Taganrog during World War II
Encyclopedia
The Soviet city of Taganrog, now part of the Rostov Oblast
of the Russian Federation, had an eventful history during World War II
, from 1941 to 1945.
Committee ordered the creation of the 44th Home Guards detachment from communists working at the city's factories to defend Taganrog
. The detachment was under command of NKVD
lieutenant Pyotr Gerasimov.
In summer months of 1941 the "Taganrog Instrumental Factory named after J.Stalin" launched the production of artillery shells, the State Aviation Factory no.31 produced spring 1941 the brand-new fighters LAGG-3 and increased the number of assembled planes after the start of the Great Patriotic War (at least 6 airplanes per day). The "Taganrog factory named after Molotov" ("Krasny Gidropress") was producing the mines and spare parts for tanks.
September 15, 1941 the Rostov Oblast Communist Party Committee gave instructions on organization of defense and underground resistance in case of occupation. In Taganrog was established the municipal defense committee, which controlled the evacuation of the population and military equipments from defense factories. The defense was held by 31st Rifle Division (Soviet Union) under command of Mikhail Ozimin and the 44th Home Guards detachment.
of industrial enterprises, agricultural resources, material and cultural values from the areas in proximity of the front-line.
On October 4, 1941 the first train from Taganrog, carrying the dismantled equipment of the Instrumental Factory named after J.Stalin (later - Taganrog Combine Factory), left for Novosibirsk
. On October 9, 1941 the State Aviation Factory no.31 started preparations for evacuation to relocate the production of LAGG-3 (including 3000 workers with families and over 50 nearly finished LAGG-3 "assembly kits") to Tbilissi. On October 10, 1941 the Kransny Kotelshik factory started the evacuation of its equipments for Zlatoust
of Chelyabinsk Oblast
. On October 15, 1941 the Taganrog Metallurgical Pipe Factory finished its evacuation for Kamensk-Uralsky
in Ural
. "The factory named after Molotov" was evacuated to Petropavlovsk
(today part of Kazakhstan
).
The Evacuation Hospital no.2097 located in Taganrog was evacuated on October 9 for Makhachkala
.
By October 15, 1941 around 70-75% of equipments and products of Taganrog factories, as well as most workers were evacuated from the city.
of Panzer Group 1 arrived on the outskirts of Taganrog and several panzers made breakthrough to the seaport and opened fire at gunboats "Krenkel" and "Rostov-Don" and the last transport ship evacuating women and children. According to Sovinformburo, the Germans lost around 35,000 soldiers and officers during the fight for Taganrog. The gunboat "Krenkel" was heavily damaged and sunk in the haven of the Taganrog seaport. The city was left by the Red Army
on October 22, 1941.
During the occupation, the local government system was replaced by Bürgermeisteramt or "New Russian local government" and the city was divided into 4 police sectors controlled by "Ortskommendatur" and personally by SS-Sturmbannführer Dr. Kurt Christmann of Einsatzkommande Sonderkommando 10a. Sicherheitsdienst
headquarters were stationed at the Chekhov Gymnasium
.
intelligence services. It was due not only to strategic objects, such as seaport, aerodrome, train stations or developed industry, but also to the fact that the city on Azov Sea with hospitals and a spa center could provide comfortable stay conditions for personnel.
The following special services were stationed in Taganrog in 1941-1943:
The SS Einsatzgruppe Sonderkommando 10a performed systematic genocide
of Taganrog citizens from the first days of occupation. The large groups of citizens (old men, women, communists, young communists, gypsies, jews, and anyone suspected in aiding the resistance movement
) were taken from Vladimirskaya Plaza in Taganrog to Petrushino village (near Beriev), where they were shot to death in the Gully of Petrushino (Todesschlucht).
The massacres in Taganrog started with the Final Solution
of the Jewish question
. On October 22, 1941 the Ortskommendant issued an order for all Jewish people to wear a Star of David
sign and to register themselves at the Ortskommendatur. It was followed by Appeal to the Jewish Population of Taganrog signed by the Ortskommendant Alberti. The "appeal" was calling all Jews to gather themselves on October 29, 1941 at 8:00AM on Vladimirskaya Plaza in Taganrog from where they were supposed to be taken to a ghetto
. Ortskommendant Alberti explained this measure as necessary due to alleged rise of antisemitism among local population, and that the German police and Gestapo
would better manage the question if the Jewish population were separated into a certain district of the city:
On October 29, 1941 all Jews of Taganrog (around 2,500 people) were gathered on Vladimirskaya Plaza, promptly registered at the building of the school no.27 in front of Vladimirskaya Plaza and taken by trucks to the Gully of Petrushino near Beriev Aircraft Factory
, where they were shot to death by Schutzmannschaft
collaborationists under control of Otto Ohlendorf
's Einsatzgruppe D. Of all the Jewish children who lived in Taganrog in 1941 only a 14-year old boy Volodya Kobrin managed to escape the certain death thanks to the help of various people in Taganrog, and especially Anna Mikhailovna Pokrovskaya, who was awarded the title of the Righteous among the Nations
by the Professor Alisa Shenar, Ambassador
of Israel
in Russia on July 19, 1996.
