Stalin's Commandos

Ukrainian Partisan Forces on the Eastern Front

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Pub Date 24 Dec 2015 | Archive Date 7 Jan 2016
History | Nonfiction (Adult)

Description

At the height of World War II, large numbers of Soviet partisans fought on the Eastern Front against the Nazi occupation.

In this book, Alexander Gogun looks at the forces operating in Ukraine. The Nazi atrocities were often matched by partisan brutality. The author examines the indiscriminate use of scorched-earth tactics by the partisans, the destruction of their own villages, partisan-generated Nazi reprisals against civilians, and the daily incidents of robbery, drunkenness, rape and bloody internal conflicts that were reported to be widespread amongst the red partisans. Gogun also analyses allegations of the use of bacteriological weapons and even instances of cannibalism.

He shows that all these practices were not a product of the culture of warfare nor a spontaneous ‘people’s response’ to the unremitting brutality of Nazi rule but a specific feature of Stalin’s total war strategy.

At the height of World War II, large numbers of Soviet partisans fought on the Eastern Front against the Nazi occupation.

In this book, Alexander Gogun looks at the forces operating in Ukraine. The...
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Advance Praise

‘Alexander Gogun discovers that the social behaviour and political choices of Soviet partisans were not so different from those in national or other kinds of partisan armies. The book excels in the history of daily life, something which is usually absent from rival histories. This allows him to treat partisans as individuals who are making choices, for reasons that we can come to understand in their historical context.’ – Timothy Snyder, author of Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin

‘Alexander Gogun discovers that the social behaviour and political choices of Soviet partisans were not so different from those in national or other kinds of partisan armies. The book excels in the...

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Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781784531683
PRICE US$35.00 (USD)

Additional Information

Average rating from 4 members

Featured Reviews

Shows the true brutality of the war fought behind the Eastern front line.

Alexander Gogun has some nuggets of very interesting detail in this book. He has unearthed in the archives some fascinating and horrific accounts of the activities of Soviet Ukrainian partisans as well as the activities of the Ukrainian Nationalists and Polish AK units.

This book isn't for the faint-hearted and the accounts of partisan terror against innocent civilians paint a different picture to the popular one of the heroic partisan fighter.

As in any war nothing is black and white and this book more than most shows the blurring of lines and true brutality of the war fought behind the Eastern front line.

Worth a look if you have an interest in the Eastern Front.

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