Kokoeva, Laura A.
Kavkaz Forum. 2023. Issue 15.

Abstract:
For several decades, the study of the events of the Great Patriotic War, its role
in the history of our country and the states of the former USSR have remained one
of the most pressing issues in science. The heroism of the Soviet soldiers, which
contributed to the defeat of the Nazi invaders, left a glorious page in our memory
and determined the value orientations and ideals for many generations. The
article analyzes the issue of the formation of partisan resistance units, discusses
the fighting in Kabardino-Balkaria, the cohesion of the civilian population under
the Nazi occupation from August 1942 to January 1943. Understanding the
complexity of the martial law, a partisan movement is carried out in the region,
whose activities are considered in the article based on the analysis of archival
materials. It has been established that due to the short period of occupation of
the Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the partisan
movement did not have time to take on a mass character. In total, on the territory
of the Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, from among
the party, Soviet and Komsomol workers, 8 partisan detachments were organized
with a total number of up to 500 people. Some partisan detachments acted
independently, in particular the Khulamo-Bezengievsky detachment of Balkar
partisans. On the basis of archival sources, the article gives the total number of
partisan detachments, analyzes their actions in the fight against the German
invaders. In particular, the difficult life of partisans, cut off from cutting-edge
news, and most importantly, from their families, is shown. It is concluded that the
partisan detachments made a significant contribution to the fight against the
Nazi invaders.

Keywords: Kabardino-Balkaria, Great Patriotic War, occupation, heroism, partisan movement.

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