According to the information of the State Archive, some 7,000 Taganrogers (1,500 of them children of various age) were shot to death in the Gully of Petrushino.
In June 1943, all the children of the Taganrog children's home were evacuated by the Nazis to Verkhnyaya Lepetiha village of Kherson Oblast
to be used as involuntary blood donors
for wounded officers and soldiers. They were delivered by groups to a German naval hospital ship on Dniepr, where the blood was taken and the dead bodies were thrown into the river waters. 22 kids were found by mere chance by the military intelligence Guards Sergeant Vladimir Tsibulkin (formerly worker of the Taganrog Combine-Harvester factory) and were saved from the poisoning planned by SS by an attack of the 301st Rifle Division (Soviet Union) on February 8, 1944. The front-line cameraman and Stalin Prize winner Vladimir Sushinskiy filmed a documentary on the salvation of children. On August 21, 1943, one week prior to Taganrog's liberation by Red Army, 80 citizens (workers,women and young people) were shot to death on the seashore of Gulf of Taganrog, on Spit of Petrushino.
groups organized by NKVD
before the Soviet troops left the city and in November 1941, Semion Morozov
organized an underground resistance group, which consisted mainly of young Komsomol
members. The members of the two groups acted separately and were not permitted to go into contact.
As of early December 1941 only 11 young people were members of the Taganrog resistance movement, while in early 1943 more than 500 people who were divided into 27 partisan groups acted against occupation forces in Taganrog.
On February 18, 1943 was arrested Semion Morozov
, the core of the underground movement's activists were arrested in May 1943, quickly prosecuted and shot to death at Gully of Petrushino. After several arrests in February-May 1943 some 200 members of the Taganrog resistance movement
were arrested, tortured and killed (including 27 women and 2 children).
126 members of the Taganrog resistance movement
were awarded with orders and medals, the Commissar of the Taganrog's underground Semion Morozov
was posthumously made Hero of the Soviet Union
.
was transformed into military collaborationist auxiliary police
under the name of "Russian auxiliary police" , also referred to as Russian Schutzmannschaft
or "Hilfspolizei". Its main difference from the Soviet service was that besides the criminal department, it had a "political" department, which was aimed at suppression and extermination of Nazy Germany's enemies: Soviet partisans, underground groups, Soviet activists, Jews, communists, Komsomol
members, NKVD
agents etc.
The political department of the police was controlled directly by Sicherheitsdienst SD-10 and later by SD-6, and closely cooperated with Geheimfeldpolizei
. By March 1943 the Schutzmannschaft's personnel in Taganrog nearly doubled in comparison with that of the Soviet militsiya, and reached around 600 policemen.
The "Russian auxiliary police" was directly involved in all punitive operations and formed part of the killing squads, including the Gully of Petrushino, and in arrests of young activists of the Taganrog underground resistance movement.
The first chief of Russian auxiliary police was Yuriy Kirsanov, who was replaced by Boris Vasilievich Stoyanov of Bulgarian
origin on May 20, 1942. The criminal department of the police was located at Ulitsa Grecheskaya 90, the political dept. was located on Frunze Street, 16. In 1942 both institutions were relocated into the former "Palace of Pioneers" on Petrovskaya Str..
, the German military commandment started to strengthen its defense lines. The defense lines "Mius-Front
" along Mius River
created under command of General Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist
back in October 1941. By summer 1943 the Mius-Front consisted of three defense lines with total depth of the Mius defense range of 40-50 kilometers. The defense was held by the 6th Army (Germany) under command of General Karl-Adolf Hollidt
.
On August 29, 1943 the group (4th Guards Cavalry Corps) of the lieutenant-general Nikolay Kirichenko breach the German defense line near Veselo-Voznesenovka village and reached the Azov Sea, cutting the retreat ways from Taganrog to Mariupol
. However, by this time the main forces were already evacuated from Taganrog. Only mine-layer parties were left in the city, and the Sambek Heights were held by the 111th Infantry Division (Nazy Germany) under command of General Hermann Recknagel
.
Taganrog was liberated on August 30, 1943 by Soviet Army
's 130th Rifle Division under command of Konstantin Sychev (:ru:Сычёв, Константин Васильевич) and 416th Rifle Division under command of Dmitri Syzranov .
