This may seem like an odd thread to start here, but I'm curious. No one else has mentioned the Spetznaz or their activities during the Russian campaigns. I've read several books on the subject and I think that they did have an effect on all subsequent relations the German forces had with partisans in all occupied territories.
The Spetznaz were originally Russian Naval Infantry for the most part, from what I have read, but they were a very highly trained and capable force even at the beginning of Barbarossa. They were real Russian soldiers, as opposed to partisans, and fought the Germans all along the line from Finland to the Balkans. I've read that they actually managed to establish observation posts in Norway. Different units were trained in different ways, but they were all well trained.
From what I have read, in the North, they mainly specialized in reconnaissance and hasty assaults. In the central area they seemed to specialize in demolitions to deny the Germans easy access to tactically important areas. (Some of the delayed action bombs these people produced were really diabolical.) In the Balkans they seem to have specialized in organizing and training partisan groups.
But all along the line, they organized, trained and supplied partisans behind the German lines. The people they trained did tremendous damage to the railroad lines that the Germans depended on for supply, especially during the winter. They led some of the raids and some of them were killed during them, so the Germans probably knew they existed.
One thing that really irritates a soldier is starving to death in a foreign country. I wonder why the Germans didn't like partisans? Many of the Waffen-SS units, if not all, fought on the Russian front at least once. Considering that they sometimes were assigned to duties of suppressing partisan activities, I'm sure that the word got around.
Kind of like Vietnam, you have to ask yourself, "Is that a partisan or a Spetznaz?" The Spetznaz troops would never admit it, and some of them were women. Of course, from what I have read, there were very few Spetznaz that were not old enough to walk yet, or were too old to walk anymore. But who knows?
The Spetznaz were originally Russian Naval Infantry for the most part, from what I have read, but they were a very highly trained and capable force even at the beginning of Barbarossa. They were real Russian soldiers, as opposed to partisans, and fought the Germans all along the line from Finland to the Balkans. I've read that they actually managed to establish observation posts in Norway. Different units were trained in different ways, but they were all well trained.
From what I have read, in the North, they mainly specialized in reconnaissance and hasty assaults. In the central area they seemed to specialize in demolitions to deny the Germans easy access to tactically important areas. (Some of the delayed action bombs these people produced were really diabolical.) In the Balkans they seem to have specialized in organizing and training partisan groups.
But all along the line, they organized, trained and supplied partisans behind the German lines. The people they trained did tremendous damage to the railroad lines that the Germans depended on for supply, especially during the winter. They led some of the raids and some of them were killed during them, so the Germans probably knew they existed.
One thing that really irritates a soldier is starving to death in a foreign country. I wonder why the Germans didn't like partisans? Many of the Waffen-SS units, if not all, fought on the Russian front at least once. Considering that they sometimes were assigned to duties of suppressing partisan activities, I'm sure that the word got around.
Kind of like Vietnam, you have to ask yourself, "Is that a partisan or a Spetznaz?" The Spetznaz troops would never admit it, and some of them were women. Of course, from what I have read, there were very few Spetznaz that were not old enough to walk yet, or were too old to walk anymore. But who knows?
