The role of partisans and underground fighters of the Rostov region in saving the civilian population of the region from being taken for forced labor in Germany during the Great Patriotic War

Introduction. Currently, a pressing scientific problem is a comprehensive study of the systemic genocide of civilians carried out by the Nazi administration in the occupied territories of the USSR. In the legal dimension, such activities are associated with various factors, including the forced transfer of Soviet citizens to forced labor in Germany. In this context the integrated reconstruction of internal counteraction to the repressive practices of the Nazi authorities is of significant interest, carried out by underground organizations and partisan detachments. Materials and Methods. In this article, armed resistance to the forced relocation of the civilian population in the occupied territory of the Rostov region is examined on the basis of documentary sources contained in regional archives and identified as part of the heuristic work of the team of authors. Historical reconstruction is based not only on the objective results of source analysis, but also on the conceptual foundation formed by the previous historiographical tradition. Analysis. Significant empirical material, extracted from differentiated sources, qualitatively illustrates the author’s conclusion, according to which the active actions of underground organizations and partisan detachments helped a significant number of local residents avoid forced deportation in Germany. Armed resistance to the criminal actions of the Nazi occupation authorities was based on the broad support of the civilian population, which determined the high efficiency of the practical actions of the
Taganrog partisans and underground fighters in difficult natural and social conditions. Results. A significant role in the systemic prevention of the forced movement of Don residents to Germany was played by both voluntary assistants of underground organizations and direct participants in combat groups, skillfully introduced into the administrative structures of German administration.

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