 Roll 163, 2.696. 254-260.
GERMAN-TATAR NEWSLETTER 1
1. Celebrating the anniversary of our newsletter in Swinemünde
Many famous people accepted the invitation. They spoke out about the political and propaganda work of the newsletter.
Chief Editor bulletin G. Sultan made a report. Employees of the Volga-Tatar Military Union and guests took part in the discussion.
The speeches of President Kayum Khan 2 and Major Rudanchinsky 3 were greeted with enthusiasm. Deputy burgomaster Swinemünde Mildebrat spoke.
A report on the tasks of the newspaper was made by the head of the Tatar Committee in the Ministry of the Reich, in charge of the occupied eastern regions 4.
Commander of the Turkic work crew Colonel Boller conveyed greetings and congratulations to the commander of the volunteer formations and announced the inclusion of Tatar volunteers in the German armed forces. He also appreciated the propaganda work of political activists.
Adding to the political part was the Tatar choir of the Turkic work brigade, which performed Tatar songs. The conductor, private assistant professor Corporal Mampel, gave each time explanations about the meaning and character of individual songs. Then Tatar dances were shown.
Wattenberg,
major general and commander
volunteer units
2. The meaning and objectives of the newsletter.
Editor-in-Chief Sultan. Speech on July 20, 1944 at an event in Swinemünde.
Everything that our people created, that they aspired to, remained within our nation and was not known to the general public. Therefore, Europe saw us through Russian glasses.
The Soviet government keeps its borders locked and has shamelessly forgotten its promises of the revolutionary year 1917 and has become an enemy of any manifestation of nationalism. Under such management, freedom of the press became impossible, as did a serious solution to the national problem.
Bolshevism killed the free press, left it in the hands of the Jews and turned it into an apparatus for transmitting orders, boring propaganda, unheard of lies and false information.
Therefore, it is not surprising that we could not enter into relations with the European press and did not have the right to translate the works of our historians and writers into European languages.
Paragraph 25 of the Soviet Constitution is false, as are the rest of the paragraphs of the Stalinist Constitution.
It is clear to all honest people who hate Bolshevism that these “rights” and all the guaranteed “freedoms” only serve to strengthen the power of Stalin and his clique.
Most Russian newspapers are influenced by Russian chauvinist circles. They are trying to prove that the Tatars, Tur-Kestans, Caucasians, Ukrainians, Kalmyks, etc. received culture from the hands of the Russians as “savage peoples”. This implies the need for educational work.
Our meeting today should lead to deeper joint German-Tatar work.
3. Speech by our correspondent at the Volga-Tatar meeting
[CONCEPTUAL]
Tatar youth look to the future with hope. I hope that the fate of our people has turned better side. The Turkic-Tatar people, who at one time were free and as strong as the Russian people, became smaller and weaker after the loss of independence. But the desire for free life has not died out among our people. From generation to generation he carried the hope that his time would come. If Emperor Napoleon had solved the national problem in Russia in his time and given the oppressed nations a chance for liberation, he would not have had to run away.
I have the honor, as a representative of the Turkic-Tatar youth, to speak with German political leaders. Take every opportunity to get acquainted with the history of our people and get rid of misconceptions about them. We can proudly say that culturally Russians have learned a lot from us. We are Europeans just like other peoples. We are an outpost of Europe in Asia.
We are grateful to the German people for giving us the opportunity to actively fight for freedom. We are connected by a common destiny and common interests.
We contrast the idea of world Bolshevism, which could be realized in the event of the triumph of Soviet Russia, with the idea of a great new Europe of free peoples under the leadership of the German people.
Today’s meeting is a great event for us, the Tatar youth gathered here.
Notes:
The "German-Tatar Newsletter" began to be published in Berlin in April 1943 in German and Tatar. The editor-in-chief is Garif Sultan, currently living in Munich. The first anniversary of the founding of the bulletin was celebrated on July 20, 1944. in the city of Swinemünde, where the Legionnaires' Rest House was located and where the leaders of the legion and the Tatar Committee came specially. Three articles of the Bulletin are published: one about the celebration of the anniversary of the Bulletin, the second is the speech of Tarif Sultan and the third is his speech at the kurultai in Greifswald.