August 30, 1943 Generalissimo
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Joseph Stalin
gave the order to General Fyodor Tolbukhin
to name the 130th Rifle Division and 416th Rifle Division after the city of Taganrog, and August 30 at 7:30PM to fire a salute of twenty salvoes in honor of the glorious troops who liberated the Rostov Oblast
and Taganrog.
On September 1, 1943 the mass grave of murdered in the Gully of Petrushino Taganrog citizens was publicly examined. The Secretary of the Taganrog City Communist Party committee Alexander Zobov held a speech before the gathered citizens. The medical commission permitted the exhumation of 31 dead bodies from the upper level.
. In October 1943 the Taganrog Pipe Factory and the Boiler Factory "Krasny Kotelshchik" resumed their work.
The citizens of Taganrog collected money for the construction of a tank column Taganrog, which was built for that money and given over to the army
of General Pavel Rybalko
. Some of these tanks with inscriptions Taganrog participated at the Battle of Berlin
.
The school students of Taganrog collected money for a Petlyakov Pe-2
dive bomber
(developed by Taganroger Vladimir Petlyakov
). The aircraft was given the name The Taganrog's Pioneer and was given over to the 135th Taganrog Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment on May 19 1944, the birthday of the All-Union Pioneer Organization
.
was conferred the status of City of Military Glory
by the President of the Russian Federation
Dmitriy Anatolyevich Medvedev
on November 3, 2011, for “courage, endurance and mass heroism, exhibited by defenders of the city in the struggle for the freedom and independence of the Motherland”.
Rostov Oblast
Rostov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Southern Federal District. Rostov Oblast has an area of and a population of making it the sixth most populous federal subject in Russia...
of the Russian Federation, had an eventful history during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, from 1941 to 1945.
Defense of Taganrog
In July 1941 the municipal Communist PartyCommunist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
Committee ordered the creation of the 44th Home Guards detachment from communists working at the city's factories to defend Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
. The detachment was under command of NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
lieutenant Pyotr Gerasimov.
In summer months of 1941 the "Taganrog Instrumental Factory named after J.Stalin" launched the production of artillery shells, the State Aviation Factory no.31 produced spring 1941 the brand-new fighters LAGG-3 and increased the number of assembled planes after the start of the Great Patriotic War (at least 6 airplanes per day). The "Taganrog factory named after Molotov" ("Krasny Gidropress") was producing the mines and spare parts for tanks.
September 15, 1941 the Rostov Oblast Communist Party Committee gave instructions on organization of defense and underground resistance in case of occupation. In Taganrog was established the municipal defense committee, which controlled the evacuation of the population and military equipments from defense factories. The defense was held by 31st Rifle Division (Soviet Union) under command of Mikhail Ozimin and the 44th Home Guards detachment.
Evacuation of Taganrog
On June 27, 1941 the State Communist Party Committee and Sovnarkom ordered the evacuationEmergency evacuation
Emergency evacuation is the immediate and rapid movement of people away from the threat or actual occurrence of a hazard. Examples range from the small scale evacuation of a building due to a bomb threat or fire to the large scale evacuation of a district because of a flood, bombardment or...
of industrial enterprises, agricultural resources, material and cultural values from the areas in proximity of the front-line.
On October 4, 1941 the first train from Taganrog, carrying the dismantled equipment of the Instrumental Factory named after J.Stalin (later - Taganrog Combine Factory), left for Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
. On October 9, 1941 the State Aviation Factory no.31 started preparations for evacuation to relocate the production of LAGG-3 (including 3000 workers with families and over 50 nearly finished LAGG-3 "assembly kits") to Tbilissi. On October 10, 1941 the Kransny Kotelshik factory started the evacuation of its equipments for Zlatoust
Zlatoust
Zlatoust is a city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Ay River , west of Chelyabinsk. Population: 181,000 ; 161,000 ; 99,000 ; 48,000 ; 21,000 ....
of Chelyabinsk Oblast
Chelyabinsk Oblast
-External links:*...
. On October 15, 1941 the Taganrog Metallurgical Pipe Factory finished its evacuation for Kamensk-Uralsky
Kamensk-Uralsky
Kamensk-Uralsky is a city in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kamenka and Iset Rivers . Population: 173,000 ; 51,000 .The mayor of the city is Mikhail Astakhov.-History:...
in Ural
Ural (region)
Ural is a geographical region located around the Ural Mountains, between the East European and West Siberian plains. It extends approximately from north to south, from the Arctic Ocean to the bend of Ural River near Orsk city. The boundary between Europe and Asia runs along the eastern side of...
