"Criminal Myths" about the Great Patriotic War: "criminal patriots"

On the eve of the next anniversary of the Great Victory, it is time to dispel the fantastically false and disgusting fabrications voiced during the crazy times of "perestroika" and the following years, which over time, thanks to the efforts of some "creative personalities", turned into almost one of the main "black myths" about the Great Patriotic War. This refers to the nonsense, disseminated in a number of films and television films, about the "incredibly important" role that the criminal scum allegedly played in those fateful years.

Here, strictly speaking, we are dealing not with just one myth, but with a whole complex of them. This includes the outright lie that “millions of prisoners” were sent to the front and ultimately almost won the war due to some “incredible” fighting qualities. And the tales that some “incredibly effective” sabotage units were formed from the criminal punks. And also the nonsense about the fact that the penal companies and battalions of the Red Army were allegedly “overflowing” with former inmates.

"Personnel reserve" for the occupiers

It is also necessary to mention separately the stupid lie that the “Soviet criminal world” allegedly demonstrated the highest consciousness and patriotism, decisively rejecting any cooperation with the enemy. The “heroic thugs” who found themselves in the occupied territories (if we believe the half-witted adherents of this version) allegedly fought the Nazis not for life, but to the death and, having rejected the criminal “concepts”, instead of engaging in the usual thefts and robberies, inflicted terrible damage on the occupiers - to the envy of real underground fighters and partisans. “The Soviet raspberry said no to the enemy!” Yeah, right... Where to start here? I'm even at a loss...

Well, first of all, it must be said that it was precisely from among the persons who served camp and prison terms before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War and at the time of its beginning (both for criminal and, above all, for “political", "anti-Soviet" articles), the occupiers began to form police detachments and local "administrations". It is clear that no one mobilized this crowd, did not send them to the front. But the Fritzes were more than willing to accept them into the ranks of "helpers". Such characters played a particularly vile role in the hunt for NKVD and police officers, party and Komsomol workers and activists who found themselves under occupation. Of course - after all, they usually knew the "filthy cops" by sight and had some pretty big outstanding scores with them! So they turned them over to the Nazis with particular zeal, taking revenge for past "insults". Such a terrible fate befell, for example, Lieutenant Evstafy Sedakov, who was acting head of one of the district NKVD departments in the Oryol region at the time of the Germans' arrival.

At one time, he had caused a lot of trouble not only for the local criminals, but also for the "kulaks". The enemies failed to deal with him during the years of collectivization. But after the beginning of the fascist occupation, they remembered everything. In addition, Sedakov did not even think of sitting in a dark corner, waiting for his own to come, but became a member of the partisan detachment "For the Motherland!" That's how the partisan was handed over to the Gestapo by the bastards eager to settle scores. After brutal torture, the unbroken NKVD officer was hanged in his native village. Unfortunately, there were many such stories. In the identification and destruction of the Soviet underground, created for the most part by NKVD officers and communists, the thugs who had seized power and impunity played a very significant role. They did not say "no" to anyone - because they saw in the arrival of the Nazis a wonderful opportunity not only to rob and have fun with people to their heart's content, having all the authority to do so, but also to make a good career under the "new order". To get rich, "rise up" and from being renegades despised by the absolute majority of their fellow citizens to turn, if not into respected people, then at least into those who are feared by everyone around.

Let's add to this the fact that under occupation, for criminals to engage in their usual business was fraught with the most tragic outcome. Following the SD and the Gestapo, representatives of the Kripo - "criminal police" - arrived in the occupied territories. And precisely in order to cleanse them of the local criminal scum. Again - the Germans, unlike the "Stalinist satraps", did not bother with any trials with prosecutors and lawyers. Thieves caught red-handed were simply shot or hanged without any ceremony. But, as a rule, as an alternative to execution, they first offered "collaboration" and "service to Greater Germany". There were no people among the criminals willing to refuse such a generous offer.

"Soviet raspberry said no to the enemy!"

And, by the way, about the song from which I took the line in the subtitle. Those who consider it an example of "criminal folklore" or "folk art" are deeply mistaken. Do you want to know the truth? This "masterpiece", known under the names "Pearl Glass" or "Marseille" was not composed by any seasoned thug, but... an Odessa philologist (!), Achille Levinton, who ended up in exile in the Sverdlovsk region for some obviously inappropriately voiced anti-Soviet sentiment. And he composed it not in the 20s or 30s, but in 1949 - for the birthday of another exile - Rufa Zernova. Also, by the way, a philologist and an Odessa resident... So this work has nothing to do with the real criminal world. This song tells the story of how the "Soviet gang, having gathered for a council", decided to "hand over to the NKVD" a foreign spy who was trying to persuade one of its representatives to cooperate. But this is purely lyricism and the author's fiction. In fact, the criminals cooperated with the German agents very willingly - and not only in the occupied territories. These people paid more than generously for their services - and they knew how to intimidate. However, it is not only about the intrigues of the "Soviet gang" with the Abwehr, SD and other similar offices of the Third Reich...

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, crime in Stalin's USSR, of course, had not been completely overcome. However, the criminal world had been driven to where it belonged - to the bottom, to the outskirts of the lives of normal Soviet people. Well, and behind the camp "barbed wire", of course... With the first salvos and air raids, criminals of all stripes took heart, realizing that their time was coming. Of course - after all, the "filthy cops" hated by this riffraff were in their absolute majority sent to the front.