President Veli Kayum Khan is the president of the Turkestan Committee in Berlin.
Major Rudanchinsky is obviously a representative of the ROA (Russian Liberation Army of General Vlasov).
The head of the Tatar Committee in the Ministry of the Occupied Eastern Regions of Hitler's Reich was lawyer Heinrich Unglaube.
FROM THE REPORT OF CRIMINAL COUNSELOR 1
<...>The suppression of communism within the Radom district is, however, difficult, because according to reliable reports and facts about repeated heavy losses, which the communists suffered in Radom and the surrounding area, all organizational work was transferred to the border district of Grojec. In addition, there is reliable information that a complete restructuring of the organization in the Radom region is envisaged, which is carried out with great care in the selection of functionaries. Proof of this activity was brought by an action carried out back in May 1944 in the Weichsel region in Janowiec, thanks to which the local PPR committees that were in the process of organizing were destroyed 2 .
The approach of the Eastern Front, as well as the beginning of the invasion in the West, influenced a new rise in disintegration in the eastern people's formations of the Wehrmacht still located here. In two cases, it was possible to get in touch with representatives of these groups through the communications service, namely:
a) at the beginning of June 1944, to a non-commissioned officer of the Volga-Tatar infantry battalion 830, who was looking for connections with communist gangs. He named the intermediary about 20 representatives of his company, whom he identified as reliable, with the help of whom it was planned to flee into the forest on the night of June 17/18, 1944, after killing German personnel and emptying the storage of weapons and uniforms, as well as seizing vehicles. Since further hesitation became impossible, on June 12, 1944, after training a unit of commanders of the eastern groups, the instigators were almost quietly arrested, three days later - the other 19 members of the formation. 17 of them were released by a military court, and the case was dismissed for lack of evidence.
Although such a decision is legally justified, it does not contribute to security in terms of actual needs, so that, taking into account the settlement that was achieved last year by the then Abwehr station in Krakow in the redeployment of suspicious Eastern People's Security Police elements, the matter will once again be discussed with the commander of the Eastern groups .
b) a few days later, it became known about a similar phenomenon of decomposition in the Turkonarod infantry battalion 791, Volanow camp, near Radom, also through the communications service. And here it was envisaged, having seized all the weapons, to transport the entire stronghold of 42 people into the forest, to the communist gangs. First of all, while working together with the field gendarmerie, on June 23, 1944, 6 representatives of this formation were captured, and four days later the next 4, who basically confessed. The remaining 16 detainees are holding on.
c) the next incident of this kind occurred in the prisoner of war team camp in the Eastern Railway Repair Plant. Radom way. All 11 inhabitants of the camp were captured. In all these cases, it turned out that the leaders of these operations were educated in the communist youth union "Komsomol" and, in part, worked for a long time as propagandists in the party. The two main instigators are teachers by profession. Despite these bad experiences with the Eastern peoples brought into battle in the East (the constant development of their resistance after the withdrawal of the Eastern Front), there was no general change in the Eastern people's formations, as it became known from Wehrmacht circles.
The accumulation of these cases over 14 days in Radom alone showed that all eastern popular formations are sensitive to decay, and success occurs at the slightest attempts to influence them by communist elements.
<...>At the end of June 1944, two 14-year-old Polish students who were appointed communist couriers to convey orders were captured in Ostrovitsa and near Skaryshev. The interrogation of one of these students, the son of a Polish police captain, revealed that numerous illegal youth groups were organized in Warsaw. They form circles of communist “young pioneers” under the national banner. According to the testimony of this intelligent young man, who only after his acceptance into the organization learned that it was led by communists, in Warsaw the influence of communists on Polish student youth is very strong. According to reliable reports that arrived a year ago, the famous Polish KZMP functionary Wlodimierz Aleksandrov was sent from Moscow to the General Governorate last year to organize this work with young people.