. "The factory named after Molotov" was evacuated to Petropavlovsk
Petropavl
Petropavl is a city on the Ishim River in North Kazakhstan Province of Kazakhstan close to the border with Russia, about 261 km west of Omsk along the Trans-Siberian Railway. It is capital of the North Kazakhstan Province...
(today part of Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
).
The Evacuation Hospital no.2097 located in Taganrog was evacuated on October 9 for Makhachkala
Makhachkala
-Twin towns/sister cities:Makhachkala is twinned with: Sfax, Tunisia Siping, China Spokane, United States Vladikavkaz, Russia Yalova, Turkey Ndola, Zambia-See also:*...
.
By October 15, 1941 around 70-75% of equipments and products of Taganrog factories, as well as most workers were evacuated from the city.
Occupation
On October 17, 1941, the armored divisions SS Division Wiking and 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard. Initially the size of a regiment, the LSSAH eventually grew into a divisional-sized unit...
of Panzer Group 1 arrived on the outskirts of Taganrog and several panzers made breakthrough to the seaport and opened fire at gunboats "Krenkel" and "Rostov-Don" and the last transport ship evacuating women and children. According to Sovinformburo, the Germans lost around 35,000 soldiers and officers during the fight for Taganrog. The gunboat "Krenkel" was heavily damaged and sunk in the haven of the Taganrog seaport. The city was left by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
on October 22, 1941.
During the occupation, the local government system was replaced by Bürgermeisteramt or "New Russian local government" and the city was divided into 4 police sectors controlled by "Ortskommendatur" and personally by SS-Sturmbannführer Dr. Kurt Christmann of Einsatzkommande Sonderkommando 10a. Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
headquarters were stationed at the Chekhov Gymnasium
Chekhov Gymnasium
The Chekhov Gymnasium in Taganrog on Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya 9 is the oldest gymnasium in the South of Russia. Playwright and short-story writer Anton Chekhov spent 11 years in the school, which was later named after him and transformed into a literary museum...
.
SS and other German intelligence services in Taganrog
Taganrog was an important city and was paid considerable attention by GermanNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
intelligence services. It was due not only to strategic objects, such as seaport, aerodrome, train stations or developed industry, but also to the fact that the city on Azov Sea with hospitals and a spa center could provide comfortable stay conditions for personnel.
The following special services were stationed in Taganrog in 1941-1943:
- SS Einsatzkommande Sonderkommando 10a (November 1941-July 1942)
- SicherheitsdienstSicherheitsdienstSicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
SD-6 (summer 1942-July 1943) - SicherheitsdienstSicherheitsdienstSicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
SD-10 - SicherheitsdienstSicherheitsdienstSicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
SD-4b (July 1943-August 1943) headed by Eckhardt - Geheime FeldpolizeiGeheime FeldpolizeiThe ' or GFP, was the secret military police of the German Wehrmacht until the end of Second World War. These units were used to carry out plain-clothed security work in the field such as counter-espionage, counter sabotage, detection of treasonable activities, counter-propaganda and to provide...
GFP-626 (May 1942-August 1943) - Geheime FeldpolizeiGeheime FeldpolizeiThe ' or GFP, was the secret military police of the German Wehrmacht until the end of Second World War. These units were used to carry out plain-clothed security work in the field such as counter-espionage, counter sabotage, detection of treasonable activities, counter-propaganda and to provide...
GFP-721 (October 1942-August 1943) headed by Brandt - AbwehrAbwehrThe Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
(military intelligence) Abwehrgruppe 101 and 103 - AbwehrAbwehrThe Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
Abwehrgruppe 201 - AbwehrAbwehrThe Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
"Nachrichtenbeobachter" group (January-February 1942) - AbwehrAbwehrThe Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
"Marine Einsatzkommando des Schwartzes Meeres" May-July 1942) - AbwehrAbwehrThe Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
Abwehrnebenstelle "Ukraine" (Rittersporen) (December 1941- - AbwehrAbwehrThe Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
Abwehrausland Wally (since 1942 stationed on Italianski Pereulok 36, at the former Peoples' Court building, unknown if it was Wally-1 or Wally-2)
Nazi crimes
From the first days, the occupation regime started mass deportation of the citizens to Nazi Germany for hard labour. Within 683 days around 15,000 young men and women from Taganrog became victims of Nazi policies of deportation for forced labor.The SS Einsatzgruppe Sonderkommando 10a performed systematic genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
of Taganrog citizens from the first days of occupation. The large groups of citizens (old men, women, communists, young communists, gypsies, jews, and anyone suspected in aiding the resistance movement
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
) were taken from Vladimirskaya Plaza in Taganrog to Petrushino village (near Beriev), where they were shot to death in the Gully of Petrushino (Todesschlucht).
