29 June

Day of Partisans and Underground Workers in Russia

This is a new date in Russian calendar of memorial dates. On April, 11th 2009  the President  signed into Law about including this Day in the list of memorial dates. The Law came into force on January, 1st  2010. The historical precondition of the Day was  the directive issue of USSR Council of Peoples Commissars and Central Committee of All-Union Communist Party to party and soviet organizations of frontline regions. The directive issued on June, 29 1941 where the necessity of  partisan bands organization was indicated, "in the occupied territories organize partisan bands and raiding parties for fighting with parts of the enemy army, organize unbearable conditions for the enemy and all their accoplices, chase and do away with them everywhere, ruin all their deals". 

It's remarkable that the initiative of including a new memorial date belongs to legislators of Bryansk region which is limited with Belarussia and was one of taken hits of fascists in 1941 first and foremost. During the Second World War Bryanschina became one of centres of partisan movement. As it's known from historical documents, partisans and underground workers actions played a great role in the successful result of the Second World War. In the enemy's rear there were about 1 mln of partisans - men, women, teenagers. Perhaps the most famous name became the name of Zoya Kosmodemyanskay, bestially executed by fascists in the first war year. 

Execution of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya on 29 November 1941

The partisans annihilated, injured and captured more than 1 mln fascists and their  accoplices, destroyed more than 4,000 tanks and armoured cars, 65,000 autocars, 1,100 airplanes of the enemy. In mass operations it was annihilated and injured 1,600 railway bridges, derailed more than 20,000 railway echelons of Hitler's forces. 

At the present time many documents contained information about true feats of partisans and underground workers during war years are still being kept in the state archives classified top. Probably the enactment of the "war" memorable day  will be the occassion to researching and discovery of unknown pages of the partisan glory.  Without any doubt the setting up of the Day of Partisans and Underground Workers will pay tribute to lives and feasts of people due to those our Motherland became free  in 1945.  

Source in Russian: http://www.calend.ru/holidays/0/0/2781/