Notes:
This excerpt is an extract from an extensive report by a criminal adviser (a rank of German military police, signature illegible), written in German and typed (no initial pages). The report was written on July 5, 1944 in Radom (Poland), where units of the Volga-Tatar, as well as the Armenian and Azerbaijani legions were located. After analyzing the situation in the Armenian and Azerbaijani legions, the criminal adviser moves on to the situation in Poland, around the city of Radom, where the underground members of the “pro-communist regiment” have intensified their work.
PPR - Polish People's Rada, under whose banner underground groups were created.
Archive number: PL 30 Roll 1 A, ca 200 ff.
COMMENTARY ON DOCUMENTS
On July 16, 1941, in a conversation with Rosenberg, Lammers, Keitel and Goering, Adolf Hitler self-confidently said: “Our iron principle is and must always remain an unshakable rule: never allow anyone other than Germans to bear arms.”1 . He repeated this thought several times, varying in different ways: “Only a German has the right to bear arms, and not a Slav, not a Czech, not a Kazakh and not a Ukrainian” (see: V. Kral. Crime against Europe. M., 1968, p. .16).
But the crushing retaliatory strikes of the Soviet Army and the failure of the “blitzkrieg” plans forced the Nazis to hastily look for sources of replenishment of human resources and ultimately abandon this “iron principle.”
In the second half of 1941, a few detachments of “volunteers” appeared in the ranks of the Wehrmacht, recruited from among prisoners of war, mainly Russians and Ukrainians.
The Nazis also made an attempt to play on the national feelings of prisoners of war and set one people against another. At one of the meetings with the Reich Minister for the Occupied Territories of the Eastern Regions, Baron von Rosenberg, with the participation of representatives of the propaganda department of the armed forces, SD employees and the operational headquarters of the armed forces of the Fuhrer's main headquarters, it was decided to “eliminate existing errors in the treatment of the people of the East” and discuss the candidacies of “representatives the peoples of the Caucasus, Turkestan, Tatars and Kazakhs, capable of working in the interests of Germany’s victory" (see: M. Aminov, M. Minullin. Song as a banner. - "Soviet Tataria", 1969, November 16).
As we see, the fascists began to “eliminate errors in the treatment of people of the East” not out of humane considerations, but solely “in order to save valuable Aryan blood,” hoping to replenish their reserves of cannon fodder. And one of the most compelling “arguments” that forced the Germans to look for allies in the “peoples of the East” was the defeat of the Nazi troops near Moscow.
In March 1942, Hitler signed an order to create Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani legions from Soviet prisoners of war of Caucasian nationality, and Turkestan and mountain legions from prisoners of war from Central Asia and Dagestan. Somewhat later, namely on August 28, 1942, the first batch of Tatars and Bashkirs, as well as Chuvash, Mari, Udmurts and Mordovians, was delivered to a military camp located three kilometers from the Polish station of Yedlino and 12 kilometers from the city of Radom. By this time, the formation of the Azerbaijani legion was already in full swing. September 5, 1942 - the day the first batch of prisoners of war from the Volga region were sworn in - was later officially declared the birthday of the new Volga-Tatar Legion (as it was called in German documents) or the Idel-Ural Legion, as emigrants preferred to call it.
If during the formation of the Vlasov Russian Liberation Army (ROA) the fascists made every effort to recruit volunteers, then when creating the national legions the principle of voluntariness was not observed even for appearances. Usually, in prisoner of war camps, people were sorted according to nationality, then representatives of each nationality were forcibly driven to the places where “their” legions were formed, dressed in German uniforms and prepared to be sent to the front.
A former translator and teacher of the German language of the Volga-Tatar Legion, Friedrich Bidder, said: “People came to us physically completely exhausted, exhausted. Only a few, mainly from among those who had been captured recently, retained some semblance of military bearing. Neither "None of them, of course, were asked for consent to fight on the side of the German army. After a certain quarantine period had expired, when people gained a little strength, the physically strongest were selected for combat teams. The rest were sent to work companies" (The text of F. Bidder's story is stored in my personal archive. For more information about this, see: R. Mustafin. In the footsteps of a broken song. M., 1981).
The Nazis, of course, understood that it was difficult to force people to fight against their Motherland with a whip alone, on pain of starvation. Some kind of ideological carrot was required. It was then that the idea of creating so-called “independent national states” like the “Idel-Ural States” in place of dismembered Russia came to light.