The massacres in Taganrog started with the Final Solution
Final Solution
The Final Solution was Nazi Germany's plan and execution of the systematic genocide of European Jews during World War II, resulting in the most deadly phase of the Holocaust...
of the Jewish question
Jewish Question
The Jewish question encompasses the issues and resolutions surrounding the historically unequal civil, legal and national statuses between minority Ashkenazi Jews and non-Jews, particularly in Europe. The first issues discussed and debated by societies, politicians and writers in western and...
. On October 22, 1941 the Ortskommendant issued an order for all Jewish people to wear a Star of David
Star of David
The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...
sign and to register themselves at the Ortskommendatur. It was followed by Appeal to the Jewish Population of Taganrog signed by the Ortskommendant Alberti. The "appeal" was calling all Jews to gather themselves on October 29, 1941 at 8:00AM on Vladimirskaya Plaza in Taganrog from where they were supposed to be taken to a ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
. Ortskommendant Alberti explained this measure as necessary due to alleged rise of antisemitism among local population, and that the German police and Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
would better manage the question if the Jewish population were separated into a certain district of the city:
In order to implement this measure, the Jews of both sexes and of all ages, including the persons born of marriages between Jews and not-Jews must be present on Wednesday, October 29, 1941 at 8 o'clock in the morning at Vladimirskaya Ploshad of Taganrog.
All Jews must have documents and hand in the keys to currently occupied houses and flats. A pasteboard tag with full names and full address must be attached to the keys by a wire or a lace. We highly recommend the Jews to take with them all valuables and cash...(excerpt)
On October 29, 1941 all Jews of Taganrog (around 2,500 people) were gathered on Vladimirskaya Plaza, promptly registered at the building of the school no.27 in front of Vladimirskaya Plaza and taken by trucks to the Gully of Petrushino near Beriev Aircraft Factory
Beriev Aircraft Company
The Beriev Aircraft Company, formerly Beriev Design Bureau, is a Russian aircraft manufacturer , specializing in amphibious aircraft...
, where they were shot to death by Schutzmannschaft
Schutzmannschaft
Schutzmannschaft or Hilfspolizei were the collaborationist auxiliary police battalions of native policemen in occupied countries in East, which were created to fight the resistance during World War II mostly in the Eastern European countries occupied by Nazi Germany. Hilfspolizei refers also to...
collaborationists under control of Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf was a German SS-Gruppenführer and head of the Inland-SD , a section of the SD. Ohlendorf was the commanding officer of Einsatzgruppe D, which conducted mass murder in Moldova, south Ukraine, the Crimea, and, during 1942, the north Caucasus...
's Einsatzgruppe D. Of all the Jewish children who lived in Taganrog in 1941 only a 14-year old boy Volodya Kobrin managed to escape the certain death thanks to the help of various people in Taganrog, and especially Anna Mikhailovna Pokrovskaya, who was awarded the title of the Righteous among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
by the Professor Alisa Shenar, Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in Russia on July 19, 1996.
According to the information of the State Archive, some 7,000 Taganrogers (1,500 of them children of various age) were shot to death in the Gully of Petrushino.
In June 1943, all the children of the Taganrog children's home were evacuated by the Nazis to Verkhnyaya Lepetiha village of Kherson Oblast
Kherson Oblast
Kherson Oblast is an oblast in southern Ukraine, just north of Crimea. Its administrative center is Kherson. The area of the region is 29000 km², its population is 1.12 million.Important cities in the oblast include:...
to be used as involuntary blood donors
Blood donation
A blood donation occurs when a person voluntarily has blood drawn and used for transfusions or made into medications by a process called fractionation....
for wounded officers and soldiers. They were delivered by groups to a German naval hospital ship on Dniepr, where the blood was taken and the dead bodies were thrown into the river waters. 22 kids were found by mere chance by the military intelligence Guards Sergeant Vladimir Tsibulkin (formerly worker of the Taganrog Combine-Harvester factory) and were saved from the poisoning planned by SS by an attack of the 301st Rifle Division (Soviet Union) on February 8, 1944. The front-line cameraman and Stalin Prize winner Vladimir Sushinskiy filmed a documentary on the salvation of children. On August 21, 1943, one week prior to Taganrog's liberation by Red Army, 80 citizens (workers,women and young people) were shot to death on the seashore of Gulf of Taganrog, on Spit of Petrushino.
Resistance during Taganrog's occupation
In Taganrog acted at least two Soviet partisansSoviet partisans
The Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II....
groups organized by NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
before the Soviet troops left the city and in November 1941, Semion Morozov
Semion Morozov
Semyon Grigoryevich Morozov , , Taganrog – 23 February 1943, Taganrog) was commissar of the Taganrog antifascist underground organization . He was posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title....
organized an underground resistance group, which consisted mainly of young Komsomol
Komsomol
The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...
members. The members of the two groups acted separately and were not permitted to go into contact.