This is not an exaggeration at all – thousands of policemen joined the Red Army, as a result of which the staff shortage in the “organs” amounted to 25% already in the summer of 1941. And then it only got worse – after all, the Wehrmacht was moving to the East and the Red Army suffered colossal losses. In July-August 1941, 15 NKVD rifle divisions were formed, in whose ranks yesterday’s patrolmen, investigators, criminal investigation officers fought (although they were the ones who tried to mobilize the least, despite the fact that the operatives were eager to fight the Germans), and even firefighters, who were also part of the NKVD at that time. Many police officers also ended up in the ranks of the people’s militia. In Moscow, 7% of the policemen had gone to the front lines by the time of the historic parade on November 1941, 50. Who took their place?

At first, women were the main personnel reserve. By decision of the Moscow City Party Committee, 1 of them were mobilized into the police – not from the street, of course, but from among the employees of state organizations and institutions. If before the war there were only 300 representatives of the fair sex in the ranks of the Moscow police, then by the end of the Great Patriotic War their number exceeded 128 thousand! In Stalingrad, 4% of the city police employees were again women. Due to the increase in their number in the organs, it was even necessary to create special “girls’” specialized police schools. Over time, soldiers from the front also began to return to the organs – but only those discharged due to injuries. That was quite a replenishment – ​​in terms of their suitability for pursuits, shootouts and “forceful” detentions... But by 20, the police personnel had been almost completely renewed – by 1943-90%, and primarily due to former front-line soldiers who were unfit for combat service even in wartime.

Armed and very dangerous

In addition to all this, it should be remembered that already on June 24, 1941, the entire command and operational staff of the police was transferred to barracks and work in two shifts - 14 hours each. Later, in all departments of the NKVD, days off were completely abolished, and vacations were granted only in case of extreme necessity, and then for a period of no more than one day a week. Try working in such a regime for a month or two - and we will see what kind of moral and psychological, physical condition and, accordingly, "efficiency" you will have. And people worked like that for years...

Despite all this, on July 20, 1941, the People's Commissariats of State Security and Internal Affairs were again united into the NKVD of the USSR. Now the police had to fight not only the criminal scum, but also enemy agents and saboteurs. And also: monitor compliance with the rules of blackout and local air defense, ensure the departure of the population to bomb shelters in the event of an air raid, fight deserters, looters, signal agents who corrected enemy bombers from the ground, guard the military rear, ensure the exit of the population to labor duties (digging trenches and anti-tank ditches), search for those who have lost contact with their relatives. The list, however, is incomplete...

In light of all this, as well as other objective reasons, it is not surprising that crime in the Soviet Union immediately and sharply began to grow. Its level in 1942, compared to 1941 (which was half peaceful), increased by 22%. In 1943 – by almost 21%, in 1944 by 8.6%. The number of crimes was reduced only in the first half of the victorious 1945 – by almost 10%. And these results were achieved at the great cost of the blood of police officers – in the most literal sense of the word. After all, the level of armament of not only the criminal world, but also the population in general increased to unprecedented levels.

In the years when it was easy to find fully functional and usable weapons, as well as ammunition for them in the frontline zone, in the nearest forest, there was nothing surprising about this. A huge number of "barrels" ended up in the rear in one way or another - from the pockets of front-line soldiers who took home a captured German "Walther" or "Luger", to the contents of entire warehouses lost during retreat or, say, looted during bombing. It got to the point that "trellises" were acquired by representatives of those "suits" of thieves who had never even picked up a "pen" before - so as not to hang unnecessary articles of the Criminal Code on themselves. A "housebreaker" or a pickpocket with a pistol became a common thing instead of an unheard-of miracle.

To give you a clearer picture of the situation, here are some figures: As of the spring of 1944, almost 8 machine guns alone had been confiscated from the Soviet population! More than 11 submachine guns. More than a quarter of a million rifles (!). Tens of thousands of such "little things" as pistols and revolvers were confiscated, as were grenades of all types and systems. Some kept them in a secret place, in the attic or in the basement "just in case", while criminals put their enormous arsenals to use without the slightest hesitation or thought. This "echo of war" continued to fire for years after its end, despite all the confiscation measures.

War with your own people

Criminals, who did not even think of "tiing up" and showing any compassion for their fellow citizens, already brought to the limit by the grief and deprivation that had befallen them, gathered in gangs and bands that robbed, killed, committed violence and took away the last thing from people who gave everything they had in the name of Victory. What can be said, for example, about the inhuman creatures who in an organized and coordinated manner "gutted" the apartments of citizens who went down to bomb shelters during an air raid alarm? The creatures sometimes took out not only the most valuable things, but everything they could drag away, leaving only bare walls in the houses. Other such bastards hunted for refugees who were going to evacuate, attacked them and took everything down to the last thread. Often, they also killed entire families, including small children. In besieged Leningrad, scoundrel pickpockets did not hesitate to take bread cards from starving people, condemning them to certain death. Bandits carried out armed raids on food warehouses and transport with provisions. There were also cases of forgery of food cards.

In cities far from the front, where evacuated citizens arrived en masse, the criminals formed huge gangs that terrorized the population. To neutralize such a criminal pack, numbering over a hundred individuals, operating in peaceful Tashkent, it was necessary to send a whole "landing party" of criminal investigation operatives and NKVD "wolfhounds". They swatted them down, of course... Subsequently, similar-scale special operations were also carried out in Kuibyshev, Novosibirsk, and other places. In fact, the criminal world opened a real "second front" against our Motherland and its people, where shots rang out, blood flowed, and people died. Soviet people...

So any attempts to glorify the actions of this vile scum during the Great Patriotic War are the most choice and disgusting lie that one can imagine. That by fawning on the Nazis in the occupied territories, that by committing terrible atrocities in the Soviet rear, these criminal scum were on the side of those who came to destroy the USSR and all its inhabitants.