The theoretical development of this ideological screen was carried out on behalf of headquarters by Berlin University professor Gerhard von Mende. The practical implementation of measures to create an emigrant committee for the peoples of the Volga region and the Urals was entrusted to a representative of the military command, former lawyer Heinrich Unglaube.
The deceit and hypocrisy of the Nazi leaders is clearly visible from the fact that they equally flirted with both the “national” committees and the Vlasov elite. If the first they promised separation from Russia and “independent” statehood, then the second - the preservation of “a united and indivisible Russia without the Bolsheviks.” In fact, the Nazis did not even think about fulfilling their promises: they needed to get cannon fodder at any cost.
Goebbels's propaganda did its best to portray Hitler as almost the savior of the Asian nations. For this purpose, through the servants of the Reich - the mullahs - even rumors were spread that Hitler had accepted the Mohammedan faith. The newspapers never tired of repeating that the legions were called upon to “liberate” the Tatars, Bashkirs and other peoples “oppressed by the Bolsheviks, New York Jews and London bankers.” But the materials classified as “secret” did not hide the true purpose of organizing the legions. It was extremely simple: “deepening contradictions between nationalities in order to dominate them” and, of course, “the combat use of legions against the Soviet army and partisans.”
Initially, the Nazis had high hopes for these formations.
The headquarters of the Volga-Tatar Legion was located in Radom (Poland). Major General Heikendorff, who arrived here with the remnants of his division, defeated in battles on the Eastern Front, was appointed as the representative of the German command at the legion. The personnel of this division occupied all command posts in the legion. Major von Zickedorff was appointed commander of the Tatar Legion. The legionnaires (after they had gained some strength) were regularly given drill, fire and political training.
However, despite all efforts, Hitler’s command practically never managed to use any of the units of the Volga-Tatar Legion in combat operations against the Soviet army or Soviet partisans.
The Tatar committee created in Berlin was called vaguely “Tatarishe mittelyitelle” - “Tatar mediation”. He reported directly to the Eastern Ministry (also called the Ministry of Occupied Eastern Territories) headed by Alfred Rosenberg. The head of the committee was Shafi Almas, as he called himself. His real name and surname is Gabdrakhman Gabidulovich Shafeev. He was born in 1895 in the Dubyazsky district of Tatarstan. He traded and had a store in Orenburg, Moscow and Kazan. After October revolution emigrated to Turkey, then to Germany. The Tatar committee also included emigrants Prof. Akhmet Temir, manufacturer A. Yaushev, and Mullah Gani Usmanov. Then they were joined by legionnaires from among the Tatar prisoners of war.
During the creation of legions and national committees, there was a struggle between two principles. One of them was put forward by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Said Mohammed el-Hussein, who lived in Berlin at that time. He stood for the “pan-Islamic amalgam,” that is, for the unification of all Muslims without distinction of nationalities under the green banner of the prophet. His approach was also supported by the SS leadership led by Himmler.
However, the second approach triumphed: division not along religious, but along national lines. He was supported by the department of A. Rosenberg.
A special newspaper in the Tatar language, “Idel-Ural,” was published for Tatar legionnaires. Its first issue, edited by Sh. Almas, was published on November 14, 1942. The magazine "German-Tatar Information Bulletin", a copy of which (in microcopy) was discovered by L. Nebenzalem, also served the same purpose.
Newly discovered documents allow us to shed additional light on the history of Idel-Ural - from the German side. As we see, the idea of national unification in itself was perhaps not bad. In any case, in the report of Sh. Almas and in the speech of G. Sultan one can find correct and relevant thoughts that are heard in our periodicals today. But what was behind this? Who and what goals did this idea serve? That is the question.
This nuance was subtly felt by Musa Jalil and his military comrades, and not only them. It must be admitted that the overwhelming majority of legionnaires did not succumb to the bait of Nazi propaganda and remained faithful to the principles of internationalism.
The immediate chief of the Tatar committee in the Eastern Ministry, Unglaube, wrote in his report after visiting the fourth (828th) battalion of the Idel-Ural legion, formed in Deblin (Poland): “These people [prisoners of war. - P.M.] themselves are completely under "under the influence of hostile propaganda and are absolutely devoid of the opposite influence. And that is precisely why they pose a great danger to the Tatar future."
