In 1942, the intensity of the armed struggle of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders in the occupied territories of the USSR increased. Partisans carried out active operations behind enemy lines. In May, the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement was established, giving it a coordinated character. The partisan movement was particularly strong in Belarus, Ukraine, the Oryol, Smolensk, Leningrad, and Kaliningrad regions. The last letters sent by partisans, underground fighters, and intelligence agents to their families across the front lines provided insights into the unique characteristics of this struggle and the courage and bravery of the partisans, underground fighters, and intelligence agents.

"Letter from a partisan unit from the famous brother Azarenkov Ivan Fedorovich. I send you a partisan greeting, sister Manya!

Manya, I haven't seen you for a year or more. I haven't heard from you. I'm currently in a partisan unit, Marusya. I've already been awarded by my superiors and presented for a government medal for my initiative, courage, and bravery. I was a machine gunner, but now I've been appointed as a squad leader. We're liberating our area. The only thing left is to take Demidov. Our forces are in Demidov, but there are Germans in one place. The Germans are burning houses and killing civilians. We are taking revenge on the enemy. I personally killed 60 German soldiers, 2 officers, and so on...

Marusya, please let us know how you are... at the address: PPS 414, Batya Department, 3 P/B, 2 I/O, Azarenkov Ivan Fedorovich...

July 16, 1942.

Yes, Ivan Fedorovich liberated his district. He was born and lived in the village of Manikhi in the Demidov district of the Smolensk region. His mother died there. Soon, his father left for Moscow to work and took his children with him.

Ivan Fedorovich was not drafted into the army due to his health condition. Before the war, he was on vacation in his home village, which was soon occupied by the enemy. Together with his fellow villagers, Azarenkov joined one of the partisan detachments led by Nikifor Zakharovich Kolyada (in the letter, the Batya Department). Ivan Fedorovich was known as a skilled machine gunner. However, he was severely wounded in the spine during a battle. He was admitted to a field hospital and was scheduled to be transported by plane to the Big Land, but the hospital was bombed by the Nazis. Ivan Fedorovich Azarenkov was killed during the bombing.

When the Great Patriotic War broke out, Helena (Leen) Kulman, a resident of the Estonian city of Tartu who had graduated from the Tallinn Pedagogical Institute, went to the military registration office and asked to be sent to the front. However, she was rejected. Leen worked at the Tallinn City Committee of the Komsomol, was one of the organizers of air defense, and helped the wounded. In late August 1941, she was evacuated to the Chelyabinsk region. She worked on a collective farm. After learning that Estonian national units were being formed in the Urals, Laan became a medic in the 7th Estonian Division. Later, she was sent to Leningrad to attend a reconnaissance school. After graduating from the school and before being sent behind enemy lines, Laan sent her last letter to her sister Anu.

"... People often have difficulties because their personal interests suffer for the sake of the public. But it's different for me. I know that everything I do for the Red Army is also done for the benefit of my loved ones. This way, I can take pride in my achievements, both for the sake of my country and for my personal well-being. Life in these challenging times is truly beautiful and valuable. If only I could achieve everything that my country desires and expects from me. Is there any greater joy than to be able to say after the war that I helped to win it?

Your Liane. August 26, 1942.

The report of Captain Letunovsky, the commander of the plane that delivered the spy to the enemy's rear on September 14, 1942, has been preserved: "The mission was carried out in the area of Tartu, two and a half kilometers south of Välgä. The paratrooper was dropped at 22:40 from an altitude of 300 meters at a flight speed of 240 kilometers per hour. The parachute opened normally, and the paratrooper landed at the designated location."

The next day, the Baltic Fleet's intelligence department received Laen's first report.

After being legalized, Laan Kulman began to transmit data about the enemy's military flotilla's movements on Lake Peipus. For example, she reported that 20 German boats were guarding the coast from Mustvee to Vasknarva. Her regular and accurate reports provided extensive information about the enemy's forces to the center. In a short period of time, Junior Political Officer Kulman provided the Intelligence Department of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet with numerous other important insights. The last message received from KS-19 correspondent Laen Kulman by the Intelligence Department's radio center concluded with the phrase: "Greetings to the Motherland on New Year's Day!"

