Daily Work of the 5th Leningrad Partisan Brigade on the Decomposition of Anti-Soviet Formations in Camps for Soviet Prisoners of War

This article examines the political and propaganda direction of the anti-fascist activities of the 5th Leningrad Partisan Brigade, the largest of the partisan units operating in the temporarily occupied territory of the Leningrad Region in 1943-1944. Based on documents from the departmental archive of the Federal Security Service Directorate for St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region and the Central State Archive of Historical and Political Documents of St. Petersburg, introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, the work of the partisans to decompose anti-Soviet military formations created by the Nazi invaders to fight the partisans (volunteers from the so-called "eastern battalions" of the Wehrmacht, Vlasovites from units of the Russian Liberation Army who served in the rear German garrisons and participated in punitive operations against the partisans) and local police detachments also involved in the fight against the partisans is traced. The article reveals the forms and methods of political propaganda work (leaflets, newspapers) of the partisans of the 5th Leningrad Partisan Brigade, aimed at the decomposition of anti-Soviet military formations and its results - the arrival of over 400 people to the brigade, who had previously served in the German army and in punitive detachments. Specific statistical material is provided on the number of new people arriving in the brigade every month. The article reveals the forms of propaganda work to organize escapes from German prisoner-of-war camps and civilian labor camps. The materials revealed during the study of unpublished sources show previously unknown facts and exploits of Russian people who heroically fought in the ranks of the Leningrad partisans against the Nazi occupation regime.