And here is another authoritative opinion: “The influence of the Tatar committee on volunteer formations was very negligible. The latter were mainly left to themselves and to German officers... The newspaper [we are talking about Idel-Ural. - P.M.] was published in Tatar language, but had supplements where articles were published in other languages. In general, the newspaper was pale and uninfluential."
These words belong to the chief of the “national” committees from Himmler’s department, Dr. Oltssha.
Arrests in the Tatar Legion began in December 1942, that is, at the very beginning of its formation. They continued in the summer of 1943 and did not stop until the end of the war. The connection with the Polish Resistance movement, about which witnesses of those years spoke a lot, also receives documentary confirmation.
At the beginning of March 1944, in the city of Greifswald, not far from Dresden, the congress of the Turkic-Tatars “Idel-Ural” took place with great fanfare. The congress was held under the slogan of the struggle against Bolshevism. Here, finally, the official elections of the Tatar committee and its chairman Shafi Almas, who was clearly aiming for the presidency of the future “Tatar state,” took place. His henchmen were aiming for the role of “ministers”. Captivated by the game of briefcases, the “ministers” were ready to forgive their leader his laziness, his inability to lead, and the habits of a petty money dealer. Still would! Finally, they formed a “real” national committee - something like an emigrant government!
But their joy was premature. The complete unreliability of the Tatar Legion, which had emerged by this time, and in addition to all this, the trial of the eleven Jalilites, which coincided with the proclamation of the committee, played their role. A. Rosenberg did not approve the “committee” and ordered it to be named henceforth facelessly - “The Union of Struggle against Bolshevism”, that is, even nominally not recognizing its right to some kind of national representation. With this, the seasoned Hitler wolf once again made it clear that the committee was just a camouflage, hiding behind which the Nazis tried to throw people into battle against their homeland.
The military significance of the Volga-Tatar Legion for the Wehrmacht was essentially zero. The uprising in the first and other battalions of the legion and mass escapes to the partisans were the reason that the Nazi command did not dare to send any of the formations of the Idel-Ural legion to the Eastern Front. It is not at all by chance that the Wehrmacht command considered the Tatar Legion one of the most unreliable and repeatedly made attempts to re-form its combat battalions into workers (see: Nebenzal. Poet and fighter. - Memoirs of Musa Jalil. Kazan, 1964, p.182). Only one thing stood in the way - an acute shortage of people, and then the rapidly approaching agony of the Reich.
Moreover, the underground fighters managed not only to thwart the Nazis’ dark plans, but to turn the weapons of many legionnaires against the Nazis themselves. From among the legionnaires there were many participants in the Resistance movement who fought against fascism not only on their own land, but also in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, France, Belgium, Holland, and Italy.
One of the first partisan detachments in Poland was the detachment of senior lieutenant P.K. Finansov. It was organized in the fall of 1942 by underground workers from the working battalion of the Idel-Ural legion, located in the Janova-2 area near Warsaw. This detachment forever entered the history of the joint struggle of the Soviet and Polish people against fascism (see: M.I. Semiryaga. Soviet people in the European Resistance. M., 1970, pp. 23-30).
And in 1944, hundreds of Soviet prisoners, Tatars and Bashkirs who had escaped from various connections legion.
In France, in the Issel area, as part of the seventh battalion of the fifth district of the Resistance forces, the “Russian group N 2352” led by N. Galiev was actively operating. It included more than seventy former legionnaires who fled to the partisans. Former Idel-Ural legionnaires crushed the fascists as part of the Maquis detachments also in the departments of Haute-Loire, Corrèze, Cantal, Loire and Puy-de-Don. The name of Senior Lieutenant G. Sadykov, who became the captain of the Resistance forces, was widely known in those years in the south of France.
Hundreds of former legionnaires who went over to the side of the Soviet partisans from the first battalion and workers' companies fought in the partisan brigades of Belarus, Ukraine, Leningrad, Kalinin, Bryansk and other regions.
Rafael Mustafin
