Posted:
23.07.2024 14:50:00
History had never known such a parade
On July 2nd, 2024, while presenting state awards on the eve of Independence Day, the President of Belarus recalled how 80 years ago the surviving civilians of Minsk greeted Soviet tanks with glee. Operation Bagration was not over yet, and the Red Army soldiers were heading to the west to finally destroy the enemy on our territory, liberate the country, and reach Berlin. “They had long months of war ahead of them — almost a year. However, it was already obvious at that time that victory would be ours,” Aleksandr Lukashenko mentioned in his speech the parade of Byelorussian partisans in Minsk, emphasising that the definition was not entirely accurate since underground fighters and many others took part in the fight against the enemy. “Belarus is not only a partisan republic, and there was not only a partisan parade. It was a parade of our resistance movement.” Soon after the parade, colossal work began to restore the tortured country. The President is convinced, “In those July days of 1944, people saw Belarus in their brightest dreams exactly as we see it now: independent, beautiful, and most importantly — peaceful.”
Squad orders: arrive in the capital!
On July 3rd, 1944, Soviet troops liberated Minsk from German Nazi occupiers, and 13 days later a partisan parade took place there. Sticking to the exact terminology, it was a rally of workers in honour of the liberation of Byelorussia’s capital. In any case, this is exactly what the Sovetskaya Byelorussia newspaper dated July 18th, 1944 called this event in the publication Holiday of Liberated Minsk. A fragment of it quotes:
Initially, the partisan march was not part of the organisers’ plan, which was confined to a workers’ rally. However, due to the overwhelming number of partisans who arrived in the capital on the orders of the High Command, it was decided to change the format of the event. Piotr Kalinin, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Byelorussia (CPB) and leader of the Byelorussian headquarters of the partisan movement later recalled in his book The Partisan Republic:MINSK, July 16th. Today, a rally of workers of the city of Minsk and partisans of Minsk Region has been held in the capital of Byelorussia, dedicated to the liberation of the capital of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) from German Nazi invaders.
On the evening of July 14th, 1944, a meeting of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPB took place. It was decided to organise not only a rally on the occasion of the liberation but also a parade of Byelorussian partisans. The city hippodrome was chosen as the venue for the parade, which had been checked in advance by miners, cleared of mines and guarded by the Burevestnik partisan brigade.
Thirty thousand partisans arrived in the capital of the BSSR not only for the sake of celebrations but also in order to bolster the defence of Minsk in case of a possible German counterattack, to organise the protection of warehouses and prisoners of war, as well as to disband and further determine the fate of each individual arriving. Some partisans joined the ranks of the regular Red Army and went to finish off the fascists in their lair, while others remained to help raise the national economy from the ruins.
How it was
A lot of stories have been filmed about how the rally parade took place, hundreds of articles and many books have been written to bring into limelight that milestone event. However, let us turn again to the original source — the 80-year-old issue of the Sovetskaya Byelorussia newspaper, which covered the course of the rally parade:
The huge hippodrome field is full of people. Fifty thousand Minsk residents and over 30,000 partisans have come here. The rostrum is adorned with Byelorussian folk ornaments, slogans and portraits of comrades Lenin and Stalin, as well as famous partisans. Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the BSSR comrade Ponomarenko, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR comrade Natalevich, Secretaries of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Byelorussia (Bolsheviks) comrades Kalinin, Malin, Gorbunov, Commander of the 3rd Byelorussian Front, Army General Chernyakhovsky, Secretaries of the Central Committee of the Leninist Communist Youth Union of Byelorussia comrades Zimyanin, Liventsev are going up to the rostrum.
Chairman of the Minsk City Council comrade Budarin opens the rally. The first word is given to Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the BSSR comrade Ponomarenko.
“Comrades! Workers of the city of Minsk, partisans of Minsk Region!” comrade Ponomarenko said. “On behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Byelorussia (Bolsheviks), the Council of People’s Commissars and Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Byelorussia, I congratulate you on the liberation from the oppression of German Nazi invaders!”