As of early December 1941 only 11 young people were members of the Taganrog resistance movement, while in early 1943 more than 500 people who were divided into 27 partisan groups acted against occupation forces in Taganrog.
On February 18, 1943 was arrested Semion Morozov
Semion Morozov
Semyon Grigoryevich Morozov , , Taganrog – 23 February 1943, Taganrog) was commissar of the Taganrog antifascist underground organization . He was posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title....
, the core of the underground movement's activists were arrested in May 1943, quickly prosecuted and shot to death at Gully of Petrushino. After several arrests in February-May 1943 some 200 members of the Taganrog resistance movement
Taganrog resistance movement
Taganrog underground resistance movement was an Antifascist underground group of young Komsomol members acting in occupied Taganrog in 1941-1943.-History:...
were arrested, tortured and killed (including 27 women and 2 children).
126 members of the Taganrog resistance movement
Taganrog resistance movement
Taganrog underground resistance movement was an Antifascist underground group of young Komsomol members acting in occupied Taganrog in 1941-1943.-History:...
were awarded with orders and medals, the Commissar of the Taganrog's underground Semion Morozov
Semion Morozov
Semyon Grigoryevich Morozov , , Taganrog – 23 February 1943, Taganrog) was commissar of the Taganrog antifascist underground organization . He was posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title....
was posthumously made Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
.
Major resistance operations
- November 15, 1941: arson and explosion at the Taganrog seaport's ammunition depot (completely destroyed)
- early December 1941: explosion at the Taganrog City Hall, its canteen and the car repair shop (147 Nazi German officers and soldiers killed.
- December 1941: arson at the "Krasny Gidropress" factory (40 trucks burnt).
- January 25, 1942: arson of wood materials (used for repair of German aircraft) at the territory of the Beriev Aircraft CompanyBeriev Aircraft CompanyThe Beriev Aircraft Company, formerly Beriev Design Bureau, is a Russian aircraft manufacturer , specializing in amphibious aircraft...
- April-May 1942: two diversion acts at the "Krasny Gidropress" factory (13 and 120 trucks temporarily out of service)
- June 1942: derailmentDerailmentA derailment is an accident on a railway or tramway in which a rail vehicle, or part or all of a train, leaves the tracks on which it is travelling, with consequent damage and in many cases injury and/or death....
of the train (10 wagons) with at Martsevo/Koshkino - October 1942: derailment of the train transporting panzers, cars and ammunition between Varenovka and Primorka stations
- January 1943: holes-traps made (from Ochakovsk tail up to Taganrog) on the ice of the Gulf of Taganrog, which resulted in a gross loss of horses (more than 100)
- December 1942: attack on the police station near Mayakovka village. Trophies: 4 light machine-guns, 10 rifles, grenades.
- February 1943: 4 attacks on retreating through the Gulf of Taganrog German and Romanian troops. Trophies: 7 machine-guns, 40 rifles, 13 submachine guns, 11 heavily-loaded trucks were sunken in Azov Sea, 37 Nazi German soldiers killed.
- March 1943: arson of a truck loaded with products and cereals (truck completely destroyed).
- May 14, 1943: successful assassination attempt by Sergey Weiss and Yuri Pazon at Sicherheitsdienst's informants Musikova and Raevskaya.
- (throughout the duration of the occupation period) Distribution of leaflets and Sovinformburo's information bulletins.
Collaboration during Taganrog's occupation
Soon after the occupation of Taganrog in 1941, the existing Soviet MilitsiyaMilitsiya
Militsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...
was transformed into military collaborationist auxiliary police
Auxiliary police
Auxiliary police or special constables in England) are usually the part-time reserves of a regular police force. They may be armed or unarmed. They may be unpaid volunteers or paid members of the police service with which they are affiliated...
under the name of "Russian auxiliary police" , also referred to as Russian Schutzmannschaft
Schutzmannschaft
Schutzmannschaft or Hilfspolizei were the collaborationist auxiliary police battalions of native policemen in occupied countries in East, which were created to fight the resistance during World War II mostly in the Eastern European countries occupied by Nazi Germany. Hilfspolizei refers also to...
or "Hilfspolizei". Its main difference from the Soviet service was that besides the criminal department, it had a "political" department, which was aimed at suppression and extermination of Nazy Germany's enemies: Soviet partisans, underground groups, Soviet activists, Jews, communists, Komsomol
Komsomol
The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...
members, NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
agents etc.