The brave spy was captured by the Nazis on January 3, 1943, in a farm near the village of Luutsniku in the Võru district, and she died on March 6, 1943. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Helena Andreevna Kulman was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

"My beloved wife Valya, my golden boy Yurka, my dear mother, and all my loved ones, hello... Yesterday afternoon, I returned to my forest camp, where I was with the entire detachment. At dawn on August 31, we attacked a town where a German garrison was stationed. Everything was well-prepared and planned. A few days earlier, we had captured a 45mm cannon from the Germans, obtained ammunition, and decided to test it in combat. We approached from three sides at night, set up ambushes on the roads, and at the signal of a red rocket at 5 a.m., we opened fire, blew up the communications, and mined the roads to prevent reinforcements from arriving from Polotsk and other locations. We attacked the garrison from three sides, and our cannon fired accurately and without mercy. We fought for a long time, and by the time the sun rose, we were still engaged in battle. The Germans put up a fierce resistance, but we broke through, set fire to the factory and barracks, blew up the bridge on the highway, and retreated into the forest. We have dead and wounded, and today we buried two fine soldiers. But what can we do, war is war, the Germans have paid us dearly, and they will pay more for our boys.

I kiss and hug you, I kiss and hug Valyusha, my dear and beloved, and I hold my golden son, my Yurka, and all my family close to me.

Your Semyon. September 1, 1942.

A few days after sending this letter home, Semyon Semenovich Golosovsky, the commissar of the 3rd detachment of the partisan brigade "Death to Fascism," was killed in a battle for a railway bridge over the Sho River in Belarus. He was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Before the Great Patriotic War, Semyon Semenovich worked as the head of the department at the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, and later at the Moscow City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

When fierce battles broke out on the outskirts of the capital, the battalion of the Moscow Communist Regiment, in which Golosovsky served as a Red Army soldier, was surrounded. Semen Semenovich was wounded and captured by the Nazis. However, after recovering from his wounds, he managed to escape. After wandering through the forests of Belarus in the Vitebsk region, he finally joined the partisans. Soon after, he became a commissar. He was a member of the 3rd Detachment of the Death to Fascism Partisan Brigade, where he fought bravely against the Nazis until the very end of his life.

"Hello, dear mother! I've received your letter. It's a pity that Kostya was injured. Kostya's luck seems to be very bad. He was only injured when he first went, and now he's been injured again...

Don't worry, Mom, I'll take revenge on those bastards for Kostya's injury. Mom, rest assured, I'll be fine! Sleep well, don't worry, don't cry. I understand that you can't help but worry. These fascists have made thousands of mothers cry. But I'm asking you to be patient. We'll defeat the fascists and avenge all your tears. I promise to fight for myself and for Kostya. I'll do everything in my power.

Tanya. 9.9.42.

In this letter, fifteen-year-old spy Tatyana Dmitrievna Mirovoslavskaya unknowingly said goodbye to her family and friends.

She was born in the town of Efremov, Tula Region. Her father worked as an agronomist, her mother worked in a kindergarten.

"Tanya was hardworking and persistent from childhood," recalls her brother Konstantin. "She studied music, joined a ballet club, and led the school's pioneer organization. When the Germans approached the city, I was asked by the district party committee to remain in the underground as a Komsomol secretary. They asked me to recommend someone from the city's pioneer organization for intelligence work. I recommended Tanya.

This is how Tanya Mirovoslavskaya became a spy. She went on missions behind enemy lines even before the occupation of Yefremov. When the enemy captured her hometown, she left with our troops."

When Tanya left home, she promised her mother that she would return as soon as the Germans were driven out of Efremov. The Nazis stayed in the city for three weeks, and Tanya's family returned from evacuation, but Tanya did not return. Soon, Tanya's mother began receiving notes from her daughter's driver, and one day, she received an official envelope. It was an official letter.

"I congratulate you on your daughter Tatiana's government award. During the formidable days of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the German fascist gangs, like all Soviet youth, your daughter demonstrated high moral qualities...

For exemplary performance of combat missions on the front lines of the struggle against the German invaders, and for her bravery and courage, Tatiana Dmitrievna was awarded the Medal of Courage.

I thank you for raising your daughter and wish her even more success at work and a happy return home.

Deputy Chief of Unit - Senior Lieutenant Kukharev.

6.3.42.

At the end of September 1942, Tanya asked her mother not to write to her anymore, because she wouldn't be able to receive the letters. Then her mother learned from Tatyana's friend that her daughter was a spy, a radio operator, and had been sent behind enemy lines by plane.

It was only after the war that it was discovered that Tatiana Mirovoslavskaya was arrested by the Nazis and executed in the Medvedevsky Forest near Orel in the autumn of 1942.

Yes, the success of the Soviet Armed Forces' military operations was greatly facilitated by the struggle of partisans, underground fighters, and intelligence agents operating behind enemy lines. They made a significant contribution to the victory over the German fascist invaders. Since 1942, partisans and underground fighters kept the occupiers on their toes. In that year, up to 10% of the German ground forces were diverted to combat partisans.

We will tell our readers about the struggle of Soviet people behind the lines of the German fascist troops in 1943 and 1944.