the soviet partisan movement 1941-1944 by edgar m. howell

EARLY RUSSIAN RESISTANCE AND GERMAN COUNTERMEASURES 57
in possession of firearms were to be shot as partisans. If a conspiracy
was proven, entire villages were to be burned down. 65 In the Ukraine
all radios, both receivers and transmitters, were confiscated, despite the
absence of partisan opposition there and without regard for the loss
of a valuable propaganda medium. 66 Late in August a further step
was taken: in the northern sector the native male population of several
critical areas was evacuated and placed in detention camps in an effort
to curb unrest. 67
OKH Directives
Prisoner of War Status of the Partisans
Even OKH, weighed down as it was with directing the campaign,
found itself pulled into the partisan picture by the problem of control
of the huge number of prisoners taken in the successive encirclements.
Due to the speed of the advance and the shortage of manpower, thousands
of surrendered Red Army soldiers roamed unrestricted through
the rear areas in search of food, pillaging and marauding, and often
allied themselves with the partisans. The problem grew to such an
extent that the rear area commands found it increasingly difficult to
differentiate between prisoners and partisans, and to control the one and
combat the other.
In an attempt to clarify the situation and establish a basis for separating
the legal from the illegal, OKH on the advice of the Chief of the
Army Legal System (Der Chef des Heeres Justizwesens), issued a series
of directives defining the prisoner of war status of combatants and noncombatants
under varying situations of belligerency. On 3 July it
directed that: "Soldiers in uniform, with or without arms, are considered
lawful belligerents. Those in civilian clothes, with or without
arms, according to age and looks considered draftable, are to be accorded
rights as prisoners of war. Civilians in mufti or half uniform
found with arms are to be considered guerrillas. 68 On 18 July this
was supplemented to the extent that members of partisan units, in front
of or behind the German lines, when not wearing a uniform or insignia
recognizable by the opposing forces, were to be considered as guerrillas
and treated as such. Inhabitants of cities and villages who aided such
persons were to be treated accordng to the same rules. 69 And further,
on 25 July, individual soldiers roaming the rear areas in uniform or
65
KTB, H. Geb. Sued, 23.VIII.41. 16407/17.
66 KTB, H. Geb. Sued, 25.VII.41. 16407/17.
67
KTB, WiKdo.,z .b. V., "Goerlitz," 21.VIII.41. WI/ID 2.357.
68
AOK 9, Ic, Nr. 2058/41, 3.VII.41., Anl. Z.KTB, Ic, Korueck 582. 17326/15.
69
OKH/Gen. Z.b. V./Jag., Nr. 1260/41, g.Kdos. Chefs., 18.VII.41., appears as
AOK 2, Ic, Nr. 1560/41,30. VII.41., Anl. z. KTB, 112Inf. Div. 19643/24.