The political department of the police was controlled directly by Sicherheitsdienst SD-10 and later by SD-6, and closely cooperated with Geheimfeldpolizei
Geheime Feldpolizei
The ' or GFP, was the secret military police of the German Wehrmacht until the end of Second World War. These units were used to carry out plain-clothed security work in the field such as counter-espionage, counter sabotage, detection of treasonable activities, counter-propaganda and to provide...
. By March 1943 the Schutzmannschaft's personnel in Taganrog nearly doubled in comparison with that of the Soviet militsiya, and reached around 600 policemen.
The "Russian auxiliary police" was directly involved in all punitive operations and formed part of the killing squads, including the Gully of Petrushino, and in arrests of young activists of the Taganrog underground resistance movement.
The first chief of Russian auxiliary police was Yuriy Kirsanov, who was replaced by Boris Vasilievich Stoyanov of Bulgarian
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
origin on May 20, 1942. The criminal department of the police was located at Ulitsa Grecheskaya 90, the political dept. was located on Frunze Street, 16. In 1942 both institutions were relocated into the former "Palace of Pioneers" on Petrovskaya Str..
Liberation of Taganrog
After defeat at the Battle of StalingradBattle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
, the German military commandment started to strengthen its defense lines. The defense lines "Mius-Front
Mius-Front
Mius-Front was a heavily fortified defensive line created by the Germans in October 1941 under direction of General Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist along the Mius River during World War II. By summer 1943 the Mius-Front consisted of three defense lines with total depth of the Mius defense range of...
" along Mius River
Mius River
Mius is a river in Eastern Europe that flows through Ukraine and Russia. It starts in the Donets Range of Donetsk Oblast and flows through Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine and Rostov Oblast, Russia into the Mius Firth of the Sea of Azov, west of Taganrog...
created under command of General Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist
Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist
Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist was a leading German field marshal during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
back in October 1941. By summer 1943 the Mius-Front consisted of three defense lines with total depth of the Mius defense range of 40-50 kilometers. The defense was held by the 6th Army (Germany) under command of General Karl-Adolf Hollidt
Karl-Adolf Hollidt
Karl-Adolf Hollidt was a German commander during the Second World War.-Early life:His father was a local secondary school teacher and he was educated in his hometown of Speyer...
.
On August 29, 1943 the group (4th Guards Cavalry Corps) of the lieutenant-general Nikolay Kirichenko breach the German defense line near Veselo-Voznesenovka village and reached the Azov Sea, cutting the retreat ways from Taganrog to Mariupol
Mariupol
Mariupol , formerly known as Zhdanov , is a port city in southeastern Ukraine. It is located on the coast of the Azov Sea, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Mariupol is the largest city in Priazovye - a geographical region around Azov Sea, divided by Russia and Ukraine - and is also a popular sea...
. However, by this time the main forces were already evacuated from Taganrog. Only mine-layer parties were left in the city, and the Sambek Heights were held by the 111th Infantry Division (Nazy Germany) under command of General Hermann Recknagel
Hermann Recknagel
Hermann Recknagel was a German general during World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves and Swords was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership...
.
Taganrog was liberated on August 30, 1943 by Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
's 130th Rifle Division under command of Konstantin Sychev (:ru:Сычёв, Константин Васильевич) and 416th Rifle Division under command of Dmitri Syzranov .
August 30, 1943 Generalissimo
Generalissimo
Generalissimo and Generalissimus are military ranks of the highest degree, superior to Field Marshal and other five-star ranks.-Usage:...
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Marshal of the Soviet Union was the de facto highest military rank of the Soviet Union. ....
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
gave the order to General Fyodor Tolbukhin
Fyodor Tolbukhin
Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin was a Soviet military commander.-Biography:Tolbukhin was born into a peasant family in the province of Yaroslavl, north-east of Moscow. He volunteered for the Imperial Army in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I. He was steadily promoted, advancing from private to...
to name the 130th Rifle Division and 416th Rifle Division after the city of Taganrog, and August 30 at 7:30PM to fire a salute of twenty salvoes in honor of the glorious troops who liberated the Rostov Oblast
Rostov Oblast
Rostov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Southern Federal District. Rostov Oblast has an area of and a population of making it the sixth most populous federal subject in Russia...
and Taganrog.
On September 1, 1943 the mass grave of murdered in the Gully of Petrushino Taganrog citizens was publicly examined. The Secretary of the Taganrog City Communist Party committee Alexander Zobov held a speech before the gathered citizens. The medical commission permitted the exhumation of 31 dead bodies from the upper level.
Post-liberation period
In difficult conditions, the factories gradually restored the production important for the victory over Nazi GermanyNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. In October 1943 the Taganrog Pipe Factory and the Boiler Factory "Krasny Kotelshchik" resumed their work.
