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by Antonio J. Munoz.
Hardback (6.4×9.4 inches). 268 pages. 2025.
Subtitle: June 1941 to the Spring of 1942
I don’t read very much about WWII anti-partisan operations on the Eastern Front. Usually, you may get a chapter or perhaps an overview of blown up rail lines. This is a far more detailed examination of the units and actions behind the front lines as German troops headed east.
This is another one of those tough books to read — much of the anti-partisan operations carried out by special units consisted of massacres. Some were legitimate ops within forests and swamps to ferret out actual partisans, but most seemed to be massacres of peasant villagers. The Germans kept meticulous records and this book burrows through them.
The OOBs of the security forces, from small gendarmes to full divisions, are well represented. Indeed, sometimes a village held six policemen who tried to hold off a platoon of partisans. Other times, security divisions pulled in regular German troops to try and surround a forest holding partisan bands. These provide at least the bare bones of a scenario idea — certainly the OOBs can be tapped for an accurate German scenario force.
One theme is how the regular German Army aided the SS in the slaughter of villagers in the name of partisan ops.
The book covers behind the lines in the Baltic states, Army Group North, Army Group Center, and Army Group South. The security forces were so stretched, Nazi policies so heinous, and German losses so extensive, it was inevitable the partisans would grow into significant threats — even if they were initially modest annoyances in 1941. German regular army personnel losses were 3,000 to 4,000 per day on a “quiet day” (p85) that sparing units for partisan hunting was challenging.
The book contains 20 black and white photos and 13 black and white maps.
While books about the French Resistance are available, specific books about German anti-partisan ops in the USSR are rare.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