Additionally, L.K.Popova, a teacher and mother of two front-line soldiers, gave a speech at the rally on behalf of the workers. She spoke about the atrocities and torture inflicted by the occupiers on the peaceful population of Minsk.
Major General Bogdanovich spoke at the rally on behalf of the Red Army. He expressed gratitude to partisans and residents of Minsk for their sturdy resistance against the enemy. At the conclusion of his speech, the military officer proclaimed ‘hurrah’ in celebration of the liberation of Byelorussia’s capital.
Thanks to granddad for the Victory!
After a brief official part, the right to open the parade was granted to the Voronyansky People’s Avengers partisan brigade. Minsk resident Artur Strekh, whose grandfather Yakov Strekh participated in the historical partisan parade, shared his grandfather’s memories with the Sovetskaya Byelorussia newspaper, “He fought in the Burevestnik partisan brigade. My granddad told me with a smile that when their brigade was passing by the rostrum with the republic’s leadership and military command, Piotr Kalinin waved his fist angrily in their direction. There was a good reason for that… While the partisan brigades that arrived in the capital were mainly located on the outskirts of the city, Burevestnik tasked with protecting the hippodrome, set up its camp nearby. On the opposite bank of the Svisloch River, there was a distillery plant that produced 279 decalitres of alcohol on July 10th — unfortunately for the plant and fortuitously for the Burevestnik partisans. On July 11th, Fyodor Glebov, Secretary of the Minsk City Committee of the CPB (Bolsheviks), reported to Regional Committee Secretary Vasily Kozlov about an outrageous event — 14 Burevestnik partisans broke into the distillery and seized 200 decalitres of alcohol.”
“Not only was the brigade not punished, but many of its members were even rewarded, including my granddad who received the medal Partisan of the Great Patriotic War 1st degree on the eve of the parade. As for the parade itself, my grandfather recalled that it was quite a sight! The partisans, proudly marching in front of the stands with distinguished guests, looked motley, to be honest. In other words, everyone was wearing whatever they could afford: civilian jackets, trousers, boots, hats were combined in an unimaginable fashion with accessories of the Red Army and German uniforms captured from the enemy. The weapons raised even more questions — there were German Schmeisser rifles, Mosin rifles of the First World War, and homemade guns of forest craftsmen… The parade also featured tanks, self-propelled units, cannons. Interestingly, one of the anti-tank cannons was put by craftsmen on wheels… taken from a horse cart. After the parade, that rarity was placed in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War History. The parade was a spectacular sight. My grandfather recalled that Minsk residents welcomed cordially the partisans, who, without rehearsals and drill practice, marched properly in front of the generals and party leadership of Byelorussia. What my granddad regretted is that immediately after the parade, all participants had to hand in their weapons.”
Partisan Parade in Minsk by Yevgeny Zaitsev, 1944
Perpetuated on the canvas
The rally parade ended at four o’clock in the afternoon, closed by a consolidated cavalry squadron. The entire event was filmed, yet only a few renowned minutes received from Moscow in 1962 reached the general public.
It is important to note that the parade was not only filmed and covered in newspapers but it was also depicted on canvas. The future People’s Artist of Belarus, Yevgeny Zaitsev, was not a participant in the parade, but a spectator. In 1950, Zaitsev painted a large canvas titled Defence of the Brest Fortress in 1941, which has become iconic. A reproduction of this artwork can be seen in the pedestrian passage under Victory Square. Yevgeny Zaitsev died in 1992 in Minsk at the age of 84.
It is important to note that the parade was not only filmed and covered in newspapers but it was also depicted on canvas. The future People’s Artist of Belarus, Yevgeny Zaitsev, was not a participant in the parade, but a spectator. In 1950, Zaitsev painted a large canvas titled Defence of the Brest Fortress in 1941, which has become iconic. A reproduction of this artwork can be seen in the pedestrian passage under Victory Square. Yevgeny Zaitsev died in 1992 in Minsk at the age of 84.
By Oleg Usachev