The citizens of Taganrog collected money for the construction of a tank column Taganrog, which was built for that money and given over to the army
3rd Guards Tank Army (Soviet Union)
The 3rd Guards Tank Army was a tank army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. The 3rd Tank Army was created in 1942 and fought in the southern areas of the Soviet Union, Poland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia until the defeat of Germany in 1945...
of General Pavel Rybalko
Pavel Rybalko
Marshal of the Armoured Troops Pavel Semjonovich Rybalko was a commander of armoured troops in the Red Army during and following World War II.-Pre-war:Pavel Rybalko served in the Russian and then the Soviet Army from 1914...
. Some of these tanks with inscriptions Taganrog participated at the Battle of Berlin
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II....
.
The school students of Taganrog collected money for a Petlyakov Pe-2
Petlyakov Pe-2
The Petlyakov Pe-2 was a Soviet dive bomber aircraft used during World War II. It was regarded as one of the best ground attack aircraft of the war and it was extremely successful in the roles of heavy fighter, reconnaissance and night fighter...
dive bomber
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
(developed by Taganroger Vladimir Petlyakov
Vladimir Petlyakov
Vladimir Mikhailovich Petlyakov was a Soviet aeronautical engineer.Petlyakov was born in Sambek in 1891 , where his father was a local official...
). The aircraft was given the name The Taganrog's Pioneer and was given over to the 135th Taganrog Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment on May 19 1944, the birthday of the All-Union Pioneer Organization
Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union
The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union, also Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union, also Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union, also Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer...
.
Trivia
- German occupation regime gave some of the streets their pre-Revolution names.
- The municipal Gorky ParkGorky Park (Taganrog)-History:June 30, 1806 the first trees were planted for the Taganrog’s "Chemist’s garden" and "botanical garden" by the order of Taganrog’s governor baron Balthasar von Campenhausen. In 1825, Russian Emperor Alexander I and the Empress Consort Elizabeth Alexeievna often went for a walk in the...
was partially destroyed and was used by the occupation forces as cemetery (Der Deutsche Heldenfriedhof). - July 18, 1943 the Peter the Great MonumentPeter I Monument in Taganrog-History of the monument:The idea to open a memorial to Peter I of Russia, who founded Taganrog in 1698, came to Achilles Alferaki, Mayor of Taganrog 1880–1887. The Russian Emperor Alexander III of Russia gave his permission on June 5, 1893....
, was re-inaugurated in front of the central entrance to the Gorky ParkGorky Park (Taganrog)-History:June 30, 1806 the first trees were planted for the Taganrog’s "Chemist’s garden" and "botanical garden" by the order of Taganrog’s governor baron Balthasar von Campenhausen. In 1825, Russian Emperor Alexander I and the Empress Consort Elizabeth Alexeievna often went for a walk in the...
. - In 1943, Soviet Russian cartoonists KukryniksyKukryniksyThe Kukryniksy were three caricaturists/cartoonists in the USSR with a recognizable style."Kukryniksy" was a collective name derived from the combined names of three caricaturists The Kukryniksy were three caricaturists/cartoonists in the USSR with a recognizable style."Kukryniksy" was a...
dedicated their political cartoon "Taganrog is Soviet Again" to liberation of Taganrog. It was published in the TASS Windows, with the accompanying text composed by Samuil MarshakSamuil MarshakSamuil Yakovlevich Marshak was a Russian and Soviet writer, translator and children's poet. Among his Russian translations are William Shakespeare's sonnets, poems by William Blake and Robert Burns, and Rudyard Kipling's stories. Maxim Gorky proclaimed Marshak to be "the founder of [Russia's ]...
.
Consequences
- The infrastructure of the city and its unique historical and cultural heritage suffered extensive damage.
- In February 1942 the German occupation government conducted an official censusCensusA census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
(145 thousand people). The population of the city diminished nearly twice and was less than 80 thousand people in August 1943. - Over 10,000 Taganrogers who participated at Great Patriotic War were awarded with various state awards.
- The whole collection of art from the Taganrog Museum of ArtTaganrog Museum of Art-History:Taganrog Museum of Art was officially inaugurated in 1968, but the basis of the museum collection was formed by the end of 19th century when the art department of the Taganrog's city museum was established....
, and overall 339 objects of art were lost forever from the Taganrog museum collections
City of Military Glory
TaganrogTaganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
was conferred the status of City of Military Glory
City of Military Glory
City of Military Glory is an honorary title bestowed upon the citizenry of Russian cities, where soldiers had displayed courage and heroism during the Great Patriotic War...
by the President of the Russian Federation
President of the Russian Federation
The President of the Russian Federation is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Russian Federation...
Dmitriy Anatolyevich Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
on November 3, 2011, for “courage, endurance and mass heroism, exhibited by defenders of the city in the struggle for the freedom and independence of the Motherland”.